©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 34:1-7 (ESV) - The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the LORD.”
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.
Question to consider: What does the lament of the people say about Zedekiah?
When we read the scriptures, we tend to forget the fact that even within a book, there can be a number of years that occur between passages. Jeremiah first started his ministry to the kings of Israel back in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign. He witnessed the repentance of Josiah and the changes that the LORD did in Judah as a result. Although all of the kings he dealt with over the next couple of decades would listen to the false prophets over the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah, I’m sure Jeremiah held out hope that their hearts would be changed like that of Josiah.
It was obvious that Zedekiah must have loved the city and the people of Judah, for he did everything in his power to oppose Nebuchadnezzar and wouldn’t accept that he would be allowed to win. The statement that the people would lament for him pointed to the fact that he was dear to them. Jehoiakim didn’t earn their lament. He was a man who used the people to add to the splendor of his own house.
While Zedekiah may have been loved by the people, he did not seem to be a man of faith. Thus he sought to save Jerusalem rather than having faith in the word of the LORD to surrender and go into exile. The LORD promised to prosper them in Babylon while the land remained desolate for seventy years. Zedekiah believed the word of the false prophets who proclaimed that he could defeat Nebuchadnezzar. He punished Jeremiah who called Nebuchadnezzar the LORD's servant and His sword with which He would administer judgment against Judah.
While the LORD let Zedekiah see this servant face to face and eye to eye, he would never see Babylon, for Nebuchadnezzar would gouge out his eyes so the last thing he saw was the murder of his sons. Blindness in scripture had significance. It usually reflected the spiritual state of an individual. While Zedekiah might have lived out the rest of his days in peace during the exile, there was no indication that he ever turned back to the LORD in repentance.
Despite learning this from the LORD before the events occurred, Jeremiah was faithful to give this final warning to Zedekiah even though he had already suffered much for doing so.
Dear heavenly Father, please help us to be faithful witnesses of Your word even when the message is not well received. May we not add to the offense of the gospel with our own attitudes and actions but instead faithfully present the truth in love and with a desire for people be reconciled to You. Amen.