Old Testament: Jer 38.19–23

To read the Bible in a year, read Jeremiah 38–39 on November 4, In the year of our Lord Christ 2022

By Don Ruhl 

The kingdom of Judah refused to repent. Therefore, the Lord brought the Chaldeans upon them. The Lord wanted Jeremiah to tell the king and the rest of the Jews that they needed to surrender to the king of Babylon. However, they refused to do it. 

Jeremiah explained what would happen if the king obeyed or disobeyed the Lord: 

And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.” But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: Now behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:

Your close friends have set upon you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have turned away again.

So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.”

– Jeremiah 38.19–23 

Unfortunately, King Zedekiah did not do as the Lord had declared and he paid an awful price for it when the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes and then put his eyes out. 

Questions: 

• What does it take to get you to obey the Lord? 
• Have you tried to reason your way out of obeying the Lord? If so, how did it turn out? 

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