The Southern Kingdom Overthrown

GOLDEN TEXT: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” —Galatians 6:7

II KINGS 24:20 – 25:12

IN PRINCIPLE our Golden Text is applicable to the circumstances of today’s lesson. The kingdom of Judah was finally and completely overthrown as a result of the continuing sin of its rulers and people. There were exceptions to the general rule, as there always are where large numbers of people are concerned. Occasionally there was a good king occupying the throne of Judah, such as Hezekiah and Josiah. These, while their tenure of office lasted, did what they could to restore righteousness and the worship of the true God throughout the land. But the reforms lasted only as long as they reigned, the people being readily willing to follow the next ruler into sin and idolatry.

So the general course of the nation was one which took the people farther and farther away from God, and ever deeper into sin and the worship of false gods. Their habitual sowing, as it were, was one of unrighteousness, and now the time had come for them fully to reap the result of their iniquity. Ezekiel stated it, saying concerning Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, “Thou wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end”—the time when this iniquitous rulership of sinful kings must end. Having sown iniquity, the nation was now to reap captivity and slavery.

“Through the anger of the Lord,” we read, “it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.” The Lord always permits man to take a sinful course if he wishes, the course which brings the divine judgment upon him. Zedekiah “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” (II Kings 24:19) God decreed that he was to be the last of Judah’s kings. It was Zedekiah’s rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar that precipitated the crisis which resulted in his overthrow.

The kingdom of Judah was in no position, militarily, to break away from the domination of Babylon, although Zedekiah had evidently strengthened the defenses of Jerusalem considerably; for, hopeless though the situation was, the city stood up against Nebuchadnezzar’s army for a year and a half. At the end of this time, however, the food supplies were exhausted and defeat was inevitable.

The army escaped, and so did the king, temporarily, but he was overtaken by a detachment of the attacking army, who killed his sons and blinded him. Then he was taken captive to Babylon. Thus were fulfilled the two prophecies, one stating that he would be taken to Babylon, and the other that he would never see Babylon.

Approximately a month later, came “Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem: and he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.” (II Kings 25:8,9) Apparently Nebuchadnezzar had decided that he would take no further risks in permitting the kings of Judah to continue ruling, not even under his jurisdiction. So, to make sure that the city of Jerusalem would never again be a threat to his sovereign rule, he completely destroyed the city and the temple, and took its inhabitants captive to Babylon.

When the previous king, Jehoiachin, surrendered eleven years before this, “all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor” were taken captive. At that time also, the golden vessels of the temple were carried to Babylon. But with the overthrow of Zedekiah, the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken captive, and the temple destroyed. Moreover, the houses in which the princes and great men had lived, were now destroyed.

Now also “the pillars of brass” and the “brazen sea” that were in the temple, were broken to pieces and taken to Babylon, together with the “pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, they took away.” All the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, and of silver, “the captain of the guard took away.”—vss. 13-15

Seemingly nothing of value was left. The glory of Solomon’s temple was no more. The fabulous amount of precious metals which he had accumulated for the building and its appointments was now in possession of the king of Babylon; and all because the nation continued in its sinful course.

The kingdom of Judah was overthrown. As Ezekiel stated it, referring to Zedekiah, “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown.” But, as promised by Jacob, the “sceptre,” or right to rule, still remained, and it was later that, through the lineage of this family, the One came whose real right it is, even Shiloh, “The Prince of Peace.”—Gen. 49:10; Ezek. 21:25-27; Isa. 9:6

Actually, the kingdom of Judah was never the real messianic kingdom of promise, but the Lord used it in some ways as being typical of Messiah’s kingdom. How different the true kingdom of the Messiah will be!

QUESTIONS

How does our Golden Text apply, in principle, to the circumstances of today’s lesson?

What finally caused Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem, overthrow Zedekiah, and destroy the temple and city?

Did the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah mean that Jacob’s promise to Judah concerning the “sceptre” not departing had failed?

Who is referred to in Ezekiel’s prophecy as the One “whose right it is”?

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