The Fall of Jerusalem
52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.
Chapter 52 is a post script to the Book of Jeremiah. It was most likely written by Baruch, who was the scribe of Jeremiah. It is still part of the Book of Jeremiah. It is still part of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. Most of this chapter is also contained in 2 Kings 24-25.
King Zedekiah was a young man of 21 years old. He ruled until the age of 32. His mother was Hamutal. She was the daughter of a different Jeremiah, because Jeremiah the author was from Anathoth. She was also the mother of King Jehoahaz. This means that King Zedekiah and King Jehoahaz were full brothers. They were both the sons of good King Josiah and Hamutal. King Josiah had other wives, concubines, and sons as well. King Zedekiah was also the half-brother of King Jehoiakim.
52:2 He did what displeased the Lord just as Jehoiakim had done.
King Zedekiah did not follow the godly example of his father King Josiah. Instead, he followed the wickedness of his brothers.
52:3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Jehovah was angry at the human viewpoint decisions of King Zedekiah. Therefore, Jehovah judged King Zedekiah for his sin. Verses 3-16 record this judgment. This judgment began when Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It was God’s will for Israel to be subservient to Babylon for the next seventy years, one year for every Sabbath year which they missed. They had missed 70 Sabbaths during the last 490 years so their punishment was seventy years of captivity. Jehovah took the Mosaic Law seriously.
It is important to note that God takes the Word of God seriously as well. He expects his creation to study the Word of God daily at the deepest level. If unbelievers refuse to study and believer the Word of God, then they will burn in the Lake of Fire forever. If believers refuse to study and apply the Word of God, then they will be make human viewpoint decisions and be spanked by God. Those mature believers who study and apply the Word of God will receive rewards in heaven. Those believers who do not study and apply the Word of God will lose rewards in heaven. Also, carnal believers may suffer the “sin unto death.” God may bring carnal disobedient believers home early. He will give their job and their rewards to another.
52:4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.
Verses 4-6 recorded the siege of Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem began around January 10, 589 B.C.
52:5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
The siege lasted for 18 months.
52:6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.
When Jerusalem ran out of food, then they were forced to surrender.
52:7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.
Verses 7-8 recorded the fall of Jerusalem. The Babylonian soldiers busted a hole in the wall and began pouring into the city. The Israeli soldiers attempted to escape by night through the King’s Gate. They headed towards the Jordan Valley of the Arabah. Jericho was located in the Jordan Valley. The soldiers were hoping that they could escape to safety by crossing the Jordan River.
52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him.
King Zedekiah was captured in the plains of Jericho. He was only a short distance from the Jordan River. His royal guard deserted him.
52:9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.
King Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar’s military camp at Riblah. The territory of Hamath is the modern territory of Syria.
52:10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.
King Nebuchadnezzar executed all of the sons and governmental officials of King Zedekiah.
52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.
King Zedekiah was blinded. The last thing that he saw was the death of his children and his court officials. King Zedekiah was escorted to Babylon and imprisoned for the rest of his life. The Messianic seed would be preserved and protected in Babylon for the next seventy years.
52:12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem.
Verses 12-14 recorded the judgment of the land of Israel. Nebuzaradan was the chief general of King Nebuchadnezzar. He arrived in Jerusalem around August 10.
According to 2 Kings 25:8, the author recorded that this event happened around August 7. Many skeptics point out that this is a Bible contradiction. The answer to this so-called contradiction is that Nebuzaradan entered the city on the 7th, but he did not start the destruction of the actual city until the tenth day.
52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.
General Nebuzaradan burned down the Jewish temple, palace, and the houses of the people.
52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.
General Nebuzaradan tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen.
Those who survived the bloodbath were taken captive as slaves to Babylon. The Jewish population was depleted.
52:16 But he left behind some of the poor and gave them fields and vineyards.
Those poor who lived outside of Jerusalem were left to work in the fields and pay tribute to Babylon.
52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” They took all the bronze to Babylon.
The Babylonians broke the two pillars of brass which held up the temple. They were taken as plunder to Jerusalem. The first pillar was called “He will establish.” The second pillar was called “in his strength.” Together, the two pillars meant “He will establish (the temple) in his strength.”
52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.
The Babylonians took as plunder the bronze utensils of the temple.
52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.
The Babylonians plundered the gold and silver utensils of the temple. King Belshazzar of Babylon would later bring out these utensils into a drunken orgy. This human viewpoint decision would cost him his kingdom. The writing of Jehovah;s hand would appear on his banquet wall, predicting the immediate fall of Babylon.
52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands) was too heavy to be weighed.
The two pillars and the bronze bulls were too large to be weighed.
52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high, about 18 feet in circumference, three inches thick, and hollow.
The pillars could be measured for height and width, but they were too heavy to weigh.
52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it.
The pomegranate-shaped ornaments were also plundered.
52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.
There were originally 400 pomegranate-shaped ornaments. Over 200 of them had disappeared.
Notice that the Ark of the Covenant was not mentioned. The Shechinah Glory had already departed from the Jewish temple during the prophetic ministry of Ezekiel. Therefore, the Ark of the Covenant was no longer under divine protection. The Babylonians most likely stripped the gold of the Ark of Covenant and took it to Babylon. The wood was most likely burned with the rest of the city.
52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.
Verses 24-27 recorded the execution of the Jewish leadership. The captain of the guard gathered up these Jewish leaders.
Seraiah was the chief priest and grandfather of Ezra. Ezra would be the Jewish priest who would return to Jerusalem seventy years later with a small contingency of Jews.
Zephaniah was the assistant chief priest.
The three doorkeepers were responsible for the financial upkeep of the temple.
52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city.
The ministry of defense, the drafting officer, and sixty of the privates were captured.
52:26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
General Nebuzaradan took these Jewish captives to King Nebuchadnezzar at Camp Riblah.
52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile away from its land.
All of these political and religious leaders were executed. The rest of the citizens of Judah were taken into the Babylonian Captivity.
52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.
In 17 years, King Nebuchadnezzar deported 4,600 Jews to Babylon in three deportations. Many skeptics would argue that these numbers disagree with 2 Kings 25. However, 2 King 25 contains the number of all of the Judah “deserters” while this verse contains the number of adult male Jews taken captive “from Jerusalem.” Therefore, there is no contradiction.
Jehoiachin in Exile
52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.
Verses 31-34 recorded the release of King Jehoiachin, He was released in 561 B.C. Evil-Merodach was the King of Babylon. He reigned from 561-560 B.C. He only ruled for one year, because he was assassinated. Ancient kings did not live very long lives, because they were often assassinated by others who desired their power and position.
52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
Many of the captured kings ate at the same table with King Evil-Merodach. However, King Jehoiachin was given special privileges and special protection.
52:33 Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.
King Jehoiachin was treated as more of a house guest than a prisoner. The influence of Daniel may have been involved in this decision. Daniel understood the importance of protecting the Messianic line.
52:34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.
King Jehoiachin was given a special allowance. At the Ishtar Gate in Babylon, archaeologists have excavated jar handles with the names of King Jehoiachin and his five sons.