12thWeek in Ord. Time, Thursday – 27th June 2024 – 2 Kgs 24,8-17; Mt 7,21-29
Exilic Punishment
The first reading describes the events of King Jehoiachin, the fall of Jerusalem, and the first deportation of the Israelites into Babylon. The young king, merely 18 years old, was part of the Davidic dynasty and does not do what God wants. Like his predecessors, Jehoiachin was unfaithful and failed to be like his father, Josiah, who tried to turn the people of Judah back to God and in observance of the covenant law. Since he was in the royal line of David, he broke the covenant with God by following the paths of some of his ancestors. Therefore, during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem fell into his hands. The young king, his army, his mother and all his court, and workers were bound up and taken captive to Babylon. Once again, we see God’s people pay for their infidelities in failing to keep the law of the Lord. At the same time, exile teaches us that every experience is a challenge to find God in a new situation and new environment.
