Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Let no one know of these words"
Text: Jeremiah 38:24
ZEDEKIAH’S FEAR
Zedekiah was full of fears. He feared the Babylonians. He also feared the princes. As he listened to Jeremiah, he knew that what the prophet said was true. But he could not let Jeremiah go without asking Jeremiah not to disclose what they had discussed.
“Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,
‘Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.
But if the princes hear that I have talked with you,
and they come to you and say to you,
‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king,
and also what the king said to you;
do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’
then you shall say to them,
‘I presented my request before the king,
that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there.””
Jeremiah 38:24-26
1. “Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die'”
a) Zedekiah had to insist that Jeremiah must not disclose what they spoke about.
b) He put his request in very strong words.
c) Jeremiah must not make any disclosure on pain of death.
2. “But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you,
‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you;
do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death'”
a) Zedekiah was frightened that the princes would come to hear about this interview with Jeremiah.
b) They will summon Jeremiah to meet up with them.
c) They would demand that the prophet make full disclosure of what they spoke.
d) If Jeremiah were to disclose everything, they would make sure that he would not suffer the death penalty.
e) They knew that Zedekiah would use the threat of death to frighten people, including Jeremiah.
f) The king knew what the princes were capable of doing.
3. “Then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my request before the king,
that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there'”
a) Zedekiah told Jeremiah what he could say to the prince.
b) He does not need to give a full disclosure.
c) He could simply highlight the fact that he requested the king not to send him back to the prison-house of Jonathan the scribe.
d) It was well known that Jonathan hated Jeremiah and would torture the prophet to death if he could.
e) This was a proposal that Zedekiah presented to Jeremiah.