The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Hope” it comes from the Hebrew Word “tiqvah” which means “hope.”
Jeremiah faces false accusation and imprisonment despite genuine, faithful service to the king. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Jeremiah 37.
Jeremiah records how Zedekiah reigned instead of Coniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, but neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of the Lord, which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah, yet Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal and Zephaniah the priest to Jeremiah, asking him to pray for them to the Lord their God, since Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem, giving false “hope,” “tiqvah” in Hebrew, of relief. Jeremiah declares that Pharaoh’s army shall return to Egypt into their own land, and the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire, warning them not to deceive themselves, saying, the Chaldeans shall surely depart from them, for they shall not depart, since though they had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fought against them, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet they should rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. Jeremiah, attempting to go from Jerusalem into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself in the midst of the people, is seized at the gate of Benjamin by the captain of the ward, who accuses him of falling away to the Chaldeans, though Jeremiah denies it, the princes being angry with him, and striking him, and putting him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe, Jeremiah remaining there many days, until King Zedekiah secretly sends and takes him out, asking if there is any word from the Lord, Jeremiah answering there is, saying he shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, then pleading with the king not to be sent back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest he die there, so the king commits him to the court of the prison instead, giving him a piece of bread daily, until all the bread in the city is spent.
Jeremiah’s imprisonment despite his genuinely faithful, honest counsel to the king demonstrates that speaking truth consistently, even truth eventually proven correct, offers no guaranteed protection from unjust suffering and false accusation. His continued honest answer, even while imprisoned and vulnerable, that Zedekiah would indeed be delivered to Babylon, shows genuine integrity maintained even when a more comfortable, self-serving answer might have seemed easier to offer.
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