2 Chronicles 36

(September 20, 2014)

                From the chaos that led to the Babylonian captivity, we can find a great deal of comfort.  Judah had been called time and time and time again.  As their destruction grew imminent, they were drawing not closer to the Lord but further away.  As this chapter describes, there reached a point when the Lord’s anger could no longer delay, and Jerusalem was sacked.

                Why is this a source of comfort?  Each of us, in our individual lives, makes mistakes and falls short of what we know we should be doing.  But when we struggling and strive to improve, though painful, we find ourselves making progress towards becoming the people the Lord would have us to be.  This is very unlike the Babylonian captivity.

                The grave problem among the people of Judah was that they were drawing further from the Lord and living in their sins rather than drawing closer to the Lord despite their sins.  As long as we are on the second path, we may expect to be chastened but we may also trust that the Lord will not give up on us.