The Whisper King
Introduction: The Fear of Man is a Snare
There are moments in history, and in the lives of every man, where the entire future hinges on a single decision. These are moments of covenantal crisis. God sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and He says, "Therefore choose life." The choice is always stark, always clear, and the path to life is always through the narrow gate of submission to His Word. The path to destruction is a broad superhighway, paved with political calculations, focus groups, and the desperate desire to please everyone except God.
We come today to such a moment in the life of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. The city of Jerusalem is starving, surrounded by the Babylonian armies, and hanging by a thread. The judgment that Jeremiah has been preaching for decades is no longer on the horizon; it is at the gate. And in this final hour, the king, a man paralyzed by indecision, summons the prophet for one last secret consultation. He wants a word from God, but he wants it in a whisper. He wants the benefits of divine counsel without the cost of public obedience.
This is the story of the Whisper King, a man who feared the sneers of his subordinates more than the wrath of the Almighty. It is a story about the corrosive, soul-destroying power of the fear of man. And we must pay close attention, because the spirit of Zedekiah is alive and well. It thrives in the halls of government, it sits in our church pews, and it whispers its cowardly counsel in our own hearts. It is the temptation to manage our reputation instead of obeying our God, to build a coalition of men instead of standing on the Word of the Lord. Zedekiah's failure is a timeless warning that a man who will not stand for God will fall for anything, especially the opinions of other fallen men.
The Text
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." 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." 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."
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. 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.' " 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." 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. But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me: '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." 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.' "
Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 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,' 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.' " 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. So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
(Jeremiah 38:14-28 LSB)
A Secret Summit (vv. 14-16)
The scene opens with a summons. The king wants a word from God, but notice the setting: "at the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh." This is a clandestine meeting. Zedekiah is sneaking around in his own palace, afraid of his own officials. He wants God's word, but on his own terms: in private, where no one can see him, where he can hear the truth without any obligation to act on it publicly.
"I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me." (Jeremiah 38:14b)
Jeremiah, who has been beaten, imprisoned, and thrown into a muddy cistern by these same officials the king fears, knows his man. His response is not that of a court flatterer. It is weary, cynical, and brutally honest: "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 has been down this road before. He knows Zedekiah is not seeking truth in order to obey it, but rather seeking information in order to manage it. He wants a word from God that he can factor into his political equations, not a command from God that he must submit to.
Zedekiah's response is a secret oath. "As Yahweh lives... surely I will not put you to death." This is the oath of a man who uses God's name to guarantee his own sincerity, while his actions demonstrate that he fears men more than the God by whom he swears. He promises to protect Jeremiah from the very men he refuses to lead. This is the essence of cowardly leadership. He will offer private protection to the prophet, but he will not offer public repentance to the God who sent him.
The Covenantal Crossroads (vv. 17-18)
Despite Zedekiah's weakness, God is gracious. He gives the king one last, clear, unambiguous choice. Jeremiah lays out the covenantal terms. This is not a negotiation; it is a declaration of reality.
"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. But if you will not go out... then this city will be given over... and you yourself will not escape...'" (Jeremiah 38:17-18 LSB)
The path to life is humility. The path to life is surrender. "Go out to the officers of the king of Babylon." In other words, repent. Accept the judgment God has decreed. Submit to the rod of God's discipline, which at this time in history was the Babylonian army. If Zedekiah will do this one, simple, humbling thing, God promises to preserve him, his family, and the entire city. The terms are astonishingly gracious.
But the alternative is equally clear. If he refuses, if he continues in his prideful, stubborn rebellion, then the curses of the covenant will fall. The city will be burned, and he will be captured. God does not stutter. He sets before the king two futures, two paths. One is the path of life through submission. The other is the path of death through defiance. There is no third way, no clever political compromise, no secret escape route.
The Idol of Anxiety (vv. 19-21)
And now we come to the heart of the matter. Zedekiah hears the clear, two-part ultimatum from God, and what is his response? He reveals his true master. He names the idol that sits on the throne of his heart.
"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.'" (Jeremiah 38:19 LSB)
He does not say, "I am anxious about displeasing Yahweh." He does not say, "I am anxious for the women and children of this city." He says, "I am anxious because of the Jews." He is afraid of being mocked. He is terrified of what the collaborators, the defectors, will do to him. He fears the scorn of his fellow countrymen more than he fears the judgment of the God of Israel. The fear of man has him in a chokehold.
Jeremiah's plea is pastoral and urgent: "They will not give you over. Please listen to the voice of Yahweh... that it may go well with you and you may live." The prophet is begging the king to believe God's promise over his own fears. The path to well-being, the path to life, is through simple obedience to the revealed Word of God. Your anxieties are lying to you. Your fears are a false god. Listen to Yahweh.
The Prophecy of Humiliation (vv. 22-23)
Because Zedekiah has revealed his deepest fear, which is the fear of humiliation, God, through Jeremiah, now shows him what true humiliation looks like. If you refuse to accept the honorable humiliation of surrender to God's will, you will receive the ultimate, dishonorable humiliation of total defeat.
"'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."'" (Jeremiah 38:22 LSB)
This is a prophecy of exquisite, poetic justice. The very thing he fears, mockery and shame, will come upon him in the most cutting way imaginable. The women of his own harem, the symbols of his royal virility and power, will be paraded before the enemy as spoils of war. And as they are led away, they will sing a taunt song, a little ditty about their feckless king. They will mock his failed leadership, pointing out that his "close friends," the very officials he was so afraid to cross, are the ones who trapped him and abandoned him. This is a prophecy of his complete and utter un-manning. His failure as a king, a warrior, and a man will be the theme of the song his own wives sing as they are given to other men.
The prophecy concludes with the grim reality: his wives and sons will be taken, he will be captured, and the city will burn. The future he is trying to avoid through compromise is the very future his compromise will guarantee.
The Conspiracy of Cowardice (vv. 24-28)
Here is the moment of decision. Life and death have been set before him. Humility and humiliation have been laid out. And what does the Whisper King choose? He chooses neither. He chooses a cover-up.
"Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, 'Let no man know about these words and you will not die.'" (Jeremiah 38:24 LSB)
His first thought is not, "How can I obey?" but rather, "How can we contain this?" He is not concerned with the fate of his soul or his city, but with managing the political fallout of his meeting with Jeremiah. He concocts a lie, a half-truth, for Jeremiah to tell the officials. He enlists the prophet of God as a co-conspirator in his deception. This is the final act. He has heard the word of the Lord and his only response is to hide it, to bury it under a plausible story that will save his own skin for another day.
He would rather command a prophet to lie than command his princes to repent. He has made his choice. He has chosen the fear of his officials over the fear of Yahweh. And the text concludes with the somber, inevitable result: "So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured." The king's decision sealed the city's fate.
Conclusion: Surrender to the True King
It is easy for us to look down on Zedekiah. But we are all tempted by the same spirit of cowardice. Every time we remain silent when we should speak the truth for fear of what our friends, our family, or our boss will think, we are channeling Zedekiah. Every time a pastor softens the hard edges of the gospel to avoid offending the wealthy donors, he is channeling Zedekiah. Every time we choose a secret, private piety over a public, costly discipleship, we are building a throne for the Whisper King in our hearts.
The story of Zedekiah is the story of a failed king who, because he would not bow to God, could not save his people. But this story points us to a greater King, a true King. Jesus Christ was also given a choice. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced a cup of wrath far more terrible than the Babylonian army. He could have chosen the path of self-preservation. But unlike Zedekiah, He did not fear what men could do to Him. He feared His Father. He chose the path of obedience, saying, "Not my will, but yours, be done."
Where Zedekiah feared humiliation and received it, Jesus endured the ultimate humiliation of the cross and was exalted to the highest place. Where Zedekiah tried to save his life and lost it, Jesus gave up His life and in so doing, saved His people. The gospel is God's final ultimatum to us. It is His "Thus says Yahweh." He commands us to "go out," to surrender unconditionally to the conquering King, Jesus. He calls us to repent of our rebellion and trust in Him alone for our salvation.
The choice is the same one Zedekiah faced. Will we listen to our anxieties and our fears, which tell us to hedge our bets, to compromise, to keep our faith private? Or will we listen to the voice of Yahweh, who says, "Surrender to my Son, and you will live"? Do not be a whisper king, ruling over a secret kingdom of compromise. Be a public, declared, sworn follower of the King of Kings, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.