2 Kings 24:1-20

The Last Kings of *Israel and *Judah

Book of 2 Kings

Philip Smith

Chapter 24

v1 While Jehoiakim was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to attack the country. Jehoiakim had to serve him for 3 years. But then Jehoiakim changed his decision and he *rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. v2 The *Lord sent soldiers to fight against Jehoiakim. They were from Babylon, Syria, Moab and Ammon. He sent them to destroy *Judah. The *Lord had said by means of his *prophets that he would do that. v3 Those things happened to *Judah because the *Lord had ordered it. He wanted to remove the people from his sight. That was because of all the *sins that Manasseh had done. v4 He had killed many innocent people. He had murdered innocent people everywhere in Jerusalem, and the *Lord was not willing to forgive.

v5 You can read about the other events during Jehoiakim’s rule. And you can read about all the things that he did. They are in the book that contains the history of *Judah’s kings. v6 Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin became king after him.

v7 The king of Egypt did not attack again. That was because the king of Babylon controlled all his territory. The king of Babylon controlled all the land from the Euphrates river to Egypt’s northern border.

Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king of Babylon. He ruled from 605 to 562 *B.C.. In 605 *B.C. he defeated Pharaoh (Egypt’s king) Neco and his army. That was in the battle at Carchemish. Then Nebuchadnezzar *conquered a large area of land, which included *Judah and Jerusalem. Jehoiakim became his servant. Jehoiakim also had to pay taxes to Nebuchadnezzar. In 601 *B.C. Nebuchadnezzar tried to *capture Egypt, but the army of Egypt stopped him. That encouraged Jehoiakim to *rebel. God allowed an army from Babylon to destroy *Judah. It did that together with armies from other countries.

That happened because of Manasseh’s *sins. God may have forgiven Manasseh’s personal *sins when he *repented. However, the people in his nation did not *repent with him. There had been changes during Josiah’s rule. But after Josiah’s death, the kings and the people became very wicked again. They even chose to do the same wicked things that they had done during Manasseh’s rule. So God would not postpone the punishment any longer. Instead, God punished them.

We do not know how Jehoiakim died. In 2 Chronicles 36:6, we read that Nebuchadnezzar bound him in chains. And Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon as a prisoner. Perhaps Jehoiakim died on the way. Ezekiel wrote a sad song about him – Ezekiel 19:5-9. In Jeremiah 22:19, Jeremiah says that Jehoiakim would have a *donkey’s funeral. That meant that Jehoiakim would not have any funeral whatever. The army of Egypt did march out again during King Zedekiah’s rule. However, the army from Babylon defeated them. So then verse 7 was true.

Jehoiachin’s rule as king of *Judah

v8 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 3 months. His mother was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan. She was from Jerusalem. v9 Jehoiachin *sinned against the *Lord, as his father had done.

v10 During Jehoiachin’s rule, the leaders of Nebuchadnezzar’s army attacked Jerusalem. [Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon.] Nebuchadnezzar’s army surrounded Jerusalem. v11 While that was happening, Nebuchadnezzar himself came to the city. v12 *Judah’s king Jehoiachin and his mother stopped their resistance to him. So did his servants and his officials.

In the 8^th year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin as a prisoner. v13 As the *Lord had *prophesied, Nebuchadnezzar took all the valuable things from the *Lord’s *temple and from the palace. Solomon had made gold objects for the *Lord’s *temple. Nebuchadnezzar also took away all those objects. v14 He took the inhabitants of Jerusalem away from their country. He did it as a punishment. Those people included the officers and soldiers. They included all the skilled workers. There were 10 000 people in total. Nebuchadnezzar left only the very poor people in the country.

v15 He took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner. Nebuchadnezzar also took the king’s mother, his wives and his officials. And he took the leaders of the country. v16 The king of Babylon took the whole army: 7000 men that could fight. He also took 1000 skilled workers. He took all these people to Babylon. v17 Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah king. Mattaniah was the uncle of Jehoiachin. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

Jehoiachin’s rule was very short. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem. Jehoiachin immediately stopped his resistance to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar took the gold and silver from the *temple and the royal palace. He took very many people as prisoners. He had taken some prisoners earlier too, in the 3^rd year of Jehoiakim’s rule. Those prisoners had included the *prophet Daniel and his 3 friends. (Daniel 1:1-6). But this time, when Jehoiachin was ruling, Nebuchadnezzar took the king and his family as prisoners. Jeremiah had *prophesied that it would happen (Jeremiah 22:24-30). The kings of Babylon would keep Jehoiachin as a prisoner for 37 years (2 Kings 25:27).

Nebuchadnezzar also took many other people to Babylon. He took all the soldiers. He also took the skilled workers. And he took those people that worked with metal. They included the people that made the weapons for war. (Weapons are a soldier’s tools, for example swords and *spears.) In verse 14, we learn that Nebuchadnezzar took 10 000 people as prisoners. That number probably includes the people in verse 16.

Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah. That name means ‘The *Lord is fair.’ Perhaps Nebuchadnezzar wanted to say that *Judah deserved this punishment. In other words, what the *Lord had done by means of Nebuchadnezzar was fair. That change in the name also showed that Nebuchadnezzar had control over Zedekiah.

Zedekiah’s rule as king of *Judah

v18 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. v19 Zedekiah *sinned against God, as Jehoiakim had done. v20 The *Lord was very angry with the people in *Judah and Jerusalem. That is why all these events happened. In the end, he forced them to leave the country.

Zedekiah *rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Zedekiah was Jehoiakim’s brother. And he was also Jehoiachin’s uncle. He was the last king of *Judah. Zedekiah was a weak ruler. Jeremiah warned Zedekiah that he should remain loyal to Babylon’s king. But Zedekiah thought that the new Pharaoh (Egypt’s king) would help him to be free from the control of Babylon’s king. The army from Babylon had left Jerusalem to attack the army from Egypt. Jeremiah warned Zedekiah that Babylon’s army would return. But Zedekiah was too weak to do what Jeremiah advised (Jeremiah Chapter s 27-28).

Look at Hebrews 2:1-4. In verses 1 and 3, we read this. ‘We should listen carefully to what God says… We cannot escape by any means if we do not give attention to God’s great offer. He offers to rescue us and he offers to make us free.’

Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
Lord ~ the name of God. We use this word to translate two different words in the original language. One word means ‘He is always God.’ The other word means ‘master’.
prophet ~ a person that gives a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
sin ~ an action that is wrong or wicked, which is against God’s moral law; something that is against a law in a religion.
conquer ~ to take control over a country or a group of people by force.
capture ~ to seize (arrest) someone and to keep that person as a prisoner; to take something by force and to keep it under your control.
rebel ~ to fight against authority; to oppose authority.
repent ~ to feel sorry because of sin and to stop that wrong behaviour. To decide to do what God wants.
sin ~ an action that is wrong or wicked, which is against God’s moral law; something that is against a law in a religion.
donkey ~ an animal like a horse with short legs and long ears.
prophesy ~ to declare a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
temple ~ the building that King Solomon built in Jerusalem, and the area that surrounded it. It was the most important place for the worship of the real God. We also use the word ‘temple’ to mean the house of a false god.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god); to give honour to God (or a false god) by sacrifice, prayer, song or action.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
spear ~ a tool of war which has a long handle with a sharp point on the end. That point is usually metal.