The last thing Zedekiah saw was the slaughtering of his sons and friends. (The account is recorded in Ezekiel 25, Jeremiah 52 and 39) After this horrible event, the king of Babylon ordered Zedekiah’s eyes to be gouged out. The Jewish king was then thrown into prison where he lived out the rest of his life, alone and in pain. He must have longed for death.

But here’s the thing. Dying for an unrepentant sinner is so much worse then even Zedekiah experienced. No physical or emotional pain endured in this lifetime comes close to the absence of God forever. I imagine Zedekiah was unable to erase the picture of his sons being killed. All he had left to see were the images in his memories.

Have you ever seen something you wish you hadn’t? Maybe it was a traumatic event, or a disgusting act, or an embarrassing moment. Did you, for a time, relive that moment every time you closed your eyes? Did the picture in your mind haunt you, torment you, follow you everywhere you went? Imagine Zedekiah who had the image of those murders seared into his mind, and no means of distracting himself from the memory, from the knowledge that it was his own disobedience that caused his son’s deaths.

Zedekiah was a bad man. The Bible tells us that, as king of Judah, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He was proud and refused to obey God or even pay attention to the warnings God sent him through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. But I don’t wish what he endured at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar on my worst enemy.

I have to ask myself, then, why is it I ignore the fact that some of my loved ones are facing an eternity so much worse? How can I not share Jesus with them, with my neighbors, with dear friends? What can be worse than watching your children be murdered, then having your eyes ripped out of your head?

Hell – where the darkness will be as thick as total blindness, where memories, guilt, and regret will haunt and burn forever.

Dear God, Thank you for this picture of Hell, here in the life of Zedekiah. I know some people think Hell will be a drunken party, or a burning furnace. But as I look at your Word, I see Hell as being something much worse. There is no fellowship in Hell. It’s personal. It’s solitary. It’s living with the burning regret of a life lived without you. I put myself in Zedekiah’s shoes and realize what he experienced is a fraction of what Hell will be for those who reject you. An eternity without eyes to see, darkness that is so complete, and all they will have are the memories of the times you reached out to them, and they rejected you. They will realize how much they were loved by you, and agonize over the times their pride got in their way of receiving your gift of grace. God, help me not to forget this picture. And may I be faithful to share you with people in my world while I still have time. While they still have time to find you.