Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem and reigned eleven years there, standing after Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin among the final vacillating kings before the kingdom's end. His reign was evil, for he would not humble himself before Jeremiah who spoke the Lord's word but rejected his counsel and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar despite having sworn allegiance before God, while chiefs, priests, and people added to former wrongdoing by following heathen ways into idolatry, forgetting the Sabbath, and polluting the house of God. The people mocked God's messengers, despised His words, and abused His prophets until there was no remedy and the Lord's wrath arose, though He repeatedly sent to them in compassion, and Sabbath transgression and turning from God brought the overthrow and Babylonian captivity. His overthrow removed the crown, subverted David's kingdom, transferred its dominion to Babylon, and completely overthrew the nation, when Jerusalem's walls, palaces, and temple were burned and its vessels carried away, his sons were slain before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he was carried in brass fetters to Babylon. Because of their sins the Jews were in Babylonian captivity for seventy years, connected with Jerusalem's destruction and deportation in 586 B.C. in Nebuchadnezzar's third captivity, and when that captivity was nearing its close Daniel prayed for God to remember His covenant and in mercy turn away His displeasure from His disobedient people.
Zedekiah's Reign and Setting
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem, and he reigned eleven years there. His eleven-year reign ended with Judah's fall and the transfer of its dominion to Babylon, for he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and was captured when the city fell. His reign stood at the final stage of Judah's subjection to Babylon, closing with Zedekiah and the people still left in Judah taken to Babylon while Jerusalem's walls and palaces were burned.
He followed Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin in Judah's rapid decline, during which descent Jerusalem was laid waste and the temple burned. He is counted among Judah's final kings, whose vacillating reigns preceded the kingdom's end in 586 B.C. He came to Jerusalem's throne after Nebuchadnezzar carried Jehoiachin and many people to Babylon. He served the Babylonian king for eight years and then rebelled, and in the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, and after a year and a half the city fell. Zedekiah and many people were taken to Babylon, completing the overthrow of the Jewish nation in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy, while Gedaliah governed the few poor people left in the land.
The chapter belongs to a long record that provides sufficient evidence concerning Jerusalem's siege and supports the reliability of the historical account, even where Kings does not explicitly use the word siege. It preserves the historical account of Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Jerusalem during Jehoiakim's reign and his carrying of some of the city's leading people to Babylon. It is connected with Jerusalem's destruction and the Jewish deportation to Babylon in 586 B.C. That destruction was the third captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed. The chapter's final events are also associated with Jerusalem's capture in 588 B.C., when the remaining temple treasures were taken, and the captivity came as a result of Judah's repeated transgressions.
The removal of the crown is dated to 590 B.C., three years after Ezekiel foretold his overthrow, when the ruler set over him was exalted and he was abased.
Sin and Divine Judgment
Zedekiah's reign was evil, for he would not humble himself before Jeremiah who spoke the word of the Lord but rejected his counsel, and with stubbornness and hardened heart he refused to turn to the Lord and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar though he had sworn allegiance to him before God. During his eleven years in Jerusalem the chiefs, priests, and people added to the wrongdoing of those before them by following heathen ways and falling into idolatry. They turned from God and forgot the Sabbath, polluted the house of God in Jerusalem, and thus closed more than four hundred years in which the descendants of David were not steadfast and were visited with correction.
God repeatedly sent messengers to them because He had compassion, yet the people mocked His messengers, despised His words, and mocked and abused His prophets until there was no remedy or healing and the wrath of the Lord arose against them. They sinned persistently until there was no remedy, and punishment came upon them through exile, captivity, and bondage. His overthrow marked the removal of the crown, the subversion of David's kingdom, the transfer of its dominion to Babylon, and the complete overthrow of the Jewish nation. The king of Babylon is identified as the power that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, destroying the city and carrying the Jews into captivity in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy.
When the city fell after Zedekiah had served the Babylonian king eight years and then rebelled, so that in the ninth year of his reign Jerusalem was besieged and after a year and a half was taken, Zedekiah was captured and carried with the people still left in Judah to Babylon. Jerusalem's walls, palaces, and temple were burned and its vessels and treasures carried away, Zedekiah's sons were slain before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he was carried in fetters of brass captive into Babylon. Only a few poor people remained in the land under Gedaliah, leaving the city in ruins and beginning the scattering of Israel as the consequence of disobedience and persistent wickedness. The holy vessels were safer in Babylon than in a temple profaned by its worshipers; this judgment served God's cause, and His righteous anger did not distort His judgment.
Prophecy Sabbath and Prayer
Israel's overthrow and captivity in Babylon came because of transgression of the Sabbath. That turning from God meant forgetting the Sabbath and falling into idolatry.
Zedekiah's eleven-year reign stands among the kings after Josiah, the last king in Jerusalem who obeyed the commandments and kept the statutes. Josiah's reign ended in B.C. 607, and after that no year of release or Jubilee was ever kept, nor could any be kept, because neither their kings nor their nobles nor their people nor their lands could be redeemed. There the Jewish Jubilees ended, when no more than twenty-one Jubilees had been kept and twenty-three were still lacking to reach the great Jubilee, and the land was to lie desolate while God's people were in their enemies' land. The close of Josiah's reign is the beginning of the Jubilee of Jubilees, seven times seven Jubilees of fifty years, forty-nine times fifty years equaling twenty-four hundred fifty years, reaching to A.D. 1843 when the Jubilee of Jubilees would come.
Because of their sins the Jews were in captivity in Babylon for seventy years with their city lying in ruins. When Daniel 9 opens that captivity is nearing its close, which leads Daniel to pray for God to remember His covenant and in mercy to turn away His displeasure from His disobedient people.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem and reigned eleven years there, standing after Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin among the final vacillating kings before the kingdom's end. His reign was evil, for he would not humble himself before Jeremiah who spoke the Lord's word but rejected his counsel and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar despite having sworn allegiance before God, while chiefs, priests, and people added to former wrongdoing by following heathen ways into idolatry, forgetting the Sabbath, and polluting the house of God. The people mocked God's messengers, despised His words, and abused His prophets until there was no remedy and the Lord's wrath arose, though He repeatedly sent to them in compassion, and Sabbath transgression and turning from God brought the overthrow and Babylonian captivity. His overthrow removed the crown, subverted David's kingdom, transferred its dominion to Babylon, and completely overthrew the nation, when Jerusalem's walls, palaces, and temple were burned and its vessels carried away, his sons were slain before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he was carried in brass fetters to Babylon. Because of their sins the Jews were in Babylonian captivity for seventy years, connected with Jerusalem's destruction and deportation in 586 B.C. in Nebuchadnezzar's third captivity, and when that captivity was nearing its close Daniel prayed for God to remember His covenant and in mercy turn away His displeasure from His disobedient people.
Zedekiah's Reign and Setting
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem, and he reigned eleven years there. His eleven-year reign ended with Judah's fall and the transfer of its dominion to Babylon, for he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and was captured when the city fell. His reign stood at the final stage of Judah's subjection to Babylon, closing with Zedekiah and the people still left in Judah taken to Babylon while Jerusalem's walls and palaces were burned.
He followed Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin in Judah's rapid decline, during which descent Jerusalem was laid waste and the temple burned. He is counted among Judah's final kings, whose vacillating reigns preceded the kingdom's end in 586 B.C. He came to Jerusalem's throne after Nebuchadnezzar carried Jehoiachin and many people to Babylon. He served the Babylonian king for eight years and then rebelled, and in the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, and after a year and a half the city fell. Zedekiah and many people were taken to Babylon, completing the overthrow of the Jewish nation in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy, while Gedaliah governed the few poor people left in the land.
The chapter belongs to a long record that provides sufficient evidence concerning Jerusalem's siege and supports the reliability of the historical account, even where Kings does not explicitly use the word siege. It preserves the historical account of Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Jerusalem during Jehoiakim's reign and his carrying of some of the city's leading people to Babylon. It is connected with Jerusalem's destruction and the Jewish deportation to Babylon in 586 B.C. That destruction was the third captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed. The chapter's final events are also associated with Jerusalem's capture in 588 B.C., when the remaining temple treasures were taken, and the captivity came as a result of Judah's repeated transgressions.
The removal of the crown is dated to 590 B.C., three years after Ezekiel foretold his overthrow, when the ruler set over him was exalted and he was abased.
Sin and Divine Judgment
Zedekiah's reign was evil, for he would not humble himself before Jeremiah who spoke the word of the Lord but rejected his counsel, and with stubbornness and hardened heart he refused to turn to the Lord and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar though he had sworn allegiance to him before God. During his eleven years in Jerusalem the chiefs, priests, and people added to the wrongdoing of those before them by following heathen ways and falling into idolatry. They turned from God and forgot the Sabbath, polluted the house of God in Jerusalem, and thus closed more than four hundred years in which the descendants of David were not steadfast and were visited with correction.
God repeatedly sent messengers to them because He had compassion, yet the people mocked His messengers, despised His words, and mocked and abused His prophets until there was no remedy or healing and the wrath of the Lord arose against them. They sinned persistently until there was no remedy, and punishment came upon them through exile, captivity, and bondage. His overthrow marked the removal of the crown, the subversion of David's kingdom, the transfer of its dominion to Babylon, and the complete overthrow of the Jewish nation. The king of Babylon is identified as the power that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, destroying the city and carrying the Jews into captivity in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy.
When the city fell after Zedekiah had served the Babylonian king eight years and then rebelled, so that in the ninth year of his reign Jerusalem was besieged and after a year and a half was taken, Zedekiah was captured and carried with the people still left in Judah to Babylon. Jerusalem's walls, palaces, and temple were burned and its vessels and treasures carried away, Zedekiah's sons were slain before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he was carried in fetters of brass captive into Babylon. Only a few poor people remained in the land under Gedaliah, leaving the city in ruins and beginning the scattering of Israel as the consequence of disobedience and persistent wickedness. The holy vessels were safer in Babylon than in a temple profaned by its worshipers; this judgment served God's cause, and His righteous anger did not distort His judgment.
Prophecy Sabbath and Prayer
Israel's overthrow and captivity in Babylon came because of transgression of the Sabbath. That turning from God meant forgetting the Sabbath and falling into idolatry.
Zedekiah's eleven-year reign stands among the kings after Josiah, the last king in Jerusalem who obeyed the commandments and kept the statutes. Josiah's reign ended in B.C. 607, and after that no year of release or Jubilee was ever kept, nor could any be kept, because neither their kings nor their nobles nor their people nor their lands could be redeemed. There the Jewish Jubilees ended, when no more than twenty-one Jubilees had been kept and twenty-three were still lacking to reach the great Jubilee, and the land was to lie desolate while God's people were in their enemies' land. The close of Josiah's reign is the beginning of the Jubilee of Jubilees, seven times seven Jubilees of fifty years, forty-nine times fifty years equaling twenty-four hundred fifty years, reaching to A.D. 1843 when the Jubilee of Jubilees would come.
Because of their sins the Jews were in captivity in Babylon for seventy years with their city lying in ruins. When Daniel 9 opens that captivity is nearing its close, which leads Daniel to pray for God to remember His covenant and in mercy to turn away His displeasure from His disobedient people.