Title: In the words of Sidiah
The farmer's son said to his father. “Dad, never save the snake from now on.” There is a person who saved a man who had no choice but to die for his sin. His name is Jesus Christ. To the One who saved lives, humans sometimes raise their heads of pride and self-righteousness. The result of disobedience is always death. Those who do not know grace receive the wrath of heaven.
The Word of God has two characteristics. In other words, it is a source of blessing to the obedient, but a snare of curse to the disobedient. This is like the principle that the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved, but foolishness to those who are perishing. King Zedekiah mentioned in the text became king at the age of 21 and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. But when Zedekiah, who had sworn allegiance to the king of Babylon, betrayed Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city of Jerusalem. Although the city of Jerusalem was built firmly, humans who disobeyed God's will could not escape God's sword. So Zedekiah secretly ran away and was caught and met a tragic end. Then, I hope that you will take a look at Zedekiah's words in the text and take it as a lesson.
1. They suffered from severe famine.
Verse 3 says, "On the ninth day of the fourth month, there was a severe famine in the city, and the food of the people of the land was thick." When Israel sinned, Jerusalem would be surrounded by enemies and a famine would come, even Moses foretold earlier, and the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel at the time also foretold. In this way, God's prophecies will always come true no matter how long it takes, so that those who see the event will believe in God. Because of Zedekiah's disobedience, the city of Jerusalem was under siege, and the people in the city had no way to obtain food, and they could no longer endure it. The continuous famine caused all the people in the city to starve and even ate their own children.
Saints! A tragedy like this could have been avoided sufficiently in advance. Because there have already been warnings from the law and the prophets. This incident applies equally to us today. We must not harden our hearts to disobey.
"Samuel said to him, "Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and other sacrifices, as he loves obedience to his voice? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearing better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
2. There was no one with me.
Although Jesus was the Son of God, He was obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 5:8,9, Romans 5:19, Luke 22:42).
3. It came to a tragic end.
In verse 7, it is said that the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and took Zedekiah's eyes and led him to Babylon in chains. King Nebuchadnezzar plucked out Zedekiah's proud eyes. Zedekiah's proud eyes were taken away by the Gentiles. It is a shame to have the eyes plucked out. The plucked out eyes were the punishment for those who betrayed God and followed the lust of the eyes. Zedekiah was lowered from the glory of the king of one nation to the captivity of a foreign country. It is the principle of God that those who exalt themselves and be proud must be humbled in this way. On the other hand, those who humble themselves before God and men will be exalted by God to be clothed with glory and honor.
"The pride of a man's heart is the beginning of destruction, but humility before honor" (Proverbs 18:12).
Saints! How miserable was Zedekiah? Isn't that a sight that is hard to imagine for us today? This also has a lesson for us. If humans are bound by Satan, they will experience the same misfortune as Zedekiah. If there are those around us who still do not believe in Jesus Christ, we must show them how terrible and wretched hell the Bible speaks of as they will go to hell for their sins. And we who are saved must obey God's Word as children of God.
Saints! “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. “Have you not cast out demons and performed many mighty works in your name?” Then I will say to them plainly, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23). Faith without deeds and sayings that you believe is of no use.
Saints! We must live in obedience to God's word and will. We must keep the lessons of Zedekiah's words in our hearts so that we must not disobey God's word or commit sins. Evil, even in its shape, must be thrown away. Blessings and curses are before us, and the saints must stand in the ranks of blessings and live a life full of joy and hope. Saints! Rejecting God's rule is the very root of sin. Saints! I hope that all the saints will always live uprightly in the presence of God who sees everything.
* Prayer: God, the source of all blessings, help us to face with fear the fact that even your people may perish if they do not obey. Give me the faith to never give up on my religious method until the very end. I want to follow the Lord more than the riches of the world. Help me to live a life of sharing true blessings with my family and neighbours, enjoying confidence and peace by hearing the word of the Lord first and obeying it immediately. We pray in the name of our Savior Jesus, who set the example of obedience to the point of death before God. Amen