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Jeremiah 37 (ESV)

1 Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. ² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the Lord our God.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵ The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. ⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire. ⁹ Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. ¹⁰ For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

REFLECTION:

King Jehoiakim died on the way to Babylon. His son Jehoiachin (Coniah) was appointed king of Judah, but he was taken captive to Babylon three months later. Afterward Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, set the puppet king Zedekiah as a tool to rule Judah, and Zedekiah became the last king of the kingdom of Judah. King Zedekiah and the officials did not want to listen to Jeremiah’s warning, but wanted him to pray for them. What they want is a superficial faith that does not have to pay any price. King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in 589 BC, and Zedekiah was like a drowning man clutching at a straw. He asked the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra (44:30) for help and asked for the help of the army. The civil and military officials and the people in Jerusalem did not listen to Jeremiah’s warning, and looked forward to the Egyptian army’s help to relieve them from the crisis in Jerusalem. However, when the Chaldean army attacked again and confronted the Egyptian army head-on, the Egyptian army retreated and did not defend Jerusalem, fully fulfilling Jeremiah’s warning. Today, God is equally displeased with those who only crave for profit without establishing a deep relationship with Him. If we ourselves will not accept that our relationship with others is purely based on seeking benefits, of course we should not expect God to accept such relationship between us and Him.

PRAYER:

Pray for God to enlighten you and enable you to examine the foundation on which your relationship with God is based; pray that God will make you immune to the “prosperity theology” that is flooding us like a virus today, so that you can build a deeper relationship with God, experience His presence in everything you do.

HYMN:

Jesus Draw Me Close – youtu.be/kvKQZBH5rZU