Jeremiah Chapter 39 "The City Taken." This Bible Study is written by Roger
Christopherson, and it's transcription/ location is
provided by http://www.theseason.org Jeremiah 39:1 "In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it." "Nebuchadrezzar" spoke of here is the same person as is called "Nebuchadnezzar" king of Babylon. Jeremiah 39:2 "And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up." So we see that the time of the siege was two years before the city finally fell to Babylon. It came to pass exactly as Jeremiah said it would be. It happened because Zedekiah was not man enough to command the people, and rule in accordance as God laid out in His Word, and the command was given to him. He was more interested in the jabberings of those princes around him, the in what the name of God had to say. Jeremiah 39:3 "And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon." When the city finally fell, the heads of the army of Babylon entered into the city. Lets look at the meanings of the the names interpreted. "Nergal-sharezer" is the "prince of fire or blaze"; "Samgar-nebo" which is the "the sword of nebo"; "Sarsechim" comes from the Akkadian tongue and means "the king's son"; "Rab-saris" is to say "chief of the chamberlains"; "Nergal-sharezer" another person named the "prince of fire"; and "Ramag" which means "one of the wise" [call him chief of intelligence]. So here we have the picture of the city of Jerusalem in its fallen state, and the heads of the victorius army are entering the city to take order over it. Jeremiah 39:4 "And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain." It was to late to surrender to king Nebuchadnezzar, and king Zedekiah the king of Judah saw that the city was lost. When the soldiers that defended Jerusalem and king Zedekiah saw the army and leaders of Babylon entering the city, they went through the garden and out the back gate, to flee from the onslaught they knew would come. Jeremiah had preached this victory for the past twenty three years, and it had come to pass. The panic had started, and like a pack of whipped wolves they are trying to flee the danger. Zedekiah is still taking things into his own hands, when if he would have given himself over, what is about to happen to him and his family would not have happened, for Jeremiah told him so through the Word given him by God. Man is a strange creature. How many people today if they had a message from a proven prophet of God, would refuse to listen to that prophet to the last breath. He would continue on doing things his way. A hero dies a single death, but a coward dies a thousand deaths. Jeremiah 39:5 "But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him." The Babylonians are not going to let this coward get away, they took off after Zedekiah, and the other soldiers that fled in the night. When they caught Zedekiah they brought Zedekiah to Reblah in the land of Hamath, which was in the Kenite land. We know from I Chronicles 2:55 that the families of the Kenites came from; "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez [Jerusalem]; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites; and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came from Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." Hamath was one of the offspring of Cain, and one of the fathers of the Kenites. King Zedekiah should have known where he took his first step that God had spoke, and that there was no way out of here. God said that you are going to die if you don't do it My way. So Zedekiah has been captured and now is about to face judgment before the king of Babylon. So we will see now what will happen to those that though they could do things their own way, and defy God. Jeremiah 39:6 "Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah." Keep in mind that the true nobles of Judah were already in captivity, and when the heard Jeremiah's words from Gad at the beginning of the first siege, they submitted themselves to Nebuchadnezzar. We can read of them in the Book of Daniel. Those nobles that were obedient to God like Daniel, Shadrach, Mechach, and Abed-nego were already educated and well tested by God under the new world order of that day. It didn't matter who was king over the system, for God appoints all rulers for whatever system exists. He sets kings and governments up and God takes them down when their purpose is served. These nobles then are the stiff necked noble that thought that they could do things their way, and defy the Word of God. They are the ones that tried to have Jeremiah killed, and were the stragglers and scroungers that were left behind after the first two sieges. Many of them were even Kenite stragglers mixed up within the leaders of Judah. When these men were killed by Nebuchadnezzar, he was not getting rid of the cream of the crop. Jeremiah 39:7 "Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon." You talk of Zedekiah's own wives and children mocking him and making light of him; after Zedekiah had witnessed the death of his own sons, and princes that had been fighting to keep Jeremiah in prison, and to be killed, he had his own eyes plucked out. King Zedekiah is put into chains and is marched like a dog back to Babylon. There is absolutely no dignity in any part of Zedekiah here. There is more to this then the physical aspect for Zedekiah was completely blind spiritually. He absolutely could not see any part of the hand of God in what was going on, nor could he see the evil going on in the land and Temple around him. He had no trust in God, or the things and people of God, to know that if it had been done God's Way, this dreadful march of scorn and shame, could have been one of peace and thanksgiving. Zedekiah could have been the leader to bring all of Judah back to God, but he chose to fear the thoughts of the princes, and worry about what the people would think of him. By doing it his way, there has been a great deal of blood shed. The king of Babylon is not the one marked guilty in God's book, for the death of Zedekiah's son, the princes or the taking of Zedekiah's eyes. Zedekiah did it to himself and it was his own fault. It was his disobeying God that caused it to happen. There are many dear souls living today that are handicapped physically, but they still see spiritually a lot more that many other do who are not. I'm sure that on the road to Babylon, blinded and in great shame, Zedekiah now wishes that he would have listened to Jeremiah and the Word of God. Jeremiah 39:8 "And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem." This is God's Word coming to pass exactly as spoken by Jeremiah in his many years of warning. Jeremiah 39:9 "Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained." This general, the captain of the guard of the Babylonian army, took all the people that were left in the city, including the deserters [them that fell away], and prepared them for their march into Babylon. This was a mop up operation after the battle. This is not talking about the cream of the crop in Judah, for they went voluntarily in the first two sieges, along with most of the gold, silver, and other valuable things. Isaiah 39 tells us how king Hezekiah many years prior to this fall of Zedekiah allowed the leaders of Babylon to see all the wealth, and defenses of Judah and Jerusalem, and what is happening now is the conclusion of the final destruction of Jerusalem to the pride and foolishness that kings of Judah brought upon themselves. Jeremiah 39:10 " But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time." In the takeover by Nebuchadnezzar, he saw many good people what were servants in part, and even some slaves. These people were extremely poor, and now that the wealth of the land was being taken, and the masters over them, Nebuchadnezzar gave them the vineyards, and fields to have and make their living. We see that the good people ended up owning everything. We remember what Jesus said in his sermon on the mound in Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." The "meek" are the good, mild and humble people that seek only do do the will of the Father. This is also what the prophetic meaning of this is in Jeremiah 39:10, and it is true. That is God's way. Humble and meek means humble and meek before God, which is not necessarily the way they are before their fellow men and women. Jeremiah 39:11 "Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying," Nebuzaradan is the same general that slew all of the kings sons, and gouged out Zedekiah's eyes. He is the one that ransacked the city of Jerusalem, and killed many of the people. Do you think that Jeremiah is afraid of Nebuzaradan? What do you think Nebuchadnezzar is going to have done to Jeremiah? Jeremiah 39:12 "Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee." Nebuchadnezzar is telling his commanding general, to go and find Jeremiah and see that he is well cared for. Let Jeremiah tell you what he desires to be done for him. It is at this time that Jeremiah is going to take charge of the daughters of Zedekiah, for Jeremiah knew the promises that that were given to David and that there should always be one of his offspring, his seed to sit over the House of Israel. The sons simply can't do that for they were all put to death, but the seed line of David will be turned over to the daughters of Zedekiah. On the chart of the lineage of kings and queens on page 104, the name, "TEA TAPHI" is the daughter of Zedekiah that Jeremiah would bring to Ireland, and marry into the lineage of Scotish and Irish kings. Tea Tephi would marry, Eochaidh, the Harmon. This is the first overturning of the crown. Excerpt from the book, "Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright" , written by J. H. Allen: Chapter III p.249: "Morton W. Spencer says, "It is an undeniable fact that about 580 B.C. (i.e. about the very time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon), that a princess from the East did arrive in the North of Ireland. Her name was Tephi, a pet name like "Violet", denoting beauty, fragrance. Tea Tephi was her full name found in Hebrew. The Tea, a little one, and Tephi answering to a surname Taph, the root word, is used in many scriptures (Genesis 34:39, and Deuteronomy 1:39) (Vide Concordance). Her names were interchangeably used as Tea, Taffe, Taffes, Tephi, the Eastern Princess, the Daughter of Pharaoh, and Tea Tephi; either of these serve to identify her as "The King's Daughter." In Egypt she was offered protection, and from her the city of Taphanhes or Dahpnae wsa named, doubtless, and to this day we are shown the site of "The Palace of the Jew's Daughter", by the Arabs. The fact that she fled the country is still preserved in her name, Tarah, meaning one banished or flight." We will discuss more of this in detail in a later chapter. But do you understand that by Jeremiah's obeying God, God had this man allow Jeremiah to determine what orders should be applied to him. God takes care of His own when you obey Him. When the pressure was on Jeremiah, and no one would listen to Jeremiah, it looked pretty bleak, but when the enemy came and the city and all the people were in the hands of the enemy, then the king of Babylon is the one that gave the order to treat him well. Friend, lets move this to the future sense, and it applies to you and I. The king of Babylon will respect those that stand against him. It doesn't mean that he loves you, nor does it mean that he won't try to destroy you spiritually, but you might call it honor that exists among thieves. There does is an honor amongst thieves, it is a respect that they have for an qualified opponent, and that has always existed. Nebuchadnezzar respected Jeremiah, though he believed entirely different, and was a follower of Nebo, the god of learning. Jeremiah was a follower of the living God. We know from Daniel 4:37 that Nebuchadnezzar was converted later to the living God, and wrote part of the book of Daniel. Daniel 4:37 "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase." So as you are delivered up in this generation, you will receive more respect from the Antichrist then those so-called ministers that go whoring after him. The people you know in your family, and church, in their deception will give you far more problems then will Satan, and the fallen angels that come with him out of the bottomless pit, when Michael kicks Satan to the earth, as we read in Revelation 12:7-9. Satan doesn't care about those that worship him as the Christ, for he knows that they have already been deceived, and thrown their rewards at his feet. Any thief respects a qualified opponent, but the people that fall all over him, he just doesn't respect at all. This is documented in Revelation 17. The entire church world will go chasing after this great woman, which is the whore that will reign over the beast, which will be the religious system that will come into being when the political one world system that we have today falls. This will happen very shortly, because God has spoken it. Satan doesn't have any respect for anyone that is so stupid as to put their security of their very soul in a make believe fairy tale, and throw out the rest of God's Word which would have prepared them to do battle with him. As long as you obey God, you have nothing to worry about. God takes care of His own. Here the king that allowed Jeremiah to be killed, has seen the tragedy of his own family, while Jeremiah is about to be set free. Jeremiah 39:13 "So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's princes;" Jeremiah 39:14 "Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people." The top general sent the top people under him to free Jeremiah and send him home. Jeremiah was committed into the hands of the governor of the land, Gedeliah to be looked after, when the Babylonian army would leave the area. The Babylonians treated Jeremiah better then his own people did. Do you think there is anything new under the sun? Do you know that Satan, when he comes will speak higher of you, then he will of those that flock to worship him, and think he is the Christ. It is true, you will be allowed to speak before him, and then it will be the Holy Spirit that will do the talking through you. That is the only time that you could ever commit the unpardonable sin, and that is why you must be will to turn yourself over to the Holy Spirit for the speaking of tongues through your mouth. It is at this time, standing before the Antichrist, that you will allow the Spirit's Words to flow free. The unpardonable sin cannot be committed until Satan the Antichrist is on the earth and you are delievered up before his church. Luke 21:15 tells us that even those that try to "gainsay" from what you say, will not be able to resist you, when your family will not believe a word you say that comes from the Holy Spirit. Your own family will still hold to their church systems, and doctrines, and will reject every thing that you say. Jeremiah 39:15 "Now the word of the LORD come unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying," Remember when Jeremiah was in the pit, the mire of the cistern and the princes were about to starve him to death. Remember the black man from Ethiopian that went to the king and pleaded with the king to have mercy on Jeremiah and that what he was doing was wrong, and to spare Jeremiah's his life? Now after the battle, while Jeremiah is still in the prison, and the men of Babylon are coming to free him, God came to Jeremiah again and told him what should be done with this loyal servant of his. God is pointing out to us here that He rewards those that assist His prophets. "Ebed-melech" or "servant of the king" was going to be rewarded for his tender kindness to Jeremiah, even in the gentle care he gave while retrieving him from the pit. you can count on it, if you have rewards coming, you will get it, just as if you have correction coming you will also get it. Jeremiah 39:16 "Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith 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." The city has already fallen, and the captivity is well underway, however God spoke this to Jeremiah back when he was in prison, before the fall. This is the carrying out of the Word that Jeremiah had received. In the phrase, "Behold I will bring My words upon this city for the evil,..." Remember that God does not bring evil on anything. It should read "I will bring adversity and tumult to the city" and that adversity is correction for the sins that those within it have committed. Jeremiah was told to tell the servant Ebed-melech the Ethiopian that you will see this come to pass, and his king taken captive. The warning to us today is that each of us today will see the tribulation, however... Jeremiah 39:17 "But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid." ...however, don't worry about it, you will not be delivered into the hands of the enemy. God is promising that He will take care of you when this comes to pass. Jeremiah 39:18 "For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD. " When Ebed-melech see these things happen before his eyes, and people falling all around him by the sword, God is promising that He will give Ebed-melech his life as a gift back to him. God is do this because thou hast put your trust in Me saith the LORD. How is your faith doing friend? When your life is involved how much do you leave the outcome in the hands of the Lord. Where is your trust when your soul is on the line, do you believe Him when He says "I will never leave you nor forsake you", or are you relying on fairy-tales on the last ditch effort to escape the time that God has said you will face, when you live in this last generation. Even this little Gentile servant is remembered by our Heavenly Father when the battle is over, because He is one of God's children, and He knew enough to trust in the Lord and act when when God relied upon him. God takes care of His own.
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