Read Jeremiah 38.
The message was simple enough. "Surrender and you will live. If you try to fight with your own resources, you will fail and the city will be burned."
The king's officials rejected Jeremiah's words and accused him of treason. With the king's permission, they lowered the prophet in a muddy bottomed cistern and left him there to die. Sometimes you say exactly what God wants said, do exactly what God wants done, and suffer for it.
It was an Ethiopian official who realized that Jeremiah would starve to death and called the punishment evil. The king was not a leader but seemingly gave into anyone, except God. He granted the Ethiopian his request to pull Jeremiah out of the pit and then wanted to hear the prophet's message for himself. The king knew Jeremiah would tell him the truth.
Through it all Jeremiah demonstrated a mature and godly character.
1. Honesty.
He could have embellished or withheld the truth of God's word. He could have made the message more palatable, perhaps by saying this is just his opinion about what God said, his view, or his tradition. He could have left out the unpopular parts. One of the great problems in Christianity is not communicating the whole counsel of God. It is much more acceptable to speak of love than the awful, specific, Biblical consequences of disobeying God.
2. Submission.
This attitude begins with the absolute confidence that God is in control. With that in place, it is He who has the ultimate authority. Suffering will indeed take place when doing the right thing. "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12) The test is to surrender to the Holy Spirit's control and trust Him for the outcome. Our hope is not in this life. Existence here is temporary. The committed believer always has an eye toward heaven and eternal life.
3. Discretion.
Jeremiah told the truth but he did not tell everyone everything he knew. Discerning the timing and the amount of truth to share requires great wisdom. Some do not want to hear the truth and trying force feed them will produce a disastrous result. Some like the king, publicly will say one thing but inside they really do want to hear what God has said. It is a life-changing event when an open heart connects with the truth of God's word.
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