The Most TRAGIC King in the BIBLE: The Full Movie of Zedekiah | Animated Bible Story

Where could he be? Zedekiah, you must surrender to Babylon. I don't think that's a good idea. What if they torture me? What if they mock me? They will capture you and your family, and they will leave your nation in ashes! Yet even after the prophet of God warned Zedekiah, he refused. But what happens next will show you exactly why you must listen and obey God's word. It was the year 597 BC. In the kingdom of Babylonia, a wide river ran through the city of Babylon. Workers made bricks and built walls, palaces, and temples. The city was growing. Inside the temples, priests worshipped the gods they believed protected Babylon. But the king of this city ruled lands far beyond its walls. One of those lands was Judah, where he was about to choose a new king. Zedekiah was 21 years old when Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful king of Babylon, placed him on the throne of Judah. Zedekiah's original name was Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar changed it when he made him king. He also made Zedekiah promise before God that he would remain loyal to Babylon. I, Zedekiah, pledge my loyalty to you, King Nebuchadnezzar. Swear it before these witnesses. I swear by all that is holy, so be it. Zedekiah now wore the crown of Judah, but he did not have complete freedom. Babylon had taken valuable things from the royal palace and from the temple of the Lord. Thousands of people had also been carried away. Among them were important officials, skilled workers, craftsmen, metalworkers, and soldiers. 7,000 fighting men were taken, along with another 1,000 craftsmen and metalworkers. Zedekiah was left to rule a kingdom that had lost many of the people who once helped protect and support it. During his rule, messengers from five nearby kingdoms came to Judah. Jeremiah had a message from God for their rulers, and Zedekiah received the same warning. God had allowed Nebuchadnezzar to rule over these lands for a time. His power would continue through his son and grandson. But Babylon would not rule forever. Its own time of judgment would eventually come. Jeremiah then gave Zedekiah a clear warning about what he should do. He used a wooden yoke, like the frame placed across working animals, as a sign of Babylon's control. Jeremiah told Zedekiah to accept Babylon's rule. If he did, he and his people could remain in their land and continue farming it. Other prophets told Zedekiah something very different. They said Judah would not have to keep serving Babylon. Jeremiah warned the king that God had not sent those prophets, even though they claimed to speak for him. In the fourth year of his rule, Zedekiah traveled to Babylon. Later, however, he chose a different course. He sent messengers to Egypt and asked for horses and soldiers. Egypt was another powerful kingdom, and Zedekiah wanted military help. By asking Egypt to support him, he turned against Nebuchadnezzar. He also broke the promise of loyalty he had made before God. The result came in the ninth year of Zedekiah's rule. Nebuchadnezzar sent his army against Jerusalem. Babylonian soldiers surrounded the city and built places outside the walls for their attack. The fighting also reached other cities still under Zedekiah's control. Only a small number of strongly defended cities were still resisting Babylon outside Jerusalem. As the attack continued, Zedekiah still hoped God might save him. He sent men to Jeremiah and asked whether the Lord might perform a miracle and make Nebuchadnezzar leave Jerusalem. The answer was not what Zedekiah wanted. God said Judah's soldiers would not win this fight. Disease would also strike the people and animals in the city. Zedekiah and those who survived would eventually fall into the hands of their enemies. The message also told Judah's royal family to judge people fairly, stop people from being robbed and deal with injustice. Jeremiah later gave Zedekiah another message, this time about what would happen to him personally. Zedekiah would one day stand before the king of Babylon and speak with him face to face. But he would not die by the sword. The Lord said he would die in peace. People would mourn his death and honor him as they had honored earlier kings. During the siege, Zedekiah made an agreement with the people of Jerusalem. He ordered that Hebrew slaves, both men and women, be set free. The leaders and the people agreed and released those they had been holding. They made their promise before God in the temple of the Lord. The agreement was treated very seriously. A calf was cut into two parts and those making the promise walked between them. Leaders, palace officials, priests, and ordinary people took part. God's earlier law had said that a Hebrew slave should be released after six years of service. Earlier generations had failed to obey that command. While the city was still in danger, Zedekiah sent men to Jeremiah again and asked him to pray for them. Then something happened that seemed to give Zedekiah hope. Want your children to learn Bible verses without giving them more screen time? Instead of endless scrolling, your kids can color, play, and have fun while growing closer to God and learning His Word. Over 70 pages filled with exciting Bible challenges. And if your kids sometimes get bored during church, bring the book along and give them something fun to do. You can check out the book using the link below. Available now on Amazon! An Egyptian army came out to support Judah. When the Babylonians heard about it, they pulled their army away from Jerusalem. But Zedekiah was warned not to trust this change. Jeremiah said Egypt's army would return to its own land. Babylon would come back. Even if Judah fought so well that only wounded Babylonian soldiers remained, those wounded men would still be able to rise and destroy the city. After the Babylonians moved away, the people who had freed their Hebrew slaves changed their minds. They took the men and women back and forced them into slavery again. This broke the promise that had been made before God under Zedekiah's agreement. Jeremiah condemned what they had done. He reminded them that their own ancestors had once been slaves in Egypt before God brought them out. The punishment for breaking that agreement was severe. The people who had broken it were warned that some of them would die and would not be buried. Their bodies would be left for birds and wild animals. The warning also said that towns across Judah would be left empty. Around this time, Jeremiah was arrested at the Benjamin Gate. A guard accused him of joining the Babylonians. Jeremiah denied the accusation, but the officials imprisoned him. He was locked inside a house that had been turned into a prison and remained there for a long time. Zedekiah later sent for him in secret and brought him to the palace. The king asked whether there was a message from God. Jeremiah answered that Zedekiah would be handed over to the king of Babylon. Jeremiah asked what wrong he had done to deserve prison. He also asked where the prophets were who had promised Zedekiah that Babylon would not attack. He then begged Zedekiah not to send him back to the same prison because he feared he would die there. Zedekiah listened to that request. He ordered that Jeremiah be kept in the guarded courtyard instead of being sent back to the prison. He also ordered that Jeremiah receive one piece of bread each day from the bakers for as long as bread remained in the city. By the tenth year of Zedekiah's rule, Jeremiah was still being kept in the guarded courtyard inside the palace grounds. Some of Zedekiah's officials then came to the king and demanded that Jeremiah be killed. They said his words were making the remaining soldiers lose courage because he told people to surrender. They also accused him of weakening the people and working against them. Zedekiah gave in to the officials. He told them that he could do nothing to stop them even though he was the king. They took Jeremiah and lowered him by ropes into a deep pit in the palace area. There was no water at the bottom, only mud. And Jeremiah began to sink. Soon another palace official came to Zedekiah and said the men had treated Jeremiah badly. He warned that Jeremiah could die if he remained in the pit. This time Zedekiah acted. He ordered the official to take men with him and pull Jeremiah out before he died. The order was carried out and Jeremiah was returned to the guarded courtyard. Zedekiah later called Jeremiah for another private meeting. The king wanted a direct answer and told Jeremiah not to hide anything from him. Jeremiah was afraid that Zedekiah might kill him for speaking honestly. He also doubted whether the king would follow his advice. Zedekiah secretly promised before the living God that he would not kill Jeremiah and would not hand him over to the men who wanted him dead. Jeremiah then told Zedekiah exactly what he could still do. He had to give himself up to Babylon's officers. If he did, he and his family would live and Jerusalem would not be burned. If he refused, Babylon would burn the city and capture him. Zedekiah finally explained what was stopping him. Some people from Judah had already gone over to the Babylonians. He feared that Babylon's officers would hand him over to those people and that they would mistreat him. Jeremiah told him this would not happen. He urged Zedekiah to obey the Lord. He also warned that if the king refused, Zedekiah's wives and children would be taken to Babylon's officers. Jeremiah also told Zedekiah what the women from the palace would say if the king refused to obey. They would say that people Zedekiah trusted had misled him and then left him when he was in trouble. This warning was about more than the city. It showed Zedekiah that the people closest to him would not be able to save him from what was coming. Even after hearing all of this, Zedekiah was afraid of what his own officials might learn. He told Jeremiah to keep their conversation secret. If the officials questioned him, Jeremiah was to say that he had only asked the king not to send him back to his old prison. Zedekiah even warned Jeremiah that the officials might threaten him if he refused to answer. Later, they did question Jeremiah and he gave them the answer Zedekiah had told him to give. The private meeting remained hidden. By the eleventh year of Zedekiah's rule, conditions inside Jerusalem had become terrible. The food had run out and the people were starving. Then Babylon's soldiers finally broke through the city's defenses and entered Jerusalem. Babylonian officials took their places inside the city. Zedekiah saw that Jerusalem could no longer hold them back. During the night, he escaped with his soldiers. Zedekiah left through a gate near the king's garden and tried to get away while Babylon's army still surrounded Jerusalem. But the Babylonian army chased them and caught Zedekiah on the plains near Jericho. His soldiers scattered and left him behind. The king of Judah was taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar then passed judgment on Zedekiah. He ordered Zedekiah's sons to be killed in front of him. Judah's leaders were also put to death. After Zedekiah had watched this happen, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that he be blinded. He was then tied with bronze chains. Zedekiah could no longer escape or return to the kingdom he had ruled. Soon afterward, the Babylonians destroyed what remained of Zedekiah's kingdom. They burned the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and the houses of Jerusalem. They tore down the city walls and took many more people away as prisoners. Some of the poorest people were left behind to work the fields and vineyards. Zedekiah was taken to Babylon as a prisoner. He remained there in prison for the rest of his life. He never returned to Judah.