When you come to the end of 2 Kings, you come to the final end of Israel and the temple. Jerusalem is about to be finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The people in the city are completely without food. The seize has gone on for months, when suddenly the Babylonians break into the city. When that happens the armies of Jerusalem panic and flee the city. They slipped past the armies of Nebuchadnezzar which completely surrounded the city. A question could be raised at this point, "how did they escape?" The Lord was not yet finished with the army of Israel.
In their panic they moved by the way of Arabah. It was in Arabah that Moses preached the sermons to the people in the book of Deuteronomy. All the great truths of God were delivered to the people in Arabah.
They come to the plains of Jericho and at this point the Babylonians catch up with them and capture the king of Judah and finish off his army. The plains of Jericho is where it all started. Joshua 4:13 says, "they crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho." Now it is the place where is all comes to an end. What an appropriate finish for the nation of Israel. The fall of the nation takes place at the beginning point of the nation.
Moses had said to the people, "So keep and do them (the promises of God), for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’" (Deut 4:13).
On this day, the thought is simply, "what a foolish and weak people." The nation is now destroyed and its people are now in exile. The fall happend where it started!
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