CHAPTER 39

(590 B.C.)

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM

¹In 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. (In the fourth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the city was taken. The last siege lasted about 16 months; the first siege lasted about 8 months [before the Egyptian army came]; the combined sieges lasted about 2 years.)

²And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. (The Holy Spirit inspires these words with the sob of a broken heart.)

³And 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 has reference to the separation of the city. The northern end of Jerusalem was separated from the southern by an interior wall in which was a gate called the middle gate. The Chaldeans captured that portion of the city, and then took up their position [sat in] opposite the middle gate in order to force it. Having these individuals of high rank and title present at the overthrow of Jerusalem no doubt portrayed the significance placed on its capture by Nebuchadnezzar.)

⁴And 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 kings garden, by the gate betw een the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. (All through his unbelief, disobedience, and cowardice, Zedekiah kept up an outward show of religion. He acted as men do presently. He was practically an unbeliever; up to the very end, he thought he could defeat the Word of the Lord by breaking a passage through the south wall of the city, thus escaping from the Chaldeans [Ezek. 12:1-16]. But he was defeated and captured at Jericho.)

JUDGMENT ON ZEDEKIAH

⁵But the Chaldeans 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 he gave judgment upon him. (Ironically enough, the ancient city of Jericho, which witnessed Israels first victory, now witnesses its last defeat. The Scripture says, They brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah, thus fulfilling the Prophecy about Zedekiah seeing the king of Babylon eye to eye and speaking to him mouth to mouth, as predicted in 32:4 and 34:3.)

⁶Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah.

⁷Moreover he put out Zedekiahs eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon. (Thus, as predicted in Ezek. 12:13 and Jer. 32:4, Zedekiahs eyes saw the eyes of the Babylonian monarch, but not the Babylonian capital, though he died there, because he was blind. This was what the Holy Spirit through Jeremiah had pleaded with Zedekiah to avoid. But the king, fearful of his nobles, refused to obey and suffered the horror here represented.)

JERUSALEM DESTROYED; THE PEOPLE DEPORTED

⁸And the Chaldeans burned the kings house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. (Nebuchadnezzar was incensed at Jerusalems obstinacy and refusal to surrender; therefore, he turned it into a smoking ruin. Thus ended its nearly 500-year reign as the premier city in the world. It would now be subject to Gentile powers, as it is, at least in part, unto this very day.)

⁹Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to him, with the rest of the people who remained. (The remnant of the people who remained in the city, referred to the small number left in Jerusalem after the slaughter had subsided. This fulfilled the predictions of the Prophet.

Those who remained, at least the ones selected, were carried away captive into Babylon. This was the third and final deportation.)

A REMNANT LEFT

¹⁰But Nebuzar-adan the Captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. (The poor of the people, no doubt, consisted of many who had virtually been made slaves by the nobles of Judah in Jerusalem. In Chapter 34, the Holy Spirit had pleaded through Jeremiah for these hapless individuals to be set free from their lives of servitude to the nobles of the land. The Pleadings of the Holy Spirit were ignored.

For this disobedience, the former slaves are now given the vineyards and fields where they once toiled, and as their own possessions. Thus, the Law of Sowing and Reaping was carried out [Mat. 7:2].

We must understand that God says what He means and means what He says!)

NEBUCHADNEZZARS CARE FOR JEREMIAH

¹¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying,

¹²Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto you. (God sometimes moves heathen princes to honor faithful Preachers of His Word. Jeremiah was thus honored, for the highest officers of the empire were commanded to attend him, remove his fetters [40:1], and do all that he wished.)

¹³So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylons princes;

¹⁴Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people. (And committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, was, in effect, committing him to a friend. Whether the Babylonians knew of this friendship between Gedaliah and Jeremiah is not known.)

GODS PROMISE OF DELIVERANCE TO EBED-MELECH, THE ETHIOPIAN

¹⁵Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying (the time frame of this Word of the LORD, as well as the remainder of the Chapter, goes back several months, but is introduced here because it pertains to Gods Promise of Deliverance to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian),

¹⁶Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says the LORD of Hosts, he 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 you. (Jeremiah was Gods Prophet; therefore, all who befriended and helped him were, in turn, befriended and helped by the Lord.)

¹⁷But I will deliver you in that day, says the LORD: and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

¹⁸For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey unto you: because you have put your trust in Me, says the LORD. (Peace through believing is illustrated by Ebed-melech. He feared the vengeance of the princes of Judah and he feared the sword of the Chaldeans. But, this double fear was dismissed by the Lords I will deliver you, I will surely deliver you. This Divine Promise was made to him because of his faith.)