The End. For now.

So this is our last day in 2 Kings and we continue with this sorry period in the history of the people of Israel –

During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.  2 Kings 24:1

The people saw this as God’s way of punishing them for the atrocities of the the past, according to His command.

Jehoiakim was succeeded by Jehoiachin.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 2 Kings 24:8

Who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. No change there.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon laid siege to Jersualem and the king of Judah surrendered. Nebuchadnezzar took the king prisoner, ransacked the temple of the Lord and ten thousand of the people into exile. all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans.

He put his own king in place – Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah tried to rebel so the king of Babylon laid siege to the city of Jerusalem again – for two long years.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.  2 Kings 25:3

When the king tried to flee the city with his armies, he was captured and forced to watch his own sons being put to death.

Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.  2 Kings 25:7

Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon set fire to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and burned down every important building. The walls around the city were broken down. Everything of any worth was taken back to Babylon. Gedaliah son of Ahikam became governor over what was left of Jerusalem until he was assassinated and his attackers fled to Egypt.

And then in a weird twist, Jehoiachin was released and treated kindly and ate at the king of Babylon’s table for the rest of his life.

THE END

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.  2 Kings 25:21

And that is why Psalm 137 was written. Which Boney M put to song so famously in ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’.

Because there really is no place like home. And they are now far from home. Foreigners in a strange land. Refugees. Homesick. Nostalgic. Only recognising the good that they had when it is taken from them. You can hear their pain and confusion and regret and deep sorrow in the song.

How had it possibly come to this?

A story that began all those hundreds of years ago with the miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery and exploitation that has now reached a point of a kingdom divided, two nations scattered, the people in exile, the glories of the temple destroyed, a pattern of evil leaders……what went wrong?

We know the answer to that, don’t we? The people went their own way, rather than God’s. They did not trust and obey the one true God. The only living God.

And look around us now. The world is much the same. So much of beauty has been destroyed, people are living in exile and exploitation, nations have become divided, evil leaders rise up and take control….we ask how God can allow all this suffering and yet the answer is the same – people have gone their own way, rather than God’s. They have not trusted and obeyed the one true God. The only living God.

I found this on Youtube while I was searching prayers in song – ‘The Prayer’ by Celine Dion…not normally my thing but it touched me this morning. Because that’s pretty much all we can do isn’t it? Pray. Ask God for His love and grace and mercy and protection and wisdom and light and hope every single day.

And believe in hope.

Because while 2 Kings has come to an end, God’s story has not. There is much, much more to come.