| JUDAH EXILED |

We read yesterday how Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was taken into exile by Assyria. Here, we read how Judah, the Southern Kingdom, is destroyed and taken into exile by Babylon.

First, we see that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged and successfully conquered Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. Jerusalem was both the political and religious center of the people. The passage is clear that Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed not only the king and his palace but eventually the temple and its priests.

Let us not forget that all these things were promised by God if the people and their leaders did not obey his commands. A passage like this should make us weep. How awful it is to watch a people who ought to truly know God walk off into idolatry and, ultimately, destruction.

There is a lot more to the story. We will see quickly how the story moves from a story of judgment to a story of redemption. But for now, let us sit in the serious sadness of the last sentence of our passage for today.

So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. - 2 Kings 25:21