When the TV show Survivor first launched in 2000, Marge and I were hooked. One of the programs that is credited with launching the reality TV craze, the show was an amazing dichotomy of psychology, group dynamics, and team allegiance. The premise being to drop 16 payers on a deserted island with no provisions and the last one standing gets a million dollars. The game is quick, brutal and harsh, no room for sissies here. It’s pretty much a modern-day televised Lord of the Flies. Although I imagine that even Robert Golding would be shocked at times at some of their behavior.
The game is supported, achieved, and won by alliances. No man is an island, therefore align yourself with other strong players as quick as you can. But the human element kicks in as the crowd thins, alliances are now dissolved, and new ones must be created. But will the new allegiances be as strong as the old? You see, even though the players have a camera shoved right in their face the entire time, you never really know what they’re thinking. Are they telling the truth, are they bluffing, are they genuine, or are they flat out lying? Like a great Agatha Christie novel, you're kept guessing the entire time. Whose side are they really on?
I’d like to say that this is only a TV show and that real life just isn’t that way, but I would simply be untruthful. In this world people jockey for position and align themselves with others that can further their agenda. People ride the coattails of others only looking for what can be given, not what they can give. And in the midst, you see people, lie, cheat, flatter and connive to see their self-serving alliances retain their life and vigor.
We must always be in constant reminder that the people in the Bible did not know they were living in Bible times. They were regular ol’ folks just like you and me, just living in a very different era with very different customs...and no wi-fi. But the human heart was the same. Human emotions were the same. People loved the same, they mourned the same, and they betrayed the same. And as we’ll see today, the last chapter of 2 Kings plays out like an episode of Survivor Jerusalem.
The damage has been done, over 400 years of rebellion, disobedience and worship of other gods has left God with no other choice but to discipline His children. Much later in life, my mom and dad confessed to me how much it hurt them when they had to spank me. When I forced them into correcting my rebellious and defiant behavior, it hurt them greatly. I often wonder how much it hurts God to have to discipline His children that He loves so much. The very ones that He created out of great love, turning their backs on Him to the point that He must deliver judgement. And beyond this O.T. situation we see here in 2 Kings, what about today? Under the N.T. God sent His only Son to die for us. Yet today we still see the human condition unchanged. A world in rebellion to Him. A world that rejects Him, His Word, His Laws and His Son. Human rejection of God will always be the same regardless of the year on the calendar.
Our chapter opens with the total annihilation of Jerusalem. The temple of God is burned to the ground, the walls of the city are levelled and everything of value is stripped and taken. The glory of God’s temple built by Solomon 424 years earlier is now nothing but rubble. During the siege, the current king of Jerusalem, Zedekiah, tries to flee but he is caught and before having his eyes gouged out, the last thing he sees is the execution of all of his sons. A bitter last sight to hold for the remainder of his days. But we saw that Zedekiah was an evil king before the siege. He refused to follow God, instead choosing to follow his own ways, the leader of his own team. Zedekiah followed his own pride until the day his world went black.
We see a host of Babylonian soldiers that were instrumental in destroying Jerusalem, led by crazy King Nebuchadnezzar. A king that refused to even acknowledge God until their eventual showdown in Daniel chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar was a maniacal megalomaniac that was on a wild tear to dominate the world. He served himself and allowed others to align with him as long as they could offer him some benefit. Until the day that he landed on all fours to dine of the grass of the field, Nebuchadnezzar was firmly on his own side.
Nebuchadnezzar’s general, Nowzaradan, was quite the henchman. We’re told that he was the one that orchestrated and executed the destruction of Jerusalem. He was “a servant of the king of Babylon…and burned the house of the Lord and the king’s houses and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.” (25:8-9) Yet one more character in our cast of chapter 25 and we can clearly see that he served the king of Babylon. His allegiance lied with Nebuchadnezzar and he was willing to kill and destroy for his king. He had chosen his side, the side of the king of Babylon.
As Nebuchadnezzar withdraws, leaving a city of smoking debris and ruin, he names Gedaliah as governor. Gedaliah was a Godly man and a friend of the prophet Jeremiah. Gedaliah could see the hand of God in this judgement, especially since God has used the prophet Jeremiah to repeatedly warn the people it was coming if they did not repent. So here you could say that Gedaliah, even though he was submitting to Babylon, was on God’s side. He was submitting to God as he submitted to the ruler that God had temporarily placed over him. But others would not see it that way.
A group of staunch Jerusalemites saw Gedaliah as a traitor. They saw a man that seemed to honor an allegiance with Babylon even though his allegiance lied with Almighty God. For you see, these men were on their own side. They were on the side of their own thinking and their own understanding. They acted out on what they perceived as truth, refusing to align with any other, especially God. They viciously murder Gedaliah for the side they believe he has taken.
Folks, we’ve seen many different characters, and all made a choice of whom they would follow. Some followed themselves, some followed others, and some followed God. I have a question for you. As you walk in this world today, whose side are you on? Are you simply looking out for number one? Are you only looking to satisfy what you want out of this world? To achieve this are you aligning yourself with others that can further your agenda? Are you recklessly throwing out flattery, promises and enticements to get others to join your team? Or are you on the side of another. Have you latched onto someone that seems to have what you want, and you figure that if you stay close enough, their crumbs will fall and be enough to satisfy you? Have you made that person your leader hoping that as they advance, you will as well?
Or are you on the side of God?
This question can be seen as rather facetious for most Christians, but is one of great seriousness. Whose side are you truly on? Many Christians today claim that they follow God, but their actions say just the opposite. Instead of seeking God’s Will and getting on His side, and then asking Him to bless His plan, they concoct their own plan and then in reverse ask God to bless it. A twisted theological thinking, that they can lead their own team and then ask God to be a supporting player for them. Folks, it just doesn’t work that way. You must choose whom you serve. You must elect a leader of your life. You must place a king upon the throne of your heart. You can’t have two, and you can’t switch them daily at will. This day, you must choose a side. You must choose whom you will serve.
Whom you serve will predict the direction of your life. The side you pick will determine where your steps land. Your leader in life will affect how you speak to, walk with and love others. I pray today you choose Jesus, for only in Him is the abundant life that will satisfy the human soul.
Blessings.
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