And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah;
Jerusalem has fallen. The king who fled by night now stands before the conqueror at Riblah, a city north of the land, and hears his sentence. What happens there is not random cruelty. It carries out, to the letter, words two prophets spoke years earlier. It also raises a question: what becomes of David's throne once its last king is dragged away?
Jeremiah had told Zedekiah his eyes would meet the eyes of the king of Babylon. Ezekiel said Zedekiah would go to Babylon and never see it. The scene at Riblah shows how both were true.
To a shallow reader this might seem hard to reconcile, or even look like a contradiction. But such a thought would only be ignorance, not to say irreverence; for each prophet gave out from God beforehand what the history then made good. Pursuers overtook the fleeing king before he crossed the Jordan. At Riblah the king of Babylon judged the matter. He had Zedekiah's sons killed in front of their guilty father's eyes. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with chains and carried him to Babylon. So he did not see Babylon, though he went there; yet he did see the eyes of the angry conqueror who spoke with him face to face. No word of the Lord falls to the ground.
Nebuchadnezzar's cruelty to a beaten prisoner looks far worse than a failed revolt deserves. Commentators point to something deeper. Zedekiah had sworn loyalty in the name of the Lord.
Nebuchadnezzar took terrible vengeance on his helpless captive. The cause was perhaps not so much the rebellion of a vassal king as the guilt, the enormity, of breaking the oath he took in the name of Jehovah to obey Nebuchadnezzar. This wrongdoing filled up his cup. He made a covenant with the king of Babylon… 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 oath so solemnly taken, and so presented the name of the Holy One of Israel to the heathen king as nothing.
The offence was worse because the man who broke the oath bore God's name.
So Zedekiah's conduct made it impossible, from every point of view, for God to shield the guilty king and people any longer. It was all the less possible because they bore His name… if sin is always sin, it is least excusable where His word is known and His name is held up before men.
The prophet had offered Zedekiah a way out.
It is solemn to notice how little a spirit that has given in to man's thoughts against God's word remembers in the moment of greatest need. What it forgets might even then have saved city, people and prince alike. Had the prophet not assured Zedekiah that, if he went out to the king of Babylon's princes, he and his house would live, and the city would not be burned? One effect of the evil heart that turns away from the living God: it always seems to forget the word just when it is most needed. It feels the word's force only after it has taken up some new plan of its own, as disappointing as all the ones before. How bitter to remember too late that everything the heart clung to must be handed over to vengeance and the enemy. The ruin about to follow is the fruit of one's own folly.
With "all the nobles of Judah" dead beside the royal sons, what falls at Riblah is a throne, not just a family.
While David's throne stood, however feeble and contemptible its occupants might be, it was still "the throne of Jehovah." The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery… Now notice the words of Jehovah to him: "…Remove the diadem, and take off the crown… I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is, and I will give it Him." Ever since that day David's throne has lain in the dust.
David's line now ends in a blinded prisoner in Babylon.
Was God's promise overthrown? It was not. If the historical account of David's seed ended in complete failure, then another Seed of David must clearly come. He must come so that God's promise to David may be fulfilled. Certainly that Seed has come.
- Word — Two prophecies looked contradictory. Both came true at Riblah: no word of the Lord falls to the ground.
- Oath — Zedekiah swore by the Lord's name and then broke it. That made God's name look worthless to a heathen king, and the sentence fell hard.
- Warning — Surrender would have saved Zedekiah, his house and the city. A heart turned from God forgets the word just when it is needed most.
- Throne — The sons and nobles die, and David's throne falls. It has lain in the dust ever since — but only "until He come whose right it is."
- Seed — David's line ended in failure, so another Seed of David had to come — and that Seed has come.
and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, to carry him to Babylon.
Judgment falls at last on Zedekiah, Judah's final king: he watches his sons die, loses his eyes, and goes to Babylon in chains. Why was the sentence so heavy, and does David's line end here?
The literal wording is harsher than most translations show:
He first watched his own children killed in front of him. Then his own eyes were "dug" out of their sockets. He was bound "with double chains of bronze" (2 Kings 25:7, literally), and led off to Babylon.
Two prophets had spoken about Zedekiah, and their words looked as if they clashed:
Both prophets said he must go to Babylon. But Ezekiel predicted that he would not see it, though he would die there. Jeremiah predicted that his eyes would see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and that the king would speak with him face to face. To a careless reader this might seem hard to reconcile, or even a contradiction. But such a thought would only show ignorance, and worse, a lack of reverence. Each prophet gave out from God beforehand what the events themselves then made good. The fugitive king was pursued and overtaken before he crossed the Jordan… So he did not see Babylon, though he went there. Yet he did see the eyes of the angry conqueror, who spoke with him face to face. No word of the Lord falls to the ground.
The king had broken more than a treaty:
The Lord charges the son of David then on the throne with treachery against Himself as well as against Nebuchadnezzar. He had violated his covenant with the Chaldeans, and this when it was sealed with the name of the Lord. And had it come to this, that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar had more respect for the oath of the Lord than David's son, the king of Judah?
Zedekiah's blindness was physical at the end, but it began earlier:
It is solemn to see how little a heart that has given in to man's thoughts against God's word remembers. In the moment of greatest need it forgets what might even then have helped city and people and prince alike. Had not the prophet assured Zedekiah that, if he went out to the king of Babylon's princes, he and his house would live, and the city would not be burned? … How bitter to remember too late that everything the heart clung to must go to vengeance and the enemy. The destruction that soon follows is the fruit of one's own folly.
With those eyes went the crown:
While David's throne stood, however weak and unworthy its occupants were, it was still "the throne of the Lord." The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery… Now note the words of the Lord to him: "And you, O profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come… Remove the turban, and take off the crown… A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him" (Ezekiel 21:25-27). Ever since that day David's throne has lain in the dust.
One writer sees Zedekiah's darkness as a picture of his nation's, and of a hope beyond it:
The light was to become darkness. This section begins by speaking of Zedekiah's eyes (Jeremiah 34:1-3), and at the end it tells us that they were put out (Jeremiah 39:7)… Israel is blind. Darkness covers the people. They must await the coming again of the One who opens the eyes of the blind, and who opens the prison doors for those who, like Zedekiah, are bound in chains.
Commentators differ on what lay ahead for the blinded king himself. One reads it this way:
"Until I visit him" (Jeremiah 32:5) might suggest that he was set free in the end, but "till the day of his death" (Jeremiah 52:11) rules that out. It is better to take the words to mean that God in mercy would visit him with repentance and a true knowledge of Himself. How often God has used the stern hand of His government to break down the pride and rebellion of the heart, and through such a visit give the repentant soul the truest liberty of all — freedom from the bondage of sin. So his soul would be set free, though his body remained in bondage.
- Sight ignored. The prophet's word could have saved his house and his city. Zedekiah forgot it at the one moment it mattered.
- Sight forfeited. He swore loyalty in the name of the Lord and then broke it, so a pagan king looked more reverent than David's own son.
- Sight taken. His sons died in front of him, his own eyes were dug out, and he went to Babylon in double chains.
- Sight vindicated. He saw the eyes of Babylon's king, yet never saw Babylon. Both prophecies came true, for no word of the Lord falls to the ground.
- Sight restored. David's throne lies in the dust until the One comes to whom it belongs — the One who opens the eyes of the blind and the prison doors of the chained.