The Southern Kingdom Destroyed

KEY VERSE: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” —Jeremiah 7:23

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: II Kings 24:18-20; 25:1-9

HAD these words of the Prophet Jeremiah been heeded, the history of King Zedekiah would read much differently. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, although he ruled as a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Refusing to consider the counsel of Jeremiah over that of the false prophets with whom he had surrounded himself and the people, Zedekiah was deposed, and having been blinded, was taken to Babylon along with most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The overthrow of the kingdom of Judah and the taking of the people into captivity was a gradual development. The kings of Judah were all from the royal line of David, and upon the death of a king it was the prerogative of the people to select which of the royal line would be the successor. Jehoahaz, the son of the good king, Josiah, was the last king the people were allowed to choose, and he was permitted to reign only three months.

Then the king of Egypt stepped in, overthrew Jehoahaz, and appointed his brother, Elikam, to reign in his stead, changing his name to Jehoiakim. The king of Egypt also taxed the land a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. This was just twenty-two years before the overthrow of Israel’s last king, Zedekiah. In the nineteenth year, Nebuchadnezzar wrested power from Egypt’s king, and Jehoiakim came under his domination, and from then until the people were taken captive to Babylon they were vassals to the king of Babylon.—Dan. 1:1, 2

The prophets, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, were used by the Lord in connection with the overthrow of the nation at that time. Ezekiel wrote concerning Zedekiah: “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

The people of Judah must have been most unhappy and miserable in their new surroundings as captives; and Jeremiah, in his poetical Book of Lamentations, gives expression to the profound grief of his people under these circumstances. He emphasizes that this great evil had come upon them because of their sins against their God, with whom the nation had entered into a covenant at Sinai.

While the Book of Lamentations, as its name indicates, is principally one of lament over the calamities which had come upon God’s chosen people, nevertheless it also emphasizes God’s mercy and faithfulness in dealing with his people. Jeremiah wrote, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22,23) It was because of God’s mercy that they were taken to Babylon as exiles instead of being consumed.

God is always faithful to his people, in many instances despite their unfaithfulness to him. In the case of his people, Israel, he had made many promises that in spite of their waywardness he would ultimately reestablish them in the Promised Land, and pour out his blessings upon them through the agencies of Christ’s kingdom. Ezekiel had prophesied concerning the one who would come, having earned the right to occupy the throne of David.

The time of the final gathering of Israel under the messianic kingdom is mentioned by Paul in Romans, chapter eleven. The Israelites had only recently committed their greatest sin—the sin of rejecting their Messiah and persecuting him unto death. But despite this, Paul informs us, when Messiah’s kingdom is established, mercy will be extended to these unfaithful ones.

“And so all Israel shall be saved:” Paul writes, “as it is written, There shall come out of Zion [the spiritual phase of Christ’s kingdom] the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Rom. 11:26,27; Jer. 31:31-34) Paul adds that God hath “concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”—Rom. 11:32,33

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