Jeremiah 37-39 "The Tragedy Of Living Without Convictions"

Click HERE to read the passage.

In 1983, Boy George became enormously famous when his hit song "Karma Chameleon" hit the top of the music charts. In fact, it stayed # 1 for a whopping six weeks while selling more than 955,000 copies worldwide that year. Even though people loved the tune and Boy George's smooth baritone voice, the lyrics described a man who had no convictions in life - one who just floated through life without a stand for anything. Here's some of the lyrics...

I'm a man without conviction
I'm a man who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go

As I was reading about King Zedekiah in today's passage, his attitude, decisions, and leadership style reminded me of the lyrics within Boy George's song talking about a man without convictions. Although he was appointed to rule over Jerusalem by the powerful Babylonia king - King Nebuchadnezzar (37:1) - he was a disaster! I once heard that if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. That was king Zedekiah! Of the kings of Judah, perhaps one was more wishy-washy than him.

Join me on a quick look through these 3 chapters as we examine the disastrous leadership of king Zedekiah and see if you can find yourself doing the same thing as he did.

1)  Zedekiah would NOT listen to God!  (37:2)

As a result of his rebellious attitude toward God, the verse also tells us his entire leadership team followed suit. None of them were interested in what God had to say, and since Jeremiah was God's true prophet, he was Zedekiah's enemy. Let's look further into the shady, "come and go" attitude he displayed.

2) Zedekiah was so fearful of the armies of Babylon, he begged Jeremiah to pray!  (37:3)

Instead of putting his trust in God, he put his trust in man. Zedekiah had no faith whatsoever in God, so he called for the Egyptian army to come and rescue them. They came and the Babylonian army left, but within 2 years, they were back meaner than ever. Zedekiah's faithless action reminds me of an earlier king of Judah, king Solomon, who wrote in Proverbs 20:7 - "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God."

Who or what are you trusting in right now?  If you've got a tough challenge in front of you, are you trusting in God to get your through, or are you seeking help from other means?

3) Zedekiah treats Jeremiah as though he was the enemy!  (37:11-16)

While Jeremiah was on his way to check out some property he had purchased from a relative, the Gate guard caught him and accused him of treason. The guard brought him before Zedekiah and the officials, who then flogged Jeremiah and had him thrown into a dirty dungeon bleeding and bruised. Zedekiah and the officials knew Jeremiah wasn't a traitor. They were simply looking for a way to destroy the man. Even though they could see with their own eyes the fulfillment of ALL Jeremiah prophesied, they lacked conviction, integrity, and justice. Even though Jeremiah warned them for more than 20 years of this very day, they treated him like the enemy!

Zedekiah and his officials had no convictions about doing what was right. They just acted. And Zedekiah would one day pay dearly for his lack of convictions!

4) Zedekiah secretly asks Jeremiah for a word from God!  (37:17)

Imagine if you will, here's a king that sees the fulfillment of all that Jeremiah prophesied. He realizes all the other prophets were fake. He knows God is speaking through Jeremiah. But Zedekiah refuses to publicly acknowledge that he and everyone else was wrong about him and his prophecies, so he secretly asks for a word from the Lord. Even though Jeremiah gave him a word from the Lord, Zedekiah didn't like it. Consequently, instead of acting on the conviction that Jeremiah has been truthful and is a real prophet from God, he sends him back to imprisonment within the palace.

Do you know of any leaders like this?

5) Zedekiah betrays Jeremiah again!  (38:5)

In spite of freeing Jeremiah, he listens to those who want to kill him and agrees to give Jeremiah over to them to do whatever they'd like to do with him.  With a friend like Zedekiah, who needs enemies? Consequently, he's thrown into a deep well and left to die there. However, God promised to protect him. And as such, God has one of Zedekiah's officials rescue him out of the well. But not before this official goes before Zedekiah and begs for Jeremiah to live.

6) Zedekiah admits his fear!  (38:19)

Zedekiah had no courage and no faith in God. As such, he's lived a life of cowardness. He begs Jeremiah for another word from the Lord and adds a promise to it "As surely as the Lord our Creator lives, I will not kill you or hand you over to the men who want you dead." (38:16)

Jeremiah tries to encourage Zedekiah with a promise from God that if he would only surrender to the Babylonians all would go well with him. But, like all the other times before, Zedekiah didn't believe! 

7) Zedekiah refuses to follow God's will, makes a run for it, and pays the price!  (39:4)

Like Jonah the prophet who ran from obeying God's will and was swallowed up by a great fish, Zedekiah made a run for the Jericho plains to escape the invading armies who breached the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of listening to God and offering himself to willingly turn himself in, God fulfilled His promise to hurt Zedekiah.  When the Babylonian army caught up with him, at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar, they forced him to watch while his sons were killed before his very eyes (as well as his officials) and then gouged out his eyes and put him in exile.

Running from God will get you nowhere, except in a predicament you never want to be in!

What about you?  Are you a person of conviction?  Do you "come and go" with integrity?  Are you like a chameleon who changes to blend in?  God is looking for real men and women who have a heart to follow him no matter where he tells them to go!