Zedekiah, whose name means righteousness of Yahweh, was the last king on the throne of Judah before its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 b.c. At first he seemed to have been willing to obey the words of Jeremiah and submit to the Babylonians. However, this attitude did not last.
Read Jeremiah 37:1-10. What was Jeremiah's warning to King Zedekiah?
Under pressure from his subjects, most likely the nobility, Zedekiah ignored the warnings of Jeremiah and made a military alliance with the Egyptians instead, in hopes of staving off the Babylonian threat. (See Ezek. 17:15-18.) As he had been duly warned, salvation didn't come from the Egyptians after all.
Read Jeremiah 38:1-6. What happened to Jeremiah (again) because of his proclaiming the word of God to the people?
As Jesus said, 'A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house' (Mark 6:4). Poor Jeremiah again faced the wrath of his own countrymen. Like the rest of the nation, though, Jeremiah couldn't say that he hadn't been warned. In this case though, the warning was about the trials that he would face if he stayed faithful, which he did!
How difficult it must have been for Jeremiah, too, because he was accused of weakening the morale of the nation. After all, when the people were facing an enemy from without, whom they wanted to fight against, and Jeremiah had been going around for years and years saying it's a lost cause, that they couldn't win, and that even the Lord was against them-it's understandable that you would want to shut him up. So hardened in sin, they didn't hear the voice of the Lord talking to them; indeed, they thought it was the voice of an enemy instead.
However difficult the pit was, think about how much harder it was for Jeremiah to hear the charge against him that he was seeking the hurt, not the welfare, of his own people. What's it like to be accused of hurting the very ones you are trying to help?
Read Jeremiah 37:1-10. What was Jeremiah's warning to King Zedekiah?
Under pressure from his subjects, most likely the nobility, Zedekiah ignored the warnings of Jeremiah and made a military alliance with the Egyptians instead, in hopes of staving off the Babylonian threat. (See Ezek. 17:15-18.) As he had been duly warned, salvation didn't come from the Egyptians after all.
Read Jeremiah 38:1-6. What happened to Jeremiah (again) because of his proclaiming the word of God to the people?
As Jesus said, 'A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house' (Mark 6:4). Poor Jeremiah again faced the wrath of his own countrymen. Like the rest of the nation, though, Jeremiah couldn't say that he hadn't been warned. In this case though, the warning was about the trials that he would face if he stayed faithful, which he did!
How difficult it must have been for Jeremiah, too, because he was accused of weakening the morale of the nation. After all, when the people were facing an enemy from without, whom they wanted to fight against, and Jeremiah had been going around for years and years saying it's a lost cause, that they couldn't win, and that even the Lord was against them-it's understandable that you would want to shut him up. So hardened in sin, they didn't hear the voice of the Lord talking to them; indeed, they thought it was the voice of an enemy instead.
However difficult the pit was, think about how much harder it was for Jeremiah to hear the charge against him that he was seeking the hurt, not the welfare, of his own people. What's it like to be accused of hurting the very ones you are trying to help?