Jeremiah

Chapter Thirty-nine

Introduction

Zedekiah was found and shackled. Jeremiah was found and unshackled.

There is a parable for us in the comparison of the conditions of these two men. The way they each ended up physically was the way God saw them each spiritually:

1. Zedekiah may have been free physically in the palace, but he was the one who was bound - spiritually shackled long before he was captured by the Chaldeans.
2. Jeremiah may have been bound physically in the prison, but he was the one who was free - spiritually unshackled long before he was released by the Chaldeans.

One man, free yet bound; the other man, bound yet free. There's a lesson for each of us, and the lesson is this: #1 Live For Yourself And You Will Lose Your Life To The Shackles, or #2 Lose Yourself And You Will Live Your Life Unshackled.

#1 Live For Yourself And You Will

Lose Your Life To The Shackles

In many ways the opening verses of chapter thirty-nine are the climax of the book. Jeremiah has been prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity in Babylon. Now it was upon them.

Jeremiah 39:2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated.

As they reckoned time, the siege against Jerusalem had lasted some thirty months. Jeremiah had prophesied some thirty years; the siege had lasted some thirty months. God was indeed longsuffering!

There are many today who wonder, "Where is the promise of God's coming" to judge the world? His longsuffering waits. He is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Christians have used the name "Babylon" to designate the evil world system ruled by Satan and the principalities and powers and rulers of darkness he commands. There is a worldwide conspiracy of evil; it is planned by the devil and his demons, then implemented by unsaved men often unwittingly. The unsaved are, after all, captives of the devil to do his will.

Whether you live in Hanford, Lemoore, or Armona - you live in spiritual Babylon. There are demons sitting in authority over these cities. In the midst of spiritual Babylon you have a stronghold. Jesus said that He would build His church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it! The simplest believer in Jesus Christ, on his or her knees, has victory over the devil and his demons.

We turn our attention to Zedekiah:

In chapter thirty-eight, Jeremiah urged him to surrender. He was afraid of the Jews who had already defected to Babylon - afraid for his life. He wanted to save his life. Now he was afraid and trying to save his life again.

Jesus once said,

Zedekiah is an example of a man seeking to save his life and losing it. He didn't literally lose his life; he wasn't killed. But it is possible to lose your life while you still live. If you live for yourself, you will lose your life while you still live.

Let's look at how Zedekiah lost his life while he still lived. First, look again at his flight into the night. Zedekiah had carefully planned his escape route - by night, by way of his garden, by the gate between the two walls, out by way of the plain.

I want to ask you a question:

When you think of God's sovereign plan for your life, do you ever feel trapped? Many have shared with me over the years that they feel trapped by God in a marriage, or in a ministry, or in their career. People who feel trapped begin to plan their escape. They never believe they will carry out their planned escape... But if they plan long enough, one day they find themselves running away.

If you are planning your escape, be warned:

You will lose your life while you still live.

Zedekiah fell into the hands of the enemy:

Jeremiah 39:6 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.

Jeremiah 39:7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon.

Jeremiah 39:8 And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Zedekiah watched as his family and his friends were killed - all as a result of his own longing to save his life.

You were never designed to live for yourself. God gave you relationships to cultivate by denying yourself and considering others. When you live for yourself your relationships with others will suffer. You may lose your family; you may lose your friends. Worse, you see it happen right before your very eyes. In the end you see that losing your life to minister to your family and friends was God's great design and your great desire, but the wreckage and ruin overwhelms you. You lose your life while you still live.

Zedekiah ended up shackled. He ended up shackled because he had been spiritually shackled all along. Living for himself may have landed him in the palace, but he was really in a prison of his own making.

Are you living for yourself? Only you can answer for yourself. But I would suggest that if you are planning your escape from the will of God, you are living for yourself. In the end you will fall into the hands of the enemy, who will wreck your life before your very eyes.

God's constraints in your life are from His love for you! Don't seek to escape from them. Let Him enable you in them.

#2 Lose Yourself And You Will

Live Your Life Unshackled

Jeremiah was shackled but free. Look at verses eleven through fourteen:

Jeremiah 39:12 "Take him and look after him, and do him no harm; but do to him just as he says to you."

Jeremiah 39:13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's chief officers;

Jeremiah 39:14 then they sent someone to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.

You see in chapter forty that Jeremiah was in chains - shackled in the prison. Yet in another sense he was free - spiritually unshackled. He was spiritually unshackled because he was willing to lose his life for the sake of others.

Jeremiah was willing to lose his life for the sake of Ebed-Melech:

Jeremiah 39:16 "Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you.

Jeremiah 39:17 "But I will deliver you in that day," says the LORD, "and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

Jeremiah 39:18 "For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me," says the LORD.'"

Ebed-Melech was the subject of our last study. Ebed-Melech is not his name, only his title. It means "the kings servant." This anonymous servant was troubled: What would become of him once Jerusalem fell into Babylonian control?

Jeremiah was sent to him with a word of encouragement! But who would encourage Jeremiah? Where was a prophet who would give him courage for the coming captivity?

You've heard of aerial acrobats working without a net? Jeremiah was a man of God working without a net! He didn't need a fresh word from the Lord for himself. He was mature enough to lose himself for others.

Learn to work without a net. Learn to work without a network. Let God be your sufficiency. Lose yourself ministering to others.

Some of God's greatest ministry has been performed by spiritually unshackled men while they were in this world's shackles. The Apostle Paul wrote many of his letters to us while in shackles. John Bunyon's classic work, Pilgrim's Progress, was written in prison. In their cases and countless others like them, you see how spiritually unshackled men who are willing to lose their life for Jesus cannot be bound by the shackles of this world.

You are one of them! God is no respector of persons. He can set you free spiritually regardless your physical situation. You must simply be willing to lose yourself in serving Him by serving others.

Jeremiah was willing to lose himself for Gedeliah:

Jeremiah 40:2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: "The LORD your God has pronounced this doom on this place.

Jeremiah 40:3 "Now the LORD has brought it, and has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.

Jeremiah 40:4 "And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there."

Jeremiah 40:5 Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said, "Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go." So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and let him go.

Jeremiah 40:6 Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.

Before we comment on this, let's remind ourselves what the condition of Gedeliah and his people was by reading verses nine and ten of chapter thirty-nine:

Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

The Babylonians left the poorest people behind to till the land. Their houses were burned; the city had no walls of defense; they were altogether a reproach. Given a choice to live in relative luxury in Babylon, favored by Nebuchadnezzar, or to remain in Jerusalem among the outcasts...Jeremiah was willing to lose himself for the Lord's people!

Set free to go where he pleased, he chose the most difficult task. He had learned that God always sets you free to serve.

You have been set free! If you are a Christian, you have been powerfully and radically released from shackles that held you bound...

The best way to go on experiencing the power of your freedom is to enslave yourself to Jesus. In Old Testament times Jews sometimes had to sell themselves into slavery. When the time came for them to be set free, they often chose to go on serving their master. In Exodus 21:5-6 you read,

Exodus 21:6 "then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."

This voluntary servant was called a bondservant. That should sound familiar to you; as you read through the New Testament, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude all call themselves bondservants of Jesus Christ. They were all set free to serve, and they all chose to enslave themselves to the Lord.

You have been set free to serve. You are never more free than when you enslave yourself to Jesus.

Conclusion

Are you ready to lose yourself? Lose yourself right where you are:

Lose yourself at home...

Let the Lord take you to the doorpost of your home, spiritually speaking, and open your ear to His Word...

Lose yourself at church...

Let the Lord take you to the doorpost of your church, spiritually speaking, and open your ear to His Word...

Lose yourself at work...

Let the Lord take you to the doorpost of your plant or office, spiritually speaking, and open your ear to His Word...

Serving in these arenas is not glamorous, but it is no less glorious.