36-Jeremiah 32 – 52

Jeremiah 32 – 52

Aug. 29, 2009

We will continue our study this week in the Book of Jeremiah in Chapter 32. Last week we looked at Jeremiah’s words to the people of Judah warning them of their coming exile to Babylon. This week we will complete our study of this book. In Chapter 32 Jeremiah had been imprisoned by King Zedekiah of Judah for his prophecy against the city of Jerusalem. Zedekiah was the last Jewish king and was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar after he brought the previous king, Jehoiachin to Babylon in exile. Jeremiah had been warning the people of Judah for years about the coming judgement through Babylon by the Lord. After the first deportation of the people, during the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah told the people to obey their new masters because they were going to be restored in seventy years. Jeremiah was imprisoned because he did not hold the same positive attitude as the king on the state of the people and their city. Jeremiah was told by the Lord to buy land for himself and seal the deeds in a clay jar as a record of the purchase. Jeremiah did as he was told but did not understand the reason for the purchase because the land was already under Babylonian control. Jeremiah prayed and asked the Lord the reason for his purchase of the land. God then listed the sins of Judah to Jeremiah and told him of the final deportation. He then revealed that after the seventy years He would restore His people and they would be able to redeem their land. Jeremiah’s deed was proof of ownership for his family name after the exile was complete. In Chapter 33 the Lord continued to speak to Jeremiah about His promise to restore His people in the future. This word from God came to Jeremiah the second time while he was imprisoned in the court of the guard. God was not referring to the restoration of Jerusalem by Ezra and Nehemiah, but to the future Kingdom of Jesus on Earth during the millennium. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in Chapter 34 at the time when the armies under the control of Nebuchadnezzar were completing their final siege of Jerusalem. The Lord had Jeremiah tell King Zedekiah that he would be defeated and taken to Babylon. The king had made a covenant with the people of Judah to release the men and women they held as slaves from their bondage as was the law of the Lord every seventh year. The people followed the covenant then turned from it and reclaimed their freed slaves. Because the people broke this covenant, and also because of their sin, the Lord would allow this final siege to be successful and the city would be emptied and burned with fire. Chapter 35 recalls an event that took place during the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim. Jeremiah was told by the Lord to go to the Rechabites and offer them wine to drink in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. The men were obedient to the Lord and refused the wine. Their ancestor, Jonadab taught his children to follow the Lord’s command from the Book of Leviticus 10:9-11 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations—and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” The Rechabites followed the words of their fathers and dwelt in tents and only came to the defense of Jerusalem when the army of Nebuchadnezzar came against it. This family was rewarded by the Lord for their obedience in the midst of the disobedience of Judah. In Chapter 36 the account of Jeremiah goes back several years to an event where the Lord told Jeremiah to dictate his prophesies to his scribe and have them written on a scroll. He was then to have Baruch, his scribe, read the scroll to the people of Judah in the temple on a day of fasting. This would give the people an opportunity to change their ways. Jeremiah could not read the scroll himself because he was being held in prison at this time. Baruch read the words of the scroll to the men of Jerusalem in the temple as soon as they called for a day of fasting. The men listened to the words, and in the fear of the Lord knew they had to be read to the king. When King Jehoiakim heard the first few columns of the scroll he cut it to pieces with a scribe’s knife and burned the pieces in the fireplace in his chamber. The Lord instructed Jeremiah to reproduce the burned scroll and tell Jehoiakim that he and his descendants would be punished for his actions. In Chapter 37 Jeremiah’s account shifts back to the time of King Zedekiah. Jeremiah was told to warn the people to not place their trust in the army of the Pharaoh of Egypt when it came against the Babylonians besieging the city of Jerusalem. The fall of the city had already been declared by the Lord and nothing could stop it. Jeremiah was thrown into prison again and accused of siding with the Babylonians against his people. Zedekiah though, came to Jeremiah in secret to enquire if he had heard a good word from the Lord on their behalf. Jeremiah angrily told the king that he would be given over to the Babylonians. He also asked the king to tell him how he had sinned against him and deserved this punishment. He had only spoken the truth from the Lord to the king. Jeremiah continued to speak the word of the Lord condemning the people in Chapter 38. In this chapter Jeremiah’s enemy Pashhur from Chapter 20 is heard from again. He along with other officials of the city had Jeremiah cast into the mud at the bottom of the cistern in the prison where he was held in the hope of causing his death. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch of the king’s palace heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern and went to the king to secure his release. Even though King Zedekiah did not listen to Jeremiah, he feared him enough to not allow him to be killed. He had him removed from the cistern and imprisoned again in the house of the guard. Zedekiah went in secret to Jeremiah and swore that he would not have him put to death if he could help him with Babylon. Jeremiah refused the king and was kept in prison until the fall of Jerusalem. Chapter 39 covers the final capture and fall of the city of Jerusalem to Babylon. The city had been under siege for thirty months, and on the ninth day of the fourth month of 586BC the city wall was breached by the invading Babylonian army. The officials of Babylon entered the city and sat in the Middle Gate. Zedekiah and his men of war fled the city but were captured by the Babylonians. The king’s sons and also the nobles of Jerusalem were killed in his sight before he was blinded, bound and taken in chains to Babylon. His palace was burned to the ground by the Babylonian army after he was removed. The rest of the people of Jerusalem, except the poorest, were also taken captive and brought to Babylon. The poorest of the people that had nothing were given the fields and vineyards of the city to tend. Nebuchadnezzar gave orders concerning Jeremiah to his guard to take, but not harm him. They were also instructed to listen to his words. Nebuchadnezzar had learned from Daniel that it was profitable to listen to the men that spoke for the Lord. Jeremiah was spared and Ebed-melech the Ethiopian eunuch that stood up for Jeremiah was rewarded by the Lord for what he did. In Chapter 40 Jeremiah was given a choice by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, to continue on to Babylon with him under his protection, or to do as he wished and go his own way. Jeremiah chose to return to Jerusalem to assist Gedaliah the man who was appointed governor over the city by Nebuchadnezzar. The poor of the city along with the people who escaped the Babylonian exile came to Gedaliah for encouragement. Ishmael, one of the sons of the royal family of Judah was commissioned by the Ammonites to murder Gedaliah possibly because they wanted the land of Judah for themselves. Gedaliah was warned about the plot on his life but would not listen. Ishmael carried out the plot and killed Gedaliah in Chapter 41. Ishmael and the men that were with him also killed the Jews that were with Gedaliah and also eighty other Jewish pilgrims that were bringing offerings to the Lord in His temple. Ishmael took those that remained and headed off towards the territory of Ammon. A man named Johanan rescued the people from Ishmael and stopped near Bethlehem. In Chapter 42 Johanan, and the people he rescued asked Jeremiah to pray for them and also asked his advice. They had decided to flee to Egypt to escape the Babylonians. The Lord told Jeremiah to tell the people not to go to Egypt, but to go into exile with the rest of the people in Babylon. The Lord said terrible things would happen to them if the went to Egypt. The people did not listen to Jeremiah and heed the warning of the Lord and went to Egypt anyway. The people turned against Jeremiah, in Chapter 43 and accused him again of siding with their Babylonian enemy. They accused him of being a liar and that his scribe Baruch incited him to go against his people and turn them over to Babylon. Jeremiah was told by the Lord to gather some large stones and place them in mortar at the palace of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes to show where Nebuchadnezzar’s throne would be located when he defeated the Egyptians. In Chapter 44 Jeremiah predicted the conquest of Egypt by Babylon. The Lord said that He would turn against the remnant of Judah that went to Egypt in verse 11-12 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah.‘And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach.” God revealed He was going to hand Pharaoh and Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar the same way He did to Zedekiah. Chapter 45 is a short chapter that consists of a message from Jeremiah to Baruch his scribe. This event occurred during the time when Baruch wrote the scroll that Jehoiakim burned. Baruch was rebuked by the Lord for looking for personal promotion instead of serving Jeremiah. He was told the current state of affairs would soon be destroyed and that he should be satisfied where he was, serving the Lord for Jeremiah. In Chapter 46 Jeremiah’s account goes back to a discussion on the defeat of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah predicted that the army of Pharaoh Neco of Egypt would be defeated near the Euphrates River. In Jeremiah’s second message he said that Nebuchadnezzar would then send his army to Egypt to punish the land. At the end of the chapter the Lord told Jeremiah that the Jewish people need not fear the Lord would protect them and return them from captivity. Jeremiah spoke against Philistia in Chapter 47. This area is known today as the Gaza Strip in the southern coast of the country of Israel. The Philistines had been a problem for the Jewish people from their beginnings. Jeremiah said here that the Lord will destroy them. Then, in Chapter 48, Jeremiah spoke against Moab. The Lord here also promises to destroy the Moabites and cause them to no longer be a nation. The Lord said, in verse 42 “Moab will be destroyed from being a people because he has become arrogant toward the Lord.” Chapter 49 contains the Lord’s words against Ammon and Edom. God said He would remove the Ammonites from the land and exile their gods with them. Ammon had claimed territory given to Israel that the Lord wanted to return to His people. God did promise Ammon that they would be restored in the millennium. In a similar way the descendants of Esau, the Edomites would be dispersed for their pride and arrogance. They too had been promised a part in the millennial kingdom. The city of Damascus was also included in this prophecy of Chapter 49. God said the city would be destroyed. Kedar, Hazor, and Elam were also in this chapter. Kedar and Hazor would be destroyed, but Elam, though broken would be restored to fortune. Chapter 50 is the Lord’s words through Jeremiah concerning Babylon. Babylon, at this time was being used by the Lord to punish His people Israel for their disobedience. The people of Babylon would not treat Israel properly so the Lord promised to have them defeated by an enemy from the north. This enemy turned out to be the armies of the Medes and the Persians after the death of King Nebuchadnezzar. The entire contents of Chapter 51 cover the sins of the Babylonians towards their Jewish captives. The Lord said in verse 48-49 that there would come a day…“Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” declares the Lord. Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, as also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.” The last chapter in the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 52 is historical in nature and describes in detail the fall of Jerusalem. The description goes over the events of the capture and the numbers of the people exiled. The end of the chapter recounts the favor Jehoiachin received from Evil-merodach in Babylon during his life. The old king of Judah was a guest in the royal palace in Babylon for the rest of his life. This ends the Book of Jeremiah, and also our study for this week. Next week we will look at Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentations, and begin the Book of Ezekiel.