March 5, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Amazing Turnarounds

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Lord, I thank You for all You have given me. I thank You for all You have taken away. Either way I will praise You.

Read 2 KINGS 25:18-30

[18] The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. [19] Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city. [20] Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. [21] There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. [22] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. [23] When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah-Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. [24] Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.” [25] In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. [26] At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians. [27] In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. [28] He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. [29] So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. [30] Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Kings ends with a glimmer of hope; the imprisoned king is released and blessed. Our God can intervene with a turn-a-round seamlessly.

The story of Israel’s riches-to-rags journey ends here with an appendix concerning Judah’s second-to-last king, Jehoiachin (also known as Coniah or Jeconiah in some translations). A grandson of good King Josiah and a descendant of good King David, Jehoiachin’s three-month reign ended with exile in Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-15). When he is cursed by God (Jer. 2:24-30), this evil king’s long-term future appears bleak indeed, but then we read of his release from prison by Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, Awel-Marduk, 37 years after his captivity (27).

It seems that the author included this last little detail to infuse hope into the hearts of his exiled Jewish readers, assuring them that the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of national sovereignty were not the end of the story. God had not finished with them yet! Although no Davidic monarch has reigned in Jerusalem since the Exile, nevertheless Jehoiachin/Jeconiah’s name figures twice in the genealogy of the Son of David, Jesus (Matt. 1:11-12). Praise God that David’s line was not completely cut off, otherwise we would never have had the promised Messiah!

Jehoiachin received mercy. Freed from prison (some older Bible translations say that the king of Babylon “lifted up” Jehoiachin’s head; Jer. 52:31) he enjoyed Awel-Marduk’s special favor for the rest of his days. Jehoiachin’s divine descendant, Jesus, has become the one who reaches out his gracious hand to lift up the head of every undeserving captive of sin who casts himself upon the mercy of the King of kings. Jehoiachin could never have earned his overlord’s favor, and neither can we, sinners by nature, merit our Lord’s favor. Yet he offers us not only a royal pardon but also a share of his inheritance as his dearly loved brothers and sisters in the family of our heavenly Father. What an amazing turnaround!

Apply

“My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed thee” (Charles Wesley, 1707-1788). Rejoice today in God’s free gift of salvation!

Closing prayer

Gracious Father, I praise You for Your surprising interventions in my life. Chains have fallen off, I have been set free!

Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.

© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.

Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.

View all readings

Get ENCOUNTER:

in your email:

in Print:

Become a Member | Visit our store