JEREMIAH
39
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
39:1. “In the
ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.”
Due to differences between
Hebrew and Western calendars, the length of the siege differs accordingly. By
Hebrew reckoning it lasted 30 months: from January 15, 588 till July 18, 586.
39:2. “And in
the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the
month, the city was broken up.”
39:3. “And all
the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even
Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag,
with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.”
The middle gate is believed
to have been on the north side of the city, and the assemblage of Babylonian
officials was undoubtedly to decide the fate of the city and its remaining
inhabitants.
39:4. “And it
came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men
of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of
the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way
of the plain.”
“... the way of the plain”
was toward the Jordan valley, and it is significant that scripturally that
same valley is symbolically synonymous with death, for it proved to be indeed
the way of death for Zedekiah and those who fled with him that night, he
himself being about to experience a worse form of darkness as the Babylonians
put out his eyes after slaying his sons, his ultimate end to be the dreadful
darkness of a lost eternity, for there is nothing to indicate that he was
anything but an unbeliever to the end of his days.
39:5. “But the
Chaldean army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of
Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where they gave judgment upon
him.”
Riblah was in present-day
Jordan.
39:6. “Then the
king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the
king of Babylon slew all the nobles of
Judah.”
One can scarcely imagine
what must have passed through Zedekiah’s mind as he saw his children being
slain before his very eyes, but surely he must have bitterly regretted, too
late, the evil that had brought God’s judgment upon him, with worse still to
follow.
And what must have been the
thoughts of the equally evil Judean princes relative to their rebellion
against the words of Jeremiah, as they too stood on the brink of death,
realizing that it was their own folly that had brought them there! What may
be now only imagined will be experienced in all its dreadful reality by those
whose foolish rebellion against God brings them to stand at the great white
throne for consignment to the eternal torment of the terrible lake of fire.
39:7. “Moreover
he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains to carry him to
Babylon.”
That physical darkness into
which Zedekiah was brought by the putting out of his eyes, was but the
introduction to the eternal darkness that has enwrapped him for the past
approximately twenty-four hundred years, and that will continue for ever in
the dreadful lake of fire, all because he refused to heed the words of God’s
spokesman Jeremiah. His eternal fate will be experienced by every other
individual who likewise refuses to obey God’s word.
39:8. “And the
Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire,
and brake down the walls of
Jerusalem.”
Everything the foolish king
and equally foolish people had valued was suddenly reduced to ashes, while
their once proud city and its magnificent religious center, the Temple, were
left heaps of rubble. So will the world of the unconverted also become a
similar ruin, a testimony to the madness that led them also to ape Zedekiah’s
folly in ignoring Divine warning, and continuing in rebellion against God.
39:9. “Then
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the
remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away,
that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.”
Those deported to Babylon
were they who had remained in the city, together with those who had earlier
defected to the Babylonians, plus the few skilled craftsmen who had been left
behind in the earlier deportation.
39:10. “But
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which
had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the
same time.”
Those who remained, the very
poor, were then given vineyards and fields, so that the impoverishment and
captivity of the deportees became the means whereby those they may have once
despised became enriched.
There may be in this a
symbolic foreshadowing of what will follow the Tribulation judgments, when the
possessions of those banished into hell for their unbelief, will become the
inheritance of those who had trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ in the preceding
seven-year Tribulation.
39:11. “Now
Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the
captain of the guard, saying,”
39:12. “Take
him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he
shall say unto thee.”
Nebuchadnezzar probably knew
of Jeremiah from the Jews who had earlier surrendered to the Babylonians. As
God took care to reward the faithfulness of His prophet who had suffered much
at the hand of his countrymen because of his obedience in the Lord’s business,
so will He recompense all such service, including even the giving of a cup of
cold water to another for Christ’s sake. This surely ought to encourage us in
whatever service we seek to render Him today. Everything done for Him will be
amply recompensed in eternity.
39:13. “So
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and
Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;”
39:14. “Even
they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him
unto Gedeliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him
home: so he dwelt among the people.”
The chief princes of Babylon
were thus employed to ensure that every wish of Jeremiah was carried out,
beginning with his release from prison, and his transportation to the home of
Gedaliah (some think, his own home), where he could dwell among his own
people. This seems to continue the symbolic foreshadowing of what will follow
the Tribulation judgments: the believing Jews will be brought home to
millennial Canaan, from all the countries among which they have been scattered
since AD 70, and to which they will also have fled during the Great
Tribulation. As the unbelieving Jews were either slain or deported in 586 BC,
so will all unbelieving Jews, and Gentiles, be banished into hell before the
Millennium begins.
39:15. “Now the
word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the
prison, saying,”
39:16. “Go and
speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not
for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.”
Before the siege had ended
and the outcome was unknown, God was careful to remember the one who had been
kind to His servant Jeremiah at a time when that kindness could have brought
reprisal from the enemies of God and His servant.
The message went on to give
the assurance that the city would be destroyed, and the rebellious people
delivered into the hand of the Babylonians, but it went on to assure
Ebed-melech of protection and preservation.
39:17. “But I
will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given
into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.”
39:18. “For I
will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life
shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith
the Lord.”
The city would be destroyed,
and the people slaughtered or taken away captive, but no harm would befall
this man who had trusted God when that trust was very likely to have brought
him harm from the unbelievers all around him in the palace and city. The God
Who watched over him then would watch over him still, and preserve him from
hurt; and every believer has the same assurance, not necessarily of
preservation from physical death, but the assurance of the eternal
preservation of his soul in heaven, and the comfort relative to physical
death, that, “To be absent from the body (is) to be present with the Lord ....
which is far better,” 2 Cor 5:8; Php 1:23.
[Jeremiah
40]