Jeremiah and the Dungeon

By Harold Smith

I have a Bible story for you today, boys and girls. This is the story of Jeremiah. He was a prophet that preached to a very disobedient people. And the people got mad at Jeremiah and they cast him down into a dungeon. There, he had nothing much to eat and it was cold and wet. An Ethiopian servant of the king hunted around and found some old rotten rags, about the time that Jeremiah was down in that old foul dungeon. And here was this servant of the Ethiopian king looking around the old city of Jerusalem, I suppose, to find all the old rotten rags that he could find. You couldn't imagine what he was going to do, but God had something in mind. This servant was a good servant. His name was Ebedmelech, kind of a funny name. God was working with this man and He was working to get Jeremiah out of that prison. So, the king permitted him to go to get thirty men to get Jeremiah up out of that dungeon before he died. Somebody may have asked Ebedmelech, "Why are you taking all those men and those old rags? All you need is a piece of rope". But he knew that Jeremiah, his old friend, had suffered much and was very weak and a rope would be hard pulling. So he lowered these old rags down and told Jeremiah to put them under his arms and then put the cords around the old rags, and they hauled Jeremiah up out of that old dungeon, and he got well again. This is a lovely story, it's recorded in Jeremiah, chapter 38. In Jeremiah, chapter 39, God made great promises to care for that Ethiopian servant, Ebedmelech. He said, "Surely I will deliver thee... because thou has put thy trust in me" - Jeremiah 39:18. He trusted in the Lord, and the Lord blessed that man for what he had done for God's prophet, Jeremiah. A little bit of kindness goes a long way when it's given to the Lord's people. To trust the Lord like this Ethiopian servant did, is the best thing to do, boys and girls. Have you ever trusted Him as your Savior? Once you've trusted Him as your Savior, you can trust Him for everything, boys and girls. Everything you need, you can trust the Lord for, after you know Him as your own Savior. Do trust Him and be saved!