Eye to Eye
October 19 Jeremiah 33:1-34:22
Object Lessons That Demand Obedience
Eye to Eye
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon EYE TO EYE and speak with him FACE TO FACE. And you SHALL go to Babylon’.” (Jeremiah 34: 2-3)
What can we learn about King Zedekiah mentioned here at the downfall of the nation of Judah? The phrase “He did evil” is used to describe him. This phrase is somewhat misleading yet insightful. His name was changed to Zedekiah, meaning “a righteous king,” but he was far from righteous in his actions and leading of the nation. (Or not leading, to be more precise)
What kind of evil did he do? From the book of Jeremiah, we see that Zedekiah practiced a “passive evil,” not an “active evil.”
If your child is abused in your house and you stand by silently, would that be abuse?
That is the summary of King Zedekiah…
He watched Jeremiah being abused as a young prophet, but he did nothing. He flip-flopped, wiggled, reversed, and left him hanging. This was King Zedekiah’s sad MO.
He did not commit aggressive idolatry like Manasseh or outright persecution like Jehoiakim.
His wickedness was far more subtle. He allowed compromise, remained neutral, and closed a “blind eye.”. He allowed the people to continue their “abominations” and “evil practices.”
Why do you think King Zedekiah chose to go this apathetic route?
Was it fear of people, apathy, or lack of zeal for the Lord?
Here are a couple of interesting statements made about him, “He did not humble himself before Jeremiah.” Interesting that the King kind of “flitted” between ignoring his words and then trying to protect Jeremiah a little bit. He seemed to know there was truth in his words, but he just didn’t want to hear them.
Here is another interesting comment about him, “He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart.” ( 2 Chronicles 36: 16)
This short summary points us to PRIDE which often accompanies a man in his position. No one was going to tell him what to do. He had everything under his power, or so he thought.
Let’s take a closer look at his “wickedness” or “lack of caring”...
He had a DEVOTION to idols. He recognized the LORD, but he was not fully committed to Him.
He had a DISBELIEF in God’s Word… He heard it over and over, but he didn’t believe what he heard enough to ACT on it.
He had a DISREGARD for the Spiritual authority placed over him by God in His prophets and a DISREGARD for his role as the king under God’s authority.
He was “Blind to the Truth,” and that, my friends, is the worst kind of evil. To know what you should do and have the ability to help those around you, but apathetically choose to do nothing much at all.
King Zedekiah did not listen and heed Jeremiah’s warnings. He also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (which Jeremiah warned him about). As a result of this, he only reigned for ten years. Babylon attacked Jerusalem and broke through its walls. Zedekiah attempted to escape, but the Babylonian army caught him. Then they executed his sons right in front of him. (2 King 25:7)
This was literally the last thing he ever watched with his two eyes in this lifetime because then the Babylonians gouged his eyes out and put him in prison.
Let’s revisit the opening passage that I shared with you as we began today, “You shall see the king of Babylon EYE TO EYE and speak with him FACE TO FACE. And you SHALL go to Babylon’.” (Jeremiah 34: 2-3)
Interesting choice of words, isn’t it?
The man who refused to see and was “Blind to the Truth” was told that he WOULD SEE the king of Babylon EYE TO EYE and FACE TO FACE.
That king was his punishment for the evil of his turning “A BLIND EYE” toward the evil of his people and being their Enabler.
On the Sabbath, he worshipped in the Temple. He certainly gave it a “half-hearted effort,” but how did that turn out for him?
We live in a day and age where many are evil in the same way as King Zedekiah. But make no mistake, a great day of reckoning is coming in our age as well...
“Behold, he comes with clouds, and EVERY EYE SHALL SEE him, even those who pierced him…” (Revelation 1:7)
Do we cozy up to evil and enable it in the life of others?
Eye to Eye… Face to Face… we shall see HIM!
