066. V. Sermons And Events Connected With The Final Siege Of Jerusalem
V SERMONS AND EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE FINAL SIEGE OF JERUSALEM 1. Jeremiah’s Message of Warning to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21:1-10) The occasion (Jeremiah 21:1-2). During the earlier days of the final siege of Jerusalem, king Zedekiah sent two of the nobles, Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, to Jeremiah to inquire whether Jehovah would deliver the Judeans from Nebuchadrezzar, who was attacking them.
Jeremiah’s reply: “No mercy, no hope of escape” (Jeremiah 21:3-10). To the king’s question Jeremiah replied in the name of Jehovah: “In vain do you take up your weapons in order to defend yourself from the attack of the Babylonians. Prompted by righteous indignation, the Almighty himself will fight against you with his dread weapons of pestilence and famine. The king and those who survive he will deliver into the power of Nebuchadrezzar to be slain. The only way in which you can save your lives is by surrender to the foe before the end comes; for Jehovah has determined to show you no mercy, but, instead, to hand you over to these, his agents of punishment.”
2. A Second Message of Warning (Jeremiah 34:1-7)
Future of Zedekiah and of his people (Jeremiah 34:1-7). A little later, while Nebuchadrezzar, with his armies, was laying siege to Jerusalem and the few cities of Judah which still held out against him, Jeremiah reiterated the divine declaration that for the Judeans there was no possibility of escape. Respecting Zedekiah, he added: “You shall go as a captive to Babylon, but your life shall be spared, and you shall die and be peacefully buried.”
3. Condemnation of the Perfidy Shown by the Judeans in the Treatment of their Slaves (Jeremiah 34:8-22) The fact (Jeremiah 34:8-11). In a moment of contrition, aroused by the imminent danger which threatened from the swords of the besieging Babylonians, Zedekiah and his nobles made a solemn agreement before Jehovah that they would observe a neglected law, and set at liberty the Hebrew slaves in their possession. At first they carried out their obligations; but later, when the danger was temporarily averted through the withdrawal of the besiegers, they broke their sacred promises, and forced their former slaves into the old state of illegal bondage. The divine sentence upon the shameless princes (Jeremiah 34:12-22). When these facts were known, Jeremiah was inspired to declare in the name of Jehovah: “One of the elements in the holy covenant entered into by your forefathers, when I delivered them from the slavery of Egypt, was that in the seventh year they would set free every Hebrew slave held by them. That agreement they failed to keep. Of your own free will you recognized the obligation, and made a solemn covenant with me, in fulfilment of which you for a brief period liberated your slaves. But, since you have not permanently set your brothers free, you shall yourselves be free to experience the bitter woes of war and captivity. Those grandees of Jerusalem and the common people, who have shamelessly broken that holy covenant with me, which they symbolized by passing between the severed parts of a calf sacrificed for the purpose, shall soon fall before their bloodthirsty foes, and their bodies shall lie unburied where they fall. Before many days the Babylonian army shall return to complete the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem and Judah. King and princes shall be taken captive, and this land of your nativity shall be left desolate and uninhabited.”
4. Faithful Prophesying in the Face of Persecution and Death (Jeremiah 37; Jeremiah 38; Jeremiah 39:15-18)
Conquest of Judah by the Babylonians inevitable (Jeremiah 37:1-10). During the latter part of the weak, godless reign of Zedekiah, at the time when the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was temporarily relieved by the approach of an Egyptian army under Hophra, the Judean king sent two officers to Jeremiah to inquire what Jehoyah had in store for them. The prophet replied: “The Egyptians will secure for you only momentary deliverance. Soon they will retire, and the Babylonians will advance to conquer and destroy your city. Deceive not yourselves with false hopes. Even though you should defeat these foreign foes, they will nevertheless accomplish your ultimate destruction, because Jehovah has decreed it.”
Arrest and confinement of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:11-16). During the same intermission of the siege, Jeremiah set out for his native town of Anathoth to take possession of some property which he had recently inherited. At the eastern gate of the city an official on guard arrested him on the charge of deserting to the Babylonians. Disregarding Jeremiah’s denials, the officer brought him before the rulers of the city. They improved the opportunity to be revenged upon the plain-spoken prophet. After scourging him, they shut him up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been converted into a temporary prison. There he remained for many days. His partial release by Zedekiah (Jeremiah 37:17-21). At last, when the siege was renewed, Zedekiah inquired of the prophet, who had been conducted into his presence, whether there was any message from Jehovah. Unhesitatingly Jeremiah repeated his former declaration: “You shall surely be conquered by Nebuchadrezzar.” Improving the opportunity, the aged patriot then demanded why it was that he had been imprisoned, while the deceitful prophets, who had betrayed the nation into its present plight, were allowed to go free. At Jeremiah’s earnest solicitations, Zedekiah committed him to a more congenial place of confinement in the guard-house, and, while the supply lasted, gave him a daily allowance of bread.
Thrown as a traitor into a well to die (Jeremiah 38:1-6). During his period of confinement, Jeremiah did not cease to declare that to remain in Jerusalem meant a violent death, and that the only way to save one’s life was to surrender to the Babylonian, since the ultimate fall of the city was inevitable.
Hearing of his advice, certain of the nobles, who were most hostile to him, demanded Jeremiah’s death, urging that he was a traitor, and that his predictions weakened the courage of the soldiers and of the people. Zedekiah, confessing that he was powerless to oppose his imperious nobles, handed over his prisoner to them. They seized Jeremiah, and, without the semblance of a trial, let him down into a dry well in the court of the guard-house. There he was left in the mire to die.
Rescued at the instigation of an Ethiopian eunuch (Jeremiah 38:7-13). When a certain Ethiopian eunuch by the name of Ebed-melech learned what had been done to Jeremiah, he informed the king concerning the danger from starvation which threatened the intrepid prophet. At the command of Zedekiah, the Ethiopian, assisted by a small detachment of men, carefully drew up Jeremiah from the well. Until the fall of the city, the prophet remained in the court of the guard-house.
Message of assurance for Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 39:15-18). While there he received a divine message for his brave deliverer, Ebed-melech, to the effect that, although the ruin of the city was imminent, he would be delivered from the foes whom he feared. Since he had proved true to Jehovah in serving his prophet, his own life would be preserved amidst the common dangers.
Jeremiah’s final interview with Zedekiah (Jeremiah 38:14-28). In his perplexity Zedekiah again summoned Jeremiah into his presence. After the prophet had been assured that no harm would be done to him, whatever should be the nature of his reply, he declared that the one way in which the king could save his city and his own life was by surrendering to the Babylonians. Although recognizing the truth of Jeremiah’s advice, the weak, selfish Zedekiah hesitated to accept it because, as he confessed, he feared the scorn of those of his subjects who had already deserted to the camp of Nebuchadrezzar. Assuring him that these fears were groundless, Jeremiah exhorted him to deliver himself and his wives and innocent children from the horrible calamity which otherwise awaited them. Zedekiah, however, was hopelessly dominated by his defiant princes. Instead of acting in accordance with Jeremiah’s wise counsel, he made the prophet promise not to reveal to the nobles the nature of their interview. This promise Jeremiah redeemed, and remained under the protection of the king until the final capture of Jerusalem.