Suffering and Deliverance (Part 29) – Jeremiah (Part D)

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1. The Babylonians came and besieged Jerusalem for a year and a half before conquering it (Jer 39:1-2).
   1. Zedekiah did not listen to the counsel of Jeremiah and fled the city by night instead of remaining and submitting the king of Babylon (Jer 39:4).
   2. He was captured, his sons were killed before his eyes, his eyes were put out, and he was carried to Babylon (Jer 39:5-7).
   3. The city was burned and destroyed and those who remained in the city or had fallen away to the Babylonians were carried away to Babylon (Jer 39:8-9).
   4. The poor of the land which had nothing were left in the land of Judah and given vineyards (Jer 39:10).
   5. God saved Jeremiah from death while the nation was judged.
      1. When Jeremiah was found by the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar charged the captain of the guard to take care of him and do as Jeremiah said (Jer 39:11-12).
         1. What other prisoner of war gets treated like that?
         2. When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Pro 16:7).
         3. He that is diligent in his business shall stand before kings (Pro 22:29).
      2. At the order of the Babylonian princes, Jeremiah was removed from the prison and carried home and dwelt among the people (Jer 39:13-14).
      3. The nation was so far gone that Jeremiah could only deliver himself by his righteousness while the rest of the nation was judged (Eze 14:14).
      4. While Jeremiah was in the prison he relayed a message from God to Ebedmelech, who saved his life previously, that he would be spared and not killed like the rest because he trusted in God (Jer 39:15-18).
   6. Jeremiah was offered the opportunity by Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard to go to Babylon or to stay in Judea (Jer 40:1-4).
   7. Jeremiah chose to go to Judea and dwell among the people of the land, so the captain of the guard gave him food and a reward and let him go (Jer 40:5-6).
2. Jeremiah prophesied unto the Jews which were left in Judah after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and told them to remain in Judah and not go down into Egypt (Jer 42:9-18).
   1. They didn’t listen to Jeremiah and took the entire remnant in Judah including Jeremiah down into Egypt (Jer 43:1-7).
   2. While there, Jeremiah prophesied against the Jews who went to Egypt and told them that they would all die in Egypt (Jer 44:11-14), except for those who would escape (Jer 44:14).
   3. While in Egypt, Jeremiah also prophesied against Egypt and its king (Jer 46), the Philistines (Jer 47), Moab (Jer 48), the Ammonites, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam (Jer 49), and Babylon (Jer 50-51).
   4. To my knowledge there is no record of what happened to Jeremiah after he was taken to Egypt.
   5. He may have been one of the ones who escaped (Jer 44:14) and went back to live on the land that the LORD told him to purchase (Jer 32:6-10, 15), but there is no certain proof of that.
   6. According to tradition from extrabiblical sources, Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt.
      1. “After Gedaliah was assassinated, Jeremiah was taken against his will to Egypt by some of the Jews who feared reprisal from the Babylonians. Even in Egypt he continued to rebuke his fellow exiles. Jeremiah probably died about 570 BCE. According to a tradition that is preserved in extrabiblical sources, he was stoned to death by his exasperated fellow countrymen in Egypt.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Jeremiah, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremiah-Hebrew-prophet).
      2. There is no Biblical proof that Jeremiah was martyred in Egypt.
3. There are some lessons we can learn from the life of Jeremiah.
   1. God sometimes calls young men to perform great tasks for Him, and He promises to sustain them during them.
   2. We must never be afraid of the angry or sneering looks we get from people whom we are commanded to reprove.
   3. Just because everyone is against you doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
   4. God will sometimes pardon a city if even one man seeks the truth and executes judgment.
   5. A lot of people pretend to be godly, but are deceitful.
   6. Most people would rather hear a lie that makes them feel good than the truth which hurts.
   7. Some people are so wicked that they should not be prayed for.
   8. If you stand for the truth, you will be lonely.
   9. Men will conspire to destroy those who stand for and proclaim the truth.
   10. Bold preachers can expect to be put in prison.
   11. The Lord can deliver his people from prison by those who are sympathetic to them.
   12. After being persecuted and imprisoned and then delivered by God from prison, the LORD will sometimes allow us to go back.
   13. If a preacher condemns his own nation for its sin, he will be called a traitor.
   14. If we are in prison or suffering affliction for proclaiming the truth, and we are given a second chance to change our message, we must be steadfast in the truth regardless if it means staying in prison.
   15. Don’t be afraid to ask your captors for mercy – they might just deliver you or make your situation easier to bear.
   16. If our ways please the Lord He will make our enemies at peace with us.
   17. Those who are friendly toward us will often turn on us when they face pressure from others.
   18. God can deliver us from situations which seem humanly impossible to be saved from.
   19. God will use acts of godly deception to deliver His people.
   20. Those who disobey God out of fear will be destroyed while those who obey will be spared.
   21. God can save the righteous from a judgment that the rest of a nation suffers.
   22. God will make those who trust Him find favor in the eyes of foreign invaders.
   23. God will allow us to suffer captivity repeatedly if it is His will.
   24. While in prison, never stop preaching repentance and righteousness.
   25. God will bless those who stay where the church is regardless of the cost, and God will punish those who move away from the church for some perceived benefit or safety.
   26. God’s faithful people are sometimes martyred despite their faithfulness.