And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in double fetters [hands and feet] and carried him to Babylon. – 2 Kings 25:7, Amplified Bible (AMP)

While visiting my sister and her family for Christmas, I was reclining on a rather comfy couch watching bits and pieces of The Bible* miniseries on The History Channel. The last thing I saw before we turned off the boob-tube was the show’s depiction of one of the saddest scenes in the Bible, found in 2 Kings 25:7. I cannot imagine the horror of having my children murdered before my eyes, yet King Zedekiah witnessed just that. I also cannot imagine such a horror being the last thing I’d ever see, yet Zedekiah suffered that fate as well; King Nebuchadnezzar put out Zedekiah’s eyes immediately after murdering his children. But the saddest thing of this entire tale is that Zedekiah could have avoided all of his pain by simply doing what God told him to do.

In Jeremiah 38 (AMP), God (through Jeremiah) warned Zedekiah:

17 Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then you will live and this city will not be burned with fire; and you will live—you and your house.

18 But if you will not go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hands of the Chaldeans and they will burn it with fire; and you will not escape out of their hands.

This warning, along with others recorded in the Old Testament, presented Zedekiah with a clear choice: trust The Lord and enjoy His blessings; don’t trust The Lord and suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, Zedekiah chose the latter, and by doing so he brought upon himself, his house, and his kingdom utter desolation.

So very often we are presented with the same choice that Zedekiah faced: trust in The Lord, or not. Many times we make the same poor choice that Zedekiah did, opting to trust in our own wisdom rather than God’s. When we do, we suffer tough times. Although our tough times will likely (hopefully) never reach the level of horror that Zedekiah’s did, the times will be tough nonetheless, and we could avoid them altogether by simply doing things God’s way from the get-go.

It’s too late to change the poor choices we’ve already made. All we can do with our past poor choices is repent of them and ask God to forgive us for our stupidity. But, from this point forward, we would do well to remember Zedekiah’s fate when we have an opportunity to choose between God’s way and our own. Remembering that Zedekiah could have avoided destruction by heeding God’s warnings may just help us avoid some tough times of our own.

* The Bible television miniseries was first broadcast on The History Channel in March 2013.

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