Captivity (First) II Kings 24

II Kings 24:11 "And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it."

A weakened country is now prey for surrounding nations. The many treasures laid up are broken up and carried away. The magnificent pillars and sea of brass are destroyed. It is the price of sin.

v3 "Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did."

The previous chapter told of the last passover and how great it was. It reminds me of the passover that Jesus partook of before his death.

C23v22 "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah."

We should remember the glory days when Joshua crossed the Jordan on dry ground and the walls of Jericho fell. The great battles fought and won with the LORD leading the charge. The rustling in the mulberry trees. The nation expanded and the land was cultivated and people prospered.

Then, leaders and the people went to the grooves and set up images and worshipped strange gods which were remembered from old and which they got from those they had not cast out of the land.

Then the glory left and the kingdom was divided. There was war without and within. Israel (the ten tribes) fell first and were carried away and now Judah has been reduced to Jerusalem. It is under siege and there is no food.

v20 "For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon."

Lamentations 4:19 "Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven, they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness."

Keywords: Bible Study, Old Testament, Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar, captivity. Nebuchadnezzar puts Jerusalem under siege.