SERIES: Enlightening Epitaphs of the Kings and Prophets
The Nation of Judah: “They Mocked, Despised, and Scoffed Until There Was No Remedy.”
Introduction: What happens to a nation whose leaders fail to set a high spiritual standard, and thus it abandons its spiritual foundation, pursues false worship, perverts justice, and practices every conceivable kind of sin? Today we are going to see the answer to that question.
This morning we come to the conclusion of a six-month series of sermons that has been an eye-opener to me and to many of you, as judged by the feedback you have given me. The eye-opener is that one of the least read and appreciated portions of the Bible–2 Kings and 2 Chronicles–has turned out to be a gold mine of practical godly principles for everyday living. Of course, that shouldn’t really be a surprise, should it? 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another–showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.” (The Message). The more I delve into this Book, the more convinced I am that it is no ordinary book but rather exactly what it claims to be, the Word of God.
Our final epitaph is not that of a king or a prophet, but rather of a people–the nation of Judah. It comes from 2 Chronicles 36:16, but I have shortened it in order to get it on the tombstone. Let me read you the full epitaph: “They mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” But thankfully the grave that is marked by this tombstone turns out not to be Judah’s final resting place. Due solely to the grace and mercy of God, the notice of Judah’s demise was premature, as I will explain a little later this morning.
Let’s start with . . .
A short history of the Israelites
I think it would be profitable to repeat a 5-minute overview of Jewish history that I shared the Sunday we began this series, April 7, so we can see once again how this portion of sacred history fits into the whole. The father of the Jewish people was Abraham, who lived in the 21st century B.C. He was the first of four great patriarchs–Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph–who spanned roughly 400 years. Joseph, the last of the patriarchs, was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt and, by God’s amazing providence, eventually became the Prince of Egypt (actually Prime Minister).
Years later, when a great famine hit the entire Middle East, Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to find food and ended up finding something better–reconciliation with their long-lost brother, whom they presumed was dead. Joseph persuaded the Pharaoh to give them a new home in the Nile Delta of Egypt, with the result that this extended family of about 70 members prospered there and became a nation of several million over the next 400 years.
Over time, however, the fortunes of the Israelites declined markedly; they became slaves rather than guests. In about the year 1446, the Israelites were rescued from Egypt by God’s miraculous power. Moses led them across the Sea of Reeds, to Mt. Sinai, and then through the desert to the doorstep of the Promised Land. Tragically, the people rebelled against God and, as a result, they had to spend nearly 40 years wandering in the desert until an entire generation died off. But eventually Joshua led them across the Jordan River and into the land God had promised to Abraham some 700 years earlier.
The Conquest of the land from the pagan tribes who lived there took about 30 years, and then for about three centuries the Israelites lived in a sort of theocracy, with God ruling through a series of judges. Eventually they begged God for a king. Why? Because the other nations had one. God reluctantly acceded to their wishes, but He warned them that there were grave dangers associated with centralized power. He gave them Saul as their first king, a man with great potential, but one who failed miserably to live up to his gifts and abilities. He was followed by David, and David by Solomon. This was known as the Golden Age of Israel or the United Monarchy.
The kingdom split after the death of Solomon in 931 B.C., with ten tribes forming the Nation of Israel under Jeroboam and two tribes forming the Nation of Judah under Rehoboam. Both countries largely failed to follow the Lord, though Judah, whose kings were all descendants of David, had at least a few good rulers–about 8 out of 20. Israel didn’t have a single righteous king, and as a result, God brought the Assyrians in 722 B.C. to destroy their nation and carry off its inhabitants into exile. To this day they are known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, for no Jewish person today can firmly trace his or her ancestry to any of these tribes.
Judah lasted for another 140 years until King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonians put the nation out of its misery in 586 B.C. Today we will examine the years immediately preceding that awful event, as well as some amazing things that followed.
The continuing decline of the nation of Judah (2 Chr 36:1-14)
Josiah: the last good king. We studied the life of Josiah last Sunday and were greatly encouraged by the fact that while he was just a teenager, he launched his greatest work for God. He was able to make such a difference as a leader that the Lord postponed the judgment He had planned on Judah for nearly another generation. Let me just summarize the life of Josiah with a marvelous passage from 2 Kings 23 that we did not use last Sunday but easily could have:
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did–with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh (Josiah’s grandfather) had done to provoke him to anger. So the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘There shall my Name be.’”
In the year that Josiah died, 609 B.C., the world stage was in a great state of flux. The Assyrian Empire was in rapid decline, with its capital city of Nineveh having fallen to the upstart Babylonians just three years earlier. Egypt, which had been a dominant world power for 3000 years, was also in decline. Neco, the King of Egypt, went to the aid of the Assyrians to slow down the Babylonians, and Judah was trapped in the middle between these world powers on the north, south, and east. God, of course, was the one actually moving the pieces on the chess board, and He had determined that for a while, at least, Babylon would win.
There were four more kings of Judah following Josiah–three of his sons and one of his grandsons. Two of them reigned 11 years each, two reigned for three months each, but all four had the same epitaph. Regarding each one we read the exact same words: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” I want us to briefly examine each of them.
Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum, was the middle son of Josiah but for some unknown reason he was elevated to the throne before his older brother when Josiah died in battle with Neco, the king of Egypt. Jehoahaz reigned only three months before Neco dethroned him and carried him off to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died as predicted by the prophet Jeremiah (22:11,12). Neco also demanded heavy tribute from Judah. In Jehoahaz’ place the king of Egypt put the eldest son of Josiah on the throne. His name was Eliakim but Neco changed it to Jehoiakim. He was at the time little more than a puppet of Egypt.
Jehoiakim. During Jehoiakim’s eleven-year reign the balance of power in the Mideast shifted dramatically from Egypt to Babylon. Less than three years into Jehoiakim’s reign, the new head of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Nebuchadnezzar, soundly defeated the Egyptians in the world-changing Battle of Carchemish.[i] In an effort to extend his control, he forced Jerusalem into submission, seizing tribute and hostages, among whom were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the latter three better known by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego.
The prophet Jeremiah showed disdain for Jehoiakim by declaring that he would have “the burial of a donkey–dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.” (Jer 22:13-19) The particular action which prompted this prediction was Jehoiakim’s construction of a new palace, squandering state funds at a time of national crisis. Furthermore, when Jeremiah wrote a scroll of warnings about the coming judgment of God, Jehoiakim cut up Jeremiah’s book and burned it (Jer 36:23).[ii]
Just as Jeremiah predicted, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem in 597. More hostages were seized, including Jehoiakim himself, who was bound with bronze shackles for transport to Babylon, but he died in Jerusalem before he could be carried away. Though we have no direct evidence regarding his burial, the circumstances would tend to confirm Jeremiah’s prediction. Nebuchadnezzar also stripped the Temple of God of all the articles of value (remember, there was more gold in this building than in any other in ancient history) and took it all to his temple in Babylon.
Jehoiachin, the 18-year-old son of Jehoiakim and therefore the grandson of Josiah, then became king, but he lost no time demonstrating his own evil heart. Jeremiah also prophesied against him in Jer 22:24-27:
“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear–to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”
Jehoiachin reigned only three months and ten days before King Nebuchadnezzar deposed him and took him as a hostage to Babylon, along with the queen mother, princes, and 10,000 leading citizens, including the prophet Ezekiel.[iii] In Jehoiachin’s place Nebuchadnezzar appointed his uncle (the third son of Josiah) to be king over Judah and changed his name from Mattaniah to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah was 21 when he became king and managed to survive for 11 years; however, his reign was characterized by continual agitation and unrest in the nation. Some false prophets claimed that God had already broken the yoke of Babylon and that within two years Judah’s captives would return home, but Jeremiah denounced them as liars and urged continued submission to Babylon. Tragically Zedekiah listened to the false prophets and joined a coalition against Babylon.
Because of Zedekiah’s rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem for the third and final time and laid siege to the city. During the 18 months of the siege Jeremiah suffered great hardship at the hands of his fellow countrymen. They considered him a traitor for predicting that Babylon would crush Jerusalem. Zedekiah gave him some half-hearted support, but his officials beat Jeremiah, imprisoned him in a dungeon, and eventually threw him into a mud-filled cistern (Jer 37, 38), but he never quit speaking the truth.
The 39th chapter of Jeremiah describes in detail the Fall of Jerusalem, including the fact that Zedekiah was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, who slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and then put his eyes out, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. Just imagine living the rest of your life with the last visual image being the execution of your own children!
As we consider the Fall of Judah and Jerusalem, I want us to focus upon 2 Chronicles 36:15-23.
The total destruction of Jerusalem (2 Chr 36:15-23)
I see four major themes in this brief account:
God’s patience and pity (15) is first mentioned. “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” Discipline from the Lord is always preceded by patience. For over 300 years God had worked with this nation, chiding them, rebuking them, warning them. He tried everything imaginable to bring them back to Himself. He gave them blessings, He gave them hardships; He tried pleasure and He tried pain; at times He saturated them with prophetic truth, while at other times He let them try to figure things out on their own. Nothing worked. As a result, …
God’s righteous anger (16) was stirred up. Verse 16 says, “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy” (2 Chr 36:16). I am aware that God’s anger is not a popular concept today, but, friends, it is an absolutely essential aspect of His character. A God who did not get angry at the sin of His people would be of no more value than a wife who did not get angry at her husband’s philandering or a President who did not get angry at a terrorist act.
God’s severe discipline (17-20). Listen to verses 17-20, which record the Fall of Jerusalem in July of 586 B.C.:
He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped frm the sword, and they became servants (slaves) to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
Did you notice the opening words in that passage: “He (God) bought up against them the king of the Babylonians.” Then it says, “God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.” This is not bad luck; this is not even a failure of military preparedness; this is divine discipline.
Judah and Jerusalem are no more. But wait! God’s incredible mercy always has the last word.
God’s incredible mercy (21-23). That mercy is revealed to us through one of the most amazing prophecies in Scripture. Once again, I turn your attention to the man of God known as the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. In chapter 29 of the OT book that bears his name, we find that he survived the Babylonian assault on Jerusalem. In fact, he was treated quite well by Nebuchadnezzar and was allowed to remain in the city after the Babylonians left. He wrote a letter to the exiles back in Babylon, encouraging them to build houses, settle down, and seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon, their new home, because they were going to be there for a long time. In fact, he told them to pray for Babylon, because if it prospered, they would prosper.
But, Jeremiah went on to say, they were not going to be there permanently.
Prophecy made (Jeremiah 29:10-14) Listen to his words:
This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future….
But why should I tell you this story when Jeremiah happens to be here this morning. I think I will let him speak for himself. (Monologue performed here by Rich Swingle. Text not available for this manuscript).
Friends, the very next words in Jeremiah 29 are these:
“I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Fast forward about 67 years. Jeremiah is long gone but his prophecy is being read by another of God’s prophets.
Prophecy read (Daniel 9:1-3). Daniel is now an old man of perhaps 80 or more. He had been taken hostage as a teenager in 605 B.C. and had lived ever since in Babylon, serving a series of Babylonian kings, with exceptional competence faithfulness to the Lord. Then suddenly on October 12, 539 B.C. the city of Babylon fell before the armies of Cyrus and a new world power emerged–the Medes and the Persians. Let Daniel tell his own story:
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom (now the Medo-Persian Empire)–in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. (He can do simple math. If Nebuchadnezzar first came against Jerusalem in 606, and it’s now 538 B.C., the fulfillment of this prophecy can’t be far off! So what did he do? Throw a party? Celebrate? No!). So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:1-3).
Then follows one of the great prayers of the Bible, as Daniel–one of the few persons in all the Bible about whom no specific sin is recorded–proceeds to confess openly to God for himself and the exiled people of Israel and Judah. I will read only the last verse of the prayer: “O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
Well, the prophecy was made by Jeremiah; it was read by Daniel; and it was fulfilled by Cyrus:
Prophecy fulfilled (2 Chr 36:21-23): Listen again to 2 Chronicles 36:
The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you–may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.”
The next book of the Bible, Ezra, begins right at that point by telling the story of how the Jewish people were allowed to return to their land in order to rebuild the wall, the city, and eventually the Temple.
God’s incredible mercy was such that He simply could not abandon His people, even after their complete abandonment of Him.
I want to close this morning with some brief lessons for God’s people today that come not only from the epitaph of Judah but also from this whole series:
The lessons for God’s people today
1. We must not presume upon His patience. Every time we sin willfully, violating the revealed will of God, we are presuming upon God’s patience. Whenever we say to ourselves, “I know God forbids this, but I also know He’s a God of grace, so I’m sure He’ll forgive me,” we are presuming upon His grace. This we must not do. To err is human, I am aware of that. We will never reach a state of perfect holiness in this life. But it is one thing to sin; it is another to have a rebellious attitude and sin willfully.
2. We must not underestimate His anger. God hates sin. He hates it because it violates all He stands for, but He also hates it because He knows how much it harms us. And the word “hate” is not too strong. God isn’t just displeased with sin; He isn’t just irritated by it; He hates it to the point that He cannot not do something about it, namely discipline His children when they sin. But a third lesson I see is that …
3. We must not chafe under His discipline. The discipline of the Lord is never pleasant. But the worst thing we can do when disciplined is what King Ahaz did. Remember? “In Time of Trouble He Became Even More Unfaithful.” If we react to God’s discipline with more sin and more rebellion, we are destroying any chance we have for forgiveness and restoration.
4. We cannot but marvel at His mercy. “Who is a pardoning God like thee?”, asks the hymn writer, “Or who has grace so rich and free?” The obvious answer is, “No one!” A God who would bring the rebellious and sinful Israelites back home from Babylon, is also a God who will accept you back from wherever you may have wandered. It’s time to come home, friend, it’s time to come home. God loves you. Jesus died for you. He offers you forgiveness for your sins and life forever with Him. Won’t you say “yes” to His free offer of salvation?
DATE: September 29, 2002
Tags:
History of Judah
Destruction of Jerusalem
Divine discipline
Divine mercy
[i] In 2 Chronicles 35:20 it says, “After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle.” This event, resulting in Josiah’s death (609 B.C.) occurred four years before the great battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. But please note that this text says only that Neco was on his way to fight at Carchemish. The fact is, the conflict between Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon consumed several years.
[ii] Leon Wood, A Survey of Israel’s History, 371.
[iii] There are several fascinating historical facts about Jehoiachin that bear mention. One has to do with the genealogy of Christ. In Matthew 1 we find a list of the ancestors of Jesus going back to Abraham, including many of the kings of Judah we have been studying. Let’s read verses 6 through 11:
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
But Jeconiah was so wicked that God put a curse on him, as recorded in Jeremiah 22:30: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’” Well, if no descendant of Jehoiachin would ever sit on the throne of David, what is he doing among the ancestors of Jesus, who is the King of Judah par excellentand the Son of David? How is that possible in light of this curse? The answer is found in the fact that Jesus has two genealogies–one in Matthew and the other in Luke. Matthew’s genealogy is that of Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, while Luke’s is that of Mary, His mother. Mary and Joseph were both descended from David, but through different branches of the family, and while Joseph was a descendant of Jehoiachin Mary was not. Therefore, since Joseph was not Jesus’ father, but only His step-father, the curse that would keep any blood relative of Jehoiachin from inheriting the throne did not apply to Jesus.
A second fascinating thing about Jehoiachin is how his life ended. Jeremiah predicted he would never return to Judah and would die in Babylon, and that’s exactly what happened. However, he did not die as a prisoner. In 2 Kings 25:27-30 we read what happened to him:
In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
I wish I knew why Jehoiachin experienced this tremendous change of fortunes. Could it be that he eventually repented and, even after 37 years of imprisonment, God showed him mercy? That certainly fits the character of our God.