And put out the eyes of Zedekiah, &c.— Josephus takes notice, that the seeming contradiction in the prophesies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah concerning the fate of Zedekiah, made that prince give no heed to what was foretold. Ezekiel's prophesy runs thus: I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he die there, chap. 2 Kings 12:13. Jeremiah's thus: He shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes, Jeremiah 32:4. Both of which were literally accomplished; for Zedekiah was carried to Riblah, where he saw the king of Babylon, and spake to him, and beheld his children executed, but had afterwards his eyes put out, and was then carried to Babylon, which however he was incapable of seeing. The reflection which Josephus makes upon this event as excellent: "This may serve to convince even the ignorant," says he, "of the power and wisdom of God; and of the constancy of his counsels through all the various ways of his operations. It may likewise shew us, that God's foreknowledge of things is certain, and his providence regular in the ordering of events; and besides it holds forth a most exemplary instance of the danger of our giving way to the motions of sin and infidelity, which deprive us of the means of discerning God's judgments, even though ready to fall upon us;" Antiq. lib. 10: cap. 11.
REFLECTIONS.—Zedekiah soon felt what an unequal match he was for the king whom he had by rebellion provoked; for, how could he hope to resist, who had not only the powers of earth but the arm of God against him?
1. Jerusalem is besieged, and, after suffering the greatest extremities of famine, Ezekiel 5:10, Jeremiah 52:6 taken by storm. How terrible is war!
2. The king is taken prisoner as he attempted to escape, forsaken of his guards, and brought back with shame to the camp of the Chaldeans, to behold those miseries which, had he followed Jeremiah's advice, chap. Jeremiah 38:17 he might have escaped. He is condemned to suffer the reward of his deeds; first, to behold the tormenting sight of his sons all murdered before his eyes, and then for ever to close them upon this mournful scene, as left in misery to ruminate on the cause; while, languishing in fetters of iron, he passed his wretched days, a miserable spectacle, and monument of the wages of sin. Note; (1.) They who refuse God's counsel to escape, will find the vanity of their own contrivances. (2.) The impenitent sinner's doom is, to be bound in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day.