August 19: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36

August 19, 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36

We jump back into the Historical part of the narratives to see what the author of Kings & Chronicles tells about what was going on.

2 Kings 24 Remember we are learning about the decline of Judah… Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It is clear from the text that the hardships Judah is enduring was because of their sin and that of their former leader, Manasseh. 

Jehoiachin was 18 when he became king of Judah and did evil in the Lord’s sight. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and Jehoiachin gave himself up to them. The Babylonians took everything from the Lord’s house and they also took Jehoiachin and a bunch of them as captives, including their military leaders. “Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.” He only reigned for 3 years and did evil in God’s sight… Then Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon…

2 Kings 25 Again, Nebuchadnezzar came hard upon Jerusalem and crowded it out - to the point there was no food left in Jerusalem. Eventually, Zedekiah tried to escape and was caught. They killed his sons and plucked out his eyes (remember from Jeremiah - he had been warned to not try to escape but to submit and he would live…). They left the poor in the land to work the fields and took everyone else as captives. The Babylonians ransacked everything else and burned down the nicer buildings - Judah was now in exile. 

Gedaliah was made Governor of Judah from the king of Babylon and he was murdered by Ishmael, along with some Jews.

37 years later, the new king of Babylon released Jehoiachin from prison and Jehoiachin spent the rest of his life dining at the kings table and having his needs met - this shows hope for the future…

2 Chronicles 36 The Chronicler does a brief overview for his generation of what we just read. He goes over the last 4 kings of Judah and shows the downward progression and fulfillment of the prophecies.

The emphasis is that with the exile, the land finally has time to Sabbath and rest, getting prepared for return of the people of Judah (70 years in captivity). This book concludes with hope: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.” There is hope for God’s people! 

To sum it all up: 

• What a story God had written for His people.
• God shows His love to us through hardships and struggles and discipline. Do not despise the hand of God working in your life even if you don’t understand it. If you have sin in your life and you are being disobedient to God - change your ways now and repent and come to Him! Glory to God!