Vers. 8 — 11. — The fate of Zedekiah. I. The causes which led to the fate o» Zedekiah. 1. The general calamity of his nation. The king suffers with his people. Unfortunately it too often happens that an innocent people is punished for the fault of its sovereign. We must not be surprised if the converse is sometimes true. We are all meihbers one of another. Not only kings, but in a less degree private individuals, must expect to share the troubles of the con.munity, apart from the exact measure of private desert. In this life the execution of Divine justice is general ; in the next life it will be particular — then the judgment will be individualistic. 2. JJis own sin. Zedekiah did " evil in the eyes of tlie Lord " (ver. 2). Others may have done worse and escaped. But if we have no more severe a fate than we deserve, we can find no ground tor complaint in the fact that more wicked men receive (at present) a milder treatment. 3. His weakness. Zedekiah was more weak than wicked. It is often observable in history that tlie weak king suffers calamities which the bad king escapes. But weakness is a culpable defect in a sovereign. If he is not strong enough for his duties he should resign the reins of power. Mo one has a right to retain a post which be cannot efiBciently fuldl. Moral weakness is always wrong — to be blamed as much as to be pitied — for it can be overcome (Isa. xl. 29 — 31). 4. His erroneous policy. Zedekiah was set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar ; he plotted with Pharaoh against his suzerain; and when his rebellion roused the vengeance of Babylon, he found Egypt to be only " a broken reed." In his case the vanity of trust in princes was illustrated. 5. The will of God. The fate of Zedekiah had been predicted by Jeremiah (xxxiv. 1 — 7). The prophecy implied a Divine decree. God has no hard, cruel decrei s irrespective of our conduct and will. But following our wrong-doing, God's fixed counsels of judgment make flight hopeless.
IL The leadiko features of the fate of Zedekiah. 1. He was captwred in the agonies of flight. According to Josephus, this was not till he had reached the banks ol the Jordan. How terrible to be so nearly saved, and yet to fall a prey to vengeance at last I To be only almost saved is worse than never to have had a hope of deliverance. They who have been near to the kingdom of heaven and have not entered it will feel the more bitterly the doom that they wil 1 share with the city of Destruction. " Bemember Lot's wife." 2. He was carried to Babylon and tried before King Nebuchadnezzar. The triumph of the great monarch was tlie shame of his vassal. 3. Sis children were slain before his eyes. Parents suffer in the sufferings of their children more than in the pain of their own bodies. The action of Nebuchadnezzar was cruel, brutal, devilish. There are no such spiteful elements in God's punishment of the wicked. His is given in sorrow and with reluctance. 4. His eyes were put out. Here was the greatest refine- ment of cruelty. Zedekiah's sight was preserved till he had witnessed the death-agonies of his children. Then he was blinded, so that the last vision to dwell in his memory was the harrowing spectacle of his children's massacre. But after so terrible a sight would the wretched man care to look on the light of day ? 5. He was detained in prison till his death — a punishment worse than death. Dethroned, humiliated, in chains, in a dungeon, bereaved of his children, the poor blind king is left to the agony of his own bitter thoughts. May God deliver ua from a similar fate in the future world 1
Ver, 13. — 27*e destruclion of the temple. I. The oreatebt babthlt splekdoub k destructible. Solomon's temple was the pride of the Jews. For centuries it had stood mellowing with age. But when the brutal Chaldeans flung their torches at it the magnificent pile of buildings was soon reduced to a mass of smouldering ruins. Bic transit gloria mundi. An invasion, a revolution, a conflagration, may destroy the work of years in a night. Splendid possessions are poor refuges. A palace is not necessarily a castle.
II. 1'HEBE IB KG safety IK HOLT PLACES AND CONSECRATED THINGB. The temple
was burnt, and its treasures and sacred vessels were carried to Babylon. The flames that leaped up on the private houses of Jerusalem found no charmed circle to keep them off from the temple. The building was holy only in so far as it was put to holy uses. But when it was desecrated by aiu no magicHi influence could prevent it from complete
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destruction. And if the temple could not preserve itself, mnch less conld it protect its Buperstitious devotees. It was vain indeed for them to cry, " The temple of tiie Lord," as though the words were a spell to ward off trouble. Thus all who trust in holy sites, ceremonial services, etc., apart from spiritual devotion, will find their faith wrecked, even if the idol of their superstition is not destroyed.
III. When the spirit of devotion has forsaken a temple the destbuotion of THE BUlLDiNa MAT BE A GOOD RATHEB THAN AN EVIL. The temple is then worse than useless ; it is a snare, tempting men to believe that all is well so long as it stands. So the ordinances of religion delude men into false confidence. While these are duly administered with imposing solemnity, it is difficult to believe that the spirit of religion has fled. Let these go too and men have their eyes open to their true condition. The temple without true worship is a mockery to God. When the soul has gone the body had better be put away as soon as possible. If the Christian has ceased to offer spiritual sacrifices in his body as in a temple of the Holy Ghost, his life is no longer of any true value. When this temple is destroyed the fate is striking and alarmiug, yet it is but little after its sad desecration through sin.
IV. The only dubable wobk is spiritual and holt wobk. " Each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, becanse it is revealed in fire" (1 Cor. iii. 13). There will be a test to the work of life. This may be splendid as a temple, but if it is unholy and earthly in character it must pass away ultimately. How many temples, and cities, and kingdoms, " cloud-capped towers, and gorgeous palaces " have left " not a rack behind " 1 It is the spiritual work of a man that endures. Even this fails, fruitless, unless it is good in character.