I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 36-38.

    The account of the scroll which Jeremiah dictated of all of his prophecies and the reactions of various officials gives us an insight into the politics of Jerusalem in the final years before the Babylonian Captivity. When Baruch read the scroll at the Temple, some of the officials heard about it and had him brought to them to hear what was written on it. It seems to me that these officials were horrified both by what the messages said and by the fact that the common people had heard them. They appear to have felt that the king should take heed of these prophecies. They clearly were sympathetic and supportive of Jeremiah because they told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should hide before they told the king. Unlike the officials who first heard Jeremiah’s words, the king and his courtiers were unmoved by Jeremiah’s prophecies. The king in question here is Jehoiakim. It is interesting to contrast his attitude towards Jeremiah with that of his brother, Zedekiah.

    King Zedekiah had an interesting relationship with Jeremiah, one which tells us that he was a weak king. Certain of King Zedekiah’s officials wanted Jeremiah executed ofr his prophecies about the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. They went to King Zedekiah and demanded Jeremiah’s death. What I find interesting is that King Zedekiah did not order Jeremiah’s execution, nor did he order the officials to leave Jeremiah alone. King Zedekiah granted them permission to do as they pleased with Jeremiah, but only in so far as he did not order them not to do it, “I can’t stop you.” The interesting thing is that rather than outright kill Jeremiah, those officials put him in a dry cistern to starve to death. A short time later, another official came to King Zedekiah and told him that what they had done was evil. This time, King Zedekiah gave that official 30 of his men and sent him to rescue Jeremiah.
    Some time after this, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and asked him what he should do. Jeremiah told the king that he should surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar. King Zedekiah replied that he was afraid the King Nebuchadnezzar would turn him over to the Jews who had already gone over to Nebuchadnezzar if he did that. This really tells us a lot about King Zedekiah’s failure as king. He wanted to be godly as his father King Josiah had been, but he was not willing to take any risks to serve God. As a result, he ended up suffering as much or more than what he feared would happen if he had done what was right. We need to learn not to follow his example. King Zedekiah did not do God’s will because he was afraid of what would happen to him if he did. as a result he experienced suffering at least as great as that which he attempted to avoid.