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The prophecies against Babylon are committed to Seraiah. 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.

52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. 54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the king, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. 59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

62 Then shalt thou say,OLORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

63 And it shall be, when thou

hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

:

shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. LECTURE 1268.

64 And thou shalt say, Thus

What

The duty of coming out from the Babylon of Christian times. We must not close this striking prophecy of the fall of Babylon, without again remarking, how manifestly some part of it is alluded to, or rather is almost quoted and adopted by S. John, in the Book of Revelation. And especially the prophet's directions to Seraiah, as to casting this prophetic book "into the midst of Euphrates," and as to what he should say on the occasion, cannot fail to remind us of the mighty angel seen by the apostle, who "took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." Rev. 18. 21. ever that prophecy of S. John may mean, there can be little doubt that these words of Jeremiah refer to the same terrible judgments. The Babylon which flourished, and which perished, as an empire in Asia, was doubtless a meet resemblance, both in its sins, and in its judgments, of the power at whose fall all heaven is in after times represented as rejoicing. And that which in a literal sense was truly prophesied, and has been actually fulfilled, in regard to the one, has been no less truly here foretold, and either has been or will be no less certainly fulfilled, in regard to the other.

It is our duty to ascertain what is meant by the Babylon thus prophetically described, for this reason especially amongst others, namely, that here we are thus solemnly exhorted, "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord;" and in the Revelation thus, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18. 4. Let us fix then our thoughts on that corruption of the Gospel, which has exerted a more baneful influence on the Christian Church than any other, for a longer time, and over a larger number of mankind. Let us observe how the great head and fount of this corruption, the Babylon of the Gospel, has been always addicted to idolatry and to persecution. And let us give thanks to God that we have been born out of the reach of its iron yoke. But let us at the same time watch, that we fall not beneath the influence of its more secret spells. If we are contentious, or rebellious, arbitrary, or oppressive to each other, if we make to ourselves idols of the world or of the flesh, if we are sensual instead of spiritual, superstitious for devout, and formal when we ought to be sincere, in vain do we protest against Romish errors; we have no ground for hoping to escape the judgments which we believe to be threatened against Rome.

Zedekiah's rebellion. The spoiling of God's house.

1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.

5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by of the plain.

the way

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in

the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.

of

10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he put out the eyes Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:

14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

15 Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. 18 The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all

the vessels of brass wherewith the height of one pillar was

they ministered, took they a

way.

19 And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candle-sticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.

20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 21 And concerning the pillars,

eighteen cubits; and a fillet of
twelve cubits did compass it;
and the thickness thereof was
four fingers: it was hollow.
22 And a chapiter of brass was
upon it; and the height of one
chapiter was five cubits, with
network and pomegranates upon
the chapiters round about, all of
brass. The second pillar also
and the pomegranates were like
unto these.

23 And there were ninety and
six pomegranates on a side; and
all the pomegranates upon the
network were an hundred round
about.
LECTURE 1269.

The peril of wilfully doing evil in the sight of the Lord. From the concluding words of the previous chapter, it appears, that the one before us was not written by Jeremiah. It is supposed to have been added by Ezra, partly with a view to shew the accurate fulfilment of many of Jeremiah's prophecies, and partly to prepare the reader, by a summary of the evil brought upon Jerusalem, for the Book of Lamentations following. It is here stated, that "through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon." This awful doctrine, that God gives up wicked men to a reprobate mind in judgment for their sins, however unwelcome to our pride, is frequently suggested in God's word. It was because he did evil in the sight of the Lord that this anger of the Lord thus took effect upon him. It was because the Lord was angry with him for his sins, that he was led to rebel against the king of Babylon, was besieged in Jerusalem, and after flying from the city, when for famine it could hold out no longer, was taken captive, and most cruelly punished by the tyrant against whom he had rebelled. Hence also it came to pass that the temple at Jerusalem was burnt down, and the walls were demolished, and the holy vessels of the sanctuary broken and carried off to Babylon. He, to whom all these things were consecrated, spared none of them in his anger against sin. Let not sinners then think that he will spare them either, unless they repent, and their sins are blotted out. Consecrated they may have been to his service. But so much the greater is their sin, so much the more awful is their case, if they wilfully do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord.

The people are taken captive. Jehoiachin is set free.

24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

25 He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

26 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away

captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons: 30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

31 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 Evil-merodach 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.

LECTURE 1270.

Of cherishing a good hope of God's mercy through Christ. Three different occasions are here mentioned on which numbers of the Jews were carried off either to death or to captivity, both during the siege, and after the destruction of Jerusalem. And at other periods there were many more carried away, besides those who are here made mention of. But the record of these numbers serves to shew us how exactly the account was kept. And it may well bring to our remembrance these words of Jeremiah : "Such as are for death, to death, and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and

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