God had made a covenant with Israel to cause them to flourish in the promised land for as long as they kept their part of the covenant. Basically, He would be their God and King, and as such, provide for them from His infinite personal resources including physical prosperity and protection from enemy forces. But the Israelites traded all this away in their thirst for an inferior worldly king. What follows, is Israel’s swift march into worldly bondage. Consider, as you reflect on today’s reading, how you trade away God’s unlimited kingship blessings each time you make yourself ruler over even a small part of your life. Consider your own personal march into Babylon.
Each worldly king does more evil in the sight of God than their predecessors, and God’s judgement is awakened. Ignoring warnings from God’s own prophets, Israel finds themselves with no temple for God to dwell among them, no land, no food and no protection from their enemies. God’s righteous judgement causes them to be exiled away from His promised land of plenty into the captivity of worldly bondage.
But what of God’s promise to cause David’s heir to forever sit on the throne? Can God forget His promises? Carefully consider the last few verses of 2 Kings and see if you find in them a glimmer of hope. There is always hope for anyone of us who embraces God absolutely as King and ruler over his life
For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! 2 Kings 19:31 NLT
