The prophecy of Jeremiah has been a book of failure. As we come to the end of our study of Jeremiah we are taking a moment to look back at the failure of the people of Judah. They have traded the Lord for things that are not gods (Jeremiah 2:10-11). They have exchanged the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:12-13). They have refused to listen to the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah through all the Babylon invasions. The book has been a shocking explanation of how the people stubbornly refused to listen to the Lord. One of the worst examples of this was the king of Judah cutting the word of the Lord, column by column, and throwing it into the fire (Jeremiah 36). While the book has frequently described the sins and the failures of the people, there have been glimmers of future hope. The Righteous Branch was promised to come, bringing justice and ruling in righteousness (cf. Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15). A new covenant is coming in which God’s law will be written on the people’s hearts and God will forgive their sins (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). So how will the prophecy of Jeremiah end? We are going see God’s final message through Jeremiah to the people as well as an account of what happened to the final kings of Judah. As we read Jeremiah 50-52 we are going to see God’s future hope that his people will be graciously freed. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 50-52 and we are going to read five pictures of future hope for God’s people. As we read, be thinking about how this hope was speaking to the future people of God being graciously freed, including God’s people today.
Hope #1: God Judges
Jeremiah 50-51 records the coming judgment on the Babylonian Empire. In the days of Jeremiah the Babylonian Empire was the world power and seemed unstoppable and all powerful. It was the Babylonian Empire that repeated invaded Judah, captured and killed God’s people, and destroyed the temple built by Solomon. How could there be any hope in such a condition? The word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning Babylon (cf. Jeremiah 50:1). These two chapters record that God sees what is happening in the world and will administer justice and judgment. Even on the great power of Babylon, a nation will arise and destroy it (cf. Jeremiah 50:2-3). It is easy to look at nations and think that they are too big and strong and will never experience justice for the evil they have done. In the days of Jeremiah, the Babylonian Empire was that very power. Yet the Lord declared in Jeremiah 50:23, “How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!” Look at Jeremiah 50:29 where the Lord calls for the armies to come against Babylon and to repay that nation for all her sins because she proudly defied the Lord. Friends, we must establish our hope in the fact that even the most powerful nation on the earth will be judged. The most wicked nation on the earth will be judged. Justice must come against every nation and must come against every person. No wickedness is escaping God’s sight. No evil will be excused by the Lord. God is a God of justice and he will make sure that every person and every nation is repaid for their actions.
But this hope goes deeper than this. The point is not merely that God is just and a righteous judge. Because God is righteous then God will not forsake his people. Look at Jeremiah 51:5. Why is God judging evil of the earth? Why is God bringing justice against all wickedness? Look at Jeremiah 51:5. “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord of hosts.” God does not forsake those who belong to him. The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13:5 that we can be content in this life “because God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” God as the righteous Judge is good news because he does not forsake those who belong to him.
Hope #2: God Cleanses
Now I hope we might wonder how this could be words of hope that God judges and does not forsake his people when the whole book of Jeremiah has shown that all the people need to be judged and have been judged for their sins. How could God even have a people at this point? Listen to the second hope that God proclaims in Jeremiah 50:4-5.
In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, “Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 50:4-5 ESV)
Who are going to be the people God will rescue? Who will be the people that God will never leave or forsake? God provides a vivid picture. His people will come weeping as they seek the Lord. They are going to ask the way to Zion, desiring to join themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. Life is going to crush them. Sin is going to enslave them. But they are going to join together, seeking to join themselves to the Lord in a permanent covenant. God’s people are those who want to be in a relationship with him. God’s people want to be joined in an everlasting covenant. But how can they after sin? Jump down to Jeremiah 50:20.
In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. (Jeremiah 50:20 ESV)
Please think about the picture God provides through Jeremiah. There would be a time when sin would not be found in his people. Does it mean that they would live perfectly? No. Does it mean that his people would never sin again? No. Rather, the people are going to enter into an everlasting covenant where God will pardon those who are left. God is going to forgive those who seek to join themselves to the Lord. God will cleanse our sins so thoroughly that no sin will be found among his people again.
Hope #3: God Redeems
The third picture of hope shows how God is going to thoroughly cleanse his people. The third picture of hope is that we have a strong Redeemer. Look at Jeremiah 50:33. Jeremiah says here that the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. They are taken captive and the captors are strongly holding on to his people, refusing to let them go. This picture of symbolic of the cosmic battle. In our text, there is a picture of the Babylonians refusing to let the remnant of God’s people go. In Exodus, Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go to worship the Lord. These are images of how we are captured by our sins and Satan refuses to let us go. So we cannot be released because we do not have the power to be free. Look at Jeremiah 50:34. “Their Redeemer is strong.” We are not strong. We are weak and helpless (cf. Romans 5:6). But we have a strong Redeemer and his name is the Lord of Hosts. He will defend our cause and bring us rest. He will set us free. He will be our Redeemer. God setting his people free from Egypt’s grasp and God setting his people free from the power of Babylon were both to show that God will set his people free from the power of sin and death. God will set his people free from Satan’s clutches. Our Redeemer is strong. Our Redeemer will plead our cause and give us rest. Do you see this imagery in the words of Jesus when he called for all who were weary and burdened to come to him and he would give them rest (cf. Matthew 11:28-30).
Hope #4: God Calls
Our fourth hope is the call that our God gives to us. Since God does not forsake his people, but cleanses them and frees them from their sins, he then calls them to come out from their prison. In Jeremiah 51:45 we see God calling for his people to come out from Babylon. Do not stay in Babylon. Your Redeemer has come to set you free. Do not stay in the captor’s hands. This call became a symbol in Revelation 18:4 calling God’s people to come out from the Babylonian living of worldliness and live separate and holy lives. Now it seems silly on the surface to tell people who are in prison to come out of the prison and live in the freedom given to you. However, there have been studies and stories of those who have become so accustomed to the prison that they cannot live free. They prefer to live in the prison. They prefer to be enslaved. They want to stay in what they know rather than enjoy a new life of freedom. God calls for us to not remain in our sins. God calls us to see that sin only leads to death and that we are be prevented from living free in the light of the gospel of Jesus when we remain in the prison of sin. Paul uses this idea in 2 Corinthians 6:17 telling Christians to come out from the world, be separate, touch no unclean thing, and the Lord will welcome you. The strong Redeemer has come and he has opened the prison doors. But are we going to walk out and seek our Redeemer? Are we going to leave the darkness and live in the light? Are we going to seek an everlasting covenant with our Savior or remain in the prison of sin? You have been graciously freed.
Hope #5: God Restores
Our final hope from this lesson in this text comes from the historical account of Jerusalem’s destruction in Jeremiah 52. It seems like an odd place to find hope. But look carefully at how this account of Jerusalem’s fall is told. In Jeremiah 52:1-6 we read about the high cost of sin. The people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and they were cast from his presence (Jeremiah 52:3). Jeremiah 52:7-23 records God’s word being fulfilled. The Babylonians did come into Jerusalem, destroying the city and the temple. Jeremiah 52:24-30 retells about how the Babylonian captured the people and took them into exile. But the account does not end in verse 30. But look now at Jeremiah 52:31-34.
When the next king of Babylon arose, he graciously freed Jehoiachin, the king of Judah and brought him out of prison (Jeremiah 52:31). The Babylonian king spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were in Babylon. Further, the Babylonian king removed Jehoiachin’s prison clothes. Finally, every day Jehoiachin ate at the king’s table a regular allowance of his daily need until he died. It is a shocking reversal. It is an amazing restoration. We would have expected only the worst outcome from the captured king of Judah. But the end was not the end. The seeming hopelessness was not hopelessness at all. God changed everything. Jehoiachin was graciously freed from the prison. He was spoken kind words. He was elevated above all other kings. He put off his prison garments. He sat at the king’s table. He was provided for every day until he died. Friends, this is symbolic of the offer of our strong Redeemer. You have been graciously freed from the prison by the blood of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. You have been kindly spoken to by the great King of all creation. You have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places (cf. Ephesians 2:6). You have removed your prison clothes because you have been freed in Christ. You are seated at the King’s table. You are provided for every day by the King until you die and are able to be with him for all eternity. This account is you. This account is us. Now do not stay in the prison of sin. Come out, put off your prison clothes, and live for your King and your Redeemer who rescued you.