Good Monday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Cataclysmic disasters arouse the attention and response of people and nations, and very often the trajectory of history is changed in these unforgettable events. Do you agree?
But here’s an important question: Can you discern the work of God in these great disasters? The Sunday morning Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, 81 years ago yesterday, is an example. America’s response was a whole scale effort to enter WWII with a vengeance after that day and our world has never been the same since, including the greatest outflow of missionaries taking the gospel worldwide following WWII, including to Japan and all Asia!
Similarly, the invasion and conquest of Israel by the empire of Assyria in 722bc changed that part of the world forever, as we saw yesterday in 2 Kings 17. The people of southern kingdom Judah were watching very closely, fearful King Shalmaneser of Assyria would bring his juggernaut army a few miles south and attack Jerusalem.
Jewish wicked King Ahaz was leading Judah far from God at that time and he even closed the Temple, forbidding worship of God and he led the Israelites to embrace idolatry even in Jerusalem! (2 Chronicles 28:22-25) Despite the fact God had sent the prophets Isaiah and Micah, and others, to His people, neither Israel to the north nor Judah to the south had ears to hear or appetite to learn from God. It was a dreadful time in Israel as God’s judgment fell upon wicked kings and spiritually rebellious, hard-hearted Israelites.
Pause. Have you learned how dangerous it can be to nurture a hard heart and deaf ears toward God? Young Prince Hezekiah watched as his hard-hearted father King Ahaz defiantly rejected God in Jerusalem, even while northern kingdom Israel was experiencing God’s harsh judgment through the Assyrian Army! Finally, Ahaz died and Hezekiah became king in Jerusalem.
Immediately Hezekiah called the people to join him in reversing course, eradicating the wicked legacy of his father King Ahaz; cleansing and reopening the Temple; demolishing idols and altars to false gods; and restoring wholehearted devotion to the God of Israel. (2 Chronicles 29) The people’s response was enthusiastic as seen in the greatest Passover celebration experienced in Jerusalem in centuries, as described in 2 Chronicles 30. God’s great blessing poured out upon His repentant people in Jerusalem and once again a season of peace and prosperity reigned under Hezekiah’s God honoring leadership.
Twenty years after the conquest of the northern kingdom Israel, in 722bc, the next generation vast armies of Assyria, under a new king Sennacherib, seeing the bounty and beauty of Jerusalem finally set their sights on the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem and God’s great Temple. The miracle deliverance of Jerusalem by God sending a warrior angel to defeat and destroy Sennacherib’s vast army, is yet another amazing, history shaping deliverance by God of His people as described in 2 Chronicles 32:20-22. Similar to the early days of King Solomon, these early years of King Hezekiah were a wonderful time to be living in Jerusalem with God’s abundant blessings and protection.
I wish I could tell you that this wonderful season lasted for centuries, but sadly, Hezekiah followed in the path of so many people who simply cannot remain humble, and God focused while they experienced bounty and blessing. Have you learned yet how easily our hearts can be drawn away from God in times of applause or the appeal of bounty? So, what is your defense plan, so it doesn’t happen to you?
2 Chron. 32:25 gives us this sad summary statement: “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud, and he did not respond to God’s kindness shown to him; therefore, the LORD’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.” After Hezekiah’s death his son Manasseh assumed the throne in Jerusalem and was one of the most wicked, despicable Jewish kings of all time and he served longer than any other king in Israel’s history, 55 years! (2 Chronicles 33)
The horrific bloodshed, immorality and idolatry of those years were so offensive to God, when finally, God sent His judgment on Jerusalem, according to 2 Kings 24:3,4, God lays the blame in large part on Manasseh’s failed leadership. Why? Was Manasseh any worse than other wicked kings of God’s people? I’m not so sure. I believe Manasseh’s greatest failure was because he was the son of remarkable King Hezekiah, an eyewitness to God’s great blessing on Jerusalem, born during Hezekiah’s miracle additional 15 years of life, after God raised him, Hezekiah, from his deathbed. (2 Kings 20) Manasseh turned his back on all he had experienced of God’s greatness and blessing.
Fortunately, God’s patience had not yet fully run out on the people of Jerusalem, and one final, remarkably good king turned Jerusalem back to God. His name was Josiah and amazingly he was placed on the throne at age 8! (2 Chronicles 34) Similar to Hezekiah, as Josiah led a moral cleansing of Jerusalem, spiritual revival soon followed, especially after the discovery of the long-ignored books of Moses!
Josiah led a great city-wide spiritual repentance culminating in another glorious Passover celebration this time unlike anything seen since the days of Samuel! (2 Chronicles 35:18,19) Josiah reigned for 31 years and Jerusalem again experienced a great outpouring of God’s blessing. You’d think the obvious contrast of God’s response to the seasons of God honoring leadership like Hezekiah and Josiah would cause the people to reject any kings such as Manasseh, but alas Josiah was followed by four brief wicked kings, and finally God’s patience ran out on His rebellious people.
2 Chronicles 36 is the sad but very important conclusion of the southern kingdom Judah. Three punitive invasions from King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians not only ransacked Jerusalem and the Temple but led away thousands of Jerusalem Jews into captivity. But true to God’s merciful nature, in each Babylonian invasion, God was working to assure that His people would not be left without a spokesman of God. Now watch this my friends: in the 605bc invasion (2 Chron. 36:5-7) teenager Daniel was taken to Babylon as a young captive. Do you remember how God raised Daniel up to be advisor to Nebuchadnezzar and other emperors over more than 60 years of history? In the 597bc invasion, (2 Chron. 36:9,10) Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon and he was God’s spokesman to thousands of Jerusalem captives in exile. Finally, in 586bc King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and God’s glorious Temple built by King Solomon about 380 years before! (2 Chronicles 36:15-21)
Among the smoldering ruins of Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar left the poorest of the Jerusalem Jews and the elderly or infirmed who could not have survived the 750-mile trek to Babylon, as captives. God, in His kindness, made sure His prophet Jeremiah was among them, remaining in Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 1:1-3)
So, God, even while pouring out His judgment on His rebellious people, made sure He had strategically positioned His prophets in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace; among the exiles in their slave camps; and remaining in smoldering Jerusalem. Do you see God’s love for humanity and the extreme to which God will go to keep His offer of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life, available to every generation?
Further study notes are in the “Grand Narrative” link below and if you desire much more in-depth analysis of this period of Biblical history, two years ago I spend several weeks on this and those editions of “WWJ” are found in the Daily Archives tab on our home page in July & August 2024. Of course there’s a worship song awaiting you at the bottom of this page. it considers God’s faithfulness generation after generation, and I’ll meet you here tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 34-36.
Choose below to read or listen.
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2 Chronicles 35
2 Chronicles 36
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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