17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then [k]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will [l]survive. 18 But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have [m]gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please [n]obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and [o]you may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Then behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the [p]officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,
“[q]Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.”23 They will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the [r]conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
We see now the message that Jeremiah delivered to King Zedekiah in secret. As a reminder, the king met with Jeremiah at the third entrance to the temple, because he didn’t want anyone to know about it. In v. 27, we see that it worked, and no one overheard their conversation. We also see that Zedekiah feared more than the officials who remained, but was even afraid of the Jews who had already surrendered (v. 19).
So Jeremiah affirms that none of these, but especially the officials who remain, have his best interests in mind. Zedekiah was so afraid of crossing the officials, but really they were only trying to use him as a scapegoat. His “close friends” will hang him out to dry, or as Jeremiah tells him in v. 22, they will leave him stuck in the mire to perish. Ironically, that was exactly what they just tried to do with Jeremiah.
The choice was dire for Zedekiah: listen to God, or you will die and the city will be burned with fire (vv. 18,23). It should have been obvious, but even still we do not see any repentance (yet). Zedekiah’s fear still rules the day, just as it can for us. We are oh so good at finding reasons not to do what we know we ought to, when all the time, God wants what is best for us.
It shouldn’t really be a choice, but we somehow make it into the biggest dilemma. Instead, we should do what we know is right, and let God worry about the results. I rather think He can handle that much (and a lot more), and we certainly cannot control any of it, despite our best efforts. Put your trust in God and don’t walk in the mire.
It’ll be better (best), just as God promised to Zedekiah in v. 20, “Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live.” After all Zedekiah had done, God was still looking out for him, and He’s looking out for you too.