ESOCS Devotional 31 July 2022
TEXT: 2 KINGS 25:1-10
MEMORY VERSE: “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.” 2 Kings 25:7 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
When Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, having learned nothing from the judgements which had befallen his immediate predecessors, he indulged himself in their evil ways. For nine years Zedekiah ‘humbled not himself’, ‘stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart’. The priests and people ‘polluted the house of the Lord’, mocked the messengers of God and misused His prophets until divine patience finally ran out and ‘there was no remedy’ (2 Chronicles 36: 16).
To bring this chaotic situation to a conclusion, the Lord instigated rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar in the heart of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24: 20). When it became evident that Jerusalem could no longer withstand the siege, Zedekiah attempted to escape; he was soon caught and brought before Nebuchadnezzar. We read that they ‘put out the eyes of Zedekiah’, but not before ensuring that the last thing he would ever see was his own sons, who could only have been children, slain ‘before his eyes’ (2 Kings 25:7).
God’s word is true, and always He means what He says, and says what He means! For hundreds of years, literally, God had told the Israelites, and now the people of Judah too, that if they would not obey Him but serve idols and live in lawlessness before Him and their neighbors, He would bring the heathens to punish them and overthrow them.
Blinded and bound, Zedekiah, only thirty-two years old, passes from the record of scripture with no sons to follow him. Jerusalem is left plundered, ravaged and ransacked; nothing remained but the ‘poorest sort of the people’ and the tears of Jeremiah.
Zedekiah’s story is a great lesson to us all that rebellion doesn’t pay. It is dangerous to be a fence sitter regarding the truths of God and the only gospel way. Because sin is messed with and simply excused, and worldliness indulged in and considered just being fashionable and reasonable, the sad result is the gospel isn’t truly being heard or understood. And the reality is when they die they go to the dreadful place of everlasting punishment.
There is no escape when God comes in final judgment and you are still a rebel before Him. It was God who finally unleashed the Babylonians upon Judah. And when that Day of Judgment came, we read that Zedekiah and the leaders and their families tried to escape still. But to no avail. So it will be in the final judgment day, believe it or not. No one will escape being brought before the judgment seat of the King of kings and coming under His righteous judgment.
As followers of Christ, we have the same responsibility to follow God’s law that Jerusalem had. When we disobey God’s commandments, God is rightly angry with us. We are called to “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind” (Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37). We may live in a fallen world, but we are privileged to be part of God’s kingdom. That’s a privilege we must not take lightly.
- Examine your life and get rid of every spirit of rebellion against God’s word.
- Lord, help me to remain obedient to all your instructions.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: 2 Kings 25:11–24; John 14:15-31; 2 Thessalonians 1:3–12
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ESOCS Devotional 31 July 2022
