At the beginning of his reign Zedekiah was trusted fully by the king of Babylon and had as a counselor the prophet Jeremiah. He could have kept the respect of many in high authority and communicated to them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have been granted many liberties; God’s name would have been honored; and those that remained in Judah would have been spared the terrible calamities that finally came.
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Through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and all Judah were counseled to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors. Those in captivity should seek the peace of the land into which they had been carried. However, Satan, taking advantage of the circumstances, caused false prophets to arise in Jerusalem and in Babylon who declared that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken and the former prestige of the nation restored.
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Heeding such flattering prophecies would have led to fatal moves on the part of king and exiles. Lest insurrection be incited, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to meet the crisis without delay by warning the king of Judah of the sure consequence of rebellion. The captives also were admonished not to be deluded into believing their deliverance near. “Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you,” he urged. Jeremiah 29:8. Mention was made of the Lord’s purpose to restore Israel at the close of seventy years of captivity.
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God knew that should His captive people be persuaded by false prophets to look for a speedy deliverance, their position in Babylon would be made very difficult. Any insurrection on their part would lead to further restriction of their liberties. Suffering and disaster would result.
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God desired them to submit and make their servitude as pleasant as possible. His counsel was: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens ... . Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Verses 5-7.
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Among the false teachers in Babylon were two men whose lives were corrupt. Jeremiah had warned them of their danger. Angered by reproof, they sought to stir up the people to act contrary to the counsel of God in the matter of submitting to the king of Babylon. The Lord testified through Jeremiah that these false prophets should be delivered to Nebuchadnezzar and slain. Not long afterward, this prediction was fulfilled.
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To the end of time, people will arise to create confusion and rebellion among those who claim to be representatives of God. Those who prophesy lies will encourage men to look on sin as a light thing. They will seek to make the one who has warned them responsible for their difficulties, even as the Jews charged Jeremiah with their evil fortunes. But, as anciently, the certainty of God’s messages will be established today.
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Jeremiah had followed a consistent course in counseling submission to the Babylonians. Ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Tyre, and other nations visited Zedekiah to learn whether he would join them in a united revolt against Babylon. While these ambassadors were awaiting a response, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Make yourself thongs and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to the [neighboring kings] ... by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 27:2, 3, RSV. God had given them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and they were to “serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come.” Verse 7.
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The ambassadors were further instructed that if they refused to serve the Babylonian king, they should be punished “with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence.”“Do not listen to your prophets,” the Lord declared, “your diviners, your dreamers ... . For it is a lie which they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land ... . But any nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to till it and dwell there, says the Lord.” Verses 8-11, RSV. The lightest punishment a merciful God could inflict on so rebellious a people was submission to the rule of Babylon, but if they warred against this they were to feel the full rigor of His chastisement. The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when Jeremiah made known the will of God.
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Jeremiah stood firmly for the policy of submission. Prominent among those who opposed the counsel of the Lord was Hananiah, one of the false prophets. Thinking to gain the favor of the royal court, he declared that God had given him words of encouragement for the Jews: “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ... Within two full years will I bring again unto this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, ... for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 28:2-4.
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Jeremiah cited the prophecies of Hosea, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, whose messages had been similar to his own. He referred to events which had taken place in exact fulfillment of God’s purpose as revealed through His messengers. “The prophet which prophesieth of peace,” Jeremiah proposed in conclusion, “when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.” Verse 9.
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The words of Jeremiah aroused Hananiah to a daring challenge. Taking the symbolic yoke from Jeremiah’s neck, Hananiah broke it, saying, “Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within the space of two full years.” Verse 11.
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Apparently Jeremiah could do nothing more than to retire from the scene of conflict. But he was given another message: “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but I will make in their place bars of iron ... . I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke of servitude to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him ... .’”“And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.’ Therefore thus says the Lord: ... ‘This very year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord’. In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.” Verses 13-17, RSV. The false prophet had wickedly declared himself the Lord’s messenger, and suffered death in consequence.
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The unrest caused by the false prophets brought Zedekiah under suspicion of treason, and only by quick action on his part was he permitted to continue reigning as a vassal. The king accompanied a prince on a mission to Babylon. Jeremiah 51:59. During this visit to the Chaldean court, Zedekiah renewed his oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar.
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Through Daniel and other Hebrew captives, the Babylonian monarch had been made acquainted with the power and supreme authority of the true God; and when Zedekiah once more solemnly promised to remain loyal, Nebuchadnezzar required him to swear to this in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Had Zedekiah respected this renewal of his covenant oath, his loyalty would have had a profound influence on many who were watching those who claimed to honor the God of the Hebrews. But of Zedekiah it is recorded: “He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 36:13, RSV.
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While Jeremiah continued to bear testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel was raised up among the captives in Babylon to warn and to comfort the exiles. Ezekiel made plain the folly of trusting the predictions of an early return to Jerusalem. He also was instructed to foretell by a variety of symbols the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.
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In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel some of the abominations being practiced in Jerusalem, even within the inner court of the Lord’s house. See Ezekiel 8:10. Those who should have been spiritual leaders—“elders of the house of Israel” (Verse 11, RSV)—were seen offering incense before the idolatrous representations introduced into hidden chambers within the temple court. “The Lord seeth us not,” they blasphemously declared. Verse 12.
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The prophet was shown “women weeping for Tammuz,” and “about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.” Verses 14, 16. Now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision inquired of the prophet: “Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? ... Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” Verses 17, 18.
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Through Jeremiah the Lord had declared: “Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness.” Jeremiah 23:11. In the closing narrative of Zedekiah’s reign, this charge of violating the temple was repeated: “All the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 36:14.
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The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. Again “the word of the Lord came to” Ezekiel: “‘Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ... “Every vision comes to nought”?’” “Therefore say to them, ... The word which I speak will be performed, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 12:21, 22, 28, RSV.
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Foremost among those rapidly leading the nation to ruin was Zedekiah their king. Forsaking the counsels of the Lord, forgetting the debt of gratitude he owed Nebuchadnezzar, violating his solemn oath of allegiance taken in the name of the God of Israel, Judah’s king rebelled against the prophets, against his benefactor, and against his God. In his own wisdom he turned to the ancient enemy of Israel, “sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people.” Ezekiel 17:15.
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“Will he succeed?” the Lord inquired. “Can a man escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? ... Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war ... . Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.” Verses 15-18, RSV. “Remove the diadem,” the Lord decreed, “and take off the crown.” Not until Christ Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to have a king. “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it,” was the divine edict concerning the throne, “and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” Ezekiel 21:26, 27.
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