The Last King

The Last King

The kingdom of Judah was in trouble.

THE YEAR was 586 B.C. It was almost five hundred years since Israel had become a kingdom under Saul in about 1050 B.C. David had begun his reign in approximately 1010 B.C., and then in 930 B.C. the kingdom had been divided between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel, the northern kingdom, never had a godly king, and so God’s judgment fell in 722 B.C. when he sent Assyria to defeat Israel and take its citizens away captive.

The southern kingdom of Judah had the Davidic dynasty, and some of its kings were good, but unfortunately most weren’t. King Zedekiah fell into the latter category. God sent prophets to his people throughout their history to try to persuade them to return to the stipulations of his covenant with them and to warn them of the judgments that would fall if they persisted in their disobedience and rebellion. The prophets were largely ignored.

In the very first prophecy that the prophet Jeremiah gave, the Lord said through him, “Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. They will set their thrones at the gates of the city. They will attack its walls and all the other towns of Judah. I will pronounce judgment on my people for all their evil—for deserting me and worshiping other gods. Yes, they worship idols that they themselves have made!” (Jeremiah 1:15-16). Later, the Lord was even more specific: “This entire land will become a desolate wasteland, Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years” (25:11).

Finally in 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar began his final siege of Jerusalem. Two and a half years later, on July 18, 586 B.C., the Babylonians broke through the wall, and the city fell. Jeremiah records that “all the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the Middle Gate” (Jeremiah 39:23), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah 1:15 that the enemies from the north would set their thrones at the gate of the city.

When King Zedekiah and his royal guard saw the Babylonians in the city gate, they fled as soon as darkness fell:

They went out through a gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley. But the Babylonians chased the king and caught him on the plains of Jericho. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the land of Hamah. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. He made Zedekiah watch as they killed his sons and all the nobles of Judah. Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in chains, and sent him away to exile in Babylon.

Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned Jerusalem, including the palace, and tore down the walls of the city. (Jeremiah 39:4-8)

Then the captain of the Babylonian guard took the remnant of the population captive to Babylon. The captivity of the Jews lasted for seventy years just as God had decreed. God had judged his own people for their sin.

Reflection

God judged the sins of his people with catastrophic results. Who are God’s people today? Do you believe that they are sinning in ways that will bring a similar catastrophic judgment? How about you personally? Are there sins in your life that will bring his chastening?

Our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Hebrews 12:10-11