The Kingdom Falls
Chapter 17

When Hope Dies

Dateline 597 BC:

“Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother, his wives, his officials and the leading men of the land” 2 Kings 24:15(NIV)  

Background 

In Judah, the southern kingdom, the father-not-like-son pattern continued. Hezekiah, a godly king, was followed by his son, Manasseh, who did evil. His son, Josiah was a hero. Josiah discovered the long lost of book of Deuteronomy (perhaps the whole Pentateuch), was astonished at how Judah had strayed and reinstituted biblical worship of Jahweh. His son Jehoahaz was a disaster and the last kings, Jehoiakin, Jehoiakim  and Zedekiah were essentially vassals of Babyon.  

The end was on the horizon.  

One and only one Glimmer of Hope

In 597, 10 years before Judah’s  final defeat, thousands of Jews were deported to Bablyon among whom was Ezekiel. He continued to prophecy doom, but never is doom proclaimed without right in the middle of it a pointer to the bigger truth of the upper story. God will repair all that is broken.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws”  
Ezekiel 36:25-28  


Prayer
"Lord, thank you for the reminder that the old saying ‘it is always darkest before the dawn’ contains a greater  truth. But it’s not automatic. It’s true for me only insofar as I put my trust in you. Amen”