Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Ahikam - son of Shaphan the scribe, or royal secretary. He was one of those whom King Josiah, when struck by the words of the book of the law, sent to inquire of the Lord (2 Kings 22:12; 2 Kings 22:14). Hence, his interference here in behalf of Jeremiah is what we should expect from his past association with that good king. His son Gedaliah followed in his father's steps, so that he was chosen by the Babylonians as the one to whom they committed Jeremiah for safety after taking Jerusalem, and on whose loyalty they could depend in setting him over the remnant of the people in Judea (Jeremiah 39:14; 2 Kings 25:22).
That they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. Princes often, when they want to destroy a good man, prefer it to be done by a popular tumult, rather than by their own order, so as to reap the fruit of the crime without odium to themselves (Matthew 27:20).
Remarks:
(1) The minister of God must speak unreservedly and faithfully all that God commands him to speak; he must "not diminish a word" (Jeremiah 26:2) through fear or flattery, but, like Paul, be able to say at the end of his ministry, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Jeremiah's warrant for his boldness in announcing the doom of the tabernacle at Shiloh (Jeremiah 26:9), as about to befall the temple at Jerusalem, was simply (Jeremiah 26:12), "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house." So long as the minister of God delivers faithfully the message of his Divine Master, there is no just ground for complaint against him, and he may confidently leave results with God.
(2) The threat of putting him to death (Jeremiah 26:8) only made Jeremiah repeat his message from God with the same affectionate earnestness as before, "Amend your ways, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent Him of the evil that He hath pronounced against you" (Jeremiah 26:13). Neither their threats could abate the loving tenderness of his appeal, nor his own natural timidity diminish from his faithful statement of the message of God: he suppresses nothing and softens nothing from fear of man. At the same time, without resistance, he gives himself up to the pleasure of the powers that be, as ordained of God (Romans 13:1); but at the same time warns them of the fatal consequences which will result to themselves if, by an unrighteous judgment, they condemn him to death, and so shed innocent blood (Jeremiah 26:15). Herein we have a model for the guidance of ministers under similar circumstances. God will either save them from suffering, or save them in suffering, for His name's sake, "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:19).
(3) God has all hearts in His hands, and can raise up friends and advocates for His people from among the ranks of their opponents. When Jeremiah's life was threatened by the priests, the prophets, and all the people, certain of the elders were moved by God to stand up in his behalf (Jeremiah 26:17). A Gamaliel was raised up to befriend Peter and John in the Jewish Council (Acts 5:34, etc.), even as Nicodemus had claimed even-handed justice and an impartial hearing for their Master before them (John 7:50-51).
(4) The elders pleaded for Jeremiah the parallel cases of Micah and Urijah, who had both prophesied against Jerusalem-the former, under the good King Hezekiah, so far from forfeiting his life by his faithfulness, was the instrument of leading the king to repentance and humiliation before the Lord, so that the Lord repented of the evil which he had threatened; though the latter paid the penalty of his godly boldness with his life, yet the consequences to Jehoiakim were such as to afford but little encouragement to him and his people to repeat such a daring defiance of God again. Jeremiah was therefore spared. Whence we may learn that, if the Lord be on our side, we need not fear what man can do to us. Ungodly men cannot stir one step against us further than God permits. Their hands are tied in regard to the children of God, except so far as God allows, and God will not allow any real or lasting evil to befall His people. Happy therefore are the people that have God for their God!