Okay. Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. If you are making it with us, congratulations if you've gone through the whole way of Jeremiah, longest book by word count in the Bible, and we are finally coming to the conclusion, Jeremiah chapter 52. How does it wrap up? So, how does Jeremiah conclude this book? Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll work through it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. And we pray, God, that as we read your word this morning, your Holy Spirit would be working in our hearts, that you would teach us, that we would hear your word, that we would understand it, and that it would be applied to our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Here we go. Jeremiah, chapter 52. Let me grab my Bible here. Jeremiah, chapter 52. It's really four different parts, so we're going to read, talk, read, talk, read, talk, read, talk. Okay, here we go. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. He also did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For, because of the anger of Jehovah, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah. Till he finally cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army came against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 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. 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, which was by the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. and they went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All this army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he killed the princes of Judah in Riblah. also put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death." So this is the conclusion of saying, okay, so Zedekiah was king, Zedekiah rebelled, he was evil, God did this because of his anger at the evil, and He judges. King Nebuchadnezzar besieges, surrounds the city, attacks it. The men of war and the king try to flee. They go through the back door essentially trying to get out. They're captured. The king judges them. Nebuchadnezzar judges them. And what does he do? The very last thing that Zedekiah sees with his human eyes is Nebuchadnezzar kills all of his sons, all the princes of Judah. And then, to make sure it was the last thing he ever sees, he gouges out his eyes. And then he takes him by prisoner to Babylon. So that's verses 1 through 11. Now, 12 through 23. Now, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard who had served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of Jehovah and the king's house, all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defactors who had deserted the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze seed that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all the bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one C, the twelve bronze bowls which were under it, and the carts which King Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. Now concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was 18 cubits. The measuring line of 12 cubits would measure its circumference, and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow. The capital of the bronze was on it, and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network of pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar with pomegranates was the same. 96 pomegranates on all the sides, all the pomegranates all around on the network were 100. Alright, so what happens in this section is this is Nebuzaradan, this is the captain of the guard, he comes and now it's not just describing the besieging of Jerusalem but now it is the the capturing, the burning down, the destruction of both the temple and the king's palace. The emphasis on the temple because it's describing all the grandeur and beauty and now booty that has become the Babylonians' plunder of Jerusalem. So that's what's going on in that section 12 through 23. 24 through 20 or 24 through 30. the captain of the guard, took Saria, the chief priest, Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king's close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. And Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land. These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews. In the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons. In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons were 4,000. 600 so we find here that the people are actually taken into exile wave by wave by wave and so it's only the poorest people who are left or farmers and vine dressers we had seen that in the first section and it's it's this stripping away of people This is how King Nebuchadnezzar treated conquered lands, was destroy the god, destroy the royalty, and destroy the priests and anybody who was in power. Strip them all and take them away into foreign lands. Now the Assyrians would send them all over the place, but he was bringing them to Babylon. They're going to be there. And then the very last words of Jeremiah chapter 52. Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that 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. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments and 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 of Babylon a portion for each day until the day of his death all the days of his life. So Jehoiachin is shown mercy by this new king, evil Merodech, and he's brought up out of prison, given new clothes, and is given a ration at the king's table. So, this is the conclusion of Jeremiah. The city is destroyed. The temple's torn down. The palace is gone. The people have been taken away in waves and droves. There's no more nobility, no more priests. Everybody of prominence is dead or exiled. And all that's left is the poor people of the land. And the king is somehow graciously honored in Babylon later. But... Jerusalem's in ruins. Everything that God had said to Jeremiah early on has come true. Even though people didn't believe that this could ever happen, it did. God was faithful to his word. And why had he done this? verse 2 and 3. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the Lord, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till he finally cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. I think that's what I would underline in my Bible, verse 2 and 3, as kind of the best verses to summarize this whole section. calling us to do, this conclusion of the book of Jeremiah. Do we walk in the ways of the Lord, or do we want to go on our own paths? We know that we are those who are no better than the Jewish people. We can't look with pride upon them and think, oh, I would have done something different. No, every single time that we violate God's commands in our own lives, we show that we're the same way. And yet God is merciful and gracious, abounding in love and kindness. And in Jesus Christ, he has shown us a mercy that's far above anything we could ever expect or imagine. because He's given us His own Son. He's given us hope. So we don't willfully sin against Him and run away from His laws. We don't engage in all sorts of immorality of the old man, but we humble ourselves, submit ourselves, and trust in the Lord. And that's what I would encourage you. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in your heart that He is your Lord, that he died for your sins, that he's your only hope in life and death. Confess him as Lord with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and walk in the newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Abide in Christ, and bear much good fruit. Let's pray. God, you've given us the longest book of the Bible. We've been in Jeremiah a long time. but you are faithful and true and good. You have shown us again and again that you are a holy God. You're not someone to just be trifled with. You're not a toy or a trinket, but you are the holy one of Israel. You take sin seriously. Thank you that you have given us a way to be made right with you and your son. God, please help us to follow you. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Now let us, please God, let us abide in Jesus. Let us be so connected to the vine that we would bear good fruit. Let our lives be a testimony to your grace and to the power of the gospel and of your Holy Spirit. We pray, God, this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, may you rest in the Lord. May you follow in all of his ways. May you hope in him forever. I'll see you next time, bye.