Wednesday, August 25, 2010

You Will Be Rescued!

Jeremiah 39:17
I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be handed over to those you fear.


When you do good, good comes back to you. You cannot help others and others not eventually reciprocate. Whatever a man sows that he shall also reap. Oftentimes, we think our good deeds go unnoticed but in fact God is watching and he is the rewarder of all things good.

Jeremiah, the prophet, had been dogged out for no other reason than prophesying what God told him and that was that Israel would be destroyed, King Zedekiah needed to surrender or die. The people didn’t want to hear that this great nation which had always been on top had to surrender to anybody. Because of their wickedness God was destroying this city. Jeremiah gave the people warning before destruction to surrender to save their lives but instead of listening they beat Jeremiah and threw him in a well with no water and left him to die.

The only person who stepped up for Jeremiah was a black man who was a servant named Ebed-Melech, the Cushite. He pleaded with the King to let him rescue Jeremiah or he would starve to death in that muddy well. When you are faithful to God, he will send the most unlikely of people to pull you out of your situation.

Ebed-Melech with some other men sent down some old rags for Jeremiah to tie around him so that they could pull him out of that muddy well. After they pulled Jeremiah out, not long after that the city was destroyed. The Babylonians killed all of King Zedikiah’s sons in front of him, and gouged out his eyes. They took the rest of the people captive but left the poor with land and vineyards including Jeremiah.

The king of Babylon gave special orders to give Jeremiah whatever he asked for. Jeremiah told Ebed-Melech a word from the Lord. This city will be destroyed but I will rescue you on that day, and you will not be handed over to those you fear. When you do good to others, God will:

1. Lift you out of pits. Ebed-Melech lifted Jeremiah who in turn lifted him out of harm’s way through the word God had given him.

2. Give you whatever you ask for. The enemy blessed Jeremiah by allowing him to return to his home and give him whatever else he asked for. Favor is when people who don’t even like you have to bless you.

3. Rescue you from your haters. Even though the city was under siege God told Ebed-Melech that he would be delivered from those he feared. God will put you in witness protection when you stand for him and help others out.

Dear God, thank you for lifting me up when others wanted to destroy me. You are the lifter of my head. Thank you for giving me my land and granting me whatever I needed. It’s a privilege and honor to serve you and I thank you for hearing my despairing cry. It was your love that lifted me.



In Jesus Name,

Amen

No comments:

Post a Comment