2 Kings 25:4
And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.
The verse records the breaching of Jerusalem's walls while the Chaldeans surrounded the city, when all the men of war fled by night through the gate between the two walls by the king's garden and the king escaped toward the plain. It came after Zedekiah, set up by Nebuchadnezzar as the last king, rebelled in his ninth year by allying with Egypt for soldiers and horsemen, bringing Nebuchadnezzar with all his hosts to pillage the open country and besiege Jerusalem until the Egyptian relief failed and the blockade was renewed. The siege lasted a year and a half to its second stage, until the ninth day of the fourth month in Zedekiah's eleventh year when famine prevailed and there was no bread for the people of the land. The breach and night flight led directly to the capture of Zedekiah, the breaking down of the walls, the blinding and carrying of the king with many of the people to Babylon, while only a little company was left under Gedaliah. It ended independent kingship and the kingdom, leaving Judah without independent government except as a province subservient to the great ruling kingdoms, fulfilling God's judgment for adopting slavery and disobeying His commands and standing as a type of events to transpire at the close of this dispensation.
Jerusalem's Fall Narrated
This breach belongs to the closing history of Judah in 2 Kings 18-25, and more fully to 2 Kings 24-25. That closing section records the history of the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. It completes the continuous history of the kings from the accession of Solomon to the Babylonian captivity. The fuller story in 2 Kings 24 and 25 is the downfall of Zedekiah, the last king of the chosen people.
The fall came through the rebellion of Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had set up and who served eight years as a faithful vassal. In his ninth year he allied with the new Egyptian king Uaphris for foot soldiers and horsemen and revolted to seek independence. Nebuchadnezzar came in person with all his hosts against Jerusalem, overcame and pillaged the open country, built forts, and besieged the city. When Uaphris marched out of Egypt to relieve his ally, the Babylonians raised the siege to meet the Egyptians. The Egyptian attempt to relieve Jerusalem failed by defeat or retreat, and after a brief interval the siege was renewed as a complete blockade.
The siege lasted a year and a half to the second investment, renewed after the Babylonian army returned. It held until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, when famine prevailed in the city and there was no bread for the people of the land. The horrors of that famine and siege are described in Lamentations. Then the defenses were breached while the Chaldees were against the city round about. All the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king's garden, and the king went the way toward the plain.
That breaking up and night flight led to the capture of Zedekiah the last king. The walls were broken down, and Zedekiah and many of the people were carried to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar put out Zedekiah's eyes and took him to Babylon, where he died in captivity. Yet a little company was left in the land under Gedaliah. The breaking of the city and flight by night marks the end of independent kingship. From that time Judah had no independent government of its own, but held whatever self-rule it had only as a province subservient to the great kingdoms that ruled the world.
Babylon was the first power to succeed in this destruction after other nations had repeatedly threatened Israel and Judah, and Jerusalem fell and the people of Judah were taken captive and scattered, bringing the kingdom to an end. The sequence that follows includes the laying of Jerusalem waste, the despoiling of the temple, and the slaying of the captives at Riblah. It includes the appointment of Gedaliah as governor and his slaying through treachery. It includes the going of the remnant to Egypt contrary to the counsel of Jeremiah, and the kind treatment shown to Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon.
Divine Judgment and Typology
The breach of the city and the night flight belong to the destruction and captivity of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar, which fulfills God's judgment against Israel for adopting slavery. That judgment came for disobeying the commands that protected freedom and equality. The Babylonian captivity to which this flight led closes the history of the great empires of the Bible from the confusion of tongues. In that closing history is seen God's overruling hand in the history of nations.
The captivity and final destruction of Jerusalem to which this verse belongs is typical of events to transpire either under the gospel or at the close of this dispensation. It has a primary and typical fulfillment in ancient Israel and an emphatic antitypical fulfillment in the Christian age. It must therefore be studied by distinguishing type from antitype, so that what applies to the antitype is not applied to the type. The Babylonian captivity here recorded is true history and a past event in God's dealings with humanity. Yet past events alone do not reveal the truth needed for every later emergency, since God also gives truths suited to the needs of succeeding generations.