Judah's last king, installed as a Babylonian vassal, who repeatedly sought the prophet Jeremiah's counsel but lacked the courage to follow it, and whose broken oath of loyalty brought Jerusalem's final destruction and his own captivity.
For younger readers
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the exile to Babylon. The powerful king of Babylon had put him on the throne and made him promise loyalty, but Zedekiah broke that promise and rebelled, hoping another country would help him. Even though the prophet Jeremiah kept warning Zedekiah to trust God and give up instead of fighting, Zedekiah couldn't find the courage to listen and obey. Because of his broken promise, Babylon's army surrounded Jerusalem, and eventually the city fell. Zedekiah tried to escape but was captured, and terrible things happened to him and his family as a result. Zedekiah's sad story shows how much damage comes from knowing what's right but being too afraid to actually do it.
Life Story
Zedekiah, Josiah's son, was installed as a puppet king over Judah by Nebuchadnezzar after his nephew Jehoiachin was deposed and exiled; Nebuchadnezzar renamed him from Mattaniah and required an oath of loyalty (2 Kings 24:17-18; Ezekiel 17:13). Zedekiah repeatedly sought out the prophet Jeremiah for counsel and even protected him from officials who wanted him killed, yet consistently lacked the courage to act on Jeremiah's counsel to surrender to Babylon and live (Jeremiah 37:17-21; 38:14-28). Instead, pressured by his officials and hoping for Egyptian support, Zedekiah broke his sworn oath and rebelled, an act Scripture treats as treachery against God Himself, since the oath had been sworn in His name (2 Chronicles 36:13; Ezekiel 17:15-19). Babylon's response was total: an eighteen-month siege reduced Jerusalem to famine, the walls were breached, and Zedekiah fled but was captured near Jericho (2 Kings 25:1-6; Jeremiah 39:1-5). At Riblah, Nebuchadnezzar executed Zedekiah's sons in front of him — the last thing he ever saw — then had him blinded and carried in bronze shackles to Babylon, fulfilling Ezekiel's paradoxical prophecy that Zedekiah would be brought to Babylon yet never see it (2 Kings 25:6-7; Ezekiel 12:13). His reign closes Judah's monarchy: the temple was burned, and the exile Jeremiah had long warned of began (2 Kings 25:8-21).
First named in 2 Kings 24:17-20
References: 2 Kings 24:17-20; 2 Kings 25:2-7; 1 Chronicles 3:15; 2 Chronicles 36:10-11; Jeremiah 1:3; Jeremiah 21:1-11; Jeremiah 22:1-6; Jeremiah 24:8; Jeremiah 27:1-21; Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah 29:3; Jeremiah 32:1-5; Jeremiah 34:2-21; Jeremiah 37:1-21; Jeremiah 38:5-24; Jeremiah 39:1-7; Jeremiah 44:30; Jeremiah 49:34; Jeremiah 51:59; Jeremiah 52:1-11; Ezekiel 21:25
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