2 Chronicles is a drama with a bad ending. The chosen people of God had rebelled against Him in just about every imaginable way. Each generation seems to have slipped further from the call God had on their lives and each generation brought them closer to God’s judgment. Through it all God never stopped loving them. That’s why he sent them the prophets. They represented God’s loving counsel warning and encouraging the nation to turn away from their rebellious ways and return to the God of their fathers.

At the end of 2 Chronicles, God makes this clear. 36:15 says, “The Lord repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them for He had compassion on His people and his temple.”

But the people didn’t listen and the nation was destroyed. The last King, Zedekiah, is the picture of the character of the nation as a whole. His epitaph is the epitaph of the nation as a whole.  That epitaph is written for us in 36:13. If we were to uncover his tombstone someday, I’m sure it will read: Here lies Zedekiah, “a hard and stubborn man.”

Lord, keep us from earning the same epitaph.

Chuck
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” 1 John 4:10-11(NLT)