Second Chronicles 35:20

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 35:20-27, “After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.[21] But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.[22] Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.[23] And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.[24] His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.[25] And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.[26] Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,[27] And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.” God controls everything and everyone on this earth. This passage is a good example of that. God uses everything and everyone. Josiah was one of the good kings of Judah who followed the Lord and who knew the Lord. But every day can bring new trials. Necho was the Pharaoh in Egypt, but God spoke to Necho also, because Necho was a human being on this earth just as much as Josiah. God was speaking through Necho. Too bad that Josiah was not listening. Christians should always be sensitive to the Spirit, and ready to listen. It says about Josiah in verse twenty-two, “hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.” What was the result of not listening and thus coming to fight? Josiah was killed. How many things do we all suffer because we do not listen carefully to the direction that God wants to lead us.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 36:1-5, “Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.[2] Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.[3] And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.[4] And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.[5] Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.” God is merciful, very merciful. But the opportunity to benefit from His great mercy has a limit. The Jewish people had become too rotten, and too sinful, and they had given themselves over to false religion. The time for judgment had come. God’s protective hand was removed from them. First, the king of Egypt did whatever he wanted by taking money and changing the king of Judah. The new king was evil. Babylon would now come, and would do even more to them than Egypt did.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 36:6-14, “Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.[7] Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.[8] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.[9] Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.[10] And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.[11] Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.[12] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.[13] And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.[14] Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.” These verses show the sad result of all the bad leaders that Israel and Judah had over the years. Bad decisions, evil, false religion, going away from God, immorality: It takes its toll. The Judge sees and knows. There is only one result possible when there is this much sin without repentance: judgement. That is exactly what happened to Judah. God used Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar to bring this judgment. God decides, and God controls everyone in the earth.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 36:15-16, “And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:[16] But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” During all those years when the wicked kings sinned so much and led the people to paths of sin, God kept sending prophets to teach them and to warn them. Jesus does the same for each of us. He is so merciful. He is the God of second chances, and third chances, etc. But everything in this life is limited, including the opportunity to turn to God.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 36:17-19, “Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.[18] And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.[19] And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.” It does not get much worse than this. The great temple of Solomon is destroyed, the walls of Jerusalem are broken down. Why did it happen: sin. “The wages of sin is death...” Thankfully, we have Jesus. The rest of Romans 6:23 is, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 36:20-23, “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:[21] To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.[22] Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,[23] Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.” How merciful God is. Even though what appeared to be a total destruction had been brought on Jerusalem, God was so very merciful. God made a plan to re-establish the Jewish people in Israel and in Jerusalem. God used king Cyrus of Persia to get this accomplished. What happened in the heart of king Cyrus was all God’s doing. God can do anything. God can touch anyone’s heart at any time for any purpose. Verse twenty-two says that “the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia.” God decides what happens on this earth. Never forget that truth. This is His world. He owns everything and every person in this world. Yes, the temple of Solomon was destroyed. But seventy years afterwards, God decided to get it rebuilt, and God used king Cyrus to make sure it happened.

Why did God bring the Jews back to Israel? One reason is because God always keeps His promises. God promised to Abraham that God would make a great nation from his descendants through Isaac and Jacob, and that is going to happen no matter what. It is wonderful that God keeps His promises. All the promises that Jesus made, He will keep too. We are blessed. For example, Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I believed in Jesus when I called upon His name when I was nineteen years old. That means that I have everlasting life. That means that I will go to heaven even though I do not deserve it. God promised, and He always keeps His promises.

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