The Later Experiences of Jeremiah
CLASS 4 ISSUES
Study Scripture: Jeremiah 38: 7 –13
Background Scripture: 2 Kings 24
Lesson # 9 November 1, 2025
Key Verse
Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies”.
Jeremiah 38:10
INTRODUCTION
What do you do when you know your cherished dreams are dashed by the punishing hand of the Lord
Have you ever looked back at your life and reviewed your experiences?
When you do this examination of your past you will very likely see thing you have missed about yourself, and then you will be in a better position when you pray to God to direct your ways.
Scripture tells us it is good to examine our ways. We should all aim to match what we have done and are doing with the will of God, and there is a great help when you look at your experiences.
The prophet in our Study Lesson had done just that. He always listened to God and obeyed, doing what God wanted him to do. When he examined his life he ensured he was on the path God had established for him.
He is a great model for us.
You might recognize disaster came because it is as a result of your own fault.
Or alternatively you know disaster came because your own people, your family, whom you dearly love, refused to listen to your warnings, even though the signs of impending disaster could not be clearer to them.
Would you simply weep? Or,
Would you stop encouraging those around you to change their ways and see what the storm clouds mean?
Or, would you give up on what you know from your experience in dealing with your beloved people that it is a lost cause?
This Study today is an extremely fascinating one for it deals squarely with a personality analysis of several important persons. It means we as persons can be perfectly described by James 1:6-8 as he discusses faith, the need for wisdom and patience, and the very liberal attitude that God has to those who ask Him for anything: James then writes:
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord:
he is a double- minded man, unstable in all his ways”.
This is a particularly troubling matter for the statement condemns the King of Judah named Zedekiah for it was his job as king to represent God Most High as His steward on Earth. He and the rulers had therefore a great responsibility for it was their job to oppose people with really bad ideas about what supposedly needed to be done. They were to protect people and not abuse them or to use them for their own self- gratification.
The King and rulers represent God and God puts them in power to ensure that God’s will is done for the benefit of people. In this case the king should have protected the prophet Jeremiah from evil men who were bent on doing evil to him.
So what is your role to which God appointed you?
Read 2 Corinthians 13:5 and think about its advice.
The Study therefore points us to a common theme in Scripture where we see a pattern in the world of people who are supposed to be protectors of the people failing in their responsibility. The people with the most power often fail to protect us. So we are enraged at the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and many other churches where the priests, pastors, elders, deacons and deaconesses who are supposed to protect people in fact abuse them for their own self-gratification.
We see parents who were supposed to protect their children and make sure that they are healthy fail at this task. We see teachers, mentors, employers, friends, spouses who unfortunately are inept just like King Hezekiah was.
So this is a very serious matter for you will see in the early verses of the Chapter four powerful, political people whose job was to protect the people of Israel do the exact opposite and even accused the prophet Jeremiah with discouraging the people and not having the interest of the people in mind when they are the ones that aren’t interested in the people but interested in their own power and position.
So as we weep when looking at this Lesson we can ask the question as to why we get dumped on for doing the right thing, just as happened to the prophet Jeremiah when he did the right thing.
The issue for us as individuals therefore as we relate to this story about Jeremiah and we see Jeremiah struggling, we see how much it cost Jeremiah to be faithful to God’s calling and be faithful to God despite being knocked down and being made to suffer and punished, placed in a position where he would surely die. We therefore understand the words of Jesus which says that if the world hated Jesus, abused and killed Him, we should expect nothing different to happen to us.
It does not matter which country’s political leaders, religious leaders and powerful people do not protect the people and are not faithful to God’s commandments, the end will be the same. There will be doom.
We as individuals will face the same doom if we as individuals are not faithful to God and fail in our responsibility to be protectors of those over which we are have a charge.
But the warning has to be that we should not become cynical when betrayal comes and we should never become cynical and hide ourselves in a place where we never trust anyone.
Do not therefore be surprised but expect to be betrayed and expect people to protect themselves instead of protecting you.
And like Jeremiah we can get very upset at these difficulties but we should keep at it, stay engaged with people and stay engaged with God. Like Jeremiah we should not be surprised at betrayal. And like Jeremiah we should keep on loving our people and trying to save them at every turn.
Besides this analysis of several personalities, dealing with an unstable King, evil princes, and all the evil members of the elite who made foolish and poor judgments when faced with the devastating consequences for their nation, we have to learn to face the truth.
Leadership is extremely important but it is often overtaken by personal interests where leaders do what about they think is reasonable to protect their position and the benefits that they get.
One writer explains why we should be careful and how we should face the truth and pay attention to how the system of the world operates. He states in a discussion of Jeremiah 38:1-6
“We start out with four guys who have been listening to Jeremiah’s message. From what we know, it seems like these were powerful political people. They are part of the ruling authority and power in Jerusalem, but Jeremiah wasn’t. The prophets in ancient Israel were never part of the ruling establishment. The priests had power– they ran the religious life of the nation. The king had power– he ran the political life of the nation. But the prophets didn’t have power because they were on the outside. They had to be. Because if you have power, then your tendency is always going to be to try to protect your power, therefore, the prophets always spoke as outsiders.
This was important because the prophets often delivered a message that challenged those in power. And they could do without because they were outsiders. That’s what Jeremiah is doing. He predicts that Babylon will destroy Jerusalem and that’s bad news. But it’s especially bad news if you are one of Jerusalem’s insiders and are powerful. This is because you have more to lose than an average person. You have your position to lose, your authority, and your power. That’s why these four men aren’t please with Jeremiah. That’s why they want to kill him because his message threatens their power.
People in power tend to act to preserve their power. We see this in our world everywhere; from CEOs and corporate executives to political leaders, parents, and priests. When people in power are backed up against a wall and confronted with something that challenged their power, they will usually act to protect themselves rather than protecting the people they are meant to protect.
And in our more honest moments, we recognize the same thing about ourselves. When we are challenged, our tendency is to get defensive and protect ourselves rather than dealing with challenging truth”.
This Study therefore does not really make pleasant reading for we see the fact of and the reality of human nature and we see our innermost selves spread out in front of us.
We see the effect of choices. Choices will determine our destiny.
Our choices will lead to eternal life or it will lead to our doom.
We also see the foolishness of the fears that humans have despite a comforting and encouraging word from God Himself. The King had been given a comforting but difficult message from God but his fears let him make foolish decisions.
It is important that we look at the reason for his fears and try to see if we are prompted to being fearful for those similar things. We should admit to ourselves that we are fearful of particular and specific things which maybe nobody else knows about.
These fears might be so powerful that we might ignore even the word of God to us and so we are led to our doom.
So our advice to you is to talk to God honestly for He knows everything about you and ask Him to help you in particular with your particular fears. As James said in 1:5, He will deal with you liberally and without reproach.
Remember also as we study that what the rulers of Judah regarded as demoralizing. God intended it to be humbling.
Humility is what is prized by God and sometimes God has to take us through difficult situations which seem devastating to us. Remember however that our God is acting with the best of intentions and we will come out of our troubles smelling like roses.
But never underestimate your human weaknesses. Run down to the shelter of God’s arms for help in every situation, whether it seems little or whether it seems a lot. Remember the Father is always watching you and nothing is hidden from Him.
Remember though that truth telling can land you in the Pit. There are dangers in speaking truthfully. But remember also that faithful testimony should not change in the face of powerful pressure.
Hopefully we can learn from our Study the need for faithfulness in “Adversity”. Persecution does not have to shake your commitment to keep on putting before your people the message of God.
There is always divine protection around you. There is divine providence and protection for God’s faithful servants.
Note carefully therefore that the rejection of your counsel given to you by God to deliver to the people is not your fault. Jeremiah’s counsel was rejected and that led to disastrous and dire consequences. This fact alone should stir you up to warn people about the need for heeding divine guidance.
There is nothing more important in this life than your task of taking the truth of God to others.
So in this Study Lesson of faith, courage, and compassion of this mighty prophet of God named Jeremiah as he carried out his task in the midst of turmoil and adversity, let us be reminded of the need for our steadfastness in delivering God’s message to the world despite severe opposition.
To help our Christian life journey to spiritual maturity let us look carefully at the four characters in our Study Lesson.
There is Jeremiah the prophet who in the time of adversity and opposition delivers God’s threatening message to his people.
Then there is Zedekiah, the evil-minded, oath breaking, self- absorbed, God rejecting king of Judah who knows there is a terrible fate awaiting the man he knows is a prophet, and he is conflicted about this, but his main concern is not the prophet or the impending fate of his people. He is concerned with his personal survival.
Then, we are shown the leaders of Judah who opposed Jeremiah and his prophecies from God, and they continue unremittingly to silence him.
Then, there is Ebed-Melech an Ethiopian eunuch whose position is important in the circles of the royal court but who is not highly regarded by the rulers and princes.
But he is the one called by God to plead for Jeremiah’s life.
Before we examine the Text let us review the historical context.
This is the time of super-power conflict. In the northern Tigris-Euphrates valley there is Assyria (this is modern day northern Iraq), whose capital city is Nineveh. Under the powerful Tiglath-pileser III it becomes a dominant power.
When Shalmaneser V ruled them he defeated the northern kingdom called Israel and took the inhabitants into exile, ending permanently this kingdom. This kingdom of Israel was a wicked covenant-breaking, Jehovah- hating one.
Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) turned his attention to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and besieged Jerusalem in 701 B.C. but failed in his attempts to destroy it.
Internal strife weakened Assyria and in 612 B.C., historians record that Chaldeans from southern Babylonia succeeded in taking Nineveh and brought an end to Assyrian dominance.
Note the Jewish prophets predicted much of this history, warning Israel and Judah not to consort with these nations.
Then rose up to great power Babylonia, with its principal city of Babylon. One writer informs us:
“Nabopolassar brought an end to the Assyrian dominance. Under Nabopolasser’s son Nebuchadrezzar II (605-562 B.C.), Babylon extended its dominance. In 605 B.C. Nebuchadrezzar defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish, by which victory he gained control of Syria and Palestine.
In 587 B.C. he besieged and conquered Jerusalem but did not destroy the city.
In 589 B.C. responding to Zedekiah’s alliance with Egypt, Nebuchadrezzar once again besieged Jerusalem.
This time in 597 B.C. he destroyed Jerusalem, killed many of its people, and took the remaining populace into exile in Babylonia.
He thus brought an end to the southern kingdom and the Davidic dynasty- but temporarily”.
THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT
First we will have to look at the Context to remind ourselves of what was happening. Jeremiah had been prophesying, urging the people and leaders to revert from their disobedient ways and follow God.
Chapter 36 tells us that the prophet Jeremiah had written in a book everything that he had been saying according to the instructions of God and when he was a prisoner he has sent his scribe to read this in the Temple on the day of fasting so that they would hopefully repent and turn and God would restore the nation. One of the princes heard his reading, told other princes what they had heard and sent for the scribe named Baruch to repeat the words of the book to them. When he read it to them they trembled in fear and reported it to the King who at the time was Jehoiakim. In a most destructive destruction of Scripture this king brazenly cut up the book of prophecy with a pen knife and threw the pages one by one as they were read into the fire so that the scroll was totally consumed. This was total contempt for God and defiance against God but God responded and told Jeremiah:
“Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned.” And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, “Thus says the LORD. “You have burned this scroll, saying, ’Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?”
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah. “You shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
“I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed”.
Judgment came on this cursed King and he was destroyed as God had decreed because of his brazen and defiant behaviour. He was a king but he did have a dishonourable burial just as one would bury a donkey, his body just cast into the rubbish heap.
The Babylonians installed Zedekiah as king. When the Babylonians withdrew from a siege of Jerusalem to face the army of Pharaoh, the rulers of Judah rejoiced even though Jeremiah warned them that the armies of Babylon would be back at Jerusalem after wiping out the armies of Pharaoh.
Jeremiah had to again prophesy directly to this king who would take Jeremiah out of prison secretly to speak to him. Jeremiah knew that God would deliver the nation of Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon and he would often repeat that message.
Of course we knew that Zedekiah well knew of this prophecy of Jeremiah’s for he was among the rulers of the land.
Now the Babylonians were back, the land was destroyed, and the city of Jerusalem was surrounded. Some of the people who listened to Jeremiah’s warnings had deserted and surrendered to the king of Babylon as Jeremiah had advised. Their lives were spared. The nation was in severe distress and it was clear to everyone who knew the truth that Judah would not survive the Babylonian attack. The army had been depleted by death and desertion and starvation was affecting all the people in the land. Even cannibalism was practised. Mothers ate their children.
THE TEXT
Our Study Scripture now continues to look at the continuing trials of this courageous prophet of God. We will see how God delivered him from the pit.
Verse 1. We are now looking at Jeremiah’s third imprisonment. The first was done by Pashur and recorded in Jeremiah 21 when early in Nebuchadrezzar’s attack he withdrew to deal with the approaching Egyptian army.
Jeremiah warned the happy rulers in Judah the withdrawal of the Babylonia king was a temporary one. This made them hate the prophet even more than they had before.
The Jewish historian Josephus records the two imprisonments in chapters 37 and Chapter 38
There appears to be significant detail in each so some consider there were two imprisonments in theses chapters
The second was recorded in Chapter 37.The powerful people accused Jeremiah of making prophecies which discouraged the people from fighting. They did not want to obey what God had advised through the prophet Jeremiah. They were desperate but they were foolish.
Their choices would lead to the destruction of Judah, the Temple, and the city. One wonders why leaders could be that foolish. But unfortunately we see this reckless and foolish behaviour by leaders in our modern world all the time.
Verse 1-2 reports that Shephatiah, his son Jucal, Gerdaliah the son of Pashur, and Pashur the son of Malchiah heard Jeremiah’s prophesy to the people and they requested approval from the King Zedekiah to put Jeremiah to death for they said that Jeremiah’s prophecies were making the few soldiers left and the people afraid and their fighting spirit was dead. They rejected the direct word of God and accused Jeremiah of not seeking the welfare of the people but their harm.
This was incredible foolishness. They had seen what happened to the Northern kingdom because of their disobedience to God and still this did not matter.
Can leaders be so blind? And can people still follow leaders blindly? This could only lead to a bitter end for Judah. It provides a stern lesson of warning to us.
History is seen repeating itself as Zedekiah had a similar private conversation with Jeremiah in chapter 37. Once again Zedekiah calls on the prophet for a private conversation even though before his princes wanted to kill Jeremiah. Zedekiah, though he was in charge of the nation and had probably appointed some of their leadership as well as knowing that the Babylonians could change these political figures whenever they wanted, absolved himself of Jeremiah’s fate as he left the princes to deal with him.
Verse 3. We know that these four political leaders who made the appeal to King Zedekiah to have Jeremiah executed had heard Jeremiah’s message of judgment and punishment unless the people repented. Jeremiah had spoken plainly:
“Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it”.
They also had heard that God had graciously and mercifully allowed the people of Jerusalem to surrender to Babylon so that they would not be killed.
God had given them some options and none of them they considered to be pleasant. They would have to give up their positions and power, they would have to surrender to the king of Babylon, but they would be allowed to keep their lives. The king of Babylon would not kill them and their families. Even better yet the king of Babylon would not at their surrender destroy the city of Jerusalem, destroy the Temple of the Lord God Yahweh, and destroy all their beautiful houses. Personal greed and love of their obviously short term selfish interests blinded their eyes.
We can imagine as we think about it that this was an unbelievably Great offer from God given their unceasing disobedience to the word of God. God was being incredibly merciful to them. It is unbelievable how Yahweh can be so generous to His people.
From that situation we might be able to infer that Zedekiah was stuck in a state of confusion in terms of following the Word of God or alternately leading the kingdom based on his own wisdom. But we must recall that Zedekiah was the King and he had a responsibility to his people and his nation. He was King and his job was to protect the people. Jeremiah’s prophecies did not change his role.
Verse 4. He must have known that Jeremiah’s future was not going to be good and it could very well lead to the prophet’s death. The princes had gone to Zedekiah and pleaded with him to have Jeremiah put to death. They accused the prophet of speaking words that did not seek the welfare of the people but instead was designed to hurt them. This was in effect a charge of treason.
But notwithstanding that Zedekiah was prepared to give Jeremiah over to the prophet’s enemies.
Before any judgments are place on Zedekiah it would be best to continue to look at the events to transpire so that we might be able to compare and contrast his actions with ours, as Christians.
Verse 5. But Zedekiah went along with the request of the princes and put Jeremiah under their control. Unlike in the first imprisonment in the house of Jonathan because the accusation was Jeremiah preached desertion to the Chaldeans the king had not initiated that imprisonment.
Verse 6. Instead of getting Jeremiah murdered immediately they now had the king’s permission for this imprisonment and put him in this cistern in the court of the guard letting him down with ropes. This prison was in the house of Malehjah the king’s son.
We are told that there was no water in the cistern but it was full with mire and Jeremiah sunk into the slimy mire. They fully intended that this cistern would be Jeremiah’s tomb.
It stresses logic to think that King Zedekiah did not know that in this cistern Jeremiah would die of hunger and would probably be attacked by all kinds of creatures. There was no food or water and no clothing and he was covered with mire and left to die because of these heartless men and this heartless king who would keep on pretending that he did not know the truth.
He knew that this prophet of God was accused by persons with the opposite of the truth. He was therefore complicit in murder and his actions did not matter if he could not find the courage to stand up to the princes of Judah.
Clearly, the princes were right to propose that Jeremiah was guilty of rebellion. But given that Judah was a theocratic state and the covenant LORD was the real ruler, the allegiance of the earthly rulers of the nation was to their divine King the LORD GOD. . It is they the rulers that were in rebellion and thus they were ordained to destruction.
If they had the welfare of the people in mind they would have sought repentance as the nation of Nineveh had done previously and then returned to worship the God of their fathers. They should have been telling the people that they all should heed the words of Jeremiah.
The fact was that king Zedekiah had been installed as king by the Babylonians and he had sworn an oath of loyalty to them. So he had betrayed the Babylonians, and was the real traitor for betraying the interests of his nation despite the pleadings of the prophet. He was in rebellion against his God and against the nations he had sworn to obey.
This was an instance where a legal will and action will allow evil because a person is not strong enough to handle the bad people around them.
One writer states that Zedekiah was a King that had a wish-bone instead of a back-bone. Jeremiah was left in that horrible situation for many days.
One writer states:
“The king’s capitulation to his princes was perhaps the most abject surrender in biblical history until the moment when Pilate washed his hands before the multitude”.(Kidner).
Another writer states: “If we would judge him, we may be judging ourselves, for his weakness might never have revealed itself had he not been thrust into a position that was far beyond him”.(Kidner).
Clearly then we must be careful when we elect leaders in the church. The qualifications and experience needed for leaders are clearly stated in the Word of God. When we ignore these we are heading for trouble. History has proved these qualifications noted in Scripture to be perfectly good and right and appropriate for the body of Christ.
Zedekiah had acted to put the real power into the hands of the princes. Can leaders not admit they do the same kind of thing?
So you should ask yourself the question at this stage,
Are you prepared to stand up for the truth?
Is there any place for truth in your heart and in your life?
Are you prepared to have those around you do whatever they want irrespective of the level of iniquity that they want to perpetrate?
Verse 7. But God provided for the prophet. There was a man named Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian or Cushite who was not even a Jew (this was not a real name but it simply meant a servant of the king) that provided tender and compassionate care for the prophet. He asks King Zedekiah to allow him to take Jeremiah out of the cistern.
This saviour of Jeremiah is referred as a Ethiopian, a eunuch, and so who had been given the job of overseeing the harem. The law of Moses in Deuteronomy 23:2 had ruled out the castration of a Hebrew and this explains why this Ethiopian was in this court position.
God was now going to take the innocent faithful and righteous Jeremiah out of this tomb of death. King Zedekiah was well aware that Jeremiah was a true man of God and so this weak and vacillating king again wanted to hear what the prophet had to say.
Verse 8-9. It is amazing to read that Zedekiah would later take chances and then want a meeting with Jeremiah after Eded-melech the Ethiopian came to the King to let him know about Jeremiah’s situation and his position in the mire of the dungeon. Under instruction from the king Eded-melech the Ethiopian was told to get Jeremiah and keep him in a more amicable place, the court of the prison.
Verse 10-13. This king decided to end the imprisonment of the prophet in the cistern or pit of death.
The king well knew the task needed the protection of a large rescue group of 30 men.At least four men were needed to put the old rotten rags down by cords into the slimy pit where Jeremiah was. Probably two would get the rags, others would get the cords, Ebel-melech would supervise, and some would be well-armed and would be on the lookout for the princes and anti-Jeremiah people.
The mission succeeded and Jeremiah was pulled out from the dungeon-pit and hidden in the court of the prison. God’s providence was at work.
The king was in a great need. He was evil and he was double-minded. He needed some word of guidance from Jeremiah. He reminds us of the erring and condemned king Saul.
He wanted to hear from God, but whether he would now obey the word of God was an open question.
CONCLUSION
Note carefully what happens next. It teaches so much about human nature.
Verses 14-17 After this Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah to meet with him privately into the third entry that was in the house of the LORD. Clearly, Zedekiah wanted to show some honour and respect to Jeremiah, which shows a amazing level of double-mindedness concerning Jeremiah as he had earlier left Jeremiah to the fate of his enemies, the princes of Judah. However, in this moment he was concerned with showing him honour.
This third entry is thought to be one of the principal but secondary entries that adjoins to the house of the Lord. In appointing this place of interview with the prophet perhaps he intended to show a respect and reverence for the house of God, which was proper enough now that he was desiring to hear the word of God. But it implied that Zedekiah wanted privacy.
Zedekiah spoke with Jeremiah saying that he would ask him a thing, a word of prophecy; or whether there was a word of prophecy from the Lord, concerning him, his people, and city, and what it was; and what would be the result of the present siege, whether it would issue well or ill. Scripture makes clear in the foregoing chapter Zedekiah had been told the very same thing that Jeremiah would soon repeat to him.
He at this moment believes The Almighty God, is someone who is as him, a man of many minds, but God is He who is of one mind, but still Zedekiah asks the question of Jeremiah with hopes of getting a more pleasing response. He asks Jeremiah not to hide anything from him, to give him the plain truth.
Jeremiah knowing the aversion of the King to the truth sets some conditions upon the King based on past experiences so that he would not be put to death or given into the hands of others to follow through with such a task.
It should be clearly stated that Jeremiah was not afraid to die, or was deterred through fear of death from delivering the word of the Lord, and doing his work, but he thought it proper to make use of prudent means to preserve his life. It is clear Jeremiah was going to respond to the king even if assurances were not given, (that is a personal opinion). However, considering the character of Jeremiah, and what it would mean for Judah if the King would listen to the words that God had previously given, Jeremiah would have told the King once again the words of God.
Jeremiah would do all that he could to help the King toward the resolution that God wanted, and so would repeat the words that God gave him in the past as God is of one mind, and He has given His word on this matter. Jeremiah acted in a wise and prudent manner. He used lawful means for his preservation.
This instruction is important for Christians to pay attention to. We should not shy away from delivering the word of God to individuals even if it is unpleasant, or even if it may lead to our deaths. We trust in God and this is our duty, and should be our honour. God instructs us that we should be wise in how we deal with men and individuals in authority in this world. Jeremiah therefore requested that the King deal faithfully with him.
Jeremiah is willing to given him the advice or repeat the words that God gave to him as nothing has changed from that perspective. The prophet as seen in this passage did not hold any ill will toward the King for the past actions nor act with any ill manner or intent to the King, but continued on the path that God had set him on.
Here is another Lesson for Christians today and we should adopt it for tomorrow, that is, we must with meekness instruct even those that oppose themselves, and render good for evil. Zedekiah was desirous that he should hear counsel and receive instruction. He might not act in the way of the counsel and instruction but this is a start, and perhaps it might lead to redemption; as history details not for him, but for others.
Zedekiah swears another oath. Jeremiah indicates to Zedekiah that he is not confident that he would listen to the good counsel that is being provided. Zedekiah does not respond and doesn’t promise to hearken to Jeremiah’s advice though he desires to know the mind of God! Zedekiah it seems would reserve his liberty when he does know the truth, to do as he thinks fit; as if it were the prerogative of a prince not to have his ruin prevented by good counsel.
As to the prophet’s safety, Zedekiah promises upon the word of a King and confirms his promise with an oath, that, whatever Jeremiah should say to him, no advantage should be taken against him for it. This oath was made secretly, both for the honour of the King, he swearing to a subject. However the King did not want it be known by the princes as it appears the King feared them. The King most likely thought this a great favour to Jeremiah, yet we should remember that Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, when Daniel read their doom, not only protected him, but preferred and rewarded him (Dan. 2:48; v. 29). These men knew of the God of the Jews, but served other gods. This king of Judah was to serve the True and Living God, but turned away, but in dealing with God’s people only those kings of the other gods had more honour in dealing with God’s people.
Zedekiah’s oath on this occasion is solemn, and very observable. It is at least clear he is aware that God is the Father of spirits; souls are His workmanship, and they are more fearfully and wonderfully made than bodies are. God is the maker of the souls of princes and poorest of prisoners.
With respect to this oath of Zedekiah one writer states:
“This is the last conversation we have recorded of this king. And the words coming out of his mouth seemed to be rather sober. He speaks of the Lord who created the life or soul of each individual. He is speaking this just maybe months or even weeks before his kingdom crashes down around him. Has this double minded man finally turned to the Lord with his whole heart”?
We note that there is much disagreement on this position.
In all our appeals to God, and in all our dealings with ourselves and others, we ought to consider this, that the living God made us souls that must answer to Him.
All of God’s creation and especially His people should know that in dealing with God, that which is good counsel to the lowest is also good counsel to the greatest, for there is no respect of persons with God.
Jeremiah sets before the king, good and evil, life and death to persuade him to take the counsel given to him by God. If Zedekiah yields, he will save his children from the sword, Jerusalem from the flames, and more importantly, he will be acknowledging God’s justice. With that, God’s mercy will be sure to follow.
This fact should be stressed to all sinners which also include those of us who are Christians, as we should constantly remind each other that we should always humbly submit to His grace and government in order to live. For the Christian we have that direct communication to God available and the blood of Jesus Christ to cover us.
Do you have your mind made up to not follow God? Remember God knows the heart of man, and has laid out the future us all. There is a blessing for obedience.
From the time we read that king Zedekiah ordered Jeremiah to be silent about their private conversation we know in our hearts that Zedekiah had made up his mind not to obey God.
What about you?
Doom is sure when we disobey. When we obey we will be surprised from where and how our salvation will come.
A nation must never forget that and forget that the judgment of God will come The mills of God grind slowly, one writer warns.
It is also stated:
“No nation has the right to continue to exist as a nation when it continually violates these requirements of God’s justice. Therefore the hand of doom rests upon any nation that deliberately refuses to hear and heed the will of God for ultimately, judgment will come. No political manipulation will avert it. No partial compromise will delay, no defiance will evade what God has said. It will come at last– some 11th year, ninth months, and fourth day, when a breach is made in the walls of the city, and judgment and destruction can no longer be averted”.
Jeremiah’s words are true.
There is only one attitude that will change the coming judgment of God and that is repentance, acknowledgment of guilt, deep humiliation before God, and commitment to change.
Many nations have gone down into the dust of history. Hundreds of nations and kingdoms have perished. Many individuals have perished. But we know that no matter what people do they cannot succeed in overriding the message of God. Catastrophe cannot be averted by political maneuvering and manipulation.
We have a weakness for we think that we can compromise and in outward ways show that we are in submission to God. We can be overtly religious and practice a religion of some sort without our heart remaining unchanged.
But what does Jeremiah the prophet say to us?
So what does God require of us?
Jeremiah knew that salvation would come to him and his nation from God and so he did not give up hope because he was dumped on for doing the right thing. But nevertheless he wept a lot.
So note therefore that even when you think that God is demanding more from you than you can give Him, remember that He has given you the Holy Spirit and He will enable you to do more than you can ever imagine. When you are faithful you will be able to endure things you never thought you would be able to endure.
Remember there is a place for truth. That truth must be your watchword.
It is astonishing what God will do in your life. We can hardly believe His goodness.
Just remember that there will be an end to the age, an end of history, and God will then complete His work of redemption. Your life will be brighter and better than any of us can dream.