Jehoiakim | Bob's boy's Christianity blog

Jehoiachin-Jeconiah was a king of Judah. He was the son of Jehoiakim with Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, reigned next at the age of 23. His reign lasted for three months, when “the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.” Neco then made his brother, Eliakim, king and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he carried Jehoahaz off to Egypt.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eleven years. The scripture simply says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Whatever that means, you can be sure that idolatry was involved somewhere. Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. he also took some vessels from the house of the Lord, and brought them to his palace.

Then Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son, began his reign, which lasted just over three months. Then Nebuchadnezzar also sent for him, and brought him to Babylon, making his brother, Zedekiah, king. He was twenty-one when he began his reign, and he also reigned for eleven years. He also did evil in God’s eyes. It was a ruinous time. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he turned away from God, so there was no help for him. Next comes the capture and burning of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans.

The Books of Chronicles ends with the Proclamation of Cyrus, in which he says that God has charged him with building a house in Jerusalem. Thus ends the Book of Chronicles, which was written to give the remnant of the southern kingdom, who had returned from captivity, hope for the future and an understanding of the past. It shows that the line of David remained intact and kept the necessary records of their heritage and lineages, so that God’s people could begin to rebuild the land, the temple, and their lives.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

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All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

English: A hilltop view of the ancient city of Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar II, whose life spanned 630-562 B.C., built his hanging gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had defeated and taken enough from Egypt, that its king “did not come again out of his land” any more. So, in verse 1, we find that Jehoiakim has switched his allegiance from Egypt to Babylon – then he rebelled against that king. So God sent bands against him from the Chaldeans, Moabites, Syrians and Ammonites to destroy Judah for the evils of Manasseh and the innocent blood he shed (verses 3-4). Jehoiakim died and his son, Jehoiachin, became king in his place in 597 BC. Nebuchadnezzar’s people besieged Jerusalem; and when Nebuchadnezzar himself came to the city, Jehoiachin surrendered to him and was taken captive.

They also carried off all the treasures from the house of the Lord and from the king’s house, just as Isaiah had told Hezekiah would happen in 2 Kings 20:16-18. The king of Babylon took thousands captive back to Babylon; and made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king, changing his name to Zedekiah. He did evil in the sight of the Lord as well (verse 19), and then rebelled against Babylon, as the chapter closes. But rebellion would be futile.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog. All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility. When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com. For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.