2 Kings 24: 1 – 20
It’s all downhill from here
24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the acts 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 rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner. 13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 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 He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
A catalyst is an event or person causing a change. The noun catalyst is something or someone that causes a change and is derived from a Greek word.
Today we are going to see the word ‘catalyst’ being displayed with the people of Judah getting kicked out of their land. They wanted independence from the Rule of our Father God Adoni Yaweh, so their being expelled from God’s Promised Land is the catalyst that gives them what they have yearned for and will cause them to be fully independent on this earth.
Here are lyrics from a song titled ‘It’s all downhill from here.’ In just a few verses we recognize the relationship the people of Judah wanted to have with our Great Holy God Yahweh. The people only wanted the benefits of our Holy God without any devotion or dedication to Him. They wanted to pull Him down when trouble came their way then not care about Him afterwards.
You're hiding something, 'cause it's burning through your eyes
I try to get it out but all I hear from you are lies
I can tell you're going through the motions
Figured you were writing out your part
Once again we're playing off emotion
Which one of us will burn until the end.
Catalyst you exist to pull me down,
You contradict the fact that you still want me around,
And it’s all downhill from here,
And it’s all downhill from here
Your good intentions slowly turn to bitterness
Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss
I can tell you're going through the motions
Figured you were writing out your part
Once again we're playing off emotions
Which one of us will burn until the end.
Catalyst you exist to pull me down,
You contradict the fact that you still want me around,
And it’s all downhill from here,
And it’s all downhill from here
I can't believe you pulled it off again
I'm running till it all sets in
You'll deny it till you're at your bitter end
I can tell you're going through the motions
Figured you were writing out your part
Once again we're playing off emotions
Which one of us will burn until the end.
Catalyst you exist to pull me down,
You contradict the fact that you still want me around,
And it’s all downhill from here,
And it’s all downhill from here
(And you keep pulling me down)
Pulling me down pulling me down
Catalyst you exist to pull me down,
You contradict the fact that you still want me around,
And it’s all downhill from here,
And it’s all downhill from here
24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
The arrival of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 605/4 BC put an end to Egyptian supremacy, with the result that, on Egypt’s withdrawal behind its borders, Jehoiakim had to submit to him as his vassal. This took place in the third year of his reign (Daniel 1.1), when Jerusalem was invaded and prominent men were taken as hostages to Babylon, including among them Daniel and his three compatriots. It may have been at this time that Jehoiakim was himself taken in chains to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36.6) where he would be forced to make an oath of allegiance.
Nebuchadnezzar’s attempt to invade Egypt three of four years after his succession (i.e. in c 601 BC) resulted in a setback for his army and he had to return to Babylon to recoup. This may well have been what caused Jehoiakim to rebel, probably with promises of support from Egypt. To him things were beginning to look promising.
2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.
With the Babylonian army returning to its land, other small bands of raiders came against the people of Judah.
3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.
This was happening ‘at the commandment of YHWH’. And this was because He had determined to remove Judah out of His sight as He had warned as long ago as Leviticus 18.28. He was sick of their ways. And this situation had come about because of the sins of Manasseh and what he had done, and because of the innocent blood which he had shed, and the fact that he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. It had been so bad that it was something that YHWH could not overlook because, although the reign of Josiah had at first altered the picture, Judah had turned back to the same behavior as before, something evidenced by the slaying of Uriah the prophet by Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26.20-23). Josiah’s death had resulted in YHWH’s covenant being openly slighted on a continual basis and it revealed Judah’s permanent hardness of heart, something which even Josiah had been unable to remedy. That was why Judah was doomed.
5 Now the rest of the acts 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 rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
It is significant that we are told in the book of Jeremiah 22.18-19 how Jehoiakim was buried, leaving us to infer that there was something unusual about it, and indeed his end is shrouded in mystery. 18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’ They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’ 19 He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
We read that he would be buried ‘with the burial of a donkey’ and that his body would be thrown and without any mourning outside Jerusalem.
7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
Nebuchadnezzar’s control of the land south of the Euphrates, down almost to the borders of Egypt (to the Wadi of Egypt, just north of the border), had become such that the king of Egypt did not venture beyond his borders. All that he had previously gained had been lost and any assistance that he may have promised to Judah would thus come to nothing. He was no match for the forces of Nebuchadnezzar.
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
In some ways Jehoiachin patterned Jehoahaz earlier (23.31-34). Both came to the throne after their fathers had offended against a great power, and both were carried off as hostages within three months, Jehoahaz to Egypt and Jehoiachin to Babylon. Jehoiachin was also known as Jeconiah (1 Chronicles 3.16-17; He began his reign at eighteen years old, with Jerusalem surrounded by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar, and within three months he surrendered when Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived.
9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
On coming to the throne Jehoiachin made no attempt to reverse the idolatries of his father. He continued with Jehoiakim’s idolatrous worship. Thus, he found no favor with YHWH.
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
The arrival of ‘the servants of Nebuchadnezzar’, prior to the coming of the Great King himself, must have occurred prior to Jehoiachin’s ascension to the throne, while Jehoiakim was still reigning. It was in fact possibly Jehoiakim’s attempt to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar’s generals that resulted in his ignominious death, and that caused Jehoiachin not to be willing to do so until Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it.
The arrival of Nebuchadnezzar himself would have caused a great stir, and it is probable that, because he would learn that Jehoiakim who had instigated the rebellion was dead, he on arrival offered terms to the city. These terms included the surrender of the royal house who would be transported to Babylon, along with many of the great men of the land, and the seizing of all the palace and Temple treasures, together with what remained of the golden vessels in the Temple. But it would mean that the war was at an end.
12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
The terms were accepted and Jehoiachin, the queen mother, his courtiers, his princes and his military officers all went out and surrendered to ‘the king of Babylon’ in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. They knew, of course, that this could only result in their transportation. That was part of the agreement.
13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
Nebuchadnezzar then cut up and removed from the Temple all that remained of the golden vessels which Solomon had made which were in the Temple of YHWH, together with all the treasures that remained in both the palace and the Temple.
Disobedience to YHWH could only result in Judah regularly losing all that it had. There could be no continuing prosperity without obedience. Here the vessels of Solomon are mentioned along with the treasures to connect back to the original record of Solomon’s enriching of the Temple. These vessels had been continually spared as having great sentimental value, but now even they had been taken. Together with 25.13-17 it was stressing that all that Solomon had built up had finally gone. Nothing was left.
14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
Furthermore, he carried off all the most important people in Jerusalem, including the civil servants, together with all the princes of the tribes. Together with them were all the professional warriors and all the craftsmen and smiths. Only ‘the poorest sort of the people of the land’ were left behind. Judah was being stripped of its leaders and its fighting potential.
15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
So Jehoiachin himself, the queen mother, all the king’s wives, his courtiers and officers, and the chief men of the land were all taken into captivity together with seven ‘thousand’ warriors, and craftsmen and smiths who crafted Judah’s armaments. It kind of like us taking all the scientists out of Germany after WW II. All were brought captive to Babylon, and among them was the young prophet Ezekiel. The comparatively small numbers, compared with what Judah had once been, bring out how low they had fallen.
17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
The king of Babylon then appointed as king Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah, (a son of Josiah), and renamed him Zedekiah, a change of name which indicated his vassal ship. He remained behind to cope with what was left of Judah.
It is a reminder of how quickly events were moving that it was a son of Josiah himself who now came to the throne as the last king of Judah, and that he was only twenty-one years old, so short would be the time from the death of Josiah (609 BC) to the final destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC). Furthermore, he was not helped by the fact that he was seen by many as only acting as deputy for Jehoiachin, who was still looked on as king of Judah, and expected to return (Jeremiah 28.4).
But as with his brother Jehoiakim before him he did not follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead he continued to encourage the worship in high places, and in the Temple, for he ‘did evil in the eyes of YHWH’. It was clear that Josiah’s legacy had not been a permanent one. As we have learned above Judah had in fact fallen too far before he came to the throne. Thus, YHWH’s anger continued to be directed against Judah with the result that in the end Zedekiah also foolishly rebelled against the king of Babylon and withheld tribute. We can only assume that it was largely at the instigation of Egypt, for it would have been obvious that Judah and her local allies would have had little chance alone.
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.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem ‘the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there’ for David’s sake (1 Kings 14.21). It was to be the last eleven years of Jerusalem’s existence. The name of the queen mother was Hamutal. Zedekiah was thus the full brother of Jehoahaz (23.31), and the half-brother of Jehoiakim.
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 He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
He continued to walk in the same way as Jehoiakim had done, permitting the continuation of the worship of Baal and Asherah, as well as necessarily having to perpetuate the worship of the gods of Babylon. All Josiah’s efforts had, in the long term, seemingly been in vain. He had given Judah its last chance and it had rejected it.
It was Zedekiah’s rebellion and its consequences in the arrival of the king of Babylon that highlighted the fact that YHWH’s anger was directed against Jerusalem and Judah for it was an indication that He intended to cast them out of His presence. What happened to Jerusalem was not to be the act of Nebuchadnezzar, but the act of YHWH.
20 For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
The result of YHWH’s anger against Judah and Jerusalem was that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. This rebellion appears to have been inspired because of news being received of an internal rebellion in Babylon in which many Jews were involved, and was no doubt partly stirred up by the continuing urgings of Egypt, who would indeed at one stage send an army to temporarily relieve Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37.5).
