While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you. (Jeremiah 38:22)Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He was a wishy-washy king who found it difficult to make a decision. In his defense, he was scared of both Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar and his own advisors. They were telling him to resist the invading army, but Jeremiah was telling him he should surrender. Zedekiah was afraid Jeremiah was right, but he didn't want his advisors thinking he was weak. Too late.
The king's counselors were determined to shut Jeremiah up. Zedekiah spinelessly gave them his permission to throw the prophet into a cistern - empty of water but full of mud. There they left him but, thanks to another flip flop by the king, he was released. Zedekiah once again asked him for advice, but Jeremiah was reticent to speak, considering where his words had already landed him... literally.
Finally, Jeremiah told Zedekiah that if he surrendered he would fare better than if he continued the fight. He said that if the king rejected his counsel, the women of Jerusalem would be taken captive by the Babylonians, and taunt him about being misled and abandoned by his most trusted friends. While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you.
Jeremiah was dropped in the cistern, but Zedekiah was the one stuck in the mud.
Have you ever been stuck and unable to make a decision?
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