[As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die.
Zedekiah, the last king in Jerusalem, swore loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar in God's name, then broke his word and turned to Egypt. Here God answers with an oath of His own: Zedekiah will die in Babylon, under the king who put him on the throne.
Rebelling against Babylon looks like patriotism. Commentators see it differently, because God Himself had handed the kingdom to Babylon.
Israel had not been able to stand in integrity before God, so the Lord had committed the kingdom to the head of the Gentiles, whom He had raised up. This was His settled purpose. But He had moved the heart of Nebuchadnezzar to respect the name of Jehovah, and Judah might still have remained the centre of religious blessing... He plots with Egypt to escape the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, whom God Himself, in judgment, had set up as supreme. This filled up the measure of iniquity, and brought on the final judgment.
The verse speaks of an oath he despised and a covenant he broke. Both were made with Nebuchadnezzar. God calls them His own.
He made a covenant with the king of Babylon. He took an oath in the name of Jehovah to obey Nebuchadnezzar — so binding that Jehovah called it "My oath," and "My covenant." Afterwards he rebelled against the king that Jehovah had set over him, and sent to Egypt for horses and men. He despised the covenant and oath he had so solemnly taken. He made the name of the Holy One of Israel look like nothing to the pagan king. This brought things to a climax: there was "no remedy."
A pagan king kept an oath sworn in God's name better than Israel's own king did. That reversal makes the judgment heavier.
And had it come to this, that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar had more respect for the oath of Jehovah than David's son, the king of Judah? Such conduct on Zedekiah's part made it impossible, in every way, for God to shield the guilty king and people any longer. Still less could He shield them, because they bore His name. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." Judgment must begin at the house of God... sin is always sin, but it is least excusable where His word is known and His name is held up before men. So Zedekiah was justly caught in the net of God's retribution. He died with no help from Pharaoh and his great army, though he had trusted in it in his hour of greatest need. He was a prisoner in Babylon, held by the very king whose covenant he had broken.
Zedekiah looked to Egypt instead. Commentators point out that Nebuchadnezzar had given him no grievance to justify it.
Nothing could be said for this on the ground of any oppression by Nebuchadnezzar... God had declared His purpose about Babylon, so rebellion against it was rebellion against Him. It was resistance to the discipline that the Lord had appointed for blessing, if only they had taken it that way... What was the power of Egypt, to stand against Him?
Two prophecies about Zedekiah seem to clash. What happened to his eyes settled both.
Two prophecies about him are remarkable. One says he will speak with the king of Babylon and "see him eye to eye" (Jeremiah 32:4). The other says he will be brought to Babylon, yet will not see it, though he will die there (Ezekiel 12:13). And so it happened. He was carried before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. There his sons were killed in front of him, his eyes were put out, and he was taken on to Babylon.
The death of a king in a foreign capital reads like the end of David's line. Commentators point out that God had already written this failure into His promise.
Such, then, for many centuries, was the end of the throne of David. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise that no failure of man could set aside. In fact, when He gave that promise, God had allowed for the failure. He declared what He would do: "I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law... then I will punish their transgression with the rod... but I will not remove from him my steadfast love."
- The oath — Zedekiah swore loyalty to Babylon in God's name. So God called it "My oath, My covenant," and took the broken promise as an insult to Himself.
- The authority — God gave Nebuchadnezzar his rule, in judgment on a failed nation. So rebelling against Babylon was rebelling against God.
- The aggravation — a pagan king honoured that name more than David's son did. Sin is least excusable where God's word is known.
- The escape route — Egypt's horses and army could not help. Turning there resisted the discipline God meant for blessing.
- The outcome — he died in Babylon as foretold, blinded before he arrived. Yet the promise to David's throne outlived the king who wrecked it.
Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons.
Ezekiel 17 tells a riddle about two great eagles and a vine, and verse 17 explains it. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, swore loyalty to Babylon and then asked Egypt for help — and God says Pharaoh's huge army will count for nothing once the siege begins.
Pharaoh did move. One writer traces Judah's last days. Egypt's army came, and the Babylonians pulled back:
At one point Pharaoh comes with his army to help Jerusalem (Ezek. 17:17; Jer. 37:5). When the Chaldeans hear the news, they pull back from Jerusalem. Jeremiah shows the people their mistake. Pharaoh's army, he says, will go back to the land of Egypt, and the Chaldeans will come again.
So the prophecy was not that no help would come. It was that the help would not help.
Egypt was the weaker of the two eagles, and that is what made it useful to Judah. But the plan ignored who had put Babylon in power:
Another great eagle is seen: it is the king of Egypt, but in no way with the power of the king of Babylon; yet for that very reason easier to make use of... Nothing could be said for this on the ground of any oppression by Nebuchadnezzar. On the contrary, Israel could still have prospered by bowing to Jehovah's will... God had declared His purpose about Babylon, so rebellion against Babylon was rebellion against Him. It was resistance to the discipline the Lord had appointed for blessing, if only they had received it as such... What was the power of Egypt, that it should be set against Him?
Babylon's rule was humbling, but it did not end Judah's usefulness. Something real was still possible, and Zedekiah threw it away:
Israel had not been able to stand in integrity before God, so Jehovah handed the kingdom over to the head of the Gentiles, whom He had raised up. This was His settled purpose. But He had inclined Nebuchadnezzar's heart to respect the name of Jehovah, and Judah could still have remained the centre of religious blessing, and the lamp of David could still have given light there... Zedekiah added one more sin to the rest: he made it impossible for a people and a kingdom that belonged to God to exist. He despised the name of Jehovah and trampled it underfoot more than the Gentile king did.
Zedekiah's promise to Babylon had been sealed with the name of the Lord. That makes his betrayal more than politics, and it shapes the punishment:
Jehovah puts the son of David, then on the throne, on trial for treachery against Himself as well as against Nebuchadnezzar. He had broken his covenant with the Chaldeans, and broken it when it had been sealed with the name of Jehovah. Had it come to this, that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar had more respect for the oath of Jehovah than David's son, the king of Judah?... It was right, then, that Zedekiah should be caught in the net of God's retribution, and should die disappointed in the help he had trusted to get from Pharaoh and his great army in his hour of greatest need.
This was not a one-off miscalculation. Egypt had a long record, and the record was part of why God finally broke it as a support:
Egypt has been a staff that breaks under Israel; a staff of reed, which offered much but never kept its promises, and brought only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God, even though God had rescued them from that land, and they had seen His judgment on it in their own rescue. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Sadly, it is an inconsistency that none of us who knows himself can claim to be free from!
- Oath. Zedekiah's promise to Babylon was sealed with the name of the Lord. Breaking it wronged God, not just Nebuchadnezzar — and a pagan king respected that name more than David's own son did.
- Alliance. God had handed the kingdom over to Babylon. So rebelling against Babylon was rebelling against Him, and it resisted a discipline meant for blessing.
- Army. Pharaoh's forces did march, and the siege did lift — then Egypt went home and the Chaldeans came back. Help that arrives and still fails is exactly what God announced here.
- Net. Zedekiah died disappointed in the help he had counted on, at the moment he needed it most. Egypt is the reed staff that promises much and ruins everyone who leans on it.
- Mirror. Running to Egypt for help was Israel's constant snare, even after God had rescued them from that land. It is an inconsistency none of us who knows himself can claim to be free from.
He despised the oath, and broke the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, yet hath he done all these things he shall not escape.
Ezekiel 17 tells a riddle about two eagles and a vine, and here God explains it. Zedekiah, the last king in Jerusalem, had sworn loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar, then broke his word and turned to Egypt for help — so why does God treat that broken treaty as an offence against Himself?
Two kings made the agreement, but Zedekiah sealed it with God's name. That changed who the injured party was.
He made a covenant with the king of Babylon. He took an oath in the name of Jehovah to obey Nebuchadnezzar. Jehovah even called it "my oath" and "my covenant." Afterwards he rebelled against the king that Jehovah had set over him, and sent to Egypt for horses and men. He despised the covenant and oath he had taken so solemnly. In doing so he showed the name of the Holy One of Israel to the pagan king as worth nothing. This brought things to a climax: there was "no remedy."
The shame of the act lay in the comparison it forced. The king who carried God's name treated it as worth less than a pagan king did.
Jehovah charges the son of David, then on the throne, with treachery against Himself as well as against Nebuchadnezzar. He had broken his covenant with the Chaldeans, and he had sealed that covenant with the name of Jehovah. Had it come to this — that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar had more respect for Jehovah's oath than David's son, the king of Judah? … "You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." Judgment must begin at the house of God. Sin is always sin, but it is least excusable among people who know His word and carry His name before the world.
Babylon's rule over Judah was not an accident of politics. God had said it would be so. The treaty Zedekiah tore up was God's discipline, meant to do him good.
There was no excuse for this in any oppression by Nebuchadnezzar. On the contrary, Israel might still have prospered by bowing to Jehovah's will. … God had declared His purpose about Babylon. So rebellion against Babylon was rebellion against Him. It was resistance to the discipline the Lord had appointed for blessing, if only they had received it as such. But this resistance forfeited everything.
"He shall not escape" is not a threat of bad luck. God describes Himself as the hunter, and the charge He will try in Babylon is betrayal of Himself.
"As I live," says the Lord, of Zedekiah, "truly in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the middle of Babylon he shall die. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and put him on trial there for the unfaithfulness he has shown to Me." Plainly, the whole character of Israel as the people of the Lord was gone.
The escape he counted on collapsed with him. William Kelly notes that Pharaoh's great army failed Zedekiah at his moment of greatest need. He died in Babylon, a prisoner of the king whose covenant he had broken.
One man's contempt for his word brought down the throne of David. Yet the sentence passed on that throne has a time limit written into it.
The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery. Nebuchadnezzar "made him swear by God" (2 Chron. 36:13), but "he despised the oath in breaking the covenant" (Ezek. 17:17-18). Nothing was sacred in his eyes. … "Remove the diadem, and take off the crown… I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him." Ever since that day David's throne has lain in the dust.
The words from Ezekiel 21 here follow an older translation.
- Sworn — Zedekiah made his pledge to Babylon in God's name, so God calls it "my oath" and "my covenant."
- Despised — Breaking it told a pagan king that the name of the Holy One of Israel counted for nothing.
- Compared — Nebuchadnezzar respected an oath sworn by God more than David's own son did. Sin is least excusable where God's name is known.
- Resisted — Babylon's rule was God's discipline, meant for blessing. Rebelling against it was rebelling against Him, and it cost Zedekiah everything.
- Recompensed — "He shall not escape." God spreads the net Himself. The charge tried in Babylon is unfaithfulness to Him, and David's throne lies in the dust until the One comes whose right it is.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah [As] I live, verily, mine oath which he hath despised, and my covenant which he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his head.
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He swore loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, then asked Egypt for help to break free. Here God treats that broken treaty as His own. The oath Zedekiah despised is My oath, and the penalty falls back on the man who broke it.
Two kings made the agreement. But Zedekiah swore it in the name of the Lord, and that changes the whole case:
He made a covenant with the king of Babylon. He took an oath in the name of Jehovah to obey Nebuchadnezzar, so much so that Jehovah called it "My oath" and "My covenant." Afterwards he rebelled against the king that Jehovah had set over him, and sent to Egypt for horses and men. He despised the covenant and the oath he had sworn so solemnly. So he showed the pagan king that the name of the Holy One of Israel counted for nothing.
Zedekiah could have argued that he was only shaking off a foreign ruler. But God had already given world power to Babylon. The yoke was His discipline, not just Nebuchadnezzar's ambition:
No one could excuse this by claiming that Nebuchadnezzar had oppressed them. On the contrary, Israel might still have prospered by bowing to Jehovah's will... God had declared His purpose about Babylon, so rebellion against it was rebellion against Him. It was resistance to the discipline the Lord had appointed for blessing, if only they had taken it that way.
Had he submitted, something of the old order could have survived:
Judah might still have remained the centre of religious blessing. The lamp of David might still have given light there, even though the royal house was now under the Gentile ruler... The Gentile ruler was not the one who broke the covenant.
The comparison is what stings. Notice who kept the oath and who broke it:
Jehovah charges the son of David then on the throne with treachery against Himself as well as against Nebuchadnezzar. He had broken his covenant with the Babylonians, and he had sealed it with the name of Jehovah. Had it really come to this — that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar had more respect for the oath of Jehovah than David's son, the king of Judah? So Zedekiah's conduct made it impossible, in every way, for God to shield the guilty king and people any longer. He could shield them even less because they bore His name.
That principle reaches past Zedekiah. Kelly draws a wider rule from the case:
God will be sanctified in all who come near Him. Sin is always sin, but it is least excusable where people know His word and hold up His name before others.
The broken treaty grew out of unbelief:
"Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon." He had no real faith in Jehovah, Israel's covenant-keeping God. So he felt no hesitation about breaking his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar. But how high a price he paid for breaking his oath!
God carries out the sentence Himself. The net is His, the snare is His, and He judges Zedekiah in the very city whose king he had betrayed:
The Lord says of Zedekiah: "I will spread My net over him, and My snare will catch him. I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there for the unfaithfulness he has shown to Me." Plainly, the whole character of Israel as the people of the Lord was gone.
The chapter that condemns one branch of David's house ends by planting another:
But it left room for the sovereignty of God. He would bring down the high tree and lift up the low tree. He would dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. His grace would take the little forgotten branch of the house of David and raise it up in Israel on the mountain of His power.
- Named — Swear a promise in God's name and it becomes His own. God calls Zedekiah's treaty with a foreign king "My oath" and "My covenant."
- Despised — Breaking it told a foreign court that the name of the Holy One of Israel counted for nothing.
- Compared — The pagan king honoured that oath more than David's heir did. Privilege made the sin worse, not lighter.
- Recompensed — God Himself spread the net and brought him to Babylon for judgment. The broken oath came back on his own head.
- Replanted — The throne fell, but God's rule did not. He raised a forgotten branch of David's house and made the dry tree flourish.