DCLM Daily Manna 10 September 2026: Sin’s Awful Consequences
KEY VERSE: “For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon” (2 Kings 24:20).
TEXT: 2 Kings 24:17–20
And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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Jeffrey D. King, a Christian architect and woodworker, shared an enthralling story: In 1982, ABC Evening News reported on an unusual work of modern art—a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment within the next hundred years. The amazing thing was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the awful’s path! They all knew the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast would not happen during their minute in the chair.
In our text are the kings of Judah, who also gambled with the destiny of their nation with the confidence that they could get away with sin despite the unmistakable and endless warnings from God through His prophets over the centuries. Moses in the Pentateuch was not frugal with his warnings against backsliding and the consequences in the event of rebellion, idolatry or apostasy. Also, the pre-exilic prophets, especially Jeremiah, did not fail to warn, but neither Manasseh nor Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, nor Zedekiah would budge. The end was disastrous! Jerusalem became a vassal of Babylon. The potentates, princes, people and paupers of Judah were moved out, and the population became stateless. What a woeful price to pay for rebellion and sin!
Interestingly, despite Judah’s recalcitrance, judgement was never God’s goal. It is almost always the means to an end. The end is to bring sinners and backsliders to understand the errors of their ways, humble them and make them return to the path of life and righteousness.
Even today, God longs for the repentance of sinners and backsliders. Tarrying could be fatal. Christ affirmed in His call to the lost: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Thought for the Day
He suffers doubly who falls into a ditch he saw others fall into.
The Bible in One Year: Numbers 3-4
DCLM Daily Manna 10 September 2026
