1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city…
4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward ethe Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him.
6The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7 He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8 The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
The Lord Delivers Jeremiah
11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12 “Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” 13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people.
15The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16“Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’”

The Lord judges Zedekiah, and delivers Jeremiah.

There are two incidents in today’s reading on which we must comment. One is pathetic, and the other is touching.

The first (vv.1-7) relates to this pathetic man Zedekiah. I say ‘pathetic’ rather than ‘tragic’, for there is a trace of something noble in the word tragic, and there is no trace of nobility in Zedekiah.

It is only to be expected that the last we hear of him he is running for his life. He and his ‘men of war’ – as soon as they even saw the enemy, they fled (v.4).

Now, there is something interesting in v.7, which shows the absolute accuracy of the Word of God. Jeremiah had said that Zedekiah would be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon and ‘his eyes shall behold his eyes’ (ch.32 v.4).

Ezekiel said, ‘I will bring him to Baylon…yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there’ (Ezek. 12.13). It looked like a contradiction, but it was all fulfilled to the letter.

The second incident (vv.15-18) shows how faithful and merciful God is to them that trust him.

Do you remember what Ebed-melech the Ethiopian did for God’s servant Jeremiah (ch.38.7-13)? He saved him from death by pulling him up from the dungeon. God remembered, and he preserved Ebed-melech’s life because of his trust in the Lord.

Editor’s note: The above is taken from the ‘Daily Readings,’ printed weekly for the Dumbarton Free Sunday School by Tommy MacKay, elder. Each entry is edited lightly for the blog post.

Excerpt from Reading Notes Week 102, Sunday. Copyright Tommy MacKay, used by permission.