[A video showing a Post-Credits Scene started the talk] JEREMIAH 52: JUDGEMENT AND HOPE Now I think this is one of the early post-credits scenes in film history – from Ferris Bueller’s Day Out. I don’t want to say, back in my day, but remember when you’re sitting in the movies, and the credits rolled and you’d just get up and leave straight away? And now, we sit through 5 minutes, maybe longer of credits just to watch a few seconds or a minute of a little scene. The final chapter as a post-credits scene Chapter 51 end with the line “that these are the words of Jeremiah”. That is the credits line. And as we come to the final chapter of Jeremiah and it’s a bit like a post-credit scene. And I reckon at first read, it feels a little bit like the scene that we just watched? We’ve travelled through 51 chapters, and it’s now just a reiteration, that the story is over. God’s people have been judged – there’s nothing more to see here. But I want to say that there is something more to this final chapter, and in fact, it’s one of the most important chapters of the book. And as we’ll see, there are some details, such as the number of captives taken to Babylon, or about Jehoiachin in Babylon which means this chapter was written in Babylon. And the exiles, as the people in Babylon are known, would’ve reflected deeply on Jeremiah’s prophecy, and this chapter would’ve helped them orient them to do that. There’s really two points that we’re going to look at which is just the main two themes of Jeremiah – judgement and hope. Let me pray. Righteous Father, as we experience a troubled and difficult world, remind us that you are not distant, but you’ve come near – and help us to see you at work in our world. Amen. 1. JUDGEMENT Let’s start with the judgement. 52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem The chapter begins with a summary of Zedekiah’s reign. And it’s essentially like Zedekiah was like Jehoiakim? In what way is Zedekiah like Jehoiakim? Well the most significant thing that Jehoiakim does, is he burns the scroll with Jeremiah’s prophecy on it. In other words, he rejected God’s word. And that’s likewise what Zedekiah did. And I think Zedekiah is being used as a representative of the nation of Judah. And so his fate, is essentially the nation’s fate – they are destroyed. And the chapter then continues to outline the completeness of the destruction. And so it starts with the Babylonians destruction of the city of Jerusalem. The Babylonians essentially camp around the city and restrict food access so they starve out the city. And here’s the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. 13 And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. The temple undone Jerusalem is absolutely destroyed. The key buildings of the city are burned to the ground – the walls, the palace and the temple are destroyed. And we get a bit of a zoom in on the destruction of the temple. Now, it’s worth going back into 1 Kings 7 and seeing how Solomon built the temple, and the loads of gold and silver that were either placed in the temple or used to build the temple. At the time it was peak prosperity and blessing for God’s people. 17 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; 19 also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. And in fact as the destruction is recounted, it’s in a way – an undoing of the construction of the temple. The blessing that was bestowed on God’s people is symbolically being taken away. It’s a bit strange the detail about the pomegranates – but I think in the ancient near east, pomegranates were a symbol of blessing. And so, what’s being symbolised, is that God’s not blessing them. Now, can I say the destruction of the temple is a profound moment theologically. Because often it’s called the Lord’s house. But in this case, God destroyed his own house so to speak. And it’s not in a rage or fury. Remember one of the key reasons that God’s people didn’t listen to Jeremiah? It’s because they had the temple of the Lord. The mere presence of the temple inoculated against what God was really looking for – which was their hearts. The leaders dismantled And of course, many people get killed. But we get a specific list in this chapter in verse 24. 24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 25 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king's council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. 26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That is, it’s the key institutions that are dismantled. The religious leaders – that is the priests; the military leaders - the commander and the officers of the army; and the political and ruling leaders – like the seven men of the king’s council. In other words, the elites, the ruling class are destroyed. And so if I was to summarise what’s being described here, is that not only was the city, the leaders and temple were utterly destroyed. Why did this take place? So why did all this take place? Well, interestingly enough chapter 52 doesn’t say directly. But as the exiles were reflecting on what got them here, I think there’s three things they would’ve observed. Firstly, they broke the covenant, or the agreement that they made with God all the way just before they entered into the land. Here is Moses talking to God’s people in Deuteronomy 30. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. And so one of the key reasons was that God’s people had broken a promise that they had made. And so really, this judgement was a consequence of their own broken promise. Secondly, and it’s a reminder that God will keep his word. At the outset of Jeremiah – it’s the purpose verse of the book, in 1:10, he will pluck up and break down, destroy and overthrow, and that’s exactly what’s happened. Yes, there was the invitation to repent, and God would’ve withheld his judgement. But Judah did not repent – and so God was true to his word, and brought the judgement against them. Third, that God does not play favourites. That is, just because they were God’s chosen people, did not mean they could do whatever they wanted to do, and claim that God was on their side. Instead, God is the God of the world – and he is a just God. And as we saw last week, every nation will face judgement. And the exiles, as they reflected on this, would have had a moment of clarity. It’s clear they used to think that their identity as God’s people was made up of three things - land, temple and Scripture. But the destruction of Jerusalem meant that if they were to be in God’s people, only one of those things was now part of their identity – which is Scripture. And so there’s a lot of reflection done during the exile of hearing and responding to God’s word. Christian identity: what are we really trusting? We of course think a lot about identity in our day and age – and often we think about our race or sexuality or something like that. But I want to dig into our Christian identity and ask the question of what would challenge our faith? Or maybe what have we subtly wrapped up as essential into our Christianity identity? Let me illustrate, by telling you a story of a persecuted family in the remote regions of Oaxacu (Wah-Hah-Kah) in Mexico. The indigenous community of the region blends Cathlolicism with ancient Hispanic traditions. That really translates to worshipping other deities and gods. But when a Christian family decided not to participate in traditional ceremonies. The father of the family was jailed and beaten. Electricity and water were cut off from their home, they seized their land and their belongings. But their faith turned them to prayer – knowing that God cared for them. God wasn’t found in their belongings. And it later turns out, that they w
