14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.
18 But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’”
19 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.”
20 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. (Jeremiah 38:14-20)
It is a great lesson for us to see the example of sin in the life of the king Zedekiah and his reaction to the word of God that was prophesied through Jeremiah. God already told Zedekiah about the consequences of his sins that Babylonians are going to come and take over the nation. Zedekiah had no choice but to surrender to the greater nation in order to stay alive because God already spoke to him to let him know that the war against Babylonians is not going to succeed--it was God`s hand to send Israelites to captive for all the sins they`ve been committing in front of the eyes of the Lord.
The interesting principles here are the following:
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.
18 But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’”
19 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.”
20 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. (Jeremiah 38:14-20)
It is a great lesson for us to see the example of sin in the life of the king Zedekiah and his reaction to the word of God that was prophesied through Jeremiah. God already told Zedekiah about the consequences of his sins that Babylonians are going to come and take over the nation. Zedekiah had no choice but to surrender to the greater nation in order to stay alive because God already spoke to him to let him know that the war against Babylonians is not going to succeed--it was God`s hand to send Israelites to captive for all the sins they`ve been committing in front of the eyes of the Lord.
The interesting principles here are the following:
1. When we know we sin, we tend to flee and hide from the consequences. There are always consequences to the sin, and there is no way to hide from the eyes of the Lord even if we try to cover up for our actions.
2. Another interesting thing is when we sin we harden our hearts because we know what we do is wrong. Satan uses our sins to keep us captive and tell us lies for the possible circumstances if we would attempt to straighten our ways.
For example, in the case of Zedekiah, satan was telling him that he shouldn`t trust to surrender because people of Judah would go against his decision to surrender to Babylonians, and he was afraid to die from the hand of his own people. Another fear that satan was telling him that it wasn`t true that God promised Zedekiah would survive the caption of Babylonians.
How often does it happen when we sin that we hear these small voices in our head that tell us if you do the right thing, people would not understand or accept that, or they would judge it the wrong way. For example in my case, I knew I was sinning against God by rejecting Him and His will on my life and in my circumstances, but because I wanted God to deliver me from my problems my way, I couldn`t surrender to Him and to His will. It took Him almost three weeks to talk to me through the scriptures, daily devotions, and through the direct communication with me to let me know that it is either His way or no way. It doesn`t matter how long we refuse to obey His will, He would continue to pressure the circumstances around us until we surrender to Him. This is exactly what happened to Zedekiah-- he had to be pressured by the war and people as a consequence of his sins, but he still refused to repent and surrender to God for all of his sins.
3. The worst part of the sin is the change of our heart and what happens to our behavior and actions when we sin. We get so blind that we reject the truth. Very close friend of mine, continues to harden his heart to the truth of God because it goes against of the things he likes to do regardless of how wrong it is in the eyes of the Lord. The consequences of the sin is pride, hardened heart, and blindness that binds us with satan`s chains. It is very said to see people being deterred from coming to God because they choose to be chained by satan`s lies. It is never better on his side because satan`s path only leads to death and hell and further destruction not only in our own life but also to close people around us.
If you feel like you are one of those people who cannot break the chains of satan, I can tell you that there is only one way to do that and that is by making a decision to surrender to God. There would be consequences one way or another because sin carries consequences, but God is merciful and it is better to fall into His hands than into the hands of people. 2 Samuel 24:14
New King James Version (NKJV)
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 And when the angel[b] stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah[c] the Jebusite.
17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
David have sinned after he made a decision to record all the men of Israel to see how many strong people he had that could be used for wars, and that was a sin against God because God was the One meeting the needs whenever Israelites went to war with their enemies and provided them with the necessary resources, equipment, and the amount of people needed to win. David had a choice to select his punishment as a consequence of his sin, and he chose to fall into the hands of the Lord, for He is merciful. Note, that sin had effect on the people around David, for 70,000 men died; those were innocent people. Sin always has consequences in the lives of those who surround us--close family members, friends, work, etc. A lot of times it is the only way how we learn- is when we see how innocent people suffer due to our actions. It is said that we are such wicked people that it takes us to hurt others, because of our own selfishness, in order to see what we did was wrong. However, it is a great promise that we have from God to know that He is always on our side, but He also applies the rod, so we could learn from our mistakes and could return to the right path; the only narrow way is with Him and to follow His will.
17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
David have sinned after he made a decision to record all the men of Israel to see how many strong people he had that could be used for wars, and that was a sin against God because God was the One meeting the needs whenever Israelites went to war with their enemies and provided them with the necessary resources, equipment, and the amount of people needed to win. David had a choice to select his punishment as a consequence of his sin, and he chose to fall into the hands of the Lord, for He is merciful. Note, that sin had effect on the people around David, for 70,000 men died; those were innocent people. Sin always has consequences in the lives of those who surround us--close family members, friends, work, etc. A lot of times it is the only way how we learn- is when we see how innocent people suffer due to our actions. It is said that we are such wicked people that it takes us to hurt others, because of our own selfishness, in order to see what we did was wrong. However, it is a great promise that we have from God to know that He is always on our side, but He also applies the rod, so we could learn from our mistakes and could return to the right path; the only narrow way is with Him and to follow His will.
