These events probably took place in the year 588, when the invincible Babylonian army was camped around the walls of Jerusalem. Hoping to secure help from Egypt, weak King Zedekiah had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to pay tribute (2 Chron. 36:13; see Ezek. 17:11–18); now Judah was suffering the dreadful consequences of his foolish decision. In desperation, he looked to Jeremiah for help by sending Zephaniah the priest and Pashur, one of the court officers, to see whether the prophet could get guidance from the Lord. The king hoped that Jehovah would send a miraculous deliverance to Jerusalem as He had done in the days of godly King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18—19). Jeremiah, however, responded with dire pronouncements to the king (Jer. 21:3–7), the people (vv. 8–10), and the house of David (vv. 11–14).
A pronouncement to King Zedekiah (vv. 3–7). Not only would God refuse to deliver the city from the enemy, but also He would fight with the enemy and bring about Jerusalem’s defeat! Judah’s military might would be ineffective against the Chaldean army. Whereas in the past, God’s mighty “outstretched arm” and “strong hand” had worked for His people (Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 26:8), now He would work against them, because the nation had turned against God. “To the faithful you show yourself faithful … but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd” (Ps. 18:25–26 niv).
It seems strange that the Lord would use words like “anger,” “fury,” and “great wrath” (Jer. 21:5) to describe His disposition toward His own people. Yet these words were a part of His covenant with the people, and the nation knew the terms of the covenant (see Deut. 29:23, 28; 32:16–17, 21, 29; Lev. 26:27–28). God had warned the Jews repeatedly that their disobedience would arouse His anger and force Him to bring judgment to the land, but the leaders wouldn’t listen. They preferred dead idols to the living God, and power politics to simple faith in His word.
Jeremiah announced that the people in Jerusalem would die of famine, pestilence, or the sword; many of the survivors would even be taken captive to Babylon. King Zedekiah and his officers would be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar and judged. That’s exactly what happened. The siege began January 15, 588, and ended July 18, 586, a period of just over thirty months.After Zedekiah, his sons, and his nobles were captured, his sons were slain before the eyes of the king, who was then blinded and taken to Babylon, where he died (Jer. 39:1–10; 52:8–11, 24–27; 2 Kings 25).
A pronouncement to the people (vv. 8–10). There was no hope for the king, but the Lord did offer hope to the people if they would surrender to Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. 38:17–23). God set before them two ways—the way of life and the way of death—a choice that must have reminded them of the words of the covenant (Deut. 11:26–32; 30:15–20; see Jer. 27:12–13; 38:2–3, 17–18). With God, we must decide one way or the other (Ps. 1); it’s not possible to be neutral (Matt. 7:13–29; 12:22–30).
Of course, to surrender to the enemy was an act of treason, and Jeremiah eventually got into trouble for advocating this plan (Jer. 37:11–21; 38:1–6). The phrase “his life shall be unto him for a prey” (21:9) is literally “his life shall be to him as plunder” (see 38:2; 39:18; 45:5). The Babylonians would treat the deserters like spoils of war, and the Jews, after losing everything in the siege, would be happy to escape with their lives.
Since Nebuchadnezzar was doing the work of God in punishing the kingdom of Judah (50:9, 23; 51:20), and since God was allied with Babylon in fighting Judah, to surrender to Babylon really meant to surrender to the will of God. It meant to confess guilt and submit to the hand of the Lord. Rebellion against the Babylonians was rebellion against the Lord, and that was the way of death.
As God’s people today, we need to realize that the only safe and sane response to God’s chastening hand is submission. “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” (Heb. 12: nkjv) The implication of the question is that we might not live if we don’t submit to the will of God! “There is a sin not unto death” (1 John 5:17).
A pronouncement to the house of David (vv. 11–14). Here the Lord spoke to David’s dynasty—the kings who sat on the throne because of God’s covenant with David (2 Sam. 7). If they obeyed God’s law and executed justice in the land, God would keep His promise and maintain David’s royal dynasty. If they disobeyed, however, the kings would lose their throne rights. Once again, God was simply reminding them of the terms of the covenant and urging them to obey His word. The people of Jerusalem were certain that their city was impregnable and that there was no need to be afraid. Surrounded on three sides by valleys—Hinnom on the south and west, and Kidron on the east—the city had to defend itself only on the north. Jerusalem’s inhabitants saw themselves enthroned on the rocky plateau, but God would soon dethrone them and cause them to lose their crown. Since the Babylonian army did set fire to the city, God did “kindle a fire in the forest” (Jer. 21:14). The phrase “the forest” probably refers to the structures in the city, especially to the king’s palace, the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2; 10:17, 21). The cedars of Lebanon were used to construct various buildings in the city.
This chapter begins with a king’s cry for help and ends with a prophet’s pronouncement of doom. What a tragedy!