Is there any reason for centuries of hope?

"Serving the King of Life"

(Jeremiah 39, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 22, 2009)

Jeremiah 39:1-18 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. ² In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. ³ Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him. ⁶ The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. ⁸ The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. ¹⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. ¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, ¹² "Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you." ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon ¹⁴ sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people. ¹⁵ The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: ¹⁶ "Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, '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. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.'"

The Fall of Jerusalem (1-8)

What will it be like for those who have ignored the Word of the Lord when the Day of Judgment finally comes? What will it feel like for those who have habitually disregarded the plain truth of the Scriptures, and have thought of themselves as a cut above the simple Christians who believed God's Word? Many follow false prophets and lying teachers who claim that there will be no judgment to come. They willingly ignore what the Word of God clearly says in any number of areas of behavior and life, and then assume a moral superiority when they say, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." What will they say when the trumpet sounds? What will be their defense concerning the way that they have misrepresented Christ and His Kingdom?

We have something of a glimpse of that day in the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Zedekiah (Meaning: "The Lord is my righteousness") had more than ample warning of the danger that was coming. He was unwilling to hear the words of the prophet with a heart that was ready to obey them. As the years went by, his fears seemed to grow, but he could find no way out as he considered his options. There was a way. He needed to do as God had instructed. He needed to surrender to the Babylonians as an expression of His submission to God. This was the only way out, and this seemed impossible.

Even after one and a half years of a siege against Jerusalem, even after the city walls had been breached and key Babylonian officials had taken their seats in the place of power, Zedekiah and his army attempted to escape by night. They were pursued, and frightful punishments were brought against them with swift and unwavering determination. It is horrible to lose a child. What can be worse for a king, than to see his sons killed before his very eyes. Not only does he face the grief of any parent, but he also sees the end of his hope for a descendant to sit as king. The murder of his sons was essentially the last thing that his eyes ever saw on this earth, for his own eyes were put out on that horrible day. Through all of this he had the extra horror of knowing that God had warned him about another way that could have been, a way that he had rejected.

God's Care for His People (9-18)

In addition to the loss of the sons of Zedekiah, the nobles of Judah were put to death, the wall was broken down, and the king's house was destroyed. Anyone of any use to the Babylonians was taken into exile, and the rest were left in the land. This was a horrible day of destruction when it seemed that all was lost. Anyone who was left standing on such a day was filled with profound regret, convinced that nothing more could possibly remain in their lives that could at all be called good.

In contrast to this violent assault, the king of Babylon gave a special instruction regarding Jeremiah. He was to be cared for. No one was to do any harm to him. The prophet had been in confinement in the court of the guard for some time. Interestingly, he ended up staying with the poor and the weak who remained in the land after the destruction of the city.

Another man that was treated well was the Ethiopian servant of the king who had earlier pleaded with Zedekiah for the rescue of Jeremiah from a muddy well, where he would have starved to death. The chapter ends with a flashback of a message from the Lord through Jeremiah for this man. God would deliver him from the fate of the nation on the day of Babylonian victory. Whether in the case of Jeremiah or Ebed-melech (Meaning: "servant of the king"), we are reminded that God is well able to deliver particular individuals from death or harm even in a day of general destruction.

Jesus and His Church

Normally, when we think of the way that the Lord is able to save the righteous, we have reason to think about the honor and integrity of one person as opposed to another, and the reward that the Lord gives to the righteous, which is of course connected to their righteousness. What if the city had been spared from trouble and only two men had to suffer from the Babylonians? What if the Day of Judgment came, and the most righteous man was blinded, and everyone else was given protection? This seems incomprehensible to us. It makes sense to us that Zedekiah faces one outcome, and Jeremiah another. We cannot conceive of their ends being traded, so that the righteous one suffers for the wicked, and the wicked one is rewarded as if he were righteous. Nonetheless, in the coming of the one that Jeremiah had announced by the title that was Zedekiah's name, "The Lord is our righteousness," we have exactly this situation, and we call it good news.

What was it that uniquely qualified Christ for the cross? It was His unparalleled righteousness. If He had sinned, He would have been disqualified from serving as our atoning sacrifice. If He had sinned, there would be no meaning to the cross. The death of Christ would seem horribly wrong, were it not for the fact that the cross was not the end of the story in terms of the good news of God. Christ has risen indeed, and in Him we have resurrection. He has not only satisfied God's holy demands of perfect righteousness, He has not only carried the full weight of the eternal debt of our guilt before God, He has done these things in such a way that He rose far above them. In His life, we see life. He identified with us, the poor and the weak, and He has stayed with us, though it cost Him everything.

There are still many occasions when the sentence of punishment seems to fit the crime of the person, but the gospel is not one of those occasions, for the sinless One has taken our hell and we have been granted His heaven. Let us all flee today from unrighteousness. Let us get the point of the destruction of Jerusalem and hate the prospect of falling into the hands of a God who would bring upon us a punishment we well deserve. But let us especially trust in God, and rejoice in the sure hope we have of eternal protection in the bountiful righteousness of the life and death of Christ for sinners.

Jesus and Spiritual Overseers

If all of the Lord's church needs to know and embrace this message of grace for sinners through the death of Jesus, it is especially important that those who are charged with the spiritual oversight of the Lord's people keep the facts of Christ and His cross continually before their eyes. What enables a man to take His stand with those who are despised and poor? You who are called to care for the Lord's family through teaching, preaching, counseling, and shepherding, you who have a special duty to oversee the ministry of the church, so that we all do not forget Christ, the cross, and the resurrection, you must feed yourselves with the food of heaven, you must drink of the freshness of the water of life. If you do not do this, you will not be able to teach others the way of grace, and you will have no hope in a day of overwhelming trouble.

What we teach, we must first learn. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." Recently I was with someone who expressed great concern for the direction of our nation. He said to me, "You have more than one arrow in your quiver. You may have hope, however weak, of what good may come in this land in our lifetime. That's one arrow. But you have another arrow, that no matter what happens here and now, there is something more, something better that you believe in." I agreed with him. It is my confident expectation that, because of what Christ has done for us, the breach between heaven and earth will be forever repaired, and that heaven and earth will be together again in the most delightful way. This is coming. It will happen. He looked at me very sincerely and said, "You really believe that, don't you?" Elders, you need to believe in the resurrection, or you will never be able to nourish others in the Christian hope. This hope is in Jeremiah's name, which means "The LORD will raise."

Jesus and Servant Leaders

If all of the Lord's church needs to know and embrace the grace of God through Jesus Christ; if the elders of the church need to lead all of us in believing in the hope of the resurrection, communicating this hope in all of their teaching, counseling, and leading; it is very important that the deacons of the church lead us in the way of confident service and goodness, consistent with these words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Even the smallest acts of kindness, goodness, beauty, order, and truth that the littlest child performs, if these things are in Christ, then these good works will stand in the age of resurrection, because your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Deacons, you have a wonderful opportunity to lead us in rescuing people out of the pit. Someone needs to lead us in lowering down the cloths into the well so that Jeremiah can do something so mundane as put those cloths under his arms together with the ropes, so that we can lift him out of a muddy pit. We do not know what is happening in the world all around us right now. But we do know that Christ has saved the wretched who would flee to Him. We do know that a day of resurrection life is coming, a day beyond the pain and misery of the present moment. We do know that our lives now have meaning and purpose in the One who speaks to us and says, "Behold, I am making all things new!"

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. What happened to Jerusalem and why was it happening?

2. What did this mean for the various groups and individuals mentioned in this passage?

3. What are some of the New Testament uses of a consideration of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC?

4. Could there ever be any solid basis for many centuries of hope?