Jeremiah · chapter 21 of 52
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Jeremiah 21 tells how King Zedekiah sends to inquire of the Lord, hoping for a miracle, while Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem. Jeremiah answers that God himself will fight against the city, and he sets before the people two ways: whoever stays will die, and whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He calls the house of David to do justice to avoid the fire.
Jeremiah 21 opens a new section of the book, largely concerned with kings and false prophets, set in the last years of Judah under King Zedekiah. From here the book does not follow a strict chronological order, and this chapter, from the time of the siege, appears before other, earlier ones. The message is painfully clear: judgment has arrived, but a way out is still offered.
When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon makes war against Jerusalem, King Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah Pashhur the son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, to inquire of the Lord. They hope he will do wonders for them, as in times past, and that the enemy will withdraw. It is a last-minute inquiry.
Jeremiah answers that the Lord will turn back the weapons of war in their hands, with which they are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege them, and will gather them into the midst of the city. The Lord himself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger, fury and great wrath. He will strike the inhabitants of the city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. Afterward he will give Zedekiah, his servants and the people who survive the pestilence, sword and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who will strike them down with the edge of the sword and will not pity them.
To the people Jeremiah says that the Lord sets before them the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by sword, famine or pestilence. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege them will live and have his life as a prize of war. The Lord has set his face against this city for harm and not for good; it will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will burn it with fire.
The house of David receives a call: execute justice in the morning and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. The Lord is against the inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain, who says who shall come down against us? He will punish them according to the fruit of their deeds and kindle a fire in her forest.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord, hoping he will do wonders and make Nebuchadnezzar withdraw. It is a last-minute request without repentance, seeking a miracle without changing conduct.
The Lord says he himself will fight against Jerusalem with outstretched hand and strong arm. The words recall the exodus, but now God's arm is against his people and not on their behalf.
The Lord sets before the people the way of life and the way of death. Paradoxically, life lies in surrendering to the Chaldeans, which looked like treason but was obeying what God had announced.
The house of David is asked to execute justice every morning and deliver the oppressed. Even at a late hour, the Lord points out that justice is what is expected of those who rule.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. — Jeremiah 21:2
Answer: Do wonders for them so that the king of Babylon would withdraw. — Jeremiah 21:2
Answer: With outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and fury. — Jeremiah 21:5
Answer: The way of life and the way of death. — Jeremiah 21:8
Answer: Whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege the city. — Jeremiah 21:9
Answer: Execute justice and deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor. — Jeremiah 21:12
Zedekiah's inquiry is a familiar picture: seeking God when there is no other remedy, hoping he will fix what we have damaged without changing anything. A group can ask whether we seek God only in crisis, or live in a way that when crisis comes we already know him.
The way of life and of death also challenges our ideas of faith. Sometimes obeying God means a decision that looks like losing, such as surrender, but actually preserves life. We ask for discernment to recognize when God's will does not match what seems strongest or most honorable.
Jeremiah 21 ends with a threat of fire on a city that thought itself safe. Chapter 22 continues with messages addressed to the kings of Judah, one by one, and judges them by whether they defended the poor and the oppressed.
Because the Lord had announced that Babylon would be the instrument of his judgment and that resisting would only bring death. To the city's defenders it looked like treason, and that is why Jeremiah was later accused. The advice is not a general political rule but an instruction for that specific situation.
He was the last king of Judah, placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar after he carried Jehoiachin into captivity. He rebelled against Babylon and ruled until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The books of Kings and Jeremiah describe him as an indecisive man who feared his officials.
The book of Jeremiah is not arranged chronologically but by themes and blocks. Here messages about kings and prophets from different periods are gathered, and the reader should watch the dates the text gives in each case.