When we take a look at our world, at the atrocities against innocent people, the sufferings, those starving for food, the abuse of power and corruption by leaders, individual sins, etc., one can often get pretty discouraged. 

It’s impossible to get away from it. We receive these inputs from our eyes, ears and personal experiences on a daily basis.

Putting God first and believing He is redeeming this world through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of His Son is laughable to the average person in our culture. Our world seems to reject God, the Gospel, and the real Jesus by default. 

Man has instead chosen to put himself in the position of God. He refuses to allow God to rule over him. So He rules himself. He calls the shots. He may have an appearance of following God, but Jesus is nowhere to be found in the consideration of his thoughts, plans or actions. Obedience is an afterthought. God is an afterthought.

During the time of their Babylonian exile, which is what 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 is all about, Israel behaved in a very similar way. They rejected God and through their constant disobedience, pushed His patience to the limit. They would refuse to listen to the prophets, or what was written in their law.

So much so, God sent their enemies to take down Jerusalem. They destroyed the temple, broke down the outside walls that fortified the city, deported their people into slavery, and the Jewish people went into exile. Jerusalem and the kingdom of Israel was no more. 

After going through the Gospel of John, we know God did not give up on His people. We see in Christ, Israel’s ultimate deliverance and God’s faithfulness by sending His only begotten Son to come and fulfill His promises of restoring His relationship with His people for them and for the world. 

During their exile God sent them prophets to make sure they knew why they were in exile. But He also sent them to tell them to have hope - God will never forsake His promises to you. He will send a redeemer from the line of David, through the tribe of Judah - the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God.

But first, He would take them out of exile. He would bring them back into their land and they would become a nation again. He would deliver them.

They would rebuild the temple, fortify the city, and be able to again worship God according to the Torah. The historical books of Ezra, Esther and Nehemiah in the Old Testament tell of these events.

In this sermon we have an light overview of these three books spring boarding off of 2 Chronicles 36:11-21.

We will then, beginning next week, take a dive deep into Nehemiah. This amazing book gives us a clear blueprint on building for God's kingdom. We'll also learn valuable insights into the man Nehemiah himself. As we'll see, he gives us vivid examples on how to better follow and obey the Lord, while at the same time trusting God during distress, trials and opposition.  

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