Today’s passage: Jeremiah 39:1-18
Helpful thoughts:
- The time has come. Jerusalem is going to fall.
- Leaving the poor in Judah in charge of the vineyards and fields immediately elevated their standard of living. The idea being, if their live were better under the Babylonians, they would be happy for things to remain that way.
- Jeremiah’s treatment at this time is given in further detail in the next chapter.
Questions to consider:
- With all that the Lord had commanded leading up to this day, what should the king of Judah have done after verse 3? What would true repentance have looked like in that moment?
- How is the Ethiopian man, Ebed-melech, contrasted with King Zedekiah? How was God consistent with both of them concerning His promises? Which one of them was showing the fruits of being a child of God?
- Verse 18 says that Ebed-melech had put his trust in the Lord. How do we know he did? How did his actions in the midst of potential opposition prove that out? What came first, his actions or trust? How does this correlate with Ephesians 2:8-10?