READING: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52
“So Judah went into exile from its land.”
2 Kings 25:21
Judgment had finally come. God had warned that Jerusalem would be overtaken and exile would come. False prophets had denied it, but no false prophet can keep God from keeping His word. Indeed, read the sadness in these words of the final fall of Jerusalem, the city of God, at the hands of the Babylonian captain, Nebuzaradan: “He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses.The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem” (2 Kgs. 25:9-10).
The buildings were ashes. The walls were down. Even the temple had been burned. Leaders had been taken from the city into the enemy’s land. And, in another word of tragedy, today’s reading summarizes the whole story, “So Judah went into exile from its land” (2 Kgs. 25:21). Judah had ignored the commands of God, and now they would pay a price.
If that’s the end of the story, we can only weep. It’s not the end, however. God would bring His people back, and through them would come the Messiah. Through Abraham’s line, the nations of the world would indeed be blessed – and we are reminded today that God judges us for our good and uses even His judgments for His glory.
ACTION STEPS:
- Grieve the heart of someone you know who appears to be suffering God’s judgment.
- Thank God for the end of the story.
PRAYER: “God, I’m guilty, too, of flagrant and persistent sin. Draw me back to You more fully today.”
TOMORROW’S READING:Jeremiah 41-44