Carried Captive Into Babylon
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There was still opportunity for the king to reveal a willingness
to heed the warnings of Jehovah, and thus to temper with mercy the
judgments even now falling on city and nation. “If thou wilt assuredly
go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes,” was the message given
the king, “then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned
with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: but if thou wilt not go
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forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into
the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou
shalt not escape out of their hand.”
“I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans,” the king
replied, “lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.” But
the prophet promised, “They shall not deliver thee.” And he added the
earnest entreaty, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I
speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.”
Verses 17-20
.
Thus even to the last hour, God made plain His willingness to show
mercy to those who would choose to submit to His just requirements.
Had the king chosen to obey, the lives of the people might have been
spared, and the city saved from conflagration; but he thought he had
gone too far to retrace his steps. He was afraid of the Jews, afraid
of ridicule, afraid for his life. After years of rebellion against God,
Zedekiah thought it too humiliating to say to his people, I accept the
word of the Lord, as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah; I dare not
venture to war against the enemy in the face of all these warnings.
With tears Jeremiah entreated Zedekiah to save himself and his
people. With anguish of spirit he assured him that unless he should
heed the counsel of God, he could not escape with his life, and all his
possessions would fall to the Babylonians. But the king had started on
the wrong course, and he would not retrace his steps. He decided to
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follow the counsel of the false prophets, and of the men whom he really
despised, and who ridiculed his weakness in yielding so readily to their
wishes. He sacrificed the noble freedom of his manhood and became
a cringing slave to public opinion. With no fixed purpose to do evil,
he was also without resolution to stand boldly for the right. Convicted
though he was of the value of the counsel given by Jeremiah, he had
not the moral stamina to obey; and as a consequence he advanced
steadily in the wrong direction.