Fall and Captivity of Judah

  

2 Kings 24:18-20 25:1-7

 

November 29, 2021

 

 

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.   And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.   For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.  And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

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.

 

Each of us has a spirit of rebellion in us, it comes with our earth suit and only a personal reliance on Jesus Christ and His Spirit that indwell, all who by faith have received it can overcome the flesh that does not want any absolutes or authority over it.  Take a moment to give thought to that precious two-year-old child that will grab a toy from another child and what comes out of that sweet child's mouth, mine, don’t mess with my stuff.  When and where did they learn such behavior?  It is called flesh and we all come with a spirit of don’t mess with my stuff, my right to do as I please.

 

Maybe we need to examine our own lives as we explore the actions of King Zedekiah?  A man named Socrates, born in 469 B.C. had this to say on that subject; “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  The king was just modeling those who he followed and his flesh.  The rebellion came long before Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the king of Judah first rebelled against what he knew about God and His commandment, hand down from Moses.

 

A great question to ask as one read is, how am I doing with being in compliance with what I understand about the teaching of the Scriptures.  Am I loving the Lord my God with all my being, and my neighbors as myself?   Am I open to telling others about the hope I have in Christ?  I also believe the unexamined life is designed by the enemy of your soul, to keep you from looking to the only one that can give you love for God and your neighbors.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice