Jeremiah 26:12-24
The LORD’s faithful servant is not worried by his death sentence, nor by the presence of all these hostile people who have gathered against him. Yet again he urgently pleads with them to repent. After this he puts himself unfearingly in their hands. Far from being anxious about his own fate, it is once again the people whom he is concerned about and the terrible responsibility which that crime would place on them. In this Jeremiah reminds us of Stephen interceding for those who were stoning him (Acts 7:60) and both of them remind us of the Lord Jesus (Luke 23:28; Luke 23:34).
The man of God is saved by the intervention of the princes and the elders. They should, however, have gone a step further: fearing and beseeching the LORD, exactly as Hezekiah had done (v. 19). It is not enough just to tell people what to do; you have also to live it out.
Notice how easily the crowd is influenced and swayed. In v. 8 "all the people" had followed the priests in shouting out: "Thou shalt surely die." But then in v. 16 those same people were of the same opinion as the princes saying: "This man is not worthy to die."
The story of Urijah, who was pursued and killed by Jehoiakim, serves to confirm the sad picture which we have been given of this king. He is quick to shed innocent blood (Jeremiah 22:17).