2nd Chronicles 36 "BY HIS MESSENGERS" The books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles concluded the historical account of the Old Testament as far as the time line is concerned. Chronicles is the last book of the Hebrew Old Testament. This was followed by 400 years of darkness until our Lord came and the New Testament age began. It was during these final years of the kingdom of Judah that the warnings and prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and some other prophets were given to the people. To have been given messages from God and have them spurned, ignored and openly rejected must have been very discouraging to those to whom God had called to speak to the people for Him.
When those who preach the Gospel and/or teach the Lord's people see very little response to their message, the tendency is to say, "What is the use of continuing to do this. No one comes out. No one wants to listen. The people won't pay heed to the Bible itself, let alone what we say." We must remember our calling is to deliver the message in spite of opposition and obstacles. What people do with it is out of our control. God can bring about circumstances according to His own sovereign will that will make the results be what He has ordained. Our responsibility is to faithfully fulfill the commission we have been given to the best of our ability, and then leave the results to God.
Again, the readers of the Chronicles who came from Babylon were made aware of their more recent history and the reasons for the captivity, and consequences of the sins of their forbearers. The last four kings of Judah were briefly written about because they were puppet leaders over a nation that had been conquered and put under tribute to foreign governments. Over 200 million dollars worth of silver and gold had to be paid to the Egyptians. Then the Egyptian-Assyrian alliance lost the battle of Carchemish to the rising Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar. Consequently, Judah became subservient to Babylon and all the things of value were taken from the temple to Babylon. The land of Judah was destitute and ultimately decimated.
Of the four kings who followed the reign of Josiah, three were his own sons. none of whom had the character of their father. The other one was probably an uncle. The prophecies of Jeremiah to them seemed to fall on the deaf ears of morally and spiritually weak men. Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin did evil in the eyes of God and their evil influence was linked with the evil of the chief priests and the people. When the priesthood "transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord," there was nothing left to salvage of the nation.
Again, we are reminded, as were the exiles who read this account, that just because parents may do that which is right with enthusiasm, and serve the Lord well, does not mean that their children will follow them. The opposite may be true as well. Ungodly parents may have devout and faithful children who love the Lord and obey His word, in spite of the wickedness of a father and/or a mother. The warnings from God had continued for generations as faithful prophets, servants of God, prophesied and called upon the leaders and the people to repent and turn from their wicked ways and call on the Lord for mercy. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
The words of grace from Isaiah and other prophets could not have been made plainer. But "that great cloud of witnesses" were ignored, despised, imprisoned and some killed for telling the truth to a hard-hearted people. It is true that Manasseh's evil brought down the just judgment of God on Judah, but also "the chief priests, and the people transgressed very much." Political and religious leaders have a serious responsibility when it comes to fulfilling the role they have been given. But the individual people also are held responsible for what they do and how they respond to warnings because of their sin.
After such warnings have been given and ignored, eventually the whole matter is beyond recovery. To sin deliberately after having been repeatedly warned, will bring judgment instead of mercy. When sin is repeated rather than repented of, brings righteous judgment in order to remove the contagious effect of continuing sin. In spite of the good effects of Josiah's reform, the hearts of the people had not changed and the removal of even the people as captives had to happen.
There were various times when captives were taken to Babylon. Some were taken early among which were likely Daniel and other young men who were to be trained in Babylonian leadership. The gradual carrying away of the Jews made it possible to still keep tribute going to Babylon. Those last kings were subservient in their rule to the authority of their Babylonian captors. Zedekiah was a weak-hearted man, but had a stubborn streak that kept him from humbling himself before the Lord. He rebelled against the Lord and rebelled against his captors by breaking his oath to them. This brought down serious revenge on this weak man and also on Jerusalem and all Judah.
The city of Jerusalem was decimated. The temple was torn down. All the treasures of the house of the Lord were taken away. The people were taken captive for seventy years giving the land the Sabbath-rest God had intended. The sons of Zedekiah were killed in a horrible way before his eyes, and then his own eyes were put out. All that makes a nation, a nation, was gone. The infrastructure, the capital city, the temple, the walls of the city, the leaders and most of the people were gone. Except for one thing - the promises of God. God had warned them of all that would happen if the nation forsook Him. It did - and he arranged that just judgment would fall on the nation. "The Lord shall scatter you among the nations."
But even the Babylonian empire with all its might and glory was subject to the sovereignty of God. "God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another." To our God, "the nations are as a drop in a bucket." When the Persians conquered Babylon, God had a man prepared to do His will. Cyrus was in the right place so that when the time was right according to God's plan, He had a man under His authority to do what was needed. "The Lord God of heaven ... hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem." We may think all is lost, but we still have God's word, God's Spirit and God's promises. God's will, is being done, even today. This would have given confidence and courage to those who had returned from captivity in Babylon to know what they should be doing. They were to build a new temple. Later they were to build again the walls and the gates. They were to restore the testimony of Israel, even though it wouldn't have the former glory Israel once had.
There will be yet a more glorious reign when "our Lord shall come in power and glory from on high." He will sit on David's throne and the whole world will know who is in authority over all the affairs of men. Even in assemblies of God's people today we hear people say it is not like it used to be among us. That is true, but we still have God with us and guiding us. it is up to us to keep pressing ahead with the commission we have been give, and trust God with all our hearts, and then leave the results to Him. God's voice and His promise, "I will hear... will forgive... will heal" is still valid.