Heartland Community Church

Once Upon A Time… Zedekiah Teaches Us About Pride
By Roger Pryor, Heartland Community Church

How many of you this week with your kids, spouse, boss or maybe with yourself, just threw you hands up and said, "That’s it! I’ve had it! Enough is enough!" Or you pulled the Popeye line, "That’s all I can stands. I can’t stands it no more." We all have our limits, and so does God. God had had it with King Zedekiah’s prideful attitude and rebellion, and so had King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Both couldn’t "stands it no more." The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 24:13-1, "He [Zedekiah] also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God's name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. The LORD, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple." Over and over, God had appealed to Zedekiah and his people through the prophet Jeremiah to repent—to turn from their evil ways or face the wrath of Babylonian Empire.

In spite of their rebellion and hard hearts, I find it amazing that God still called them His people. Why? Because God made Abraham a promise 1,500 years before that He would make him into a great nation and provide the ultimate redeemer who would bless the whole world. God was going to keep His promises, even though His people weren’t listening to Him. 2 Chronicles 24:16 says, "But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the LORD's anger could no longer be restrained and there was no remedy."

Think back for a moment to your dumbest moral decision ever. Most likely it was one where you ignored God’s warning and the input of others and did your own thing and told God to take a hike. I see it all the time. People disappear off the radar screen and hide from God, the church and their wise friends to do their self-destructive thing, only to reappear later with regrets, debts, painful memories, and a track record of broken relationships. Part of me dies inside every time as I watch someone go into a moral tailspin and self-destruct.

Here’s what many of us have learned the hard way: when the creature unplugs from the creator, we make dumb, self-destructive decisions. Look back at 2 Chronicles 24:16, "They scoffed at the prophets until the LORD's anger could no longer be restrained and there was no remedy." What a tragic verse! There came a point when God couldn’t "stands it no more." His people had ignored all of His warnings, and with no remedies left, God stepped aside and allowed them to crash and burn and experience the awful consequences of their decisions, having to face the full wrath of Babylon’s army.

God, who deeply loved His people, was in essence saying, "The warnings are over. You’re past the point of a comeback. I have no remedy for you anymore. And because I love you and want you to turn back to me, the best thing I can do for you is to let you self-destruct."

Here’s what happened next with Zedekiah and the nation. Jeremiah 52:4-5 reports, "So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign."

For two years Nebuchadnezzar camped around Jerusalem and watched the nation of Judah starve to death. As a last resort, Zedekiah asked the prophet Jeremiah, whom he had ignored for years, to enlist the Mr. Fix It God. Zedekiah said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 21:2, "'Please ask the LORD to help us. King Nebuchadnezzarof Babylon has begun his attack on Judah. Perhaps the LORD will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.'" "Jeremiah, we’re in trouble. Can God pull one more miracle out of His hat?" Ever done that? When all else fails, as a last resort, you make the 9-1-1 call to God.

Let me summarize Jeremiah’s gut wrenching response, "It’s too late. There was a time when God would have bailed you out, but you refused to listen to His warnings. It’s over. And the best thing you can do is to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. The day for mercy and grace is over. There is no remedy for you or the nation. You have gone too far. You’re still my people, but you will reap the consequences for what you have sown. God is allowing this to happen to you, not as a way to pay you back, but as a way to win you back."

When all hope of God’s help vanished, Zedekiah and others tried a desperate escape at night. But the Babylonians captured Zedekiah. Jeremiah 52:9-11 says, "They brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where sentence was passed against him. There at Riblah, the king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as all his sons were killed; they also killed all the other leaders of Judah. Then they gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison for the rest of his life."

What a huge price to pay when you don’t heed God’s warnings! And the Babylonians weren’t done. They destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple, and deported God’s people back to Babylon as slaves. After all the loving warnings, after all the trouble God had gone to in order to make them a nation, after all the effort to protect and bless His people, and after all God’s miracles for His people, He was still willing to go to extreme lengths to discipline them, to win their hearts back, and regain their attention and affection.

What a tragic way for the story to end. But the story doesn’t end there. God was a promise-keeping God who promised through Jeremiah to bring back the faithful who had hit rock bottom but had learned their lesson. He wanted to reestablish a relationship with them again. Through Jeremiah, God promised to restore the nation in 70 years, and God kept His promise. Several waves of God’s faithful people returned to rebuild the nation. Zerrubabel returned to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Ezra returned to rebuild the spiritual lives of the people. And Nehemiah returned to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.

Lots of lessons come out of this story. But let me focus on one that may make you a little uncomfortable. Here’s what God was doing during Zedekiah’s day. Because God was a loving heavenly father, He disciplined His disobedient children; not to pay them back but to win them back. Why? He was desperately committed to a relationship with those who call Him Father.

In other words, God loves those He disciplines to win us back; not to pay us back. That’s why God’s love hurts at times. If you ignore God’s Word and do life your way, if you ignore the warnings from God and others, a time will come when God won’t see a remedy for you.

So He’ll do the best thing He can do to win you back by letting you experience the consequences of your bad decisions. He disciplines you. That’s why God’s love often hurts.

Revelation 3:19 says, "I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love…" Hebrews 12:11 tells us, "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way."

These verses affirm the fact that God loves those He disciplines—to win us back, not to pay us back.

Here’s what you and I need to understand. The God who loves you enough not even to spare His own son Jesus from death on a cross will not spare your own wealth, health, job, reputation or relationships in order to regain your attention and affection. God will go to extreme measures if necessary to bring you to a place of intimacy with Him.

Think about it. What would God not withhold to regain your attention and affection? That’s the wonderful, terrible truth about God. Your Father in heaven is a jealous God, and after you’ve ignored all the warnings, there comes a point at which He starts taking away your toys, your stuff, and your achievements in order to get your attention—not to pay you back but to win you back.

As parents, if we recognize that something is getting in the way of our kid’s education or family time or relationships or showing respect, wouldn’t we take it from them? We wouldn’t hesitate to take away a toy, a computer, instant messaging, a phone, TV, MP3 player, privileges or a car if it were an obstacle to the well-being of our children.

In the same way, your heavenly Father won’t flinch in disciplining you or yanking something from you that you value in order to regain your affection and attention. If He didn’t spare His own son to gain your salvation, He certainly won’t hesitate to yank your wealth, health and relationships if that’s what it takes to win back your affection and attention.

God allowed His nation, His people, His city, and His own reputation to be nearly destroyed to gain their affection and attention. There’s nothing too valuable to God to allow it to stand in the way of winning His people back. He’s committed to doing the same with us. He will allow things to take place, knowing that the best thing for us is to suffer loss and tragedy to bring us to a place of brokenness where we say, "Not my will but, God, Your will be done."

Here’s the good news. He’s a promise-keeping God who never bails out on us, no matter how far we slide. You can’t undo the fact that if you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you are in permanent relationship with Him—adopted into His family. But as His child, He is committed to disciplining you.

Let me play the part of Jeremiah the prophet for a moment and plead with you—turn back to God. Repent. Change directions. Surrender to God’s will. Trust Christ as your Savior. Whatever God has been nudging you to do, do it. Don’t ignore His warnings like Zedekiah did. Don’t miss the warnings of significant others. Break off the relationship. Get help for your habit or addiction. Come clean with your spouse. Face your financial debt. Stop being selfish. Admit your mistakes. Stop blaming and own your problems. Deal with your integrity at work.

If you don’t, there will come a time when God will say, "I tried to warn you and you didn’t listen, so I’m stepping back and letting you face head-on the consequences of your actions. I love you so much, but like a good parent there’s nothing I won’t do to regain your affection and attention."

I want you to ask yourself, "Am I like Zedekiah? There’s an area in my life that I’ve been holding out on God. Pride is eating my lunch. I’ve ignored the warnings of God and others. I’ve rationalized my problem. I’ve thought I was going to get away with it. But I’m here today, and I don’t want to go that far—to a place of no return. I can’t stands it no more. I’m ready to surrender that habit, attitude, relationship, sin, or activity—whatever You, God, have put on my heart. I’m ready to repent by changing my mind and going in the opposite direction."

God loves you. He won’t pay you back. He wants to win you back. And He will go to extraordinary lengths to win you back because He’s that kind of father.