Messengers

2 Chronicles 36:9-15 – Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.

2 Kings 20:17 – The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:3 – He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:25 – From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.

Malachi 3:1 – “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

2 Kings 24:19 – He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done.

Application:

• ·         Hezekiah’s reception of the Babylonians would bring the exact opposite of what he desired and expected. Isaiah’s prediction of Babylonian exile at least 115 years before it happened is all the more remarkable because, when he spoke, it appeared that Assyria rather than Babylonia was the world power from whom Judah had the most to fear.
• ·         God’s discipline of His people by bringing them through the wilderness taught them this fundamental truth. There they were humbled by being cast on the Lord in total dependence.
• ·         God had promised that Moses would be the first in a long line of prophets who would speak in the Lord’s name and serve Him faithfully, a promise fulfilled in Christ.
• ·         The Hebrew for “my messenger” is mal’aki; it is normally used of a priest or prophet. “Messenger of the covenant” is the Messiah, who as the Lord’s representative will confirm and establish the covenant.
• ·         Israel’s failure to heed the Lord’s prophets ultimately led to her destruction.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV