2 Chronicles 36:4, commentary and pictures

After Josiah was killed for interfering in the war between Egypt and Assyria, the people made his son Jehoahaz king, but he reigned only three months before Pharaoh Necho deposed him in retaliation and carried him to Egypt.
Necho then made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, another son of Josiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem, changed his name to Jehoiakim, and laid a tribute upon the land.
His appointment by a foreign king shows that Judah had lost its independence and become tributary under foreign power, as a consequence of evil conduct after Josiah's reformation.
The verse belongs to the rapid decline after Josiah through Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah toward the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple, because unlike Josiah Jehoiakim did evil in the sight of the Lord and Judah turned farther from God and lost divine protection.
That overthrow is linked to Sabbath transgression, for the Sabbath was the sign that Jehovah who sanctified Israel was their living God, and the downward course from ceremonialism to bondage led on to subjection to Babylon.
Egyptian subjection was the step before Babylonian rule, when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem while Jehoiakim was king, forming the historical background to the book of Daniel when Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon.

Egypt Appoints Jehoiakim King

Josiah was killed for interfering in a war between Egypt and Assyria, and after his death the people made his son Jehoahaz king, but Jehoahaz reigned only three months. Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, in retaliation for Josiah's interference deposed him and removed him from the throne over Judah and Jerusalem. Necho carried Jehoahaz his brother away to Egypt.

In his place Necho made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, who was Josiah's son, king over Judah and Jerusalem. He changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim when he installed him. At that same time Necho also imposed a tribute on Judah.

The appointment of the ruler over Judah and Jerusalem by the king of Egypt shows that Judah had lost its independence and become tributary to Egypt under foreign power before Babylon's conquest. That a foreign king appointed Eliakim proved the nation was no longer free. The loss came as a consequence of the evil conduct of Josiah's son after Josiah's reformation, and the newly appointed king then made his own record.

Decline Toward Babylonian Captivity

The verse stands in the rapid account of Judah's decline after Josiah, naming Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim among the kings under whom the nation swiftly descended toward the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. Those last rulers — Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah — were vacillating rulers under whom the kingdom dwindled, before ending in 586 B.C. The decline came through disobedience to God's commandments and turning farther from God, so that Judah lost divine protection from surrounding nations. Jehoiakim was Josiah's son, but unlike Josiah he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and Israel's failure to obey was followed by affliction, captivity, bondage and scattering.

The overthrow and Babylonian captivity are linked to Sabbath transgression, for the Sabbath was the sign that Jehovah who sanctified Israel and created all things was their living God, and keeping it distinguished them from nations serving other gods. A Sabbath reformation could have saved Israel at the last moment, yet the downward course from ceremonialism to bondage led on to subjection to Babylon. Egyptian subjection was the step before Babylonian rule, for Judah was then under Egyptian power when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem with Jehoiakim as king. This episode forms the historical background to the book of Daniel, when Daniel and his companions and other leading people were carried to Babylon, and the events that follow show Judah coming under Babylonian rule with repeated rebellions, deportations and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar's captivities of Judah came in three stages: the first in B.C. 606 when Daniel and his companions were taken, the second in B.C. 598 when Ezekiel and many others were taken with much treasure, and the third in B.C. 586 when Jerusalem was completely destroyed. Seventy years from the first captivity reached to B.C. 536, the first year of Cyrus in his rule over Medo-Persia entire including Babylon. The carrying away into Babylon named in Matthew 1:17 began with that first great captivity in B.C. 606 for seventy years, and Jerusalem was destroyed in B.C. 586. Since Christ was born four years before the common reckoning, the first captivity was 602 years before Christ.

Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C. and the people were removed to Babylon by 588 B.C. After the seventy-year captivity they were allowed to return, but the Jews never again became an independent nation, remaining subject to successive empires until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The end of Josiah's reign is placed in 607 B.C., and after this the Jews no longer kept and could not keep the release years and Jubilees, so that their kings, people and land could no longer be redeemed.