Jeremiah 52

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Read Jeremiah 52

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.

Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah.11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.

12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exilesome of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bullsunder it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. 22 The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranatesabove the surrounding network was a hundred.

24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city.26 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:

in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,832 people from Jerusalem;30 in his twenty-third year,745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.There were 4,600 people in all.

Jehoiachin Released

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 34 Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowanceas long as he lived, till the day of his death.

Go Deeper

This final chapter of the book of Jeremiah serves as an epilogue of sorts to the rest of the book. Jeremiah’s final words of prophecy were uttered in the previous chapter, then we presume he died. Some scholars believe that Baruch, the faithful scribe we encountered throughout a couple of chapters in the book, wrote the final chapter that concluded the book. Almost every verse in Jeremiah 52 is a prophecy fulfilled from Jeremiah’s time on earth, and the story told in this chapter is a retelling of a story that we can also read about in 2 Kings 24-25. 

We read the story of Babylon’s final assault on Jerusalem, where the temple was attacked and torn down and the people were brought into exile by the Babylonians. The temple was looted and destroyed (v. 17-23) and many people were executed there on the spot (v. 24-27). Just as Jeremiah had foretold, complete and utter destruction had come upon the land. Reading this final chapter almost serves as a summary of the whole book of Jeremiah and it shows what Jeremiah knew all along: Jeremiah’s words were true because they came directly from God. 

The final story at the very end of the book is a brief narrative about King Jehoiachin, the heir to the line of David. Jehoiachin is taken out of prison and was treated kindly and with favor. He was treated better than other captives, ate his meals with Evilmerodach (son of Nebuchadnezzar), and was given an allowance every day for the remainder of his life. Jehoiachin serves as the first glimmer of hope that Jeremiah’s prophecies of future restoration would come to fruition. Even in the midst of destruction, we see a message of hope. As followers of Jesus, we can resonate with that message. Even in the midst of chaos and turmoil, we can cling to the hope of Jesus and the trust that He is in the process of reconciling the world to Himself.

Questions

  1. What stuck out to you on your first read through this chapter? Why? 
  2. Why do you think the book of Jeremiah ended in this way? 
  3. What did you observe from the story about Jehoiachin at the end of the chapter?

Watch This

Now that we’ve reached the end of Jeremiah, go back and watch The Bible Recap’s video overview of Jeremiah

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4 thoughts on “Jeremiah 52”

  1. Ella Snodgrass

    Every prophecy and prediction of Jeremiah came to pass. God called him to be his prophet and he faithfully delivered God’s word at a great personal cost. I’m challenged by this quote, “God measures our success with yardsticks of obedience, faithfulness and righteousness.” Clearly, Jeremiah measured up to God’s standards, setting a great example of how we, too, can successfully complete the work God has called us to do.

  2. BUT GOD. As I was reading Wiersbe’s commentary on chapter 52, he told of some major similarities between Jeremiah and Jesus Christ.
    Approaches to teaching using ‘action sermons’ and imagery from everyday life and nature
    They spoke out against “surface” relegion practiced in the temple
    Accused of being traitors to their people
    Suffered physically, being beaten, arrested and confined
    Wept over Jerusalem
    Rejected by their relatives
    Being misunderstood, lonely and rejected
    Emphasized the need for faith in the heart
    Rejected the outward religioustiy that is just external and impotent
    The greatest reward of ministry is to become like Jesus. Jeremiah came close. He had a difficult task BUT GOD gave him the strength to do and endure. We all have our doubts and struggle with failings. Jeremiah was not afraid to tell God how he felt. He came close to quitting but never did. When we are rejected we feel a sense of falilure but the important thing is faithfulness. God will and does sustain us. The same God who enabled Jeremiah is the same God that is enabling us to do “greater things”.

    Thank You God for Holy Spirit. Thank You that I can just talk plainly to You about all things, which You already know anyway. God thank You for sustaining me. Thank You for Your faithfulness when I feel like a failure. Thank You for the wisdom that came through reading the book of Jeremiah. Even when I do not feel it You are working, even when I do not see it, You are working. Thank You for details, You are so into details. This world, nature, my body and how it is formed and put together is WOW!!! God thank You for Your love goggles to see those around me, ears to hear Your voice for Your words to speak, and arms to love on those that need it today, in these minutes of this day, in Jesus name amen.
    WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Erik Davidson

    I have learned so much in reading these 52 chapters of Jeremiah: the temptation of idols, the truth of God’s instruction, and the faithfulness of my Redeemer. Thank you!

    For anyone interested memorizing scripture, I found on Spotify these passages from Jeremiah set to music. I find it very helpful to imprint the Word of God into my mind!

    Jeremiah 10:23
    https://open.spotify.com/track/5B2hrTFEFkTZYSWmc0HOIY?si=d4a33ba73a644502
    Jeremiah 17:10
    https://open.spotify.com/track/2C18U0CB87MwNZ0IeRQwCv?si=7bea664d51f94137
    Jeremiah 17:14
    https://open.spotify.com/track/5Z2DF5YEVjpHB95OBYec3t?si=cc6458bc76df4dc0
    Jeremiah 24:7
    https://open.spotify.com/track/2Lffc48sTe490bats0bZLD?si=295e75016ada453e
    Jeremiah 29:11-13
    https://open.spotify.com/track/6Vu7IK4rVqEE7IwogpZr7E?si=fa8d64a5251545e2
    Jeremiah 30:17
    https://open.spotify.com/track/4n0erybAOWFuVU8rhcCONq?si=bc44e2582646424f
    Jeremiah 31:34
    https://open.spotify.com/track/0saUcsFMytyhpzjxgGOjC3?si=e642377d32524469
    Jeremiah 33:3
    https://open.spotify.com/track/0fU3l6T7WKqZiP7U0GMdOc?si=8e01ff6f629e4ae7

  4. The Bible Recap Video is very helpful. Also I’m reminded that had the people headed the prophet’s words and repented things could have been different. Nineveh did just that. May we repent turn seek Jesus. Yesterday was the national day of prayer. We pray for a turning back to the One True God.

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