Jerusalem's Doom Is Sealed

Jeremiah 21:1-14 

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, 2 "Please inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us."

3 Then Jeremiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city. 5 I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. 6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward," says the LORD, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy."'

8 "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. 10 For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good," says the LORD. "It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire."'

11 "And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, 12 O house of David! Thus says the LORD:

"Execute judgment in the morning;
And deliver him who is plundered
Out of the hand of the oppressor,
Lest My fury go forth like fire
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.

13 "Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
And rock of the plain," says the LORD,
"Who say, 'Who shall come down against us?
Or who shall enter our dwellings?'

14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings," says the LORD;
"I will kindle a fire in its forest,
And it shall devour all things around it."'"

The doom of Jerusalem was sealed due to the continuous sin of the people in rejecting their LORD and pursuing sins of idolatry and immortality.  Jeremiah proclaimed this hard message as he both wept and desired to see God’s vengeance hold them accountable for their sin and rejection of Him.  Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was coming to overrun them and King Zedekiah asked for the prophet for God to show wonderful works in turning the Babylonians back.  They assumed that their offenses against God meant nothing and they were entitled to be delivered.  How wrong they were in that hubris of assumption apart from accountability according to His word which had been warning them for so long to repent for their only chance of salvation!  Instead, God would turn back their own weapons and give the victory to the invader in His justice of wrath and promise according to their breaking His covenant of works with them which held them accountable to obedience or to face the consequences of annulling it by their sin and idolatry.  God then set before them the way of life and the way of death; they could choose to be defeated and still obey on His terms or fight against their sentence and be destroyed.  The city was to be handed over in defeat to a heathen king and burned for their rebellion against their true King.  The message then was to hear and heed God’s word of warning and judgment of deliverance to their enemies instead of from their hands because of their evil they continued in as a way of life while turning a deaf ear to the LORD and making token sacrifices while not serving Him with a loyal heart (2 Chronicles 16:9).  Yes, God set His face against them who assumed He was still on their side for deliverance apart from accountability and their due punishment according to justice and truth.  Their rotten fruit earned them destruction (Romans 6:23).  This is a warning for all who reject God’s Son instead of entering the new covenant of grace by faith to be well pleasing to God and escape the judgment we all are born under as children of Adam.  Only being born again under and into the new Adam is sufficient (Romans 5:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:21, 45, 56-57) for deliverance from our just due (Romans 3:23).  Apart from Christ, our doom is sealed like Jerusalem’s was, but forevermore.