Jeremiah 52
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes things don’t always appear to be what they seem. In this story, we’re going to see someone who appeared to show kindness to Jeremiah, even while others were being taken captive.
Nebuzaradan was the captain of the guard. And in the case of Jeremiah, Nebuzaradan was kind to him. He went to the prophet in Judah, Jeremiah. And he said, “You can do whatever you want to. If you want to go to Babylon, you can go. If you want to stay here, you can stay.” And Jeremiah decided to stay.
You’ll see that Nebuzaradan wasn’t always as kind as that act seemed.
True freedom is in Christ, the Son of God.
FALL (Jeremiah 52:1-11)
King Zedekiah reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the most powerful kingdom in the world at that time. Zedekiah was there at Nebuchadnezzar’s pleasure, but he decided to rebel against him.
It came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the 10th month, on the 10th day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it. They built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the 11th year of King Zedekiah.
Have you ever felt like you were under siege in your personal life? Sometimes it’s just because we live in this old world and trouble comes our way. But there is also such a thing as the chastening of the Lord when we do things that are wrong and rebel against Him.
The devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to destroy your testimony and your personal spiritual life.
By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. It got so severe that two women agreed that in order for them to survive, they would eat their own sons. When the king heard about it, he tore his clothes.
The city was starving, and now the walls were about to be breached. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls. And evidently Zedekiah fled also.
They came between the two walls by the king’s garden. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They took King Zedekiah and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment on Zedekiah. Zedekiah’s sons were paraded before him, and the Babylonian soldiers killed his sons before his eyes. Then the soldiers took prominent princes of Judah and brought them before Zedekiah and killed them. Then they put out Zedekiah’s eyes. The last things Zedekiah saw were all of these murders. The king of Babylon bound Zedekiah in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon and put him in prison till the day of his death.
That was the fall.
FIRE (Jeremiah 52:12-23)
Just think what it would be like if you were sitting in your own church and suddenly heard the doors being flung open. You smelled smoke and saw people coming in with torches. They started setting fire to the pews, the platform, and everything around you. The fire began spreading, and you jumped up and ran outside. When you looked around, you realized the whole church was on fire.
That’s what Nebuzaradan did with their temple. They came in and burned it. Inside were many utensils and instruments made of bronze, gold, and silver, and they took those away. They took the pots, shovels, bowls, spoons, basins, fire pans, lampstands, and other bronze utensils the priests used in their ministry.
Whatever was solid gold or solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the Sea, and the 12 bronze bulls underneath it were too large to haul away. They broke them into pieces and carried the precious metals away.
That was the fire and the plundering of the temple.
CAPTIVITY (Jeremiah 52:15-30)
Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took some of the priests, officials, and people from the city and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
The captivity didn’t happen all at once. Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year 3,023 Jews. 11 years later, he carried away captive 832 persons from Jerusalem. In the 23rd year, five years later, Nebuzaradan carried away 745 Jews. All in all there were 4,600 carried away.
But they didn’t kill them all. They were offered the opportunity to do good things with the skills that they had. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were taken captive and became some of the wise men for the king. Daniel was also taken captive and put in a high position of authority.
There were some people left in Jerusalem including some of the farmers and vinedressers.
That’s exactly what Satan wants to do with us. He wants to take us captive in order to destroy our faithfulness to God.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing when you see people going through great sorrow and wonder how they are able to make it? The sorrow is still there, but God gives them a sense of peace. Maybe you’ve experienced that sometime in your life. You didn’t know how you were going to make it or work it out, but somehow you did because you’re here today.
FREEDOM (Jeremiah 52:31-34)
“And in the 37th year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 25th day of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him out of prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.” Jeremiah 52:31-34 (NKJV)
Wow. There it is. He was in prison, and he was given some measure of freedom.
When we have things going on in our life and we are captured by them, there is a freedom that’s greater than just physical freedom, and that is the freedom that’s in Christ.
Satan wants to steal our joy, destroy our service to God, and discourage us so much that we want to quit. He wants us to be captive to him. But whom the Son sets free is free indeed.!
Whatever oppression you’re going through, you can receive a measure of that freedom that’s in Christ. You can receive a measure of that joy that you don’t have yourselves.
I had somebody tell me they kicked something cold turkey. Praise the Lord for every sober day! Sometimes there is a relapse, but that’s a very important time to stop and say, “God, I need your help again. Help me. Lift me up. Give me strength.”
Praise God that He can change a person’s life. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
CONCLUSION (Revelation 21:4)
The problem is that we still live in this old world, and there may be all kinds of trouble going on around us even when we’re free in Christ. But one of these days there will be no more death, no more sickness, and no more sorrow, for all these things will have passed away. That promise is for Christians.
Will you come to Christ and be set free?