God was not like the idols of the nations that were man-made and had no power.

“They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance – the Lord Almighty is his name.” Jeremiah 51:19

As the Maker of all things, God was also the one who controlled all things. He ruled the heavens, created storms, controlled drought and prosperity, and directed the nations in whatever ways he chose.

What God never did was force anyone to kneel to him. In all of the centuries of dealing with Israel, God never forced them to their knees to worship him. He warned them of the consequences of turning their backs on him, and he let the consequences come, but he never overrode their will when they rebelled against him. Israel and the other nations chose their own course and it led to either blessing or a curse. God let them decide.

However, after they made their choice there was no further court of appeal for them. The course they set themselves led to its inevitable end.

God’s Instruments of War

“You are my war club, my weapon for battle – with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.” Jeremiah 51:20

When God decided to punish the nations for their many sins and rebellion against him, he sent Assyria and Babylon. The Assyrians defeated Israel in the north as God had prophesied.  But they didn’t do it to honor God. They served only themselves and were so violent and unjust toward people in the process that God punished them for their excessive cruelty by empowering Babylon to take down their empire.

Babylon was a more sophisticated, cultured empire than Assyria, but it was also arrogant and self-serving. Nebuchadnezzar wanted the people he conquered to worship him, not God. So the Lord prepared an end to Babylon through the Medes and Persians who did to Babylon what Babylon had done to Judah.

“‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar . . . May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon,’ say the inhabitants of Zion. ‘May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,’ says Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 51:34-35

Even though Babylon was God’s instrument for punishment, their own sins would not be excused. Through Jeremiah the Lord prophesied,

“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just at the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.” Jeremiah 51:49

Nebuchadnezzar Takes Jerusalem

Nebuchadnezzar sent his officers to besiege Jerusalem and when they were successful he went in person to accept the surrender of King Jehoiachin and his royal entourage. King Nebuchadnezzar looted the temple and the palace, cutting up the gold articles King Solomon had made for the temple and hauling them away.

The Babylonians rounded up Judah’s army, Jerusalem’s citizens, and all the best artists and craftsmen in the land and took them to Babylon. About ten thousand people of Judah went as captives on the long march to the great city on the Euphrates River. Only the poorest people were left behind in the land.

Nebuchadnezzar chose King Jehoiakim’s brother Mattaniah to be his new puppet king in Judah, and he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah reigned for eleven years, but he apparently learned nothing from seeing Jerusalem’s fall from God’s favor. He did the same wicked things his brother Jehoiakim had done and offended God just as badly.

Zedekiah Asks Jeremiah to Pray

Zedekiah was left with a hollow kingdom after Nebuchadnezzar plundered Jerusalem and took the people away. He still hoped that Judah might escape Babylon’s rule somehow so he asked Jeremiah to pray for them —  without regard for the messages the Lord had already spoken to him.

“Neither [Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with his message: ‘Please pray to the Lord our God for us.’” Jeremiah 37:2-3

Egypt had marched up to see what was going on in Jerusalem and that caused the Babylonian army to withdraw for a while. But the Egyptians left after surveying the situation and God told Zedekiah not to expect anyone to rescue Jerusalem from the Babylonians.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.’” Jeremiah 37:9-10

The Living God

God never forced anyone to worship him. He also felt no obligation to respond when people who refused to worship him prayed for his help.

The Lord could have delivered Zedekiah from the next wave of destruction Babylon had planned for Jerusalem, but Zedekiah didn’t have that kind of relationship with God. He and his people ignored the word of the Lord and still hoped for grace in return, but it doesn’t work that way with the living God. He is not a man-made god that can be moved around and manipulated at will.

God commands honor and respect, and while he never makes anyone bow down to him, he also doesn’t have to answer the prayers of people who reject his sovereignty in their lives.