Jeremiah 52:1-23. At the end of yesterday’s reading we were told that what we had been reading were the words of a Jeremiah. The statement echoed Jeremiah 1:1 and created a sort of envelope (an “enclusio”) of information. Today we cone to the last chapter in Jeremiah. The last chapter is different from the rest of the book, it is a summary of the history of the fall of Jerusalem and also tells the story of the last surviving king of Judah. Much of the chapter is a repeat of 2 Kings 24:18-25:30 (1 & 2 Kings are histories of the kings of the northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah). Because of the change of content and style some modern scholars don’t think that Jeremiah wrote the book and that it was put together by editors over many years. This, of course, contradicts the books claim for itself as being by Jeremiah. It seems to get some scholars crazy when an author changes style or content but we all do that all the time. The way we write an email or text is different from how we write a report. Even those things change depending on the person we are writing to or the subject matter or purpose. It is important to remember that Jeremiah gave many messages over many years to many different people for many different purposes. The book of Jeremiah was a collection of those messages (or at least some of them) for a certain purpose. Jeremiah wasn’t building a history of his life he was making one final message. The difference in style of the last chapter may be because it was written by Jeremiah at a different time and for different purposes that the original messages or it could be because he borrowed it from 2 Kings and used it for his own purposes. Ancient Jewish tradition claims that Jeremiah was actually the author of 1 & 2 Kings. As we saw in chapter one Jeremiah was chosen by God to be a prophet to the nations. We need to remember that he was also a prophet in Judah (one of the nations) and that he was an Israelite (Jew). Finally we need to remember that he was a prophet or messenger for the one true God, Yahweh.

So far in the book we have seen a story of defection, by mankind in general, and by the Israelites and more specifically the people of Judah, in particular. As Paul put it “all have sinned (disobeyed, disrespected, and rebelled) and fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). That word “glory” contains both the idea of God’s perfection and our response of honor or praise of it. One word that can be used to translate the word Paul used for “glory” (doxa) is “excellence”; we have all fallen short of God’s excellence. But we have also seen glimpses of a path back to God, Jeremiah repeatedly called his audience to turn back to God, to obey. So the message of the messenger is a warning that we are speeding down a road that runs right off a cliff into a bottomless endless abyss and an appeal to stop and turn around. For the Jews of Jeremiah’s day it probably seemed like they had already gone off that cliff.   God had promised a forever kingdom and here they were in exile in Babylon, the Temple in ruins. Chapter 52 is Jeremiah’s not to gentle answer to that dilemma. It is his summary of who God is and how he deals with us.

Today’s reading is a short history of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Verses 1-3 set up the action. Zedekiah was king in Jerusalem and he had been a bad king, at least in the eyes of Yahweh (By the way the Jeremiah here is no t the same Jeremiah as the prophet who wrote the book). We also are told in verse 3 that because of the evil actions of Zedekiah (and the rest of the people too no doubt) that what was about to happen was being orchestrated by Yahweh. The exile was a punishment from God. We also see that Zedekiah has responsibility, God didn’t just throw Nebuchadnezzar down there to fight, Zedekiah provoked the invasion.

In verses 4-11 we see the details of the invasion. The city was under siege by Nebuchadnezzar for eighteen months.   The people inside Jerusalem were starving and eventually broke down parts of their own wall and tried to escape. Zedekiah and his army were part of the people who tried to escape. Zedekiah was caught near Jericho (about 15 miles north-east of Jerusalem) and take to Nebuchadnezzar’s base camp in Riblah about 200 miles north of Jerusalem. There Zedekiah’s children were executed along with certain leaders in his kingdom. Those executions were the last thing Zedekiah would see, Nebuchadnezzar had Zedekiah’s eyes “put out”, and then put Zedekaih in chains and took him back to Babylon as trophy and a warning to all who might think of rebellion.

In verses 12-16 we see the details of the invasion of the actual city. Remember that Zedekiah and his army fled and were chased by the Babylonian army. Verse 12 tells us that it is a month later and Nebuzaradan, one of Nebuchadnezzar’s generals, invades the city of Jerusalem. He and his men burhed the Temple and other important buildings (think palaces and the houses of the leaders in Zedekaih’s government, remember that often homes were where leaders would do business too, like the White House). The Babylonian army also tore down the wall surrounding Jerusalem. Archaeologists have uncovered part of that old wall and tell us that the destruction was very complete. I guess after eighteen months of sitting outside Jerusalem, away from friends and family, the Babylonian Army wanted to make sure they wouldn’t have to wait if they ever came back. In verse 15 we see a list of people who were taken captive and exiled back to Babylon. This is the third group taken captive, the first was in 605 BC and the second was in 597 BC (when Zedekiah was made king). Nebuzaradan left some people behind to tend to the fields that had been neglected for the last year and a half.

In verses 17-23 we see details about Nebuzaradan’s looting of the Temple. Tons (probably literally) of bronze items were broken up and taken as well as lots and lots of silver and gold pots, pans, shovels, tongs, bowls, cups and more. The description is very detailed and echoes details found in 1 Kings 7, the story of Solomon building the Temple. The amount of detail given here could be for two reasons. The first reason could be that the description would make it clear that it was the temple built by Solomon for honoring Yahweh that was destroyed. Of course by the time of the destruction of the Temple it had lost a lot of its true meaning and purpose, Yahweh was more of one god among many and the Temple was similar. The second and probably more important reason for including all this detail is that Jeremiah was rubbing salt in an open wound. The Temple was still a symbol of Yahweh and was a grand and beautiful place and Jeremiah was making sure they understood that the whole thing was completely destroyed. The people would probably think the total destruction of the Temple meant total abandonment by God.

We need to be careful that we don’t associate God and his presence with things or events. There are some Christians who think that God promises us health and wealth or peace and prosperity. They are taught that if they don’t have theses things it is because they haven’t claimed them from God or that their faith is too small. These people see trouble as judgment from God, always. As we have been studying the book of Job in Sunday School we have learned that believers do suffer. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches the same thing, life here and now is a mess. In Hebrews 11:36-38 we are told that some faithful servant of God suffered greatly. We have seen that in the life of Jeremiah (he was forced to go to Egypt against his well, he was thrown in a cistern and left to die, he suffered in Jerusalem during all of Nebuchadnezzar’s campaigns). Jesus himself suffered and promised his followers that they would suffer too (John 15:18, Matthew 10:22). In Romans 8:31-39 Paul assures us that nothing can separate us from the love God has for us. God promised the Israelites certain things and they will certainly come to pass and so will the promises he has made to us. We need to not let events in our current lives make us doubt that. In 2 Peter 3:9 Peter was dealing with people in his day, more than 1900 years ago, who were challenging God’s faithfulness. “Where is the promise of his coming?” they asked. His answer was that God is not slow in keeping his promises but he is patient, God is waiting for every last person who will trust in Jesus to stop and turn around from that abyss they are headed for. God doesn’t want any to perish, though many will. We need to trust God and his promises and decide whether or not we want to be a part of his forever kingdom, God is waiting, but he won’t wait forever. Decide for Jesus today.

God help us not get caught up in religion; our own efforts and creations. Help us understand your purity and our lostness. Help us see your love for us and your mercy. Let us cling to you and appreciate how much you care. Let us not get distracted by the trouble in our world. Let us trust you now and for eternity.

Jeremiah 51:59-64. We finally come to the end of the message to Babylon and the end of the main part of Jeremiah. Earlier we noted that the message to Babylon that we didn’t know when the message to Babylon that we have been reading was written. Obviously it had to be written before Jeremiah died and I mentioned that we didn’t know exactly when that happened either. I suggested that it was certainly some time before Cyrus conquered Babylon (539 BC).   Today’s reading starts out by telling us that it is a message for a guy named Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Neriah and the grand-son of Mahseiah. This exact same description is used for Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary, in Jeremiah 32:12. Evidently Seraiah and Baruch were brothers. According to verse 59 this message or instruction was given to Seraiah in the fourth year of Zedekiah.

In 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah to put down a rebellion started by king Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim died before Nebuchadnezzar arrived and his 18 year old son took over. Nebuchadnezzar took the son, Jehoiachin, captive (along with many others including the prophet Ezekiel) and placed Mattaniah, Jehoiakim’s brother (Jehoiachin’s uncle), on the throne. Nebuchadnezzar also gave Mattaniah a new name, Zedekiah. The people put a lot of pressure on Zedekiah to start another rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. In Jeremiah 27:1-3 we see a group of representatives from surrounding kingdoms in Jerusalem. Jeremiah gave a message for those representatives to take back to their kings, “God had put Nebuchadnezzar in power don’t fight him.” According to Jeremiah 27:1 this was early in the reign of Zedekiah.

For some reason Zedekiah was called to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of his (Zedekaiah’s) reign. That would make it 593 BC. Maybe Nebuchadnezzar had heard of the “meeting” in Jerusalem and wanted to make it clear to Zedekiah that there were to be no more revolts. What ever the reason Zedekiah was going to Babylon and Seraiah was going with him.

According to verse 60 Jeremiah wrote a message about the destruction of Babylon on a scroll. The wording of verse 60 suggests it was the message we have just been looking at. Jeremiah gave the scroll to Seraiah and told him that as soon as he reached Babylon he was to unroll the scroll and read it aloud. After reading the scroll he was to summarize what he had read then he was to take a rock, tie it to the scroll and throw the scroll into the Euphrates River. After that he was to tell whoever was listening that Just like the scroll sank to the bottom never to rise again that Yahweh would cause Babylon to sink down never to rise again as a world power.

Today’s reading ends by telling us that these have been the words of Jeremiah. In Jeremaih 1:1 we started out the book with very similar words, “The words of Jeremiah…” Sometimes writers use the same words or idea at the beginning and end of a section to create a sort of literary envelope to help us understand that what we have read all goes together, scholars call this technique an “inclusio” (Like the word “included” or grouped together). In Jeremaih 1:9-10 Yahweh (LORD) told Jeremiah that he had been chosen to be a messenger to the nations and kingdoms. Jeremiah would yank out, break down, destroy, and overthrow nations. Of course he didn’t actually do this but he was the messenger of God warning of the actions that Yahweh was going to take against these nations and kingdoms. Jeremiah would also build up and plant. Again, he didn’t physically do this either but if people or kings would listen to his warnings and turn back to God then those people of nations would be planted or established.

The book of Jeremiah has had two main players in it, Babylon and Judah. The book begins with a warning of coming disaster in the lives of the Jews living in Judah and ends with a warning of coming disaster for Babylon. Babylon would be God’s tool for punishing Judah for defecting from him and in a way Judah would play a part, not the actual tool (that would be Cyrus), in the destruction of Babylon. If you have read “The Old Testament Connection” you know that Israel was to be an example to the nations around them; teaching mankind the story of the one true God, Yahweh. Even in their rebellion and disobedience they wound up being that example because the world could see how serious God is about truly living for him. Sin has a real price that must be paid and Yahweh cannot be bought off with good intentions or little trinkets. We cannot get to God using our own powers and ideas (the lesson to be learned from the history of Babylon) and God’s design for life is God’s design and when we ignore it we put ourselves on the outside of God’s good place for us (the lesson from Judah and Babylon and all the other players in the book). Sin (rebellion, disobedience, disrespect toward God) has a price, death (separation). God does not ignore sin. The repeated calls to repent or return or come back in the book, though, tell us that God doesn’t just write us off either. He has a solution for sin, Jesus. Jesus paid the price of separation so that we could come back to God and so that God could actually live inside of us through his Holy Spirit. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can work toward honoring God more and more with our lives. Judah would eventually be restored as a nation, Babylon would sink to rise no more (the Babylon in the book of Revelation is a different place and nation that reflects the same attitudes as the original Babylon). Nations are not the point though people are. God’s forever kingdom isn’t built nation by nation but one person at a time. Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are tired and weighed down and I will give you rest.” In Revelation 22:17 Jesus is speaking to the world through the Holy Spirit and through his followers (the “bride” is the church, or those who have responded already to God’s offer of peace through Jesus). Jesus says “Let the thirsty person come to me, the one who wants to drink the water of life with God.” He was talking to individuals; to you and me. If you haven’t let Jesus deal with your sins come to him today.

Jesus thank you for being the water of life. Thank you for caring about people. Thank you for making a way back to God. Help those who read this hear and understand and return to God through you. Thank you for loving us, each and every one.