SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 36:11-23
OBSERVATION:
This passage shows the outcome of rejecting God. God patiently calls people again and again, sending a variety of messengers, but ultimately He will give them over to their sinful choices and allow them to really experience what life is like without Him.
Zedekiah is a king in the line of David, but he fails to honour the God of David, and ultimately leads to the destruction of the nation, the temple and the covenant people. Zedekiah is a radical contrast to Jesus, the king in David’s line who devotes Himself to God and to the work of the temple (see Luke 2:41-52), and restores God’s people.
God speaks through messengers “again and again” (v.15) in a variety of ways – out of pity for His people – and ultimately through Jesus His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), but “stiff-necked and hardened” hearts refuse to listen. In the end, everyone will realize all that God had done for them in mercy, but for some it will be too late.
The land finally enjoys the Sabbath rest that God originally commanded for it (Leviticus 24:1-17). Jeremiah predicts that the land will rest for 70 years (a “desolate wasteland”, Jeremiah 25:1-14).
Even after this severe judgment, God remembers His promise to restore the world through the line of David (ie Jesus), and so He moves in Cyrus’ heart to rebuild the nation, the temple, and ultimately the world through Jesus.
APPLICATION:
God is always speaking through His messengers; we may claim to not see or hear them, but in the end it will be evident that it was because we didn’t want to hear Him.
Ultimately God gives us what we ask for: if we persistently choose to ignore God and disobey His will, we will inherit a godless, immoral eternity! Hell is not God’s cruel revenge but His reluctantly giving people what they wanted.
The temple is a symbol for God’s presence and power at work among His people. In the new covenant believers become the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17), our lives demonstrate the presence and power of God at work in and through us.
I find it amazing how God works both among His covenant people but also in the world, raising up and defeating governments according to His purpose, directing Cyrus to arrange for the restoration of the nation and the temple.
God is God, whether we like it or not.
PRAYER:
Lord, Your will will be done, one way or another. In the meantime You are constantly calling me to seek You and live, yet so often I miss (or more likely, ignore) Your messengers. Please forgive me, and open my ears and my heart so that I will no longer be stubborn or stiff-necked. Amen.
I worry about the possibility of my leading others to pain and sorrow. I may not be a King of Israel, but like Zedekiah, if I refuse to listen to God’s will, is there a chance others may be lost or hurt in my neglect? It may be easier to go my own way, but for every choice each of us makes, there’s always a “ripple effect”. If we continually keep ourselves aware of this, maybe we’d put in a more conscious effort to listen for what God wants us to do.
When P. Norm mentioned “God reluctantly giving the people what they want, a life without God” I was reminded of a Christian metal band Zao and their second last album “The Funeral of God”. It’s an entire concept album that tells a story with each song very descriptive of what Hell on Earth would really be like, a life without God. Very powerful.
The refrain is heard once again, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And as the leader of the people goes, so too go the people. They too became stiff necked and a heart hardened people. (This reminds me of Pharaoh.) Even God’s messangers had fallen, defiling His temple – the place of His presence. Yet our gracious God confronted His people again and again with His Word, but His people would not listen. God then used non-Christians His wonders to perform to accomplish His purposes. Our God is a Mighty God.
Oh Lord, give me the eyes that see You daily and the ears that hear You through all your servants Lord. It may be too, that I might be entertaining Your messangers without me knowing like father Abraham. God’s purposes will be fulfilled with of without the work of His stubborn, rebellious people, whether yesterday or today. As He states in the Lord’s prayer, Your will be done. The people did not observe the Sabbath rests, yet through the captivity, the land had rest. God purposes will be fulfilled. His Kingdom will come. Help me Lord to be an instrument of Your peace.
Open my eyes Lord So I can see You
Open my heart Lord So I can love You
Teach me Your ways I will follow
Through every test and every trial
Open my ears Lord So I know Your voice