A Secret Meeting With The King

Just as no one is eager to be confronted with the need to repent, you may be certain that nations do not welcome the necessity to repent. Even the righteous within the nation can be so caught up in patriotic fervour that they react negatively to a call for national repentance. Everyone wants to believe that their nation is on the side of the angels. We know that even the Wehrmacht during the days of Nazi rule boasted the motto, “Gott mitt uns.” Note that since 1956, the official motto of the United States is, “In God We Trust.” Today, it is legitimate to question what god the nation is trusting. While I could wish that motto bespoke the true condition of the nation, it is difficult to believe that many, perhaps even most, elected officials and those who are appointed to office in the United States, honour the True and Living God with any sense of devotion. And we dare not neglect that leaders govern only with the consent of the governed!

THE KING ACTUALLY HAD NO DESIRE TO HEAR WHAT THE LORD HAD TO SAY! “Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.’ Jeremiah said, ‘You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you

and prevailed against you;

now that your feet are sunk in the mud,

they turn away from you.’

‘All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire’” [JEREMIAH 38:17-23].

Wow! Just Wow! What a statement he was to deliver to the king, of all people! You cannot read Jeremiah’s statement given in response to the king’s insistent questioning without marvelling at his boldness. From his own testimony, we are certain that inside, the prophet was in turmoil. Throughout the book, Jeremiah reveals his timid constitution. When the Lord first called Jeremiah to this ministry, the young man hesitated, revealing his timid character. We witness Jeremiah protesting, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” [JEREMIAH 1:6].

God would not accept that excuse; He responded,