Today’s reading is the culmination of several of God’s promises. Sometimes, when we think of God keeping His promises, we think of His “good” promises. The promises kept here are the ones of judgment. God’s chastening and judgments show His faithfulness. Notice with me several of these promises.
God’s Word Came to Pass
In Deuteronomy 28, we have a thorough description of what would happen if God’s people forsake the Lord, detailing their condition, culture, and the siege and exile of the people. Did this come to pass? Yes.
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. … And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: (2 Chronicles 36:17, 20, KJV)
In 2 Chronicles 7, God warned His people that if they forsook Him, He would uproot them from the land, exiling them, and destroy the Temple that Solomon had built. The people thought that God would never destroy the Temple (Jeremiah 7:4, 8-10) and were safe to commit their idolatry so long as the Temple stood. Did God keep His word? Yes.
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees … And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. (2 Chronicles 36:17–19, KJV)
The Faithfulness of God in the Future
Amid the judgment of God, however, we get a peek into the future and another promise of God.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up. (2 Chronicles 36:22–23, KJV)
As much as God is faithful in His judgments against His people for their sins, he is steadfast in His promise to restore them to the land. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah detail this to come.
What a reminder of how faithful God is to keep His Word! Everything that God has promised will come to pass. Even when everything seems to fall apart, God’s Word will endure!
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:8, KJV) Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35, KJV)
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from 2 Kings 24–25; 2 Chronicles 36.