WEDNESDAY May 25, 2022
The Surety of God’s Word
Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
2 Kings 25:1-3
The tribes of Judah were idolatrous; they were no better than the tribes Israel. God gave Judah a much longer time than Israel to repent. He gave them 210 years, but they continued in their idolatry. If only Judah would have learned the lessons from their sister Israel––in the north. Could they not see the tragic consequences as a result of Israel’s sin?
As God brought judgment on Israel, so His judgment would come upon Judah. God allowed another nation––Babylon––to invade and chasten His people. King Nebuchadnezzar made three sieges against the city of Jerusalem. The Jews were taken into captivity for 70 years.
Although Judah was idolatrous, that was not the only reason they went into captivity. The 70 years of captivity correlated with their disobedience to what was written in the book of Leviticus. They were to work the land for six years, and then, on the seventh year, let the land rest (Leviticus 25:1-7). Sabbath after Sabbath, year after year, they worked the land. For every year they worked the land, they remained in captivity.
Daniel was also taken to Babylon, along with his young Hebrew friends––Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When Daniel was an old man, he began to understand the prophecy of Jeremiah the prophet. The end of the Jews’ 70 years of captivity in Babylon would soon be over!
Daniel set his face to fast and pray; he confessed his sins and the sins of the nation of Israel. God sent the angel Gabriel to reveal, not only the prophecy of the end days, but when the Jews would go back to Jerusalem (Daniel 9).
God’s Word is pure and sure in spite of the devil, in spite of our fear, in spite of everything.
~R.A. Torrey~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!