Scripture Daily

Context No. 2770 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 38:1-5: in context

1Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, 2“The LORD says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life and he will live.’ 3The LORD says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’” 4Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.” 5Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”

Jeremiah keeps saying the same unwelcome thing during the siege: whoever stays in the city will die by sword, famine, or plague, but whoever surrenders to Babylon will live; the city will surely fall. To the officials this is treason. They go to the king and demand Jeremiah's death, charging that he is weakening the hands of the soldiers and everyone else, that he seeks the people's harm and not their welfare.

And King Zedekiah folds. He is in your hands, he tells them; the king can do nothing against you. Watch the king closely here. He is not actually convinced that Jeremiah is wrong. He simply lacks the courage to protect him. Zedekiah hands a man of God over to his enemies not out of conviction but out of weakness, unwilling to cross the influential men in his court. There is a quiet cowardice that does evil not by choosing it outright but by refusing to stand against it.

Have I let harm come to someone because I would not risk standing up to the people demanding it?

Sources