IV. Conclusion and Historical Supplement (Jeremiah 52:1-34)
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IV. Conclusion and Historical Supplement (52:1-34)
52:1-30 The words of Jeremiah end in 51:64. Chapter 52 is a historical supplement added about twenty-five years later as a further confirmation that Jeremiah’s prophecies did come to pass. The fate of Jerusalem and Zedekiah (52:1-11) have already been discussed (see 39:1-7). Zedekiah was a humiliated king, blinded and bound in bronze chains, destined to spend the rest of his life in prison (52:11). Verses 12-30 review the fall of Jerusalem, destruction of the temple, plundering of its treasures, and deportation of the people to Babylon—just as Jeremiah had prophesied.
52:31-34 The fate of Jehoiachin is explained in these final verses. In God’s providence, King Evil-merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison (52:31). Then he set Jehoiachin’s throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon (52:32). Jehoiachin had reigned only three months in Jerusalem before being deposed by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon (see 2 Kgs 24:8-12), but he was on the throne long enough to be identified as a king who did evil before the Lord. So why did Jehoiachin receive such favor from the Babylonians—and ultimately, from the Lord?
The explanation may lie in two realities that have to do with the purpose of the book of Jeremiah and the certainty of both God’s judgments and his promises. The long life of Jehoiachin in exile had to be another reminder to his fellow exiles that God was executing his fierce judgment on his people. But at the same time, Jehoiachin’s long survival in Babylon and his restoration to a place of honor also served to remind the exiles that God had not completely abandoned them and would one day restore them to their land.
Despite his unfaithfulness, Jehoiachin was, after all, a Davidic king, a symbol of hope to the people of Judah that God had a future of blessing for them. And even though Jehoiachin himself was judged and cursed by having no descendant “on the throne of David” (see 22:30), the Davidic line through whom Jesus would come did not end.
To bypass the curse on Jehoiachin, the last of Solomon’s descendants, the line of succession transferred to David’s son Nathan. The importance of this can be seen in the genealogy of Jesus through Mary, whose ancestors were of Nathan’s line (see Luke 3:31). Thus the messianic line was preserved and Jesus’s claim to the throne of David legitimized.
The subsequent generations of Israelites who would read the book of Jeremiah would find, even amid its judgments, the hope of fulfillment of God’s ultimate promise—the coming of David’s greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring together all of God’s promises to his people.