The preceding pericope recorded how the Lord preserved his prophet, and this one shows how He preserved the prophet's rescuer.
39:15-16 Before his release from the stockade, the Lord told Jeremiah to give a message to Ebed-melech (cf. 38:7-130. Yahweh said he was about to fulfill His predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Ethiopian would witness these events.
39:17 The Lord promised to deliver Ebed-melech from the Babylonian soldiers. They would not kill him. He had, after all, delivered Jeremiah from death at the hand of Zedekiah's officials. This would be his reward for trusting in the Lord. The evidence of his trust was his respect and concern for Jeremiah, who proclaimed the Lord's words.
"Jer 39 presents a strong contrast between faithfulness and the lack of faith. Jeremiah and Ebed-melech represent those who are faithful to the LORD and to whom the LORD is faithful in return. Zedekiah represents faithlessness. In some respects, Zedekiah's faithlessness is of the most troublesome sort among people of faith. His faithlessness is not rejection of the LORD but an inability to act in courage when pressures mount. Like the church at Laodicea in Rev 3:15 [which was also blind], Zedekiah was neither hot nor cold, and he paid a terrible price for his indecision."502
