“And in the ninth year of his reign, in the 10th month, on the 10th day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.”
– Jeremiah 52:4
So here we come to the end of the book of Jeremiah, and what God has spoken through the mouth of Jeremiah, what Jeremiah has prophesied, indeed fully comes to pass. Babylonians come against Jerusalem, lay siege to it, and destroy it.
What a fitting end to this book, where Jeremiah had said this over and over and over again, and God’s people refused to believe it. They refused to believe God’s word was true, that God’s judgment was coming, and as a result, they experienced total destruction of the city. Many died, many taken into exile, and as we’ve seen, even those who stayed continued rebelling against God and experienced even further judgment as a result.
Jeremiah 52:4 Reminds Us that God’s Word is True
Mark it down: God’s word is true. And God’s word will always prove true. So trust in it. Put all your trust, all your hope, in God’s word. Listen to it. Wake up every morning, open it up, and hear from God. You can’t live, I can’t live apart from God’s word. We need it. We need his guidance, his instruction, his comfort and encouragement, his warnings. Lord, we need God’s word to hear it, to listen humbly to it, to obey it, to live according to it.
God help us, we pray, not to do what your people did in the book of Jeremiah. God help us not to neglect your word, not to ignore your word, not to give nominal adherence to it in name only. Help us to receive your word, to believe your word. To trust your word, to obey your word, to live according to your word.
Jeremiah 52:4 Leads Us to Pray for Persecuted People
To revolve our entire life, our families, our churches, around your word. To spread your word wherever we live. And spread your word to all the nations, knowing that life and salvation is found in your word alone.
God, we pray for people who don’t have it. We pray for Maldivian people, half a million of them in Maldives, where it’s illegal to share your word with them. We pray, cause your word to go to them anyway.
Pray for the Spread of the Gospel in Maldives
God, cause those who are working for the spread of the gospel there to be fruitful and successful, raise up more workers for the spread of the gospel in Maldives, God, that they might have your word and know your word. Your word that talks about coming judgment. And your word that promises salvation for all who trust in you. God, we pray for the salvation of Maldivians through your word.
Oh God, your word alone can save. Your word alone can lead, guide, direct our lives. So help us to treasure, to value, to humbly hear, respond. To obey your word, and to spread your word as the valuable treasure that it is to people right around us, and to all the nations, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
