What does the Lord say regarding Zedekiah’s fate?

The message that Jeremiah must deliver to King Zedekiah is that the Lord will deliver the city of Jerusalem into the hands of the Babylonians who will burn it with fire. But the special focus of this message is what the invasion will mean for Zedekiah personally. Jeremiah has previously warned Zedekiah of his fate, but he rejected the message (see Jeremiah 21:4–7). The Lord makes it clear, however, that Zedekiah will be captured, have a face-to-face encounter with Nebuchadnezzar and then he will be taken to Babylon. The rest of the Lord’s message to Zedekiah starts with the words, Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:4), and ends with the words, For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 34:5). This seems to suggest that the promises which follow in Jeremiah 34:4–5b are conditional. If Zedekiah will respond positively to the Lord’s warning, then his life will be spared and he will be allowed to live out the rest of his life in Babylon and be given a proper burial befitting a king. In this context to die in peace simply means to not die by the sword¹. A similar promise is made in Jeremiah 38:17–18. At this point judgment is inevitable and the Babylonian invasion cannot be avoided. But if Zedekiah and the people of Judah will submit to Nebuchadnezzar then the consequences of judgment will be softened. There is no indication at all that Zedekiah ever responded positively to the Lord’s invitation and he resisted Nebuchadnezzar right until the very end (2 Kings 24:18–20). Despite this, Zedekiah was not killed during the invasion, but he did have a horrifying encounter with Nebuchadnezzar before being taken to Babylon where he later died (2 Kings 25:5–7; Jeremiah 39:4–7; Jeremiah 52:7–11).