2 Kings chapter 24 reminds me of how empty life can be without faith. Every city has the section where respectable folks don’t go. It is filled with people that have lost all hope. We give those people sanitized names like “the homeless”, but all around us are other people that are spiritually destitute. The history of Israel is a lesson and a warning to those who deny the authority of God and disregard Satan’s desire to kill and steal and destroy. In 400 years Israel had declined from the world superpower to a weak, defenseless nation that no longer knew or feared God. The chapter begins, “During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years“. The king just went along without any resistance. Babylon was focused on defeating Egypt and Judah was a convenient soft target along the way. Almost comically we read, “But then he changed his mind and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar“. Judah had no resources to draw on and had become a pathetic has-been. Sadly many people after years of just going along find themselves in dreadful situations. They make feeble attempts in their own strength to change, but do not call on the power of Almighty God.
Clearly God allowed Judah to be conquered. “The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders… to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord… these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence“. In the midst of the Babylonian surge, Jehoiakim died and “Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king“. Not surprisingly, “Jehoiachin… reigned in Jerusalem three months…He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done“. This was not God versus one man, but God judging the nation’s rebellion. “Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah… surrendered to him“. When people reject God they are vulnerable to Satan and they are always left empty. “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… had made for the temple of the Lord… 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“
It is interesting to note that Jerusalem was conquered in stages; drained by wave after wave of invaders. We are seldom broken by one event, but a succession of disappointments and loss. “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. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.” But even this puppet king was evil. “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years…He did evil in the eyes of the Lord“. God made a promise to these exiles and to you and me. “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with your whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). It is never too late to turn to God and be restored!