2 Chronicles 36

Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

(2Ch 36:14-21)

This passage makes me so sad; it is one of the saddest things that we read in all of scripture. Our God, reaching out in love to His people is rejected time and time again. Sin is getting grosser, the nation is going from bad to worse, and those few who are faithful to the Lord are mocked, scorned and persecuted. It got to the point that our God, the God who is willing that none should perish, the God who IS LOVE, declared that there was NO REMEDY. The nation as a whole was past the point of no return. As a result, His judgment falls.

The temple is looted and burned to the ground.

The walls surrounding Jerusalem are destroyed.

All of the beautiful palaces are destroyed.

Every precious thing is taken.

Every person that was not slain was ripped from there home and taken as captives into a foreign land, the land of Babylon.

Israel, the people who were to be “governed by God” have been displaced and destroyed, they have lost everything, all because they WOULD NOT REPENT. It could have been the end of the story. God’s plan of redemption could have been extinguished right then. There is no reason why couldn’t have walked away and said “I give up on you”. But the story does not end here. On the contrary, the story of redemption is just beginning. For out of the ashes, God was going to rebuild a nation that once again feared Him, and 400 years or so down the road, He was going to take on flesh, to walk among His people as a man, and die on a tree for their sins. God was just getting started. Though their may have been no remedy for the NATION, there is always a remedy for sin. It wasn’t cheap, and it wasn’t easy, but God was going to save mankind. It would cost Him everything, but He was going to do it because HE LOVED THE WORLD AND ALL THAT WAS IN IT.

Listen to the resounding note of hope that we read in the last verses of this book…

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!

(2Ch 36:22-23)

The temple was to be rebuilt. What did this symbolize? God was going to once again dwell in the midst of Israel… He wasn’t finished, He was just beginning. Remember that. It applies to your life today. God isn’t finished… like Cyrus declared, God is moving, He is looking for HIS people who are willing to go up and engage in the work. It isn’t a physical temple we are building today though, it is a spiritual kingdom; and God isn’t finished, He is just beginning!