Seeing the massive Babylonian army approaching, King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray to God that the Babylonians would retreat.
"...Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us" (Jer 21:2).
God's response through Jeremiah was clear. He would deliver Jerusalem. He would gather their weapons.
But God's deliverance was not going to be a deliverance FROM the Babylonians, but TO the Babylonians.
God was turning against Jerusalem.
Everyone in the Holy City would die by sword, famine or pestilence. The only chance of survival was to surrender to the invading army.
That was not the answer the king was wanting to hear.
The sins of Jerusalem and Judah had been increasing for generations. Prophets had been warning them and they refused to repent.
God's answer to their prayers for deliverance was clear.
Deliverance into enemy hands was imminent.
No avoiding it.
No escape.
No miraculous interventions this time.
The lesson for us: rather than harboring sin and refusing to repent, deal with it. Confess and forsake sin, so that God will deliver and use you, rather than turn you over to defeat.
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