Jeremiah 21:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is a very humble, proper message that King Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah the prophet in his distress. Zedekiah is charged with not humbling himself before Jeremiah, who spoke the Lord’s message (2 Chronicles 36:12). He did humble himself a little when trouble came, but only as far as need forced him. He wanted the prophet’s help, but he was not willing to follow the prophet’s counsel or be ruled by it.

Notice first the trouble Zedekiah was in. Nebuchadnezzar was making war on him, had invaded the land, besieged the city, and had now surrounded it fully. People who put off thinking about judgment are usually the most frightened when it arrives. Those who once ignored God’s ministers may later be glad to seek them out.

Notice also the messengers he sent, Pashur and Zephaniah, priests from different divisions of service (1 Chronicles 24:9, 1 Chronicles 24:18). It was good that he sent anyone at all, and that he sent men of rank, but it would have been better if he had gone himself and spoken directly with the prophet. He could likely have done that if he had truly humbled himself. These priests may not have been any better than the rest, but when the king ordered them, they had to carry a respectful message to Jeremiah. That was a humiliation for them, but it honored Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had once said rashly, “My days are consumed with shame” (Jeremiah 20:18), yet he lived to see better days than that. Now he was held in higher regard. It is foolish, when things are bad, to say they will always stay that way. Those who are despised may yet be respected. God has promised to honor those who honor him, and those who have harmed his people will one day bow before them (Isaiah 60:14).

The message itself was this: “Please ask the Lord for us” (Jeremiah 21:2). The Chaldean army had now entered their borders and pressed into the city itself, and at last they were convinced that Jeremiah was a true prophet, though they were unwilling to admit it sooner. In this pressure, they wanted him to stand before God for them, because they now believed he had access to heaven that their other prophets had never had. Those prophets had only flattered them with promises of peace.

They ask Jeremiah to do two things. First, they want him to ask God what they should do in their present crisis. All their earlier plans had failed, so now they seek guidance. People who refuse to accept God’s grace for turning from sin are often eager to get God’s direction about how to escape trouble. Second, they want him to pray for them and plead their case before God. Those who ignore the prayers of God’s people in times of peace may later wish for that help in distress.

Their hope was that the Lord might deal with them as he had in the past, when he worked great wonders for their fathers and made the enemy lift the siege and withdraw. But they were only trying to get rid of trouble, not to make peace with God. They wanted, “Let our enemy go,” not, “Let our God return to us,” like Pharaoh in Egypt (Exodus 10:17). They also relied on the memory of God’s former deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib, when Isaiah prayed and God acted (2 Chronicles 32:20, 2 Chronicles 32:21). They thought God might now do the same through Jeremiah.

But they failed to see the great difference between their own day and the days of Hezekiah. Then there had been broad reform and true devotion. Now there was widespread corruption and turning away from God. Jerusalem was the opposite of what it had been. It is foolish to expect God to do for us what he did for others while we keep holding on to our sin.

God’s answer through Jeremiah was sharp and almost without comfort. If Jeremiah had answered on his own, he may have spoken more gently, hoping the message itself showed some good in them. But God knows hearts better than Jeremiah does. So he sent back an answer in the name of the Lord God of Israel (Jeremiah 21:3). That name reminded them that, although God had once done great things for Israel and had promises for Israel, this would not help a generation that was Israel in name only, not in life.

First, God said he would make all their efforts to save themselves fail. He would not train their hands for battle or strengthen their swords. Instead, when they rushed out against the besiegers, their own weapons would turn back on them and do them no good (Jeremiah 21:4). Nothing can prosper for people when God is against them.

Second, the besiegers would soon take the city and all its riches and strength. God would gather into the middle of the city those who were now surrounding it. If a city that should have been a center of worship becomes a center of wickedness, it should not surprise us if God makes it a gathering place for destroyers.

Third, God himself would be their enemy, and then no one could help them, not even Jeremiah (Jeremiah 21:5). God says he will fight against them. He will do it with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, language that shows his power and certainty. He will also do it in righteous anger, not in loving correction. This is execution in fury and great wrath, a sworn judgment with no escape. It will soon be shown how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God.

Those who stay inside the city for their own safety, hoping to avoid the enemy’s sword, will still not escape God’s justice (Jeremiah 21:6). The verse can be read this way: “I will strike those who remain in the city,” both people and animals, both the animals used for food and those used for war, both foot soldiers and horses. They will die from a great pestilence, a deadly disease that will spread inside the walls while the enemy camps outside. Jerusalem’s gates and walls may keep the Babylonians out for a time, but they cannot keep out God’s judgments.

God’s arrows of disease can reach people who think they are safe from every other danger. The king himself, along with anyone who escapes the sword, famine, and pestilence, will still fall into the hands of the Babylonians, who will kill them without mercy or pity (Jeremiah 21:7). People should not expect kindness from men when they have turned away God’s kindness and shut themselves out from his mercy. Since this judgment had already been fixed, what purpose was there in Jeremiah asking the Lord for them?