The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 132, Jehoachin King Of Judah, Part Two

The nation of Judah is at odds with the rising world power of Babylon. Formerly, Judah became subject to Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt when Jehoiachin's grandfather, King Josiah, opposed the Egyptian forces at Megiddo when they marched through on their way to assist the king of Assyria against the attacking Babylonians. Necho's troops delivered a mortal wound to Josiah, who died upon his return to Jerusalem. The people took his youngest son, Jehoahaz, and made him king but as Necho returned from Syria he took Jehoahaz into custody and deposed him; Jehoahaz may have opposed him with his troops like Josiah did. Necho placed Eliakim, Jehoahaz's older brother, on the throne of Judah as a vassal king and renamed him Jehoiakim and levied heavy tribute against Judah.

The Babylonians were on a quest to conquer all the territories of the Levant so when Nebuchadnezzar's forces came up against Jerusalem, King Jehoiakim swore his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar to prevent the destruction of the city. He remained a vassal king of Babylon for three years until Nebuchadnezzar's attempted invasion of Egypt failed, at which point he and other kings of the region rebelled. But the Babylonians teamed up with several smaller nations and came against the king of Judah again, resulting in Jehoahaz losing his life in circumstances that are not explained to us in the Bible or in the Babylonian chronicles. His son Jehoachin then became king at the age of eighteen, which is where we left off in yesterday's study after being told he did evil in the eyes of the Lord just as some of his forefathers did.

The historical information contained in the Bible and in the chronicles of the Babylonians tells us that Nebuchadnezzar conquered the nation of Judah in at least three separate steps. In today's passage we find him coming against the nation again by laying siege to the city of Jerusalem. "At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him." (2 Kings 24:10-12a) 

During Nebuchadnezzar's first foray into the nation of Judah he was handed some members of the royal family to hold as hostages as proof that tribute would continue being paid to him. But Jehoiakim rebelled against him anyway and the ancient historian Josephus claimed that Nebuchadnezzar attacked the nation again during the reign of Jehoiachin because he thought Jehoiachin would rebel against him just as his father did. It may even be that Jehoiachin actually was planning to rebel but we don't know. Jehoiachin surrenders to him as does the Queen Mother, Nehushta, with whom the ancient rabbis say Jehoiachin was in an incestuous relationship. Many other high-ranking people of the royal cabinet also surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and are taken into his custody. "In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner." (2 Kings 24:12b)

"As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord." (2 Kings 24:13) The late King Jehoiakim had already given Nebuchadnezzar some valuable items from the royal treasury and from the temple and now Nebuchadnezzar takes more. This was predicted by the prophet Isaiah who warned the late King Hezekiah that showing the visiting Babylonians all the treasures of the royal household and the temple was a mistake. Hezekiah was eager to ally himself with the Babylonians against the Assyrians instead of trusting in the Lord who had already miraculously delivered Jerusalem from a siege of the Assyrians and who had already miraculously healed Hezekiah of a deadly infection. So the Lord sent Isaiah to him to tell him that a day was coming in which the Babylonians would return to carry off the treasures of the kingdom and that the Babylonians would carry off some of Hezekiah's own descendants. We find this coming true in our text today.

The author of 2 Kings says of King Nebuchadnezzar: "He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans---a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left. Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land. The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah." (2 Kings 24:14-17) The Babylonians previously took other members of the royal family and now they take not only some members of the royal family and the royal cabinet but they also take the majority of the citizens of the city of Jerusalem. Later there will be another widescale deportation of the citizens of Judah. 

Zedekiah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, is now king and he is basically a puppet king serving at the pleasure of Nebuchadnezzar. He has not learned anything from the fate of the previous kings in regard to his need to humble himself before the Lord and to urge all the people to do likewise. He will be just as wicked of a man as his predecessors and will not listen to anything the prophets have to say.