This is what the LORD says: ‘Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless. He is a failure, for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of David to rule over Judah.’ Jeremiah 22:30
I’ve heard the lament of loving adults who look back when the little ones in their lives are grown and realize that, as they were marking and collecting all the “firsts,” they failed to notice the passing of so many cherished “lasts.” The last time a lisping little voice was “first-y” or the last time they crawled in your lap and fell asleep on your shoulder.
It would be easy to let a significant “last” in the history of the Hebrew people similarly slip by unnoticed. King Jehoiachin ruled for a short three months, before being conquered and exiled. If he had children, they don’t matter, because they never took the throne. He was a brief and unimpressive king. But he was also a “last,” ending the 400-year reign of David and his descendants. For four centuries, no matter how lousy a ruler they were, every king had been “God’s anointed one,” part of a dynasty that God initiated when he promised David in 2 Samuel 7:17 that his descendants would always rule.
When we look back, knowing that Jesus would come and fulfill God’s promise in a powerful and unexpected way, we easily brush right past this important “last.” But for the Hebrew people, this “last” was devastating. It set the stage for a new hope – instead of an anointed one, God would send the anointed one, Jesus Christ.
The idols of God’s people were stripped away – the Davidic Dynasty, the two kingdoms, even the sacred sign of their chosen-ness – Jerusalem. The people were left waiting, longing, hoping, and it will be a 600 year wait until Jesus came.
Our idols often become invisible to us…good things in our lives that we don’t stop to appreciate or praise God for. We don’t realize we’re taking them for granted until they are gone. Then we experience a “last” in our lives and the loss stings.
When we look back with nostalgia and long for what was, Jesus is the hope we can turn to instead. Christ has already been revealed. We don’t have to wait and wonder. We get to walk in the truth that God sent his son Jesus to rule forever. To rule eternity, and also to rule today, as the Lord of our lives, every day.
Questions for reflection:
- Take a moment for gratitude. What is something special that is such a routine part of your life you often take it for granted? Thank God for it now.
- Is there a “last” in your life that has you feeling hopeless? How might the promise of Christ – that he came and will return – restore your hope?
- God’s people waited hundreds of years for Jesus to come and we’ve already been waiting thousands for his return. Why do you think God takes so long?