1. Jeremiah 37:9 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the Lord warn Zedekiah and the people not to deceive themselves?

Jeremiah 37:9 (ESV)

9 Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away.

The Lord warns them not to deceive themselves into thinking that the Babylonians will go away. Even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire. Their real enemy is not Babylon, but the Lord. Their spiritual blindness means that they lack insight into the political and military situation they face.1