2 Kings 24-25: Is He Enough?

Editor Note: So this is coming a little late and not by Meghann as was supposed to. That is my bad. I left the laptop at work yesterday and apparently that is a necessary part of the blogging experience. My apologies for the lateness and for the not as cool blogging experience you have to endure from me instead of Meghann! :)

I am struck immediately by the sadness of this event. Sadness isn't even the right word, this was more, it was crushing. Defeating. Everything that you thought that would protect you fails you. All the things you were told to put your confidence in, destroyed right before your eyes.

Everything your ancestors fought and died for, all the glory of the temple, the gold, bronze, and silver, destroyed or stolen. All the things you regarded holy carried off in front of you as plunder. Treated with no respect, no fear.

The walls that were so tall have fallen and the land that was promised, that was so fruitful, is cut off from you and your family. Now instead of enjoying the fruits of the land you suffer with hunger and thirst.

You are shaken to your core as you look back at what had been your home, your hope, and your confidence...all you see is rubble and flames.

The Babylonians sneer at you, they say, "where is your god?" 

How could this happen? Where did this all go wrong? How did we end up here?

I think if I were them I would be a little dazed and confused. I thought we were His people, this is supposed to be the promised land, OUR land! How could the walls fall? How could they be able to burn down His temple, His dwelling place? I thought that was our protection?

And it is in this questioning and looking back at this whole story that I am convicted. It wasn't long ago that we read of the great joy and praising of God that occurred when the temple was built and commissioned. We read of all the gold, silver, and bronze that was used to build it. We read of how glorious this temple was. The very presence of God dwelt there among His people!

But then we read that eventually the people took it for granted. They grieved the One who gave them the land they inhabited by turning away from Him. They did evil in His sight. They didn't honor God. They killed His prophets and they followed their own way. They pursued other gods. They pursued their own will. 

They believed that the things that were built to honor God would save them. That the walls that He allowed them to put up would protect them. Jerusalem fall, NEVER, it's the place where God dwells! Look at all these things He has given us! 

Their hearts were far from Him. He called to them again and again through His prophets, but their hearts were hardened. Now everything they thought they couldn't lose was gone.

Now what? No temple. No city. No promised land.

Will God be enough? Without all the stuff, in the midst of defeat, in the middle of suffering, will He be enough? Does a relationship with God surpass all other things?

This is where I am convicted here. What if Red Door went away, what if church as I knew it was taken away, all the comfort, all the coffee, all the music, everything that I put my hope or confidence in beside God stripped away and all that was left, was God. Nothing else.

Would it be enough? Would I still follow Him if everything around me were rubble and flame? Could I be a part of a faithful remnant?

And then there is this question, and this one haunts me, IF God is truly enough and I really believe that, that a relationship with Him surpasses in value all other things this world has to offer, that even the gifts that God gives me pale in comparison to the gift of adoption that I have received through Jesus, DOES MY LIFE REFLECT THAT? As in, do my pursuits, my thoughts, my money, my family, and my time reflect that everything this world has to offer is complete RUBBISH compared to the most amazing gift that anyone could ever receive which is God looking at me, knowing the very depth of my heart and thoughts, nothing is hidden from him, and in front of all would say, behold my son whom I love!

Man, I want my life to reflect that. Lord, help me.

Here is the hope in the story we read today, God does have a faithful remnant and one day they return to rebuild that which was broken. That faithful remnant that comes through this time of suffering will someday rebuild the temple and soon enough God does once again dwell among His people. Just not in the way they expect, instead of filling the temple with a cloud, God in the flesh, God WITH us, Jesus, crosses the threshold of the temple as a child with his parents.