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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Jeremiah 52

Do all good things have to come to an end? Jeremiah is an amazing book of prophesy, and with this final chapter, the book comes to an end. The chapter seems to be an historical epilogue, closely following the words of the final verses of Second Kings. Of course there is a unique impact of these words coming at the end of this great prophetic book, where we have been able to see the life of Jeremiah as a suffering servant pointing forward to Christ, our great prophet. Jeremiah was also despised and rejected by men. We do not know much about Jeremiah’s end personally from the Bible, but in this final chapter we learn about the end of two kings descended from David, about the end of the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and all its furnishings, and about the end of the people of Israel.

With the end of Zedekiah, we are receiving the story of the last Davidic King until the coming of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem some 600 years later. Zedekiah was a wicked king, we are told, and this news does not surprise us after following the story of the sons of Josiah throughout this book in some detail. It is worth mentioning one more time that the father of Zedekiah and his brothers was not a wicked man. In fact their father Josiah was one of the greatest kings in the history of Israel and Judah. In a day of horrible apostasy and idolatry He led an extraordinary life for the Lord. Yet he sons and his grandson (Jehoiachin) were disobedient to the Lord. This puzzles us, and we are given no real explanation as to why a man of such great faith as Josiah would have such a sorry legacy in his own family. It is important for us to remember that no matter how great a blessing our descendants may be, that our secure hope has never been and will never be in them.

Zedekiah simply would not give close attention to the Word of the Lord. He could not see His way to obeying the obvious instruction of the Lord’s prophet. His end was devastating. He lost his sons, and lost his eyes, and was carried away in chains. He died in prison in Babylon. This was the end of the reign of the sons of David.

By the agency of Nebuchadnezzar, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, including the very temple of the Lord. This was a devastating development. Remember the reaction of the priest Eli when he heard that his sons had died in battle and then heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been captured. We are told that he fell over and died at the latter news and not at the former. How much more would the righteous mourn to see the entire temple of the Lord destroyed! Included in that temple were all the remaining furnishings and decorations of gold, silver, and bronze that had not been carried away previously. All of these things were holy to the Lord, and now they were being taken to Babylon. Of course the whole city of Jerusalem was holy to the Lord, and here we learn of its destruction. The king’s house, the other great houses, the walls – all gone. This was the end of the temple and of the city that David had captured from the Jebusites so many centuries before.

The king was gone, the temple was gone, the city of gone, and in a real sense the people of Israel were gone. This, of course, had been coming on for many years. First the Assyrians had troubled the northern tribes. Israelites were resettled in other parts of the Assyrian world and other captive peoples replaced them in the land. The northern part of Israel would never be the same. Later there would be a series of campaigns by the Babylonians bringing about the exile of the remaining people in Judah, leaving in the land only those who would be of little use to their captors. What a sad moment in the story of God’s grace! God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regarding a people. God had rescued His people out of bondage in Egypt and had led them into the Promised Land. The Lord had made them into a nation, subdued peoples under them, and gave them many kings and prophets. Now the worst had happened, and we have the story of the end of Israel recorded for us .

There is one encouraging note. Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, was released from prison and had a place around the table of the king of Babylon until the day of his death. While this is something of a positive note, we were counting on more than the removal of prison garments. Is this really the end?

If this looks desperate, how much worse would it be six centuries later after such a long time of subjection to foreign powers? When all hope of a better day for Israel may have seemed lost under the yoke of Roman rule, a child was born in the city of David to a mother and stepfather who were both of the line of David. This baby, and not Zedekiah, would be the fulfillment of the promise of a Son of David who would reign forever. This child and not the building on the top of Mount Zion would be the fulfillment of the greatest temple of the Lord. This man would save a new Israel, now comprised not only of Jews, but also of Gentiles.

When this great Son of David died on a Roman cross, it would not be the end of the story, but a new beginning. On the third day He rose again, and now we are counted as the temple of the Holy Spirit in Him. He has secured for us the Jerusalem which is above, and He will bring her forth one fine day when our faith shall be sight, at the unveiling of the new heavens and the new earth. There we will be together forever, because all good things do not necessarily come to an end. God’s promise to us in Christ is eternal.

Our secure hope is not in our descendants, or in our homes, or in our cities. Our confidence is not in our buildings, or in our nations. Our hope is in One God, and in One Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our salvation, and who has been enthroned forever in the Jerusalem above as the King and Head of an eternal and perfected Church. That is the end of a true story of which the words of Jeremiah are an important part.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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