Saved with Rotten Rags & Clouts -Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah 38:12 "And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so."

The princes do not like the message of surrender brought by Jeremiah. The message is to save the people alive by following God's plan but the princes are set on fighting which would be to the death. So they put Jeremiah in a dungeon which sounds like a well-type hole where there was mire but no drinkable water or food. He would surely die there.

v4 "Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death; for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them; for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt."

They had it wrong. They thought by killing the messenger, the message would not be effective. The thing is, the plan would go forward, Jeremiah was there because of the mercy of the Lord in wanting to save some of the people.

v7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah int he dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; v8 Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king saying,"

Ebedmelech: servant of the king

So Ebedmelech took thirty men and went to where Jeremiah was left in the dungeon. We should not the name dungeon as used in its original purpose which I expect was a dumping place for human waste.

Ebedmelech did not have the fine cords the princes used to let Jeremiah down into the mire but he used what he could find. Some old rotten rags and discarded pieces of cloth were tied together to make a cord and it was let down to Jeremiah. Then, he was pulled up.

Sometimes it seems there is no one or nothing to help in our time of need. God often uses the most unlikely person and the seemingly useless things to fulfill his purpose.

v13 "So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison."

The king called Jeremiah secretly to find out what the word from the Lord was. It had not changed.

v17"...If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live,...v18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand."