At the end of our discussion Sunday we were talking about King Zedekiah and how he tried to escape into the night when the city was surrounded by the Babylonian army. Recap: he was captured, made to witness the death of his sons and then had his eyes put out, the city was looted and burned. We were commenting that he didn't really have much of a choice.
Well, as it turns out he did.
I have come across another reference from Jeremiah (Jer 38:14-28) that tells that Zedekiah was told by Jeremiah in advance ("This is what the Lord God almighty says") that if he would only surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon that his life would be spared and the city would not be burned down and his family would be spared. He also told him what would happen if he did not surrender. Kevin may have made a point when he suggested that taking off during the night could have been seen as cowardly. Verse 19 says that Zedekiah told Jeremiah he was afraid to surrender because he may be mistreated.
The point is, he did have a choice. Sounds as if he wasn't willing to trust God and he blew it. Sort of reminds me of myself sometimes.....afraid to step out in faith, trying to handle the situation on my own.
Also, remember in class I mentioned a footnote that said Ezekiel had prophesied (Ez 12:13)
that Zedekiah would be brought to Babylon but he would not see it.
Joe does your new chronological Bible give dates for these two prophecies? I was wondering how they overlapped. Had Ezekiel already made this prophecy before Jeremiah or was it after?
Linda
Linda,
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell the time span of Jeremiah's prophesies predated and long outlasted Ezekiel's. It appears that Jeremiah's ministry may have begun around 612BC, possibly at the end of Josiah's reign and definitely during Jehoiakim's reign. Zedikiah feared Jeremiah and had him imprisoned around 587BC.
A note along with the text of Ezekiel's prophesy indicates that Ezekiel's ministry lasted only for about four years prior to Nebudchadnezzar's return to Jerusalem (which began 9 years after Zedekiah took the throne in 597 (i.e., approximately 588)). Based on that, I'd say Ezekiel's prophesy came after Jeremiah's-- but it's just a guess.