Jeremiah 52 -- Not A Pretty Sight

It couldn't have been a pretty sight.  The thirty-year-old king, Zedekiah, ordered the city gates blockaded as the Babylonians arrived with their siege engines, preparing to breach the city walls no matter how long it took.  

After six months, the food had run out.  People became cannibals.  Then one night the king and his army unbolted an inconsequential gate and escaped into the countryside rather than surrendering.  Zedekiah would pay dearly for that mistake in judgment.  As he watched, his sons were killed before him, followed by his closest advisers.  That scene would haunt him for the rest of his life, because Nebuchadnezzar then ordered him to be blinded.  His last vision was seeing his sons murdered.

Back in the city, they broke into the Temple, removed everything of value, and then burned it to the ground.  They did the same with the palace, then set fire to every other building, leaving nothing standing but the walls around the city.  They attacked them next, opening the city to marauders and preventing it from serving as a place of safety.

The chief priest, his subordinate, and other leaders were taken to the king of Babylon in the countryside and murdered.  Over the next 16 years, 4,600 Jews were taken to Babylon as prisoners.  Only the poorest of the poor were left in the land.  The people of Israel had decided to abandon God, and verse three describes the price they paid:  "Finally, He threw them out of His presence."

But God had given Jeremiah a glimmer of hope -- 70 years down the line.  God would return a faithful remnant once they'd been purged of the desire to ever commit idolatry again.

Father, when we sin, we have no idea how much we hurt You by rejecting the love You've shown us.  Yet because of that strong love, You work to bring us back to You!  The one thing we will never know is how long You will keep on trying.  Father, please help me to help those I love to see that presuming on Your grace is a deadly dangerous activity.  Draw them to You with Your love.  Remove Satan's deception so that they can clearly see what they are doing and hopefully repent.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford