Light in the darkness (2 Kin 24-25; 2 Chr 36; Ps 126; 1 Pet 3)

If you’ve been following the 5 day Bible reading plan you will have just finished Jeremiah, Kings and Chronicles. Each one ends in a fairly dark place, but with a glimmer of hope. God’s people have disobeyed God and by now both the northern and the southern kingdoms have been destroyed. The people from the northern kingdom (Israel) have been taken into exile in Assyria, and the people from the southern kingdom (Judah), have been taken to Babylon. The beloved temple that they trust in has been flattened. What about God’s promises?

Remember the promises to Abraham? God had promised he would make him into a great nation, give his descendants a land to live in and that through one of his descendants God would bring blessing to all nations. By the end of Genesis we discovered that this blessing would come through the line of Judah, and then later through a descendant of David.

But now God’s people have lost the land, and it looks like the last king of Judah has been wiped out. Then we are reminded about Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah). He’s been in prison in Babylon, and at the end of Jeremiah, Kings and Chronicles we are told he is released. Here we are given a glimmer of hope, it’s a dark time, but there is still a king of Judah in the line of David! God’s promises will not fail. Looking back from our angle, we can see how Jesus was born into that line and be all the more encouraged that God keeps his promises.

2 Chronicles gives further hope since we are reminded of the promise God made to Jeremiah, that after 70 years, they would return to the land, and that is what starts to happen when King Cyrus comes to the throne in Persia and gives permission for God’s people to return and start rebuilding.

It’s a helpful reminder as we look at a chaotic world, that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5). We look forward to our King Jesus returning as promised. Until that time, our reading from 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to be always ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. The way God has kept his promises in history is a good answer for the hope we have for the future.