Jeremiah 40:1-5: a reflection

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were carried away captive to Babylon. 2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this evil on this place; 3and the LORD has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. 4Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, go there.” 5Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.

In the rubble after Jerusalem's fall, the prophet Jeremiah, who had faithfully and unpopularly spoken God's word for decades, is found in chains among the captives. And his release comes from an unexpected source: Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, a pagan enemy officer. He unbinds Jeremiah, even acknowledges that the LORD had brought this disaster because of the people's sin, and then gives Jeremiah a free choice of where to go, along with food and a gift.

Notice through whom God cares for his servant here. Not through Jeremiah's own people, who had mostly rejected him, but through a foreign soldier of the conquering army. In the middle of catastrophe, God arranges kindness, freedom, and provision for his faithful prophet, and he does it through the last hand you would expect. The enemy captain becomes the instrument of God's care.

There is encouragement in that for anyone who has served God faithfully and found little thanks for it. God does not forget his own, and his provision is not limited to the channels you would predict. Sometimes his care reaches you through an unlikely source, a stranger, even someone you might have counted an adversary. When you have been faithful and feel forgotten, watch for God's care coming from unexpected hands. He looked after Jeremiah through a Babylonian; he can look after you through anyone he chooses.

Lord, you cared for faithful Jeremiah through the hand of an enemy officer. When I have served you and feel forgotten, help me trust that you do not forget your own, and open my eyes to your provision, even when it comes through unexpected and unlikely hands.