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Zedekiah Fails His Last Chance
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Zedekiah Has No Moral Stamina
With tears Jeremiah pleaded with Zedekiah to save himself and
his people. He assured him that unless he obeyed the counsel of
God, he could not escape with his life, and all his possessions would
fall to the Babylonians. But the king would not retrace his steps. He
decided to follow the counsel of the false prophets. He became a
cowering slave to public opinion. With no real intent to do evil, he
also had no determination to stand boldly for the right.
The king was even too weak to be willing for people to know that
he had held a conference with Jeremiah. If Zedekiah had bravely
declared that he believed the words of the prophet, already half
fulfilled, what desolation he might have prevented! He should have
said, I will obey the Lord and save the city from utter ruin. I love
truth, I hate sin, and I will follow the counsel of the Mighty One of
Israel.
The people would have respected Zedekiah’s courageous spirit,
and those who were wavering between faith and unbelief would have
taken a firm stand for the right. The fearlessness and justice of this
course would have inspired admiration and loyalty. Judah would
have been spared the untold woe of bloodshed, famine, and fire.
Zedekiah’s weakness was a sin for which he paid a fearful
penalty. The enemy swept down like a resistless avalanche and
devastated the city. The Hebrew armies were beaten back in con-
fusion. Zedekiah was taken prisoner, his sons executed before his
eyes. The king was led from Jerusalem as a captive, his eyes were
put out, and after arriving in Babylon he perished miserably. The
beautiful temple that for centuries had crowned Mount Zion was
not spared. “They burned the house of God, broke down the wall
of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its
[164]
precious possessions.”
2 Chronicles 36:19
. The chief of the priests,
officers, and princes were taken to Babylon and executed as traitors.
Others were carried captive to live in servitude to Nebuchadnezzar
and his sons.