(I told you I was mixing things up from the reading schedule. Before we get to the events of chapter 40 and following – which are “post-capture-of-Jerusalem” – we’re going to hit all the texts that describe the end.)
THE CITY FALLS…
It’s been roughly 350 years since David established Jerusalem as his capital. The city has been through a lot, but the LORD has always rescued it at the last second.
Not this time.
It’s mid-July. Scorching hot. The Babylonian army has had the city under siege for two and a half years. They breach the city walls, killing anyone who puts up a fight. The leaders march in triumphantly through, and take seats in, the Middle Gate on the northern side of the city.
Recall that “gates” were entire structures, often where important business was done. Having the Babylonian princes sit there was basically like “planting the flag” of Babylon and claiming Jerusalem as their own.
King Zedekiah could’ve tried trusting the words of Jeremiah. He could’ve shown himself to the conquerors and turned himself in. Instead, he sneaked out of the city with his family and a few soldiers under cover of darkness.
He was captured.
The Babylonians were not kind. They made him watch as they killed his sons and the other captured nobles. It was the last thing he ever saw. They gouged out his eyes. Then they clapped him in chains and hauled him away with the captives.
We need to pause here to note something from the prophet Ezekiel. He was taken to Babylon as a very young man in the first deportation about 19 years earlier. He has been receiving messages from Yahweh and even sends them back to Jerusalem.
In one of those messages, Yahweh said:
“Even Zedekiah will leave Jerusalem at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him. He will cover his face, and his eyes will not see the land he is leaving. Then I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, though he will never see it, and he will die there.”
Ezekiel 12:12-13 NLT
Jeremiah had been prophesying that Zedekliah would be carried off to Babylon.
Josephus records this:
“It happened that the two prophets agreed with one another in what they said as in all other things, that the city should be taken, and Zedekiah himself should be taken captive; but Ezekiel disagreed with him and said that Zedekiah should not see Babylon, while Jeremiah said to him that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds. And because they did not both say the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking the truth therein.” Antiq. 10.7.2.106
The two prophecies were NOT contradictory. Zedekiah WAS carried off to Babylon. AND he never saw it.
Y’all, it doesn’t pay to try to out-think God.
There are people today who try to point out “contradictions” in the scripture. And, like Zedekiah, they use it as an excuse to not believe God’s word. Zedekiah should stand as a cautionary tale to those folks.
The Babylonians tore down the city walls, dismantled the temple, and burned everything else to the ground.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
And just like that, all those warnings of the prophets come to pass.
😐 Feels like we should observe a moment of silence or something.
I know.
😔
The survivors are led away in leather bonds or chains. I imaging they looked back often to see the column of smoke rising from the top of the hill. From a distance it might’ve looked…
Compare:
I can’t help but notice the similarities. The whole city up on its hill probably looked like a huge altar with smoke ascending.
Now, taking several thousands of people captive is a large undertaking. There were no doubt a few days or even weeks spent organizing the people into groups and documenting their names and cataloging particularly valuable plunder.
During this “staging period” something mind-blowing happens.
“King Nebuchadnezzar had told Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, to find Jeremiah. “See that he isn’t hurt,” he said. “Look after him well, and give him anything he wants.””
Jeremiah 39:11-12 NLT
How on earth does Nebuchadnezzar, the king and Nebuzaradan [Neb-oo-zar-adan], the captain even KNOW who Jeremiah is?! Seriously. How do they know? He’s not famous. He’s a poor prophet.
🖐🏼🤓 I have a guess.
Ok. Shoot.
🤓 Hasn’t Jeremiah been telling the people for several years to surrender to the Babylonians?
Yeah.
🤓 And when people went out of the city waving a white flag, 🏳️ and went to the Babylonian camp, maybe the Babylonians asked what made them surrender. I bet they said that Jeremiah told them God said they should. Wouldn’t that make the Babylonians think, “Hey, we like this guy!”
Ya know, that’s a very good point. I could see how his name would become known to the top brass and why they’d want to reward him.
🤓 You’re welcome.
So, the Babylonians are actually the ones to release Jeremiah from prison and they put him in the care of a man named Gedaliah who they have just appointed as the governor of their newly acquired territory.
The kingdom is no more, but the story is by no means over.
PSALM 137
Yes, I know it’s not on the schedule for months – but this is my blog party and I’ll post if I want to.
This lament psalm was written by exiles in Babylon. We can tell from internal evidence in the text itself that 2 things have not yet happened at the time it was written:
- Edom has not been overthrown (v7)
- Babylon has not been conquered (v8-9)
Concerning Edom, here’s what they are singing in this psalm:
“O Lord, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!””
Psalms 137:7 NLT
As the Babylonians are conquering Jerusalem, dismantling the walls, and burning it to the ground, the Edomites, are cheering them on. And we will find out shortly from the little book of Obadiah, they were doing even worse than that. The LORD does indeed hear this request to “remember what the Edomites did.” And the Edomites aren’t going to get away with it.
The final 2 verses indicate that at the time it was written, Babylon has not yet fallen to the Medes.
I know the last verse is very disturbing to us. Remember that this is a cry of bitter lament. And also remember that what verse 9 describes may very well have happened to some of their own infants at the hands of the Babylonians. This is a cry for justice and a way to express bitter anguish instead of holding it inside and allowing it to become toxic.
Remember how Jesus would say, “You have heard it said…. But I say to you…” Jesus introduced grace that calls and enables us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, rather than demanding an eye for an eye.
Pro-tip: always interpret the OT in light of the NT.
“Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.”
Psalms 137:1-2 NLT
We often don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone. This exile in Babylon will be a refining crucible for the people.
To The Reader 