I am filled with horror as I read how Jerusalem fell, and how king Zedekiah was forced to watch as his children were killed, and how his own eyes were then gouged out. It’s like watching a wild animal attack defenseless prey for no other reason than to see it die.
What makes it even worse is that it was all unnecessary. Actually, (and this may sound weird) knowing that the people had a choice, that the king had a choice to surrender and live; makes the whole passage easier for me to read. This isn’t happening just because of God’s anger, He has provided several opportunities for the people to change the narrative, but they have refused. This terrible sequence of events is the narrative that they chose. In some way, oddly enough, that makes it easier for me to absorb.
I cannot imagine the terror that must have filled these folks. I know in the times of Hezekiah that food became so scarce that the people resorted to cannibalism. I suspect that it became just as desperate this time. 2 1/2 years of no food or water into the city must have created extremely desperate conditions. At the end of the day, all I can say is that I would not want Zedekiah as my father. The man was so spiritually blind that he couldn’t make one simple right decision, even to protect his family. In the end, exactly what he was afraid of happened to both him and his family, and all because he wouldn’t follow the Lord.
I wonder if when we are in heaven we will be able to be aware of hell and not be in anguish over it? I can’t imagine my loved ones in hell for eternity, so maybe we won’t be aware of hell. On the other hand, there won’t be anyone in hell who didn’t insist on being there. Have you ever thought of it that way? I think everyone gets at least one chance to follow Christ…at least I hope and pray that everyone gets a chance….and some of us get many more. If there are people who are insulated from ever hearing the truth, then their fate should be placed on the heads of those who kept them from receiving the good news. Maybe we will be able to be aware of hell, and also to accept that each person there actively refused to follow God. How terribly sad!
Looking at the whole passage, and pulling out a few key thoughts I came up with the following:
Jeremiah in the well is a picture of active aggression against the Gospel, and Christians who proclaim God. We can’t say that Jeremiah’s being pulled from the well by others is a metaphor for Christians being protected from suffering or persecution, because many godly men and women have died from religious persecution. So God’s protection of Jeremiah and his allowing him to remain in the land after the fall of Jerusalem must be one more example of God’s mercy and grace. No matter what difficulties or problems we find ourselves in, God is always able to bring comfort and strength to us.
I also found myself tantalized by the mention of the sea monsters in Psalm 74. If I am reading this correctly, God split the sea which left sea monsters on dry ground (like a desert) and they died. It was there that wild animals ate them. I wonder if the sea used to contain huge sea creatures (there are a few stray reports of them being sighted) that died during a time when the earth was shifting? Asaph seems to speak as if the awareness of sea monsters was common knowledge.
I wonder why every king chose to follow the same ignorant path, and follow the advice of the false prophets, even though they had been proven wrong? When the city was surrounded, or the several times before that, when the Babylonians or Egyptians forced the Israelites to serve them (for years before the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed) why weren’t these false prophets killed, and their advice rejected? Surely after their recommendations were proven to be inaccurate and their vision proved false, the people would rebel against them and kill them, or at the very least, expel them from the city and look back to God for advice! Oddly, it never seems to have happened. Apparently sin “blinds” us to reality, which leaves us ill equipped to make sound decisions. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit can cut through that “fog” and speak to us, or no one would ever be saved!
I really, really want to know what happens to Gedaliah. I’m thinking about reading ahead…
Faithfully,
PR