Historical Note
In the opening verses of this chapter we have a recap of the fall
of Jerusalem. You might think that this
is strange since these words are already contained within the book. A little historical footnote might be
important.
We know that some of the Hebrew people went to Egypt under
Johanan. Jeremiah was one of those. We know that many of the Hebrew people were
dragged off into Babylonian captivity.
We also know that Baruch was Jeremiah’s scribe, writing down all that
Jeremiah told him to write down. Chapter
52 seems to be a capstone – a summary – of the book so that it can fit within
the story of the whole of the Hebrew people.
This chapter seems to try and unite the end of the book – the end of
Jeremiah’s life – with the exiles in Babylon.
In such a light, it is likely that this chapter is written by
Baruch or by a disciple of Jeremiah’s.
Clearly the author of this particular chapter had to live long enough
and be familiar enough with Babylon to know about Jehoiachin’s release as
reported later in the chapter.
Major Events To Recap
As we bring this book to a close, there are three events that are
recapped. The first one is the brutality
with which Zedekiah was treated. I
understand that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and deserved to be
punished. But he was forced to watch his
sons be slaughtered in his presence right before his eyes were put out. The last image he saw was the death of his
own sons. This is horribly cruel. There is no doubt that this account is recapped
so that the cruelty of the Babylonians would be remembered.
The second event to be recounted is the burning of the temple of
the Lord. In the closing chapters of
Jeremiah, this event takes a prominent place.
This event demonstrates an attack against the Lord Himself. This event shows that the Babylonians were
not God’s faithful servants; they were just tools in His hand. This event is no doubt included so that the
people would remember God’s personal reason for judging the Babylonians. Not only were the Babylonians cruel, they
were utterly faithless from the perspective of God.
The third event to be recounted was the deportation. I find this final event to be very sad. When the people came into the Promised Land,
they numbered in the hundreds of thousands – if not the millions. When they are dragged into captivity, they
number in the lower thousands. Yes, I
understand that Israel had already been deported by Assyria and much of Judah
had already been deported by Babylon before Jerusalem fell. But the numbers still show how far we fall
when we no longer follow in obedience to God.
The mighty nation that God Himself brought forth from out of bondage was
put back into bondage with nothing more than a slight whimper.
So much promise. A disobedient
heart and a desire to focus on their own desires destroyed every bit of that
promise that Joshua once led into the Promised Land.
Grace
Lest we end such a profound book on a dark note, we have the final
story about Jehoiachin’s release. One
captive is released from prison and allowed to recline at the king’s
table. We have a glimmer of hope. One person becomes the first fruit of the
hope to come. If one person can be
brought out of bondage, so can the nation.
I love this ending to Jeremiah.
It completely validates the fact that God begins with a few – a small
demonstration – before moving into the fullness of His glory. God started with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
even his twelve sons before exploding into the promise of Abraham’s inheritance
several generations later. In the New
Testament there was Jesus who started with a handful of disciples before
exploding the church into the known world several generations later. Finally, we know that Christ was raised from
the dead and we can trust in the promise that He is the first fruit of our own
resurrection. God is indeed a God who
works through the first fruits before bringing the abundance of His grace to
all.
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