2 Chronicles 36:1-23

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 36

Jehoahaz – 2 Chronicles 36:1-4

v1 The people in Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz. And they made him king in Jerusalem instead of his father.

v2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months. v3 The king of Egypt removed Jehoahaz so that he could not be king in Jerusalem. Then he made the people in Judah pay 100 *talents of silver and a *talent of gold. v4 The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king of Judah and Jerusalem. And he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.

Verses 1-4 When Josiah died, the people made his son Jehoahaz the king. Jehoahaz had the name of Shallum and he was Josiah’s 4th son (1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11). He was 23 years old when he began to rule in Jerusalem. But he ruled there for just 3 months in the year 609 *BC. In this short time, he was not loyal to the *LORD. He did what was evil in the opinion of the *LORD (2 Kings 23:32).

Neco, the king of Egypt, tied Jehoahaz with chains and he took him to Egypt. Jehoahaz was in Egypt for the rest of his life and he died there. Neco *captured Jehoahaz because he wanted to control Judah.

King Neco made Judah’s people pay to him 100 *talents of silver and a *talent of gold. That amounts to three and three quarter tons (3750 kilos) of silver and 75 pounds (34 kilos) of gold.

Neco made Eliakim king of Judah and Jerusalem. Eliakim was two years older than his brother Jehoahaz. Neco gave to Eliakim the name, Jehoiakim.

Jehoiakim – 2 Chronicles 36:5-8

v5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what was evil in the opinion of the *LORD his God. v6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim and he tied him with *bronze chains to take him to Babylon. v7 Also, Nebuchadnezzar removed some of the things from the *LORD’s *temple. He took them to Babylon and he put them in his *temple in Babylon.

v8 The book of the kings of *Israel and Judah records all that Jehoiakim did. It records all his evil deeds and all that was against him. And his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king.

Verses 5-8 Jehoiakim ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem from 609 to 598 *BC. He was a bad king. He built for himself a new palace and he lived in luxury. He forced his own people to do the work for him. And he did not pay them for their labour (Jeremiah 22:13-19). The *LORD sent Jeremiah and other *prophets to tell them about the *disaster that would happen. The *LORD gave to the king and to the people a chance to *repent. But they would not do so. The king did not kill Jeremiah but he did kill the *prophet Uriah (Jeremiah 26:20-23).

In 605 *BC, Prince Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the army from Egypt at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46:2). As the soldiers from Egypt ran away, Nebuchadnezzar chased them. He defeated them again at a place in Syria called Hamath. In August 605 *BC, The king of Babylon, Nabopolassar died. So, Nebuchadnezzar had to return to Babylon to become king there. Soon after this, the army of Babylon continued to *capture territory to the south. Then Babylon ruled the whole territory from Egypt to the Euphrates River (2 Kings 24:7). This included Judah and the territory that had been *Israel. Jehoiakim now had to obey the king of Babylon instead of the king of Egypt.

Nebuchadnezzar took some of the things that were in the *temple. He put those things in the *temple of his god in his own country. He *worshipped a god called Merodach. Also, he took some of the best young men away into *exile (Daniel 1:1-3). That was the beginning of the 70 years of *exile in Babylon from 605-536 *BC. (see Jeremiah 29:10.)

Three years after that, in 602 *BC, Jehoiakim *turned against Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar sent an army to Jerusalem. This army had soldiers from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon. They forced him to obey Nebuchadnezzar.

Later, Nebuchadnezzar came and he attacked Jerusalem. He caught Jehoiakim and he bound him with *bronze chains. He intended to take him to Babylon. But he may not have taken him there. Or perhaps he took him there but then Jehoiakim came back to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died in 598 *BC. It is possible that someone murdered him (Jeremiah 36:30). His son Jehoiachin became king.

There was a record of Jehoiakim’s life in the book of the kings of *Israel and Judah.

Jehoiachin – 2 Chronicles 36:9-10

v9 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months and 10 days. He did what was evil in the opinion of the *LORD. v10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and he brought him to Babylon. Also, he brought some valuable things from the *LORD’s *temple to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s relative, Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.

Verses 9-10 King Jehoiachin was 18 years old. He was as bad as his father had been. He ruled in Jerusalem for just three months and 10 days. Then in March 597 *BC, Nebuchadnezzar’s army entered the city. Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem. He took Jehoiachin as a prisoner to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar took all the valuable things from the *temple. And he took many people from Jerusalem to Babylon. He took about 10 000 people from the city. This included Jehoiachin’s family, 7000 soldiers and all the business people (2 Kings chapter 24).

Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah the king of Judah and Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah – 2 Chronicles 36:11-16

v11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. v12 He did what was evil in the opinion of the *LORD his God. The *LORD spoke to him by Jeremiah the *prophet but he was too proud to listen. v13 King Nebuchadnezzar had forced Zedekiah to promise in God’s name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah *turned against Nebuchadnezzar. He became proud and he would not *turn to the *LORD, the God of *Israel. v14 Also, all the leaders of the priests and the people *turned away from the *LORD. They did the same evil deeds as other nations and they *worshipped false gods. The *LORD had made the *temple in Jerusalem holy. But they made it like something dirty by their deeds. And so it was not suitable for the *worship of God.

v15 The *LORD, the God of their *ancestors, had continued to send *prophets to warn his people. He had pity on them and he wanted to save them and the *temple. v16 But they joked about those that God sent to them. And they refused to hear what God said. They laughed at the *LORD’s *prophets. They made the *LORD so angry that he would not save them.

Verses 11-16 Zedekiah was a son of Josiah. He became king at the age of 21 in 597 *BC and he ruled for 11 years. He was the last of the 20 rulers of the *kingdom called Judah. But there is evidence that the people still considered Jehoiachin to be their real king.

Zedekiah was a bad king. He was not loyal to the *LORD. The *LORD spoke to him several times by Jeremiah the *prophet. But he was too proud and he would not listen to the *LORD.

Jeremiah told Zedekiah that he should give in to the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 38:17-18). But Zedekiah refused to do so. This was the last chance for Jerusalem. Because he refused, the army from Babylon destroyed Jerusalem.

The leaders of the priests were not loyal to the *LORD. And the people *worshipped false gods. The *LORD sent *prophets to warn them. He told them about the *disasters that would happen. He offered them a chance to *repent so that he could save them. But they refused the *LORD. And they laughed at the *prophets.

There was a new king in Egypt. He was Hophra. He came from Egypt with his army at the time that the army from Babylon was round Jerusalem. So, the army from Babylon went from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5). It seems that because of this move by Hophra and his army, Zedekiah tried to free himself from Nebuchadnezzar’s control. He had made an agreement to serve Nebuchadnezzar. But he was not loyal to that agreement. He *turned to Egypt for help against Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 17:13-15). He expected Hophra to help him against the army from Babylon. But Jeremiah warned him that Hophra would return to Egypt. Also, Jeremiah told him that the army from Babylon would come again. He told him that they would destroy Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:4-10). All that Jeremiah said happened.

The *exile – 2 Chronicles 36:17-23

v17 Therefore, God brought the king of Babylon to attack them. The king killed the young men in the holy *temple. He had no pity on the young men or on the young women. He had no pity on the old men or on the very old people. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. v18 Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all that was in the *temple. He took the large things and the small things. He took all the valuable things from the *LORD’s *temple, from the king and from his officials. v19 The soldiers from Babylon burned God’s *temple and they broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned with fire all the palaces. And they destroyed everything valuable in Jerusalem.

v20 Nebuchadnezzar took the people who had not died in the battle alive into *exile in Babylon. He forced them to be slaves for him and for his *descendants. They were slaves until the king of Persia began to rule everywhere. v21 So, what the *LORD had told *Israel by the *prophet Jeremiah happened. The country was empty until it had had its *Sabbath rest. It was empty and it had rest for 70 years.

v22 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, what the *LORD said by Jeremiah became true. The *LORD caused Cyrus, king of Persia to make a declaration. He wrote it and he sent it everywhere in his entire *kingdom.

v23 ‘Cyrus, king of Persia says, “The *LORD is the God of heaven. And he has given to me all the *kingdoms on the earth. He has appointed me to build a *temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. All of you who are his people are free to go to Jerusalem. I pray that the *LORD your God will be with those people.” ’

Verses 17-21 The *LORD sent Nebuchadnezzar to punish Judah as he had warned them. So, the army of Babylon came again and it surrounded Jerusalem. After one and a half years, there was no more food in Jerusalem. In 587 *BC, the soldiers from Babylon broke down the walls of the city.

Zedekiah and his army ran from the city and they tried to escape. But the soldiers from Babylon caught them near Jericho town. They took Zedekiah to the town called Riblah in Syria to meet King Nebuchadnezzar. As Zedekiah watched them, they killed his sons. Then they took his eyes out so that he was blind. They bound him with chains and they took him to Babylon.

The soldiers from Babylon killed many of the people. Many people hid in the *temple area but that did not save them. The soldiers from Babylon killed the young people and the old people, men and women. And they took many people to be their slaves in Babylon. They were slaves for many years until the army of Persia *captured Babylon (in 539 *BC). The soldiers from Babylon left some of the poorer people in Judah. But they took all the valuable things from the *temple and from the houses of the rich people.

Then the soldiers from Babylon destroyed the *temple by fire. And they destroyed most of the buildings in Jerusalem.

Just a few people cultivated the fields for 70 years. The law said that the *Israelites should not cultivate the land on the 7th year (Leviticus 25:4-7). The land should have rest during each 7th year. For 490 years, the people had not given to the land the rest that was due to it (Leviticus 26:34-35). Now, it had 70 years of rest. These 70 years started in the 4th year of Jehoiakim (605 *BC.) and they ended in 536 *BC.

Verses 22-23 In October 539 *BC, the army of Cyrus king of Persia *captured Babylon. So, he became king of Babylon. In his first year as king of Babylon in 538 *BC, he wrote a letter. And he sent it everywhere in his entire *kingdom.

He recorded that the *LORD is the God of heaven. He said that God had given to him all the *kingdoms on the earth. And he said that God had told him to build a *temple for the *LORD in Jerusalem. So, he told the *Jews in *exile that they were free to return to Jerusalem. Cyrus wrote what Isaiah had *prophesied (Isaiah 44:28-45:5).

Jeremiah wrote that Babylon would rule Judah for 70 years. After that time, the *LORD would bring the *Jews back from their *exile (Jeremiah 29:10). The first *exiles went to Babylon in 605 *BC. Some of the *Jews returned to Jerusalem after 538 *BC. They started to build the *temple in 536 *BC.

God was still looking after his people.

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
talent ~ weight equal to 75 pounds or 34 kilos.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
capture ~ to fight for something and to make it yours as a result; or, to make somebody a prisoner.
bronze ~ a metal that glows when it is in a fire. When a person polishes it, it shines in the light. And it is very strong.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and to turn to God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
exile ~ people who have to live in a foreign country are in exile. Such a person is an exile. The exile means the time when the Jews were in exile.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or of a nation.
Sabbath ~ the Sabbath was the 7th day of the week, which God told the *Israelites to keep as a special day.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes false prophets tried to speak a prophecy.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.