Jehoiachin
Three Last Kings of Judah-
CCCAG 10-2-22
Scripture- 2 Kings 24:8-17
As most of you probably have figured out by now, I love history.
I know when you say the word “history” most people’s eyes glaze over and they remember this class as their least favorite in school- having to memorize dates, times, and events without truly being taught the significance of what they were studying.
The reason I like history so much is revealed by one of my favorite sayings-“Those who do not learn from history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them”
That is isn’t just true in world events, but it’s also true in our personal lives.
Mistakes are life’s teachers, and if you have made mistakes, and we all have, they were allowed in your life to teach you a valuable lesson.
Another favorite saying of mine that I learned in the military- when you are doing something very physically difficult and painful there was always a helpful officer or NCO that would remind you that pain is just weakness leaving your body.
Pain in experiencing a negative consequence from a mistake is meant to reinforce the lesson never to do that again.
This is why young children get spanked- to reinforce important lessons and to learn to respect and even have a healthy fear of authority.
The same truth we see in our in our personal lives, is also true
in the rest of life- even at the national or international level.
Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.
That is why we have been studying these last kings of Judah, and seeing how their actions brought down one of the most powerful nations in history.
It is I my hope, through the study of God’s word, and the history that is revealed, that we as bible believing Christians can stem the tide of judgement that is looming on the horizon and win back our nation.
That America will be one nation under God once again.
I mentioned at the beginning of the series that we were discussing the three last kings of Judah, but not including Zedekiah as he was appointed by the King of Babylon after the nation had already been stripped of it’s power and treasure.
Instead, today we learn about Jehoiachin- the last King of Judah
2 Kings 24:8-17
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.
10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.
In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans — a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother, his wives, his officials and the leading men of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand craftsmen and artisans.
Prayer
There is a saying that has a lot of truth to it- as goes the leader, so goes the people.
That is who the leader is, what they stand for, and how they live is so important to a family, to a company, a military unit, and as we are witnessing today- a nation and a world that looks to America to show strength but all they currently see is weakness.
As the leader goes, so goes the people. The first thing we see about how God viewed Jehoiachin, and therefore the people of Judah is seen in the Prophet Jeremiah’s words about him-
I. He became Despised by God- Prophet Jeremiah
Jer 22:24-30 "As surely as I live," declares the Lord, "even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear — to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to."
28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know?
29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says: "Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah."
NIV
Have any of you despised someone so much that you wouldn’t kick them into a lake if they were on fire?
That’s the language being used in the bible for how much God despised this king, and through him the people that followed him.
This is where Judah is at this time in history. God’s hands are now beginning to move in ways that will bring disaster upon them.
The bible says it’s a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Some may ask- what about God’s mercy?
Isn’t God a god of love? Why won’t He just forgive, and forgive, and forgive some more?
To answer that question- I point you back to when God gave the covenant to Abraham. In Genesis 15, God is giving a promise to Abraham and his descendants that they will come into their own land someday, but it will take 400 years for that promise to be fulfilled. There is a verse in that chapter that is often just read and not understood, and it’s verse 16 which gives a glimpse into the heart of God, and how He exercises his sovereignty here on earth.
Gen 15:15-16
You Abraham, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
The Amorites were the people that at that time in history occupied what is now known as modern Israel. They were a collection of all of the “ite” people- Hizzites, Canaanites, Perizzites, ect. They were all rotten to the core, but God was giving them a little more time- 400 years in fact to repent of their evil and return to HIM.
What this verse shows us is that somewhere in the divine scale of justice, there is a point of no return. There comes a time where an individual or nations corruption has become so bad that God has no other recourse than to rid the earth of them.
How that works, nor where that line is- I have no idea.
A similar question to that is “Why do some people live long and evil lives while some decent people die young?”
The prophet Habakkuk asked the same questions of God. God’s answer was that judgement was coming in the form of the Babylonian kingdom, and they would be in instrument of God’s justice to the sinful nation.
As far as giving you a list or criteria that God uses before his mercy runs out and judgement is inevitable- I don’t know.
What I do know is that none of us are guaranteed our next breath- therefore, keep your accounts short with God and live in such a way that you will not be ashamed when you appear before him.
God’s WORD says that He will call every deed into judgment, whether good or evil. If your evil isn’t covered by the blood of Christ you are doomed.
That is where Jehoiachin is- under judgment.
And because he is the king, and they people followed their king into depravity, they are now under judgement as well.
Again, this is a principle we see throughout biblical history- where the leader goes, the people follow.
1 Samuel chapter 8, the prophet gives the people warnings about desiring a king to rule over them, and now the people are seeing that Samuel, speaking on God’s behalf, was absolutely right.
It’s true then, and it’s true now.
But this isn’t just a national problem.
It’s true in your personal life, it’s true in your family- if you are living a secret life of sin, it will come out, especially in the lives of your children.
Big IDEA_
We forget that every decision we make is a spiritual decision and brings with it spiritual consequences.
It strengthens forces in your life for good or for evil.
If you chose wrongly, there is a spirit that is strengthened and set free in the kingdom of darkness to wreak havoc in your life and the life of those around you.
If you choose wisely, the Holy Spirit's influence will continue to bring blessing and life to you and those around you.
This is the truth- seen over and over again in the bible. If Jesus was saying this HE would say “Verily verily” right now-
In the spiritual realm, there is no such thing as a secret sin, and the evidence of that will eventually be seen in the physical world and in your life, along with the consequences of choosing poorly.
You never want to be in the position where you become a stench to God, and HE begins to despise you as he did Jehoiachin.
Because there is something else notable about this king-
The second thing that marked this king was-
II. Judgement 1- Reign was brief
Three months, 10 days were all that he was given.
The bible is unusually specific about this, so I looked up the significance of this.
10 days is how long it would take a swift messenger to ride from Judah to Babylon. 3 months is how long it would take to marshal, supply, and march an Army across the desert and attack Judah.
In other words, King Nebuchadnezzar heard about Jehoiachin taking the throne, and immediately said, “Nope” and sent the army as the exclamation point to that nope!
Isn’t that something? You are such a poor example of a leader that the world’s rising superpower sends an army to immediately remove you.
Not only did God despise him, but apparently the rest of the world did also.
I again want to point out that this king was so despised because he was in it only for himself.
He knew what God required of the nation- several prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk to name a few) were telling him and telling him that he needed to turn back to God to avoid the coming wrath….
But he ignored the warnings.
Before we are too hard on this young king, before we just cluck our tongues and shake our heads at his stupidity…
How many times has America received those same warnings?
How many times do men like David Wilkerson, or Billy Graham, or any of the other well-known and proven prophets have to speak before we will listen?
But it’s not just the nation. It’s not just our leaders and politicians.
How many times does the Word of God have to speak to us before we will repent and change our ways?
Thank you, Jesus for your mercy and intercession for us in heaven, but there will come a day when the Father’s mercy runs out, and then the judgement will fall.
In America, we had our warning. September 11th was a direct warning from God about where we were going.
What did we do?
Read the newspaper. We doubled, then tripled down on the fall into immorality.
Morally, things are so bad right now I’ve heard many preachers say if God does not judge us soon, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology for acting too fast.
I’m not going to say that about the Father- He will move when He chooses and it will be the absolute correct time to do it when he decides to do so.
How does God move when his mercy runs out?
Let’s read again from our main text-
III. Country’s strength was ripped away
Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to Jerusalem while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.
In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans — a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
Look what happened-
The king had to surrender to the invaders along with his entire family.
The invaders bankrupted Judah in taking all of it’s valuables away.
The also took all of the fighting men, nobles, educated, and the skilled tradesmen back to Babylon with him so there was not chance of them rising up as a nation to be taken seriously again.
September 11th our wealth and our military- the two things that make America the greatest superpower the world has ever known were directly attacked. But the attack was partial. In essense, it was a warning slap in the face to show us that we aren’t as invincible as we think we are.
Again, How did we react?
Read a newspaper. Watch the news.
Immorality, violence, and sexual deviancy is so rampant we, even as God’s people, aren’t even shocked by it anymore.
Just as in Judah….America is on the precipice of a major shaking.
There was a book published In the late 1800’s by a French political philosopher named
Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote a book called Democracy in America. In that book he wrote
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . . . .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great. (repeat)
My friends, this sermon series was meant to show us exactly where we stand as a nation.
How should we respond?
Pray
Prepare
Pray some more for this nation that god has blessed beyond any other nation in history.
ON the personal side, this series should teach us the following-
#1 the way you live your life matters. Do you live what you preach, or is Sunday just a checkmark on the calendar that begins your week?
#2 are you willing to stand for righteousness, or are you too afraid of the woke mob to speak up?
#3. Are you willing to stand in the gap for America? For your family? For your neighbors?
One of the saddest verses in the bible…one you could almost hear the sadness in God’s voice as he said it is found in Ezekiel 22:30
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
My friends, let’s not be that people that lets our nation fall without at least fighting for her in prayer.
Conclusion
Altar Call
