THE POINT OF NO RETURN

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple there.

The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

2 Chronicles 36:2-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The end of Josiah’s reign marked a turn for the worse regarding the spiritual health of the southern kingdom of Judah. All the reforms he had put in place, all the hard efforts to return the people’s hearts and minds back to God were put to rest by a series of kings who took Judah and its people to the point of no return.

It started with Josiah’s son, Johoahaz.

Scripture tells us that he had only been in reign for three months when he was dethroned by Necho, the king of Egypt. You’ll recall that God had been using Necho and his Egyptian army to carry out His will and when Josiah decided to challenge that, he was killed by an archer’s arrow. If only he had heeded Necho’s warning, we may be reading a different excerpt in Judah’s history but that’s not what happened. Josiah was killed, his son Jehoahaz assumed the throne briefly before being removed from power by Necho who imposed a heavy tax on the people of Judah and chose his own king to rule Judah, Jehoahaz’s brother, Eliakim, who Necho renamed Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was carried off to Egypt and never mentioned again in the scriptures.

So how did Jehoiakim rule? It sure wasn’t like his father, that’s for sure.

God’s word tells us that during his eleven year reign he did detestable evil acts in the eyes of the Lord his God before he was attacked by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who bound him with bronze shackles and took him and articles from the Lord’s temple to Babylon. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin.

Maybe now things would turn around, right?

Wrong.

Jehoiachin only ruled for three months and ten days but that was long enough for him to evil in the eyes of the Lord just as his father had and uncle had done. Fittingly, he went the same route that his father did and was brought to Babylon along with more temple articles by King Nebuchadnezzar. He was replaced in rule by his uncle, Zedekiah.

Would the trend of evil be reversed now?

Not quite.

For we find in our passage that Zedekiah was as bad if not worse than his other evil predecessors. Over his eleven years on the throne, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. Scripture tells us that Zedekiah became stiff-necked and hardened his heart, refusing to turn to the Lord. And his leaders followed his lead, becoming more and more unfaithful to God while following all the detestable practices of other  nations and defiling the temple of the Lord. The Lord tried and tried to turn His people away from their sin and unbelief and back toward Him and His righteousness because He had pity on them but the people were too far gone. They mocked His messengers, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets.

In other words, the people of Judah had reached the point of no return.

The first indicator comes at the very end of our passage when we learn that the Lord’s wrath was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

No remedy.

In other words, there was nothing that the people could do to avoid God’s punishment and judgment. And this is no place that anyone should want to be.

As we’ll see, the people of Judah will be taken away from the Promised Land and spend seventy years in captivity in Babylon, the only thing saving them from complete annihilation being God’s promise with David to always leave an Israelite remnant in Jerusalem. And we know God always keeps His promises.

So what is our take away from this scripture passage today?

None of us should think we’re going to continue to get away with shunning God in our lives without consequence.

We’re expected to respect and revere God for who He is, the Master of all things. We are subordinate to Him and are to bow down and hold Him in more esteem than anyone else in life. No one, and I mean no one, is more worthy of all our honor, glory, and praise – now and forever.

If you’ve turned away from God toward sin and unbelief, know He longs to have you back in His favor, obedient to all He expects and wills. Know He is a patient Lord but know as well that His patience has its limits. He will not be ignored, He will not be slighted, He will not be scoffed, and He will not stand for being rejected.

If you’re not willing to reverse your course and return to Him, you will reach a point of no return like the Judean Israelites, and face God’s consequence and correction, intended to teach through discipline before opening up opportunities for repentance and a return to the fullest extension of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love, just like the prodigal son of Christ’s parable (Luke 15:11-32).

My prayer today is that you never get to the point of no return, that you will bow down before your God and confess of your wrongs, receiving His pardon and returning fully to His service, will, and way.

The bottom line is that we have a choice. We can choose God’s favor or judgment.

Only someone not in their right mind would choose judgment.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

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