In the book of Ezekiel we find a reference to Nebuchadnezzar's carrying off of Jehoiachin, his placing of Zedekiah on the throne of Judah, Zedekiah's taking of an oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, and Zedekiah's breaking of that oath. The following verses are part of a message the Lord gave to the people through the prophet Ezekiel. "Then the word of the Lord came to me: 'Say to this rebellious people, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Say to them: 'The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?'" (Ezekiel 17:11-15)
Why does Zedekiah break his treaty with Nebuchadnezzar? For one thing, an oath taken in the name of the God of Israel is meaningless to Zedekiah. He is an idolatrous sinner like several of his predecessors were. Nebuchadnezzar forced him to take an oath in the name of the God of Israel because the Lord is the "official deity", if you will, of Zedekiah's nation. Nebuchadnezzar probably does not realize how little Zedekiah cares about the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar does not understand that Zedekiah doesn't feel bound by an oath taken in the name of the Lord. The king of Babylon insisted that Zedekiah make his oath in the name he assumes he reveres above all others but, in my opinion, Zedekiah would have been more likely to keep an oath made in the name of one of the Canaanite deities whose images he has set up in Judah.
Another reason Zedekiah rebels against Nebuchadnezzar is that he and the people are listening to the words of false prophets and unwise counselors because these men are telling them what they want to hear. These men are promising them success if they rebel against Babylon while the Lord's true prophets are warning them of defeat if they rebel. When we reach the books of the prophets we will find the Lord's prophets advising the king and the people that their only hope is to turn away from idols and to submit to the oath made in the Lord's name to the king of Babylon. If widescale repentance had taken place, the Lord would have held off the coming calamity, at least in the generation we are studying. If Zedekiah had kept his word to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian army wouldn't come to lay siege to and cause the fall of Jerusalem, which is what is going to happen. The prophet Jeremiah, like the prophet Ezekiel, warns that rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar is not wise, saying: "If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed." (Jeremiah 32:5b) Jeremiah will also say of Pharaoh Hophra, to whom Zedekiah sends for help: "This is what the Lord says: 'I am going to deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who want to kill him.'" (Jeremiah 44:30a)
But the king and most of the people do not listen to the prophets of the Lord because they want to keep living in sin and they want to be free of Babylon. If they had learned to submit to the authority of Babylon, perhaps in those unhappy circumstances they might have learned to submit to the Lord, and if they had learned to submit to the Lord's authority and had given their hearts to Him, He would have saved them from their enemy. Earlier in the Bible He promised the people that no enemy would ever be able to defeat them if they were faithful and obedient to Him. By contrast, He also stated that they would not be able to stand against their enemies if they were not faithful and obedient to Him.
A third reason Zedekiah breaks the treaty is that he thinks the Egyptians and the Phoenicians, who have allied themselves with each other and with several smaller nations, have a good chance of fighting back against the Babylonians. Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt is now part of a coalition of nations that plans to march against the Babylonian army. Hophra (known as Wahibre Haaibre to the Egyptians and as Apries to the Greeks) is the grandson of Necho II, who we met earlier on the pages of the Bible. As the passage from the book of Ezekiel stated, Zedekiah sends envoys to Egypt to ally himself with Pharaoh and to ask for his help against the Babylonians. The king of Judah cannot mount an effective defense against the Babylonian army but, combined with the army of Egypt and the army of Phoenicia and and the armies of various other territories, there is a fighting chance for all of them together to reduce the threat of this growing world power.
Pharaoh Hophra, whose late father Pharaoh Psammetichus II had already been friendly with Zedekiah and had been encouraging Zedekiah to revolt against Nebuchadnezzar and join forces with Egypt, will try to come to Zedekiah's aid. Zedekiah has stopped paying the required tribute to Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar is laying siege to Jerusalem in response to Zedekiah's defection. Hophra sends his forces eastward and Nebuchadnezzar will be obliged to cease his current attack on Jerusalem in order to deal with the threat of the Egyptian army. But, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel and other prophets warned, the attempt to get out from under Babylonian domination will not succeed.
In the coming days, as we study the fall of Jerusalem and Judah, we will need to delve deep into the ancient history of several nations in order to get a full picture of the major change-up of powers that is taking place. The map of the ancient world is rapidly changing at this time in regard to which territories are subject to which nations. Kingdoms are on the rise and kingdoms are collapsing. The northern kingdom of Israel has already fallen to Babylon. Around a hundred years later, Assyria has fallen to Babylon. Babylon is on the rise while Judah and Egypt and many other nations are on the decline. But none of these things is happening outside of the Lord's control and outside of His permission. All of these things are part of His plan, as the prophet Daniel will say while he is a captive in Babylon: "Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He deposes kings and raises up others." (Daniel 2:20-21a)
The kingdom of the Lord is the only kingdom that will stand forever. The leaders of the nations on earth may think things are under their control but they are actually just playing their parts in the Lord's plans. On the pages of the Bible we see kingdoms rising and kingdoms falling. These things are happening according to the Lord's will, not according to man's will, and even the massively powerful kingdom of Babylon will, in its own turn, fall to another rising world power. Then that world power will be conquered, and then the next world power will be conquered, and so on until the Lord's kingdom comes on earth and then, "His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey Him." (Daniel 7:7b)
I am about to leave on vacation for a week so we will temporarily leave off our study of the kings until Sunday, July 2nd. While I'm gone I plan to do some reading for the background study of the passages we're looking at so I can get a clearer picture of the historical times of this era before we recommence our study where we left off. Until then I wish you a blessed week in our Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment