Obedience During a Siege Saved Lives

When Jerusalem's end came in 607 B.C.E., God's compassion for the obedient again came to the fore. At the height of the siege, Jehovah said to the Jews:  "Here I am  putting before you people the way of life and the way of death.  The one sitting still in this city will die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence; but the one who is going out and who actually falls away to the Chaldeans who are laying siege against you will keep living, and his soul will certainly come to be his as a spoil."  (Jeremiah 21:8, 9)  Though Jerusalem's inhabitants were deserving of destruction, Jehovah showed compassion for those who obeyed him, even at that critical, late hour.

Telling the Jews to surrender no doubt tested Jeremiah's obedience as well.  For one thing, he was jealous for God's name.  He did not want  it to be reproached by enemies who would attribute  their victory to lifeless idols.  (Jeremiah 50:2, 11; Lamentations 2:16) Additionally, Jeremiah knew that in telling the people to surrender, he was putting his own life at great risk, for many  would interpret his words as seditious.  Yet, he did not cower, but he obediently spoke Jehovah's pronouncements.  (Jeremiah 38:4, 17, 18) Like Jeremiah, we too bear an unpopular message.  It is the same message for which Jesus was despised.  (Isaiah 53:3; Matthew 24:9) So let  us not 'tremble at men,' but Jeremiah, let us courageously obey Jehovah, trusting fully in him. -Proverbs 29:25.

Next time:  Obedience in the Face of Gog's Attack

The Watchtower, 2002