(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Amen so second Kings chapter number 25 of course we're wrapping up the book tonight and Really just an overview of this chapter. He probably caught it while I was being read, but basically had the king of Babylon coming and He's taking down. You know he's taking Zedekiah captive, and then you have this other You know kind of this proxy government being set up by him with Gedaliah And then of course there's that insurrection at the end with Ishmael And then we get a quick kind of picture at the very end of what's going on With Jehoiachin over in Babylon, but really that just the one application I'm gonna make tonight and really the theme here is just this kind of the same theme That we've seen throughout the whole book and in much of the Bible and that is that It's just the theme of judgment and punishment. You know nothing really new here at the end of the book It's really just kind of reminding us again that Judgment is not something that can be escaped You kind of hope by the time you got to the end of book of second Kings that Israel would have learned their lesson Judah would have learned their lesson They would have straightened out and would have come to this, but you know we saw God just warning over and over again He warned his people before even brought him into the Promised Land that God is a God of judgment that God is a God of Chastisement and that God will punish rebellious people and here we finally see it come to the you know Just the full fruition of that when Judah is literally led off into captivity Of course there's been many instances leading up to this of just punishment Kings doing evil and then Kings doing good But nothing's changed here at the end and and really it's just another warning to us today that there is no escaping God's judgment. You know if we do wrong God will judge us severely you know you know in proportion to you know our wrongdoing obviously and This is kind of where God has finally gotten to you know his breaking point This is God's fed up and is finally just dealing with the nation. That's what we see here Of course it's taking place in The reign of Zedekiah it says in verse 2 and the city was besieged on the 11th year of King Zedekiah So there's this like two years of siege taking place. You won't get into all that the famine comes and When the Babylonians come finally and it's all over It's getting wrapped up we see the King Zedekiah fleeing and notice there it says in verse 4 and the city was broken up and All the men of war fled by night by the weight of the gate between two walls Which is by the king's garden now the Chaldees were against the city roundabout So they've surrounded it and the king went the way toward the plain So he tries to get out of there with his men of war last minute You know he's not gonna go down with the ship Zedekiah is trying to save his own skin, but again It's just the same theme that there's no escaping God's judgment, right? It says in verse 5 in the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king and overtook him So he's thinking you know I can maybe I can get out of here and spare myself Maybe go live somewhere else live out the rest of my life and not have to Deal with the consequences of my sin of course we know Zedekiah was a wicked king, okay? But again, it's just the same thing you cannot escape the judgment of God you know Zedekiah He could flee you know it didn't matter what time of day He fled he was gonna get caught notice. It says he fled by night He thought well and obviously there was a real practical You know reason for that it was a very tactical maneuver on his part to use the cover of night to escape But even then you can't you know it just goes to show you that when God is determined to judge you You can't hide from that you can't weasel your way out of that you can't find some trick You can't find some loophole to get out of God's judgment once God decides You're gonna get punished. It's gonna happen, right? there is no escaping God's judgment, and this is something we understand as as Born-again believers as children of God this is something we understand of God's people But you know this is something even the unsaved need to understand And this is something that they seem to think is like God is not going to judge them that there is no hell Right they have their own ideas about what's gonna happen in the afterlife They have their own ideas about who God is what God's like if there even is a God And they can have all the ideas they want in the world, but the fact is is that at the end of the day? They're going to get judged by God Regardless of whether or not they believe in him you know God doesn't need them to believe in him for in order for him to exist Okay, and of course we know every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is God to the glory of Father Eventually that they will profess that But go over to Psalms verse excuse me Psalms 94 Psalms 94 You know the wicked of this world they flee the unsaved of this world they flee today in the darkness of their ignorance Right we see that Zedekiah He's fleeing in the darkness obviously he knew what he was doing That was a very purposeful thing that he did he waited till the sunset to go out at night and hopes to better His chances of escape right that was very deliberate, but in the same way you know the world though It's not deliberate They also hope to escape The judgment of God through ignorance right and this is what it says in Ephesians. I'll just read to you it says That we not he said I this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth Walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. He's saying don't walk like the other Gentiles You know you're saved. You're different. Don't walk in the vanity of your mind Having the understanding darkened right that's what the other Gentiles are like you know Zedekiah is fleeing in the darkness You know obviously very deliberately, but the unsaved the other Gentiles around us They have their minds darkened right and that's not an excuse They're still that that's not gonna help them escape the judgment of God just because they don't understand just because they don't have You know the knowledge of God their understanding is darkened They're still going to be judged to being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, and there's some you know interesting themes that kind of Tie in here with 2nd Kings in Ephesians chapter before the blinding the darkness the ignorance But notice in Psalm 94 verse 3 it says oh Lord. How long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? And obviously that's very descriptive we can apply that to You know the many kings that we've seen throughout Israel and Judah that they have Boasted you know their workers of iniquity that have boasted themselves against the Lord they have They've triumphed right they've they've spoken hard things We've seen just so many kings You know through these books that have done so many wicked things and lifted themselves up foolishly and spoken hard things well What we're seeing tonight is that there's no escaping the judgment right and the psalmist here is kind of asking you know How long you know how long is are we gonna have to put up with this and sometimes we can relate to that Sediment you know that he has there of like man is this ever going to end But you know rest assured the wicked will be judged You know that's why the Bible tells us to fret not thyself because of evil men because of the wicked who bring it Wicked devices to pass you know we are to wait patiently on the Lord, okay? God will judge ultimately you know we don't have to take that upon ourselves That's something we can wait on God the wicked got it coming right verse 6 They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless So these are wicked oppressive people yet. They say the Lord shall not see right. There's that ignorance There's that darkness that they walk in where they say all God doesn't see God the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it now notice verse 8 I love this understand ye brutish among the people and he fools when will ye be wise so he's saying listen Stupid you know me bring that into the modern vernacular Listen stupid you know he that planted the ear of verse 9 shall he not hear and I know what I've quoted this Chapter several times. I think going through 2nd Kings, but it's the theme of the book It's just it's one of these themes that we see in it Where people are boasting themselves and speaking hard things and wicked people seem to be getting away with it the psalmist here is reminding us Hey, God does see and you know we are finally seeing it take place here in 2nd Kings 25 God is finally bringing that judgment that he's just been spending so much time warning about and sending prophets and preachers and Trying to get them to correct their ways And he's saying listen God he planted the ears shall he not hear he that formed the eyes shall he not see You know all the wicked things that people are speaking all the wicked things that people are doing and seeming to be getting away with God hears it God sees it and God will judge them for it Verse 10 he that chastiseth the heathen shall he not correct so we you know we have to apply this to ourselves as well Look if God chastises those that aren't even his children. You know he shall correct us as well, right? He that teacheth man knowledge shall he not know my God knows we can't hide these things from them The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity right so Again, this is just the same thing tonight. No new thing in the book of 2nd Kings tonight. It's ending on that same note of Judgment and punishment, but we need to take away from it. Is that God you know sees that judgment there There is no hiding or God sees the wickedness and God judges. There is no hiding from that There's no escaping the judgment of God for the up for the unsafe But there's also no escaping God's judgment for the saved as well now obviously we're not gonna face that same judgment You know we're not gonna go and stand before God and be condemned to hell, right? But we shall give it account for those things which are done in our body every one of us Whether they be good or bad right we will Give an account for the things that we have done in this life for Christ or have not done in this life for Christ, okay? We see this also for the sage if you would go to Galatians 6 it keeps something in Galatians We're gonna go to Galatians 5 at the end, but go to Galatians 6 right now You know this the the the the wicked of this world they kind of they're kind of in that same darkness as Zedekiah Right he's fleeing in the dark The wicked of this world the sinful of this world they're in the darkness They walk in the darkness of their ignorance their minds are Our dark and their heart is darkened, right? We shouldn't be like them. You know we shouldn't as God's people hide in the shadows of sin You know we should walk in the light even as he is in the light, okay? We shouldn't hide in You know in darkness either Because God will see us there You know we can't go off into sin And then just pretend that God doesn't see us that God doesn't know what we're doing okay Or that we're gonna get a pass somehow the Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place Beholding the evil and the good let that sink in you know I often quote that as well The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good okay We like it to think that oh God only sees me when I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing God sees me when I'm reading my Bible and going to church and going soul-winding and doing the things that I'm supposed to be doing But we also have to remember that God does see the evil right God does know when we're doing the wrong thing Okay, and God knows when we're what kind of like Zedekiah in the shadow of sin like we're trying to you know We're out there in the dark so to speak And that the warning is the same you know it's the same warning for the unsaved as it is for the saved obviously There's a different Outcome, but it's the same warning that God is going to judge that there is no escaping God's judgment for either of us, okay? Galatians 6 look at verse 7 be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap You know God beholds the evil and the good whatever you sow you know that's what you're gonna reap So this is kind of a benign law isn't it in and of itself. It's harmless It's it's actually could work to your benefit this law of sowing and reaping You know we often might think about that hey whatever you sow You're gonna reap you might think about the evil, and we should you know that obviously that's something that could happen You know if we go and sow wild oats You know we're gonna have you know we're gonna reap that if we go out there and sow iniquity and sow sin and go out there and Live a wicked life. We're going to reap a wicked life That's just the law, but you know this could also work for us as well We sometimes we don't think about that you know if we start sowing to the spirit You know we're going to reap of the spirit. That's what he says verse 8 for he that soweth through his flesh Shall love his flesh reap corruption he that soweth through the spirit shall love the spirit reap life everlasting All right, and that's why he gives you that admonishment in verse 9 Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season We shall reap if we faint not I mean that's he's ending out upon a positive note He's not saying so don't sow anything. He's saying no Because of the fact that we're going with God's judgment is inescapable You know if we sow to the flesh will reap of it if we sow the spirit We're gonna reap of it in the light of that knowledge. Don't be weary in well-doing Right don't be weary in well-doing Be ignorant concerning that which is evil, right? But don't be weary and well-doing Why because you shall reap that's the promise that we have that if we do right we shall reap now Do we always reap in this life? Often when we sow sin, you know, yes we do reap in this life sin has its own built-in consequences a lot of times God doesn't even have to really do anything, you know sin when it is finished bringeth forth death in and of itself I mean that doesn't mean God doesn't get involved. He can and does but You know, we might not reap the good that we do in this life immediately often we do But you know, we're not gonna reap the full reward that is laid up for us in heaven until we die and go there Obviously, that's why we're told to lay up treasures in heaven That's why we're told, you know, where our heart is there will our treasure be also So we have to keep this in mind through the years as we're serving God and so we're living for the Lord To not be weary and well-doing we you know when things get tough when things get Discouraging when things get maybe a little mundane, you know We have to hang in there because that's a lot of times when people faint Because if we hang in there and continue in the well-doing we shall reap, you know that works for us or against us The point is this is that you cannot escape God's judgment. You cannot escape this law of reaping and sowing You know Judah and Zedekiah and all the kings that came before him and Israel before them They couldn't just continually sow all this wickedness all this abomination and not expect to eventually reap it And the debts that's what we see taking place in second Kings 25 the bill coming due, right Notice in this chapter also I'm gonna kind of just focus in the first half here really not even gonna spend a lot of time on the latter half But if you look there in verse 7, it says and they slew the sons of Zedekiah Well, let's back it up to a verse 5 and the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains Of Jericho, so he thought he was gonna get away. But again, what's the theme? What's the point here? You can't escape judgment you know you will reap what you sow and It says 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 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah and they gave judgment upon him Right, you can't escape the king's judgment. Okay Obviously, you know the king of Babylon isn't a perfect picture of the Lord, right every Analogy or picture falls short in some way, but you could kind of make that application, right? You have a king who's sitting in judgment. You got a guy who's trying to escape, you know, God's child trying to escape in the dark You know using his thinking he can get away with it Using the strength of men bringing his men of war with him thinking the arm of flesh is going to save him And God can just reach out and grab him the king just finds him and pulls him back That's the same way with us the eyes of Lord in every place God can just reach out and get us wherever we go So but notice here also it when God judges okay, because this is another thing that people think they think that well I know I'm doing wrong and I know when I do wrong that You know I'm going to be punished and they stopped it They don't what what they don't do is they don't think about the way it's gonna affect everybody else around them. Okay, your sin can have You know affect others I mean think about Achan right when they're going into you know The promised land and they're told when they first topple the walls of Jericho to not touch the accursed thing And he takes it right hides in his tent his whole family and ends up getting killed and they called it the valley of a core Right, they burn the bodies they burn him They burn his family They burn everything that he has and it says and then pile stones upon it as a memorial to be reminded that you know Sin doesn't just affect you it affects everybody around you everybody in your sphere of influence And if there's enough people that are sinful and it can affect the whole nation I mean, we got a perfect example of that tonight in second Kings Where a whole nation is just being wiped off the face of the earth because of sin and Sin has very severe consequences. I mean, you know, we kind of read through these verses but when you really kind of park it on verse 7 and Start to see what's taking place here, you know, this is a very harsh punishment Obviously, this is a very cruel thing that has done to him. Okay, it says in verse 7 So they bring him to judgment in verse 6 it says and they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes Right, so they got his sons there and they say now you're gonna watch us kill your sons That's a horrific thing. I mean, that's probably every parent's worst nightmare is You know that any harm let alone death would befall your children You know while you were yet alive, you know, we we hope as parents to pass on before our children, you know It's tragic when children die before their parents let alone when they're slain Right when they're when they're killed in front of them And it doesn't say how they were killed, but I'm sure it wasn't You know It wasn't anything delicate and it was it was probably a very violent death that they're dying and Zedekiah is beholding this he's being made to watch this and They bound him and then and then notice that after they slain him before his eyes and they put out the eyes of Zedekiah Right. So what's the last thing that Zedekiah sees is his children being slain? You know, he's gonna live out the rest of his days bound with fetters in Babylon Blind and the only thing he's you know, what was the last thing I saw my son's being slain It's a very severe consequence for sin, you know sin has severe consequences in your life You know some sins obviously are you're gonna bring smaller consequences, but it's always going to be there But here's again, here's the thing again the danger of thinking that way is that maybe oh if this little sins that can't lead to that Much. Well, it could compound and it could affect other people, you know I'm not sure that Zedekiah's sons were exactly the godliest guys either But the point is this, you know, Zedekiah being a wicked person thinking you just get away with it You can just sneak off in the dark that God's not gonna catch him that he can escape the king's judgment you know, he drags his family into it too and then suffers a very, you know, Difficult a very painful just track, you know, just traumatic debt or punishment. I Mean, I don't know how they put the eyes out But I mean think about in other stories with Samson was like a they poked him out. Was it like a red-hot poker? Right, I don't want to be graphic but I mean this is there wasn't I don't think they got you know The anesthesiologist in there got the you know, the eye surgeon, you know And then he came to and he had a little pain. They just put him on meds It was probably a very barbaric thing that they did. It's very cruel. I mean man is a very cruel Being at times we can think up a lot of very cruel things to do to do to one another right and Zedekiah is You know at their mercy he's suffering these Intense physical scars, but also think about the mental scar, right the idea of Having that being the last thing you saw is your children being slain dying violently in front of you. Why? Because of sin because he didn't want to get right Because he wanted to just keep doing what they were doing and God had to judge them If you would well just just stay where you are, you know The Bible says in the Ecclesiastes better is the sight of the eyes Than the wandering of desire better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire You know, I doubt when Zedekiah was sitting there blinded, you know, probably heartbroken that he was thinking worth it That's probably not went through his mind. Well, that was worth it All the idolatry all the abominations all the sinfulness all the just disregarding God all the lack of care for the Lord No, this was worth it. You think that's went through it through his mind No, he's probably thinking boy. I'd like to have my eyes back Well, I really would have liked to still have my sons. It would have been nice to been able to you know Stay in Jerusalem and worship the Lord, you know on the second thought maybe worshiping God isn't such a bad thing after well You know what now it's too late though, but now it's too late. Once God judges. It's it. It's too late now. Okay Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire You know, why not just be content with what you do have right the sight of the eyes Just be grateful for what's in front of you be thankful for what you do have instead of the wandering desire coveting Envying wondering what else is out there, you know? Well, what what what what is the world doing? You know, what kind of fun am I missing out on by living a godly Christian life? You know, well, you might be missing out on fun You're missing out on sin, but you know, you're also missing out on you know the judgment of God, you know having the proverbial poker stuck in your eyeball and living with lifelong scars Emotionally and even a lot of times physically that's what you're missing out on Right, and of course Zedekiah is saying I wish I could have missed out on this Right, and and that's the thing when people when they through the wandering desire rather than just being content with such things as they have And they start to go out in the world and chase after sinful things out of curiosity out of covetousness out of envy Whatever it is What you're gonna find out is it's not worth it and you're gonna end up Scarred the things are gonna there's things that happen that are irreversible Okay The you know the disease that you contract irreversible, right the unwanted pregnancy irreversible the drug addiction Irreversible the you know the sentence being hand-down by the judge irreversible There's you know, the consequences of sin when God finally judges when sin finally is punished. It's irreversible. It's too late You know, it's too late. The eyes have been removed. The children have been slain. It's too late Zedekiah now It's bondage for the rest of your life, right there. He's gonna be in these fetters of brass For the remainder of his life, you know You can go out there and get into things that are just gonna latch on to you for the rest of your life And just be a drag to you for the for all of your life. That's what happens Okay, because there's no escaping God's judgment, you know, and I know this is kind of a downer sermon. Okay? But it's kind of a downer book. Okay, just being honest. It's a downer chapter in the Word of God There's some ups in second Kings There was some there was some high moments, but there's a lot of valleys too and we're ending on a down note Okay, we're ending on a very sour note, right? So, you know, I'm just preaching the Bible tonight Come back next week. Hopefully we'll have something a little more uplifting. All right but anyway So again, you know, he's having theaters these the unforeseen effects on his family of sin, right There's the unforeseen effects on himself, you know What about how about this, you know when you get into sin as a child of God? When you do You know wicked sinful things you get backslidden. It's gonna affect you. Of course, you know, God's gonna judge you Could even affect your family your friends those around you, but it'll affect your church, too You know when people get backslidden and quit church That has an effect on the church In more ways than one. I mean look at verse 8 It says and in the fifth month on the seventh day of the month, which is the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came Nebuchadnezzar Dan captain of the guard a servant of the king of Babylon unto Jerusalem So now his you know, just a month later his servant is coming back And what's he there for? first nine and 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. So the Servant of the king comes back and he burns the house of the Lord again Why is this all happening? Because it's the judgment of God. Why is God judging them because they've gotten into sin as a nation, right? So when people get into sin, you know, that's gonna affect church too now I'm not saying that you know if you You know get into sin and get backslidden get out of church that you know, this place is gonna catch on fire You know the arson are gonna show up and throw them all tough cocktails through the the windows or something But you know, it's gonna have an effect on the church, isn't it? How couldn't it? Right because you know, we are given a job to do, you know, we have the Great Commission to fulfill So if people God's people get lazy if God's people get backslidden they get out of church or they quit the soul-witting You know, how could that not have an effect? You know the jobs not gonna get done the works not gonna get done, you know, it's it's cause and effect It's it's you know, I'm sure it's not that hard of a concept to grasp, right? But what we don't think about is the fact that when we get into sin because people justify sin in their minds all the time They think well I can get into sin. I can get back. So I'm only affecting myself You know, they'll hear preaching will say no you're affecting others, but they don't really think through how that might actually happen You know if you get into sin you get backslidden get taken out of church, whatever You know, it's gonna have an effect on the church And here's the thing all these things are unforeseen Right. I don't think Zedekiah, you know got into the sins that he got into and you know hardened his heart stiffened His neck towards the things the Lord Knowing how things were gonna turn out if he knew how things were gonna turn out that his eyes were gonna be plucked out Of his head and then his children be slain before him, you know moments before that. He probably wouldn't have said okay Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and do this, you know that that might have changed, you know, his course of action Right, but it's that's what's so that's what I'm saying. These are the unforeseen Circum, you know consequences of sin, you know, that's that's what we have to be on the lookout for Like we'll justify things. We'll say well if I do X Y & Z then obviously X Y & Z will happen You know that there will be a result, but you know what? That's you know Sin and God's judgment and God's mercy or lack thereof. It's not just some Mathematical formula where if you just plug in the right components, you're gonna end up with a certain result It's not like that, you know, it's not this logical thing Where you can predict what's gonna happen? Like you don't know what's gonna happen if we get into sin That's what's so scary about sin When you get into sin when you do things you should be doing you don't know what the consequences would be You mean you might be able to predict some things You might be able to say hey if I you know start taking drugs. There's a good chance. I'm gonna get addicted to drugs Yeah, but what about all the other things you didn't think about that could happen start mixing up with the wrong crowd Start dealing maybe become a dealer. I don't I'm just saying I'm just trying to think of examples But you know, you don't you don't count on, you know, when you go to the bar Yeah, I'm gonna get drunk and I have a hangover tomorrow, but you don't really think about probably the thought doesn't go through your mind Yeah but I might also you know run my mouth and say perverse things and get drug out the back door and have my ribs and My broken and my teeth kicked out and that happens man that happens probably Almost every night in this country people are getting, you know are going out thinking I'm just gonna go get drunk You know, it'll deal with whatever, you know, the foreseeable consequences right of hangovers or you know Fornication the things that they're almost hoping would happen, but it's the unforeseen things. You don't see happening You don't know who else is gonna be in there. You don't know how the alcohol is gonna affect them You know that kind of stuff happens all the time. That's just one example. I'm just using as an example, right? Zedekiah did what he did, but I doubt he was thinking, you know if I do this This means that my children will be slain in front of my eyes and then I'll have my eyes thrust out By the king and then I'll be handed up then I'll be hauled off Into into Babylon. I mean, no, he's trying to escape He's trying to get away from this but there is no escaping God's judgment and It's those unforeseen things that I put the most fear into us. Okay You know people get into sin and they think oh, it's just me Well, it's gonna affect your family It'll affect your church. You didn't think about that. Oh, I didn't think about that. Well, if Enough people don't think about it. It can affect an entire nation, right? Because notice verse 10 and all the armies of the Chaldees that were with the captain of the guard break down the walls of Jerusalem So they're taking down their main Defense, right? They're destroying the city and now Jerusalem the capital is laid waste They've burned the buildings they've carried off everybody Besides a few, you know of the people that could just work the agriculture and things like that they've they've basically just decimated this entire nation and that's you know, enough people had this mentality of You know, well does God see? You know is God gonna you know, then God begins to judge and it's these unforeseen things that can affect an entire nation In fact, that's where we are today as a nation You know, that's the slippery slope that we're sliding down as a nation Okay But again, we'll just move along here in the story and it says so they break down the walls of Jerusalem in verse verse 10 The and it says that verse 20 will just jump ahead here and Nebuchadnezzar captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon to Ribla and the king of Babylon smote them and slew them at Ribla in the land of Hamath So Judah was carried away out of their land just as God promised would happen Warn them and warn them and warn them and warn them here. We are at the end of the book. It's finally happening There's no escaping it See where were we Verse 22 and as for the people that remained in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left Even other over them made he made Gadaliah the son of a Hicum the son of Shaphan ruler So he sets up this this other guy in his in his stead now I'm get I got ahead of myself here. I actually I want to I want to back up to verse 11 Okay, I got I missed a page in my notes, but we'll wrap it up quick. Okay. Sorry to tease you like that But what do we saw was this was affecting the entire nation, right? So you see the people being carried off being slain all that and you know We shouldn't think that we as a nation are any different, you know, oh, yeah I understand that would happen to other nations, but this America, right? It's America You know we have in God we trust on our currency. We have the National Day of Prayer You know many of our presidents have professed to believe in the Lord You know sometimes, you know We have a lot of biblical language and a lot of our governing documents and obviously this nation was built upon You know biblical principles, right? There's a lot of that was involved there, but that doesn't make us immune I mean the last I checked Israel was built on some pretty on some pretty biblical documents In fact, they were built upon, you know the law, right? They're using the law of Moses to govern at least they should have been they had you know, the Bible themselves They had the preaching they had the system of judges they had all these things that God gave them Did that prevent them from being judged by God? I mean if the nation of Israel couldn't even prevent it Why should why should we just because we're America do we have the wrong colors on the flag? I mean, is that was what was taking place here? Like they is that why God chose no because God will judge any nation That defies him the judgment of God is inescapable You say what was the book of second Kings about the judgment of God is inescapable. That's basically it You know, if you could just put it on a postage stamp, what's it about? It's about God's judgment being unavoidable when you get out of sorts with the Lord as an individual and as a nation the Bible says in Psalm 9 I'll just read to you the wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God including Israel including the United States Including any nation all nations that forget God shall be turned out and the wicked Now I do want to point out one thing here in verse in this passage here in verse 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city and the fugitives that fell away to king of Babylon and which with The remnant of the multitude did Nebuchadnezzar Excuse me, Nebu Zardan The captain of the guard carry away, but the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine dressers and husbandmen Now notice verse 13 That says in the pillars of the brass because you know kind of repeats itself to here at the end It repeats this a couple times even in this chapter about the things that were carried away, right? It says in verse 13 in the pillars of the brass that were in the house of Lord and the bases and the brazen sea Right that was in the house of Lord did the Chaldees break into pieces and carried the the brass of them to Babylon So they're looting the house of God They're going in there and they're basically taking all the valuable things out of the temple carrying it off into Babylon verse 14 And the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the spoons and all the vessels of brass Wherewith the minister took they away and the firepans and the bowls and such things were as of gold in gold of silver and in Silver the captain the guard took away now notice again the two pillars One sea and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord So it doesn't repeat everything here But it's repeating here the bases and the brazen sea the bases and the brazen sea It seems like God's kind of highlighting that to me. And if you remember when we were going through first Kings What is he talking about here? He's talking about that big molten sea that Solomon built and put upon those 12 oxen those golden oxen Remember that and I'll just read to you that it's you know This basin sea stood upon 12 oxen three looking toward the north and three looking toward the west and three looking toward the south And three looking toward the east and the sea was set above the upon them and all their hinder parts were inwards So they're all the hinder parts are looking in one toward another and then they're facing out and if you remember when I preached to that we made the analogy of That that sea being like the water of life, right? It's that cleansing Fount that is born by at that time the nation of Israel they were to be a light into the Gentiles It's a picture that God's people each had to you know Do their part and shoulder up under that burden of holding forth, you know, that that water of life, right? So what's this picture here when it's being removed when the this wicked King is coming in and breaking in pieces and carrying it off Well, it shows us that you know, one of the effects unforeseen effects of sin again is the work of God being neglected It goes undone when people get backslid and they don't serve God that work fails to be done Those oxen are no longer there to hold that up you know sin has come in and robbed them of that and You know That's the same thing that can happen in in our church and in our lives as individuals and nations and cities and towns Where if people don't care about the things of God, they don't care about the the work of God That work will go undone and of course, you know, this is just some decorative things being hauled off into Babylon In our case, it's a much more severe consequence, isn't it? You know if our work goes undone people go to hell Okay, we don't just have you know, some nice things get carried off You know, we don't someone doesn't just come in and take our stuff. We don't just get robbed Okay, the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost Right in whom the God of this world have blinded the minds of them Which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them If our work doesn't get done if we let sin into our lives and Quench, you know that that zeal and that fervor for the unsaved People are going to go to hell that didn't need to It's just a fact if you stop preaching the gospel, you know people that would have gotten saved aren't going to get saved Okay, because we're not Calvinists, right? We don't believe this thing that's out there We just say well if people are gonna get saved they'll get saved one way or another. No The Bible says, you know, we are ambassadors for Christ You know, he had committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation It is our job our duty to go into all the world and preach the gospel out of a creature if we don't do that That brazen sea isn't held up if those oxen aren't there if those bases are removed if those foundations are destroyed What can the righteous do nothing is the answer? Nothing gets done. Okay So and this is obviously in this story very You know it pictures the nation's being destroyed the 12 oxen being carried off the 12 tribes being scattered and Doing what as a result leaving that that base that brazen sea just demolished and carried off the work being undone so then he kind of goes through here in verses 17 and onward and describes some of these things but We'll just look at one other thing here towards the end It says in verse 23 and all the captains and when all the captains of the armies they and their men heard the king of Babylon Had made get a liar governor there came to get a liar to miss puff even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and Johanan the son of Korea and Saraiya the son of to whometh and the the Nito fait height and a jazz Anaya the son of the May make a fit make a fight They and their men so they hear about get a lie of being made governor and then all these other guys come to him But they're not there to show their support. They're there to get the throne from themselves Okay, again get a lie has been appointed by the king by Babylon The king of Babylon these other men are coming to him It says in verse 25 but it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elisha of the seed royal came and ten men with him and smoked get a lie that he died and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah, so you kind of see this insurrection in there at the end and You know, we could make a lot of application But I'm just gonna move on tonight sake of time It says in verse 26 and all the people both small and great and the captains of their armies Arose and came to Egypt for they were afraid of the Chaldees now These people that were left their leader who was appointed of them has been slain by By Ishmael now, they're all fleeing into Egypt, right and that's not what they were supposed to do either It says in verse 27 it came to pass in the seventh and thirteenth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judas I remember Jehoiachin preceded Zedekiah, right And he was taken captive into Babylon. He's been there I think they if you do the math, it's like 37 or years or something like that 30 to 40 years somewhere in there He's been there. Okay this whole time. He's been carried off. Remember verse 24, excuse me chapter 24 He was carried off in the eighth year of his reign. We looked at that briefly last week But it's bringing us back there now where there's this other king That evil it says and it came to pass in the seventh and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin So we're kind of backing up right? We're shifting gears. It's kind of you know, it's a it's a jump cut We're going from one scene to another to this other character Jehoiachin We saw last week and it's saying that that evil Merodach king of Babylon in The year that he began to raid did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison. Okay So he's been in prison and he spake kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, so he's being You know of all the kings that have been taken captive. He's being put at the head And they changed his garments And he didn't eat bread continually before him all the days of his life, so he's not just left in Squalor, you know, he's not just left in this dungeon to rot. He's being brought out. He's being shown kindness He's being allowed to eat bread continually before the king And his allowance was a continual allowance given unto the him of the king a daily rate for every day all the days of his life You say well, that's nice, you know And obviously there's a picture here that even when we do get into sin Even when we're in the depths of bondage, even when sin has is has just wrapped us up and has bound us You know, the king will still grant us mercy. Okay There's still there's always a chance to come back right now. You might be like a Zedekiah You know, you're gonna have some consequences that have been doled out unto you and are unavoidable His sons are always gonna be dead He's always gonna be blind, right? You'll still have the scars that you have you'll still have the consequences that came to you because of your sin but that doesn't mean That you can't still be lifted up and exalted and set before the king. All right, you can still Accomplish things so you can still be used of God. Okay? But again, you could still I mean obviously Jehoiachin here still had to deal with a lot of things that he had to deal with And obviously it's great that he's being shown mercy here, right? He's being relieved of his bondage. If you would go back to Galatians chapter number five, we're gonna end there Jehoiachin's been sitting in jail for decades. He's being lifted up at the end It's great that that's happening, right? I mean, it's so second Kings 25 isn't ending in a completely bad note. Maybe God kind of threw that in there like yeah You know You know, it wasn't entirely bad, you know This one little nice thing happened at the very end for Jehoiachin Right But you know what's better than being relieved of bondage is to just never have gone into bondage to begin with You know, what's better than being, you know, brought out of the dungeon is to just have stayed out of the dungeon completely And obviously, you know sometimes, you know people do things and make mistakes. It's too late That's unavoidable and they but they could still be used they could still be lifted up God could still use those It's never over if you're still out there and you're still sucking air You know, you still have the ability to be used by God Okay, just no matter what has happened in your life But the warning is especially to those that have not made certain mistakes in their lives to not make those mistakes Don't look at other people and say well, they're still serving God and they made all these mistakes They made all these bad decisions I guess I can do that too look people that have made bad decisions and have suffered before Because of it they wish more than anything they could go back and undo those things That you know, they're not there, you know, Jehoiachin isn't going there. Well, you know, this isn't so bad you say man I wish I had just gotten right with God. I wish I would have just followed the example of my forefathers I wish I would just serve God, you know, maybe God would have shown me mercy in Jerusalem Maybe God would have been done good unto me and I could have rained and lived out a long natural life Doing a lot more for God than I could do here in bondage, you know, albeit You know being taken care of to some degree by this King Still in bondage. That's just not as bad a bondage as it was right you know Jehoiachin is probably wishing that he had done things differently and Anybody that's made mistakes anybody that's done things Regrets it and those of us that have not made those mistakes should not look at people and think well, it's not that bad It's it's it's you know, what those people would trade places with you And it's just a fact, okay So It's better better than getting lifted out of bondage. It's just to not go into bondage to begin with just stay away from it Better than being shown mercy, you know because of your sin is better just to not even need it Did I need an even need now? Obviously, we're all gonna sin But not all sin is equal and not everybody's gonna make the same decisions that everybody else makes You know and again, I'm not trying to pick on anybody that has made mistakes in their lives We've all made mistakes to some degree or another I'm just trying to warn the people that have not yet made those mistakes. It's not get this mentality of What's the worst that could happen? What could what could go wrong right more than you think? More than you think, you know, this is something that a trap that especially young people can fall into They don't really know how the world works completely They don't know maybe how how the wicked operate. They really don't know what the unsaved are really like sometimes They don't know the type of things that could happen in life and they kind of think well What's the worst that could happen to me? You know, I'm God's child. Well, you know more than you think could happen and that's what ought to scare us Cause us to run in the other direction from sin Not the things that we do know might happen the things that you don't know That could in all likelihood it will happen the things you can't foresee The red-hot poker in the eye the children being slain the house of God being torn down The vessels being carried off You know winding up in a dungeon in fetters You know those things that you can't see those are things you should be avoiding So better than being relieved of bondage is to have no need of relief look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 this I say then walk In the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh say, how do I avoid it? Walk in the spirit You know, it's that simple I Love Paul's counseling. I Love Paul's just straight, you know, right to the point Just kind of he doesn't really, you know, have all these subtle nuances You know try to motivate just just walk in the spirit. You don't want to fulfill the lust, you know You don't want to do these things don't fulfill the lust of the flesh He that soweth it is that we read in the other chapter he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh read corruption Well, what I do don't sow to the flesh it's that simple You know if sowing to the flesh is what's going to cause me to reap corruption then don't sow to the flesh. It's that simple For the flesh lusted against the spirit the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one of another So that you cannot do the things that you would You can't have both you can't sow to the flesh and to the spirit. They're at odds with one another, okay? So that's the message tonight. That's kind of the message of second kings, right? God's judgment is real. God's judgment is unavoidable The consequences of sin are worse than you think So don't go there just stay away from it Don't flirt with sin in your life. Don't sow to the flesh You know and and don't you know better is the sight of the eyes than the you know, the the wandering of desire It's better just be thankful for what you do have be grateful for what you what the blessings that god has given you Instead of just wondering, you know, what sin is like and getting into all these other things that's sowing to the flesh That's going to bring bondage. It's going to be corruption. Those are things we don't want in our lives. Okay, let's go ahead and pray