Puzzlements & Predicaments of the Bible by Linda Washington Betsy Todt Schmitt & Gene Smillie

Author:Linda Washington, Betsy Todt Schmitt & Gene Smillie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2007-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Well of Woes

Jeremiah Escapes from a Well

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS were usually more in famous than famous. Their messages from God netted them beatings, reprimands by kings, death threats, and—sadly— carried-out death sentences.

Jeremiah was one of the most beleaguered prophets in Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel. Called as a prophet during a time of intense political upheaval, he had the thankless task of warning the people about the consequences of their rebellion toward God. The consequences involved siege, famine, and invasion by enemy forces.

At this point, Jeremiah was under house arrest at the word of Zedekiah—the king of Judah appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, whose army had Jerusalem under siege. During a temporary cease-fire due to the arrival of Israel’s allies—the Egyptian army—Jeremiah angered many palace officials with his prophecy that the Babylonians would soon conquer Jerusalem. They were especially angry when he told them to surrender to the Babylonians! In their eyes this was treason.

Beating Jeremiah and arresting him simply were not enough to keep him from saying what the people didn’t want to hear. So palace officials suggested the ultimate solution to Zedekiah: Jeremiah must die. “It’s the only way to silence him,” they reasoned.

Zedekiah was never a king viewed as a tower of strength. He allowed the officials to do whatever they liked to Jeremiah. And what they liked was to have him thrown into a muddy, waterless well, where he would eventually starve to death.

So down he went.

But there was one palace official who didn’t go along with the program. This man, Ebed-Melech, complained to the king on behalf of Jeremiah. “What those men did to Jeremiah was wrong,” he said. “If Jeremiah stays in that well, he’ll die of hunger.”

Zedekiah took Ebed-Melech’s words to heart. Finally, he allowed Ebed-Melech to take a group of men and lift Jeremiah out of the well. But first, he needed a few supplies, namely old clothes.

The plan was this: The rescuers would lower the clothes to Jeremiah to place around his arms to protect them against the rope’s friction. The men would then lift him out of the well. Finally, inch by careful inch, Jeremiah was lifted out of the well. Although he was taken back to the same prison as before, at least it wasn’t a muddy one.

To read more about Jeremiah’s well of woes, read Jeremiah 38:1–13.

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