Jeremiah 43

ment to Ebed-Melech (39:15–18)—that he would be delivered when the city was taken and that God would spare his life.

“Hide nothing from me” (vv. 14–28). As far as the record is concerned, this was the fourth and last contact King Zedekiah had with Jeremiah before the city fell to the Babylonians. His request presented Jeremiah with a dilemma: If Jeremiah told him the truth, the king might kill him, and he wouldn’t obey the word of God anyway! God gave the king one last chance to repent, but he only made excuses. If he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, he might be accused and abused by the Jews who had gone over to the enemy, and what would happen to his family left in the city? Perhaps the men who wanted to kill Jeremiah would kill them.

Jeremiah assured the king that if he obeyed the word of the Lord, God would protect him and the city. But if he disobeyed, even the women in the palace would taunt him before the Babylonians (38:21–23). We can appreciate the king’s concern for his wives and children, but the best way to protect them was to obey the will of God.

Still afraid of his own officers, the king told Jeremiah to keep their conversation confidential. There’s no suggestion that Jeremiah lied to the officers who questioned him. To begin with, we may not have a transcript of the complete conversation between Jeremiah and Zedekiah, and Jeremiah may have asked not to be returned to the house of Jonathan. Certainly in their second conversation, Jeremiah had made such a request (37:17–21). He was under no obligation to report everything to the officers, and he didn’t have to lie in order to keep the conversation confidential.

Sometimes God judges a sinful nation by sending them weak leaders who are hesitant and vacillating and whose leadership (or lack of it) plunges the nation only deeper into trouble. “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them” (Isa. 3: nkjv). The late John F. Kennedy put it this way: “We, the people, are the boss, and we get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.” But Judah wasn’t a democracy; the people didn’t vote on their king. It was God who gave them what they deserved.

God’s Word Fulfilled (39; 52) These two chapters, along with 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36, describe the tragic fall of Jerusalem, its plunder, and its destruction, as well as the captivity and deportation of thousands of Jewish people. None of these things would have happened if only one of the kings had sincerely repented, trusted the Lord, and surrendered to the Babylonians.

God’s judgment on Zedekiah (39:1–7; 52:1–11). The siege had begun on January 15, 588 (Jer. 52:4); and two and a half years later, on July 18, 586, the Babylonian army penetrated the city walls. The princes of Babylon set up their thrones in the Middle Gate and began to take over the reins of government. The “times of the Gentiles” had begun on God’s prophetic calendar (Luke 21:24). When that period ends, the Messiah will return to rescue His people and fulfill the promises made by the prophets.

Zedekiah, his family, and his staff tried to escape (see Jer. 34:3; Ezek. 12:1–12), but the Babylonians caught up with them and delivered them to Nebuchadnezzar at his headquarters at Riblah, some two hundred miles north of Jerusalem. There he passed judgment on all of them, and the Babylonians were not known for their tenderness. He slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons and then put out Zedekiah’s eyes. Thus, the king’s last visual memories would haunt him. Ezekiel had prophesied that Zedekiah would not see the land of Babylon (Ezek. 12:13), and his prophecy proved true. The king was bound and taken captive to Babylon, where he died.

God’s judgment on the city (39:8–10; 52:12–34). “For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face” (Jer. 32: nkjv). Throughout his ministry, Jeremiah had warned the people that Jerusalem would be captured and destroyed (6:6; 19:8–9, 11–12, 15; 21:10; 26:6, 11; 27:17).

At the same time, the Babylonians pillaged the city and took the precious things out of the temple and carried them to Babylon. The soldiers rounded up the best of the people and took them to Babylon. There had been a previous deportation in 597 BC (52:28), and there would be a third deportation in 582 (52:30). The poorer, unskilled people were left to till the land. After all, somebody had to feed the soldiers who were left behind.

God’s care for His servant (39:11–14). Since the Lord had promised that Jeremiah would survive all the opposition and persecution against him (1:17–19; 15:20–21), He moved upon Nebuchadnezzar to release the prophet and treat him kindly. He was committed to Gedaliah, who later was named governor of the land (40:7). (This Gedaliah was not the one who wanted to kill Jeremiah, 38:1.)

I close with a solemn word from G. Campbell Morgan: “We in our security need to be reminded that for us also there may come the eleventh year, and the fourth month, and the tenth day of the month, when God will hurl us from our place of privilege, as He surely will, unless we are true to Him.”

ILife only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible— not to have run away. Dag Hammarskjold t’s been said by more than one scholar that the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. This was certainly true of the destitute Jewish remnant in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem. Instead of seeking the Lord and making a new beginning, the remnant repeated the very sins that had led to the collapse of the nation and the destruction of the city: They wouldn’t listen to the Word; they turned to Egypt for help; and they worshipped idols.

The sinful behavior of the people must have broken Jeremiah’s heart, but he stayed with them and tried to get them to obey the Word of the Lord. God had punished the nation, but even this severe punishment didn’t change their hearts. They were still bent on doing evil.

The drama was a tragic one with a cast of characters that is seen in every age. The script of history may change a bit from time to time, but the characters are still the same.

Johanan was once brave enough to want to kill Ishmael, but now he didn’t have the courage to stand for what he knew was right. He was afraid to trust the Lord and stay in the land of Judah, perhaps because he feared what the Babylonians might do when they found out that Gedaliah was dead and Ishmael had filled a pit with dead bodies.

The insincere request (42:1–6). Their request to Jeremiah sounded sincere and spiritual, but there was deception in the hearts of the leaders, including Johanan (see 42:19–22). They had their minds already made up to go to Egypt, and they were hoping Jeremiah would agree with them. Sometimes God’s people take this false approach in discerning the will of God. Instead of honestly seeking God’s will, they go from counselor to counselor, asking for advice and hoping they’ll find somebody who will agree with their hidden agenda.

The divine answer (42:7–22). The Lord kept the people waiting for ten days, possibly to give them time to search their hearts and confess their sins. During those ten days, they could see that the Lord was caring for them and that they had nothing to fear. That should have convinced them that the plan to flee to Egypt was a foolish one.

There were three parts to the answer Jeremiah gave them. First, he gave them a promise (vv. 7–12). He told them if they stayed in the land, God would build them and plant them (see 1:10). The prophet encouraged them not to be afraid of the Babylonians because the Lord was with the remnant and would care for them. It was God who was in charge, not the king of Babylon. Indeed, the day would come when this small remnant would be able to reclaim their lost lands and start to enjoy normal lives again.

The second part of Jeremiah’s message was a warning (42:13–18). Ever since Abraham’s lapse of faith in going to Egypt (Gen. 12:10–20), the Jews had a tendency to follow his example. Several times during the wilderness years, whenever they had a trial or testing, the Israelites talked of going back to Egypt. In fact, this was their cry at Kadesh-Barnea when they refused to enter the Promised Land (Num. 13—14). During the final years of the kingdom of Judah, there was a strong pro-Egyptian party in the government, because Egypt seemed to be the closest and strongest ally.

The prophet warned them against going to Egypt, where they thought they would enjoy peace, plenty, and security. The terrors they were trying to avoid in Judah would only follow them to Egypt, and the very judgments that God had sent against Judah during the siege would come upon them in the land of Pharaoh. God knew that Nebuchadnezzar would enter Egypt and punish the land, which he did in 568–567 BC (see Jer. 46:13–19).

Jeremiah ended his address with an exposure of their hearts (vv. 19–22). He announced publicly that they had tried to deceive him when they promised to obey the Lord’s commands (42:5–6). They really didn’t want either his prayers or God’s plans, they wanted the Lord to approve what they had already decided to do. But this was a fatal decision on their part, for if they carried out their plans, they would die in Egypt.

This event is a warning to us not to be insincere as we seek the will of God. In my itinerant ministry, I’ve frequently met people who wanted my counsel, and when I asked them if they had talked with their own pastor, the answer was often “Well, no, but he really doesn’t know me or understand me.”

“But I’m a total stranger to you!” I’d reply.

“Yes, but you seem to understand things better.” Flattery!

My conviction is that these people have gone from one speaker to another, looking for somebody who will agree with what they already want to do. When they find him, they’ll let their pastor know that a “man of God” gave them wise counsel. It’s the Johanan syndrome all over again.

The arrogant rebellion (43:1–7). Convinced that God was wrong and they were right, Johanan and his friends so much as told Jeremiah he was a liar and a false prophet, and that God had neither sent him nor spoken to him. What a heartache it must have been for Jeremiah to hear such false accusations from his own people for whom he had suffered so much. In spite of all he had done for his people, Jeremiah was now accused of being like the false prophets whose lies had led the nation into ruin. Johanan even accused Baruch of influencing Jeremiah, although it’s difficult to understand what kind of special power Baruch could possibly have had over this courageous prophet. But they had to blame somebody.

“So they came into the land of Egypt” (43:7). Once again God’s people walked by sight and not by faith.

The timely warning (43:8–13). This is Jeremiah’s final “action sermon.” While the Jews were watching, he gathered some large stones and set them in the clay (or mortar) before Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. Then he announced that Nebuchadnezzar’s throne would one day sit on those stones while the king of Babylon passed judgment on the people. As he did to the temple in Jerusalem, so Nebuchadnezzar would do to the gods and temples in Egypt. His victory would be so easy that it would be like a shepherd wrapping his garment around himself! And yet these are the very gods that the Jews would worship in Egypt, gods destined to be destroyed!