WWUTT 2604 The Conclusion of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 52:1-34)

One final chapter to read here in the book of Jeremiah. And in this chapter, we see how

God fulfills his promise for Jerusalem, and that gives us hope that God will fulfill his promises for us when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, folks, we come to the end of our study in the book of Jeremiah.

Today, it is the 52nd chapter as we bring this to a close. Given that there are 52 chapters in Jeremiah, I was hoping at the very beginning of this study,

I would be able to do this in 52 weeks, but it didn't quite work out that way. We had a few chapters I had to stretch out into more than one week.

I had a couple of weeks where I did at least two chapters in that one week, but this still comes out to be a little more than a year.

And in this final chapter, we read about the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the

Babylonians. This is, of course, out of order. This would have happened much earlier in the chronology of the things that we've read about in Jeremiah.

But as I said to you at the beginning of the study, Jeremiah is not written in a chronological order.

This is in the end of the book because it was central to everything that Jeremiah prophesied about over the course of his ministry.

It's also such a significant event in the narrative of redemptive history that God is writing.

The Babylonian captivity was huge. And then the return of the

Jews back to Jerusalem to be able to rebuild it and even rebuild the temple. All of these things have messianic implications that will lead to the coming of the

Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would be born hundreds of years after these events take place. But where we see prophecy fulfilled, whether it's good news or bad news, sometimes prophecy, as we've seen in Jeremiah, is proclaiming destruction that's gonna come upon a people.

Sometimes prophecy is the promise of deliverance. But whether it's good or bad, when we see it fulfilled, that gives hope to us, a reminder that God will fulfill his promises.

He will accomplish all of his good purposes. So let me come to the start of chapter 52 here.

And by the way, the things we read about in this chapter, they parallel what we see in 2 Kings chapters 24 and 25.

Jeremiah offers a summary for us here. I begin reading in verse one and go through verse 11. Hear the word of the

Lord. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem.

And his mother's name was Hemutah, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

For through the anger of Yahweh, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until he cast them out from his presence.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now it happened in the ninth year of his reign and on the 10th day of the 10th month that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force against Jerusalem.

And they camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city came under siege until the 11th year of King Zedekiah.

On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

Then the city was breached and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden.

Though the Chaldeans were all around the city and they went by way of the Arabah. But the military force of the

Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all his military force was scattered from him.

Then they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath.

And he spoke his judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes.

And he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

Now that was also spoken to us in Jeremiah chapter 39. We also read that same account there that Zedekiah had been taken captive.

His sons were slaughtered and he was blinded by the king of Babylon. Now note in verse three, where it says, for through the anger of Yahweh, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah.

This was not because Babylon was such a mighty army.

They were that. They were that to everybody else that they conquered and overthrew.

But the reason why they overthrew Israel was not because they were greater or more powerful than Israel.

It is because God was angry with his people who had turned from Yahweh and had worshiped other gods and had followed after the ways of the pagans around them.

God's anger was kindled against them and he brought Babylon against them as a hammer to punish this people for their sin.

There were great armies that Israel had come up against. Defying all odds had beaten them because God had put the fear of them, the fear of Israel in the hearts of their enemies.

But in this particular occasion, Babylon, though it was indeed a mighty army, the reason why they conquer

Israel is not because they're mightier than Israel. It is ultimately because God gave

Israel into their hands. And this is the case with any one of us, my friends.

The things that happen to us happen by the hand of God. And if we would be overcome by the things that happened to us, it would be because God gave us over to that.

Remember in Romans chapter one, it says that he gives people over to a depraved mind.

If a person persists in sin and they don't repent and they keep going after the wicked thing in their flesh, eventually

God will just give them up to that desire of their flesh to be consumed and consumed even to the point of judgment.

But may we not persist in sin. May our hearts be pricked, convicted, that we would turn away from this wickedness to Christ and be forgiven.

And this is the gracious work of God also. We've seen this throughout the end of Jeremiah with all these promises to this people.

Though God's anger will endure for a night, joy comes in the morning. And eventually his mercies will pour out upon Judah and he will restore them to the land.

But they had to continue to obey God to receive that restoration. If they refuse to go into the hands of the

King of Babylon, then they were gonna be destroyed. And that's exactly what happened with Zedekiah. He did not obey the voice of God when

God told him through Jeremiah to go into captivity with the

King of Babylon. And because he refused and he tried to run away, he was struck dead instead.

Again, not because Nebuchadnezzar was greater than Zedekiah but because this was the punishment that came upon Zedekiah for his sin.

Let's keep going. I'm picking up in verse 12. Now on the 10th day of the fifth month, which was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the bodyguard who stood before the

King of Babylon came to Jerusalem and he burned the house of Yahweh, the

King's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every large house he burned with fire.

So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had defected to the

King of Babylon and the rest of the artisans. But Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard had some of the poorest of the land remain to be vine dressers and plowmen.

Now that was very smart because if you take all of the people out of the land, then the land will become fallow.

It will become desolate. There will be, well, as we've seen in many prophecies about it, it will become a haunt of jackals.

The ostriches will live there. It will just be a place of wild animals because the ground will be untamed.

It will be overgrown. And then the fertileness that that land was known for would eventually be no more.

The land needs to be cared for and cultivated. Remember the instruction that God gave to Adam that he would be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth and subdue it.

When the land is not subdued, it becomes a very chaotic wilderness, a place that cannot be inhabited by people.

We read elsewhere about wild lions that would inhabit that place. So it's smart here of Nebuchadnezzar to have some of the poorest of the land remain so that they can care for the land, become vine dressers so that there still would be fruit flourishing in the land and they're taking care of it to make sure that those plants flourish and also plowmen to keep the land free of rocks and weeds and overgrowth but it's still a good fertile piece of ground.

It was very valuable for that and a lot of people knew that. So verse 17, now the bronze pillars which belong to the house of Yahweh and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of Yahweh, the

Chaldeans shattered and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the pans and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister.

And the captain of the guard also took away the cups, the fire pans, the bowls, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans and the offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver.

The two pillars, the one sea and the 12 bronze bowls that were under the sea and the stands which

King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was 18 cubits and it was 12 cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness and hollow.

Now a capital of bronze was on it and the height of each capital was five cubits with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze.

And the second pillar was like these including pomegranates. There were 96 exposed pomegranates.

All the pomegranates numbered 100 on the network all around. Now in the next section, we read of the people that were taken captive but let's just focus on these precious things in the temple for the time being.

So there was a lot of bronze, a lot of precious metals that were in this place though the

Ark of the Covenant is not mentioned. It is largely understood that the Ark of the

Covenant was also carried out to Babylon and it was melted down and that gold was used for other purposes.

Some of the precious utensils that came from the temple, some of the like vessels in particular, the

King of Babylon would drink from. So these were sacred things that were made for the house of God and as a mockery to that God, to the one true

God, the King of Babylon would feast and party with those vessels to say, see what can your

God do to me? It was like a victory over the God of Israel. But of course,

God would have the last word. He was not gonna allow his name to be blasphemed in this way.

So in Daniel chapter five, we read of Belshazzar's feast where he is using some of the precious vessels from the house of God to feast with and drink wine from and the hand of God spells out for him quite literally during his feast that he's gonna die that night and that's exactly what happened.

So there were some things that God allowed to take place. The Ark of the Covenant was not gonna be the place where God would dwell with his people any longer even when they would rebuild the temple.

So the Ark was carried away into Babylon, the gold melted down because God's presence was not with it anymore anyway and that is not a relic that you will find anywhere on earth, at least that's what

I believe. I know others have some theories about where it might be. I don't think the Ark of the Covenant exists anymore. Sorry, Indiana Jones fans and I liked that movie too but you won't find it anywhere.

There's no treasure hunt to go find the Ark of the Covenant. Continuing on, let's start in verse 24 now where it is talked about who was taken away in this captivity.

Then the captain of the guard took Sariah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest with the three doorkeepers of the temple and from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war and seven of the king's advisors who were found in the city and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land and 60 men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city and Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took them and led them to the king of Babylon at Ribla.

Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Ribla in the land of Hamath.

So Judah went into exile from its land and this was also a gesture against God that was done in this way and that people who were important to the king and had even served in the temple and served as the priest, these were people that Nebuchadnezzar had put to death.

There was no one for the people to be loyal to in this and Nebuchadnezzar also attempts to demonstrate himself as being more powerful than God.

Nebuchadnezzar of course would become a God -fearer. We read about that in Daniel chapter four.

We'll get to that sometime a little bit later on. Here's verse 28. These are the people whom

Nebuchadnezzar took away into exile in the seventh year, 3 ,023 Jews. In the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, 832 persons from Jerusalem.

In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took away into exile 745

Jewish people. There were 4 ,600 persons in all. Now it happened in the 37th year of the exile of Jehoiakim king of Judah in the 12th month on the 25th of the month that evil

Merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiakim king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

And he spoke to him good words and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

So Jehoiakim changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence continually all the days of his life.

For his allowance, a continual allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until his death.

And that's it. That's the very conclusion of Jeremiah. Why would it conclude that way?

Why would Jeremiah close his prophetic book talking about how

Jehoiakim was actually brought out of prison and actually even ate his meals in the king's presence?

Well, remember going along with the king of Babylon into captivity, if a person obeyed

God and would submit to the king of Babylon, then God would give them their life. And so that was the case with Jehoiakim.

Now, previously with Zedekiah, he did not listen to the voice of God.

He tried to flee for his life, ended up getting captured and was put to death, just as God had said was going to happen to him.

So that's what happened. But the deliverance of Jehoiakim also highlights for us that God is faithful to his promise to David.

With Zedekiah, when he was captured, not only was Zedekiah put to death, but all of his sons as well.

There was no heir that was left to Zedekiah or to the household of Zedekiah.

But with Jehoiakim, who was also a king, who was also a Jew and born in the line of David, he was kept alive and even sat at the king's table.

It reminds me of Psalm 23, you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

So this was God's sustaining hand that brought Jehoiakim out of this and even sat him with Nebuchadnezzar, fulfilling the promise that God had given to David that he would always have an heir on the throne.

Because Jehoiakim is spared, David's line is preserved, and eventually along this line would come the one who was meant to sit on the throne of David, to fulfill the promise that God made with David of an everlasting covenant.

And on your throne, I will establish my kingdom forever. That would be fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

So even here at the very close of Jeremiah 52, we still have hints of the savior who was to come, who would die on the cross as a sacrifice for sins and rise again from the dead so that whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life.

It's only implied here, it isn't explicit, but the promises of God are being fulfilled even at the conclusion of the book of Jeremiah.

And so, as I said in the beginning, whether it's a good prophecy or a bad prophecy that we see fulfilled, there's still hope in that for us because we see that God will accomplish whatever he has said he will do.

And he will accomplish it for us in Christ Jesus as well. Eternal life promised to all who believe in him.

Heavenly father, I thank you for what we've read in this book of Jeremiah. And I pray that it does cause us to look at the promises that you have made to us, that we see that you will be faithful to those promises and even through difficult trials and hard times, and though we may even need to be punished because of our sin, but you are still faithful and you will deliver us up and bring us into your kingdom through your son,

Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again. May we walk with Christ all our days until that day that we join him in glory.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. This has been When We Understand the

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