II Kings 25:30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life
In the last two chapters of II Kings, we find the tragic result of the rebellion of God’s people. They rebelled against God and served Babylon. They would not worship God, so they worshipped idols that could not hear, see, or redeem them from their enemies. II Kings 24:1 says, “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.” What follows is the deportation of God’s people to Babylon, not just once but a couple of times. This was all part of God’s response and plan. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he was in control, but God was the sovereign of Israel, Judah, and Babel.
Second Kings 24:2 says, “And the LORD sent against him [the king of God’s people] bands of the Chaldees, and band of the Syrians…” and so on. Verse 2 also says that this was done “according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.” Verse 3 says, “Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah.” So, God was in control of all that was happening. In the next chapter it says that they broke down the walls. They also left the poor of the land behind, but took all of the leaders of the land to Babylon. That did not happen without God’s knowledge. It was part of God’s sovereignty. So, Judah was carried away out of their land. What a tragic end to God’s people as a nation as it was then known. Now they were just scattered to the four winds.
In II Kings 25:27 the Bible gives a very interesting conclusion. The Bible says that the king of Babylon “did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison.” Verse 28 says, “And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.” That sounds good, and it would certainly have been better than his previous circumstance in incarceration, but he was still subservient to Babylon. He was still serving Nebuchadnezzar. Because he would not worship God, he was still in a land that worshipped gods of stone and wood that couldn’t hear or regard.
Verse 30 says, “And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.” Here is a king given an allowance the way a ten-year-old would be given a dollar by his mom as an allowance. It is something you are allowed. On the other hand, you might say this was a wage, something he had earned. But how sad for the king of God’s people to be making an allowance. This may be happy compared to where he was before this, but it certainly is not what God intended.
There is a difference between making an allowance and making a life. Making money is not going to cut it. Making a name is not going to cut it. Making a way for yourself is not going to cut it. There is nothing wrong with any of those things intrinsically, but there is a huge difference between making an allowance or a living and making a life. The difference comes down to whom you serve and whom you look to.
When God’s people were in their own land worshipping God, they looked to God for their provision. As time went on, they began to look to Egypt for provision and protection and then to Syria. Over time they neither looked to God nor regarded God, and because of that in some cases the very sources they sought for protection and provision became the very sources that became their tyrants.
Today would be a good time to stop and think, “Am I better off than the king of Judah? Am I better off than simply making money or an allowance? Am I making a life? Am I living the life that God created me to live?” I’m not saying God is going to give you a chapter of instruction of everything you should do from now until the end of the month, but I am saying that as you obey God’s Word, which is not subjective but objective truth, and seek the wisdom God provides through good counsel and life observations based on the principles of God’s Word, you begin not merely to make a living or survive, but to thrive and make the difference that God designed you to make. God made you with gifts and a background, and has given you His Word. You have everything you need to do more than merely survive.
What a tragedy in II Kings that we read of a king who was no longer really a king. He was no longer a king because he did not acknowledge the sovereignty, rulership, and leadership of God in his life. God made you for a reason and if you will follow God today, you can know that God will give you guidance into the future. There is a difference between merely making a living and making a life. It comes down to whom you follow, trust, and obey. May that person be God alone today.