Aside from the fact that Jehoiachin did evil in the sight of the Lord, his surrender to Nebuchadnezzar is the only action reported from this king. But in fact, this is the only action worth reporting, and we can learn something important from it.

The words Jeremiah had prophesied concerning Jehoiachin were now fulfilled: he and his mother were to be deported to another country and die there (Jer. 22:24–26). Did these prophetic words have any influence on Jehoiachin’s reasons for surrendering? We do not know, but we can notice that instead of resisting—and especially resisting God and His word spoken by Jeremiah—Jehoiachin humbled himself. Whether Jehoiachin was naturally humble or not, we see that God, in his governmental ways toward men, gave grace to Jehoiachin because of his choice. God preserved his life and the lives of those of his family, unlike what happened to Zedekiah.

We might think that those who were deported with Jehoiachin were the most wicked, since they were treated this way. But after they were taken to Babylon, the Lord gave Jeremiah a vision (ch. 24). There were two baskets of figs in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket with very beautiful figs, and another with inedible figs. The Lord told Jeremiah that the beautiful figs represented those who had just been carried away, and that he would set his eyes on them for their good, and that the inedible figs represented those who remained in Jerusalem with Zedekiah, and judgment would fall on them.

Humbling ourselves “under the mighty hand of God” is always the best choice, no matter how disadvantageous it seems to us. “Be clothed with humility,” the apostle Peter tells us, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5–6). Blessed be God for His great grace to those who humble themselves before Him!