Saturday, March 21, 2009
2 Chronicles 36:12 Zedekiah . . . did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.
JESUS AS JUST KING
Zedekiah was nothing but a puppet king. The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17). He reigned for 11 years in Jerusalem. At that time he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, which brought on the third and final "visit" by the Babylonians. "Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, . . . burned the house of the Lord and the king's house . . . he carried away captive the rest of the people . . ." (2 Kings 25:8, 9, 11).
The reason for the judgment on God's people? "For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence" (2 Kings 24:20).
God's judgment upon His people was fearsome. For 70 years they were banished from their homeland. "To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill 70 years" (2 Chronicles 36:21).
It is true that God is a God of justice. He cannot just "look the other way" when it comes to sin. The sins of mankind must be paid for! How blessed we are that God is not only keenly aware of our sins, but in His infinite mercy and grace He has seen to it that His Son's death paid the price necessary! Our King has delivered us once and for all from the powers of sin, death, and the devil! "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
