EBED MELECH - BIBLICAL PEOPLE I'M CURIOUS ABOUT (PART 4 OF 6)

Ebed-Melech telling the king about Jeremiah, Lifeway Collection

I'm guessing that Ebed-Melech may be the best known individual in this six part series... okay, one of the two best known (next week will be another you may have heard of. I remember as a child reading two versions of Ebed-Melech's first of two appearances in Scripture.

Like last week's subject, Urijah, Ebed-Melech is mentioned solely in the book of Jeremiah. That's probably the main thing they have in common. In Jeremiah 26 where Urijah mentioned, it was the people wanting to kill Jeremiah and the princes who defended him. In Jeremiah 38, the princes wanted to kill the prophet and Ebed-Melech was the rescuer. Urijah fled the king of Judah in fear, Ebed-Melech boldly implored the king of Judah to intervene. 

For those unfamiliar with the story, the princes asked permission of King Zedekiah to throw Jeremiah in a pit. This was when Jerusalem was beseiged by Babylon and Jeremiah probably would not survive. Ebed-Melech went before the King, told him that Jeremiah's life was at stake, and asked permission to pull him out. He not only tossed Jeremiah the rope to tie underneath him, but also rags to put under his armpits to protect him. 

The NKJV calls him a eunuch, with a note that the word can be translated as "official." In From Every People And Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race, author J. Daniel Hays points out that translators and commentators incorrectly consider the dark skinned Cushites like Ebed-Melech as servants when the text does not require that interpretation. In this case, he states the Scripture implies that Ebed-Melech was someone King Zedekiah would listen to, more so than if he was someone's servant. 

Likewise, the picture above of Ebed-Melech makes him look someone who could have used physical help in pulling Jeremiah out of the pit. The drawing I saw in the Bible Story made him look more like he could have played football, as well as a cheerful smile on his face.

This is one of my favorite stories, because it does not end here. The next chapter tells of the fall of Jerusalem. During that tumult, God sent Jeremiah with this message: 

"Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you. But I will deliver you in that day," says the LORD, "and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me," says the LORD.' " Jeremiah 39:16-18, NKJV 

I love the love God shows to Ebed-Melech in this passage, enough for Him to send His prophet in a time of calamity to give him a message of encouragement.

 

BOOK REVIEW - FROM EVERY PEOPLE AND NATION: A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF RACE, BY J. DANIEL HAYS

Do the people in Scripture look like they do in the paintings of European artists? How much racial diversity is there in the Bible?

The main title, "From Every People and Nation" makes one think of the promise in Revelation that God will gather people from all languages and ethnicities around the world. The subtitle, "A Biblical Theology of Race" reveals the focus on race, aimed at the divide between black and white in American Christianity.

Author J. Daniel Hays points out the importance of the Cushites (also known as Ethiopians) throughout Scripture, going from Genesis to Revelation looking both at the mention of black Africans as well as the teachings on unity of God's people throughout the Bible. In addition, he deals with how commentators through the ages ignore the importance of the Cushites and often consider them slaves when the Biblical text doesn't state that.

This is the second book I've read in the series "New Studies in Biblical Theology", and I am hooked. I highly recommend this book, especially to confront some of the prejudice and racist interpretations of Scripture. For example, he makes it clear the Bible does not condemn inter-racial marriage - the only prohibitions deal with faith and religion, not on ethnicity.