God did not give up on Judah, despite her disobedience and sinful ways.
• God continued to speak to them, again and again, through prophet Jeremiah.
• God extended grace and showed mercy, still urging them to repent.
Judah did not listen, but that did not stop God. “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8)
• That’s the God we have. That’s the God we believe in and we trust.
• We’re going to see this same compassionate and gracious God yet again, today in the closing chapters of 2 Kings.
• We will look at the last King of Judah, Zedekiah, and hear God speaks to him, many times, more than the usual, in fact.
Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem for the second time and took his predecessor Jehoiachin away, together with the best of the land.
• Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah became Babylon’s puppet King. 2 Kings 24:18-25:12.
EARLY IN HIS REIGN God warned him NOT to fight the Babylonians.
• God prepared him and revealed to him that Babylon will come against this region.
• Jer 27:1-7,12-15 27:1 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2This is what the LORD said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters and say, `This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Tell this to your masters: 5With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
• 12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, "Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. 13Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the LORD has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
• 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, `You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying lies to you. 15`I have not sent them,' declares the LORD. `They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.'"
The Lord prepares him. The message is simple, surrender to the King of Babylon.
• Don’t fight him. You will be better off not going against Nebuchadnezzar. Listen to what I says, not what the other false prophets are telling you.
• But this is really not easy. To surrender is unpopular and it goes against his intuition or his pride.
Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar came against the city. He laid siege against Jerusalem for two years. DURING THE SIEGE the Lord spoke.
• Jer 21:1-10 21:1 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 "Inquire now of the LORD for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the LORD will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us."
• 3 But Jeremiah answered them, "Tell Zedekiah, 4`This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in anger and fury and great wrath. 6 I will strike down those who live in this city - both men and animals - and they will die of a terrible plague. 7After that, declares the LORD, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.'
• 8 "Furthermore, tell the people, `This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. 10 I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the LORD. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.'
Different words but same message – surrender, and surrender the earlier the better.
• “Serve Babylon and you will live. Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague?” (Jer 27:13)
• The Lord said it many times, we see that in the book of Jeremiah - Jer 32:1-5 and 34:1-5 and 38:14-23.
Listen in to this interesting “secret” meeting between Zedekiah and Jeremiah.
• Jer 38:14-23 14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. "I am going to ask you something," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from me."
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me."
16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who are seeking your life."
• 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from their hands.'"
• 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me."
• 20 "They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me: 22All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: "`They misled you and overcame you - those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.' 23"All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down."
So Zedekiah surrendered! And he lived happily ever after. NOPE!
• Zedekiah did not surrender. After two years of siege, the city wall was broken through (2 Kings 25:4).
• 2 Kings 25:7 “They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.”
The truth hurts but the truth would save him from greater suffering and grief.
• When God speaks, we listen. God speaks the truth. It pays to listen to Him.
• So we heed His Word. That’s the only right posture when we come before God.
• We seek Him and we will know the truth. The truth matters. The truth matters to us. Jesus says the truth will set us free from the bondages of sin and self-will.
• I am determined to say the truth. I say what the Word says, not what I prefer it says, not what I like it to say, not what I want the Word to say. I say what it says.
The truth matters. Babylon is God’s way of disciplining His people.
A few things we need to understand about God’s discipline in hardship:
Hebrews 12:5-11 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
(1) He treats us as SONS. We are His beloved children.
(2) His motivation is LOVE. He disciplines because He loves.
(3) His goal is FOR OUR GOOD, we share in His holiness, produce a harvest of righteousness and experience peace.
God has not changed but can we believe Him? Can we trust Him?
That’s what happening to Israel and Judah. There will be an end to the exile.
• When the purpose of the disciplining is achieved, God will end it.
------------------------------------------
Listen to how Ezra concludes Judah’s history:
• 2 Chron 36:20-21 20He [Nebuchadnezzar] carried into exile to Babylon the remnant [the 3rd deportation], who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfilment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.
What did the Lord says to Jeremiah regarding the seventy years?
• Jer 25:12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever."
• Jer 29:10-11 10This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
2 Chron 36:22-23 22In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
23"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "`The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you-may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.'"
GOD HAS THE FINAL WORD
• Ultimately, Babylon did not crush Judah’s future. It cannot and it will not.
• Judah’s future does not lie in their hands, not anyone hands, but in the safe hands of Jehovah God.
• Babylon is but God’s servant, doing God’s will and fulfilling His purposes.
We’ve concluded 2 Kings. I hope this journey through the Book of the Kings has been an enriching one. Not so much that we know more about the history of Israel and Judah, but more importantly we’ve come to know the CHARACTER of our God.
