Week 13 • 2 Kings 24-25 • The Fall of Judah & Exile • August 2nd

Scripture

James 1:2-4 • Embrace the struggle 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Scripture

Ezra 1:2-3 • Restore Jerusalem 2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.’”

Scripture

James 1:2-4 • Embrace the struggle 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Scripture

Joseph’s brothers turned against him. He was betrayed by his own family and thrown into a pit. Genesis 37:18–24 • Joseph betrayed by his brothers Joseph was sold into slavery - taken from his home, separated from his father, and carried to a foreign land. Genesis 37:25–28 • Joseph sold into slavery Joseph became a servant in Egypt, losing his freedom and having no control over his future  Genesis 39:1 • Bought him Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. He was doing the right thing but suffering because of a lie.  Genesis 39:7–20 • Falsely accused Joseph was forgotten in prison - after helping the cupbearer, he waited two more years with no change. Genesis 40:14–15, 23; 41:1 Joseph had to confront the brothers who had ruined his life, facing the pain of forgiveness, justice, and reconciliation. Genesis 42–45 Joseph experienced multiple moments where life seemed over, but God was preparing him in the places he never would have chosen.

Scripture

Genesis 45:4-5 • God’s plan was at work 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

Scripture

2 Kings 24:12b-14 • Jehoiachin taken prisoner and the people taken into exile   In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

Scripture

2 Kings 24:17 • Mattaniah king 17 He (Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Scripture

2 Kings 25:1-2 • Two year siege 1 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. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

Scripture

2 Kings 25:6-7 • Zedekiah punished for rebelling against Babylon He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

Scripture

2 Kings 25:8-10 • Complete annihilation of Jerusalem 8 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.

Scripture

2 Kings 25:27-30 • Jehoiachin released 27 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. 28 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. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.