The Fall of Jerusalem

Scripture:

2 Kings 25


Observation:

First, consider some of what happened between the reign of Solomon and today’s passage.
(I apologize for not sharing this in the last post.)

Many years after becoming king, Solomon turned away from the LORD and began to worship idols (see I Kings 11). As a result, the LORD took away the kingdom from Solomon’s descendants. Because of God’s promise to David, God didn’t take the entire kingdom. He removed 10 tribes from the reign of Solomon’s descendants; these tribes continued to be known as Israel. God left one tribe under the reign of Solomon’s descendants; this tribe was Judah. The removal of Israel from the reign of Solomon’s descendants happened under Solomon’s son, Rehoboam (see I Kings 12). The books of I and II Kings chronicle the kings of both Israel and Judah. When the kings did not walk in the ways of the LORD, they were no longer under His protection, and they were vulnerable to attacks from their enemies. In II Kings 17 we read about Israel’s fall to Assyrian rule.

In today’s passage, we read about Judah’s fall to Babylonian rule. People are torn from their homes and sent to a foreign country - as slaves. The palace and the temple are booth looted and burned to the ground. Several leaders of Judah were executed. For the people who were left alive, their life was never again the same. Those that weren’t exiled to slavery “were left to be vinedressers and plowmen.” Life as they had known it no longer existed. The only thing they could take with them into their new lives was their faith in the one true God. If they chose to do so.


Application:

When disaster strikes us, how do we respond? Do we turn away from God or draw nearer to Him?

We see a biblical example of a response to disaster in the heart’s cry of the psalmist who penned Psalm 74. In the first 11 verses, the psalmist laments the devastation he sees around him. Then, starting in verse 12, we see the psalmist’s focus change. He shows us one way to approach disaster in our lives:

• Remember Who God is (v. 12)
• Remember what He has done (v. 13-17)
• Ask Him to meet you where you are and to deliver you (v. 18-23, especially v. 22)

God will deliver us, if not from our circumstances, then from ourselves. :)


Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that You work all things together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose! Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for me, and that Your power is made perfect in weakness! May the power of Christ rest upon me in my weakness. I love You!

(from Romans 8:28 and II Corinthians 12:9)