NOVEMBER 21, 2022 ANOTHER LOOK AT THE ISRAELITES PART TWO #39 2 CHRONICLES 36:1 – 23 JOSIAH DIES – NOW IT’S OPEN SEASON ON JUDAH!
2 Chronicles 36:1 – Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah (2 Kings 23:31-35)
“Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. (100 talents is approximately 3.77 tons or 3.42 metric tons of silver. A talent is approximately 75.4 pounds or 34.2 kilograms of gold.)
Then Neco king of Egypt made Eliakim brother of Jehoahaz king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah (2 Kings 23:36-37)
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon some of the articles from the house of the LORD, and he put them in his temple in Babylon. As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations he committed, and all that was found against him, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah (2 Kings 24:6-9)
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah (2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 52:1-3)
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD.
He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-7)
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their choice young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials.
Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value.
Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
The Proclamation of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4; Isaiah 45:1-25)
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”
What’s the value of a single righteous life? As long as Josiah was king, the nation of Judah served the Lord. But when Josiah died at age 39, his son Jehoahaz succeeded him and things went downhill swiftly!
What does the term “Open Season” mean? Generally, there are restrictions for various kinds of game that people can hunt. Such restrictions might include hunting only at certain times of the year or under certain conditions. But “open season” indicates that a particular animal may be hunted at any time and under any conditions. With Josiah’s death, the last righteous leader is gone, the people are reverting to idolatry, and it’s open season on Judah.
Pharoah Neco might have left Judah alone, but when he learned that Josiah was dead, he came to Jerusalem, deposed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and carrying him off to Egypt. Neco imposed a weighty levy on Judah, and made Jehoahaz’s brother Jehoiakim king in his place. Jehoiakim ruled for eleven years, leading Judah further into idolatry, until King Nebuchadnezzar raided Jerusalem, carrying off some of the treasures and taking Jehoiakim into slavery in Babylon. Later, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem, collecting everything of value, killing many of its inhabitants, sending many of them into captivity in Babylon, and then breaking down the city walls. Judah and Jerusalem remained in this state for seventy years as foretold by Jeremiah, but then a miracle happened.
Just after Cyrus became king of Persia, he issued an edict: “The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’” Amazing! Incredible! A pagan king who has never known the Living God suddenly made one of the most important proclamations of all time.
APPLICATION: Once more, we see the sad results of Josiah’s hasty decision to attack Pharaoh Neco. Josiah died at age 39, and his son was 23 when he succeeded Josiah, so Josiah must have fathered this man when he was 16. Obviously, Josiah did little or nothing to train this man in the ways of God. The evil kings described here reigned about 23 years altogether; Josiah might have reigned for that 23-year period, prolonging the era of revival in Judah. Who knows how many people slid into idolatry because of Josiah’s premature death? No, Josiah’s decision was a very selfish one and not befitting of a wise king.
For graphic descriptions of the last days of Jerusalem and the chaos that ensued, we can turn to the Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. These days, there are many people who choose to refer to themselves as “Prophet ____,” thus garnering lots of attention and money. But true prophets have a very rough time of it! There is an apocryphal story that Maimonides, the twelfth century Hebrew sage, once said, “Tell the truth and see the world,” indicating that if you tell the truth, you had better be prepared to flee quickly once you have done so! (Maimonides and his family fled religious persecution from country to country for much of his life.)
The proclamation of Cyrus calling for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem stands as something miraculous. By this point, the Persian Empire was enormous, stretching from modern Indi, Pakistan and Turkey all the way to Egypt. Jerusalem belonged to a tiny nation that had been destroyed seventy years earlier; its walls lay in ruins. And yet God moved Cyrus to make this pronouncement. Did God give Cyrus a dream or speak to him in an audible voice? We don’t know; we only know that shortly after Cyrus began his reign, he made this proclamation.
“The returning exiles came to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua. They enthusiastically rebuilt the altar, resumed sacrifice, and began rebuilding the temple. For eighteen years they were delayed by enemies from the north, but in 520 B.C. an appeal to Darius, King of Persia, made it possible for them to resume work. Encouraged by Haggai and Zecariah, whose prophetic messages are directly related to the rebuilding project, the people completed and dedicated the temple in 516 B. C., as recorded in Ezra 1 – 6.” (The Amplified Bible, Introduction to the Book of Ezra)
The Books of Chronicles were likely compiled by Ezra, the scribe and priest who led the second delegation back from Babylon to Jerusalem in 458 B.C. Comparing the Books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings with the books of 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, we realize that Ezra was far more interested in the spiritual state of the kings than in some of the details. But Ezra was viewing events through the lens of hindsight and could readily see where things went wrong.
In the American South, there is a saying that everybody is good for something, either for a good example or for a bad one. May those who come after us find us faithful, so our lives serve as good examples!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to live in such as way that we will glorify You throughout our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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