As Jeremiah began to give
reasons for his weeping over Jerusalem and Judah, he wrote not only
of his cities but also the “daughters” or neighboring
cities which were affected by the enemy's conquests. He also said
that he was like a bird chased without a cause. In chapter three and
verse fifty-three of Lamentations Jeremiah references what it was
like being in a dungeon where he wrote:
They have cut off my
life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
The
verse begins, “They have cut off my life in the dungeon,” In
the book of Jeremiah in chapter thirty-seven and verses fifteen
through seventeen Jeremiah wrote:
Wherefore the princes
were angry with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the
house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison. When
Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into
the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; Then Zedekiah
the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in
his house, and said, Is there any word from
the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be
delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
So
when he wrote “they have cut off my life in the dungeon”
he knows of that he speaks. He felt the effects of being in a
“dungeon” which is
a “pit, well, or cistern”,
and if we can imagine that he was placed there for proclaiming the
truth of the Lord to the people, we might understand his weeping and
lament over his conditions.
The
verse goes on to say, “ and cast a stone upon me.” Not
only was Jeremiah thrown into a “dungeon” but it was
normal protocol to “cast” or place a stone over the
opening of it. Once a person was entombed in a dungeon, they were
separated and kept from the rest of the world by a stone.
Perhaps
as we read this passage Jesus came to our minds. He too was “cast”
or placed within a “dungeon” or “pit, well, or cistern”
after his death on the cross. The gospel of Matthew in chapter
twenty-seven and verses fifty-eight through sixty says,
He went to Pilate, and
begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be
delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he
had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of
the sepulcher, and departed.
Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior lived what Jeremiah wrote as He was placed
in the tomb and a “great stone” was “cast” in
front of it. However, after three days that stone was rolled away,
and Jesus rose again from the grave after dying for our sins. That
which cost Jesus everything is made available to us for free, and His
time in the “dungeon” was for our benefit. Though the
enemy's desire was to “cut off” Jesus from being the
Savior, his best entrapment was no challenge to Him. As we ponder the
plight of Jeremiah, let us also remember Jesus and His victory over
the “dungeon”, and may all who read his words remember the
cost that was paid that we might have fellowship with God.
Next
time we see how Jeremiah's enemies pursued him, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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