2 Kings 24:8 - Meaning and Application

This should have been the history of King Jehoiachin’s reign, but sadly it is really the story of his captivity, as Ezekiel calls it (Ezekiel 1:2). He came to the throne, not to wear its honor, but to lose it in shame. He came in only to go out.

His reign was short and of little account. He ruled for only three months, and then was removed and taken captive to Babylon, just as his father likely would have been if he had lived a little longer. What an unhappy young king he was, thrust into a collapsing house and a sinking throne. What a selfish father he had, who left him nothing to inherit except his own misery. Yet this young king ruled long enough to show that he truly suffered for his father’s sins, because he followed in their steps (2 Kings 24:9). He did evil in the Lord’s sight, just as they had done. He did nothing to break the line of curse or remove the burdens of his crown, so his own sin and his father’s sin both had to be counted together.

The troubles that came on him, his family, and his people right at the start of his reign were very heavy. Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10, 2 Kings 24:11). He had already sent his army to ravage the land (2 Kings 24:2). Now he came in person and surrounded the city. In this, God’s word was fulfilled (Deuteronomy 28:49, etc.), that the Lord would bring a nation from far away, fierce in appearance, which would first consume the produce of the land and then besiege them in all their cities.

Jehoiachin surrendered at once. As soon as he heard that the king of Babylon had come against the city himself, and his name had become fearsome, he made terms and went out to him (2 Kings 24:12). If he had made peace with God, and followed the same course Hezekiah had followed in a similar danger, he would not have needed to fear the king of Babylon. He might have stood firm with courage, honor, and success, for one person should chase a thousand. But since he lacked the faith and godliness of a true Israelite, he lacked the courage of a man, a soldier, and a king. He, his royal family, his mother and wives, and his servants and officials all gave themselves up as prisoners of war. That was the result of being slaves to sin.

Nebuchadnezzar stripped the treasuries of both the temple and the palace, and carried off the silver and gold from both (2 Kings 24:13). In this, Isaiah’s word was fulfilled (2 Kings 20:17): all that was in the king’s house would be carried to Babylon. Even the temple vessels that Solomon had made and stored for future use, when the old ones wore out, he took from the temple. At first he began to break them up, but later he kept them for his own use, for we later see Belshazzar drinking wine from them (Daniel 5:2, Daniel 5:3).

He also carried away a large part of Jerusalem into exile, to weaken the city so he could hold it securely and keep it from rebelling, and also to enrich himself with the wealth and labor of those he took. Some had already been taken eight years earlier, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar and the third year of Jehoiakim, including Daniel and his companions. See Daniel 1:1, Daniel 1:6. They had proved themselves so useful that this shrewd king wanted more of them. Now he carried off the young king himself and his family (2 Kings 24:15), and we learn later that he remained a close prisoner for thirty-seven years (2 Kings 25:27-29). He also took all the leading men, the princes and officials, whose riches had been stored up only to their own harm (Ecclesiastes 5:13), since that wealth made them tempting targets for the enemy. He took all the soldiers, the mighty men of valor (2 Kings 24:14), the mighty men of the land (2 Kings 24:15), the men of strength, everyone fit for war (2 Kings 24:16). They could not defend themselves, and the conqueror would not leave them behind to defend their country, but took them to serve him. He also took all the craftsmen and smiths who made weapons of war, and by taking them he in effect disarmed the city, just as the Philistines had done before (1 Samuel 13:19).

In this captivity, Ezekiel the prophet was taken away (Ezekiel 1:1, Ezekiel 1:2), and so was Mordecai (Esther 2:6). Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah (1 Chronicles 3:16), and, as a term of contempt in the prophecy of his captivity (Jeremiah 22:24), Coniah.

The king of Babylon then appointed a successor in Jehoiachin’s place. God had already written Jehoiachin childless (Jeremiah 22:30), so his uncle was given the government. The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, the son of Josiah, king, and to show that he was his own creature, he changed his name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17). God had once charged his people with setting up kings “but not by me” (Hosea 8:4), and now, as punishment for that, the king of Babylon would have the setting up of their kings. Those who use their liberty against God’s authority are justly deprived of it. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. The name given to him by the king of Babylon means “the justice of the Lord,” and it pointed ahead to God’s justice being shown in his ruin.

See how ungodly Zedekiah was. The judgments of God on his three immediate predecessors should have warned him not to follow their example, yet he did evil, like the rest (2 Kings 24:19). See also how foolish he was. Like his predecessor, he lost not only courage but wisdom, along with his religion, when he rebelled against the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:20), to whom he paid tribute. He challenged a power he could not possibly match, even though that power would have protected him if he had stayed loyal. This was the most senseless thing he could have done, and it hurried the downfall of his kingdom. All this came because of the Lord’s anger, so that he might cast them out from his presence. When those entrusted with a nation’s counsel act unwisely and against the nation’s true good, we should see the displeasure of God in it. Because of a people’s sins, God takes away faithful speech from the trusted and understanding from the old, and hides from their eyes the things that belong to the public peace. Whom God intends to destroy, he leaves without sense.