37 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
37 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
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title = "2 Chronicles 36:1–14"
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date = "2025-09-25"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/2Chronicles36.1-14)
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After Josiah, three of the last four kings of Judah were his sons.
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The people set up Jehoahaz as the king after Josiah's death, which tells us that Josiah really did not expect to die in the battle with the Egyptians.
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Furthermore, Jehoahaz was not the oldest son, as might be expected.
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I suspect they chose him because he was the one that would more closely follow his father's faith in the Lord, but it's hard to say.
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Jehoahaz was not given much time to prove himself, because Neco came back to Judah and deposed him three months later.
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Neco captured Jehoahaz and took him to Egypt.
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In his place, the older brother Eliakim was set up as a vassal king, and his name was changed to Jehoiakim.
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Tribute was sent to the Egyptians, who desparately needed it after losing to the Babylonians at Carchemish.
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This arrangement lasted for eleven years, and during that time Jehoiakim did not follow the God of his father.
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Perhaps he was trying to appease his Egyptian overlords.
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Maybe he thought Yahweh had not done enough for his people before.
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We aren't told his motivations, or even what evil deeds he did.
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Nebuchadnezzar, now king of Babylon, brought his army south on his way to deal with Egypt further.
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Judah, being a vassal state of Egypt, became a target, and the Babylonians captured Jehoiakim and took him back to Babylon.
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Jehoiachin his son reigned after him, for only three months and ten days.
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The grandson of Josiah followed his father's ways and did not seek the Lord.
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He, too, was taken to Babylon, along with more of the precious furnishings of the temple.
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Zedekiah, son of Josiah, was made king as a vassal to the Babylonians.
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He was only a few years older than his nephew Jehoiachin.
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He reigned for eleven years, during the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah.
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Not only did he not listen to Jeremiah, but "all the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful". (_v. 14_)
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The curses of the covenant the people made with the Lord are just about ready to be placed upon them.
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* * *
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You are our hope that is more sure than kings, armies, and empires.
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