Faith Saves the Day!

Jeremiah 39

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, May 7.

The siege was successful, and the Babylonians breached the defenses of Jerusalem. While this historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem and the ensuing deportation of the people to Babylon is also told in 2 Kings 25, the prophet’s account emphasized God’s faithfulness to an Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-melech, who rescued him from the cistern in Jeremiah 38:7-13. While the story does not explicitly state it, Ebed-melech most likely put his life into God’s hands twice to accomplish this feat – first, by going before the king with the petition for Jeremiah’s life, and second, by putting himself at odds with the officials who opposed Jeremiah. In return for his courageous and compassionate action to preserve the life of the prophet, God spoke to the Ethiopian eunuch in Jeremiah 39:15-18:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,’ declares the Lord.”

God preserved the eunuch’s life, “because you have trusted in Me.” I love how God said that, because did we ever witness any declarations of faith from the Ethiopian court servant of Zedekiah? No, we are confronted with the biblical fact that our faith must be made manifest by our works, but it is not our works that save us, but the faith itself. As Paul emphasized in Romans 4:1-8, Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Seize the moment and put your faith into action through good works (James 2:14-26).

God bless you!

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YOUTUBE:

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