2 Kings 25: On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

9 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.

15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

Not Even One 2 Kings We might think we are the exception We are different, unique, or special We would do things differently If only… Someone would put us in charge

We do not do the right things Neither we nor the people of the Old Testament could truly honor God They were eventually punished First Israel… And later to Judah

2 Kings …So Samaria was captured… 11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the L ORD their God…

Not long after Israel was captured by the Assyrians Judah finds itself threatened Concerned and afraid But the word of the lord comes through Isaiah

2 Kings 19 5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the L ORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard…”

33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the L ORD. 34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

Because Hezekiah was faithful The Lord granted peace and protection to the land

2 Kings 20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death… 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’ ”

But Hezekiah was also reckless His pride got in the way For this he would pay a price

15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?” “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the L ORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the L ORD.

Even though Hezekiah was a good king His pride was his shortcoming Judah would pay for all the sins of it kings and leaders Several of the next kings would be evil

2 Kings 21 2 He did evil in the eyes of the L ORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the L ORD had driven out before the Israelites. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the L ORD, provoking him to anger

14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, 15 because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day.”

2 Kings And Amon his son succeeded him as king. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the L ORD, as his father Manasseh had done.

King Josiah was an excellent King He tried everything within his power to serve the Lord The book of the law was found

2 Kings 22 8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the L ORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.

5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the L ORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the L ORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

There are great people out there; people like Josiah They make a difference But Josiah was not perfect And he could not offset all the evil that had been done Nor the evil that would happen after his reign

After Josiah, his son Jehoahaz reigned and he did evil Eliakim (aka) Jehoiakim did evil The next king, Jehoiachin also did evil As a result of this…

2 Kings At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.

Babylon, not Assyria, captured Judah Because of Hezekiak’s pride and the violence and faithlessness of the kings, other leaders and the people Babylon was allowed to capture and deport Judah

2 Kings As the L ORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the L ORD and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the L ORD.

14 He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

When Judah was captured… Jerusalem was spared But it was short lived

2 Kings 25 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.

The leaders who remained attempted to fight back against Babylon Instead of trying to rediscover their faith… Not only did they loose Jerusalem but they also lost the temple

8 …an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the L ORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

21 …So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.

Israel, in Samaria, was taken to Assyria Judah was taken to Babylon Jerusalem’s walls were torn down The temple was burned and destroyed

Romans 3 9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.

No one was good enough No one was strong enough No one was important enough No one was special or privileged enough to go unscathed

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Putting it all together No matter how good we are… We all have flaws Heroes, real and imagined, all have flaws; serious flaws!

Putting it all together Our good deeds and merit are not enough compensate for all our failures and shortcomings That is precisely why we need God

Putting it all together You can fantasize all you want… If you or I were living in that time period we would have made the same mistakes “If it was me…”

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 12 …there is no one who does good, not even one.”