At the time of Lehi’s ministry, Jerusalem had already been conquered. Babylon had taken the first wave of people into captivity. Those left in Jerusalem were allowed to stay on the condition that if they behaved themselves, they would be made into a vassal state, and if they paid taxes and were good to the Babylonian overlords, they would be allowed to continue doing what they wanted. But the elders, rulers and aristocrats in Jerusalem retorted, "We cannot tolerate this. We are not going to be subject to these foreign rulers." And so, they started agitating, and pressed for a rebellion.
Zedekiah had been on the throne by the Babylonians after that first conquest. There was plenty of evidence that the Jewish leaders should have behaved themselves. They were given a second chance politically, if you will, and maybe a second chance by the Lord too. But they still pushed the envelope. Why would they do that? They now had a puppet king. He was weak and young. He did not know what he was doing. After Zedekiah was put on the throne, there was a formal coronation. The coronation ritual was a rather elaborate traditional one. Most importantly, there would be prophecies connected with the coronation. People did not do important things in the ancient world without getting a reading from the gods—augury or something that told whether this was an auspicious time or not. The coronation of a king was often a time when many prophets came forth. Typically, the king would want favorable prophecies. Of course, a prophet who wanted to survive to give another prophecy usually spoke favorably of the king. At the time of a coronation, if prophets came forward saying bad things, the reaction would be hostile because they were threatening a king. It was blasphemy or treason to be questioning the legitimacy or success of the regime. But, in the alternative, if they prophesied falsely, how would they face their God? This was a very trying time to be a prophet.
Schade, Aaron P. "The Kingdom of Judah: Politics, Prophets, and Scribes in the Late Preexilic Period." In Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem, edited by John W. Welch, David Rolph Seely and Jo Ann H. Seely, 299–336. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2004.