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Prophets and Kings
The king was even too weak to be willing that his courtiers and
people should know that he had held a conference with Jeremiah, so
fully had the fear of man taken possession of his soul. If Zedekiah had
stood up bravely and declared that he believed the words of the prophet,
already half fulfilled, what desolation might have been averted! He
should have said, I will obey the Lord, and save the city from utter
ruin. I dare not disregard the commands of God because of the fear or
favor of man. I love the truth, I hate sin, and I will follow the counsel
of the Mighty One of Israel.
Then the people would have respected his courageous spirit, and
those who were wavering between faith and unbelief would have taken
a firm stand for the right. The very fearlessness and justice of this
course would have inspired his subjects with admiration and loyalty.
He would have had ample support, and Judah would have been spared
the untold woe of carnage and famine and fire.
The weakness of Zedekiah was a sin for which he paid a fearful
penalty. The enemy swept down like a resistless avalanche and devas-
tated the city. The Hebrew armies were beaten back in confusion. The
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nation was conquered. Zedekiah was taken prisoner, and his sons were
slain before his eyes. The king was led away from Jerusalem a cap-
tive, his eyes were put out, and after arriving in Babylon he perished
miserably. The beautiful temple that for more than four centuries had
crowned the summit of Mount Zion was not spared by the Chaldeans.
“They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem,
and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly
vessels thereof.”
2 Chronicles 36:19
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At the time of the final overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,
many had escaped the horrors of the long siege, only to perish by the
sword. Of those who still remained, some, notably the chief of the
priests and officers and the princes of the realm, were taken to Babylon
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and there executed as traitors. Others were carried captive, to live in
servitude to Nebuchadnezzar and to his sons “until the reign of the
kingdom of Persia: to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah.”
Verses 20, 21
.
Of Jeremiah himself it is recorded: “Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby-
lon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuchadnezzar-adan the
captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do