The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 250: Final Wave of Exile (2023)

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Fr. Mike expands on our reading today from Proverbs about the need to guard our speech toward one another. In Jeremiah, we see the final wave of destruction of Jerusalem and the events that followed. Today’s readings are Jeremiah 39-40, Judith 10-11, and Proverbs 17:9-12. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 250. That's awesome. You guys, congratulations. You have 115 days left. I think that story today. It is day 250. That's awesome. You guys, congratulations. You have 115

days left. I think that's right. Anyways, we are trucking through Jeremiah and Judith. We're almost at the end of Judith. We're Jeremiah 39 and 40, the fall of Jerusalem. And man, it's ups and downs, you know, highs and lows. Well, a lot of lows, actually, Jeremiah 39 and 40, as well as Judith 10 and 11, Proverbs chapter 17, verses 9 through 12. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com

slash Bible in a Year, and you can subscribe to the podcast by clicking on subscribe and receive daily updates and daily episodes and all the daily, daily things. As I said, it's day 250. We're reading Jeremiah 39 and 40, Judith 10 and 11, and Proverbs 17, verses 9 through 12. The book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 39, the fall of Jerusalem. The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 39, The Fall of Jerusalem 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. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.

When Jerusalem was taken, all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate. When Jerusalem was taken, all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate. Nergal-Sherazar, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsakim the Rabsaris, Nergal-Sherazar the Rabmag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls, and they went toward the Ereba. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at

Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And he passed sentence upon him. The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him and the people who remained. Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him and the people who remained. Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing

and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. Jeremiah is sent to Abed-Melech. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you. So Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, Nebuchadnezzar, the rhapsod, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah,

the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard. Go and say to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, says the Lord, and you shall not be given

into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword. But you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord. Chapter 40. Jeremiah with Gedaliah the governor. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Ramah when he took him bound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, The Lord your God pronounced this evil against this place. The Lord has brought it about and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you. Now behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come

with me to Babylon, come and I will look after you well.. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you. Go wherever you think it good and right to go. If you remain, then return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people, or go wherever you think it right to go. So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land. When all the captains of the forces in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham, governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon,

they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, Johanan, the son of Kariah, Sariah, the son of Tanumeth, the sons of Ephi, the Nechaphathite, Jezaniah, the son of Akathite, they and their men. Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand for you before the Chaldeans who will come to us. But as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.

Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over them. Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance. Now Jehonan, the son of Korea, and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, Do you know that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to take your life? But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, would not believe them. Then Jehonan, the son of Korea, spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, Let me go and slay Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your

life, so that all the Jews who are gathered about you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Jehonan the son of Korea, You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael. The Book of Judith, Chapter 10. Judith Prepares to Go to Holofernes. sackcloth which she had been wearing, and took off her widow's garments, and bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment, and combed her hair, and put on a tiara, and arrayed herself in most festive apparel, which she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. And she put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, and bracelets, and rings, and her earrings, and all her ornaments, and made herself very beautiful to entice the eyes of all men who might see her. And she gave her maid a bottle of wine and a flask of oil, and filled the bag with parched grain and a cake of dried fruit and fine bread, and she wrapped all her vessels and gave them to her to carry. Then they went out to the city gate of Bethuliah, and found Uzziah standing

there with the elders of the city, Shabriz and Sharmiz. When they saw her and noted how her face was altered and her clothing changed, they greatly admired her beauty and said to her, May the God of our fathers grant you favor and fulfill your plans that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted. And she worshiped God. Then she said to them, Order the gate of the city to be opened for me, and I will go out and accomplish the things about which you spoke with me. So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she had said. When they had done this, Judith went out, she and her maid with her, and the men of the city watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley, and they could no longer see her. Judith is captured. The women went straight

on through the valley and then the Syrian patrol met her and took her into custody and asked her, to what people do you belong? And where are you coming from? And where are you going? She replied, I am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured. I am on my way to the presence of Holofernes, the commander of your army, to give him a true report, and I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain. When the men heard her words and observed her face, she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful. They said to her, You have saved your life by hurrying down to the presence of our Lord.

Go at once to his tent. Some of us will escort you and hand you over to him. And when you stand before him, do not be afraid in your heart, but tell him just what you have said, and he will treat you well. They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent, and they came and stood around her as she waited outside the tent of Holofernes while they told him about her.

And they marveled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them by her. And everyone said to his neighbor, Who can despise these people who have women like this among them? Surely not a man of them had better be left alive, for if we let them go, they will be able to ensnare the whole world. Judith is brought before Holofernes.

Then Holofernes' companions and all his servants came out and led her into the tent. Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy which was woven with purple and gold and emeralds and precious stones. When they told him of her, he came forward to the front of the tent with silver lamps carried before him. And when Judith came into the presence of Holofernes and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face, and she prostrated herself and made obeisance to him, and his slaves raised her up.

Chapter 11. Then Holofernes said to her, take courage woman and do not be afraid in your heart for I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of all the earth. And even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them, but they have brought all this on themselves. Now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us since you have come to safety. Have courage. You will live tonight and from now on. No one will hurt you, but all will treat you well as they do the servants of my Lord King Nebuchadnezzar. Judith deceives Holofernes. Judith replied to him, accept the words of your servant and let your maidservant speak in your presence

and I will tell nothing false to my lord this night. And if you follow out the words of your maidservant, God will accomplish something through you and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the whole earth lives and as his power endures, who had sent you to direct every living soul, not only do men serve him because of you, but also the beasts of the field and the

cattle and the birds of the air will live by your power under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you are the one good man in the whole kingdom, thoroughly informed and marvelous in military strategy. Now, as for the things Achior said in your council, we have heard his words, for the men of Bethuliah spared him, and he told them all he had said to you. Therefore, my lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true, our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them unless they sin against their God. And now, in order that my

Lord may not be defeated and his purpose frustrated, death will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them, by which they are about to provoke their God to anger when they do what is wrong. Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their cattle and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God at Jerusalem, although it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch these things with their hands. They have sent men to Jerusalem because even the people living there have been doing this, to bring back to them permission from the Senate. When the word reaches them and they proceed to do this, on that day,

they will be handed over to you to be destroyed. Therefore, when I, your servant, learned all this, I fled from them. And God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world as many as shall hear about them. For your servant is religious and serves the God of heaven day and night. Therefore, my Lord, I will remain with you.

And every night your servant will go out into the valley and I will pray to God and he will tell me when they have committed their sins. And I will come and tell you, and then you shall go out with your whole army, and not one of them will withstand you. Then I will lead you through the middle of Judea, till you come to Jerusalem, and I will set your throne in the midst of it, and you will lead them like sheep that have no shepherd, and not a dog will so much as open its mouth to growl at you. Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and they marveled at her wisdom and said, There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other,

either for beauty of face or wisdom of speech. And Holofernes said to her, God has done well to send you before the people to lend strength to our hands and to bring destruction upon those who have slighted my lord. You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech. And if you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the house of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world.

The book of Proverbs, chapter 17, verses 9 through 12. He who forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter alienates a friend. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much. God in heaven, we thank you so much. You are the Lord of heaven and earth. You're Lord of all. You're Lord of everything. And we know that you are also the Lord of our stories. We know that you are the

Lord of history. And that also means that you're the Lord of our history. You're the Lord of our past. You're the Lord of our future. And Lord God, you are the Lord of our history. You're the Lord of our past. You're the Lord of our future. And Lord God, you are the Lord of our present. At this moment, we place ourselves under your dominion. We place ourselves under your lordship, under your kingship, under your guidance, under your will, under your rule, under you, because we can trust in you. And so we do. We trust in you today and every day.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. So I know it's been kind of a theme recently where I keep, you know, I say something about the Proverbs, but Proverbs chapter 17, verse nine and 10 are both just incredible. He who forgives an offense seeks love.

And then here's the next piece. But he who repeats a matter alienates a friend. And that goes back again to the sins of speech and the way in which all of us need to guard our speech. He who repeats a matter alienates a friend. Yeah, because some things don't need to be said. Some things don't need to be repeated. In fact, some words can actually destroy relationships. As it says, the one who repeats a matter alienates a friend. And that's so good. I mean, we have the difference between the wise person and the fool. And in verse 10, it's a rebuke goes deeper into a man

of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. And that's just rebuke. Yeah, here's a small correction, which was deeper into a person of understanding, a person who seeks wisdom, a person who wants to do the right than a hundred blows into a fool. And gosh, you think about the ways in which here we're reading Jeremiah and we've got some big, big turns, some big things have happened. Jeremiah has been preaching for 40 plus years that Jerusalem was going to fall. And so they're supposed to surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar. No one listened. And so now what happens is now there's a hundred blows upon those who would not listen. And so here's the people of Israel who are being decimated and

being destroyed. And I mean, he just, here's chapter 39 is, I mean, it's key in Jeremiah, the book of the prophet Jeremiah, because it's so key for the history of Israel. This is the final wave of destruction, the final wave of exile, where finally Nebuchadnezzar and his troops had surrounded Jerusalem. You know, they left and they went to fight the armies of Egypt, but they came back. And here is these princes, essentially leaders of Babylon. And he says, when Jerusalem was taken, this is verse three of chapter 39. When Jerusalem was taken, all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the

middle gate. Some fun names like Nergal-Sherazar, which reminds me of Pokemon for whatever reason. But Nergal Sherazar, Samgarnibo, Sarsakim, Nergal Sherazar, Rabmeg, all these people. And what do they do? They park themselves at the middle gate. What does that mean? I've heard someone describe it like this. They said it's kind of like if someone invaded Washington, D.C., and they walked into the Oval Office, sat behind the desk, put their feet up. That's essentially what these princes of Babylon are doing. As they sit in the middle gate, they're basically saying, yeah, this is the place of trade. This is the place of coming and going.

This is the place where decisions are made. This is the heart of the city of Jerusalem in some kind of, in like a secular way, political way. And so they're camping themselves out there. Now, it's so interesting. We have Zedekiah. Remember Zedekiah, who, he was weak, just, you know, such a fickle person. And we heard yesterday that he had gone to Jeremiah and said, okay, tell me privately, tell me privately the word of the Lord. And Jeremiah even says, I've told you publicly so many times and you never listened to me,

but here, I'll tell you privately. And then Zedekiah tells Jeremiah, okay, don't tell anyone. Don't tell anyone what you told me. And so Jeremiah's like, okay, fine. But here we have Zedekiah who doesn't even take a stand against Nebuchadnezzar, right? For years, Zedekiah has said, no, we're going to fight. No, we're going to fight against Nebuchadnezzar, even though Jeremiah is saying, no, surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and you'll live, like surrender, and he'll let you live in peace. And God will do something in this that is going to be great. And Zedekiah says, no, we're going to stand and fight. But here, what happens when Nebuchadnezzar and his armies come against Jerusalem, Zedekiah flees. And so they catch him on the plains of Jericho, which is, you know, I don't know, 15, 20 miles from Jerusalem and then bring him up to Riblah. And as I've said many times, Nebuchadnezzar

kills Zedekiah's sons right in front of his eyes. And then Nebuchadnezzar gouges out the eyes of Zedekiah so that the last thing he sees is the death of his sons. Now this reveals a number of things. But one of the things it reveals is that Nebuchadnezzar is a pretty brutal guy. This is a brutal time. You know, as we've been journeying through the Bible like this, we recognize that the Bible stories are incredibly violent. The people are incredibly brutal. They're living in brutal times. And this is part of that. This is a part of that story of brutality. Here's Nebuchadnezzar gouging out the king's eyes and then taking him off, carting him off to Babylon. Now, at the same time, there's Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, who's going to play

a role in Nebuchadnezzar. I mean, he recognizes that here's Jeremiah. Jeremiah has been, I don't want to say on the side of the Babylonians. He hasn't been on the side of the Babylonians. He's been on the side of the people of Israel, the Jewish people. But from Nebuchadnezzar's perspective, Jeremiah has kind of been his pal in the sense that he has been saying for years and years, surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. And so Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, recognizes something in Jeremiah. And he even recognizes something in the God of Israel where he says,

you know, I want to give you a choice. I want to give you the choice. And the choice is if you would come with me to Babylon, I'll make sure that you live comfortably. Like I'll make sure that you are taken care of. And so please come with me to Babylon. But if you want to, you can stay here in Jerusalem and I'll give you a gift and some, you know, some provisions. And here's Jeremiah who has this choice. The choice is what?

I can go into exile and be taken care of, or I can stay here in Jerusalem and live off trusting in the Lord. And you think about this, this, this recognition of trusting in the Lord and how key this is, because there was a story here in chapter 39 of Ebed-Melech. Remember Ebed-Melech, the person who had interceded on behalf of Jeremiah when he was in the cistern and he was, Remember Ebed-Melech, the person who had interceded on behalf of Jeremiah when he was in the cistern and he was sinking in the mire. Ebed-Melech had advocated on behalf of Jeremiah. And what happens? There's this gift that is given to Ebed-Melech by the word of the Lord, where God speaks

through Jeremiah. And he says this, he says, I will deliver you on that day. There's destruction coming still, but I will deliver you, Ebed-Melech. Now, Ebed-Melech, Ethiopian, he wasn't necessarily a Jew. In fact, he's called a eunuch. And in many ways, eunuchs were not allowed to participate fully in the worship in the temple. But God says to Abed-Melech, the eunuch, the Ethiopian, but I will deliver you on that day and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. He goes on, I will surely save you. You shall not fall by the sword. You shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. He goes on. I will surely save you. You shall not fall by the sword.

You shall have your life as a prize of war. And here's why. This is the key reason. Because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord. Now, this is so critical for every one of us to just hear, understand, and interiorize. It's not because Ebed-Melech was a great hero, not because he was perfect, not because all the things, right? Not because his body was fully intact.

I mean, as a eunuch, he might've been castrated and whatnot. No, at the same time, this term eunuch sometimes just meant someone who worked in the king's court, but sometimes it meant someone who was castrated or work in the king's court. But none of those things mattered when it comes to this promise of God.

God says, I'm going to deliver you from the people of whom you are afraid. Why? Because you put your trust in me. And there's something so, so powerful that we just need to interiorize and say, okay, Lord, that's what you're calling me to do, to live in your will, to simply trust you each moment in each day of my life to do your will, even when I don't understand it, but to be able to say, um, that I will be done. And we, in fact, we have this, we have this model by Jesus who says what father let this cup pass for me, but not my will, your will be done. Now, speaking of God's will being done, it's chapter 40, where, where Jeremiah is given the choice. The Bazaar Don says, okay, if you, what do you want to do? You want to go to Babylon? You want to stay here with Gedaliah?

Now, Gedaliah is important for us to understand what Gedaliah is. Gedaliah was appointed as governor. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was done with letting Israel have kings. So he appoints Gedaliah as the governor of the remnant, right? The poor, the weak, the lame, the people who he didn't want to bring with him to Babylon. And also not only that, but also the people who lived in the hills. Now, when it says, talks about the people in the hills, these are, these are kind of rebels who didn't surrender still, but fled to the hills in order to be like resistance fighters, essentially, because we're going to hear about, we heard actually at the end of chapter 40 about one of these resistance fighters. We'll get to him in just one second. But Jeremiah has this

prayer and he has to ask God, what do you want? And so go to Babylon, stay here in Jerusalem. Jeremiah chooses to stay in Jerusalem. Now, as I said, at the end of chapter 40, we have this introduction of this particular person named Ishmael. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, he's one of those rogues, right? The resistance fighters who are living in the hills. And Johanan comes to Gedaliah and he says, listen, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah is going to kill you. And Gedaliah, instead of guarding himself, instead of believing this, instead of saying, oh gosh, let's take care of Ishmael, get him out of the way. Gedaliah says, nah, he's not going to do that. And we're going to see where that leads

tomorrow. As for our reading in Judith, here is the wisdom of Judith. Also, her beauty is remarked on quite a few times, but she proposes to Holofernes this plan that she has. And the plan is so rooted in her Jewish faith that it's remarkable where she convinces Holofernes that, listen, God will fight for us. You know, Uzziah or Achior, when he spoke to you, he was not lying. He was telling the truth that as long as we're faithful to the Lord God, there's no one who can defeat us. But here's what's going to happen. We're not going to be faithful to him pretty soon because we're going to, the people of my city, Betheliah, they're not going to give the first fruits to the Lord.

They're going to eat the first fruits themselves. And then you'll know that the Lord God will not fight for them anymore. And so Holofernes thinks, great plan. And we're going to see how that unfolds in the next couple of days. We have two more days with Judith, and then we're moving on to lamentations, which is one note about lamentations. In two days, we'll have lamentations. Lamentations is what Jeremiah saw during the siege of Jerusalem.

And so, gosh, you know, so we have this quick chapter 39 where it just says there was the siege and then Jerusalem fell and then they came in and sat at the gates. But in Lamentations, Jeremiah gives us this incredibly tragic picture of here's what life was like during that siege.

And we're gonna hit that in three days from now, the day after tomorrow. But today I am praying for you and please pray for me. My name is Father Mike and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.