In 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 the apostle Paul made it clear that the experiences of the children of Israel, are examples for us who are living in the ‘end times’. 

God was displeased with the behaviour of the people of Israel which had steadily deteriorated.  Idolatry, fornication, murmuring and disobedience were widespread, despite continued warnings against these sins.  Under strong, godly leadership they enjoyed periods when God was able to bless them; but without this type of godly leadership the people always slipped into apostasy and drifted away from God. 

Their recurring slide into sin was a sure and inescapable reason for God to unleash his wrath on them – which we will see in today’s lesson. 

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

The warnings in the lesson are extremely relevant for us today, for there are many who act as if salvation is guaranteed to them and therefore behave and do whatever they like. Particular behaviour patterns characterize those to whom salvation is guaranteed. 

The book of 2 Chronicles is essentially about the ‘house of David’ but as it sets out the history of Judah, it gives us amazingly accurate pictures of the issues in the spiritual life of every believer.  God in his divine activity wrote this book to show us what will happen, when we make God the center of our life and what will happen when this ceases to be the case. 

The fate of David’s immediate posterity is inextricably linked to the Temple and so 2 Chronicles centers on the Temple and its associated activities. It opens with Solomon visiting the Tabernacle in Gibeon and then it immediately transfers our attention to his building of the Temple. Solomon desired this edifice to be glorious and incomparably beautiful; fitting to accommodate the presence of God among the people of Israel. So here then we see the Temple being erected to remind the people that God would be among them, to heal their hearts, hear their cries and keep them in His appointed place. 

Israel conquests and the glory of the kingdom are chronicled, as the work of God was now visibly and gloriously displayed among them in a marvellous way.  God had graciously built and blessed a people, a nation and a land, so that word of Him would spread all over the world. People heard about the nation and made pilgrimages from all over to learn the secret of God's activity. This was God’s evangelism. 

In this glorious time, with the Temple visible and gold and silver common in the land, the borders of Israel extended from the Euphrates to the rivers of Egypt, fulfilling the promise of extensive land made by God to Abraham. 

Between chapters ten through thirty six we read the records of the kings, the nine good kings and the eleven bad ones. The evil kings show the pattern of how wickedness operates in a disobedient heart.  

Decline had set in however, for as early as the reign of Solomon, evil began to infiltrate the kingdom, as idolatry and paganism started to take root. His son, Rehoboam, not only refused to listen to the counsel of the wise old men, but did as 2 Chronicles 12:1 states:

“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and was strong, he forsook the law of the Lord.” 

God then allowed the Egyptians to attack him.  

So we begin to learn what happens in our lives, when there is a turning away from obedience to God to the rule of man and the imperatives of the Temple. The spiritual life of the nation and its defences were immediately weakened and the enemies of Israel went on the offensive. This will be the case in the lives of believers when we forsake the laws of God for evil.

Abijah, the next king was obedient to God and in his battle with Jeroboam king of Israel who greatly outnumbered him, called on the Lord when he faced imminent defeat and won a great victory.  

When we are outnumbered by our enemies, we should follow Abijah’s example and call on God vigorously for guidance, protection and leading. 

King Asa (chapters 14-16) further reformed the land, did what was right, destroyed the pagan idols and commanded Judah to seek the Lord and follow his commandments. He was then attacked by Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots (14:9). God gave Asa a convincing victory. We can expect the enemy to attack when the Lord is sought. 

Oded the prophet met Asa and confirmed that the Lord was with him and Asa then led the people into a covenant to seek the Lord. (15:12-15) We are told: “They took oath to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns.  And all Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their hearts, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest round about”. 

Jehoshaphat the next King of Judah, continued to rid the land of idols and established a ministry of teaching, (17:9). The results were: “The fear of the Lord fell up on all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.”  

Jehoshaphat did very well but when he foolishly allied himself with disobedient Israel and faced invasion, God had to deliver him miraculously (20:24). 

The next king Jehoram put everything in reverse.

“He slew all his brothers with the edge of the sword, and also some of the princes of Judah. Moreover he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, and made  Judah go astray.” (2 Chron. 12:10-11).   

Jehoram was immediately attacked by a Philistine invasion. When we are driven by envy and we worship where our pagan neighbours and friends are worshipping, this is a downgrading of the truth and it will inevitably lead to trouble. 

Next came Ahaziah and he followed the behaviour of the wicked Ahab king of Israel.  His reign was short and he was executed by Jehu. His wicked mother Athaliah seized the throne and tried to eliminate every prince in the line of David, to thwart the promise of God to David, but was eventually killed without succeeding in her satanic plot. 

Joash, the one remaining son in the line of David then reigned. While under the godly influence of the priest Jehoiada, he did what was right, repairing the house of the Lord that his ungodly predecessors had wrecked.  When Jehoiada died, he slipped into apostasy and idolatry and despite the warnings of the prophets, the king did not take heed.  The armies of Syria then invaded and though the attacking force was small, Joash was delivered by God into the hands of the invaders.  He then became very sick and was killed by his servants.  Such was his punishment. 

His son Amaziah did well with a ‘perfect heart’.  When he finally turned against the Lord, his servants conspired against him and he fled, but they pursued and killed him. 

Uzziah then took the throne.  He was a good King even though he unfortunately slipped into pride because of this military success and usurped the role of the priests. Because of this transgression, God struck him with leprosy and isolated and alone, he later died. 

His son Jotham did what was right, and was mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God, but he did not enter into the temple of the Lord.  We are told however that the people did corruptly. 

Then we have the wicked reign of Ahaz.  Amazingly he did not follow in the steps of his father.

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like his father David, but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made molten images for the Baal;

And he burned incense in the valley of the sons of Hinnon, and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.” 

The kings of Syria then invaded (28:5) and many were taken captive. Ahaz reigned for a long time and when he died after being struck with an incurable disease, the people made no mourning for him. We are told,“he departed without being desired”. 

Despite the wicked behavior of his father we now see the grace of God in raising up another good king, whose name was Hezekiah. 

He was so zealous for God, that in the first month of his rule he began the work of cleansing the temple. When he came to the throne, he found that the temple was littered with garbage.  Sixteen days were spent cleaning out the rubbish and when it was cleaned, they celebrated Passover for the first time since the days of Solomon.  He restored the temple and the worship of God. 

Hezekiah’s work in cleansing and opening up the Temple was necessary for the spiritual renewal of the nation. In fact 29:15 seems to indicate that Hezekiah was acting at the express instruction or “word” of the Lord. 

Obviously, cleansing is essential for proper worship. We must be cleansed if we expect to stand in the presence of a most holy God. As Psalm 24:3-4 states:

“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Our who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.” 

Then, following the extremely good reign of Hezekiah came the long reign of the wicked Manasseh, who did evil in the sight of the Lord in his fifty five years reign.  He introduced all the evils of paganism that we can imagine.  Because of the immense wickedness during his reign, which was even worse than that of Ahaz, and  the pagan Canaanites, God determined to send Judah into exile. 

Manasseh’s son Amon also did evil in his reign and he was murdered by his servants. 

The good reign of Josiah followed, but even this was not enough to reverse the determination of God to send the people of Judah into exile.  We studied the reign of that great King last week. 

There is a tradition that Josiah anticipated that when he died his reforms would die with him and the spiritual decline would continue.  Since he anticipated what would happen and since he knew that the kingdom of Judah would be invaded and destroyed, he decided to hide the Ark of the Covenant, so it would not be captured by the enemies of God. There is much speculation about the whereabouts of the Ark. 

We have to turn to the book of Jeremiah to understand what had really happened in Judah to understand God’s patience with Judah.

Jeremiah 11:1-17 outlines this. We quote from verses 6-17:

“Then the Lord said unto me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: “Hear the words of the covenant and do them”.

For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.”

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done’”.

And the Lord said to me,” A conspiracy has been formed among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the host of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”

Therefore thus says the Lord; “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.

What has My beloved to do in My house,

Having done lewd deeds with many?

And the holy flesh has passed from you.

When you do evil, then you rejoice.

The Lord called your name,

Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.

With the noise of a great tumult

He has kindled fire on it,

And its branches are broken.

For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”   

Here we have a set of generally incredibly foolish and ‘flesh’ dominated kings, priests, leaders, and people. They were given the maximum possible evidence that they were the representatives of and the beloved of the Almighty God. It was made very clear to them that faithfulness to their God was an indispensable requirement for their personal and national safety and success.

Despite the knowledge of the history of their nation, they still insisted on living wickedly, firmly establishing idolatry and mixing this idolatry with the worship of their Lord and God.   

Though God had been extremely patient and long suffering with them, it was time for judgment; they had sinned to the point where there was no remedy for them, they had sealed their own doom.  They had been given so much, helped so much, shown so much mercy, but they were insistent on following the ways of evil. 

In the Southern Kingdom, there were many prophets.  There were Jonah, Isaiah, Micah, (Micah warned of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions and predicted the fall of both Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of both the northern and Southern Kingdoms), Zephaniah, Huldah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Ezekiel, Obadiah, as well as others.   

Despite relentless warnings, the rebellion in both nations continued.   

One would have thought that the surviving, relatively tiny Southern Kingdom of Judah would have seen and appreciated the misfortunes that befell their brothers and would have repented.  Sadly, as we have studied previously, they did not listen.  Jeremiah nineteen sets the context for our study and we learn that when people in the covenant sin and ignore the warnings, the judgment of God moves swiftly and inexorably.

“Hear the words of the Lord O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.

Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burnt incense in it to other gods neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents.

(They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind),

therefore behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnon, but the Valley of Slaughter.

And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their corpses will I give for the birds of the Heaven and for the beasts of the earth.

I will make this city desolate and a hissing; every one who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

And I will cause them to be the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and every one shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.”  (Jer. 19:3-9)  

The Apostle Paul has warned professing believers that if they refuse to obey the commandments of God and slip deeper and deeper into idolatry and abominations, there is no remedy but painful exile and death. He reminded believers that God dealt harshly with the angels that sinned, as well as with unbelieving Israel.  He will treat friends in the same way if we reject him and his word.   

The Apostle John also, in Revelation chapters two and three, warned several churches that if they continued in sin, their churches would be destroyed. 

So let us cleanse the ‘Temple’ which is what Christians are and restore the Word of God to its place of primacy, restore the broken things, follow the path that God has laid down for us and trust in God for every step of our life.  If we do not, our lives will read like the

2 Chronicles 36 history of Israel, a short but sad account of utter ruin.

THE TEXT 

Verse 1-14

The godly king Josiah had died and the nation including the prophet Jeremiah, mourned.  As long as Josiah was alive, judgment had been delayed, but now that he was dead the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem was imminent.  The behavior of the four godless kings after Josiah hastened the destruction of the kingdom. 

Note that this did not come all at once.  It came bit by bit. God would have preferred that Judah and Jerusalem repent and live, for the prophets still prophesied, exhorting them to repent and to throw themselves on the mercy of God.  The punishment came in several stages, with different sieges, tribute demands at different times and deportations at other times.  

“The Exile was not a permanent defeat but, ultimately, a triumph of God's Providence.  History is a process, not of disintegration, but of sifting and selection.  When the dross, therefore, is removed, a faithful remnant is disclosed.”    

Remember, so it is with us.  When we sin and rebel, after suffering and exile, sifting and selection and the removal of the dross, we will be restored and rejuvenated.  Of course, obedience and sanctification is the better way.

It is a sad fact that even with the godliest of parents, sometimes their children turn out to be corrupt – so were the sons of Josiah.  They did not walk after their father. 

The people of Judah put Josiah's twenty three year old son Shallum or Jehoahaz on the throne, and he did evil in the side of the Lord,

(2 Kings 23:32). In three months he was the captive of the Egyptian king, who carried him away to Egypt where he died.  Pharaoh-necho then put his brother Eliakim, renamed Jehoiakim by the Pharaoh, on the throne. 

Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He was foolish and rather than trusting God, he was satisfied with being ruled by Pharaoh. He refused to listen to the prophet who told him that God had purposed that the Babylonians be the dominant power. 

Jeremiah tells us that this King was unrighteous and unjust, overtaxing the people of Judah to build monstrous palaces for himself.  He was covetous and in addition the prophet accused him of shedding innocent blood and violating the covenant in every respect. Jeremiah predicted he would be unlamented and  said of him: “He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, Dragged and passed out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” 

The power of the Assyrian world empire which had always threatened Israel was waning by the late 7^th century B.C.E. Judah had managed to stop the Assyrian conquest of their nation under this reign of Hezekiah, when God miraculously broke the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. (2 Chronicles 32). 

But now the Babylonian king Nabopolassar overthrew Assyria and the world faced a new world power called Babylon.  His son Nebuchadnezzar then ascended the throne, defeated Egypt at Carchemish and drove Egypt out of Syria and Palestine. 

Nebuchadnezzar then acted against the only autonomous, remaining Jewish kingdom of Judah and he came and made Jehoiakim his servant.  He allowed him to stay on his throne as a vassal for three years, since this King changed his loyalty from Egypt to Babylon.  The Babylonian King though took others of the princes and nobility to Babylon.  In addition, since Judah had sinned by bringing idols into the temple of God, God allowed the vessels of the temple to be carried away to serve the gods of Babylon. 

Note also that Isaiah had rebuked Hezekiah and made a prophecy a century before which was recorded in 2 Kings 20:12-19, that the vessels of God that he had foolishly shown to the Babylonian envoys would one day we taken away to Babylon.  So Nebuchadnezzar looted the treasures of the nation, taking them into the temple of his god Marduk. 

May God help believers to act with wisdom, when dealing with pagans who come to us nicely and with diplomacy. 

The false prophets added insult to injury according to Jeremiah 27:16, by telling the people that the vessels would be returned soon, but Jeremiah scoffed at their prophecy and told them that the rest of the vessels would soon be carried away to Babylon.   

These were the vessels that the wicked Belshazzar profaned on his last night alive, when he drank wine out of these vessels while praising his pagan gods. The handwriting on the wall by the strange hand told him that he was doomed. (Daniel 5:3) 

Jehoiakim was not content to be servant to those whom God had set up as the ruling power.  He proclaimed a fast that had no semblance of repentance; it served only to incite the people to join in rebellion against the Babylonians, as he looked to the Egyptians for allies. 

God had instructed Jeremiah to record all the prophecies he had ever made against Israel, Judah and the nations and have Baruch, the faithful scribe read it in the Temple on that occasion.     

Some of Jehoiakim's servants heard the reading and told the congregated princes and leaders. The princes requested that the scroll be brought to the king and be read to him.  When this was done, instead of heeding the warnings, king Jehoiakim shredded the scroll and threw the pieces into the fireplace.    

This wicked King then killed Urijah, a true prophet of God according to Jeremiah 26:20-23. 

After this, God sent armies consisting of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites against Jehoiakim. This was at the direction of Nebuchadnezzar to put down the rebellion. (2 Kings 24:2-7).   

Jehoiakim was put in chains and was to be taken to Babylon, but apparently died before going to Babylon. He was given the burial of an ass in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy in 22: 18-19, that is, his body was cast out and not properly buried.   

When Jehoiakim revolted against Babylon, he had been depending on the king of Egypt for help. He had heard that Babylon had not succeeded in crossing the Egyptian border in 601 B. C., and he felt that the king of Egypt was now strong enough to help him militarily against Babylon. 

Jehoiakim's son, Jehoiachin took over the throne and reigned for only three months and ten days, doing evil just as his father had done.  He walked in the steps of his father, hastening the fall of his house and the sinking of his throne. Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon and again looted the treasures of the temple in Jerusalem. 

Jehoiachin or Coniah  was so wicked that God swore that this King which was named Coniah, would be childless, would never prosper in his days and none of his descendents would ever sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.  

This is why Joseph had the right to the throne and could give it to Jesus of Nazareth, who was his adopted son.  Jesus would never be the natural son of Joseph, who himself was a descendent of Coniah, for it was decreed that no descendant of that line would sit on the throne of David. Jesus’ ascension to the throne of David would have to be as the legal heir of Joseph, with the legal right to inherit the throne, but definitely not his natural son, as that line was under the curse.  So we know that Jesus was a natural son of Mary and not the natural son of Joseph. 

Nebuchadnezzar then appointed the King’s uncle, Mattaniah, Josiah’s son, (1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 1:2-3; 37:1) as king in place of Jehoiachin, changing his name to Zedekiah. 

At this stage, in view of the history so far, one would have thought that Zedekiah, the new king, would be able to ‘read the writing on the wall’, but incredibly he choose to ignore the prophets of God.  

In our lesson today we have looked at how leaders can be foolish and lead their people to destruction, though everything around them, including the word of God is pointing in a direction totally contrary to their direction of choice. 

Verse 15.   This was the beginning of the end – an intolerable season of apostasy would now be met with the wrath of God. Zedekiah did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet and he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had sworn an oath of loyalty to him.   

“And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers…”  It may be by design that the disgust of the Lord be known, thus He is addressed as the God of their fathers, rather than their God.

The true prophets of God were sent to warn the people, to admonish and reprove them of their idolatry, begging them to repent while there was still time.  God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and would have his apostate, backsliding children return to him. 

The people however got progressively worse; yet God in his mercy continued to send his prophets – toward the end Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Ezekiel were among those prophets.

“…he had compassion on his people…” It is evident that it was not God’s will to see Jerusalem come to ruin, the people perish and the temple destroyed.

Verse 16.   The people verbally and physically abused the prophets. They mocked them and disdained their words, as if they were crazed men speaking foolishness.  Ezekiel and Jeremiah often met with such ridicule; God had even told Jeremiah that the people would not listen.  Yet when Jeremiah refused to continue what seemed like a futile mission and humanly speaking no one could blame him, God ‘shut up fire in his bones’ – for the people must get the message. 

The people’s behavior was extreme, it was not simply a matter of verbal abuse; the people “misused his prophets…”,  that is they imprisoned them, beat them and killed many of them.  Elijah thought he was the sole remaining prophet at one point. 

The people persisted in this manner until the pool of God’s mercy ran dry; the wrath of God was now directed against them. They would not repent, they consistently and persistently fought against God till there was no possible remedy or healing for them. There was no reclaiming or recovering of them, no bringing them to repentance and no pardon.  

One must realize, that when people reject the prophets and faithful ministers of God, when they scorn, mock and abuse them; they are in fact rejecting the word of God and provoking God, as if he was impotent and powerless.  God’s wrath will eventually come.

Verse 17.   Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument of God’s wrath. Zedekiah had acted foolishly, rejecting the word of the God delivered by his prophets.  Zedekiah treated Jehovah like the pagan idols he worshipped, but he was about to be judged and this work though carried out by the Babylonians, was entirely the work of Almighty God. “Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,...” 

Zedekiah had been receiving envoys from the Egyptians, to be part of a coalition to over throw the Babylonians.  He fortified the city for such an event, stockpiling enough food that they were able to survive and resist the Babylonian siege for over a year. As one writer states:

“The author of the Chronicle had primarily in view only the time of Zedekiah in which the defection reached its highest point.”   

However, no defence could quench the wrath of God and several terrible prophecies against Judah would soon be fulfilled. Zedekiah would spend the remainder of his days tormented by the recollection of the prophets endless warnings. 

Ezekiel warned Zedekiah of a coming financial crisis and the ensuing shortage of food, that would lead to the cannibalization of their children, (Ezekiel 5:9-10).  In light of this prophecy Jeremiah begged Zedekiah to repent and surrender to the Babylonians, for they were God’s instrument of judgment.  Zedekiah hardened his heart and would not listen. 

When the Babylonians finally broke through the wall, an unimaginable slaughter ensued.  None were spared, the young, the old, male and female, all perished by the edge of the sword.  The temple which they had defiled would provide no refuge. What used to be the house of God would also become a graveyard.  Breaking an oath of loyalty, whether to man or to God, is a serious offence. 

Zedekiah, his family and his closest confidants escaped through a secret tunnel, but they were soon detected and the Babylonians gave pursuit.

Zedekiah’s army was now in disarray and scattered, it was every man for himself.  If he had followed the advice of Jeremiah and accepted the protection of God, he would not now be in the position where the arms of flesh had failed him.   

He was taken before the Babylonian king at his headquarters at Riblah, where he was tried by the War Council for breaking his oath of allegiance and rebelling against his ruler.  He was found guilty and judgment was rendered.   

His sons and all the princes that had fled with him were killed before his eyes and then his own eyes were plucked out and he was blinded.   

It must have been terrible to sit in prison for many years and remember that the last thing that one saw was your own children being killed.  He was then chained hands and feet and led in disgrace to a prison in Babylon.    

Zedekiah had been warned that all this would happen to him, to his people and his country if he did not surrender to Babylon. The suffering and the cannibalism had been predicted but he had remained obstinate.  He looked nice and respectful, but he was a wicked, selfish coward. He died in Babylon as the prophets had predicted.

Verse 18.   Much of the wealth of Jerusalem had been removed in previous invasions and whatever was left in the temple was now taken. All the valuables of the king and his princes and the nobility were taken; nothing of value was left; Jerusalem was totally impoverished. The treasures of the temple and other spoils were taken to Babylon  for the use of the king and the rest probably ended up as the personal possessions of the soldiers.  It would not be until the reign of Cyrus that the temple vessels would be returned.

Verse 19.   Everything had been plundered and many killed, but this was not the end, the destruction of Jerusalem continued as they burned the royal palaces, private homes, broke down the walls and razed the temple.

“And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house. And he burned with fire all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great ones. And all the army of the Chaldeans with the chief of the executioners broke down all Jerusalem's walls all around.” 

Jer. 52:13-14. 

Everything was either taken or destroyed.

Verse 20.   Anyone who managed to escape with their life was captured, chained and taken captive to Babylon, where they would serve as slaves.  This would continue until the rise of the Persian Empire.

Verse 21.   In Leviticus 25:4-7, Moses had established a Sabbath rest for the land, which was to be observed every seven years.  From that time the people had been taught a serious lesson for breaking the weekly seventh day Sabbath; yet it is apparent that they did not learn their lesson.

Moses’ prophecy in Levitcus (Lev 26:34; Jer 25:9-12) foretold the serious consequence of disregarding the law of God.  The people however consistently violated the Sabbath law that demanded the land remain un-seeded every seventh year. 

As with the weekly Sabbath, the people refused to trust God to supply their needs, but rather pursued their ‘fleshly’ lusts of greed and selfishness. For their continued disobedience, the land would be laid waste by their enemy.   

Note that the enemy or occupying force would usually posses the land for themselves. However by the providence and decree of God, the land was not re-inhabited by the enemy and thus enjoyed its true Sabbath rest as was prophesied.

It seems that the city was left in such a state of devastation that it was considered uninhabitable. Thus the prophecy of Moses is fulfilled.

(Jer 25:9, Jer 25:12; Jer 26:6, Jer 26:7; Jer. 29:12).

Psalms 137 

Verse 1. This is a Psalm of despair, of deeply felt emotion, of weeping and deep sadness and lamentation. The people of Judah remembered the destruction of Zion and their country and the immense suffering that they had undergone. They could not forgive those that had done these terrible things to them.  This then is a Psalm of bitterness and melancholy. 

The rivers of Babylon was likely a reference to the many man made canals that came into the city to irrigate and supply water.  It could be that they were meeting there, for it would be convenient for the washings that preceded worship.  They sat down and wept when they considered, remembered and meditated on the holy hill on which the temple was built, as they remembered the former glory that had now been lost.  This was no casual weeping but deliberate tears brought by painful thoughts and memories.

Verse 2.   Willow trees or small poplars seemed to have been plentiful in the region and probably because they were close to a source of water. Sorrowfully they unstrung their instrument and hung them in the willow trees.  

Their instrument was a harp or a lyre, which is a small handheld stringed instrument, that was typically used by the Levites in worship. It was also an instrument used to accompany joyful songs.

(See Genesis 31:27;2 Samuel 6:5; Isaiah 24:8).  They were sad and needed music to cheer them up, but though they had brought their harps with them, they had no heart to play.  

They were so sad that they could not praise God, though they knew they should give thanks in everything.

Verse 3.   Their conquerors who had abused and wasted them requested that they sing songs of mirth.  In view of the treatment they had received, this was asking the impossible. It might have been that these pagans were taunting and ridiculing them with their requests.  The demands of the captors to hear the songs of joy and gladness, the songs of Zion that they sang to their God was inhuman. This would rub salt in the wounds of the people, who at every turn would be reminded of their utter destruction, due their own disobedience, the breaking of the covenant, their disregard for the commandments and the breaking of the Sabbath.

Let us not fool ourselves, ‘God is not mocked, what we sow we shall also reap’.  There is no hope for those who continually disobey the word of God and refuse to repent.  One cannot expect to continue in peace if we turn away from God. 

Sin brings desolation.  Breaking of the covenant brings desolation.  Refusal to follow the commandments of God brings desolation. 

Verse 4.   The songs of Jehovah are the songs of Zion, songs that were used in the true worship of Yahweh, especially in the temple at Jerusalem.  These songs magnify the name of God, singing and meditating on them should come with great joy and gladness.  The songs did not belong in a pagan country, just as worshiping idols did not belong in the land of God. They simply could not bring themselves to ‘cast their pearls before swine’. Their situation was the consequence of rebelling against God –they had to dwell in a strange land, among strange gods, buried in rubbish.

Verse 5-6.   To sing the songs of God in a land filled with idolatry would amount to renouncing their spiritual home.  The people were now forced to remember what they had lost and appreciate it now that they were forcibly made absent from it.  So now we hear a patriotic voice, that abhors the idea that they could ever allow the songs of Zion to entertain their pagan captors and be made a mockery.  What a change! 

These must have been truly repentant, for they refused to forget Jerusalem and made solemn oaths that they would never be reconciled to captivity but would exalt the honour and glorious status of the land of God.  Restoration to the land of the covenant would be their chief aim and joy. 

They would never forget their king, their God and the divine ordinances of the land from which they were taken.  They would never mix the things of Zion with anything pagan.  They would sooner have their tongue cleave to the roof of their mouth and render them incapable of uttering a sound or to lose the faculty of speech.

CONCLUSION

Believers today had better take notice.  The God of the covenant is a very demanding God.  It is perilous to disobey him.  If we disobey him, he will chastise and discipline us.