READING: 2 Chronicles 35-36
The book of 2 Chronicles ends with the fall of Jerusalem as the judgment of God fell on His people. They had mocked His name and laughed at His messengers until “there was no remedy” (2 Chron 36:16) other than judgment. Even as God judged them, however, He already had a plan in place to bring them back to Jerusalem.
He would bring them back at the end of 70 years, and He would do so in fulfillment of His word: “He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 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 . . .” (2 Chron 36:21-22).
Twice in two verses is this mention of God’s fulfilling His prophecy that Jeremiah proclaimed. God moved on the heart of the foreign king Cyrus of Persia, who gave God’s people permission to return to the Holy City. God would do whatever was necessary to keep His word, for that’s His heart.
That’s also good news for us today. What God has said will come true. He will not leave us or forsake us. The enemy will not win against God’s church. We can trust that heaven is real when we die. We know that Christ will come again, and He will reign forever as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are assured that He will wipe away our tears. Sin will be defeated, and death will be vanquished. No matter how rotten the world looks today, we believers are on the winning side.
ACTION STEPS:
- Meditate on how many times God has kept His word to you in just the last week.
- Regardless of how crazy life seems today, see it with eyes of faith — trust that God is still in charge.
PRAYER: “Lord, thank You for always keeping Your Word. Make me long to know Your Word even more because it is so true.”
TOMORROW¹S READING: Ezra 1-3