In these studies in the second half of the book of Jeremiah,  we will see God’s word coming through Jeremiah and being rejected again and again. We will see the difficulties of Jeremiah but also the way he is saved through it all. Jeremiah is God’s reporter on the spot, in the midst of one of the most tumultuous periods in Israel’s history.

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, and the particular theme, as with studies elsewhere, each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read on the main Bible page.

Jeremiah & Zedekiah

Jer 37:1-10

Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. ² Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵ Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. ⁸ Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”

A. Find Out

1. How did Zedekiah respond to the Lord’s word? v.2
2. What did he ask nevertheless? v.3
3. What was Jeremiah’s position? v.4
4. Why was Jeremiah reprieved? v.5
5. What did the Lord say would happen? v.7c,8
6. What might the king be deceived into thinking would happen? v.9

B. Think:

1. How does this passage show we can be both apparently spiritual but also disobedient?
2. The Bible says (Gal 6:7), “A man reaps what he sows”. How does this passage show that this may not be so instantly?
3. Why should we not reply on present circumstances?

C. Comment:

First we see the king, Zedekiah, completely disregarding God’s words.  Next we see him asking for prayer. This leads us to believe either that his request for prayer was insincere and a mere appearance of being religious, or that he was sincere but couldn’t see the contradiction in his attitude.  To disregard God on the one hand and then ask for His help on the other is selfish hypocrisy.

In response to all this the Lord speaks. He reveals the king’s heart. It is clear that the king, watching what is happening outside the city, believes the crisis has passed. The Babylonians were apparently packing up and leaving to go and face the threat of the advancing Egyptian army.  Zedekiah can afford to appear religious – he thinks! But, says the Lord, don’t kid yourself, they will be back and they will overcome Jerusalem.  God is going to deal with this city and this evil king. There will be no escape. In our foolishness, because the threat is not immediate we think we can escape punishment. Wrong!

D. Application:

1. Zedekiah deceived himself with outward appearances. Do we sometimes do the same?
2. Zedekiah though he could “get away with it” because the threat lessened for a while. Do we do the same sometimes?

Jeremiah Imprisoned

Jer 37:11-21

¹¹ After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”

¹⁴ “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰ But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”

²¹ King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

A. Find Out

1. What did Jeremiah go to do? v.12
2. Of what was he accused? v.13
3. What did the officials do with him? v.15,16
4. Why did the king send for him? v.17
5. What did Jeremiah take the opportunity to do? v.20
6. What was the king’s response?  v.21

B. Think:

1. Why might they have thought Jeremiah was leaving to join the Babylonians?
2. What was it about Jeremiah that made the king call for him?
3. How does Jeremiah stand up as the Lord’s mouthpiece before the king?

C. Comment:

As the Babylonians are temporarily leaving the country, Jeremiah decides to go to the land that he has bought from his cousin in the area of the tribe of Benjamin. Seeing him leaving, the guards arrest him. They probably know he has been a lone voice prophesying that Nebuchadnezzar will overcome the city. They probably feel he has been undermining the people, perhaps even that he is a traitor, a spy. They arrest him and he is beaten and imprisoned and placed in an uncomfortable cell.

It is then that Jeremiah’s ministry as a prophet helps him. It is because he is a prophet that he’s there, but it’s also the reason the king sends for him. Again he simply speaks the truth and then takes the opportunity to plead his case before the king. The king responds and allows him better accommodation. Our function is always to speak the truth and say what God gives us to say and He will give us whatever other opportunity we need. “Seek first HIS kingdom”.

D. Application:

1. Are we afraid to speak the truth sometimes because we wonder if the Lord will back us up?
2. Are we willing, like Jeremiah, to be a lone voice speaking out for the Lord?