What Does the Bible Tell Us about King Zedekiah?

Chaos. Violence. Jesus predicted that a sign of the end would be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), resulting from humanity’s corruption abuse of power. However, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Christ also promised that we would have trouble and hardship in this world, but we shouldn’t be afraid due to his victory over all things (John 16:33). From the Old Testament through the New, the promise of God was never the absence of battle, whether physical with David or spiritual with Paul, but that the chaos and violence of the world wouldn’t overtake us … if we remain truly faithful to God’s ways. 

When the chaos and violence of the world do overtake us, we often blame God. We resist any indication that we brought certain consequences upon ourselves with our own behavior. Anyone who suggests such things must, by our estimation, hate us. Because God loves us, right? 

God loves us so much that he warns us, sometimes harshly, about the destructive consequences ahead if we continue on our wayward path. Within God’s first words to humanity was a warning (Genesis 2:17)—“Don’t eat of that tree, whatever you do, for you will die.” That’s how much God loves us. Even kings need to heed these warnings. Unfortunately, King Zedekiah didn’t and paid dearly. 

Where Does the Bible Mention Zedekiah?

The kingdom of Israel had split several generations before Zedekiah’s reign. Solomon’s oppression and his son’s foolish behavior led to a division into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, Judah in the south. By Zedekiah’s time, Assyria had conquered Israel and dispersed the people into other countries, which was God’s judgment upon the northern kingdom for their idol worship and more. 

Things in Judah fell apart after the death of the righteous king Josiah. After a couple of his sons and grandson failed, Zedekiah was made king over Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 

Zedekiah was the 20^th and last king of the southern kingdom of Judah. His story appears in 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36. Jeremiah was the primary prophet of God during Zedekiah’s reign, so much of the narrative is in the book of Jeremiah, as well. 

What Happened to Zedekiah When Babylon Invaded Israel?  

Babylon’s invasion has a history that stretches back to King Hezekiah, a righteous king who became prideful when a Babylonian emissary came. Hezekiah showed the emissary all the treasures of God’s house, and due to that hubris, God prophesied through Isaiah that God would hand over Judah to Babylon (2 Kings 20:12-19). 

The following two kings, Hezekiah’s son and grandson, were evil. Josiah became king at a young age and was righteous, so God delayed his judgment due to those reforms and repentance (2 Chronicles 34). Then Josiah died, and his progeny went back to idol worship and oppression. 

It gets messy from there.

Josiah’s son Jehoahaz reinstituted idol worship and only ruled three months before King Necho II of Egypt invaded and took him hostage, setting up his brother Jehoiakim as king and vassal of Egypt. Jehoiakim rebelled, switched allegiances after eight years, and ruled only three more before dying in battle. 

Then Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, becomes king. Nebuchadnezzar takes young Jehoiachin captive, like a hostage, making Josiah’s son, Mattaniah, king. Other nobles and citizens are also taken to Babylon (likely including Daniel). 

Just as the Babylonians give Daniel a name to replace his original Hebrew name, Nebuchadnezzar gives Mattaniah a new name: Zedekiah. A renaming showed dominance and power over a people group, changing their identities, much like American plantation owners gave enslaved Africans new names once brought over. 

Zedekiah was the vassal of Babylon, loyal to Nebuchadnezzar under great threats. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (which Jeremiah warned against) and suffered for it. As a result, Zedekiah only reigns for ten years (597-587 BC).

Babylon attacked and sieged Jerusalem, breaking through the walls and sacking the city. Zedekiah attempts to escape, but the Babylonian army catches him. They take Zedekiah to a town in Judah, where his sons are executed in front of him (2 Kings 25:7). The death of his sons was the last thing Zedekiah saw before Babylonians gouged out his eyes and put him in prison. 

Why Did Zedekiah Not Listen to Jeremiah’s Warnings?    

God spoke two main messages directly to Zedekiah through the prophet Jeremiah. First, stop worshipping idols and participating in acts of violence associated with that worship, like child sacrifice. Second, since the invasion of Babylon was an act of God, Zedekiah should submit to Nebuchadnezzar. God promised that if he did those two things, God would bless the king and keep him and his family from harm (Jeremiah 34, 37). 

Zedekiah did neither. Therefore, Jeremiah saw that destruction and became known as the “weeping prophet.” 

Why didn’t Zedekiah listen? The reasons are connected but two-fold. 

On the one hand, Zedekiah didn’t want to give up worshipping idols, the “useless gods” of the other nations. Even though he rebelled against the pagan nation of Babylon, Zedekiah allied with those other nations like Edom, and he ended up trusting in their gods, too, instead of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. 

An interesting note: Zedekiah and the kingdom of Judah still worshipped in the Temple. They half-heartedly participated in the Temple worship, but the king and the people worshipped idols in their homes and gardens. They honored God in public but worshipped idols in their private lives. 

Finally, Jeremiah was one of the few (if not the only) prophet that gave a message of doom. All the other prophets (seeking to tell the king what he wanted to hear) repeatedly declared that since Israel was the people of God, Jehovah would deliver them… even if they didn’t give up their idols. This was the overwhelmingly popular message of Zedekiah’s day. They had idols, sure, but they still worshipped in the Temple. God was okay with that. Right? 

The people of Judah had a recent example of how wrong they were in the fall of Israel to the north, all due to continued idol worship over generations. That should have made it evident that they chose destruction, but they remained on the path of idolatry. 

Zedekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem received what they chose. Despite recent history, warnings in the Old Testament, and repeated admonitions from Jeremiah, they decided to listen to popular opinion and continue to worship other gods and rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. 

What Can We Learn from Zedekiah’s Story? 

Zedekiah isn’t a well-known story from the Old Testament. Very few of the kings after Solomon are, which is unfortunate since there are several lessons we can take away from their stories, victories, and defeats. Zedekiah is no different. 

Before we move on, we must pause to remind ourselves that while God judged Israel and Judah, he always promised to bring them back to him and their land. Throughout repeated warnings, God repeated his redemptive message of love: that he would return the nations of Israel and Judah in an intimate relationship, and the end would be glorious, the impacts worldwide. 

Those redemptive promises center around the Messiah (Jesus) and a New Covenant based on the power of the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:31-34). We Gentiles should be glad for that. 

God always kept Israel in mind as his people and preserved the line of David for that reason. Now, all who are in Christ (Jew and Gentile alike) are his people. 

Here are the lessons we can take from Zedekiah:

1. Be honest about our own idolatry. The people of Judah thought they could mix worshipping other gods with the Lord of Heaven’s armies. They were wrong. That hasn’t changed, and while it might not cost us salvation, our worship of other things in this world (idols of time, money, popularity, whatever) will destroy the blessing and peace God wishes to give us. Paul explicitly mentions greed as idolatry, warning those under his care (Colossians 3:5, Ephesians 5:3). 
2. The word of God brings light and life but isn’t popular. We often forget that the way of God is narrow and the way to destruction is wide (Matthew 7:13-14). More and more Christians in today excuse sin due to twisted ideas of grace and the love of God. The Apostle Jude warns about the perversion of turning the grace of God into a license for sin, that it’s not the Gospel at all (Jude 1:4). Being clear about that warning makes us unpopular, much like Jeremiah. There will always be many preachers and teachers who like to tickle ears (2 Timothy 4:3). To be clear, our goal isn’t to be unpopular. The focus is to obey God and communicate his truth in love. However, the pattern from the Old Testament through the New is that following God can be difficult and unpopular. 
3. The correction of God, whatever the cost, is for our ultimate blessing and his glory. God isn’t a masochist. He doesn’t ask us to give up dependence on our own strength and the things of this world because he wants us to suffer. Following God may seem lonely and full of sacrifice. In fact, he is trying to save us from destruction and give us the blessings that will satisfy our souls. He loves us and always wants the best for us, no matter the current situation (1 John 5:3). 

We must remember, as it says in James 4:6, that God resists the proud (I can handle this, I don’t need to change, I don’t have to listen, etc.) and gives grace to the humble (I trust in the Word of God, not in my own understanding, and obey him, even to death because I know he alone gives life and blessing). This is how we speak the truth in love, communicating God’s heart amid his correction, calling the culture around us to repent unto the eternal abundance and joy of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 3:2). 

Peace.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Maudib

Britt Mooney lives and tells great stories. As an author of fiction and non -iction, he is passionate about teaching ministries and nonprofits the power of storytelling to inspire and spread truth. Mooney has a podcast called Kingdom Over Coffee and is a published author of We Were Reborn for This: The Jesus Model for Living Heaven on Earth as well as Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight.

This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.

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