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Jeremiah: Lesson 10 The Destruction of Jerusalem

Memory Text: “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

Setting The Stage: On March 11, 2011, modern sea walls failed to protect coastal towns from Japan's destructive tsunami, but in the hamlet of Aneyoshi, a single centuries-old tablet saved the day. The message was simple, yet life-saving: "High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants. Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point."

It was advice the dozen or so households of Aneyoshi heeded, and their homes emerged unscathed from a disaster that flattened low-lying communities elsewhere and killed thousands. Hundreds of such markers dot the coastline, some more than 600 years old. Collectively they form a crude warning system for Japan, whose long coasts along major fault lines have made it a repeated target of earthquakes and tsunamis over the centuries. Sadly, many don’t pay attention to them anymore.

This week we’ll be reviewing the final years of the kingdom of Judah prior to the destruction of its capitol. Judah would “never again to occupy its former position among the nations of the earth.” (Prophets & Kings, p. 422, 423) The destruction didn’t come without warning. Through her prophets, especially Jeremiah, God warned and pled with His people. But they remained defiant to the very end, and it was this that led to her demise.

Sunday – Weeping for Tammuz Ezekiel 8; Joel 2:17

Other prophets who also bore messages of warning and reproof joined Jeremiah in the half-century that elapsed between the death of Manasseh (642 B.C.) and the destruction of Jerusalem (586). They were Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, to say nothing of Daniel and Ezekiel. While Jeremiah bore his message in Judah, “Ezekiel was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and comfort the exiles, and to also confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah.” (Prophets & Kings, p. 448)

In the 6th year of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, Ezekiel, while sitting before the elders, was shown the abominations being performed in Jerusalem, within the gate of the Lord’s house, and even in the inner court. These abominations were shown in successive stages.

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Ezekiel 8:1-18. 1) Image of jealousy (an image that provoked the Lord to jealousy), or idol worship in the inner court (vss. 3, 5). The Lord would depart from the temple. 2) Idolatry among the elders, including officiating as priests (vss. 7-12). Their justification for doing such things was that they believed God didn’t concern Himself with the actions of mankind.

3) Women mourning for Tammuz, the son God (v. 14). Tammuz was a deity worshipped by the Babylonians, designated as the brother or son, husband or lover, of the goddess Ishtar. Tammuz was the god vegetation and pasture, and patron of flocks. According to ancient tradition he died annually and descended to the nether world. His passing as marked by the drying up of crops and streams by the summer’s heat. Annually too, Ishtar was believed to descend to the nether world to awaken the dead god. His awakening was the reason vegetation grew again. Tammuz was worshipped in Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.

4) Twenty-five men, backs toward the temple and worshipping the sun between the porch and altar (vss. 16-18). The adoration of the sun, Shamash, was early practiced by the Canaanites and found its way into the worship of the kings and people of Judah (see 2 Kings 23:5, 11; Deut. 4:19). They affronted God by turning their backs on Him in a place dedicated to worship. “Porch and altar” - open court, just before the porch of the temple built by Solomon, (see 1 Kings 6:3,) and the altar of burnt offerings. This was called the priests’ court.

Jeremiah put the spotlight on these wicked men when he said, “Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness.” (Jer. 23:11). The chronicler of Zedekiah’s reign the same charge was given: “Moreover, all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which had hallowed in Jerusalem.” (2 Chron. 36:14). What these men should have been doing instead was the following:

Joel 2:17: “Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?’”

What is your response to the sin in the world, including in the church? Are we critical, or are praying and interceding on their behalf? Sadly, many churches are worshipping on the day of the sun with little regard for the Sabbath, a sacred day God established which is also a memorial of His creatorship.

Monday – The Unhappy Reign of King Zedekiah Jeremiah 37:1-10; 38:1-6

Zedekiah (changed from Mattaniah), Jehoiachin’s uncle, reigned in his stead. He was twenty-one years old and reigned eleven years. He was the last king of Judah. 3

Despite that his name meant, “Jehovah is righteousness,” he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and rebelled about Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:20) like his nephew and brother before him.

Zedekiah was a vassal king of Babylon. He could remain so as long as he was loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. On top of that, “By pursuing an honorable course toward the Babylonians and by paying heed to the messages from the Lord through Jeremiah, he could have kept the respect of many in high authority and have had opportunity to communicate to them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have been placed on vantage ground and granted many liberties; the name of God would have been honored far and wide; and those that remained in the land of Judah would have been spared the terrible calamities that finally came upon them.” (Prophets. & Kings, p. 440)

However, within a few years, and after having twice made an oath and once sworn to be true to Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah violated that trust by entering into alliances with neighbor nations against Babylon, being influenced by the assurances of the false prophets (2 Chron. 36:12, 13). This rebellion (see 2 Kings 24:20) caused Nebuchadnezzar to come against Judah in a campaign to bring the nation down to ruins.

Jeremiah 37:1-10. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, so Zedekiah sent Jehucal and Zephaniah the priest (members of the resistance party who were unfriendly to Jeremiah – Jer. 38:1-6) to Jeremiah to ask that he pray for a positive outcome to the situation. Egypt’s appearance on the scene was the outgrowth of the agreement between Hophra and Zedekiah to resist Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 17:15). During the interlude in the final siege, during which the armies of Babylon lifted the siege to turn their attention on the approaching Egyptian army, it afforded some good men the opportunity to hide the ark (PK 453).

Zedekiah swore allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar and entered into an alliance with Egypt to over throw the Babylonian yoke. Why is it dangerous to do play both sides?

Jeremiah 38:1-6. After being imprisoned in Jonathan the scribes house by the princes because they thought Jeremiah was defecting to the Babylonians when he left Jerusalem to claim his property, and after being released by Zedekiah, Jeremiah was again falsely accused and thrown into the dungeon of Malchiah.

It was a cistern, cut out of the limestone rock Jerusalem was built on. It had a narrow opening that could be closed with a rock and expanded toward the bottom. That his accusers didn’t kill him perhaps suggests that they didn’t fully believe their own allegations. Fortunately, friends of Jeremiah entreated the king on his behalf, and had him removed to the court of the prison. Read Prophets & Kings pp. 456-458 4 to better understand the vacillating character of Zedekiah – “With no fixed purpose to do evil, he was also without resolution to stand boldly for the right.”

Jesus stated, “A prophet is not without honor, but in how own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4) It’s one thing to be disliked because someone doesn’t like what you say, but to be accused of seeking the hurt not the welfare of the people you have been working with for many years, is a completely different thing. How do you handle being accused of hurting the very ones you are trying to help?

Tuesday – The Fall of Jerusalem 2 Kings 25:1-10; 2 Chronicles 36:15-19; Jeremiah 39:1-10; Matthew 24:1-3

2 Chronicles 36:15-19. In the 9th year of the reign of Zedekiah (588 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem for the last time until Zedekiah’s 11th year (586 B.C.). Zedekiah escaped but was captured shortly afterward. All of his sons were killed before his eyes, and then he had his own eyes were put out, chained, and taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-7). Nebuchadnezzar decimated Jerusalem and burned Solomon’s temple, the king’s house, and all the homes in Jerusalem (v. 9, cp. Jer. 39:8, 9). The sword killed those who had survived the long siege. Some of those who remained, the chief priests, officers, and princes, were taken to Babylon and there executed as traitors. Others were carried captive to live as servants of Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah, however, was treated very differently and allowed to decide whether he would throw in his lot with the captives of Babylon or stay with the poor in Judah.

Jeremiah 40:1-6. Jeremiah decided to go to Mizpah and stay with the rest of the people of the land. Here Gedaliah had been appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Judah was never to have a king rule over it until Christ Himself should set up His kingdom (Ezek. 21:25-27).

What is the significance of the words of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, to Jeremiah? Word having come to him that Jeremiah was the Jewish prophet who had advocated submission to Babylon, Nebuzaradan acknowledged the truth of Jeremiah’s mission and the accuracy of his prophecies. Amazing that a pagan captain recognized the truth while God’s people, in a general sense, didn’t.

Matthew 24:1-3. About 600 years later, while looking at Jerusalem, Jesus predicted that again Jerusalem would be destroyed. He shared signs that would indicate that event, as well as His eventual return, was drawing near. Like Judah of old did God’s people of Jesus’ day heed His warning regarding the destruction of Jerusalem that would occur in A.D. 70? Do Christian’s today seem to be taking the warning seriously about the nearness of the return of Christ? Do we? How well are we 5 applying the principles of the four parables of Matthew 24 and 25 in preparation for that great day?

Wednesday – All Your Heart Jeremiah 29:1-14 (esp. vss. 11-13); Hebrews 4:12-16

Jeremiah 29:1-14. A letter from Jeremiah was sent to Babylon by the hand of two of his friends, Elaash (likely a brother of Ahikam, Jeremiah’s protector – Jer. 26:24), and Gemariah (probably the son fog Hilkiah who was the high priest during Josiah’s reign, and who found the book of the law). The letter encouraged the captives there to settled in because the time of their captivity was going to be seventy years (v. 10), much longer than the false prophets were predicting. Jeremiah hoped to discourage any form of resistance to Babylon’s rule.

Jeremiah 29:11. Even the captivity of the exiles would be for their own good. God assured and comforted His people with the promise that when the 70 years would end, His “eye” would be “upon them for good.” (Jer. 24:6). “Expected end” – Literally, a “a latter end and an expectation.” In other words, He promised His chosen nation that all things will come out well for them in spite of their captivity. If in justice God had to “wound” His children by means of the captivity, in His love and mercy He would “heal” them by means of restoring them as a nation. (See Deut. 32:39; Job 5:18; Hosea 6:1)

Jeremiah 29:13. However, there is a condition to receiving the healing God wishes to bring. God makes it plain that He can do nothing for His people unless they seek Him with sincerity of purpose. This assurance is a repeat of Moses injunction in Deut. 4:29-31.

Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:15, 16: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” It is God’s promise that if you have been “wounded” by His Word because it has revealed sin in the life, it is His purpose to bring “healing” through the merits and grace of Jesus Christ.

Thursday – The Seventy Years Jeremiah 29:10

Although Jeremiah’s messages were messages of warning, they were also filled with promise and hope. God was going to allow the captivity to discipline them and give them time to seek Him and align their lives with His revealed will, yet after 70 years 6 in captivity, God would restore His people and allow them to rebuild their city, their nation and their lives.

Jeremiah 29:7. Jeremiah breaks with all tradition by inviting God’s people to do two things: 1) pray for their enemies; 2) pray, even in a foreign land. Being captives they wouldn’t fare well if the nation they were subject to faced tough times. During those times people look for scapegoats, a minority to blame for the difficulties they are enduring.

We, too, should pray for our enemies (after all, Jesus did invite us to do the same – Matt. 5:44, 45), and it doesn’t matter whether you pray in your car, at your work place, or anywhere for that matter. We don’t have to wait till we are back home in that quiet place to seek God. We would do well to remember this counsel whenever we face persecution.

Jeremiah 29:10. By this time 10 of the 70 years have passed (605 B.C to 536 B.C.). God assured His people that the punishment wouldn’t last forever (see Jer. 25:11, 12; Dan. 9:2). Why 70 years?

2 Chronicles 36:20, 21: “And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”

In Leviticus 25:3, 4 God commanded His people to let their land rest, or released from cultivation and allowed to lie fallow (see Deut. 15:1) every seventh year, a “Sabbath to the Lord.” It seems as though Israel had refused to let the land rest, and as a result they lost the land altogether (see Lev. 26:34, 43). God, keeping account of the time, allowed the land to rest to make up for the time of transgression. 70 years would suggest that for 490 years (70 x 7) the land had not kept “her Sabbaths.”

Judah’s disregard of God’s counsel regarding letting the land rest was indicative of their overall flagrant disobedience to His law. Is there an area in your life you are disregarding the will of God, or the counsel of the Lord? If so, what should you immediately do?

Appeal: The prophecies concerning the coming captivity were fulfilled to the very letter. Now the promise of return after 70 years could be embraced and believed without question. The Bible presents amazing prophecies regarding the last days that we can be assured will also be fulfilled. We don’t have any reason to not trust God with our future and therefore our lives. Won’t you trust Him more today?