Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 25

Zedekiah tries to oppose Babylon

2 Kings 25:1-2

The army of Babylon, which King Zedekiah was trying to oppose, was the most powerful army in the world. Zedekiah was leading Judah, a small weak nation, which had recently lost its main army (24:16). So we may ask how Zedekiah considered himself able to defend Jerusalem against such a strong enemy. Several answers to that question appear in the Book of Jeremiah:

Firstly, there were false prophets (false holy men) in Judah. These men pretended that God had spoken to them. They declared that God would soon end the power of Babylon’s king. Then the people that Babylon’s army had taken from Jerusalem, would be able to return home (Jeremiah 27:16 to 28:17). However, God had not spoken to those false prophets. So, they were speaking lies.

Then, there was a report that Egypt’s army was coming from Egypt to attack Babylon’s army. For more than 9 years, Egypt’s army had not left Egypt (24:7) If it now attacked, that would force Babylon’s army to leave Jerusalem. However actually, Egypt’s army simply returned to Egypt and it did not attack Babylon’s army (Jeremiah 37:5-8).

In addition, King Zedekiah had many enemies and he was afraid of them. Even if the king of Babylon did not kill him, Zedekiah expected him to hand him over to his enemies from Judah (Jeremiah 38:19). So, Zedekiah was too afraid to accept defeat, even when it seemed certain.

For all these reasons, Zedekiah preferred to remain in Jerusalem when Babylon’s army surrounded it. That army remained there for two years except for the short period when they expected Egypt’s army to attack (Jeremiah 37:5). Babylon’s soldiers would not allow anyone to enter the city. Nobody could leave it, except to hand themselves over to Babylon’s army. The people in the city suffered from hunger and disease (Jeremiah 21:6). They could only watch and wait while Babylon’s army prepared to destroy their city.

Next part: Jerusalem's inhabitants run out of food (2 Kings 25:3)

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