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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 425

"I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans"

Text: Jeremiah 38:19

A HEART OF FEAR

As Jeremiah spoke to Zedekiah, the king revealed his heart. Fear had gripped him tightly. He was not able to fulfil his role as the king of the nation of Judah.

“And Zedekiah 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 abuse me.’
But Jeremiah said, ‘They shall not deliver you.
Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you.
So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.'”
Jeremiah 38:19-20

1. “And Zedekiah 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 abuse me'”

a) An honest confession was made by the king to Jeremiah.

b) He was afraid of the factions among his people.

i) There was one group that was against defecting to the Chaldeans.

ii) There was another group that was for defecting to the Chaldeans.

c) He was afraid of those who favoured defecting to the Chaldeans.

d) At a deeper level, he was afraid that they would physically abuse him.

i) He was afraid of pain.

ii) He was afraid of what these defectors might do to him.

2. “But Jeremiah said, ‘They shall not deliver you.
Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you.
So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live'”

a) Jeremiah sought to give him assurance.

b) Zedekiah was afraid of the wrong group of people.

c) Those who advocated defection would not harm him.

d) They were, in fact, echoing what Jeremiah had said to him earlier.

e) The word of the LORD had been given to him.

i) The king must surrender to Babylon.

ii) He would be spared.

iii) He will live if he heeded this word.

f) Zedekiah was probably deceived by the other group.

i) This group defied the Babylonians.

ii) The princes were the ones who sought to kill Jeremiah.

iii) They had probably caused Zedekiah to fear unwisely.