Readings for today: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52
The final days of the Kingdom of Judah and the end of Zedekiah always gets to me. It’s a pretty gory picture. The King of Babylon captures him as he tries to escape. Makes him watch while he slaughters his sons and then puts out his eyes. It’s that last detail that really makes think. Why does it appear so many times in these readings? Jeremiah mentions it twice in chapters 39 and 52. The historians mention it as well in 2 Kings 25. Perhaps it’s just a painful reminder of how utterly broken Zedekiah had become before the judgment of the Lord.
As I ponder this little detail, I begin to wonder if there wasn’t something more symbolic at work. After all, Zedekiah had been spiritually blind for years. He reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem but did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not honor God. He did not walk in God’s ways or according to God’s commands. He disdained the Word of the Lord and rejected the worship of the Lord. So perhaps his physical blindness is simply the logical consequence for his spiritual blindness and that’s why it’s mentioned so many times?
I remember well my own spiritual blindness. I was raised in the church. My parents were faithful to take me to worship every Sunday. I sang in the choir. I hung out at youth group. By all outward appearances, I was incredibly engaged. However, my heart was hard. Selfish. Locked in sin. I was blinded by my own desires. My own fears. My own doubts. I could not see God. Could not hear God. Did not want to follow God. This was all exposed my freshman year of college. Once outside of the protective rhythms and accountability my parents set, I floundered. I was lost. I wandered aimlessly. I drank heavily. Skipped class. Avoided God. When confronted, I blamed others. I blamed my professors. I blamed my friends. I was so blind I could not see the wretch I’d become.
I think of the blindness of our society. How can we not see the connections between our rebellion against God and the injustices we struggle with in our world? How can we not draw the straight line from our moral relativity to the brokenness of abuse, alienation, oppression, pain, and heartache that has become so commonplace? Our foundations are built on sand. Our land is desecrated by our unbelief. We pay lip service to the notion that we are “one nation under God” but the reality is we left God behind decades ago. We desperately need a revival. A fresh movement of the Spirit to open eyes and hearts!
I remember when Jesus first opened my eyes. He confronted me on a sidewalk right outside the UMC on the campus of the University of Colorado. It was like I was seeing the world for the very first time. The light was blinding. The exposure painful. All my sins were laid bare before Him. There was no escape. I was overwhelmed by sorrow. Overwhelmed by grief. Overwhelmed by the depth of my sin. The road back to health was not easy. It was one tentative step after another. It required facing the consequences of my actions. The brokenness of my relationships. The anxiety of my failures. But Jesus was faithful. He was the light for my feet. The lamp for my path. Because my eyes had been opened, I could actually see the way He laid out for me.
I have no idea where you find yourself this morning. If you are blind or if you can see. Perhaps you are like Zedekiah or like I was prior to receiving Christ. Groping in the dark. Stumbling around in the shadows. Blinded by your desires. Fears. Doubts. Failures. I pray you come to Jesus! The One who specializes in restoring sight to the blind! Let Him open your eyes! Let Him show you His glory!
Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 41-44