Good morning, it’s Monday! The day after Easter feels like a new beginning, a fresh start. We have celebrated Jesus rising from the tomb. He will walk around for forty days, and over 500 people will see him before his ascension into heaven.
Today we finish reading 2 Kings chapters 24-25.
Rebellion
I remember my arrogance before my salvation. My wife insisted on taking our son to church. I went along to dispute what he was being taught.
Like Jehoiakim in v24:1, I was rebelling. Because of the sins I clung to, I refused to accept the idea of God.
God was merciful toward me. He brought me into a church where I heard the Gospel and He opened my heart to receive it. This changed my life and my future.
Judah was holding onto the sins of Manasseh. Verse 24:4 says he had shed “innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.” (NIV)
America has allowed abortion for fifty years. There is nothing more innocent than an unborn baby. We have blood on our hands.
If Jesus had not paid the price for us, I don’t see how God would forgive our nation. It would contravene what we read here.
We must never return to that practice. I know many still think of it as a right.
Retribution
For those sins of Manasseh, God punished the entire nation of Judah. He allows Nebuchadnezzar to take them captive (v24:14).
I was captive to my sins. Their logic didn’t ease the pervasive emptiness and sadness I felt.
We will read more about the captivity in Isaiah, Daniel, and the other books of the prophets. The actions of the kings we have read about led to God giving them over to the Babylonians. “He thrust them from His presence.”
I can live with my disability. My failures are something I will own. Heartaches come and go. I would not want to live one moment without having God in my life.
The Bible describes hell as a place without His presence (see 2 Thes 1:9). Even if I were not there, life without God would feel that way.
Verse 24:17 says that they named Mattaniah king, but gave him the name Zedekiah. He rebels against the King of Babylon, and brings about the fall of Jerusalem (v24:20).
Zedekiah would become blinded and have to suffer the loss of his family (v25:7).
I think of the movie The Pricess Bride, where Westley, the Dread Pirate Roberts, threatened to inflict pain on Prince Humperdink (1). Can you imagine knowing your loved ones are being executed, and yet you have to continue to live?
Redemption
When we put our faith in Jesus, we become a new creation (see 2 Cor. 5:17). We should now have a new identity.
I once rebelled against God. This brought about my fall.
Through Jesus, I have risen again to be that new man. Whereas they blinded Zedekiah, I now see (see John 20:29).
We conclude 2 Kings by seeing Jehoiachin eating at the king’s table. The king provided him with a daily allowance for the rest of his life.
As we move on from Easter, let us all put our faith in Jesus. We can then eat at the King’s table. He is our daily bread.
Tomorrow we will read 1 Chronicles 1-2.
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Reiner, Rob. 1987. The Princess Bride. United States: Twentieth Century Fox.
