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"I Myself will fight against you"

Text: Jeremiah 21:5

THE REPLY OF JEREMIAH

King Zedekiah had sent a royal delegation of two men to Jeremiah. He hoped that Jeremiah would intercede on behalf of the king and of the nation! The reply of Jeremiah was probably totally unexpected!

“Then Jeremiah said to them,
‘Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,
‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel:
‘Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands,
with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans
who besiege you outside the walls;
and I will assemble them in the midst of this city.
I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm,
even in anger and fury and great wrath.
I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast;
they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward,’ says the LORD,
‘I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people,
and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine,
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies,
and into the hand of those who seek their life;
and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword.
He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.”'”
Jeremiah 21:3-7

1. The reply of Jeremiah was very direct

a) This word was to be given to Zedekiah.

b) And it was a word from the LORD God Himself.

2. The weapons of Zedekiah

a) The king had prepared weapons of war.

b) But these would be “turned back”.
In other words, they would be useless against the Babylonians.

3. The King of Babylon and the Chaldeans

a) They were already besieging the capital.

b) They would be brought into the city of Jerusalem soon.

c) The Lord’s Judgment would fall on this wicked king and the sinful and unrepentant people of Judah.

4. The LORD’s Will was made very clear

a) He will not remove the enemies.

b) In fact, He Himself will fight against Zedekiah and the nation.

i) “With an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath” (Jeremiah 21:5)

ii) “I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence” (Jeremiah 21:6)

c) Dire consequences for Zedekiah and all in Judah.

i) There will be “pestilence and the sword and the famine” (Jeremiah 21:7b).

ii) All will be delivered to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 21:7b).

d) What would the Babylonian king do?

i) “And he shall strike them with the edge of the sword” (Jeremiah 21:7c).

ii) “He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy” (Jeremiah 21:7c).