2 Chronicles 36:11-23
Notes
Transcript
Song: Choose Someone
Song: Choose Someone
Prayer: Choose Someone
Prayer: Choose Someone
Scripture: Choose Someone
Scripture: Choose Someone
Give Scripture: 2 Chronicles 36:11-23
Give Scripture: 2 Chronicles 36:11-23
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
Give A Review
Give A Review
So, when we started our lesson last week, Josiah had just died and we entered in Chapter 36 with his on reigning in his stead.
After the death of Josiah, the Kingdom and the throne itself becomes chaotic and jumbled through a series of actions caused due to Josiah’’s actions in the latter days of his life. Josiah goes to war against the Egyptian King, Pharoah Necho, in support of Carchemish. He does this and though he is told to stand down, he ignores the warnings of the King and Josiah dies in battle. His son, subsequently becomes the King (bearing in mind it was not his oldest son who was placed on the throne as the people had overlooked the oldest.
However, Necho was having none of it so he decided to take Jehoahaz away into captivity and installs his older brother as the King after only 3 months. The older brother, Eliakim, becomes King and has his name changed to lend a more Egyptian understanding of the name while conveying the same basic meaning. Eliakim reigns for quite some time but does evil in the sight of the Lord. 11 years into his reign the King of Babylon comes into the city and placed him under bondage while carting him away to Babylon. At this point, his son begins to reign at the tender age of 8 years old. We can see in this similar actions that have been observed throughout history. Bringing instability to a King and a Kingdom through rapid changes and short lived and young rulers. Doing so makes it easier to depose the Kingdom. For example, it would be way easier to convince people that you are going to take away an eight year old boy they barely know compared with taking away a stable and good King. It is far easier to depose young Jehoiachin but not so easy to depose a David for example.
This young boy king then rules for a very short amount of time and is also taken away from the people and his brother is then installed as King by Nebuchadnezzar. Finally, his brother Zedekiah is installed as King.
In this short amount of time (A little over 12 years) we have 5 Kings, with one of them reigning for 11 of those years as the period of greatest stability. Now during this time, the country is really a puppet state, paying tribute and slowly being assimilated until it becomes a part of the larger Babylonian Empire.
Three Key Takeaways
Be careful that you do not create burdens too great for your children to bear.
Do not allow yourself to become so weakened by your choices and circumstances that you accept everything that comes your way.
God’s word WILL come to pass.
Allow for Questions?
Allow for Questions?
Write some of the questions down if possible.
Scripture Study
Scripture Study
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.
What did you ignore from God when he was trying to speak to you?
Have we become so hardened that we cannot even hear the voice of God?
He turned away from the God of his fathers and did his own thing?
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.
Lets read it in New Living Translation so we better see the subject-verb agreement in this verse.
13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God’s name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.
My mother would say, that if you get someone enough rope, they will hang themselves.
Zedekiah became arrogant and thought he could do as he pleased.
He ignored God, ignored the prophet, ignored the people, ignored the Word and did his own thing
In doing all of this you would think he would turn to another person or another God like many of his fore-bearers.
Leave God and turn to the God of Assyria or Philista
But Zedekiah even turns away from the very King who put him into place...
Put simply, if people will do wrong by one person they will do wrong by all.
You may be friends with the one doing wrong today… but let them get done.
They will turn their back on you too.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
Even the priests began to transgress against the Lord.
We like to talk about how the anointing starts at the top and runs down to the bottom.
I have said it before that good servant leadership breeds good servant leadership.
But also… evil breeds at the top and works its way down.
Zedekiah did that which was evil and he gradually led astray the people of Jerusalem until all the people were working against the will of God.
Why do I say these things?
If you do not like a spirit that is in your home.... check your leader.
If you do not like a spirit in your church.... check your leader.
If you do not like a spirit on your job… check your leader.
And your leader is not always the person in the top spot, but sometimes/ or often times it is the person who wields greatest influence or power in the organization.
So on your job it may be a coworker that everyone is friends with...
In your church it may be one of the Trustees or the Pastor’s momma...
In your house it could very well be the person your spouse is stepping out with...
And so the Lord sent warnings because of his love for them, God will warn you when you are about to fall
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
They had already messed up but they mocked the messengers such that God’s anger rekindled against them… and they missed out on grace because they were hard headed.
Many of us wonder why our lives look like they do and it is not the devil’s fault, not God’s fault, but it is your fault because you would not heed the voice or call of God.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
What have you invited into your life by your actions?
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
God watched as a city that he had built and a people he had loved had their lives turn to smoke because of their unwillingness to follow his voice.
We often talk about how events impact us but think about the effect on God.
God has emotions so image the feelings of betrayal, disgust, anger, and other things God had to reconcile because of what we did to him?
It says something to me that the Angel of the Lord came upon Assyria but when was wrecking shop among his children he sent someone else under his direction.
It is like the difference between pulling the trigger and hiring the hitman… same outcome different feeling.
21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Jeremiah had prophesied that the land would see rest because of a 70 year expulsion of the people of Israel from the land.
Are you wasting time NOW making up for what you missed THEN.
The sabbaths were kept because they had missed so many… had they not missed so many it is possible they would not be in their circumstances.
Are you broke because you missed your bills or did you miss your tithes.
Are unhealthy because your genes or did you fail to turn your plate down.
See many of the spiritual tools that can be used to kill flesh and build spirit are also tools for personal enhancement; tithes requires you budget and fasting requires discipline.
Keeping the sabbath is important to God but it also gives your body, your land, your money, and other things a chance to rest.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
This word skips ahead through MANY generations to the end of Israelites captivity.
They were conquered by the Babylonians
Who were conquered by the Persians
And it is the Persians who set the Kingdom of Judah free over the course of time.
This begins the story of Ezra which leads over into the life of Nehemiah and Haggai.
Provide Key Takeaways
Provide Key Takeaways
Are we hearing God and if we are… are we choosing to ignore him for our own desires/ or perceived benefit?
Their is no right side to a wrong person… if they will do evil to one they will do it to all.
Are you wasting time NOW because you did not spend time THEN?
Allow for Final Questions?
Allow for Final Questions?
Write some of the questions down if possible.
Roll Call & Prayer Requests
Roll Call & Prayer Requests
Prayer: Do yourself unless otherwise led
Prayer: Do yourself unless otherwise led