unconditional covenant. But they are in danger of eternity without salva tion unless you and I show our love for them. II The Reward of Reciprocal Compassion Ebed-melech, the Gentile court slave, lifted Jeremiah up out of the pit of death. Jeremiah now lifts him up before the Lord in prayer, and God’s answer is, “ I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord” (Jer. 39: 17). It is quite likely that if Jere miah were like some Christians today, he would have forgotten about the Ethiopian after he was freed from the pit. It is so easy to seek relief in time of some great sorrow and then to fail to appreciate the comfort and the help given by the Lord or some per son after the answer arrives. My Christian friend, have you ever stopped to consider what you and I owe to the Jews? Our Bible is Jewish —preserved and guarded through the centuries. Our Saviour, after the flesh, was bom of a Jewish virgin. The early disciples were Jews. The early church was mostly Jewish. And final ly, where would we be today if Paul, a Jew, had not taken the Gospel into Europe? We would be in darkness if this Jewish apostle had not been obedient to the heavenly vision. How can we, my Christian brother and sister, feel that we are not obligated to give the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jewish people of our time? The Apostle Paul wrote under inspiration, “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ [Messiah]: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1: 16). God will most assuredly have His reward for those who show com passion by bringing the Gospel to His own ancient people.
the family of God because the Lord reminded him that he had put his tmst in the true and living God. The Lord God of Israel has His own won derful way of blessing those who love the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. See Psalm 122:6— “ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee [Israel].” You may ask, “What will be my reward for befriending the Jews?” We are not able even to speculate as to what the exact reward may be or how great a blessing it may bring, but we do have the record of God’s dealing with the Ethiopian slave, and a great door of expectancy is open to us. First of all, let me say this: when a person is hired to work, a wage is agreed upon, and he is paid that amount when his service is complet ed. During our term of missionary service in Thailand, which is a con stitutional monarchy, we have seen thousands of people prostrate them selves before their king to do what ever he might bid them do. There is no thought of reward or wages. They gladly serve their sovereign. Jehovah does not tell Ebed-melech what his reward will be for saving the life of Jeremiah the prophet, but He puts the matter in such a way that this slave might expect almost anything. God uses a very strange phrase (see verse 18) “ Thy life shall be for a prey unto thee.” Now, just what does this mean? On the surface it appears to mean very little. The word prey in its ordinary usage means loot or plunder, or for an animal to kill an other animal for food. In a sense, this is the meaning in this story of the Gentile befriender of the Jewish prophet. When a bandit goes out to rob a person on the street, he doesn’t know whether he will obtain one dollar or one thousand dollars. Like wise, the animal going into the forest for food does not know whether he will get a canary or a chicken. So God says, “ Your life shall be for a prey unto thee. I am going to reward and to bless you, Ebed-melech. Not only will you be spared the destruc tion of Jerusalem, but also you will be rewarded above all that you might ask or think.” My beloved Christian, what have you done to befriend a Jewish per son? What have you done to help him find peace with God through his Lord and Saviour?
miah was put into the dungeon with out food or water. The ancient dun geon was a filthy, dark, damp dun geon of death. Was God’s own prophet to die in this manner? God put it into the heart of a Gentile (an Ethiopian) to befriend His Jewish prophet. It took great courage for an Ethiopian court slave to appeal to a furious and wicked king. The Ethiopian’s name was Ebed-melech, and he knew that Jeremiah would surely die if he were allowed to remain in the filthy dun geon. The slave’s appeal was granted, and Jeremiah was spared the horrible death of starvation. This Gentile slave was willing to lay down his life, if necessary, to save God’s servant. WILL JEHOVAH FORGET THIS DARING LABOR OF LOVE? We need only to look at Jeremiah, chapter $9 to find our answer. We shall divide the answer into three divisions: I The Reward of Knowing Jehovah's Plan For The Jewish People Just as surely as Jehovah had a plan for Israel in Jeremiah’s time, just so has He a clearly revealed plan for His Chosen People today. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has been sovereign in all His dealings with His ancient people. The Jewish peo ple reached great heights of blessings while they walked in fellowship with Him, but they slipped to great depths of anguish when they rebelled against His will. For almost 2000 years, the Jewish people have experienced the “ lash” of a grieved Heavenly Father. Some people feel that this gives them the right to have part in Jewish per secution. Banish the thought! Also remember the words in Jeremiah 30: 20, “ I (Jehovah) will punish all that oppress them (Israel).” Again, the Apostle Paul says, “ Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:1-2). My Christian brother and sister, there are Jewish people in your neighbor hood, factory, or office who are not mindful of the Word of God and the plan of salvation and are only wait ing to be befriended by a Christian Gentile and to be witnessed to con cerning the Messiah. The Jewish peo ple are God’s covenant people by an
III The Reward of Tremendous Blessing To Those Who Befriend The Jews
In Jeremiah chapter 39, verse 18, the Lord assures Ebed-melech of sev eral things: first, He would deliver him from danger when Jerusalem was attacked; secondly, the Ethiopian’s life would be for a PREY UNTO HIM. It is worthy of note also that this Gentile slave was brought into
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