Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 25:1-26, Jeremiah 51:1-52:1-30, Psalm 79

So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. – 2 Kings 25:1-2

It had been two and a half years of terror. Those who were still in the city had been hiding behind the protection of the walls of Jerusalem. The famine within the city had become severe and there was nothing left to eat. A section of the wall finally succumbed to the siege and collapsed. The city was surrounded by Babylonians; there was no hope for survival.

The king and his soldiers decided to make a run for it. They waited until nightfall and escaped out of a gate behind the king’s garden, but the king was quickly captured. The Babylonians pronounced judgment on King Zedekiah, and made him watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out his eyes so that the last image he would ever see would be the painful death of his family and the destruction of his city. They bound him in chains and led him to Babylon.

So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror. – 2 Kings 21:12

TERROR. FAMINE. CHAINS. NO HOPE OF SURVIVAL.

King Nebuchadnezzar and his officials came to Jerusalem to celebrate their victory. They set fire to the Temple, the palace, and all of the houses in Jerusalem. If a building was important, it came down. The army continued to pull down the wall around Jerusalem until there was very little left to what was once a magnificent city. It had been the place where families came to offer their sacrifices and celebrate the religious festivals. The Temple had been the pride of the people — the place where the God of Israel dwelled among His creation.

Everything made of gold, silver, or bronze was carried away by the Babylonians, as were the remaining residents of Jerusalem. Only a small group of the poorest people in the land were left to tend to the vineyards and fields. The last of the priests and leaders were brought before the king of Babylon and executed.

O God, pagan nations have conquered your land,
your special possession.
They have defiled your holy Temple
and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have left the bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of heaven.
The flesh of your godly ones
has become food for the wild animals.
Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
We are mocked by our neighbors,
an object of scorn and derision to those around us.
O Lord, how long will you be angry with us? Forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire? – Psalm 79:1-5

So the Lord brought disaster on Jerusalem and Judah, just as He said He would. It was their darkest day. He used Babylon to fulfill His judgment but this was not a means of blessing Babylon, a country that worshiped idols instead of surrendering to the one true God. God did not allow the destruction of Jerusalem because He is a God who abandons His people. No, they were His own special possession and He punished them in order to draw them back to Him. It was in order to bring dry bones to life that He allowed His people and their city to hit rock bottom, showing that He is still in charge.

Sharpen the arrows! Lift up the shields!
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those who desecrated his Temple. – Jeremiah 51:11

God promised to avenge His people; He vowed to punish Babylon with all her idols. Just as Babylon brutally killed the people of Israel and other nations throughout the world, so her people would be killed (51:49). The Lord gives punishment justly; He always repays in full (51:56).

As his last message, Jeremiah wrote down everything that would happen to Babylon on a scroll. He handed the scroll to Seraiah and told him to read it aloud when they arrived in Babylon. Then he instructed him to tie a stone to the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates River as a symbol of how the Babylonaians would one day sink, never to rise again (51:59-64).

JUSTICE. PRESERVATION. HOPE FOR A BETTER DAY.

The Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens.
When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. – Jeremiah 51:15-16

Even in the midst of the darkest days in Israel’s history, the Lord was promising that they would receive justice. God was showing Himself even while they were receiving the consequences of their sin. He was giving them hope for a day that was yet to come. The battle was not over and victory would be the Lord’s, just as it had been throughout the history of God’s people.

Perhaps you are experiencing your own captivity. Perhaps you are not where you want to be and longing for a promise from the Lord. You look back and long for what used to be; you look forward and ache for what could be. Can I encourage you to keep your eyes on the Lord and trust Him to bring you through this season? There is a better day ahead. You are His special possession and He loves you more than you can even imagine. On your darkest day, may God give you the faith to press on to something better, and may He give you hope for your future.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11