Life in Exile

2 Chronicles 11-21

Hey everybody, I’m super glad to be back with you

it has been a while since I have gotten to speak to you. Last week Jared brought a word to you, the week before that we were all frozen in our houses.

This Sunday Jared is preaching in big church

he would love it if you guys came and listened and supported him

he is working hard, I am confident that it will be an encouraging and challenging word

Since he is preaching sunday, I get to preach to both groups tonight

Tonight we are continuing our journey through the Bible

It has been a few weeks since we have met, but our sunday school classes have been chugging along

I encourage each of you to come on sundays, there is a lot that you can learn, and if we believe that God’s word changes our lives, we should make every effort to know it and know it well

So we started with Abraham and looked at his sons

Saw the family become a nation under Joseph in Egypt

saw them become enslaved and then freed in the Exodus under Moses

God made a covenant with the people at Mount Sinai, and then the people spent 40 years in the wilderness learning how to be His people

Then they entered the land promised to Abraham, and then we see this cycle of sin and salvation start in the book of Judges

The people follow God and things are good, they get comfortable and start relying on themselves and looking to the nations around them and their gods

we see this cycle go through the judges and even through the kings like king David and the kings that come after him

then the kingdom of God is split in two: Israel and Judah

God sends prophets to both Israel and Judah, and they call the people and the kings to turn back to God, to follow His ways, to worship Him, to treat God’s people rightly, and just to live life His way

The people by and large do not listen, at least not for long

you have the people of God and they are living in the land promised by God, bu they are struggling to follow God

God told them in the covenant, through the judges, through the kings, and through the prophets that they need to follow God if they want to live in the blessings of God

In the covenant with Israel God said that He would take care of the people IF they follow Him, but if they don’t he will hand them over to all kinds of things

God is not going to make the people follow Him. They can live without Him if they want to. But they are going to have to pay the consequences of that if they so choose.

In 2 Chronicles 12 God says that He is going to let an evil king invade and take the people temporarily captive “so that they may recognize the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands”

so God has a life and a kingdom for the people if they follow Him

but He also tells them that they can not follow Him, but there will be consequences

that brings us to our point in the story tonight

the prophets have prophecied, the kings have ruled, and lets see where the people are

2 Chronicles 36:11–21 ESV

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

This event starts a time called the “babylonian Exile”

the babylonian exile was a bad time for the people of God

two of the most famous stories of people being hurt for their faith come from this time

daniel was thrown into a lions den because he prayed to God

Shadrach Mishach and abendigo were thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn’t worship a gold statue

the people were expected to turn from God and follow the gods of Babylon

imagine if you were ripped from your home, captured, and forced to live in this evil nation

many people turned from God. They had turned from God many times before

But as we look at the overall story of the Bible, this period of time is incredibly important, and it is incredibly important for how we understand ourselves and our faith

The children of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob had made it to the promised land

they had followed king David

they had built the temple

but they took their eyes off of God, and they ignored Him when He called to them

so God let them experience what life is like without Him

In our lives, we must understand that God has a great plan and path for us

God has given us the Bible so that we can know much of that plan. He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can understand, He has given us salvation through Christ so that we can walk the path even though we don’t deserve it

God offers to transform us from the inside out, to make us a new creation

but we have to follow Him

God has a path for you, but He is not going to force you to walk it

You are able to sin and step out of the will of God

the people of Israel were able to sin and step out of the promised land and into Babylon

Do not assume that you are living the life that God made you to live

if you are living in sin, then you are not

God has given us power over sin through Jesus, but we still have to choose to turn from our sin and follow Him

some of you have sin that you need to turn from

I want this story tonight to be a warning to you

There are consequences to living in sin

When you are living in sin, sometimes God allows you to learn your lesson by suffering the consequences of your sin

there are some of you who know that there is sin in your life, and you think that it isn’t that big of a deal

read the Bible and tell me that sin isn’t a big deal to God

God is gracious, He is patient, He is kind, but He is also Holy

God is not afraid to turn you over to the consequences of your sin if you continue to ignore what He says

Specifically I am talking about things that you know are wrong, but you just do it anyway

There is a path for your life, and I don’t wnat you to think that it is a mystery that you have to figure out exactly

like I am not saying that if you accidentally choose the wrong college to go to then you are outside of the will of God and He is going to take His protection off of you

I am saying that there are things that God tells us to do, and if we don’t do those things then that is sin

there are things that God tells us not to do, and if we do those things, that is sin

when we know that it is a sin to treat somebody badly and we do it anyway, don’t be surprised when somebody treats you badly

when you know that you are supposed to live with purity in your relationships and you don’t, don’t be surprised when you have relationship problems down the line

when you know that you are supposed to seek God through His word and you don’t, then don’t be surprised when you have a decision to make and it feels like you have no idea what God says you should do

God has a path for you. It is a good path. It is full of purpose, security, and closeness with God

Do you know the path

Do you have a relationship with Jesus?

have you ever asked Him to be your Lord and Savior

if not, then it is time to listen to what God has said and follow Jesus

Do you know what God has said through His word?

how are you going to live the life that God made you to live if you don’t know what He has said?

God gave us the Bible so that we can know Him and know how He created us to live

if you want to follow God, start by reading the Bible.

if you haven’t been, start

if you don’t have one, we will get you one

if you don’t know how to read the Bible or it doesn’t make sense, ask for help and we will help you

Are you going to stay on the path?

a lot of you are saved, and you are trying to read the Bible

but there is something in your life that you know needs to change

make that change tonight. Commit to living God’s way.

whatever it is, ask yourself “is this sin worth living without God’s blessing, protection, and guidance”

God had given us everything that we need in order to follow Him

but we have to choose to follow Him

In your life, in your school, in your family, in your friends, in your relationships, God has a plan

but do not just assume that you are living in God’s plan

so turn from your sin and turn to God. Let this be a warning against living without God, and an encouragement to live with Him