Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 38:14 - 38:28

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 38:14 - 38:28


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Jeremiah's Advice to the King

v. 14. Then Zedekiah, the king, sent and took Jeremiah, the prophet, unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord,
very likely the vaulted north gate of the Temple court, which faced the palace; and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. The very attitude of the prophet, together with the definiteness of his message, filled the king with apprehension and a foreboding of evil for himself.

v. 15. Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee,
telling him the plain truth as it had been revealed by the Lord, wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, namely, concerning the manner in which he was to proceed in this emergency, wilt thou not hearken unto me? It is plain that Jeremiah trusted the king neither with regard to the safety of his own person nor concerning the acceptance of any advice which he might give.

v. 16. So Zedekiah, the king, sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul,
a most solemn oath by the God of life and by his own life, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. It was a most emphatic assurance that he would safeguard the prophet's life.

v. 17. Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,
in reliance upon the king's promise. Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, voluntarily surrendering to the Chaldean generals in charge of the siege, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live and thine house, their lives would be spared;

v. 18. but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand,
an emphatic way of saying that he would be taken captive. Cf. Jer_34:2-5; Jer_32:4; Jer_21:4-10.

v. 19. And Zedekiah, the king,
whose weakness of character appears here once more, said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, he dreaded the insults of his fugitive subjects, lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me. It was not merely ridicule that he feared, but actual physical abuse as well.

v. 20. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

v. 21. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath showed me,
the alternative to the mockery of the fugitive Jews:

v. 22. and, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house,
all the members of his harem, including also the wives of former kings who remained in his care, shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, as captives of the Chaldean generals, and those women shall say, in a satirical song of mockery upon Zedekiah, Thy friends have set thee on, the king's ministers and his false prophets had misled him, and have prevailed against thee, getting the better of him with their evil counsel; thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back, slipping in the uncertain footing of the mud into which he had been led by his alleged advisers.

v. 23. So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and thou shall cause this city to be burned with fire,
that is, Zedekiah's weakness, vacillation, and disobedience would bring the guilt of its destruction upon his head.

v. 24. Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah,
still with the same lack of firmness and decision which was characteristic of him throughout, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die, he should feel sure of the king's protection.

v. 25. But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death,
the words which the princes would probably use in threatening him, also what the king said unto thee,

v. 26. then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house,
37:15, to die there.

v. 27. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah,
just as the king had expected that they would, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him, literally, "they kept their silence away from him," that is, they went away in silence and ceased to bother him; for the matter was not perceived, the explanation given by Jeremiah seemed altogether plausible.

v. 28. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken; and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
The Lord has ways and means of protecting and delivering His children from all evil, even when there seems to be no way of escape.