The End of the Story (3)

The End of the Story

The Curtain Finally Closes …?

2 Kings 25

READ vv. 24:18-20

Today we come to the end of our journey through the OT books of 1 and 2 Kings. It was January of 2021, when we began 1 Kings – and even though we’ve taken a few breaks along the way – still, for the most part, Sunday after Sunday, week after week, month after month, for the past 19 months – we have journeyed back to the Ancient Near East and walked through life with God’s people in the Land He had Promised – led them to, conquered enemies of and settled them in. We’ve seen the people of Israel in good times and bad. And we’ve learned that in human history, the saying really is true: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

This isn’t just ancient history on the other side of the globe. This is the world we live in today! Because we are the same fallen people and God is still on His throne of the universe – the same yesterday, today and forever.

I have to admit, being immersed in these books, for this long – I’ve become emotionally invested, so this week’s study is bitter-sweet – and I know I’m not the only one.

From the youthful humble optimism of Solomon, taking the throne of his father, David – building Jerusalem, to the awestruck wonder, at the sight of the newly constructed Temple there – standing majestically above the holy city – left breathless when the Presence of the LORD ALMIGHTY visibly descends to take up residence in that radiant structrure …. To the giddy excitement thick in the air as kings and queens from all over the world come to admire the wonders of your city … to the successes and failures of one king after another … dramas, like the solitary prophet Elijah, taking on the king and an entire religious establishment dedicated to Baal, with his simple faith in the power and Word of God – and how the God of power, shows Baal and every other false god – for the empty, powerless sham He warned us about.

We’ve stepped into the drama, seen the sights along the way, soaked it all in – so arriving at the end of the road has made for a pretty emotional week, preparing this message.

To come to the sad conclusion of this final chapter – and I don’t have to read it for you to already know it’s a sad conclusion – well, with the investment of time and spiritual energy we’ve made – the emotion of the tragedy hits especially hard, doesn’t it?

Our story picks up with Zedekiah as Nebuchadnezzar’s hand-picked king over Judah. Babylon has laid siege to the capital city of Jerusalem…. Again. This has happened before – 10 years earlier, when Jehoiachin, king at the time, sees the writing on the wall, surrenders, is shackled in chains and led away from Jerusalem – along with many of the best and brightest Judah has to offer (Daniel, Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego are among the group taken with the king). The people are dragged away from home, from country and of course, from freedom – carried to Babylon to live out their days, as exiles.

Zedekiah is Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet king – put in place to take care of Judah and most importantly – to keep it subservient … paying its ‘protection’ money. Zedekiah dutifully hands over taxes to his foreign mob boss. Until he doesn’t. He gets tired of seeing the treasure of his land go to Babylon for the enjoyment of the people there, so Zedekiah takes part in a not-so brilliant alliance of nations who attempt to throw off the yoke of the superpower of the day.

And the result? Well, the result is this: 10 years after Jehoiachin surrenders, Nebuchadnezzar is back with his army, for another siege of Jerusalem.

READ 25:1-7

1 JUDAH FALLS, vv. 1-12

When the residents of Jerusalem see the Babylonian soldiers approaching, then surrounding their city – they can’t help but feel hearts racing within – this is an awesome display of power – a highly trained, unstoppable force – the fear of the whole world, is setting up camp outside your city. You are not on good terms with them and the protective gates are all that is keeping them from you. That’s a frightening sight.

Verse 1 tells us that the Babylonians built ‘seige works’ around the city. They are wooden towers – built to a height at least equal to that of the city wall itself, and enclosed for the protection of the soldiers inside, except for windows at the top – from which the attackers can shoot at the defenders on the walls of the city. If the siege wall is close enough – giant battering rams can be used to break down the defenses. It is frightening to watch the construction going on ‘out there’, knowing that the goal of it all, is to destroy you, in here. But, on the other hand – you’ve seen it before. You survived the first siege, surely you can survive another one.

Jerusalem’s people can have no idea that this siege is not going away any time soon.

Siege warfare is a cruel but effective military strategy in the ancient East. Rather than making a concentrated assault to break down walls and overwhelm the defenders of a city, siege warriors simply surrounded the city and cut off all access to food and in some cases water. Then they just wait. And wait, And wait some more, until the inhabitants run out of supplies, begin to starve, and raise the white flag of surrender. Seiges take longer, but they sure cost less lives on the part of the invaders.

This siege lasts much longer than the last one around Jerusalem. Over a year goes by – there’s no harvest season. From your perch atop the city walls, you can see fields and olive groves – but there’s no getting to the fields to work them, let alone bring in their fruits. After one harvest season goes by, the city begins to run out of food. The minutes and days and months tick by. People begin to starve.

The prophet, Jeremiah, who is in the city at this time, writes vividly about the suffering of the people, in the book Lamentations.

Lamentations 1:11, “All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength”. Those words were written when it was still possible to find food and trade for it. But things get worse. Lamentations 2:12, “They cry to their mothers, ‘Where is bread and wine?’ as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city …” And by the time two years have gone by – and there has been no food coming into the tightly locked city – well then people are paying for food at the cost of their very lives. Lamentations 4:9-10, “Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Do you hear that moms?! What would it take to drive you there? This is a living hell.

Eventually, the city is weakened to the point that Nebuchadnezzar breaks through Jerusalem’s walls, facing very little resistance.

Now, at a time like this, what you need is a courageous leader – you need a Winston Churchill who will rally his despairing people and give hope – defiantly declare that ‘we will never surrender’ - and circulate among the frightened citizens. But that’s not what Judah gets from Zedekiah or his military. They get the opposite. Verse 4 tells us that No sooner do the Babylonian forces break through the city walls, than the ‘men of war’ and the king himself– they make a run for it, in the middle of the night – out of the city and they run for their own lives. “Every man for himself.”

Well, the king and his forces may have escaped the city, but weakened by near starvation, they’re no match for the already superior Babylonian forces – and v. 6 tells us, “They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.”

Isn’t that an interesting way to put it? “They – as in pagan Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces … “They passed sentence on him”. If you are looking at history with purely human eyes – that’s what you see here – one superpower after another flexing its muscles, dominating the world – meting out its justice and it seems nobody can get in the way – THEY ARE IN CONTROL. Isn’t that what you are tempted to feel like as you watch the news or read the posts on social media? “Russia’s in control! China’s in control! … Our own government is in control – or Satan is having a heyday!” But remember to look up. The God of Israel is on the throne of the universe. He has been promising this day for centuries now. He has been promising that HIS judgment would come – for HIS purposes. So Nebuchadnezzar is doing his worst – but no matter how evil his intentions – he’s only accomplishing the pre-ordained plan of God.

Oh, but that doesn’t mean life isn’t harsh. Nebuchadnezzar is brutal. Notice what he does to Zedekiah, when he catches him. As the king of Judah stands before the king of Babylon, waiting to be taken away to exile. First - before the chains are wrapped around his wrists … they force him to watch the murder of all of his sons. Every potential heir to his throne is slaughtered before his eyes – and then Zedekiah’s own eyes are gouged out. The last thing this still relatively young king will ever see … is the image of the violent death of his sons. That picture forever emblazoned in his brain.

And then, like Samson with the Philistines, Zedekiah is led off, weak, bound and blind – carried off, away from home, in enemy hands.

The devastation is far from over. About a month after the city is captured, Nebuchadnezzar brings in a specialist in urban demolition – flies him in from Babylon. Verse 8 introduces him. “… Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, as servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.” That title: ‘captain of the guard’, in Hebrew is literally, ‘chief executioner’ or, the ‘slaughterer.’ And that’s exactly what Nebuzaradan does.

Read vv. 8-12

Methodically and with great precision, he demolishes the beautiful city. Starting with the most important building, not only in Judah, but in the history of the world … the temple. According to the Jewish Talmud, when the Babylonians enter the building, the hold a 2-day feast in the holy place – to achieve maximum insult and desecration – then they set it on fire, watching the building engulfed in flames – splintered beams falling in gut-wrenching display of fireworks – spewing sparks as the fire works its way to the inner core of the place.

This is not just any building – there has never been a structure in all of human history as important as this place. This temple is the place, out of all the universe, where God chose his name to dwell at an address. The ark of the covenant is housed here – the mercy seat above and tablets of stone inside, written by the finger of God himself – that ark is here.

The cloud of the Shekinah glory of God descended here – the glory of the infinite, Sovereign, holy LORD of the universe …. He chose to LIVE with his people – and take up residence … here!

You are a citizen of Judah – this is where your hope has been for your whole life – and it was the same for your parents before you and their parents before them and so on and so on. No matter how bad things were – no matter how weak or evil your king was at the time – no matter who was strutting like a proud peacock on the world stage, in any given generation – one thing never changed: when you looked over your shoulder – the temple in Jerusalem was still there.

In fact, in the early days of Jeremiah’s ministry, the people of Judah had a false sense of confidence from the temple’s presence. In Jeremiah 7:4, “The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD”. That’s what they would say when confronted with their sin and urged to repent and turn back to God. “No worries – we have … THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD!” But having a sacred building is no guarantee of safety against sin and its consequences.

We fall into the same trap today. When we imagine that going to church, checking off that religious ‘box’ will save us from sin, whether or not we turn to Jesus Christ in humble repentance and faith …we’re saying, ‘The temple of the LORD.’

And churches fall into the same trap when its leadership thinks it will always grow and flourish, even when it turns away from the Word of God or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, once and for all delivered to the saints – and chooses, instead, to parrot the latest trending ideas from the unbelieving world, out there.

You are there – in Jerusalem, in 586 BC, and your security – your hope, is engulfed in flames, reduced to nothing more than a burning ruins, right before your eyes. The heat is scorching you as your heart is breaking within you. Oh, can you identify with despair like that?

Nebuzaradan isn’t finished yet. The ‘slaughterer’, moves on to the king’s palace and burns it down. Solomon spent 13 years and a fortune building and furnishing this palace. In a matter of hours, it’s gone. Every upper class house in every exclusive neighbourhood in Jerusalem … burnt to the ground.

Then the Babylonian destroyer goes to the seemingly impenetrable city walls and pulls them down, reducing the city’s armour to rubble.

More exiles are taken – almost everyone is carried away from their city, into exile, except for a skeleton remnant. Verse 12, “But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.”

Now verses 13-17 add insult to injury by describing how the few treasures left in Jerusalem’s temple – weren’t burnt up – but plundered.

2 CARRIED INTO EXILE, vv. 13-21

READ vv. 13-17

The massive pillars, standing sentry, outside the doors of the temple, the 11,000 gallon bowl - the bronze sea, the pots and shovels and snuffers and dishes … all described and carried away to Babylon. Remember back in 1 Kings, when the temple was being built – each of these items were described in detail, as they were lovingly and intricately made, according to God’s specific instructions. Now they are being thrown into a bank robbers ‘duffel bag, as it were, and carried away. …. and we are getting detail after detail of the de-construction and removal of God’s glorious presence.

This is not God being overpowered – remember, this pillaging of the temple in Jerusalem is clear fulfillment of divine prophecy. When Solomon dedicated the temple, the LORD spoke to him … back in 1 Kings 9:6-8:

“But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins.”

Here is that promise being fulfilled. The people have turned away for centuries – for most of 400 years … oh do you see the love of God and his longsuffering patience?! He takes no delight in judgment. But finally the judgment must come. Here it is: the temple - a smouldering pile of rubble.

Hear this, friend – this is God’s loving warning for you. Most people think that they can sin with impunity; they imagine that their transgressions will never catch up with them. But God always brings our sins to account. Thus, the words of Jesus are good for all of us to hear: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

READ Verses 18-21 – So the leading priests and military leaders are led out of town – but before they can even make it to a new home in exile – they are executed along the way. Killed in cold blood. That’s the last straw – God’s priests are gone – God’s presence is fully gone now. Notice how v. 21ends with a summary: “So Judah was taken into exile … out of its land.”

It’s stated so emotion-less – but we are meant to feel this. The exiles did. Psalm 137, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?”

Some of you are there, right now. You are not the first and you aren’t alone.

3 WHEN YOU THINK IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE, vv. 22-26

Nebuchadnezzar does leave a glimmer of hope behind, in Judah. There still needs to be some form of leadership for the stragglers left behind in Judah, and the king of Babylon appoints a man named Gedaliah, to be governor. READ vv. 22-24

Gedaliah is the grandson of Shaphan – who was Josiah’s chief of staff and a huge help in that great revival. Gedaliah’s dad also served the Lord - protected Jeremiah from being murdered … and Gedaliah is a chip off the old block. Look at his words in v. 24, “Don’t be afraid … live in the land and serve the king of Babylon and it shall be well with you.” That’s not just Gedaliah’s advice – that’s good advice – it’s Godly advice: seek the peace of the city you are in – and trust the Lord to take care of the rest.

But before you can even take a full breath of the air of hope – a member of the royal family comes along with a gang of thugs. READ vv. 25-26.

Just when you think things cannot get any WORSE … the one good leader left behind is assassinated – and the morons who thought it would be a good idea to do that …. Well they end up running in fear of the Babylonians, and notice where they end up – v. 26 – they are back in Egypt – the land of slavery. So now you have Judah decimated and God’s people split up – most in exile in Babylon and some back in the land God rescued them from – The Exodus has been undone and God has spit his people out of the land of Promise.

4 A RAY OF SUNLIGHT PIERCES THE DARKNESS, vv. 27-30

So,is this it? What a depressing way to end the book and a a year and a half of our focus on Sunday mornings. 1 and 2 Kings tell the story of a long, depressing decline. The story begins with the death of King David and ends with the fall of Jerusalem. What have we seen along the way? The Holy nation gets torn into two, Israel ends up in Assyria – 10 tribes lost forever. Judah goes into exile and the few remaining individuals of this ‘holy people’ are scattered from Egypt to Babylon. Everything seems to be lost.

You see our world with the same kind of vision – many of you do: Evil people go from bad to worse. Too many leaders seek power rather than use their position to make life better for their people – Society is increasingly divided, families and friends dividing into opposing camps …

… and people you trusted – people inside the Church have run into every kind of unbiblical thinking.

Here in Judah – even the temple itself – where God promised to be present with His people – a charred ruin. And the hardest pill to swallow is that it has all been deserved. God blessed, He instructed, He warned …. And the people had so much …. And they’ve thrown it all away.

So is this it? That’s the end of Kings – only the epilogue remains.

Well, as Yogi Berra used to say, “It ain’t over until it’s over.”

The curtain closed with the people of God back in Egypt – in fear. But that’s not the end of the story. The curtain opens one more time, with one last scene. This scene takes place in Babylon – the very heart of the mighty empire that has destroyed the people of God.

This time, the camera focuses on the old king of Judah, Jehoiachin. The last time we saw him, he was still a teenager. He had just become king over Judah … and he reigned for a grand total of 3 months, before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar and being carried off in chains to Babylon, where he has been in prison for the last THIRTY-SEVEN years. He has been rotting away there for almost 4 decades – and he deserves it – unfaithful king that he was.

But his story isn’t over.

READ vv. 27-30

Twenty six years after the fall of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar dies. His successor is named Evil-Merodach – and the very next day, Nebuchadnezzar’s body is dug up and dragged through the streets of the capital. And on that very day – the new king issues a decree that releases Jehoiachin from his prison cell.

You may think, “Well, big deal – he’s out of prison, but he’s still an old man living in exile in a foreign nation.

But don’t miss the way the text describes what happens to him: First, in v. 27, “(Evil-Merodach) lifted up the head of Jehoiachin from the prison house.” – doesn’t that remind you of Joseph, lifted from the prison house by the Pharaoh of Egypt. You remember how that story turned out.

Then v. 28, “Evil-merodach ‘spoke good things with him’”. In other words – God gave Jehoiachin favor in the eyes of the king of Babylon.

Third, in the second half of v. 28, “Jehoiachin was given …. ‘a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon, (29) so Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table.” He’s eating royal food at the royal dining table.

And fourth – at the end of v. 29 and into verse 30: “For his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs …”. Doesn’t that remind you of Israel, back when they were slaves in Egypt – about to be released into the wilderness, but not before God prompted the Egyptians to load them down with gifts – jewels and treasure. And then Israel goes into the hostile wilderness with its lack of food …. But that’s no problem for God, because he sends manna – food falling from the sky. Every day he sends enough food for the people’s needs that very day. Not enough for tomorrow, but always enough for today.

In this epilogue – Jehoiachin is even called the ‘king of Judah’ TWICE.

Nebuchadnezzar was the mighty king in control of the stage of history – and Jehoiachin is just one more beaten down foreigner with no hope of the future.

That is some of you, right now. You have received so many blessings from the Lord – and you’ve thrown them away. Now you are at the end of your rope. What blessing can there be for you? What hope for a future?

But do you see what God’s Word is saying here: God is NOT done. He will punish sin and He will discipline His people. But He doesn’t let his people go. Ever. The story isn’t over.

Turn to the very beginning of the New Testament. Turn to Matthew 1:11. Do you think genealogies are boring? Well, they aren’t exactly page-turning excitement, but they are so important. Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ – tracing the human ancestry of the Son of God all the way back to Abraham, through David …. And, v. 11 picks up the story at the end of Kings: Verse 11, “and Josiah the father of Jechoniah (that’s another name for Jehoiachin) and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.” But that’s not the end of the story. Verse 12 carries on: READ vv. 12-16

See how the final words of 2 Kings are some of the most exciting words that have ever been written because they show that God will not forget his people or abandon them in this world – even when all seems hopeless.

You see God has made promises to His People – He promised David a ruler to reign on his throne for ever – and God never breaks a promise and He never fails to fulfill his word.

And fast forward to the first century – things don’t seem any better. Babylon is long gone, but now Rome is the power and the people of God are no more free than when Nebuchadnezzar was burning the temple. But here, at the beginning of the New Testament - when this people was trampled, beaten down, and teetering between faith and compromise, that the Sun of righteousness began to blaze. It is not your righteousness but the Lord’s stubbornness that brings redemption. The God of power and fury turns from his fury in Jehoiachin’s Descendant. And we should have more than a little hope. The God who brought our Saviour through a family tree like that – will never close the curtain on you – as long as there is breath in your lungs.

5 CONCLUSION

In 1921 David and Svea Flood went with their two-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa, to what was then called the Belgian Congo. This missionary couple met up with the Ericksons, another young Scandinavian couple, and the four of them sought God for direction.

In those days of much devotion and sacrifice, they felt led of the Lord to set out from the main mission station to take the gospel to a small village in a remote area. This was a huge step of faith. But when they arrived in the village, rather than a warm welcome from a prepared heart - they were rebuffed by the chief, who wouldn’t let them into town for fear of alienating the local gods.

The two couples opted to build their own mud huts half a mile up the slope. They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, and prayed, and prayed …but nothing. Their only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week.

Svea Flood—who was a tiny woman only four feet, eight inches tall—decided that if this was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And she succeeded! Unfortunately, that was the only fruit of their efforts and, in the meantime, malaria struck one member of the little missionary band after another.

Eventually, the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission station. David and Svea Flood stood firm and carried on, near the village - alone. As time went on, Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina. The delivery was exhausting and after already fighting bouts of malaria, Svea’s body gave up – and she died 17 days later.

Well that was it for her husband David. Something snapped Inside him. He dug a crude grave, buried his 27-year-old wife, and then went back down the mountain with his children to the mission station. He handed baby Aina to the Ericksons and snarled, “I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life!”

With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his calling, but God Himself. Within eight months, both the Ericksons were stricken with a mysterious malady and died within days of each other. Baby Aina was then turned over to another American missionary family who changed her Swedish name to “Aggie”. When she was 3 years old, they moved back to the US. This family loved Aggie.

Afraid that if they tried to return to Africa some legal obstacle might separate her from them, they decided to stay in their home country and switch from missionary work to pastoral ministry. That is how Aggie grew up in South Dakota.

As a young woman, she attended a Bible College in Minneapolis. There she met a young man, they were married and she now became Mrs. Aggie Hurst. Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful ministry. Aggie gave birth to two children of her own and in time, her husband became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area, and Aggie was intrigued to find so much Scandinavian heritage there.

One day she found a Swedish religious magazine in their mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and of course she couldn’t read the words, but as she turned the pages, a photo suddenly stopped her cold. There, in a primitive setting, was a grave with a white cross—and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD. Aggie got in her car and drove straight to a college faculty member whom she knew could translate the article. “What does this article say?”

The teacher shared a summary of the story. "It is about missionaries who went to N’dolera, Africa, long ago. A baby was born. The young mother died. One little African boy was led to Jesus before that. After the whites had all left, the boy all grown up finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village. He gradually won all his students to Christ and the children led their parents to Him. Even the chief became a follower of Jesus!

Today there are six hundred believers in that village, all because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood." Aggie was elated! For the Hursts’ 25th wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden.

While on that vacation, Aggie sought out her birth father. David Flood was an old man now. He had remarried, fathered four more children, and had spent the rest of his life trying to find peace at the bottom of a bottle. It hadn’t worked. He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: “Never mention the name of God! God took everything from me!”

After an emotional reunion with her half-brothers and half-sister, Aggie brought up the subject of her longing to see her father. They hesitated.... “You can talk to him, but he’s very ill now. You need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage.” Aggie walked into the squalid apartment, which had liquor bottles strewn everywhere, and slowly approached her 73-year-old father lying in a rumpled bed. “Papa,” she said tentatively.

He turned and began to cry. “Aina!" "I never meant to give you away!” “It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, taking him gently in her arms. “God took good care of me.” Her father instantly stiffened and his tears stopped.“God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him.” He turned his face back to the wall. Aggie stroked his face and then continued, undaunted. “Papa, I’ve got a marvelous story to tell you!" "You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus! The one seed you planted in his heart kept growing and growing! Today there are 600 people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life!"

"Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you or abandoned us.” The old father turned back to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed. He slowly began to talk. And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many years. Over the next few days, father and daughter enjoyed warm moments together. A few weeks after Aggie and her husband returned to America, David Flood died.

And a few years later.... Aggie and her husband were in London, England, attending an evangelism conference. A report was given from Zaire (the former Belgian Congo). The superintendent of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the Gospel’s spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood.

“Yes, madam,” the man replied in French, his words being translated into English. “Svea Flood led me to Jesus Christ! I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day, your mother’s grave and her memory are honored by all of us.” He embraced Aggie for a long time, sobbing. “You must come to Zaire! Your mother is the most famous and honored person in our history.” When Aggie and her husband went to N’dolera, they were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. Aggie even met the man who had been hired by her father to carry her down the mountain in a hammock-cradle. “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” Psalm 126:5

You feel forgotten by God – consigned to live and die in spiritual exile – the God of Israel, the God of Svea Flood, is the God and Father of Jesus Christ and all who will trust in him – no matter what you see with your eyes.

Philip Ryken: “With the fulfillment of God’s royal promises in Jesus Christ, our hope rises, and rises again. Think of Christ’s first coming as 3 Kings—the sequel to the Old Testament story of Judah and Israel. Then think of his second coming as 4 Kings—the book that we are still waiting to read. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are part of that everlasting story.

By the grace of God, we are not blinded by sin or lost in spiritual exile. No, we are safe in the city of God, under the strong protection of David’s royal son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. … Long live the King!”