Jeremiah 37:1-10--Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

Jeremiah 37:1-10
English Standard Version

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
37 Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

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Zedekiah is a the king of Josiah that Nebuchadnezzar put in place after Jehoiakim was carried off to Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar thought Zedekiah would be a puppet king that would govern the land and the people according to the laws and authority of the king of Babylon.  This was the case for a while, but after a little while, he wanted to rebel against Babylon.  He was not the rightful king--that should have been Jehoiakim's son Coniah--and Zedekiah was rebellious against the LORD, His commands, and the words of His prophet, Jeremiah.

Zedekiah sent messengers to Jeremiah to ask him to pray for success for the king and the people as they were under threat from the Egyptians and the Babylonians.  The text hints that things are not going to go well for Jeremiah and he is going to end up in prison again, but that has not happened yet.  At this time, he is a free man.

The LORD gives Jeremiah a message to give to the king of Judah.  The help they thought they would receive from Egypt is not coming  The Chaldeans (the Babylonians) are coming back to fight against the city, and they will be victorious.  They will capture the city and burn it with fire.  They are not going to go away.  The people of Judah cannot hold out until they grow tired and return home.  The LORD has put it in their hearts to do this thing.  The LORD made it clear that even if they were able to defeat the army of the Chaldeans so that they were all wounded, they would not be allowed to kill them.  The LORD adds that even in such a wounded state, the Chaldeans would surely defeat the city and burn it with fire because He is fighting alongside the Chaldeans, not the people of Judah.  They will have victory even if they have to  grasp it from the jaws of defeat.

You can imagine how words like these would upset the prophets, priests, and king and probably get Jeremiah thrown in prison again.  All those that wanted to lie to the people and tell them they were safe because the LORD was on their side could not stand to have a prophet of the LORD telling the people that the LORD was not on their side and they needed to repent if they were to be on the LORD's side.  He had not moved away from them, they had moved away from Him.