The Story, part 17: The Fall of Jerusalem

The StoryFall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk

God's upper story. God wants to be with us, and will pay any

price to make it so.

Jeremiah's warnings to JerusalemJeremiah 2:11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD,

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem14 "Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey? 15 The lions have roared against him, they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem17 Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem

Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah's warnings to Jerusalem34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

The Babylonians are coming! Habakkuk the prophet

Jerusalem Falls

2 Kings 24:20 It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence….

Jerusalem Falls

2 Kings 25:1 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, ... Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.

Jerusalem Falls2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.

Jerusalem Falls5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him.

Jerusalem Falls7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Falls8 …In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, … set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building, he burned down.

Jerusalem Falls10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet

Lamentations 1:1 How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet2 Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet3 After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet5 Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet7 In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands, there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.

Lamentations, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet

Lamentations 2:1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of his anger!

Promise of restoration!

Ezekiel 36:24 "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

Promise of restoration!26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Promise of restoration!28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.

Promise of restoration!

2 Kings 25:27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month.

Promise of restoration!28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

Promise of restoration!

Matthew 1:11 …and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, ….

Promise of restoration!

... the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.