THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Kings: The Kings Of Israel And Judah From Solomon To The Babylonian Captivity

III. The Latter Era Of The Divided Kingdom, 2 Kings 2:1-27:41

LL. Responding To Destructively Lawless Leaders

(2 Kings 24:8-17 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

We often face destructively lawless leaders in today's world, a fact we can readily illustrate:

(1) It occurs in government. Michael Fortier of Oakville in his letter in the Republican-American, July 16, 2019, p. 6A, asked, "Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim and even state Attorney General William Tong . . . say federal immigration law should not be followed (July 13 Connecticut Mirror story, "Lamont tells immigrants: 'We're proud you're here'"). Does this mean we don't have to follow state or local laws if we don't want to?"

Clifford May's column, "Getting human rights right" (Ibid., July 22, 2019, p. 6A) explained why such officials counter these federal laws, observing, "(T)oday's social Marxists champion 'identity rights.' They insist groups they perceive as qualifying for victim status [like illegal immigrants] deserve enhanced rights -- to be endowed by the state -- while the rights granted to groups they regard as 'privileged' [like citizens] are to be limited." (brackets ours)

Such ideology is toxic to a stable society: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' 1848 "Communist Manifesto," the source of Marxism, called for the abolition of private property, the middle class, families, countries, nationalities, religion, morality, eternal truths and individuality while supporting every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order. ("Goals, 'Communist Manifesto'; learn-usa.com/transformation)

(2) It occurs in evangelicalism: We too often hear of the failure of church leaders to heed or teach Scripture consistently in other parts of the country, but we also hear of it here: in the last five years, I have heard of three area churches that have been decimated by this problem, and last week I heard of another one that faces the same threat!

Need: Accordingly, we ask, "How does God want us to respond to destructively lawless leaders?!"

I. When Jehoiachin came to Judah's throne, he violated Scripture and even lawlessly and destructively committed atrocities against his own subjects, 2 Kings 24:8-9 with Ezekiel 19:5-7 and Jeremiah 22:24-30:

A. Jehoiachin began his reign at age 18, and 2 Kings 24:8-9 claims he was evil in God's eyes like his father.

B. However, Jeohiachin's sin went beyond even idolatry to committing destructive atrocities, Ezekiel 19:5-7:

1. Ezekiel 19:5-7 in the Hebrew text poetically depicts Jehoiachin as a fierce lion (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Ez. 19:5-9) who would use his power as king to kill a man (v. 6b), then physically abuse the slain man's widow (wayeda' 'almenotaw, v. 7a; Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 838) followed by destroying the town where he had committed the atrocities, its people fleeing from the town and leaving it a permanent waste land due to their fear of Jeohiachin. (Keil & Delitzsch, Com. on the O. T.: Ez. 19; studylight.org)

2. God hated his sins, so He had only harsh words of judgment for Jeohiachin, who was also called Coniah:

a. Jeremiah claimed that even if Coniah were God's prized signet ring used for signing documents, the Lord would destructively "tear" him off of His hand for his sins, Jer. 22:24 ESV; B. K. C., O. T., p. 1157.

b. God promised destructively to "hurl" Coniah and his evil mother into Babylon, Jer. 22:25-27 ESV.

c. Reflecting the decadent state of the people of Judah, Jeremiah reported that some people did not despise Coniah as a broken, unwanted pot, but even hoped he would be returned to the throne, Jer. 22:28; Ibid.

d. Nevertheless, God called for the earth as a witness to hear His word that Coniah would never have an offspring of his to sit on the Davidic throne, Jeremiah 22:29-30 ESV. God Who was sovereign and righteous would not tolerate vile Coniah or his seed ever again to rule on the throne of His servant David!

II. The Lor thus judged Jehoiachin to be taken captive to Babylon just three months into his reign, ending his brief but destructive and brutal reign over his subjects, 2 Kings 24:10-16 with Ezekiel 19:8-9:

A. Ezekiel 19:8-9 poetically likens Jehoiachin to a lion who was captured by Babylon and taken into captivity so that his terrorizing roar could not longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.

B. Indeed, 2 Kings 24:10-16 records how Jehoiachin surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar who came out against him, and how the treasures of his palace and God's temple were seized by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon in fulfillment of God's 2 Kings 20:17-18 prophecy given to Jehoiachin's ancestor king Hezekiah.

C. Though Jehoiachin longed to return to his native land of Judah, he was never allowed to do so, but he died in Babylon in fulfillment of God's predicted judgment against him, Jeremiah 22:27.

Lesson: For ruling not only in the wickedness of idolatry, but lawlessly and destructively committing atrocities against his subjects, Jehoiachin was judged of God to be taken captive only three months into his reign and taken to Babylon never to return, and never to have any of his descendants sit on the Davidic throne.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from sin, John 3:16. (2) May we realize that destructively lawless leaders were predicted to rise in 2 Timothy 3:1-5a and by implication in the words of Revelation 3:21 (as we have before noted). (3) May we rely on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) to heed Paul's call that we respond to destructively lawless leaders by (a) withdrawing from their harmful reach (2 Timothy 3:5b), (b) by waiting for them to have their false ways expose them to all (2 Timothy 3:9) and (c) by trusting God to deliver us from them.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

(1) Following such a sermon, it would be edifying for us to contrast the Ten Commandments upon which our Western Civilizations were built with the views and acts of destructively lawless leaders that we face (as follows):

(a) The first commandment, Exodus 20:3, forbids one's having any God before Scripture's God, and Clifford May's column (Ibid.) that notes Marxist ideology affects many government [and increasingly religious] leaders exalts materialism as its god. Marxist covetousness of what the "haves" possess so as to steal from them to give to the "have nots" in the name of "social-justice" violates this command, for it worships the god of covetousness, Colossians 3:5b.

(b) The second commandment, Exodus 20:4-6, forbids making a god out of an object. Senior Reporter Peter Hasson, "2020 Candidates Keep Ignoring The Same Big Issue" in the Daily Caller, July 18 as cited in the Republican-American, Ibid., July 22, 2019, p. 6A reported, "The national debt grew by almost $9 trillion . . . under former President Barack Obama . . . but the debt has only continued to grow during Trump's presidency." The preoccupation of our nation's leaders with money as the source of all solutions wrongly worships man-made money as a god.

(c) The third commandment, Exodus 20:7, forbids misusing God's name because it undermines His authority. This sin is promoted in Marxism, for it seeks to eradicate belief in God. (Ibid., learn-usa.com/transformation)

(d) The fourth commandment, Exodus 20:8-11, on observing the Sabbath Day rest, asserts that it is based on God's creating the universe in six days and resting on the seventh. The Sabbath Day is a solar day, so the seventh day was a solar day, meaning God created the entire universe in a solar week without evolution! This truth counters the opening of Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History soon after the Scopes trial "to illustrate the results of evolutionary pressures on different types of life, including man." (A. M. B. Logan, "A Museum of Ideas: Evolution Education at the Peabody Museum during the 1920s," an adaptation of Logan's senior thesis at Yale in April 2007)

(e) The fifth commandment, Exodus 20:12, on honoring one's father and his mother, counters Marxism's effort to abolish the family in order to have the state control the entire social order. (Ibid., learn-usa.com/transformation)

(f) The sixth commandment, Exodus 20:13, on prohibiting murder, and as clarified relative to abortion in Exodus 21:22-23, counters the effort by Connecticut U. S. Representative Jahana Hayes, D-5th District to appoint as her chief of staff the former vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic. (Letter by Brother John Moriarty, Napa Valley, California in the Republican-American, Ibid., July 19, 2019, p. 8A)

(g) The seventh commandment, Exodus 20:14, prohibiting adultery, as clarified in Leviticus 18:1-30, Genesis 2:20-24 with 7:2 in the Hebrew text, Deuteronomy 22:5, Matthew 5:27-28 and 1 Corinthians 7:10-40 counters all human sexual expression in thought, orientation and deed that violates God's ideal of the permanent union of an adult natural male man and an adult natural female woman in marriage. All other human sexual expressions are sin.

(h) The eighth commandment, Exodus 20:15, prohibiting stealing, counters Marxism's effort to use the state forcibly to take or actually to steal from the private property owner "haves" in order to give to the "have nots."

(i) The ninth commandment, Exodus 20:16, prohibiting bearing false testimony, counters efforts by a number of political leaders falsely to slander those who disagree with their political views as "racist" as depicted in the political cartoon in the Republican-American, Ibid., July 22, 2019, p. 6A: that cartoon pictures a parrot with a political party's symbol on it pointing and squawking "racist" over and over again at others who disagree with its views!

(j) The tenth commandment, Exodus 20:17, prohibiting covetousness, counters Marxism's effort to promote lusting for what the "haves" possess so as to prompt the "have nots" to own it. (Ibid., learn-usa.com/transformation)

(2) In light of the destructively unbiblical acts of some evangelical leaders, I can only speak for myself to say I view myself as subject to Scripture's authority as it is interpreted literally, that I apply it in my life and ministry and use it as my sole source of content for all preaching and teaching and pastoral administrative action.

May we trust in Christ for salvation. May we know that Scripture predicted dreadfully lawless leaders would rise, that we try to avoid their reach, wait for their errors to expose them and trust God to handle them.