2Ch 36:20 | KingComments | STEP | At a certain moment the measure is full. Before God lets the judgment come, He lets hear again how much effort He has made to spare His people and His dwelling place ( ). Again and again He has called through His messengers the people to return to Him. The expression “again and again” indicates the necessary urgency of the message. God has made haste. He has not been slow or sparse in His attempts to urge them to turn back. None of this has been effective. It is striking to read about “His people and His dwelling place”. It is about what is His. His judgment of what is His concerns Him Himself. He does not judge aloofly. It touches Him Himself deeply. That is why He has done everything He can to keep it from coming this far. The rebellion of God’s people and their leaders is evidenced by their reception of His messengers ( ). All the effort of God to bring His people back to Himself has been answered with contempt and scorn (cf. ; ). People always mock those who come with a message from heaven that they do not like. Religious people in particular react in this way. Then God can no longer postpone the judgment and hands over His people and also His dwelling place to the enemy. He brings up the king of the Chaldeans against them ( ). Judgment comes on all age groups who are responsible for their actions (cf. ). There is no regard for persons with God. According to the historians, Nebuchadnezzar goes up against Jerusalem on January 15, 588 BC. On July 28, 586 BC the city falls. On August 15, the temple is burned ( ). Before this happens, the treasures are robbed from God’s house and brought to Babylon ( ). These will be the treasures left over from the previous two lootings ( ). This time also the treasures of the king ( ) and his princes are robbed and taken. All the palaces of the princes in which they have lived their lazy lives, with everything in them, go up in flames. God makes everything happen because there is nothing more desirable in the temple for Him. He gives His temple to the nations ( ; ; ). We see the same when the church reveals her “Laodicea spirit” ( ). There is also nothing in it that pleases Him. Therefore, He will give up professing Christianity, which culminates in the great Babylon, to judgment ( ). All who have not been killed are taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon to serve him and his sons as servants ( ). The judgment is total, the humiliation complete. Yet the rejection is not final, but temporary. There is an “until”, i.e. “the rule of the kingdom of Persia”. Persia is the kingdom through which God judges Babylon and to which He then gives world dominion ( ). What happens as soon as the Persians have world domination and therefore authority over Judah and Israel, we will see in . First it is said how long the exile will last and that is, after “the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah”, seventy years ( ; ; ). This period of seventy years is counted from the first carrying away to Babylon. The fact that the exile lasts seventy years is not coincidental. The people are driven out of the land for seventy years to let the land enjoy its sabbaths. God has set a perfect time for the land to come to rest after all the idolatry the people have committed there ( ). When those years are fulfilled, the LORD fulfills His word and brings the people back to His land and to His city and to His house. We see the fulfillment in the books of Ezra and of Nehemiah. The next two verses, the last two of this Bible book, prepare us for this.

‏ 2 Chronicles 36:20

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

At a certain moment the measure is full. Before God lets the judgment come, He lets hear again how much effort He has made to spare His people and His dwelling place (2Chr 36:15). Again and again He has called through His messengers the people to return to Him. The expression “again and again” indicates the necessary urgency of the message. God has made haste. He has not been slow or sparse in His attempts to urge them to turn back. None of this has been effective.

It is striking to read about “His people and His dwelling place”. It is about what is His. His judgment of what is His concerns Him Himself. He does not judge aloofly. It touches Him Himself deeply. That is why He has done everything He can to keep it from coming this far.

The rebellion of God’s people and their leaders is evidenced by their reception of His messengers (2Chr 36:16). All the effort of God to bring His people back to Himself has been answered with contempt and scorn (cf. 2Chr 30:10; 2Pet 3:3). People always mock those who come with a message from heaven that they do not like. Religious people in particular react in this way.

Then God can no longer postpone the judgment and hands over His people and also His dwelling place to the enemy. He brings up the king of the Chaldeans against them (2Chr 36:17). Judgment comes on all age groups who are responsible for their actions (cf. Rev 19:18 ; Rev 20:12). There is no regard for persons with God.

According to the historians, Nebuchadnezzar goes up against Jerusalem on January 15, 588 BC. On July 28, 586 BC the city falls. On August 15, the temple is burned (2Chr 36:19). Before this happens, the treasures are robbed from God’s house and brought to Babylon (2Chr 36:18). These will be the treasures left over from the previous two lootings (2Chr 36:7 ; 10).

This time also the treasures of the king (2Kgs 20:15-17) and his princes are robbed and taken. All the palaces of the princes in which they have lived their lazy lives, with everything in them, go up in flames.

God makes everything happen because there is nothing more desirable in the temple for Him. He gives His temple to the nations (Psa 79:1; Lam 2:1 ; 7 ; Lam 4:1; Jer 51:51). We see the same when the church reveals her “Laodicea spirit” (Rev 3:14-22). There is also nothing in it that pleases Him. Therefore, He will give up professing Christianity, which culminates in the great Babylon, to judgment (Rev 17:15-18 ; Rev 18:1-2 ; 19).

All who have not been killed are taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon to serve him and his sons as servants (2Chr 36:20). The judgment is total, the humiliation complete. Yet the rejection is not final, but temporary. There is an “until”, i.e. “the rule of the kingdom of Persia”. Persia is the kingdom through which God judges Babylon and to which He then gives world dominion (Dan 5:28).

What happens as soon as the Persians have world domination and therefore authority over Judah and Israel, we will see in 2Chr 36:22-23. First it is said how long the exile will last and that is, after “the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah”, seventy years (2Chr 36:21; Jer 29:10 ; Jer 25:11; Dan 9:2 ; 24-27). This period of seventy years is counted from the first carrying away to Babylon.

The fact that the exile lasts seventy years is not coincidental. The people are driven out of the land for seventy years to let the land enjoy its sabbaths. God has set a perfect time for the land to come to rest after all the idolatry the people have committed there (Lev 26:34-35 ; 43a).

When those years are fulfilled, the LORD fulfills His word and brings the people back to His land and to His city and to His house. We see the fulfillment in the books of Ezra and of Nehemiah. The next two verses, the last two of this Bible book, prepare us for this.