Why must God judge?
2 Kings 25:1-30
A friend of mine told me of an acquaintance who had breast cancer. The surgeon thought that she needed a mastectomy, but she was so afraid of the body confidence issues that she asked for the tumour to be cut out but the rest to be saved. Sadly, the same cells repeatedly produced the same cancer. She had multiple operations with the affected tissue removed because she could not face the radical surgery. Yet, with that choice came uncertainty, fear and no healing. The surgeons’ willingness to take pity on her, reminds me of God’s astonishing grace in the face of Israel and Judah’s evil. No matter how many times they were chastised, the cancer of sin was reproduced in their lives. Much as we would want to see God’s mercy rather than judgment, there are times when the radical solution is the only effective treatment for renewal.
Judgment and its consequences
Thus, Judah (as Israel before it) reaches the end of the road. Ancient siege warfare typically involved shutting up walled cities until famine broke the people’s resistance. After 18 months, Jerusalem is at breaking point (2 Kings 25:1-3). Zedekiah (the last king of Judah and son of Josiah) tries to escape but is caught in the Jordan valley near Jericho (2 Kings 25:4-5). He is made unfit ever to rule again by the gouging out of his eyes and the last thing he sees is his sons’ execution before he is taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:6-7). All symbols of power and pride are then systematically broken down: temple, palace, noble residences and worship of God is made impossible by the removal of temple utensils (2 Kings 25:8-10, 13-17). The people lose their land as they are carried away into exile (except the very poor; 2 Kings 25:11-12). The brutal massacre of prominent leaders (priestly, military and civil; 2 Kings 25:18-21) is a grave deterrent against rebellion.
Deeply ingrained sin
Throughout this narrative, there is no theological comment, no more mention of God. Nothing but radical surgery can help now. The vignette of the remnant in the land gives another glimpse of the ongoing ‘cancer’ among God’s people. Gedaliah, a Jewish official whose father and grandfather served king Josiah (2 Kings 25:22; 22:10, 12-13), follows Jeremiah’s advice to submit to Babylon (2 Kings 25:24 cf. Jer 38:2) and with it accept God’s judgment. His assassination by the otherwise unknown member of the royal family, Ishmael (2 Kings 25:25), points to a faction that will not see God’s hand in Babylon’s rule. Likewise, the people left behind do not believe Jeremiah’s encouragement that God will protect them in the land (Jer 42:9-17). Their escape to Egypt (2 Kings 25:26) is symbolic: they rather choose a return to the place of their former slavery than trust the Lord. Yet, the final vignette leaves the future open. Jehoiachin, Josiah’s grandson, who surrendered to Babylon during the first siege of Jerusalem and was deported (2 Kings 24:11-12), is released from prison and recognised as royalty (2 Kings 25:27-30).[1] God may yet start something new with His people.
Why judgment is necessary
For Western Christians, reading about the Lord’s judgment is particularly hard because for many, the understanding of a loving God is incompatible with it, especially if it is irreversible and final. Thus, reading about the many who died in the siege or never lived to return from the exile, the judgment was indeed final. Yet how much longer should God have persevered? The history of His people is full of their disobedience from the exodus to the exile (about 900 years). Much as judgment is uncomfortable to hear, we need to allow Scripture to shape our thinking. Sometimes, the merciful thing is the radical thing that shakes us up and awakens us to the depth of our depravity. Indeed, the new generation remnant returning from exile will have a deep sense of their sinfulness yet will cling to the undeserved grace of God (just read Ezra 9:5-9). And this is right because our obedience is not to be motivated by the fear of judgment but by knowing God’s love.[2]
[1] Since King Jehoiachin was deported in 597 BC but continued to live, the appointment of his uncle Zedekiah as king (2 Kings 24:17) was illegitimate. In fact, later Jewry never looked to Zedekiah’s line as the one through whom the Davidic dynasty might continue but to Jehoiachin. Zedekiah himself could not have ruled even if he had been released because of being blinded and his sons were killed. Whether he ever had more sons is unknown; he is never again mentioned after he is taken to Babylon.
[2] The Ten Commandments are introduced with God’s saving act in the exodus, which is the underlying motivation for obeying Him (Exod 20:2). Thus, we serve Him because He saved us from slavery. Although ‘the fear of God’ is a standard phrase in the Old Testament, it is not the terror or dread that we associate with that word. The distinction is clear in Exod 20:20, where the people are terrified because of God’s awesome presence and Moses urges them not to be afraid. In the same sentence, he encourages an attitude that is phrased as ‘the fear of Him’, which in the larger context of the Old Testament came to mean a reverence and recognition of God that leads to a life lived with integrity.
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