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In this third major section of 1 and 2 Kings the writer showed that the captivity of Judah was also a natural consequence of not following the covenantal relationship with Yahweh. The remaining kings in 2 Kings all ruled over the Southern Kingdom. This part of the book concludes with events that happened in Judah immediately following the Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C.
The writer of Kings devoted more attention to Hezekiah than to any Hebrew king except Solomon.
Manasseh began reigning as vice-regent with his father Hezekiah when he was 12 years old in 697 B.C. This arrangement continued for 11 years until Hezekiah died in 686 B.C. For a total of 55 years Manasseh was king of Judah. He reigned longer than any Hebrew king, and he was Judah's worst king spiritually.
"Manasseh was the Ahab of Judah' and the antithesis of the great David."129
Among his other serious sins Manasseh built idol altars in Yahweh's temple (v. 4). This diminished the reputation of Yahweh considerably. Canaanite idolatry, Ahab's Baalism, Canaanite astral worship, Ahaz's human sacrifice, and Saul's spiritism were all heresies he revived even though the Law of Moses condemned them (Exod. 20:3-5). He did not follow David's example, he defiled the temple with idolatry, and he rejected the Mosaic Covenant. Thus he not only acted opposite to Hezekiah, but he also scorned the examples of Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon. In his day the people were more wicked in their religious practices than even the Canaanites had been (v. 9).
Isaiah and Micah were two of the prophets that God had used to warn the nation before Manasseh's reign, and their influence undoubtedly continued after their deaths. According to Jewish tradition Manasseh sawed Isaiah in two (cf. Heb. 11:37).130But we have no record that any prophets ministered during Manasseh's reign with the possible exception of Nahum whose ministry was against Assyria.131
Not only did Manasseh apostatize himself, he also led the nation in departing from God (v. 11). The "line of Samaria"(v. 13) refers to the righteous standard God had used to measure Samaria's fidelity to His will. The "plummet of Ahab's house"(v. 13) was the same plumb line of righteousness by which God had judged Ahab's family. God would abandon His people temporarily but not permanently (v. 14; cf. Deut. 28:63-64).
Manasseh's murders included those of his own children (v. 6) as well as Isaiah. Manasseh's many sins stained Judah deeply. Even Josiah's later reforms could not avert God's judgment (23:36). His burial reflects the fact that his behavior resulted in his people esteeming him lightly. God had disciplined him personally (cf. 2 Chron. 33:11-13), and he had become a channel of God's discipline for Judah.
Perhaps we should view the fact that God allowed such a wicked king to rule his people so long as an evidence of His longsuffering desire that Manasseh and Judah would repent. The king did repent later in life (2 Chron. 33:15-19). His long life was not a blessing for faithfulness as Hezekiah's had been but an instrument of chastening for Judah.
Amon reigned two years (642-640 B.C.). Rather than continuing the repentance his father began, Amon reverted to the policies of Manasseh's earlier reign and rebelled against Yahweh completely. This provoked some of his officials to assassinate him (v. 23). Again we see that rebellion against God often leads to one's premature personal destruction (cf. 1 John 5:16). To their credit the leaders of Judah executed the king's assassins and so prevented anarchy.
Amon may have been the only king of either Israel or Judah who bore the name of a foreign god. Amon-Re was the sun god of Egypt. His father may have named him in honor of this god. However the Hebrew word amonmeans "faithful"so his name may not connect with Amon-Re.
Since Josiah was eight years old when his father died at age 22, he must have been born when Amon was only 14. It was very common both in the ancient Near East generally and in Israel for kings to marry very young and to father children when they were early teenagers.132
The years Josiah ruled were 640-609 B.C., 31 years. During his reign Ninevah, the capital of Assyria, fell in 612 B.C., as did the Assyrian Empire in 609 B.C., to Babylon. Thus world leadership passed from Assyria to Babylon during Josiah's reign.133
Jehoahaz, whose other name was Shallum, was the middle of Josiah's three sons all of whom ruled Judah after Josiah. Jehoahaz was the people's choice (v. 31), but he reigned for only three months in 609 B.C.
When Pharaoh Neco defeated Josiah at Megiddo (v. 29) Judah fell under Egyptian control. Neco summoned Josiah's successor Jehoahaz to meet him at Riblah. This town stood about 65 miles north of Damascus in central Aramea. The meeting took place before the battle of Carchemish. Neco found Jehoahaz obstinate, as his father had been, so he imprisoned him and sent him back to Egypt (v. 34) where he died later (Jer. 22:10-12). Neco also imposed a heavy tax on Judah (v. 33) and installed Jehoahaz's older brother Eliakim (Jehoiakim) on Judah's throne as his puppet. The naming of a person shows superiority over that person. Neco was declaring his sovereignty over Judah's king by renaming him Eliakim.
Jehoiakim reigned as a puppet king for 11 years (609-598 B.C.). He was a weak ruler who did not stand up for Judah's interests against her hostile enemies.
In 605 B.C. Prince Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonian army of his father Nabopolassar against the allied forces of Assyria and Egypt and defeated them at Carchemish. This victory, as previously explained, gave Babylon supremacy in the ancient Near East. With Babylon's victory Egypt's vassals, including Judah, came under Babylon's control. Shortly after that same year Nabopolassar died, and Nebuchadnezzar succeeded him. Nebuchadnezzar then moved south and invaded Judah (605 B.C.). He took some captives to Babylon including Daniel (Dan. 1:1-3). This was the first of Judah's three deportations in which the Babylonians took groups of Judahites to Babylon.
Jehoiakim submitted to Nebuchadnezzar for three years but then rebelled. He appealed to Egypt for help unsuccessfully (24:1, 7). Foreign raiders who sought to take advantage of her weakened condition besieged Judah (24:2). The Babylonians then took Jehoiakim to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:6). Later they allowed him to return to Jerusalem where he died (Jer. 22:19).
Jehoiakim did little to postpone God's judgment on Judah for her previous sins. The prophet Jeremiah despised him for his wickedness (Jer. 22:18-19; 26:20-23; 36).
Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin, whose other names were Jeconiah and Coniah, succeeded him on the throne but only reigned for three months (598-597 B.C.). When Nebuchadnezzar's troops were besieging Jerusalem the Babylonian king personally visited Judah's capital, and Jehoiachin surrendered to him (v. 12). The invasion fulfilled the Lord's warning to Solomon about apostasy in 1 Kings 9:6-9. A large deportation of Judah's population followed in 597 B.C. None of Jehoiachin's sons ruled Judah, as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer. 22:30). Rather Nebuchadnezzar set up Jehoiakim's younger brother, Zedekiah, on the throne as his puppet and exercised his sovereign prerogative by changing his name (v. 17). The Jewish people, however, seem to have continued to regard Jehoiachin as the rightful heir to David's throne until his death.141
Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was Josiah's third son to rule over Judah. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (v. 20) by making a treaty with Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B.C.) under pressure from nationalists in Judah (cf. Jer. 37-38).
"Clearly, he lacks the moral fiber to be more than what he is, a man who gauges each situation by how long its results can keep him in power."142
Jerusalem was under siege for about eighteen months (588-586 B.C.; 25:1-2). The resulting famine that the residents experienced (v. 3) was only one of many that the Israelites underwent for their rebellion against God. Yahweh again withheld fertility as a punishment for apostasy. Jerusalem finally fell in 586 B.C. The Babylonians captured King Zedekiah while he was trying to escape and took him to Riblah (cf. 23:33) where Nebuchadnezzar passed judgment on him. Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah's heirs to the throne ending his fertility, blinded him (cf. Rev. 3:17), and bound him with bronze shackles (v. 7). All of these measures also represented the fate of the nation the king led. The Israelites were now without royal leadership, spiritually blind, and physically bound. The blinding of prisoners was a common practice in the ancient East.143
"The lesson of Samaria's fall and exile should have been learned."144
Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's commander-in-chief, returned to destroy Jerusalem more thoroughly and to preclude any successful national uprising in Judah.
His burning of Yahweh's house (v. 9) was a statement that the Babylonians had overcome Yahweh as much as it was an effort to keep the remaining Judahites from worshipping Him. This act would have thoroughly demoralized even the godly in Judah since in the ancient Near East the condition of the house (temple) of a god reflected on that god's reputation. The breaking down of Jerusalem's walls (v. 10) prevented the inhabitants from defending themselves but also visualized the fact that Judah no longer had any defense. Yahweh had been her defense. The third deportation removed all but the poorest of the people from the land (vv. 11-12).
The writer's emphasis on the desecration of Yahweh's temple (vv. 13-17) illustrates God's abandonment of His people (cf. 1 Kings 9:7-9). His special interest in the pillars (v. 17) draws attention to the fact that Israel, which God had established (Jachin), had suffered destruction. Israel's strength (Boaz) had also departed from her because of her apostasy (cf. Samson). Most scholars believe the Babylonians either destroyed the ark of the covenant or took it to Babylon from which it never returned to Jerusalem (but cf. 2 Chron. 5:9). A few believe the Jews hid it under the temple esplanade.
The Babylonians also cut the priesthood back (vv. 18-21) so the people could not unite around it and rebel. Its temporary termination also meant that Israel was no longer able to worship God as He had prescribed because she had been unfaithful to Him. Access to God as the Mosaic Law specified was no longer possible. Both the temple furnishings and the priesthood that God had ordained for access to Himself were no longer available to the people. Israel could no longer function as a kingdom of priests as God had intended her to live (Exod. 19:5-6).145
Gedaliah (v. 22) was a descendant of Josiah's secretary (of state? 22:3). He was a friend of Jeremiah (Jer. 39:14) who followed that prophet's advice to cooperate with the Babylonians. Ishmael (v. 25) possessed royal blood and evidently wanted to rule over Judah (cf. Jer. 41:2). Mizpah, the Babylonian provincial capital, was just seven miles north of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Sam. 7:5-12). It is ironic that the Judahites who rebelled against the Babylonians and God's will in an attempt to secure their independence ended up fleeing back to Egypt. Their forefathers had been slaves there, and God had liberated them from Egypt 850 years earlier (v. 26; cf. Deut. 28:68).
In 560 B.C. Evil-Merodack (562-560 B.C.) permitted Jehoiachin to enjoy a measure of freedom. Perhaps the writer of Kings chose to end his book on this note because in the Abrahamic Covenant God had promised He would never abandon His chosen people completely (Gen. 12:1-3, 7). In the Mosaic Covenant He also assured them that if they repented He would bring them back into their land (Deut. 30:1-5; cf. 1 Kings 8:46-53). God's mercy to Jehoiachin also points to the continuation of the Davidic dynasty that God had promised would never end (2 Sam. 7:16). God's mercy to His people is one of the persistently recurring motifs in Kings.
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