Chapter 37:1-10 (ESV) - Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: “Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire. Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”
Question to consider: In whom did king Zedekiah place his faith?
The word of the LORD came to pass in which Jehoiakim was put to death after he burned the original scroll which contained the LORD’s word against Jerusalem. After his murder, rather than allowing Jehoiakim’s son to take the throne, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiakim’s brother, Zedekiah.
Once again Jeremiah had to deal with false prophets who refused to accept the LORD’s word against Jerusalem. Jeremiah warned that the Egyptians would not turn the tide of the war and that Zedekiah should not be deceived into thinking that Nebuchadnezzar was giving up on his siege against Jerusalem when he left to attend to the Egyptians.
The Egyptians would flee, and Nebuchadnezzar would return with a vengeance knowing that Zedekiah did not remain faithful to the treaty they established when he took the throne. As I’ve written previously, I believe that Zedekiah loved Jerusalem and wanted to save it, but he seemed to treat the LORD as Jeremiah’s God, not his own.
How often do those of little or no faith ask their Christian friends for prayer when things appear dire? It’s not done out of a desire to repent of their sin and turn to the LORD for mercy. They are willing to go God’s way as long as He is going theirs, but they are unwilling to accept the LORD’s word over their own.
The Chaldeans would fight with their dying breath to burn Jerusalem to the ground because they worshiped Nebuchadnezzar as a god, and the arrival of Egypt was seen as an act of blasphemy against him.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving Zedekiah a further word of warning about the return of Babylon to finish the job of destroying Jerusalem. I pray that many heeded Your warning and escaped the judgment. Amen.