And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
Jeremiah 37:8 belongs to the book's account of the two years before Jerusalem fell. In the chronological story of Jeremiah's experiences, it comes after chapter 34 and before chapters 32, 33 and 38, within the section from chapter 20 onward whose chapters are not in chronological order. It belongs to the portion of the prophecy concerning the sad conditions in Judah that caused weeping — false prophets, utter repudiation of the law of God and the principles of righteousness, and persecutions of the prophet himself — preserved to show the awful enormity of sin and its sure consequences.
The verse predicts that the Chaldeans would come again, fight against Jerusalem, capture it, and burn it with fire. It predicts that Pharaoh's army would return to Egypt and that Egypt's help, though sent, would fail and could not prevent the city's destruction. The temporary withdrawal of the besieging army did not mean the city was safe, for the prediction stood against the false prophets' assurances and the favorable appearance of events. The king and people could not escape the announced judgment by seeking aid elsewhere or by trusting that the Chaldeans would leave.
The verse is included among the Lord's warnings that Judah rejected. The prediction was fulfilled after Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar: despite Egypt's help, the city fell after a year-and-a-half siege, and the temple and prominent houses were burned. The prophecy was fulfilled because they persisted in rebellion rather than humbling themselves before God.
Jeremiah 37:8 belongs to the book's account of the two years before Jerusalem fell. In the chronological story of Jeremiah's experiences, it comes after chapter 34 and before chapters 32, 33 and 38, within the section from chapter 20 onward whose chapters are not in chronological order. It belongs to the portion of the prophecy concerning the sad conditions in Judah that caused weeping — false prophets, utter repudiation of the law of God and the principles of righteousness, and persecutions of the prophet himself — preserved to show the awful enormity of sin and its sure consequences.
The verse predicts that the Chaldeans would come again, fight against Jerusalem, capture it, and burn it with fire. It predicts that Pharaoh's army would return to Egypt and that Egypt's help, though sent, would fail and could not prevent the city's destruction. The temporary withdrawal of the besieging army did not mean the city was safe, for the prediction stood against the false prophets' assurances and the favorable appearance of events. The king and people could not escape the announced judgment by seeking aid elsewhere or by trusting that the Chaldeans would leave.
The verse is included among the Lord's warnings that Judah rejected. The prediction was fulfilled after Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar: despite Egypt's help, the city fell after a year-and-a-half siege, and the temple and prominent houses were burned. The prophecy was fulfilled because they persisted in rebellion rather than humbling themselves before God.