Commentary - Jeremiah 38:14-28

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we are brought into the inner chambers of a failing kingdom, to a secret meeting between a compromised king and a faithful prophet. Jerusalem is on the brink of total destruction, the Babylonian armies are tightening their grip, and King Zedekiah is running out of options. But instead of turning to God in public repentance, he summons Jeremiah for a private consultation. This is not the act of a man seeking truth, but of a politician looking for a tactical advantage. Zedekiah is a portrait of the man enslaved by the fear of other men. He wants a word from God, but only if it aligns with his political calculations and doesn't cause him to lose face. Jeremiah, faithful to the last, delivers the word of the Lord without flinching: the way of life is the way of surrender and humiliation, while the path of proud resistance leads to certain ruin. The king's tragic refusal, rooted in his fear of mockery, seals his own fate and that of his city. This is a timeless lesson on the soul-destroying nature of compromise and the folly of prioritizing human opinion over divine command.

Outline

A King Afraid of Mockery

14 Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.”

Zedekiah is a man living in the shadows. He cannot consult the prophet of God openly, so he arranges a clandestine meeting. This is not a king leading his people in seeking the Lord; this is a cornered animal looking for an escape route. He wants the truth, or so he says. "Do not hide anything from me." But what he really wants is a truth that he can manage, a truth that will not cost him his reputation. Men who demand the unvarnished truth while simultaneously sharpening the axe for the truth-teller are not honest seekers. They are tyrants playing games.

15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”

Jeremiah is no fool. He has been in this business for a long time, and he knows the hearts of rebellious kings. He lays the situation bare with two sharp thrusts. First, he calls out the king's murderous intent: telling the truth is a capital offense in a corrupt court. Second, he exposes the king's obstinance: even if Zedekiah spares his life, the counsel will be ignored. This is the prophet's dilemma in every age. The world demands a word from God but has already decided which words it is willing to hear. Jeremiah understands that Zedekiah's request is pure political theater.

16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death, nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”

Here we have an oath made in secret, which is a good indicator of its worth. Zedekiah invokes the name of Yahweh, the very God whose counsel he is about to reject. He swears by the Creator of life that he will not put the prophet to death. This is a profound form of blasphemy. He is using God's name as a tool to extract information, with no intention of submitting to the authority behind the name. His oath is not an act of piety but of desperation. He is trying to manipulate the prophet into speaking, but his heart is a stone.

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. 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.’ ”

The word of the Lord is not complicated. It is a stark choice between two paths, with no third way offered. The path to life involves humiliation. To "go out" means to surrender, to submit to the instrument of God's judgment. This is the gospel pattern: the way up is down. Through surrender, Zedekiah, his family, and his entire city would be spared. The alternative is just as clear. Stubborn pride, dressed up as patriotic resistance, will lead to absolute destruction. God has decreed the judgment, and Zedekiah's only choice is whether to receive it humbly or defiantly.

19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am anxious because of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they deal severely with me.”

And here, the king's heart is finally laid bare. What is his great fear? Is it the wrath of God? The destruction of the holy city? The death of his children? No. He is afraid of being mocked. He is terrified of what the Jewish defectors, the ones who have already surrendered, will say and do to him. The fear of man brings a snare, and Zedekiah is thoroughly caught. He is more concerned with his public image among a group of collaborators than with his standing before the God of hosts. This is the engine of all political compromise: the terror of losing face.

20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live.”

Jeremiah, ever the pastor, pleads with the king. He directly counters the king's fear with a promise from God: "They will not give you over." He urges him, begs him, to simply obey the voice of Yahweh. The path of obedience is the path of blessing. "That it may go well with you and you may live." This is not a negotiation. It is a gracious invitation to life, offered to a man who does not deserve it. All he has to do is trust God's promise more than he trusts his own anxieties.

21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me: 22 ‘And behold, all of the women who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say, “Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mud, They turned back.” 23 And 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.’ ”

Since Zedekiah is governed by the fear of shame, God tailors the promised judgment to that very fear. If he refuses to surrender, the precise humiliation he dreads will come upon him, magnified a hundredfold. The women of his own court will be paraded before the enemy and will sing a taunt song about his weakness. They will mock him for listening to his flattering advisors who led him into the mire and then abandoned him. His private failure will become a public spectacle. And the consequences will not stop there. His family will be captured, he will be seized, and the city will burn. The very outcome he sought to avoid by his disobedience is made certain by it.

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.’ ”

The king's response is breathtaking in its spiritual vacuity. Having heard the word of life and death, his only concern is political damage control. He does not repent. He does not plead for mercy. He conspires. He enlists the prophet of God in a scheme to deceive his own officials. His primary objective is not to save his soul or his city, but to save his skin. He is so enslaved to the fear of his nobles that he would rather concoct a lie with Jeremiah than obey the God who spoke through him.

27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he told them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him since the conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Jeremiah agrees to the king's terms. This should not be seen as a sinful compromise on Jeremiah's part. He is being wise as a serpent in a den of vipers. The cover story was, in fact, true; Jeremiah had previously made such a petition. He was not commanded to lie, but rather to give a partial and strategically selected truth. He did not owe the wicked officials a full transcript of his conversation with the king. By this prudence, his life was spared, and he remained a faithful witness in the heart of Jerusalem right up to the moment of its fall. He obeyed the earthly authority where it did not contradict the heavenly authority, and in so doing, he lived to see the fulfillment of the very prophecies the king refused to hear.

Application

The story of Zedekiah is the story of every man who fears his peers more than he fears his God. This is the constant temptation for Christians in every sphere, but especially in the realm of politics and public life. We are tempted to seek a secret word from God, one that doesn't require us to take an unpopular stand. We want God's blessing, but on our own terms. We want to avoid the mockery of the world.

Zedekiah was afraid of what the "cool kids" in the surrendered camp would say about him. And for that fear, he lost everything. How often do we remain silent when we should speak? How often do we go along with the crowd because we are afraid of being labeled, ridiculed, or canceled? The fear of being called a bigot, a fundamentalist, or a traitor to the spirit of the age is the modern equivalent of Zedekiah's anxiety.

The gospel frees us from this bondage. Because we are justified by faith in Christ, our reputation is secure in Him. We have already died with Christ, and our life is hidden with Him in God. What can man do to us? The world's mockery is nothing compared to the smile of our Father. The choice before us is the same one that faced Zedekiah: will we surrender to the word of God, even if it means humiliation in the eyes of the world? Or will we, in our pride, resist Him, and in so doing, guarantee our own destruction? Let us learn from this weak and vacillating king, and choose the path of faithful, courageous, and public obedience.