The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 138, The Fall Of Jerusalem, Part Two

King Zedekiah of Judah, who was appointed as a vassal king by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, is now being held captive in Babylon where he will remain until his death. Before Zedekiah escaped Jerusalem from a hole in the wall, and before he was captured by the Babylonian soldiers, the prophet Jeremiah told him that he would be captured, that he would see the king of Babylon face to face, and that he would be taken to Babylon. (See Jeremiah 34:1-3) 

Jeremiah, on the authority of the Lord, kept urging Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem to surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar. This was the only way to prevent mass casualties and the destruction of the city and the temple. But instead Zedekiah held out under siege until no food was left to eat in Jerusalem, then he made a break for it, abandoning the people of the city. When the Babylonian soldiers pursued him and his sons and his soldiers, his soldiers deserted him, at which point he and his sons were taken to see Nebuchadnezzar face to face as Jeremiah predicted. Nebuchadnezzar judged him guilty of breaking the treaty he made with him in the name of the God of Israel, put Zedekiah's sons to death in front of him, ordered Zedekiah to be blinded, and had him taken captive to Babylon---the land Jeremiah predicted he would enter but never see. 

Zedekiah was held in custody in Babylon until Nebuchadnezzar's successor came to the throne. We don't know the cause of Zedekiah's death but he died by natural means because the Lord had told him that he would not die by the sword. "Yet hear the Lord's promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, 'Alas, master!' I myself make this promise, declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 34:4-5) 

According to Jewish tradition, when the new king of Babylon set Zedekiah (and his nephew, the former King Jehoiachin) free, Zedekiah only lived another month. He was buried in Babylon and mourned by the Jewish captives who had been taken there on at least three separate occasions by King Nebuchadnezzar. We have already studied two occasions in which Nebuchadnezzar took people from Jerusalem to Babylon. This will happen again when the city falls completely to his army; his soldiers will capture and deport from Jerusalem and Judah all but the poorest and least educated and least skilled people from the land. So we see that the word spoken to King Zedekiah by the Lord came true: he died peacefully in the land of Babylon and his people mourned for him as they had mourned for many previous kings of Judah.

Yesterday we learned from 2 Kings 25 that after Zedekiah was captured and taken away, Nebuzaradan (the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's army) captured the city of Jerusalem. His forces gained entrance to it and burned the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and every home and every important building. Many citizens were killed, presumably while fighting back or while attempting to prevent the structures from being set on fire. The author of 2 Chronicles says that the king of the Babylonians "killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm". (2 Chronicles 36:17) It was likely the commander of the army and his soldiers who actually did this killing, not Nebuchadnezzar himself because he was in Riblah when Zedekiah was brought before him, but since these things were done upon Nebuchadnezzar's orders he is credited with being the person who showed no mercy to anyone who stood in the way of any of his men.

The author of 2 Chronicles reiterates the fact that the Babylonians broke down the wall and burned the temple. He also tells us of the carrying away of the precious items of the temple and the carrying away of the people. "He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile in Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power." (2 Chronicles 36:18-20) 

The author of 2 Kings adds: "Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted the king of Babylon. But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields." (2 Kings 25:11-12)

We are in the final chapter of the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The remainder of 2 Kings will give further details about the items taken from the Lord's temple and the book will end with the release of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar's successor. Then we will be moving on into the books of the prophets which will give us far more details about the final years of Judah as a nation and about the lives of those taken captive to Babylon.