Joseph, Jonah and Jeremiah are all examples of people who found themselves in literal pits at one time or other, but who also experienced God’s rescue, help and blessing.
Joseph ended up being thrown into a cistern by his own brothers, who later sold him into slavery (Gen 37:19-20). He experienced relationship problems and ended up estranged from his family and living in a foreign country for years. Whether his brothers’ reaction was partly caused by his own boasting about dreams, it must have been difficult for him to come to terms with the animosity he faced – and animosity from those nearest and dearest to us can be very hard to take.
Jonah‘s ‘pit’ was caused by his own rebellion and disobedience. Running away from God, he ended up on a ship to Tarshish and was thrown overboard in the middle of a storm. Instead of drowning, he found himself in the belly of a large fish (Jonah 1:17), describing this experience in Jonah 2:3, 5-6. When we end up in trouble through our own foolishness and sin, we often think there is no way back to God, but Jonah is a reminder of God’s grace to us in rescuing us even from our own sin and giving us a second chance.
Jeremiah, on the other hand, ended up in a pit through no fault of his own. A faithful prophet, he was condemned by those in authority who did not like his messages of judgment and calls to repentance. They plotted with the king to have him thrown into a cistern (Jer 38:8) – scant reward for one who had served God faithfully all his life.
We see, however, how God provided help and deliverance for all of these people.
- God used Reuben and the Midianites to save Joseph’s life and to lead him to Egypt, where ultimately, one day, he would save the whole world during a great famine. The pit and prison, which were definitely unpleasant experiences for Joseph, ultimately turned out to be God’s great plan of salvation, so that when he was reunited with his brothers years later, he could say, ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ (Gen 50:20) Joseph’s dreams were fulfilled in ways he could never have predicted as a seventeen-year-old! God can use unexpected people to help in our deliverance; as Proverbs 16:7 says, ‘When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.’ God will constantly surprise us in how He rescues us using unexpected people! – He even got a foreign king, Cyrus, to issue a decree to allow His people to return to Israel after the exile, for example. We should never underestimate God’s ability to rescue us, even when there seems to be no way out at all.
- In the case of Jonah, we see how God used a large fish not to harm Jonah, but to rescue him and give him the opportunity to serve Him again, even when he had messed up. What would have been a disastrous time of drowning and death was actually turned into another opportunity for praise: ‘In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.’ (Jonah 2:2) God is able to use all circumstances to work things together for good for us (Rom 8:28). Jonah reminds us that God is able to save and rescue in the most unlikely ways and is prepared to give us second chances.
- In the case of Jeremiah, God had people in high places who were prepared to risk their lives to save Jeremiah’s (Jer 38:8-12). God is never taken by surprise, never left floundering around to sort out things as we are. He is always in control and He can use all kinds of people and all kinds of ‘coincidences’ to rescue His people from pits of peril.