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Jeremiah 39: The Secret Sauce for Survival
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, jeremiah, chapter 39, and today's title is the Secret Sauce for Survival the Secret Sauce for Survival. The day has finally come. It is now Jeremiah 39, and we are going to read about the fall of Jerusalem. It's a sad thing, but at the same time, there's always that light in the middle of that darkness that is God taking care of his people. We're going to get to all that in just a second. But if you like what we're doing here while you're opening up your Bible Jeremiah 39, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and, as always, make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook doing an amazing job over there, and we just love getting together and just talking about God's word, going back and forth, answering questions, and the more we dig, the more we find. Well, once again, jeremiah chapter 39,. This is one of those hard chapters because it's been, it's been coming on for a while now. The overall scope and theme of Jeremiah is that hope, the future and darkness all those things are coming. This is the day that God constantly tried to stop from happening. But here we are. One of the things that you're going to see is it's going to already tell us in verse two. So I'm going to go ahead and tell you. The seeds lasted for two and a half years, but you kind of need to get in your mind what's been going on. So, over the course of this two and a half years, jeremiah is continually saying guys, we got to surrender. God has already called for destruction and even remember, a couple of chapters ago, the nation of Egypt actually tried to come and help Jerusalem, but they got turned back. And Jeremiah was saying it doesn't matter if all of the world came against Babylon and there's only a few survivors. Those few survivors of the Babylonian army would destroy us. It's going to happen. So for two and a half years, jeremiah has been pleading with them, and over the two and a half years, jeremiah has been pleading with them. And over the two and a half years, what's been going on is there's been the siege, where the army of Babylon has been around the city of Jerusalem, but they haven't just been sitting there, they've been trying to breach the walls over and over again. So it's just like you've seen movies where there are these enemy on the outside and they would just kind of throw these massive rocks at the walls and trying to get in the walls all this kind of stuff. That's been happening for two and a half years. Two and a half years have been fighting, and fighting, and fighting and fighting, and Babylon's been gaining ground and gaining ground until finally, on July 18th. It's time. So if you're ready, jeremiah 39, verse 1 says this In January of the ninth year of King Zedekiah's reign, king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his entire army to besiege Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:Two and a half years later, on July 18th, in the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign, a section of the city wall was broken down. So they finally broke through the wall and they're now in the city, broke through the wall and they're now in the city. Verse 3,. All the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the middle gate Nergal Zaharzar I can't say these words right here of Shamgar Nebo Sarakim, the chief officer, nergal Zarezer, the king's advisor, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon. When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw that the Babylonians had broken into the city, they fled, better believe. They fled. They waited for nightfall and then slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king's garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley. But the Babylonian troops chased them and overtook Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho. Pause again. Do you remember yesterday God told Zedekiah through Jeremiah, if you will surrender, you and your family will live. And Zedekiah was like I can't do that because I'm afraid that he won't let me live. And Jeremiah was like if you just obey God, you can almost kind of hear this pointless pleading of Jeremiah. Look, my friend, my broski, if you just obey God. But he didn't. And so he was captured and now judgment's pronounced on him, and it's terrible.
Speaker 1:Here we go, verse six the king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons at Riblah. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. He gouged out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze chains and led him away to Babylon. Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned Jerusalem, including the royal palace and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of the city. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the guard, took the exiles to Babylon and the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had defected to him and the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had defected to him and everyone else who remained. But Nebuchadnezzar allowed some of the poorest people to stay in the land of Judah and he assigned them to care for the vineyards and fields. Then King Nebuchadnezzar told Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the guard, to find Jeremiah. See that he isn't hurt. He said, look after him well and give him anything he wants. So Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king officer, and Nargal Hazarir, the king's advisor, and the other officers of Babylonian's king, sent messengers to bring Jeremiah out of the prison. They put him under the care of Jedaliah, son of Hakeem, and the grandson of Shaphan, who took him back to his home. So Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem among his own people. The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison Say to Abed-Malik, the Ethiopian this is what the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says I will do to this city everything I have threatened.
Speaker 1:I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction, but I will rescue you from those you fear so much Because you trusted me. I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a terrible day. Terrible day for everybody. Terrible day for the king, terrible day for his family, terrible day for everybody. The city was burned to the ground, the walls were destroyed, the royal palace was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, and to which questions become what happened to the Ark of the Covenant and different things. And we're going to get to that at the end.
Speaker 1:Just very, very, very interesting story of what God very well may have done to the Ark of the Covenant, that's for another day. What God very well may have done to the Ark of the Covenant, that's for another day. But if you look at this, the ones who stayed faithful all throughout the time, god took care of them. And this one guy, this Ebed Melech, was the guy who, when everybody wanted to kill Jeremiah, he was the one who advocated for Jeremiah and helped him live. And so now God tells this guy through Jeremiah, you're going to survive this because you trusted in me. It wasn't because he was the strongest, it wasn't because he was the most well-connected, it wasn't because he was any of these other things. The reason why he was able to survive devastation was the fact that he trusted in the Lord. What's the secret sauce to surviving your worst day ever? Confident trust in the Lord. What's the secret sauce to surviving your worst day ever? Confident trust in the Lord? Now, that doesn't mean that it's not going to be horrible. I mean, you imagine this guy. He probably saw things that he would remember for the rest of his life. He watched the destruction of this beautiful city of Jerusalem. This was not a good day, but he survived it, and the reason why is because, even with all this going on, he trusted in the Lord.
Speaker 1:Now, my hope for you is that you are having the best season of your life. Everything is going right. You got the promotion, your kids are on the honor roll, they got accepted into the college, you just got a brand new car. Somebody gave you something. I mean, I hope your coffee is as hot as can be and your sweet tea is super sweet, like all the good things, right, and if that's you, then just tuck this away for one day.
Speaker 1:But it's also possible there's some people listening or watching this that you're in the middle of a dark season and it feels like you're on the edge of just difficulty. If you go to the left, it's hard. Go to the right, it's hard, front's hard, back's hard, just just. And it seems like there's no end in sight. And you're just, you would say, pastor, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to survive this dark season. I realize I'm old enough now. I realize that better days will probably come, but I don't know what I'm going to look like when I get to those days, because I'm experiencing stuff. I don't know if I'll ever be the same. And the answer is, I don't know what you will be like when you get to the end of those days, because maybe you truly are experiencing some difficult things right now. But can I tell you something?
Speaker 1:The secret sauce of survival is not being the strongest person in the room. Secret sauce is not having all the right answers, praying all the best prayers, using all the spiritual gifts. Those are great things. The secret sauce to surviving your darkest day is a simple but but dogged, persistent trust in God. And that and it looks like this, god, I don't want to be in this mess, but if I'm in this mess, I trust that there's a reason and I trust that you are right beside me. That is the secret sauce to surviving any difficult day.
Speaker 1:So, whatever day you're going through, keep going. Don't camp out there. Keep going, pass through it and trust that God is with you and he's going to help you get all the way to the other side. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you are with us in every dark time. And just like this guy, lord, he probably saw things he was never going to forget, but he was able to make it, not because everything around him looked good, but because of his trust in you. I pray you will help us to live with that kind of trust as well. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, don't forget. God's word says in Jeremiah 29, verse 13,. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. My hope is that every day we see God fresh and new in our lives. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Jeremiah, chapter 40.
