Kings of Judah Part 5 The Captivity
(2C 35:20-27; 2K 23:29-30). At the end of Josiah’s reign Egypt went up to fight against Assyria by the river Euphrates. Josiah went out against Egypt in the valley of Megiddo. Josiah was wounded and died.
The king of Egypt did not want to fight with Judah
· 2C 35:21 God commanded the king of Egypt to go against Assyria
· V22b Josiah hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God and died from wound received.
2C 36:1 Jehoahaz the son of Josiah was made king. He ruled only 3 months when Egypt came and carried him to Egypt and made Eliakim his brother king in Jerusalem. Consequences of Josiah’s folly
· Josiah did not hearken to the words from God and it cost him his life brought Egypt to take over Jerusalem and the reign of Jehoahaz was cut short.
· Egypt changed the name of Eliakim to Jehoiakim
2C 36:5 Jehoiakim reigned 11 years and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God
· 2K 24:1 Jehoiakim agreed to be servant to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon but rebelled after three years.
· 2K 24:2-3 The LORD sent Babylon and others upon Judah and Jerusalem to remove them out of his sight
· 2C 36:6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon entered Jerusalem and bound Jehoiakim in fetters, to carried him to Babylon V7 the vessels of the house of the LORD were carried to Babylon
2C 36:9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
· According to 1C 3:16 & Jer 22:24 Jehoiachin was named Jeconiah or Coniah. Babylon changed his name.
· He was taken to Babylon with all the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD and made Zedekiah the son of Josiah (1C 3:15) king. 2K 24:17 states Zedekiah’s name was originally Mattaniah
2C 36:11-12 Zedekiah did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God and also rejected the LORD’s prophet Jeremiah
· 2C 36:13-16 Zedekiah broke the oath he had sworn by God to serve Nebuchadnezzar and the people mocked and misused His prophets. V17-19 So the LORD used Babylon even more to punish Judah and Jerusalem. [Jere 27:6-9]
· 2K 25:7: Eze 12:13 was blinded and carried to Babylon where he died.
· The death of Zedekiah left no king in Jerusalem. This is the start of the times of the Gentiles [Luke 21:24].
2C 36:20-21 The beginning of the 70 years of captivity.
Why: 2Ki 24:3, Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 2K 21:11
· The sins of Manasseh were the sins of Judah that can be traced back to Solomon. Hezekiah cleared the land of all the abomination of Judah. Manasseh brought them all back.
· The sins of Manasseh were what the people wanted. When he did not tear the high places that he rebuilt he left the pathway back to idolatry. [2C 33:9] Before he repented He actually did worse than the heathen. His son Amon trespassed more and more [2C 33:23]
Who: 2Ki 20:17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
· 2Ch 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
· Hezekiah helped determine the nation the LORD would used when he showed all the wealth the LORD gave him.
The years: Da 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem
· Jer 25:10-11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
· For 490 years Israel refused the allow the land to rest in sabbath year.
Jer 25:12; 2C 36:22-23 God used Cyrus king of Persia to end Babylon’s rule over Judah and Jerusalem. The book of Ezra and Nehemiah tell of the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem at the expense of Persia.
· The book of Daniel tells of the Medes and Persians taking Babylon.
Hearken is seen in 150 verses;
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
1. To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered, with eagerness or curiosity.
The furies hearken and their snakes uncurl.
2. To attend; to regard; to give heed to what is uttered; to observe or obey.