Jeremiah 52:24-34
24 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 25 He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king's close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe 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 these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
28 These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.
(See 2 Kin. 25:27–30 also). 31 Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. 34 And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
Two priests and Royal friends were taken with some others that were left in Jerusalem to Babylonia as captives doomed to death. An army officer and scribe were also taken and executed in Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath on the great road between Jerusalem and Babylon with the rest. This finalized the captivity of Judah who was carried off to a foreign land as prisoners for a lifetime due to their nation’s continuing unrepentant sin against their LORD who gave them all they had and who they turned their backs to. Halfway through their captivity, Jehoiachin the captive king of Judah was given liberty from the prison and allowed him a prominent position among the kings in Babylon. This was God’s grace and mercy by the hand of the new king of Babylon, Evil-Merodach. He was then allowed to sit among them and dine together for the rest of his life as a further act of kindness. This is hope for the oppressed who suffer the consequences of their own sin. It is a picture of God’s grace to forgive and restore honor and blessings in spite of our past rebellion against the Lord. Who knows if Jehoiachin had humbled himself and repented in those thirty-seven years of the captivity of his people? I would like to think the did by God’s work in him as he reflected on how the sin of he and his people had brought them from idolatry into a land of idols as punishment and due consequence. May we all find grace to help in time of need in dealing with our sins of the past. He is ever-forgiving in Jesus Christ to sinners such as you and I. May we remember our captivity in sin and the grace of deliverance in our salvation every day in which we live in spiritual bounty and freedom. This is God’s grace of deliverance given is when we were in captivity to sin. Amen.
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