Prisoners in the Bible

By Zach Sewell

Each chapter in this book explores the story of a different
person in the Bible who was imprisoned, and considers the
unique way that God was at work in their situation. The
purpose of this book is to encourage people who are currently
incarcerated by showing them how God has worked through the
difcult situation of imprisonment many times before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449779740

Zach Sewell

Zach and his wife, Rachel, live in Kansas City, Missouri. Zach serves on the ministry team at the Overland Park Church of Christ in Overland Park, Kansas. Zach is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. He also enjoys rollerblading, losing to his friends in racquetball, and walking around in nature.

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Copyright © 2013 Zach Sewell.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7975-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7974-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7976-4 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923707

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/28/2012

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1   Joseph: The Difficulties of Prison Life

Chapter 2   How Joseph Handled Temptation

Chapter 3   Moses: God’s Ability to Use Anyone

Chapter 4   Samson: Relationships and Influences

Chapter 5   Manasseh: Finding God in Prison

Chapter 6   Daniel: Spiritual Discipline in Captivity

Chapter 7   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: Real Trust in God

Chapter 8   Jeremiah: Fear in Prison

Chapter 9   Hagar: Restraining Order

Chapter 10   John the Baptist: Murdered in Prison

Chapter 11   The Gerasene Demoniac: God’s Power to Change a Life

Chapter 12   A Woman Arrested for Adultery: Public Humiliation and a Fresh Start

Chapter 13   Jesus: God Experienced What We Experience

Chapter 14   Barabbas: Set Free

Chapter 15   The Criminal on the Cross: Death Row and Eternal Life

Chapter 16   Peter: The Ministry of Angels in Prison

Chapter 17   Paul: Contentment in a Bad Situation

Chapter 18   Jehoiachin: Trading in Your Prison Clothes

Recommended Reading

Acknowledgements

About the Cover Artist

References

For anyone whose life has been affected in some way by the painful reality of imprisonment.

Introduction

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Prisoners in the Bible

I was recently leading a discussion with a small group of young adults at our church about the topic of Prisoners in the Bible. I asked them to participate in a word-association exercise. I brought up two words, prisoner and Bible, and asked them to respond with the first words or ideas that surfaced in their minds. We started with the word prisoner and the group’s responses included: bondage, captive, hurtful, forgotten, Michael Vick, protection, conviction, unloved, cell, gang, Shawshank Redemption, bad, and criminal. We repeated the same exercise with the word Bible and the group responded with: God, memory-verses, boring, The Word, holy, love letter, wisdom, Leviticus, saved, Psalms, love, and joy.

What do prisoners have to do with the Bible? Is there any connection between the two lists of words above? What do the words forgotten and captive have to do with the words joy and saved? What does conviction have to do with love? What does cell have to do with holy? Although we oftentimes may not associate the two ideas, prison and prisoners are common themes in the Bible. Some parts of the Bible were written by a prisoner. We often overlook the fact that Jesus himself was arrested. This book will seek to explore the meaning and messages behind each prisoner’s story in the Bible.

Jesus taught his followers that whenever they fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, provided a stranger with a place to sleep, gave clothes to those who needed them, cared for the sick, or visited people in prison, it was as if they were doing it for Jesus himself (Matthew 25:34-45). People sometimes assume that Jesus only spent time with seemingly perfect people. Jesus ministered to all people, good and bad, and placed an emphasis on those who were not accepted in mainstream society: poor people, people with contagious skin diseases, foreigners, and other people that the world viewed as undesirable.

So what do the words prisoner and Bible have in common? A lot. Although the world tends to drift away from those with troubled situations and checkered pasts, Jesus tends to drift toward them. He was the only one touching the people with contagious skin diseases. This is great news for all of us because, regardless of where we are in life, we need the type of savior who will look past our brokenness and embrace us. Jesus is the intersection where the words prisoner and Bible meet. He binds words like captive and saved together. He represents the connection between hurtful and love, forgotten and joy, and captive and saved.

Each prisoner story in the Bible shares one element in common with the other prisoners in the Bible: God is at work in a unique way in their story. Regardless of whether the person had done good or bad, was guilty or innocent, or was treated fairly or unjustly, God still loved the person and wasn’t finished with them despite the fact that they were in prison. God may work differently in one situation than in another, but that is part of His mysterious nature.

God is working in the lives of inmates today, just as He was thousands of years ago. God cares about every person’s situation, and those who are incarcerated are no exception. People in prison today may at times feel alone and abandoned. Joseph had to have felt that way after his prison mate, who was supposed to help him once he was released, forgot all about him and went on with his life for two years before remembering him. God remembered Joseph, though, and was involved in his situation in the same way God knows every prisoner today and wants to be involved in each situation. God knows each person—even the ones that do not know him.

What is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of separate books (some are actually letters) from many different writers that are all inspired by God. The stories and teachings shared in Scripture teach us about God and what it means to live a godly life.

If you think about it as a library, the Bible is broken up into two main sections: the Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament teaches about God’s efforts to be in a relationship with His people before Jesus entered the scene. Its books consist of law, stories from history, poetry, and prophecy. The New Testament’s books consist of stories about the life of Jesus, the spreading of His message, letters from leaders encouraging early Christian believers (some of these were written from prison), and one book describing an apocalyptic vision that God gave to His people.

Sometimes people see the Bible as a list of rules that tells us about all we have done wrong. It’s sometimes represented that way. If you spend time reading it, though, you may find that the Bible has more to do with freedom than it has to do with rules. It is about second and third chances. It is the story of God seeking a relationship with us. It is not the story of some old man with a white beard reading a long list of rules in a monotone voice.

The Bible is a story of grace, mercy, and love. It is not about condemnation or making people feel guilty. Jesus said that he did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it (John 3:17). The Bible has been misused as a guilt tool by some, but it is a story about God’s love for every person and his sacrifice in order to be close with them. This excerpt from Psalm 107:10-16 is a good representation of God’s compassion shown in Scripture:

Some sat in darkness, in utter

darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,

because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness, the utter