Consequences XII

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,  then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.  (2 Kings 25:5-7, NASB)

King Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord.  As such, he was the last king of Judah.  God had had enough, and He finally executed His judgment on Judah that He had warned about through His prophets.  The Bible passage above tells of King Zedekiah’s demise at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 

Babylon had previously besieged Jerusalem several years earlier.  The king at the time, King Jeconiah, was deposed and taken to exile to Babylon, where he spent the rest of his life.  Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah, Jeconiah’s uncle, in his place.  Fast forward several years, and Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.  Babylon then be besieged Jerusalem again, and after two years, destroyed the city and captured the king.

But what about God’s promise to King David, that David would not ever lack his descendants on the throne of Israel?  There’s been a gap of about 2600 years since the last king of Judah.  When measured against eternity, however, this is just a grain of sand on a beach!  And what about Jesus’ ancestors?  Jeconiah, son of the good King Josiah, is mentioned in Matthew 1 as part of the Royal Line of Messiah.  Zedekiah is not.  He’s apparently the brother of Josiah.  King Jesus will reign for eternity in the House of David, and on David’s throne!  God has promised this, and we can count on it, because God is Promise Keeper!  Do you know my King?