I’m not going to list all the passages we read in Jeremiah this week--it’s all over the map chronologically. The events take place in Jerusalem and Babylon as Jerusalem falls. The prophecies that Jeremiah and the other prophets have been speaking are all about to come true.
Nebuchadnezzar is attacking Jerusalem, Jeremiah’s hometown. The children of Israel have transgressed the covenant, and have even disobeyed the new command that they release their Jewish brothers that are slaves. (This is when they begin to be called Jews.)
God declares that He has set His face against the city of Jerusalem. He is sending (in quick succession) pestilence, famine, and the sword. All on His beloved children.
Still, there are promises, as always. Land will be bought and sold in Israel again. One day there will be a new covenant that the people will not break.
God will fulfill this good word. (Jeremiah 33:14) Just as He has fulfilled the entirety of his punishments on Israel, he will fulfill the entirety of his promises. Some we will see in this lifetime, some only in heaven. But they will be fulfilled.
The walls of Jerusalem finally fall. The Babylonians tear down the columns of the temple and cart off all the gold, silver, and bronze that they can find.
This sort of thing happened fairly often in the ancient world. The Pantheon in Rome has several pillars in front of it, and they do not match because they were all taken from different places. I never though about the people on the other end until today.
This reading is undeniably sad; we see a first-hand account of the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah stays behind, unlike his contemporary Ezekiel, who speaks to the exiled Jews in Babylon.
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