(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
No, that is not a rendering above of the prophet Jeremiah sunk in the mud! And that covering this man’s face and clothes is snow and ice, not mud! But, if you can imagine the white as brown, this is what Jeremiah must have looked like when he was in that muddy-bottom cistern – covered with muck and mud, and with an utterly defeated and weary look on his face!
Here is the verse that describes the prophet’s predicament, Jeremiah 38:6:
So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of
Machiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the
prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in
the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah
sank in the mire.
He’s called “the weeping prophet” because of so many tears he shed over the hardness of his fellow Jews’ unrepentant hearts! (see Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17; 14:17; 16:17; Lamentations 2:11). He must have also shed a few tears in the muddy-bottom cistern – tears for himself as well as those who would so reject God’s word and persecute His prophet!
He was called of God to be His prophet, the spokesman of אֵל שָ דַּי (El Shadai), the All-Powerful or Almighty God! And seeing that the LORD was All-Powerful and All-Mighty, Jeremiah had a choice: he could either look down, or he could look up!
- If he looked down…
✡ ...he would see his beaten, bruised, and bloodied
body! It says in Jeremiah 38:4 that he was given
into the hands of...
...the princes [who] said to the king “...
let this man be put to death, for...he weak-
ens the hands of the men of war who remain
in this city, and the hands of all the peo-
ple, by speaking such words to them. For
this man does not seek the welfare of this
people, but their harm.”
And King Zedikiah caved to their appeal (see Jeremiah 38:5), for Jeremiah had been loudly telling his fellow Jews:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city
shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pesti-
lence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall
live....’ Thus says the LORD: ‘This city shall
surely be given into the hands of the king of
Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’” (Jeremiah
38:2, 3).
The princes knew Jeremiah would die in that cistern! That was their goal! So we can postulate that the prophet was soundly beaten before he was lowered into that muddy cistern!
✡ …he would see mud (mire)! How deep this mire was
we don’t know. It was deep enough for the prophet
to sink in, but not so deep that he couldn’t still
have the use of his hands (see Jeremiah 38:12). We
are just told, “…Jeremiah sank in the mire.” The
Hebrew word for mire is טיט (pronounced teet, and
meaning, “sticky…mud or clay), Strong’s Hebrew
Dictionary. The cistern was originally dug to hold
water, but apparently was now out of use. Such an
unused hole in the ground would be a convenient
place to dump garbage! So the mire into which Jer-
emiah sank could very well have been a mixture of
mud and rotting garbage!
✡ ...he would see himself facing starvation and
death! He would starve because “...there [was]
...no more bread in the city.”(Jeremiah 39:9).
But, even if there was bread in the city, the
prophet’s enemies had no intention of giving
him any food! Remember, they had said to the
king, “...let this man be put to death...”
(Jeremiah 38:4). And the prophet’s stomach was
growling!
But…
- If he looked up…
✡ ...he would see a bit of blue sky, perhaps clouds,
or stars at night! And he would also be reminded
of the God who created the sky, the clouds, and
the stars! (see Genesis 1:1-25).
✡ ...he would be reminded that the highest creation
of God was human beings! And they were precious
to Him, even being made in His very image! (see
Genesis 1:26-30). Jeremiah, knowing the Hebrew
Scriptures, also might have recalled to mind Psalm
116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of His saints.” And as I pointed out at the
beginning, Jeremiah was the prophet of אֵל שָ דַּי (El
Shadai), the All-Powerful or Almighty God, who pro-
mised to take care of him! (see Isaiah 46:3, 4).
✡ ...he would soon see God’s provision of rescue
in the person of “...Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian
...[who] spoke to the king, ‘...these men have
done evil...to Jeremiah...he is likely to die
from hunger in the place where he is....’” (Jer-
emiah 38:8, 9). So this Ethiopian eunuch, with
the help of thirty men, rescued the prophet (see
Jeremiah 38:10-13). And “...Jeremiah remained in
the court of the prison until the day that Jeru-
salem was taken.” (Jeremiah 38:28).
What does this all mean for us?
- We can look down…
☹ ...and see the mess of our restricted lives in
the midst of this pandemic, counting those who
are sick and those who have died – some very
close to us!
☹ ...and count the businesses that have failed and
are failing every day! And this has become an
economic tragedy for so many owners and employees!
☹ ...and be in fear of what it will mean that the
national debt is reaching 28 trillion dollars (at
the time of this writing), and increasing at a
rate of one million dollars every 23 seconds (one
billion dollars every six and a half hours, or
one trillion every 9 months!)
☹ ...and see the national division in politics,
race, and income, more of a divide and hatred
than we have ever seen in our lifetimes!
☹ ...and be frightened by the mob violence often
fomented by police brutality!
☹ ...and be scared of rising foreign powers, the
growing access to nuclear weapons, and the con-
tinuing threat of terrorist activity!
…and on, and on, and on!
Or…
- We can look up to God who…
✞ ...will be with us forever! (see Matthew 28:20;Romans 8:35-39; Hebrews 13:5).✞ ...promises to provide for our needs! (see Psalm33:18-21; Matthew 6:31-33; Philippians 4:19).✞ ...will see us through our troubles! (see John 16:33).✞ ...strengthens us, and even carries us when wefeel we can no longer continue! (see Isaiah 40:28-30; 46:3, 4).✞ ...through the Apostle Paul tells us, “I can do allthings through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philip-pians 4:13).✞ ...has provided for us an indescribable place inHis eternal heaven! (see John 14:1-3; Romans 12:I Corinthians 2:9; II Corinthians 12:4).
So, as Jesus said in Luke 21:28, “…look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption draw near.”
Look up, not down!