The Fall of Jerusalem

MEMORY VERSES: “For the Lord will not cast off forever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.” —Lamentations 3:31-33

II CHRONICLES 36:11-21

IN OUR previous lesson we noted that while the Lord intended to destroy the kingdom of Judah, he assured the good King Josiah that this would not be done until after his death; that his eyes would not see the evils which would come upon his people. This lesson indicates that there was almost no delay from the time of Josiah’s death until the forces of destruction began to operate against Judah and Jerusalem.

Following Josiah’s death “the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in the father’s stead in Jerusalem.” (II Chron. 36:17) But Jehoahaz was permitted to reign only three months. Then the king Egypt came in, dethroned the last people-appointed king of Judah, and appointed Eliakim, Josiah’s brother, to be king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. It was now only twenty-two years before the complete fall of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, and already the people had lost their liberty.

Meanwhile a battle for supremacy was raging between Egypt and Babylon, in which Babylon became victor. Consequently, three years after the king of Egypt had made Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar overcame Egypt and became the overlord of Judah. This was in the nineteenth year prior to the captivity. Jehoiakim reigned another eight years under Nebuchadnezzar, and was succeeded by Jehoiachin. But Jehoiachin reigned only a little more than three months, and then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah to reign. He reigned for eleven years, and that was the end of the kingdom of Judah.

This typical and ancient people of God had themselves alone to blame for the evil which befell them. The record is that “all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”—II Chron. 36:14-16

Concerning the wicked King Zedekiah, Ezekiel wrote, “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”—Ezek. 21:25-27

With the overthrow of Zedekiah came the end of God’s typical kingdom. While seventy years later, under a decree issued by Cyrus, the Jews were permitted to return to their land, their kingdom was not restored. They remained a subject people under the Medo-Persians, then the Greeks, and then under the Romans. They were subject to Rome when Jesus came, and it could well have been the regaining of their independence as a nation that the disciples referred to when they asked Jesus, “Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”—Acts 1:8

Jesus is the foretold Messiah, the One who inherited the throne of David. He is the One “whose right it is” to set up divine control in the affairs of men. But this will not be the establishment of a literal throne. It will be through the exercise of divine power by the resurrected Jesus to whom, in his resurrection, all power was given in heaven and in earth.

Our memory verse suggests important truths concerning God’s dealings with the people of Israel, and, for that matter, all mankind. The Lord did not cast off his people forever. In seventy years they were to have the opportunity of returning to their land. Now they are being regathered to their own land, and in the kingdom of Christ all will be restored to life and have the opportunity of living forever. This also will be true of the Gentiles.

Our memory verse mentions God’s mercy. In verse 22 Jeremiah writes, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed.” According to the strict requirements of the Law the idolatrous Israelites could properly have been destroyed, but they were taken into captivity instead. And it was also God’s love and mercy that provided a Redeemer for all mankind.

QUESTIONS

Trace briefly the steps leading to Judah’s captivity following the death of Josiah.

What did Ezekiel write concerning Zedekiah?

What application does our memory verse have to the lesson?

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