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Royalty and Ruin
An Ethiopian Saves Jeremiah’s Life
The cowardly king knew that the charges were false, but to
satisfy those who were high and influential in the nation, he gave
Jeremiah to them to do as they pleased. They put the prophet “into
the dungeon of Malchiah ..., and they let Jeremiah down with ropes.
And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank
in the mire.”
Verse 6
. But God raised up friends for him, who made
request of the king and had him again removed to the court of the
prison.
Once more the king sent privately for Jeremiah and asked him
to relate God’s intention concerning Jerusalem. Jeremiah inquired,
“If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I
give you advice, you will not listen to me.” The king entered into a
secret agreement with the prophet. “As the Lord lives, ... I will not
put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who
seek your life.”
Verses 15, 16
.
There was still opportunity for the king to heed the warnings
and in this way dilute with mercy the judgments falling on city and
nation. “If you will only surrender to the officials of the king of
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Babylon,” was the message Jeremiah gave the king, “then your life
shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you
and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender ..., then this
city shall be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it
with fire, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand.”
Verses
17, 18
, NRSV.
“I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans,”
the king replied, “for I might be handed over to them and they would
abuse me.” But the prophet promised, “That will not happen.” And
he added the earnest plea, “Just obey the voice of the Lord in what
I say to you, and it shall go well with you, and your life shall be
spared.”
Verses 19, 20
, NRSV.
If the king had chosen to obey, lives might have been spared and
the city saved from fire; but he thought he had gone too far to retrace
his steps. He was afraid of ridicule, afraid for his life. After years of
rebellion against God, Zedekiah thought it would be 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.