2 Chronicles 36:1-23

God’s sovereign control over the nations of the world is clearly evident through the history of the nation of Israel.  He is never taken by surprise and He always takes His Word very seriously.  Just before the nation of Israel entered the land, God spoke to the people through Moses.  He promised that they would be blessed if they would obey the Word of the Lord.  However, God also promised that if they would not obey the Lord and start worshiping the idols of the land to which they were going; they would be taken captive and removed from the land.  Unfortunately, that warning did not keep the people from idolatry and God kept His Word.  We must not play with the promises of God.  He is very patient and may allow generations to go by before He judges, but He will judge.  He has promised to return to this earth and judge every person on the face of the earth.  The result of this coming judgment will be eternal based on whether or not we have trusted Christ.  In God’s sovereign timing He will bring life as we know it on this earth to a halt and then establish a new heaven and earth where the righteous in Christ will dwell with Him eternally.

JUDAH IS CAPTURED BY BABYLON: As long as Josiah was king, Judah experienced relative peace.  However within months of his wicked son taking over the Babylonians came and took the king and a good number of the people captive.  The time of bondage had begun and from this point forward the nation would be a nation that was under captivity of some sort.  Sin calls itself by names like liberty and freedom, but the reality is that sin always leads to bondage and enslavement.  Moses had warned the nation about this day but generation after generation ignored that warning and just considered it to be impossible that this would happen.  God’s judgments have always been foretold and He has always given the inhabitants of earth all they need to avoid this judgment.  God has also always been very patient and given His people ample time to repent and turn to Him.  Unfortunately, man has repeatedly ignored God’s warnings and spurned God’s patience to the point of coming under God’s judgment.  God has promised to judge this current world as well.  Many today scoff that it will never happen, but they would do well to consult the people of Noah’s day, Lot’s day and Israel’s day.  We must diligently prepare in our day for God’s coming day.

JERUSALEM IS CONQUERED BY BABYLON: Not only were the people removed from the city, but the temple, the palaces and the walls of the city were torn down and burnt.  David, Solomon and many other kings had built up an incredible number of buildings, walls and cities.  These were impressive structures, many of them made from imported lumber, specially cut stones and overlain with gold.  All of the people of their day were impressed with the structure and believed that they would stand forever.  They were wrong.  In just a few short days all the years of hard work literally went up in smoke.  We continue to dedicate enormous amounts of time, effort and resources to build buildings were we live, study and worship.  These structures are a necessary part of life, but they are never the purpose of our existence; nor should they be our focus.  We must remember that all of our possessions will either simply break down or fade away or they will be destroyed in God’s final judgment.  We must learn to live in light of this coming judgment.


ISRAEL IS CONTROLLED BY GOD:  At this point it may look like Israel has now come under the control of foreign kings.  However, that is simply and illusion.  The truth is that God is still firmly in control of His people and His property.  The nation had failed to allow the land to rest for 490 years so the Lord took the people off of the land for 70 years in order to make up for the time that the land was owed.  God was rising up kings and setting them down, all as a part of His plan for the nations.  There would be no more kings in Israel until the time with Jesus returns to establish His kingdom and fulfill the promises made to David and Abraham.  God did not lose control of His people or the circumstance they faced; He was simply demonstrating His justice and ability to judge.  Whenever we feel that this world is spinning out of control, we must simply remember that God is always in control and always knows what is best to accomplish His glory and our eternal good.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 1:3-7

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not   to teach any different doctrine,   nor   to devote themselves to myths and endless   genealogies, which promote   speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.    The aim of our charge is love   that issues from a pure heart and   a good conscience and   a sincere faith.    Certain persons, by   swerving from these, have wandered away into   vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,   without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.   There will always be false teachers that come into the church attempting to distract people from the truth and destroy people’s faith.  When this happens, it is the job of spiritually mature leaders to confront these false teachers and correct their teachings.  However, it is important that this correction be accomplished with the right motives and methods. 
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more