The final blow to Judah was harsh and drawn out. For a year and a half, the Babylonian army encamped around Jerusalem to starve the people out. Finally, in 586BC they managed to breach the walls and untold carnage ensued. Those who were not killed were taken into captivity. This was the fulfilment of Moses’ warnings (Deuteronomy 28:15ff): if they abandoned God then God would give them a taste of what it is like to live in a cruel world without him. Up to now God had shielded them from the results of their choices. But now he would no longer do this. They had chosen the way of the world and they would go the way of the world. Like all the other nations whose gods they had worshipped they would perish from the land. So, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and a small remnant of the great nation that Moses delivered went into slavery again. It was a moment of tragedy. It was, however, also a moment of awakening. What happened to Judah was terrible, but it did wake them up. Sometimes there is cause for using a defibrillator. It is a harsh measure involving an electric current that can leave serious burns on the chest of a dying victim. But at least it gets the heart going again. If my heart for God loses its beat, then any measure is justified to bring me back to life. No matter what the tragedy that awakens us, it can never be more tragic than continuing to live without God.
Ask God to do whatever it takes to restore you if you stray.
Read 2 Kings 25:1-26 & Jeremiah 39
