As we reflect on the lessons from the kings, we are reminded of the tragic consequences of turning away from God’s blessings. The narrative seesaws between periods of prosperity under Solomon and the downfall under his successors due to their disobedience. Juxtaposed with contemporary insights, we discern the timeless message that abandoning the divine path invites ruin. Join us as we pray for wisdom to walk in faith, reflecting on the abundant life promised in John 10:10, and consider how these ancient truths apply to our lives today.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we finish our journey through 1 and 2 Kings. Our 28-day journey ends with chapters 24 and 25. Chapter 24 being read by our guest reader, Senator Kevin Grantham. Chapter 25 we’ll listen to from Faith Comes by Hearing. This will be the fall of Judah and Jerusalem. Let’s listen in.
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2 Kings 24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spake by his servants, the prophets. Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord… would not pardon. Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiakim his son reigned in his place. And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.” Jehoiakim was 18 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to the city while his servants were besieging it. And Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, gave himself up to the king of Babylon himself, and his mother, and his servants, and his officials, and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the Lord had foretold. He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiakim to Babylon, the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiakim’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutah, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the Lord, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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2 Kings 25 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siege works all around it. So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Ereba. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of babylon together with the rest of the multitude nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard carried into exile but the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vine dressers and ploughmen and the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord. The Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. And they took away the pots and the shovels, and the snuffers and the dishes for incense, and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, the firepans also, and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver as silver.” As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital, and the second pillar had the same with the latticework. And the captain of the guard took Saraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. And from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.” And Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahicham, son of Shaphan, governor. Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Korea, and Sereah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jeazaniah the son of the Meachathite. And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. But in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishema of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, evil Merodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from prison. And he spoke kindly to him, and gave him his seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments, and every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table. And for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.
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God had warned that this day would come through many, many prophets over the years. And yet the nation of Israel and the tribe of Judah continued to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. God uses Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon to finally pass judgment on his own people and his own land. Verse 14 of chapter 24 describes the fall of Jerusalem. He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. Verse 20 tells us why. For because of the anger of the Lord, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. Next comes the destruction of the temple that Solomon had built. Chapter 25, verse 9. And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem, every great house, he burned down. All the gold, all the bronze, all the utensils of the temple were taken off to Babylon. Verse 21. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. Previously, Israel had fallen. God had preserved Judah and Jerusalem up to this point. But now, even Judah and Jerusalem are taken off into exile to Babylon. Thus ends the books of 1 and 2 Kings. And yes, they end on a very sad note. But a lesson that we should learn today. First Kings started under the reign of Solomon. Early on, Solomon had committed his ways to the Lord, and God blessed. Go back and remember. There was so much blessing, so much abundance. Silver was counted as nothing. There was peace on every side. People were happy. After Solomon, it’s a downhill slide. The leaders of Israel, the leaders of Judah, and the people all do evil in the sight of the Lord. They trade in the God of the universe for idol worship. They walk away from the law of God, the word of God. They forfeited the amazing blessings that God had in store for them. Why did they trade the blessings of God for the promises of men? Who knows? But we do the same today, don’t we? I believe the God of Solomon is the God who is still alive today and who wants to bless us in every possible way. Jesus said in John 10.10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. That’s the promise of God. That’s God’s heart. That’s His desire for us, His people. But we, like the Jews of old, walk away from the blessings of God for the promises of men. God did not preserve His own people. He did not preserve His own land. Do we really think it will be any different for us? Fortunately, the word of God does not end with second kings. Other Old Testament books describe the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, which is again destroyed. But as I record this today, Israel still exists. Jerusalem still exists. God preserves the promise to David. I believe he still longs to bless his children today. Will you let him today? What he desires is like the heart of Josiah, to serve him with all our heart, mind, and soul. Will you do that today? As you do, I believe you will experience the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10.10. Let’s pray. Father, we finish 2 Kings with a sorrowful heart. We hurt for the people. We hurt for your own heart that you gave up on your people and your land. You are a just God and you must punish sin and disobedience. Forgive us, Lord, where we sin and where we fall short. Thank you for the reminder here that you will judge, that you will cast out those who sin and disobey you. But thank you also for the reminder in John 10.10 that you came to give life and give it abundantly. We saw that in Solomon’s reign. May we lay our lives down to you once again. May we serve you with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, that we might experience the abundant life that you have in store for us. We ask it in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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