If Zedekiah would have listened to God’s promise through Jeremiah he would have saved himself a lot of pain and grief. God told Zedekiah that, though the city of Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonian army, yet Zedekiah himself would die peacefully in exile. However, when the city did fall, Zedekiah, fearing for his life, tried to flee from Nebuchadnezzar rather than trusting God’s promise and surrendering to him. Because of this, when the Babylonians eventually caught him, they treated him very cruelly; they killed his sons before him and put out his eyes. God knew that Zedekiah would be treated this way if he refused to surrender and he evidently wanted to save him from this fate by assuring him that he would not die by the sword. Zedekiah did not die by the sword, he died naturally in exile as God promised. But he could have saved himself so much hardship just by listening to God. We bring upon ourselves so much hardship in life because of our refusal to listen to and trust God. While not necessarily being easy, our lives could certainly be so much more peaceful if we did so. Instead, however, we often live in fear and anxiety which naturally brings out the worst in us, which then deprives us of the best we could have in life. You can walk a path of peace but only God knows the way. Stay close to him and trust him for every step. Those who live this way will live and die in peace.
Ask God to guide you and entrust your life and all your concerns to him.
Read Jeremiah 34
