Jeremiah 52:31 - Meaning and Application

This account of King Jehoiachin’s restoration in exile was already given before, in 2 Kings 25:27-30. There it says it happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, while here it says the twenty-fifth. In a matter like this, two days make very little difference. It may be that the order for his release was given on the twenty-fifth, but he was not brought before the king until the twenty-seventh.

There are several lessons here. First, new rulers make new laws. Nebuchadnezzar had long kept this unhappy prince in prison, and even though his son was kind to the prisoner, he could not win him any favor while his father lived. It was a little like Jonathan, who could not get any help for David from Saul. But when the old, stubborn king died, his son showed Jehoiachin favor and made him a special guest. Children often undo what their fathers have done, and it is a good thing when they do so for the better.

Second, this world is always changing. Jehoiachin began as a king and fell from his throne into prison, but here he is raised again to a place of honor, though not to real power (Jeremiah 52:32). His royal clothes had once been changed for prison clothes, and now they were changed back again. That is how life in this world is, with joy and sorrow set side by side, so we may learn to rejoice without clinging to joy and to weep without despairing.

Third, even if the night of trouble is very long, we must not give up hope that morning will come. Jehoiachin was a prisoner for thirty-seven years, shut up and humiliated, ever since he was eighteen. He may have become so used to captivity that he had almost forgotten freedom, or else freedom would have been all the sweeter after such a long wait. Let those whose troubles have lasted a long time take courage from this example, because the vision will speak at the right time and bring comfort at the end. While there is life, there is hope. Though things are bad now, they will not always be so.

Fourth, God can make his people find favor in the eyes of those who oppress them, and he can turn hard hearts toward pity. As Psalm 106:46 says, “He made them to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.” God can make those who once spoke harshly speak kindly, and those who fed on his people become the ones who feed them. So those under oppression should keep hoping and wait quietly for the Lord’s salvation. Our times are in God’s hand, because the hearts of everyone we deal with are in his hand too.

Finally, looking at this book’s prophecies and history together, we learn several general truths. It is no new thing for churches and honored people to grow corrupt. Sin leads toward ruin for those who hold onto it, and if it is not repented of and left behind, it will surely end in ruin. Outward privileges and outward religion do not excuse sin or protect from judgment, but they make both guilt and punishment worse. And no word from God will fail, because events will always match his prediction. Human unbelief cannot make God’s warnings, any more than his promises, empty and powerless. Here the justice and truth of God stand out clearly for the warning and shame of all who mock his threats. Let no one be fooled, God is not mocked.