Jeremiah 39
-By the 9th year in
the 10th month of Zedekiah, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) under
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege on Jerusalem to capture it according to the Word of
the LORD. By the 11th year in the 4th month the city wall
was breached and all the Babylonian officials came in and sat at the Middle
Gate (Jeremiah 39:1-3). This was in 586 B.C.. When Zedekiah and all the men of
war saw the enemy, they fled and went out of the city in the night by way of
the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls towards the Arabah
(the Jordan Valley area to the east). But the Chaldean army pursued them and
overtook them in the plains of Jericho (just north of the Dead Sea area). They
were seized and brought up to Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah in the land of Hamath
(far to the north past the Sea of Galilee in what would today be Lebanon).
There sentence was passed on the rebellious king (Mattaniah, or Zedekiah) that
Nebuchadnezzar had set up as his person to rule Judah after Jehoiachin was
taken into exile. Zedekiah’s sons and nobles were killed before his eyes and
then his own eyes were gauged out with him being put in fetters of bronze to
take him to Babylon as a prisoner where he would later die (2 Kings 24; 25, 2
Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 39:4-7; 52). The Chaldeans also burned the city of
Jerusalem with fire including the king’s palace and the houses of the people,
and they broke down the walls of the city (Jeremiah 39:8). As for the people
who remained behind and capitulated to the Chaldeans, they were carried off to
Babylon, but some of the poorest people who had nothing were left behind in
Judah and given vineyards and fields (Jeremiah 39:9-10).
-Nebuchadnezzar was somehow aware
of Jeremiah and his prophecies for the Babylonian nation’s benefit and gave
orders to protect him so that no harm would befall him. He commanded that his
guards deal with the prophet of God just as he (Jeremiah) tells them. Here we
see the respect for Jeremiah that was too often lacking from the Jewish people,
which resulted in their calamity. Jeremiah was allowed to stay among the people
of the land (Jeremiah 39:11-14). Before this time, while he was still in
captivity in the court of the guardhouse, the word of the LORD came concerning
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (who had saved his life, Jeremiah 38:7-13). This
prophecy was predicting the coming fall of Jerusalem, but Ebed-melech’s
deliverance from the men he dreaded. “’For I will certainly rescue you, and you
will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because
you have trusted in Me,’ declares the LORD (Jeremiah 39:15-18).” *Application*
We see the sovereignty of God to take care of matters that He declares through
His prophetic Word here in this passage. What does it take in our life to avoid
His judgment and certain calamity in our own lives? Trust in Him and His Word,
that’s the simple message, yet so profound. Lean not unto your own
understanding, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your path
just like He did with Jeremiah and Ebed-melech (Proverbs 3:5-6). He in the end
will deliver and bless those who fear Him. For those who rebel, disaster will
come as with Zedekiah and so many of the Judeans.
Verses to Memorize: Jeremiah 39:6-8, 18
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