Captivity (2 Kings 25)

What would happen if our sinful people were punished by being deported to a foreign land? Would God possibly bless those who repented there? Let’s look at 2 Kings 25.

What happened to Zedekiah as the king of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem?

And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:1-7 ESV)

What happened to Jerusalem and her people except for some of the poorest among them?

On the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses. The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers. (2 Kings 25:8-12 HCSB)

What did the Babylonians do to the Temple in Jerusalem and its contents?

The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the Lord’s Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea that used to be in the Lord’s Temple. They also confiscated the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry. The captain of the guard also confiscated the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver. The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the Lord’s Temple could not be inventoried for weight. The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits, and the capital on top of it was three cubits high. A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first. (2 Kings 25:13-17 ISV)

What did the king of Babylon do to many of the leaders of Judah?

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore [60] men of the people of the land that were found in the city: And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land. (2 Kings 25:18-21 KJV)

What did the Babylonian governor, Gedaliah, promise the remnant who remained in the land of Judah? What happened to Gedaliah?

Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. Then all the commanders of the military forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor. So they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. Then Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Then all the people, both small and great, and the commanders of the military forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. (2 Kings 25:22-26 LSB)