by David Gibson<\/p>\n
King Zedekiah had at least two positive influences in his life that should have prompted him to make wiser choices. His father, Josiah, was one of the most godly kings Judah ever had. And Jeremiah, God’s prophet, tried repeatedly to persuade Zedekiah to obey God. In spite of his father’s example and Jeremiah’s warnings, Zedekiah was determined to go his own way. Paying dearly for his foolish choices, he lost his home, his throne, and his freedom. At age 32, the last thing Zedekiah saw before being blinded was the slaying of his sons before his eyes. He died a prisoner in a foreign land (Jeremiah 52:7-11).<\/p>\n
And all this tragedy could have been averted if only he had been willing to obey. His life is summed up in these sad words: “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord . . . . He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel<\/em>” (II Chronicles 36:12-13).<\/p>\n “But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. King Zedekiah sent . . . to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘Please pray for us to the Lord our God’<\/em>” (Jeremiah 37:2-3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Zedekiah wanted God’s protection but not His direction.<\/p>\n We can’t have it both ways.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson In spite of … King Zedekiah had at least two positive influences in his life that should have prompted him to make wiser choices. His father, Josiah, was one of the most godly kings Judah ever had. And Jeremiah, God’s prophet, tried repeatedly to persuade Zedekiah to obey God. In spite of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1506,522,54,991],"class_list":["post-89397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-hearing","tag-listening","tag-obedience","tag-zedekiah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-man-who-would-not-listen-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":0},"title":"The Man Who Would Not Listen","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson In Spite of ... King Zedekiah had at least two positive influences in his life that should have prompted him to make wiser choices. His father Josiah was one of the most godly kings Judah ever had. And Jeremiah, God's prophet, tried repeatedly to persuade Zedekiah to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Not-Listening-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12234,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-fall-of-zedekiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":1},"title":"The Fall of Zedekiah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Jeremiah 52:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The fall of Jerusalem and the end of the kingdom of Judah was a sad time period. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Josiah was the last good king of Israel, but the kings that ruled after him did evil in the sight of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King Jehoiachin began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26557,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rule-of-fear\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":2},"title":"The Rule of Fear","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I suspect that the longer a preacher works with a congregation, the more the congregation gets used to the preacher and can identify his particular hobbyhorses. That being the case, I\u2019m sure that some of you, at least, have figured out that I\u2019m particularly interested in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-go-into-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":3},"title":"Don’t Go Into Egypt","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Jeremiah 42:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine living during the last days of Judah \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Josiah was a wonderful king - II Kings 23:25 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But he was killed by the king of Egypt - II Kings 23:28-29 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But Jehoahaz, the king who succeeded him, only lasted three months - II Kings 23:31-33 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91525,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-other-ethiopian-eunuch\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":4},"title":"The Other Ethiopian Eunuch","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Most Bible students know the conversion story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. But how many know the story of an Ethiopian eunuch named Ebed-melech? His heroic actions are recorded in Jeremiah 38:1-13; 39:15-18. Courageously countering evil Because Jeremiah was proclaiming the truth God told him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60693,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/never-again-will-they-learn-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":89397,"position":5},"title":"Never Again Will They Learn War","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 65:17-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King Nebuchadnezzar had enough with the rebellion of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He removed the nobles to retrain them in his ways; yet, the stubborn Jews continued to rebel. Jehoakim was removed and his son Jehoachin was put in his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A lesson for us<\/h2>\n