Thoughts on Jeremiah 38

Today’s reading: Jeremiah 38; Romans 14

The decision before Zedekiah in Jeremiah 38, while serious and difficult, is not unlike the kinds of decisions that are put before every person who wants to follow the Lord: Do I go the way that God says is better here, or do I go the way that the world says is better, and that seems better to me?

For Zedekiah, the choice before him really has no clear answer, but the answer Jeremiah is suggesting (from the Lord) is the least likely to be the right one. The Babylonian army has been besieging Jerusalem, and the Israelites in the city have really run out of options. If they do nothing, and nothing changes, then the best case scenario is that they are starved out and all die in the city, though, in this case, it is also likely that more and more people will turn on Zedekiah, defecting to the Babylonians, or even potentially trying to assassinate Zedekiah in order to surrender the city. On the flip side, if they surrender, Zedekiah for sure loses his throne, and while the people will likely be fine (just displaced), as the disloyal king (Zedekiah had been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and then rebelled), Zedekiah himself will very likely be killed. There really is no “good” option, though, if they hold out, there is always the chance that some other nation will show up to help, or will be enough of a thorn in Babylon’s side somewhere else that they withdraw their forces from Jerusalem to deal with a bigger problem.

In these scenarios, and really in so many others as well, what the Lord is telling Zedekiah to do, surrendering to the Chaldeans, would seem like clearly the worst outcome. Like I said, that is the scenario in which he for sure loses his throne, and very very likely loses his life, so why would he ever listen to this advice from Jeremiah? Because it’s not from Jeremiah, it’s from the Lord!

The fact of the matter is that this siege is not just a random event, or the simple ebb and flow of national powers, but is judgement from the Lord. So if the Lord is bringing judgement, who would better know how best to respond to it than the One who has brought it about. More than that though, even if this was not being brought about specifically by the Lord, He is still more than capable of protecting and delivering Zedekiah. So if God promises that He will preserve Zedekiah if he surrenders, who could stop God from fulfilling His purposes? Pharaoh couldn’t stop Him at the Exodus, Sennacherib couldn’t stop Him when he tried to lay siege to Jerusalem, and Nebuchadnezzar won’t be able to thwart Him either.

As much as it would seem like the worst option to choose, if God is telling him to go that way, it is the best course to take.

Very often, we are in much the same boat as Zedekiah. It probably isn’t in regard to how we respond to a siege, but the question of following the Lord and His wisdom or the world and its wisdom is the same. 

Do I take the higher paying job at the cost of having less time with my family and friends when I don’t actually need the money, or do I prioritize relationships over my career? Do I move in with my boyfriend or girlfriend to make sure we are a good fit before we get married, or do I trust the Lord’s way is better and wait? Do I set back more money in my 401k, or do I increase my giving to the church, the poor, missions, etc.? Do I guard my time to make sure I have plenty of time for the things I want to do, or do I make sacrifices of my own desires for the sake of volunteering and meeting real needs in the community around me? Do I push my kids to excel in school, sports, and extra curriculares to build their collegiate resume, or do I teach them to be content with a quieter life, prioritizing people and relationships over material success?

In these, and so many hundreds of other questions, the world tells us that God’s way is inferior, will set us back, will harm us in the long term, will never work, or just isn’t as good as the other choices, but the world’s wisdom is wrong. God designed us and made us, and He knows how life works best. More than that, He is the sovereign Lord over all creation, so when He makes us a promise, there is no power, in heaven or on earth, than can stop Him from keeping it. We can choose, like Zedekiah, to go our own way rather than the Lord’s, but we do so to our own peril and harm. Zedekiah lost everything because he was not willing to trust the Lord, but we certainly don’t need to follow in his footsteps.