Consequences For Defiance

II Chronicles 36:14-23

Have you ever had to deal with a hard-headed person, whether a spouse, child, co-worker, or someone else?  It can be very exasperating, especially if you know that the path they are taking is only going to lead to trouble.  This was the situation we find in the closing passage of II Chronicles between God and the people of Israel.

Throughout the history of the people of Israel, starting when they left Egypt, and continuing on all the way till the time of this passage, they were continually turning away from the one true God, Yahweh, and going after and worshipping the false gods of the nations around them.  As the years passed it wasn’t just the people who went after these other gods, but the priests and other religious leaders turned their back on God to worship idols, as well (vs. 14). They even went so far as to defile the Temple of God in Jerusalem with their idols.

One aggravating thing about dealing with hard-headed, wilful, and stubborn people is that they don’t listen, no matter how many warnings they are given. God faced this problem with the people of Israel. Year after year, century after century, He sent His prophets and messengers to warn the people that if they continued in this sin of worshipping false gods there would be dire consequences (vs. 15). He warned them because He loved them, and didn’t want them to get hurt. Sin and disobedience brings pain and suffering, and God wished they would listen and spare themselves this.

What was the people’s response to the messengers God sent?  The nation of Israel despised God’s Word, and they mocked the prophets (vs. 16).  They just tossed God’s Word to the side, and laughed and scorned those He sent. God continually warned the people about their sins, and He would restore them over and over again.  They never learned their lesson, and would turn away again and again. The day came when there was no remedy. They had gone too far. Repeated sin brings disaster, and judgment replaces mercy. Judgment is not far away when a people or culture continually mocks God’s Word and His messengers. This holds true today, just as it did back in the days of II Chronicles.

God’s judgment finally fell in severity upon the people, and the country was overrun and the people taken into captivity (vs. 17-21). This was a terrible time, with whole villages burned to the ground, thousands killed by the sword, both men, women, children, and babies.  No one was spared. Those not killed were taken hundreds of miles away into captivity. The Temple of God, which they had allowed to be defiled by false gods, was trampled to the ground.

In Leviticus 25:1-7, God had required that the land would rest every seventh year to restore itself.  Because of greed, the people did not do this, so now God would punish the people by letting the land rest for 70 years while they would be in captivity (vs. 21).  Everything was stripped away from the people because of their repeated sin. Everything, that is, except God. He was still there if they would only return to Him (vs. 22-23).

Let’s look into our own hearts.  Is there rebellion and stubbornness lurking in there?  Are we, whether individually or as a nation, so hard-hearted and wilful that we refuse to listen to God and His messengers when He instructs us in the way to go?  Also, how do we treat God’s messengers and His Word? As with the people of Israel, His mercy will only last so long, and then He will send judgment. He is there, waiting and calling us to return to Him so that He may pour out His love, forgiveness, and mercy.