Based on Jeremiah 52:12-30 (New King James Version)
“Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. Now concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow. A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates was the same. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates, all around on the network, were one hundred. The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land. These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.”
I believe that there may be people that possibly ask, “Why does destruction occur?” And I’m afraid to say that sin is always the root cause for destruction, especially when it concerns people that supposedly know about God. We read today about the destruction that came upon the people of Israel at the hands of the Chaldeans, the king of Babylon. It was extremely difficult what happened to the people of Israel. It was an event where few people survived, in comparison to the population that existed then. The few that survived were either taken prisoner or left to cultivate the land, but that was it. The country was devastated entirely. So, some may ask, “Did God allow this to happen, and if so, why?”
The first thing usually that exists in people’s hearts and minds is judging God and questioning His motives and actions. And since everything in the world has an explanation, especially what God does and allows for, it’s easy to respond but when always choosing to see God’s side through His Word. This is a great problem that exists today, that the majority of people only want to see their side of the story, but never put themselves on the Lord’s side. They demand to see God’s love, and they question Him, but never want to see God’s side and what has been done to Him. God is offended at every moment, but not for a single instant do the majority want to see what was done against God. And remember that we are talking about people that know of God, because what we read concerned the people of God, and not a people that did not know God. And we could say this almost about the entire world today, that nearly every person has heard or knows about God. The world has nearly been evangelized in its entirety. What is the Gospel? It’s not just about talking about God, but also about letting people know of Christ and about what He did for all of humanity, the message of the cross. A great example of this was Billy Graham who preached the gospel to hundreds of millions of people throughout the world for many decades. And of course, what can we say about the Catholic Church? You can say what you want, but each time a person sees a crucifix, they see the unique symbol that talks about God’s love and mercy. The explanation of the cross cannot be avoided. And also, God says: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20. So then, it can be concluded that nearly the whole world, in one way or another, know about God and are conscious about what Christ did for all of us.
So then, what did Israel do with this knowledge of God? The same that much of the world does today with a fact that is even greater than what the ancient people of God knew, that not only does God exist, but that Christ died and was resurrected to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. Unfortunately, the majority of people consciously despise the Lord. They believe in and follow idols, including, they turn themselves and their sin into idols, as it is written: “Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.’’ ‘Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.’’” Ezekiel 14:1-6. Finally, how can God give of His favor, or even eternal life, to people who prefer to look for things that only bring about death? The wages of sin is death, and if people meanwhile look to justify and glorify sin, then they will only find death in the end. Every person has free will, but as such, all decision has its own consequence, starting with despising God. So then today, I offer this advice: Look to be fairer with the Lord and learn to love Him (while there is time), not only to try to use Him to resolve your temporary problems, but rather, for eternal life, because this world will never be perfect, and the only thing that matters is eternity. Lord bless! John