Jeremiah 38:1-6
When There Is Nothing You Can Do
Outline:
I. \\#Jer 1:1-19\\ Jeremiah’s Calling
II. \\#2:1-37\\ God’s Case Against Judah
III. \\#3:1-25\\ Israel’s Three Time Zones
IV. \\#4:1-6:30\\ Sins and Judgments
V. \\#7:1-\\ Some Specific Messages
A. \\#Jer 7:1-34\\ A Message to the Religious
B. \\#Jer 8:1-22\\ A Message to the Continuous Backslider
C. \\#Jer 9:1-10:25\\ A Message to the Believer
D. \\#Jer 11:1-12:6\\ A Message About Jeremiah
E. \\#Jer 12:7-17\\ A Message to the Pastors
1. \\#Jer 12:7-9\\ An Astonishing Statement
2. \\#Jer 12:10-13\\ A Horrendous Failure
3. \\#Jer 12:14-17\\ A Strange Invitation
F. \\#Jer 13:1-7\\ A Message of Ruin
G. \\#Jer 15:15-21\\ Message to Self - Feet of Clay
H. \\#Jer 21:1-7\\ A Message to Zedekiah - The News
I. \\#Jer 22:1-2, Jer 24:1-3\\ A Message to the People -
Don’t Miss the Ride Out
J. \\#Jeremiah 25:1-3\\ A Message about Nebuchadnezzer -
The King Is Coming
H. \\#Jer 27:1-7\\ A Message to the Nations - Bad to Worse
I. \\#Jer 29:1-7\\ A Message of the Future - God's Not
Finished
J. \\#Jer 32:1-15\\ A Message of Hope - The End for the Jews
K. \\#Jer 35:1-8\\ A Message of Example - The Extent of
Disobedience
L. \\#Jer 38:1-6\\ Message with A Price - When There Is
Nothing You Can Do
Things are just about over for Judah. The nation is about to fall
(although \\#Jer 45:1, 46:2\\ again go backwards in time).
I. \\#Jer 1:1-6:30\\-General Messages Against Judah
II. \\#Jer 7:1-38:28\\-Specific Messages Against Judah
III. \\#Jer 39:1-52:64\\-The Fall and Thereafter
IV. \\#Jer 52:1-34\\-A Summary of the Fall
Chapters 37-38 turn again to the personal life of Jeremiah,
specifically to his treatment the last three or so years. (The times
are just estimates as there are no exact dates given.) Jeremiah will
serve out the last few years of Judah’s existence branded a traitor
and in dungeons and prisons.
I. Jeremiah’s arrest
A. Chapter 37
1. Zedekiah was king. He began a siege against Jerusalem
in Zedekiah’s ninth year \\#Jer 37:1\\.
2. At the same time, he attacked the last two defenced
cities of Judah, Lachish and Azekah \\#Jer 34:7\\.
3. At sometime during that siege, Egypt came up to fight
Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar left off attacking Judah
to deal with Egypt \\#Jer 37:5\\.
Jer 37:5 Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth
out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that
besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they
departed from Jerusalem.
4. When that happened, Jeremiah tired to go home to
Benjamin, but only got as far as the gate of
Jerusalem that went that direction, called the gate
of Benjamin \\#Jer 37:13\\ when the captain of the
guards at that gate, Irijah, accused Jeremiah of
treason and arrested him.
5. Jeremiah was carried to a chief scribe of the city,
Jonathan, and put into his dungeon.
6. Zedekiah wanted to speak to Jeremiah and sent for him.
\\#Jer 37:17\\
7. While Jeremiah revealed nothing new to Zedekiah, he
did ask Zedekiah to put him back into the king’s
prison which had much better conditions than
Jonathan’s prison—at least the king had taken better
care of Jeremiah than Jonathan, who probably wanted
Jeremiah dead anyway.
8. Zedekiah agreed.
B. Remember:
1. Zedekiah had been prophesying this judgment for years,
even while other prophets had been telling the king
that Babylon would fall and all of the goods and
people Babylon had taken would be returned.
\\#Jer 28:3\\
2. Now that Zedekiah knew who the true prophet and the
false prophets were, Jeremiah’s words took on a whole
new significance.
3. Also remember the conditions within Judah and
Jerusalem are bleak.
a. Even though there was a lull in the siege, there
was no food to be had.
b. The only way to get food was to grow it and there
had been no opportunity for that.
C. Chapter 38
1. Being moved into the court prison did not guarantee
Jeremiah’s safety.
a. There was still no food.
b. The leaders of the people all believed Jeremiah to
be a traitor. They all wanted him killed for
demoralizing the soldiers \\#Jer 38:4\\.
2. \\#Jer 38:6\\ The princes took Jeremiah and cast him
back into a dungeon.
a. He was being put there to die a slow death.
b. The dungeon, being below the surface, was filled
with mire, that is mud, sludge, some believe
sewage.
D. So Jeremiah was left in a dungeon to die and there was
nothing he could do about it.
II. What do you do when there is nothing you can do?
A. Understand, God does allow His people to get into this
situation.
1. Some falsely preach Eliphaz’s message to Job today.
Job 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever
perished, being innocent? or where were the
righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the
breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
a. What he said was that innocent people don’t get
into these messes!
b. The wicked are the ones who reap wickedness.
c. This is the judgment of God.
2. But Job and Jeremiah were both righteous men!
a. As was Joseph when he was sold into slavery.
b. And Elijah when Jezebel sought him.
c. And Abraham when he went 25 years waiting for a
son.
d. And Stephen as he was stoned by the Jews.
e. And James when he was killed with the sword.
f. And John as he was exiled to the island of Patmos.
g. And Paul as he was beaten and run out of so many
towns only to be beheaded in Rome.
3. There are situations today where there is NOTHING
you can do.
a. Death fits that description as it is inescapable.
b. Sickness or deterioration of the body.
(1) Some diseases can be treated.
(2) Some cannot.
c. Betrayal of a loved one.
(1) Betrayal is just that—betrayal.
(2) It is not a misunderstanding or an accidental
action, but an unprovoked, deliberate,
treacherous act on the part of another
against you.
d. Bullying, persecution, incarceration
e. In some cases our financial situation can leave us
helpless.
(1) It has been 2007 since some lost their jobs
and here we are in 2014 and some still
aren’t working.
(2) Unemployment is down below 7% but many of the
economist say it is only that low because
many gave up on trying to find work.
4. All I say is that godly people do suffer and face
situations in which they are neither at fault and
cannot fix the situation.
B. That being said, let me say there is always something we
can do.
1. In the physical world, there may be nothing we can do;
but God’s people are not bound to the physical.
2. We are spiritual beings and our spirits cannot be
bound, broken, or beaten by any but ourselves.
Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul: but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both body and
soul in hell.
a. How do we do this?
b. We learn to walk in the Spirit.
(1) Many want to measure their walk in the spirit
by how many miracles they can do.
(2) Perhaps a better measuring stick would be how
much affliction we can bear.
3. We do not know how Jeremiah coped with his situation.
a. The Bible does not tell us.
b. However, others verses do give us details and I
would recommend several things for us to do when
we can do nothing.
III. What to do when you can do nothing.
A. Have faith. I find myself speaking of faith often.
1. Why?
a. Because the ability to believe is an invitation
to the Holy Ghost to fill you.
(1) Faith is not a fruit of the Holy Ghost. It
is an invitation to Him.
(2) If you cannot believe, most likely you cannot
be filled.
(3) A Christian without a full cup of the Holy
Ghost is an empty-hearted Christian.
(4) Hence:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to
please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him.
b. Because Jesus hinted that there will be few who
will believe in the end time.
Luke 18:8 …Nevertheless when the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
c. Because without faith, you cannot have hope, and
without hope, you cannot have joy, and without
joy all this left is misery.
(1) I hate being miserable and God hates for us
to be miserable.
(2) He tells us that it is possible to be beaten
and killed for Jesus and still be filled
with joy.
Matt 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you.
2. So what should we have faith in?
a. There are three things we can have faith in.
(1) We can faith in God. God is in control
and will work all things for His glory
and our good.
(2) We can faith in God’s goodness. The
occurrence of bad things does not mean
that God is bad.
(3) We can faith in God’s Word.
b. Don’t prop yourself up having faith that
things are going to get better in this life.
(1) God may send such blessings but He will
not send them because you had faith
it would happen.
(2) God sends blessings because you have
faith in Him, His goodness, and His Word.
(3) And even if God doesn’t send blessings,
we should still have faith in these three.
B. Pray
1. How difficult it is for us to comprehend that prayer
is not the last resort. It is the only resort, the
only thing that will do any good at all.
2. We have a difficult time comprehending the balance
of human effort and God’s blessings.
a. There must be some human effort else God would not
have commanded us to give it.
(1) To the believers God commanded:
Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you:
(2) To the preachers God commanded:
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.
(3) To the husbands God commanded:
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives….
(4) And to the body God commanded:
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
b. However, all of our activity is nothing
without God and God’s presence can only be
attained by seeking Him in prayer.
3. Let me make an observation about praying without
ceasing from my life.
a. Many like to explain the reasons why that
command cannot be literal.
(1) We have no time.
(2) There are too many other things that
must be done.
(3) We have to sleep, eat, work and so
forth.
b. However, when we get into a fix where there
is nothing else we can do, I find it is
highly possible.
C. As you can, serve.
1. This may not be possible.
a. A broken or bound body may be greatly
limited in opportunities.
b. However, if there are any opportunities,
take them.
(1) Preach and witness if you can.
(a) Jeremiah spoke to Zedekiah from
prison bars.
(b) And how interested Zedekiah was!
(2) Praise and sing if you can. Paul and
Silas prayed and sang at midnight
\\#Acts 16:25\\ and God was able to
save souls because of it.
(3) Help and encourage others if you can.
As badly as we might be hurting, there
is always someone hurting worse.
2. Service does three things:
a. It helps you by taking your mind off of you
and your woes and putting it upon others.
b. It helps anyone you help. They may be
saved, a need might be meet, or maybe
nothing more happens than a heart is
encouraged; but all of these things help.
c. God is glorified.
To take us back to Jeremiah, let me say that he was rescued by
an Ethiopian named E-Bed Me-lech; and God blessed Ebedmelech
for his act of courage and kindness \\#Jer 39:16-18\\. And so it
often is, when we can do nothing for ourselves, God sends someone to
do something for us.
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