seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 36:1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2 Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents(b) of silver and a talent[c] of gold.4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple[d] there.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen[e] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon,together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[f] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
a. 2 Chronicles 36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4
b. 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
c. 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
d. 2 Chronicles 36:7 Or palace
e. 2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
f. 2 Chronicles 36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17)
This is horrible.... four kings... two only lasted a few months before they were replaced. And look at Babylon and Egypt making Judah look like a puppet.
This is from Bible.org.
Our text makes this point as it narrates the end of the line for the kingdom of Judah. The godly king Josiah was killed in battle by Pharaoh Neco. His son Joahaz took the throne and lasted three months before Pharaoh deposed him and took him captive to Egypt. Pharaoh then installed Joahaz’s older brother Jehoiakim on the throne. He lasted for eleven years, first subject to Pharaoh and then to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He did evil and committed “abominations”. After his death, his 18 year-old son Jehoiachin took over for three months and ten days before Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon, where he spent the next 37 years in prison. Even so he managed, in three months, to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Zedekiah (son of Josiah), who also did evil. Finally he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who in turn besieged Jerusalem, which fell and was sacked in the summer of 586 B.C. Those who escaped the sword were taken captive to Babylon. The 70 years probably refers to the time from the first deportation (605 B.C.) to the return of the exiles (536 B.C.). All this happened, not by chance, but “to fulfill the word of the Lord” . It’s a dreadful thing when God’s axe falls upon a nation!
This is from the easy English site.
In 605 BC, Prince Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the army from Egypt at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46:2). As the soldiers from Egypt ran away, Nebuchadnezzar chased them. He defeated them again at a place in Syria called Hamath. In August 605 BC, The king of Babylon, Nabopolassar died. So, Nebuchadnezzar had to return to Babylon to become king there. Soon after this, the army of Babylon continued to capture territory to the south. Then Babylon ruled the whole territory from Egypt to the Euphrates River (2 Kings 24:7). This included Judah and the territory that had been Israel. Jehoiakim now had to obey the king of Babylon instead of the king of Egypt.
Nebuchadnezzar took some of the things that were in the temple. He put those things in the temple of his god in his own country. He worshipped a god called Merodach. Also, he took some of the best young men away into exile (Daniel 1:1-3). That was the beginning of the 70 years of exile in Babylon from 605-536 BC. (See Jeremiah 29:10.)
Three years after that, in 602 BC, Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar sent an army to Jerusalem. This army had soldiers from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon. They forced him to obey Nebuchadnezzar.
I saw that new god name merodach.... and I was wondering if he's at all like that god molech. There's not on the worship of merodach... apparently Nebuchadnezzer named his own son after that god. This is from biblestudytools.com.Merodach death; slaughter, the name of a Babylonian god, probably the planet Mars ( Jeremiah 50:2 ), or it may be another name of Bel, the guardian divinity of Babylon. This name frequently occurs as a surname to the kings of Assyria and Babylon.
I guess in those days people could just make up gods. I guess they could go around naming their children god. If they were a pharoah... they were treated like gods.... and kings in Babylon were treated like gods.... One thing for certain.... the name Merodach was synonymous with evil. People worked for no pay... they were abused.... they were enslaved.
I noticed they also changed people's names at will. I guess if you are removing a king from his throne and throwing him in chains... and leading him around by the nose... you can call him whatever you like. I hope that doesn't happen to me. {insert your favorite ball and chain joke here... lol}.
