September 22, 2026, Jeremiah 38:14-28
September 22, 2026, Jeremiah 38:14-28
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received
him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question;
hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to
Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give
you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then
King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who made our
souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these
men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of
Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned
with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But
if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then
this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall
burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King
Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted
to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with
me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to
them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in
what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be
spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender,
this is the vision which the Lord has
shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the
house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of
Babylon and were saying,
“‘Your trusted friends
have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the
Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be
seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these
words, and you shall not die. 25 If the
officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you,
‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing
from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then
you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not
send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then
all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the
king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the
conversation had not been overheard. 28 And
Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem
was taken.
What crisis of belief did God set before the king? Have
you ever faced a crisis of belief? How did you handle this crisis?
Debbie Walker
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