Jeremiah 38:14-28--Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

Jeremiah 38:14-28
English Standard Version

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
    and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
    they turn away from you.’

23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

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The king approached Jeremiah in confidence to see if Jeremiah would change his message when no one else was around.  The king was afraid to let the officials know that he had promised to not put Jeremiah to death or turn him over to those who sought his life.  Jeremiah gave the same message to the king that he always had--the king had a choice, but the outcome was completely dependent on the choice he made.  he could resist what the LORD was doing and die at the hands of the Chaldeans, or he could surrender to them and save himself and his city.  If he was to fight, his women and sons would be taken captive and the city would be burned with fire.

Up to this point, we haven't really seen any imperfections in Jeremiah, but we see one here.  The king tells Jeremiah to lie if asked by the officials what he was discussing with the king.  The king was afraid for his life if the officials knew he was thinking of surrendering, so Jeremiah agreed to tell the officials that he was seeking leniency from the king to not return to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan.  Remember the conditions were so bad there that they nearly killed Jeremiah when he was younger and healthier.  The king knows such punishment at this point in Jeremiah's life would certainly be a death sentence.  This satisfied the officials because they had not heard the conversation, and they believed that this could have been the conversation Jeremiah was having with the king--they did not question Jeremiah about it anymore.  Jeremiah remained confined in the court of the guard until Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans and the king of Babylon.