Jeremiah has already told us about the fall of Jerusalem and that many of the remaining Israelites have been carted off to Babylon. He now tells us what happens to those who were left behind
Nebuchadnezzar set up a man named Gedaliah as a governor over the few people who were left in the area around Jerusalem. Gedaliah was warned that there would be an attempt on his life, but he blew it off. He was killed by a new character named Ishmael just as he had been warned; Ishmael killed many of the remaining Jews and took the rest captive.
Johanan, a commander of the army who had escaped deportation and captivity, rescued the people Ishmael had captured. They began to travel toward Egypt (which is only about 60 miles away from Bethlehem). Jeremiah interrupts their travel plans, telling them to stay in Judea, for God will bless them and they can rebuild. But they didn’t listen (really? after all of this? really?) and God gets very mad, even to the point where he says “I will take away the remnant” (44:12).
God will destroy Egypt by way of Nebuchadnezzar, and all the Hebrews in Egypt will perish by fire, sword, or famine. Except for a remnant of the remnant. Maybe.
The book of Jeremiah ends with a count of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar deported (4600). We are also told that 37 years into the exile, the new king Evil-merodach (great name, no?) released the Israelite king Jehoichin from prison.
History does not tell us when Jeremiah died. As the Israelites were in captivity for 70 years, we can only assume that he did not live to see the restorations of his beloved Jerusalem.
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