Call to Commitment

 

 

The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted

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. 

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. 

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. 

5.      So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

16.  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. 

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. 

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.

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.

At the end of chapter 51, we are informed that Jeremiah has finished his book. This chapter is added later. It is also evident that Jeremiah was not alive to give the account concerning King Jehoiachin, at the end of this chapter, 37 years after the king was taken into captivity. It is, then, an appendix to the book, some think probably written by Ezra.

 It begins with a short biography of King Zedekiah, then recounts the story of the defeat of Jerusalem, from verse 4 to 16, already related by Jeremiah in chapter 39. You may want to return to that chapter to review my comments about this event. Various details are given throughout the book of Jeremiah and this account is also written in 2 Kings 24 and 25. 

 

Babylon mound

Chapter 51

 

The Lord orders the righteous fall of Babylon

 1.      Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. 

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. 

 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. 

The judgment of Babylon is given major attention at the end of this book of Jeremiah, more than any other foreign nation. Babylon plays a major role, throughout the book, as the conqueror of Judah and as their captors. It was a mighty empire, the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great image, interpreted by Daniel, to be the prominent, over the three empires that follow.

 The Omniscient knows the history of this city and, beyond its physical majesty in Jeremiah’s day, is concerned with its spiritual roots. The spirit in its roots carries on down through the centuries, even after physical Babylon is in ruins, and survives nearly to the end of time. The Babylon of the book of Revelation is certainly not literal Babylon, but a city which continues in the spirit of ancient Babylon, representing its idolatrous religion, its economy, and its politics. This is the story behind these two lengthy chapters in Jeremiah.

 The city was founded by Nimrod, who also built Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire (Ge.10:10-11). Nimrod was grandson of Ham and great-grandson of Noah. Being the builder of cities, which became so prominent in the earth, we can understand why he was given special attention, above his brothers, in Genesis 10:7-8. “He was a mighty one in the earth,” well-known in the primitive world after the flood, and mentioned in an ancient proverb: “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” (Ge.10:9).

 Matthew Henry comments that “the first builders of cities, both in the old world, and in the new world here, were not men of the best character and reputation: tents served God’s subjects to dwell in; cities were first built by those that were rebels.” Nimrod’s position before the Lord, was not a favorable one, but that of a renowned rebel, who defied God. He was a hunter of men, not animals, meaning that he persecuted them to gain rulership over them. He set up his own government and his own idolatrous religion and so, Babylon became the Mother of Harlots (Rv.17:5). Nimrod, in some way, was involved in the construction of Babel, later called Babylon. Even from its inception, it was a center of humanistic ideology (Ge.11:1-7): “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves.” This ideology has come into play in our day: “Man, you can do anything that you set your heart on. Dream big dreams!” That is the language of humanism and of Antichrist.