Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 3 Lesson 11
This week in Sunday school, we finally look at God’s judgment on Judah. What were the three stages of Judah’s fall and Jerusalem’s destruction? How did the Babylonians treat the Judeans in the conquest? What are the implications of Judah’s judgment for us today? We’ll look at these questions and more.
The main scriptures we will be considering in this week’s lesson are 2 Kings 23:25-25:22 and 2 Chronicles 36:11-21.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
in the history history of the world and certainly the history of Israel for nearly 900 years at land of Canaan belonged to the people of Israel and then the Kingdom of Israel even the kingdom is vut of Israel and Judah that land was given by God to the Israelites to be Atlanta blessing as they followed the Lord but the people did not follow the Lord and as God promised and his covenant with Israel their land became cursed and the people were removed from the land and the kingdom was dissolved first the kingdom of israel was removed what nation removed them and when did they do so the Assyrian Empire that’s right and close or in the 700 area does anybody remember the date for the fall of Samaria usually given to be 722 BC 722 BC the end of the Northern Kingdom and the fall of Samaria by the Assyrians now Israel’s removal was to be a lesson to Judah who was called Israel sister but according to Jeremiah and his prophecy that we looked at last week what did you two do in response to the judgment on Israel yeah they didn’t repent in fact at least the way the Jeremiah lays it out instead of becoming more righteous they became less righteous they actually learned from Israel’s wickedness rather than Israel’s judgment and they became just as wicked and idolatrous as Israel God sent Jeremiah has a prophet to warn Judah then of judgment if she did not repent but Judah did not listen to Jeremiah so the judgment that Jeremiah prophesied came to pass and that’s the subject of our lesson today God judges Judah Judah and Jerusalem did not fall all at once however it happened in stages and we’re going to explore precisely what happened in today’s class here’s our outline we’re going to do an activity called the three steps of destruction we’re going to track the three phases of Judas fall then we’re going to examine again or we’re going to examine how Judah even in this judgment this tiered judgment this different phase judgment resisted repentance and then we’ll consider application for our lives today that’s right I gotta pay that you give me the ability ability to explain this well and to speak clearly I pray that your spirit will work in the hearts of everyone who hears today moment that we would understand what you want us to understand you wrote this for the people of Judah but also for us so we pray God that your spirit would do the work that’s necessary today in Jesus name Amen if you have your student guys please open to page 85 where you’re going to find the activity that we’re going to do for the majority of our class today so page 85 for less than 11 if you don’t have your book that’s okay you can use the use a blank space in a bulletin or just follow along immensely the activity is based on second Kings 23 to 25 where we’re going to find one of the accounts of Judas fall so while you open up your activity books too your student guides to page 85 please open your Bibles to 2nd Kings 23 second Kings 23s on page 4 11 if you’re using the Bible’s in the pew so page 4 11 in the button the few Bible and page 85 in the student guide and here’s what we’re going to do in this activity we’re going to read about the last five kings of Judah and we’re going to observe certain pieces of information first we want to find out how long did each King rain and then correlate that length of rain with dates establish some dates for the different kings of Judah who are raining and we’ll be using Answers in Genesis timeline for that they’ll give us a little anchor so we can base the rest of our dates then we’re going to ask what acts are recorded for this king of Judah what did he do and then finally who oppressed Judah under that particular King and what did that nation do to Judah and to its King so how long the beach King rain and when was that what did the acts of the king that are recorded who oppressed the king and the kingdom during his reign and what did that nation do those three pieces of information and there’s places for those in your notes in the student guide we’re going to start with Josiah the fifth to last king this is the preliminary phase of Judas destruction you’re just an actually not being destroyed yet but this is almost in preparation for that so we find the record of Judah and second Josiah and second Kings 23 I’m not going to read the whole thing about him we’re actually just going to start in verse 25 and will read to verse 30 but before we do that second Kings 22 verse 1 says that ders I arraigned 31 years and estrogen Genesis tells us that he died in 6 10 BC so if he reigned 31 years and died in 610 bc i remember bc gets closer and closer to 0 when did his reign begin 641 bc 641 bc now it could have been 640 bc and depending on if we count all of 610 or all of 641 or all of 640 so there is some wiggle room there but 641 is a good date for the start of Josiah’s rain also just so you know the line of Kings before Josiah so you know where he comes in in that order there was Hezekiah hey we remember him Great King righteous King and after Hezekiah Manasseh his son one of the most wicked Kings ever then his son Amon who was also evil and then Jersey so you’ve had two extremely wicked kings right before Josiah and for him Hezekiah one of the most righteous all right now let’s learn about Josiah second Kings 23 verse 25 to 30 before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart with all his soul with all his might according to all the law of Moses wouldn’t any like him her eyes after him whatever the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger burned against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him the Lord said I will remove Judah also from my sight as I have removed Israel now will cast off Jerusalem this city which I’ve chosen and a temple at which I said my name shall be there now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did are they not written in the book of The Chronicles the kings of Judah and his days Pharaoh Niko king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates in King Josiah went to meet him and when Pharaoh Nico saw him he killed him at Megiddo his servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb and the people the land took Jehovah has the son of josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father okay let’s fill in the information for our activity what do we learn about the acts of josiah he was a righteous king and in the section we didn’t read right before we see he’s actually trying to reform Israel he’s trying to restore proper worship and I’m sorry Judith trying to restore proper worship and Judah you did what was right but what else did he do that’s what in the section that we read i went up to fight against someone do you go up to fight against i wanted to fight against pharaoh pharaoh Nico it says he went to meet him but the idea is he went to fight him second chronicles gives us a little bit more information about that set up they fought at Megiddo bible does not tell us why Josiah went to fight him because actually Egypt was not targeting Judah it was actually on its way up to Assyria to assist the Syria against Babylon and in chronicles we actually learned that Pharaoh Nico before the battle says your diet don’t fight me I’m not I don’t have any issue with you I’m going somewhere else but Joe’s I insistant desires killed by the way the battle that Egypt and Assyria are about to have with Babylon is the Battle of charge mishe anybody remember the results of that battle Babylon in the Syria versus Parma sorry syrian egypt vs Babylon Assyria is crushed and they’re basically annihilated as an empire and Edith is defeated along with them but anyways Nico’s on his way to that fight shows I along the way in josiah’s killed so who’s it then who’s oppressing Judah during Josiah’s rain or does harm to Judah during those eyes rain Rico by killing the king and by fighting against josiah so we have an information here when he reigned what he did who impressed Judah that would be Egypt by defeating Judah in battle and killing King Josiah alright that’s it for Josiah let’s now look at the reign of Josiah son Jehovah has and we’re going to find the information for him in second Kings 23 verses 31 to 34 now this is still the preliminary stage see what second Kings tells us Jehovah has was 23 years old when he became king and he reigned three months in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was Hammett all the daughter daughter of Jeremiah of live nuh he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father’s had done Pharaoh Nico imprisoned him Riblet in the land of him up he might not rain in Jerusalem and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold fro Niko made a like him the son of josiah king in the place of Josiah his father and changed his name to Jehovah Kim but he took Jehovah has away and brought him to Egypt and he died there ok not a great rain for this next king let’s observe some information how long did Jehovah has reign three months so we’re looking for dates if he started in 610 he probably ended in 610 what did we learn about what he did he did evil in the sight of the Lord the only thing that’s really recorded about him he did evil just like his father’s did we still have Ana pressure of judo during this period who’s the oppressor it’s still Egypt he’s actually following up on his victory over Josiah and what does Nico due to a press Judah yeah he imposes a tribute remember let’s see 100 challenge of silver in a town of gold or roughly 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold so pretty hefty tribute impose upon the people what else yeah he imprisoned Jehovah has and he set up another king he sets up a like him whom he renames Jehovah kim takes the imprison came back to Egypt now notice now in this preliminary phase before Judas destruction really begins its Egypt he was oppressing Judah but that’s going to change the first phase of Judah’s actual destruction begins under the next king Jehoiachin by the way what is significant about the king of egypt renaming ally akin yeah Roy right so ultimately it is about establishing dominance in Judah any time a king is deposed and another king is put in his place by another nation that’s to keep the loyalty of that King like hey I raised you up so you owe me and but the name change itself is part of the symbol of authority you remember even in the Gospels Jesus changed changes the name of Pete Peters all the time he says now you’ll be called Peter and various times in the Bible we have people being renamed Jacob is called Israel Abraham is renamed all those things are actually especially in that culture a signup Authority number adam he had authority over the animals he named them when person is renamed the person naming is the one showing i have authority over you and so alive him is under the authority of Egypt joy his name is changed to Jehovah Kim alright so we’ve seen what happened to Jehovah has let’s now look at the first step of Judas destruction under Jehovah Kim okay so second Kings 23 we learn about him at second Kings 23 verses 35 to chapter 24 verse 7 so let’s read that verse thirty-five twenty-three so Jehovah Kim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh but he taxed land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh exactly the silver and gold from the pupil the land each according to his valuation to give it to Pharaoh Niko Jehovah Kim was 25 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was evide the daughter of padilla of rumah he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father’s had done and his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehovah King became a servant for three years then he turned and rebelled against him the Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans bands ver means bands Moabites and bands of nice so we sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken through his servants the prophets surely at the command of the Lord came upon Judah to remove them from his sight because of the sins of a NASA according to all that he had done and also for the innocent blood which he had shed very kit for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood and the Lord would not forgive now the rest of the act of Jehovah came and all that he did are they not written in the book The Chronicles of the kings of Judah so Joachim slept with his father’s enjoyed jeho wed kin his son became king in this place I thought it was chin by the way it’s Joachim so jahovic and his son became king this place oh one other note here the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again but the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates ok let’s gather information on jaha Kim’s ring how long did he reign 11 years so he started in 610 when did his reign end 599 and there could be some wiggle room depending on what what part of the year he started but 6 10 2 599 bc what did Hakim do Eric who’s I he did Eve on the side of the Lord what else did he do okay later on he becomes subject to Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon but doesn’t stay subject he also rebels and we should note he pays tribute to Egypt after after he had been installed as king by Egypt he does also pay tribute to Egypt we see two oppressors in this section one of them kind of fades away Egypt is still imposing the tribute but then it’s babylon babylon is the main oppressor what is it that Babylon does to repress Judah well before against that will get a little bit more specific information if we turn to a parallel passage just for a moment turn over to Daniel chapter one because it says in our past is that Babylon came up what does that mean well daniel is going to clarify that for us so daniel chapter one and we’ll read verses 1 to 4 right after Ezekiel is Daniel there it is ok page 8 81 in the pew Bible here’s what daniel says in chapter 1 verses 1 to 4 and the third year of the reign of jehovah keem king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it Lord gave to Hakeem king of Judah into his hand along with some of the vessels of the house of God and he brought them to the land of Shinar to the house of his God and he brought the vessels into the Treasury of his God then the king ordered ashburn ask chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel including some of the royal family and of the nobles youths in whom was no defect were good-looking showing intelligence and every branch of wisdom and down with understanding and discerning knowledge wettability for serving in the king’s court and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans ok so Daniel tells us that Jerusalem was besieged in the third year of Jehovah came by Babylon what year bc would that be if he starts his reign in 610 just be three years later 607 six or seven bc now Jehovah Keim’s defeated in this siege and he becomes subject to Babylon but he’s not the post he’s allowed to stay there he just has to now be subject to Babylon and not Egypt what spoils of victory did Nebuchadnezzar take back to Babylon it took some of the treasures of the house of Lord doesn’t say you took all them or that he scraped the gold off the doors or anything like that just said took some of the treasures but he also took something else what else is DJ he took some young men from what sector of society the most skilled those from the royal family and those from noble families so taking some of the sons of the great men and some of the those who showed ability they take some back to Babylon and trains them for his court so we see Babylon doing a couple of different things that that are all oppressing Judah this is the first time that captives are being taken out of Judah into a foreign land so technically this is the first time that Judah is in exile or at least part of Judah is next I’ll the captivity is beginning here in 607 bc Babylon invade and subjects King Jehovah Keem take some vessels from the house of God and take some of the best and noble sons from Judah now Jehovah keem is subject for three years but then he rebelled so if he was subject from 607 that means he rebels in 604 and when Jehovah Keim’s reign ends is Judah in subjection or in rebellion to Babylon in 599 is Judah in rebellion or in subjection all he rebelled in 604 and we don’t have any other record of Babylon invading Andrey subjecting him and he must still be in rebellion when Jehovah King dies the kingdom of Judah is still in rebellion against Babylon it passes on that rebellion to a son jahovic in so we have the information for Jehovah Kim’s rain any questions so far okay so this is phase one and gruesome destruction first time that treasures and people are taken captive and it’s by Babylon that happened in 607 bc but now we go to phase two judgment step to go back to second Kings 24 please this next stage happens under Jehovah Jehovah kins rain let’s read about his reign in second Kings 24 8 to 17 Jehovah ken was 18 years old when he became king and he reigned three months in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was knew who shot the daughter of elnathan of Jerusalem he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father had done that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem and the city came under siege and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it jahovic in the king of judah went out to the king of Babylon he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign that’s a Nebuchadnezzar’s rain it carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold with Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple the Lord just as the Lord had said then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor 10,000 captives and all the craftsmen and the Smiths none remained except the poorest people of the land so he led jahovic in a way into exile to babylon also the kings they’re in the Kings wives and his officials and a leading men of the land they led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon all them in a valor 7,000 and the craftsmen in the smiths 1,000 all strong and fit reward and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to babylon then the king of Babylon made his uncle mattaniah king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah ok let’s no no information on Jehovah King how long did Jehovah can reign three months another three month or so again if he started in 599 he probably finished in 599 what were his acts recorded here he did evil the side of the Lord he also did one other thing when Nebuchadnezzar procedures Jerusalem what is Jehovah can do he surrenders says you went out to him with his royal family and all that kind of them he surrendered to Babylon and he was spared but he was taken captive now Babylon is again the one oppressing Judah but let’s know what Babylon the specific things that Babylon does this time see that it invades Judah and the siege of Jerusalem ultimately successful because because Jehovah came surrenders but what else does Babylon do yeah that’s right so now unlike the first invasion we have most of the treasures being taken away all of the gold items all the most important treasures in the temple are taken but not just the temple also the treasures of the royal palace those are taken and as you mentioned Eric the best people are taken it says all the people Jerusalem men a valor the commander’s the the Kings royal family the great men that would be the nobility they’re taking all the best people out of the land just leaving the poor all the Temple treasures all the world treasures are taken all the great men all the skilled men are taken and then because the King’s captive installs a new king mattaniah who’s Jehovah kins uncle and he changes his name gantz I’m Authority changes his name to Zedekiah by the way if Zedekiah is Joe Atkins uncle that means that he’s Jehovah Kim’s brother and whose son he’s Josiah son because a memory Jehovah has when he was deposed the one replaced the one who replaced him was another son of design so it wasn’t there who has a son he’s actually Josiah some so we see phase 2 a Judas destruction much more has been taken this time the exile has increased dramatically that the captivity has increased but Judas still has a king king in the line of David it’s still a kingdom and all many people have gone the best people have gone there are still many Judeans living in the land at the poor people but now we come to Judas final king and the final phase of Judas destruction this is under Zedekiah’s and we’ll read about him in a longer section from chapter 24 verse 18 to chapter 25 verse 22 starting in verse 18 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was ham we call the daughter Jeremiah of live now he did evil on the side of the Lord according to all that Jehovah Kim had done for through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until he cast them out from his presence and Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon and when the ninth year of his reign on the tenth day of the tenth month Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came he and all his army against Jerusalem camped against it and built a siege wall all around it so the city was under siege until the 11th year of King Zedekiah on the ninth day of 4th month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land then the city was broken into an all men of war fled by night by wave the gate between the two walls beside the King’s garden though the chaldeans were all around the city and they went by way of the Arabic but the army the Chaldeans pursued the King overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him then they captured a king and brought him to the king of Babylon at rib LA and he passed sentence on him they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon now on the seventh day of the fifth month which was the 15th year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon New boos era Dan the captain of the guard a servant of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem he burned the house of the Lord the King’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem even every great house he burned with fire so all the army of the Chaldeans were with the captain the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem then the rest of people who were left in the city and the deserters were deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people me boos era tan the captain of the guard carried away into exile but cats on the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vine dressers and Plowman now the bronze pillars which were in the house is Lord and the stands and the bronze see which were in the house of Lord the Chaldeans broken pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon they took away the pots the shovels the snuffers the spoons and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service the captain the guard also took away the fire pans in the basement what was fine gold what was fine silver the two pillars the one see in the stands with Solomon had made for the house of the Lord the bronze of all these vessels would be on weight the height of the one pillar was 18 cubits and a bronze capitals on it behind the capital was three cubits with a network and pomegranate some on the capital all around all of bronze and the second pillar was like these but network and then then the captain the guard took Soraya the chief priests and zephaniah the second priest with the three officers of the temple from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war and five of the Kings advisors who were found in the city and ascribe with the captain in the army who mustered the people of land and sixty men of the people the land were found in the city News Erin and the captain the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon a trib la then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death every blow and the math so Judah was led away into exile from its land master the people who were left in the land of the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left you pointed get a lie at the son of a he can the son of shape Minh over them I think we’ll just stop right there okay let’s observe this final king and final phase how long does that a kiyah rain 11 years so if he started in a 599 one that his reign end 588 5a dapc now when people give a date for the fall of Jerusalem it’s usually 588 or 587 sometimes even 586 BC what did Zedekiah do in his reign he did evil on the side of the Lord what else did he do he rebelled against Babylon and when the siege had reached its climax and the famine was intolerable what else did he do he tried to escape he fled he and his army made a hole in the wall and they fled for their lives Babylon’s the oppressor again what is it that Babylon does this time well we know that they’ve invaded they’ve responded to the rebellion by invading and besieging Jerusalem again this is the third time that Jerusalem is besieged when the King tries to escape what is Babylon do they catch him they overtake him they defeat him his army scatters and then what do they do our problem oh oh hang on to that question then what they do they slaughter his sons before his eyes and then they put out his eyes so the last thing he saw was his sons being killed and those would be his heirs right they’d be the next one’s on the throne they’re all killed for him what else they do they burn all the houses of Jerusalem Jerusalem is basically raised the whole city is burned it becomes a ruin and they break down the wall and when a city doesn’t have a wall it’s very hard to rebel because they can easily be overtaken by an arm the walls broken down temples destroyed and all the houses are burned what else happens what else is Babylon do right they leave some the poor of the land has agricultural workers but what do they do with the rest right those who weren’t killed and we’re going to see in a moment that many of them were killed survivors and deserters were taken to Babylon so it’s the third group of captives that’s taken away and as you said Rob some of the poor were allowed to remain that’s vine dressers and Plowman and basically they’d be servants to whomever Nebuchadnezzar brought into the land there are still some treasures left that Babylon takes away any gold and silver implements that were left in the temple where that were remade after the last ones were taken they were taken and now even the bronze is taken the bronze elements of the temple the various implements the pillars all that’s taken away and then some of the officials and priests who were there under Zedekiah are also brought before Nebuchadnezzar and what happens to them they’re executed these officials had participated in rebellion so I have a cognizer have executed them and now there’s no longer a king in Judah but instead what a vassal the term here is a governor there’s a governor appointed the kingdom is over now this land is administered by a governor of Babylon from the people of Judah but a governor not a king so this is the final phase of Jerusalem our Judas destruction it’s now complete the kingdom is gone though there are a few poor jidian still left in the land the land is devastated Jerusalem is devastated the the city and as temple are ruins and almost all the Judeans who aren’t killed we weren’t killed are in exile in Babylon this is exactly what God promised would happen it’s exactly what God warned Judah would happen you remember that word from Isaiah where God says just like the rain falls on the ground my word will go forth and it will accomplish whatever i sent it to do exactly what we’re seeing here he says I said that it would fall I said that your that your city would be destroyed and the temp will be made of ruin and look my word came to pass it doesn’t fail my word always accomplishes whatever I send it out to do God brought it to pass so let’s summarize the three steps of Judah’s destruction just to keep this all clear in your mind phase one that was in six or seven bc when jerusalem is first deceived under Jehovah Kim the whole Cain was defeated Judah was forced to become subject to Babylon but the king was allowed to remain and only some of the spoils and some exiles were taken some of the noble sons in phase 2 or step 2 that was in 599 bc under jahovic in where Jerusalem was again besieged jockin surrenders Babylon sets up a new king takes much spoil takes all the great men the soldiers in the skilled craftsmen to Babylon and also takes King Jehovah King to Babylon to be a prisoner and then finally step 3 phase 3 that’s in 588 PC Zedekiah’s defeated by Babylon the king’s sons and his officials are slow Jerusalem is completely destroyed any spoil left is taken any people left except for a few poor are taken into exile and there we have it Jerusalem the kingdom of Judah has been dissolved questions Ravi had a question okay yes AC first phase of Daniel right so yes rather do something but not even to do something like that they continue to rebuild or go in the face of ridiculous odds yeah let me see if I going to repeat your point just a little bit briefly but you see here the hand of God and bringing the judgment the people are continuing to rebel even though they have plenty of incentives not ravel I mean that’s the whole point of what the somewhat gentle responses from nebuchadnezzar after the first invasion yeah you can keep your king i’m just going to take some of you tried to some of your men don’t do it again like I I’ve done you good so if you want things to go well with you then stay subject and the same thing for when he appoints the next king you have an incentive to not rebel anymore but then finally there they’re annihilated because they rebel at their time and you do wonder what was the thought process behind rebelling what did they think they could do against Babylon but maybe they thought hey we’re the people of God we’ve got the Lord on our side we can win even though they weren’t following the Lord and so it was a false confidence but in that your point Roy about how God intended to bring this judgment and that’s partly why they were so stubborn and why he allowed them to ravel like this the text emphasizes that and we render right kept saying like the Lord was determined to judge Judah for all the sins of a nasa in front and for the sins of the people and so we actually see that the hardness of Judah’s heart was itself a judgment of God that allowed his full judgment to come to pass we’ll see more about that in just a moment Danny you were interesting something oh yeah yeah I was about to say something about that in just a moment but you’re right except for God’s mercy and God’s covenants this would be the end we would never heard of Judah or they just be a historical footnote like oh there was this one king of Babylon just steamrolled and when they rebelled they were annihilated it would be a very very tragic end what a sad story the people of God are no more because they rebelled against it of course that’s not the end of the story well say more about that in just a second other questions so in case you’re wondering and a little bit more exploring what Roy was saying was Judah doomed from the start when the judgment began under Egypt and Babylon was there no hope would God have relented of judgment if the people in the King repented perhaps you already haven’t answered that question but to fill in a little bit more of that let’s look at the parallel account from chronicles of the Last King Zedekiah go to 2nd chronicles 36 are you going to say something doing yeah yeah um I don’t know full address that specifically but yeah even if they were just paying close attention to the law they would know that there was always hope they repented because even when they’re in exile God says when you repent I’ll bring you back but let’s see what second chronicles 3611 the 21 says because we get a kind of a different perspective on the fall of Jerusalem under Zedekiah and what was given in Kings a little bit more focus on the spiritual aspect rather than just the historical details so look at verse 11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem he did evil on the side the Lord his God he did not humble himself before jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel furthermore all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations and they defied the house of the Lord which hits sanctified in Jerusalem the Lord the god of their fathers sent word to them again and again by his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place but they continually mocked the messengers of God despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no remedy therefore he brought up against him the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man virgin old man or infirm he gave them all into his hand all the articles of the house is God great and small and the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king and of his officers he brought them all to Babylon then they burned the house is gone and broke down the wall Jerusalem and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its Bible articles those would escape from the sword he carried away to Babylon and they were servants to him to do his servants to him into a to the rule of the kingdom of persia to fulfill the word of the lord by the mouth of jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its Sabbath’s all the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until 70 years were complete ok we won’t observe this in detail but notice even in the times of judgment what were the King priests and people doing refusing to turn to God they were stubborn in their wickedness they refused to humble themselves before the Lord but the prophets were there Jeremiah was there telling them turn back to the Lord and if they did it’s implied in that statement and known for the other scriptures things would have turned out differently there wouldn’t have been this devastation maybe the kingdom of Judah couldn’t have been saved but maybe could have been spared for another generation or maybe there wouldn’t have been as much devastation in the city or as many lives lost God certainly as we saw with Nineveh and Jonah God relents and judgment when his people or when people repent there was hope if they only turned but they would not so God brought the judgment and by the way you notice here not everyone made it into exile notice verse 17 again says that the young man was slain by the sword in the house of God the Babylonians had no compassion on anyone didn’t matter who you were a young man virgin old man or infirm people were brutalized there was mass death in Jerusalem by starvation by disease and by the sword so looking back at last week’s lesson when Jeremiah wet from what he called the slain of the daughter of his people he’s not being metaphorical or not just metaphorical he foresaw prophetically and then watched literally this country being slaughtered this was the judgment on sin now the Babel in brutality it points to a number of things it’s it is itself wickedness how God judges those who are brutal those were cruel those who those who murder and yet was also ordained by God as judgment he’s not responsible for the sin and yet he ordained it as part of his judgment on Judas in Babylonians would be judged for their wickedness and the Babylonians intended to make an example of Judah and Jerusalem you can see this from it from a human perspective and we’ve mentioned this before in classes rebels get the worst treatment because it’s to be a deterrent from others rebelling so Israel is gone Judah has gone to and they’re now strangers in a strange land where people speak a strange tongue and serve strange gods and this would be the one of the most tragic stories of it ended here certainly Judah deserve to have it end here Israel deserve to have it end here but it’s not where it ends and you can see right in verse 21 already hope is mentioned it says second chronicles 36 verse 21 the land would be devastated until what be desolate it would have its Sabbath the Sabbath of the people neglected to give to the land until what until 70 years we’re complete in fact if you just look below the Book of Chronicles does not end with Babylon Babylonian exile but with Persia and with the people returning from exile from the decree of Cyrus to go back and rebuild the temple God has not done all these people and this is such a sober account as we go through khana coals and we go through Kings we see the judgment brought it on Israel and Judah sin but God’s not done God’s not doing this people he has covenants with Abraham and David to keep his promises spoken by Moses Hosea Isaiah and Jeremiah to fulfill and one of the most immediate promises prophecies is from Jeremiah one we didn’t look at yet regarding 70 years there’s a prophecy about seven years that God is going to fulfill we’re actually gonna examine that next time before we close today let’s bring this to today why is this account important for us to know about to apply here’s some questions to get you thinking about that now and we can discuss this a little bit what does Judas fall teach us about God God you to sin and not just with the people out there right but even among those who call themselves his people you call yourself a Christian you call yourself a back then if you called yourself an Israelite a follower of God and yet you persist in sin you’re not shielded God will judge it if he was this severe with Judah in Israel why do you think will be any different with us God is holy God judges sin and yet we even saw that when the judgment came to Judah it came in phases and this was after the kingdom had been established for 500 years what does that also show us about God so merciful he’s so patient he’s so long suffering when we saw this also in Jeremiah last week we says I saw Israel acting like a harlot just continuing after her harlotry but I said she will return I won’t judge right she will return and she didn’t and God judged Israel and did the same thing with Judah I’ll give her time surely surely she would recognize the great evil that she is doing how could she not how could she not remember all the good that I’ve done she will turn back I’ll wait I’ll give her another chance but Judah didn’t drink back so God said my patience has its limit and god judge Judah but his patience was great and his patience is great the fact that if you’re believing today the fact that you were allowed to live and come to faith is God’s patience and God’s mercy the fact that the human race is exists in that America exists in the nation’s that exists today is God’s patience God’s mercy speaking of America and the other nations how are we in America or even just how are we as humans in the 21st century at all similar to Judah how are we similar yeah rebelling against rebelling against God yeah even though I think still the majority of Americans would confess what about God that they believe in it do they follow him they would call themselves Christians or at least believers in God and yes we are an idolatrous wicked nation and it’s not just America of course is the nations around the world many in those nations say that they are gone followers that they serve God some of them don’t some say they serve another God and yet every nation is so wicked an idolatrous so looking again to Judas example what else does that mean about America and the nations of the world today that God has and God will demonstrate those same attributes that he demonstrated with Judah patience I have been so patient with you America I’ve been so patient with you united kingdom I’ve been so patient with you Arabia and you know all the other nations in the world I’ve been so patient up with you and yet you persist in your wickedness in your on idolatry my wrath will come it will come on America it will come on all the nations of the world and that’s one of the things in the new the New Testament right God has ordained a man through whom he will judge the world he testified to all of dis man’s authority to do this by raising him from the dead Jesus Christ Jesus Christ will come in judgment and he will judge all the nations he will judge our nation ojo jocks we’re just like Judah a people who claims all of God a nation that claims to follow God but actually serves Isles and loves wickedness and just like Judah when that judgment comes there’s going to be a slaughter this isn’t like oh you know people are going to be suffering now it’s going to be destruction a bit with a spiritual the spiritual aspect we don’t think about things like sword or people literally dying but that is the way that Jesus coming is described he slays them with a suite of his mouth he calls all the birds together from all around the world he says feast feast on those who rebel against me and then I destroy our countrymen we ourselves if we don’t know Jesus we’re going to be experiencing that and but of course there’s another aspect of that judgment that’s the eternal one people not just be destroyed temporarily but forever suffering torment in hell it’s the price of sin wages of sin it’s what we earn but if you’re a believer you’re safe when the wrath of God and yet what has made you safe what is happened that makes you safe from God’s wrath yeah yeah that’s one way to answer it it’s because of Jesus Jesus is that shield he is that tower that you can go to and say save me from the holy wrath of God protects me cover me and Jesus is able Jesus does it you know that section in the end of Jesus Sermon on the Mount where we talk about the wise man builds his house on the rock foolish man build his house in the sand but sometimes think that’s about trials but it’s not it’s about judgment since you listen to my words and you act on them and the flood comes your house will be spared it’ll stand if you don’t house is going to be destroyed and great well its destruction be so that’s one way to answer it the reason you’re safe is because of Jesus work on the cross he died for your sins and yet how how do you gain and why doesn’t everyone what has happened right but you mentioned is by belief it’s not just that Jesus died and hey everybody’s okay now it’s those who have faith in Jesus those who believe in Jesus those who trust in Jesus those who repent and turn to Jesus they are the ones who are justified his righteousness has put on men their synesthete on him he totally cancels their debt of sin and his righteousness is infinite on them so of course God can’t judge them because they have the righteousness of Christ they’ve been justified they’ve been declared righteous so yes it’s by Jesus yes it’s my belief in Jesus and yet we can also answer the question by saying is because of God’s sovereign mercy because why do you believe in Jesus because God caused you to believe you didn’t have that in yourself God gave you the Fate God changed your heart he did what the new covenant of Jeremiah says he would do he wrote his law in your heart he caused you to seek him he caused you to repent so very accurate way for us to answer the question is why don’t we suffer the wrath of God it’s because God mercifully chose to spare us he chose to make us righteous and therefore protected from his wrath but how do you know whether that’s really true of you how do you know that you are one of that number that you were chosen by God that you were saved by belief in Christ and that you’ve actually repented of your sin how do you know that Dan exactly exactly yeah that’s one of the themes in the New Testament the way you know what you really stayed whether you really repented is you bear fruit of repentance you walk in righteousness you live a holy life you are a new creation the seed the supernatural seat of God is in you you crucified the old way or rather it was crucified with Christ on the cross so you don’t walk in your old pattern anymore do you say but but I prayed a prayer but I I hadn’t experienced or i have right doctrines you can have all those things and yet if you don’t have the fruit of repentance in your life you are not safe from the wrath of God because there are plenty of people who have believed right things you know the scripture even the demons believe that God is one and they shot her because they’re expecting the judgment of God or even more soberly I think from Hebrews he says for those who are once enlightened and yet persistence in no no longer remains an expectation of hope but of terrifying judgment don’t call yourself a Christian and then continue to walk and have it to sin and expect yourself to be safe Judah did the same thing it’s only those who repent who demonstrate that repentance by actually turning away from sin that can be confident of their inheritance in God I believe that’s one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit is described as a seal right a seal as a guarantee as you see the works of the holy spirit manifest in your life you know you’re going to receive the heavenly kingdom because the Holy Spirit’s working itself out in your life he’s the guarantee if you’re not seeing that in your life how can you be confident how do you know that you’re safe as a final expectation my brothers and sisters we know that God’s judgment is coming gods revealed that to us we’ve been exposed to it from his word a person faces judgment when he dies but Christ will bring the judgment for all when he comes to the earth so if we truly know Christ let us persevere and faith and holiness and in good deeds until Christ comes so that when he comes we will not receive wrath but reward that’s all our time if you have other questions or comments please see me afterwards that’s right God would recognize that this is a sober word you have for us this morning we don’t want to so quickly say oh I’m safe from God’s judgment because I’m a Christian God because we know that there are many will say we believed in you didn’t we do all these things but you will save them depart from me you who practice lawlessness I never knew you God let them not be true for anybody who’s here today please God be merciful by your spirit to change the heart to bring forth fruit the fruit of repentance to be true belief so they can be truly safe they can be truly justified so that the wrath will not come upon them but it will pass over that just as you were the Passover lamb now cause us to persevere calls us to be zealous for good deeds cause us to live holy Lord as we anticipate your coming in Jesus name Amen
