Today we come to the end of 2nd Kings. Reading this book has always impressed me because of Israel’s sinful recklessness before God. Personally, I do not and cannot claim to live any better before God - which is why this book is so convicting to me - we all find ourselves in the same sinking boat … the S.S. Predicament. In yesterday’s reading, we saw that God was bringing the Babylonians down on Judah - “because of Manasseh’s sins” (cf., 2 Kings 24:4). Today, we see that Jehoiachin replaces his father, Jehoiakim, as king. He, too, was evil, and he reigned only three months. “Nebuchadnezzar captured him and removed all the treasures from the temple and the royal palace” (verses 12-13). He also "carried into exile all Jerusalem – the officers, fighting men, craftsman, and artisans – leaving only the poorest people of the land” behind (verses 13-14). Then, Nebuchadnezzar “made Mattaniah – Jehoiachin’s uncle – king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah” (verse 17). Zedekiah, who reigned eleven years, is the last king of Judah. In chapter 25, we read about the fall of Jerusalem, and this account is paralleled in 2 Chronicles 36. I believe it tells one of the saddest stories of the entire Old Testament – because it didn’t have to end this way. Notice how it ended: “Zedekiah rebelled …” (verse 1). Rebellion summarizes everything that has happened to us since the Garden of Eden. We read that “Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city and a severe famine ensued. Although Zedekiah escaped, the Babylonian army overtook him and took him to Riblah, where they killed his sons before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him away to Babylon” (verses 1-7). Think of it! The last thing Zedekiah got to see was the murder of his own children! What an indelible memory for a blind man! The Babylonians sacked the city, burned the temple, broke down the city walls, and carted off all the gold, silver, bronze, and other valuables. It was “because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah … and in the end, He thrust them from His presence” (cf., 2 Kings 24:20). Sic transit gloria mundi (“Thus passes away the glory of the world”).
Today we come to the end of Psalm 84 where we read, “One day with the LORD is better than a thousand elsewhere” (verse 10). The world simply cannot understand the truth of this verse. The world seeks joy, comfort, prosperity, etc., – all good things from within itself - but the world is fully incapable of delivering any lasting joy, comfort, or prosperity. Why is the world such a failure at providing ultimate good? Because good can only come from ultimate Good, and the only Source that is ultimately good is God alone. Only “our God is a sun and a shield Who bestows favor and honor and withholds no good thing” from those who trust in Him (verses 11-12). God is our true Source of light and protection. He alone is able to provide what the world cannot, and just one day under His provision and protection is far better than a thousand days of the world’s disillusions that can only lead us to dissatisfaction and emptiness.
In Romans 1:18-32, Paul identifies exactly what the world does offer: “godlessness and wickedness” – the products of “suppressing the truth” (verse 18). Whereas, at one time, people knew God and His goodness, eventually they “neither glorified nor gave thanks to Him” (verse 21). Thus, God judged such people by delivering them over to their own lusts, which were “filled with every kind of wickedness” (verses 29-32). People who have been “delivered over to their own lusts” are those who have already been judged, and the wickedness in which they engage is a part of their judgment. The longer they engage in their practices, the harder it is to break free from such judgment. Wickedness cannot generate goodness – it only leads to more wickedness. God’s delivery of Judah over to Babylon, seen from our readings in 2 Kings 24-25, vividly illustrates what Paul is teaching here in Romans chapter 1.
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