Mon.’s Devo - The Last Few Kings

Read: 2 Kings 23:31-25:30; Acts 22:17-23:10; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 18:13 Today is July 4th when we celebrate our independence. Today’s reading is about anything but independence. It is about bondage and lose of freedom for the Israelites. There are so may details, I am going to try to simplify it. Josiah was the last good king of Judah and had brought about so many great reforms to turn the people’s hearts toward the Lord. In all his efforts, he couldn’t change the people’s hearts or the words that God had spoken. Judah’s sins had piled up so high, judgment was inevitable. Jehoahaz became king after Josiah died and he was evil. The Pharaoh of Egypt had Jehoahaz put in prison at Riblah so he couldn’t rule his land. Then he demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. Neco of Egypt installed Eliakim (one of Josiah’s sons) as the king and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim reigned in Jerusalem 11 years and was evil. Nebuchadnezar of Babylon came against him and demanded tribute from him for 3 years. When Jehoiakim died, Jehoiachin became the next king. He only reigned 3 months because Nebuchadnezzar himself came to besiege Jerusalem and Jehoiachin along with his officers tried to escape. They were caught and put into prison in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar took the most fit and gifted people of the land to Babylon as refugees and installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle as the next king. He changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah would be Judah’s last king. Zedekiah’s evil reign lasted 11 years. During his 9th year, the Babylonians returned and besieged Jerusalem again. It lasted 2 years until the people were starving. When the Babylonians finally broke through the wall, Zedekiah and some of his men tried to escape like Jehoiachin had tried. He was captured also and taken to Babylon. The Temple was burned to the ground along with the royal palace and all the nice homes in Jerusalem. Important buildings came down also. Then the walls came down and the people were taken to Babylon. Some of the poorest people were allowed to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields. Anything of worth was taken from the city to Babylon. The leaders of the Temple and the government were taken to Babylon and killed. King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the people left in Judah. He tried to get the people to live under Babylonian rule and be at peace. But Ishmael who was of David’s royal blood killed Gedaliah and all the Judeans and Babylonians who were helping him rule Babylonian style. The people fled in panic to Egypt. They were afraid of what Nebuchadnezzar’s response was going to be for them killing their men. Jehoiachin had been in prison in Babylon for 37 years. A new king came to rule who befriended Jehoiachin and exalted him above all the other exiled kings in his prison. He released him from prison and gave him new clothes and allowed him to eat with him for the rest of his life and gave him a food allowance as long as he lived. This was a picture of what would happen to Israel one day. They would be brought out of bondage and given the privilege of eating with the Messiah at his table. His food would be spiritual food that this world knows nothing about. In Acts we find Paul stirring up the crowd again. Paul was not afraid of a fight. He was at the end of his speech to the crowd when they arrested him. All was quiet and well until he got to the part about God sending him to the Gentiles then the riot broke out again. Paul was whisked away to be beaten. Paul asked if it was legal to whip a Roman citizen before he was tried. This got their attention. They dropped him like a hot potato. The next day, the Roman commander met with the leading priests and the Jewish high council. He released Paul to stand before them. Paul spoke first. He began by saying that he had lived his life before God with a clear conscience. Ananias commanded the closest one to Paul to slap him on the mouth. Paul responded, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite!” LOL! When Paul found out he was the high priest, he apologized since God said that you must respect those in authority. Then Paul realized that he had Pharisees and Sadducees so he made a comment about being on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead. This threw up an immediate wall with the Pharisees on his side and the Sadducees against him. It became so heated that the commander rescued Paul from being mauled and put him back in prison. Israel was facing its near extinction just as we are facing warnings of an alien invasion and the CDC warning us of a virus X that is going to give us a zombie apocalypse, crazy things are going on in our world also. We have nothing to fear because all their lies will not stand to what the Lord says about America. It was stand and endure and God will fight for us. We need only to trust God without fear or intimidation. Lord, we do look to You as the author and finisher of our faith. All the kingdoms of the world are yours.