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Chapter 36
The Last King of Judah
ZEDEKIAH at the beginning of his reign was trusted fully by the king of Babylon and had as
a tried counselor the prophet Jeremiah. By pursuing an honorable course toward the
Babylonians and by paying heed to the messages from the Lord through Jeremiah, he could
have kept the respect of many in high authority and have had opportunity to communicate to
them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have
been placed on vantage ground and granted many liberties; the name of God would have been
honored far and wide; and those that remained in the land of Judah would have been spared
the terrible calamities that finally came upon them.
Through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and all Judah, including those taken to Babylon, were counseled
to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors. It was especially important
that those in captivity should seek the peace of the land into which they had been
carried. This, however, was contrary to the inclinations of the human heart; and Satan, taking advantage of the
circumstances, caused false prophets to arise among the people, both in Jerusalem and in
Babylon, who declared that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken and the former
prestige of the nation restored.
The heeding of such flattering prophecies would have led to fatal moves on the part of the
king and the exiles, and would have frustrated the merciful designs of God in their
behalf. Lest an insurrection be incited and great suffering ensue, the Lord commanded
Jeremiah to meet the crisis without delay, by warning the king of Judah of the sure
consequence of rebellion. The captives also were admonished, by written communications,
not to be deluded into believing their deliverance near. "Let not your prophets and
your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you," he urged. Jeremiah 29:8. In
this connection mention was made of the Lord's purpose to restore Israel at the close of
the seventy years of captivity foretold by His messengers.
With what tender compassion did God inform His captive people of His plans for Israel! He
knew that should they be persuaded by false prophets to look for a speedy deliverance,
their position in Babylon would be made very difficult. Any demonstration or insurrection
on their part would awaken the vigilance and severity of the Chaldean authorities and
would lead to a further restriction of their liberties. Suffering and disaster would
result. He desired them to submit quietly to their fate and make their servitude as
pleasant as possible; and his counsel to them was: "Build ye houses, and dwell in
them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; . . . and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you
to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall
ye have peace." Verses 5-7.
Among the false teachers in Babylon were two men who claimed to be holy, but whose lives
were corrupt. Jeremiah had condemned the evil course of these men and had warned them of
their danger. Angered by reproof, they sought to oppose the work of the true prophet by
stirring up the people to discredit his words and to act contrary to the counsel of God in
the matter of subjecting themselves to the king of Babylon. The Lord testified through
Jeremiah that these false prophets should be delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar
and slain before his eyes. Not long afterward, this prediction was literally fulfilled.
To the end of time, men will arise to create confusion and rebellion among those who claim
to be representatives of the true God. Those who prophesy lies will encourage men to look
upon sin as a light thing. When the terrible results of their evil deeds are made
manifest, they will seek, if possible, to make the one who has faithfully warned them,
responsible for their difficulties, even as the Jews charged Jeremiah with their evil
fortunes. But as surely as the words of Jehovah through His prophet were vindicated
anciently, so surely will the certainty of His messages be established today.
From the first, Jeremiah had followed a consistent course in counseling submission to the
Babylonians. This counsel was given not only to Judah, but to many of the surrounding
nations. In the earlier portion of Zedekiah's reign, ambassadors from the rulers of Edom,
Moab, Tyre, and other nations visited the king of Judah to learn whether in his judgment
the time was opportune for a united revolt and whether he would join them in battling
against the king of Babylon. While these ambassadors were awaiting a response, the word of
the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy
neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the
Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the
messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah." Jeremiah 27:2,3.
Jeremiah was commanded to instruct the ambassadors to inform their rulers that God had
given them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that they were to
"serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land
come." Verse 7.
The ambassadors were further instructed to declare to their rulers that if they refused to
serve the Babylonian king they should be punished "with the sword, and with the
famine, and with the pestilence" till they were consumed. Especially were they to
turn from the teaching of false prophets who might counsel otherwise. "Hearken not ye
to your prophets," the Lord declared, "nor to your diviners, nor to your
dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye
shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far
from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke
of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein." Verses 8-11. The lightest
punishment that a merciful God could inflict upon so rebellious a people was submission to
the rule of Babylon, but if they warred against this decree of servitude they were to feel
the full vigor of His chastisement.
The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when Jeremiah, carrying
the yoke of subjection about his neck, made known to them the will of God.
Against determined opposition Jeremiah stood firmly for the policy of submission.
Prominent among those who presumed to gainsay the counsel of the Lord was Hananiah,
one of the false prophets against whom the people had been warned. Thinking to gain the
favor of the king and of the royal court, he lifted his voice in protest, declaring that
God had given him words of encouragement for the Jews. Said he: "Thus speaketh the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's
house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to
Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break
the yoke of the king of Babylon." Jeremiah 28:2-4.
Jeremiah, in the presence of the priests and people, earnestly entreated them to submit to
the king of Babylon for the time the Lord had specified. He cited the men of Judah to the
prophecies of Hosea, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others whose messages of reproof and warning
had been similar to his own. He referred them to events which had taken place in
fulfillment of prophecies of retribution for unrepented sin. In the past the judgments of
God had been visited upon the impenitent in exact fulfillment of His purpose as revealed
through His messengers.
"The prophet which prophesieth of peace," Jeremiah proposed in conclusion,
"when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known,
that the Lord hath truly sent him." Verse 9. If Israel chose to run the risk, future
developments would effectually decide which was the true prophet.
The words of Jeremiah counseling submission aroused Hananiah to a daring challenge of the
reliability of the message delivered. Taking the symbolic yoke from Jeremiah's neck,
Hananiah broke it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full
years.
"And the prophet Jeremiah went his way." Verse 11. Apparently he could do
nothing more than to retire from the scene of conflict. But Jeremiah was given another
message. "Go and tell Hananiah," he was bidden, "Thus saith the Lord; Thou
hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these
nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. . .
.
"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The
Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus
saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou
shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet
died the same year in the seventh month." Verses 13-17.
The false prophet had strengthened the unbelief of the people in Jeremiah and his message.
He had wickedly declared himself the Lord's messenger, and he suffered death in
consequence. In the fifth month Jeremiah prophesied the death of Hananiah, and in the
seventh month his words were proved true by their fulfillment.
The unrest caused by the representations of the false prophets brought Zedekiah under
suspicion of treason, and only by quick and decisive action on his part was he permitted
to continue reigning as a vassal. Opportunity for such action was taken advantage of
shortly after the return of the ambassadors from Jerusalem to the surrounding nations,
when the king of Judah accompanied Seraiah, "a quiet prince," on an important
mission to Babylon. Jeremiah 51:59. During this visit to the Chaldean court, Zedekiah
renewed his oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar.
Through Daniel and others of the Hebrew captives, the Babylonian monarch had been made
acquainted with the power and supreme authority of the true God; and when Zedekiah once
more solemnly promised to remain loyal, Nebuchadnezzar required him to swear to this
promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Had Zedekiah respected this renewal of his
covenant oath, his loyalty would have had a profound influence on the minds of many who
were watching the conduct of those who claimed to reverence the name and to cherish the
honor of the God of the Hebrews.
But Judah's king lost sight of his high privilege of bringing honor to the name of the
living God. Of Zedekiah it is recorded: "He did that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the
mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him
swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord
God of Israel." 2 Chronicles 36:12, 13.
While Jeremiah continued to bear his testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel
was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and to comfort the exiles, and
also to confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah. During the
years that remained of Zedekiah's reign, Ezekiel made very plain the folly of trusting to
the false predictions of those who were causing the captives to hope for an early return
to Jerusalem. He was also instructed to foretell, by means of a variety of symbols and
solemn messages, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem.
In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in vision some of
the abominations that were being practiced in Jerusalem, and within the gate of the Lord's
house, and even in the inner court. The chambers of images, and the pictured idols,
"every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house
of Israel"--all these in rapid succession passed before the astonished gaze of the
prophet. Ezekiel 8:10.
Those who should have been spiritual leaders among the people, "the ancients of the
house of Israel," to the number of seventy, were seen offering incense before the
idolatrous representations that had been introduced into hidden chambers within the sacred
precincts of the temple court. "The Lord seeth us not," the men of Judah
flattered themselves as they engaged in their heathenish practices; "the Lord hath
forsaken the earth," they blasphemously declared. Verses 11, 12.
There were still "greater abominations" for the prophet to behold. At a gate
leading from the outer to the inner court he was shown "women weeping for Tammuz," and within "the inner court
of the Lord's house, . . . at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and
the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord,
and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east." Verses
13-16.
And now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision of
wickedness in high places in the land of Judah, inquired of the prophet: "Hast thou
seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the
abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have
returned to provoke Me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore
will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though
they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." Verses 17, 18.
Through Jeremiah the Lord had declared of the wicked men who presumptuously dared to stand
before the people in His name: "Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house
have I found their wickedness." Jeremiah 23:11. In the terrible arraignment of Judah
as recorded in the closing narrative of the chronicler of Zedekiah's reign, this charge of
violating the sanctity of the temple was repeated. "Moreover," the sacred writer
declared, "all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after
all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had
hallowed in Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 36:14.
The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. No longer could the Lord
set before them the hope of averting the severest of His judgments. "Should ye be
utterly unpunished?" He inquired. "Ye shall not be unpunished." Jeremiah
25:29.
Even these words were received with mocking derision. "The days are prolonged, and
every vision faileth," declared the impenitent. But through Ezekiel this denial of
the sure word of prophecy was sternly rebuked. "Tell them," the Lord declared,
"I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in
Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there
shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For
I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall
be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will
perform it, saith the Lord God.
"Again," testifies Ezekiel, "the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son
of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days
to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord God; There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which
I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 12:22-28.
Foremost among those who were rapidly leading the nation to ruin was Zedekiah their king.
Forsaking utterly the counsels of the Lord as given through the prophets, forgetting the
debt of gratitude he owed Nebuchadnezzar, violating his solemn oath of allegiance taken in the name of the Lord God of Israel,
Judah's king rebelled against the prophets, against his benefactor, and against his God.
In the vanity of his own wisdom he turned for help to the ancient enemy of Israel's
prosperity, "sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and
much people."
"Shall he prosper?" the Lord inquired concerning the one who had thus basely
betrayed every sacred trust; "shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he
break the covenant, and be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place
where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he
brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his
mighty army and great company make for him in the war: . . . seeing he despised the oath
by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things,
he shall not escape." Ezekiel 17:15-18.
To the "profane wicked prince" had come the day of final reckoning. "Remove
the diadem," the Lord decreed, "and take off the crown." Not until Christ
Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to be permitted to have a king. "I
will overturn, overturn, overturn, it," was the divine edict concerning the throne of
the house of David; "and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I
will give it Him." Ezekiel 21:25-27.
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