In Jeremiah 38 we come to Jeremiah’s lowest point–literally. Some of King Zedekiah’s men came to him and said that Jeremiah needed to be killed, because he was prophesying against the city of Jerusalem and against the nation. King Zedekiah responded that he could do nothing against them, and they could do whatever they wanted with Jeremiah. They took Jeremiah and lowered him into a cistern. The cistern contained no water, only mud at the bottom and Jeremiah sank in the mud. He would have died there except for the goodwill of one of the king’s eunuch’s who saw what had been done to Jeremiah as wrong. He went to the king and convinced him to let Jeremiah out of the cistern. When Jeremiah was safely out of the cistern, King Zedekiah called for him, and asked what was going to happen next. Jeremiah told him he would kill him if he told the truth. The king promised not to kill him. Jeremiah told him if he surrendered to the Babylonians he would be carried off to Babylon and the Babylonians would not burn the city, but if they didn’t surrender the entire city would be burned. King Zedekiah then let Jeremiah go, and told him not to tell anyone what he had said. They put together a ruse of telling others Jeremiah had begged the king to spare his life. That is how the chapter ends.
In Jeremiah 39 the city falls to the Babylonians. In a horrendous act, King Nebuchadnezzar has King Zedekiah watch as all his sons are slaughtered, and then his eyes are gouged out, so the last thing he ever saw was the death of his sons. Then he was taken into captivity in Babylon, along with the rest of the people of the city. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces burned the city and broke down its walls, leaving only the poorest in the land in place. Jeremiah was set free by Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah told the Ethiopian eunuch who had freed him from the cistern, the LORD was with him and he would not be carried off or put to death.
Jeremiah 40 tells us of the Babylonians giving Jeremiah the opportunity to go with them or to stay in the land under the protection of Gedaliah, the governor. Jeremiah chooses to stay in Judah. Under Gedaliah, the Judeans who had gone into self-imposed exile in Ammon and Moab returned. As life returned to some semblance of normal for the remnant who remained, a plot against Gedaliah’s life was uncovered, but Gedaliah would not permit his men to kill the man who was said to be the one who was going to assassinate him.
As we return to Matthew 8, we read of many miraculous signs Jesus performed, including the healing of a leper, the healing of a centurion’s servant without Jesus even going near the man, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and the healing of many other people in Capernaum. Matthew shows us Jesus’ ability to bring wholeness to people’s lives. Then Jesus performs the miracle of calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee, showing us He has power over nature. Following this, Matthew tells us of several men who said they would follow Jesus, but they put limitations on when and how they would do it. Jesus made it clear, He is the one who sets the agenda not us. After that, Jesus healed two men in the region of the Gadarenes, a Gentile area, who were possessed by demons. When the people of the region saw Jesus’ power, rather than being amazed and asking Him to heal others, they were overwhelmed and asked Jesus to leave the area. This shows us not everyone wants what Jesus offers. We see this in our own day. People have the opportunity to receive salvation in Jesus’ name, and some do. But others reject Jesus as one “miracle worker” among many. Others reject the entire concept of God. In every era, some receive Jesus and His miraculous salvation, while others reject it and send Him away.