Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - November 21, 2021

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on 2 Chronicles 36:11-21.

Is there a special place that really means a lot to you? Why? I guess for Jackie and me it was the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Fall. We went there many times but it seems that the first time we went was the best. The colors seemed brighter washing over the mountains with rivers of gold, orange and red. I remember each turn in the road seemed to treat us to a new fantastic display. That first time, the beautiful foliage was enough. As the years went by, we added other features like identifying the flowers or counting the animals and road kills didn’t count. I guess the wonder of it was that it had been there for centuries and, hopefully, will be there for our grandkids. While these things bring a lot of pleasure, we always recognized that our lives consisted of many other things, a lot of which weren’t very pretty. So, when we left the mountains, there was always a feeling of regret that we were having to return to the real world. But, for just a few days, we really witnessed the glory of God’s creation.

Have you ever read Chronicles? Have ever had a study on Chronicles? Have ever heard a sermon on Chronicles? If there was a no for all of these, then you are in for a first. Our study today is from 2 Chronicles. One theologian calls Chronicles the Bible’s best kept secret. First and Second Chronicles were originally one book. The book was written by somebody from the southern kingdom of Judah sometime between 515 BC and 350 BC long after the destruction of the northern kingdom, Israel. In writing the book , the author lifted full sections from Genesis, Samuel and Kings. In fact it tells a lot of the same stories. The major difference is that it mostly is about the southern kingdom of Judah and the part the Temple played in that country’s life with very little about the northern kingdom of Israel. While Samuel and Kings gives us a lot of historical context for both kingdoms, Chronicles is more interested in telling the stories through the eyes of the priests and Levites.

In today’s study, the Hebrew people will lose their very special place. Jerusalem had been their sanctuary and source of strength for five hundred years. This was God’s city. In it was God’s house. Because this was where God called home, they felt that he would always protect Jerusalem.

Last week our study ended with the death of Josiah in a battle with the Egyptian army. Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim became king just as Babylon attacked the frontier outposts of Egypt. To Jehoiakim’s surprise, Egypt stood firm forcing Nebuchadnezzer to retreat back to Babylon to rebuild his forces. Now when Jehoiakim heard about the battle and that the Egyptians had won, he made the fatal decision of throwing his lot in with Egypt. The prophet Jeremiah warned him not to join with Egypt, but, Jehoiakim wouldn’t listen.

In December of 598 BC, the regrouped Babylonian army marched into Palestine. At this point, Jehoiakim dies and his son Jehoiachim becomes king. Three months later, Jerusalem fell and Nebuchadnezzer entered the city. He plundered the Temple, but left the rest of the city alone. He was more interested in rounding up the court and all of the important leaders. Jehoiachim, who had only been king for three months, was sent to Babylon along with his mother, the royal court and any potential leaders of the people. Nebuchadnmezzer allowed Judah to continue to exist as a state under the control of Babylon. Zedekiah, Josiah’s youngest son, was picked by Babylon to be Judah’s king.

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He was a very weak king. Unfortunately, all of the wise experienced advisors had been sent to Babylon so he had to really scratch around for good advice. In fact the people influencing Zedekiah were so bad that Jeremiah called them a bunch of rotten figs not fit to eat; all of the good figs were in Babylon. Zedekiah seemed to trust Jeremiah and even asked him for advice. Unfortunately, he seldom followed what Jeremiah said.

There was division among his advisors. Some saw Egypt as the only hope to defeat Babylon and drive them out of Judah. Others saw the reality of the situation and felt that it was in Judah’s best interest to stay as an ally of Babylon. The Bible doesn’t give a lot of information about what was going on during the reign of Zedekiah, but, there is an independent source called the Babylonian Chronicles that gives insight into what was going on between Babylonian and Judah from Babylon’s perspective. It seems that Nebuchadnezzer was facing some unrest in Babylon along with revolts among the conquered nations.

A major revolt took place in 595 BC. Now, Zedekiah may have thought that this revolt signaled the end of Babylon and now would be good time for Judah to declare it’s independence since Babylon was occupied with the revolt. The revolt was quickly put down and then the Babylonian army moved on Syria to put down the revolts there. Jeremiah supported Judah staying with Babylon. While he spoke out against Zedekiah’s plan to revolt, many of the professional temple prophets were saying that through these revolts, God was declaring his judgement on Babylon. It wouldn’t be long now before Babylon would fall apart. God was going to take down Nebuchadnezzer and then King Jehoiachim and all of the captives would be returned from exile. With Jeremiah saying one thing and his advisors saying another, Zedekiah didn’t know what to do.

To make matters worse, Egypt was lining up allies from the smaller states around Judah. Egypt’s plan was to build an army from these small states and have them rise up against Babylon. Jeremiah advised Zedekiah not to join this group and for once he followed Jeremiah’s advice. About that time, the Pharaoh died and Egypt’s plan to stir up the small states was put on the back burner. In recognition of Zedekiah’s refusal to join in the alliance against Babylon, he was summoned to Babylon. When Zedekiah arrived in Babylon, he pledged his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzer. This pledge was made in God’s name. This was the ultimate commitment by Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzer.

When Zedekiah got back home, the argument about where Judah’s best interest could be served greeted him. He was between a rock and a hard place. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were saying that Judah had to stay in the Babylon camp if for no other reason than Zedekiah had pledged before God to stay with Babylon while the pros felt that Judah’s future still lay with Egypt. It wasn’t that Jeremiah had a lot of love and loyalty for Babylon. Jeremiah felt that God was going to use Babylon to punish Judah and so the nation should remain allied with Babylon. In the long run though, Zedekiah listened to the Egyptian party and rebelled against Babylon.

Here is why Zedekiah joined the Egyptian side. Egypt attacked Philistia, home of Goliath, from the sea. Nebuchadnezzer sent an army to face the Egyptians at Philistia. Zedekiah had to make a quick decision, Egypt or Babylon, and he chose to fight along side the Egyptians. At first Nebuchadnezzer wasn’t sure of what to make of Judah’s rebellion. After checking with his advisors, he sent part of his army to lay siege of Jerusalem.

The siege started in 589 BC. When they heard of the siege, the Egyptians swung their forces toward Jerusalem forcing Nebuchadnezzer to temporarily stop the siege of Jerusalem. The two armies met and Babylon routed the Egyptians leaving Judah in a difficult position. In July of 587 BC the walls of the city were breached and Jerusalem fell. Jeremiah recommended to Zedekiah that he surrender but he would have none of that. Zedekiah and his army tried to escape but they were captured near Jericho. For leading the revolt against Babylon, Nebuchadnezzer had all of Zedekiah’s sons killed. Zedekiah was blinded and taken in chains into captivity in Babylon where he would die in prison. With his death, the kingdom of Judah ended.

Poor Zedekiah. He was a young inexperienced prince thrown into a job that was way over his head. The powerful forces swirling around the middle east then would have taxed even a strong leader. Zedekiah seemed to sway in those swirling winds moving in the direction dictated by those with stronger wills and an agenda. The writer of 2 Chronicles looking back two centuries at the reign of Zedekiah described him as evil, arrogant and rebellious. The fact was that Zedekiah wasn’t talented or smart enough to be any of these. The writer of this book looked at Zedekiah’s reign as an example of someone who did not follow the dictates of the only true God as he spoke through his prophets. The fact was that Zedekiah was no better nor worse than most of the kings of Judah. He just happen to be the guy in charge when the kingdom came to an end.

When Zedekiah wouldn’t listen to his advice, Jeremiah tried to leave the city. The people accused him of being a traitor and trying to desert to the enemy. They tossed him in jail. When the city fell, Nebuchadnezzer released Jeremiah from prison and actually treated him pretty good. Babylon appointed a man named Gedaliah as governor. Gedaliah was a tolerant governor and tried to restore some order to Judah. Jeremiah met with him and supported his plan for reconstruction. Unfortunately, some members of Zedekiah’s old court plotted against Gedaliah and killed him. Knowing that Babylon was going to be pretty ticked off about the killing, some friends of Jeremiah fled to Egypt and took Jeremiah with them. Nebuchadnezzer on learning about the murder of Gedaliah, deported the rest of the leaders to Babylon. Judah was absorbed into the neighboring province of Samaria which had been the northern kingdom of Israel.

Our study today covers the final days of the kingdom of Judah.

2 Chronicles 36: 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one.years old when he began his reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the leading priests and the people also were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

For eleven years Zedekiah struggled to maintain power. It seems that his biggest mistake was in not listening to Jeremiah. Well that isn’t quite true. He listened but he didn’t act on what Jeremiah said. You know there is a difference between listening and following that advice. My grandmother would tell me something and when I didn’t follow her commands, she would say, “In one ear and out the other.” How often did you lecture kids on how they should act or what they should do, and know from the expression on their face that you might as well be talking to a rock?

But Zedekiah wasn’t acting alone. He was assisted by leaders and even the priests in following the abominations of the nations. Abominations of what nations? Babylon and Egypt. It is easy to see how these cultures would start to influence this small nation. Look at Canada. The culture of the USA certainly impacts on things they do and the way they behave. As a powerful nation, our movies, our music and our form of government impacts on all the nations on Earth. The international language for diplomacy and commerce used to be French - now it is American’s form of English. So the leaders of Judah tried to copy the manners and religions of Babylon and Egypt. As hard as it is to realize, there was even Temple prostitution and sacrificing to pagan gods in the temple.

2 Chronicles 36: 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so great that there was no remedy.

But the most serious offence by the people was not listening. Going in one ear and out the other. The people just wouldn’t listen to the prophets who God kept sending messages to trying to get them to change their ways. You see, God wasn’t punishing the nation because of their sin. He was punishing them because they wouldn’t listen to God’s offer to repent and be reconciled to him. Because of his love for the people, God sent his messengers to tell the people that he wanted them to return to being a faithful people. But how did the people respond? They not only didn’t pay attention to his messengers, they mocked and made fun of them. What does it say about the person who is mocked? He shouldn’t be taken seriously. He is a fool. He doesn’t have your respect. But the prophet isn’t just being a party pooper. He isn’t speaking his own words. He is only repeating what God has told him to say. The prophet is then only the vocal instrument of the Lord. To mock the prophet, then, is to tell God he shouldn’t be taken seriously; he is a fool and he doesn’t have your respect. With an attitude like that, it isn’t surprising that God gave up on them.

2 Chronicles 36:17 Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their youths with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or young woman, the aged or the feeble; he gave them all into his hand. 18 All the vessels of the house of God, large or small, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, all these he brought to Babylon. 19 They burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. 20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia. 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

Because they would not repent, some pretty bad things are going to happen to them. God himself raised up somebody to exact the punishment. Who did God raise up? Who was the Chaldean king? Nebuchadnezzer. Nobody will be spared. The very Temple known as a sanctuary will be the place where the young men will die. Many will flee into the courts of the Temple thinking that they will be saved only to be cut down by the Babylonian army. Mothers with their babies will be killed. Men who have been ravaged by old age will find no compassion in the eyes of the Babylonian soldiers. There will be a merciless slaughter of the chosen people in the city of God’s house.

The carnage and death screams from the citizens will fill the city. You can almost hear the mothers pleading to have their child spared only to be silenced by a slicing sword. The army is in the Temple - in the most holy parts of the Lord’s house - filling their sacks with the golden utensils set aside for the worship of God. The lamp stands are dragged out and strapped to the waiting horses. When all that was valuable was taken out, the house of the Lord was set on fire. Then, the palaces were put to the torch. The very walls of the city were brought down. Can you imagine what it must have been like to have hidden out on one of the hills surrounding Jerusalem and hear the screams of death while black smoke billowed up from the temple and palaces? All the while Babylonian soldiers were strapping loot to their horses.

There was a legend concerning the building of the Temple. Long ago, David the King would have these wonderful dreams where he would rise up to heaven and wander through paradise. He was surprised to find that everything on earth had a counterpart in heaven. In his heavenly wanderings he found the city of Jerusalem with a magnificent temple to God. From that moment on, he vowed to build that city with that temple here on earth. All of the people were gathered and told of the dream and asked to be a part in the building of the city and temple. Everybody from the most important to the most humble shouted that they would be a part of the building team. Lots were drawn and each group was assigned a portion of the temple to build.

The first group to draw the lot were the priests. They would build the eastern wall. And provide the vessels and the inner court of the temple. Next the nobles and wealthy chose, and they would build the northern wall and provide the oil for the lamps. Third were the business leaders and the army and they would build the southern wall and provide the steps between the various levels of the temple. Lastly, the poor got the western wall and they would furnish the curtains for the sanctuary. Building started right away. The first three groups built theirs quickly because they had the money, the know-how and paid their workers bonuses to do the work fast. Things went much slower on the western wall.

When the poor - the workers, mothers and fathers - finished their daily work and chores, they would begin to work on their portion of the wall. It would be dusk and not long before there would be darkness. Dads and sons would shape special bricks and then take them and place them in the wall. Moms and daughters would sit bent over miles of fabric carefully sewing the curtains for the sanctuary. Years passed and finally it was time to dedicate the temple. It was the grandest celebration that Israel had ever seen. The music, the dancing, the sacrifices, the prayers were attended by all of the people. The poor - moms and daughters, dads and sons - stood by their portion of the temple and pointed out the bricks that their hands had made or the beautiful sheer curtains that separated the courts.

That is why, according to the legend, when the temple was destroyed, God left the western wall standing; because it came from the hands of his beloved poor. It is said that when the wall is covered with dew in the morning, it is the tears of the angels weeping over how the poor suffer so much.

Yes, we all have special places. It could be the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Outer Banks or the place where you first found that special someone. What got the Israelites through the tough times in Babylon was being able to look forward to going home. And through the love of God, we can also look forward to going home. To that home that Jesus promised, where our room is being prepared in that heavenly city that David dreamed about.

Prayer: Dear Father, may we take part in the building of your Holy Temple in the hearts of others. Amen.