BACKGROUND
Final Kings of Judah:
Jehoahaz - 2 Kings 23:30-34; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4
The account in 2 Chronicles adds some important things that are not in the 2 Kings account:
Jehoahaz - 2 Kings 23:30-34; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4
Jehoiakim/Jehoikim/Eliakim - 2 Kings 23:34-24:6; 2 Chronicles 36:4-8; Jeremiah 36:1-32Reigned: 609 B.C. for 3 months
Character: Bad
Manner of death: Taken by Pharaoh Neco II to Egypt where he died
Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah - 2 Kings 24:5-25:30; 2 Chronicles 36:8-10Reigned: 609-598 B.C. 11 years (switching allegiance back and forth under Egypt and Babylon while they warred)
Character: Wicked
Manner of death: Killed and body was "dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:19, Jeremiah 36:30).
Reigned: Dec. 9, 598-March 15/16, 597 B.C. for 3 months and 10 days
Character: Bad
Manner of death: Natural death in Babylon
Zedekiah/Mattaniah - 2 Kings 24:17-25:7; 2 Chronicles 36:10-21; Jeremiah 21, 34, 29:3; 51:59-52:11; Ezekiel 17:11-18
2 Kings 24
We learned in 2 Kings 23 that Eliakim was placed on the throne by Neco. As an ancient Near East custom, Neco demonstrated his control over Judah by changing Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. He now submitted to Neco's authority and paid tribute through the people's taxes.
In 605 B.C., Babylon became the new world power and Nebuchadnezzar took control as its king after his father Nabopolassar died. Earlier that year, Nebuchadnezzar had defeated Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Babylon took control of Egypt and its vassals which included Judah.
Later that year, Nebuchadnezzar also invaded Judah. The prophet, Daniel, and others were deported to Babylon during this first invasion. Most of the story of Daniel occurs after all the events in this post and the events of Jeremiah.
Judah's King Jehoiakim submitted for three years but eventually revolted and appealed to Egypt for help. He was taken prisoner to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6), but eventually made it back to Jerusalem and died there.
Nebuchadnezzar was already marching on Jerusalem when Jehoiakim died and his son, Jehoiachin, became king for three months. Jehoiachin was evil. He surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and was carried away to Babylon in the second deportation in 597 B.C. This fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy that none of Jehoiachin's sons would sit on the throne (Jeremiah 22:30). This invasion was the consequence of God's warning during Solomon's reign (1 Kings 9:6-7).
Altogether, there were 10,000 people taken captive, including the prophet Ezekiel, the post-exilic prophet. Only the poorest people were left in Judah.
Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, was installed by Nebuchadnezzar as king of Judah. He was the third son of Josiah to rule, being the younger brother of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah. Remember that the renaming of a person was an ancient Near East custom that demonstrated control.
King Zedekiah was also evil. He submitted to Babylon for several years but foolishly rebelled under pressure (Jeremiah 37-38). He made an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt (589-570 B.C.).
2 Kings 25
In January of 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia began his march to besiege Jerusalem. On July 16, 586 B.C. they broke down the wall. Nebuchadnezzar captured Zedekiah, killed his sons (cutting off all heirs to the throne), blinded Zedekiah (making further rebellion an impossibility, Ezekiel 12:3), and carried him off to Babylon (Jeremiah 32:4; 34:1-3; 39).
On August 16, 586 B.C., they burned down every important building in Jerusalem, including the temple and royal palace which had stood for four centuries. Following this, seventy-two leaders were executed. All this made Israel an object of scorn to the surrounding nations. Gedaliah was set up as governor but was eventually murdered by Ishmael, a person of royal descent who wanted to govern Judah (Jeremiah 40:13-16; Jeremiah 41:2). In fear of reprisals from the Babylonians, the leaders of Judah fled to Egypt with Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 41:1-43:7).
Reigned: 597-586 B.C. 11 years (Jews still regarded Jehoiachin as ruler instead of his uncle and even Ezekiel refers to Jehoiachin as king)By the way, Wikipedia has articles on all four of these kings with evidence that they really did exist.
Character: Bad
Manner of death: Blinded and died imprisoned in Babylon
2 Kings 24
We learned in 2 Kings 23 that Eliakim was placed on the throne by Neco. As an ancient Near East custom, Neco demonstrated his control over Judah by changing Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. He now submitted to Neco's authority and paid tribute through the people's taxes.
In 605 B.C., Babylon became the new world power and Nebuchadnezzar took control as its king after his father Nabopolassar died. Earlier that year, Nebuchadnezzar had defeated Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Babylon took control of Egypt and its vassals which included Judah.
Later that year, Nebuchadnezzar also invaded Judah. The prophet, Daniel, and others were deported to Babylon during this first invasion. Most of the story of Daniel occurs after all the events in this post and the events of Jeremiah.
Judah's King Jehoiakim submitted for three years but eventually revolted and appealed to Egypt for help. He was taken prisoner to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6), but eventually made it back to Jerusalem and died there.
Nebuchadnezzar was already marching on Jerusalem when Jehoiakim died and his son, Jehoiachin, became king for three months. Jehoiachin was evil. He surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and was carried away to Babylon in the second deportation in 597 B.C. This fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy that none of Jehoiachin's sons would sit on the throne (Jeremiah 22:30). This invasion was the consequence of God's warning during Solomon's reign (1 Kings 9:6-7).
Altogether, there were 10,000 people taken captive, including the prophet Ezekiel, the post-exilic prophet. Only the poorest people were left in Judah.
Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, was installed by Nebuchadnezzar as king of Judah. He was the third son of Josiah to rule, being the younger brother of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah. Remember that the renaming of a person was an ancient Near East custom that demonstrated control.
King Zedekiah was also evil. He submitted to Babylon for several years but foolishly rebelled under pressure (Jeremiah 37-38). He made an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt (589-570 B.C.).
2 Kings 25
In January of 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia began his march to besiege Jerusalem. On July 16, 586 B.C. they broke down the wall. Nebuchadnezzar captured Zedekiah, killed his sons (cutting off all heirs to the throne), blinded Zedekiah (making further rebellion an impossibility, Ezekiel 12:3), and carried him off to Babylon (Jeremiah 32:4; 34:1-3; 39).
On August 16, 586 B.C., they burned down every important building in Jerusalem, including the temple and royal palace which had stood for four centuries. Following this, seventy-two leaders were executed. All this made Israel an object of scorn to the surrounding nations. Gedaliah was set up as governor but was eventually murdered by Ishmael, a person of royal descent who wanted to govern Judah (Jeremiah 40:13-16; Jeremiah 41:2). In fear of reprisals from the Babylonians, the leaders of Judah fled to Egypt with Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 41:1-43:7).
Remember that Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon in 597 B.C. (24:15). When a new king came into power in 562 B.C., he gave Jehoiachin great privileges and treated him more as a guest than a prisoner. There are Babylonian tablets that confirm that Jehoiachin, his sons, and others received rations from Nebuchadnezzar's stores! This all led to more freedom for the Israelites in captivity. What a nice positive end to the book of 2 Kings!
2 Chronicles 36
The account in 2 Chronicles adds some important things that are not in the 2 Kings account:
1) It summarizes God's motivation for sending the pre-exilic prophets:The LORD, the God of their fathers sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophet, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15, 16)2) It speaks of the 70-year captivity:2 Chronicles 36:21 is the fulfillment of what was predicted in Leviticus 26:27-45. The land would enjoy a 70-year rest because Israel and Judah had failed to keep the sabbatical years. (Every seventh year the land was supposed to lie fallow, resting from crop production. See Exodus 23:10,11; Leviticus 25:1-7.) This was also prophesied in Jeremiah 29:10. This probably refers to the 70 years from the first deportation under Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C. to the rebuilding of the temple foundation by the returning exiles in 536 B.C. (see Daniel 9:2, Ezra 1:1).3) It closes on a note of hope:Cyrus, king of Persia (559-530 B.C.), made a proclamation 48 years after the temple was destroyed (36:18, 19) and a year after he conquered Babylon (538 B.C.) that the people of Judah could return to their land and rebuild the temple (See Ezra 1:2-3a). This was a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Jeremiah 25:12; 29:10 and an answer to Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9:4-19. This is fitting since the account in Chronicles focuses more on the temple and temple worship than the parallel account in 1 & 2 Kings.
REFLECTION and APPLICATION
Chew on 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 for a while. Are there any areas where you are not listening to the Lord and obeying Him?
Remember that God Guides is a great book about listening and obeying.
Remember that God Guides is a great book about listening and obeying.
PRAYER
Lord, help us to listen to Your Word and obey. May we do it through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 comment:
That was a LOT of historical information! My word. Bye-bye to Babylon!
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