Year 2, Day 23: 2 Kings 25

Warning

Well, today I am probably going to say a few things that run pretty close to heretical in a few ways.  So let’s be up front about that today.  I’m not going to be heretical, but a few people out there might think that I am.

Zedekiah

But before I get to the heresy, let’s just imagine being Zedekiah for a minute.  I know the Bible says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.  I know that he wasn’t a great guy from a righteousness perspective.  Yet, Nebuchadnezzar captures him and forces him to watch as his family is slaughtered in front of him.  Nobody deserves that punishment.  That is just plain old cruelty.

To make matters worse, they then put out his eyes.  The point of this is clear.  The last thing Zedekiah would see would be the slaughter of his sons.  That would be the vivid memory that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The Babylonians and God’s Perspective

I know this kind of thing happened often in ancient days.  This was one king’s way of taking another king’s stuff and eliminating the competition.  I understand that thought behind it and I know why they did it.  But from a human decency perspective – from a love your enemy perspective – this is simply inexcusable.  This act alone shows me why the Old Testament prophets struggled with God when He made it clear to them that Babylon was going to be the agent of doom upon Judah.  These Babylonians were nowhere close to respectable, much less righteous!

But God used them anyway.  Let us not forget that God judged them later and punished them by having them be destroyed by the Persians.  Again, from the perspective of God and His righteousness, things work out in the end.  But for Zedekiah, he might beg to differ.  I guess it does show us a little how we need to remember to view the world through God’s perspective rather than our own.  It might not make a great amount of sense, but we cannot fathom God’s ways most of the time.  We are called to trust, not understand.

The Importance of Religious Institutions

So now let’s get to the heresy part.  Let’s set the stage.  God’s holy city was Jerusalem.  God’s temple – His dwelling place on earth – was Jerusalem.  There is no more sacred place to the Jewish faith than Jerusalem.  God allowed the city to be destroyed.  God allowed His temple to be robbed and burned.  God allowed the house of His kings to be burned and destroyed.  God allowed the walls of the city to be pulled down and destroyed.  God allowed His priests to be dragged before Nebuchadnezzar and to be killed in his presence.

Here’s the heretical part for some.  We think our religious institutions are so great that God would never let them fall into disrepair.  We think our paraments and chalices and worship implements bring so much glory and honor to God that He would never let anything happen to them.  We think our religious programs are changing so many lives that they would never stop being in God’s favor.  We think that the “kingdom of God” that we have built for Him is so marvelous that He will love it forever.

But God sends a different message to us in this chapter.  Buildings are nothing to God without faithful people; let them be destroyed.  Our worship implements are nothing to God without faithful people; let them be melted down and used to adorn someone else’s court.  Programs are nothing to God if they are not truly bringing about faithful people; let them pass away.  If the goal of what we do is not to inspire a relationship with God in the people around us, then what we do is meaningful only to us.

That’s a harsh reality, but it is a lesson God teaches the Hebrew people over and over.  I think He’s also taught it to us as Christians before, too.  We need to focus on God’s plan, not our plan.  We need to focus on God’s relationship with us, not our own lives.  We need to be God-centered and God-fearing if we are to accomplish anything that has any kind of meaning.  The size of the building, the beauty of the stuff, the magnificence of the act … all these things are meaningless and worthy of being destroyed if they are not creating and growing a relationship with God in the people around us.

It is a tough way to end a book of the Bible, but it does serve as a good wake-up call to us as followers of God.  And that is the point of 1 & 2 Kings.

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