Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He was a son of Josiah and was made king by Nebuchadnezzar in the place of Jehoiakim's son, the latter being taken captive to Babylon after a reign of three months and ten days.
Zedekiah was made to swear by the Lord that he would be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar, but he violated his oath. He sought help from Egypt to throw off the Babylonian yoke, but although Egypt came to his assistance, its interference did not save him. He, like his fathers, rejected the one hope of deliverance in turning away from the Lord, and none other could help him. "The Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling-place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy." (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)
A Mark on the Forehead
It was not only their fathers who had transgressed the commandments of the Lord and provoked Him to anger. Right down to the time when the city was taken the wicked practices of the nation, both rulers and governed, were continued.
The condition of the city in those days was typical of the state of things that will exist when earth's guilty career finally closes. The prophet Ezekiel was shown the wickedness that was being practiced in the city, and even in the temple itself. He saw also that a mark was put upon the foreheads of those who lamented over the abominations that were done in the midst of Jerusalem, and a destroying angel was commanded to exterminate all who had not the mark. (Ezekiel 8:9-18; 9:1-11) In the last days the winds of strife and destruction are held until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:1-8)
The Seal of God
A seal is not put lightly to anything. When the servants of God are sealed with His seal, it means that He accepts them as His own act and deed. They are "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:10)
There is no thread of human invention in the garment of righteousness with which they are clothed. They know that they are sufficient for nothing of themselves, (2 Corinthians 3:5) but that Christ is made to them "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
They have submitted themselves to the righteousness of God, and are "complete in Him." (Colossians 2:10)
Jesus beholds in them not a vestige of the filthy rags of human self-righteousness, but the travail of His own soul and is satisfied. (Isaiah 53:11) In them He sees the work that He designed to do for men, and He is willing that these shall be known everywhere as the proofs of His saving power. He is willing to be judged by these results and He puts His own seal upon them.
So in Revelation 14 we read of the same people that they have the Father's name in their foreheads. They stand before the universe as illustrations of what that Name means in its fullness. They "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)
They have learned that God's Word brings the power, without which men have in vain tried to obey it. His commandments are known to them as life everlasting, and Christ dwells in them, so that they have the faith of Jesus. They are His perfect representatives and, being filled with the Holy Spirit, are His witnesses to the ends of the earth. They have the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:17)
Hated by the Wicked
The dragon, which is Satan, is wroth with these witnesses, and stirs up men against them. So, during the siege of Jerusalem, the anger of those whom he rebuked consigned Jeremiah to a prison, where he lay until he was taken from it by the victorious Babylonians. Into their hearts God put a desire to show the prophet kindness, and he was permitted by them to go wherever he would.
Zedekiah had sent often to Jeremiah to know what the Lord had to say, but although even to him counsel was given that would have saved his life, he feared to obey it. His guilty conscience made him a coward, and he dared not take the advice to go forth from the city and submit to Nebuchadnezzar. So he stayed where he was until a breach was made in the defenses of Jerusalem, and then he stole forth by night and tried to flee from the country. "And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho." (2 Kings 25:5)
Destruction of the City
Zedekiah was brought before the King of Babylon at Riblah, who passed judgment upon him for violating his oath. The last scene his eyes were permitted to gaze upon was the slaughter of his own sons, then he was blinded, bound with chains of brass, and carried a miserable captive to Babylon. Shortly after, the temple, the king's palace, and every house of prominence in Jerusalem, were burned with fire, and all the people, except the poorest classes, were removed to Babylon. Many of the principal men also were slain. (2 Kings 25:8-21)
Thus went out in darkness, for a time, the history of that nation which God had chosen to be a peculiar people to himself above all nations. God is ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy, but if the mercy be not accepted, He will by no means clear the guilty. "Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness." (Lamentations 1:8)
No Respect of Persons
The destruction of Jerusalem came because of its wickedness. Those who were grieved over these things were spared from the destruction. One instance is given us showing this. An Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech by name, when he knew that Jeremiah was put into the dungeon, and was like to die there of starvation, went in to the king and pleaded that he might be taken out. His request was granted, and Jeremiah was put in the court of the prison. After Jerusalem was taken the Lord sent a message to this man by Jeremiah, saying, "You shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey unto you: because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 39:17-18)
Rejecting God
Israel rejected the Lord from being King over them when they desired Samuel to make them a king that they might be like the heathen around them. Their desire had been granted. They had kings and these had made them like the rest of the heathen. From henceforth there was to be no king until He should come whose right it is to reign over His people. The word of the Lord was sent to Zedekiah: "And you, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus says the Lord God; Remove the diadem and take off the crown ... it shall be no more until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." (Ezekiel 21:25-27)
The people of God have no earthly head until Christ shall come in the glory of His kingdom. If any church professing the service of Christ has put itself under the control of a man, it has fallen into the same error that proved so disastrous to Israel of old, and like them will end in becoming like the surrounding heathen, if not worse.--Present Truth, December 8, 1898--Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons, December 18--Jeremiah 52:1-11
E.J. Waggoner