2 Kings 25:9-10, describes the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian general Nebuchadnezzar. “He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.”
The defeat of Judah was not because of God’s impotence. Nebuchadnezzar was God’s instrument of judgment, because of the sins of the Jewish people. Jeremiah had previously predicted Jerusalem’s fall. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, … this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years’” (Jeremiah 25:8, 11).
Nebuchadnezzar’s mistake was that he did not give God credit for his victory and his kingdom. Instead, he exalted himself and his own power. “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). For his pride, idolatry, and rejection of God’s sovereignty, Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated (cf. Daniel 4:31-33); and his own kingdom was destroyed and made “perpetual desolation” (cf. Jeremiah 25:12).
The lesson? God is sovereign in the universe! As Jeremiah prayed, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17).
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