Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 797. Bible Study: Jeremiah 39 (10th Month Coincidence? God's Providence, Listen to Warnings!)

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797. Bible Study: Jeremiah 39 (10th Month Coincidence? God's Providence, Listen to Warnings!) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 39 and probably 40 from the book of Jeremiah.
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Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through this these
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chapters and let the Holy Spirit give us wisdom and insight.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So this is about the fall of
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Jerusalem. In chapter 39, it says this is
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how Jerusalem was taken in the ninth month or in the ninth year
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of Zedekiah, king of Judah. In the 10th month,
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Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with
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this whole army and laid siege to it.
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Now usually when I see these things about the months, I mean
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they they do they are documented.
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So it's something you can double check with history and to find
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out when something happened. But the thing about reading by
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the Bible, if you're in the US and you're not familiar with
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this already, the, the months in Israel are different than the
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months here. So because it says the 10th
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month, and I actually saw this when I was like looking up
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something else, I noticed that some people were equating it to
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October. And that's not when the 10th
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month would be. The 10th month would either be
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January or December or January, depending on certain times of
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the year. I mean, as far as Israel,
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Israeli calendar compared to the Gregorian calendar, so there are
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different times. So this is talking about like
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for the US the December, January time frame and not October.
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And as I was looking this up, I just thought, you know, these
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they, these are documented. You know, it usually tells what
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what year the king, what year of the King's reign.
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And sometimes it says springtime, sometimes it says,
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you know, just different things. Like it actually gives you some
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reference in time on these passages.
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And a lot of times I just read through it and skip over it.
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But for some reason I just thought a tenth month and you
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know, this was just kind of a specific detail and for some
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reason I decided to look it up. So this is interesting and I
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don't want to read too much into it, but it's just let me tell
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you what the significance is and see what you think.
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If there's symbolism, because we know that the Bible will have a
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literal events and they are just exactly what they say they are
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in the Bible. But often there is like a
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symbolism, there's a repetition, there's a reoccurrence that
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especially in prophecy type things, it and history too, it
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repeats itself. So when we start seeing these
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patterns, it's really interesting and and I feel like
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this could be a pattern. I'm not saying it is, but here's
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the significance. Like I said, I'll read what I
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found. So the 10th month in the Bible
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is Tibet, which corresponds to parts of December and January on
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the Gregorian calendar. This month holds significant,
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often somber historical and theological meaning, notably
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representing the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by
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Nebuchadnezzar and the time Esther was brought before king.
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I heard, I don't know, I heard Sarasius, I don't know how to
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say that name. But this is the historical and
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theological significance. The siege of Jerusalem on the
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10th day of the 10th month marked the beginning of the
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siege that led to the destruction of the First Temple.
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This event is commemorated with a feast day in Judaism called
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Asara Baitavet. So that's something that is, you
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know, definitely significant. And then you have Queen Esther
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was taken to King Xerxes, I guess, in the 10th month, which
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led to her becoming queen and ultimately saving her people
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from a genocidal plot. So it's just kind of interesting
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this happened in the 10th month. And then here's another thing
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that's really significant is Noah's flood.
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The receding of the floodwaters also began in the 10th month,
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marking a transition and new beginning.
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So the symbolism found in this is that completeness,
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completeness, and divine order. The number 10 is often
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associated with divine order and completeness in biblical
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numerology. And this is seen as a time when
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God's plans come to fruition. You know, this is prophecy going
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back to Jeremiah, just this was the prophecy that God had given
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to Jeremiah and he told them Jerusalem was going to be
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conquered. And then so going back to the
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symbolism, it says transition. It can symbolize a transition
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from mourning to joy or a time of divine intervention and
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diligence. So again, I just think I think
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there is some significance to this, especially with those
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events that all occurred in the 10th month.
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You could say that's a coincidence, but the more I
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study the Bible, it may seem like a coincidence to us, but it
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also seems like this is God's plan.
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It's not a coincidence. There's a lot of things in life
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that we think, wow, that was really a coincidence.
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Like that's so wild that this happened and this happened and
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this has happened all at the same time.
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Like we couldn't have planned that, but all of a sudden it
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happened. I don't think that's just by
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chance. I think God does make things
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happen in certain 4 reasons. The the big question is do we
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understand what God's trying to do with these coincidences we
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experience? And I don't know.
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I just think that some things are, are like that.
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And the fact that Jerusalem fell on that day, that Queen Esther
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was taken to King Xerxes in the 10th month, and then Noah's
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flood, the waters began to recede in the 10th month.
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And they were all significant events in Israel's history.
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And they were significant moments in Israel's history.
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It's not just that multiple things happened on a similar
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month. You know, it's like if you take
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that, you could say that about anything in a calendar year,
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like, but these were very, very significant events.
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And so that's what I guess I paid attention to with that.
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These are major events that happened in this time frame.
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So I just thought it was significant.
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And maybe there's more meaning to it, but just something to pay
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attention to it. So.
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And on the 9th day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's 11th year,
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the city was broken through. So it looks like there was six
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months between the time he began the siege and the time it ended.
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Like it was six months before they broke the wall down.
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I just think that's interesting too.
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And there was something else that kind of, you know, that
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when you look at prophecy, there's these like three, 3 1/2
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years in future prophecy. And so I was curious, I was
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like, well, what happened like 3 years before all of this?
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And it, you know, Zedekiah was the king at the time of the
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siege. So, but prior to him, and it was
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like 11 years prior to him was Jehoiah Kim.
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And Jehoiah Kim, it's interesting during his reign
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when the the king of Babylon made him like his vassal or his
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his like servant. And it's interesting because God
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said if you submit to the Babylonians, you will live, but
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if you resist them, you will die.
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And so Jehoiakim, he did submit to the king of Babylon, but
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three years later he turned against him and he did get
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killed. And so that is just, you know,
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showing again, like God's Providence.
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Like when he says it, he means it.
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And then I don't know if there's any significance with the three
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years, but I just thought that was kind of ironic.
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I mean, we could our coincidence that I've not done a study on
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how many different significant things happen for three years.
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I mean, think about it, Jesus's ministry was about three years.
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There's, there's a lot of three years, three, 3 1/2 years
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throughout the Bible. I know there's lots of
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significance in those, but I haven't really done a study for
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it. And I don't want to get too far
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off track from this chapter that we're studying, but just
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interesting things you find when you're reading the Bible, I
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guess. So going back to Scripture.
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Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took
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seats in the Middle Gate, Nergal Shirez of Samgar, Nebo
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Sarisakim, a chief officer, Nergal Shariza Sharizer, a high
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official, and all the other officials of the king of
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Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah, and
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all the soldiers saw them, they fled.
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So again God said submit to them and you'll have your life.
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But instead they flee. So they left the city at night
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by way of the King's garden through the gate between the two
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walls and headed toward the Araba.
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And the Araba is a footnote says it's the Jordan Valley is where
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they went through. But the king but the Babylonian
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army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of
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Jericho. They captured him and took him
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to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at Ribla in the land of
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Hama, where he pronounced sentence on him.
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Now if you remember, Jeremiah told Zedekiah, you are going to
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see this king with your own eyes.
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And it's kind of interesting like when, you know, like
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sometimes when somebody is disobedient to God, like an
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enemy of God goes and harms God's people, God will do the
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same to them as they did to his people because God is just.
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So it's so important for us to listen to God, to obey God
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because you'll see why. I mean, Zedekiah is a good
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example of this. First of all, remember he said
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submit to him. But Zedekiah just wouldn't have.
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He wouldn't listen. Nobody would listen to Jeremiah.
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And so if he would have maybe submitted to Babylon, I mean, if
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he would have, he would have lived because God said it.
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That was something that the word of God that came through
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Jeremiah. So that's another thing why we
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need to know for sure. Like we can't just take people's
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words because there can be false prophets too.
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So we have to have discernment. We have to know from God, and I
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think the only way you can do that is over time when you think
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or believe that something is from God.
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And you will see over time if it is, because if it's from God,
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it'll be good. If it's not from God, it'll
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probably be a trial or trouble. And I think over time with trial
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and error, we do get better at discerning between this is from
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God or it's not from God. It's my imagination or it's
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something I made-up or it's from the enemy, because those are the
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three possibilities that I can think of.
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I don't know if there's anything more.
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It's either from God, from our own mind, or from the enemy and
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we have to get to a discerning place which discernment is a
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gift of the Spirit. So knowing the difference, that
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means we just need the Holy Spirit to be activated in our
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life where we can pray to God for that.
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It's like, God, give me discernment about this.
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Let me know, you know if this is from you or if it's my own
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thought or if it's an enemy. I mean, God can do that.
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But over time, the more we trust God, the more we communicate
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with God, the more we have this give and take with God where we
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ask God for some things and then he of over time clarifies it
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with us. And then we know how to trust
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him. And we can, you know, people
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hear God in different ways. And it's only over a time that
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you can come to trust that you're hearing correctly anyway.
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So he comes, you know, he's captured.
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And they take Zedekiah the king of Judah to the Babylonian king
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there at Ribla, or Ribla, the king of Babylon, slaughtered the
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sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also killed all the
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nobles of Judah. Now don't you think Zedekiah was
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regretting his decision when he sees all of his sons
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slaughtered? So he gets to witness that, and
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then what comes next? Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes
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and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
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This is also something to that that I think is ironic,
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coincidental, and maybe it's just God's justice.
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Zedekiah would not listen to God.
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And Jeremiah told Zedekiah, you're going to see the king of
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Babylon with your own eyes. And he didn't listen.
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He didn't obey. And Jeremiah said, you know,
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like submit to him and you will live.
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And he kept telling people this and they would not listen.
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So all the things that they didn't listen to then come
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against them. And it's just like I said,
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interesting that he said you're going to see him with your own
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eyes. And he did see him.
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And he saw things he probably never ever in his life wanted to
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see. And then they take his eyes out.
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So then he can't see anything anymore, and that had to be like
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terrible. And then they bound him with
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bronze shackles, so he's not going to be getting out of that
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and took him to Babylon. The Babylonians set fire to the
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royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the
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walls of Jerusalem. Nebu Nebu Zaradin, commander of
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the imperial guard, carried into exile the to Babylon the people
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who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to
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him and the rest of the people. But Nebu Nebu Zuradan, the
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commander of the guard, left behind in the land of Judah some
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of the poor people who owned nothing, and at that time he
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gave them vineyards and fields. Isn't that interesting?
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Like the enemy? I don't know what the ulterior
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motive for that was. You know, it's hard to think
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that when they're doing all these other things, they would
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actually have compassion on people.
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But then again, you also think about like, God's Providence
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and, you know, God. God looks for the humble.
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And, you know, maybe these people were submitted to God and
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maybe God to decide, you know, moved him, influenced him
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because people can be influenced by spiritual, the spiritual
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realm, whether it's by good or evil spiritual things.
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And perhaps, and this is only my opinion, this is not in the
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biblical, but perhaps God just influenced him that way.
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And he was like, well, they don't have anything.
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They're not going to come against us.
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They, they're, you know, it's not a threat to us.
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So we can leave them and let them have these vineyards and
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fields. And that could just be, that
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could have been a way of God's provision for these poor humble
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people. Because God always wants to look
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out for the poor and those who are needy.
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And that's what he kept telling Jerusalem.
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He's like, I don't want your or the leadership of Jerusalem or
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Israel. He's like, I don't want all your
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sacrifices. I want you to do the right
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thing. I want you to take care of
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orphans and widows and, and the list goes on.
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And the poor people like do the right thing.
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And so again, this is like what? In my mind, it's like God's
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Providence. This is what God wanted to
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happen. And this is what happened.
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Verse 11. Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of
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Babylon, had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebu
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Zuraidan, commander of the imperial guard.
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Take him and look after him. Don't harm him, but do for him
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whatever he asks. Now, isn't that a coincidence or
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ironic? God is speaking to Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah's beating, being obedient to God.
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He's warning people. He's being ridiculed constantly
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for the people. They won't listen to him.
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He feels like his his call is like useless, that nothing is
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working from it. And he hates his life because of
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what he's doing. But he's being a servant of God.
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He's doing what God asked. And you know, God also did say
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that anybody who stays here will be killed.
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And so Jeremiah, somehow he's staying in Jerusalem.
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And yet at the same time, God probably had somebody like moved
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by, you know, whatever, by his spirit, who Nebuchadnezzar says
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don't harm him, do whatever he asks.
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Isn't that strange? Somebody and you know that's
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being captive. This is again how God can do the
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impossible. Do you think Jeremiah expected
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this army who's putting fire to the city of Jerusalem to anybody
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to have compassion on him, anybody that would not harm him?
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Do you think he expected he was harmed by his own people?
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Do you think he is expecting the enemy not to harm him?
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But yet this is what happens. So Nebuzu Raiden, the commander
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of the guard, Nebu Shazban, a chief officer, Nergal shares a
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high official, and all the other officials of the king of Babylon
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sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.
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They turned him over to Gidalia son of Ahikam, the son of
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Shapfan, to take him back to his home.
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So he remained among his own people.
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While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard,
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the word of the Lord came to him.
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Go and tell Ebid Malik the Kushite.
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This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says.
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I am about to fulfill my words against this city, words
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concerning disaster, not prosperity.
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At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes.
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But I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord.
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You will not be given into the hands of those you fear.
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I will save you. You will not fall by the sword,
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but will escape with your life. Listen to this because this is
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important because you trust in Me, declares the Lord.
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So again, God's also using Jeremiah once again to go to
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this Kushite and tell him, hey, don't worry, just you trust in
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me. You're going to be OK.
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So that's the end of chapter 39. So I'm going to read the
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questions and answers about this chapter, and it's just very
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interesting to me, you know, historically repeated over and
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over again about how. If we trust in God, we can see
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historically if we're obedient to God and we trust in him, Look
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at the impossible things God can do when there's disaster falling
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on everyone. Look at there's just a few that
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God takes care of. But there's you also see in the
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documentation of all this that there's probably only a few who
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submit to God and the majority of the people blow him off.
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They didn't listen to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was prophesying for
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like 23 years, I think, and nobody would listen to him.
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And he kept telling them this is coming, this is coming, this is
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coming, but they didn't listen. I feel like we are in that same
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mode today because of what I see online.
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I've never seen this as much as I have recently that a lot of
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like really strong believers are telling people you need to
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repent, you need to get close to God because Jesus is coming
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soon. And I know I had my own
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experience with that with dreams that I had after I got baptized,
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after I truly submitted to God and and intended to be obedient
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and not be a hypocrite to what God teaches us.
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And when that was my intention, that's when I started having
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dreams and my dreams were about Jesus return and about the
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rapture. Honestly, I've had three rapture
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dreams and and I never was seeking that.
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I really didn't even know anything about that.
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And I just think it's really weird that I had those things
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happen again. You could say just coincidence,
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but why are so many other people having these same dreams?
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And why did I feel this sense of urgency like telling people
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about this, you know, 'cause now a lot of people look at me, make
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fun of me because they're like, Oh my gosh, everything you talk
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about is like end times related. And I try not to because it's
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not so much about end times, but it's just like get close to God.
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I mean, that ultimately is, I mean like the really the end of
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this age. It's, it's going to be an end to
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all the bad things in life, honestly, like when Jesus
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returns, that's when it's going to be good again.
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That's when we're going to have true peace.
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That's when there's going to be this progression into eternity,
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into the, the blessings that God has in store for all those who
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turn to him. And so it's something it's more
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about a preparation of, you know, you don't want to miss out
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on what God has planned. And we need to all of us need to
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be obedient to God right now. And I believe like, especially
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reading this, how long Jeremiah was saying this to people, you
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know, did, did God just probably knew what I would do once I
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started having dreams and things.
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And, and you know how I started this podcast that he knew what I
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would do when these things happened to me.
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And so that's what I'm doing. Like, is it going to be another
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50 years before Jesus returns? I don't know.
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We'll only have to wait and see. I had a dream that made it seem
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like it was going to be a lot sooner than that.
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And after the end of next year, we'll find out if it's true or
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not. So in the meantime, I am
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encouraging everyone to get close to God because it's better
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to be prepared than unprepared. Especially when Jesus told the
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parable of the ten virgins where half the people were prepared
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and the other half were not, and the ones who were not and had to
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do a few things to get ready, it was too late and the door was
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shut. And I don't want to be one of
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those people who wasn't prepared.
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And Jesus returns and he's like, hey, I was warning you.
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You didn't listen to me. I was warning you through
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people. You ignored them, just like
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these people of Israel ignored Jeremiah.
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Nope. You know that we don't want to
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listen to it. And you're saying bad things
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about what's going to happen to God's city of Jerusalem.
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And they wanted to put him to death for it.
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But he's like, I'm speaking on behalf of the Lord.
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And so I think with the number of people who are saying this, I
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mean, it's not going to do anybody harm to get ready,
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meaning get right with God, get all of the sin that separates
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you from God out of your life. And you do that with the power
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of the Holy Spirit. Like ask God, you know, go to
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him and just if you mean it, because he's not going to just
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do lip service, but go to him if you mean it and just tell him,
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you know, that I want to get rid of all the messed up stuff in my
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life and I want to be close to you and I have struggles, but I
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need your help. He wants us to be humble with
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him and realize we can't do it on our own, that we need him.
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And he will send, you know, if we say we're sorry for the
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things that we've done that offended him, He will send us
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the Holy Spirit to help us. And it says to be with us and
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remain with us until the end. So we will have this power of
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God that will help us live our lives the way God wants us to.
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And we're not going to be perfect because it does say
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we're not perfected. We won't have immortal bodies
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until Jesus returns. So there's still going to be
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like some, you know, times where we don't do what God would want
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us to do, but those times get fewer and fewer.
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And when we do, we immediately go to God and say, I messed up.
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That's all God wants. So I just think that we really
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need to pay attention to what's going on in the world and a lot
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of it aligns with Bible prophecy.
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Start reading Bible prophecy, start studying it, get into the
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Bible. I mean, subscribe to this
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podcast because that's what I'm going to be doing is going
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through this. I'm in the prophetic books
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currently, but I've done a recording for almost all the New
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Testament books. I started at the beginning of
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Genesis and I've been working my way through and I'm going
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chronologically now with the prophets.
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And the, the whole point is also to make me accountable, to make
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me stay in the Bible, in the word of God.
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And then to also share this with other people, to encourage other
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people and to maybe get people thinking about these things,
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like is it just coincidence? Are these things repetitive?
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Should should we be looking at these things?
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Can we see patterns and, and can we help other people get closer
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to God? Because that's ultimately what
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he wants. I mean, he wants the his
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children in the Kingdom to be increased, you know, go forth
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and multiply. You know, he wants, he wants
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children. He wants obedient children who
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love him. And Jesus said, if you love me,
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obey my commands. So he wants, that's what he
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wants. That's what he's after.
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He loves us, and the question is, do we love him back?
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Are we willing to sacrifice? Are we willing to let our lives
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be a living sacrifice? Like Jesus paid the ultimate
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price on the cross of his life and sacrificed his life so that
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we could inherit things like him in the Kingdom of God.
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Like as Jesus's brothers and sisters, like this is the
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ultimate plan. There's an inheritance and he's
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saying, OK, who you know, it's think about this like we can
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relate to this in in the world when say a parent has something
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that they can give to their children, but there are certain
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qualifications that they're not going to give their children
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unless the children are a certain way.
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And if the children, you know, are disobedient, they won't have
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the benefits of the inheritance and they'd be written out of the
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will. Well, that's kind of like what
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God is doing too. Like he's offering.
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He's like, here's the way that you can inherit what I have
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planned for you, but you can choose not to do it.
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But I'm just so I can't give it to you if you don't accept it.
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So we have to make that decision.
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Are we going to accept God as Lord of our life?
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Are we going to let him rule our life?
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Are we going to allow him to get rid of the sin that separates us
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in our life and let it go and just say, I'm done with it.
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I don't want it anymore. God take it from me.
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And it's hard to transition out of that.
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But there's a benefit to it. And that's what God is putting
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before all of us and the decision that we all have to
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make. Are we going to hang on to the
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the sinful things that people enjoy and let it go in order to
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be obedient to God and show Him that we love Him by being
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obedient, by listening? Because there are blessings that
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come with that. And it has a lot to do with the
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future Kingdom. So if this is the first time
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that you've ever heard it, it's really important to know this
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and it's important to be in the word of God to learn more about
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it and to share this with others.
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So I hope, I think I'm only going to do chapter 39 because
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I've this has gone a little bit longer than I thought and I
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still have to read the questions and answers.
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So I'm just going to do the 39 today.
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And but if this has been helpful to you, please subscribe if you
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want to come back for more or share this with somebody too
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that needs to know this. So I'm going to go through the
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questions and answers, and then this will be wrapped up.
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So was a long siege typical? You know, we said that was about
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6 months. Some scholars believe the
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Babylonian siege of Jerusalem lasted one plus years.
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Others, dating events differently, believe it lasted 2
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plus years. Lengthy sieges were not
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uncommon, sometimes lasting a number of years.
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The Assyrians, for example, laid siege to Samaria for three
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years. Who's that #3 again?
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The Babylonian siege of of Tyre lasted 13 years.
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The city of Ashdod once withstood a siege by the
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Egyptians for 29 years. The longest siege, The longest
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known siege sieges often lasted until the food supply was
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exhausted and the people began to suffer from starvation and
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disease. That's also interesting because
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when you read the Seals of Revelation, it's first there's a
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conqueror that's going out to conquer, then there's wars.
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And we know from Jesus there's wars and rumors of wars all the
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way until the end. And then after that comes like
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inflation or famine, starvation or scarcity, I guess, because it
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talks about like how much it would cost just for bread,
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something extremely high. And so that is, I believe the
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third seal. And then right after that is
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like death. And it says Hades follows that.
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So you know, that could be the starvation that people
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encounter. So these are this is kind of
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like the sequence of events. And this is also what God had
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prophesized through Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem to say
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that you will fall by sword, by famine, by it's very, it aligns
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like there's this pattern again that we also see in the seals of
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Revelation that come at the end of end of the age.
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So how did they breakthrough the wall?
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Armies sometimes use battering Rams to breakdown city gates.
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Other times they tunneled under the wall using wooden beams to
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keep the wall from falling in on top of them.
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They then set free the supports, causing the wall to collapse.
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Sometimes invaders used ladders or built huge earthen ramps to
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reach the top of the wall. Why did foreign officials of the
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king sit in the city gate? This was a place where city
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business was normally conducted. Conquering armies typically took
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control of the existing form of government.
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The Babylonian officials set up their command center in the
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Middle gate, which was probably strategically located at the
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most accessible area of the city.
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How could Zedekiah and his soldiers escape?
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Since the Babylonians has surrounded the city, the king
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and his soldiers may have made preparations for their escape
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when they saw the end. Apparently, they were able to
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make their initial getaway under the cover of darkness and
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similar circumstances. Others have escaped using bribes
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or disguises, perhaps as women, since women and children were
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sometimes permitted to go free. Why kill all the nobles?
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About 20 years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar had besieged
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Jerusalem and deported some of the nobility.
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But Babylonians patience with the city had apparently run out,
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so they so they used brutality to intimidate the people of
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Judah. Killing the nobles was intended
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to teach a lesson to others who who might still want to oppose
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them. Why didn't Nebuchadnezzar just
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kill Zedekiah? Nebuchadnezzar was not content
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to merely conquer Judah. He wanted his barbarous tactics
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to demoralize and intimidate other nations as well.
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Allowing Zedekiah to live after so much personal and political
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devastation was perhaps worse than death.
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How did the king of Babylon know about Jeremiah?
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The Babylonian leaders probably had heard about Jeremiah from
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those who had surrendered or been captured.
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They may have considered him a hero because he appeared to be a
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supporter of their cause. That's interesting because
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Jeremiah was saying, you know, obey the Babylonians and it'll
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go well with you. So maybe they interpreted it as
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he's on our side as opposed to God really told Jeremiah that
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that was going to be the case. That's interesting insight.
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So why would a Kushite trust in the God of Israel?
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The EP that Ibed Malik was a Kushite probably means that he
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was from the area known today as Sudan.
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Ibed Milek was a foreigner who had apparently been assimilated
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into Jewish culture. But while the Israelites were
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intrigued by false gods, he was disillusioned by them.
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Perhaps his upbringing in Cush showed him the futility of
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trusting in idols, causing him to turn instead to the God of
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Israel. He demonstrated his faith when
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he saved Jeremiah. How did Jeremiah get caught
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after being released? The events of chapter 40
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probably occurred before those in chapter 39.
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Throughout the book of Jeremiah, the sequence of events is
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difficult to reconstruct. The writers and editors of the
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Hebrew Scriptures were not as concerned about the chronology
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as we are today. They were more concerned about
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the message. Sometimes they used events as
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lit as a literary device. By arranging narratives with the
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most important events first are by placing the most the most
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important event last. There is no right or wrong, just
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different cultural methods. So that's the end of chapter 39.
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Next time we'll go start with Chapter 40.