"Stubborn Isn't Always Good"

Scripture Passage

Jeremiah 51:15-58; 2 Chronicles 36:10; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:11-14; Jeremiah 52:1-3; 2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 37:1-10

Scripture Focus

Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.  (2 Chronicles 36:13 NLT)

Observation

Judah is in the final stages of collapse as a nation. Judah’s king, Jehoiachin, who had been granted the throne of Judah by the king of Babylon, has now been deported to that foreign land and replaced on Judah’s throne by his uncle, Zedekiah. Along with Jehoiachin, another wave of commanders, soldiers, craftsmen and artisans has been taken from Judah to Babylon. The temple itself—an unbelievably opulent structure when built by Solomon—has been completely picked clean of anything and everything of any value. Can you imagine the condition Judah must have been in?

Still, the new king Zedekiah refuses to have anything to do with Judah’s covenant God, Jehovah, or His spokesman, Jeremiah. “He refused,” the Bible says, “to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord” (2 Chron 36:11 NLT). In fact, the Bible describes Zedekiah like this:

Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.  (2 Chronicles 36:13 NLT)

I don’t know what makes some people so stubborn toward and hardened against the voice of the Lord. Surprising to me is that Zedekiah is described this way so young—he took the throne at age twenty-one and only ruled for eleven years, so even at the close of His reign he was only thirty-two years old. How could a guy in his twenties with so much responsibility on his shoulders and so much evidence of a desperate need for God’s help all around him refuse “to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel”?

Even as I write those words, I am reminded of my own stubbornness—my own desire to “do it myself”…to fix whatever’s wrong without having to ask anyone else to help. I suppose in that sense I’m not a very good team player and not all that different from Zedekiah. The trouble is, I’ll never succeed in those things that require God’s help (which pretty much covers the whole of life, I think!) trying to do it on my own.

“Lord, challenge and soften my stubborn, hard heart. Give me a readiness to always and quickly rely on you!”