Jer 52:18-34  Everything in the Lord’s Temple is Now Also in Babylon

[Study Aired November 13, 2022]

Jer 52:18  The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
Jer 52:19  And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
Jer 52:20  The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
Jer 52:21  And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
Jer 52:22  And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
Jer 52:23  And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.
Jer 52:24  And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
Jer 52:25  He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.
Jer 52:26  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
Jer 52:27  And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
Jer 52:28  This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
Jer 52:29  In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
Jer 52:30  In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

These Last Four Verses Concern Jehoiachin’s Release from Prison

Jer 52:31  And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,
Jer 52:32  And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
Jer 52:33  And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
Jer 52:34  And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

In our last study we closed with these verses:

Jer 52:16  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
Jer 52:17  Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

Brass is the very best of the base metals. Its spiritual significance therefore is the best of our carnal flesh. Here is the study on the spiritual significance of ‘brass’, which should be translated as copper:

Metals – Copper, Part 1

It is through these two ‘pillars of brass’ that everyone entered the temple of God. The only place brass was found in the tabernacle of Moses was in the sockets which supported the five pillars at the door of the tabernacle. All the priests entered the tabernacle over these sockets of brass. These two brass pillars have the same spiritual significance which the sockets of the tabernacle carried. That spiritual significance is that “we have this treasure [Christ] in earthen vessels”, through which we enter into the Lord’s presence.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

The temple of Solomon is a more mature type of the Lord’s habitation, and in the temple, we see that the pillars are but two, which signifies the witness of Christ and the witness of His Christ.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Zec 4:1  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Here is the study on the spiritual significance of the number two:

Numbers – Two

The following is the description of the size and shape of those two copper pillars at the entrance of the temple of Solomon:

1Ki 7:15  For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
1Ki 7:16  And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:
1Ki 7:21  And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin [H3199: ‘He will establish]: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz [H1162: ‘Fleetness’].

A cubit is a foot and a half, or 45.72 centimeters. With a five cubit cap (2.286 meters) these copper pillars were 34.5 feet tall with a 18 foot circumference. That is 10.5156 meters tall with a 5.4864 meter circumference. They were not intended to be portable, yet Nebuchadnezzar had them broken up and carried to Babylon, along with all the implements with which the priests serviced the temple of the Lord. All those implements which were intended to worship the true God were now in Babylon, typical of ‘Mystery Babylon’ now being used in the service of another god.

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

All these physical things have spiritual counterparts which are all found in Mystery Babylon and which are all given to Babylon by the Lord’s apostate people. There is no doubt that physical Babylon had plenty of gold, silver, and precious stones before the Jerusalem campaign, but now the Old Testament type of Mystery Babylon the Great also has within it the gold, silver, and precious stones of the temple of God in Jerusalem.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

The building materials of “gold, silver, and precious stones” signify the doctrines of Christ and His gospel, which is likened unto “a treasure hidden in a field [and] a pearl of great price” (Mat 13:44-45). Ezekiel condemns the Lord’s people for using His gold and His silver to “make to [themselves] images of men” which we are told signify “falsehoods”:

Jer 10:14  Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Jer 51:17  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

The ‘gold, silver, and precious stones’ of Babylon signify all the false doctrines which the Lord’s own words have been twisted into as “idols of the heart” of the ‘merchants and shipmasters of Babylon’, who signify all the great prominent ministers of the religions of this world.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

That is what happened to Jerusalem. All the implements that were used by the priests in ministering to the people before the Lord are now in Babylon and being used there.

Jer 52:18  The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
Jer 52:19  And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
Jer 52:20  The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

All these implements are now in Babylon signifying that which was already true before the Lord’s people were carried away captives into Babylon. This is what it all signifies:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

The bread and the water here signify the same things which the bread and the blood signify in these words of our Lord:

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Jer 52:21  And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
Jer 52:22  And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
Jer 52:23  And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

These pillars signify the great men who are the pillars of the Lord’s apostate house just as the Lord’s elect are called “pillars” in His house:

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

These pillars were designed to “go no more out”, but the apostasy of the Lord’s people caused them to be broken down and carried away to Babylon.

Jer 52:24  And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
Jer 52:25  He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.
Jer 52:26  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
Jer 52:27  And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

These are the spiritual leaders of the Lord’s people spoken of by the next verses in Isaiah 3, telling us of the extent of the apostasy of the Lord’s own people. I repeat verse one to give the context of the state of all these great men of God:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. [The ‘harlot’ of Isaiah 1:21 is fallen, is fallen]
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Speaking to His own apostate people this is how the Lord addresses them:

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Sodom is also another name for the “great city” of Mystery Babylon the Great:

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Lest anyone miss the fact that Mystery Babylon is the Lord’s own people we are told that this is “where also our Lord was crucified”.

Jer 52:28  This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
Jer 52:29  In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
Jer 52:30  In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

This three-step process of fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah telling the Lord’s people that they would be carried away to Babylon signifies the process of being judged which they are now enduring.

Lest we think this has no personal application we need to remember that it is our own old man who is at this very moment enduring the judgments of God upon his own rebellious kingdom within us:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

All of these events which Judah and Jerusalem endured because of their own wickedness and backsliding happened to them and they are written to let us know that the Lord is at this very moment judging us in this present time, and He is keeping our souls in His service as a faithful Creator, and as a loving husband who simply wants us to repent of our unfaithful ways and return humbly to Him:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Look at how this prophecy of Jeremiah ends. It ends with the hope of being fed with knowledge and understanding from the Lord:

Jer 52:31  And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,
Jer 52:32  And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
Jer 52:33  And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
Jer 52:34  And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

Jehoiachin was the youngest of the four kings who followed King Josiah. He is the youngest king to whom Jeremiah prophesied, and he is the only king who followed Jeremiah’s words from the Lord to “go out unto the king of Babylon’s princes”, and accept the judgment which the Lord has prophesied to come upon Judah and Jerusalem:

Jer 38:17  Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
Jer 38:18  But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

Because Jehoiachin obeyed the Lord he is now being treated as Joseph who was brought out of prison and placed over the house of Pharaoh. He is being set over the kings in Babylon just as Daniel and his fellows were placed over all the wise men in all the province of Babylon just a few years prior to Jehoiachin’s release from prison. All these men, Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and here in the last part of the last chapter of Jeremiah, we have Jehoiachin, all who obeyed the words of the Lord in their generation are types of the Lord’s elect who are also being taken out of prison and being made kings and priests who will reign with Christ in His soon coming kingdom:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

May the Lord give us all the faith to value and to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God in this present time than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, and may the Lord grant each of us to have respect unto the recompense of the reward we are promised:

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.