Jeremiah 38:14 - Meaning and Application

In the previous chapter, we saw the king in private talks with Jeremiah. Here we see him doing the same thing again, even after he had handed Jeremiah over to his enemies (Jeremiah 38:5). That shows the inward struggle in this unhappy king, Zedekiah, between what he knew was right and the sins that ruled him.

First, notice the honor Zedekiah gave the prophet. After Jeremiah was brought up out of the dungeon, the king sent for him to speak with him alone. They met in the third entry, or, as the margin says, the main entry, a place in or near the house of the Lord (Jeremiah 38:14). By choosing that place, Zedekiah may have meant to show some respect for God’s house, which was fitting since he was asking for God’s word.

Zedekiah asked Jeremiah for “a thing,” but it should be understood as a word. He wanted a word of warning, counsel, comfort, or prediction from the Lord (Jeremiah 37:17). He said, in effect, “Tell me everything. Do not hide the worst from me.” He had already been told plainly what would happen, but like Balaam, he asked again, hoping for a better answer. He acted as if God, who is steady and unchanging, were like himself, always changing his mind.

Second, notice the terms Jeremiah set before he would give his advice (Jeremiah 38:15). Jeremiah wanted safety for himself. Zedekiah wanted him to speak honestly, but Jeremiah feared that if he did, the king might put him to death. He had reason to fear that, especially since the princes were already against him. Jeremiah was not unwilling to suffer for the truth when God called him to it, but in doing his duty, he could still use lawful means to protect his life.

Jeremiah also cared about Zedekiah’s good. He was ready to give sound advice, and he did not bring up the wrongs Zedekiah had already done to him. He did not tell the king to go ask his princes, either, though their advice had already been so highly valued. God’s servants must gently teach even those who oppose them, and return good for evil. Jeremiah wanted Zedekiah to listen, and he hoped the king might yet be willing to hear what was best for him.

Some take Jeremiah’s words as hopeful, “Will you not listen to me?” He may have hoped Zedekiah would finally be open to the truth, even now, in the day of his danger and loss. There is hope for sinners when they are willing to listen to good counsel. Others take the words as more sorrowful: if Zedekiah would not listen, Jeremiah might as well keep silent. Ministers have little heart to keep speaking to people who have often shut their ears.

Zedekiah gave no answer to Jeremiah’s concern for his own obedience. He would not promise to follow the advice. He wanted to know God’s will, but he also wanted to keep his own freedom to do what seemed best to him. It was as if a king should have the right to ruin himself, even when good counsel was given.

But on Jeremiah’s safety, Zedekiah did promise. He gave his royal word, and then confirmed it with an oath, that no one would harm Jeremiah for speaking freely. “I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to those who will” (Jeremiah 38:16). He thought this was a great favor, though both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, when Daniel told them their fate, not only protected Daniel but also honored him and gave him reward (Daniel 2:48; Daniel 2:29).

Zedekiah’s oath is very notable: “As the Lord lives, who made us this soul,” meaning that God gave life to both king and prisoner. The life of the greatest prince and the life of the poorest captive both come from God’s hand. God is the Father of spirits. Souls are his work, and they are more wonderfully made than bodies. In all our dealings with God, and in all our dealings with others, we should remember that the living God made these souls.

Third, notice the good advice Jeremiah gave him, along with the reasons for it. Jeremiah did not speak as a politician or statesman, but as a prophet, in the name of the Lord, the God of hosts and the God of Israel. He urged Zedekiah to surrender himself and the city to the princes of the king of Babylon: “Go out to them, and make the best terms you can” (Jeremiah 38:17). This was the same counsel he had already given to the people (Jeremiah 38:2; Jeremiah 21:9), to submit to God’s judgment instead of fighting against it.

This was sound counsel for everyone, great or small, because God does not show favoritism. Jeremiah sets before the king both life and death. If Zedekiah would give in, he would save his children from the sword and Jerusalem from the fire. The city would not be burned, and he and his household would live. But if he stubbornly resisted, both his house and Jerusalem would be ruined (Jeremiah 38:18). When God judges, he will win.

That is how it is with sinners before God. If they humbly submit to his grace and rule, they will live. If they harden their hearts against what God offers, they will surely be destroyed. They must either bend or break.

Fourth, notice Zedekiah’s objection to Jeremiah’s advice (Jeremiah 38:19). Jeremiah had spoken by prophecy, in God’s name. So if Zedekiah had truly respected God’s authority, wisdom, and goodness, he should have agreed at once. But instead, he answered with human calculations, as if Jeremiah’s word were only a political opinion. Human wisdom becomes foolish when it stands against God’s counsel.

Zedekiah said, in effect, that he was afraid not of the Chaldeans, the Babylonian soldiers, because they were men of honor, but of the Jews who had already gone over to the Chaldeans. He feared that when they saw him join them, after resisting them for so long, they would mock him and say, “Have you also become weak as water?” (Isaiah 14:10).

Yet this fear was not very likely to come true. It was unlikely that the Chaldeans would hand him over to the Jews just to please them, or that the Jewish captives would be so careless in their misery as to make sport of their king.

We often frighten ourselves away from duty with foolish fears that have no real basis. They come from our own imagination, not from the situation itself. Zedekiah, King of Judah, was afraid of being mocked by the Jews if he surrendered, but Jeremiah showed how weak that fear was. If the king had to suffer some ridicule, he should have learned to bear it for God’s sake and for the good of his family and city.

Even if surrender had seemed like the worst personal loss he could imagine, he still should have done it in obedience to God. Jeremiah was saying that true courage can mean accepting a smaller harm to avoid a much greater one. Zedekiah thought surrender would look like cowardice, but it would really have been brave to endure the mockery of the Jews rather than bring ruin on his household and kingdom. People with very fragile spirits are unable to bear being laughed at, even when they are doing what is right and wise.

Jeremiah also pressed the king very strongly to follow God’s will. He promised that if Zedekiah obeyed, the fear he dreaded would not happen, and he would be treated in a way fitting his rank (Jeremiah 38:20). Jeremiah begged him, after all his past foolish choices, to make a wise decision at the end and do what was best for himself: obey the voice of the Lord, because it would go well with him. But Jeremiah also made clear what would happen if he refused.

If Zedekiah disobeyed, he would fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, another name for the Babylonians, as enemies he might have turned into friends by surrendering. If he had to fall, he should at least know how to fall safely. He would not escape, as he hoped to do (Jeremiah 38:23). He would also be held responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem, even though he claimed to care about saving it. By a little self-denial and submission, he might have prevented the city from being burned.

This is how subjects often suffer because their rulers are proud and stubborn. Rulers should protect their people, but instead they can become the cause of their ruin. Zedekiah had also feared an unfair disgrace for surrendering, but Jeremiah said he would certainly suffer a fair disgrace for refusing. Even the women of the court, who remained after Jehoiakim and Jeconiah had been taken away, would one day speak against him. They would say that the men he trusted and listened to had pushed him on with false courage, and by their advice they had really brought him down.

Those who had promised him peace had deceived him. They had urged him to be bold and to hold out to the end, but their advice had ruined him. He would find that the people he thought were his friends were actually his worst enemies. His feet would sink in the mire, a picture of being trapped and helpless, unable to go forward and forced back (Jeremiah 38:22-23). So he would be mocked by the women while his wives and children became spoils of war. What people try to avoid by sin often comes on them anyway, by God’s righteous judgment. Those who turn away from duty because they fear shame will surely meet far greater shame in the path of disobedience.

Zedekiah also wanted this whole meeting kept secret (Jeremiah 38:24). He did not truly intend to follow Jeremiah’s counsel, or even say he would think it over. He had resisted God’s calls for so long and chosen sin so stubbornly that he seemed to be left to his own plans. He had no answer against Jeremiah’s advice, yet he would not obey it. Many hear God’s words, but they do not do them.

Jeremiah was told not to let anyone know what had happened between him and the king. Zedekiah wanted it kept private, not mainly to protect Jeremiah, since he knew the princes could not harm him without the king’s consent, but to protect his own image. Many people have a better feeling toward good people and good things than they are willing to admit. Their consciences honor God’s servants, but they do not want the world to know it (2 Corinthians 5:11). They would rather quietly do a kindness than have anyone see it. Sadly, that often shows they care more about human praise than God’s praise.

Zedekiah also told Jeremiah what to say if the princes questioned him. Jeremiah was to tell them that he had asked the king not to send him back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, a prison where he had been held before (Jeremiah 38:25-27). Jeremiah did say that, and it was true. He was not lying or twisting words. He simply used part of the truth, which he had every right to do when he was under no duty to tell them everything. We must be harmless as doves, so we never tell a willful lie. But we must also be wise as serpents, so we do not needlessly expose ourselves to danger by saying all we know.