Jeremiah 52 - a hope after the chaos

 In Jeremiah 52 we come back to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah has been preaching during the reigns of:
. Josiah (640–609)
. Jehoahaz (609)
. Jehoiakim (609–598)
. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) (598)
. Zedekiah (597–587)

We see that Josiah was good king and Jehoiachin received the favour of the Evil-merodach king of Babylon, however, in general, the kings were bad.

We read:

2 As far as God was concerned, Zedekiah was just one more evil king, a carbon copy of Jehoiakim.

Jehoiakim was the bad king that burned Jeremiah writings. Jehoiakim would kill Jeremiah if possible, but Zedekiah could have been killed Jeremiah but didn't. To my concern Zedekiah seemed a little better than Jehoiakim.


12-16 In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon on the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon’s chief deputy, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned the Temple of God to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off the city. He burned the whole place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking down the city walls. Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had earlier deserted to the king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt farmers behind to tend the vineyards and what was left of the fields.

The temple was destroyed. The temple represented a place where earth and heavens meet. Although the Lord wanted to show his presence through a phisical building and rituals, He wants more the heart of his people, so He punished his people and showed his back on them. Would the anger of the Lord destroy his people? Is there any way to the people of the Lord survive this destruction?


31-34 When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. This release took place on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. The king treated him most courteously and gave him preferential treatment beyond anything experienced by the political prisoners held in Babylon. Jehoiachin took off his prison garb and from then on ate his meals in company with the king. The king provided everything he needed to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

Jeremiah finishes with a message of hope: a David descedant is honored by Evil-Merodach (successor of Nebuchadnezzar II). In the text of Jeremiah, we read that the people of the Lord will return to his land. One great effect of the Babylonian exile was the removal of idol worship. The Lord is a teacher who uses the necessary methods to make his students learn.