2 Kings 24:1-9

the Price of Innocent Blood

2 Kings 24:1

Note the entail of Manasseh's sin. He had lived, had been forgiven, and had died years before, but Judah was irretrievably implicated in his sins. The poison had eaten into the national heart, and for the innocent blood which had been shed like water there had been no amends. Notice the emphatic statement that Nebuchadnezzar and the other enemies who came against the land were deliberately carrying out the divine chastenings. They were, as Isaiah puts it, the rod of God's anger and the staff of His indignation, Isaiah 10:5. How often does God still use evil men as His instruments to chasten us! The best way of escaping them is to commit ourselves to God.

Jehoiakim was blatant in his blasphemy, Jeremiah 36:23. He was a very contemptible prince, and was carried in chains to Babylon, Daniel 1:1. Apparently he was temporarily restored to his throne, but in the end he perished ignominiously, Jeremiah 36:30.

What sorrows befell the Holy City! Though God would have gathered her under the wings of his protecting care, she would not, and therefore the times of the Gentiles began, which would now seem to be hastening to their end, Luke 21:24.