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Held Captive

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2 Chronicles 36:7, KJV
Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon.
 

In ancient times, if a country was conquered the gods of the conquering country were given credit for the victory. Thus, the conquerors would remove all the treasures from the captive kingdom, offer it to their gods, and store it in their treasury. Although Babylon worshiped many gods, the one god who appears to get credit for the victory over Judah was Marduk. Marduk had humble beginnings; he rose from being a regional agricultural deity to becoming the object of worship for an entire nation as the god of justice, healing, compassion, and fairness.

On the other side, the God of Judah had a strong reputation and a long history of victories that defied belief; thus, while the surrounding nations did not worship the God of Judah, they feared him. You can imagine the shame that the people of Judah must have experienced when they saw their God’s gold and silver sitting in the temple of an imaginary god. 

In a similar vein, your body is fearfully and wonderfully made; it is also the temple where your God resides—the same God who parted the Red Sea and brought down the walls of Jericho. Are you living a life that is out of sync with Him? Do you bow down to all kinds of nonsense that you know threatens your safety, security, and your very life? If so, you expose your greatest treasure to a foreign god. Has your life been greatly restricted because of decisions you have made, and now you find that your treasure sits in some other temple of a god that is not even real? May you have the courage to ask the Lion of the tribe of Judah to rise and deliver you from a captivity of your own making, and to restore all the treasures you have lost to imaginary gods.