“Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live’ ” (Jeremiah 38:17).
Sometimes parents feel like what they say to their children goes in one ear and out the other. One family therapist suggested that this is because most interactions between parents and children are negative. In turn, children begin to expect that their parents will tell them to stop doing something or ask them to do something they do not want to do.
In order to get better results from children, it has been suggested that parents try to have some friendly interactions with their children. The theory is that when kids get to have fun with their parents, they are more likely to feel connected and more likely to listen to what their parents have to say.
Jeremiah’s interactions with Zedekiah were similar to that of a parent speaking to a child. No matter how often the prophet told the king of Judah that he needed to surrender to the king of Babylon, Zedekiah would not listen. It was almost as if Jeremiah’s words would go in one ear and out the other.
Some might think that Jeremiah was not communicating the options in the best way. But this was not the case. God made sure that Jeremiah sent the warning message to Zedekiah in a number of ways. One time Jeremiah warned the king by wearing a yoke (Jeremiah 27). Another time he had a vision about good and bad figs (Jeremiah 24). And on another occasion, he begged the king to get him out of prison after repeating the warning about Zedekiah’s future (Jeremiah 37:11–21).
Yet in all these merciful communications the king held onto his vain hope that he would escape the attacking Babylonians. Jeremiah finally tried to assure the king that he would be safe only if he surrendered. Zedekiah ignored Jeremiah for the last time. Soon he was captured and blinded.
God continues to communicate clearly about our need to surrender to His will for our own good.
Father, I surrender my plans to You; please help me to listen to You.
