Exile to Babylon – Be Still…

2 Chronicles 36:11-23 – Jerusalem Falls and Then…

Read 2 Chronicles 36:11-23

It’s never easy to read the account of Jerusalem falling knowing it could have been prevented. It breaks my heart that the prophets of God were treated like they were. We’re told how the people “scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.” God’s patience had come to an end.

Our reading begins with Zedekiah’s evil leadership. The Chronicler tells us, “Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.” Was it his stubbornness that kept him from acknowledging King Nebuchadnezzar, the very one who made him king? Zedekiah’s oath of loyalty meant nothing. Continue reading “2 Chronicles 36:11-23 – Jerusalem Falls and Then…”

1 Chronicles 3:1-24 – David’s Family

Read 1 Chronicles 3:1-24

Our last reading identified that King David descended from Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Today’s reading gives us a snapshot of David’s family. He was quite the fruitful one, bearing 19 children. But only seven of the moms are listed here, and this number doesn’t even account for sons born to concubines! And only one daughter, Tamar, is named. That was quite a household!

The Chronicler doesn’t follow every offshoot of David’s family line here. That would be exhausting. The names he did include were meaningful, displaying the Davidic line. The Chronicler spends more time on David’s family because this was the royal dynasty that will never end.

Jeremiah 52:24-30 – A Prisoner’s Death

Read Jeremiah 52:24-30

If you got hauled off into exile, you’d certainly be hoping for them to spare your life. By the time this group of 74 people consisting of dignitaries, priests, and even poor folk were collected and taken to the king, many others were already hostage in Babylon. Would these people have knowledge of where they were headed from hearing word from those exiled or was it a total unknown?

No matter what these people knew or didn’t know, they endured emotional upheaval which led to the resolution of death. These prisoners would not be captive for long. Certainly they had seen death all around them when others had been taken or attacked. Now it was their turn. This was not a pleasant time to be in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 24:1-10 – Good Figs

Read Jeremiah 24:1-10

When you picture these people being taken into exile, away from everything that’s familiar, the vision is not pretty. Imagine the despair and longing for how things used to be! In today’s reading, God uses the vision of figs as more than just a depiction of good and evil. Jeremiah now has a much different picture of how God sees those living in exile. They represent the good figs.

Have you ever stopped to think about what the people left behind in Jerusalem must have been thinking? Did they feel victorious because they weren’t the ones whisked away into the unknown? Perhaps they felt superior having been spared this brutality. According to the fig story, their reality is quite the opposite.

Micah 4:6-13 – God’s in Charge

Read Micah 4:6-13

a pocket watch with the word FOREVER written on it

The generous and universal hope given in our last reading is again focused on the people of Judah, particularly in Jerusalem. There is hope for a return from the exile that hasn’t happened yet. This text seems to flip back and forth between judgment and rescue; however, it is regarded as an oracle of salvation.

The people must have thought Micah was crazy when he mentioned Babylon. While we know the Babylonians were the empire to take down Judah, at the time Micah said these words Babylon was not a power to be feared. This promised exile would have sounded a bit foolish to Micah’s audience. What effect do you think that had on Micah’s credibility?