Jeremiah 21

Jeremiah 21:1

C. Prophecy against King Zedekiah (21:122:9)21:1-7 When King Zedekiah sent . . . Pashhur (not the same one as in chap. 20) and Zephaniah (not the prophet) to inquire of the LORD concerning the approaching Babylonians, Jeremiah sent back word that the Lord would help the invaders against Judah. The king and the people who would survive would be taken into captivity. Regarding this action taken against the king, Kelly comments: Royalty was always the last stem of blessing in the history of Israel. If only the king had been right, though the people and the prophets were ever so wrong, God would still send blessing to Israel. Everything depended upon the king, the seed of David. God might have chastised the prophets and priests and people, but He would have held to them for His servant David’s sake. But when not only they went astray but the king himself was the leader of the wickedness, it was utterly impossible to hold to them, and it was the sorrowful task of Jeremiah to pronounce this divine decision. 21:8-14 Those who resisted would perish; those who surrendered to the Babylonians (Chaldeans) would live. The royal house was warned to cease its injustice and oppression. The people of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of the valley, are forewarned of their destruction. The terms “inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain” are probably terms of scorn or derision; they do not seem to be literal descriptions of Jerusalem.