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Speaker 1: I'm John Stanghi, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter
Speaker 1: thirty six, and we'll be reading from the New Living Translation.
Speaker 1: Then the people of the land took Josiah's son, Jehoahaz
Speaker 1: and made him the next king in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was
Speaker 1: twenty three years old when he became king, and he
Speaker 1: reigned in Jerusalem three months. Then he was deposed by
Speaker 1: the King of Egypt, who demanded that Judah pay seven
Speaker 1: five hundred pounds of silver and seventy five pounds of
Speaker 1: gold as tribute. The King of Egypt then installed Eliah Kim,
Speaker 1: the brother of Jehoahaz, as the next king of Judah
Speaker 1: and Juriaerusalem, and he changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Then
Speaker 1: Nko took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner. Jehoiakim was
Speaker 1: twenty five years old when he became king, and he
Speaker 1: reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil
Speaker 1: in the sight of the Lord his God. Then King
Speaker 1: Nebeconezar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and
Speaker 1: he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away
Speaker 1: to Babylon. Nebiconezar also took some of the treasures from
Speaker 1: the Temple of the Lord and he placed them in
Speaker 1: his palace in Babylon. The rest of the events in
Speaker 1: Jehoiakim's reign, including all the evil things he did and
Speaker 1: everything found against him, are recorded in the Book of
Speaker 1: the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin
Speaker 1: became the next king. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when
Speaker 1: he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months
Speaker 1: and ten days. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the
Speaker 1: Lord's sight. In the spring of the year, King Nebeconezar
Speaker 1: took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of
Speaker 1: the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time,
Speaker 1: and Nebeconezer installed Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah as the next king
Speaker 1: in Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was twenty one years old
Speaker 1: when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
Speaker 1: But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of
Speaker 1: the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself
Speaker 1: when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord.
Speaker 1: He also rebelled against King Nebeconezar, even though he had
Speaker 1: taken an oath of loyalty in God's name. Zedekiah was
Speaker 1: a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord,
Speaker 1: the God of Israel. Likewise, all the leaders of the
Speaker 1: priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They
Speaker 1: followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating
Speaker 1: the temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his
Speaker 1: prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his
Speaker 1: people and his temple. But the people mocked these messengers
Speaker 1: of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the
Speaker 1: prophets until the Lord's anger could no longer be restrained
Speaker 1: and nothing could be done. So the Lord brought the
Speaker 1: King of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah's young men,
Speaker 1: even chasing after them into the temple. They had no
Speaker 1: pity on the people, killing both young men and young women,
Speaker 1: the old and the infirm. God handed all of them
Speaker 1: over to Nebeconezar. The King took home to Babylon all
Speaker 1: the articles arge and small used in the Temple of God,
Speaker 1: and the treasures from both the Lord's temple and from
Speaker 1: the palace of the King and his officials. Then his
Speaker 1: army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls
Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything
Speaker 1: of value. The few who survived were taken as exiles
Speaker 1: to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and
Speaker 1: his sons until the Kingdom of Persia came to power.
Speaker 1: So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled.
Speaker 1: The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath, rest lying desolate until
Speaker 1: the seventy years were fulfilled. Just as the prophet had said.
Speaker 1: In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the
Speaker 1: Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He
Speaker 1: stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in
Speaker 1: writing and descend it throughout his kingdom. This is what
Speaker 1: King Cyrus of Persia says, the Lord, the God of Heaven,
Speaker 1: has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He
Speaker 1: has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem,
Speaker 1: which is in Judah. Any of you who are his people,
Speaker 1: may go there for this task, and may the Lord
Speaker 1: your God be with you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank
Speaker 1: you for your word, and we thank you for the
Speaker 1: privilege of being able to look at it together today.
Speaker 1: And Lord, as we look at this portion of scripture,
Speaker 1: we could see a series of kings who are unfaithful
Speaker 1: to you, who have hard hearts toward the message that
Speaker 1: your prophets were trying to communicate. And we could see
Speaker 1: that the people were becoming increasingly unfaithful, and they tested
Speaker 1: your patience, and they went their own way, and they
Speaker 1: refused to listen to wisdom as you spoke it to them.
Speaker 1: They refuse to return to you, they refuse to repent,
Speaker 1: and as a result, they experienced judgment. But Lord, even
Speaker 1: in the midst of this, you remain faithful. You were
Speaker 1: still working out your plan, and you were still working
Speaker 1: out the details. And even though Jerusalem was in ruins,
Speaker 1: we see, as this book comes to an end, that
Speaker 1: already you're orchestrating a plan by which the temple and
Speaker 1: then eventually the walls will be rebuilt. Lord, this parallels
Speaker 1: your work with humanity. Ever since the days of Adam,
Speaker 1: we've been going our own way. We thumb our nose
Speaker 1: toward you, We ignore you, we harden our hearts against you.
Speaker 1: And you would have been completely justified in leaving us
Speaker 1: in the state in which we were in, lost in
Speaker 1: our sin, condemned in the midst of our rebellion, under
Speaker 1: your wrath. But by your grace you came to this earth.
Speaker 1: You sent your son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh,
Speaker 1: to come to this earth and to interject himself in
Speaker 1: the midst of our mess and to fix what we've broken. Lord,
Speaker 1: we're grateful that through faith in your son we are rescued,
Speaker 1: we are redeemed, and we are built up as the
Speaker 1: temple of the Lord, and your Holy Spirit indwells us. So, Lord,
Speaker 1: we see a foretaste of that in what's taking place
Speaker 1: in this passage at the end of Second Chronicles, and
Speaker 1: we'll see that even more as we go into the
Speaker 1: Book of Ezra. But we're grateful, Lord for what you've accomplished,
Speaker 1: and we thank you for the picture that we can
Speaker 1: see here in this Old Testament narrative. Lord, we love you,
Speaker 1: we thank you for your presence with us today, and
Speaker 1: we commit this day to your care and pray this
Speaker 1: all in Jesus' name. Amen,