Jeremiah 39:10

‘SOME SHALL BE TAKEN AND OTHERS LEFT’

‘Nebuzar=adan … left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.’

Jeremiah 39:10

I. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and the sack of Jerusalem strangely blessed the poor.—Perhaps in the bosom of every judgment of heaven there lies an unexpected joy for somebody. The very poor were not carried off to Babylon. Here, at any rate, blessed were the poor. They received gifts of fields and grants of vineyards from Nebuchadrezzar’s captain who had been left in charge. Note, too, that Jeremiah was not made prisoner. Our chapter dwells in some detail on that. The Chaldeans had learned the burden of his prophecy, and they regarded the prophet as their friend. Word came to the city that he should be set at liberty. He was committed to the charge of a staunch and godly home. Perhaps Nebuchadrezzar thought the prophet would exult in the fulfilment of the doom that he had heralded. But it is one thing to be a messenger of sorrow and another to rejoice when sorrow comes. A prophet may be constrained of heaven to speak, yet suffer an agony when the speech proves true. It is never the man whose lips have been touched by God who can find pleasure in saying, ‘I told you so.’ So Jeremiah was not exultant now. His heart was desolate in a desolate city. He is pictured as sitting in the forsaken streets, or in the cave near the Damascus gate that still bears his name. It is now, if ever, that we find him in the ‘attitude of hopeless sorrow,’ that is attributed to him by Michael Angelo.

II. Note the second lesson from the sad story. Good intentions are not enough to save us.—If ever there was a man of good intentions, I think that King Zedekiah was that man. He was not a monarch who sinned with a high hand; his heart was in the right place, as we say. He meant well, when he resisted Babylonia. He meant well, when he rescued Jeremiah. Yet for all his well-meaning, here is his end—darkness and worse than death in Chaldea. We may have the best intentions, and still be castaways. Our hearts may respond to what is bright and good, and life may be a failure after all. From Zedekiah we should learn that courage is needed, and trust in God in the teeth of all appearance, if our path is to move into the perfect day.

III. Our weakness is certain to make others suffer.—I am sure that Zedekiah was proud of his bodyguard. It was a very gallant and devoted band. And he loved his sons. He would have fought to the death for them very gladly. He never wished them ill—but he was weak, and that cost them all their lives. And is not that the worst of weakness always? It involves in suffering our dearest and our best. For none of us can be untrue to God, nor can we halt or hesitate in our obedience, nor can we hearken to the baser voices, nor play the coward when the trumpet calls, but life will be made harder for our friend, and shadows will fall on lives we dearly love, and others will suffer because we are weak.

IV. We are doing God’s will when we little dream of it.—Do you think that when the Chaldeans took the city, they knew that Jehovah had foretold that doom? Do you think that they set themselves to work that judgment, because they felt it was the will of God? Chaldea had its own hopes and ends and purposes of vengeance; but behind all, we trace the Sovereign Will. Let us try to realise that in our lives. God is behind us when we dream not of it. We plan and toil, we prosper and we fail, but underneath are the everlasting arms. The Sovereign Will is working to its goal.

Illustration

‘Notice the beneficial purposes served by the seventy years of captivity in Babylon.

(i.) The tribes which had hitherto been divided under the rival kings of Israel and Judah lost sight of this mischievous distinction. When they returned, it was as a united people once more.

(ii.) By being scattered over the eastern empire, the Jews carried to far-off places the knowledge of the true God. The Books of Daniel and Esther, for example, show us that good missionary work was done by these exiles. There is that scattereth and yet increaseth. So the truth was spread at the beginnings of Christianity (Acts 8:1).

(iii.) This destruction of Jerusalem, and the consequent breaking up of the privileged classes, went far to renew the blood of Israel. The old families were separated, and marriages became possible which would otherwise never have been thought of.

(iv.) Better than all, idolatry received its death blow. Never again did the people return to it. A severe remedy was the fall of the city, the banishment of the people, the shattering for a time of national life. But all was justified if only idolatry was stopped. The first commandment now, as always, is, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’