Dave Burnette's Commentary

2 Kings Chapter 25

Written By: God through Inspiration
Penned By: Jeremiah
Date Penned: (586 BC)
Overview: A History of the Kings of Israel and Judah (c 1-25)
Theme: The Surviving Kingdom (c 18-25)
Message: Jerusalem Is Demolished (v 1-30)

2 Kings 25 Commentary 

(25:1) A Failure to Repent - Judah was invaded by the Babylonians three times (24; 24:10; 25:1), just as Israel was invaded by the Assyrians three times. God demonstrated his mercy by giving the people repeated opportunities to repent, but over and over his people had refused to turn from their disobedience and idolatry. There is a time when God's justice must be carried out. Apparently, God's mercy would not be embraced by the people of Judah. This final exile to Babylon was deserved judgment for their sin and unrepentance.


(25:13) The Brass Basin - The huge brass basin called the sea was the reservoir used to hold water for ritual cleansing of the priests. The brass metal in the sea, the temple pillars, and the movable bases was so valuable that it was broken up and carried off to Babylon.


(25:21) God Allows Judah to be Destroyed - The people of Judah, like those of Israel, were unfaithful to God. So God, as he had warned, allowed Judah to be destroyed and the people taken away into captivity (Deuteronomy 28). The book of Lamentations records the prophet Jeremiah's sorrow at seeing Jerusalem destroyed.


(25:22-30) God Establishes a Remnant - This story shows that Judah's last hope of becoming an independent nation again was gone, since even the army captains (now guerrilla rebels) had fled. Judah's earthly kingdom was absolutely in ruins. But through prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel, who were also captives, God was preserving a remnant of his people who would keep their faith alive and one day return to Judah to reestablish God's earthly kingdom.


(25:22) Nebuchadnezzar Appointed a Governor - In place of the king (Zedekiah), who was deported to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar appointed a governor (Gedaliah), who would faithfully administer the Babylonian policies


(25:27) Evil-merodach Rules Babyloyn - Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, became king of the Babylonian Empire in 562 BC, 24 years after the beginning of the general captivity and 37 years after Jehoiachin was removed from Jerusalem. The new king treated Jehoiachin with kindness, even allowing him to eat at his table (25:29). Evil-merodach was later killed in a plot by Nergal-sharezer, his brother-in-law who succeeded him to the Babylonian throne.


(25:30) A Book of Great Application - The book of 2 Kings opens with Elijah being carried to heaven--the destination awaiting those who follow God. But the book ends with the people of Judah being carried off to foreign lands as humiliated slaves--the result of failing to follow God. Second Kings is an illustration of what happens when we make anything more important than God, when we make ruinous alliances, when our consciences become desensitized to right and wrong, and when we are no longer able to discern God's purpose for our lives. We may fail, like the people of Judah and Israel, but God's promises do not. He is always available to help us straighten out our lives and start over. And that is just what would happen, as recorded in the book of Ezra. When the people acknowledged their sins, God was ready and willing to help them return to their land and start again.

 


Dave Burnette's Life Application

Sin Always Complicates Life

 

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Today we continue the book of 2 Kings with Chapter 25.  In our text, we see the destruction of Jerusalem and the leadership after the fall of Jerusalem. What catches my eye as we come to the end of this book is how 2nd Kings started with Elijah being carried to heaven as a sign of victory and ended with the people of Judah being carried off to foreign lands as humiliated enslaved people in defeat as a result of their sin. It reminds me of a message I heard that 'Sin always complicates life"; we reap what we sow and many mistakes the grace of God with empathy towards sin. Today we have the country embracing homosexuality along with abortion and other blatant sins mistaking His grace towards them as an acceptance of a sinful lifestyle. How about you? Do you mistake God's Grace for sin's approval? Let us learn from our text today and the example of Israel and Judah in the book of 2nd Kings to remember that "Sin always complicates life."

 

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2 Kings 25

2 Kings 25

 1And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

 2And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

 3And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

 4And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.

 5And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.

 6So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.

 7And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

 8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

 9And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.

 10And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

 11Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

 12But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

 13And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

 14And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

 15And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

 16The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.

 18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

 19And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city:

 20And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:

 21And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.

 22And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.

 23And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

 24And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.

 25But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.

 26And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.

 27And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

 28And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon;

 29And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.

 30And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.