“Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud” (Jer 38:6).
Although Jeremiah is seldom considered a Messianic figure, he should be. In chapter 1, Jeremiah is portrayed as a prophet like Moses (compare Jer 1:5-9 with Exod 4:10; Deut 18:18). In chapter 11, he is depicted as the suffering servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53 (compare Jer 11:19 with Isa 53:7-8). And in chapter 38, Jeremiah is depicted as a second Joseph. Just like Joseph, he is taken against his will by those who hate him and cast into a cistern without water (compare Jer 38:6 with Gen 37:22, 24).
As paradoxical as it sounds, the great extent to which our people have rejected Yeshua only confirms him all the more as the true Messiah of Israel.
Remarkably, all of these allusions—Moses, the Servant of the Lord, and Joseph—share one theme in common: to be like them is to be despised, hated, and rejected. And though being despised is not often listed as a Messianic qualification, it most certainly should be.
In fact, if we were to take a poll of the most despised Jewish men in history, the one who performed miracles like Moses, was led to the slaughter like Isaiah’s suffering servant, and was mocked and rejected like Joseph, would rise to the top of the list. The one whom many of our people now dismiss with the words, “May his name and memory be blotted out,” bears all the marks of Messiah. “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more'” (Jer 11:19). As paradoxical as it sounds, the great extent to which our people have rejected Yeshua only confirms him all the more as the true Messiah of Israel.
And because we know how Joseph’s story ends, we long for the day when our people will finally recognize and embrace their once-estranged but chosen brother.
“Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, ‘Have everyone go out from me.’ So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’ And they came closer. And he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life'” (Gen 45:1-5).
