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blessings, Daniel, decisions, disobedience, faith, fulfillment, hope, idolatry, Jeremiah, judgment, king, leadership, loyalty, morality, promise, prophecy, punishment, sin, wisdom
Clearly, I’m falling behind in this blog. My apologies; sometimes life just gets really busy. But I’ll try to get back on schedule again; just stick with me. 🙂
This post will cover a rather sad period of the Bible, the fall and exile of the kingdom of Judah; I’ll get material from Jeremiah, Daniel, Lamentations, 2 Kings 24 and 25, and 2 Chronicles 36.
Jerhoahaz
After Josiah’s death Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son, became king; however, he did evil in the LORD’s sight and was soon deposed by Pharaoh Neco. Neco replaced him with his brother Eliakim (also Josiah’s son) and renamed him Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken as a hostage to Egypt and imprisoned, where he died.
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim ruled Judah as a puppet of Egypt for a short while, until Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became the “500 pound gorilla” in the region after the decisive battle of Carchemish, in which Egypt and Assyria were crushed. After this victory, Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and successfully besieged it. Nebuchadnezzar initially put Jehoiakim in chains intending to take him away to Babylon as a prisoner, but changed his mind and let Jehoiakim keep his throne as long as Judah paid its tribute money. Jehoiakim and the kingdom of Judah became a vassal state to Babylon; and to guarantee loyalty, Nebuchadnezzar took hostages to Babylon (including Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah).
Taking hostages didn’t make Jehoiakim loyal, however, and he rebelled against Babylon three years later, which Nebuchadnezzar tried to punish by sending the armies of other local vassal states (Chaldea, Aram, Moab, and Ammon). However, since these smaller armies were ineffective, Nebuchadnezzar came with the armies of Babylon to quell the rebellion. He arrived shortly after king Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin had taken the throne. Overwhelmingly outmatched, Jehoiachin surrendered. The king, the officials, the leading men of Judah, the standing army of Judah, and all the craftsmen and smiths were all taken into exile to Babylon, scattered across the empire. Only the poorest people of the land remained behind. Moreover, the Temple was looted for everything valuable.
Zedekiah
Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah (probably the youngest son of the great king Josiah) as the new king and renamed him Zedekiah. But Zedekiah also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, causing the Babylonian army to return a third time. Jeremiah counseled surrender, but Zedekiah did not. This time the king of Babylon decided to teach this rebellious city a lesson and destroyed Jerusalem, including its walls, and the Temple itself. King Zedekiah attempted to “make a break to escape”, but the Babylonians caught him, killed his sons in front of his eyes, and then gouged his eyes out, so that the last thing he saw was the death of his sons. He spared Zedekiah’s life, however, put him in chains, and brought him back to Babylon.
Gedeliah
The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah as governor of Judah, but after only 7 months he was assassinated along with his court. The assassins, knowing that they had made themselves odious to Babylon, escaped to Egypt. Jeremiah counseled (by God’s inspiration) against it; prophesying that they wouldn’t escape the wrath of the king of Babylon. It happened just as Jeremiah had said.
Jeremiah
During this very terrible period of Judah’s history, God’s prophet to His people was a man named Jeremiah. Despite his continual warnings, Judah’s kings chose time and time again to do exactly the opposite of what God was saying through Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived through the death of good king Josiah and watched as Judah was besieged and defeated three separate times by Babylon. He was there to see the deaths of the wars and the destruction of the city and its Temple. He not only wrote the book of Jeremiah, but also the book of Lamentations. He is sometimes called the “weeping prophet”, and given all the tragedy, death, and destruction that he was witness to, we can certainly understand why.
Nevertheless, one of the most hopeful of passages in the OT is found in the book of Lamentations 3:19-24:
“Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’”
Among some of the great prophecies of the OT are found in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah had, through inspiration of God, prophesied that although Judah would go off into exile, they would return in 70 years (Jer. 25:11,12). And it happened just as Jeremiah predicted. Likewise, Babylon was prophesied to be punished by itself being destroyed and never rebuilt again, ever. (Jer. 50:39-40 and others). To this day, Babylon has never been rebuilt.
Things to think about…
- God’s promises, no matter how impossible-sounding, do come to pass.
- God’s guidance, no matter how crazy-sounding, needs to be followed.
- The minor prophets and especially Habakkuk 4/8
- Where there is God, there is always hope.