Fall of Jerusalem - 2 Kings 25:2-21; Jeremiah 39:2-8, 52:5-14, 39:12-14, 52:24-27, 52:17-23, 39:9-10, 52:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Gedaliah and Jeremiah - 2 Kings 25:22, Jeremiah 39:15-18, 39:11-14, 40:1-6
"When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, "The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the Lord has brought it about; He has done just as He said He would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists." - Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, Jeremiah 40:2-4
I wonder what Jeremiah thought when a Babylonian official, Nebuzaradan, spoke to him with an understanding of God's prophecy and will? He had a better understanding than Judah's King Zedekiah. Was it shocking to Jeremiah? That these invaders, these non-Jewish people, someone other than God's chosen, had such a clear understanding? For God had chosen him/them for this work. I wonder how Nebuzaradan had come to this intimate understanding of God's will? He was an instrument for the Lord who knew he was. Is he a believer? It sounds as if he is. How many believers in Babylon and Egypt outside the Jews? What is the story of these people? I love to know the story of the Babylonian believers. Just as I love the stories of those who did not grow up Christian but found the Lord and made the conscious choice to go in a direction other than the one their families had pointed them in. It takes courage in those circumstances to go your own way. How can the family not feel it's a condemnation of their lifestyle? The struggles and arguments, the desire to see them know Christ.
So after chapters and chapters and so many prophecies pointing to this moment, Jerusalem falls in a handful of verses.
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