Sunk in A Muddy Dungeon

1
Sunk in A Muddy Dungeon

• Blessed are you when people insult you,
  persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
  against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad,
  because great is your reward in heaven, for in
  the same way they persecuted the prophets who
  were before you.
• Matthew 511-12

2
The Facts, Please!

• The kind of dungeon in which Jeremiah was
  imprisoned was a cistern-a large hole dug for
  storing water.

3
More Facts, Please!

• Primitive people located their homes near water
  in rivers, ponds, or springs. Later, they
  learned to dig wells. Cisterns were build where
  there was no water source for the wells.

• Cisterns were often needed in Palestine because
  there is very little rainfall there from May to
  September. In the rainy months, people stored up
  rainwater for dry months.

4
More Facts, Please!

• The first cisterns were dug out of soft limestone
  rock, which often broke open. About the time and
  Israelites conquered Canaan, a better cistern was
  developed by sealing the walls and bottom with
  waterproof plaster.

• In the dry season, a cistern might be used as a
  prison when the water was used up. Inside, the
  bottom was dark and damp and sometimes full of
  mud.