Unsung Heroes of the Bible3

Unsung Heroes of the Bible

Part 3

“Ebed-Melech: A Friend from Nowhere”

Jer. 38: 6-13

The setting for this story is that, after many months of being surrounded by the Babylonian army, food supplies had become scarce in Jerusalem.

The Babylonian’s tactic was to simply starve them out.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah the Prophet was predicting the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and was advising surrender.

For this he was cast into a dungeon.

The king's leadership team was so angry at Jeremiah's “surrender-while-you-still-can” prophecies they just wanted him dead.

They felt his message was interfering with morale, and jeopardizing their defense of Jerusalem.

He was let down into a pit once used to hold water, but now consisting only of deep mud.

Jeremiah sunk in the mire; “up to the neck,” says the historian Josephus.

Some think that it was at this time, and in this place, that Jeremiah recorded his prayers to the Lord recorded in Lamentations 3:55…

“I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit.”

It was clearly very deep, and Jeremiah would have certainly perished in it if not soon delivered.

This is evident from the fact that they had to use ropes in letting him down, and in later pulling him out.

FRIEND FROM NOWHERE:

Now, it is at this time that an unknown nobody named Ebed-Melech, the king’s slave, stepped into the picture out of nowhere.

He was a Cushite, or Ethiopian, which meant that he was a black man.

Josephus the historian again tells us he was "a great man'' in high office, of great authority in the presence of the king, but a slave nevertheless.

E’bed had heard how they put Jeremiah in the dungeon; and some believe he might have even heard his groans from the dungeon since he was in close proximity to it.

Now, even though Ebed-Melech was just one of many servants to the king, he stepped onto the pages of history for several key reasons:

He was a compassionate man.

There is no indication he had known Jeremiah.

There was no personal, compelling reason for him to show the concern and compassion he displayed.

Ebed-Melech was a Gentile while Jeremiah was a Jew.

The two normally had no dealings with each other.

He reminds us of the Good Samaritan, a Gentile, who tended to the stranger in the road while all of his kinsmen walked on by.

And I can’t help but think of Jesus, who time and again was, “Moved with compassion” before performing some great miracle.

When He saw the hungry multitudes, He was “moved….”

When He saw the poor leper, He was “moved…”

It was Jesus Who taught us to “visit the sick and imprisoned,” and “Inasmuch as you do it to the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.”

You would think that Ebed-Melech had heard the teachings of Jesus!

God raised up Ebed-Melech to become a friend to the friendless—in his darkest hour—and this great, compassionate man saved his life.

But not only did he have compassion…

His great compassion produced powerful intercession.

On hearing of what had occurred, the Ethiopian went straight to the king and said:

"My lord, O king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he is dying of hunger on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city."

Notice his words:

First, he explains the plot—wicked men have unfairly attacked the Prophet Jeremiah.

Second, he exposes the ploy—they have thrown him into a deadly pit to kill him.

Third, He expounds on his plight—“he is dying on the spot.”

The result: The King’s heart was moved to act!

This is a perfect picture of prayerful intercession for the lost and bound!

We first go to God with Satan’s PLOT—a wicked enemy has attacked this person, Lord.

We then tell him of his PLOY—They have been thrown into a pit of bondage.

Then, we tell him of their PLIGHT—They will die without a deliverance.

God’s heart is always touched by such prayers and He will dispatch help!

Also, Ebed-Melech spoke to the king freely and boldly as we are commanded to pray in Heb. 4: 16…

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Oh folks, it’s one thing to have compassion, to feel the plight of others…

But it’s another thing entirely to go before the king in intercession for their deliverance.

On hearing his deep, heartfelt intercession for Jeremiah, the king was moved to do exceeding, abundantly above all that Ebed-Melech could have imagined.

He said, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”

This is the power of intercession!

And will not our own God release thirty of His mighty angels in answer to the prayers of God’s people!

But why the need for thirty men when three or four should have been enough to pull a single man out of a dungeon?

One commentator thinks the dungeon was very deep, and Jeremiah, an old man, could not be pulled out but with great labor and difficulty.

Likewise, a person’s deliverance may take great effort and perseverance on the part of many, but the end result is worth it all!

So we see Compassion combined with Intercession operating in his life.

But next, a surprise:

He used something unexpected for Jeremiah’s deliverance

“So Ebed-Melech…took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.”

He used old, rotten rags and made them into ropes.

Apparently, there were several old, discarded garments stored away in the king’s house;

No one thought they were good for anything anymore, but maybe to be used for rags.

But they were highly valuable to Ebed-Melech.

He needed to make ropes out of the rags because the pit was so deep that the men could not reach the prophet with their own hands.

So he used that which was old and useless to make ropes of deliverance for a dying prophet.

Isn’t it just like God to use what people consider useless and good for nothing, to use that which has been cast away and discarded to bring about a miracle!

Paul thought so. He wrote:

“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (1Co 1:27-29).

God uses “old rags” to confound the mighty!

And watch this:

When I think of these old, discarded rags, I think of how our modern society has decided that the Word of God—the Bible—God’s ancient, tried and true wisdom, is no longer useful.

His ways, and His wisdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, have been laid aside like old rags, useless to our “we don’t need God anymore” world.

But friends hear me, it is those old rags that have the power to become the rope that pulls you out of your pit!

Jeremiah wrote in another place:

“Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the OLD PATHS, where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls.” (6:16)

Ask for the old paths of righteousness and holiness, the old road of righteousness that raptured Enoch, delivered Noah, blessed Abraham, and strengthened David.

Ask for the old paths laid out for us by the written word of God.

Ebed-Melech illustrates for us compassion for the hurting, intercession for the bound, and making use of what is tried and true to bring about a great deliverance.

By these three things Jeremiah the Prophet was delivered from certain death.

If he had not done so, we would not have the Book of Lamentations in our Bible, nor the last 14 chapters of the Book of Jeremiah, for he would not have been there to write them!

PRAYER:

Is there someone near you that is in a pit of despair?

Might God be putting His hand on your heart to be the “friend from nowhere” for them?