CHAPTER 34 opens with another division or section of the prophecy of Jeremiah, in which is shown the actual state of the people at the last, which brought on them unsparing judgment. Zedekiah’s course, following on that of his predecessors, had so inflamed Nebuchadnezzar that he brought a great army against Judea, determined to destroy that country; in this we know that he was carrying out the will of God.
Jeremiah, God’s mouthpiece for the king of Judah, carries to Zedekiah the mournful news that God was not for him, would give Jerusalem into the hand of the king of Babylon who should burn it. Zedekiah would, of course, hope to escape when the end drew near, but he learned from Jeremiah that this should not be; he should go to Babylon, a prisoner with other survivors of the siege. Not all the sad prospect (see chapter 39:6, 7) was revealed to the king of Judah, but Jeremiah begged him to hear God’s word.
Zedekiah had pursued a wicked course, as 2 Kings 24:19; 2 Chron. 36:12, 13; Ezek. 17:11-21, and the unvarying testimony of Jeremiah record; from chapters 37 and 38 it seems clear that lie was greatly influenced by others and this must account for the promise of a peaceful death, lamented by his people (verses 4, 5).
It is only God that can truly estimate the measure of responsibility carried by each, and appoint to them in eternity with accurate discernment. The question of the eternal destiny of Zedekiah is not referred to; we can not tell whether he ever came as a confessed and repentant sinner before God, though we may hope that he did, and thus only and not on any ground of his own behavior (impossible of attainment) escaped the judgment of the great white throne.
Zedekiah, moved, we doubt not, by fear of the coming judgment upon his kingdom, made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to all who were in bondage. It is evident that the commandment of God given in Ex. 21:2 and Deut. 15:12, had long been ignored, through the hardhearted selfishness of the people. Now, for a short space with an awakened conscience, the Word of God as to this matter had weight with the remnant of this guilty nation; but it was only a brief thing; enslaved in Satan’s chains they returned to their old ways, (verses 8-11). Therefore the sword should descend upon them, and pestilence and famine, and they should be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth (verses 15-17).
The covenant to which verses 18-20 refers is that into which Zedekiah had entered with Nebuchadnezzar, promising in the name of Jehovah to be loyal to the king of Babylon (2 Chron. 36:13; Ezek. 17:13-19). The pagan, idol-serving king might well think that an oath given him in the name of Israel’s God would be kept, and the breaking of it was to him an exceedingly serious act; nor was God indifferent to it, as these verses show.
At this time, the Egyptians having entered the land for the purpose of helping Judah against Nebuchadnezzar’s army, the Babylonian forces were withdrawn to fight against the newcomers. Zedekiah and his princes no doubt hoped that the Babylonian army would be defeated in battle, but God assured them (verse 22) that they would return, take the city and destroy it; the cities of Judah were to become a desolation, without inhabitant. God had spoken; within the space of a year and a half His word was fulfilled.
ML-02/17/1935