Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Destruction of Jerusalem | Historical Books | 2 Kings 24:18-25:21

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

Why is the destruction of Jerusalem so important? Why did Judah get sent into exile? What is Advent? In today's episode, Jensen shares how 2 Kings 24:18-25:21 reminds us that, even in exile, God did not give up on his people. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Kings 24:18-25:21

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. As the Book of Second Kings draws near its end, we should not be surprised by the events that transpire in today's passage. The book has been headed down this path for a very long time. Prophets have prophesied of what would come. And today we will read about the devastation. that they long foretold. But that shouldn't take away from the recognition of the devastation that the people of Judah now face. We knew it would come, but now we have to grapple with what this means for God's people. This isn't just any story of defeat for any nation. In chapter 24, verse 20,

right before a detailing of the events of the exile, we read, it was because of the Lord's Anger's that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end, he thrust them from his presence. God's people, the people he promised to multiply, the people he promised to deliver into the promised land, the people he rescued from slavery, the people he guided through the wilderness, the people he taught, protected, provided for, and the people he chose to dwell among, through pillars of fire, clouds of smoke in a tabernacle, and eventually in a temple, in their holy city, those people have been thrust from his presence. And exile begins. The king of Babylon keeps Jerusalem under siege for two years. He starves them. And then he drives them out. He kills

the vassal king Zedekiah he had put in charge for rebelling against him. He kills his sons. He kills his sons. he drags his people away into exile in Babylon. Then his commanders come in. They burn the city. They take everything of worth out of God's temple. They trample it. They burn it. The Lord no longer dwells with his people.

His presence has departed the temple and now, in an outward portrayal of this bitter truth, the Babylonians destroy what once was a sacred site for God's people. They take the priests and the priests, and the commanders and the men in charge, they bring them to Babylon, and they execute them. Only the poorest are left in the land to work it in servitude to the king of Babylon. There is utter devastation. And we end with this statement of fact.

So, Judah went into captivity away from her land. The story of God's people, up until this point, had been hopeful, triumphant, God had made covenants, promises he had delivered his people, he had dwelt among them. He had brought them into the promised land when no one thought such a small, insignificant people could drive out the nations before them, but he did it. He established their nation. He gave them a king, and yet they rebelled. Again and again, they pushed God away. They rejected him. But he remained faithful. He remained with his people. He called them back to himself, again and again there was always hope. But now, the people have been thrust from the presence of God.

Judah is in captivity. She no longer lives in her land, and the land they were made to live in, the land where they would dwell with God and be his people. From the very beginning, all the way back in Genesis, we learned that God is a God who delights to dwell with his people. He created a garden, a garden where he could live, and walk with his people, but sin cast humanity out of Eden. An unholy people could not dwell with a holy God. So he called a people to be his people, to live lives set apart, to live in a land that he would provide, to live by his laws, to dwell with him once again outside of the garden. But their failure, their apostasy, their idolatry, their rejection of God as king has now cast them out.

of the promised land. We need to feel that devastation. The turning tide of the story, we need to recognize not just the political nature of this defeat, not just the devastation of war, but the spiritual implications it had for God's people. Would God dwell again with his people? Would they be cast out of the garden, out of the land, forever? Was there any hope left? This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent season, a season for God's people to reflect on the good news of Jesus's birth. In Luke 2 we read, and the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

On a lonely hill, hundreds of years after God's people were taken into exile, after hundreds of years of silence under the rule of a foreign authority, angels of the Lord appear to shepherds, appear to the people of God, and proclaim that the Messiah has been born. the promised king, the descendant of David, who would once again sit on the throne. They brought good news of great joy. And this was good news not just for God's people, but for all people. John 1 tells us that this Messiah, this baby, Jesus was not just a man, but was God incarnate, the same God who longed to dwell with his people.

and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The hope of Advent season is found in the good news that a little baby had been born and that this baby was not just a mere human who could fail, who could fall, who could be marred by sin, who could end up just like Adam, like Judah. No, this baby was God himself. Here to dwell with his people,

to do what they couldn't, and to secure a future. where God and man could be reconciled, could dwell together for all of eternity in a holy city. See, Jesus' core message throughout the Gospels is for the people to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. He came to teach God's people about the kingdom of God, to reveal to them and to us what this kingdom would be like. And in Revelation, when we get a picture of Jesus's triumphant return of the final resurrection, direction, we're given a picture of heaven coming down to earth, of God bringing his holy city, his kingdom to earth, where God and humanity can live again together in a garden city of delight.

Eden has been redeemed, it has been restored. That is the end of our story. Jesus's birth is good news of great joy because it writes every wrong. It brings redemption to God's story, to God's people, it brings reconciliation. The people of God are no longer cast out of the presence of God. God's presence has drawn near to his people in the person of Jesus. In the gift of the Holy Spirit, he dwells in the lives of believers. It's why Isaiah writes in Isaiah 52-7, How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, your God reigns. Think of the helplessness, the hopelessness of being cast from God's presence. The people of God living in exile banished from God. the promised land. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, bring good tidings, proclaim salvation, who say to the people of God, your God reigns. The beauty of the good news is exemplified when we see it next to the devastation of life when you've been cast out of the presence of God. The redemption and reconciliation of God's

after such devastation is unimaginable. The news that Jesus is God and that he came to dwell among us is the greatest news. It produces unimaginable joy for all people. There is hope. There has always been hope. This was always the plan. In the darkest of moments, the call of God's people is to proclaim the good news, to spread the joy of the good news, to be bearers of good. tidings. Your God reigns. He is on the throne. He is coming again. He will not abandon his people forever. We will once again live with him. Until that day, repent, believe, proclaim the good news for the kingdom of God is at hand.