2 Kings 25:27-30 English Standard Version Jehoiachin Released from Prison 27 And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived. This is the end of the book of 2 Kings. It has taken us from the end of Elijah's earthly ministry to the Exile of both Israel and Judah. In the thirty-seventh year of the exile (they were exiled for seventy years, so we are a little more than halfway through the Exile), there was a new king in Babylon who released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. This occurred in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month. Not only did Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, free Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison, but also gave him a seat at the king's table (he treated him like one of his own sons). We don't know for sure, but perhaps this has to do with the influence of Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, for they were given authority as political leaders in the palace and in the province of Babylon (the capital city).
We know next to nothing about Evil-merodach other than what is mentioned here, but we know that another ruler in Babylon would arise (I won't call him king because he was only the second-highest ruler in the kingdom from what we can tell) who would not know of Daniel and his friends nor of the miraculous things that the LORD had done for Nebuchadnezzar. That ruler named Belshazzar would act foolishly so as to incur God's wrath and in a single night his kingdom would be taken away from him (we have to look to the book of Daniel for this history). The rest of the Babylonian Exile would be served under the reign of the Medo-Persian Empire, and the LORD would use this king (we have different names for him in different Old Testament books as he has a Jewish name, a name given by the Medes, and a name given by the Persians), to protect and restore the Jews. We also don't want to forget that during this time came the story of Esther and the story of Purim where the LORD upset all the enemies within the Persian kingdom that desired to destroy the Jews. So, even while His people are in Exile, God is working among the nations to change His people, bring them back to Him, to destroy their enemies, and to make the Torah, the Psalms, and some of the books of Prophecy known even to these Gentile nations (this is our best explanation of why the wise men were looking for a star when they came to visit Jesus in Matthew 2, for it is part of a prophecy made by Balaam in the book of Numbers). God is at work in his people to show them they are in need of a better king and a better kingdom, but also they are in need of a better covenant (some of the prophets will also talk about this) for they cannot keep the Mosaic Covenant and they risk being sent into Exile again and again or having the LORD become so angry with them that He might destroy them like He did the Canaanites, Hivites, Jebusites, Perizzites, and other Gentile nations. At this point in the story we long for the people to be reunited, restored, and for Messiah, the Son of David, to appear and take His place on David's throne in Jerusalem, for the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt and for the Temple of the LORD to be rebuilt so that sacrifices can be made once again and the nations of the world can come to see and to hear the gospel (not just in the Temple, but it was at work in the lives of the people of God who were called by His name). 2 Kings 25:22-26 English Standard Version Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah 22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. I know I haven't been careful to post the names of the mothers of the kings so far, but it is glaringly obvious to me that this man who was made governor by King Nebuchadnezzar has no mother listed as part of his information about when he came to power and how long he ruled. Why is that? Because there is no need to establish that he is Jewish and had a right to inherit David's throne, because this man is not even of the royal family (we'll see that later).
Any of the fighting men that were left formed ranks when they heard the news that Babylon had put its own governor in place, and they brought with them a member of the royal family named Ishmael. Gedaliah swore peace to them, but in the seventh month, Ishmael came up with his men and struck down Gedaliah and put to death all the Jews and Chaldeans working along with the Babylonians that were living in and working in Mizpah (which must have been the seat of power that Babylon had chosen for its governor). Any of the men involved in this revolt then fled to Egypt to escape the Chaldeans (Babylonians). We're almost done with the story of the kings and we have but one more passage to study tomorrow that will give us some details that we don't get in the book of Daniel, for we will get a tiny bit of information about the Babylonian king that succeeds Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kings 25:1-21 English Standard Version Fall and Captivity of Judah 25 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. 8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. 13 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework. 18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. The "his" being referred to in the beginning of verses 1 is King Zedekiah (it points back to the previous section we studied at the end of chapter 24). On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of King Zedekiah's reign, all the armies of Babylon were brought to bear against Jerusalem and the city was besieged until the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign. At this point those inside the city were able to break through the wall and escape past the army that was surrounding the city. At night, they fled and headed towards the Arabah (the low-lying wilderness between Mount Hermon and the Gulf of Akabah that is otherwise known as the plains south of the Dead Sea). This would be the same general area that David went to when he was a fugitive from King Saul and he and his men hid there years. There were many strongholds there that they could go to for refuge.
However, the Chaldeans pursued and caught up to king near the plains of Jericho, and all the army of Judah scattered at that point. The Chaldeans brought Zedekiah back to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah where they passed sentence on him by making him watch the Babylonians kill all of his sons, then they gouged out his eyes so that his sons dying was the last thing he'd ever see (no one he gave birth to would be king of Judah ever again), and then they put him in chains and took him to Babylon as a captive (probably to show off how they had humiliated and defeated Judah to people of Babylon). We can no longer use years that King Zedekiah has been reigning as a marker since his reign is now effectively over, so now our reference point changes to what year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign it is. On the seventh day of the fifth month that would have been during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar's captain of his bodyguard, Nebuzaradan, came to Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan burned down the Temple, the palace, and every other great house so that Jerusalem was broken down and became a smoldering heap of ruble (not that different than when Israel had defeated the Canaanite cities in the book of Joshua). We are supposed to look at it what is left and get the feeling "You are never going to be able to rebuild this." Anyone left in the city along with any of the people in the region who were deserters from the Babylonian army were rounded up and taken into captivity and exile. Only some of the poorest people were left to be slaves to work as vinedressers and plowmen so that Babylon could make profit from the land by harvesting its produce. The Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze and the sea of bronze from the Temple to take the bronze away to Babylon as well as all the bronze vessels and instruments used in the sacrifices to the LORD. The articles of gold and silver were carried away by the captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan. The author cannot even estimate the weight of the bronze that was taken, but instead simply tries to tell what the size of the pillar and the sea of bronze were so we might get an idea of the volume that was taken. The captain of the guard also rounded up all the religious leaders, political leaders, military leaders, and any other people from the city that could still up a rebellion and possibly lead a counter-offensive. All these leaders were brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. All these leaders who were deemed guilty of helping lead the "rebellion" of the people of Judah against Babylon were executed at Riblah that day. So Judah was taken into exile with Nebuchadnezzar imagining he had cut off the line of the kings and the priests (he forgot that he put the king in power that was not the rightful king and the rightful heir to the throne and his descendants are still alive as exiles in Babylon). 2 Kings 24:18-20 English Standard Version Zedekiah Reigns in Judah 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Remember that Zedekiah was the one that Nebuchadnezzar put in charge--he was the uncle of the one who was rightfully king, but the true king was taken away to Babylon. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he was made king, and he reigned 11 years (until he was 32). He did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD doing everything that his predecessor Jehoiakim had done. The time is getting pretty close for judgment to fall on the house of Judah and it's going to start with the priests and the kings.
So it was at this time that Zedekiah, the one made king over Israel by Babylon, rebelled against Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar is going to be irate and is going to bring all his forces against Jerusalem. We'll see that happen next time in the beginning of chapter 25. 2 Kings 24:10-17 English Standard Version Jerusalem Captured 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. 14 He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Remember that Judah had become a vassal state of Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Jehoiackin had already been captured and taken away in chains to Babylon (see 2 Chronicles 36:6), and at the time of that first attack, Nebuchadnezzar also carried of some of the vessels of the house of the LORD (the Temple) and took them back to Babylon with him to be put into the temples of his gods. The reason Jehoiachin's reign was so short is because he gave himself up to Nebuchadnezzar to also be taken to Babylon. He also brought with him the rest of the precious vessels from the house of the LORD, and at that time Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's brother Zedekiah to be king over Judah because Nebuchadnezzar wanted to be the king-maker that would choose the member of the royal family that he thought would be most loyal to him and Babylon (see 2 Chronicles 36 as well as verses 12-13 of this chapter).
At this time, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths--everything that would have helped Judah to be able to mount a counter-attack. They have no army, no ability to make armor, swords, shields, or other weapons, and this is probably the time when the other members of the royal family like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were taken captive as this would prevent any of them from taking the throne away from Zedekiah. Of the 10,000 captives that were carried away, 7,000 of them were brought to Babylon, along with all the men of valor and all the craftsmen and metal workers (there were 1,000 such craftsmen and metal workers among the group).All of these men of valor and craftsmen were men fit for war, meaning that Nebuchadnezzar probably made them fight in Babylon's army. This passage ends with what we already said earlier that Nebuchadnezzar put Jehoiachin's uncle in power. His Jewish name was Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah (we'll see this is something Nebuchadnezzar loved to do--to try to change the name and identity of his captives as he tried to make them have a Babylonian worldview and lose attachment to anything, including their name, that would allow them to hold onto their previous identity, culture, and religious beliefs). 2 Kings 24:8-9 English Standard Version Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. Short passage today, but that's because there isn't much to say about this king. Jehoiachin became king when he was 18 years old and only reigned for three months (before Jerusalem falls, but we'll read about that next time). It shouldn't surprise us as things have been going from bad to worse that Jehoichin followed in the footsteps of his father and did evil in the sight of the LORD. We'll see the ultimate consequences of that next time.
2 Kings 23:36-24:7 English Standard Version Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 24 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. We mentioned Jehoiakim briefly at the end of our last passage. He was the king that Pharaoh Necro put into power. Though he was part of the royal family, he was loyal at first to Egypt, however, that will all change in today's passage. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was made king and he reigned in Jerusalem for 11 years. It is no surprise to us that he did what was evil, just like his fathers had done.
Now during his time as king, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to attack Jerusalem and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. This would either mean that Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necro, or Jehoiakim saw a stronger king and switched allegiances. Whatever the case, Jehoiakim has not switched his tactic of paying taxes and protection money to foreign kings and being vassals for them. Because of this, the LORD brought raiders against Judah--the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites all took advantage of Jehoiakim's weakness and freely attacked and raided with the intent of destroying Judah. They did not know they were accomplishing the prophecy that the Word of the LORD had spoken, but they were. The text event tells us that sure this came upon the people to put them out if the LORD's sight because of the sin of Manasseh (the one that was a relative of King Ahab that led Judah into idolatry and infanticide and setting up foreign gods in the LORD's Temple). The text even says that the LORD would not pardon this high-handed sin of rebellion. There is really nothing else said here about Jehoiakim other than he died and was buried with his fathers. There may be more to say in the book of Chronicles but the main thing to know here is that he made an alliance with Babylon which will result in Jerusalem and all Judah with it being taking into captivity and exile. Our question is answered as well as to why Jehoiakim stopped looking to Pharaoh Necro for help, for the Babylonians had pushed the Egyptians back to the pace we think of as Egypt today so that Babylon had control of all the land from the Nile River (if I'm interpreting correctly the meaning of "The Brook of Egypt") to the Euphrates River--that would include all the land that had been held by Assyria as well making Babylon the only "super-power" left in the area (the Medes and Persians would band together later to conquer the Babylonian empire which we'll read about in the book of Daniel). |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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