DAY 269- BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE EXILE

by Gillian D'achada November 5, 2021

“By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.”

Jeremiah 52: 6

Reading: 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 52

Even though life continued fairly normally for those in the Exile, this overwhelming by Babylon certainly did constitute a political crisis of huge proportions. The impact of Jerusalem’s destruction is described in excruciating detail three separate times in Scripture, in our readings for today - 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36 and Jeremiah 52.

This was the land that God had promised, PROMISED, centuries earlier to Abraham, and where his descendants had lived for more than eight hundred years. Now it lay ruined, its cities and its people brutalized. Abraham’s descendants now lay slaughtered upon the battle field or in exile in a foreign land. The great promises that God had made to David — about a kingdom centered in Jerusalem — seemed far away, even broken.

It was a spiritual crisis too. God had promised Abraham and his descendants the land in perpetuity (see Genesis 13: 15; 17: 18 and 48: 4). God had promised David that he would have a descendant on the throne in perpetuity (see 2 Samuel 7: 11-16; 1 Chronicles 17: 10-14). Was all lost? Had God broken His promises? Does God break His promises?

As we saw in yesterday readings, none of this had come upon God’s people unawares. God had warned the nation from the very beginning that their continued tenure in the land depended on their obedience. God DOES keep His Word. But that’s not always something we have the courage to face up to.

Prayer

God, help me to hold tight to Your faithful promises.

FOR THE FAMILY

If you have it, play the 5 promises of Abraham song from the Big Picture for Little People (you can buy the album here) or use this song to tell about how God makes promises.