The Christian religion is basically about listening to God and doing His will. God makes His will known in many ways. All these are encapsulated in the word of God, which is fully revealed in Jesus Christ. The narratives of the Old Testament recount the difficulties the people of God passed through in trying to live in accordance with the word of God. What one finds is a story more in the area of disobedience to the word than in obedience. The consequence became the catastrophe of the exile.
The readings of today present the consequences of not adhering to the demands of God’s word. The biblical account of the final days of Judah is designed to show the consequences of disobedience to God’s word. This is graphically reported in 1 Kings 24, which is found in the first reading of today. The last kings of Judah chose to listen to the nationalistically minded people rather than to God and His prophets. In crisis moments, the best of advisers hardly come from the mob. The voices of reason are often mocked but their point of view always survives the test of time.
The Fall Judah to Babylon
The text of 2 Kings 24 narrates the beginning of the catastrophic end of the monarchy in Judah and the deportation of its inhabitants to Babylon. The bad days started with the reign of Jehoiakim, and this coincided with the rise of Nebuchadnezzar to the throne of Babylon. Jehoiakim came to the throne of Judah in 609 BC, and ruled for eleven years, that is, till 597. This was after the death of his father, Josiah. His reign was calamitous, and brought Judah to the brink of collapse.
The prophet Jeremiah was very prominent at this period, and he strenuously opposed the inconsistent and disastrous policies of Jehoiakim together with his many sins against social justice and maltreatment of the poor. Jeremiah had many running battles with Jehoiakim and one of his criticisms of the king is found in this oracle: “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages; who says, ‘I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms,’ and who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar, and painting it with vermilion…. I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, for you have not obeyed my voice.” (Jer 22:13,21).
Jehoiakim was actually put on the throne by Egypt as a vassal king, but he was an unreliable ally of Egypt. He quickly shifted allegiance to the Babylonians after the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, won the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. He again shifted allegiance from Babylon to Egypt after a later defeat of the Babylonians. But when the Babylonians regained victory after a short while, Nebuchadnezzar punished Judah severely for its disloyalty by sending an invading army to Judah, and this led to the death of Jehoiakim in 597 B.C., after eleven years on the throne. He was succeeded the same year by his son Jehoiachin who was eighteen years old and reigned only three months.
The Sack of Jerusalem
The first reading of today narrates how, at this time, Nebuchadnezzar descended on the city of Jerusalem and took control of it. He removed Jehoiachin from the throne and took him as a prisoner to Babylon together with his mother, his wives, his ministers and officials, elite soldiers and royal functionaries. In short, the cream of the population in Jerusalem together with the king’s household was deported to Babylon. The number of the exiled inhabitants ran into thousands. Seven thousand men of the army and a thousand craftsmen and smiths were exiled (2 Kgs 24:16).
Nebuchadnezzar also raided the treasures of the temple and carried away to Babylon all the temple’s precious vessels and other valuables of the royal palace. According to the account, only the poorest among the citizens were left in Jerusalem after this first deportation. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, over them as king and changed his name to Zedekiah (24:17). The writer of 2 Kings is very melodramatic in the reportage, as the aim is to point out the magnitude of the damage done to the people of Judah and the need not to give occasion for such disaster again.
The responsorial psalm of today taken from Psalm 79 recalls these terrible events and implores God to deliver His people for the glory of His holy name. He recalls how his people have become the taunt of neighbors and the scorn and derision of those around them.
Building on Rock
The Gospel of the day from Matthew 7 stresses the need to build our lives on solid rock rather than on shifting sand that is easily swept away by storms and flood. While the foolish person builds on sand, the wise person builds on solid rock. What is meant by solid rock in this context is the word of God, which teaches the divine will and shows and the right path to successful living. Anyone who calls Jesus Lord but does not follow his will is building on sand. Jesus warns that people like that will end up losing the right destination of their life’s journey, which is his kingdom. Such people hear the word of God but do not build their daily lives on it. Their fall is usually catastrophic.
