163 – Well of Mud
2 Chronicles 36:15-21 2 Kings 25:3-21 Jeremiah 32:1-33:26 38:1-40:6 52:1-34
Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.
The Lord gave Jeremiah a message for the people. He said, “The choice is yours. You can have life or death. If you stay in Jerusalem, you’ll suffer hunger, disease, and death. If you surrender to the Babylonian army, you’ll live. I’ve given this city to them, and they’ll totally destroy it.”
When the officials of Judah heard this, they went to the king and said, “This man must die. He’s a traitor. He’s telling people to abandon us.”
So Zedekiah allowed them to do what they wanted with Jeremiah. They put ropes around him and let him down into an empty well. It didn’t have water in it, but instead the bottom was nothing but mud. Soon the prophet had sunk down into the mud.
Another official ran to the king and said, “This is wrong! The prophet will die in that well. He has no food or water.”
The king gave permission for the man to pull Jeremiah out of the well. So he got 30 other men to help him. They threw old rags down the well and told the prophet to put these under his arms to protect him from the ropes. They then pulled him out of the well and took him back to the palace prison.
The Babylonians kept the city under siege for two and a half years. Finally they broke through the walls and took the city. When Zedekiah heard this, he got out of Jerusalem during the night and tried to escape.
The Babylonians chased after the king and soon caught him. They brought him back to Nebuchadnezzar. He took Zedekiah and made him watch as they killed his sons in front of him. They then gouged out his eyes, put him in chains, and led him away to Babylon.
The Babylonians totally destroyed the city so it could never again resist them. They destroyed the Temple, burned all the houses, and broke down the walls. The city was totally demolished. The Babylon army took the rest of the people away to Babylon, leaving only a few to tend the land.
Nebuchadnezzar heard about Jeremiah, so he told his captain, “Find this man, and make sure he isn’t hurt. He’s to be cared for and given whatever he wants.”
The captain went and found the prophet. He was in chains along with the others who were being sent into exile. The captain took the chains off Jeremiah and said, “You’re free to go. If you come to Babylon with us, we’ll take care of you and meet your needs for the rest of your life. But if you want, you can stay here in Judah. The choice is yours.”
Jeremiah said he would stay in Judah, so they allowed him and Baruch to go back to their homes. The Lord also protected the official that had helped the prophet get out of the well.
The Lord said to Jeremiah, “The day will come when I’ll raise up a righteous Branch from the line of David, and He’ll bring justice and righteousness to the land. He’ll be called, ‘The Lord our Righteousness.’ ”
