2 Kings 25:8-17 – The devastating effect of sin

Sadly 2 Kings 25:8 onwards describe for us the demolition of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon. The destruction took place in the 19^th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. Nebuzaradan came to the holy city and razed it to the ground. Verses 9 said that he set fire to the house of the LORD - the temple, the house of the king - the palace,  all the houses of Jerusalem, both great and small, and burned and destroyed them all. The army of Babylon that was with Nebuzaradan broke the wall around Jerusalem and poured into the city. There they took everyone into exile in Babylon. Everyone left in the city, plus those who had deflected to the side of the king of Babylon, he took with him. But the poorest and insignificant people especially those who till the ground and took care of the vineyard he left behind.

The Babylonians did not only raze the temple, but they also looted all that was within. Second Kings 25:13-17 describe how the intricate work of Solomon’s temple which was wrought together with the help of skillful workmen of Hiram king of Tyre was destroyed. The army led by Nebuzaradan dismantled the bronze pillars, the sea, and its stands and took the bronze to Babylon. They also took away practically all the articles in the temple that were used for service with them to Babylon. The glorious structure of the temple and the vessels and even the last vestige that represented Solomon’s glory were all wiped out.

Jeremiah 52:17-23 describe the looting of the temple by the Babylonians in this way. Look at how Eugene Peterson paraphrased these verses. “The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze washstands, and the huge bronze basin (the Sea) that were in the Temple of God, and hauled the bronze off to Babylon. They also took the various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories, as well as the gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls, used in the services of Temple worship. The king’s deputy didn’t miss a thing. He took every scrap of precious metal he could find.

The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls that supported the Sea, and the ten washstands that Solomon had made for the Temple of God was enormous. They couldn’t weigh it all! Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high with a circumference of eighteen feet. The pillars were hollow, the bronze a little less than an inch thick. Each pillar was topped with an ornate capital of bronze pomegranates and filigree, which added another seven and a half feet to its height.  There were ninety-six pomegranates evenly spaced—in all, a hundred pomegranates worked into the filigree.”

Sin has a devastating effect. It will make us pay more than what we can afford to pay.  Like leaven, only a little will bring about a huge consequence. No sin can be hidden for long because we are dealing with an all-seeing God.  Deal with sin immediately or it will bring the colossal damage we can ill afford.   Don’t trifle with sin, no matter how small it may seem!