Coffee & Devotions

Jeremiah 39:1-10

Jeremiah 39:1-10

With Bryan Schneider · Sharon RP Church

Published October 13, 2025

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Opening Prayer

God, thank you for this day, your Word, and the blessing of hearing from you. Help us read and understand by your Holy Spirit, through Jesus. Amen.

Read

Scripture Passage

The Fall of Jerusalem

39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated.

3 Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer, Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the plain. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. 6 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. 8 And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jeremiah 39:1-10.

A — About

What Is This Passage About?

Babylon breaches Jerusalem, captures the fleeing Zedekiah, kills his sons before blinding him, burns the city, and deports its people. These events directly fulfill Jeremiah's warnings that the king repeatedly refused to obey.

B — Best Verse

Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?

Jeremiah 39:2

In the 11th year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated.

The child selects verse 2 and Bryan explicitly agrees, while adding that verses 4–9 show detailed fulfillment of Jeremiah's true prophecies.

C — Called or Christ

C — Called to Do

Obey God's Word even when peer pressure makes obedience look cowardly or counterintuitive. True courage comes by abiding in Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit's strength to choose faithfulness.

Additional Notes

Discover how Jeremiah 39:1–10 reveals the fall of Jerusalem and the cost of disobedience. Learn how true courage means obeying God even when the world calls it weakness. A devotional reminder to trust the Lord’s Word and walk boldly in faith.

Devotional Study

Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.

Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This morning we are going to do Jeremiah chapter 39:es 1-10. What happens to Jerusalem? We'll find out. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. All right. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the blessing of getting to read your word and to hear from you. Father, we pray that we would read and understand. Lord, I pray that you would please help us. Give us your Holy Spirit to teach us in Jesus's name. Amen. All right. So, we'll go paragraph by paragraph. Ready? So, and by that I mean like I'll read. No, actually you'll read. I'll read. You'll read. We'll kind of talk about each paragraph as we go. Okay. In the nth year of Zedekiah, king Judah, in the 10th month, Nebuchadnezzar, king Babylon, and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. In the 11th year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated. >> All right. So, what's that saying? >> Um, Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem and gets into it. >> All right. Yeah. So, the siege right surrounds the city starts choking starving it out and so uh and then in the fourth month of the ninth year of the month or sorry of the fourth month of the ninth day of the month right they break through the walls they penetrate the city okay verse three then all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate sorry nurgal sherzer shegar neibo Shim charim rais man I'm having a hard time today reading these words or these names negurges of the king of Babylon. All right. So the princes or the officials they're the ones who uh actually come into the city. Right. So you get the next part. Congratulations. >> So it was when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men of war saw them that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of plain. But the Chaldian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes >> the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. He put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze feathers to carry him off to Babylon. And the Chelians burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebazar look the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who defected to him with the rest of the people who remained. But Nebaran, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah the poor people who had nothing and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. >> Okay, so what's that part about? >> Um, so Nebuchadnezzar is like, Zedekiah, you tried to you tried to um tried to defy me. I'm going to kill all your sons and make sure that's the last thing you see. >> Yeah, isn't that horrible? He kills all his sons and then gouges out his eyes and burns the city to fire, especially the king's house at notes. Did you know he could have avoided all this? Yeah. In that previous part 38 uh 14- 27, Jeremiah told him if if you surrender to the king of Babylon, you won't die and the city won't burn. And then the captain of the guard is like, "I'm going to take all the punches." Oh, and you poor people who be generous and give you land and >> Well, yeah. Right. That that that gives them favor, right? They they don't just conquer a land to leave it desolate. They need people who are going to be subservient. Now, the king of Babylon was the one who had made Ne or made Zedekiah a vassal king. So he's probably kind of >> so it's not just defying, it's also rebelling, >> right? And so uh yeah, this is what happens. So there was an opportunity to listen to the Lord because it was the Lord himself who had said surrender and you'll live or surrender and these things won't happen. That will go well. But instead, Zedekiah doesn't want to listen. He even tries to do the tries to escape. Right? They fled away and went out of the city by night by way of the king's garden. >> Coward's way out. But this coward's gonna die. >> Yeah. What movie is that from? >> Inside Out. >> Inside Out. Okay. >> I changed the last one. >> Okay. Yeah. So, it's a coward's way out, right? Yeah. So, what would have been the courageous thing to do >> to uh face Nebuchadnezzar and even just try to fight even >> or do what the Lord had said and just surrender. >> Maybe the most courageous thing to do is the thing that people think would be the least courageous. But sometimes following the Lord is the most courageous thing to do. >> And I don't know about you, but when the Lord himself says something, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, if you surely surrender the king of Babylon's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. Maybe you should listen to what the Lord says. What do you think is the best verse to summarize verses 1 through 10 of chapter 39? >> Um two. >> You think verse two? >> Mhm. >> Yeah, I think so too. Um, but I also think there's a whole lot of verses 4 through 10 that are um or 4 through9 that are direct fulfillments of Jeremiah's prophecies that were true. >> Even though there were all sorts of other prophets who are saying, "Oh, it's going to go great for you. Just fight. You're going to do great." There a whole bunch of lying prophets >> just like um the friends of >> some Yeah. Rab. All right. So go ahead and talk to me about what you're called to do from this. How does this point you to Jesus Christ? What are you called to do? >> God. >> So it's just that moralistic listen to God. >> Exactly. There's other stuff. >> Okay. Give me some. I think you're right at a base level, right? >> Yeah. >> Listen to the Lord's word. >> Even it's hard. It might take courage to do the counterintuitive thing. >> And don't take the courage way out. Don't take the coward's way out. Do you think following the Lord and surrendering would have been the coward's way out? >> No, because the Lord told him to. >> Yeah, but a bunch of people were going to call him a coward. A coward. A sellout. >> Who cares what they think? >> What do you mean, who cares what they think? >> God told you to do it. You do it even though people are going to think you're crazy. >> Oh, but you never you never have problems with peer pressure or struggle with that, do you? It's super easy to not be peer pressured. Yeah. Know sometimes it's really hard, right? It's really hard. And so the courageous thing is even though the world might say, "Oh, you're acting like a coward. Don't be a right? Just do it. You're just being a scaredy-pest thing to do. I'm going to listen to what God says. That's true strength. That's true courage. But it's the Holy Spirit who enables us to do that. And then we from our wills actually choose to do it. >> So I think that's what Jesus was talking about with abiding in him, right? We need to be with the Lord. We need to abide in Christ. We need to live in Christ. So then we're able to produce those courageous choices to follow him even though it's against our nature, against our friends, against our culture, against even things that we might naturally want. Cool. [Music] >> You want to pray or you want me to pray? >> You got to choose. I'll pray. Okay. God, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for time together in your word. Thank you for sending us your Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that your spirit would advocate for us, comfort us, be with us, care for us, and also Lord, that you would indeed help us to be courageous to walk in your ways. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Well, may the Lord be with you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus, no matter what the culture or friends around you say. I'll see you next time. Bye >> bye.

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