2 Kings 25

Every great nation fell by suicide.” The British political leader Richard Cobden made that observation, and his statement is aptly illustrated in the history of the kingdom of Judah. Sudden political or military blows from the outside didn’t destroy Judah. The nation committed suicide as it decayed morally and spiritually from within. These chapters tell the tragic story of the last years of a great nation. We can see the steps in their decline and the decisions of their kings who led the people downward to destruction.

They lost their independence (23:29–33; 2 Chron 35:20—36:4) King Josiah was a godly man who sincerely wanted to serve the Lord, but he made a foolish blunder by attacking Pharaoh Neco. His meddling in Egypt’s affairs was a personal political decision and not a command from the Lord. Josiah wanted to prevent Pharaoh Neco from assisting Assyria in their fight against Babylon, little realizing that it was Babylon and not Assyria that would be Judah’s greatest enemy. Josiah was mortally wounded by an arrow at Megiddo and died in Jerusalem. With the death of Josiah, the kingdom of Judah lost her independence and became subject to Egypt. This lasted from 609 to about 606, and then Egypt retreated and Babylon took over.

According to 1 Chronicles 3:15–16, Josiah had four sons: Johanan; Eliakim, who was renamed Jehoiakim; Mattaniah, who was renamed Zedekiah; and Shallum, also known as Jehoahaz. We know nothing about Johanan and assume he died in childhood. When Josiah died, the people put Josiah’s youngest son Jehoahaz on the throne and bypassed the other two brothers. His given name was Shallum (Jer. 22:11) and Jehoahaz was the name he was given when he took the throne. Jehoahaz and Zedekiah were full brothers (23:31; 24:18). It’s obvious that the Jeremiah mentioned in 23: isn’t the prophet Jeremiah since he was unmarried (Jer. 16:1–2).

Jehoahaz reigned only three months. When Neco was returning to Egypt with his army, he deposed Jehoahaz, made Eliakim king, renaming him Jehoiakim, and placed a heavy tax on the land. It’s likely that Jehoiakim was pro-Egypt in politics while Jehoahaz favored alliances with Babylon, as had his father, Josiah. Pharaoh met Jehoahaz at the Egyptian military headquarters at Riblah and from there took him to Egypt where Jehoahaz died. The prophet Jeremiah had predicted this event. He told the people not to mourn the death of Josiah, but rather to mourn the exile of his son and successor Shallum, for he would never see Judah again (Jer. 22:10–12). But unlike his godly father, Josiah, Jehoahaz was an ungodly man and an evil king and deserved to be exiled.

Jehovah called Israel to be a “people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations” (Num. 23: nkjv). Their faith was to be in the Lord alone, not in the treaties or compromises worked out by clever diplomats. Israel was God’s “special treasure … a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5–6 nkjv; see Deut. 7:6–11). It was Solomon who moved Israel from its separated position into the arena of international politics. He married seven hundred wives (1 Kings 11:3), most of whom represented treaties with their fathers or brothers who were rulers and men of influence. These treaties brought wealth into the nation and kept warfare out, but in the end, both Solomon and Israel were drawn into the idolatry of the nations around them (1 Kings 11:1–13).

Had the Jewish people obeyed the Lord and kept His covenant, He would have put them at the head of the nations (Deut. 28:1–14), but their disobedience led to their defeat and dispersal among the nations of the earth. Unfortunately, the church has followed Israel’s bad example and entangled itself with the world instead of keeping itself separated from the world (2 Tim. 2:4; James 1:27; 1 John 2:15–17). Believers are in the world but not of the world, and this enables us to go into the world and share Jesus Christ with lost sinners (John 17:13–19). Campbell Morgan said that the church did the most for the world when the church was the least like the world. Be distinct!

They lost their land (23:34—24:7; 2 Chron. 36:5–8) Having deposed Jehoahaz, Pharaoh Neco selected Josiah’s second son to be the next regent, changing his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim. Both names mean “God has established,” but the new name used the covenant name “Jehovah” in place of “El,” the common name for God. By doing this, Neco was claiming to be the Lord’s agent in ruling Judah. Of course, the new king had to swear allegiance to Neco in the name of Jehovah, and his new name would remind him of his obligations. In order to pay tribute to Neco, the new king taxed the people of the land. He reigned for eleven years and during that time, Judah got more and more in trouble with the surrounding nations.

Jehoiakim was a wicked man. When Urijah the prophet denounced him and then fled to Egypt, Jehoiakim sent his men to find him and kill him (Jer. 26:20–24). Jeremiah the prophet announced that Jehoiakim would not be mourned when he died but would have the burial of a donkey, not the burial of a king (Jer. 22:18–19). It was Jehoiakim who cut to pieces and burned to ashes the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer. 36). Unlike his father, Josiah, he had no respect for the Lord or His Word (Jer. 22:1–23).

However, the new empire of Babylon was about to replace Egypt as Judah’s great enemy and master. Nebuchadnezzar their king attacked Egypt, but the battle ended in a stalemate and Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to reequip and strengthen his forces for a return engagement. From Babylon’s “retreat,” Jehoiakim falsely concluded that Egypt was strong enough to resist Babylon, so after three years as a vassal king, he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and refused to pay the annual tribute. Until he could arrive at Jerusalem in person, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the armies of some of his vassal nations to attack and raid Judah. These raids were but a prelude to the great invasion of Judah that would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Isaiah had told King Hezekiah that this would happen (2 Kings 20:12–20), and King Manasseh had heard the same warning but not heeded it (21:10–15). Jeremiah had seen the vision of the boiling pot that faced the north, symbolizing the coming invasion from Babylon (Jer. 1:11–16; see 4:5–9; 6:22–26).

The scenario of the death of King Jehoiakim must be put together from information given in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and the book of Jeremiah. In 597, Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem to punish the rebellious king; but before he arrived, his officers had captured Jehoiakim and bound him to take him prisoner to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:5–6). We aren’t told whether he died a natural death or was killed (2 Kings 24:6); the verse mentions only his death (“slept with his fathers”) and not his burial. He died in December 598, before Nebuchadnezzar arrived on the scene in March 597 (2 Kings 24:10ff.). The prophet Jeremiah warned that Jehoiakim would have an ignominious death and no burial. When the king died, his body was probably thrown into some pit outside the walls of Jerusalem. He lived a disgraceful life and fittingly was buried in a disgraceful manner.

They lost their wealth and their leading people (24:8–17; 25:27–30; 36:9–10) Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Coniah) to be the new king, but he lasted only three months. He was eighteen years old at the time. When the Babylonian king, officials, and army arrived at Jerusalem in March, 597, Jehoiachin led the royal family and the leaders of the nation in surrendering to the enemy. Jeremiah had prophesied this humiliating event (Jer. 22:24–30).

The Babylonians took the king’s treasures as well as treasures from the temple of the Lord. Some of the temple vessels had already been removed to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:7), but now the Babylonians stripped off all the gold they could find. Then they deported to Babylon over ten thousand key people, including members of the royal family, government officials, and valuable craftsmen. This is when the prophet Ezekiel was taken to Babylon (Ezek. 1:1–3). All of this was but a foretaste of the terrible events that would occur when Nebuchadnezzar would return in 588 and lay siege to Jerusalem for two years. (See Isa. 39:1–8, Jer. 7:1–15 and Ezek. 20:1–49.)

Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years and then was released by Nebuchadnezzar’s son and heir, Evil-Merodoch (2 Kings 25:27–30; Jer. 52:31–34). The false prophet Hananiah had predicted that Jehoiachin would be set free to return to Judah (Jer. 28), but the king remained an exile, though treated with kindness after his pardon. Whenever the king of Babylon displayed his special prisoners on royal occasions, he put Jehoiachin’s throne above the thrones of the other captive kings. As Jeremiah had predicted, none of Jehoiachin’s children sat on David’s throne (Jer. 22:28–30), because Josiah’s third son, Mattaniah (Zedekiah) was appointed king to replace Jehoiachin.

They lost their city and temple (24:18—25:21; 2 Chron. 36:11–21) Jehoiakim had reigned for only three months when he was exiled to Babylon, but his successor, Zedekiah, ruled for eleven years. He pretended to submit to Babylon while at the same time courting Egypt and listening to the pro-Egypt leaders in the government of Judah (Ezek. 17:11–18). Zedekiah took an oath in the name of the Lord that he would be faithful to the king of Babylon (2 Chron. 36:13; Ezek. 17:11–14). He maintained diplomatic contact with Babylon (Jer. 29:3) and even visited the court of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 51:59), but he also sent envoys to Egypt to seek the help of Pharaoh Hophra.

In 605, during the reign of Jehoiakim, the Babylonians had deported some of Judah’s best young men to Babylon to be trained for official duty, among them Daniel and his three friends (Dan. 1:1–2). The second deportation was in 597 (2 Kings 24:10–16) when over ten thousand people were sent to Babylon. But Zedekiah still favored getting help from Egypt, and in 588, the political situation seemed just right for Zedekiah to revolt against Babylon (2 Kings 24:20; 2 Chron. 36:13). Nebuchadnezzar responded by marching his army to Jerusalem, but when the Egyptian army moved to help King Zedekiah, the Babylonians withdrew temporarily to face Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar knew it was unwise to fight a war on two fronts. God sent Jeremiah to warn Zedekiah that Nebuchadnezzar would return (Jer. 37), but Zedekiah’s faith was in Egypt, not in the Lord (Ezek. 17:11–21). Zedekiah even called an “international conference” involving Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon (Jer. 27), hoping that these nations would work together to keep Babylon at bay. However, Nebu-chadnezzar stopped Egypt and then returned to Jerusalem and the punishment of Zedekiah.

The siege of Jerusalem began on January 15, 588, and continued until July 18, 586, when the famine was so severe the people were cooking and eating their own children (Lam. 4:9–10). The invaders broke through the walls and took the city, looting and destroying the houses and finally burning the city and the temple on August 14, 586. The prophet Jeremiah had counseled Zedekiah and his officers to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and thus save the city and the temple (Jer. 21; 38:1–6, 14–28), but they refused to obey God’s word and had Jeremiah arrested as a traitor! The officers put him under court guard and even dropped him into an abandoned cistern where he would have died had he not been rescued (Jer. 38:1–13). The hypocritical and weak Zedekiah told Jeremiah to ask the Lord what he should do (Jer. 21), but the king refused to accept the prophet’s answer. Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to pray for him (Jer. 37:1–3), but the king was a proud man who refused to humble himself and pray for himself (2 Chron. 36:12–13; 2 Chron. 7:14).

When the Babylonian soldiers finally entered the city, King Zedekiah fled with his family and officers, but they were intercepted in the plains of Jericho and taken into custody. Jeremiah’s prophecy had come true (Jer. 34:1–7; see also chapters 39 and 52). Zedekiah faced Nebuchadnezzar at his headquarters at Riblah where he was found guilty of rebellion and sentenced to be exiled to Babylon. But first, to give the king one last tormenting memory, the Babylonians killed his sons before his eyes—and then gouged out his eyes! Ezekiel in Babylon also prophesied that the king would attempt to escape and be captured and taken to Babylon, but he would not see the city (Ezek. 12:1–13). How could Zedekiah see the king of Babylon (Jer. 34:3) but not see the city of Babylon? The answer was: after he had seen the king, Zedekiah was blinded by his enemies.

After removing everything valuable from the city and the temple, on August 14, 586, the Babylonians finished breaking down the walls of the city and set fire to Jerusalem and the temple. The Babylonian officers captured the religious leaders of the city as well as the king’s staff, the people who had opposed Jeremiah and given the king poor counsel, and had them slain before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. The priests had polluted God’s house with idols and encouraged the people to break the covenant of God (2 Chron. 36:14; see Lam. 4: and Ezek. 8—9). The leaders of the nation had refused to listen to God’s servants, so God sent judgment (2 Chron. 36:15–16). There was “no remedy” and the day of judgment had arrived. Only the poor people remained in the land (24:14; 25:12; Jer. 39:10; 40:7; 52:16) to take care of what was left of the vineyards and farms.

King Zedekiah lived in Babylon until his death and, in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise through Jeremiah (Jer. 34:4–5), was given a state funeral. He certainly didn’t deserve such an honor, but the Lord did it for the sake of David, the founder of the dynasty.

They lost their hope (25:22–36; Jer. 40—44) The Babylonians treated the prophet Jeremiah with exceptional kindness and gave him the option of going to Babylon or remaining in the land (Jer. 40:1–6). Like a true shepherd, he chose to remain with the people, even though for the most part they had rejected him and his ministry for forty years. His heart was broken when he saw the ruins of the city and the temple, but he knew that the word of the Lord had been fulfilled (2 Chron. 36:21). The people had not allowed the land to enjoy the rest God commanded (Lev. 25:1–7; 26:32–35), so now it would have a seventy-year “Sabbath” (Jer. 25:11–12; 29:10–14; Dan. 9:1–3).

The Babylonians appointed Gedaliah governor of Judah. He was the grandson of godly Shaphan, who served under King Josiah, and the son of Ahikam, who faithfully supported Jeremiah (2 Kings 22:1–14; Jer. 26:24). Gedaliah assured the Jews who remained in the land that the Babylonians would treat them well if only they would cooperate, the same counsel Jeremiah had sent earlier to the Jewish exiles in Babylon (Jer. 29:1–9). Certainly the people knew the promise the Lord had given through Jeremiah, that the captivity would last seventy years and then the exiles would be allowed to return to Judah. God’s purpose was to give them “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11), but they had to accept that promise by faith and live to please Him.

However, a group of insurgents led by Ishmael, who belonged to the royal family (2 Kings 25:25; Jer. 41:1), decided to usurp Gedaliah’s authority. (See Jer. 40—41 for the details discussed below.) Several factors were involved in this vicious assassination plot. To begin with, Ishmael had designs on the throne and resented Gedaliah’s appointment as governor and his submission to the Babylonians. (See James 4:1–6.) The army officers told Gedaliah that the king of the Ammonites had sent Ishmael to take over the land (Jer. 40:13–16), but Gedaliah refused to believe them. Had Gedaliah listened to this sound advice and dealt sternly with Ishmael, things would have been different for the remnant in Judah, but he was too naive to face facts. A third factor was the arrival in Judah of a large group of Jews who had fled to neighboring lands (Jer. 40:11–12). Their allegiance was questionable and perhaps they were too easily influenced by Ishmael. All the neighboring nations had suffered from Babylon’s expansion and would have been happy to be set free.

Ishmael killed Gedaliah and took the people captive, but Johanan and the other officers rescued the captives. Ishmael and eight of his men fled to the Ammonites. Johanan became the new leader of the remnant and decided that they should all flee to Egypt rather than obey Jeremiah’s message and stay in the land and serve the Babylonians. In a show of hypocritical piety, Johanan and the leaders asked Jeremiah to seek the mind of the Lord about the matter, and he agreed to do so. The Lord kept them waiting for ten days and during that time proved that He could keep them safe and well in their own land.

Jeremiah’s message to the remnant (Jer. 42:7–22) was in three parts. First, he gave them God’s promise that He would protect them and provide for them in their own land (vv. 7–12). Then he warned them that it was fatal to go to Egypt (vv. 13–18). The sword of the Lord could reach them in Egypt as well as in their own land. There could be no temporary residence in Egypt and then a return to Judah, for none of them would return. Finally, Jeremiah revealed the wickedness in their hearts that led them to lie to him and pretend to be seeking God’s will (vv. 19–22). These leaders were like many people today who “seek the will of God” from various pastors and friends, always hoping that they will be told to do what they have already decided to do. The Jews rejected God’s message and went to Egypt, taking the prophet Jeremiah with them (Jer. 43:1–7).

However, the biblical record doesn’t end on this bleak note but records the proclamation of Cyrus that the Jewish remnant could return to their own land and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple (2 Chron. 36:22–23). The book of Ezra opens with this proclamation (Ezra 1:1–4) and tells the story of the remnant’s return to the land. This decree was issued in 538 when Cyrus defeated Babylon and established the Persian empire. The Babylonians began their assault on Judah when their army invaded Judah in 606–05 and deported prisoners, among them Daniel and his friends. From 606 to 538 is approximately seventy years, the time period announced by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11–12; 29:10). Some students prefer to start the count with the destruction of the temple in 586. Seventy years later would take us to 516–15, the year the second temple was dedicated and the captivity officially ended.

As they had so often done during their history, the Jewish leaders lived by scheming instead of by trusting the promises of God. Jeremiah had given the people hope by promising that God was with them and would see to it they were protected and returned to their land (Jer. 29:11). But the leaders abandoned all hope when they fled to Egypt, for there they died and were buried. How tragic that the faithful prophet Jeremiah, who had suffered so much for the people and the Lord, should be buried in some forgotten place in Egypt.

As we come to the close of this record of the tragic decline and destruction of a great nation, we need to take some lessons to heart. No nation rises any higher than its worship of God. The nation of Israel was torn into two kingdoms because of the sins of Solomon who turned to idols in order to please his pagan wives. Because they worshipped idols and forsook the true God, the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by Assyria. It didn’t take long for Judah to succumb and eventually be captured by Babylon. We become like the god we worship (Ps. 115:8), and if we refuse to worship the true and living God, we become as helpless as the idols that enthrall us.

The people who led Israel and Judah astray were conformers, weak people who followed the crowd and pleased the people. God warned them of their folly by raising up men and women who were distinctively different and sought to please the Lord, but these faithful witnesses were ignored, abused, and martyred. The cynical playwright George Bernard Shaw defined martyrdom as “the only way in which a man can become famous without ability.” He was wrong. People who have suffered and died for the faith had the God-given abilities to trust Him, to put truth and character ahead of lies and popularity, and to refuse to “go with the flow” and be conformed to the world with its shallowness and sin.

At this critical time in history, God is seeking dedicated, distinctive people—not cookie-cutter, carbon-copy Christians. Friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4) and to love the world and trust it is to lose the love of the Father (1 John 2:15–17). We are to be “living sacrifices” for the Lord (Rom. 12:1–2), distinctive people whose lives and witness point to Christ and shine like lights in the darkness. “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matt. 5:14). Faith is living without scheming. Start to explain away the clear teachings of the Bible about obedience to the Lord and separation from sin, and you will soon find yourself sliding gradually out of the light and into the shadows and then into the darkness, eventually ending in shame and defeat.

E Z R A“He who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2: nkjv).