52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [a]Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around [b]it. 5 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were [c]all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the [d]plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he [e]passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the [f]princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
In this final chapter, we begin to learn “the rest of the story” (as a famous radio personality once said). Or put another way, we learn whether or not God was right. Spoiler, He’s always right… There is a hint of that in v. 3, “For through the anger of the Lord this came about…” That is, because it was part of God’s plan, Zedekiah rebelled against God just as his nephew had done.
And because it was part of God’s plan, Zedekiah also rebelled against Babylon who had exacted tribute for several years. Thus Nebuchadnezzar came, bringing his army, and laid siege to Jerusalem. When we get to v. 7, we would be tempted to say either, “Oh good, they got away!” or we may instead think God wasn’t so accurate when He told them to surrender or die (on multiple occasions).
Yet sadly, Zedekiah doesn’t make it very far, nor do the other rulers or any of Zedekiah’s family. No, their end had already been foretold because they refused to surrender and tried to escape and do things their way (see 38:17). It’s a very sad ending for the king and those around him, but God knew there was no other way to get Israel’s attention.
They had become so stubborn that, despite Josiah’s reforms less than a hundred years earlier, this judgment was the only way to rescue any of God’s people. And He wasn’t giving up on His people, the ultimate rescue was still to come, and God’s plan would not be undone. The stage was being set for the ultimate act of redemption, though it would take another 500 years or so, and things that no one could have predicted would happen.
That is, no one except God, and He wasn’t done revealing the plan either (see ch. 31). We’ll see more in the writings of Ezekiel and Daniel as God delivers messages that aren’t always so well-received. God is still speaking to His people, to you and I. Whether we’ve put our trust in Him or not, He is calling… but are we listening? The crazy thing is, that after all of their mistakes, and ours, God cared for Israel, and He cares for us as well.
God has a vested interest in your future, because it is part of His plan, that He laid out before the foundations of the earth were formed. Nothing in our lives is accidental, nothing is left to chance. God doesn’t cast the dice and see where things land. He knows the end from the beginning, and that phrase takes on new meaning even as I write it. That is, God knew the end even at the beginning, and still chose to love us and send His Son to take our punishment for our inevitable rebellion.
God wasn’t surprised by Zedekiah’s escape attempt, He had already seen it. He isn’t surprised at what is happening in your life right now, He already saw it. Not, “Oh look what they did, such and such is probably going to happen…” Rather, He knew it would happen, and thus He is not surprised. The good news? God has a plan to get you through the storm, even though you can’t see the end from the beginning. Trust the plan, trust God, and know that He will see you through. That much, we can also know with certainty.