In the last post we talked about the theme of shepherds in Jeremiah. This sets up for a drama in Jeremiah 38–39: Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, is their shepherd. How will he fare when Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem?
Because of the Davidic Covenant, we know that each king in the line of David in some way points to the arrival of Israel’s future Messiah. This was true even of bad kings leading up to Judah’s fall to Babylon in 586 BC. Each of these bad kings was a failed Messiah, only a shadow pointing sadly forward to the future son of David whose throne would last forever.
In Jeremiah 38 and 39, we come to the very sad tale of Zedekiah’s failure as Davidic king and messianic forerunner. At the beginning of chapter 38 (vv. 1–13), there’s actually some hope: Zedekiah rescues Jeremiah from his enemies who were trying to kill him. The Jeremiah gets a private audience with Zedekiah. Notice the slow buildup of the drama.
And King Zedekiah sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him, to the third entrance of the house of Yahweh, and the king said to Jeremiah asking, “I would have a word with you, do not conceal from me a word.” And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I make a declaration for you, won’t you indeed put me to death? And even if I counsel you, you will not listen to me.”
Jeremiah 38:14–15
So King Zedekiah takes advantage of the privilege he has of having a prophet. He asks to get a word from God to guide him as the siege in Jerusalem looks increasingly desperate. But Jeremiah knows how Zedekiah has responded in the past and points out that Zedekiah won’t even listen.
So King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made for us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your soul.” And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Surely if you go out unto the officers of the king of Babylon, your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your house will live. But if you do not go out unto the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.”
Jeremiah 38:16–18
What God proposes to Zedekiah through Jeremiah is this: there is a way of divine salvation. But that divine victory comes through human defeat. Zedekiah can save not only himself, but the lives of his people. He can be a good shepherd! He can serve his role as the Davidic king of Israel! His salvation could positively prefigure the coming Messiah Jesus! So how does he respond?
The same people who were trying to kill Jeremiah at the beginning of the chapter would instantly become Zedekiah’s sworn political enemies if he so much as considered surrender to Babylon. Like they tried to kill Jeremiah, they would in turn try to kill Zedekiah. So out of fear of man, out of fear of his potential rivals, Zedekiah ends up rejecting the divine gift of salvation. As a result of the city falls. Let’s read the dramatic description in chapter 39.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah King of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was breached. And all the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate, Nergal-Sar-Ezer, Samgar-Nebu-Sar-Sechim, chief of the Eunuchs, Nergal-Sar-Ezer, chief of the Magi, and all the rests of the officers of the king of Babylon.
Now, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled. They went out by night from the city, by way of the garden of the king, by the gate between the walls, and they went out along the way to the Arabah.
Jeremiah 39:1-4
In his failure, Zedekiah is characterized as a failed Messiah. Instead of surrendering and saving his people, like a hireling shepherd he fled his flock. He fled by night, in a garden, outside Jerusalem when offered the chance to save his people. As he fled, the Babylonian soldiers with swords (and won might venture even to guess torches, since it was night) pursued him. Who does this point to? What Son of David didn’t flee when he was offered the opportunity to provide divine salvation through human defeat when pursued by mortal enemies, though he prayed by night in a garden outside Jerusalem that the cup would pass him?2 What good shepherd would stand his ground as the sheep were scattered? Zedekiah failed to be Jesus. Instead, Zedekiah’s catastrophic failure points sadly to Jesus’ future success as the true Son of David, the prophesied Messiah, the Good Shepherd.
Now how catastrophic Zedekiah’s failure was! Jerusalem was burned to the ground, the temple was razed, his people were killed by famine, plague, and sword. The remnant was mostly exiled, leaving only the poorest of the poor in the land. As he fled, the Babylonians caught up to Zedekiah, and the last thin he ever saw was Nebuchadnezzar putting his sons to death. By rejecting God’s offer of salvation through human defeat, Zedekiah was completely ruined.
Jeremiah had the opportunity to craft this drama in a way he couldn’t have foreseen the serendipity of. In the events of his defeat, Zedekiah serves as a historical prefigurement of Jesus Christ, motif corresponding to motif. When readers of the gospels come to the point of the story when Jesus prays to the Father in Gethsemane that the cup would pass, a good Jewish reader could and even should recognize the parallels! Jesus succeeded in the mission that every other son of David inevitably failed: suffering for the sins of his people that they might find victory in him.
Jeremiah helps us appreciate Jesus as our victorious king. The gospels point to Jesus’ work on the cross as what is sometimes called Christus Victor. The imagery throughout Matthew and Mark and Luke and John points to Jesus not just as Passover lamb, but as the king of his people, who through human defeat brings true spiritual victory, conquering death and hell, establishing his kingdom to endure forever. This is not at the expense of his paying the price of our individual sin through his blood atonement on the cross, but the literary imagery of the gospels makes the victory theme inescapable. This brings hope to us in a troubled world, even the chaotic world of 2020! Because of the cross, Jesus is king, and he does reign now, and his victory is already accomplished for us. There is no reason to fear or worry. There is only reason to worship and gladly gather with God’s people to proclaim the name of our victorious, reigning King.
1 As usual, translations my own. I refuse to hear your complaints.
2 If some soulless fundamentalist dispensationalist claims my exegesis is off here and that I’m reading Jesus into this text, I refuse to hear any of it. The Davidic covenant and literary motifs provide ample reason to see this intentional parallel between Zedekiah and a true shepherd, a true messianic King of Israel. Indeed, the prophet Jeremiah himself likely understood the messianic role of Davidic kings and their role in foreshadowing the ultimate Messiah to come and reign under the New Covenant. Perhaps Jeremiah would not know of Gethsemane, but he knew Zedekiah’s cowardly failure was a distinctly messianic failure, one of the most ignoble moments in the history of the house of David.
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