Remember the good King Josiah? He was eventually killed. During a battle, some Egyptians shot him with an arrow. “Take me away,” Josiah said to his servants, “for I am badly wounded” (2 Chron. 35:23). And he was. Soon after, Josiah died and “all Judah and Jerusalem mourned” (35:24). Then, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, was made king. But he didn’t last long in power. The Egyptians threw him out after only three months. Then, Jehoahaz’s older brother Jehoiakim was made king. Would he save the day? Would he be a good king like Josiah? Nope. “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (36:5).

Well, bad things happen when bad kings act badly. Right? Right! Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his army came to Jerusalem. They captured Jehoiakim, bound him in chains, and brought him to Babylon. The Babylonians also stole some of the holy vessels from the house of the Lord, the temple. But then things got better for God’s people. Right? Wrong! Another bad king took over Jerusalem, then another. God didn’t give up on his people though. He sent prophets to speak some sense to his kings, priests, and people. But no one listened. They even mocked God’s messengers and “polluted the house of the Lord” (36:14). They polluted the temple not with smoke from a dirty factory but with idols!

God had a big problem with their bad behavior. In his wrath “the Lord rose against his people” (36:16). God raised up Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to bring the promised curse to Jerusalem for breaking the covenant. The Babylonians returned to Jerusalem. They stole treasures, burned the temple, broke down the city walls, killed people, and took whoever was left back to Babylon to serve as slaves. Now the Israelites were back in slavery, strangers in a strange land. They were far from home and far from everything they knew. How terrible! Why would God send his enemies to conquer his people? It was because God’s people were acting like enemies to God. In love he was disciplining them. And in love, someday, he would draw them back.