Page 97 - Satan in the Sanctuary

Moses to Moshe—A Bloody Site 99

the city, and slaughtered young and old, men and women
alike, right in the Temple sanctuary.

They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the
LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,
who slew their young men with the sword in the house of
their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man
or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he
gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the
house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the
house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of
his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they
burnt the house of God (2 Ch 36:16-19).

This enthusiastic conqueror was not actually the king
of the invaders, but merely a field marshal; the "captain of
the guard," according to 2 Kings 25:8, which also relates
this sad incident. The king of Babylon at the time was
Nebuchadnezzar, who had personally supervised the siege
of Jerusalem.
The city and the Temple were taken by stages during
Nebuchadnezzar's rule. Babylon was extremely strong in
those times. According to 2 Ki 24:7 "The king of Babylon
bad taken [conquered] from the river of Egypt unto the
river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt."
Little Israel was in a squeeze as usual, between the colossi,
Egypt and Babylon.
The eighteen-year-old King Jehoiachin of Israel inherited
this unhappy situation. He was in office only briefly when
Nebuchadnezzar and the hosts of Babylon laid siege to his
capital. The adolescent king went out into the field to sur-
render, bringing his mother and officers of the court with
him.