Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Jeremiah 34, 37-38

Jeremiah 34 (When the Babylonian army is fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities)
1-7 Jeremiah Predicts Death in Captivity for Zedekiah
  • God tells Jeremiah to go to Zedekiah and prophesy that the king of Babylon will burn Jerusalem with fire.
  • Zedekiah will not escape, but will be captured and taken to Babylon.
  • He will not die by the sword, but will die in peace in Babylon, and the people will mourn over him.
  • At this time, Lachish and Azekah were the only fortified cities to remain standing in Judah.
8-22 Treacherous Treatment of Slaves
  • Zedekiah orders the release of all Hebrew slaves in Jerusalem, and the people comply.
  • Then they enslave them again.
  • God tells Jeremiah to say to the people that part of his covenant with his people was that every seven years all indentured Hebrew slaves must be set free.
  • Their ancestors had not heeded this word, but they had, but only for a little while.
  • In enslaving the freed slaves, they profaned his name.
  • "You have not obeyed me by granting a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to grant a release to you, says the LORD – a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine."
  • I will make you a horror, cut you into two like a sacrificed calf, and hand officials over to your enemies; their corpses will be food for the animals.
Jeremiah 37
1-10 Zedekiah's Vain Hope
  • Zedekiah sends Jehucal (son of Shelemiah) and Zehaniah the priest (son of Maaseiah) to Jeremiah to ask him to pray for them.
  • Meanwhile, when the Chaldeans (Babylonians) hear that Pharaoh's army had come out of Egypt, they withdraw from their siege of Jerusalem.
  • Jeremiah tells the men that Pharaoh's army will return to Egypt, and the Chaldeans will return and fight against Jerusalem and burn it.
  • Even if Judah defeats the Chaldean army, and only one wounded Chaldean remains, he will burn the city with fire.
11-21 Jeremiah Is Imprisoned
  • When the Chaldean army withdraws from Jerusalem, Jeremiah decides to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his property there.
  • When he reaches the Benjamin Gate, a sentinel named Irijah (son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah) accuses him of defecting to the Chaldeans, arrests him and takes him to the officials who in rage beat him and imprison him in the cistern house [other versions translate this dungeon) of the secretary Jonathan, where he remains many days.
  • King Zedekiah sends for him and questions him in private, asking for any word from the LORD.
  • Jeremiah answers and tells him "Yes. You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."
  • Jeremiah pleas with the king to release him from the house of Jonathan, so Zedekiah orders that Jeremiah be put in the court of the guard, where they give him a loaf of bread every day, until all the bread in the city is gone.
Jeremiah 38
1-6 Jeremiah in the Cistern
  • When Shephaniah (son of Mattan), Gedaliah (son of Passhur), Jual (son of Shelemiah) and Pashhur (son of Malchiah) hear that Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, they ask the king to put him to death because his prophecies are bad for morale.
  • King Zedekiah tells them to do what they must do; he is powerless against them.
  • They throw Jeremiah into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, letting him down by ropes.
  • There is no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sinks into the mud.
7-13 Ebed-melech Rescues Jeremiah
  • Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, hears what they have done with Jeremiah, and goes to the king (who is sitting at the Benjamin Gate) and tells him they have put Jeremiah into the well to die.
  • The king orders Ebed-melech to take three men with him to pull Jeremiah out of the well.
  • They get rags and old clothes from the king's wardrobe, drop them into the well and instruct Jeremiah to place them between his armpits and the ropes so they can lift him up.
  • They return Jeremiah to the guard house.
14-28 Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again
  • Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah and asks him not to hide anything from him.
  • Jeremiah tells the king if he tells him the truth, the king will kill him, but the king swears that he will not.
  • Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that if he surrenders to the king of Babylon, his life will be spared and the city will not be burned.
  • Zedekiah says he is afraid of being abused by the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans.
  • Jeremiah tells him that will not happen, if he obeys God and surrenders to Babylon.
  • But if he does not surrender, his wives and children will be taken to the Chaldeans and the city will be burned with fire.
  • The king tells Jeremiah not to reveal the conversation, under penalty of death.
  • Jeremiah is to tell anyone who asks that he went to the king of plead with him not to send him back to the house of Jonathan.
  • When the officials ask him, he answers as the king has instructed, they leave him alone, and he remains in the guard house until the capture of Jerusalem.

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