2 Chronicles 36 — Ruin, Remedy, Return
Ruin After Josiah (yesterday’s grief at Megiddo), the kings tumble fast. Priests, princes, people “mock the messengers,” as God keeps “rising early” to warn (Jeremiah’s phrase). At last “there was no remedy”—Hebrew marpe, a word for healing. Sin had become septic; the clinic closed. The land enjoys its sabbath rests (Leviticus 26:34–35), while Jerusalem burns. History nods: Babylonian ration tablets name “Jehoiachin, king of Judah”; the Babylonian Chronicles and Lachish letters frame the fall.
Remedy Jeremiah’s seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11–12; 29:10) mature. The temple’s loss is more than politics; it is theology. When the house falls, God is not homeless—He is holy. The true Remedy will be a Person, not a policy: the Temple that will be raised in three days.
Return Cyrus speaks (prophesied in Isaiah 44:28–45:1; echoed on the Cyrus Cylinder). Chronicles closes with an open imperative, “let him go up”—aliyah, an ascent of worship (2 Chronicles 36:23). The book ends mid‑step, inviting ours: rise to rebuild, become living stones.
Cross‑references: 2 Kings 24–25; Psalm 137; Daniel 1; Ezra 1; Hebrews 4; 1 Peter 2:4–5.
Hymn: “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People.”
Prayer Holy Father, where we have mocked Your warnings, heal us. Give us the upward heart of aliyah—repentance, worship, and rebuilding in Christ, our only Remedy. Amen.
Narrated version of this devotional on 2 Chronicles Chapter 36