Jeremiah 34:1 - Meaning and Application

This prophecy about Zedekiah came to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah passed it on to the people it concerned, before he was shut up in prison. In fact, this prediction became part of the reason for his imprisonment, as the record later shows by quoting parts of it (Jeremiah 32:4). Notice the time when this message was sent to Zedekiah: it was while the king of Babylon, with all his forces and allies from the lands under his control, was fighting against Jerusalem and the towns around it (Jeremiah 34:1). He meant to destroy them, after already stripping them many times. The towns still holding out are named later, Lachish and Azekah (Jeremiah 34:7). This shows that the nation had come to its very last crisis, yet Zedekiah stubbornly kept resisting, with a heart hardened to his own ruin.

The message itself included both warning and mercy. First, there was a threat of judgment. Zedekiah was told again what he had heard many times before: the city would be captured by the Chaldeans, the people of Babylonia, and burned (Jeremiah 34:2). He himself would fall into the enemy’s hands, be taken prisoner, stand before the fierce king Nebuchadnezzar, and be carried away to Babylon (Jeremiah 34:3). Yet Ezekiel said that Zedekiah would not see Babylon, and that came true, because his eyes were put out before he arrived there (Ezekiel 12:13). Zedekiah brought this on himself, because of his sins against God and because he broke faith with Nebuchadnezzar.

There was also a note of mercy in the message. Zedekiah would die in captivity, but he would not die by the sword. He would die a natural death and finish his life in peace (Jeremiah 34:4-5). He had not been one of the worst kings, and we can hope that he repented of the evil he had done while in captivity, as Manasseh had done, and that God forgave him. If so, then he truly did die in peace. A man can die in prison and still die in peace. More than that, he would receive some honor in death, more than anyone would expect given the whole situation. He would be buried with the burning honors given to his fathers, that is, with the respect usually shown to the kings of Judah, especially those who had done well for Israel. It seems that in captivity he had behaved well enough toward his own people that they were willing to honor him, and toward Nebuchadnezzar that the king allowed it.

If Zedekiah had kept his throne in comfort, he might have grown worse and died without anyone lamenting him. But his suffering changed him so much that his death was treated as a real loss. It is better to live and die repentant in a prison than to live and die unrepentant in a palace. People would lament him, saying, “Alas, lord!” a honor Jehoiakim, his brother, did not receive (Jeremiah 22:18). The Jews say they mourned over him like this: “Zedekiah is dead, who drank the dregs of all the ages before him,” meaning that he suffered for the sins of his ancestors, and the full measure of guilt was completed in his day. They would mourn him this way, says the Lord, because I have spoken it, and what God has said will certainly come to pass.

Jeremiah was faithful in delivering this message. He knew it would anger the king, and it would also put him in danger, as it did, since he was imprisoned for it. Still, he spoke all these words to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:6). It is a blessing for great rulers to have people around them who will speak honestly to them and warn them about the evil results of their bad choices, so they may turn back and live.