Meet me in Second Kings chapter 25.
As many of you know, maybe you don't know, tonight marks the
final chapter of our study of the kings of Israel and of
Judah. And as I was preparing a couple
of days ago, meditating on these things, I thought, let me go
back and see how many Fridays we spent together.
When we combine our study in First and Second Kings, and it
looks like we spent over 80 Fridays looking at these
chapters carefully. And I hope that these sessions
have been a blessing to you, just as they have been to me.
But I don't want to make it sound like tonight is the
finale. Yes, this is the concluding
chapter we'll be examining. However, we'll only be covering
part of it. And the reason for this is
because as we look at the final ruler of Judah, whose name was
Matanaya, but had his name later changed to what Zedekiah by King
Babylon, there is much coverage about him.
And you would only know the extent of what's mentioned about
Zedekiah if you have read the book of Jeremiah.
So tonight, we're going to rely heavily on Jeremiah.
There's going to be different cross references presented here,
and it might be scripture heavy, but my goal is in Bible study.
One of the goals at least, is for you to see how the Bible
complements itself, how these different books enrich your
readings in a particular passage.
And if we do take the time to visit those texts in Jeremiah, I
assure you that it will deepen your understanding of the verses
that we will cover here in chapter 25.
But before we do that, let's begin.
I asked you to go to chapter 25, but let's scroll back to verse
18 of chapter 24 because this is where Zedekiah is introduced to
us. And we will read down here in
chapter 25 up to verse 2. And as we're going there, if if
the sound team can help with the buzzing a little bit, you may
not hear it, but I hear it. And it was gone for a long time,
but it's come back to harass me again.
Thank you for that. Second Kings 24 verse 18.
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned
11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamouta,
the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna.
And he did what was evil on the side of the Lord, according to
all that Yahoo Akim had done. For because of the anger of the
Lord, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast
them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against
the king of Babylon. And the ninth year of his reign
in the 10th month, on the 10th day of the month,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came with all his army against
Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siege works all
around it. So the city was besieged till
the 11th year of King Zedekiah. Father, we ask as we've already
prayed and as you've been faithful to us in our previous
studies, Lord, that as we come to this last chapter that we
would experience a greater measure of your grace and
wisdom. We pray, Lord, that in your
power you would apprehend every hint of distraction, that not
one thing would be missed, that we would all emulate the
attitude of Cornelius who said when Peter came into his home.
We have all now gathered together in the presence of God
to hear all that the Lord has commanded you to say.
Lord, we want everything that you have to say and we trust
that you will help us in your power to achieve it.
We pray these things in the precious and matchless name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen.
There are many ways that we can approach and explain the text
that is before us tonight, but I want to take a different
approach. I want to approach this with a
different direction than we have in the past.
Since Zedekiah is the final king of the Kingdom of Judah, and
really his administration is defined by utter destruction
unlike anything that we've seen in the history of kings, I want
to use him as a case study. I want us to look at Zedekiah
and learn what not to do if we seek to avoid heartache,
spiritual ruin, and being the cause of collateral damage in
the lives of others. This may not seem like the most
uplifting Bible study, but it will be valuable nonetheless.
And to provide a source of encouragement, I will let you
know upfront that the way Second Kings ends actually ends may
surprise us, especially with the lasting impression that it will
leave us. But before we get there, we have
to embrace this portion of Scripture the way the Spirit of
God intended it to be received. So we will seek to answer this
question. What did Hezekiah do to himself
to set himself up for such a disastrous future?
And the overarching answer is this.
He possessed attitudes and made decisions that are easily
imitatable by any of us, even if we're not.
We're not kings and Queens. What is Zedekiah chose to do?
What his outlook was, what his inlook was, is something any of
us can follow, and we want to avoid that.
And in my study, I saw at least three things that Zedekiah did
to ensure avoidable turmoil. See, what is going to happen to
this king did not have to happen, but it did because of
three things. The first thing I wanted to
understand about Zedekiah is that he was unconcerned with
God's commands. He was unfazed.
He did not tremble at God's Word.
Look again at the last sentence of chapter 24, and Zedekiah
rebelled against the king of Babylon.
You'll remember hopefully that earlier in chapter 24 we learned
that Babylon came and controlled Jerusalem.
It's subjugated this city and this Kingdom to becoming a
vassal nation. Jerusalem owed Babylon taxes,
and essentially they were surrendered to its superiority
and its authority. Whatever Babylon said they had
to do. If Babylon wanted them to have a
different king, they couldn't say anything about it.
So there was a sense in which there was a level of autonomy in
Jerusalem, but in reality, Babylon was controlling it.
And this is what we have to understand.
When we read that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of
Babylon, we might be tempted to approve of this action, maybe
even celebrate it. Yes, shake free, get your
independence. Again, this is not the way God
designed Jerusalem to function. God is supposed to be ruling
over this place, not a foreign people group.
But I'm afraid that if we're not familiar with Zedekiah's story
and a wider scale, then we will take this at face value and fail
to understand just how profound this action was.
For Zedekiah to rebel is greater in significance than what we see
in this one sentence. Now we learn here that he ruled
for how many years? 11 years?
That's how chapter 25 begins and we are fast forwarded to the 9th
year of his reign at the opening of this chapter.
However, when you go to Jeremiah's writings, he actually
brings us to some events at the beginning of Zedekiah's reign.
And this is where we need to turn right away.
Go to Jeremiah with me, chapter 27, Jeremiah 27, and let's go to
the verse one. This is very insightful.
It says here in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the son
of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the
Lord. Thus the Lord said to me, Make
yourself straps and yoke bars and put them on your neck.
Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of
the sons of Amon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Saidon, by
the hand of the envoys who who have come to Jerusalem, to
Zedekiah king of Judah. So what do you have here?
The word of the Lord comes to the weeping prophet and he
informs him all these neighboring nations have visited
Jerusalem to meet with King Zedekiah and I need you to say
something to them. Now.
We won't read it, but what's the summary of this chapter?
It's essentially this. God is sovereign over all
creation. God is sovereign over all
nations. God has raised up Babylon to be
the Dom dominating power in this region.
Submit to him, all you nations, and you will live.
Resist him and you will surely die.
That's essentially this man's message.
And what you have here is these nations with their
representatives coming to Jerusalem because they all
recognize that this Babylon is now rising with such dominance
and force. So they're hopefully seeking to
unite now and usurp this new authority.
And before they can even devise a plan, Jeremiah receives word
from God and he informs these nations, you're wasting your
time. Nothing's going to change.
In fact, to resist what's happening with Babylon in this
region is to defy God himself. It's an amazing prophecy, and
it's not just made to the nation's.
Scroll down in Jeremiah 27. Look at verse 12 to Zedekiah,
king of Judah, I spoke in like manner.
Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and
serve him and his people, and live.
Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by
pestilence? As the Lord has spoken
concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon,
so at the very beginning of Zedekiah's reign, Jeremiah's
message was clear, right? We read that back in verse one
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah.
Submit to Babylon, don't try to escape his rule, obey his
demands, and as long as you do that, you will live along with
your people. Can't get any more obvious than
this. But what does he do?
We read it back in Second Kings 24.
Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, failing to understand
that God was the one behind it, failing to understand that
Zedekiah had to yield to the discipline of the Lord
manifested through Babylon. Did you know that we're actually
told one major way that Zedekiah, how he rebelled
against Babylon, We're told specifically it's not through
Jeremiah's writings, though. Which prophet did we touch on in
last week's study that's related to the story?
Very good Ezekiel. God actually visits Ezekiel
while he's in exile. Remember, when we're talking
about the Babylonian exile, we have to understand it the way
it's described here. In three major deportations.
The first one, Daniel, was brought out.
The second one, Ezekiel, was brought out, and now we're about
to discover the 3rd and final one.
Ezekiel was taken captive in the second one and while he's there
in Babylon, he's receiving visions and prophecies for both
the people who were brought into exile with him and even the
people here back in Jerusalem. So there's a one place where God
gives him a parable and then he gives them the interpretation of
the parable. And it has to do with Zedekiah
and how he rebelled against Babylon.
Again, I, I told you this is going to be scripture heavy, but
that's the point of Bible study. So when you come to Ezekiel 17
and let's begin in verse 11, earlier in this chapter God gave
the prophet a parable. Now he interprets it and this is
the interpretation of this vision.
Ezekiel 17, verse 11. Then the word of the Lord came
to me, Say now to the rebellious house.
Do you not know what these things mean?
Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and
took her king and her Princess and brought them to him to
Babylon. He's talking about the second
deportation that's already happened, verse 13.
And he took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant
with him, putting him underoath the chief men of the land he had
taken away, that the Kingdom might be humble and not lift
itself up and keep his covenant, that it might stand.
Pause. He's talking about Zedekiah
here. He removed Jehoiah kin from
before Zedekiah's reign. He sets up Zedekiah as the king,
and he makes a covenant with Zedekiah.
And Zedekiah apparently made a promise to the king of Babylon.
But notice in verse 15 what happens?
But he rebelled against them. By doing what?
By sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him
horses and a large army. Will he thrive?
Can one escape who does such things?
Can he break the covenant and yet escape?
Do you see how the last sentence of chapter 24, Second Kings has
so much to offer in other portions of the Scripture?
How did he rebel? The major way is that he sent
messengers to Egypt and he says, can you help us?
Can you help us fight against Babylon?
And God says you broke your covenant.
You made a promise to Nebuchadnezzar and I saw how you
are breaking this vow and you're not going to succeed.
In fact, look at verse 16 as I live, declares the Lord God
surely in the place where the king dwells, who made him king,
whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke
in Babylon, he shall die. In other words, Zedekiah, you
think that you're going to regain your freedom and your
independence. I'm here to tell you that you're
actually going to be brought into Babylon and die there.
Here's the most important part about the interpretation of this
vision. Verse 19 of Ezekiel 17.
Therefore, thus says the Lord God, as I live, surely it is my
oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke.
I will return it upon his head. Do you see how God views this
covenant? It wasn't between two nations.
It was ultimately between the king of Jerusalem and God
himself, because God was working behind Babylon.
It was God's will that Babylon would overtake Jerusalem, and
Zedekiah broke a promise with God.
I mentioned all this to show that Zedekiah is rebelling.
He was not ultimately against Babylon, but against the Lord
himself. And here's the main take away at
this point. Often times, God's commands
usually don't appease or make sense to our flesh.
But if it's in His Word, it's always right, and it's always
for our good. Always.
Put yourself in Zedekiah's shoes for a moment.
You can imagine how much he wrestled with this idea of
submitting to Babylon. That's humiliating, that's
uncomfortable, that's costly, and even terrifying to some
degree. You're asking me to yield and to
give myself to the leadership of a Pagan nation.
And oftentimes even God's commands may feel like that at
first. It jars us.
It almost paralyzes us. It makes us reconsider.
It makes alternative ways to approach a situation more
attractive than what God presents or cause us to do.
And if you and I struggle, maybe you're here even tonight and and
you have been facing something that you know God says you have
to do and you can't get yourself to do it.
Remember Zedekiah's example? Don't forget it, because this
man shows us that as much as he thought to protect and preserve
himself and disobeying it would cost him way more.
So listen, if you know that you've offended somebody and you
have not taken Christ command seriously to approach them in
humility and sincerity and to try to figure it out, obey Him,
Obey the Lord. If you have not been taking the
command of the Lord to assemble together with the Saints as a
priority and you've been justifying your distance and
you've been downplaying its importance, obey the Lord.
If you know that you're you are being confronted with something
and it requires honesty, even if that honesty is costly, obey
God. Church leaders.
If there is a situation that requires church discipline and
it doesn't seem to be a favorable thing in the eyes of
others who are not discerning whatever the case may be, you
have to trust God's protocol. Obey Christ.
How many more examples can I give many of God's instructions
to us, like Zedekiah at 1st may not appease the flesh and that's
that's to be expected and yet it still calls for our trust.
Every act of obedience is an act of faith.
Over the years I've heard Christians say strange things.
One of the strange things that I've heard, I don't hear it as
often lately. Thank God.
I know the word of God says this, but but what?
But what if it's clear and it's applicable to the situation?
It's settled, but what? Like it's not up for
negotiation? I I know but but, but, but what?
Zedekiah, I'm sure thought similar things.
To wilfully disobey what God had clearly made known is a
dangerous precedent no matter what the command entails.
And the final chapter of Second Chronicles actually summarizes
Zedekiah's attitude towards God's Word in a much more clear
fashion. Second Chronicles 36 is the last
chapter of that book, which parallels what we find here in
Second Kings 25. Look at verse 11 of Second
Chronicles 36. Zedekiah was 21 years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem.
He did what was evil in the side of the Lord his God.
He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke
from the mouth of the Lord. How did he not humble himself?
By not obeying, sure. But more than that, by not
trusting, just trust me. I mean, if you read Jeremiah's
prophecies over and over again, he he, he says it more than
once. And although this is a
convicting part of this study, I'm also comforted because
Jeremiah started this message at the beginning of Zedekiah's
reign, and he continues to say the same thing throughout the
years. And this man stubbornly refused
to give himself to obey it. So God is patient even when
we're stubborn, but there is a limit.
And this is really a summary of this man's attitude.
He, he could not get himself to say God is right.
I will trust him. I know that this doesn't make
sense to me. I know that my flesh doesn't
like it. And so he paid for it.
One certain way of paving a path of avoidable hardship is by
being unconcerned, unfazed, unmoved by God's commands.
We learn in Isaiah that God looks upon the one who trembles
at his word. And if I ever find myself no
longer trembling at God's Word, inevitably I will find myself in
trouble at one point or another. I don't know about you, but for
me I think it's appropriate to be scared if I no longer tremble
at God's Word. I have nothing to fear if I
tremble at God's Word. I have so much to fear if I
don't tremble. Imagine that to actually, every
time you hear an exhortation, every time you hear some kind of
command, it should cause your heart to to jolt to some degree,
like the Lord is saying this to Christians.
I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of Christ.
This is what God Almighty asked of me.
And when that sense of awe and majesty and weightiness
dissipates, that's troubling. So this is where it all began.
He was unconcerned with God's commands.
But more specifically, and this is the second point of the
study, Zedekiah was convinced that there are no consequences
for sin. Let's come back down to our main
chapter, Second Kings 25. Let's revisit the 1st 2 verses.
And in the ninth year of his reign, in the 10th month, on the
10th day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it
and they built siege work all around it.
So the city was besieged till the 11th year of King Zedekiah.
So what's happening here? Well the way second Kings 24
ends tells us he rebels. Babylon finds out,
Nebuchadnezzar says enough is enough.
I was willing to oversee you. I was willing to give you some
level of control, but now I have to bring about full control.
I have to now bring you to total surrender.
And this is not surprising. But you know what is shocking to
me? Zedekiah's initial response to
the news that the city now is surrounded by his enemy.
It's like jarring, actually so jarring that we have to make it
a point in in this Bible study. Jeremiah's book is not precisely
chronological, though. There is an overarching theme
where you see the beginning of his calling and then you see the
end of really Jerusalem. The parts in between are more
thematically organized. So in Jeremiah 27 we read about
his prophecy at the beginning of Zedekiah's reign.
But when you go to Jeremiah 21, it's actually a prophecy at this
point of Zedekiah's reign. Notice what Zedekiah does when
he learns that Babylon is ready to wage war against Jerusalem.
Go there with me, Jeremiah 21. Look at verse one.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
When King Zedekiah is sent to him, Pashure the son of Messiah,
and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Messiah, saying, Inquire
of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with
us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make
him withdraw from us. OK, if you read this in
isolation without knowing the back story, you might think that
Zedekiah is approaching the man of God in good faith and a clear
conscience. As though this is like him
stepping out because he believes that God can intervene.
In the same way that Hezekiah believed God when he was
surrounded by who? Assyria?
When Assyria was at his front step.
But that's not the case. Is that a guy here is operating
with a self perceived faith and purity.
So here's the man saying Jeremiah, inquire of the Lord
for us. Maybe God will manifest his
wonderful deeds and he'll intervene and save us.
And here am I thinking while reading this, you don't deserve
it. What are you talking about?
Don't you understand that the reason why Babylon is
surrounding you is because of your disobedience?
But there's no sense of that. He's not broken, He's not
contrite. He's not coming in repentance.
He's coming as though he deserves that.
He, he's owed this. That if he just comes with this
supposed trust that God is going to say, you know what Zedekiah,
I'm going to help you out here. When you read about Hezekiah's
story in Second Chronicles, we studied this when we looked at
his administration, it says that Assyria came to Jerusalem after
these acts of faithfulness that Second Chronicles 32 verse one,
after Hezekiah did his part to purge the land of all the
idolatry. Then Assyria came teaching us
what that many times tests of faith come while we obey the
Lord. That does not apply to Zedekiah.
He wasn't faithful, and now Babylon's coming so that he can
grow and mature in his trust in God.
No, he was faithless and God sent Babylon to punish him.
Here's a man who has 0 awareness that the problems around him are
the direct result of his own pride and stubbornness.
And please, I don't want any of us to confuse this point with
the reality that Christians can make genuine mistakes.
Thank God for His grace and His abundant forgiveness.
That's not the point here. I'm using this to address those
who show little to no awareness that sin is destructive and
carries real consequences. And they're out there.
People like this are out there. What are some of the reasons why
professing Christians think this way?
That virtually any sin can be committed and it not be followed
with dire ramifications? I'll give you one reason, a
false sense of security. For some reason there are many
who really don't understand how God deals with mankind in their
sin, especially with His own children, and I believe that was
Zedekiah's problem along with his people.
We didn't read it yet, but when you come down later in Second
Kings 25 from verse 13 down to verse 18, that chunk of
Scripture gives us an elaborate description of the total
destruction of the temple, like details what happens to the
House of worship. And one of the reasons why that
passage is so significant is because for the longest time the
temple was some form of security net for the people of Judah that
in their minds, as long as the temple is here and intact, God
will never allow a foreign power to overtake us.
That's how they understood this. So most of the people in
Jerusalem at this time were persuaded that because of the
significance and the glory attached to the temple, the Lord
will never allow Jerusalem to be taken over.
In fact, that's what false prophets used to give false
confidence in the hearts of sinners.
And this was so paramount, so prevalent that God visits
Jeremiah and he says, I need you to challenge this misplaced
confidence that these people have.
Jeremiah 7, You need to see it with me.
Verse one, Jeremiah 7, Verse one, the word that came to
Jeremiah from the Lord. Stand in the gate of the Lord's
house and proclaim there this word and say, hear the word, the
Lord. All you men of Judah who entered
these gates to worship the Lord, pause here.
Can you imagine being commissioned to do this?
I want you. This is a poor example, but
hopefully you'll help to some degree.
I want you to stand at the front of Maranatha Bible Church on
Sunday morning, and I want you to preach.
This message as people are walking in the temple is much
more significant in terms of size and occupancy than what we
have here on a weekly basis. So you can just imagine what
this demanded of Jeremiah. You asked me to go to the gate
of the temple and preach. What?
Welcome. No, not welcome.
Look what he says, verse three that says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, amend your ways and your deeds and I will let
you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive
words. This is the temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
The people dismissed Jeremiah's warning because they believe
that as long as the temple was among them, God would never
allow total takeover. They were trusting in those
deceptive words. And I want to say similarly,
there are professing believers who make the same mistake and
how they understand God's dealing with us in our sin.
There are far too many stories of servants of Christ who think
that the success of their gift or the size of their ministry
can be a shield to divine discipline.
It's far too common. And I know that I'm speaking to
a room filled with people who are serving Christ and long to
serve Him at greater capacity. So I want to mention this to
you. If you and I want to know
longevity and you and I want to be strengthening our resistance
to the deception that we can be immune to the consequences of
sin, you have to just apply this one thing.
You ready for this? You and I must believe that we
are replaceable. I know self improving and self
improving gurus will tell you otherwise, right?
But God's economy works differently.
You and I are totally replaceable when it comes to
serving God. It's extremely dangerous to
believe that a church or ministry won't truly thrive or
survive without my presence, without my involvement, because
Satan exploits that kind of mindset.
And that is the foothold that breeds the false notion then,
that I can behave how I want because I am needed.
This temple can't be replaced. This temple isn't going to go
anywhere. Surely God won't remove this
thing because of its value and its history and its
significance. And you know what?
God says I actually I can Scroll down quickly here.
Look at verse 12 of Jeremiah 7. He tells the same group of
people, go now to my place that was in Shiloh.
Do you remember Shiloh? We studied this in First Samuel.
Shiloh was where the Tabernacle resided and it was destroyed
especially after Eli and his sons disobeyed God.
So what is the Lord saying here to the same group?
Hey, hey, hey, do you guys remember Shiloh?
Go visit it. It's been abandoned for
centuries. Let's continue where I made my
name dwell at 1st and see what I did to it.
Because of the evil of my people, Israel.
And now because you have done all these things, declares the
Lord. And when I spoke to you
persistently, you did not listen.
And when I called you, you did not answer.
Therefore, I will do to the house that is called by my name
and which you trust, to the place that I gave to you and to
your father's, as I did to Shiloh.
Where did problems ensue for Zedekiah and his population?
They thought that the temple was going nowhere.
Let's apply it personally. When I begin to think that I am
irreplaceable, that I'm somehow an anomaly in God's Kingdom, the
up and coming, the main threat that holds everything together
wherever I serve, Brother, sister, a dangerous game.
A dangerous game. Because Satan takes advantage of
that. He begins to whisper things in
your mind. You know how you and I should
think, Lord, I don't deserve to do anything for you.
Any opportunity I get to serve you is a complete gift.
You don't need me. I need you always, Lord, I
believe wholeheartedly, though you are immensely gracious, so
forgiving, so patient, that you can also, in your wisdom, if I
continue to sin or sin so grievously, to flick me off
whatever platform, whatever presence, whatever influence,
and easily raise up somebody else to bring you glory, that
will keep you and I on our faces.
And unfortunately, Judah did not believe this about themselves,
so God sent Jeremiah to remind them that the temple was
replaceable. So when you and I nurture this
idea that sin doesn't have real lasting consequences, we open
ourselves to greater danger in our future.
But that's only the second point.
We come down to the last one. Let's come back to Second Kings
25, verse 3. On the 9th day of the fourth
month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no
food for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the
city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the
gate between the two walls, by the King's garden.
And the Chaldeans were around the city, and they went in the
direction of the Araba. But the army of the Chaldeans
pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho,
and all his army was scattered from him.
So there's an important phrase here in verse 4.
There was a famine. That's the natural outcome of a
siege. That's the strategy.
Starve the people out, make them so weak so that they can't fight
back. And their intelligent agency
understood that this was the case within the walls of
Jerusalem. So look at verse 4 again.
Then a breach was made in the city, telling us what?
That Babylon now came and entered into the very walls of
Jerusalem. They no longer surrounded it.
Now they're within it. And once this was learned by the
government, you would think naturally that if a Kingdom was
invaded in this way, that the army would what?
Defend the city that a noble king would even fight on behalf
of the people. But what do we read instead?
That the army fled. Why did they flee?
To protect and surround the king as he tried to deliver himself
by turning his back on his people when they needed him the
most. I find it interesting that
within this theme of destruction in this passage, Zedekiah's
selfishness is highlighted #3 this is just what the text I
believe is saying to us. If we're approaching in this
way, a guaranteed ingredient for you and I to pave the path of
hardship, collateral damage, spiritual ruin, avoidable
heartache, is to be self absorbed, to be selfish, to
think of me and me alone as my priority.
That's what we have with this king.
Now, I'm not suggesting that Zedekiah should have stayed back
to fight Babylon because he wouldn't have succeeded.
In fact, what he should have done is what Jeremiah told him
repeatedly to do. And what surrender again.
You'll never read the book of Jeremiah the same way again.
So many places in that book, he tells Zedekiah, just surrender
and you will live and the people will live.
And more than that, this city will be spared.
All of this could have been dodged.
So he he should have just dug his heeled in the earth and just
humbly come before the king of Babylon says, I, I surrender.
I was a fool. Instead he runs into the dark.
Who knows where he's going, but he's trying to get as fast as
possible away from these new invaders.
And as I meditated on this, I thought this man, in the final
moments of his life, added a final layer of disgrace to his
testimony. Be a man, Be noble.
Do you have a shred of integrity?
You're the leader of this people, and you abandoned them.
And so I leaned back on my chair earlier today and my mind goes
to. What Paul told Timothy when he
gave him a list of features concerning the last days and he
presents in a span of four verses there in Second Timothy
3, all these ugly traits that will surface and intensify as we
approach the return of Christ. Before you turn there and we
don't even have to turn there, does anyone remember the first
thing that Paul puts in that catalog after he says?
But understand this, in the last days there will come times of
difficulty. What's the first thing that Paul
mentioned to Timothy? People will be lovers of South
Second Timothy 3/2. That's not accidental, That's
not random. That is strategic.
Self love is the swamp in which all these other sins love to
swim in. People will love themselves.
And we're living in a culture that promotes self love more
than any other time. People are addicted to
themselves, right? This is not just a cultural
phenomenon, this is a manifestation.
This is a symptom of a deeper problem, self love, and the
reason why it's mentioned first is because it's the foundation
by which all these other iniquities are built on.
Everything flows from this, and we even know this since Christ
attacks that very thing. When he lays out the basic
conditions for discipleship, what does he tell us?
What do we need to deny if we're going to be followers of Him?
Deny who? Yourself.
Totally antithetical to what Paul listed in Second Timothy 3.
In the last days everybody will be lovers of self.
And Jesus says if you want to follow me, you got to deny
yourself. You got to deny yourself.
So think about it this way. If self denial is the basis for
practical holiness and righteousness to flourish and
honor God and bless others, then self love surely breeds the
opposite. It dishonors God and it will
surely injure others in more than one way.
And that's exemplified by Zedekiah.
It's just all about him. He's not concerned about the
people, the families, the children, the reputation of the
temple. No, no, no, it's about myself.
Preservation. And it invited so much trouble.
That will be true for your marriage, husband.
That'll be true in your relationship with your children,
mother. That'll be true for you, Elder.
That'll be true for you, leader of that Bible study.
That'll be true for you and your friend group.
You, you won't have many friends, at least healthy ones.
You have a toxic group of friends if you are possessed
with self love. But oh, if everybody apprehends
this attitude of Christ, then we'll have the scent of heaven
in every atmosphere that we step foot in.
This is such an ugly picture. I was actually so disgusted with
Zedekiah here. You find this principle
throughout the scriptures. My mind even went to Jesus's
description of a false shepherd. John 10 is that well known
passage about the Good Shepherd. But in it you get insight of
what a false leader, spiritual leader looks like.
We remember this right, he says in John 1012 to 13, as I
paraphrase, that when a hireling, A hired hand, meaning
not somebody who owns the sheep, but someone who the owner of the
sheep hires to supervise the sheep, when that hired hand sees
a wolf coming, what does he do? Grab his staff and fight.
What does he do? He flees.
And Jesus says, not caring for
the sheep, what did he care for His paycheck?
What did he sign up for, for, to, to to benefit himself.
And when real danger comes or when real, real problems arise,
Jesus mentions you will know a shepherd, a spiritual shepherd
is a false one when he abandons people in a time where they're
in need of the most concerning their leadership, their insight,
and their courage. Fascinating example after
example. We see it in the Old Testament.
We see it in the New Testament that self love erodes and
destroys so much, including Zedekiah's own life.
Let's come to the concluding verses of this.
We're going to end in verse 7 tonight.
So the king flees, right? Look at verse 6 now Then they
captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at
Ribla and they passed sentence on him.
They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and put
out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him
to Babylon. This is very graphic and very
gruesome. I don't want to be too
descriptive here. I think it's plain.
Zedekiah tries to escape. He's captured and a sentence is
placed on him. Here's the punishment.
I'm going to take out your eyes, but I want the last thing you
see is me killing your sons. So they slaughter his sons, they
gouge out his eyes, they take him to Babylon, and he dies a
blind man. You're saying, I appreciate the
honesty of Scripture, but how does that benefit me to know
this? I'll tell you how it benefits
us. Long before Zedekiah lost his
physical eyes, he was blinded in the eyes of his heart.
This blindness came way later on.
He was plagued with a different darkness way before.
If only Zedekiah had truly perceived and recognized that
God's commands are to be taken seriously.
If only he had registered that there are real consequences to
sin, if only he had really believed that selfishness is
spiritual suicide, He might have been able to keep his eyes, but
he lost them. So sad.
Always ask God to keep your eyes open and true, and He will never
fail to do that. Always ask Him for discernment
concerning His will. Always ask Him to open your eyes
in the scriptures. Always ask Him to see people the
way He sees people, to see ministry the way He sees
ministry, to see sin the way He sees sin.
And He will faithfully refine you and clean your lenses and
help you and inspire you and warn you.
He is so good. I'm one of those who firmly
believe that whoever starts out as a follower of Christ, whoever
even starts out in ministry, can actually finish well without any
scandal. I believe that.
And God has given us examples like Zedekiah to keep us in that
place, to keep us dependent on Him.
Let me highlight one more thing here.
Did you notice where he was arrested while he was in flight?
Look back at verse 5. But the army of the Chaldeans
pursued the king and overtook him.
Where? In the plains of Jericho?
The Bible is so poetic. Jericho was the very first place
that the Israelites experienced victory when they step into the
Promised land. It's right at the border of the
Jordan, and how interesting is it that with the Last King of
Israel showcasing the ultimate defeat of this very same people,
it all happened in the very same place with a new victory.
It's amazing to see how the Scriptures pull these things
together. Jericho is where it all started,
where faith brought about wonderful fruit.
And now Zedekiah is arrested in the plains of Jericho, and
following that will lead to the final deportation of the very
same people who entered into that land.
The place where it all started is now where all ends, and they
will be removed from what was their inheritance.
I can assure you that as we come closer to the end of Second
Kings 25, it will be more encouraging, but I believe it's
appropriate to receive the weightiness of a text when it is
designed to be weighty. And so I want us to just sit
here and deal with what we heard and ask God to make it.
Make it true for us, make it helpful for us, and make it
changes. Lord, we thank you that although
this was indeed a difficult text, we are thankful for it.
We are not of those who change the meaning of your words or
seek to massage or manipulate your message so that it suits
the flesh. We trust that in your infinite
wisdom, you've given us Zedekiah's example to help us
avoid the same mistakes. So though we think about your
commands, refresh in us a sense of awe of every word you've
given us to obey. May we be urgent when we know
that we're supposed to do something, even though it's
challenging. May we have fresh faith when
when we know You're asking us to go somewhere or approach a
situation or surrender a certain right that may not feel good in
the moment. Help us believe that such a
decision will lead to life. Lord, may we always understand
that there are consequences to sin while we rest in your
forgiveness. Lord, may we never fall into the
trap of thinking that we are invincible, or that we are stars
in Your Kingdom, or that we are irreplaceable in our service to
You. And we always recognize that you
were after humility, and with humility there is great reward.
And lastly, Lord, expel from our hearts all selfishness, any
tendency to be self absorbed, self pitying.
Help us remember that self love is not equal to self respect or
self-care, but that it speaks of one who elevates one's own
desires above everybody else, even at the cost of everybody
else's. Oh Lord, destroy that in our
hearts. And Lord, we believe that if we
apply these truths, we will know nothing but victory ahead,
light, joy and blessing to others.
So Lord, give us the ambition and the empowerment to follow in
the opposite direction of this poor example of a king.
We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen and Amen.
Let's stand and worship the Lord together.