The final chapter of Jeremiah gives us an account of the fall of Jerusalem that parallels 2 Kings 24:18-2 Kings 25:30. This makes the book unique in how it ends but also links it to the history of temple worship and the ages of the kings. Jeremiah started his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah and they ministered through the final four kings.
Jeremiah 52:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king. He was Jehoiachin's uncle and just 21 years old.
He reigned for 11 years and managed to continue the evil in the land ignoring the Lord's chastening and judgment. Zedekiah was subservient Nebuchadnezzare but eventually rebelled against Babylon.
See 2 Chronicles 36:14-17.
Jeremiah 52:4-9a
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem in January of 588 B.C. After about a year and a half the famine was very severe in Jerusalem. See Jeremiah 38:2-3; Jeremiah 39:1-2; Ezekiel 24:1-2. It was July of 586B.C. when Jerusalem fell to Babylon.
The city wall was broken through; at first one might think this was the Babylonians breaking in, but in context it seems the king and the army breaking out to attempt an escape from the army. The Babylonian's pursued and caught up with them on the plains of Jericho. This is crazy irony; this is the very place where the nation came into the promised land. It was near this same place they would be carted away in captivity as the Lord said would happen if they weren't obedient.
Jeremiah 52:9b-27
King Zedekiah was captured and taken to Riblah. It was there he had to watch his sons killed before his eyes and then his eyes were put out. The last thing he saw was the horrible death of his kids. He was then taken away to Babylon. This was a fulfillment of a prophecy from Ezekiel 12:13.
See Jeremiah 32:2-5; 34:3; 52:10-11, 29.
Then the Babylonians carried off all the temple ware and burned the temple to the ground. They broke down the walls of the city. They led the people to captivity leaving only the poor; a few vinedressers and farmers to tend the land. They took the captains of the guard and chief priests and the kings close associates and killed them all. These folks would be the political leaders of the nation. They were defeated and killed. The land of Judah was totally devastated. Jerusalem was essentially gone. The temple was gone.
Life as they knew it ceased to exist.
Gedaliah was made governor over the land. Josephus said he was a gentle and generous man and scripture indicates he was a friend of Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 26:24 and 39:14). He was a godly man who tried to keep the peace in the land but was killed by the people. They were afraid of the Chaldeans and fled to Egypt.
Jeremiah 52:28-30
This section is different than the account in kings. When you see the total number of those going to captivity is this small, combined with the knowledge that a 'few' of the poorest were left in the land, you get a feel for the number of the folks who perished in this.
Jeremiah 52:31-34
Jehoiachin was king before Zedekiah, the last king. But he had been taken captive and been imprisioned for some time. This last paragraph shows an act of kindness toward him in that he was no longer treated as a prisoner or captive. This was quite a life change for him after 37 years of captivity.
©2019 Doug Ford
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