A Journey through the Bible with Tiglath

68. The Second Book of Kings, chapter 23 to end of the book.

The last two chapters of the Second Book of Kings are very interesting, telling of the

destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people of Judah. Chapter 23 begins with

the reading of the law (covenant) book found in the Temple to the people.

Most of the chapter explains how Josiah got rid of idolatry in his country. Please

read the chapter and see what a thorough job he made of it. In verse 27 we learn that the Lord is determined to remove Judah out of his sight. In the next phase of the

story, the Pharoah of Egypt attacked Syria. Josiah took up arms against the Egyptians

and was killed. Jehoahaz, his son, was made king of Judah. He was an evil king.

Pharoah made him captive and imposed a tribute of silver and gold in Judah. In all,

Jehoahaz reigned for 11 years.

In chapter 24 a very famous name appears, namely Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Jehoabaz rebels against him and he dies. Pharoah made Eliakim, one of the sons of Josiah, king in his father’s place and changes his name to Jehoiakim. We learn that Nebuchadnezzah came to Judah and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years, then he rebelled against the great king.

Nebuchadnezzah besieged Jerusalem and captured it in the 8th year of his reign. Verses 13 to 16 tell how Jerusalem was treated by Nebuchadnezzah . All its treasures were taken into exile. Jehoiakim was taken with his mother and his wives.

Verse 17 tells that the king of Babylon made Mattaniah king of Judah in place of Jehoiakim, his brother. He also changed his name to Zedekiah. The king of Judah had lost most of his more worthy subjects when they were exiled.

At the end of the chapter we find Zedekiah rebelling against the Babylonians. This

caused Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem again. It fell in the 11th year of

Zedekiah’s reign. The men of war fled the city and Zedekiah was captured. Verses 6

and 7 tell of the terrible fate of Zedekiah and his sons. As for Jerusalem, its walls

were broken down and most of the people were taken into exile. Some were left in

Judah and Gedaliah was made their ruler. He didn’t last long, as in verse 25 we learn

that he was murdered by a man named lshmael. This caused a panic in Judah and

many fled to Egypt.

The Second Book of Kings has a happy ending. You may recall that Jehoiakim, the

former king of Judah was in prison in Babylon. A new king had taken over the

throne of Babylon and he released the old king of Judah and treated him kindly for

the rest of his life.

Next month we begin a journey through the First Book of Chronicles.