11-14 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people.

15-17 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: “Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfil my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’” Jeremiah 39:11-18 English Standard Version

In a letter to Christians at Rome who knew they were taking a risk in becoming followers of Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” He went on to say: “If God is for us - who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” And then he added “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (From Romans 8:28-39)

How that must have encouraged those Christians. Paul's words didn't mean that Christians will always escape from every danger and never experience harm. But they do mean that the worst that people can do to us will never stop God's plans from going forward, and will never separate us from His love. Can you see how that was true for Jeremiah in vs 11-14 of today's reading?

The extra good news is that God's loving care is not just for prophets and apostles. While the book of Jeremiah could have ended with him living among those who'd not been taken as captives to Babylon, verses 15-17 go back to when he was still under arrest in the court yard prison. He was told to give a message from God to the Ethiopian servant who'd risked his life to save Jeremiah when he had been thrown into a deep mud filled cistern. Part of the message was just confirming what Jeremiah had been preaching, namely, that Jerusalem was going to be breached and destroyed by the Babylonian army. But what was the other lovely part of the message that Jeremiah was to give to Ebed-melech?

It was that his life was going to be spared. Ebed-melech, like most of the people in Jerusalem, was really afraid of what would happen if the Babylonians got into the city. But, speaking through Jeremiah, God says to him “you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid, for I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war.” How that must have lifted the Ethiopian's heart. And what was the reason God gave why he would be spared? (vs 18)

God said: “Because you have put your trust in Me.” Ebed-melech believed Jeremiah was a true prophet of God and believed his words. And so he had put his hopes and his trust into Jeremiah's God. When we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and we take His words to heart, then, like Ebed-melech, we too are trusting God. And His promise to us is that of eternal life. And, as Paul said, “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”