2 Kings 25 Jerusalem Falls Pt 2

The wall comes down and Jerusalem falls. Zedekiah tries to escape, but he is caught. The last thing he sees is his sons killed in front of him.

I know. It’s been taking a while to get to this spot. Jeremiah is providing plenty for us to add to our story. I’m grateful for the identifying information that helps me put the stories together. I like the timeline presentation, verses the one book at a time look. I’m hoping you enjoy it too.

Jerusalem is under heavy siege. It lasts for 30 months. That’s almost three years! Imagine being locked in your own city for that long. Even the biggest of cities would run low after that long. Let’s rejoin our story and see where the Spirit takes us on our journey today.

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Siege mounds surround the city. Nebuchadnezzar’s troops are dug in deep. No one and nothing goes in or out of Jerusalem. There is one exception to this rule, and that is, defectors may come out to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah has told the people that, if they surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, they will live.

People are trickling out of the city under cover of darkness. They are looking for relief for all that is going on within the walls.

By the end of the first year, food is in short supply and only the wealthy have access to it. Prices are ridiculous and keep climbing as the supply dwindles. Disease and malnutrition affect the very young and the old. Miscarriage and stillbirth are on the rise, as mothers don’t have enough nutrition to sustain their own bodies, let alone a developing baby.

Most of the people trust in their king. “He will find a way to get us through this” they tell themselves and anyone who will listen. They grab hold of favorable prophecies like they are made of pure gold. Jeremiah’s prophecies are definitely not among those the people want to hear.

Jeremiah is in the court of the guards and receiving a loaf of bread a day for his portion. It’s not much, but it is enough to sustain him. He has family members who are not as fortunate. God will use one of them to bring a message of hope to His people. That’s not what is on the mind of the one seeking Jeremiah though. He is hoping for a little money to help him buy food for himself and his family.

God sets the stage by speaking to Jeremiah about the upcoming visit. “Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours’” (Jeremiah 32:7).

Jeremiah begins watching for his uncle Hanamel. He doesn’t have to wait long. When the sun reached its zenith, Hanamel stood at the gate of the court of the guards.

“I need to see the prophet Jeremiah. I have heard that he is under guard here.”

“He is. What business do you have with him?”

“It is a family matter of some urgency.”

“Wait here while I check with the king, to see if he is allowed visitors.”

Hanamel waits while the guard confers with the king.

“Yes. He may have visitors, but he is not to go about shouting to the people that the city is going to fall and that we are all going to be carried away into captivity.”

“You may enter” the guard tells Hanamel when he returns.

“Thank you.”

Jeremiah was expecting this visit, so he is nearby when the word is given that Hanamel can be admitted. “Shalom uncle. What brings you to my humble abode” Jeremiah says with a half-smile.

Hanamel looks around. “It may be humble, but you appear to want for nothing.”

“Nothing but the freedom to go about my days as I see fit. But, yes, I am being well cared for by my keepers. Let’s get back to the reason for your visit.”

“Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself” (Jeremiah 32:8).

Jeremiah knows immediately that this visit is from the Lord. “I would be honored to redeem the land. What price are you asking for it?”

Hanamel looks ashamed as he names a price. “Fifteen shekels of silver.” He doesn’t believe that Jeremiah will be able to use this land any more than he can, with the present circumstances. But he needs money to feed his family.

Jeremiah doesn’t haggle at all. He brings out his coin purse and starts counting out the money requested. It takes nearly all he has, but this is from the Lord. He will trust the Lord to take care of his own coin purse, when the need for filling it again arises.

Hanamel’s face glows with relief as Jeremiah counts out the coins for him. The deed is signed in front of witnesses. Once the deed is signed, Jeremiah seals it. An open and the sealed copy is then given to Jeremiah.

“Can you summon Baruch for me please” Jeremiah asks one of the guards.

Minutes later, Baruch stands before Jeremiah. “Shalom Baruch. I have a task for you, and no, it will not require you to write copious amounts of text” Jeremiah says with a smile.

“I’m always ready to do whatever I can to help. Even if it means writing for days on end.”

Jeremiah hands the two deeds to Baruch. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (Jeremiah 32:14-15).

“I will do exactly as you have instructed” Baruch says. He bows, then exits the court of the guards.

Jeremiah watches Baruch leave. Then his heart begins to ask why. He figures that the men guarding him want to know as well. Jeremiah prays for understanding.

 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans’” (Jeremiah 32:17-25).

Jeremiah’s prayer is for understanding of why God would have him buy a field when he KNOWS that the people are going to be carried away into exile VERY soon. He doesn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“This captivity isn’t going to last forever. Yes. I am punishing Israel for their sin. And, yes, Judah is going into captivity and this city will be burned with fire. But My eyes are still on My people. At the right time I will bring them back form the places I have scattered them. I will give them a new heart. One that will remain true to me. They will follow my statutes and obey my laws. They will not chase after other gods and forsake the God who has delivered them. Then, they will again buy fields and plant vineyards in this place that was once considered a devastation and wasteland. Is ANYTHING too hard for the Lord?”

Jeremiah makes certain to share this message of hope. God has NOT abandoned His people! But punishment and correction HAVE to come first.

Days march on and desperation mounts in the city. Two years have gone by without any relief. The people are losing hope. Jeremiah’s message was a shot in the arm of hope for them, but even that is forgotten as they face the daily struggles for survival.

Food is in extremely short supply. Only the wealthiest have access to it. The cupboards are bare, the storehouses stand empty, the bodies consume themselves from the inside out, and disease is rampant. No one is safe from starvation now.

Jerusalem has run out of graves for the dead. Tombs have been opened and filled to capacity. The dead are piled against the wall in the poorest part of the city. Flies, birds, vermin and even the dogs feast on this growing supply.

To protect against the siege mounds, many of the houses in the city have been torn down so their materials can be use in building defensive positions. As a result, housing is in almost as short of supply as food is. Many sleep in doorways or ruined buildings.

God sees the people’s desperation and sends them another message. Yes. What is transpiring is justly deserved punishment. Even as angry as God is with His people, He STILL loves them. The ‘lesson’ will have it’s conclusion, and THEN will come restoration.

Jeremiah shares the word of the Lord with the people. “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their  sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

“Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

“‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

“For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever” (Jeremiah 33:2-18).

Even with this word, the people still continue to cry out in despair. “How will we KNOW for certain?” “Maybe He has forgotten us all together.”

God answers that despair too.  “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ²¹ then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

“Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight.  Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,  then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them” (Jeremiah 33:19-26).

Being remembered by God, and being assured of it does not stop the struggle that the people are experiencing. But the message Jeremiah has not stopped speaking from the time Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers surrounded the city is one of immediate help.

“Thus says the Lord: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken” (Jeremiah 38:2-3).

The longer Jeremiah proclaims this message, the more people sneak through the walls into the arms of the Chaldeans. For, even in the court of the guards, Jeremiah has not ceased calling out to the people.

It is well into the second year of the siege. There is nothing left to eat. Not even for the wealthy. Those who slip through the walls are the only ones who have a chance to eat.

A despised but productive use has been found for the dead, that continue to be added to each hour. The bodies of the dead are piled in reinforcing heaps all along the walls of Jerusalem. The only portion of the wall not fronted by dead bodies is the king’s quarter.

Despair permeates the city as thick as the stench of rotting flesh and discarded refuse.

Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah have had their fill of listening to Jeremiah telling the people to defect to the enemy! They want Jeremiah stopped, before everyone deserts to the enemy, or they are so defeated that they put up no resistance when the day comes.

They take their case to Zedekiah. “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm” (Jeremiah 38:4).

Zedekiah is defeated in spirit. He doesn’t even put up a fight. “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you” (Jeremiah 38:5).

These men don’t want Jeremiah’s blood on their hands ‘directly’, so they choose a route that ‘lets nature take its course’. They grab ropes and Jeremiah. They take him to the mouth of an empty cistern. Not even the relief of rain fills the cisterns in the city. All that remains is mud at the bottom.

Jeremiah does not struggle or resist these men’s hands. A rope is placed around Jeremiah and lifted up under his armpits. His skin is fragile from starvation, like most of the others in the city. He is dropped over the edge of the cistern and lowered to the bottom with the ropes. There is enough moisture left in the cistern that the mud is soft. Jeremiah sinks into the mud up to his thighs. Once his body fully settles, the ropes are retrieved. Jeremiah’s blood stains them from where they bit through his skin. Jeremiah looks up at the mouth of the cistern and watches as each man departs. There is none to help him. And this is exactly as the group intended it to be. Jeremiah will die in the cistern of starvation, and these men can claim they had nothing to do with his death.

Malchiah, the king’s son was bragging to some of his friends about what had been done to Jeremiah. “You should have seen his face when we all walked away. It was so pitiful! He won’t be joining the Chaldeans.”

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king’s house overhears Malchiah bragging. He understands the motive behind the treatment of Jeremiah, but he is a man of God. To treat him this way is to invite even MORE judgment from the Lord. He quickly goes to the king to address this situation.

Zedekiah is in his garden when Ebed-melech finds him. He approaches with caution and waits for the king to acknowledge his presence. Once he is certain he has the king’s attention, he states his case.

“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city” (Jeremiah 38:9).

Zedekiah’s heart seizes with fear. This is not what he thought the men would do to Jeremiah when he gave them permission to stop him. NO ONE deserves to die like that. “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies” (Jeremiah 38:10).

Ebed-melech knows that great force will be needed to pull Jeremiah free of the mud. He will need protection from the ropes. After gathering the men needed for the task, Ebed-melech stops by a storehouse that holds the old and discarded clothes of the royal family and rags reserved for the servants. He grabs two armloads of these and takes them over to the cistern. He quickly ties the rags and clothes together to make a comfortable harness. When all is ready, he calls out to Jeremiah while lowering the rags and ropes into the cistern.

“Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so” (Jeremiah 38:12).

Jeremiah reaches up and takes hold of the rags. He wraps them around himself twice before reaching for the rope. He wraps the rope around himself and ties a secure knot. “I’m ready” he calls out.

It takes the strength of all 30 men to break Jeremiah free from the mud. Once he is free, it only takes a few men to bring him the rest of the way out of the cistern. When he reaches the mouth of the cistern, Ebed-melech reaches out an arm and grasps Jeremiah’s arm. Ebed-melech hauls Jeremiah the last few feet to safety.

Jeremiah is again on solid ground. All the men who helped bring him up have dispersed, except for Ebed-melech. “Whose decision was it to bring me up from the cistern” asks Jeremiah.

“It was the king’s command” answers Ebed-melech.

“But who put the idea into the king’s head?”

“I heard what had been done to you, and I went to the king to ask for mercy.”

“Thank you my friend. I will not forget your kindness.”

Three days later, Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah. He has him brought to the third entrance of the Temple. When he arrives, Zedekiah dismisses the guard. “We will be fine here. Go and tend to your other duties.”

The guard bows, then leaves the two men alone. Zedekiah is wringing his hands and his gaze is darting about. Jeremiah waits patiently for him to be ready to speak.

“I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me” (Jeremiah 38:14).

Jeremiah has a feeling that he knows what the question is going to be. And he knows the king is not gong to like the answer. “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me” (Jeremiah 38:15).

Zedekiah rushes to put Jeremiah’s fears to rest. “As the Lord lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life” (Jeremiah 38:16).

Jeremiah doesn’t even need the king to ask the question. God has the answer waiting. “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand” (Jeremiah 38:17-18).

Zedekiah is struggling. He doesn’t want the fate waiting for him if he doesn’t surrender, but he is afraid of the people who have already defected. “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me” (Jeremiah 38:19).

Jeremiah tries to reassure him. “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you and prevailed against you; now that your feet are sunk in the mud, they turn away from you.’ All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire” (Jeremiah 38:20-23).

Zedekiah shakes his head in defeat. Then he looks Jeremiah in the eye and gave him firm instructions. These instructions will protect both of them.

“Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there’” (Jeremiah 38:24-26).

Jeremiah bows and then the king walks him back to the court of the guard. No sooner than the king left, the elders approach Jeremiah. They are insistent that he tell them what their conversation was about. Jeremiah, not one to lie, tells them the same thing that the king instructed him to say. After all, he did have that conversation with the king some months ago.

The elders drop their hard press when Jeremiah won’t change his story. No one was close enough to overhear the conversation, so they have no proof that anything different than Jeremiah reported was said.

Jeremiah searches out Ebed-melech after the elders leave him alone. He has a message for him from the Lord. Jeremiah easily finds him. “Walk with me please.”

After the two men are in an area where they are relatively alone, Jeremiah shares God’s word with Ebed-melech.  ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord’” (Jeremiah 39:16-18).

“Thank you for sharing this word with me. It gives me great comfort. Even though I am not a Hebrew, I KNOW the Hebrew God is Lord above ALL gods of this earth or even the heavens. I put my life in His hands.”

Zedekiah wrestles with the words of the Lord for another week. He truly wants his life spared. But Jeremiah didn’t say he would die. “Maybe sticking it out won’t be so bad” he decides.

The next day takes the decision out of the king’s hands. Just as the sun is ready to sink behind the hills, Nebuchadnezzar’s men breach the wall surrounding Jerusalem. The city is in a panic! People running everywhere, trying to hide or escape.

The light is fading fast, which makes searching the city a problem. Nebuzaradan, the supreme commander of Nebuchadnezzar’s army, issues orders.  “Post a double guard at the breech. Inside and out. NO ONE leaves this city tonight!”

Zedekiah gathers all the fighting men, the elders and his family together in the palace. No candles are lit and voices are hushed. “We leave tonight by the secret gate in the garden. We will only be able to pass through it one at a time, so keep a close watch on the people around you.”

In the second watch of the night, Zedekiah and his group slip through the gate. They move as silently as possible. They make it almost to the edge of the Arabah before they are spotted. An alarm is immediately raised and troops take off after the band of deserters.

Sheer numbers of pursuers, as well as weakness of the escapees from starvation, guarantee their capture. The group makes it to the plains of Jordan before being overtaken. The fighting men of Judah scatter and leave the royal family and elders defenseless. They are quickly subdued and brought to Riblah where they face Nebuchadnezzar himself.

“Welcome Zedekiah. I see you have met my bodyguard, Nebuzaradan. He is an excellent servant. It’s too bad that you don’t have any servants like him. You might not have lost your precious city with a few of him.”

Zedekiah says nothing.

“Nothing to say? I’m going to give you a demonstration of his prowess and usefulness.”

Nebuchadnezzar nods to Nebuzardan. Nebuzardan knows exactly what his king is calling him to do. He has done this several times already, with other conquered kingdoms. Nebuzardan pulls his dagger from his belt and begins moving through the group of elders like a river rushing through the rocks in its bed. Slicing here, stabbing there, and thrusting from behind. The elders fall in his wake.

Nebuchadnezzar watches Zedekiah while the Nebuzardan is busy. Once the elders are downed, Nebuchadnezzar holds a hand up and Nebuzardan stops. He wipes his blade on the sleeve of one of his victims.

“He is very skilled, wouldn’t you say?”

Zedekiah gives a barely perceptible nod. His face is ashen. Nebuzardan didn’t even break a sweat as he dispatched the elders. He isn’t breathing hard or tired. Zedekiah worries what may come next.

He doesn’t have to wonder long. The guards drag Zedekiah to stand beside Nebuchadnezzar. “I thought you might like a front row seat for this next part. It is something I want you to remember for the rest of your life; in chains.”

The guards move the king’s family to stand before the two men. Nebuzardan comes behind each of the women, reaches across their necks, and cleanly severs the veins in their necks. Each clutches her neck as she falls and is dead within moments. The king and his sons look on in horror!

Once the women are dispatched, Nebuzardan turns to the king’s sons. They don’t die so easily. Each is sliced across their stomach so deep that their bowels spill on the ground. There is no escaping the Nebuzardan as he swiftly moves from one son to the next. Zedekiah is crying out for him to stop, while he is being physically restrained by the guards.

Zedekiah watches as his sons writhe in pain on the ground. With tears pouring down his face, Zedekiah pleads for Nebuzardan to release them from their suffering. Nebuchadnezzar nods and Nebuzardan quickly dispatches the king’s sons. Those holding Zedekiah release him as he falls to his knees sobbing. “Kill Me!”

“You don’t get off that easily” says Nebuchadnezzar. He reaches down and grasps Zedekiah’s head. Then he presses his thumbs into Zedekiah’s eyes until blood and water run from them. The death of his sons is the last sight Zedekiah will ever see.

Zedekiah is hauled to his feet and put into a wagon cage. From here he is taken to Babylon where he will live out the rest of his days in a cell.

After dealing with Zedekiah, Nebuzardan returns to Jerusalem. His men began searching the city at first light. When he arrives, prisoners are lined up with chains securing them together. There is nothing in the way of food or livestock for spoils, but there is gold, silver, and other precious metals and jewels.

Nebuzardan, himself, passes through all the houses of the officials and the king. They are thoroughly searched, including knocking holes in the walls looking for hidden spaces. After the homes are searched, Nebuzardan turns to the House of the Lord. He searches EVERY room in the entire structure, no matter how insignificant it looks. In the courtyard, he has his men cut the bronze basin, the stands, the stand for the bronze basin, and even the bronze pillars in pieces. These will be carried off to Babylon.

After taking everything that isn’t ‘nailed down’ from the Temple, Nebuzardan turns to stripping the gold from the walls and ceilings of the Temple. Nothing but bare wood and stone remain when the army of Nebuchadnezzar is finished.

The spoils and the captives are moved outside the city gates. As atrocious as the task is, because of the bodies, the walls around Jerusalem are knocked down. Then the whole city is set on fire. Nebuzardan’s men move through the city methodically, starting in the farthest corners and working their way to the gate. There is not a single building that is not set on fire.

The captives watch as their city is razed. Tears flow freely down the faces of the people. Even those who defected weep at the sight. Jeremiah shakes his head. He knew this was coming, but seeing it in person is a lot different. He holds onto hope though. He knows that his God is not through with him yet.

Once the city is fully engulfed, Nebuzardan orders the company to move out. They are on their way back to Babylon. Their first stop will be Ramah.

(to be continued)

We finally reach the end of Israel’s monarchy and the fall of Judah. Both ‘kingdoms’ are now removed from the land the Lord gave them. But their story DOES NOT end here! God is not through with them. There is MUCH growing to do before they return a changed people.

I find it interesting that Israel has had to endure near inhalation on several occasions. But God doesn’t give up on them. He keeps bringing them back. He has a purpose for Israel, even now. He chose them for a purpose. Even though they rejected Jesus, God’s Son, He isn’t through with them. We are told that there will be 144,000 who come to Him in the end times. Twelve thousand from EACH tribe. Man has lost track of all but two. God hasn’t.

God NEVER loses track of ANY of His children. Even us gentiles. He wanted us from the beginning as well. We are NOT an afterthought or a second string. We, who have surrendered our lives to Him are just as precious as ANY person in the bible. Believe it or not, He loves us as much as He loves King David, King Solomon, Moses and even Samuel. Most of us don’t have as significant a role in his plan as these men did, but He loves us JUST AS MUCH.

Father God, thank You for Your love! I know I’m just one of the ‘little people’ in this world, but I’m the ‘apple of Your eye’. I’ll take that! I also know that, being Your child doesn’t exempt me from having struggles. Your story of Jeremiah proves that, if nothing else. I trust YOU to care for me as perfectly as You cared for him. I’m You child, and You watch over ALL Your children. Thank You for that PROMISE.