Calvary
Chapel Bible College
December
2, 2020
Homework Review
I hope you took the “quiz” about your reading as well as those for your
memory verse and prayer requests.
Would anyone like to try reciting our memory verse for the week?
(Jeremiah
33:3 NKJV) ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you
great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
Class Project – NEXT WEEK you are each going to be sharing your
5-minute Bible Study on a passage from Jeremiah.
You have all reserved your passages to teach
from. I love the passages you’ve picked.
I want you to teach as if you were doing a devotional to a small home group
that has not been in Jeremiah with us.
I want you explain your passage, give one point of
application from your passage (ie how can I put this
into my life?), and share an illustration about the principle. Explain, apply, illustrate
You can use powerpoint (maybe, if you can “share
your screen”), but you don’t have to.
Pericope Project Part2
Just a friendly reminder that the last half of Jeremiah is also due next
week.
Introduction
His name means “Yahweh appoints”
Jeremiah was the chief prophet during the days of the destruction of the
nation of Judah. There were other
prophets around at the time as well:
Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, but Jeremiah was the main
prophet. His ministry began about 60 years after the death of the prophet
Isaiah.
Jeremiah was born into a family of priests, but he would function more as a
prophet.
His ministry was destined from the beginning to be a ministry of
“failure”. The people were not going to
pay attention to him. The people were on
the way downhill and destined for judgment.
One of Jeremiah’s nicknames is the “weeping prophet”.
It’s possible this nickname comes from the book of Lamentations,
also written by Jeremiah.
Lamentations is Jeremiah’s weeping over the destruction of
Jerusalem.
It’s not a bad thing to keep in mind though as you read this book. We don’t often hear the “emotion” of the
writer as we read.
The prophecies are not in chronological order.
We know this because he dates many of his prophecies.
It’s time to finish the book. Jeremiah 51
continues with the prophecies against Babylon.
Jeremiah is now in his sixties and has been prophesying for over 40 years.
Jeremiah 51
51:1-4 Armies
gathered against Babylon
:1 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up against
Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A
destroying wind.
:1
those who dwell in Leb Kamai
Leb Kamai – “The Midst of
Those Who Rise Up Against Me”;
a code word for Chaldea, Babylonia
:2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around.
:2 I will send
winnowers to Babylon
Winnowing is that process the
separates the grain from the chaff.
First the grain is crushed a bit
to loosen the chaff from the grain.
Then the winnowers throw
the grain and chaff up in the air and the wind carries
the chaff away.
Video: Winnowing
Babylon is the chaff that will be blown away with the wind.
:3 Against her let
the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her
in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy
all her army.
:4 Thus the slain shall
fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those
thrust through in her streets.
51:5-10 To the Jews
:5 For Israel is not
forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the Lord of hosts, Though
their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”
:6 Flee from the midst of
Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He shall recompense her.
:6 Flee from the midst of Babylon
When Cyrus opened the door for them to go home, about 50,000 Jews returned
to Judah to restore Jerusalem and the temple. Just a fraction.
Lesson
The Believer and the World
We will see this concept again at the end of the chapter,
but let me start you thinking about this here.
Babylon is a picture of the “world” system we live in.
Babylon would indeed be used by God to bring judgment.
Nebuchadnezzar was even called “my servant” by God (Jer.
25:9).
(Jeremiah 25:9 NKJV) behold, I will send and take all the
families of the north,’ says the Lord,
‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them
against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all
around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a
hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Yet don’t confuse God’s sovereign use of ungodly things to accomplish His
purposes, with His “love” for Babylon.
Babylon was a wicked place and would one day face
judgment.
There will be a “latter day” entity that the Bible refers to as “Babylon”
(Rev. 17-18), and it too will face judgment by God.
Before it is judged, God has a message for His people:
(Revelation 18:4 NKJV) And I heard another voice from
heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins,
and lest you receive of her plagues.
Paul uses this same theme when he warns believers about becoming “unequally
yoked” with unbelievers (2Cor. 6:14). He
quotes the prophet Isaiah (52:11) and writes,
(2
Corinthians 6:14 NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And
what communion has light with darkness?
(Isaiah
52:11 NKJV) Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from
the midst of her,
Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the Lord.
(2 Corinthians
6:17–18 NKJV) —17 Therefore “Come out
from among them And be
separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be
a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
As believers in Jesus, there is no “escaping” the world.
God wants us to be “in the world” as His lights.
(Matthew 5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Yet God wants us to live lives that are not entangled in the world in that
we do not allow the world to guide our lives.
(1
John 2:15–17 NKJV) —15 Do not love the world or the things
in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does
the will of God abides forever.
The prophet Daniel wasn’t your ordinary prophet. He was a Babylonian government official in
his “day job”.
He lived and worked in Babylon, yet he was different than the Babylonians.
When he first arrived in Babylon, he didn’t go along with
the typical Babylonian indoctrination process.
While others gladly ate up the Babylonian foods,
Daniel and his friends chose to eat simple vegetables (Daniel 1).
At the end of the indoctrination process, these Jewish
young men were found to be healthier and wiser than all the rest.
When Nebuchadnezzar demanded that everyone bow to his
giant statue or face a fiery furnace, Daniel’s friends chose not to bow (Daniel
3). They told Nebuchadnezzar:
(Daniel
3:17–18 NKJV) —17 If that is the case, our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve
your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
They did end up in the fiery furnace,
but found that one “like the Son of God” was there to protect them.
Nebuchadnezzar was rocked at the power of their God.
When Daniel found that Darius had been tricked (Daniel 6)
into making it illegal to pray to God, Daniel didn’t change his daily
habit. He still kept
praying and didn’t even hide the fact.
Daniel ended up in the lion’s den, and he too was
protected.
Darius saw God’s hand on Daniel and proclaimed that
Daniel’s God was the true God.
(Daniel 6:26 NKJV) I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of
Daniel. For He is
the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His
dominion shall endure to the end.
Daniel learned to live in Babylon, but to be different than Babylon.
That’s a great lesson for us living in this world.
:7 Babylon was a
golden cup in the Lord’s hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged.
:7 a golden cup in the Lord’s
hand
Babylon was used by God to bring judgment on many nations by making them
act like drunks and making judgment easier.
The future Babylon will do the same.
(Revelation
17:4 NKJV) The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and
adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden
cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
(Revelation
18:3 NKJV) For all the nations have drunk of the wine of
the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance
of her luxury.”
:8 Babylon has suddenly
fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she
may be healed.
:9 We would have healed
Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; For her
judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the
skies.
:10 The Lord has revealed our righteousness.
Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.
:9 We would have
healed Babylon
Lesson
Pray for our nation
(keyword)
God had instructed those in Babylon through Jeremiah to pray for Babylon
while they were there:
(Jeremiah
29:7 NKJV) And seek the peace of the city where I have
caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you
will have peace.
Perhaps we ought to be weeping and praying for our nation as well:
(1 Timothy 2:1–4
NKJV) —1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings
and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
We can get so caught up in politics, in arguing causes, in taking sides,
that we forget the most basic responsibility we have as Christians toward our
nation.
We need to pray for it.
Keep in mind, the kings and authorities in Paul’s day included the Herods and Caesars like Nero.
We shouldn’t just pray for our president because he is a nice guy or
because he believes what we believe. We
pray no matter what.
Illustration
An Indiana farmer took his family to the nation’s capital to see how their
government worked. After visiting the
House of Representatives, they went to the Senate gallery, where the chaplain
of the Senate was speaking.
“Daddy,” asked the farmer’s ten-year-old daughter, “does the chaplain pray
for the Senate?”
“No,” said the farmer. “He comes in,
looks at the Senators, and then prays for the country.”
-- From Quote
Magazine, reprinted in Reader's Digest, March 1992, p. 50
I hope we aren’t quite feeling that hopeless about our nation.
Illustration
They built a raunchy nightspot right next door to Saint Lukewarm Baptist
Church of God in Christ. The good folks of SLBCOGIC decided to start a prayer
vigil. Amazingly, the nightclub’s business dwindled so much they had to close
the doors. This wasn’t altogether good news, you see; the owner of the
nightclub brought a lawsuit against the members of SLBCOGIC, accusing them of
ruining his business with their prayers. The attorneys for the church argued
there was no way their prayers could have had any effect on the poor
performance of the club. The judge agreed. He ruled in favor of Saint Lukewarm,
saying, “While the nightclub owner strongly believes in the power of prayer,
the church membership does not.”
-- Dana Key, By Divine Design (Nashville,
1995), p. 13.
Could God move in our nation through us?
51:11-14 Babylon should get ready
:11 Make the arrows
bright! Gather the shields! The Lord
has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is
against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is
the vengeance of the Lord, The
vengeance for His temple.
:11 the kings of the Medes
Babylon will be conquered by a confederacy of the Medes and the Persians.
:12 Set up the standard
on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up
the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the Lord
has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
:13 O you who dwell by
many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come,
The measure of your covetousness.
:14 The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself:
“Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And
they shall lift up a shout against you.”
Babylon will be swarming with the armies of its conquerors.
51:15-19 A great God
:15 He has made the earth
by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
:16 When He utters His
voice— There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “He causes the
vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”
:17 Everyone is
dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved
image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there
is no breath in them.
God is speaking about the people who make the idols that the Babylonians
worship.
:18 They are
futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment
they shall perish.
:19 The Portion of Jacob is
not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is
the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord
of hosts is His name.
:19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them
Yahweh is the “portion” of Jacob. He
is their great reward.
He is not like any other “god”.
Lesson
Fulfillment comes from serving a
Great God
People are looking for meaning in life.
Just like the Babylonians, we look to all kinds of
things to fill the emptiness.
Even as Christians, I think we can get caught up in the
“latest thing”, looking for something or someone to make us happy.
The Babylonians thought that they were the rulers of the world because of
their “things”, their “idols”.
In a way, we as Americans are very much like the Babylonians. We place great value on “things”.
We think that the person who dies with the most toys wins.
Yet the idols were totally worthless.
It’s only God who counts.
Fulfillment comes from serving a Great God.
I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves just how big God is.
(Isaiah 40:22–31
NKJV) —22 It is He who sits above the circle of the
earth, And its
inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads
them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the
judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they
be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will
also blow on them, And they will wither, And the
whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom
shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has
created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls
them all by name,
By
the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is
missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is
hidden from the Lord, And my just
claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The
everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator
of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those
who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be
weary, And the
young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk
and not faint.
Satisfaction, peace, strength, and rest come from waiting
on our Great God, not in idols.
51:20-24 Cyrus and Alexander, the battle-axes
God now turns and speaks to those who will bring His judgment upon Babylon.
:20 “You are My
battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in
pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms;
This “battle-ax” prophecy isn’t just fulfilled by one man, but by two.
Cyrus the Persian would conquer Babylon in 539 BC.
Alexander the Great (Greece) would conquer it from the Persians in 333 BC.
:21 With you I will break
in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot
and its rider;
:22 With you also I will
break in pieces man and woman; With you I will break in pieces old and young;
With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;
:23 With you also I will
break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; With you I will break in pieces the
farmer and his yoke of oxen; And with you I will break in pieces governors and
rulers.
:24 “And I will repay
Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says
the Lord.
:24 I will repay Babylon
God will use these “battle-axes” to repay the Babylonians and give them
back everything they gave to others.
Psalm 137 seems to have been written during the Babylonian captivity.
(Psalm 137 NKJV) —8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! 9 Happy the
one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!
Pretty grim stuff. They will get
what is coming to them.
The book of Revelation records the prayers of the persecuted church:
(Revelation
6:10 NKJV) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How
long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who
dwell on the earth?”
God will avenge.
51:25-26 Babylon will be desolate
:25 “Behold, I am
against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all
the earth,” says the Lord. “And I
will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down
from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain.
:26 They shall not take
from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a
foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says
the Lord.
:25 make you a burnt mountain
It’s interesting to follow the “mountains” in Scripture and examine how
they are interpreted.
“burnt mountain” – could be a picture of an
extinct volcano.
Even though the city of Babylon sat on a plain, it was like a “mountain”
compared to the other nations.
It is interesting that there are references to “mountains” in the book of
Revelation:
(Revelation
8:8 NKJV) Then the second angel sounded: And something
like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of
the sea became blood.
I wonder if there’s any similarities? We often see this as some sort of meteor, but
perhaps it’s a nation.
(Revelation 17:9–10
NKJV) —9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are
seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are
also seven kings…
We often hear teachers compare the “seven mountains” with the “seven hills
of Rome” (in a literal sense), or a single nation. Yet it could also be a reference to seven
nations, then seven rulers…
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a strange statue (Dan. 2) which was
prophetic of world conquering empires. And then there was a “mountain”…
(Daniel 2:34–35
NKJV) —34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck
the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were
crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the
wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that
struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
There is another mountain. This was
talking about Jesus and His kingdom.
Note the use of “chaff” and “threshing” as pictures of judgment. We already saw that picture once (51:2). We’ll see it again.
(Jeremiah 51:33 NKJV) For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “The
daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time
to thresh her; Yet a little
while And the time of her harvest will come.”
:26 They shall not take from you a stone for a corner
Even though Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild Babylon, he didn’t use the
original stones. And all that building has
stopped.
There is some difference of opinion whether this “desolate forever” refers
to the original Babylon, or would flip into the future
to that end times Babylon.
51:27-33 God describes the victory
:27 Set up a banner in
the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her,
Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a
general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
:27 Prepare the nations against her
These are some of the nations called to war against Babylon.
Ararat – in modern Turkey
Minni – part of Armenia
Ashkenaz – Also a nation near Armenia
These are all nations directly to the north of Babylon.
:28 Prepare against her
the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All
the land of his dominion.
:29 And the land will
tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord
shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land
of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.
:30 The mighty men of
Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in
their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became
like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate
are broken.
:30 The bars of her gate are broken
The prophet Isaiah would say something similar 100 years earlier. Isaiah even named the King who would conquer
Babylon.
(Isaiah 45:1–2
NKJV) —1 “Thus says the Lord
to His anointed,
To
Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go
before you And make the
crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the
bars of iron.
The historians Herodotus and Xenophon tell us that Cyrus’ army, under the
command of Ugbaru diverted the waters of the great
river Euphrates and entered into the city under the
walls. When the army got to the bars in
the river, they had been left open and because of Belshazzar’s great feast, the
guards were all drunk. The inhabitants
of the city were also drunk and the city fell without a fight. Sixteen days later Cyrus himself entered the
city with much public rejoicing.
You can also read an account from the perspective of the Babylonians in
Daniel 5, where King Belshazzar was having a feast when he saw a mysterious
hand that wrote strange words on the wall.
Daniel the prophet was called in to interpret and
he told Belshazzar that this was the night the city would fall.
:31 One runner will run
to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all
sides;
The Babylonians had an effective system of couriers. This is what the messengers will be running
to tell the king …
:32 The passages are
blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the
men of war are terrified.
:33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “The
daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to
thresh her; Yet a little while And the time of her
harvest will come.”
It’s God’s Harvest Time and the city of Babylonian is being threshed.
51:34-40 God revenges Zion’s people
:34 “Nebuchadnezzar the
king of Babylon Has devoured me, he has crushed me; He has made me an empty
vessel, He has swallowed me up like a monster; He has filled his stomach with
my delicacies, He has spit me out.
This is what the Jews will be saying … the picture is of a huge animal
swallowing a jar of food, chewing it up, swallowing it, then vomiting it.
:35 Let the violence done
to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,” The inhabitant of Zion will say;
“And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” Jerusalem will say.
:36 Therefore thus says
the Lord: “Behold, I will plead
your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her
springs dry.
God’s people will be asking God to do to Babylon what the Babylonians did
to them.
In a minute we’ll read the historical account of the destruction of
Jerusalem in chapter 52.
It is also recorded in 2Kings 24:18 – 25:30
:37 Babylon shall become
a heap, A dwelling place for jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an
inhabitant.
:37 Babylon shall
become a heap
It would become an uninhabitable place.
This would not happen overnight.
A review: The demise of the ancient city of Babylon
would actually take centuries.
Babylon would fall to King Cyrus
in 539 BC.
Alexander the Great would
conquer it in 331 BC
The city would again be ruled by
the Persians for a time.
It was still in existence during
New testament times.
The Muslims conquered it, but it
eventually diminished until medieval times when it had disappeared altogether.
It was rediscovered by
archaeologists in the early 1800’s.
:38 They shall roar
together like lions, They shall growl like lions’
whelps.
:39 In their excitement I
will prepare their feasts; I will make them drunk, That
they may rejoice, And sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the Lord.
:40 “I will bring them
down Like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with male goats.
51:41-44 Sheshach
:41 “Oh, how Sheshach is
taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become
desolate among the nations!
:41 Oh, how Sheshach
is taken!
Sheshach is another “code name” for Babylon. Jeremiah has used this name before.
He was writing about God’s judgment on many nations when he writes,
(Jeremiah
25:26 NKJV) all the kings of the north, far and near, one
with another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of
the earth. Also the king of Sheshach shall
drink after them.
He uses a spy-like code system where the last letter of the alphabet is
substituted for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on.
What’s interesting is that he uses Sheshach in the first line of our verse,
but Babylon in the second.
Perhaps this verse was meant to be the “code breaker” for Jeremiah 25,
in case the readers didn’t get it in Jer. 25.
:42 The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of
its waves.
Keep in mind, Babylon is a land-locked area. No oceans in sight.
The invading nations will wash over Babylon like a tidal wave.
:43 Her cities are a
desolation, A dry land and a wilderness, A land where no one dwells, Through which no son of man passes.
When this wave goes back out to “sea”, all that’s left is a desert.
:44 I will punish Bel in
Babylon, And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; And the
nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Bel is the name of one of Babylon’s “gods”.
Even though Babylon “swallowed” many nations, God will cause it to vomit
them out.
In a sense the “wall” came down when Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to
their home land.
The wall would literally come down when Alexander would
conquer Babylon.
51:45-48 Flee
:45 “My people, go out of
the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the
Lord.
:45 My people, go out
of the midst of her!
This is the third time God’s people are told to flee from Babylon.
(Jeremiah
50:8 NKJV) “Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the
land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks.
(Jeremiah
51:6 NKJV) Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be
cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He shall
recompense her.
When God repeats Himself this many times, we ought to pay attention.
Lesson
Don’t get too cozy with the world.
Before God judged Sodom, Lot and his family were told to flee.
God told the family to flee because He didn’t want them caught up in the
coming judgment.
(Genesis 19:1–26
NKJV) —1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was
sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them,
and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said,
“Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s
house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go
on your way.” And they
said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” 3 But he
insisted strongly; so they turned in
to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked
unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Now before they lay down, the men of
the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to
him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we
may know them carnally.” 6 So Lot went out to them through the
doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said,
“Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 See now, I
have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to
you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since
this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” 9 And they
said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and
he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot,
and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men
reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them,
and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were
at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they
became weary trying to find the door.
This was the kind of wicked place that Lot was living
in. It’s hard to know just how much Lot
compromised with the world. Peter says
Lot was “vexed” (2Pet. 2:7) with the wickedness around him. Yet the effect the world has on his family
will be devastating.
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law,
your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them
out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place,
because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went
out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get
up, get out of this place; for the Lord
will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
To me this is one of the most heartbreaking things about
Lot’s life. His sons-in-law couldn’t tell that he was serious.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying,
“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be
consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he
lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his
two daughters, the Lord being
merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he
said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the
mountains, lest you be destroyed.” 18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no,
my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found
favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me
by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now,
this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little
one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul
shall live.” 21 And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing
also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive
there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had
risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom
and Gomorrah, from the Lord out
of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all
the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife
looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
She looked back because she just couldn’t let go of the
world. She missed her “stuff” so much
that she couldn’t help but look back at it longingly.
When Jesus was teaching about the end times, He gave a simple warning:
(Luke 17:32 NKJV) Remember Lot’s wife.
These are the days we are living in.
There may be a time when God will indeed tell us to “flee” a particular
place – perhaps at work, something like that.
But for most of us the issue isn’t location of your body, but location of
your heart.
Lot’s wife got her body out of Sodom, but she couldn’t get
Sodom out of her heart.
:46 And lest your heart
faint, And you fear for the rumor that will be
heard in the land (A rumor will come one year, And
after that, in another year A rumor will come, And violence in
the land, Ruler against ruler),
They will keep hearing rumors that the city is going to fall, but not all
rumors come to pass.
Yet one day Babylon would indeed fall.
:47 Therefore behold, the
days are coming That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; Her
whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain shall
fall in her midst.
:48 Then the heavens and
the earth and all that is in them Shall sing joyously over Babylon; For
the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says the Lord.
:48 the heavens …shall sing joyously
When the future form of “Babylon” is destroyed, there will be two different
types of responses:
(Revelation
18:17–20 NKJV) —17 For in one hour such great riches
came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as
many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried
out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this
great city?’ 19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing,
and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea
became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made
desolate.’ 20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and
prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
Two different tunes. The world’s
tune and the tunes of heaven. Which am I
singing?
Will I weep when this wicked world is finally judged by
God?
Or will I rejoice that God has ultimately triumphed?
51:49-50 Jerusalem’s justice
:49 As Babylon has
caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon
the slain of all the earth shall fall.
:50 You who have escaped
the sword, Get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lord afar off, And let Jerusalem
come to your mind.
Those who come against God’s people will one day be judged.
51:51-58 It will really happen
:51 We are ashamed
because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, For
strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house.
Perhaps God’s people were wondering that if the Babylonians were strong
enough to destroy God’s Temple, how could God be strong enough to deal with
Babylon?
Also, how if God’s people in Babylon to this point had been so comfortable,
how could they leave the comfort of Babylon and go to a place like Jerusalem
that was so desolate?
:52 “Therefore behold,
the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will bring judgment on her carved images, And
throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.
The Jews have nothing to worry about.
God will indeed bring judgment on Babylon.
:53 Though Babylon were
to mount up to heaven, And though she were to fortify
the height of her strength, Yet from Me plunderers would come to her,”
says the Lord.
:53 Though Babylon
were to mount up to heaven
If Babylon were to somehow be
able to invade heaven itself (impossible), it would not be able to withstand
God’s judgment.
This makes me think of Babylon’s
roots in the tower of Babel. The
builders of the tower said,
(Genesis
11:4 NKJV) And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a
city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
And yet God
simply spoke a command and their language was confused
and they were scattered.
:54 The sound of a cry comes
from Babylon, And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
:55 Because the Lord is plundering Babylon And silencing her loud voice, Though
her waves roar like great waters, And the noise of their voice is uttered,
:56 Because the plunderer
comes against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men
are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay.
:57 “And I will make
drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty
men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not
awake,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts.
:58 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The broad walls of
Babylon shall be utterly broken, And her high gates
shall be burned with fire; The people will labor in vain, And the nations,
because of the fire; And they shall be weary.”
God will take care of it. Be careful
that you aren’t trusting in something that’s only going to burn.
51:59-64 Note to Seraiah
:59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of
Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to
Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the
quartermaster.
:59 Seraiah the son of Neriah …
Seraiah was the brother of Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe. (Jer. 32:12)
(Jeremiah
32:12 NKJV) and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son
of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel
my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the
purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.
:59 he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah
Jeremiah records that Zedekiah took a trip to Babylon in the fourth year of
his reign (594-593BC). This is seven years before Jerusalem falls.
Why would Zedekiah go to Babylon?
One suggestion is that Nebuchadnezzar may have required all
of his vassal kings to come to Babylon in 594BC to pledge their
allegiance after there had been a foiled revolt against him the previous year.
Another possible connection may be the event that took place in Daniel 3,
though we don’t have a date on those events.
Daniel tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s 90 foot tall statue.
(Daniel 3:2 NKJV) And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word
to gather together the satraps, the administrators,
the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and
all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image
which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
This was the statue that all were required to bow down to
when the band played. If you didn’t bow,
then you were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Daniel’s three friends did not bow, but God protected them
in the furnace.
The suggestion is that Zedekiah may have been there. And I’m assuming he did bow.
:60 So Jeremiah wrote in
a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are
written against Babylon.
:61 And Jeremiah said to
Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words,
:62 then you shall say,
‘O Lord, You
have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it,
neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’
:63 Now it shall be, when
you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it
and throw it out into the Euphrates.
:64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the
catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
:64 Babylon shall sink and not rise
Just in case you were still thinking that Jeremiah was some
sort of a Babylonian “plant” in the midst of
the kingdom of Judah and that he was simply some sort of propaganda machine to
encourage the people to submit to Babylon … Jeremiah reminds us that Babylon
was warned about its own impending doom.
:64 Thus far are the words of Jeremiah
This seems to be the last part in the book that is attributed to Jeremiah.
But someone has come along and added a little historical footnote…
Jeremiah 52
What follows in chapter 52 is mostly a copy of 2 Kings 24:18-25:30,
recounting the destruction of Jerusalem. Mostly.
52:1-11 Jerusalem Falls
:1 Zedekiah was
twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
:1 His mother’s name was Hamutal
Zedekiah is the full brother of Jehoahaz (2Ki.23:31) making him a full
brother of the king that had first taken the place of Josiah before being
replaced by the Egyptian choice.
(2 Ki 23:31 NKJV) Jehoahaz was
twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
He has a different mother than Jehoiakim, whom the fellow the Egyptians put
in place (2Ki.23:36).
(2 Ki 23:36 NKJV) —36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
:2 He also did evil in
the sight of the Lord, according
to all that Jehoiakim had done.
:3 For because of the
anger of the Lord this
happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His
presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Zedekiah had been appointed king by Nebuchadnezzar. When he rebels against Babylon, this is the
last straw for Nebuchadnezzar.
:4 Now it came to pass in
the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the
month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against
Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against
it all around.
:4 in the ninth year of his reign
The ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, not Nebuchadnezzar’s.
It is now 588 BC. There are two years left until the fall.
:4 built a siege wall against it
This will keep anyone from entering of leaving
Jerusalem.
The goal of a siege wall is to starve the city into submission.
:5 So the city was
besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
:5 until the eleventh year
The siege wasn’t a straight two year period.
There was actually a brief break where Jeremiah
records:
(Je 37:5 NKJV) Then
Pharaoh’s army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging
Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
But the break was very brief, and Nebuchadnezzar came
back, just as Jeremiah warned he would (Jer.37), and besieged Jerusalem again.
During the siege, Jeremiah was busy at work, giving warnings to king Zedekiah in Jerusalem (Jer. 32:1-5; Jer. 27:12; Jer.
38:17)
Lesson
Lots of warnings
God always gives warnings. The
problem is we don’t often pay attention to them.
I have a friend who is self-destructing right now.
He has ignored all the warnings of those around him.
I am not looking forward to what’s up ahead for him.
Illustration:
There once was a farmer who heard that a great flood was coming.
First the police came by and told him to evacuate, but he said he’d try to
stick it out, he was trusting God.
Then when the water began to get higher and higher,
a boat came by, but he refused it, and said he’d stick it out, he was trusting
God.
Then finally as the water was getting to the top of the house, a helicopter
came by.
But he said no, he’d stick it out, he was trusting God.
Finally, the man drowned.
“God, why did you let me drown?” he asked.
God replied, “I sent the police, the boat, and the helicopter, what more
do you want?”
:6 By the fourth month,
on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that
there was no food for the people of the land.
This is one of the goals of Nebuchadnezzar.
He isn’t trying to kill all the people. He’s just trying to make them weak
enough that when he comes in to take the city, they won’t be able to put up a
fight.
:7 Then the city wall was
broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night
by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s
garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And
they went by way of the plain.
:7 the city wall was broken through
The city was broken into on July 16, 586 BC
Jeremiah fills in a few details in his own personal account (Jer.
39:2-4). The chief Babylonian officials
came and set up their thrones, and Zedekiah and the army all fled.
(Je 39:2–4 NKJV) —2 In the
eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the
month, the city was penetrated. 3 Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the
Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim,
Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer,
Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4 So it was,
when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled
and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between
the two walls. And he went out by way of the plain.
:7 the king went by way of the plain
The plain of the Jordan, to the northeast.
:8 But the army of the
Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of
Jericho. All his army was scattered from him.
:8 they overtook Zedekiah
This is another prophecy that’s being fulfilled, but one that’s
given from Babylon by the prophet Ezekiel (Eze. 12:10-14) saying that the king would
try to escape and be captured.
(Eze 12:10–14 NKJV)
—10 Say to them,
‘Thus says the Lord God: “This
burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who
are among them.” ’ 11 Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As
I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into
captivity.’ 12 And the
prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his
shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them
out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his
eyes. 13 I will also
spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to
Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though
he shall die there. 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are
around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after
them.
:5 All his army was scattered
When the king is captured, all his men desert him.
:9 So they took the king
and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and
he pronounced judgment on him.
:9 at Riblah
This was the city 200
miles north of Jerusalem, where Pharaoh Neco used as a temporary headquarters
after killing Josiah, and making Jehoahaz captive there (2Ki.23:33)
At this same time,
Nebuchadnezzar is also conducting campaigns against the city of Tyre, and other cities in Judah, according to some ancient
documents known as The Lachish Letters.
:10 Then the king of
Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the
princes of Judah in Riblah.
:11 He also put out the
eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him
to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
:11 put out the eyes of Zedekiah
This was to be part of the punishment of a rebellious king, in which the
last thing he sees with his own eyes is his children being killed in front of
him.
For the rest of his life, the last thing his eyes recorded would be in
front of him, the death of his own children.
Strangely enough, several contradicting prophecies are coming into play:
We read that Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon with his eyes:
(Je 32:4 NKJV) …shall
surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with
him face to face, and see him eye to eye;
We also read that though he would be taken to Babylon as a prisoner, he
wouldn’t actually “see” it.
(Eze 12:13 NKJV) …I will
bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see
it, though he shall die there.
Lesson
Contradictions
There are times when we come across seemingly contradictory passages, and
we can’t understand how they can both be true.
But don’t worry, God will work it all out in the end!
God says:
(Is 55:9 NKJV) “For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways
higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
God isn’t limited to your ability to understand or see the bigger picture.
Aren’t you glad?
52:12-23 The City and Temple destroyed
:12 Now in the fifth
month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth
year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the
guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
:13 He burned the house
of the Lord and the king’s house;
all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned
with fire.
:12 in the fifth month …
For us, August 16, 586 BC.
It’s been about a month since the wall of Jerusalem had been broken into,
and now it’s time to bring an end to the city.
:13 He burned the house of the Lord
Solomon’s temple is destroyed.
:14 And all the army of
the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the
walls of Jerusalem all around.
:14 broke down the walls
This is what protected an ancient city from its enemies.
This is the same wall that Nehemiah would one day rebuild.
They are removing Jerusalem’s protection, making it more difficult for
anyone to live there in peace.
Lesson
Sin removes defenses
The nation has been in rebellion against the Lord, and now their defenses
are all gone.
One of Satan’s tactics is to tell us that if we just give in this one time
to sin, that the pressure will be over, God will forgive you, and you can go on
with life.
But what he doesn’t tell you is that a little more of your wall has just
been torn down.
And the next time that Satan attacks you, you have even less resistance
against him.
(Jas 4:7 NKJV) Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
:15 Then Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard carried away captive some
of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the
defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the
craftsmen.
:15 carried away...the rest of the people
This is the third and final group taken to Babylon.
The first group, a smaller group, was taken in 605 BC
included Daniel.
The second group was larger, included Ezekiel, and
taken in 597 BC.
Now the last batch is taken at the final fall of Jerusalem, 586 BC.
:16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers
and farmers.
Nebuchadnezzar’s plan was not to allow the land to be ruined, but to stay
productive.
:17 The bronze pillars
that were in the house of the Lord,
and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.
The pillars were broken in pieces so they could be carried to Babylon. They were huge.
:18 They also took away
the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze
utensils with which the priests ministered.
Some of these things are going to go into storage in the vaults of Babylon
as the spoils of war.
King Belshazzar would take out some of these same gold and silver vessels
and use them in a big party (Dan. 5:2).
:19 The basins, the
firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups,
whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the
captain of the guard took away.
:20 The two pillars, one
Sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts,
which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord the bronze of all these
articles was beyond measure.
:21 Now concerning
the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, a measuring
line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was
four fingers; it was hollow.
:22 A capital of bronze was
on it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and
pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates was the same.
:23 There were ninety-six
pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates, all around on the network, were
one hundred.
52:24-30 Captives to Babylon
:24 The captain of the
guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three
doorkeepers.
:18 Seraiah the chief priest
This was an ancestor to Ezra who would restore Temple worship, possibly his
father or grandfather. (Ezr 7:1)
(Ezr 7:1 NKJV) —1 Now after
these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of
Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
:25 He also took out of
the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s
close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army
who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who
were found in the midst of the city.
:26 And Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at
Riblah.
:27 Then the king of
Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
:27 put them to death at Riblah
(see map)
These were all the leaders that were left in the city that could have the
potential of gathering the remaining people together and mounting resistance
against Nebuchadnezzar’s army.
They are executed at Nebuchadnezzar’s field headquarters,
the same place Zedekiah was blinded.
(Seraiah would have already had children who would end up in Babylon like
Ezra)
Note: It’s at this point that
the account in 2Kings diverges, giving a brief account of the appointment of
Gedaliah over the remainder of the Jews in the land.
:28 These are the
people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three
thousand and twenty-three Jews;
:29 in the eighteenth
year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and
thirty-two persons;
:30 in the twenty-third
year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away
captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.
:28 the people whom
Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive
vs. 28-30 are a bit of a
problem.
The dates and numbers of people
don’t match exactly the dates and numbers given in 2Kings.
These are much smaller
deportations.
It is possible that vs. 28-29
are secondary deportations that could be added to those of 2Kings.
It is possible that vs.30 refers
to what happened after Gedaliah was killed – that a last batch of 745 people
were rounded up and taken to Babylon (which might not include those who fled to
Egypt).
52:31-34 Jehoiachin released
:31 Now it came to pass
in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the
twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that
Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up
the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.
:31 the thirty-seventh year
Jehoiachin was 19 years old when taken captive, and this would now make him
56 years old.
It’s March of 560 BC.
:31 Evil-Merodach king of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar’s son.
:32 And he spoke kindly
to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were
with him in Babylon.
:33 So Jehoiachin changed
from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the
days of his life.
:33 Jehoiachin
Jeremiah prophesied about him:
(Je 22: 30 NKJV) Thus says
the Lord: ‘Write this man down as
childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his
descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of
David, And ruling anymore in Judah.’
”
Jehoiachin, would die in captivity, and though he
did have sons, none of his sons becoming
kings of Judah.
Ironically, part of Jesus’ genealogy is actually traced
back to Jehoiachin. Isn’t He a “king”?
Joseph could trace his lineage back to the kings, through Jehoiachin,
giving Jesus a legal right to the throne.
Does this break the prophecy?
No, even though Jesus was legally Joseph’s son, He wasn’t
biologically Joseph’s son.
Jesus’ only human parent was Mary, who traced her
genealogy back to David through David’s son Nathan instead of Solomon.
:34 And as for his
provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a
portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
:34 a regular ration given him by the king of
Babylon
In the early 1900’s, during an excavation of Babylon by Robert Koldewey, an
underground building was discovered near the “Ishtar Gate”.
It was filled with clay tablets dating back to the 6th century
BC.
On one of the tablets contains the line “Ya’u-kinu
(Jehoiachin), king of the land of Yahudu” (Judah) along
with his five sons listed as royal princes.
Another tablet included a list of “rations” of oil for this king and his
sons including:
and reads:
1 ½ sila (oil) for three carpenters from Arvad, ½
apiece
11 ½ sila for eight woodworkers from Byblos
3 ½ sila for seven Greek craftsman, ½ sila apiece
½ sila to the carpenter, Nabuetir
10 sila to Ia-ku-u-ki-nu,
the king of Judah’s son
2 ½ sila for the five sons of the Judean king
(A sila is a Babylonian unit of capacity
equal to 800 mL, about 3 1/3 cups)
:34 all the days of his life
The process of restoration is starting.
The story didn’t end when all the people were taken to Babylon.
Lesson
Restoration
(keyword)
The goal of God’s plan is always restoration, not destruction of God’s
people.
He wants them to turn around.
You may recall those famous words uttered during the Apollo 13 mission,
“Houston, we have a problem”.
An oxygen tank had exploded and the three astronauts on their way to the
moon were suddenly faced with possibly never coming home.
But they had a team of engineers and scientists back in Houston who worked
hard to make sure they made it home.
One of the problems they faced was a build up of CO2.
Video: Apollo 13 – Duct tape and
cardboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6F6MzMT2g8
Maybe you know someone who’s spacecraft has just
blown up.
Maybe you wonder if they have enough oxygen to make it back.
You may feel like you’re on the road to Babylon, on the road to prison.
But in God’s eyes, you’re on the way toward restoration.
We need to remember we are a part of the team to help them make it back:
(Ga 6:1 NKJV) Brethren, if
a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a
one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
If you see someone fallen, don’t count them out.
There may be a time when they are ready for God’s work of
restoration.
Homework
Read Jer. 39-52 in NLT (each week a different version).
Memorize 44:4
(Jeremiah
44:4 NKJV) However I have sent to you all My servants the
prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not do this
abominable thing that I hate!”
Today’s ending quiz
What were the two key words from our lesson? (…)
Pray for our nation
Restoration
What could you apply to your life from today’s lesson?
Projects coming
December 9 – Class Projects AND Pericope Project Part 2.