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24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. Jeremiah38:17-24
It is one thing to hear the truth and another to act on it.
Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonians would surround and overthrow Jerusalem. This was the end result of years of idolatry, rebellion and stubbornness on Israel's part.
In a moment of rare insight and wisdom King Zedekiah has a meeting with Jeremiah the troublesome "bad news" prophet. Everyone else has rejected Jeremiah - other prophets were proclaiming deliverance and "get out of jail free cards." Everyone preferred listening to the other prophets. There was one small problem: Jeremiah was the only prophet whose predictions were coming true.
And so Zedekiah meets with Jeremiah and asks for a straight answer: "What should I do?"
Jeremiah's answer is shocking, uncomfortable and, on the face of it, downright unpatriotic: "Surrender."
This is not news that Zedekiah wants to hear!!
But Jeremiah isn't blinded by mindless patriotism or romanticism. He knows that resisting the Babylonians is to resist God who sent them. To fight the Babylonians was not a "good fight." To surrender to the Babylonians means a surrender of the pride and arrogance that stood in the way of Israel returning to God. Surrender would circumvent a terrible war of attrition. Surrender meant less casualties, less destruction and a better hope of recovery.
But this is medicine that Zedekiah doesn't want to take. Fear and Pride keep him from doing the right thing. Jeremiah is forced to remain silent about the conversation and the king leads his people into a terrible 18 month siege and horrific destruction.
It is one thing to hear the truth and another to act on it.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@gracepresby.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
