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The Destruction of Judah - The Books of 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, and Jeremiah · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. All the kingdoms of the earth hath
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God of heaven given me, and he hath
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  Speaker 1: charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which
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  Speaker 1: is in Judea. 2 Chronicles 36.23 Heavenly Father, in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of my most trying circumstances, and in the moments
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  Speaker 1: where I feel like I am being held captive to
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  Speaker 1: my past mistakes, My heart will rejoice in the words
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  Speaker 1: you've spoken over me today through the prophet Jeremiah. In
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  Speaker 1: spite of what I see, I choose to declare that
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  Speaker 1: you know every plan and purpose for my life. I
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  Speaker 1: rejoice that in your great plan, you desire to give
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  Speaker 1: me hope and a future, life and not death. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: like the words in today's reading, I will change the
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  Speaker 1: environment I am in and hold steadfast to your ways
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  Speaker 1: until the time of my deliverance. Because you promised to
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  Speaker 1: bring me out and set my feet on fertile soil,
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  Speaker 1: soil ready to receive my seed of faith, to unlock
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  Speaker 1: the harvest of abundance that you have for me. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with us today. Continue your time
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  Speaker 3: In our last story, we learned of God speaking through
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  Speaker 3: the prophet Jeremiah. His words of comfort, justice, and repentance
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  Speaker 3: began to truly affect the hearts of Judah. However, the
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  Speaker 3: king planted seeds of doubt and burned his words in
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  Speaker 3: the fire. Now we learn about the destruction of Judah
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  Speaker 3: at the hands of Babylon. The enormous nation rises up
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  Speaker 3: like a great beast to completely destroy Judah and all
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  Speaker 3: its inhabitants. Captives are taken like cattle back to Babylon,
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  Speaker 3: but not without a glimmer of hope for the future.
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  Speaker 3: Inspired by the books of 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, and Jeremiah.
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  Speaker 4: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 4: Bible in a Year. In our last episode, we heard
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  Speaker 4: how Jeremiah's words often fell on deaf ears, and how
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  Speaker 4: the priests of Judah were some of the biggest opponents,
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  Speaker 4: even trying to put him, the prophet, to death. But
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  Speaker 4: Jeremiah was not afraid, and along with his scribe Baruch,
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  Speaker 4: Jeremiah recorded God's warnings on a scroll to speak truth
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  Speaker 4: to his generation and generations to come. Sparks of revival
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  Speaker 4: flickered in the land, but the harshness and hard-hearted nature
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  Speaker 4: of King Jehoiakim kept the people from truly turning back
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  Speaker 4: to God. Today, we'll hear how the enemy from the north,
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  Speaker 4: the great nation of Babylon, finally descends upon Judah to
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  Speaker 4: enact God's judgment on his people. God's people are led
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  Speaker 4: away as slaves amid destruction and devastation of their home.
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  Speaker 4: But this is not a story without hope, because we
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  Speaker 4: know that God always has a plan and a purpose
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  Speaker 4: for His own, and that God is faithful. Let's listen
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  Speaker 4: now to God's Word.
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  Speaker 3: Josiah's time as king was over. The battlefield claimed him,
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  Speaker 3: and the reforming king was sent to the dust. His
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  Speaker 3: son Jehoahaz took his place as king. He was a
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  Speaker 3: young man, only 23 years old. Although he possessed similar
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  Speaker 3: traits as his father, he would be unable to rule
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  Speaker 3: rightly in Judah, for a rising threat emerged from the south.
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  Speaker 3: Egypt had risen up against Judah with chariots of iron.
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  Speaker 3: The king of Egypt, Necho, met Jehoahaz on the battlefield
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  Speaker 3: and claimed him. He captured the king and drug him
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  Speaker 3: back to Egypt as captive. The king desired to dominate Judah,
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  Speaker 3: but not rule it. So he appointed Jehoahaz's younger brother
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  Speaker 3: as king in his place. Eliakim was also the son
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  Speaker 3: of Josiah, but possessed none of his noble qualities. He
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  Speaker 3: was a quiet and brooding man. He was a wicked
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  Speaker 3: and self-serving king. Pharaoh changed his name to Jehoakim. Egypt
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  Speaker 3: was cruel and dominant. However, it was but a fish
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  Speaker 3: compared to the shark that lurked in the distance. The
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  Speaker 3: great beast Babylon was growing in the north. Its mighty
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  Speaker 3: army was vast, unlike any in history. Babylon was the
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  Speaker 3: great boiling point from the north that Jeremiah had once seen.
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  Speaker 3: And like a shark that senses blood, Babylon approached when
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  Speaker 3: Judah was at its most vulnerable. King Jehoiakim woke in
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  Speaker 3: the middle of the night to screaming, He looked out
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  Speaker 3: his window to see pillars of fire lighting up the horizon.
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  Speaker 3: The city of Jerusalem was burning. Women and children rushed
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  Speaker 3: out of burning buildings as men lifted their swords to
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  Speaker 3: attack the incoming Babylonians. Jehoiakim watched as every man was
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  Speaker 3: slaughtered in the streets. Panicked, Jehoiakim gathered his things to
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  Speaker 3: escape out the back of the palace. As he went
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  Speaker 3: to open his door, it burst open with force. Jehoiakim
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  Speaker 3: fell flat on his back and looked up to see him.
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  Speaker 3: He was tall and dripping with power. His armored chest
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  Speaker 3: was broad and puffed outward. His salt and pepper beard
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  Speaker 3: was dirtied from ash and blood. His eyes were dark
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  Speaker 3: and glaring. Jehoakim looked up in terror at the infamous
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  Speaker 3: king Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian king said nothing. He sauntered towards
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  Speaker 3: the half-naked king of Judah and leaned down. He picked
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  Speaker 3: him up with ease, as if he was lifting a
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  Speaker 3: cat by its neck fur. Jehoiakim trembled and begged for mercy.
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  Speaker 3: Nebuchadnezzar gave an impassive stare. His eyes were pits of
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  Speaker 3: unrepentant evil. There would be no mercy dispensed from him.
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  Speaker 3: He threw the small king onto the ground and had
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  Speaker 3: his men bind him in chains. Jehoiakim said nothing. He
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  Speaker 3: knew that this would be the end of his life.
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  Speaker 3: It would be the end of Judah itself. King Nebuchadnezzar
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  Speaker 3: and his army scoured the city of Jerusalem for wealth.
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  Speaker 3: They went from house to house, seizing any and all
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  Speaker 3: gold and silver. They opened up the house of the
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  Speaker 3: Lord and carried away all its vessels and precious items.
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  Speaker 3: After stripping Judah naked, Nebuchadnezzar left. He allowed for Jehoakim's son, Jehoakim,
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  Speaker 3: to reign in his father's place. Nebuchadnezzar needed Judah to
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  Speaker 3: remain a nation as a strategic edge over Egypt and Assyria.
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  Speaker 3: Jehoakim was evil like his brother. and a willing servant
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  Speaker 3: of Nebuchadnezzar. However, his rule was short-lived. After only three
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  Speaker 3: months and ten days, he was summoned to Babylon and
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  Speaker 3: kept there for the rest of his days. After Jehoiakim
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  Speaker 3: was taken away, Nebuchadnezzar appointed his uncle, Zedekiah, as king.
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  Speaker 3: Zedekiah was a young man, only 21 years old. He
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  Speaker 3: was filled with pride and patriotism. He ignored the calls
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  Speaker 3: of Jeremiah to repent and and instead warred against God
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  Speaker 3: and the kingdom of Babylon. Vainly he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar.
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  Speaker 3: He provoked him to anger. This would prove to be
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  Speaker 3: more fuel for the king of Babylon to tighten his
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  Speaker 3: grip on Judah. The priests and leaders of Judah followed
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  Speaker 3: in Zedekiah's footsteps. They rebelled against God and turned to
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  Speaker 3: the idols of ancient cultures. They defiled the house of
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  Speaker 3: the Lord and sent Judah's leaders into madness. Yet the
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  Speaker 3: Lord continued to send his message of compassion. He used
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  Speaker 3: his prophets to warn them of their ways. He wanted
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  Speaker 3: them to turn to him and cry out to him,
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  Speaker 3: as the slaves in Egypt once did. If they had
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  Speaker 3: just humbled themselves and asked, he would have answered. Instead,
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  Speaker 3: they dug their own graves by warring against Babylon and
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  Speaker 3: turning from God. The image of the potter burned in
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  Speaker 3: Jeremiah's mind as he watched his nation break. There would
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  Speaker 3: be hope soon. But now was the time for destruction.
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  Speaker 3: The Chaldeans were the next nation to rise up against Judah.
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  Speaker 3: Under the banner of Babylon, the great army stormed Jerusalem
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  Speaker 3: like a great beast. The walls of Jerusalem began to
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  Speaker 3: crack under the force of Chaldean battering rams. Balls of
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  Speaker 3: fire were sent flying through the air, crashing into homes.
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  Speaker 3: The Chaldeans broke down the walls of Jerusalem. The crumbling
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  Speaker 3: stone shook the earth and signaled for the entire city
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  Speaker 3: to run. Panic filled the streets. Chaldean soldiers showed no mercy.
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  Speaker 3: Women were pinned to the floor and raped. Men's heads
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  Speaker 3: were thrown onto pikes. Children were chained up and sent
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  Speaker 3: into slavery. The city charred as the screams of men
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  Speaker 3: and women rose up with the smoke. There in the
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  Speaker 3: middle of the city was the Temple of God. The
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  Speaker 3: cedar beams and golden walls were turning to black as
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  Speaker 3: the fire consumed it. All its altars turned to ash
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  Speaker 3: and all hope faded into oblivion. The surviving... Judeans were
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  Speaker 3: captured and chained. With the burning city of Jerusalem at
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  Speaker 3: their backs, they marched forward to Babylon. God's people were
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  Speaker 3: carted off like cattle, once again slaves. The heart of
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  Speaker 3: God ached for his people to cry out to him.
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  Speaker 3: He had Jeremiah send a word to them, a word
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  Speaker 3: of hope and clarity. My children, God said, you will
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  Speaker 3: be taken captive by Babylon, but this is not the
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  Speaker 3: end of you. Go there and thrive. Plant gardens, build homes,
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  Speaker 3: and start families. Be there and affect the culture for good.
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  Speaker 3: When 70 years are completed, I will come to you.
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  Speaker 3: I will free you and bring you back. The words
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  Speaker 3: filled the captives' hearts with both joy and sorrow. I
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  Speaker 3: have great plans for you. Plans for good and not evil.
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  Speaker 3: I will give you a future and a hope. When
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  Speaker 3: you call.
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  Speaker 4: Upon me, I will be there.
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  Speaker 3: When you seek me, I will restore your soul. I
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  Speaker 3: will set you free. So the people of Judah were
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  Speaker 3: brought to Babylon, where they would be captives for 70 years.
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  Speaker 4: As we begin today's reading, Judah has fallen into the
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  Speaker 4: hands of Egypt. But rather than take Judah into captivity,
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  Speaker 4: Egypt only controls the nation, appointing one of Josiah's sons, Eliakim,
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  Speaker 4: as king, though he was a king with no real
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  Speaker 4: power and lacking the integrity of his father. The king
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  Speaker 4: of Egypt even made him change his name to Jehoiakim.
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  Speaker 4: Judah was experiencing hardship and suffering, but nothing like what
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  Speaker 4: was coming. The Lord had shown Jeremiah the prophet the
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  Speaker 4: vision of a pot boiling with water facing north. It
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  Speaker 4: represented Babylon, the giant nation, who had risen to greater
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  Speaker 4: power than any other before. Josiah had foolishly allowed the
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  Speaker 4: Babylonians into Judah to show off the prosperity of a
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  Speaker 4: small nation and thus set in motion a conquest that
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  Speaker 4: would bring about God's punishment for the disobedience and unfaithfulness
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  Speaker 4: of his people. The destruction of Judah did not happen
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  Speaker 4: all at once. It began with a Babylonian invasion of
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  Speaker 4: Jerusalem while Jehoiakim was ruler. King Nebuchadnezzar easily overtook the
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  Speaker 4: city and sent Jehoiakim into captivity to Babylon. The Babylonians
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  Speaker 4: began to pillage everything of value from Judah. The treasures
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  Speaker 4: Josiah had so willingly shown them were taken and sent
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  Speaker 4: back to Babylon. And so began a cycle of oppression
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  Speaker 4: as Nebuchadnezzar and his armies picked Jerusalem apart, taking wealth
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  Speaker 4: of any kind even from the house of God. The
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  Speaker 4: Babylonians would appoint a Jewish king who did not, believe
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  Speaker 4: in God. And yet, even as Judah was being conquered
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  Speaker 4: and ruled by a pagan nation, God continued calling his
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  Speaker 4: people back to himself through prophets like Jeremiah. It was
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  Speaker 4: not God's desire to punish his people permanently, but to
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  Speaker 4: cause them and to call them back to him, that
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  Speaker 4: they would cry out for forgiveness, deliverance, and salvation. The
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  Speaker 4: Babylonians were God's rod of iron to chastise his people. Sadly,
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  Speaker 4: they turned the other way, falling back again into idol worship,
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  Speaker 4: forgetting their only hope for rescue was God Almighty. Next
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  Speaker 4: came the Chaldeans who served Babylon. They invaded Jerusalem and
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  Speaker 4: tore down her walls. Death, destruction, violation, everything imaginable you
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  Speaker 4: can think of happened to the people of Judah. It
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  Speaker 4: was a terrible and tragic time for the people who
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  Speaker 4: refused to call out to God. However, When all seemed lost,
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  Speaker 4: God sent a word of hope and a promise and
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  Speaker 4: a letter from Jeremiah. He had not abandoned his plan
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  Speaker 4: to bless these people and use them to bless the world.
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  Speaker 4: God made a promise to Israel and he would keep it.
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  Speaker 4: Even in the midst of captivity, Israel was to be
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  Speaker 4: a force for good. In Jeremiah 29, 7, God says,
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  Speaker 4: but seek the welfare of the city where I have
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  Speaker 4: sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on
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  Speaker 4: his behalf For in its welfare, you also will find welfare.
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  Speaker 4: This is such a powerful and important lesson. You may
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  Speaker 4: actually find yourself far from God right now, or God
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  Speaker 4: may seem far away. You may be under the hand
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  Speaker 4: of judgment or discipline in your life. Maybe some of
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  Speaker 4: the dreams that you had for your life and your
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  Speaker 4: future have fallen apart. But God will not give up
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  Speaker 4: on you. God still loves you and has a plan
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  Speaker 4: for your life. And that plan is to be a
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  Speaker 4: light even in the darkness. Jesus would one day give
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  Speaker 4: a command which said, bless those who curse you and
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  Speaker 4: pray for those who abuse you. Even in the toughest
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  Speaker 4: and the most terrible of circumstances, God is faithful to
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  Speaker 4: his people. For 70 years, Judah was held captive in Babylon,
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  Speaker 4: but God's plan to rescue them remained as did his
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  Speaker 4: faithfulness to all of his people. Dear God, we are
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  Speaker 4: reminded in the reading today, that no matter our circumstances,
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  Speaker 4: where we find ourselves, that you are always seeking us.
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  Speaker 4: Give us hearing ears and hearing hearts to receive and
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  Speaker 4: respond to your correction, turning to you in repentance and faith.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you for the forgiveness that we have in Christ,
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  Speaker 4: for the cross and the resurrection, the good news that
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  Speaker 4: saves us all who trust in him. Thank you for
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  Speaker 4: listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor
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  Speaker 4: Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Let me encourage you to
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  Speaker 4: go ahead right now and download the Pray.com app and
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  Speaker 4: make the Word of God and prayer a huge priority
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  Speaker 4: in your life. Let me also encourage you to tell
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  Speaker 4: others about this podcast because you can pass the Word
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  Speaker 4: to others. And if you want more resources on how
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  Speaker 4: to tap into God's power for living the Christian life,
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  Speaker 4: be sure to visit JackGraham.org. That's jackgram.org. We would love
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  Speaker 4: to connect with you right now.