Jeremiah 21:1

II. JUDGMENTS AGAINST ISRAEL AND MESSIANIC PROPHECIES (JER. 21-29)

A. COMMENTS ABOUT THE KINGS OF ISRAEL (JER. 21-24)

JEREMIAH 21

ZEDEKIAH IN THE SECOND SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

The major difference to be found in this second major division of Jeremiah is the fact of so many of the episodes recorded being specifically connected with names and dates. In this sub-division (Jeremiah 21-24), Frost suggested that a good title of it would be "Comments on the Kings."[1] It is generally agreed by scholars that the date was very near the onset of Nebuchadnezzar's final siege of Jerusalem in 588 B.C.[2]

There is a skip of twenty years between Jeremiah 20 and Jeremiah 21, and a great deal had happened. Jehoiachim, a protege of Egypt, came to the throne and reigned eleven years, wavering between the necessity of paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar and rebelling against Babylon, contrary to Jeremiah's advice. Following his death Jehoiachin came to the throne for a brief three-months; but, in the meanwhile, Nebuchadnezzar had finally and completely defeated Egypt; so he carried Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with many of the captive nobility, including Daniel and others; at that same time Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah, a king of his own choice, on the throne of Israel. The new king was an uncle of Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah was the name given him by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:17). Of course, he swore fealty and perpetual loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. These events took place about the year 597 B.C.

Jehoiachim's death was inglorious (2 Kings 24:6; Jeremiah 22:18,19). His son, Jehoiachin's three month reign ended when he surrendered the city to Nebuchadnezzar on the 9th of Adar, 597 B.C.[3]

Zedekiah defaulted on his promises to Nebuchadnezzar, and did evil in God's sight, according to all the evil that Jehoiachim had done; some ten years later, we come to the events of this chapter. Some eleven years after coming to the throne Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar who moved to destroy Jerusalem: At first, he mopped up the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and it was during this early phase of the siege that the events of this chapter happened.

Zedekiah ignored Jeremiah's prophetic warning and held out against the Babylonians for a year and a half, enduring the horrors of a terrible siege. But, on the ninth day of Ab in 588 B.C., Zedekiah and his nobles tried to flee the city but were captured on the plains of Jericho. He was terribly punished by Nebuchadnezzar.[4]

The account of Zedekiah's punishment is recorded in 2 Kings 25:1-7. "They slew his sons before his eyes and then put out his eyes and carried him to Babylon in chains."

Jeremiah 21:1-2

ZEDEKIAH'S DELEGATION TO JEREMIAH

"The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon maketh war against us: peradventure Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us."

Zedekiah evidently expected Jehovah to lift the siege against Jerusalem by some tremendous miracle similar to that in which God destroyed 185,000 soldiers of Sennacherib's army and lifted the siege against Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah. The ancient Jews never learned the lesson that God's promises are all conditional, even those of his everlasting love and blessing. They were the ancient practitioners of salvation by faith only. Sure, they believed all right; but they did not propose to do any of the things God commanded.

Notice how the status of Jeremiah has changed. Ten years earlier, those terrible warnings Jeremiah had been prophesying throughout his ministry had begun to be fulfilled; and now, he receives an honored delegation from the king himself requesting his prayers upon their behalf. Characteristically, they paid no attention whatever to his warning, his prophetic advice, and to his instruction as to how some life could be saved.

In the second siege and destruction of Jerusalem, not even the temple was spared; and even the sacred golden vessels were carried away to Babylon as booty.

"Pashhur the son of Malchijah ..." (Jeremiah 21:1) This was not the same as the Pashhur of the previous chapter. One was the son of Immer, and the other the son of Malchijah.

Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah ..." (Jeremiah 21:1). This man was the successor of Jehoida the priest (Jeremiah 29:25-26; 37:3 and Jeremiah 52:24). "He ranked second to the High Priest, was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah; and both he and Pashhur opposed Jeremiah's views."[5] They were probably the ones who persuaded Zedekiah to go on with his resistance rather than surrender the city as Jeremiah had advocated.

It should be noted that there is a similar account of the warning that Jerusalem will fall in Jeremiah 37:3-10; but, "These are not a doublet. It deals with a temporary raising of the siege by the Egyptians, only to be resumed later on with greater intensity. Here we have the siege in its initial phases."[6]

These first two verses reveal Jeremiah in a new role. He now stands much higher in the opinion of the people. "The strong confirmation of his preaching by the captivity of 597 B.C. has made him a national figure whom the king now consults in the hour of crisis."[7]

Many scholars make a big to-do about what they claim is the correct way to spell Nebuchadnezzar, most of them favoring Nebuchadrezzar. There is no doubt that the correct spelling from the Babylonian viewpoint is the latter method; but our viewpoint is by no means the Babylonian viewpoint; and, as the Dean of Canterbury put it, "The common method of spelling it, Nebuchadnezzar, became finally the current form among the Jews. Jeremiah used it in Jeremiah 34:1 and Jeremiah 39:5; and even Daniel used it."[8] Therefore, we shall stay with the common spelling, since our viewpoint is more that of the people of God than it is that of the ancient Babylonians. No well-informed person should find any difficulty with this. All of us are familiar with the variations in spelling as we move from one racial culture to another. Pablo and Paul; Juan and John, or Johannes; Matthew and Mateo; Mark and Marcos; James and Santiago; etc. are examples. Jeremiah himself used the spellings interchangeably. In Jeremiah's writings, "The Jewish spelling is used ten times, and the Babylonian spelling is used twenty-six times."[9]

It is significant that in this petition for Jeremiah to pray for God's intervention on behalf of Zedekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem, "There was no suggestion of repentance or humiliation for the gross sins of the whole nation that had brought upon them the horrible destruction then impending."[10] The message was simply, "Look God, we're in trouble; save us!"