Jeremiah Prophesies The Failure Of The Egyptians, The Reviving Of The Siege And The Destruction Of Jerusalem Because It Was YHWH's Fixed Purpose (Jeremiah 37:6-10).
Jeremiah dismissed the good news. He pointed out that it was so much YHWH's purpose that Jerusalem be destroyed that even if the Babylonians were left few in number, and ailing at that, they would still succeed in their purpose.
‘Then came the word of YHWH to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,'
Once again Jeremiah is in receipt of ‘the word of YHWH'. Even though they were not listening, YHWH had not ceased from speaking to His people.
“Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Thus shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to enquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land.' ”
YHWH's reply to Zedekiah was forthright, and it was that the Egyptians would fail as deliverers. They would turn tail and return to their own land.
“And the Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city, and they will take it, and burn it with fire.”
And the result would be that the Chaldeans would again come and besiege the city, and would eventually take it and burn it with fire. It had rebelled once too often.
“Thus says YHWH, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,' for they will not depart.”.
So they were not to be deceived into thinking that the Chaldeans would depart (which was the general position held in Jerusalem). For the fact was that the Chaldeans would not depart. They had come to fulfil a purpose, and fulfil that purpose they would.
“For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.”
And that purpose was to burn Jerusalem with fire. And so great was their zeal, and so firmly was YHWH on their side, that even if the whole army had been smitten, leaving only a small band of wounded men, yet they would still rise up against Jerusalem and take it and burn it with fire, because it was the determined will of YHWH.