2 Chronicles 36:11-21

2 Chronicles 36:11-21

[11] Zedekiah  was one  and twenty  years  old  when he began to reign,  eleven  years  in Jerusalem.  [12] And he did  that which was evil  in the sight  of the LORD  his God,  and humbled  not himself before  Jeremiah  the prophet  speaking from the mouth  of the LORD.  [13] And he also rebelled  against king  Nebuchadnezzar,  who had made him swear  by God:  but he stiffened  his neck,  and hardened  his heart  from turning  unto the LORD  God  of Israel.  [14] Moreover all the chief  of the priests,  and the people,  transgressed  much  after all the abominations  of the heathen;  and polluted  the house  of the LORD  which he had hallowed  in Jerusalem.  [15] And the LORD  God  of their fathers  sent  to them by  his messengers,  rising up betimes,  and sending;  because he had compassion  on his people,  and on his dwelling place:  [16] But they mocked  the messengers  of God,  and despised  his words,  and misused  his prophets,  until the wrath  of the LORD  arose  against his people,  till there was no remedy.  [17] Therefore he brought  upon them the king  of the Chaldees,  who slew  their young men  with the sword  in the house  of their sanctuary,  and had no compassion  upon young man  or maiden,  old man,  or him that stooped for age:  he gave  them all into his hand.  [18] 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.  [19] And they burnt  the house  of God,  and brake down  the wall  of Jerusalem,  and burnt  all the palaces  thereof with fire,  and destroyed  all the goodly  vessels  thereof. [20] And them that had escaped  from the sword  carried he away  to Babylon;  where they were servants  to him and his sons  until the reign  of the kingdom  of Persia:  [21] To fulfil  the word  of the LORD  by the mouth  of Jeremiah,  until the land  had enjoyed  her sabbaths:  for as long as  she lay desolate  she kept sabbath,  to fulfil  threescore and ten  years. 

What does 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

In Zedekiah"s reign, Judah bottomed out spiritually. The king refused to humble himself before either Yahweh or Nebuchadnezzar, even though God repeatedly sent messages and messengers urging him to do so. Hardness of heart now characterized the Davidic king as it had characterized the pharaoh of the Exodus. God humbled this king against his will as He had previously humbled that pharaoh.
The last verses of this section are very sermonic ( 2 Chronicles 36:14-21). Yet the Chronicler did not set them off as a sermon but caused them to flow out of what he had said about Zedekiah. The writer gave reasons for the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of the Israelites. The burning of the temple symbolized the end of God"s glory and presence among His people in the land that He had given them to occupy.
"What constitutes the greatest evil for the Chronicler-and it is a theme that is taken up elsewhere in the Bible-is not wrongdoing in and of itself, but wrongdoing in defiance of the clear knowledge of what is right ( Mark 12:1-2; Luke 16:31; Isaiah 1:2 f.)." [1]
"The real tragedy of the exile was not the removal of the people nor even the utter destruction of the city and the temple. It was the departure of their God from their midst, an absence symbolized in one of Ezekiel"s visions by the movement of the Shekinah from the temple to the summit of the Mount of Olives ( Ezekiel 11:23)." [2]
God had descended on the temple in a cloud at its dedication ( 2 Chronicles 7:1). Now He left it in smoke. Had the Chronicler ended here, there would have been little hope for the future. He justified God"s treatment of His vice-regent amply. The returned exiles could not accuse Yahweh of being unfair or impatient. Rather, His grace stands out, though it had now run out.
"The fall of Jerusalem in586 B.C. meant the loss of the three major mainstays of Israelite life: temple, monarchy, and land." [3]