2 Kings 25

[0:00] Take your Bibles. Let's finish up the book of 2 Kings tonight. 2 Kings chapter 25. 2 Kings chapter 25. We'll finish the book up tonight. We'll look at that chapter in its entirety just for context.

[0:16] Okay, just for context. I'm not going to ask you to turn there tonight, but I will go ahead and let you know this on the front end. That way, you like the Berean believers we find in the book of Acts. You want to go home and check and see if these things are so you have the opportunity to check them. If you look at the parallel passage in the book of 2 Chronicles, which would be the end of the book of 2 Chronicles, much of what is included in 2 Kings is not found in 2 Chronicles. It's actually, this is one point where the author of Kings gives us a little bit more information. We'll get to that in just a moment.

[0:54] But, it is very beneficial to open up your Bibles and read through the book of Jeremiah and even into Ezekiel as it pertains to the events that take place here. So, when we preach through this typically expositional or expository preaching, you try to stay in the text that you're there. You're not moving around, you're not topical.

[1:21] But, to really pull the text out, you really need to understand everything that's going on with it. And so, that would be the book of Jeremiah. The major center section of the book of Jeremiah is starting at about chapter 35 on.

[1:35] And then, really, chapters, I'll give you this reference for tonight, Jeremiah 25 to Jeremiah 34. Those chapters, in particular, have a lot of reference for what we'll look at tonight.

[1:49] There are some passages in the book of Ezekiel that will have reference to this. So, just a little bit of Bible background history. Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesying at the same time.

[2:02] When Nebuchadnezzar comes in and deports the first deportation of people out of Jerusalem, Ezekiel goes with them. Ezekiel, right? And you open up the book of Ezekiel, you find Ezekiel in the land of Babylon.

[2:15] He's beside the river, and he sees the vision. You notice the one with the wheels, and the wheels inside of the wheels, and the eyes going everywhere, and it makes you scratch your head. But he's in a foreign land. He's there where the harps are hanging about on the trees beside the river.

[2:28] So, Ezekiel went with them. Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem. He was actually there, never left. So, it's the same prophetic word, different context of why they're prophesying.

[2:43] So, it has some application we'll see tonight. So, a lot of background information just to try to get you into it. So, let's open up with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much just for allowing us together, together tonight.

[2:56] Thank you for the opportunity we have of fellowship. Thank you for the opportunity we have to open up the pages of your word together, and we pray that as we open up scripture, that our hearts and minds would be attentive to it.

[3:07] Lord, that we would see the word of God for what it is. That is, your word, speaking into the life of your people, for your glory and your honor. Father, we pray for those that are in the back with their children and youth.

[3:19] We ask that in all ways you would be magnified, Lord Jesus. We pray that you be with teachers and students alike. that all throughout this building that Christ would be exalted in the presence of each one.

[3:33] And Lord Jesus, we pray that you continue to lead and guide us, and we ask it all in your name. Amen. So, as we finish up 2 Kings, I always like to kind of make these transitions, but we'll get right into the text here in just a minute.

[3:46] What's the difference between 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles? You remember? Right. 1 and 2 Kings tells us why we went to exile, or why they went into exile.

[3:59] 1 and 2 Chronicles is coming out of exile, and is declaring, really, God's faithfulness to the Davidic lineage, right? And here's who sits on the throne, here are the priests, this is what we ought to be doing.

[4:11] That's why much of the bad things you don't find in 1 and 2 Chronicles, because it is all about God's preservation and restoration. We find much judgment being cast in 1 and 2 Kings, because it's all about, this is why we got here.

[4:25] This is what we did wrong. The discipline is already passed by the time the author writes 1 and 2 Chronicles, so, and we'll see here tonight in just a moment, why dwell on our mistakes, let's move forward into restoration, but look at the Ebeneezers behind us, the stones of help that remind us who we are, how we ought to worship, who should be upon the throne, that's the big difference.

[4:53] Some people believe, I kind of agree with this, that Jeremiah was more likely the most likely candidate to author 1 and 2 Kings, the reason I kind of lean that way is because he was there, right?

[5:05] Ezra being the greatest candidate for 1 and 2 Chronicles, but we can't say that emphatically, so we don't know for certain, but anyway, let's get right into our text. First, 2 Kings chapter 25.

[5:18] One little side note before I start it, I want you to, you could just say, man, pastor, you're full of side notes. Well, I could spend about three hours tonight on this, but I'm not going to, just because I think it's there, but it's telling that 2 Kings opens with Elijah being caught up to heaven.

[5:40] 2 Kings closes with the people of God being carried off to exile. When commentator says, here's the declaration of the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked, right?

[5:55] One is caught off to heaven, and the others are carried off to exile. Now, it says, now in the ninth year of his reign, who is his? That's Zedekiah. If you go back in chapter 24, you will see that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

[6:09] Zedekiah is reigning now in place of Jeconiah or Coniah. It says, now in the ninth year of his reign and the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came and he and all his army against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.

[6:24] So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Context, if you want to see how bad it was, go read the book of Lamentations.

[6:40] That's what's going on. The book of Lamentations. That's why Jeremiah is writing that during that time. Then the city was broken into and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls between the king's garden.

[6:53] Though the Chaldeans were all around the city and they went by way 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.

[7:05] Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

[7:20] Now on the seventh day of the fifth month which was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard a servant of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem.

[7:33] He burned the house of the Lord the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem. Even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls all around Jerusalem.

[7:48] Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and all the rest of the people Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard carried away into exile.

[7:59] But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vine dressers and plowmen. Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon.

[8:14] They took away the pots the shovels the snuffers the spoons and all the bronze utensils which were used in the temple service. The captain of the guard also took away the fire pans and the basins what was fine gold and what was fine silver.

[8:26] The two pillars the one sea and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. The height of the one pillar was 18 cubits and the bronze capital was on it and the height of the capital was 3 cubits with the network of the pomegranates on the capital all around all of bronze.

[8:47] And the second pillar was like these with network. Then the captain of the guard took Saria the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest with the three officers of the temple from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war and five of the king's advisors who were found in the city and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land and 60 men of the people of the land who were found in the city.

[9:13] Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath so Judah was led away into exile from its land.

[9:27] Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahicham the son of Shaphan over them. When all the captains of the forces they and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor they came to Gedaliah and Gedaliah the son of Tan Humeth the Nethophethite and Jezaniah the son of Mekathite of the Mekathite they and their men Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans live in the land and serve the king of Babylon and it will be well with you.

[10:13] But it came about in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishamah of the royal family came with him and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

[10:29] Then all the people both small and great and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. Now it came about in the 37th year of the exile of Jehoiachin that's Jeconiah or Coniah king of Judah in the 12th month of the 27th day of the month that evil Merodach king of Babylon in the year that he became king released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

[11:01] Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence regularly all the days of his life and for his allowance a regular allowance was given him by the king a portion for each day all the days of his life 2nd Kings chapter 25 I want you to see the Babylonian captivity tonight nothing fancy in the name I just want you to see this Babylonian captivity there carried away in exile Sunday night we began to look at that we saw that it was the day of judgment that had arrived that what was going on was the Lord was disciplining his people and I want you to keep that in mind here and as we see this Babylonian captivity we will come to even a greater understanding of it I believe because the day that he has long foretold has now finally came upon them this is one of the historical markers in which we use to understand the Old Testament this is one of those markers when you're reading Bible history that you need to know when these things take place this is 586 B.C.

[12:00] as one of the core dates that you have to understand in your Old Testament studies this is something that is transitional in the nation and this is something that was leading up to this and something that completely changes everything after this this Babylonian captivity has now come I just want you to see some truths that pertain to it much of them are found here within our text but we have to dig a little bit further and go to the text that coincide with this throughout scripture but I won't ask you to turn there tonight but again there are so many rich texts that really point to this one event we spoke of lamentations how you can go read that and see how bad the famine got we spoke of the reality of going into Jeremiah 25 through 34 but if you read a little bit further in the book of Jeremiah you'll find that Galiah and Jeremiah were actually pretty good friends and there's a great detailed account of when Ishmael killed Galiah and you'll see that time when they fled to Egypt remember how I told you before Jeremiah said don't go to Egypt don't go to Egypt if you go to Egypt the Babylonians will come this is why they go to

[13:02] Egypt because they killed the one that the Babylonians had put in place by the way Galiah is not a bad guy if you look a little bit further he is a great great grandson of the one that when they found the book in the law that went to the prophetess that's who he is he's in that lineage of the ones who said hey here's the book right so he's not a bad guy he's not of Davidic lineage but Ishmael is of the Davidic lineage of the king so he was probably trying to usurp Sam take this throne lot of story there that's why they went to Egypt that's why they fled and that's why Jeremiah said don't go the Babylonians went to Egypt anyway okay and ended up destroying the area there as well so there's a lot that we could look at this but I just want you to see here what we kind of can gather from the text reading along other portions and we'll pull from that and I want you to look at it as well number one you see this is the fulfillment of the declared word I know we keep saying this but this is the fulfillment of the declared word but I want you just to understand just how accurately the word is fulfilled not only has

[14:09] God declared over and over and over again I mean Sunday night we looked at the reality that you have to go back to the book of Deuteronomy and find in the book of Deuteronomy the first time that God says his people will be led captive right so we go all the way back and we see that from the book of Deuteronomy the last discourse of Moses onward that this captivity has kind of been progressing if you were to read Josephus' history he would give you an exact date I mean to the day of when this happened right it was on this day at this hour at this moment the historians record everything to the reality that this word that God had declared would come about and it is now if we look at it as that Achaia is the last of the Davidic kings to set upon the throne while they are reigning in the land of Judah so it's a very monumental time because historically by the way the nation of Israel is still waiting for the restoration of that Davidic king so here we see the end of what there's still to this day waiting to see the one who would take the place that was removed that Zedekiah was removed from right it's an anticipation it is a marker day but you see here this is a fulfillment of the declared word since the sin of

[15:29] Manasseh God has told them actually it was before that it was in Hezekiah was miraculously extended his life he showed the Babylonian entourage everything he had God said the Babylonians who were not a world power at that time are going to carry all this stuff away and then Manasseh sends and then there's this declaration the Babylonians are coming well the Assyrians become powerful and oh the Babylonians are nothing but God did not say that the Babylonians would judge the northern tribe that was the Assyrians and we just continue to go on and prophet after prophet after prophet the legacy standard Bible declares that God raised up his slaves which were the prophets to declare his word so word after word after word keeps coming and all this word keeps coming to heed the word now!

[16:15] you would think that once there's a little bit of a partial deportation that happens around 607 or 606 BC that maybe they say okay well the judgment is here well that's just kind of the beginning of it right that's 605 would be the first year that Nebuchadnezzar is actually on the throne but do you know that the year that Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne go read it it it is Jeremiah 25 the very year he ascended the throne Jeremiah declared God will use him to lead his people into captivity God had his man right that's who he was going to use was that man God put him on the throne for that purpose just stay with me he's not a righteous man right God is not constrained into what tools and instrument he uses for his purposes and we have to just in case we want to discount the word of God as being true there are two supposedly conflicting prophecies that are given towards

[17:18] Zedekiah the first one is that Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that he will be led captive actually Jeremiah tells Zedekiah because he's in Jerusalem while Zedekiah is reigning and he says you will see face to face the king of Babylon at the same time Ezekiel sends a prophetic word from Babylon and tells Zedekiah that he will never see Babylon so it seems as if they are in conflict Jeremiah says you will look Nebuchadnezzar face to face you will be carried!

[17:59] away captive Ezekiel says you'll never see this city which one is right well they both are because when Zedekiah fled after the wall was broken down he ran into the wilderness with all of his troops and as the historians tell us as soon as they were caught everybody forsook him except for his closest people and they took him not to Babylon they took him to Riblah which is just about 100 plus miles outside of Jerusalem which was where Nebuchadnezzar was at because Zedekiah had been revolting so he himself left the stronghood of his own city but he went to this intersection of trade route so he could get his surplus and have his troops Nebuchadnezzar and all those people are down there and he's back off the front just a little bit but they took Zedekiah to Riblah and what did he do He looked Nebuchadnezzar in the eye so now the word of Jeremiah is fulfilled because he saw him face to face and the last thing that he ever saw was the slaughtering of his own sons and then he was blinded and then after he was blinded he was led away to

[19:05] Babylon and guess what he never saw that city the word of God is completely fulfilled in all aspects now pay attention to destruction of Zedekiah's sons because I told you that Zedekiah was the last king of the Davidic lineage to set upon the throne and by slaughtering his sons Nebuchadnezzar was trying to cut off the lineage of the throne there was no other dynasty in all the known world at that time like the Davidic dynasty it was the longest enduring!

[19:39] dynasty and here supposedly we've cut it off now but the word of God is fulfilled down to the smallest of matters as Jesus said not one iota will be removed from what God has declared and yet in every aspect in every way in every portion we see here with the Babylonian captivity the fulfillment of the declared word i say all these things because friend listen to me god still declares what is going to come to man we look at these old testament events and we do not go oh wow god was so right we look at that and we say that everything god said came about and then we turn around and see what he has now said that has not yet come to be like the destruction of the earth the judgment of man for his sins all these realities we stand amazed at every fulfillment of scripture of prophetic word at the first coming of

[20:42] Christ when the reality is there are twice as many prophecies regarding the second coming of Christ if every word that was ever declared about the first coming of Christ was fulfilled to the greatest of details then we can rest assured that every word that God has declared concerning his second coming will also be fulfilled it gives us confidence in the word of God Zedekiah probably dismissed both of these prophecies because there's no way that you can say I will see him but I won't see it there's no way that will ever happen but guess what it did over and over again man has dismissed!

[21:26] Number two we see the sorrow of a deported people we see the sorrow of the deported people we notice that not only they're carried away but the only ones who left to remain in Jerusalem are the poorest of the poor telling Jeremiah is one of them as well no longer is it even its capital seat because if you notice by the time the Gedaliah is there he is not at Jerusalem they go see him at Mizpah which is just if we want to see how bad it is go to the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah right because Nehemiah asked of his brothers what of Jerusalem what does he tell them the gates are burned the houses are burned and the stone walls are torn down when did that happen 70 years prior right here at the second kings chapter 25 because what took place by the!

[22:15] the way there's another prophetic word in the book of Jeremiah where Jeremiah says do not think that they will not carry anything else away because Zedekiah had these prophets around him saying oh everything that's in the temple is secure Jeremiah says no the Babylonians will come they will take the bronze silver they will take the gold what does it tell us they took the bronze silver and the gold and they burn the temple and burn the king's houses and burn the walls what do they do they burn everything everything they did they were foretold in advance that it would happen and yet the sorrow of the people being led away and the only ones left are there just to make sure the land doesn't get overgrown right they're not enough to restore people even the military leaders the few that are rounded up at the end they're slaughtered there's no one there now who can raise a revolt there's no craftsman who can build any weapons there's no one who is of higher learning and understanding to help you know how to form a plan it is a state of misery and not only are the people displaced but they can't worship because every article of worship has been removed the fire pans the snuffers the candles everything right they even took the big water basin the oxen were gone a long time ago they cut them out a long time before that melted that down and they set it on the ground but they took all of that everything is gone so here's a people not only without a home but they can't even worship this is why when you open up the book of Ezekiel it says their harps are hanging on the branches of the trees they have no songs to sing they have no worship to offer because they're sitting under the judgment hand of God it is the sorrow now we pay attention to the sorrow for just a moment because of the third one the third one is we see here the reminder of man's desperate need for a savior there's the fulfillment of the declared word there's the sorrow of a deported people there's a reminder of man's desperate need for a savior in the midst of all this sorrow in the midst of all this suffering jeremiah has an odd word jeremiah writes a letter while he's in jerusalem and he sends it to the captives that are in babylon right you find it there in the book of jeremiah that's why i gave you all these references and in this word jeremiah says something strange jeremiah pens this and he says build houses get married plant gardens and pray for the babylon make yourself at home pray for the prosperity of babylon because as it prospers so too will you he said well that's not home no but what does jeremiah say he says it's okay submit to the chaldeans right too often remember this we said it sunday night this is the discipline of god's people not the destruction of god's people sometimes god's going to discipline his people for their rebellion hebrews chapter 12 and following which tells us that if we are not disciplined we are not loved but it also tells us in the prophetic word in the old testament that god strikes but heals!

[25:43] Striking yet healing he says that at times it is the pain that leads to the greatest healing do you know many of the verses that people like to hang on their walls in their houses maybe I'm not here to cast stones okay if you've done it and you say I've got that hanging on my wall I'm not here to say that but many of them are found within the context of this discipline what about this for I know the plans I have for you plans to prosper you not to destroy you when did God say that when his people were in Babylon and why did he say it because he was telling them I know right now you think this is terrible I know right now you think this is miserable you don't have a city your walls are torn down you can't even worship and right now you are not living where you want to live and right now it's painful but I know what I'm doing right for I know the plans and he says they are plans of hope you said there's no hope in this look at this and

[26:46] Nebuchad is going down and he's ransacking everything where's the hope in this hope is not found in the material matters right the problem in Jerusalem by the way my friend is the same problem that's happened in America I told you I could get a little preachy tonight right is that we think our hope is wrapped up in what we possess rather than the one who possesses us and so when they look around and all their hope is gone and God sends them someone what is he doing he!

[27:15] showing them it's not about that it's about me right I know what I'm doing you go and you read this is why I say you need to read those Jeremiah words because I know we get caught up Jeremiah's lamentations and he's a depressing guy right Jeremiah he wasn't a real happy guy everything was bad but there's a lot of hope found in Jeremiah's prophetic word what is he declaring that Jeremiah declared that God would restore them that God would use the Babylonians until the time of the Medo Persian kingdom I should throw a red flag up for you you ought to go to the book of Daniel by then he says and then Jeremiah made this great declaration that when the Medo Persians would come there would be this king by the way Isaiah spoke of him and that king's name would be

[28:15] Cyrus and Cyrus would issue a decree and guess what God would restore you God is disciplining not destroying too often we think God is out to destroy us when really all he's trying to do is cleanse us and we submit to that now you say well how do I know that it's not that in Christ we are secure you say well what if I'm not a believer then my friend your day of destruction is already appointed if you've never accepted Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior you don't have to worry about discipline because you're not a child of God yet but for those of us who are his children he will not be mocked he will discipline but this reminds us again and again and again as Jesus told the people of Israel that God can raise up descendants of Abraham from these stones it doesn't matter who you are it doesn't matter where you are what matters is who he is and he is showing them the

[29:18] Babylonian captivity he is showing them over and over and over again you need me probably one of the most powerful words of God that come through Jeremiah there and it is found in Jeremiah chapter 30 where Jeremiah says thus says the Lord and it's this great discourse but I'll give it in a nutshell he says the Lord says you have an incurable!

[29:48] wound your sin is great incurable He uses the word incurable a number of times your chastisement is deserved and he's speaking to his people he says your offense is so great and so grand there's nothing you can do about it you have an incurable wound but then God says but I will restore you I will renew you I will cleanse you see they couldn't do it themselves how do you know you need a savior until God gets you into the place where you realize that what you have you can't take care of he says you're doing so much you had the temple you had the gold you had the silver you had so much bronze you didn't even plan on measuring it silver was so prosperous in the days of Solomon they quit counting it right you had all this stuff but you still have an incurable wound that you can't take care of so I had to remove all that stuff that was distracting you to get you to the place where you would know that I am going to cleanse you in context where God says I will cast your sins as far as the east is from the west

[31:09] Babylonian captivity see a lot of these things we like to claim on our own right now he's got to get you into captivity before he can give you that promise you've got to get to this place where nothing you've been dependent upon is around you anymore and everything that you thought you could rely upon is in ashes and your hope and your city and the city on a hill is all rumbled around you and everything you have built is destroyed and then God gets you to the place where he looks at you and says look how terrible you are and you say I don't want to look at myself and then God says you can't do anything about it your wound is incurable but then God says but I will heal you see too often we think that the God of the Bible is a God who just wants to point out all the faults he points out the faults go with me back to the garden of Eden right for those of you I've done pre-marriage counseling with what did I say and for those of you who have been with me nearly nine or the nine years I've been here we started in Genesis 1 and following why did God make Adam name all the animals he said well that's so he could have dominion over them to name them and said dominion well that's one of them but why did he have all the animals passed before him it's because that verse follows for there was no helper found suitable for Adam he had to get

[32:29] Adam to the place where Adam knew that there was something he was missing right Adam was living in paradise in perfection I mean everything around him was vegetarian all the animals are vegetarian by the way creation there's no nothing's chasing him nothing's trying to kill him he has dominion over all of creation it's perfect and then God says alright Adam I want all these animals to pass for you that's cool no problem right but he knows there's a male and there's a female there's a male and there's a female there's a male and there's a female and all of a sudden I don't know how quick a learner Adam was but God could have told him hey Adam you need help and I'm like no I'm good I got all this under control there's not a problem out here right until all of a sudden you start seeing these animals go by there's a male and a female male and a female male and a female male and a female last animal goes by and Adam looks up and goes wait a minute I need something and then it says and then God put Adam to sleep now I believe in a God who could have created male and female at the very beginning but you know what he did he let man know that he can't do it on his own and man had to learn that the hard way because that's us right he let man know he can't do it on his own and in his grace and in his mercy he revealed a need that he was already intending to meet he did and this is what he's doing in Babylonian captivity right

[33:49] I'm going to show you how much you need me so by the way that great prophetic word in Jeremiah I will create in you a new heart you will no longer have to teach one another thus saith the Lord for you will know it will spring up from within your hearts where does that come from Babylonian captivity you should just answer that on every question right now right every one of them comes out of the Babylonian captivity where do they get this new heart when that old heart reaches the end of itself we had the temple we had to go we had the silver we had the bronze we had everything we had the right king on the throne it didn't work for us we need something new right this shows us this reminds us that man is in desperate need of a savior because like them each one of us has an incurable wound but just like them God says but I will heal you but I will heal you because in context again you can read it he says for when you call out to me then

[34:54] I will remove your sins what happens after 70 years oh you got to turn to the book of Daniel and find that out because by the way God dated the discipline right there was a date do you notice this in scripture I told you I could preach on this for three hours right I know we kind of go off this this is not a jumping point this is just a fleshing out point did you notice this in scripture that when God made a covenant with Abraham Abram at that time and he told Abram I'm going to multiply your descendants but I tell you they were sojourning in the land that God dated how long they would be in Egypt did you notice that they were sojourning in the land for 400 years after 400 years I'll bring them out did you notice that when he sent his people to Babylon he dated that too because Jeremiah said you will be there 70 years after 70 years there will be a decree days I was sharing with someone earlier today that again

[35:59] I've been reading on the spiritual discipline of the wise use of your time and it is a spiritual discipline and I read this quote the gentleman said that if you ever waste the time that God gave you he never gives you more of all the resources you are given you never get more time I said wow it's amazing right waste the money you go work harder you can get more money we waste our time there's no more why because it's dated is appointed unto man once to die my life and your life is dated we don't know when but God has declared the beginning and the end just like every one of these but we need a savior fourth and finally we'll be done with it because we got to get restoration that declares the glory of the Lord when they are going to be restored it is a declaration of the glory of the

[37:05] Lord Daniel is reading the word of God in the book of Jeremiah and says oh Jeremiah says 70 years and Daniel realized it's been 70 years so Daniel starts praying and he starts praying exactly what God said if you call out to me and confess your sins I will create in you a new heart read Daniel Daniel says Lord we have sinned boom God begins to work Ezra goes back Nehemiah goes back they rebuild the walls they're not perfect we get to the book of Malachi we can see their imperfections there Malachi by the way is right after Nehemiah in history I know it's not one little thing found in our text that is in 2 Kings 25 that shows us how God is going to get the glory and it's right there at the end and you're kind of like why did they put that there because by the way 2 Chronicles ends with the decree of

[38:05] Cyrus okay 2 Chronicles ends that Cyrus ascended to the throne and issued a decree that whoever wants to return Jeconiah all three names same guy that we would like to forget about because he was not good he was desperately wicked God declared in the book of Jeremiah that no descendant of his would set upon the throne I know we've looked at that a lot of times but you remember Zedekiah's sons they were killed they were the ones in line to ascend to the throne when you open up the book of Matthew and you're reading that genealogy we do it around Christmas and I know we did it this past year at Christmas we find Jehoiachin Jeconiah do you know why we find him it's because God in his grace and mercy moved in the heart of a king whose first name is evil to release

[39:13] Jeconiah from prison and give him an allowance from the table you say well the prophecy says that no no descendant of his would do right that's the prophetic word but the legal word says only a descendant of David legally can sit upon the throne and if Jeconiah had remained in prison in Babylon and not been allowed to have children then God would not have chosen Joseph to be the adoptive father and therefore as the adoptive father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Jesus gets all the rights of his father and through Joseph he now has the legal right to the throne and through Mary he has the spiritual right to the throne because the nation of Israel would have said we know nothing of Nathan that's the descendants of these people when

[40:16] Zedekiah sons were killed that should have ended the lineage of those people but in his grace and mercy God moved in the heart of a king to release Jehoiachin for some unknown reason other than the fact that God is moving for the preservation of that lineage so that when we look throughout history the only man who has a right to point to his lineage as recorded in scripture is of anybody that has ever lived because in AD 70 when Jerusalem was again besieged and the temple was again set on fire they kept their ancestral records and the temple of Jerusalem and when the Romans burned the temple so that the gold would melt and they could get the gold from out between the stones they destroyed every ancestry record so that no man living can prove that he is a descendant of David until Jesus steps back on the earth and all he has to do is open up the book of Matthew and it will flow right through

[41:16] Jehoiachin who was let out of prison and given a king's allowance and then all of a sudden he started having kids and we go down throughout history and we meet Joseph who was a righteous and devout man that God said that's see who gets the praise in the end not Jehoiachin but God for his faithfulness this declares his worthiness and his glory to be praised because he does all things well and we see it in 2nd Kings chapter 25 thank you for your patience as we made our way through that time thing Thank you.

[43:07] Thank you.