The Vain Hope Against God’s Word

Jeremiah 37:1-21 

(2 Kin. 24:17; 2 Chr. 36:10)

1 Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave heed to the words of the LORD which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Pray now to the LORD our God for us." 4 Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. 5 Then Pharaoh's army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 7 "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire."' 9 Thus says the LORD: 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely depart from us," for they will not depart. 10 For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.'"

11 And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12 that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. 13 And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are defecting to the Chaldeans!"

14 Then Jeremiah said, "False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans." But he did not listen to him.

So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. 15 Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.

16 When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, 17 then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, "Is there any word from the LORD?"

And Jeremiah said, "There is." Then he said, "You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!"

18 Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What offense have I committed against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land'? 20 Therefore please hear now, O my lord the king. Please, let my petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there."

21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah to the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread from the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Zedekiah's vain hope for deliverance was against God’s word spoken through Jeremiah to him and all Judah.  He continued to hold to a false expectation of the Egyptian army keeping them safe as false prophets had cried prosperity contrary to the clear message of accountability and captivity in Babylon.  This is just like those today who heap up teachers of empty prosperity giving the ear a tickle (2 Peter 2:1, 18, 2 Timothy 4:3-4) to believe what pleases the hearer instead of acknowledging the sovereignty of the Lord’s plan and glorifying God according to his word.  They imagine God is only love and cheap grace and overlook His hatred of sin and the judgment to come (Acts 24:25) with only one route of escape by faith in and following Christ alone (John 5:24).  Jeremiah was imprisoned for telling the harsh truth of the judgment to come as the wages of sin (Romans 6:23) for God’s people, even after the king disregarded his words and yet still asked him to pray for them to the LORD their God.  They wanted to be identified with God and protected from their enemies while not listening to or following His word to them.  God sent the Egyptian army back and opened the door for the neighboring Chaldeans to take over.  When Jeremiah went to claim the land in Benjamin’s territory which he had earlier purchased by faith in the face of invasion (Jeremiah 32:6-7, 12-15, 17, 27) because he believed the word of the LORD in the face of dire circumstances as an example to others around him like King Zedekiah.  This proved to be a testimony against the king and his followers, unfortunately.  It is a reminder to us to trust God no matter the adversity of the world situation and unrest.  We live and walk with Him by faith that knows His character and word, and do not walk by the sight of our own limited abilities.  The word of the LORD to Zedekiah was deliverance into bondage, but for us now the good news (gospel) to counter such bad news is the deliverance from out of sin’s bondage by Christ’s work on the cross.  We are born into Babylon in a sense (Galatians 1:4, 1 Peter 5:13) and brought out in the timing of the Lord after enduring correction to repentance in our sin to faith in Him.  Such grace!  Just as Jeremiah was cast into jail for trusting the LORD and His word, we may be also.  If so, let us rejoice to suffer for His name as in Acts 5:41 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.  Yes, we can learn much about following God’s word and accepting adversity instead of fighting for our rights and expecting God to keep us out of corrective circumstances with trust for Him to deliver us in His time and not by our demands.  Jeremiah trusted and was brought through the trials.  We can also walk by faith and accept the good as well as the bad as Job 2:10 gives us the further example.  God works all for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28) according to his word and for His sovereign pleasure as our Lord.  Only trust Him and refuse the vain hope opposed to His word as prosperity health and wealth teachers would lead us astray with.