Questions for thought:
1. Jeremiah was falsely accused of going over to the Chaldeans in chapter 37. Even though it was a false accusation, he was punished. Does anything like that happen to Christians today? If so, what should be our response?
2. Even though the king knew Jeremiah was not at fault in chapter 38, he allowed the princes to take him and persecute him. How is this like what happened to Christ with Pilate?
3. In chapter 38, Zedekiah admitted to Jeremiah he was afraid of the people; thus, he did not obey God. But in chapter 38, he was punished for this disobedience. Which would have been worse for him, the punishment of chapter 38 or the mocking by the people he so feared in chapter 37? Which will be worse in the judgment, the judgment of God or having endured the mocking of the people in this life?
In chapters 37-39 we are going to be looking at the final days of Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah. Remember earlier God had promised Zedekiah even thought Babylon was going to destroy Jerusalem, he would be safe. But that safety was dependent upon his obedience to God. We will get the rest of the story in these chapters.
At the beginning of chapter 37, Jeremiah had not been put into prison. It was during this time the siege by Babylon had been temporarily lifted and the people as noted in the previous blog had taken the servants back into captivity. Pharaoh’s army was helping Zedekiah. Beginning in verse 6 God has a message for Zedekiah. Jeremiah was to tell him that Pharaoh’s army would be returning to Egypt and the Chaldeans would come again and burn Jerusalem. God said for them not to be deceived into thinking the Chaldeans would not do this because even if Judah had wounded every one of them God would make a way for this prophecy to be fulfilled.
After this, Jeremiah was accused of defecting to the Chaldeans and he was put in a dungeon. This was not a true accusation, but nevertheless, Jeremiah had to suffer. Zedekiah decided he wanted to hear from the Lord, so he had Jeremiah brought out secretly to his house. When he asked if there was any word from the Lord, Jeremiah told him there was. He said Zedekiah would be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon (verse 17). Then Jeremiah wanted to know what he had done that caused Zedekiah to put him in the dungeon. He asked Zedekiah where all his prophets who had prophesied falsely were. Then he asked the king to not send him back to the dungeon. Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah should be kept in the court of the prison and given a daily piece of bread until the bread was all gone. It was probably while he was living here that Jeremiah wrote the messages we have already looked in chapters 30-33. Remember those messages were one of hope. Even when we are persecuted for things we have not done, we must keep an attitude of hope knowing God is in charge.
When in chapter 38 the princes heard Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning how those who remained in the city were going to meet sword, famine, and pestilence but those who willingly went over to the Chaldeans would live, things were a bit different for Jeremiah. These men persuaded the king to allow them to destroy Jeremiah. The king by this time believed he had no power over Jeremiah and the people were going to have their way with him. This is like how Pilate let the people take Christ for crucifixion. Little did either of these rulers know of God’s almighty power. Zedekiah told the princes Jeremiah was in their hands and they cast him into a dungeon, letting him down with ropes into mire where he sunk (verses 4-6). But there was an Ethiopian who heard what had happened and he went to the king on behalf of Jeremiah. The king commanded him to go get Jeremiah out of the dungeon. He along with helpers did so (verses 7-13).
King Zedekiah wanted to talk to Jeremiah again to ask him a question. Jeremiah wanted to know if the king was going to harm him if he answered the question. The king promised no harm would come to Jeremiah. Here in 38:17, Jeremiah gave Zedekiah the conditions upon which he and the city could be saved. King Zedekiah needed to go forth willingly to the king of Babylon. If he would not, then the city would be burned and he would not escape out of the Babylonian’s hand. Remember earlier, we looked at promise to Zedekiah that he would be safe and have a king’s burial and I mentioned how that was a conditional promise even though the condition was not revealed in that earlier chapter. Here we have the condition.
Zedekiah’s answer is one of the saddest found in the scripture. In 38:19, Zedekiah said: “I am afraid…” Think about that. Zedekiah was afraid to obey the Lord. He was afraid of the people. He was afraid of being mocked. Jeremiah promised him in verse 20 if he would just obey the Lord, it would be will with him, but if he refused all the evil prophecies Jeremiah had made were going to come to pass. Zedekiah told Jeremiah not to tell anyone of their conversation and if anyone asked, he was to tell them that Jeremiah was presenting his supplication to the king to not be sent back to Johathan’s house to the dungeon to die. Sure enough the princes came and asked about the conversation and when Jeremiah told them what the king had commanded him to say, they left him alone. Thus, according to verse 28, Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem when it was taken captive.
The destruction of Jerusalem described here in chapter 39 is also recorded in 2 Kings 25, 2 Chronicles 36, and Jeremiah 52. Of course, it had been prophesied by Jeremiah throughout this book. It is the 11th year of Zedekiah. King Nehemiah came against Jerusalem in the 9th year of Zedekiah and here two years later, the city was taken. When Zedekiah realized what was happening, he and the men of war fled but the Chaldean army overtook them and brought them to King Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah’s sons were killed in his sight, as were the nobles of Judah. Zedekiah’s eyes were put out and he was bound with chains. Jerusalem was burned. The poorest of the people still in Jerusalem were left there while all the others were carried away.
Jeremiah was protected. King Nebuchadrezzar gave orders to do him no harm. Jeremiah had already told the Ethiopian that saved him that his life would be saved because of what he had done for Jeremiah.
In chapters 40-45, we will be looking at Jeremiah’s life after the fall of Jerusalem and at what happened to those who were left in Jerusalem. One would think after what they had already seen, they would be ready to obey whatever God commanded, but we will see that was not the case.
Christian Women's Responsibility in Sharing God's Word 