Jeremiah 38:16-22: a reflection

16So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.” 17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house. 18But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’” 19Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.” 20But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the LORD’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live. 21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: 22‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.”

King Zedekiah, in secret, asks Jeremiah for God's word, and Jeremiah gives it plainly: surrender to Babylon, and you and the city will live; refuse, and it will be burned and you will not escape. It is a clear choice, life or ruin, and God's will is unmistakable. But Zedekiah hesitates, and reveals what holds him back: I am afraid, he says, of the Jews who have deserted to the Babylonians, lest I be handed over to them and they mock me. He knows the right course, but he is paralyzed by fear of what people will think.

Notice what keeps Zedekiah from obeying. Not doubt about God's word, he had asked for it and received it clearly, but fear of human opinion, fear of being mocked, humiliated, thought weak. He would rather risk the destruction of his city and his own ruin than face the embarrassment of surrender. Jeremiah even pleads with him: Obey the LORD's voice, and it will go well with you. But the fear of what people would think outweighed, for Zedekiah, the clear word of God, and it led to catastrophe.

That is a searching and common trap. We often know the right thing, the course God is calling us to, and are kept from it not by genuine doubt but by fear of what people will think, fear of looking foolish, weak, or different. Zedekiah's fear of mockery cost him everything. When you know what God is calling you to do, do not let the fear of others' opinions paralyze you or override your obedience. The fear of man is a snare; it kept Zedekiah from the obedience that would have saved him. Fear God rather than people, and obey his word even when it risks the mockery of others.

Lord, Zedekiah knew the right course but was paralyzed by fear of what people would think, and it led to his ruin. Show me where the fear of others' opinions keeps me from obeying you, from doing the right thing I already know. Keep me from valuing people's approval, or the avoidance of their mockery, above your clear word. Help me fear you rather than people, and to obey you even when it risks looking foolish or weak in others' eyes. Free me from the snare of the fear of man.