1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:03,320 Meet me in Second Kings chapter 24. 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:07,760 I hope you have a copy of God's Word with you. 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,120 I want to let you know in advance that there will be many 4 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:13,800 scriptures that will be visiting this Bible study. 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:15,800 This will be more of a teaching than anything else. 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,840 Sometimes studies like this can lean more on the preaching, but 7 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,040 this time we'll be heavy on teaching. 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,960 So it's going to require your faculties to be focused, a Bible 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,240 in your hands, and a willingness to turn to different pages if 10 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,000 you're going to make the most of this time. 11 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,760 We are now entering the final two chapters of the Book of 12 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,320 Second Kings. This is fascinating because we 13 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:46,560 are now being brought to the concluding moments of this 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,920 powerful historical account. And what we're going to discover 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:56,160 in these last two chapters are the reigns of the last three 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,520 kings of the Kingdom of Judah, the final three rulers. 17 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:07,200 The name of the first one is pronounced Yahuah Kim, spelled 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:13,000 Jehoiakim. The second is Yahuah Hin. 19 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,320 And the last and final ruler of this Kingdom will be Zedekiah, a 20 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:21,040 little bit different than the first two. 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,360 Now, as we come to these kings, we're going to learn a lot. 22 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,440 But the first thing I want to ask you is, who was the 23 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,000 conscience of this nation at this time? 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:40,400 In other words, who was the main prophetic voice that confronted 25 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,040 and challenged and reminded these rulers and the people of 26 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,720 Judah at this time? Does anybody have an idea? 27 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,520 You can answer if you know Jeremiah is the main voice. 28 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,120 And the reason I bring that up is because we studied Josiah at 29 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,240 great length and we learned that in the 13th year of Josiah's 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,360 reign, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,800 But that is not the only thing that is highlighted about 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,960 Jeremiah's ministry. So I told you to turn to the 33 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,000 Second Kings 24, but we're already going to go to a 34 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,320 different passage. Look with me at Jeremiah chapter 35 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,960 one verse 3 and highlight this and maybe put it in one of the 36 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,280 margins of Second Kings 24. Here's what we read in Jeremiah 37 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,320 one verse 3. It came also. 38 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:31,880 What is the IT the word of the Lord. 39 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:36,280 It came also in the days of Yahuah Kim the son of Josiah 40 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,880 King of Judah, and until the end of the 11th year of Zedekiah the 41 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,920 son of Josiah King of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem 42 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:49,960 in the 5th month. So I I bring this up at the 43 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,360 outset of the study to inform you that in order for us to know 44 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,280 greater depth and color to these historical facts and 2nd Kings, 45 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,760 we must heavily rely on Jeremiah's writings, which we 46 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:06,480 will do. But Jeremiah was not the only 47 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,760 instrument that God raised up in this period. 48 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,120 While we will witness the rapid decline of the Davidic dynasty, 49 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:22,120 we will simultaneously see the rise of another dominant power, 50 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,720 Babylon. In fact, Babylon will be the 51 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:32,000 agent that the Lord permits to bring Judah to its knees and to 52 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,560 ultimately bring them into captivity by way of exile. 53 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:38,560 But this will not happen all at once. 54 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:41,840 When people hear about the Babylonian exile, they think it 55 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,160 just happens in one episode. It doesn't. 56 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,040 It will actually take place by way of three deportations, 57 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,600 separate exiles over the span of some years. 58 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,360 And what every single wave will under score is the profound 59 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:03,840 stubbornness of God's people who will refuse to repent despite 60 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,560 the mounting judgement and the frequent prophetic warnings. 61 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,600 It's really staggering, as you will see. 62 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,720 And that's just the overarching truth of these events. 63 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,839 As we will do tonight, we'll pull out our magnifying glasses 64 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,440 and investigate these verses more carefully, and the Lord 65 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,120 will surely speak to us in deeper ways. 66 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,560 And I think it will be helpful to actually begin in Second 67 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:33,600 Kings 23, verse 36, because this is where we are introduced to 68 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,680 the first of the last three kings. 69 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,680 And we'll read into Second Kings 24 until verse 2 of that new 70 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,320 chapter. Shall we do that beginning in 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:48,840 Second Kings 23, verse 36? Yehoyakim was 25 years old when 72 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,520 he began to reign, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. 73 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,920 His mother's name was Zebeda, the daughter of Padaya of Ruma. 74 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,520 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to 75 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,560 all that his father's had done in his days. 76 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,680 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Yehoyakim became 77 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,200 his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled 78 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,800 against him. And the Lord sent against him 79 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,520 bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands 80 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,880 of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them 81 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,440 against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the 82 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,680 Lord that he spoke by his servants, the prophets. 83 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:37,240 Father, we ask, like Samuel, that You would speak, for Your 84 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,920 servants are listening. We want to be more than just 85 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,640 students of these scriptures. We want to be obedient to them. 86 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,760 And we ask, Lord, that You would grant us greater insight and 87 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,640 revelation into these wonderful truths so that we would be 88 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,480 conformed to the image of your beloved Son. 89 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,720 Lord, we pray that there would be true unction, true power, 90 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,360 true clarity in a way that will benefit your people. 91 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,120 We ask, Lord, that You would supply that grace because we're 92 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,400 desperate for your voice. We ask these things in the 93 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,720 precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen. 94 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,840 We're meeting the first of the last three kings right here in 95 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,400 the beginning of this chapter, Yo Hoya Kim. 96 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,040 And when you read about Yo Hoya Kim in the book of Jeremiah, it 97 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,000 doesn't take very long for you to learn that this man was 98 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,880 wicked to the core. Yo Hoya Kim haunted down the 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,320 true prophets of God and ruthlessly killed them. 100 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:44,240 Yoho Akim was also notoriously known for taking Jeremiah's 101 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:51,440 scroll containing his prophecies and ripping them piece by piece 102 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,080 and throwing it into the fire that's found in Jeremiah chapter 103 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,480 36. In fact, I encourage you to read 104 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,320 that chapter at a separate time because it provides a wonderful 105 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,000 illustration of how God preserves His Word despite the 106 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:10,480 attempts of man to destroy it. This man was evil, but the most 107 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:16,200 notable fact about him in this chapter is 1 main thing, how 108 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,720 during his reign Babylon emerged on the world scene. 109 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:27,200 Babylon became the world power. Babylon was the instrument that 110 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:32,200 God would use to subdue Judah into a vassal state. 111 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,400 And actually Judah is not the only target of Babylon's 112 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,720 conquest. Scroll down quickly to verse 7 113 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,640 and notice this little anecdote. Second Kings 24/7 reads. 114 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:48,040 And the king of Egypt did not come out again out of his land, 115 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,360 Rather, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to 116 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,640 the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. 117 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:01,920 So even Egypt felt the force of Babylon as it bulldozed in the 118 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,880 nations. So the geopolitical scene here 119 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,840 is drastically changing. Things are shifting and remember 120 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,840 God is orchestrating all of it. Judah now is in a different 121 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,280 place. And rather than this king 122 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:25,240 humbling himself because of the dominance of this new nation, he 123 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,640 tries to shake his way out. He tries to struggle in his own 124 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,960 strength to be free again while trying to also hold on to his 125 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,640 sin. And I have no doubt in my mind 126 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,840 that this king serves as a cautionary example of what will 127 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,520 take place and what will follow. Anybody who is outside of the 128 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,800 will of God and chooses to remain there despite being 129 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:54,560 disciplined for it. What should anyone expect if 130 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,680 they consciously defy the word of God, ignore it, choose to 131 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,320 cling to their human wisdom when they should know better? 132 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:08,760 I want to give you 2 thoughts. The first thing is this. 133 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,640 When a person follows in the steps of Yahoo Hakim, stubbornly 134 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,920 turning their backs on God, being warned over and over, and 135 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,040 still choosing to hold on to their sin, maintain their 136 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:25,720 autonomy, try to figure out life without God's rule, the things 137 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,840 they once conquered will find a way to gain victory over them 138 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,640 again. Look at verse 2 of this chapter 139 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,480 once more. And the Lord sent against him 140 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,680 bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands 141 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:41,760 of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them 142 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,880 against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the 143 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,880 Lord that he spoke by his servants, the prophets. 144 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,120 Do these foreign people groups sound familiar to us? 145 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,120 They should because we've been studying the Old Testament 146 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,680 carefully, and we learned that over the centuries, it is these 147 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,720 very same groups that God allowed the people of Israel to 148 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:08,120 overcome, to keep at Bay, to dominate. 149 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,120 And now, because of Yo Hoya Kim's continual defiance, these 150 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:18,840 same people groups are harassing him with the goal of devastating 151 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,640 him and the people of Judah. Here's the lesson. 152 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,600 When we choose to walk independently of the Lord, we 153 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,520 open the door for all kinds of sin to wreak havoc in our lives, 154 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:36,560 all kinds of iniquity, the same pestering things that we knew 155 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:39,960 victory over will somehow overpower us. 156 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:46,280 Because, you see, only closeness to Jesus Christ guarantees the 157 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:55,200 sensitivity, the conviction, the guidance, and the contentment to 158 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,360 overcome the mastery of the flesh and the temptations that 159 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,720 surround us and are always ready to pounce. 160 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:09,200 Yahoo Kim is nowhere near God's presence. 161 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,640 He's actually rejecting it. He's running headlong in the 162 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,520 opposite direction. And here's the rule. 163 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:18,960 You run away from God. You open doors for other things 164 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,400 in your life, things that will in fact torment you, destroy you 165 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,640 in the end. You know, at Maranatha 166 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,240 Conference, somebody approached me and asked are we going to 167 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:33,520 speak about Psalm 91 at any point and that we didn't have a 168 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,800 chance to explore that wonderful Psalm. 169 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,880 I don't blame them for asking. If you've never read Psalm 91, 170 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:42,080 read it before you go to bed tonight. 171 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,960 It is packed with God's glorious promises. 172 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:48,600 There's actually room for nothing else. 173 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,640 Verse by verse, all you're reading is 1 glorious thing 174 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,160 after the other. But people tend to forget as 175 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,160 they quote that wonderful chapter of the condition. 176 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,320 It begins with a very practical condition. 177 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,600 In fact, so important is it that I had to memorize it. 178 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,120 Psalm 91, verse 1. He who dwells in the shelter of 179 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,480 the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 180 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,680 Why memorize that one out of all the things? 181 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,680 Because everything that you read in verse 2 onward depends on 182 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,520 verse one. And what is he saying there in 183 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,480 Psalm 91.1? You want to experience these 184 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:30,960 treasures. You want to sit under this 185 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,880 waterfall of wonder. You have to stay close to God. 186 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,920 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the 187 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:41,960 shadow of the Almighty. I've said this before, it's 188 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,920 worth repeating. How close do you need to be to 189 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:46,840 somebody for their shadow to be cast upon you? 190 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,320 Pretty close. This isn't going to work. 191 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,520 Almost shoulder to shoulder. And that is what the psalmist is 192 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:54,800 saying. You want to know all these 193 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:59,640 things. Live in his shadow day by day. 194 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:06,760 Let his presence be your home. Walk in communion with God and 195 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,400 everything that you read. And the rest of that Psalm is 196 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,280 yours is you already came in the shadow of the Almighty. 197 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:19,800 No, he's living beneath his thrown all the things that he 198 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,080 ignored with Jeremiah's prophecies, all the things that 199 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,320 he warned with the that he ignored with the warnings that 200 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,560 came his way. But there's a second thing that 201 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:32,000 befalls the spiritually stubborn, as exemplified by this 202 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,280 man. Yes, we learned here that we not 203 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,760 only invite defeat the longer we stay away from the Lord, but we 204 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:44,240 also forfeit treasures that only humble obedience can guarantee. 205 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:50,280 That truth is not entirely clear from this passage, but it is in 206 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,920 another book. Does anyone remember how Daniel 207 00:13:53,920 --> 00:14:01,040 one one starts? You can go to the book to find 208 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,520 it. Look how Daniel 11 starts. 209 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,200 The very first words of this awesome text. 210 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:16,320 Daniel 11 in the third year of the reign of Yohoiakim, king of 211 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:17,520 Judah. Stop. 212 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,320 Don't ignore these time stamps in your Bible. 213 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,720 In the third year of the reign of Yohoiakim king of Judah, that 214 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:27,680 very same king that we're reading about in Second Kings 215 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,480 24, what happened? Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 216 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,680 came to Jerusalem and besieged it, and the Lord gave Yohoiakim, 217 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,000 king of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the 218 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,400 House of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to 219 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,560 the House of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of 220 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,920 his God. Then the king commanded Aspinas, 221 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,520 his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of 222 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,000 the royal family and of the nobility. 223 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,680 And we read past that, that it's Daniel and his friends that were 224 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,200 part of what this is the first deportation, by the way, the 225 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,800 first wave during the reign of Yahoo Kim, King Nebuchadnezzar, 226 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,760 Cain, he besieged it. He made Judas surrender. 227 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,040 And with that, he took some of the vessels from the temple and 228 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,880 some of the royal nobility. And he took some of the young 229 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,560 people, says I'm going to train you, make you like my nation, 230 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:29,840 like my people to serve my gods. You know this very well. 231 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:35,840 Unrepentant sin robs us. It will steal your peace. 232 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,840 It will steal your joy. It will stifle your fellowship 233 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,200 with Christ. It will bar you and I from the 234 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:49,280 warmth of godly community. It will rot meaningful and 235 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,200 beautiful relationships even in the church. 236 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,840 It will spoil your resources. It will devour your time and it 237 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,400 will tarnish your testimony and mind. 238 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,160 I don't know if this has ever happened to you. 239 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,440 Have you ever had somebody, more specifically a friend at any 240 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,040 point in your life, steal from you? 241 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:20,000 If you have, then you know the sense of betrayal that fills 242 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:24,080 your heart upon discovering that no matter how small the item. 243 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,320 And with that sense of betrayal, there's this instinct to set up 244 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,480 boundaries so it never happens again. 245 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,680 And I think it would be extremely helpful for you and I, 246 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:43,280 followers of Christ, to train ourselves to view sin as a 247 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:50,600 thief, because the more we believe that, the less likely we 248 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,920 are to welcome it into our lives. 249 00:16:54,120 --> 00:17:00,880 See if you even have a hint of understanding that sin, the 250 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,319 false idea that it can profit you in any way, even in a small 251 00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:06,560 way. You'll never know the strength 252 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,720 to reject it. You'll never know the ability to 253 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,319 persist in your resistance against its temptation. 254 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,880 But if you understand the nature of sin and the history of sin, 255 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,440 then no matter where it goes, it robs, it steals. 256 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,560 Then when it knocks on the door of your heart, will you open it? 257 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,640 You and I would be foolish to open it, in the same way that we 258 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,880 would be fools to entertain the presence of a thief in our home. 259 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:43,480 View sin as a thief. And thieves are clever, right? 260 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,240 What makes a thief successful? It doesn't. 261 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,800 It doesn't come off as a thief. They come off trusting. 262 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,920 And sin is no different. It masquerades as a friend. 263 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,240 It comes trying to promise some kind of a bargain. 264 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,440 You invest in this and I'll, I'll give you this, this, here's 265 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,560 the ROI. Here's the return on investment. 266 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,960 If you, if you actually take this, digest this, apply this, 267 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:11,040 but it's a thief, it's a scam con artist. 268 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,640 Every time, no matter what the sin is, Nebuchadnezzar came and 269 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,320 that all not only reintroduced these ammonites and all these 270 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,560 other things that he controlled and allowed to ransack Judah, 271 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,880 but he also took from Judah. Sin is no different. 272 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,200 We invite things that we once knew victory over because we 273 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,000 were close to Christ, and we also forfeit things that can 274 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,120 only be maintained when we stay close to Christ. 275 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,960 There is no doubt that Yo Hoya Kim played a major part in 276 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,720 hastening the final judgement of this Kingdom. 277 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,960 However, interestingly, he doesn't receive the main blame. 278 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,280 There's somebody else that actually receives greater 279 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,920 accountability apart from your Hoya Kim. 280 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:56,080 Go back to chapter 24, Second Kings. 281 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:01,960 He's found in verse 3. Surely this came upon Judah at 282 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,440 the command of the Lord to remove them out of His sight for 283 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:11,760 the sins of Manasseh according to all that he had done, and 284 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,520 also for the innocent blood that he had shed, for he filled 285 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,400 Jerusalem with innocent blood. And the Lord would not pardon. 286 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:27,160 I can't think of any more depressing and dreadful words in 287 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,320 these the last few verses, words of verse 4. 288 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:36,360 The Lord would not pardon. It's one thing for my dad to 289 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,080 never forgive me, my mom to never forgive me, my friends, my 290 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,560 pastor, church members to never pardon me, but it's a whole 291 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:48,080 entire different thing if God chooses not to pardon. 292 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:56,000 Now, just taking this at face value is challenging enough, but 293 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,240 it comes more difficult when we try to reconcile it with the 294 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,400 glorious truth of the abundance of God's pardon and how he is 295 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:07,760 rich in mercy. Does not God forgive all sin, 296 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:09,640 even the sin of shedding innocent blood? 297 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,880 So why is he not willing to forgive here? 298 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,480 Well, here's what we have to establish. 299 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,040 Did God forgive Manessa for his sin? 300 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:23,600 We studied this in the past, right? 301 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,200 He did, did he not? We rejoiced in that study 302 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,480 together. He did forgive this man. 303 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,600 So this is not a case of God not willing to forgive certain sins 304 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,440 or arbitrarily choosing not to pardon other individual 305 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:39,200 individuals. That's not the case at all. 306 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:41,320 So then what does this mean here? 307 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,640 That the Lord would not pardon in verse 4? 308 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,800 Here's what it means. It refers to the Lord's 309 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,920 unwillingness to reverse the consequences of Manessa's sins. 310 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,320 There's a big difference. So what you find here is because 311 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:59,600 Manessa's actions were so pervasive, so impactful, that 312 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,400 they corrupted the nation to the degree that the effects of it 313 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,480 were still evident to this point. 314 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,280 In other words, what Manessa had done, though he was personally 315 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,760 forgiven by God, his actions on the nation required justice to 316 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,480 be served, especially because his practices were still being 317 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,880 imitated. Here during the reign of Yoho 318 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,520 Akim we see Meneses practices still being repeated. 319 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,520 So again, the main prophetic voice of this time was Jeremiah. 320 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,360 And you can't even get past chapter 2 before Jeremiah 321 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,400 rebukes the people for this one crime among many crimes. 322 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,640 And Jeremiah 2. Listen to these words in verse 323 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:46,520 34. Also on your skirts is found the 324 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,640 lifeblood of the guiltless poor. You did not find them breaking 325 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,240 in. Yet in spite of all these things 326 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,160 you say I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned from 327 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,680 me. Behold, I will bring you to 328 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,680 judgement for saying I have not sinned. 329 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,640 So the people, the common people had blood stained on their robes 330 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,280 and Jeremiah highlights You didn't kill these people out of 331 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,040 self-defense. Did you notice that verse 34? 332 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:17,920 You did not find them breaking in. 333 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,680 Why would he mention that? Because in Exodus there was a 334 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,280 law permitting those who are in their homes. 335 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,720 If an intruder came in at night and you defend yourself to the 336 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,440 degree that you killed the person, there's no guilt on you. 337 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,880 But the prophet highlights, you're not doing this out of 338 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,520 self-defense, out of selflessness, out of cruelty. 339 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,680 You're actually killing the guiltless poor out of 340 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:45,000 convenience, out of irritation. And on top of that, you say I'm 341 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,880 innocent. And when you continue in 342 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,200 Jeremiah, you realize that Yahoyakim was not the best 343 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,880 example. In fact, there were contemporary 344 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,200 prophets in Jeremiah's day, one of them not very known by the 345 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,120 name of Uriah, Uriah the prophet. 346 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,600 Uriah the prophet really echoed Jeremiah's message. 347 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,120 And one day he's preaching. The word gets to Yoho Kim. 348 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,160 Yoho Kim's like he's a dead man. Uriah finds out. 349 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,360 He flees to Egypt. Yoho Kim was not satisfied. 350 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,080 He takes a couple of his officials. 351 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,800 He says you go to Egypt, you're not coming back till you find 352 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,120 him. They find Uriah. 353 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,240 He comes into his presence. He slays him, and he dumps him 354 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:32,640 outside the city like garbage. So the spirit of Manessa is very 355 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,120 much still alive at this point. The people are killing each 356 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:37,520 other. The king is killing the true 357 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,720 prophets and said, Lord says I'm not pardoning, You've crossed 358 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,960 the line. Enough is enough. 359 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:45,760 Manessa repented, you're forgiven. 360 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,400 But I got to deal with the consequences of this sin and 361 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,200 exiles the answer. So that's what we find here. 362 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,800 And Yohoiken was such a wicked man. 363 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,000 You have to turn there in Jeremiah 36 to see what the 364 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,680 prophet pronounces on top of all the other judgment he warned 365 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,000 about. He gives us harrowing prophetic 366 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,880 word. Jeremiah 36 verse 30. 367 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,840 I'll wait for you to get there. This is something that you got 368 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,800 to put a star beside or something because it goes way 369 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:24,640 beyond this context. Jeremiah 36 verse 30 Therefore 370 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,120 thus says the Lord concerning Yahoo a Kim, king of Judah, he 371 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:33,560 shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead 372 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,360 body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by 373 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,680 night. You threw my profits out in the 374 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,320 day to rot out there without any honour. 375 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,320 The same is coming for you. But before that, notice what he 376 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:54,000 says. He shall have none to sit on the 377 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,800 throne of David. That's massive and a face value 378 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:05,120 presents at least 2 problems. The immediate issue is what we 379 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,440 find back in our main text. Come back to Second Kings 24 and 380 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,160 look at the concluding comments of the reign of Yahoo Akim in 381 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,960 verse 5. Now the rest of the deeds of 382 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,360 Yahoo Akim and all that he did, are they not written in the book 383 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:19,960 of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 384 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,640 So Yahoo Akim slept with his father's and Yahuah hen his son 385 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:31,720 reigned in his place. How Jeremiah prophesied that 386 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,040 there would be no more who would sit on the throne of David 387 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,400 following Yahoo A Kim. And here we realize that his son 388 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,520 actually does contradiction. Now a call for careful study. 389 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,040 I think the answer is in the very same passage of Second 390 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,960 Kings 24. Look down at verse 8. 391 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:54,040 Yahoo a hen was 18 years old when he became king, and he 392 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,000 reigned 3 months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nahushta, 393 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,920 the daughter of Al Nathan of Jerusalem, and he did what was 394 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,360 evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father 395 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:07,640 had done. Raining for three months isn't 396 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,680 much of A rain, is it? You barely were able to warm the 397 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:17,520 seat before the king of Babylon comes and removes you from that 398 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,840 position of authority. So this is a really a legitimate 399 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,800 governance. Essentially, the moment he 400 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:29,880 enters in, he was taken out. So that satisfies that potential 401 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:35,000 issue. But the second and more 402 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,320 important implication of Jeremiah's prophecy is where we 403 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:42,200 need to spend more time. So Jeremiah 3630, he says he 404 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,920 shall not have anyone sit on David Stone. 405 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,800 Nobody following you, none of your direct descendants are 406 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,160 actually going to occupy this position of power again. 407 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,600 We think that that's not the case because you heard him sits 408 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:57,560 on the seat. When we learn. 409 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,640 Actually, no, He is besieged. He's taken over. 410 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,760 He is removed, brought to Babylon and dies there. 411 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,840 He never returns. What does this imply about God's 412 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,120 promise to David, though? Do you understand? 413 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:18,200 What did God promise David? That you will have your sons 414 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:23,160 occupying this throne forever. One of your descendants will 415 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,880 have an eternal reign. And clearly that didn't happen. 416 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,680 And what we find here as we approach the total decimation of 417 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:35,360 this administration of this Kingdom altogether is a 418 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:38,080 reversal, seemingly, of this promise. 419 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:43,600 Did God break his promise? Did God change his mind? 420 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,280 And if you think, well maybe that's what the Lord is really 421 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:53,400 saying about Yahoo Kim's descendants, go to Jeremiah and 422 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,400 look here chapter 22 and verse 24. 423 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,120 This is a lengthy portion of Scripture. 424 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,000 Why am I reading this to you? Why do you need to know this? 425 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,120 Because you will have anti missionary Jews and you'll have 426 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:08,720 other people of different cults and faiths who want to try to 427 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,280 discredit the messiahship of Jesus. 428 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,720 And they'll say here, well, what do you do with this curse? 429 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,680 Here's what I'm saying. Look at Jeremiah 22, verse 24. 430 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,360 Are you there with me as I live? Declares the Lord. 431 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,880 Though Kanaya the son of Yehoyakim, King of Judah, Kanaya 432 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,080 is the same person as Yehoyakin. Though Kanaya the son of 433 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,560 Yehoyakin King of Judah, were the signet ring on my right 434 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:42,920 hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of 435 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,960 those who seek your life, into the hand of those whom you are 436 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,120 afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, 437 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,000 and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 438 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,520 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another 439 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,400 country where you were not born, and there you shall die. 440 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:02,320 But to the land to which they will long to return, they shall 441 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,320 not return. This is the main part. 442 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,200 Look at verse 28. Down is this man Kanaya 443 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,720 despised? Broken pot, a vessel no one 444 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,600 cares for. Why are he and his children 445 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,880 hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? 446 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:20,160 Oh land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord. 447 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:24,560 Thus says the Lord. Write this man down as 448 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:30,440 childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of 449 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,760 his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David 450 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:42,240 and ruling again in Judah. Oh, none, none of his 451 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:49,000 offsprings. It's over the final straw, and 452 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,840 we should gulp a little bit because we've been studying this 453 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:57,920 text since the days of Genesis and we've been clinging to this 454 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,520 promise that there's a king who will arrive, who will emerge and 455 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,160 fulfill that promise that God made to David in Second Samuel 456 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,360 7. And it seems like it's not going 457 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:14,440 to happen. How do we answer this? 458 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,120 I'm actually going to open it up. 459 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,680 You don't have to give a lengthy answer, but if you have a brief 460 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,720 idea how we can solve this, I'd love to hear it. 461 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,960 Any idea of how we can figure this out? 462 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,120 There are three possible answers. 463 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,480 There are three ways of solving this, and these are worth 464 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,560 remembering and noting down. The first answer that we can 465 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:53,800 give is that this prophecy speaks of Yahoo Kim's immediate 466 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:59,280 descendants, his own children, not speaking about the dynasty 467 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,040 as a whole, but speaking about his own offspring. 468 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,120 Look again at Jeremiah 22, verse 30. 469 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,680 It says here. Thus says the Lord, write this 470 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:16,040 man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days. 471 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,160 Now you read Chronicles and you learned that there's actually 472 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:21,960 more than one child that this king has. 473 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,560 So what he's saying here, though, is write him down as 474 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:26,360 childless. Not that he will never have 475 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,640 children, but that he will never have any of his children 476 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,200 reigning on the throne. Write this man down as 477 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,240 childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days. 478 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:41,960 So it seems to enforce here the reality of his lifetime, not an 479 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:47,120 indefinite period of time. And all you have to do listen. 480 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,240 Listen, this is the end of chapter 22 of Jeremiah. 481 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,600 All you have to do is go to Jeremiah 23 to realize that the 482 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,160 Lord wasn't speaking about the entire dynasty. 483 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,040 Go to chapter 23. Look at verse 5 of Jeremiah. 484 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,880 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will 485 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,600 raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as 486 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:10,080 king and deal wisely. He shall execute justice and 487 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,680 righteousness in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved 488 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,160 and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which 489 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,120 you will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. 490 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,560 Well, hold on. You just told us a few verses 491 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,320 ago that none of his offspring will rule, reign. 492 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,160 And in just the same breath almost, he says, actually, 493 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,840 remember I told you that David was going to have his son. 494 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:34,200 He's still coming. So that should pretty much end 495 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,960 this debate, right? He's not speaking about his 496 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:38,600 children. And I told you that we're 497 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:40,880 studying the last three kings, right? 498 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,880 Of the king of Judah, Yahoya Kim, Yahuah Hin. 499 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,440 And who's the last one? Zedekiah. 500 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,760 Yes, that will be a very important thing to remember if 501 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,720 we ever hypothetically have a quiz on 2nd kings. 502 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,080 By the way, who's the last reigning king of the Kingdom of 503 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:56,480 Judah? Zedekiah. 504 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:04,840 Zedekiah is not the son of Yahuah Hin in Second Kings 2417 505 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:11,200 says here in the king of Babylon made Matania Yahuah Hin's uncle 506 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,680 king in this place and change his name to Zedekiah. 507 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,080 You see that so the word was fulfilled. 508 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,520 None of this King's children would reign and when it came to 509 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,360 his successor was actually his uncle. 510 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,320 Case closed right? Full stop. 511 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,720 Well, people are going to press, People are going to press, and 512 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,000 you should expect that pushback from those who will try to 513 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,280 disqualify Christ as being the promised Son of David and be 514 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,920 prepared to be taken to the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth 515 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,160 in the New Testament. For what reason? 516 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:47,760 Because people want to show you how Jesus's lineage based on 517 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:54,680 this prophecy is a cursed 1 Matthew 111. 518 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:01,400 What do we find here? Matthew 111 and Josiah, the 519 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:06,840 father of Yoho Kanaya and his brothers at the time of the 520 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,280 deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to 521 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,679 Babylon, Jack Kunaya was the father of Shout Out. 522 00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:16,280 Shout Out was the father of Zero Bubble. 523 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,880 You see that name there, Jack Kunaya? 524 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:28,040 And people will press and they'll say you claim that Jesus 525 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,880 is a descendant of this royal line. 526 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,920 But did you forget what Jeremiah said about this very man? 527 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:36,880 That none would reign from his offspring. 528 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,920 And so they'll go on to say you Christians invented the virgin 529 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,239 birth to try to wiggle your way out of this. 530 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,400 And so the first answer that you can use and trying to solve this 531 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,440 apparent dilemma is that the prophecy does not deal with the 532 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,080 King's immediate children or the his his his latter children. 533 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:02,800 Rather it deals with his immediate children. 534 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,960 But second to that, we can say that even if that line remain 535 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:12,480 cursed, that the virgin birth delivers Christ from that curse. 536 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,360 It's not an excuse, it's actually divine strategy. 537 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,080 Think about it this way. Just as the curse of sin did not 538 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,120 transfer to the Lord because of his miraculous conception, is it 539 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,520 really so hard to believe that the curse of Kanaya didn't 540 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:29,720 transfer either? Was Christ infected with Adam's 541 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:33,640 fault? Please say no No. 542 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,680 So are we limiting the implication of his virgin birth 543 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,880 to that curse alone and not any other curse? 544 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:43,800 No. You can say that the virgin 545 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,120 birth rescues, in a sense, Christ from this judgement. 546 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:54,040 He's separate from it though, attached to this heritage. 547 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,320 But I don't even go there. I don't, I don't even speak 548 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,960 about the virgin birth and get into all these kind of 549 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,040 hermeneutic gymnastics. I don't do that. 550 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,640 You know why this is the third and most important point and try 551 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,280 to answer this dilemma. The curse was reversed. 552 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,840 Look back at Matthew 111. Did you see a few names there? 553 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:17,320 Look at the end of verse 12. Jack and I was a father of shell 554 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:21,320 tell and shell Tell the father of Zerubbabel. 555 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:29,080 Zerubbel was one of the leaders who'd returned from Babylon to 556 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:33,440 the land of Jerusalem to rebuild everything, and he was a 557 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,600 governor for the people of Judah, and he appears in a 558 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,040 couple of different prophetic books. 559 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:43,320 But notice what Haggai says about Zerubbabel in Haggai 560 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,200 chapter 2. I, I already warned you that 561 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,160 we're going to go to different passages, but this is going to 562 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,880 be worth it. Haggai chapter 2, verse 23. 563 00:37:00,810 --> 00:37:02,890 Now as you're turning there, do you remember the symbolic 564 00:37:02,890 --> 00:37:09,450 imagery that the Lord gave in his denunciation and his curse? 565 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:16,680 Though you be like a signet ring on my hand, I will tear you off. 566 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,120 A signet ring is a symbol of power and authority for for 567 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,680 royalty. And the Lord says it doesn't 568 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:24,560 matter if you're on my hand. It doesn't matter how valuable 569 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,440 this ring may be, because of your sin, I will RIP you off and 570 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,520 throw you away. And notice what he says here to 571 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:33,240 Zerubbabel, who's the descendant of that very same king Haggai 572 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,640 223 on that day declares the Lord of hosts. 573 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,440 I will take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shall 574 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,320 tell, declares the Lord. And make you like a signet ring, 575 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,040 for I've chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts. 576 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,760 Is it coincidental that the Lord is using the same imagery back 577 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,320 when he spoke through Jeremiah to curse this line, to restore 578 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,440 this line? It's not coincidence, it's 579 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,440 intentional. Yeah, I might have thrown you 580 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:06,880 away, but now I am bringing you back. 581 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:10,760 So way before Jesus Christ of Nazareth even appears on the 582 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:15,840 scene, the curse was reversed and we find it right here. 583 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:23,440 Hold on, although it was reversed, it was not totally 584 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:29,200 restored because Zerubbabel was not a king, was he? 585 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,040 No, he's a governor. You read that in the prophetic 586 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:37,400 writings. So the the beginning of the 587 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,960 restoration happened in Zerubbabel's day, but when's the 588 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,520 full realization of it going to be known? 589 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:44,680 Do you remember what the Angel said to Mary and Luke? 590 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,120 One, let me read it to you in verse 32. 591 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:49,960 The latter portion says and the Lord God will give to him the 592 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:55,040 throne of his father David. The full restoration would not 593 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:57,600 be known in Zerubbabel. It will be known in Christ. 594 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:04,080 So if you can just remember this reference, Haggai 223 If anybody 595 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:08,120 approaches you and says you're supposed a Messiah actually 596 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,520 belongs to a cursed line, and you say, well, yeah, well, the 597 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:15,960 curse was reversed. And here's where Jews, Jews will 598 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,720 get in trouble because you'll hear this mainly from them. 599 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,000 If you look at their own tradition and their own ancient 600 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:31,160 writings, many of their beloved scholars and rabbis believe that 601 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,000 the curse was reversed, not because they're trying to make a 602 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:36,640 defense for the messiahship of Jesus. 603 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:38,360 Just because it's plain. It's here. 604 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,040 So I was going to provide you quote after quote. 605 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:42,640 This is all accessible in these days. 606 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,200 You can find this stuff anywhere, the click of a few 607 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:48,600 buttons. But resource after resource 608 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,200 confirms that even Jews who don't believe in Jesus of 609 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:57,080 Nazareth as their savior confirm that the curse was indeed 610 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:00,680 changed back and the promise remained. 611 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:06,560 Choose any one of those answers and you'll be more than OK God's 612 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,520 Word never fails, and we should rejoice in that. 613 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:15,840 And so we find here the end of Yoho A Kim's reign. 614 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:20,280 But let's come now to the final verses of our study. 615 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,320 We read about a little bit about Yoho Akin. 616 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,280 Let's continue to read about him in Second Kings 24 verse 10. 617 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:32,440 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon 618 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,600 came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 619 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,760 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while 620 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,600 his servants were besieging it. And Yahuah Kin, the king of 621 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:45,960 Judah, gave himself up to the king of Babylon himself and his 622 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,240 mother and his servants and his officials and his palace 623 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:51,880 officials. The king of Babylon took him 624 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,080 prisoner in the eighth year of his reign and carried off all 625 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,400 the treasures of the House of the Lord and the treasures of 626 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,280 the King's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold 627 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:03,360 in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, 628 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,720 as the Lord had foretold. So what's happening here? 629 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:11,640 Now the second deportation, The first one is described in Daniel 630 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,640 one. The second one now appears here. 631 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:18,680 Yehoya Kim, Daniel was taken. Yehoya Kin. 632 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:22,480 The second wave of deportation much more severe than the first 633 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:25,240 one. In the first one, he took some 634 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:27,360 of the vessels and brought it to the House of his God. 635 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,480 Now he's stripping the gold off of the temple. 636 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,720 And more than that, look at verse 14. 637 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,040 He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all 638 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:42,720 the mighty men of valor. 10,000 captives and all the Craftsman 639 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:47,240 and The Smiths, none remained except the poorest of the land, 640 00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:52,880 and he carried away Yoho akin to Babylon, the King's mother, the 641 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:55,680 King's wives, his officials, and a chief man of the land. 642 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,600 He took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, and the 643 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:01,720 king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the Men of Valor, 644 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:06,440 7000, and the Craftsman and the Metal Workers, 1000, all of them 645 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,120 strong and fit for war. And the king of Babylon made 646 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,520 Metanaya, Yehoyakin's uncle, king, in his place and changed 647 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:20,240 his name to Zedekiah. 2nd deportation. 648 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:22,480 We're going to look at the last one next week. 649 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:27,560 So many details, so many facts, so many important things to 650 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:31,480 touch on for the sake of not overwhelming us. 651 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:36,360 I want to look at verse 14 and I want to ask this question out of 652 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:38,640 the thousands that were taken into captivity. 653 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:42,880 And if you were there a couple nights ago at prayer meeting, 654 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:46,120 you can't answer this question for those who are not there. 655 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,560 Is there anyone who is a notable figure in the Bible that was 656 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:55,240 taken during the second wave of exile that we find here? 657 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,000 And if you know the answer, you're free to share it. 658 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:06,760 Oh, you hear the the chirping, real chirping. 659 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:14,280 Somebody said it good. Ezekiel go to Ezekiel chapter 1. 660 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:27,380 Look at Ezekiel one verse one, in the 30th year, in the fourth 661 00:43:27,380 --> 00:43:31,260 month, on the 5th day of the month, as I was among the Exiles 662 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:35,760 by the Kebar canal, the heavens were open and I saw visions of 663 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,320 God on the 5th day of the month. It was the fifth year of the 664 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:44,920 exile of King Yehoyahin. The word of the Lord came to 665 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,400 Ezekiel the priest, the son of Boozy in the land of the 666 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:52,200 Chaldeans by the Hembar canal, and the hand of the Lord was 667 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,320 upon him there. Do you see that in the middle 668 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,480 there, the last part of verse two, It was the fifth year of 669 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:05,160 the exile of King Yehoyahin. So Daniel was taken in the first 670 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,760 wave. Ezekiel was brought out in the 671 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:13,400 second. And this is me earlier today 672 00:44:14,720 --> 00:44:18,760 being reminded of the truth in the study, sitting back and 673 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,680 meditating. And I thought, this is, I think 674 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:26,440 this is a good place to end. I think there are at least two 675 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:31,160 wonderful truths to learn with Ezekiel as it connects to this 676 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:34,600 wider story. The first one is this. 677 00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:40,360 Look at this detail in verse one in the 30th year, in the fourth 678 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:42,240 month, on the 5th day of the month. 679 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:45,520 What year is he referring to? What time stamp? 680 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:52,600 The common view, His own age. In other words, he's saying when 681 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:56,480 I was 30, when I was 30 years old, the 4th month, the 5th day 682 00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:02,080 of the month, in the 30th year. Now why would Ezekiel want to 683 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,880 tell us that he was 30 when he was exiled? 684 00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:09,240 Any idea? Very good. 685 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:12,720 Read on here and what do you discover? 686 00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:14,800 Look at verse 3. The word of the Lord came to 687 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:23,560 Ezekiel. The what the priest Numbers 4 688 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,200 tells us that a priest would begin his ministry in the temple 689 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:32,240 at the age of 30. Ezekiel clearly didn't get the 690 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:37,080 chance to do that, did he? So this is a milestone in his 691 00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:41,520 personal life, but it says something about really the 692 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,040 nation. In the 30th year, he is now 693 00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:49,200 allowed to technically enter into the temple and serve as a 694 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:51,800 mediator between God's people and God himself. 695 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:55,760 The temple is destroyed. Well, it's about to be soon. 696 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,760 Not during this deportation. In the next one, the temple is 697 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:01,280 surrounded. It's stripped of its glory. 698 00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:03,520 It's later going to be brought down to rubble. 699 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:07,160 And so now instead of Ezekiel being called into the 700 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:10,160 priesthood, he's being called into what office prophethood. 701 00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:17,880 So this is this is a major change in many ways, but I 702 00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:21,320 couldn't help but meditate on how this made Ezekiel 703 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,000 potentially feel and how it can teach us some wonderful things. 704 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:26,560 Here's the first thing that we can learn. 705 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:31,520 Be mindful that your life may not fit the mold or follow the 706 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,240 common trajectory that others expect of you or experience 707 00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:40,680 themselves. Ezekiel, at the 30th year of his 708 00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,040 life looked nothing like the average Levite did it? 709 00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:51,320 He came from a lineage of others who studied their whole young 710 00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:52,720 lives. And we're being prepared to 711 00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:55,000 enter into this wonderful office of the priesthood. 712 00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:57,600 Now he's next in line. And what happens? 713 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:03,480 He's taken, not just taken from his office, he's he's taken from 714 00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:09,320 his home. And I wonder what it made him 715 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:15,960 feel like at first, as he was chained perhaps, and LED into 716 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:21,120 the wilderness and ultimately into a brand new Pagan land, 717 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:25,560 thinking I was supposed to be a priest. 718 00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:32,040 I was supposed to serve my God. I was supposed to come close to 719 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:34,560 the things of God and serve the people of God. 720 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:41,920 And I don't know about you, but I know many who feel the same 721 00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:46,720 way when they contemplate where they are at life, and more than 722 00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:49,040 that, compare themselves to others and wonder. 723 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:53,120 I don't fit the common script for life. 724 00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:56,520 I thought I would be somewhere else at this point in my life. 725 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,360 I thought I'd be doing something else by this time in my life. 726 00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:08,680 I did not see any of this coming, even if that looks like 727 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,680 delay. I thought I would be somewhere 728 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:15,160 else. I thought I'd be doing something 729 00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:18,720 else. Ezekiel was supposed to serve 730 00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:21,080 God. It was actually inscribed in the 731 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,480 Scriptures how he was supposed to serve God, and it didn't 732 00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:27,640 happen. But the most important thing 733 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:33,120 about Ezekiel is not if he served in the temple, is not if 734 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:36,720 he fulfilled his lifelong training to be a priest. 735 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,960 It's not if he even if he even raised his family in the Holy 736 00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:42,160 Land and trained his children to love God. 737 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:45,160 The most important thing about Ezekiel is what we read in the 738 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:49,080 introductory verses of his book. The hand of the Lord was upon 739 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:52,320 him. That's the most important thing. 740 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:59,840 You see, Ezekiel is an anomaly. Ezekiel doesn't fit the mold, 741 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:02,800 but that doesn't mean that Ezekiel is outside of God's 742 00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:07,040 will. I can't tell you the amount of 743 00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,000 people who are frustrated because they look at themselves, 744 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,480 they look at the time stamp of their lives, they look at others 745 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,200 and they think, I didn't think this would happen to me. 746 00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:20,240 I didn't think that this would be my portion and worsen that. 747 00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:23,200 They think maybe God doesn't cherish me. 748 00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:25,160 Have a plan like He does for others, for me. 749 00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,920 You're dead wrong as long as you serve the Lord. 750 00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:33,560 This man loved God, He was waiting to serve God. 751 00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:35,200 God just had a different plan for him. 752 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:39,200 The most important thing is that God's hand was on him, not what 753 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:41,560 he was doing. Precisely who he's with, where 754 00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:46,760 he lived. The 2nd and final thing I'd love 755 00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:48,600 to learn about Ezekiel, There are many other things that we 756 00:49:48,600 --> 00:49:54,720 can meditate on is how God is very able to turn tragedy into 757 00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:59,920 ministry. Exile is no easy thing, as you 758 00:49:59,920 --> 00:50:02,960 can imagine. But this exile was not the end 759 00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,920 for Ezekiel. It was actually the beginning of 760 00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:09,320 a very challenging yet thrilling chapter in his life. 761 00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:17,040 God sends the people away in judgement, but you know you know 762 00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:21,280 who He also sends with them? A prophet, and more than just 763 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:24,640 one. To me, those are droplets of 764 00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:27,800 God's grace and the fiercest demonstration of His wrath 765 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,560 towards His people. I'm kicking you out of the 766 00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:35,800 promised land, but all my heart wants to send with you voices 767 00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:39,440 that will represent me. I'm going to send Daniel in the 768 00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:41,040 first wave. The second wave, I'm going to 769 00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:42,720 send Ezekiel. Don't you see God's mercy in 770 00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:43,960 this? I see it. 771 00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:47,800 But let's, let's just zoom in on Ezekiel. 772 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,760 God is going to put his hand on him, and God is going to speak 773 00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:56,920 through him to a dejected people who are at the lowest point in 774 00:50:56,920 --> 00:50:59,320 their nation's history. But you know what it required 775 00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:01,880 for Ezekiel, for him to be an effective minister. 776 00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:09,760 He had to suffer alongside them. In fact, if you read Ezekiel's 777 00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,160 prophecies, they're some of the strangest. 778 00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:15,600 You know why? Because so many of them demanded 779 00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:22,880 physical display and physical acts, some of them hard to 780 00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:24,880 imagine. Ezekiel, for X amount of days, I 781 00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:27,280 want you to lay on one side. Once you're done doing that, lay 782 00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:29,960 on the next side. Like, can't you just have me 783 00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:31,440 preach it? Do I have to actually lay here? 784 00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:34,400 Ezekiel, I want you to make this kind of food with this kind of 785 00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:37,920 material and all these unthinkable things for a Jew. 786 00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:40,160 Do you know why God did that for Ezekiel? 787 00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:42,800 Because he wanted Ezekiel to feel the message before he 788 00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:50,560 preached the message. And in many cases, when God 789 00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:55,680 ordained suffering in our lives, it does many things, including 790 00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:58,760 adding authority to your ministry. 791 00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:03,360 The the greatest men of God suffered in one way or another, 792 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:08,520 or whenever they suffered, it took their ministry to a whole 793 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:14,800 new level. Ezekiel, I'm going to make you a 794 00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:16,000 prophet. You thought you were going to be 795 00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:18,440 a priest. I have something else in store 796 00:52:18,440 --> 00:52:21,120 for you, but it's going to require you to go into exile, 797 00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:24,320 and you need to suffer alongside these people. 798 00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:28,200 Though it may seem unfair, though it may seem like it 799 00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:33,600 ruined your dreams to be a priest in Jerusalem, trust me. 800 00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:41,680 And if you serve God, let's end this Bible study here. 801 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:47,920 Trust that every ounce of difficulty that is permitted in 802 00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:51,120 your life has a redemptive purpose. 803 00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:57,280 All you need to do is remain close, close to your sovereign 804 00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:59,680 Father, and eventually you'll see it. 805 00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:05,440 Let me give you the last few verses of Second Kings 24 and 806 00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:09,480 we'll close this study. Verse 18 of chapter 24. 807 00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:12,800 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 808 00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:16,400 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamut al, 809 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:18,000 the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. 810 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:21,760 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to 811 00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:25,000 all that Yahoo Akim had done. For because of the anger of the 812 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:28,120 Lord, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast 813 00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:33,760 them out from his presence, and Zedekiah rebelled against the 814 00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:37,280 king of Babylon. Father, we thank You for this 815 00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:41,480 study. We thank You for every cross 816 00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:43,480 reference. We thank You that even the 817 00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:47,880 weakness of delivering the study, Your word prevails, Your 818 00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:55,760 truth pierces. And we yet again behold the 819 00:53:55,760 --> 00:54:00,600 brilliance of the Scriptures and the author behind these truths. 820 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:06,720 Lord, we ask that these things would not be easily forgotten. 821 00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:16,720 Etch them on our hearts, tie them in our memory, and use them 822 00:54:17,240 --> 00:54:22,160 as means to fan into flame our adoration for who you are. 823 00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:34,800 Lord, who knew that time stamps can touch us so deeply and for 824 00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,040 this we rejoice together as your church. 825 00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:41,640 In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen. 826 00:54:42,600 --> 00:54:45,240 Let's stand, let's give God thanks for the study.