2 Kings 25 (Part 1) Bible Study (Fall and Captivity of Judah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in Second Kings chapter 25.

2 Kings 25 · chapter mention

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.

2 Kings 24:18

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

Ezekiel 17:11

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

2 Kings 25:3

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.

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.