The elders continue to not only present evidence before the court, but to warn the court and all those who are listening against the great danger of responding to Jeremiah in the wrong way. They ask three questions about how Hezekiah king of Judah responded to Micah’s message. The first is, Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death?
The answer to this question is no. There is no record in the Old Testament of Micah not being killed, but the elders clearly imply that he was not, as the next question makes clear. The fact that Micah was not killed makes a powerful case to not find Jeremiah guilty and deserving of death. A precedent has been set in Judah’s history that would call for Jeremiah to be declared not guilty. The second question is, Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favour of the Lord?
The answer to this question is yes. Hezekiah’s prayer is recorded in 2 Kings 19:14–19. The literal meaning of the phrase to entreat the favour of the Lord
is to stroke the face of the Lord
and is used in a metaphorical sense to describe an attitude of repentance towards the Lord and total dependence on his mercy and goodness.1 The third question the elders ask is, Did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them?
The answer to this question is also yes. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, the Lord does not bring the judgment Micah had warned would come if there was no repentance.
19 Ezéchias, roi de Juda, et tout Juda l'ont-ils fait mourir? Ezéchias ne craignit-il pas l'Eternel? N'implora-t-il pas l'Eternel? Alors l'Eternel se repentit du mal qu'il avait prononcé contre eux. Et nous, nous chargerions notre âme d'un si grand crime!