February 22, 2010 (Jeremiah 26-40, Psalm 74, 79, 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36)

Well, when I skip a few days readings, it requires a lot to catch up. But fortunately, I guess, the ending of 2 Chronicles pretty much sums up all of my reading today:

^{2 Chronicles 36:11} Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.¹⁴ Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple. ¹⁶ But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.

¹⁷ So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁸ The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord’s Temple and from the palace of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ Then his army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value. ²⁰ The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

²¹ So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.

So all the prophecies spoken by Jeremiah came true. The people hated to hear what he had to say. He was imprisoned, put into a cistern to die before being rescued and was hidden by God so that he would not be killed. He kept telling the people the message was not his own, but was from God, and that if they would only obey and surrender they would not be killed. But as we read above, they were stubborn and would not listen and so God finally gave up on them and had the Babylonians destroy them. And from verse 21 above, we see that they were banished for seventy years. But in Jeremiah 29, he prophesied that after those seventy years God would again restore them. Verse 11 is a 'famous' verse, quoted time and time again about God's faithfulness:

¹⁰ This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”