Jeremiah 52:12
Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
The verse dates the coming of Nebuzar-adan, captain of the Babylonian guard who served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem to the tenth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, marking the Babylonian burning of the houses, the Lord's house and temple, the king's palace and the great buildings of the city. It was the time God permitted Israel to lose its king and kingdom, when the nation was devastated under Zedekiah and carried away to Babylon with only a small remnant left. The destruction came because the people persisted in wickedness and reaped it as a harvest, fulfilling Jeremiah's prediction and carrying out the threatened destruction for breaking the Sabbath after the promise that Jerusalem would stand forever if no burdens were borne on the Sabbath. Together with the burning that followed, it shows that the fire called unquenchable continued until it had consumed the houses and then ceased of itself, proving that unquenchable means it cannot be stopped before consuming what is cast into it, not that it burns forever. The wider chapter shows that the daughters of Babylon are a part of Babylon itself, so that great Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity with its daughters. The month of the burning was commemorated by the Jews with mourning and fasting in the fifth month during their captivity, and the chapter stands as a warning of judgment upon places that forget and defy God, applied to cities such as New York, Chicago and others.
Jerusalem's Destruction Dated
The tenth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is the date of the coming of Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem. That arrival belongs to the account of Jerusalem's fall and devastation under Zedekiah when its people were taken captive, and stands as part of the account of Babylon's judgment on the city.
It marks the Babylonian burning of Jerusalem, including its houses, the Lord's house and temple, the king's palace, and the great buildings of the city. This burning in the fifth month is the calamity the Jews afterward commemorated by mourning and fasting in the fifth month during their captivity.
It is the time when God permitted Israel to lose its king and kingdom. It belongs to the destruction of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar and the carrying away to Babylon, when the nation was devastated and only a small remnant was taken captive.
Cause and Doctrine Taught
Jerusalem was destroyed because its people persisted in wickedness and wrongdoing, reaping that course as a harvest when Nebuchadnezzar came against the city in the nineteenth year of his reign. More specifically, the ruin carried out the threatened destruction for breaking the Sabbath, for the promise had been that if no burdens were borne on the Sabbath day Jerusalem would stand forever, but that if the people refused to listen God would destroy it. A few years after that warning Nebuzar-adan entered Jerusalem to execute the judgment, and with its context the account records the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prediction that Babylon would destroy Jerusalem and its temple.
Together with the next verse on the burning, the coming into Jerusalem records the burning of the houses of the city, and the fire that God said would not be quenched continued until it had burned the houses and then ceased of itself. That end proves that unquenchable means a fire cannot be stopped before it has consumed what is cast into it, not that it burns forever without end. The wider chapter further shows that the daughters of Babylon form a part of Babylon itself, so that great Babylon embraces all corrupt Christianity with its daughters.
Warning and Memorial Observed
Nebuzar-adan, captain of the Babylonian guard, came to Jerusalem on the tenth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. That date marks the month in which the city and its temple were burned by Babylon. The burning consumed the Lord's house, the king's palace, and the great buildings of Jerusalem. Because of that calamity the Jews mourned and kept a fast in the fifth month during their captivity.
The chapter is a lesson about warnings of judgment and the fate of places that forget and defy God. It records Babylon's judgment upon the city as an example drawn from Babylon's own fate. The same warning is applied to New York, Chicago, and other places.