Read 2 Kings 24 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
23:36-24:7 {p} Jehoiakim (son of Josiah) reigned 11 years: did evil, rebelled against Babylon
24:8-17 {p} Jehoiachin reigned 3 months (allied with Egypt) Nebuchadnezzar took him captive
24:18-20 {s} Zedekiah (son of Josiah) reigned 11 years: did evil, rebelled against Babylon
2 Kings 23:31-24:7 Chiastic structure
When Josiah was killed in battle with Pharaoh Necho, the people quickly placed his son Jehoahaz (Shallum) on the throne. This king served the idols which his father had pulled down, which called forth Jeremiah’s entreaties to return to YHVH.
When the people did not repent, Jeremiah foretold that Jehoahaz would be taken captive (Jer 22:11-12). It was not long before Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled. The Egyptians, because Judah had interfered in its affairs, removed Jehoahaz from being king and placed his brother Jehoiakim on the throne instead (609 BC). Pharaoh took Jehoahaz in chains to Egypt, where he remained in prison until he died.
Jeremiah continued to warn Jerusalem that the city and Temple would be destroyed at the hands of the Babylonians. This prophecy made the people so angry, that they put Jeremiah on trial, calling for his death. The prophet was released, however, when the officials ruled that a prophet of YHVH had the right to speak His words without retaliation (Jer 26).
However the new king also did evil, and refused to repent at the preaching of Jeremiah. He had so much disdain for the word of YHVH, that upon hearing the words of the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies, he cut them off and burned them in the fire until the whole scroll was consumed (Jer 36). This king, Jehoiakim, paid tribute to Egypt until the 4th year of his reign.
By this time the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar the crown prince, had defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish (605 BC). During this campaign, the king of Babylon had died, and Nebuchadnezzar became king in his father’s place. Judah was formerly aligned with Egypt as Pharaoh had made Jehoiakim king (2 Kin 23:34), but now Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem and besieged it. He carried away some the vessels of the Temple, and noble Hebrew youths to serve him at his court, of which Daniel was one (Dan 1:1-4). He then withdrew without destroying either city or Temple. This is Nebuchadnezzar’s first subjugation of Jerusalem: Jehoiakim had to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and pay him tribute in order to keep the throne.
However, Jehoiakim did not keep his promise. Three years later, Egypt defeated Babylon in battle, inspiring Jehoiakim to rebel (601 BC). Jehoiakim looked to Egypt for support, but although victorious in battle, it had cost the Egyptians dearly, and they stayed home. Nebuchadnezzar also went home to rebuild, and so Jehoiakim was left with a false sense of security for a few years in his rebellion. However, by 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar was once again leading his troops to recover their lost tribute. They came against Jerusalem a second time, and subdued it, putting Jehoiakim in fetters as a captive bound for Babylon, but an ignoble death claimed him in the way that Jeremiah had foretold (Jer 22:18-19). Nebuchadnezzar again departed Jerusalem without destroying either city or Temple, its second such reprieve.
Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, became king in his father’s place, with the understanding that Judah would continue its loyalty to Babylon. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he continued in the evil way of his father. This was the state of affairs when Jeremiah prophesied that Jehoiachin would die in another land not his own (Jer 22:26-27). However, the king made so much trouble that just three months later Nebuchadnezzar came again to Jerusalem in anger, carrying off king, courtiers, and 10,000 prisoners to Babylon, of whom Ezekiel was one (Eze 1:1-2), as well as all the Temple treasures. He installed Zedekiah, the remaining son of Josiah, to serve as king, expecting him to be a faithful vassal to Babylon. For the third time Nebuchadnezzar departed without destroying either city or Temple.
Zedekiah at first submitted, but after a time, he allied himself with Egypt and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, instigating the fourth advance against Jerusalem by the Babylonians. And after a siege of 2-1/2 years, the city fell (586 BC). Nebuchadnezzar by this time had had enough of the rebellions of the kings of Judah, and he removed the house of David from being king over them. It looked as if the promise of God to David had failed … but God’s promises fail not. God was not done, and this was not the last act on the stage of world history for either Judah or the prince of the house of David!
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