The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “War” it comes from the Hebrew Word “milchamah” which means “war, battle.”
King Zedekiah seeks Jeremiah’s counsel while facing Babylon’s advancing siege. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Jeremiah 21.
Jeremiah records how King Zedekiah sent Pashur and Zephaniah the priest to him, asking him to inquire of the Lord for them, since Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against them, hoping the Lord might deal with them according to all His wondrous works, that Nebuchadnezzar might go up from them, but Jeremiah answers that God will turn back the weapons of “war,” “milchamah” in Hebrew, that are in their hands, and He Himself will fight against them with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
Jeremiah describes how God will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast, they shall die of a great pestilence, and afterward Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and into the hand of their enemies, who shall smite them with the edge of the sword, He will not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Jeremiah delivers a remarkable offer even amid this dire warning, telling the people, “Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey,” closing with a message to the house of the king of Judah, urging them to execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him who is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest His fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of their doings.
Jeremiah’s remarkable offer, the way of life for those willing to surrender to Babylon rather than resist, demonstrates real prophetic courage in delivering a politically unpopular, seemingly unpatriotic message when it genuinely represented the wisest, most life-preserving path available. This chapter’s stark choice, life or death depending on response to God’s actual word through His prophet, reinforces judgment’s genuine seriousness while still preserving a real, available path toward survival.
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