Thursday, June 30, 2022

Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table

 2 Kings 25:22-30

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

All but the poorest people, left under governor Gedaliah, are taken into exile. But Gedaliah is murdered and the people escape to Egypt to avoid the inevitable wrath of Babylon, taking the prophet Jeremiah with them. Under a new king in Babylon 35 years later, Jehoiachin, the deposed king of Judah is released from prison and kindly treated.

Why?

Gedaliah was a governor in Judah appointed by Babylon, and many people came back to Mizpah. but Elishama, who was of royal blood, assassinated Gedaliah for the royal to the old king of Judah, and they force everyone in Judah to escape to Egypt. Then the land of Judah became nothing left. 

Jehoiachin king of Judah listened to the word of the Lord, so his life is changed from prison to being a guest for the rest of his life eating regularly at the king's table. He was 56 years old. Following the word of the Lord is good to us. 

Israelites did not listen to the word of the Lord and the warning of the prophets, so they were exiled to other places. This is the consequence of their behavior. 

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人總是想到用自己的方法。想逃到埃及去。他們不願在異國統治,不願意聽神的話,反而引來更多不安,眼前的不安是因為失去原來的地位。接受神的管教,神是賜平安的意念,不是降災的意念。

當我們做錯事,回到神面前,接受神的管教,最後把恩典、憐憫臨到他們。因為神有豐盛的憐憫!

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How?

Let the history of Israel to be a mirror of our life, reminding us that obeying the word of the Lord is our blessing.



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