I will save you; you will not fall, by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in Me, declares the LORD. Jeremiah 39:18 (Jeremiah 37-38, II Kings 25)
King Zedekiah keeps badgering Jeremiah for some news of hope. None is forthcoming. The only prophecy Jeremiah delivers is the message to cooperate with the invading Babylonian forces. Jeremiah is accused of keeping moral low among Jerusalem’s residents, but famine, drought, pestilence and warfare are the problem, not Jeremiah’s truth. With the city under siege, Jeremiah leaves to check on his own personal property and is accused of trying to escape for nefarious purposes. He is beaten, then imprisoned. Zedekiah tries to be faithful and rescues Jeremiah, but he is a weak man and cannot apply any faith in God to overcome his nation’s problems.
When Nebuchadnezzar’s men finally enter Jerusalem, they pillage the temple, remove EVERYTHING of value and burn it to a pile of rubble. Then they kill those of nobility, men, women and children, and take some of the poor captive, but then, in an act of brilliant repopulation, Nebuchadnezzar gives the poor people vineyards and wine presses and leaves them to reside in Judah.
Finally the prophets are vindicated. Their messages have proven true. Jeremiah is first taken with the captives. Nebuchadnezzar recognizes him as a man of honor and integrity and offers him a position in his court. Rather than live the rest of his life in comfort with the ‘haves,’ he choses to live the rest of his life among the ‘have-nots.’
Eventually, Jeremiah becomes a refugee in Egypt to escape conspiracies against him. From a very young age, this man, called to save his people, remained faithful when there was no viable, earthly evidence that he should. He watched those he was sent to save, perish, but he was faithful, because, on the very, absolute, worst day, God is Good! He is Hope and He loves us.
Love,
Gretchen