Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Is there any word from the LORD?"
Text: Jeremiah 37:17
KING ZEDEKIAH STEPPED IN
Jeremiah had been physically abused by the princes. He had also been imprisoned without a fair trial. Zedekiah finally decided to step in.
“When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells,
and Jeremiah had remained there many days,
then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out.
The king asked him secretly in his house, and said,
‘Is there any word from the LORD?’
And Jeremiah said, ‘There is.’
Then he said, ‘You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!'”
Jeremiah 37:16-17
1. “When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells,
and Jeremiah had remained there many days”
a) Jeremiah was firstly remanded in the house of Jonathan the scribe.
b) He was then transferred to “the dungeon and the cells”.
c) This would be a far more forbidding place than the house of the scribe.
d) He was in the dungeon for many days.
2. “Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out.
The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, ‘Is there any word from the LORD?'”
a) Zedekiah was the king of Judah.
b) He had full authority as king:
i) He could release Jeremiah from prison.
ii) He could overturn the decision of the princes.
c) But he exercised his authority secretly.
i) He was obviously not very secure about his position as the ruler.
ii) He was aware of the combined political strength of the other princes.
iii) He took Jeremiah out of the dungeon to have a private audience with him.
d) His concern was whether the LORD had given Jeremiah any word about the future.
i) Would the Chaldeans stay away?
ii) What would be the future of Judah?
3. “And Jeremiah said, ‘There is.’ Then he said,
‘You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!'”
a) The word of the LORD was the same.
b) There were no changes.
c) Zedekiah would be delivered to the king of Babylon.
d) The implications were clear:
i) The Babylonians would be back.
ii) Judah would be defeated.
iii) The cities would be destroyed.
iv) Jerusalem and the Temple would be devastated by the war.