King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.” – Jeremiah 38:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 24, 2014): Jeremiah 38

One of the stories told by the T.V. Series “M*A*S*H” was the story of two enemies. In this tale of the 4077, a group of North Korean prisoners are brought in to the camp. And a South Korean soldier who happens to be at the 4077 with his regiment takes a special interest in the captives – a negative interest. He is mean and belligerent, but much of his anger seems directed at one of the North Koreans. The actions of the South Korean soldier offends the non-combative and peace-loving nature of Hawkeye, and finally Hawkeye confronts the soldier. And in the conversation between the two, Hawkeye learns that the South Korean soldier knows way too much about his North Korean counterpart, including the North Korean’s medical history as a child. When Hawkeye questions him about how he knows so much about this soldier, he finds out the two men were brothers. Dad had placed a son in both armies in the hope that one of them would survive. The South Korean soldier feared that if his superiors found out about the secret of these two men – both would be in trouble. So one brother feigned hate for the other in the hope that no one would suspect the truth.

It is actually an old story. Civil War breaks out and fathers make the hard choice to place brothers in opposing armies. Or maybe it is just the sympathies of the brothers that are divided and carry them in different directions. But either way, the fight becomes one that is quite literally between brothers.

Jeremiah advocates for the people of Jerusalem to leave the city – to flee to the hills. Maybe there they can find life. But Zedekiah and the officials of the city actively opposed Jeremiah’s plan. They wanted the soldiers – and really all of the people – to stay and fight, to defend the city against the Babylonian invaders. But from Zedekiah’s comment in this passage, it is evident that some people had followed the prophet’s advice – and not the king’s. There had been a noticeable exodus out of the city and the surrounding area. And the king was worried that maybe they had gone over to the other side and were now fighting on the side of the Babylonians. He feared that these people would blame him for the destruction of the city and the nation because of his opposition to Jeremiah and Jeremiah’s God. And in this moment he feared these former subjects more than he feared Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

There is no evidence that the people who had left the city had left to join the Babylonian army. It would have been much more likely that they would have fled to the hills as Jeremiah had recommended – especially because they would have interpreted the prophet’s instructions as being the will of God. But the admission of Zedekiah would also seem to indicate that he fully realized that he had opposed God, and now the last thing that he wanted to do was to come in contact with God’s people.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 39