AP

2 Kings 25:29-30  So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king [of Babylon]’s table.  Day by day the king [of Babylon] gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

This is how the Book of 2 Kings finishes.  For my birtthday, my dear wife gave me the Tyndale ‘Chronological Life Application Bible’, so let me share with you its helpful note on 2 Kings 25:30 –

“The book of 2 Kings opens with Elijah being carried to heaven – the destination of those who follow God.  But the book ends with the people of Judah being carried off to foreign lands as humiliated slaves – the result of failing to follow God.  The book of 2 Kings is an illustration of what happens when we make anything more important than God, when we make ruinous alliances, when our consciences become desensitised to right and wrong, and when we are no longer able to discern God’s purpose for our lives.  We may fail, like the people of Judah and Israel, but God’s promises do not.  He is always available to help us straighten out our lives and start over.  And that is just what would happen in the book of Ezra.  When the people acknowledged their sins, God was ready and willing to help them return to their land and start again.

How glad I am that the Gospel accounts don’t end with the account of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion!  And that one of the Gospel writers [Luke] continues the story of God’s Sovereign Rule in the Book of Acts!

O that we all in the Western world, from the grass roots to those in authority, would learn this lesson today, and that our sovereign God’s Holy Spirit would move among us in power, bringing us all to our knees before him as we wait for Christ’s Return.

“And [Jesus} being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:8-11).

“Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Saviour!  Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph o’er his foes.  He arose a Victor from the dark domain and he lives forever with his saints to reign.  He arose! (he arose).  He arose! (he arose).  Hallelujah! Christ arose!” (Robert Lowry)

 – Bruce Christian