Scripture

Evil-merodach king of Babylon… lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

~2 Kings 25:27-28, LSB

Quote

Our secret sins would be our ruin if God did not show us grace.

~Matthew Henry

We don’t know a lot about king Jehoiachin other than the fact that he did evil like most of the other kings of Judah and Israel.  He reigned only three months before being deported to Babylon where he was put in prison for life. Then a strange things happens, Nebuchadnezzar dies and his son becomes king. One of his first orders of business is to release Jehoiachin from prison and restore his honor. Evil-merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until Jehoiachin’s death.

Amazing grace, is it not! Jehoiachin did nothing to deserve this; he had no merit or any means to gain merit. No one knows why the Babylonian monarch showed such mercy and kindness. Some have speculated that he and Jehoiachin were about the same age and had a lot in common. Others think that Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage, had his own son {Evil-merodach} thrown into prison and this is when he and Jehoichin became friends. It does not matter, the point stands–it is amazing grace. There are two things everyone needs to learn: [1] Everything is a gift and there are no exceptions. Your mother gave you birth, your daddy gave you a name and God gave you breath. In Him we move and have our being. [2] Everything is grace. We deserve death and hell and it is only by God’s amazing grace that we are saved from both. It is all Grace–This is by divine decree: God is going to get the glory.

Extra

We are still hoarse and coughing but we are going to get back in the flow gently. The Thanksgiving season has slipped upon us and my first THANKSGIVING dinner is today with HEMBREE Machine Shop. We load up and go to Dot’s in Hillsboro. I am so excited. I don’t plan to visit today but I am planning on making dinner and church tonight. I feel better but I don’t sound any better. I will not be singing for a while, except in my heart. I hope you have a good day and thanks for reading the blog.