1So on January 15,* during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 2Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
3By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,* the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 4Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,* the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped* through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.*
5But the Babylonian* troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 6They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 7They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.
The Temple Destroyed
8On August 14 of that year,* which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 9He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings* in the city. 10Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 11Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. 12But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
13The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the LORD’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 14They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 15The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.
16The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD’s Temple in the days of Solomon. 17Each of the pillars was 27 feet* tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 71/2 feet* high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.
18Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. 19And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 20Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.
Gedaliah Governs in Judah
22Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah. 23When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah* son of the Maacathite, and all their men.
24Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.
25But in midautumn of that year,* Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.
26Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
27In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to* Jehoiachin and released him* from prison on April 2 of that year.* 28He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 29He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.
April 14 Reflection & Worship
Prayers God Delights to Answer
TRUE PRAYER IS A WAY OF LIFE, NOT JUST AN EMERGENCY DETOUR.
LOOK BACK One nation under Solomon (Israel) becomes two nations split apart under their own succession of rulers. Beginning with 1 Kings 12, you have been reading the parallel histories of these two kingdoms.
Elijah’s prophetic ministry (1 Kings) is mostly public and national in scope. His encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is a classic “battle of the gods,” and his prayer life an example to all believers (James 5:17-18). By contrast, his successor, Elisha (2 Kings), ministers with equal power and a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, but mostly in private, one-on-one encounters.
The northern kingdom of Israel, clearly on a collision course with disaster since the days of Ahab, finally meets its fate at the hands of the cruel Assyrians. The surviving kingdom of Judah narrowly averts a similar end and is revived during the reign of good king Hezekiah. His zealous reforms and heartfelt prayers temporarily turn the tide of national apostasy and halfhearted religion.
LOOK UP When you pray, does God (a) always answer your prayers? (b) sometimes answer your prayers? (c) seldom answer your prayers?
If the frequency of God’s answers makes you suspect you still have much to learn about prayer, you are in good company. Even Jesus’ closest traveling companions came to him one day and said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). It was a request Jesus was only too happy to grant.
In your reading of 1 and 2 Kings you have encountered two remarkable examples of people who prayed the kinds of prayers God delights to answer.
Elijah prayed a prayer of self-sacrifice. In order to bring his countrymen to a spiritual crossroads, Elijah prayed that it wouldn’t rain—knowing that if God answered his prayer, Elijah’s own brook would dry up, and his life would be in jeopardy.
Hezekiah prayed a prayer of total dependence. Spreading before the Lord the threatening letter he had received from the Assyrian general, Hezekiah affirmed that God and God alone had the power to deliver his people. Hezekiah’s confidence was not in his wealth, his wisdom, the size of his army, or the eloquence of his words—but in God’s omnipotent greatness.
LOOK AHEAD Close your time in the Word today by following the exhortation of Peter (one of the disciples who asked Jesus to teach him to pray) in 1 Peter 5:5-7: “And all of you, serve each other in humility, for ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Think of a problem or decision you are facing right now, and pray it through like Elijah or Hezekiah. Lay your request before the Lord; be honest and transparent before him. Are you willing to obey God totally, even if it means personal inconvenience or risk? Are you willing to lean on God alone, even if others criticize or ostracize you? Tell him so right now.
It’s a humbling thing to acknowledge that you cannot solve your own problems—but when you let God be your problem solver, don’t be surprised if you see enemies flee and fireworks begin.