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2 Kings 24:10-14,  At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.  Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

For hundreds and hundreds of years, God warned his people: Obey the covenant, do not worship other gods, do not neglect the poor.  And with just a few exceptions, the people disobeyed.  There were judges and prophets sent to warn the people.  In fact, there was no shortage of warnings.  Yet, the people continued to turn away from God, to be influenced by the culture around them, and to follow the ways of the pagans.  In today’s Scripture, we see God lifting his hand of protection.  His people have not held up their end of the covenant and he is finally allowing them to experience the consequences of their actions.  It’s hard to read and yet, we know it had to happen for the next stage of the journey to occur.  More tomorrow…

Let’s pray…Lord Jesus, How thankful I am that we live on the other side of the cross and that your grace is incredibly abundant.  And yet, I know that you still allow me to experience the consequences of my behavior; there is still accountability.  Lord, help me grow to reflect you more and to gradually live a life characterized by your holiness rather than my own inclination to sin.  More of you, less of me.  Amen.