“But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid” (Jeremiah 39:17).
When the Lord’s faithful ones are suffering for Him, they shall have sweet messages of love from Himself, and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them. Ebed-melech was only a despised Ethiopian, but he was kind to Jeremiah, and so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of his prophet. Let us be ever mindful of God’s persecuted servants, and He will reward us.
Ebed-melech was to be delivered from the men whose vengeance he feared. He was a humble black man, but Jehovah would take care of him. Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans, but this lowly Negro could not be hurt. We, too, may be fearful of some great ones who are bitter against us; but if we have been faithful to the Lord’s cause in the hour of persecution, He will be faithful to us. After all, what can a man do without the Lord’s permission? He puts a bit into the mouth of rage, and a bridle upon the head of power. Let us fear the Lord, and we shall have no one else to fear. No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God shall be without its reward; and if we stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand up for us.
(From Faith's Checkbook for July 5th).
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3 comments:
I think you need to check your heart. What was the point of saying ,if he can take care of this LOWLY NEGRO MAN !Thats right!GOD does NOT have favorites his children are his favorite all his children are like a bag of skittles!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Anonymous,
May the Lord bless you today in all things.
The devotional on Ebed-melech's life was written by Charles Spurgeon in the 1800's (see note that it's from "Faith's Check Book" http://www.spurgeon.org/fcb/fcb.cgi), so the phrase "lowly Negro man" was not intended as an insult. It was Spurgeon's poetic rewording of the phrase he used in the previous sentence, "humble black man", and it means exactly the same thing.
Ebed-melech was not in a high social position, so he was lowly. He was submitted to the Lord God in faith, so he was lowly. Hope this brings you peace in this matter, for you are precious in the sight of God.
It's an encouragement to all who desire to walk with our lowly Savior to remember that Jesus identifies Himself as lowly:
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."—Matthew 11:28-30
Pretty amazing thing for the Lord of Creation to say, isn't it?
Yes, I think Kenmore gave a satisfactory answer. In Spurgeon's day "Negro" was acceptable even in polite conversation, just as "African-American" would be to most blacks today in the USA. Also, of course, a white man or any race can be lowly in his social status and that not be an insult.
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