Old Rags And Worn Out Clothes
Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.’ And this is what the LORD says: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”
“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
God can hit some mighty straight licks with some mighty crooked sticks, was the assessment of one Texas divine in years gone by. In practical terms this saw states that God employs that which the world counts as worthless to accomplish His great ends. Even a cursory review of the Word of God will convince a reader that that which is of scant value to the world is often exalted in the economy of God. Among truths which are frequently neglected in this day of wealth and power is one which states that God delights to employ the insignificant and the seemingly worthless to reveal His power and might. We do well to remember this truth so that we honour Him through our own life and service.
Moses stood before God, and when asked what was in his hand, said, A staff. Just a staff, but how God used that staff! Pharaoh came to fear that staff and the authority that lay behind it. Five slick river rocks and a boy's slingshot became a weapon to fell a giant and to unnerve the enemies of God. A linen belt or a piece of pottery thrown into the valley became mighty messages from God to a wayward people. A manger was hallowed, becoming a kingly throne for a new-born babe sent to redeem His people, and a grotto dedicated to housing sheep became a palace for that same babe. Two pieces of rough-hewn wood and three massive spikes became an altar on which atonement was provided for all who will accept it. A cruel Roman spear became a sceptre opening the way into the presence of God when it was thrust into the side of the Son of God as He hung on the cross. God is in the business of employing the commonplace to bring unusual glory to His Name. One instance where this truth is taught is recounted in Jeremiah's prophecy. There we read of a despised man used by God to rescue the prophet of God, and the despised liberator employed old rags and worn-out clothes to comfort the prophet.
Jeremiah’s message warning of God's impending judgement in the last days of the Judean kingdom as the Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem aroused against himself the unrestrained rage of religious and political leaders. These enraged leaders brought sufficient pressure to bear on Zedekiah the king to have Jeremiah thrown into an abandoned cistern in the courtyard of the guard. Recently emptied of water during the Chaldean siege, the reservoir was filled with muddy residue and the prophet consequently sunk down into the slime when he was lowered into this damp dungeon. It would appear that his enemies hoped that he would die there.
One man, a member of what was considered an inferior race by those proud Jews, saw what had happened and risked censure or condemnation through intervening with the king. Ebed‑Melech, an eunuch whose name simply means Servant to the King, reviewed for Zedekiah the unjustness of the officials' actions and impressed on him the consequences of failure to rescue the prophet of God. He obtained permission to deliver Jeremiah from his damp, dark, dirty prison. His means of rescuing the prophet was to employ that which was no longer of significance, old rags and worn‑out clothes. In that one compassionate act is a message of encouragement and hope for every one of us who call upon the Name of the Lord.
The High Cost of Speaking [vv 1‑6] — This was not Jeremiah’s first imprisonment, nor was it the first time his life was in danger. Generally, prophets enjoyed a measure of respect from the peoples to whom they prophesied, though the prophet of God always pursued his mission of declaring the message of God at some considerable risk to his person. Apocryphal stories tell us that Isaiah was sawn in twain because a king took exception to his prophetic warnings; and similar accounts surround the death of each of the apostles. All, save John, are said to have died violently, subject to the diabolic ingenuity both of pagans and of those who professed to know God. Those who worked alongside the apostles were likewise permitted to die violently and in inventive ways at the hands of wicked men who rejected accountability to God. In the Old Testament, we read of a number of prophets who were killed, usually when their message was rejected by those to whom they were sent. There is a high cost to speaking the truth in the Name of God.
Did ever a prophet die at the hands of irreligious men? Doesn’t it seem that it is religious leaders who always rejected the prophets' words and demanded their deaths? Shephatiah ben Mattan, Gedaliah ben Pashhur, Jehucal ben Shelemiah and Pashhur ben Malkijah heard Jeremiah's message and they were deeply offended by it [verses one and four]. Each was part of the palace retinue which surrounded the king advising him in matters of state, and each seems to have advocated turning to Egypt for help at this time. Shephatiah ben Mattan is unknown throughout the remainder of the Bible. Gedaliah ben Pashhur was possibly a son of Pashhur, the man who beat Jeremiah and placed him in stocks for prophesying [20:1‑3] In exchange, Pashur received the name Magor-Missabib. Jehucal ben Shelemiah had been previously dispatched to Jeremiah to learn if the Babylonians would lift the siege of the city [37:3]. Pashhur ben Malkijah had been sent by the king to inquire about the initial Chaldean assault against the city [21:1,2].
These men were no doubt representative of a much larger group which surrounded the king and who resented Jeremiah's message of divine judgement because it confronted them with their own infidelity to God. They had insisted that God would send peace, and when it became evident that peace was not forthcoming they prophesied that divine deliverance would be shortly revealed, thus appropriating for themselves the condemnation of God [e.g. 20:6].
The essence of Jeremiah's message is found in verses two and three. This is what the LORD says: “Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.” And this is what the LORD says: “This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.” These words are by no means the whole of his message; rather they represent a summary of all that he spoke during his imprisonment. On the surface this was indeed a treasonous message, but the warning must be seen as iteration of the message Jeremiah had faithfully delivered since the days of Josiah. For forty years his message had not varied, and now that events were reaching a conclusion the prophet refused to alter the Word of God which he had preached throughout the previous four decades. However, with the passage of time and as events moved to emphasise the veracity of that message, opposition to the divine message stiffened. The charge now pressed against Jeremiah was that he was discouraging the soldiers and disheartening the people. Further, religious officialdom was united in their contention that he did not seek the good of the people. But what was for the good of the people?
The union of church and state has always resulted in compromise for the Faith once delivered to the saints. That union spawns a monstrous progeny which neither knows God nor is willing to hear God. Consequently, we are watching the formation of that same union in our day, I fear. Evangelical Christians and fundamentalists are co‑opted into political compromise which must eventuate in doctrinal compromise. Religious leaders fawn over political officials in order to receive the support of government for pet religious projects. They trade their own good office to voice support for those same governmental leaders.
Liberal Christians compromised years ago when they imagined they could further their religious agenda through damnable union with the state. Now, those who once disdained the liberals seek to enter into similar unions thinking they can further their own pet programs. There is little difference between the call to feed the hungry or to house the homeless which emanates from liberal theology and the call to abolish the holocaust of abortion which arises from evangelical theology … if we depend upon the power of man rather than the power of God to achieve our ends. Contemporary Christians have imagined that we can elect morality, that we can legislate righteousness, that we can fight evil with the weapons of the world; but we shall be astonished at the last and shamed by our reliance on anything but the righteousness of God. It is a subtle, insidious introduction of error into the life of a believer.
These powerful men were enraged. They demanded that Jeremiah must die, and the king, the ultimate power of man in that Judean state, proved himself to be a vacillating sycophant. Fearful of offending his officials he was equally fearful of offending God (though not so fearful as to do right). So the king cravenly surrendered Jeremiah into the hands of men intent on killing him. He is in your hands. The king can do nothing to oppose you [verse five]. Do not expect courage from officials who look to man for their continued power. Zedekiah was neither appointed to the throne by God nor approved by the people, but he ruled by the express permission of Nebuchadnezzar, having been seated on the throne when Jehoiachin was deported to Babylon [see 37:1]. He was a usurper, a pretender, and as such he feared the people, thus proving himself unfit for rule. Likewise, those politicians of this day who cry the loudest about statesmanship appear least likely to be statesmanlike in their demeanour. They remind me of gophers, sticking their heads out of their holes to test which way the wind is blowing before they make a pronouncement. Vox populi is not necessarily vox dei.
Dear people, I can say without fear of contradiction that speaking the whole counsel of God is not the way to peace with this world. If you speak boldly in the Name of the Living God (and I trust that you are endued with just such holy boldness), the religious people about you will be offended by your courageous words of condemnation. They will, if you persist in speaking out for righteousness and for godliness (and I trust that you do so speak), unite with the political powers to persecute you, shutting out the hated message of judgement by closing off the source of the spoken message. There is a high cost to speaking. I caution you, however, that there is a yet higher cost if we fail to speak.
The Hidden Courage of Silence [vv 7‑10] — In Ebed‑Melech we meet an individual who silently observed all that transpired. This man is introduced to us as a Cushite, a black man from the upper Nile regions. As such, he was a member of a despised race among the Jews. His cultural inferiority was exaggerated by the imposition of that seemingly ubiquitous oriental practise of emasculation of those who worked within the palace. It was assumed that men such as these, castrated and without hope of posterity or family, would devote themselves to the needs of royal family. Further, such individuals were considered trustworthy since they were incapable of being a sexual threat to the royal harem. Such individuals as this could and frequently did ascend to positions of authority, obtaining considerable power in government.
Our minds turn to individuals such as the Ethiopian Eunuch who was treasurer for the Queen. Daniel is another eunuch well known to us. He rose to a position of considerable power and influence both in the kingdom of the Babylonians, and later within the Medo-Persian Empire. We do not know how much power Ebed-Melech exercised within Israel but we do know that he had the ear of the king for when he heard what was done to Jeremiah he boldly interceded with the king for mercy and relief for the beleaguered prophet of God.
Boldly approaching the king as he sat judging the people in the Benjamin Gate he pleaded, My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done… [verse nine]. Now was not the time for formalities or obsequious language. He pillories the rabid religious leaders with an accurate assessment of character—they acted wickedly. Then he describes in detail what they have done to the prophet, forecasting the obvious intent of their actions. What is unseen at initial glance is that by acquiescing to their demands the king is implicated together with them and thus stands responsible before God should the prophet of God starve. This is no mere appeal to noble feelings; it is rather a straightforward confrontation that demands the king's immediate attention. The king was in danger of bringing down on his own head the guilt of innocent blood.
Until this time, Ebed‑Melech has not come to the attention of the divine author. He was a non‑entity insofar as the narrative is concerned. We might draw the conclusion that he had remained silent throughout the years prior to this event. Now, however, when evil men were openly opposed to the prophet of God was it not time to speak positioning oneself with God and with His righteousness? His courageous stand indicates, however, that he was not unfamiliar with righteousness. He recognised right just as he recognised wrong, and he was unhesitating in standing for right and standing against that which was evil. He demonstrated the compassion resident within one who knew the compassion of God in his concern for the prophet's welfare. Those previous years may have been silent but they were not wasted, for in those silent years we may be sure that Ebed-Melech prepared his soul for this one great test.
I see courage such as this not infrequently both in the Word of God and in the lives of great Christian heroes. It is always striking to read the accounts of the Judges of Israel. Those we are most prone to identify as heroes of the Faith were unknowns until forced to act in a time of crisis. Ehud was subservient to the Moabites until oppression became too great to bear. Deborah, while a prophetess, had accomplished nothing of note until Sisera led the armies of Hazor in devastating invasion of Israel. Barak is best known as the man who did what Deborah told him to do. Gideon is a most unlikely and a most reluctant hero. We are left with the impression that he would gladly have stayed home if he could. Jephthah is the punk who made good. A hoodlum of ill repute he came from nowhere to deliver God's people.
Nor are we restricted to exploring the Judges to uncover examples of godly courage for both Saul and David came from humble, unknown origins. Augustine was an unknown profligate when God appointed him to speak for the Faith. Luther was a monk steeped in Romish idolatry when called to lead the Reformation. Spurgeon was untutored and illiterate when God took him to mighty London to become the premier spokesman for the Faith in the whole of that nineteenth century. Isn't that the strangest observation?
You can't create courage or make heroes. That which is innate, a reliance on God and a willingness to be employed by Him, is expressed in the hour of crisis and in the day of need. It is as though God delights to discover courage and strength in the most obscure or humble location imaginable and then in the hour of great need He reveals that strength and that courage. So it is that we cannot make ourselves powerful men or women of God through our own will. It is the crises of life which reveal that otherwise unseen inner strength and courage which distinguish the great from the pedestrian. Some of you are no doubt great, waiting only some time of extreme challenge to reveal your utter reliance upon the grace of God and the power of His presence. Others of you, though you would not say so, are already great in the eyes of some someone because you have stood firm, demonstrating courage and grace under extreme pressure and always aligning yourselves with the people of God and demonstrating the righteousness of God even in the strait and stressful situation even as you resisted that which was popular.
Though we cannot make ourselves great, we can prepare for greatness whether it should ever come or not. We can now learn to rely on God for daily grace to walk with Him, whether in prosperity or whether under pressure. We can now learn to resort to Him becoming familiar with the halls of heaven as we wander there coming to Him with petitions and praise, or as we learn the language of Zion through reading the literature of God—His Holy Word. We can now learn to make ourselves strong through daily discipline to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then, when the day of crisis comes (and it shall surely come) we will be prepared to be employed by God should He so choose. That is the making of a hero.
The Helpful Convenience of [the] Scorned [vv 11‑13] — A scorned man, representative of a scorned race, employing scorned objects accomplished a great work which honoured God. Old rags and worn‑out clothes became a means to ease the pain of rescue. Behind the prophet's deliverance was God; but God used that which was considered to be of no great value by the great men of this world to ease the pain associated with His deliverance. This has always been the way God works with His people. We are not merely rescued in our time of trial, but God provides for our comfort even as He sets us free. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
At the beginning of the message I spoke of some of those commonplace things which God has used to reveal His might. That staff which Moses held wearied Pharaoh and threatened all the Egyptians, but what a source of comfort was that everyday utensil to the people of Israel. Those rocks and that slingshot were the means of the death for Goliath and the instrument for discomfiture of the Philistines, but the same childish weapon became a source of comfort and hope to all Israel. We would suppose that the manger would never serve as bed for another child, but what a comfort to know that not even hardship would turn our Saviour away from coming to redeem His people. That cross, cruel and callused though it was, yet comforts a multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language. How glorious is the might and power of our God who delights to use the ordinary to comfort His people!
And so it is in our own lives. It is not often the great men of this world who give us comfort in our distress, but it is frequently those humble men and women of no great account in the eyes of the world who have given us the greatest comfort in our hour of trial. Some someone spoke a quiet word of encouragement and became your greatest means of hope when despair threatened to settle in permanently. Some someone wrestled in prayer for you when you thought you could no longer continue and thus became the source of victory easing the pain you had until then experienced. Some someone gave sacrificially, though they themselves had no great fortune, and so became the means of advance for the people of God at just that time when all thoughts were focused on survival rather than advance. Some someone stood firm when all about us others were fleeing in the face of the press of battle and therefore obtained a great victory in the Name of the Lord, and we were relieved.
I speak from my own heart when I speak of such things, for fellow Christians have been the means of relief more than once when I thought there could be no relief. Those saints provided a place of retreat and rest that I might be refreshed. They provided a means whereby I might obtain relief from the press of financial reversal. Fellow Christians stood boldly in defence of that which I had proclaimed and taught, identified with that which was despised by the world and even by the mass of religious peoples about us. God was my deliverer, and I acknowledge Him as such, but I recognise that He used the people of God, despised by the world, to cushion the ropes which He used to lift me from the miry pit. Many of you could give similar testimonies of some someone God used to pad the ropes of deliverance.
Practical Observations to Apply to Our Lives — I make several observations that may help make this message more than a mere emotional journey for you and me. It is my goal to insure that each message finds practical and immediate application in our lives. Certainly, I could speak, and I have spoken, of the need to openly identify with the truth. I encourage each of you to speak the truth in love even though you know that the truth will generate opposition. I know you will check your motives to insure that love impels you to speak and to establish Christ as central to your witness. I need say nothing further concerning this matter. I could speak, and I have spoken, of the need to now prepare for the day of crisis. Too many messages stressing this issue have been delivered in the years of my ministry to say that this theme has been neglected. We know the need to ready ourselves for the day of conflict as we offer ourselves to God to glorify Him. I could speak of those things, emphasising them yet again and it would be to your benefit, I know. But I choose to present emphatically other truths which we need to hear this day.
The first admonition is that we must not scorn the unglamorous. We dare not foster an attitude reflecting disdain toward either the people of God or toward the gifts that God has given. Before God we stand on even ground. Each alike has been redeemed by His grace and set within the Church that He might be glorified. Do you see yourself as somehow small or insignificant in the realm of spiritual service? Take heart, for it is the infinite God who saved you and sanctified you and set you where He willed you to serve. His calling has elevated you from the realm of insignificance to a plateau of priceless glory. You and the gift which He gave to you are of great worth, for it was the Lord of Glory who fitted you for some great task.
Saints of this day are afflicted with an awful malady made all the worse by their inability to recognise the ailment. They secretly think themselves to be of greater importance to the Church than they should. Surely you do not have an exalted image of your place within His body? We each need to see that though we may consider ourselves somehow more glamorous than some fellow Christian, we are no more significant than any other member of the body. In fact, the prominence and comeliness you enjoy within the Body of Christ may give tacit evidence of unseen weakness. In that context I would invite you to recall the words of the Apostle.
Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other [1 Corinthians 12:22‑26]. Those are great words and they should serve to confront us as well as to comfort us. If you are recognised within the Body it may well be because you are actually weaker than others within the Body!
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” [1 Corinthians 1:26-31].
By the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you [Romans 12:3].
There is a second, equally important observation I am compelled to press on each heart: we must not hesitate to use that which the world despises. It is to the glory of God that we reach out to each member of the body to permit each to exercise the gift God has given that all of us together might be made stronger. It is to the glory of God that we make ourselves vulnerable knowing that there is not an expert among us in the realm of spiritual matters, yet daring to believe that it pleases God to employ any of us and all of us to accomplish great things in His Name. That which is commonplace must be readily employed instead of waiting for technology to catch up to God. Now, you have desire. Let your desire drive you to God and push you to speak to someone who is in need of the message of grace. Now, you have knowledge of salvation. Use your knowledge to tell another of the Saviour refusing to wait until you become proficient in speech or in theology. If you wait, you will never speak. Now, you have a reliance on the grace of God. Permit that reliance to become your means of strength to encourage you as you attempt some great work for God.
The world despises distinction and makes every effort to reduce all to an indistinguishable amorphous blob. If you will please God you will discover what you believe—what pleases Him—and you will not hesitate to embrace that distinctive even though it seems an insult to others who wish to call themselves by that great Name of Christ. The world considers humility as weakness, but though we hold biblical truth dear and refuse to compromise, we hold our truth with humility. Don’t hesitate to be different in order to please God.
There is yet this third, vital truth. I encourage you to practise to see with the eyes of God. One of the small pleasures of my current automobile is the presence of a tape deck. I never thought I wanted such a thing, nor have I ever owned a vehicle with such an accoutrement, but this car has one. After several months of driving I rationalised that I hated to have an option in the car which couldn't be used, so I searched for some tapes I would enjoy playing in that seemingly useless electronic contrivance which constantly stared at me. I was fortunate to find some tapes of black soul and southern gospel harmony that take me back to a forgotten portion of my early walk with Christ. One of the tapes I acquired is by the Cathedrals, and on that tape is a song which has special meaning to me. He Saw What I Could Be is the title of that song, and it is, without being so crass as to make the statement, a plea to see with the eyes of God.
A loser without direction,
I drifted aimlessly,
On the backside of a place called nowhere
Forgotten by humanity.
When they talked about potential
They did not refer to me,
'Cause everyone could clearly see
What I was I'd always be.
But He saw not what I was,
He saw what I could be.
When He reached His hand to where I was
He made a change in me.
For all He had to hope for
Was just a possibility,
Still, He saw not what I was,
He saw what I could be.
What do you see when you look at those about you? When you look at those seated nearby you this day, what do you see? Do you see spineless saints, wilful men and weak women? Or do you see people in process, moving inexorably toward glory? Do you, looking about you this day, see men and women destined for glory and even now being fitted for eternal service to the King of kings? If we would but see those of our fellow saints as the Father sees them, would we not fall down before them in awe and fear, for we shall judge angels and share in the glory of the Risen Christ. Then let us resolve to encourage one another as we walk together on this Christian journey. Let us resolve to draw deeply from the source of strength placed by our Lord in our midst in the person of those who constitute the body.
What do you see when you look at those who have yet to find the Saviour? Do you imagine them to be somehow loathsome, vile creatures unworthy of your time or efforts? Or do you see them with the eyes of the Master? As sheep without a shepherd? As lost? As men and women moving toward judgement? But always worthy of intervention and rescue? What changes would occur in our witness if we would but see with the eyes of God! Then let us resolve to speak in His Name to those about us. Some of your family are even now lost and under judgement, wanting but your witness. Some of your friends will not have another opportunity to hear of the love of God except for your witness now. Some of your neighbours have stumbled in darkness for the many years of their lives, all the while having convinced themselves that everything was as it should be, though knowing that something was lacking. They wait for your witness. Let us resolve to be even old rags and worn‑out clothes to provide comfort for them as God intervenes to lift them from death to life.