Jeremiah’s response to Zedekiah’s concern about those who have already deserted is brief and concise, You shall not be given to them.
This implies that there are indeed some citizens of Jerusalem who have deserted and have very ill feelings towards Zedekiah. But the Lord is the one who will determine Zedekiah’s fate, and the real choice the king faces is whether he will obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you.
Even now the Lord is still offering mercy. If Zedekiah will obey the Lord and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, then, says Jeremiah, It shall be well with you, and your life will be spared.
But if Zedekiah refuses to surrender then the consequences will be disastrous, not only for the king but for those closest to him as well. Jeremiah shares a vision with Zedekiah that he has been given by the Lord. It is a vision of all the women left in the king’s palace being led out to the king of Babylon. As the women are led away in the vision, they sing what appears to be a traditional song about betrayal, similar to what is found in some of the psalms (see Jeremiah 20:10; Psalm 41:9)1. It is a vivid picture of what Zedekiah’s stubborn refusal to trust and obey the Lord leads to. Instead of having the courage to surrender to Babylon as the Lord has repeatedly commanded through Jeremiah, Zedekiah has been swayed by his fear of those in his government who were seeking an alliance with Egypt. Egypt, and any other ally Judah may have turned to, have all deserted them and now Zedekiah, his family and the whole city faces the Lord’s judgment. The whole city shall be burned with fire.
20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared.