2 Chronicles 36:9-10

  • There isn’t a lot to say about this man Jehoiachin except, ‘Don’t be like him!’ Aim to walk in a totally different direction by God’s power. He clearly did not have God’s approval. That is reflected, in part, by the statement that: he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days (9b). I suppose, with a reign so short that every day counts! Don’t be like him in sin: He did evil in the eyes of the LORD (9b). It was a case of ‘like father, like son’ (see 5). Instead, endeavour to be like the apostle Paul who wrote: So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it (2 Corinthians 5:9). If you read on into the next verse, you will see that Paul was motivated by thought of the judgment day when he would be held accountable for the life he lived on earth. Jehoiachin again says to us that we can’t sin with a high hand and get away with it. Maybe Jehoiachin didn’t reckon with a day of reckoning, but it always comes. Thou God seest me.
  •  Don’t be like him in captivity (10a). Jehoiachin was at the beck and call of another king who had the final say in his life. For ourselves, we who are ‘kings’ in Christ, we need to ensure that we are not being ruled by the one called in the Bible the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air. When he beckons you to ‘Babylon’ don’t follow. Don’t listen; don’t take any notice. You don’t have to. He has no authority over you. As Peter urges, Resist him, standing firm in the faith… (1 Peter 5:9; see also verse 8 and James 5:7). Dig your heels in and refuse to go with him.
  • Don’t be like him in letting go of your valuables (10b). Don’t surrender the precious things of the life of faith into the hands of Your enemy the devil (1 Peter 5:8), who is always on the prowl. He is the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy… (John 10:10). So put a good security system in place. Stay alert and on guard, and don’t allow yourself to be mugged. Hold on to your valuables.

So remember:

  • The devil promises you ‘the good life’ but he leads you into the bad life;
  • He gives you the illusion of freedom whilst making you his slave;
  • He pretends that he will give to you, but he is on the take.

We have been warned. Let’s keep watch ceaselessly. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

 Prayer: Although the temptations of sin may be powerfully persuasive and momentarily appealing, let me always remember Lord that they will lead me somewhere I don’t want to be.