2 Kings Chapters 24-25 Commentary

Second Kings Chapters 24-25 Chapter 24 Yes, these two remaining chapters are rather depressing—Sin and rebellion always result in “foolish” lifestyles. Sin will make us and our lives “stale”, there are important lessons here, but the really good reading was during the times of Hezekiah and Josiah, their obedience gave spice and flavor and drama to the text.

“So whether vicious wickedness (Jehoiakim) or spineless wickedness (Zedekiah) sat on Judah’s throne in her last days made no essential difference. ‘He did evil’.

And we yawn together. Sometimes people think parts of the Bible are so boring —like this section of Kings. But it’s not the writer’s fault! When will we realize that though there is always a bite to holiness and a spice to uprightness, evil is sheer tedium? It’s like watching a football game with your team losing 52-0” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 329).

24:1 Nebuchadnezzar had succeeded his father Nabopolassar as king of Babylon in 605 B.C. Earlier that same year he had led his father’s army against the Egyptians under Pharaoh Neco and had defeated them at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in northern Aramea. This battle established Babylon as the strongest nation in the Near East. Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land of Judah the same year in order bring Judah securely under his rule. At that time he took some captives to Babylon including Daniel and others (Daniel 1:1-3). Jehoiakim submitted to Nebuchadnezzar for three years, but then he rebelled and unsuccessfully appealed to Egypt for help. Apparently what had motivated Jehoiakim to rebel was that in 601 B.C., Egypt tried one more time to return to power by attacking Babylon’s army. They caught the Babylonians by surprise and won the battle. Evidently, Jehoiakim took this as a good sign that he could successfully rebel against Babylon and trust in Egypt for protection.

24:2 Unable to come in person with a massive army, Nebuchadnezzar sent raiding bands, lightly armed mercenaries from east of the Jordan (Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites), to engage in guerrilla activities and weaken Judah.

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The writer realizes that ultimately, God is using Babylon and these other nations to punish His people for their lack of repentance. The words of the prophets in reference to God’s threats against His disobedient people were now finding their fulfillment.

24:3 The writer is making it clear that the harm that fell on Jerusalem wasn’t an accident or simply a random act. Judah’s problem wasn’t bad luck. 24:4 “The Lord would not forgive”: One reason that God wouldn’t forgive is that people, despite these hardships, would not repent. While various individuals in the nation were godly and humble (like Jeremiah), such couldn’t spare the nation from judgment (Ezekiel 14:20).

24:5 Jehoiakim died December 7, 598 B.C. This information is according to Babylon official records. The circumstances of his death are not entirely clear.

Jeremiah had predicted that he would be “buried with the burial of a donkey”, and he would pass from this life unlamented (Jeremiah 22:18f). Second Chronicles 36:6 states that Nebuchadnezzar bound him in shackles to take him to Babylon, but it does not say that he actually took him there.

24:6 Jehoiachin, is also called “Jeconiah” (1 Chron. 3:16,17; Jeremiah 27:20) and Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24,28). Second Chronicles says he was eight years old, but this may be his age at the time his father Jehoiakim designated him to be the next king (36:9). Compare with Second Kings 24:8. 24:7 No further aid would be forthcoming from Egypt, even though many in Jerusalem trusted in deliverance from Egypt right up until the end.

24:8-12 Jehoiachin will only reign for three months. Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonians on the second of Adar, March 15/16, 597 B.C. Jehoiachin will surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and will become a prisoner in Babylon. “They were apparently well treated, held under some kind of limited imprisonment in Babylon. Later, Jehoiachin was released from imprisonment and allowed to live in dignity in Babylon, supported by a stipend (pension) from the king himself (2 Kings 25:27)” (Dilday p. 498).

24:13 Since Nebuchadnezzar had already plundered the temple a few years earlier (cf. Daniel 1:1-4), there were few easily accessible treasures left. This time, with considerable effort, he removed the gold plating from the larger vessels such as the altar of burnt offerings, the table of shewbread, and the ark of the covenant.

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24:14-16 “Those who were deported were those who might be able to threaten Babylon by organizing military resistance or building weapons. Anyone with rank, wealth, power, or skill was carried away. There were ten thousand in all: eight thousands from among the groups listed in verse 16 and two thousand from among the common people” (Dilday p. 498). The prophet Ezekiel was one of those taken at this time (Ezekiel 1:1-3).

24:17 The Babylonian king set up Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah (mat uh NYE uh) as king. This man was the third son of Josiah to rule Judah, he was the younger brother of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah. The name Zedekiah means “righteousness of Yahweh”, but this last king of Judah certainly made no attempt to live up to his new name. He allowed the people to continue their sinful practices (2 Chron. 36:14).

24:18-20 Even though the prophet Jeremiah thundered against the folly in trusting in Egypt for help, and rebelling against Babylon (Jeremiah 21:1-10; 34:13; 37:6-10; 38:17-23), Zedekiah and his advisors planned to rebel. When a new Pharaoh, Psamtik II, came to power in 594 B.C. Judah and neighboring countries began to make plans for a concerted effort against Babylon. Ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon met in Jerusalem to plan rebellion (Jeremiah 27:3ff). This plan must have been uncovered, for in that very year Zedekiah was summoned to Babylon to reaffirm his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. A still more aggressive Pharaoh took the throne of Egypt in 588 B.C., Pharaoh Apries-Hophra, and he actively encouraged a western coalition against Babylon. Zedekiah sent ambassadors to Egypt (Ezekiel 17:15) and entered wholeheartedly into the rebellion.

“According to Jeremiah, he was weak and vacillating in character and, even though most of the talented people had been taken to Babylon, he was completely dominated by stronger men in the kingdom…Jeremiah warned him of the folly of this tactic, but Zedekiah did not obey the words of the Lord that came through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38). There is nothing more pitiful than a weak character who cannot resist the temptation to ‘go with the flow’, follow the lines of least resistance, and cater to the majority” (Dilday p. 499). Zedekiah’s mind changed with the wind, he was one of those people who doesn’t decide what to do until he reads the morning paper and senses the “popular position”.

Chapter 25

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25:1-2 “Siege warfare was a cruel but effective military strategy of the ancient East. Rather than making a concentrated assault to break down fortifications and overwhelm the defenders of a city, siege warriors simply surrounded the city and cut off all access to food and in some cases water. Then they patiently waited until the inhabitants ran out of supplies, began to starve, and were ready to surrender. The ‘siege wall’ in verse 1 was a mound of earth piled up by slave labor to a level somewhat higher than the city wall itself. From the siege wall, the attackers could shoot at the defenders on the walls of the city. If the siege wall was close enough, as it was in some cases, battering rams could be used to break down the defenses” (Dilday p. 502). The beginning of the siege in the ninth year and tenth day of the tenth month of Zedekiah’s reign is to be equated with January 15, 588 B.C. And it continued until, July 18th, 586 B.C. The systematic destruction of the city began one month later, on August 14th (verse 8). “There was a temporary lifting of the siege, probably at about the halfway point, when Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt (588-570), invaded Palestine with his army and sent his fleet against Phoenicia (Jeremiah 37:5-11; Ezekiel 17:15-17).

Right up until the end, it looked like Egypt might offer help, but such help never completely arrived, and when it finally dawned on people that such a belief had been vain—it was too late to recover. A lot of life is like that. For years an unbeliever can convince themselves that living without serving God is working.

Marriages can survive without God—but by the time that people realize what they missed—its often too late. We are only given one life time, we aren’t given two chances to raise our children, two chances to build a marriage, etc…

24:3 Probably the worse part of a siege was the famine, when people often turned to cannibalism (Deut. 28:52-57). Note, none of this should have been a surprise. God had warned the people for centuries, and the consequences for disobedience were written down for everyone to read. What God promised came to pass. In like manner, the fate of the disobedient at the end of time will be exactly like that described in the Scriptures (Romans 2:6-11).

24:4-7 Finally on July 18th 586 B.C. the food supplies gave out completely and about the same time the Babylonians breached the wall. Zedekiah and a body of troops fled at night through a narrow passage at the SE end of the city into the Hinnom Valley and out to Jericho. The Babylonians caught up with them the next day. This area, east of Jericho, offered little or no cover to troops trying to cross it. Zedekiah was captured and hauled off to Nebuchadnezzar’s base camp at Riblah in northern Syria. Here he was forced to watch the execution of his sons (he was 32 at the time), and then immediately blinded and hauled off the 4

Babylon. There he will die (Ezekiel 12:13). And such are the consequences of being disobedient to God. Even in such a humbled condition, the text is silent about this king turning to God. There will be no mercy for those who refuse to repent and obey the will of God (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

“It seems ironic that here, at the very spot where Israel first set foot on the Promised Land, the last of the Davidic kings was captured and his monarchy shattered. Here, where Israel experienced her first victory as the walls of Jericho fell before men who trusted in God, was the scene of her last defeat. At the location where the covenant was renewed and the reproach of Israel was taken away, the covenant broken was now finally avenged and abrogated” (Dilday p.

504).

25:8-11 About a month after the capture of the city, “Nebuzaradan” (neb you zar AY dan), a specialist at urban demolition was brought in to bring the city of Jerusalem to ruins. Methodically, he set about to demolish the beautiful city, burning the palace and chief buildings, breaking down the walls, and wrecking the temple. All this was done to make sure that the inhabitants of Jerusalem never would be able to mount a rebellion here again. “Verse 10 concerns the destruction of protective walls so that inhabitants could not again stage an effective rebellion against Babylon” (Vos p. 224).

25:12 Some of the lower classes, including farmers and vinedressers, were to remain behind to continue some form of agricultural life in the land. 25:13-17 Before the temple was destroyed it was thoroughly looted. Most of the very valuable things had probably already been taken when the city fell in 597 B.C., but the focus of attention now is one the bronze—tons of it—that was broken up into manageable pieces and taken to Babylon.

25:18-21 Leaders of the state and ringleaders of the rebellion, including the high priest, were taken and executed. “These were all believed to be expendable” (Vos p. 224). The temple had been destroyed, and the ruling elite removed by execution or deportation.

25:22 Babylon then attempted to set up a new government in Judah. Gedaliah (gad uh LIE ah), who had come from a noble family (2 Kings 22:12), and had supported Jeremiah’s preaching (Jeremiah 26:24), was appointed governor. He set up his administration at Mizpah, about nine miles north of Jerusalem.

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25:23-24 Gedaliah basically told the people the same thing that Jeremiah had preached, i.e., submit to Babylonian rule (chapters 27-29).

25:25 The men that Gedaliah had met with, were military officers over Judean bands that roamed the countryside (Jeremiah 40:7). These were bands of troops wandering around the countryside after the collapse of the Judean state. But Ishmael, son of Nethaniah and of royal blood, was perhaps personally ambitious and also anti-Babylonian. Sometime in October, hardly two months after Gedaliah’s appointment, Ishmael and his band killed Gedaliah and various Babylonian dignitaries.

25:26 Fearing Babylonian revenge, many Judeans fled to Egypt. “At their first camping spot near Bethlehem, Jeremiah pleaded with them to trust the Lord and remain in the land (Jeremiah 41:17-42:22). The worldly captains, however, accused Jeremiah of attempting to deceive them. They pushed on to Egypt.

Thus two Jewish communities survived during the exile, one in Babylon, and the other in Egypt” (Smith p. 651).

25:27-30 Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon in 597 B.C. Until the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the kind of Judah was kept in prison. When Nebuchadnezzar died in 562, his son Evil-Merodach, restored Jehoiachin to royal favor (ca. 560 B.C.). Contemporary economic documents discovered in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace list Jehoiachin and his five sons among those who received daily rations of food.

This book thus ends on a bright note. The last surviving sovereign of Judah is set free from the rigors and humiliation of Babylonian prison. This may have been accomplished through Daniel’s preaching in Babylon and his influence on the Babylonian rulers. God had established the Davidic dynasty and protected it even in Babylon. Evidently, there was a hierarchy among the royal prisoners. 4.

This change of status may infer that Jehoiachin repented and sought God’s favor.

Thus the Davidic king, even in exile, lived in dignity and honor. God can care for His people, even when they are in exile.

Closing Comments “Nor can the reader help but be impressed with the revelation throughout these chapters of God’s patience and His reluctance to punish. More than four hundred years had passed since Solomon first disobeyed God and introduced the

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children of Israel to pagan idolatry. Faithfully, through all those years, a steady stream of prophets clearly proclaimed the warnings of punishment…With steadfast love, God tried again and again to seek and save His people, but they mocked His warnings, killed His prophets, and would not listen to His reproof…

The harshness of judgment is somehow softened by the recognition that the Lord is indeed long-suffering toward His people, but His patience and steadfast love are balanced with justice. The destruction is a reminder that we must not presume on His grace and mercy” (Dilday p. 506). Compare with 2 Chronicles 36:13-16).

“The books of 1 and 2 Kings offer numerous lessons to the people of God in both ancient times and the contemporary world. But above all else, they show how utterly repulsive idolatry is to God and how severely He will punish for it.

Clearly, idolatry involves having greater affection for someone or something other than God. If God would uproot the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and send them into captivity for their idolatry, what kind of punishment might He reserve for modern members of the church who often have greater love for such Baals as wealth, power, entertainment, sports, hobbies, and prestige, than for Yahweh?”

(Vos pp. 226-227).

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