Babylon will Conquer

This chapter is a preview of the end. Zedekiah is the last king, and this is his inquiry at the 11th hour (literally after 10 years of his reign). This is Nebuchadnezzars 3rd military expedition to Jerusalem. He had given grace, but this is the 3rd strike, and they are out.

Remember the people saying, “It is hopeless!” They could not break their addiction to Baal and Moloch worship. God used Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish what the people could not do on their own. Removal from the land broke the cycle of addiction, and God graciously provided for their return after 70 years.

  • 21:1 “Passhur bin-Malchijah” - not the same Passhur as Jeremiah 20. It was a popular name, and would be like Americans naming their kid “Liberty”.
  • 21:2 “Please inquire of the Lord” - a stupid request, because God had already told them over and over what would happen and what they needed to do.
  • 21:5 “I Myself will fight against you” - not only will God not deliver them, but He is on the side of the enemy.
  • 21:6 “die in a terrible plague” - from unsanitary siege conditions.
  • 21:7 “put them to the sword” - all survivors will be summarily executed in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. He will execute justice according to what their deeds deserve, with no mercy. Judah rejected mercy, both from God, and from Nebuchadnezzar.
  • 21:8 “way of life and way of death” - God is in control no matter which way they chose, but the choice is real and the consequences stark.
  • 21:9 “whoever goes out and surrenders” - instead of a miraculous deliverance, God tells them to surrender to the pagan king or die. Not a message that people naming their kids “Liberty” will want to receive.
  • 21:11 “house of the king of Judah” - at this late stage, the only way of life left to the people was to surrender. The king has his own choice to make (which we’ll read more about later).
  • 21:12 “administer justice, … or My wrath will go forth” - the way of life and death for the king.
  • 21:13 “above the valley, atop the rock plateau” - i.e. the city of Jerusalem. “Who can enter our dwellings?” - like Nineveh, like Tyre, like Babylon in 70 years, they felt secure from invasion on their high plateau.