The Fall of Jerusalem | Jeremiah 39 | Pastor William Hixson

Please open your Bibles to the book of

Jeremiah, chapter 39.

Jeremiah 39 · chapter mention

Appreciate those who persevered and

being with us in this largest book of

the Bible, the book of Jeremiah.

That's quite a long trip. And here we

are in chapter 39.

This is a climax.

As we come to this chapter in Jeremiah,

we see the siege of the city of

Jerusalem by the neoablonian empire

is has taken effect

and the walls have been broken through

and the city defeated

and people carried off into exile,

evicted from the holy city by the holy

Lord.

Jeremiah

went was in prison for that much of that

siege uh in two different places. None

of them very pleasant.

And

um

Jeremiah is a wonderful book telling us

about these incredible events

and tragedy has followed tragedy.

None of these things, none of these

things would have happened

if only the king had repented.

Very amazing. All he had to do was

embrace God's word.

And he was told that over and over

again,

[snorts]

but he did not repent.

And he was too weak,

too much under the thumb of other

people. You know people like that, don't

you? They're afraid to become a

Christian because of a relative or a

somebody at work or somebody that they

know that dominates them.

And

it's all very very sad business really.

And so

without a doubt, the fall of Jerusalem

described in this passage

uh dramatically

authenticated all of Jeremiah's

prophecies.

Just want you to think about that. When

this big one came true,

everybody that had been aware of

Jeremiah for 30, 40 years knew

he's a real prophet.

And he'd been saying it. Everybody been

fighting him. He kept saying it because

God kept telling him. So without a

doubt, this fall of Jerusalem was a

vindication of the prophet.

The coming of Jesus and the judgment of

this world will be a vindication of you

and me as Christians.

We don't have to vindicate ourselves. We

don't have to worry about our

reputations.

We don't have to worry about those who

are against us because we're saved. The

day is coming when everybody will know

who was right and who was wrong.

The day is coming when uh God's people

and God's uh word will be vindicated

from those who are against it.

Um

it's it's a rather solemn thought

really. I mean if the the judgment of

the holy city is a prefiguring of the

judgment of the whole world.

And so the God that kept his word about

that, this city's going to be burned, is

going to keep his word about the whole

planet and the whole universe are going

to be burned. Everybody follow me on

that? God's told us both.

And so this isn't just something that's

ancient history.

Uh 586 BC, way back even before Jesus

was born. It is that, but it's also a

very clear indication that when God says

something's going to happen, it's going

to happen.

We better be listening.

You better be listening.

And so,

um,

this is quite important.

And as we read it, let's just read it

together. Jeremiah 39.

In the ninth

year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the

10th month came Neb Nebu Cadrezer, king

of Babylon. You can call him

Nebuchadnezzar or this particular

spelling of his name, Nebu Cadrezer,

or as my Old Testament professor

professor called him, Nabu Kadori Utsor.

if you want to call him by that,

king of Babylon

and all his army against Jerusalem and

they besieged it. And in the 11th year

of Zedekiah, now here we go. We start

out with the ninth year. Now we're in

the 11th year. This was this uh things

are dug on.

In the fourth month, the ninth day of

the month, the city was broken up.

So you remember Nebuchadnezzar came

against it with his armies. Uh the

armies got diverted by attention by

Egypt. They left for a little while.

They came back and then they just picked

up where they left off.

And all the princes of Babylon came in

and sat in the middle gate, even Nargal

Shereé,

Samgar Nebo,

Star Satim the Rabsarus and Nargal

Sharzer and Rabmag with all the residue

of the princes of the king of Babylon.

I'm glad there were more of them because

it was hard enough to read those.

Now what's it talking about here? This

is extremely significant.

[clears throat]

Business was done in the city gate

and there was a place where the rulers

would sit

and make judgments on all kinds of

things.

But now with this uh defeat of the city

and the breaking in of the walls, the

Babylonians have taken over and the

leadership of the Babylonian armies

are now sitting in the place where the

Jewish leadership

used to sit.

Remember in those times every little

town you would you'd go to the gate,

you'd sit at the gate and in the gate

business was done. Remember the book of

Ruth, the exchanging of the shoe and all

that.

Well, here it's the gate of the capital

city of the theocracy.

It's been taken over

and these foreign leaders are now in

authority.

The Jewish leadership is not in

authority anymore.

They're beating they're beating feet out

of town.

uh they had a secret way to get out and

pass through the lines.

So now the Babylonians have total

control over the city.

They're running it.

It came to pass that when Zedekiah, the

king of Judah, saw them, verse four, and

all the men of war, then they fled. So

the king and some of the leadership of

the army, they get out of town. They get

out of dodge. They're they're they're

gone. And there must have been some kind

of secret way out that the Babylonians

didn't know about for them to slip

through the lines and do what they did.

They fled and went forth out of the city

by night by way of the king's garden by

the gate between the two walls. And he

went out the way of the Arabal.

So they get out and they're trying to

get away from the Babylonians.

Uh it's shameful.

He made decisions

that everybody in that city suffered for

that he didn't stay with them

when the city had been taken. He was

told by Jeremiah over and over and over

and over again ad nauseium that the

Babylons are going to conquer the city.

surrender to the Babylonians. He didn't

do it. He didn't do it to the end. And

now he takes off trying to get away from

the Babylonians.

He hasn't surrendered to them. He's

trying to sneak through their lines.

He had no honor.

This is Jerusalem wasn't the Alamo for

him. He wasn't going to stay there and

hide. He was going to see if he could

get out and get away with his family.

But the Calaldans's army pursued after

them and they overtook Zedekiah in the

plains of Jericho. He made it all the

way from Jerusalem to Jericho. He made

it that far. It's an amazing he made it

that far. It's kind of shocking really

that he made it that far. If you look at

a map and you see Jericho and you see

Jerusalem,

uh, he made it all the way to Jericho.

What's Jericho? That's the city on the

border

of the promised land.

So his plan was to get out of the

country and sneak off into who knows

where.

And when he so but they overtook

Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And

when they taken him, they brought him up

to Nabu Ganedzar, king of Babylon to

Ribla in the land of Hamas.

I'm not going to get a map out or

anything like that, but Ribblah was 200

miles north of Jerusalem.

It became a staging area just like the

Nazis would stage the Jews when they

want them to go to the camps. This was a

staging area for the Jews to be put into

exile.

He made it all the way to Riblah in the

land of Hoth where he gave judgment upon

him.

So fascinating. By the way, Riiblau is

65 miles north of Damascus.

So it's 200 miles north of Jerusalem.

It's 65 miles north of Damascus.

Remember where Paul went to kill the

Jews and got saved. So he's he's he he's

up that far.

He's up farther.

Then the king of Babylon slew the sons

of Zedekiah in Ribla before his eyes.

The last thing that King Zedekiah saw

was the slaughtering of his sons.

That was done on purpose. That wasn't by

accident.

Uh

the Babylonians were anything but uh

moderate

and so they this was this was to add to

his pain for causing them all the

trouble

of having to take the city.

You remember

King Zedekiah was actually put in power

by Nebuchadnezzar

because the Babylonians already kind of

controlled the area. And so when he

decided he'd rebel against

Nebuchadnezzar, he's rebelling against

the one that actually put him in power.

So he's asking for it now. He gets it.

So

uh

notice he slew the sons of Zedeki and

Ribblah before his eyes. Also the king

of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

Now this is interesting. This is very

interesting.

Often they didn't slay these nobles. In

other places Nebuchadnezzar didn't slay

the nobles. Who are these nobles?

They're the ones that gave Jeremiah such

a hard time.

They're the very ones.

This is what they got.

Tell me God's not a god of justice.

So

in other in other earlier places the

nobles were let go. In this place they

weren't. Moreover, he put out Zedekiah's

eyes and bound him with chains to carry

him to Babylon. So they put his eyes

out. So the last thing he saw was his

sons getting killed and the nobles

getting killed that he was afraid of and

that he count out.

And then he goes to Babylon just like

Ezekiel said

that he would see Babylon. That meant

you'd be there. Not that he would be

able to use his eyes, but he would see

it in the sense of being there.

And the Calaldanss burned the king's

house. There goes Solomon's palace

and the houses of the people with fire

and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Why' they do that? That's a lot of work.

They did that so that people would be

discouraging from porting up and

rebelling again.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, the cap Nebu

Zaredan, the captain of the guard,

carried away captive into Babylon, the

remnant of the people who remained in

the city and those who fell away, who

fell to him with the rest of the people

who remained. But Nebu Zaredan, the

captain of the guard, left the poor of

the people who had nothing in the land

of Judah and gave them vineyards and

fields at the same time. Anybody who was

an artisian, anybody who had some

technical skills of building or art or

something like that, they took to

Babylon to work on the Babylonian city.

You got a new job. You're going to be

you're going to be decorating Babylon.

You're going to be improving our city.

But regular people with no skills, they

just left. They didn't take them. You're

not worth you're not worth the trouble

of marching you all the way to Babylon.

you will be here and we'll give you

lands and you can feed the Babylonian

armies. It's an occupying army.

Something everybody's got to eat. So

you'll be you'll be doing that. And so

they had a pretty organized. They were

used to taking things places over. So

they knew what to do.

And so that's the picture.

And so

um let me reread in verse 9. Nebu

Zaredan, the captain of the guard,

carried away captive into Babylon, the

remnant of the people remained in the

city, and those who fell away and who

fell to him with the rest of the people

who remained. But Nebu Zaredan, the

captain of the guard, left of the poor

of the people who had nothing in the

land of Judah, and gave them vineyards

and fields at the same time. That way

the Babylonians wouldn't have to grow

their own food to be grown for them and

those people were left there for a

purpose.

Now Nebuadzer, king of Babylon, gave

charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebu

Zaredan, the captain of the guard. This

came from the top.

This came from Nebuchadnezzar himself

to the chief

uh one over all the armies.

Find Jeremiah take care of it.

Now, how did he know about Jeremiah?

No doubt Jeremiah's preaching had caused

some people to do what Jeremiah

constantly said, surrender to the

Babylonians. So no doubt there was a

significant amount of Jews that listened

to Jeremiah and left Jerusalem. And that

was the complaint. Jeremiah is a

traitor. He's undermining us. Is it

discouraging the soldiers that people

are listening and leaving? Well, that's

what we're talking about here. There

were some people that listened. Most did

not. Some did. Now all that makes

Jeremiah look like a traitor

because

the doctrine of the princes was our

country right or wrong.

That was their doctrine.

In other words, just because it's our

country, whatever we do, whatever we

say, you got to be on our side.

No, you don't.

You don't have to be right or wrong.

Yes, there's a loyalty to our countries,

but that doesn't mean we can't stand up

to it when it's wrong.

And uh

you I hope you don't say that about your

family. My family right or wrong. Yeah.

Well, you still love them, but that

doesn't mean you follow them if they

they're doing something evil.

So anyway, some of these people were

listening

and Nebuchadnezzar, they kept up, why

are you coming to us? Well, Jeremiah the

prophet said we had to leave if we

wanted to save our life. And that's what

he's been prophesying, and that's why

we're here.

So, the Babylonians actually are going

to treat Jeremiah better than his own

countrymen.

They're making special effort to take

care of him while his own country made

his life miserable and many wanted to

kill him.

Interesting, isn't it?

And so

verse 13. So Nebu Zaredan, the captain

of the guard sent Nab Mush Oban and

Robsarus and Ngal Razizar and Rob they

had easier names and Rob Mag and all the

king of the Babylonian princes. Even

they sent and took Jeremiah out of the

court of prison.

Now, that was in Jeremiah's favor that

he was in prison.

Isn't Providence interesting?

The fact that he was in prison meant

that he wasn't in favor with the king

that was rebelling against Jer Babylon.

It just confirmed everything everybody

else said.

And so, the Babylonians are looking on

Jeremiah as someone that wasn't

rebelling against them and was actually

telling the other people to surrender.

And this all confirmed it. And when they

find him, he's in prison. Now, this is

this is an amazing stuff.

He was in two different at least two

different prisons, really three, but he

was in prison, then he got thrown in the

um sistern and then he got out of the

sister and put back in another prison.

So, he was uh getting well acquainted

with uh being imprisoned.

And so they finally find him

and they take him and they took Jeremiah

out of the court of the prison and

committed him to Galiah the son of Ahai

the son of Shaan that he should carry

him home. So he dwelt among his people.

Now carry him home meant he went to live

with Galias in Galile's house. Galiah is

going to be the governor of that area

under the Babylonians.

and Jeremiah went to live with him.

And Galileiah was also someone who was

friendly to Jeremiah. And unfortunately,

we'll see Galileiah is going to be

assassinated.

Uh we'll see that later in a couple of

chapters. But for a while, Jeremiah is

changed been exchanged uh for being a

prisoner to living in the Babylonian

governor's choice. uh Babylonian uh uh

Babylonians choice for governor. He's

living with him.

Verse 15. Now the word of the Lord came

to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the

court of the prison, saying, "Go and

speak to Ebed Melik,

the Ethiopian."

Remember him?

Who's Ebed Melik?

>> He went to the king. He went to the king

and wanted the king to get Jeremiah out

of the sister. And then he put rags

under Jeremiah's armpits and got him up.

He stuck his neck out for Jeremiah,

didn't he? He called He told all those

princes here, the guy's a servant. He's

not even a Jew. He He's a He's He's an

African guy. He's E he's the first

Ethiopian unic. Not we we usually think

of the Ethiopian unic. We think of the

one in Acts. Well, this guy was an

Ethiopian uni. He he didn't have any

status,

but he made it his business to go to the

king and criticize the people who had

arrested Jeremiah and put him in the

system to die. Said he's got no food and

the king listened to him.

King Zedekiah was the kind of person

that whatever the last person told

talked to him about that he was on their

side. He was one marshmallow. I'm

telling you, it was every you all

everybody had his ear. He couldn't say

no to anybody except Nebuchadnezzar.

And so, but anyway, Ebed Melik was the

guy that was a real hero here in God's

mind.

And this is kind of important. Ebmed

Melik was a you might say a nobody. not

exactly a nobody because he was a unic

in the house of the of the king to he

had access to the king probably over

some of the king's wives. Uh I wouldn't

want his job if you had to be a unic to

do it. I don't think that would be fun.

But anyway, that's what he was. So he

had his hardships. But verse 16, go and

speak to Abedmel the Ethiopian saying

thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of

Israel. Behold, I will bring my words

upon this city for evil, and not for

good, and they shall be accomplished in

that day before thee, but I'll deliver

thee in that day, says the Lord, and

thou shalt be given in you shall not be

given into the hand of the man of whom

you're afraid, for I'll surely deliver

thee, and thou shalt not fall by the

sword, but thy life shall be for a prize

unto thee, because you put your trust in

me."

That was

that was said to Ebed Melik

and by God himself.

I I love that man. Ebed Melik. He stood

up against the king. He stood up against

the princes. He stood for Jeremiah. He

was a next to a nobody.

And yet he stuck his neck out.

And he did it because of faith.

He had to trust God to go in there and

do that.

Cuz in those days, you didn't just lose

your job, you might lose your head.

So he stuck his neck out a lot, didn't

he? And Jeremiah benefited from that. So

uh and I love that last phrase, you put

your trust in me. This was faith that

was working in through love.

This was saving faith displayed by his

actions.

Now the events of this chapter are some

of the most horrific in Jewish history.

The fall of Jerusalem, the collapse of

the Old Testament theocratic kingdom.

Uh

that kingdom will not return to the

earth till Jesus does.

The Babylon Babylon is the head of gold.

And here's one of the most dramatic

judgments in all the Bible.

You know, the Bible's got some pretty

serious judgments.

Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the

garden. I'd say that was that was a big

one, the fall of Adam.

Another big one was um

another big one was the flood.

That's a big one. Another big one was

the Tower of Babel.

So you get the fall of Adam and the

cursing of the world, the flood, the

destruction of the world, and the

scattering of people into different

languages at the Tower of Babel. Those

were worldwide events.

This

deals with Israel and the capital of the

theocracy.

But now we're in, we've crossed the

line. We are in the times of the

Gentiles.

Gentile rule has now been established.

The temple is gone. The city is burned.

The Jewish theocracy, the mediatorial

kingdom of the Old Testament

has been suspended.

We are still in the times of the

Gentiles

and what happened here has not yet been

undone. It's an amazing moment in

history.

The Jewish rabbis said it was the worst

time in the whole of history. I disagree

with that. I think the fall of man was

that

and the flood was that and the Tower of

Babel was that. I think that exceeded

this just because of the number of

people involved. But this was certainly

a big one.

certainly a big one.

So that mediatorial kingdom

have been going on for 900

years

and it's over

over till Jesus comes.

That kingdom had stood for over nearly

900 years. So this was very close to

being a worldshattering event or at

least for the Jews

a world shattering event.

You know the collapse of an empire

that's been standing a long time is a

major moment isn't it in history. This

is a collapse of God's kingdom and the

judgment. Turn with me to Jeremiah 52.

Jeremiah 52.

The last chapters of Jeremiah are

prophecies against Babylon.

And you'll see there's quite a few pages

brought to bear on that. But the last

chapter of the book is chapter 52.

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

Zedekiah was 1 and 20 years old when he

began to reign and he reigned 11 years

in Jerusalem. So he was 21 and he

reigned 11 years. So that means he was

32

when the nation was taken. Everybody

with me?

>> Little.

>> His sons were little. His mother's name

was Hamuttowal, the daughter of

Jeremiah. That's not the Jeremiah in the

Bible. It's another Jeremiah of Libna.

And he did that which was evil in the

eyes of the Lord according to all that

Jehoakim had done. For through the anger

of the Lord, it came to pass in

Jerusalem and in Judah till he cast them

out from his presence. He cast them out

from his presence. His presence was that

presence in the temple in Jerusalem.

That Zedekiah rebelled against the king

of Babylon.

He didn't want it that way. He wanted to

be independent.

It came to pass in the ninth year of his

reign in the 10th month and the 10th day

of the month that Nebuchadzzer, king of

Babylon, came he and all his armies

against Jerusalem and encamped against

it, built forts against it roundabout.

The city was besieged the 11th year of

Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in

the ninth day of the month, the famine

was great in the city, so that there was

no bread for the people to eat. And if

you read other accounts, you're shocked

at what they were eating.

Then the city was broken up, and all the

men of war fled, and went forth out of

the city by night, by the way of the

gate between two two walls, which was by

the king's garden. Now the Calaldanss

were by the city roundabout, and they

went by way of the Arabah. But the army,

the Calaldanss pursued after the king,

and overtook Zedek in the plains of

Jericho, and all his army was scattered

from him. Why would you be? You're going

to die for a king like that?

every man for himself.

Then they took the king and carried him

up unto the king of Babylon at Riblah in

the land of Hamoth where he gave

judgment upon him. And the king of

Babylon slew the sons of J Zedekiah

before his eyes. He also slew all the

princes of Judah in Ribblah. Then he put

out the eyes of Zedekiah, the king of

Babylon, bound him in chains, carried

him to Babylon, put him in prison till

the day of his death. So he got a trip

to Babylon as a blind man staying

chained up. Can you imagine that walk?

And he did get to Babylon as God said he

would. Uh but he was in prison for the

rest of his life. A rather ignominous

end.

So verse 12.

But bear with me.

Now in the fifth month, in the 10th day

of the month, which was the 19th year of

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came

Nebu Zaredan, captain of the guard, who

served the king of Babylon,

into Jerusalem, and burned the house of

the Lord.

And the king's house, there goes the

temple, there goes the palace, and all

the houses of Jerusalem. There goes all

the rest of it. And all the houses of

the great men burned with fire.

And all the army of the calaldanss that

were with the captain of the guard broke

down all the walls of Jerusalem

roundabout. Then Nebu Zaredan the

captain of the guard carried away

captive certain of the poor people and

the residue of the people who remained

in the city and those who fell away who

fell to the king of Babylon and the rest

of the multitude. But Nebu Zaran the

captain of the guard left certain poor

of the land for vine dressers and

farmers. Now, we've read that already,

but here we're getting again.

Also, the Now, here this part we haven't

read. What' they do with the temple

stuff? All the temple treasures.

It went all they all went to Babylon.

[clears throat]

Also, the pillars of bronze that were in

the house of the Lord and the bases in

the bronze sea [clears throat] and it

was in the house of the Lord. Calaldians

and broke and carried all the bronze of

the to Babylon, the cauldrons also, and

the shovels and the snuffers and the

bowls and the spoons and all the vessels

of bronze with which they ministered

took they away. Why' they do that?

Because in ancient warfare, it was your

god against my god and my god against

your god. Now my god's got your god

stuff.

That's the way it worked.

that they because they definitely

believe the gods were fighting each

other and uh that if your if you if your

army wins it's because your god win and

if your army loses your god lost. They

didn't understand a holy god that will

not only judge other people but will

deal with his own people in correction.

So they misinterpreted what was going

on.

Now let's think through this whole

business just a little bit.

First, let's look at back in 39. Those

who refused to trust the Lord but

trusted their own wisdom. And

what an example. That's what Zedekiah

did. That's what the princes did. And

they are a good example of people who

will refuse to take God at his word

about the judgment coming. instead trust

in themselves and trust in others.

Very sad.

By the way, it was a horrible ending. I

mean, the people were eating garbage.

They were involved in cannibalism that

they were wasted away as skeletons in

that 18 months siege. I won't even talk

about the rest of it.

How important it is to just trust God.

When he says something, we're to believe

it.

And

not to believe it is to be in big

trouble.

If we look in Jeremiah uh or excuse me,

not Jeremiah, John 3:36, if you'll turn

John 3:36

in the New Testament, let's just put

this up against what happened. Now,

Ebedmelik believed. He trusted in the

Lord. Uh Baroo believed, Jeremiah

believed, even Galiah uh believed. But I

I in some fashion but cuz his family was

very sympathetic although he did get

assassinated [snorts] but uh that's

completely different than what happened

here in John 3:36.

John 3:36

What does it say? He that believes on

the Son hath everlasting life and he

that believes not the Son shall not see

life but the wrath of God abides on him.

But think about the wrath of God at the

destruction of Jerusalem. And you don't

want that wrath abiding on you.

But by faith in Christ, that's all gone.

Very solemn. Zedekiah had his

opportunity,

but he didn't take it. He deserted the

people that he doomed.

That to me is really horrible.

They suffered because of his bad

decision. But he wasn't going down with

the ship. He He wasn't a captain that

says, "I'm going to go down with the

ship." That city was destroyed because

of his cowardness, because of his

disobedience, because of his Mr. Facing

both ways. He couldn't make the right

decision. He should have stayed with

them to the end. In my opinion,

he was willing that others suffer for

his decisions, but not him family and

not himself.

J. Thompson said Zedekiah's fate was

nothing short of horrific.

He didn't help himself by fleeing, did

he?

Um,

what a warning. What a serious warning.

Now, Ezekiel 12, if you'll go there,

gives us some details that we don't see

elsewhere. And Ezekiel, remember, was a

prophet in Babylon.

And notice what Ezekiel says.

Ezekiel 12.

And the prince that's among them shall

bear on his shoulder in the twilight

shall go forth, and they'll dig through

the wall to carry out through it, and

he'll cover his face, that he see not

the ground with his eyes. My net also

will I spread upon him. He'll be taken

in my snare and I'll bring him to

Babylon. God says, "I'm behind it." God

was behind these events. It wasn't just

Nebuchadnezzar. I God says, "I'm going

to bring him to Babylon in the land of

the Calaldanss. Yet shall he not see it,

though he die there. He's going there,

but he won't see it." Well, isn't that

what Nebuchadnezzar did? Blind him and

then take him. So, he made it there.

But I'll leave a few men of them from

the sword, from the famine, from the

pestilence, that they may declare all

their abominations among the nations to

which they come, and they'll know that

I'm the Lord. So God was very clear to

Ezekiel who was ministering over there.

He's very clear clear through Jeremiah.

That all happened just like God said.

So we have the fate of those who refuse

to trust the Lord.

But that brings us to the second thing,

the fate of those who did trust.

How about Baroo?

How about Ebid Melik?

How about Jeremiah?

We've already looked at uh Ebedmelik.

Uh he he said, "You trusted in me." God

saw that and will find a baroo. So you

seek great things for yourself, seek

them not, but I'm going to take care of

you. He says that in Jeremiah 45.

So don't be afraid. He says, "I'm going

to take care of you." Well, turn to

Jeremiah 45. I want you to see that one.

It's you might as well see it. So he

took care of Baroo. He took care of

Ebedmelik. And he took care of Jeremiah.

In the the most horrific situation, they

all made it.

Jeremiah survived the battle. He was in

prison. God was protecting him. He had

him underground [laughter]

and and Melik was protected

and Baroo was as well. It's a

fascinating business here. I'm in

Ezekiel. I'm sorry.

need I mean the wrong book

right address number wrong street

Jeremiah 45

the word we'll see this later the word

that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baroo

the son of Niah remember that's

Jeremiah's secretary

who had to endure the burning of

Jeremiah's book in front of him when

he'd written these words in a book of

the mouth of Jeremiah in the fourth year

of Jehookim the son of Josiah king of

Judah saying thus says the Lord Lord

God, Israel to thee, oh Baroo, thou did

say, woe is me now. For the Lord hath

added grief to my sorrow, and I fainted

in my sighing, and find no rest. Thus

says him to him. The Lord said, Thus,

behold, that which I built will I break

down, and that which I planted, I will

pluck up, even this whole land, and

seekest thou great things for thyself.

Seek him not.

For behold, I'll bring evil on all

flesh, says the Lord. But thy life will

I give to thee for a prize in all places

to which you go.

You endured a king burning the book of

Jeremiah right in front of you. You

stood up to him. You rewrote. You did

all that work. You stood up and you

stood with Jeremiah. I know who's on my

side. I know who's making the right

stands. I know who's doing the wrong

things. In your life, I'll give to you

for a prize in all places to which you

go. You can go wherever you want. God

will protect you.

Interesting, isn't it? Now, so we find

interesting things here. Uh God God took

care of Ebedmelik. He took care of

Baroo. He took care of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was better treated by the

Babylonians than by the Jews.

In fact, he was mistreated by the Jews

his whole life.

And what a shock. The Babylonians

actually

treated him favorably.

Turn to Psalm 91 and we'll close Psalm

91.

Psalm 91.

>> [clears throat]

>> Now, these were terrible times. The king

didn't know what to do. He didn't have

grace. He didn't have salvation. He was

on his own. And you kind of pity

Zedekiah, right? He was kind of a

pitiful person.

Uh, one writer on Jeremiah and he's

quoted, Philip Reichen quotes him. I

don't know who he is. His name is John

Guest or something. He said, "There's

three kinds of people. those that make

things happen, those who let things

happen, and those who say, "What

happened?"

I think that's funny. And you know, a

lot of people were saying, "What

happened? What happened?" And uh uh but

there were some people that understood

what was going on. They made a stand.

May God help us to be those kind of

people. We've got a God who can take

care of his own. We've got a God that is

worthy of our service and our sacrifice.

And Psalm 91 says, "He who dwells in the

secret place of the most high shall

abide in the shadow

of the Almighty.

Thou will say of the Lord, he's my

refuge and my fortress, my God in whom

I'll trust. Surely he'll deliver thee

from the snare of the fowler, from the

noise and pestilence. He'll cover thee

with his feathers, and under his wings

shall you trust. His truth shall be your

shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be

afraid for terror by night, nor for the

arrow that flies by day, nor for the

pestilence that walks in darkness, nor

for the destruction that waste at

noonday. A thousand will fall by thy

side, 10,000 at thy right hand, but it

will not come near thee. Only with thine

eyes shall you behold and see the reward

of the wicked. Because you've made the

Lord, who is my refuge, even the most

high your habitation.

There shall no evil befall thee. Neither

shall any plague come near thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over

thee to keep thee in all thy ways.

They'll bear thee in their hands, lest

you dash your foot against the stone. Of

course, ultimately that refers to Jesus.

But even though others in a lesser

sense, they'll tread on the lion and the

adder, the young lion and the serpent

shall be trampled under feet. That's all

poetry. Be because you set his love upon

me. Therefore, I'll deliver him and I'll

set him on high because he knows my

name. He'll call on me and I'll answer

him and I'll be with him in trouble. I

will deliver him and honor him. With

long life will I satisfy him and show

him my salvation. God knows how to keep

us in hard times.

You know, I think a lot of people think

everything's going to be great just a

little bit. We're going to win the war

with Iran and every Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Do we know?

Are we sure?

You say, "Well, we we beat the pants off

those people. How could we ever get in

trouble after all our army is done and

our navy is done?"

You never know.

You don't know, do you? And as wicked as

our country has been, who knows what's

what the future's going to bring. But

no, how bad it gets. Even missiles start

flying around and God takes care of his

own.

And he will take care of us.

And uh he took care of Eban Melik. He

took care of Jeremiah. That doesn't mean

we're automatic to survive an atomic war

or something, but it does mean we will

be taken care of because God is in

control. He's in control.

Um,

one writer, his name is Joan, said,

"There must have been something very

special about the quality of obedience

and fidelity exemplified by Ebid Melik

and Barack

Aruk which singled them out for the

oracles of salvation." And there was. Is

there something singular about you and

me? Are we different than other people?

is our faith in the Lord or no matter

what we try to do the right thing and

stick our neck out for the Lord.

Both of these men stood with Jeremiah

who stood up against everyone and stood

for the Lord.

You know, in the book of Revelation, the

144,000 are going to stand up for the

Lord and God protects them. If he didn't

protect them, they wouldn't last.

And the two witnesses are going to stand

up and they're going to be killed. but

resurrected.

And the apostle Paul persecuted but then

changed sides. And God took care of him

till his work was done. He took care of

John till his work was done. And Peter

till his work was done. We are

invincible till our work is done. We get

over occupied with the trouble in life.

And the greatest thing is these people

were vindicated as well as protected.

They weren't just protected. their

vindicator.

God vindicated them as he will vindicate

his own when the trumpet sounds. Father,

we thank you for this study in the book

of Jeremiah. It's a somber passage. It's

just a somber, sad business when the

capital city of the theocracy

is overrun, destroyed, and burned and

desecrated.

We know the whole world's going to burn

up someday.

this earth, even this heaven. And the

big question will be who will be who

will be after all that destruction. And

we know what the Bible's answer is. And

we thank thee for so great a salvation.

That is a greater thing than we can even

imagine.

So may we trust in the Lord with all our

heart. May we lean not to our own

understanding. May in all our ways

acknowledge him and he'll direct our

paths. May that be for our church, for

our families, for ourselves.

174. If you'll stand with us. 1741

[clears throat]

>> 174.

under his wings. [singing] I am Lord as

we go from this place. [music]

[singing]

Loving you more, trusting you more.

May the power of your love [singing]

and the light of your word [music] shine

to sin [singing] darken world as we go

[music] from this

>> [singing]