God promised a peaceful death to Zedekiah, so why did he die horribly?

Question

In Jeremiah 34:2-5, God tells Zedekiah he will let Babylon conquer Israel, but not to be afraid because he will die peacefully,but in Jeremiah 52:10-11 and 2 Kings 25:6-7, he has his sons slaughtered in front of him, his eyes put out, was bounded in chains and died imprisoned, did God fail on his promise?

Answer 1

Actually, Zedekiah did die in peace - he died in Babylon of natural causes and was not killed.

However, there is more to this story - Zedekiah was warned several times. This is the brief history of Zedekiah in Chronological sequence -

• In Jer 27:1-22 Jeremiah is told to tell Zedekiah not to resist but to submit the king of Babylon despite the great victories his false prophets were giving.
• In 2 Kings 24:20b-25:2 - Zedekiah rebels against the king of Babylon
• In Jer 21:1-14 Zedekiah inquires of the LORD via Jeremiah. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah to -

Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done – burn with no one to quench it.

Note the warning and the consequence of ignoring it.

• Jer 34:1-22 - Zedekiah is promised a peacefull death, BUT -
• Jer 27:1, 2 "Neither he [Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet."

Thus, it is no surprise that after repeated warnings from Jeremiah and Zedekiah's repeated rebellion and spurning the advice from Jeremiah, his final capture was so brutal. However, we have this about him:

2 Kings 25:5-7 - but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him. And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

Thus, Zedekiah was bound and taken to Babylon where he later died but not executed. Thus, his death was peaceful but I am also sure this thoughts were anything but peaceful - he would have been in turmoil for all the trouble he had caused his own people.

Answer 2

That's a really good question! Thank you for asking it!

The answer lies in 2 Kings 24:20.

For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The Lord's prophecy in Jeremiah 34:2-5 could have meant a peaceful surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. But because Zedekiah rebelled, he made it much harder for himself and the nation since he also sought help from Egpyt (which never came). As a result, the Israelites were made an example of through the beseiging and the horrible slaughter that occurred.

Whether or not Zedekiah rebelled, the Babylonians would still have burned Jerusalem down to the ground because that was part of their psych war. They would assassinate the identity of their enemies before sending them to Babylon and learn all about Babylonian culture. That was how they psychologically conquered other kingdoms.

In summary, instead of heeding the prophecy of the Lord from Jeremiah (whom Zedekiah was known to ignore quite often) and experiencing relative peace, his disobedience earned him the consequences he suffered from the end of his reign until the end of his life.

Answer 3

The answer to this is that these are 2 different Zedekiahs. The first Zedekiah, from the Davidic line of King Josiah, was born in 637BCE and reigned in 617BCE. He did die in peace, by Jehovah's force, not by the sword, and this was in 606BCE.

The other Zedekiah was from Jehoiakim (who was the son of another Josiah. (Zephaniah's son). This Zedekiah was born in 617BCE and reigned in 598BCE. This was the Zedekiah who saw his sons killed and his eyes were poked out.

Answer 4

The Book of Jerimiah is book of prophecy. The Bible's prophecies are about God's promises. In Jer 34:4-5, there verses are God’s promises and prophecies,, and they will be fulfilled (Eze 12:28). According to Luke 24:44, OT, the Prophets are about the fulfillments of Jesus. So Zedekiah mentioned in these verses might be figuratively pointing to the future fulfilled events of Jesus.

Answer 5

In Jeremiah 34:2-5, Jeremiah's prophesy about Zedekiah has 4 parts;

1. The king of Babylon will capture Jerusalem, and he will burn it down (Jeremiah 34:2). This prophesy was fulfilled.
2. Zedekiah will be captured, and he will see the king of Babylon with his own eyes, and taken to Babylon (Jeremiah 34:3). This prophesy was fulfilled.
3. Zedekiah will not die by the sword (Jeremiah 34:4). This prophesy was fulfilled.
4. Zedekiah will die peacefully, and people will mourn him and honor him as a king (Jeremiah 34:5). This prophesy did not fulfilled.

Zedekiah was disobedient to God, but he also fear Him. It can be seen in how he saved Jeremiah several times and trusted he was the prophet of the Lord (Jeremiah 37:16-21; 38:7-28). He also asked Jeremiah words from the Lord 'privately' on several occasions (Jeremiah 37:17; 38:16).

It is worthy to note there is a key command "hear the Lord" in Jeremiah's prophesy

“‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; (Jeremiah 34:4 NIV)

The Lord gave Zedekiah one last chance to avoid his fate. Jeremiah demanded him to obeyed the Lord, surrendered to the king of Babylon. Then the city would not be burned down and he and his family would live (Jeremiah 38:17)

“They (the Babylonians) will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. (Jeremiah 38:20 NIV)

Despite the Lord had shown him mercy, Zedekiah disobeyed the Lord twice more.

1. Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. (Jeremiah 34:8-22)
2. Zedekiah did not surrender to the king of Babylon. He let people died in famine and by the sword and yet he fled. (2 Kings 25:3-4)

As a result, Jerusalem was burned down and Zedekiah was captured. He saw the king of Babylon with his own eyes and witnessed his sons being killed as his last sight. He remained alive, but he could not have died in peace of mind with these miserable memories. The book of Jeremiah only briefly mentions that he died in prison, without saying if he was honored (Jeremiah 52:11).

Answer 6

Thank you everyone, for sharing your thoughts. Who can really know, what happened back then? Were we there? I truly believe these events did occur, Zedekiah, being a willful and stubborn servant of His Lord, and it appears deaf to hid subjects, did watch His murdered sons die, and did have his eyes gouged and pulled out. Ouch! Yet, he wasn't murdered, did die in custody, but given enough respect by a fellow king was left alone to dwell on his part...in peace. From the story we read, this much is clear. HASHEM did what He could do to give big Zed, a peaceful end , and despite Zedekiah's best efforts HASHEM has accomplished. Amen? These are merely my thoughts, the impressions I get when I read this story ...to study and reflect and for counseling and companionship. I strive to understand "The Story", for what it is. Maybe this is because I'm a Gentile, but what Gentile goes around calling themselves a Gentile?