Lent Day 30
by Matt Williamson
2 Chronicles 36:14-23, All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.
The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Jerusalem Captured and Burned
Therefore he brought up 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, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. 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 burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
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: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”
Three back-to-back-to-back kings of Israel ruled more evil than the last until ultimately, the very priests of God rebelled with them.
Yet pause to reflect on the throughline of Scripture embedded here: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
In a passage devoted to destruction, the idea of creation lies hidden within context. The Lord established his people in the land long promised to Abraham. He “made holy” his house (verse 14), the focal point of the kingdom and most sacred space for his worship, built with the riches he gave to Solomon.
But all was not perfect.
Because of his people’s blatant rebellion, God sent Nebuchadnezzar to exact His judgment and undo His promise of the land–putting them right back where they started with Abraham: in Chaldean hands. As Matthew Henry wrote:
Now his degenerate seed were carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been regarded for the father’s sake, and the benefit of that covenant into which he was called; all was now undone again [emphasis added].
In a mirror image of his character, the compassionate God sent a compassionless conqueror. The God of mercy to the most vulnerable used a merciless man.
God’s wrath was swift, total, and sure. There remained nothing but the poorest of the poor. He even let his own temple be decimated.
Just as He allowed the Messiah to be crucified: humiliated and decimated.
God’s wrath–and his word–had been fulfilled.
The Promised Land held no hope. What once abounded with milk & honey lay barren and desolate. For seventy years during hopelessness captivity, the people cried for deliverance.
Note how the author did not end his chronicle in despair. Just as the promised destruction came, so too would the promised redemption.
Hope dawned when God led Cyrus king of Persia to free God’s people so “the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled” (2 Chronicles 36:22).
A promise waiting 150 years came true when God restored the nation to its land. He revealed through Isaiah that Cyrus–by name–would rebuild God’s house.
The Lord rebuilt and restored because he is faithful. The same God who delivered his people then now has built his house using the cornerstone the builders rejected and delivered us, a people for his own possession (1 Peter 2:7,9).
It’s the same compassion continuing to pursue us.
And while there will be another day of the Lord marked by total destruction, we will see the final inauguration of his kingdom. Those who are redeemed will not be carried into captivity, but into glory.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Make all the sad things untrue once more.
Matt Williamson is a marketing project manager freelancing out of Greenville, SC. When he’s not managing creative teams, you can find him running, thinking about running, or coaching high school runners.