THE LORD REIGNS IN HISTORY
2 Kings 23:31-24:7
Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, (24:3)
chapter 23
31. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
32. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his predecessors had done.
33. Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34. Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died.
35. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
36. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.
37. And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his predecessors had done.
chapter 24
1. During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.
2. The LORD sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by his servants the prophets.
3. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done,
4. including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.
5. As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
6. Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
7. The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
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1. After Josiah’s death, his son Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum, was made king bypassing his older brothers probably because of his anti-Egyptian stance like his father (1Ch 3:15). But his kingship lasted only three months before he was captured by Pharoh Neco (33). His older brother Eliakim was made king by Pharaoh, who changed his name to Jehoiakim (34).
2. Jehoiakim became Pharaoh’s vassal (35), and refused to accept the word of the Lord through Jeremiah (Jer 36:22-24,28,29) concerning the invasion of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who God was using as the rod of discipline (24:1-2). Jehoiakim would have murdered the prophet Jeremiah if it hadn’t been for the LORD’s intervention (Jer 36:26). But he was responsible for the murder of the prophet Uriah, who had the same message for him as Jeremiah (Jer 26:20-24).
3. His father King Josiah had carried out spiritual reformation and had undone evil practices his grandfather Manasseh had started (3-4). But Josiah’s sons, who had succeeded him as king, did not continue the spiritual legacy of their father.
Prayer: Father, you have granted us your great servants to learn from. Please help us continue their legacy with a learning mind and overcome the evils of this world which they also fought against valiantly. Amen.
One Word: Remember our spiritual heritage