2 Chronicles 36:3, commentary and pictures

The verse records that after reigning only three months, Jehoahaz was deposed at Jerusalem by the king of Egypt, who laid a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold upon the land and set his brother Eliakim on the throne with the new name Jehoiakim. This followed the death of the good king Josiah when he meddled in the war between Egypt and Assyria and was slain, after which the people made his son king and Egypt removed him in retaliation, leaving Jerusalem under Egyptian control before Babylon came against it. It belongs to Judah's final short and unstable reigns hastening to Jerusalem's destruction in 586 B.C., showing the subjection, punishment, and loss of protection that came when the people persisted in disobedience and turned from God, with Sabbath transgression given as the primary cause of the overthrow and captivity. The chapter is cited for the Lord's own act of casting Israel off and scattering them, overturning the kingdom till he come whose right it is, fulfilled in Jerusalem's captivities and complete destruction by Nebuchadnezzar with the seventy years' captivity beginning with the first great captivity in B.C. 606. Those who held the Jubilee reckoning taught that the verse marks the close of Josiah's reign in B.C. 607 as the last obedient king, after which release and Jubilee could no longer be kept, beginning the Jubilee of Jubilees of 2450 years reaching to A.D. 1843 when redemption and liberty would be proclaimed.

Historical Setting and Meaning

The king of Egypt deposed Jehoahaz at Jerusalem and laid upon the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. Josiah's good reign had ended when he meddled in a war between Egypt and Assyria and was killed in battle, the people made his son Jehoahaz king, and Egypt removed him in retaliation for Josiah's interference. Jehoahaz had reigned only three months when Pharaoh-Necho removed him, made his brother Eliakim king in his place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

This left Jerusalem under Egyptian control before Babylon's campaign, and Jehoiakim was king in Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar brought his army against the city. Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem came in his campaign against Necho, after which Jehoiakim served Babylon and later rebelled. The verse belongs to the account of Judah's final rulers, whose short and unstable reigns marked its swift decline, with Jehoahaz among the kings in that decline toward Jerusalem's destruction in 586 B.C.

Doctrinal Prophetic Significance

The chapter provides a long and continuous record establishing the truth of the history concerning Jerusalem and its siege, sufficient in itself even if the account in Kings did not mention the siege. It belongs to the account of Judah's final kings and shows the punishment and subjection that fell upon the land after persistent disobedience to God. Egypt's intervention deposed Jehoahaz and installed his brother Eliakim as king, renaming him Jehoiakim, who was reigning in Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar brought his army against the city, and this change of rulers took place as Judah's people turned farther from God and lost their protection from surrounding nations.

Transgression of the Sabbath stands as the primary cause of this overthrow and the Babylonian captivity, for the Sabbath was Israel's sign of the living God who sanctified them and created all things, and keeping it helped Israel remember the Lord. The chapter reveals the Lord's own act of casting Israel far off and scattering them among the countries, overturning the kingdom of Israel and removing the diadem from the profane wicked prince, to remain overturned till he come whose right it is. That work is dated to before 593 B.C. and commenced the scattering that left them without national existence, teaching that disobedience to God's commandments brought the curse and drove them from the land.

The history shows the first great captivity of the Jews to Babylon in B.C. 606 as the beginning of the seventy years' captivity, with Jerusalem destroyed and many taken to Babylon in B.C. 586, 602 years before the birth of Christ four years before the common era. It is the chapter cited for Jerusalem's third captivity and complete destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. Only part of the vessels of the house of God were taken at first, because Jerusalem was taken twice afterward by Nebuchadnezzar, in B.C. 599 and 588, when the last of the treasures were taken.

The verse marks the close of Josiah's reign in B.C. 607, and Josiah was the last king of Jerusalem that obeyed the commandments of the Lord and kept His statutes. After his reign the Jews never kept, and never could keep, a year of release or Jubilee, for neither their kings, their nobles, their people, nor their lands could have been redeemed after this. Here ended the Jewish Jubilees, when they had kept not more than 21 Jubilees and lacked 23 of coming to the great Jubilee, and the land was to lie desolate while the people of God were in their enemies' land. This date begins the Jubilee of Jubilees, 7 times 7 Jubilees, 49 times 50 years, equal to 2450 years, and 2450 minus 607 reaches A.D. 1843, when the Jubilee of Jubilees will come, the people of God will come into the inheritance of the purchased possession with the redemption of their bodies, and the trump of jubilee will proclaim liberty throughout all the land.