Honesty is Still the Best Policy
“When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 37:16-17
Jeremiah had been chosen by God to be a prophet to the nation of Judah to warn them of coming disaster because of their egregious sins against God. The people didn’t like what Jeremiah was saying, and they persecuted him relentlessly, but even though he felt like giving up, he obeyed the LORD and continued to prophesy the truth to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Under false charges without due process of law, Jeremiah was jailed into a cell (cabin) within the dungeon prison. We are not told how long that he was held there, but it was more than a few days. This was one more incidence of persecution that Jeremiah endured over at least 30 or more years.
After many days of incarceration, Zedekiah, Judah’s king, sent for Jeremiah to be released and to be brought to meet with him. It is believed that this happened after Nebuchadnezzar had returned to Jerusalem from facing Egypt with his army, and the battle in Jerusalem had begun again. Perhaps Zedekiah was finally seeing the light, recognizing that Jeremiah was telling the truth, or maybe not. In any case, Zedekiah wanted to hear some good news from the LORD and thus asked Jeremiah for any word that God had provided to Jeremiah. The prophet gave him an immediate answer, but not what Zedekiah wanted to hear. Jeremiah said that Zedekiah would be delivered into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but how this would occur Jeremiah did not reveal at this time. There were only two options for Zedekiah: surrender and go peacefully with Babylon’s king or resist and be taken by force. I can imagine hearing Zedekiah saying, “That’s it? What kind of options are those?”
Jeremiah could have seemingly made life better for himself if he had given Zedekiah a sugar-coated answer, but Jeremiah was an obedient servant of the most high God and could not give a false answer. Sometimes the truth hurts, but a lie will certainly make the situation worse eventually. Jeremiah desired to know what he had done to offend the king, his servants, or the people to cause him to be locked away in a dungeon. Everything that he had prophesied was from the LORD. He was just the messenger who was delivering a warning that, if heeded, could have saved an entire nation, but now he was locked up for basically delivering a message to avoid destruction.
Jeremiah brought up the previous messages that the false prophets foretold: a short battle, a victory, and then peace. Where were these prophets now? Their prophecies had been proven to be wrong. Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem at some point during the reign of Jehoiakim, extending into the three-month reign of Jehoiachin, and now into Zedekiah’s reign. It is uncertain as to the length of time that Babylon had ruled Jerusalem, but it was certainly more than the two years that Hananiah, a false prophet, had predicted (Jeremiah 28:11).
Jeremiah pleaded with Zedekiah to not return him to the dungeon prison, asking very respectfully as a man under Zedekiah’s authority. Jeremiah assumed that he would likely die in the dungeon, not that he was afraid to die as a martyr to God’s plan, but, like anyone in a dire situation, he hoped for favor from the one who could help him. Zedekiah granted Jeremiah’s request and consigned him to the court of the prison where he would have fresh air and much better living conditions. The king even allotted him bread for each day until there was no more bread. For now, Jeremiah was still confined, but his troubles were not over. He was still hated by the princes and the people, who would seek to have him executed. Life was not easy for a man or woman who stood for the LORD and His righteousness, and it still can be difficult in our day.
Speaking of honesty, I went to the Dollar Tree Saturday and bought some Christmas cards. I bought eight, but after I left, I discovered that I had only been charged for seven cards. When I returned to pay for that one card, the cashier was surprised. It is sad when folks are surprised at someone doing the right thing. I told her that if a person realizes that they didn’t get charged for something, if they don’t make it good, then it is the same as stealing. A good number of people will just chalk it up to it being their “lucky day”. Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in today. I used to think that honesty was the best policy for dishonest people because they were the ones who seem to benefit from someone else’s mistake. They may benefit temporarily, but no one gets away with anything eventually. We should keep that in mind.