seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 21:1 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 “Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[a] king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians[b] who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath. 6 I will strike down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague. 7 After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’
8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. 10 I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’
11 “Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:
“‘Administer justice every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
13 I am against you, Jerusalem,
you who live above this valley
on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
Who can enter our refuge?”
14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve,
declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire in your forests
that will consume everything around you.’”
rescue from the hand of the oppressor
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
13 I am against you, Jerusalem,
you who live above this valley
on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
Who can enter our refuge?”
14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve,
declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire in your forests
that will consume everything around you.’”
a. Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel
b. Jeremiah 21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 9
I'm surprised Zedekiah would want to know what Jeremiah had to say.
This is from Bible-studys.org.
Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, who reigned (from 597-586 B.C.), requests here that the prophet pray that the Lord would act for Judah “according to all his wondrous works”, hoping That God would work a miracle like He had done when delivering Jerusalem from the Assyrians in 701 B.C.
Jeremiah announced that the Lord would be directly involved in the destruction of Judah (Lam. 2:5). Israel’s Holy War traditions celebrated how the Lord had fought on Israel’s behalf throughout her history, but the people had become God’s enemies because of their covenant unfaithfulness.
“Life and … death”: Since a persistent lack of repentance had led to the conquest, Jeremiah urged the Jews to submit and surrender to the besieger so as to be treated as captives of war and live rather than be killed.
Zedekiah (together with his court), is charged with giving heed to the Lord’s words of instruction and warning as the representative of the “house of David’. Though he was a wicked king who had failed to appropriate the available blessings of the Davidic covenant, still, he was David’s descendant and heir and needed to be reminded of his special God-given responsibilities. Note the similar divine challenge to Ahaz (in Isaiah 7:2, 13).
This is from the easy English site.Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah king. That happened after Nebuchadnezzar had taken the previous king, Jehoiachin, and the important people to Babylon in 597 BC. Zedekiah had tried to act against Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah had asked Egypt to help (Jeremiah 37:4-8). In about 588 BC, the Babylonian army had returned to attack Jerusalem. They waited outside the city. And Zedekiah sent men to ask whether the LORD would free the city.
Pashhur is different from Pashhur, son of Immer, who had put Jeremiah in prison . Zephaniah received a letter from Babylon. It accused him because he had not punished Jeremiah. The punishment was because he had written a letter. He had written to the people from Judah when they were in Babylon. The LORD had acted in wonderful ways in the past. If Jeremiah prayed for Jerusalem, perhaps the LORD would cause the Babylonian army to go away.
Although the people had swords and arms, they would be of no use. The LORD himself would allow the king of Babylon and his army to win. The LORD was very angry with the people in Judah. So he would act to bring the Babylonian army inside the city. People and animals would die. They would die from hunger and disease. Or they would die in battle. The king of Babylon would show no pity to the people whom he had defeated.
Well.... one thing about Jeremiah.... he wasn't preaching to the paycheck or the free housing.
Zedekiah figured out that Jerusalem was in serious trouble. The Babylonians had Jerusalem surrounded. The Babylonians would not allow food or water to get into the city. Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray for Jerusalem so God would intervene. Zedekiah hadn't been listening.... Jeremiah told everyone.... this was God's work. God's not going to rescue Jerusalem from Himself. He had been warning and fuming and holding His anger in for centuries. These stupid humans insisted on worshiping junk....
