> [!title|noicon] **Jeremiah 39 Notes** > [[Jeremiah 38 FSI|<Prev]]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[\[Bible\]](Bible%20Books%20Navigation.md)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Jeremiah 40 FSI|Next>]]<br><br>[[Jeremiah 39|Verse list view]] <br> > [Jeremiah 39:1](Jeremiah%2039.md#^1), [2](Jeremiah%2039.md#^2) note > > Zedekiah was the last Jewish king to rule over Judah, and soon Jerusalem and the temple are about to be destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar. And God gives us very a specific timetable when the Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem and then when the city was broken up. ^jer39-1-2 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:3](Jeremiah%2039.md#^3) note > > God gives us the very specific names of the princes of Babylon who came into the gate of Jerusalem. God knows us all as individuals in the entire human race. And these princes point to the abomination of desolation as the kingdom of Satan (and sin) are seated in middle gate of the holy city and of the holy place. > > The entry of the princes of Babylon into the middle gate of Jerusalem signifies the Abomination of Desolation taking the seat of authority within the realm of the Word. > > These names do not merely represent historical figures; they define the spiritual character of the forces that occupy the visible church at the moment of its final breaking up. The middle gate represents the place of spiritual authority and entrance into the Truth. > > - **The Seat of the Man of Sin:** These princes sitting in the gate mirror the Man of Sin who "as God sits in the temple of God," exercising control over how the Word is interpreted. > - **Replacing the King’s Law:** They represent the ministration of death taking over the sanctuary, fulfilling the prophecy that the daily sacrifice (the ongoing power of the Gospel) would be taken away by the abomination. > > The names of these Babylonian princes describe the specific mechanisms of deception used by the adversary: > > - **Nergalsharezer (Mentioned Twice):** The name Nergal refers to a Babylonian deity of death/the underworld. > - **The Doubling Principle:** According to [Genesis 41:32](Genesis%2041.md#^32), "because the dream was doubled... it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." > - **Established Judgment:** The doubled Nergalsharezer signifies that the decree of death upon the corporate system is fixed and absolute; the adversary’s grip on the gate is fully established. > - **Samgarnebo (Nebo):** Nebo was the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom. Spiritually, this represents the wisdom of this world which is "foolishness with God." It identifies the use of human intellect and learned systems to seal the "book" of the Word. > - **Rabsaris (Chief Eunuch):** This is a title meaning "Chief of the Eunuchs." Spiritually, a eunuch can represent *spiritual barrenness*. Rabsaris represents those in leadership who have no capacity to produce the living seed of the Word, yet they hold authority over the king’s house. > - **Rabmag (Chief Magician):** This title represents the lying wonders and enchantments of the false prophet. It identifies the use of subjective signs, lots, or coincidences to validate a message of death. > > The verse concludes mentioning "*all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.*" > > - **A Complete Occupation:** This indicates that the spirit of the world has entirely replaced the Spirit of Truth in the corporate seat. > - **The Famine of the Word:** Their presence marks the beginning of the "*famine... of hearing the words of the LORD,*" where the "light of the body" (the Word) is turned into "darkness" by these Babylonian rulers. > > Jeremiah 39:3 represents the judicial takeover of the church’s leadership by a worldly or "no-salvation" spirit characterized by death (Nergal), human wisdom (Nebo), barrenness (Rabsaris), and lying wonders (Rabmag). The doubled Nergalsharezer is the legal sign that this transition from life to death is established by God as the final sifting of the visible kingdom before the Final Jonah Call triggers the ultimate reversal. ^jer39-3 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:4](Jeremiah%2039.md#^4) note > > So Zedekiah attempts his escape. This verse represents the collapse and flight of the corporate leadership once they realize that the "middle gate" of spiritual authority has been fully occupied by the Babylonian abomination (the academic, charismatic or "no-salvation" spirit). > > This verse depicts the transition where the leaders of the visible kingdom are stripped of their covering and driven into total exposure as the city is broken up. Zedekiah represents the leadership that stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against the Word of God. > > - **The Rejected Prophet:** His flight is the result of refusing to hearken to the more sure word of prophecy delivered by Jeremiah. > - **Desolate House:** His departure from the city fulfills the judgment that "*your house is left unto you desolate*." When the leadership flees, it signifies that the Spirit of Truth has already departed from the corporate structure. > > The timing of the flight -- by night -- is a vital spiritual marker: > > - **The Night When No Man Can Work:** This represents the period of spiritual famine and the death of the Two Witnesses (the Word), where the "stars of the twilight thereof be dark." > - **Total Blindness:** Fleeing in the dark identifies the leaders as those who "grope for the wall like the blind." They are attempting to escape judicial consequences while being unable to see the "Sun of Righteousness." > > Fleeing through the king's garden by the gate between the two walls defines the narrow methodology used by the adversary to maintain spiritual control. > > - **Hiding in the Letter:** The two walls represent the legalistic barriers and untempered mortar that the leadership built to protect their private interpretations ("the garden") from the true King's decree. > > - **Digging Through:** This escape attempt mirrors the sign in [Ezekiel 12:12](Ezekiel%2012.md#^12), where the prince "*shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby*," covering his face so he "see not the ground." It is the act of trying to preserve a corporate identity while the spiritual city is falling. > > The flight leads Zedekiah toward the plain, which results in him being overtaken in the plains of Jericho. > > - **The Snare of Observation:** The leadership is caught by the very traditions, observations and linear calculations they used to prove their academic theologies or that salvation had ended. > - **Judicial Exposure:** The plain is a state of total exposure where there is no longer any shadow or rock (both a type of Christ) for protection. Being captured in the plains of Jericho -- the site of Israel's first victory through the Word -- signifies that the Word of the King (like the second decree in Esther) has finally caught up to the rebel and trapped him in his own snare. > > Jeremiah 39:4 represents the final abandonment of Truth by the corporate shepherds. It identifies the moment when the leadership, operating in the night of judgment, is driven from their "garden" of private interpretation into the "plain" of total spiritual accountability. ^jer39-4 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:5](Jeremiah%2039.md#^5) note > > Riblah was just a few miles north of Jerusalem. And there Zedekiah was judged by King Nebuchadnezzar, according to the Word of God in [Jeremiah 37:17](Jeremiah%2037.md#^17). ^jer39-5 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:6](Jeremiah%2039.md#^6), [7](Jeremiah%2039.md#^7) note > > So Zedekiah's sons were slain before his eyes before his eyes were put out and he was bound with chains to be carried into Babylon. So he went blind into Babylon where he died. All the nobles of Judah were also slain. This was a very ugly end. > > - **The Death of the Fruit:** Spiritually, the slain sons represent the fruit or offspring of specific doctrines. Slaying the sons before his eyes signifies the leader being forced to witness the total destruction of his own legacy and following as his private interpretations collapses. > - **The Nobles of Judah:** These are the authority figures of the failed corporate system. Their execution signifies that the "nobles" -- those who used the Word to bear rule by their own means -- are spiritually terminated by the very Babylonian spirit of confusion they allowed into the city. > - **Riblah: The Place of Judgment:** Just as the plains of Jericho represented a return to the site of the Word’s first victory, Riblah represents the judicial bench where the King (God) delivers them to the tormentors. > > "*Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes...*" > > - **The Spirit of Deep Sleep:** This is the literal manifestation of the penalty for those who wrest the scriptures. It fulfills the prophecy that God would give them the "*spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see*." > - **The Final Vision:** It is significant that the last thing Zedekiah ever saw was the death of his sons. This represents being left with nothing but the memory of a ministration of death as their vision is permanently darkened by the King. > - **The Covered Face:** In Esther, this mirrors the moment the King's servants covered Haman’s face. The adversary is not just blinded; he is rendered speechless and removed from the light of the King's presence. > > "*...and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.*" > > - **The Bondage of Sin:** Chains represent being brought into captivity to the law of sin. Carrying the leader to Babylon -- the habitation of devils -- signifies that once the city is broken up, the false shepherd is permanently confined within the confusion and darkness of the world. ^jer39-6-7 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:8](Jeremiah%2039.md#^8) note > > Zedekiah had been told that if he would surrender the city would not be burned. But he did not surrender, he thought he knew better than God. This is the wisdom and pride of the human race, thinking we know better than God. And people are no different today, they think they know better and don't need to truly listen to the Word of God when He says to come out from the churches, congregations and corporate fellowships. ^jer39-8 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:9](Jeremiah%2039.md#^9) note > > Every time we read the name Nebuzar-adan, God mentions that he is the captain of the guard. He is the legal spokesman for King Nebuchadnezzar. So what is happening here is by the order of King Nebuchadnezzar ([v11](Jeremiah%2039.md#^11), [12](Jeremiah%2039.md#^12)). And we can't lose sight of the fact that Nebuchadnezzar represents Satan, and it is Satan who got complete control of the churches and fellowships that are locked into his hand. And Satan, being the prince of the power of the air, works through human emissaries ([2 Cor 11:14](2%20Corinthians%2011.md#^14), [15](2%20Corinthians%2011.md#^15)). ^jer39-9 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:10](Jeremiah%2039.md#^10), [11](Jeremiah%2039.md#^11), [12](Jeremiah%2039.md#^12), [13](Jeremiah%2039.md#^13), [14](Jeremiah%2039.md#^14) note > > In this verse we find an example of Satan's tactics. What was God's Word to Judah? It was that if they remained in the land they would be killed ([Jer 38:2](Jeremiah%2038.md#^2)). God had said that He was finished with them so they had to get out. And if they remained there they are still under the wrath of God. And this is a type of the corporate churches and fellowships today. > > But Satan tries to upset God's plan. He wants people under his authority and not under the Authority of God. So Nebuchadnezzar takes of the poor of the land and gives them vineyards and fields. Then he commits Jeremiah to the care of Gedaliah, who will soon become governor of the land. So we might wonder how these poor of the land are in rebellion against God. After all, they're poor, the vineyards need to be taken care of and so on. And now they're being allowed to live there. So maybe, they think, this is actually the blessing of God. They think that they are different so that God's judgment does not apply to them. > > But as we continue on through Jeremiah we will see what happened to them, beginning with Gedaliah who had been a friend to Jeremiah and seemed to have a lot of things going for him. ^jer39-10-14 <br> > [Jeremiah 39:15](Jeremiah%2039.md#^15), [16](Jeremiah%2039.md#^16), [17](Jeremiah%2039.md#^17), [18](Jeremiah%2039.md#^18) note > > Here God takes a little bit of a detour for a moment. As we go through the book of Jeremiah, we find there are two other men (other than Jeremiah) that are particularly named for their faithfulness, and one family. There is Ebed-melech, spoken of here, who took Jeremiah up out of the pit in the previous chapter (Jeremiah 38). Then there was Jeremiah's secretary, Baruch. And then there were the Rechabites ([Jer 35:19](Jeremiah%2035.md#^19)). > > So here in these verses we find a very specific illustration of a faithful man in Ebed-melech. He was a servant of the king, so he couldn't just fall away to the king of Babylon. But in everything he was very much with Jeremiah, even saving him from the pit when most everyone else wanted him to die. So God declares that He will save him, everything will go well with him. The same is said for Baruch -- he was tied with Jeremiah as his secretary so he couldn't go out, but he was faithful ([Jer 45:5](Jeremiah%2045.md#^5)). So there were these few who were caught in a vice, so to speak, in that they couldn't leave the land for one reason or another, but were faithful so that God wouldn't destroy them along with all the others. ^jer39-15-18 <br><br> Tags: #Old_Testament #Jeremiah #Gods_judgment_on_His_people #FSI