2 Chronicles 36:15-23 - Turn from Sin to Rebuild Worshiping Him

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

The Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1–21; Jeremiah 52:4–30)

15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

The Proclamation of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–4)

22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:

All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!

This epilogue of the book chronicling the journey of Israel and Judah from serving the LORD to  rejecting Him for lifeless pursuits is summarized with sadness in these verses.  Yet a glimmer of hope shines through at the very end as God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.  It begins the summation of the downward journey by describing how the people chosen by God chose badly by mocking and hating the messengers of His word given to call them to repentance in His compassionate mercy, to turn from their sin back to Him.  Such scoffing against the spoken and written word of God brought them to a place where no remedy was seen and His wrath was poured out on them by the merciless hand of the Chaldeans who had no compassion for the people of the LORD as He had shown them with long suffering.  Everything was taken from their place of worship where they once met with God and found forgiveness in atoning sacrifices and sang songs of worship to Him who they once wholehearted served.  All was taken to Babylon and Jerusalem was burned and broken down with all the possessions they once held dear.  They served Persia as slaves just as God told them by the words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:9) as the ruined land had Sabbath rest for a time, until the seventy years were fulfilled (Jeremiah 29:10) for them to learn and turn as promised.  Then the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to build the house for God in Jerusalem of Judah since all kingdoms on earth had been entrusted to him.  He called on volunteers from the people of God who were taken captive to Babylon to aid in the work of rebuilding the house of God and he blessed them in His name as he urged them to go and rebuild that the LORD would be once again worshiped there by His wayward sons and daughters.  This inspires we who are in Christ to turn from our own sins and idols to constantly turn back to serve our Lord wholeheartedly when we fall.  May we build up these houses of worship which are our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19) in whom He dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16, Ephesians 2:22, Romans 8:11) that He may be worshipped by the living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) which we are who make up the house of God (Ephesians 2:21, 1 Peter 2:4-5) we are building together.  May we do as Cyrus called the wayward people of God to do, turning from sin (1 John 1:9, 2:1-2) to rebuild our worship of Him when we fail and fall, cleansing ourselves (2 Corinthians 7:1), these houses of God, from all unrighteousness.  Amen.