In the forest thereof; i.e. in the forest of houses (comp. Jeremiah 22:6, Jeremiah 22:7).
HOMILETICS
God consulted in vain.
I. IT IS VAIN TO SEEK GOD'S HELP WITHOUT REPENTING OF OUR SIN. Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah in his alarm. But he gives no sign of repentance. The dread of coming trouble and the desire to escape it are not penitence; the fear of hell is not penitence. All men naturally desire to be safe from suffering. But God will only deliver those who also desire to be free from sin, who regret the evil they have done, not merely that which they endure.
II. IT IS VAIN TO SEEK GOD'S HELP WITHOUT SUBMITTING TO HIS WILL. Zedekiah consults God as an oracle; he wants information. But he gives no indication of a willingness to obey the command of God. He would be glad of Divine aid for his own plans, but he has no thought of yielding himself up to the execution of God's will. Many men would have God for their servant; their prayer is that God would do their will. Such presumptuous conduct must be rebuked by failure.
III. IT IN VAIN TO SEEK GOD'S HELP FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THAT WHICH IS MORALLY NECESSARY. There is a moral necessity as well as a physical. No sane man would pray that two and two might make five. There are moral impossibilities equally impregnable. A just God cannot forgive the impenitent. All that God does must be for the best, and nothing can induce him to turn from what he knows is best. If men need chastisement God will give it them, though they may most earnestly desire to be delivered from it. It was good for the Jews as a discipline, as well as just as a punishment, that they should be carried captive to Babylon. Therefore, even if all thoughts of inflicting the penalties of justice were in abeyance, God's merciful intentions to his people would make their prayers for escape vain.