Week # 37 Study Page

Jeremiah 36-52

About the Book(s)

Jeremiah

Date of Authorship: It is widely agreed that some form of the collection of Jeremiah's writings was produced during the prophet's lifetime, and Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch, had some of Jeremiah's prophecy recorded and delivered to king Jehoiakim (see chapter 36) as early as 605-604 BC. Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet in 627 BC. The latest historical event recorded in this book is the death of Nebuchadnezzar which occurred in 562 BC (chapter 52). thus the final edition of the book of Jeremiah was completed at least that late, almost certainly after Jeremiah's death

Author: The book of Jeremiah does not claim to have the prophet of Jeremiah as its author. Instead, it claims to contain the words of Jeremiah the prophet. We are not told for certain, but it seems likely that these words of Jeremiah were recorded, narrated, and then collated by his scribe Baruch (again, see chapter 36). It seems that Baruch goes down to Egypt with the captive Jeremiah, and Baruch is even the object of one of Jeremiah's prophecies in chapter 45.

Purpose: Jeremiah is the message and story of a prophet of God to His people who He has seen enough from. Jeremiah's earliest prophecies seem to include the possibility of repentance and forgiveness, but those invitations cease and Jeremiah pronounces an inescapable and irrevocable judgment upon the people of Judah. Jeremiah lives to witness the punishment of God's people, and later turns his prophetic message to the nations surrounding Israel in the ancient world. Jeremiah's message is not limited to Judah's destruction, but also includes a promise of restoration and rescue after God's people have suffered their punishment for some time. Jeremiah's sadness and misfortune are a living portrayal of the way that God has been treated by His people. In the midst of God's punishment upon Judah, Jeremiah is offering the people chances to be obedient to God and cut their losses. However, with each new decision, the people of Judah show that they are bent on disobeying God, and the result is a baron, people-less land of Judah.

As You Read Notes

Jeremiah 39: the fall & Exile of Jerusalem

As discussed last week, there is a healthy amount of disagreement about which 70 years are the 70 years of prophesied exile for Judah according to Jeremiah. This illustrator marks the 70 year exile from 607-538 and shows Daniel as having been taken … — As discussed last week, there is a healthy amount of disagreement about which 70 years are the 70 years of prophesied exile for Judah according to Jeremiah. This illustrator marks the 70 year exile from 607-538 and shows Daniel as having been taken into exile in ~607. I (Joel) agree with him on the former, but believe that Daniel was taken captive in 598/597 in in regards to the latter.

Jerusalem falls to Babylon in 586 BC, two years after the Babylonian siege began. The leaders and people of Jerusalem did not obey God's command through Jeremiah to surrender to Babylon, and as is often the case in the ancient world, the penalty for requiring an invading army to lay siege to your city, was total destruction. The account of this destruction is found in chapter 39 and then in an identical account at the end of Jeremiah, in chapter 52. As the Babylonian army demolished the walls of the city and Solomon's temple, they once again (first exile was in 598/597) exiled the wealthy and important Judahites. This practice of deporting rebellious populations was popularized by the Assyrian Empire who had done the same to the Northern Kingdom of Israel more than a century earlier. This was both a political and an economic ploy. It was designed to hold a portion of the people as hostages while a native vassal-king/governor continued to rule. The Babylonians still wanted to take tax revenue from Judah, so they left behind the landless poor, distributing to them the fields and vineyards which had been taken. By redistributing the land that had belonged to persons now exiled, the Babylonians created friendships with the landless poor and also laid the foundation for the agricultural and economic restoration of a land that had been devastated by years of warfare.

Below we will discuss the history of redistributed Judah, but the focus of the Bible's story shifts away from Judea-Palestine at this moment, to the exiles in Babylon. In the timeline above, you can see that during the Babylonian captivity, all the action and characters of the Bible are in Babylon, not the promised land. The future of God's people lies primarily among those exiled, and not among those who remained in Judea. This giant upheaval of exile and redistribution is the reason why thorough genealogies, like the ones we read in 1st Chronicles are so vitally important to the Israelites who will return from Babylonian captivity. They had to look back many generations to piece back together the nation that had once lived there.

Jeremiah 39:6: Zedekiah's Fate

Do you remember what Jeremiah told Zedekiah about his fate, when he refused to surrender to the Babylonians as God commanded?

Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. (Jeremiah 32:4)

This prophecy was fulfilled with an extra dose of sadness and irony.

There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. (Jeremiah 39:6-7)

Jeremiah 40: Judea after its destruction

Above is a chart showing the succession of the kings of Judah from Hezekiah, to the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC

After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 and the arrest of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar installed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Gedaliah was a Judahite, an important official who was likely "Master of the Palace" under king Zedekiah. A seal impression bearing the name Gedaliah has been found at the Judean city of Lachish likely from the period before the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.

While Gedaliah was an Israelite, he was not from the line of David, and his ascension to the throne in succession of Zedekiah marks the end of the Davidic kingship. Gedaliah rules from Mizpah, eight miles north of Jerusalem on the border between Israel and Judah, likely due to the fact that Jerusalem was too much of a ruin to remain the capitol. Gedaliah shows promise as a ruler and seems to get some positive momentum going in Judea, but his reign only lasts one or two months. He is assassinated by Ishmael a Davidic heir with the help of the Ammonites.

The assassination of Gedaliah had two major consequences. First, a Babylonian governor was then placed over Judah ending the prospect for self-governance until the return of the exiles is decreed by king Cyrus of Persia. Second, a large portion of Judah, likely fearing Babylonian retribution for the assassination of the leader whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed, fled to Egypt, against the warning of God through Jeremiah. When they fled to Egypt, they kidnapped Jeremiah and received a curse from God.

Jeremiah 52:31-33: Hope for the kingdom of David

Jeremiah records the end of the Davidic kingship in chapter 39 when Gedaliah is made ruler, and then, just two chapters later, records the end of Israelite self-rule, when Gedaliah is assassinated. God had promised David that his kingdom would never end. That promise was conditioned on faithfulness, and now Judah's unfaithfulness has led to its demise. However, God is faithful to his promise, the Davidic kingship will one day be restored. Despite all the gloom in the book of Jeremiah, the book ends with a message of hope for the line of David. In exile, the grandson of Josiah, Jehoiachin, is released from prison and given a seat of honor. this late and brief conclusion to the book shows the reader that God is remaining faithful to his promise, even through the punishment he has brought upon his people.

Week 37 Study Page - Jeremiah 36-52