Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
After Josiah died, the people of the land chose his son Jehoahaz and made him king at Jerusalem in his father's place. Josiah had reigned as the last king who kept the commandments and statutes, but his reign ended ingloriously when he meddled in the war between Egypt and Assyria and was slain in battle. Jehoahaz reigned only three months before Pharaoh-Necho deposed him and carried him to Riblah, set his brother Eliakim on the throne under the new name Jehoiakim, and laid Judah under a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. His accession began the rapid decline that ran through Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah unto the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. That ruin came because the people mocked God's messengers and persisted in sin, with Sabbath-breaking as its primal cause in forgetting Jehovah as Creator and Sanctifier, so Judah was scattered by Babylon in judgment for disobedience.
Succession After Josiah
After Josiah's death the people of the land, the people of Judah, took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem, raising him to the throne by popular choice. Josiah had enjoyed a good and obedient reign as the last king who kept the commandments of the Lord and kept His statutes. It came to an inglorious end when he meddled in others' affairs by interfering in a war between Egypt and Assyria and was killed in battle.
Jehoahaz succeeded him but his reign was brief, lasting only three months. The king of Egypt, Pharaoh-Necho, in retaliation for Josiah's interference deposed him and took him captive at Riblah. He then put Eliakim on the throne in his stead, installing Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, another son of Josiah, as king, and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim.
He laid Judah under tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. After Jehoahaz the kingdom passed through the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah before ending in 586 B.C.
Judgment, Exile, and Prophecy
The making of Jehoahaz king in Jerusalem after his father marked the start of Judah's rapid decline through the kings who followed him to the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. Among those successors was Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, who did evil in the sight of the Lord, in sharp contrast to Josiah who acted to carry out the requirements when the book of God's law was found. The whole course shows Israel's failure to obey God, for the people mocked His messengers and persisted in sin until punishment, exile and captivity came. Sabbath transgression was the primal cause of that overthrow and Babylonian captivity, since keeping the Sabbath would have kept Israel remembering Jehovah as the living Creator who sanctified them, rather than worshiping another god as Babylon did. In this way Judah's scattering began with the Babylonian conquest and removal of its kingdom as the Lord's judgment for disobedience to His commandments.
In that decline Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C. and the people were removed to Babylon by 588 B.C. This is the historical setting of Daniel 1, when in Jehoiakim's reign Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and carried away some of its leading people to Babylon. The long record of the siege of Jerusalem given in the chapter is sufficient to establish its truth even if the book of Kings did not mention it.
The close of Josiah's reign in B.C. 607 ended the keeping of years of release and Jubilees, when no more than 21 Jubilees had been kept and 23 were lacking of the great Jubilee. Afterward neither kings nor nobles nor people nor lands could be redeemed. From that close the land was to lie desolate while God's people were in their enemies' land, beginning 2450 years, 49 times 50 years. That period reaches to A.D. 1843, when the trumpet of jubilee proclaims liberty and God's people enter the inheritance of the purchased possession and the redemption of the body.
After Josiah died, the people of the land chose his son Jehoahaz and made him king at Jerusalem in his father's place. Josiah had reigned as the last king who kept the commandments and statutes, but his reign ended ingloriously when he meddled in the war between Egypt and Assyria and was slain in battle. Jehoahaz reigned only three months before Pharaoh-Necho deposed him and carried him to Riblah, set his brother Eliakim on the throne under the new name Jehoiakim, and laid Judah under a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. His accession began the rapid decline that ran through Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah unto the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. That ruin came because the people mocked God's messengers and persisted in sin, with Sabbath-breaking as its primal cause in forgetting Jehovah as Creator and Sanctifier, so Judah was scattered by Babylon in judgment for disobedience.
Succession After Josiah
After Josiah's death the people of the land, the people of Judah, took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem, raising him to the throne by popular choice. Josiah had enjoyed a good and obedient reign as the last king who kept the commandments of the Lord and kept His statutes. It came to an inglorious end when he meddled in others' affairs by interfering in a war between Egypt and Assyria and was killed in battle.
Jehoahaz succeeded him but his reign was brief, lasting only three months. The king of Egypt, Pharaoh-Necho, in retaliation for Josiah's interference deposed him and took him captive at Riblah. He then put Eliakim on the throne in his stead, installing Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, another son of Josiah, as king, and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim.
He laid Judah under tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. After Jehoahaz the kingdom passed through the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah before ending in 586 B.C.
Judgment, Exile, and Prophecy
The making of Jehoahaz king in Jerusalem after his father marked the start of Judah's rapid decline through the kings who followed him to the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. Among those successors was Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, who did evil in the sight of the Lord, in sharp contrast to Josiah who acted to carry out the requirements when the book of God's law was found. The whole course shows Israel's failure to obey God, for the people mocked His messengers and persisted in sin until punishment, exile and captivity came. Sabbath transgression was the primal cause of that overthrow and Babylonian captivity, since keeping the Sabbath would have kept Israel remembering Jehovah as the living Creator who sanctified them, rather than worshiping another god as Babylon did. In this way Judah's scattering began with the Babylonian conquest and removal of its kingdom as the Lord's judgment for disobedience to His commandments.
In that decline Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C. and the people were removed to Babylon by 588 B.C. This is the historical setting of Daniel 1, when in Jehoiakim's reign Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and carried away some of its leading people to Babylon. The long record of the siege of Jerusalem given in the chapter is sufficient to establish its truth even if the book of Kings did not mention it.
The close of Josiah's reign in B.C. 607 ended the keeping of years of release and Jubilees, when no more than 21 Jubilees had been kept and 23 were lacking of the great Jubilee. Afterward neither kings nor nobles nor people nor lands could be redeemed. From that close the land was to lie desolate while God's people were in their enemies' land, beginning 2450 years, 49 times 50 years. That period reaches to A.D. 1843, when the trumpet of jubilee proclaims liberty and God's people enter the inheritance of the purchased possession and the redemption of the body.