Jeremiah 52:31-34
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, 32 And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, 33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. 34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
These are the final words of the book of Jeremiah. At first glance, it may seem unusual to end the book with a small story about the favor shown to the backslidden king, Jehoiachin, in Babylon. However, as scripture reveals, there is divine wisdom in ending the book this way. I believe this story offers a glimmer of hope at the end of a book filled with severe judgment and foreshadows the kindness that the backslidden nation will receive during their years of captivity and beyond.
This story reminded me of the discipline I experienced as a boy. My father's hands, which had held me, taught me, carried me, worked for me, and fed me, would, at times, become instruments of my discipline. There was nothing I feared more than the stripes from my father. Yet, once the storm of discipline had passed, those hands that had punished me, once again became the hands that cared for me. Perhaps he chose to remove one of my joys for a season to teach me a lesson. When the day or days of chastening ended and my joys were restored, I harbored no resentment for the chastening I received as a boy. Knowing now that God chastens every son He loves—and that fathers should do the same—our story today is about God’s mercy amidst His chastening and the hope of its eventual removal in His timing.
Jehoiachin had certainly deserved whatever punishment God deemed fit. For 37 years, he suffered under God’s chastening hand. He was cast down from the throne to the dungeon, his royal diet replaced with that of a prisoner, and his regal robes exchanged for the rags of an inmate. He endured God’s chastening at the hands of Babylon from the age of eighteen to fifty-five. Then, one day, the same hand that had cast him down lifted him from the dungeon to a position of honor, restoring his diet to one fit for a king. Although his days of captivity were not yet over, this was a glimpse of hope for Israel, showing that though they had been cast down, they were on their way up.
Ending the book of tragedy and loss in this way, with the king receiving God's kindness from the very nation that had overthrown them, is profoundly fitting. This theme continued in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the nation ruling over them funded the rebuilding of the temple. This echoes a promise from Psalms given many years before: “He remembered for them His covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercies. He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captives” (Psalm 106:45-46).
Dear reader, if you are currently suffering under God’s chastening hand, remember that He has not forgotten His covenant of forgiveness. Even when we are chastened, God’s promise endures. The days of our chastening will eventually come to an end, and those hands that disciplined us will once again “lift up our head.”
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