The fruit of perseverance - 12th December 2006
And in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, showed favour to Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison. He spoke kindly to him and ranked him above the kings with him in Babylon. Jehoiachin put off his prison garments and he dined regularly at the kings table the remainder of his life. And his allowance, a continual one, was given him by the king, every day a portion, for the rest of his life 2 kings 25 vs 27 – 30 Amplified
If you are God’s child you never know what the end will be like for the Lord can address any situation through many ways.
In the above reference, we see Jehoiachin king of Judah, a man who had ruled a kingdom falling into the hands of his enemy and taken into captivity in Babylon. This is a sad situation of the unexpected happening leaving one to make a new start from scratch once again – a task which may seem impossible at the time.
You may have lost investments overnight, or been demoted, or a victim of sickness and disease for many years and yet you are a child of God. Whatever the case may be - cheer up, for there is hope.
As a Babylonian prisoner, one was persecuted and there was no hope of ever being released. But it is in such times as these that God is renowned for encouraging us with promises such as this – yes ……..captives shall be set free from the mighty
In this story, king Jehoiachin, had been in prison for 37 years and year after year the situation was the same.
However, in the 37th year Evil-merodach became king. This should have been a name that made king Jehoiachin shiver for it painted a picture of EVIL with anyone hoping for amnesty from the new king losing all hope, thinking – he must be even more evil than the previous king! But not so with the Lord.
Isn’t it true that sometimes situations get very bad just before they become really good? Despite his “evil” name, Evil-merodach was used by God to bring favour to king Jehoiachin by releasing him from prison, speaking kindly and dinning with him at his table and giving him a kings allowance for the rest of his life.
Brothers and Sisters don’t give up praying, God can bring you favour and salvation from uncommon places in the least expected hour. Imagine king Jehoiachin praying for 37 years hoping that he would be released soon but nothing happened. But on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the 37th year, favour came. What if Jehoiachin had given up in the eleventh month – surely he would have missed his salvation! | 