The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 250: Final Wave of Exile (2025)

Episode Date: September 7, 2025

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.

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we can post online, please consider making a financial contribution, an ongoing financial contribution by going to ascensionpress.com slash support. That's ascensionpress.com slash support. Thank you and God bless. 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.

It'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 death.

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 versus 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. In the ninth year of Zedekiah, King of Judah, in the 10th month, Nebuchadnezzar, King of 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, 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. Nergal Sherazer, Samgar Nibo, Sarsakim, the Rabseris, Nergal Sharazir, 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 Ribla in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence upon him. The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah at Ribla 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, Nibu Zaradan, 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. Nebuchadnevuzaradan, 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 Ebed Melech. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuchadne 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 Nebuzaradon, the captain, the captain Captain of the Guard, Nebuchazban, the Rabsaris, Nirgal Sharazar, the Rabmeg, and all the chief officers of the King of Babylon sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Getalaya, the son of Ahikam, son of Shafan, 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 Melik, 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 Gedelaya, the governor. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuchaduradan, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Rama 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. 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 Getalaya, the son of Ahikim, son of Shafan, 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 Getalaya, the son of a Hikam, 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 Getalaya, the son of aikam, 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 Gethalaya at Mizpah, Ishmael, the son of Netanaya, Johan, the son of Karia, Siriah, the son of Tanumath, the sons of Iphai, the Nacopheth,ite, Jezaniah, the son of Akathite, they and their men. Gatelaya, the son of Ahikam, son of Shafan, 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 mispa 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 geteliah the son of hechem son of shafan as governor over them then all the jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and and came to the land of Judah to Getalaya 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 Gethalaya at Mizpah, and said to him,

Do you know, the Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nathania, to take your life? But Getalaya, the son of Ahikam, would not believe them. Then Jehonan, the son of Korea, spoke secretly to Gethalaya at Mizpa. Let me go and slay Ishmael, the son of Nathanai. 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 Gadelaya, the son of Hecum, 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 Halophonies. When Judith had ceased crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words, She rose from where she lay prostrate and called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on Sabbaths and on her feast days, and she removed the 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 Manasse 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 a 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 Bethelaya, and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the city, Shabriz and Sharmis. 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 worshipped 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 in 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 holophonies then holophonies's companions and all his servants came out and led her into the tent holophonies 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 marvelled 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 Helophonis. Judith replied to him, Accept the words of your servant and let your maid servant speak in your presence and I will tell nothing false to my lord this night. And if you follow out the words of your maid-servant, 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 Nebrikaner 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 Akior said in your counsel, we have heard his words,

for the men of Bethulia 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. 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. For this has been told me by my foreknowledge. It was announced to me and I was sent to tell you. Her words pleased to Lafranes 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 Helophanes 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. 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 the 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 present. At this moment, we place ourselves under your dominion. We place ourselves under your lordship, under your kingship, 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 9 and 10 are both just incredible. He who forgives an offense, seeks love. And 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 our friend.

Yeah, because some things don't need to be said. Some things don't need to be repeated. And 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. then 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 turns, some big things that 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 100, 100 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, 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 3 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 Nurgal Sharazar, which reminds me of Pokemon for whatever reason, but Nergal Sharizar, Sam Garnebo, Sarsakim, Nurgal Sherazar, Rabmeg, all these people. And what do they do? They park themselves at the middle gate.

What does that mean? I heard someone describe it like this. They said, it's kind of like if someone invaded Washington, D.C., and And they walked into the Oval Office, you know, sat behind the desk, put their feet up. That's essentially what these princes of Babylon are doing. As they sat in the middle, sit in the middle gate, they're basically saying, yeah, this is the place of trade. This is a place of coming and going.

This is a 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. He 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 Zetekiah tells Jeremiah, okay, don't tell anyone. Don't tell anyone what you told me. And so Jeremiah is 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 in his 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 Ribla.

And as I've said many times, Nebuchadnezzar kills Zedekiah's sons right in front of his eyes, and then Nebuchadnezzar gougeser 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 Nibu Zaradon, the captain of the guard who's going to play a role. And at Nibu Zaradon, 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 people of Israel, the Jewish people. But he's been 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 Nebuchadne, 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 taking 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 like 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 recognition of trusting in the Lord and how key this is because there was a story here in chapter 39 of Ebed Melik remember Eid Melek the person who had interceded on behalf of Jeremiah when he was in the cistern, and he was, you know, sinking in the mire. Eben-Melik had advocated on behalf of Jeremiah, and what happens? There's this gift that is given to Eid-Melik, 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, Eid-Melik. Now, Eben-Melik, Ethiopian, who 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 Ebid Mellick, 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 have your life as a price of war. 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 Eid Mellick 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 have 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 from 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 adan says, okay, what do you want to do? You want to go to Babylon? You want to stay here with Getaliah. Now, Gethalaya is important for us to understand what Getta is. Getalaya was appointed as governor. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was done with letting Israel have kings. So he appoints Getalaya as the governor of the remnant, right? The poor, the weak, the lame, the people who he didn't want to bring with them to Babylon. And also, not only that, but also the people who lived in the hills. Now, when it talks about the people in the hills, 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 Nathania, is one of those rogues, right? The resistance fighters who are living in the hills.

And Johanan comes to Getalaya and he says, listen, Ishmael, the son of Nathania, is going to kill you. and Get Eliah, instead of guarding himself, instead of believing this, instead of saying, oh gosh, then let's, yeah, take care of Ishmael, get him out of the way. Get Elias says, nah, he's not going to do that. And we're going to see, 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, is so rooted in her Jewish faith that it is, it's remarkable where she convinces Halophonies that, listen, God will fight for us. You know, Uzziah or Akior, 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, Bethelaya, 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 Halophonis thinks, great plan. And we're going to see how that unfolds in the next couple 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 going to 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.

Thank you. Thank you.