Judah's Kings
Jerusalem: On display at the Israel Museum: The 2,000-square-meter (21,520-square-foot) model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period. The model was built to a 1:50 scale using many of the construction materials of the time, including steel, Jerusalem stone and marble. / https://israeladvantagetours.com/model-of-ancient-jerusalem-second-temple-period/
The Kingdom of Judah
After the death of King Solomon, the United Kingdom was torn apart. Ten tribes of Israel revolted and made up the Kingdom of Israel in the North, and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin became to Kingdom of Judah in the South.
(Note: In the information below, a brief history by various historians in given, and followed by this writer’s summary from The Old Testament.)
Rehoboam
Rehoboam: First king of Judah, son of Solomon and Naamah the Ammonitess, grandson of David.
Reign: 17 years, 931-913 B.C.
Bible Record: 1 Kings 12, 14; 2 Chronicles 10-12
SOME HISTORY
Although Rehoboam was acknowledged as the rightful heir to the throne, the burden of taxation to which the people had been subjected during Solomon’s reign was very oppressive, and therefore the people assembled at Shechem and demanded from Rehoboam an alleviation of their burdens. Rehoboam met them at Shechem, and heard their demands for relief (1 Kings 12:4). He consulted with a younger generation of courtiers that had grown up around him. He refused the advice of elders. He answered the people haughtily (6-15). He hearkened not unto the people. The people revolted.
The kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam was appalled, and tried concessions, but it was too late. The tribe of Judah, Rehoboam’s own tribe, alone remained faithful to him. Benjamin was reckoned along with Judah, and these two tribes formed the southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern 10 tribes formed into a separate kingdom, choosing Jeroboam as their king.
Rehoboam tried to win back the revolted 10 tribes by making war against them, but he was prevented by the prophet Shemaiah from fulfilling his purpose.
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak, one of the kings of Egypt of the Assyrian dynasty, stirred up, no doubt, by Jeroboam his son-in-law, made war against him. Jerusalem submitted to the invader, who plundered the temple and virtually reduced the kingdom to the position of a vassal of Egypt (1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Chronicles 12:5-9).
A memorial of this invasion has been discovered at Karnac, in Upper Egypt, in certain sculptures on the walls of a small temple there. These sculptures represent the king, Shishak, holding in his hand a train of prisoners and other figures, with the names of the captured towns of Judah, the towns which Rehoboam had fortified (2 Chronicles 11:5-12).
The kingdom of Judah, under Rehoboam, sank more and more in moral and spiritual decay. “There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.”
In the fifty-eighth year of his age, Rehoboam “slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David” (1 Kings 14:31). He was succeeded by his son Abijah.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/rehoboam
From the Old Testament
Rehoboam’s reign as king begins with the end of the United Kingdom of Israel. His story is found in the Old Testament books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
Rehoboam went to Shechem (a trade city between Bethel and Shiloh), where he expected to be crowned king of all Israel. However, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat who had fled to Egypt out of fear of king Solomon heard of Solomon’s death. He returned, and he, along with the congregation of Israel, confronted Rehoboam, saying:
“Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. –1 Kings 12:4
Rehoboam said he needed three days to ponder their grievances.
He consulted with the old men, who had advised his father. They said, “If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever (1 Kings 12:7).”
He consulted with the young men who had grown up with him. They said Rehoboam should tell the people:
“… (W)hereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. –1 Kings 12:11
Such was Rehoboam’s answer to the people when he met with them the third day.
The people responded, saying, “What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents ( 1 Kings 12:16).”
When Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the king’s tribute, to the dissidents, all Israel stoned him to death. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem in his chariot.
The children of Israel made Jeroboam their king.
So Rehoboam ruled only over Judah, where the tribes of Judah and Benjamin dwelt.
In Jerusalem, Rehoboam assembled 180,000 warriors to fight Israel and unite the kingdom again.
But God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with a warning: The house of Judah and Benjamin should not fight their brethren. They should return to their homes. And the people listened, and departed to their homes.
Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem.
Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy. They built high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree There were sodomites in the land, and they committed all the abominations of the nations.
In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
“And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made (1 Kings 12:26).”
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
Second Chronicles records that Rehoboam built cities for defense of Judah. He fortified the strong holds, put captains over them, and stocked them with victual and oil and wine. He armed his places of defense with shields and spears.
The priests and the Levites left Israel and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Israel’s king Jeroboam had cast them aside and ordained priests who served other gods.
The kingdom of Judah was strengthened, and Rehoboam was strong. For three years, he walked in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam took wives: Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David; Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; and Maachah the daughter of Absalom. Children were born. Rehoboam loved Maachah above all his wives and concubines. In 2 Chronicles, it is written he took 18 wives, 60 concubines, and begat 28 sons and 60 daughters (chapter 11, verse 21).
King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem.
“And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.”
— 2 Chronicles 12:14
Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
Abijah
Abijah, also called Abijam: The second king of Judah, and son of Rehoboam.
Reign: Three years, 913-911 B.C.
Bible record: 1 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 13
SOME HISTORY
His address to “Jeroboam and all Israel,” before encountering them in battle, is worthy of notice (2 Chronicles 13:5-12). It was a very bloody battle, no fewer than 500,000 of the army of Israel having perished on the field.
He is described as having walked “in all the sins of his father” (1 Kings 15:3; 2 Chronicles 11:20-22). It is said in 1 Kings 15:2 that “his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom;” but in 2 Chronicles 13:2 we read, “his mother’s name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.” The explanation is that Maachah is just a variation of the name Michaiah, and that Abishalom is probably the same as Absalom, the son of David. It is probable that “Uriel of Gibeah” married Tamar, the daughter of Absalom (2 Samuel 14:27), and by her had Maachah. The word “daughter” in 1 Kings 15:2 will thus, as it frequently elsewhere does, mean grand-daughter.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/Abijah
From The Old Testament
Abijah reigned three years in Jerusalem, and went to war against Jeroboam, king of Judah. In a battle Abijah stood up on mount Ephraim and called to Jeroboam, and all Israel, saying:
“Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.
And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.“ And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with your golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made your priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.“ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.” –2 Chronicles 13:5-12
But Jeroboam had planned an ambush, and when Judah looked back, the battle was before and behind them. They cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
The men of Judah gave a shout: and as they shouted, God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The children of Israel fled. God delivered the Israelites into the hand of Judah. Five hundred thousand of Jeroboam’s army was slain.
Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him. Jeroboam never recovered his strength in the days of Abijah. The Lord struck him, and he died.
Second Chronicles 13:21 says “Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.”
Abijah died and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa reigned
Asa
Asa: Third king of Judah; son of Abijam
Reign: Forty-one years, 911-870 B.C.
Bible Record: 1 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 14-16
SOME HISTORY
Asa’s long reign of 41 years was peaceful in its earlier portion, and he undertook the reformation of all abuses, especially of idolatry. He burnt the symbol of his grandmother Maachah’s religion and deposed her from the dignity of “king’s mother.” He renewed the great altar which the idolatrous priests apparently had desecrated (2 Chronicles 15:8). He fortified cities on his frontiers, and raised an army amounting to 580,000, according to 2 Chronicles 14:8.
During Asa’s reign, Zerah (the Ethiopian), at the head of an enormous host, (2 Chronicles 14:9) attacked Mareshah. There he was utterly defeated, and driven back to Gerar. The peace which followed this victory was broken by the attempt of Baasha of Israel to fortify Ramah. To stop this Asa purchased the help of Benhadad I, king of Damascus, by a large payment of treasure, forced Baasha to abandon his purpose, and destroyed the works which he had begun at Ramah.
In his old age Asa suffered from gout, He died, greatly loved and honored, in the 41st year of his reign.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/asa
From The Old Testament
Asa, the son of Abijam, reigned in Jerusalem 41 years. His mother was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. His story is told in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
“And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. His mother Maachah, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days (1 Kings 15:11-14).”
There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. Baasha began building Ramah, and that was a threat to Asa. So Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and had his servants deliver them to king Benhadad of Syria.
He asked Benhadad to break his league with king Baasha of Israel. This, Benhadad did.
Benhadad sent his captains of hosts against cities of Israel. Baasha halted the building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
Asa ordered that the stones and timber being used to build up Ramah be taken. He used the stones and timber to build Geba and Mizpah.
In his old age he was diseased in his feet. He died and was buried in the city of David. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his stead.
In 2 Chronicles, it is written:
“And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.”
2 Chronicles 14:1-4
Chronicles 2 also says that Asa took away the high places and the images; that he built walls around cities. And the cities prospered.
Asa had an army of men that numbered 300,000 out of Judah, and 280,000 out of Benjamin.
When Zerah the Ethiopian came with an army of “a thousand thousand,” and three hundred chariots; Asa went out against him. The two armies set for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
Asa cried unto the Lord for help. And the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
Asa’s army pursued, and the Ethiopians were overthrown, and did not recover.
Asa and his army took much spoil and returned to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 14)
Guided by the Spirit of God, Azariah son of Oded met Asa with a message: “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
“And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
“Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded (2 Chronicles 15:2-7).”
Hearing the prophets words, Asa took courage. He put away the abominable idols out of all the land and renewed the altar of the Lord. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them who had left Israel when they saw that the Lord was with him.
They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
They offered to the Lord the spoil they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
“That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman (2 Chronicles 15:13).”
All Judah rejoiced.
And Asa removed his mother Maachah as queen because she had made an idol in a grove.
“Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron (2 Chronicles 15:16).”
The high places, however, were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. He brought into the house of God the things that he and his father had dedicated: silver and gold and vessels.
And there was no more war for a time. But in the 36th year of Asa’s reign, king Baasha of Israel threatened Judah. And as recorded in 1 Kings, he built Ramah with the intent of keeping people of Israel from going into Judah.
Asa then sent silver and gold to king Benhadad of Syria, and Benhadad sent armies against Israel.
Baasha ceased work at Ramah. Asa took Baasha’s building materials and built Gega and Mispah.
Hanani the seer came to Asa with word from the Lord: “Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand (2 Chronicles 16:7).”
Hanani reminded Asa of the times God delivered Judah from the Ethiopians and the Lubims.
He said to Asa:
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.” –Chronicles 16:9
An angry Asa put the Lord’s messenger in prison. And he oppressed some of the people.
In the 39th year of his reign, Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease was exceeding great.
But he sought not the Lord; he sought the physicians.
Asa died in the 41st year of his reign. He was buried in the city of David. His son Jehoshaphat reigned. (1 Kings 15:24)
Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat: The fourth king of Judah; son and successor of Asa.
Reign: 25 years, 870-848 B.C.
Bible record: 1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 17-20
SOME HISTORY
After fortifying his kingdom against Israel (2 Chronicles 17:1, 2), he set himself to cleanse the land of idolatry (1 Kings 22:43). In the third year of his reign he sent out priests and Levites over the land to instruct the people in the law (2 Chronicles 17:7-9). He enjoyed a great measure of peace and prosperity.
The great mistake of his reign was his entering into an alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel, which involved him in much disgrace, and brought disaster on his kingdom (1 Kings 22:1-33).
Escaping from the bloody battle of Ramoth-gilead, the prophet Jehu (2 Chronicles 19:1-3) reproached him for the course he had been pursuing, whereupon he entered with rigour on his former course of opposition to all idolatry, and of deepening interest in the worship of God and in the righteous government of the people (2 Chronicles 19:4-11).
Again he entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. But the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-gaber was wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the co-operation of the king of Israel, and although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted (2 Chronicles 20:35-37; 1 Kings 22:48-49).
He subsequently joined Jehoram, king of Israel, in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful. The Moabites were subdued; but the dreadful act of Mesha in offering his own son a sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth in the sight of the armies of Israel filled him with horror, and he withdrew and returned to his own land (2 Kings 3:4-27).
The last most notable event of his reign was recorded in 2 Chronicles 20. The Moabites formed a great and powerful confederacy with the surrounding nations, and came against Jehoshaphat. The allied forces were encamped at Engedi. The king and his people were filled with alarm, and betook themselves to God in prayer. The king prayed in the court of the temple, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.” Amid the silence that followed, the voice of Jahaziel the Levite was heard announcing that on the morrow all this great host would be overthrown.
So it was, for they quarreled among themselves, and slew one another, leaving to the people of Judah only to gather the rich spoils of the slain. This was recognized as a great deliverance wrought for them by God (B.C. 890). Soon after this Jehoshaphat died, after a reign of twenty-five years, being sixty years of age, and was succeeded by his son Jehoram (1 Kings 22:50). He had this testimony, that “he sought the Lord with all his heart” (2 Chronicles 22:9). The kingdom of Judah was never more prosperous than under his reign.
Source: King James Dictionary
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/jehoshaphatJ
From The Old Testament
Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he began to reign over Judah, and he reigned 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
“And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.” — 2 Chronicles 20:31-32
Jehoshaphat strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land, and in the cities of Ephraim, that had been taken by his father, Asa.
“And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
“Therefore the Lord stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:3-6).”
Jehoshaphat sent Levite priests throughout Judah to teach the law of the Lord.
“And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he goats.
“And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store. And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the men of war, mighty men of valour, were in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 17:10-14).”
The Mighty Men Of Valor
Judah’s mighty men of valor by the numbers:
• Adnah as captain over 300,000.
• Jehohanan as captain over 280,000.
• Amasiah son of Zichri over 200,000.
Benjamin’s men of valor by the numbers:
• Eliada as captain over 200,000 armed with bow and shield.
• Jehozabad as captain with 180,000 ready for war.
These waited on the king, and there were others in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.
Jehoshaphat and Ahab
Now, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram had married a daughter of Ahab, king of Israel (2 Kings 8:16-18).
Jehoshaphat went to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab sought to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in war at Ramothgilead.
Jehoshaphat asked that Ahab enquire of the Lord if this should be done. Ahab gathered 400 of Israel’s prophets and asked if they should go to Ramothgilead to battle. These men said, “Yes.”
“Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.
“And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.
“And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.
“And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?
“Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.
“And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
“Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.
“And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
“Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. “And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.
“Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee (2 Chronicles 18:12-22).”
Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, then struck Micaiah upon the cheek. He asked, “Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee (2 Chronicles 18:23)?
Micaiah replied that Zedekiah would know on the day he went to hide himself in an inner chamber.
King Ahab ordered that Micaiah be put in prison and fed with the bread and water of affliction until he, Ahab, returned in peace.
“And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people (2 Chronicles 18:27).”
Ahab Slain
Ahab was killed at Ramothgilead.
Jehoshaphat returned to his house in Jerusalem. And he went out among the people and brought them back unto the Lord.
He set judges in the land, and said to the judges,
“Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts (2 Chronicles 19:6-7).”
He also said to the Levite priests, and the chief of the fathers of Israel: “Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass. And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good (2 Chronicles 19:9-11).”
Moab and Ammon Attack
In time, the Moabites and Ammonites, and others came to battle against Jehoshaphat. And a fearful Jehoshaphat sought the Lord. He proclaimed a feast throughout Judah, and the people gathered and sought the Lord.
“And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee (2 Chronicles 20:5-12).”
All Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, who said, “Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you (2 Chronicles 20:15-17).”
Jehoshaphat bowed to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
They rose early in the morning, and went into the wilderness of Tekoa
Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much (2 Chronicles 20:20-25).”
On the fourth day they gathered and blessed the Lord. Then they returned to their homes. They rejoiced, and the land had rest.
Jehoshaphat’s Ships Broken
Jehoshaphat also joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.
Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying the Lord had broken Jehoshaphat’s works. The ships were broken, and were not able to go to Tarshish. (2 Chronicles 20:35-37)
Death of Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat died, and was buried in the city of David. His son Jehoram reigned.
(Note: Jehoshaphat’s reign is also recorded in 1 Kings 22; And, 2 Kings 3 records that in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat’s reign, Jehoram son of Ahab began his reign over Israel. Jehoshaphat joined him in battle against Moab.
Jehoram
Jehoram: Fifth king of Judah; son of Jehosaphat
Reign: Eight years, 848-841 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 21
SOME HISTORY
Jehoram reigned eight years alone as king of Judah, having been previously for some years associated with his father (2 Chronicles 21:5, 20; 2 Kings 8:16). His wife was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. His daughter Jehosheba was married to the high priest Jehoiada.
He sank into gross idolatry, and brought upon himself and his kingdom the anger of Jehovah. The Edomites revolted from under his yoke, and the Philistines and the Arabians and Cushites invaded the land, and carried away great spoil, along with Jehoram’s wives and all his children, except Ahaziah.
He died a painful death from a fearful malady, and was refused a place in the sepulchre of the kings (2 Kings 8:16-24; 2 Chronicles 21).
Source: King James Dictionary
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/jehoram
From The Old Testament
Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, was 32 years old when he began his eight-year reign.
His father had six other sons, and when Jehoram had strengthened himself as king, he slew his brothers with the sword (2 Chronicles 21).
King Jehoram of Judah walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Jehoram had taken the daughter of Ahab as his wife. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
“Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever (2 Chronicles 21:7).”
When the Edomites revolted and chose a king of their own, Jehoram, along with his princes and chariots, attacked the Edomites by night. Libnah also revolted.
Jehoram made high places in the mountains of Judah. He caused the people of Jerusalem and Judah to commit fornication.
The prophet Elijah wrote to him, saying,
“Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.” — 2 Chronicles 21:12-15
God also the stirred up the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ethiopians (Cushites) against Jehoram. They came into Judah, and carried away Jehoram’s wealth. They took his wives and all his sons, except Jehoahaz, his youngest.
The Lord then smote Jehoram with an incurable disease.
“And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers (2 Chronicles 21:19).”
Jehoram was buried in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
Jehoram’s record as king is told in 2 Kings, chapter 8, that ends with:
“And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead (Verse 24).
Azariah
Azariah: Sixth king of Judah.
Reign: One year, 841 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 8-9; 2 Chronicles 22
SOME HISTORY
The son of Joram, or Jehoram, and sixth king of Judah. Called Jehoahaz (2 Chronicles 21:17; 25:23), and Azariah (2 Chronicles 22:6).
Guided by his idolatrous mother Athaliah, his reign was disastrous (2 Kings 8:24-29; 9:29). He joined his uncle Jehoram, king of Israel, in an expedition against Hazael, king of Damascus; but was wounded at the pass of Gur when attempting to escape, and had strength only to reach Megiddo, where he died (2 Kings 9:22-28). He reigned only one year.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/ahaziah
From The Old Testament
Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began his reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri king of Israel.
“And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab (2 Kings 8:27).”
King Ahaziah of Judah joined king Joram of Israel in the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead. The Syrians wounded Joram, and king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel.
Ahaziah went down to see Joram in Jezreel, because he was sick.
Elisha the prophet instructed one of the children of the prophets to take a box of oil, go to Ramothgilead, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, take him into an inner chamber, pour the oil on his head, and say, “Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel {2 Kings 9:3).”
The messenger prophet then was to flee.
The young prophet did as he was bidden. After anointing Jehu, he told him: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. (2 Kings 9:6-10).”
The young prophet fled as instructed.
Jehu told the servants the prophet had anointed him king over Israel. The men blew trumpets and pronounced Jehu as king.
Jehu then conspired against Joram, who was in Jezreel, healing from his wounds when he was struck by the Syrians. Jehu rode in his chariot to Jezreel, where Joram had gone for healing, and Judah’s king Ahaziah was visiting.
Upon hearing that Jehu was nearing, Joram and Ahaziah went out against Jehu. Jehu drew his bow and his arrow struck Jehoram (Joram) in the heart. Jehoram sunk down in his chariot. Jehu told Bidkar his captain to cast Jehoram in the field of Naboth.
King Ahaziah of Judah fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and told his men to kill him in his chariot. Jehu’s men stuck Ahaziah, who fled to Megiddo, where he died.
His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, where he was buried in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. (2 Kings 9:28)
Note: In 2 Chronicles 22:2, Ahaziah’s age when reign begins is given at age 42; in 2 Kings 8:26, his age is given at 22. This is likely an error in copying.
Athaliah
Athaliah: Seventh ruler of Judah, and only woman to rule.
Reign: Six years, 841-835 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 22-23
SOME HISTORY
Athaiah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and the wife of Jehoram, king of Judah (2 Kings 8:18), who “walked in the ways of the house of Ahab” (2 Chronicles 21:6). She was called “daughter” of Omri (2 Kings 8:26). On the death of her husband and of her son Ahaziah, she resolved to seat herself on the vacant throne. She slew all Ahaziah’s children except Joash, the youngest (2 Kings 11:1, 2), who had been hidden. After a reign of six years she was put to death in an insurrection (2 Kings 11:20; 2 Chronicles 21:6; 22:10-12; 23:15), stirred up among the people in connection with Josiah’s being crowned as king.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/athaliah
From The Old Testament
Athaliah reigned over Judah for six years.
“In the seventh year Jehoiada (the priest) sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the king’s son.
“And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;
And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down. And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king. And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.
“And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David’s spears and shields, that were in the temple of the Lord. And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple.
“And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king (2 Kings 11:4-12).”
When Athaliah heard the noise, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. She saw the king standing by a pillar, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king. And the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason, Treason.”
Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains and officers to take her from the house of the Lord. And Athaliah was taken away and slain.
Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people.
And the people went into the house of Baal, and broke down his altars and his images. They slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
Jehoiada appointed officers over the house of the Lord. And the rulers and the captains, and the guard, and the people brought the king from the house of the Lord. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
The people rejoiced, and the city was in quiet. Athaliah was dead; killed with the sword beside the king’s house.
The child Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
Joash
Joash: Eighth king of Judah; He also was called Jehoash.
Reign: Forty years, 835-796 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 11-12; 2 Chronicles 23-24
SOME HISTORY
Joash (Jehoash) was the son of Ahaziah king of Judah and the only one of his children who escaped the murderous hand of Athaliah. After his father’s sister Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, had stolen him from among the king’s sons, he was hidden for six years in the chambers of the temple. In the seventh year of his age and of his concealment, a successful revolution, conducted by Jehoiada, placed him on the throne of his ancestors, and freed the country from the tyranny and idolatries of Athaliah.
For at least 23 years, while Jehoiada lived, his reign was very prosperous; but after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell into the hands of bad advisers, at whose suggestion he revived the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth.
When he was rebuked for this by Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, Joash caused him to be stoned to death in the very court of the Lord’s house (Matthew 23:35). That very year Hazael king of Syria came up against Jerusalem, and carried off a vast booty as the price of his departure.
Joash had scarcely escaped this danger when he fell into another and fatal one. Two of his servants conspired against him and slew him in his bed and in the fortress of Millo.
Joash’s reign lasted 40 years, from 878 to 838 B.C.
Source: King James Dictionary
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/joash
Note the difference in the dates of reign / 835-796 B.C.(Top: introduction)
From The Old Testament
Jehoash reigned 40 years in Jerusalem.
“And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places (2 Kings 12:2-3).”
Jehoash told the priests that all the money brought into the house of the Lord was to be used to repair the breaches of the Lord’s house. But in the 23rd year of king Jehoash’s reign, the priests had not repaired the breaches of the Lord’s house.
King Jehoash called for Jehoiada and the other priests, and asked why they had not repaired the breaches?
He said they would receive no more money, that money received would be for repair of the breaches.
The priests consented to receive no more money of the people.
Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar. Money brought into the house of the Lord would be put in the chest.
There was so much money in the chest, that the money was put in bags. They gave the money to those that did the work — the carpenters and builders; the masons, and hewers of stone. The money bought timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord.
The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the Lord. It was the priests’ money.
King Hazael of Syria fought against Gath, and took it. Then Hazael targeted Jerusalem.
Jehoash took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king’s house, and sent it to the Syrian king. Hazael went away from Jerusalem.
Servants of king Joash conspired against him, and slew him in the house of Millo.
King Joash was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
Amaziah
Amaziah: Ninth king of Judah.
Reign: Twenty-nine years, 796-767 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 25
SOME HISTORY
Amaziah lived during a time when a bitter dispute raged in Judah and Israel between the “Yahweh-only” party, which insisted that no other god but the Lord must be worshiped, and the more cosmopolitan leaders who favored incorporating other national and tribal deities into public worship.
In the north, a Yahweh-only coup had been instigated by the prophet Elisha, placing on the throne the ruthless King Jehu, who massacred all the descendants of Ahab and Jezebel, killing a number of the allied royal house of Judah in the process, including Judah’s King Ahaziah.
Jehu also slaughtered the northern priests of Baal and put an end to Baal worship in his kingdom.
However, this was not enough for the southern partisans of Yahweh, who insisted that he also dismantle the northern shrines at Bethel and Dan, whose golden bull-calf statues they declared idolatrous.
In reaction to Jehu’s coup in the north, Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, seized the throne in Jerusalem, slaying her own rivals and allowing Baal worship to flourish alongside that of the Lord until a coup led by the priests of Temple in Jerusalem placed her young grandson Joash (also called Jehoash of Judah) on the throne.
The temple of Baal was promptly destroyed and Athaliah was slain.
Joash, who began to reign at the age of seven, dutifully followed the policies of his priestly mentors for the most part, but he earned the criticism of the authors of the Books of Kings for not outlawing worship at the local high places, which were unsupervised by the Jerusalem priests.
After Joash, too, was assassinated, Amaziah became king at the age of 25, amid the hopes of the Yahweh-only group that he would act more decisively for their cause.
Amaziah’s Reign
As soon as Amaziah’s kingdom was firmly established, he slew the murderers of his father (2 Kings, 14:5). Contrary to custom, he permitted their children to live, an act for which he is praised by the biblical writers as being in accordance with the Deuteronomic principle that children are not to be punished for the sins of their fathers. His reticence in this regard may also be explained by the fact that his grandmother Athaliah’s entire family—including 60 of Amaziah’s male cousins—had been slain by Jehu, and Athaliah had retaliated by killing all of Amaziah’s more immediate kin in Jerusalem until she herself was put to death by his uncle, the priest Jehoiada.
Early in his reign Amaziah raised a large army, including a reported 100,000 mercenaries from the northern Kingdom of Israel, to reconquer Edom, which had rebelled during the reign of his great-grandfather Jehoram (2 Kings, 2:20-22).
However, Amaziah found himself confronted by an unnamed prophet who instructed him not to ally himself with the northern kingdom, saying: “The Lord is not with Israel —-not with any of the people of Ephraim.” Amaziah objected that he had paid the nearly 100 talents of silver (more than three metric tons) for their services, but in the end he acquiesced. The Israelites were furious at the insult, a factor in the later disastrous war between Judah and Israel.
Nevertheless, Amaziah achieved a major victory over the Edomites, killing 10,000 of them at the Valley of Salt. The chronicler adds that another 10,000 were taken alive and thrown to their deaths from a cliff (2 Chronicles 25:11-12). Meanwhile, the dismissed northern troops vented their resentment at not being able to participate in the battle by raiding Judean towns, killing 3,000. Since he was now the ruler of Edom as well as Judah, Amaziah carried home religious artifacts taken from Mount Seir and honored them as king, an act for which another unnamed prophet condemned him with a prediction of doom.
Amaziah now turned to the problem to his north. His brilliant victory over Edom convinced Amaziah that he was capable of punishing Israel for its raids against Judah, and he challenged King Jehoash of Israel to face him (2 Kings, 14:8-14).
Amaziah rushed into a disastrous battle against Jehoash’s forces at Beth-shemesh, and a humiliating defeat overtook his army. Amaziah was captured, a large section of Jerusalem’s wall was broken down, the Temple and the palace were looted along with the city, and hostages were carried to Israel’s capital, Samaria.
He reportedly lived another 15 years until he, like his father, was the victim of assassins. He was slain at Lachish, to which he had fled, and his body was brought upon horses to Jerusalem, where it was buried in the royal sepulcher (2 Kings 14:19). He was succeeded by his son Azariah (called Uzziah in Chronicles).
Source: New World Encyclopedia
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Amaziah_of_Judah
From The Old Testament
Amaziah, the son of king Joash, was 25 years old when he began to reign over Judah. His mother’s name was Jehoadda.
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did (2 Kings 14:3).”
He did not, however, take away the high places, and the people made sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
As soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, he slew the servants who murdered his father. He did not kill the children of the murderers because the Lord had commanded that fathers should not be put to death for their children, nor the children for their fathers. Every man should be put to death for his own sin.
Amaziah attacked Edom and slew 10,000; he took Selah by war and changed its name to Joktheel.
He then sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face (2 Kings 14:8).”
King Jehoash of Israel replied, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee(2 Kings 14:9-10)?”
King Amaziah would not listen. So Israel’s king Jehoash successfully battled against Amaziah at Bethshemesh, and the men of Judah fled to their tents.
Jehoash took Amaziah back to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. He took all the gold and silver, the vessels found in the house of the Lord, the treasures of the king’s house; he took hostages, and returned to Samaria.
King Jehoash died, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam reigned in his stead.
Amaziah lived 15 years after the death of Jehoash, king of Israel.
However, a conspiracy was made against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish, where he was killed. He was brought back to Jerusalem, and buried there in the city of David.
Second Chronicles records that Amaziah did what was right in the sight of the Lord, “but not with a perfect heart (2 Chronicles 25:2).”
Second Chronicles also records that Amaziah ordered a numbering in Judah, and found 300,000 men ages 20 and above who could go to war.
He hired 100,000 warriors out of Israel for 100 talents of silver.
But there came a man of God to him, saying,
“O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down (2 Chronicles 25:6-8).”
Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this (2 Chronicles 25:9).”
Amaziah sent the army from Ephraim back home, and the men returned home in great anger.
Amaziah led his army to the valley of salt and killed 10,000. The 10,000 left alive were made captives, taken to the top of the rock, and cast down.
The soldiers of the army that Amaziah sent back retaliated, and attacked cities of Judah. They struck down 3,000 of the people, and took much spoil.
After Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods.
“Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
“And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel (2 Chronicles 25:15-16).”
Amaziah then sought a face-to-face meeting with King Joash of Israel.
Joash replied: “Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?”
But Amaziah did not heed the words.
Joash and Amaziah faced off at Bethshemesh. Joash, king of Israel, took Amaziah, king of Judah, and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem, took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels from the house of God. He took the treasures of the king’s house, and he took hostages and returned to Samaria.
Amaziah lived 15 years after Joash died.
Uzziah
Uzziah: Tenth king of Judah
Reign: Fifty-two years, 767-740 B.C. (questionable)
Bible Record: 2 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 26
SOME HISTORY
Uzziah was one of Amaziah’s sons, whom the people made king of Judah in his father’s stead (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26:1). His long reign of about fifty-two years was “the most prosperous excepting that of Jehosaphat since the time of Solomon.”
He was a vigorous and able ruler, and “his name spread abroad, even to the entering in of Egypt” (2 Chronicles 26:8, 14). In the earlier part of his reign, under the influence of Zechariah, he was faithful to Jehovah, and “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 15:3; 2 Chronicles 26:4, 5); but toward the close of his long life “his heart was lifted up to his destruction,” and he wantonly invaded the priest’s office (2 Chronicles 26:16), and entering the sanctuary proceeded to offer incense on the golden altar.
Azariah the high priest saw the tendency of such a daring act on the part of the king, and with a band of 80 priests he withstood him (2 Chronicles 26:17), saying, “It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense.” Uzziah was suddenly struck with leprosy while in the act of offering incense (26:19-21), and he was driven from the temple and compelled to reside in “a several house” to the day of his death (2 Kings 15:5, 27; 2 Chronicles 26:3).
He was buried in a separate grave “in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings” (2 Kings 15:7; 2 Chronicles 26:23). “That lonely grave in the royal necropolis would eloquently testify to coming generations that all earthly monarchy must bow before the inviolable order of the divine will, and that no interference could be tolerated with that unfolding of the purposes of God, which, in the fulness of time, would reveal the Christ, the true High Priest and King for evermore” (Dr. Green’s Kingdom of Israel, etc.).
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/uzziah
The New World Encyclopedia (https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Uzziah_of_Judah) says of Uzziah of Judah:
Uzziah of Judah also known as Azariah, was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 783 B.C.E.-742 B.C.E., while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 767 B.C.E.-740 B.C.E. His dates are uncertain due to the fact that some analysts believe he ruled in place of his exiled father Amaziah for several years before reigning in his own name.
An effective organizer and military leader, Uzziah conquered the Philistines to the west and solidified Judah’s suzerainty (supreme lordship) over the Ammonites and Arab tribes to the east. One of Judah’s most effective rulers, the biblical writers indicate that “his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful (2 Chronicles 26:8).”
Although he was for many years on good terms with the priests of Jerusalem, at some point Uzziah deeply offended them by entering the Temple of Jerusalem and burning incense there, an act normally reserved to the priests. Thereafter, he was deemed unclean on grounds of leprosy and had to live apart from others, his son Jotham ruling in his place.
Uzziah is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as one of the ancestors of the Messiah to come in Jewish tradition.
From Old Testament
Uzziah’s reign over Judah is told in 2 Chronicles 26. Uzziah was 16 years old when the people made him king. He reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His father was Amaziah; his mother, Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper (2 Chronicles 26:4-5).”
Uzziah warred against the Philistines; he broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabians in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims. The Ammonites gave gifts to him.
His name spread abroad.
Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem, and towers in the desert. He dug many wells for his cattle, for the husbandmen and vine dressers.
Uzziah had a host of fighting men, who went to war by bands. His army numbered 307,500, and there were 2,600 leaders in charge of them.
Uzziah armed them with shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons (coats of armor), and bows, and slings to cast stones. He made engines, invented by cunning men, and placed them on the towers and bulwarks. With the engines, arrows could be shot, and great stones hurled.
When he was strong, and his heart proud, he sinned against the Lord his God; he went into the temple of the Lord and burned incense upon the altar of incense.
Azariah the priest, along with 80 other priests, went in after him. They withstood Uzziah the king; the told him to leave the sanctuary, that it was not his place to burn incense.
Uzziah, who had censer in hand, was wroth, and while he was wroth, he was struck with leprosy.
Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and being a leper he was cut off from the house of the Lord.
Jotham his son took over the king’s house, and the judging of the people.
Uzziah died and was buried with his fathers. Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
Jotham
Jotham: Eleventh king of Judah.
Reign: Sixteen years, 748-732 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 27
SOME HISTORY
Jotham was the son and successor of Uzziah on the throne of Judah. As during his last years Uzziah was excluded from public life on account of his leprosy, his son, then 25 years of age, administered for seven years the affairs of the kingdom in his father’s stead (2 Chronicles 26:21, 23; 27:1). After his father’s death he became sole monarch, and reigned for 16 years (B.C. 759-743). He ruled in the fear of God, and his reign was prosperous. He was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, by whose ministrations he profited. He was buried in the sepulchre of the kings, greatly lamented by the people (2 Kings 15:38; 2 Chronicles 27:7-9).
Source: King James Bible
https://www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/Jotham
From The Old Testament
Jotham, son of Uzziah, was 25 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly (2 Chronicles 27:2).”
He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, built on the wall of Ophel, and he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and built castles and towers in the forests.
He fought with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him 100 talents of silver, 10,000 measures of wheat, and 10,000 measures of barley. For three years, children of Ammon paid tribute to him.
Jotham became mighty, “because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”
In 2 Kings 15:37, it is written, that in his days, the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah.
After 16 years on the throne in Jerusalem, Jotham died. He was buried in the city of David.
His son Ahaz reigned in his stead.
Ahaz
Ahaz: Twelveth king of Judah.
Reign: Sixteen years, 732-716 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28; Isaiah 7
SOME HISTORY
Ahaz was a king of Judah, the son and successor of Jotham, and father of Hezekiah. He assumed the throne at the age of 20.
Ahaz faced strong military opposition from the combined forces of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel and lost several major battles at the beginning of his reign. In this context the prophet Isaiah predicted the birth of the child Immanuel as a sign of Judah’s deliverance from the northern threat of Assyria. Ahaz turned to the Assyrian ruler Tiglath Pileser III for aid, and succeeded in protecting Judah from destruction. However the peace resulted in the kingdom becoming the Assyria’s vassal.
Ahaz adopted religious reforms that deeply offended the biblical writers. On a state visit to Damascus, he honored the Assyrian gods and added a new altar to the Temple of Jerusalem patterned after an Assyrian design. He also decreed the people of Judah freedom to worship in whatever manner they chose. Some reports indicate that Ahaz was said to have offered one of his sons as a human sacrifice. Ahaz died at the age of 36 after a 16-year reign and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. Hezekiah is honored in biblical tradition for restoring Judah to a strictly monotheistic religious tradition. Ahaz is one the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
Ahaz’ father Jotham acted as co-regent during the last 15 years of Uzziah’s life. As king, he seems to have kept his place in relation to the priests, and he is also recorded as having rebuilt one of the main gates of the Temple. He warred successfully against the Amonites but faced difficulties with the Syrians, who were in league during this time with the northern kingdom of Israel.
The Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III conquered Israel and Syria, but accepted King Ahaz of Judah as his vassal and ally.
Soon after his accession as king, Ahaz faced a military coalition formed by the northern kingdom of Israel under Pekah and Damascus (Syria) under Rezin. These kings had apparently attempted to coerce Ahaz’ father to join them in opposing the Assyrians, who were arming a force against Syria and Israel under the great Tiglath-Pileser III. They now intended to defeat Ahaz and replace him with a ruler who would join them in opposing the Assyrian threat, “Let us invade Judah,” the prophet Isaiah characterized them as saying, “let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” (Isaiah 7:6) Who the son of Tabeel might have been is unknown, but the intention is clear that he would cooperate with the Israel-Syria coalition more closely than Ahaz would.
According to the account in the Book of Chronicles, in one phase of the ensuing war the Syrians defeated Ahaz’ forces and “took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus” (2 Chronicles 28:5). Pekah of Israel followed up by inflicting heavy damage to Judah’s army, reportedly including 120,000 casualties in a single day. Among those killed were Ahaz’ sons Azrikam and Elkanah, the latter being the heir to the throne. These losses were compounded by the northerners carrying away a large number of women and children to their capital at Samaria, as well as a great deal of plunder. The prophetic party in the north, however, succeeded in influencing the northern army to return the captives. The prisoners were consequently treated kindly and sent south to Jericho together with their property.
Ahaz had to face the combined force of Israel and Syria and turned to Assyria for help, a move which succeeded in the short run when both of his northern neighbors eventually fell to the Assyrian power.
Ahaz’ worries about the threat Syria and Israel were addressed directly by Isaiah, who counseled him not to lose heart. It is in this context that Isaiah made his famous prophecy of the child Immanuel:
The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin (or maiden) will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel… But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread (Pekah and Rezin) will be laid waste. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria” (Isaiah 7:14-17).
Although Isaiah had urged him not to fear Pekah and Resin, Ahaz turned to the Assyrians for protection. Externally, this strategy succeeded, for Tiglath-Pileser III invaded the kingdom of Damascus and also moved against Israel, just as Isaiah predicted, leaving Ahaz without trouble for the moment. The war lasted two years and ended in the capture and annexation of Damascus and its surrounding territory to Assyria, together with substantial territories in Israel north of Jezreel. The price Ahaz had to pay for Assyrian protection, however, was a high one, as Judah became Assyria’s vassal. Ahaz also furnished help to Assyria in the form of auxiliaries for Tiglath-Pileser’s army.
During the rest of his reign, Ahaz’ political policy succeeded in keeping the peace in Judah, while Israel suffered as a result of its resistance to Assyrian power. It was during this time, in 722 B.C.E., that the northern capital of Samaria finally fell, and the kingdom of Israel was incorporated into the Assyrian empire.
However, what was externally a blessing for Ahaz and Judah proved to be inwardly a curse. Early in his reign, he had gone to Damascus to swear homage to the victorious Tiglath-Pileser. There, he participated in public religious ceremonies that honored the Assyrian deities. Ahaz was powerfully impressed with the glamor and prestige of the Assyrian culture, so much so that he ordered a new altar constructed in Jerusalem after the Assyrian model, making this a permanent feature of Temple worship. Changes were also made in the arrangements and furniture of the Temple.
Ahaz also carried out a decentralizing religious reform, allowing people to worship wherever they wished, rather than only in Jerusalem’s temple. These reforms earned him the absolute condemnation of the biblical writers, who recorded not only that he worshiped at the high places, but even that he offered his son as a human sacrifice by fire. (Chronicles says “sons” rather than the singular “son” given by Kings.) No information is known about the ages of these son(s) or their place in the royal succession.
Ahaz died after a 16-year reign at the age of 36. Despite his external success of keeping Judah alive while Israel fell to the Assyrians, his biblical epitaph reads: “He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel… following the detestable ways of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” (2 Kings 16:3)
Source: New World Encyclopedia
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/ahaz
From The Old Testament
Ahaz, son of king Jotham, was 20 years old when he became king of Judah. He reigned 16 years.
He did not do right in the sight of God. (2 Kings 16:2)
“But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
“And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.” —2 Kings 16:3-4
Then, king Rezin of Syria and king Remaliah of Israel besieged Jerusalem, and Ahaz was at war.
The two kings did not overcome Ahaz, but the Syrian king recovered Elath for Syria. “Ahaz sought alliance with king Tiglathpileser of Assyria, saying, “I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-8).”
The Assyrian king attacked Damascus, took it, made captives of the people and carried them to Kir. He slew Rezin.
King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser. There, he saw an altar. The impressed Ahaz instructed Urijah the priest to build a duplicate altar in Jerusalem.
When Ahaz returned from Damascus, he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. He took the brasen altar, and put it on the north side of the altar.
“And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by (2 Kings 16:15).”
Urijah the priest, did as king Ahaz commanded.
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, was turned from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
Ahaz died, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
His son Hezekiah reigned in his stead.
In 2 Chronicles 28, it is written that Ahaz walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He made molten images for Baalim.
“Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree (2 Chronicles 28:3-4).”
God delivered him to the king of Syria. He was smitten, and carried away with the captives to Damascus. Then he was handed over to the king of Israel, “who smote him with a great slaughter.”
Pekah the son of Remaliah slew 120,000 in Judah in one day. Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.
The children of Israel took 200,000 captives, along with much spoil, and returned to Samaria.
But Oded, a prophet of the Lord was there, and he said to them: “Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you (2 Chronicles 28:9-11).”
Then Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood against those who returned from the war.
These tribal leaders would not allow the captives to be brought in, that to do so would add more sin to the sins already committed.
The armed men left the captives and the spoil before the group of leaders. The captives were clothed and fed and taken to Jericho, to their brothers. The tribal leaders returned to Samaria (Israel’s capital located in the hill country of Ephraim).
King Ahaz sought help from the kings of Assyria. The Edomites had attacked Judah, and carried away captives. The Philistines had invaded the cities of the low country, and cities of the south of Judah. They took Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho, and Timnah, and Gimzo. And they dwelt there.
“For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord (2 Chronicles 28:19).”
Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came to Ahaz, and distressed him.
For Ahaz had taken away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but Tilgathpilneser did not help him.
“And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 28:22-25).”
When Ahaz died, he was not brought into the sepulchres of the of the kings.
Isaiah, in chapter 7, writes that the Lord told him to meet Ahaz,
“And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established (Isaiah 7:4-9).”
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying,
“Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
“The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
“In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
“With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle (Isaiah 7:11-25).”
Hezekiah
Hezekiah: Thirteenth king of Judah.
Reign: Twenty-nine years, 716-687 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 29-32; Isaiah 36-39
SOME HISTORY
Hezekiah is spoken of as a great and good king. In public life he followed the example of his great-grandfather Uzziah. He set himself to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, and among other things which he did for this end, he destroyed the “brazen serpent,” which had been removed to Jerusalem, and had become an object of idolatrous worship (Numbers 21:9). A great reformation was wrought in the kingdom of Judah in his day (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chronicles 29:3-36).
On the death of Sargon and the accession of his son Sennacherib to the throne of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to pay the tribute which his father had paid, and “rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not,” but entered into a league with Egypt (Isaiah 30; 31; 36:6-9). This led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16), who took 40 cities, and besieged Jerusalem with mounds. Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 of gold (18:14).
But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isaiah 33:1), and a second time within two years invaded his kingdom (2 Kings 18:17; 2 Chronicles 32:9; Isaiah 36). This invasion issued in the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. Hezekiah prayed to God, and “that night the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians’ 185,000 men.” Sennacherib fled with the shattered remnant of his forces to Nineveh, where, 17 years after, he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer (2 Kings 19:37).
The narrative of Hezekiah’s sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Chronicles 32:24, Isaiah 38:1. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among them Merodach-baladan, the viceroy of Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:23; 2 Kings 20:12). He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Manasseh. He was buried in the “chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David” (2 Chronicles 32:27-33).
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/hezekiah
From The Old Testament
Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz king of Judah, was 25 years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
“He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses (2 Kings 18:3-6).”
God was with Hezekiah, and he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria. He struck against the Philistines.
In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, and the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria besieged Samaria, and three years later, the capital city of Israel was taken.
Shalmaneser carried captives of Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
The children of Israel had refused to listen to the voice of the Lord; they transgressed his covenant.
In the 14th year of king Hezekiah, the Assyrian king attacked and took the fenced cities of Judah.
In a negotiation, Judah’s king Hezekiah gave the king of Assyria all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the the king’s house. Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the Lord’s temple, and from the pillars which Hezekiah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
The Assyrian king sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. They called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out.
Rabshakeh gave them Shalmaneser’s message to Hezekiah:
“Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it (2 Kings 18:19-25).”
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, asked Rabshakeh to speak in the Syrian language, so the Jews on the wall would not understand their words. (Isaiah 36:3 identifies Eliakim as Hezekiah’s palace administrator, Shebna as the court secretary, and Joah as the royal historian).
“But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
“Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand (2 Kings 18:27-35)?”
The people held their peace, and did not answer, for their king had said, “Answer him not.”
Eliakim and Shebna and Joah rent their clothes and relayed to Hezekiah the words of Rabshakeh.
Upon hearing Rabshakeh’s words, Hezekiah rent his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. He sent Eliakim and Shebna, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet.
“And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left (2 Kings 19:3-4).”
“And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land (2 Kings 19:6-7).”
Rabshakeh returned, and found the king Shalmaneser at war against Libnah. The Assyrian king had heard that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia had come out to fight.
Shalmaneser sent messengers back to Hezekiah. They were to say, “Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah (2 Kings 19:10-13)?”
Hezekiah received the letter, read it, and he went into the house of the Lord. He spread the letter before the Lord. He prayed before the Lord, saying
“ O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only (1 Kings 19:15-19).”
Then Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah:
“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” –2 Kings 19:20-34
That night, the angel of the Lord went out, and slew 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and dwelled in Nineveh. As he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword. They fled into the land of Armenia. Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon reigned in his stead.
Hezekiah became deadly sick. The prophet Isaiah told him words of the Lord; he should set his house in order, for he would die.
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, “I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight (2 Kings 20:3).”
Hezekiah wept. And the Lord spoke again to Isaiah: “Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake (2 Kings 20:5-6).”
Isaiah told Hezekiah’s caregivers to take a lump of figs and lay it on the boil. This was done, and Hezekiah recovered. He then asked Isaiah of a sign from the Lord
“Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
“And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:9-11).”
The king of Babylon, Berodachbaladan, upon hearing Hezekiah had been sick, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah.
Hezekiah showed those who brought the letters and present all his precious things, the silver, gold, spices, precious ointment, and all the armor in his house.
Isaiah asked Hezekiah to explain the presence of the men.
Hezekiah replied they had come from Babylon.
Isaiah asked what had the men seen in his house? Hezekiah answered that they had seen everything.
And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days (2 Kings 20:16-19)?”
The death of Hezekiah is recorded in 2 Kings, chapter 20. His son Manasseh reigns over Judah.
In 2 Chronicles, more of the acts of King Hezekiah are told. In his first year as king, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. He brought together the priests and the Levites and said:
“Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense (2 Chronicles 29:5-11).”
The Levites arose; they gathered their brothers, they sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.
After cleansing and sanctifying the temple of the Lord, they said to king Hezekiah:
“We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord (2 Chronicles 29:18-19).”
Hezekiah rose early, gathered the city rulers and went to the house of the Lord.
The priests prepared the offerings to the Lord.
“And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
“Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly (2 Chronicles 29:26-36)”.
Hezekiah sent word by letters to all in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover.
The letters from the king and his princes went throughout all Israel and Judah, saying, “Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
“And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him (2 Chronicles 30:6-9).”
The posts passed from city to city and throughout the country. But the people laughed, and mocked them.
Nevertheless, some of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord (2 Chronicles 30:12).
Many assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month.
“And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron (2 Chronicles 30:14).”
Then they killed the passover. Shameful priests and Levites sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. Many in the congregation were not sanctified, so the Levites had charge of fulfilling passover commandments. Many had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than it was written.
Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good Lord pardon every one That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
“And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.
“And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
“And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
“And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
“So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven (2 Chronicles 30:18-27).”
When the keeping of the passover was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces. They cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then the children of Israel returned to their own cities (2 Chronicles 31:1).
Hezekiah declared the allotments of the priests and Levites according to their duties. He appointed the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings. He commanded the people of Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord.
“The children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
“And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.
“In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel.
“Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.
“Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them, And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next (2 Chronicles 31:5-12).”
Hezekiah wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.
“And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered (2 Chronicles 31:21).”
In recording the attack against Judah by Sennacherib king of Assyria, it is told in 2 Chronicles that Hezekiah took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the city’s fountains. And the people gathered together, and stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the land. This was to prevent the Assyrians access to their water.
Hezekiah built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers. He repaired Millo in the city of David. He made darts and shields in abundance. He set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying:
“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 32:7-8).”
In 2 Chronicles 32:10-15, King Sennacherib’s message to the people of Judah, is also recorded.
Hezekiah, and the prophet Isaiah cried to heaven. And God sent an angel, and Sennacherib’s mighty men were cut off. So the king of Assyria returned in shame to his own land.
“And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword (2 Chronicles 32:21).”
God saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem.
Many brought gifts to the Lord, and brought presents to Hezekiah. And he was magnified in the sight of all nations.
Hezekiah was sick to the death. He prayed to the Lord.
“But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:25).”
Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, as did the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So the wrath of God was withheld from them in the days of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was exceeding rich. He had treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels.
There were storehouses for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. There were stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
God had given him much substance.
Hezekiah had also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. He had prospered in all his works.
When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh reigned in his stead.
Manasseh
Manasseh: Fourteenth king of Judah
Reign: Fifty-five years, 687-642 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33
SOME HISTORY
The only son and successor of Hezekiah on the throne of Judah. He was twelve years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 21:1), and he reigned fifty-five years (B.C. 698-643). Though he reigned so long, yet comparatively little is known of this king. His reign was a continuation of that of Ahaz, both in religion and national polity. He early fell under the influence of the heathen court circle, and his reign was characterized by a sad relapse into idolatry with all its vices, showing that the reformation under his father had been to a large extent only superficial (Isaiah 7:10; 2 Kings 21:10-15). A systematic and persistent attempt was made, and all too successfully, to banish the worship of Jehovah out of the land. Amid this wide-spread idolatry there were not wanting, however, faithful prophets (Isaiah, Micah) who lifted up their voice in reproof and in warning. But their fidelity only aroused bitter hatred, and a period of cruel persecution against all the friends of the old religion began.
There is an old Jewish tradition that Isaiah was put to death at this time (2 Kings 21:16; 24:3, 4; Jeremiah 2:30), having been sawn asunder in the trunk of a tree. Psalms 49, 73, 77, 140, and 141 seem to express the feelings of the pious amid the fiery trials of this great persecution. Manasseh has been called the “Nero of Palestine.”
Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s successor on the Assyrian throne, who had his residence in Babylon for 13 years (the only Assyrian monarch who ever reigned in Babylon), took Manasseh prisoner (B.C. 681) to Babylon. Such captive kings were usually treated with great cruelty. They were brought before the conqueror with a hook or ring passed through their lips or their jaws, having a cord attached to it, by which they were led. This is referred to in 2 Chronicles 33:11, where the Authorized Version reads that Esarhaddon “took Manasseh among the thorns;” while the Revised Version renders the words, “took Manasseh in chains;” or literally, as in the margin, “with hooks.” (Comp. 2 Kings 19:28.)
The severity of Manasseh’s imprisonment brought him to repentance. God heard his cry, and he was restored to his kingdom (2 Chronicles 33:11-13). He abandoned his idolatrous ways, and enjoined the people to worship Jehovah; but there was no thorough reformation. After a lengthened reign extending through fifty-five years, the longest in the history of Judah, he died, and was buried in the garden of Uzza, the “garden of his own house” (2 Kings 21:17, 18; 2 Chronicles 33:20), and not in the city of David, among his ancestors. He was succeeded by his son Amon.
In Judges 18:30 the correct reading is “Moses,” and not “Manasseh.” The name “Manasseh” is supposed to have been introduced by some transcriber to avoid the scandal of naming the grandson of Moses the great lawgiver as the founder of an idolatrous religion.
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/manasseh
The Jewish Encyclopedia gives this account:
Manasseh, the successor of Hezekiah upon the throne of Judah, was but a boy of 12 at his father’s death. His reign of 53 years is the longest recorded in the annals of Judah. There can be no doubt that Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, departed to his capital in the days of Hezekiah (II Kings xix. 36), regarding Judah as a conquered and tribute-paying province; and so it remained during the reigns of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, his successors upon the throne of Assyria. In their published inscriptions Manasseh of Judah is distinctly mentioned as a vassal king (Schrader, “K. B.” ii. 148, 238). That these sovereigns cherished a real interest in their western domain is shown by their settlement of colonists in Samaria (Ezra iv. 2, 9-10). Each of them invaded and plundered Egypt and maintained protracted sieges of the strong cities of Phenicia.
Relations with Assyria
In II Kings, written within a century or so of Manasseh’s death, there is no hint of revolt. The Chronicler, however, declares (II Chronicles xxxiii. 11) that in consequence of the deliberate unfaithfulness of Judah God brought upon the nation “the captains of the host of the King of Assyria,” who took Manasseh in chains to Babylon. Thence, having truly repented, he was restored to his throne, where he demonstrated the genuineness of his change of heart by giving himself to measures of defense, administration, and religious reform. To harmonize the Chronicler’s testimony with that of the Hebrew contemporary writings is even more difficult. The crying need in the days of Josiah, Manasseh’s immediate successor, was religious reform; Jeremiah declared (xv. 4; comp. II Kings xxiii. 26) that Manasseh’s sins had yet to be expiated.
The writer in Kings emphasizes three deplorable details of the reign of Manasseh: the religious reaction which followed hard upon his accession; its extension by the free adoption of foreign cults; and the bitter persecution of the prophetic party. During Manasseh’s half-century the popular worship was a medley of native and foreign cults, the influence of which was slow to disappear (Ezekiel viii).
Such a reaction involved the persecution of those who had bitterly condemned the popular syncretism. The prophets were put to the sword (Jeremiah ii. 30). “Innocent blood” reddened the streets of Jerusalem (II Kings xxiv. 4). For many decades those who sympathized with prophetic ideas were in constant peril.
See: https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10343-manasseh
From The Old Testament
Manasseh was 12 years old when his 52-year reign over Judah began. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel (2Kings 21:2).”
Manasseh rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he again built altars for Baal, and made a grove. He did as did king Ahab king of Israel had done. He worshipped and served all the host of heaven.
He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the Lord’s house, and he made his son pass through the fire. He observed times, used enchantments, dealt with familiar spirits and wizards.
He provoked the Lord to anger because of his great wickedness.
He set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them (2 Kings 21:7-8).”
But God’s people did not listen to God, and Manasseh their king seduced them to do more evil than did the nations God destroyed on behalf of the children of Israel.
So the Lord sent prophets to them with a message:
“Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD (2 Kings 21:11-16).”
Manasseh died and was buried in the garden of his own house.
His son Amon reigned in his stead.
In 2 Chronicles 33:1, it is recorded that Manasseh reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. Writers of 2 Chronicles also record that Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Manasseh’s evils listed in 2 Kings 21 are repeated in 2 Chronicles 33:
“For he put up again the high places which had been pulled down by his father Hezekiah; and he made altars for the Baals, and pillars of wood, and was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven; And he made altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will my name be for ever. And he made altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord.
“More than this, he made his children go through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he made use of secret arts, and signs for reading the future, and unnatural powers, and gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers: he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath.
“And he put the image he had made in the house of God, the house of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: And never again will I let the feet of Israel be moved out of the land which I have given to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, even all the law and the orders and the rules given to them by Moses.
“And Manasseh made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go out of the true way, so that they did more evil than those nations whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel. And the word of the Lord came to Manasseh and his people, but they gave no attention.
“So the Lord sent against them the captains of the army of Assyria, who made Manasseh a prisoner and took him away in chains to Babylon. And crying out to the Lord his God in his trouble, he made himself low before the God of his fathers, And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
“Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.
“After this he made an outer wall for the town of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, as far as the way into the town by the fish doorway; and he put a very high wall round the Ophel; and he put captains of the army in all the walled towns of Judah.
“He took away the strange gods and the image out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars he had put up on the hill of the Lord’s house and in Jerusalem, and put them out of the town.
“And he put the altar of the Lord in order, offering peace-offerings and praise-offerings on it, and said that all Judah were to be servants of the Lord, the God of Israel. However, the people still made offerings in the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
“Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words which the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded among the acts of the kings of Israel. And the prayer which he made to God, and how God gave him an answer, and all his sin and his wrongdoing, and the places where he made high places and put up pillars of wood and images, before he put away his pride, are recorded in the history of the seers (2 Chronicles 33:3-19 / KJV Basic English Bible).”
When Manasseh died he was buried in his own house.
Amon
Amon: Fifteenth king of Judah.
Reign: Two years, 642-640 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33
SOME HISTORY
The Biblical accounts of Amon are found in II Kings, 21:18-26 and in 2 Chronicles 33:20-25; and he is mentioned in I Chronicles 3:14 among the descendants of King David. Elsewhere he is spoken of merely as the father of Josiah.
He was the son of King Manasseh and of Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, and at the age 22 he succeeded to the throne on the death of Manasseh. His short reign of two years (about 640-638 B.C.) seems to have been chiefly remarkable for his repetition of the idolatrous practises of his father. In fact, according to the account in Chronicles, Amon was worse than his father; for Manasseh repented of his idolatry (2 Chronicles 33:12), but Amon “humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh, his father, had humbled himself” (2 Chronicles 33:23), but sacrificed to all the graven images that his father had made. He was assassinated in his palace by a band of conspirators composed of his own servants; but the people avenged his death by slaying the conspirators and putting the king’s son, Josiah, on the throne. Amon was buried in the garden of Uzza, where his father had been buried before him (I2 Kings, 21:18).
Source: Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1420-amon-king-of-judah
From The Old Testament
Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord (2 Kings 21:20-22).”
Amon’s servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
Then, the people of the land slew those who had conspired against king Amon.
The people of Judah made Josiah his son king in his stead.
He was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza. His son Josiah reigned in his stead.
In recording Amon’s reign, 2 Chronicles says:
“But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more (2 Chronicles 33:22-23).”
Josiah
Josiah: Sixteenth king of Judah; son of Amon.
Reign: Thirty-one years, 640-608 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35
SOME HISTORY
His record is contained in 2 Kings 22, 23. He stands foremost among all the kings of the line of David for unswerving loyalty to Jehovah (23:25). He “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father.” He ascended the throne at the early age of eight years, and it appears that not till eight years afterwards did he begin “to seek after the God of David his father.” At that age he devoted himself to God. He distinguished himself by beginning a war of extermination against the prevailing idolatry, which had practically been the state religion for some 70 years (2 Chronicles 34:3; compare Jeremiah 25:3, 11, 29).
In the eighteenth year of his reign he proceeded to repair and beautify the temple, which by time and violence had become sorely dilapidated (2 Kings 22:3, 5, 6; 23:23; 2 Chronicles 34:11). While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses.
When this book was read to him, the king was alarmed by the things it contained, and sent for Huldah, the “prophetess,” for her counsel. She spoke to him words of encouragement, telling him that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the threatened days of judgment came. Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of their ancient national covenant with God. The Passover was then celebrated, as in the days of his great predecessor, Hezekiah, with unusual magnificence. Nevertheless, “the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah” (2 Kings 22:3-20; 23:21-27; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19). During the progress of this great religious revolution Jeremiah helped it on by his earnest exhortations.
Soon after this, Pharaoh-Necho II. (q.v.), king of Egypt, in an expedition against the king of Assyria, with the view of gaining possession of Carchemish, sought a passage through the territory of Judah for his army. This Josiah refused to permit. He had probably entered into some new alliance with the king of Assyria, and faithful to his word he sought to oppose the progress of Necho.
The army of Judah went out and encountered that of Egypt at Megiddo, on the verge of the plain of Esdraelon. Josiah went into the field in disguise, and was fatally wounded by a random arrow. His attendants conveyed him toward Jerusalem, but had only reached Hadadrimmon, a few miles south of Megiddo, when he died (2 Kings 23:28, 30; comp. 2 Chronicles 35:20-27), after a reign of 31 years. He was buried with the greatest honours in fulfilment of Huldah’s prophecy (2 Kings 22:20; compare Jeremiah 34:5). Jeremiah composed a funeral elegy on this the best of the kings of Israel (Lamentations 4:20; 2 Chronicles 35:25). The outburst of national grief on account of his death became proverbial (Zechariah 12:11; comp. Revelation 16:16).
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/Josiah
From The Old Testament
Josiah, son of Amon, was eight years old when he began to reign in Judah, and he reigned 31 years. His mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left (2 Kings 22:2).”
In his 18th year on the throne, he sent Shaphan the scribe into the house of the Lord, and there, he was to go to Hilkiah the high priest. King Josiah wanted to know how much silver had been brought into the house of the Lord. The silver was to be delivered to those who had oversight of the Lord’s house, and the silver was to be used to repair the Lord’s house.
There is no recording of the worth of the silver, however, it is written that the priests had dealt faithfully (2 Kings 22).
Hilkiah also told Shaphan he had found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. He gave the book to Shaphan, and Shaphan read it.
The scribe reported back to the king that the money had been gathered and delivered to the overseers of house of the Lord.
Shaphan the scribe shewed the king the book that Hilkiah the priest had presented to him.
When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes. He ordered that Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant, to “enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us (2 Kings 22:13).”
The king’s men went to Huldah the prophetess, who dwelt in Jerusalem in the college. They communed with her.
She spoke the words of the Lord to them:
“Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
“But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place (2 Kings 22:16-20).”
After King Josiah heard the Lord’s words, he gathered the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And Josiah went into the house of the Lord. All the people — both great and small — were with him. Also with him were the priests and the prophets.
King Josiah read to them all the words of the book of the covenant. He stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, “to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant (2 Kings 23:3).”
The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring from God’s temple all the vessels that had been made for Baal, the grove, and for all the host of heaven. And these vessels he burned, and carried the ashes to Bethel.
Josiah put down the idolatrous priests — ordained by past kings of Judah to burn incense in the high places, to burn incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
He brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, and burned it at the brook Kidron. Remains were stamped into powder, and the powder upon the graves of the children of the people.
Josiah broke down the houses of the sodomites, that stood by the house of the Lord, and where the women wove hangings for the grove.
He took the priests out of the cities of Judah; he defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense; he broke down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city.
The priests of the high places could not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
The king also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, “that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech (2 Kings 23:10).”
He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
Josiah broke down the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and he broke down the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And Josiah cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
He demolished the high places king Solomon had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.
He broke in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
“Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove (2 Kings 23:15).”
When he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, he took the bones from the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord.
But Josiah did not remove the bones from a sepuchre that the men of the city told him was the sepuchre of the man of God.
“Let him alone; let no man move his bones,” said Josiah. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria (2 Kings 23:18).
King Josiah took away the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger. He slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
Then, the king commanded the people to keep the passover.
And it was said: “Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah (2 Kings 23:22).”
Josiah also put away the workers with familiar spirits, the wizards, the images, the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. This was in accordance to the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
And of Josiah, it is written, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him (2 Kings 23:25).”
The Lord, however, did not turn from his great wrath.
“And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there (2 Kings 23:27).”
Josiah Killed in Battle
Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt warred against the king of Assyria, and king Josiah went against him. Josiah was slain at Megiddo. His servants brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre.
And the people made Josiah’s son Jehoahaz king in his father’s stead.
2 Chronicles:
Second Chronicles, Chapter 34, repeats much of what is recorded in 2 Kings.
There is this insight:
While Josiah was young, “he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
“And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
“And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.
“And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 34:3-7).”
In Josiah’s 18th year, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord.
“And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.
“And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house: Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
“And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.
“Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.
“And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses (2 Chronicles 34:9-14).”
The book was brought to the king, and his acts are recorded in 2 Kings.
Second Chronicles 34: 33 ends with:
“And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Second Chronicles 35 records Josiah’s keeping of the passover:
“And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,
And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel, And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.
“So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses (2 Chronicles 35:2-6).”
And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
“And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:18).”
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates.
Josiah went out against him.
The Egyptian king sent ambassadors to Josiah, saying his war was not against Judah. But Josiah would not turn his face from him. He disguised himself, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king told his servants to take him away, as he had been sorely wounded.
“His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:24).”
Jeremiah the prophet lamented for Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:25).
And the people made Jehoahaz son of Josiah king.
Jehoahaz / Shalom
Jehoahaz/Shallum: Seventeenth king of Judah
Reign: Three months, 608 B.C.
Bible Record: 2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 3
SOME HISTORY
Josiah’s third son, usually called Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15).) He succeeded his father on the throne, and reigned over Judah for three months (2 Kings 23:31-34). He fell into the idolatrous ways of his predecessors (23:32), was deposed by Pharaoh-Necho from the throne, and carried away prisoner into Egypt, where he died in captivity (2 Kings 23:33,34; Jeremiah 22:10-12; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4).
Source: King James Bible Dictionary
https://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/jehoahaz
From The Old Testament
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done (2 Kings 23:32).”
The Egyptian king Pharaohnechoh did not allow him to reign in Jerusalem; he put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath. He also put a tax on the land — a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king. Jehoahaz was taken away and died in Egypt (2 Kings 23:34).
Note: The sons of Josiah were Johanan, firstborn; Jehoiakim, second; Zedekiah third; Shallum fourth. (1 Chronicles 3:15)
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim: Eighteenth king of Judah, the son of King Josiah. His name is also sometimes spelled Jehoikim or Joachim.
Reign: 608-597 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 23-24; 2 Chronicles 36
SOME HISTORY
Jehoiakim succeeded his younger brother Jehoahaz on the throne of Judah as a result of Jehoahaz’s being deposed by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt. He became king at the age of 25.
During Jehoiakim’s reign as a vassal of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and forced Jehoiakim to shift his allegiance to Babylon. Jehoiakim was bitterly opposed by the prophet Jeremiah for his apparently liberal religious policy and his misplaced hope in Egypt. As a result, Jehoiakim burned a manuscript of Jeremiah’s prophecies, ordered his arrest, and executed one of the prophet’s colleagues.
Jehoiakim eventually refused to continue paying tribute to Nebuchadrezzar II, which resulted in the subsequent siege of Jerusalem of 597 B.C.E., just prior to which Jehoiakim died, probably of natural causes. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who soon surrendered to the Babylonians, resulting in the deportation of many of Jerusalem’s nobles, craftsmen, and other leading citizens.
Jehoiakim lived at a time of great crisis for the Kingdom of Judah. His father, Josiah, was considered to be Judah’s greatest king since David by the biblical writers, but had been shockingly killed in battle against Pharaoh Necho II at Megiddo.
Josiah’s religious reforms, in which he violently suppressed all non-Jewish religions and banned even sacrifices to Yahweh outside of Jerusalem, had been greeted with tremendous enthusiasm by the Temple priesthood, who saw him as a new Joshua. After Josiah’s death, Judah found itself sandwiched between two colliding great civilizations: Egypt and Babylonia, with Egypt temporarily winning the tug-of-war over the middle ground of the southern Levant.
Biblical Data
Jehoiakim was the eldest son of King Josiah but it was his younger brother Jehoahaz (Shallum) who took the throne after Josiah’s death. Pharaoh Necho quickly deposed Jehoahaz and placed Jehoiakim on the throne, changing his name, which was originally “Eliakim,” in the process (II Kings 23:4). Jehoahaz, meanwhile, was taken captive and brought to Egypt. In addition to taking unspecified treasures from the Temple of Jerusalem, the pharaoh imposed heavy tribute on Jehoiakim, forcing him to raise taxes in order to obtain the necessary funds.
The chronology of events in Jehoiakim’s reign is difficult to reconstruct, since it relies not only on the accounts in the books of Kings and Chronicles, but also from the prophecies of Jeremiah, which are not recorded in chronological order.
“Early” in Jehoiakim’s reign, Jeremiah urged the king to return to the strict religious policy adopted by Josiah, saying in God’s name:
“If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house [the Temple of Jerusalem] like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.” (Jeremiah 26:4-6)
This threat was greeted with a great outcry from those who believed that God would never remove his protection from the Temple — including priests, citizens, and even other prophets. Jeremiah’s opponents immediately went to Jehoiakim’s officials and demanded Jeremiah’s death on grounds of treason. Jeremiah defended himself by assuring the officials that if his words of advice would be heeded, both the Temple and city would be safe, and the cooler heads in this crisis eventually prevailed.
Another critic of Jehoiakim, however, was not so fortunate. When Uriah son of Shemaiah prophesied in a similar vein, the king himself sought his death. Although Uriah fled into Egypt, he was soon retrieved and executed.
Meanwhile, Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, against whom Pharaoh Necho had marched when Josiah had attempted to intercept him a few years earlier, was not willing to accept Egyptian suzerainty over the kingdoms of the Levant. In Jehoiakim’s fourth year as king, Nebuchadnezzar therefore invaded Judah and compelled Jehoiakim to pay tribute to him instead of Egypt. Some in Judah, notably the prophet Jeremiah, preferred Nebuchadnezzar to Necho, who had killed Josiah and shattered the hope that he would institute a golden age not seen since the times of David and Solomon. Jeremiah became Jehoiakim’s most outspoken opponent and urged a policy of cooperation with Babylon.
After three years as a vassal to Babylon, Jehoiakim rebelled, a decision which ultimately brought ruin upon himself and upon the country. Jeremiah, meanwhile, became increasingly bold in his criticism against the king. Although banned from speaking openly in the Temple area, Jeremiah dictated a series of stinging prophecies to his scribe, Baruch, and ordered him to read.
Jehoiakim Burns Writings of Jeremiah
“The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it. Therefore, this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened (Jeremiah 36:29-31).’”
When these words reached the king’s ears, Jehoiakim cut the scroll on which they were written in pieces and burned them. He then ordered the arrest of both the prophet and his scribe, but Jeremiah and Baruch, safely hidden, only redoubled their efforts. The prophet went even so far as to predict that Jehoiakim would be buried “with the burial of an ass, drawn, and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” (Jeremiah 22:19) However, this prophecy went apparently unfulfilled, as the Book of Kings reports only that “he rested with his fathers.” (2 Kings 24:6)
In the later years of his reign, Jehoaikim held out against a series of raids by Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite forces, with the Babylonians playing a coordinating role. Finally, Nebuchadnezzer organized a major invasion force and prepared to lay siege to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died, apparently of natural causes, after a reign of 11 years, with the Babylonian army either approaching or already at his gates.
He was succeeded by his 18-year-old son Jehoiachin, who resisted the siege for three months before surrendering.
Legacy
Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin continued his father’s policy of resistance against Babylon for three months. This, put him, like his father, squarely at odds with the prophet Jeremiah, who denounced the young king in the severest possible terms. After the young king was taken in chains to Babylon, Jehoiakim’s brother Zedekiah became Judah’s king in Jerusalem. At first he collaborated with the Babylonians, but pressure from priests, prophets, and other citizens caused him eventually to reject Jeremiah’s advice. His rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar II brought about the destruction of both Jerusalem and its Temple around 586 B.C.E., signaling the demise of the Kingdom of Judah.
Source: New World Encyclopedia
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jehoiakim
From The Old Testament
Jehoiakim (Josiah’s second-born son Eliakim), was made king of Judah by Pharaohnechoh, pharaoh and king of Egypt, who gave Eliakim the name of Jehoiakim. He was 25 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
Jehoiakim gave Judah’s silver and the gold to Pharaoh; and by demand of tribute by Pharaohnechoh, he taxed the land.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done (2 Kings 23:37).”
During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up (in the Battle of Carchemish, in 605, the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians), and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
“And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets (2 Kings 24:2).”
God had determined to remove those of Judah from his sight because of the sins of Manasseh, for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood.
Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his stead.
“And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt (2 Kings 24:7).”
In 2 Chronicles, Chapter 36, it is recorded that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon bound Jehoiakim in fetters and he was taken to Babylon.
“Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:7).”
Of Jehoiakim, the prophet Jeremiah said,
“Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem (Jerimiah 22:18-19).”
Jeremiah continually warned of the destruction to come.
In Jeremiah 25:4-9, he says:
“And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
“They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
“Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.”
Jeremiah prophesied the nations would serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
In the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign, Jeremiah had been instructed by the Lord to stand in the court of the Lords’s house and speak to the people who came to house of the Lord from the cities of Judah. He was to deliver the Lord’s words:
“Thus saith the Lord; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth (Jeremiah 26:4-6).”
When Jeremiah ended his speaking, the priests and prophets and people told him he should surely die.
The people gathered against Jeremiah. When the princes of Judah heard what was happening, they came. The priests and prophets told them Jeremiah should die for prophesying against the city.
Jeremiah answered that the Lord sent him to prophesy. He told them to amend their ways, and obey God, and God would repent of the evil he had pronounced against Judah.
“As for me,” he said, “behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears (Jeremiah 26:14-15).”
The princes and the people told the priests and prophets that Jeremiah should not die.
Certain elders rose up, and spoke of Micah who prophesied against Judah in the days of king Hezekiah. Hezekiah did not put the prophet to death; he turned to the Lord.
They spoke of Urijah who prophesied against the city in the name of the Lord in the days of king Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim sought to put him to death. Urijah fled to Egypt, but Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt, and the men took Urijah, brought him before Jehoiakim, who slew him with the sword. Urijah’s dead body was cast into the graves of the common people.
Jeremiah’s life was spared.
Jeremiah also had been told by God to write upon a roll all the words He had spoken against Israel, Judah, and the nations.
“It may be,” said the Lord, “that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and sin (Jeremiah 36:3).”
Jeremiah called upon the scribe Baruch to write the words of the Lord. Jeremiah was under confinement; therefore he told Baruch to go into the house of the Lord, and read the words of the Lord that were written on the roll. Baruch did this. He read the words in the chamber of Michaiah that was in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house. All the people coming to the Lord’s house could hear the words.
When Michaiah heard the words, he went to the king’s house and into the scribe’s chamber where the princes sat.
Michaiah told them of the words he had heard. The princes sent Jehudi to Baruch, who took the roll, returned with Jehudi and read the roll to the princes. When they heard the words, they were afraid. They asked Baruch how he came to write the words, and Baruch told them. The princes told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should hide, and let no one know where they would be.
The princes took the roll to the king, who sat before a fire burning on the hearth before him. Jehudi read three or four leaves, then the king took the roll, cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire where it was consumed.
He ordered that Baruch and Jeremiah be taken; but the Lord had hidden them.
The Lord told Jeremiah to take another roll, and write all the words that were written on the first roll that Jehoiakim the king had burned.
“And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not (Jeremiah 36:29-31).”
Jehoiachin / Jeconiah
Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah, was the nineteenth king of Judah. He was the son of King Jehoiakim.
Reign: Three months. His reign in Jerusalem began upon the death of his father around 598 B.C. at the age of 18, near the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.
Bible record: 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36
SOME HISTORY
Jeconiah/Jehoiachin was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, who counseled a policy of non-resistance toward Babylon, had been a bitter opponent of his father, and strongly denounced Jehoiachin as well.
After reigning for only three months and ten days, Jehoiachin was removed from office by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Jehoiachin was taken in chains to Babylon and imprisoned, while his household, most of the officials of Judah, and many craftsmen and merchants were forced into exile. His uncle Zedekiah replaced him as king under Babylonian’s supervision in Jerusalem.
After 36 years in captivity (562 B.C.E.), he was removed from prison by the Babylonian King Amel-Marduk. Cuneiform records dated to 592 B.C.E. mention Jehoiachin and his five sons as recipients of food rations in Babylon.
Later rabbinical literature preserves a number of legends about Jeconiah/Jehoiachin, who is seen as repentant while still young, living out his days as a faithful servant of the Jewish law during his imprisonment. In Christian tradition, Jeconiah/Jehoiachin is one of the ancestors of Jesus (Matthew 1:11), and Jewish tradition sees him as one of the ancestors of the future Messiah.
Jeconiah/Jehoiachin lived at a time when the Kingdom of Judah found itself sandwiched between two colliding great civilizations: Egypt and Babylonia. His father Jehoiakim was the eldest son of King Josiah. When Josiah was killed in battle against Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt at Megiddo, he was succeeded by Jehoiakim’s younger brother Jehoahaz (Shallum). The pharaoh soon deposed Jehoahaz and replaced him with Jehoiakim, who paid heavy tribute to Egypt and created domestic disapproval by raising taxes as a result.
During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar II, in a move to counter Egyptian influence in the region, invaded the Levant and made the Kingdom of Judah his vassal. The prophet Jeremiah warned Jehoiakim to focus on religious and ethical reforms, or else, “this place will become a ruin” (Jeremiah 22:3-5), resulting in bitter enmity between the king and prophet. After three years, Jehoiakim attempted to throw off the Babylonian yoke, resulting in a Babylonian invasion and siege, during which Jehoiakim died, apparently of natural causes.
Jehoikakin’s reign
He was scarcely on the throne when Nebuchadnezzar II’s forces reached Jerusalem and began their siege. Jehoiachin, like his father, saw resistance as the only honorable course. However, for the prophet Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar was “God’s servant,” sent to punish Judah for her sins. The prophet Jeremiah condemns Jehoiachin.
Jeremiah’s words to Jehoiachin were particularly harsh:
“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiachim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to… Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.” (Jeremiah 22:24-30)
Jehoiachin did not hold out long against the power of Babylon’s armies, with Nebuchadnezzar himself reportedly participating in the siege. He surrendered and was taken in chains to Babylon, together with many of Jerusalem’s leading citizens. The treasures of the palace and the sacred vessels of the Temple were also carried away. Nebuchadnezzar found what he believed was a suitable replacement for him in the person of his uncle, Zedekiah.
For 36 years Jehoiachin remained in prison at Babylon. When Nebuchadnezzar died, his son Amel-Marduk (called Evil-merodach in the Bible) released Jehoiachin and gave him an honorable seat at his own table (2 Kings 25:27-30). Archaeological excavations around 1900 uncovered Babylonian administrative documents which, when finally deciphered in 1933, described food rations for Jehoiachin and five of his sons. A cuneiform text of the document is publicly displayed in the Pergamon Museum of Berlin.
Legacy
Jehoiachin was one of those historical figures who was born at the wrong time and place. Ascending the throne at only 18 years of age with the fierce army of Nebuchadnezzar approaching, he can hardly be blamed from continuing his father’s policy of resistance to Babylon. This, however, put him squarely at odds with the prophet Jeremiah, who denounced the young king in the severest possible terms. However, the Book of Jeremiah makes it clear that other prophets must have advised him in an opposite direction. Rabbinical tradition holds that he eventually came around to Jeremiah’s point of view and surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar after a miracle showed him that God no longer desired him to remain in office.
Tragically, Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah, who succeeded him on the throne of Jerusalem, also came to reject Jeremiah’s advice. While cooperative at first, he gave in to political pressure and the advice of false prophets, rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar and bringing about the destruction of both Jerusalem and its Temple around 586 B.C.E. Thus the Kingdom of Judah came to its end, and the period of Babylonian exile entered its harshest phase.
Jehoiachin’s father, Jehoiakim, destroyed the writings of Jeremiah.
Source: New World Encycopedia
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeconiah
From The Old Testament
Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta, and she was the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
“And he (Jehoichin) did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done (2 Kings 24:9).”
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
Nebuchadnezzar carried out all the treasures of the house of the Lord, the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord. He carried away all Jerusalem, the princes, the mighty men of valour, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained, save the poorest of the land.
He took Jehoiachin to Babylon; he took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land. All were carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah (Jehoiachin’s father’s brother) king, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah
Zedekiah: He was the 20th, and last king of Judah. He was a son of King Josiah and the younger brother of kings Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, but did not become king until after his nephew Jehoiachin had succeeded to the throne before him.
Reign: Eleven years, 597-586 B.C.
Bible record: 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36
SOME HISTORY
Zedekiah became king after his immediate predecessors unsuccessfully rebelled against Babylon. This resulted in the first phase of the Babylonian exile of the Jews. His original name was Mattaniah, but when Nebuchadnezzar II placed him on the throne as the successor to Jehoiachin, his name was changed to Zedekiah.
The prophet Jeremiah urged Zedekiah to not resist the Babylonians, but he eventually listened to the words of other prophets and advisers. He, thus, provoked a second siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, resulting in his own capture, the death of his sons, and the destruction of his kingdom. His demise sealed the doom of the nation of Judah and marked the second phase of the Babylonian exile of the Jews.
A crisis had faced the Kingdom of Judah as a result of the end of the reign of King Josiah in the late seventh century C.E. Josiah is characterized by the Bible as the greatest king since David, yet he was killed in battle against Pharaoh Necho II at the battle of Megiddo. The biblical writers would later blame his demise on the sins of his predecessor, King Manasseh, which were seen as so great that God had already determined to send the Jews into exile.
Josiah had been killed in an effort to confront Egyptian forces who aimed to defeat the armies of the rising Babylonian Empire, and his demise placed Judah under Egyptian control. Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, reigned for only three months, after which he was dethroned by Necho II and exiled to Egypt. Josiah’s eldest son, known by the throne name of Jehoiakim, replaced him, ruling at Necho’s pleasure. However, when Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon defeated Egypt at Carchemish in 604, Jehoiakim became the vassal of Babylon.
Jehoiakim eventually rebelled against Nebuchadrezzar and died in 598 B.C.E. during the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him. The prophet Jeremiah, who counseled a policy of non-resistance toward Babylon, had been a bitter opponent of his father, and strongly denounced Jehoiachin as well.
Nebuchadnezzar II’s forces soon captured Jerusalem, removing Jehoiachin from office and taking him in chains to Babylon. Most of the royal household and those officials of Judah who had supported the rebellion against Babylon were forced into exile, along with many other leading citizens. The prophet Jeremiah, who had urged cooperation with the Babylonians, was allowed to remain, and Zedekiah—Jehoiachin’s uncle—was identified as a suitable replacement as king under Babylonian supervision.
Zedekiah was only three years older than Jehoiachin, ascending the throne at the age of 21. Nebuchadnezzer required an oath of fealty from him, which he made in the name of Israel’s God (2 Chronicles 36:13). Zedekiah was initially cooperative, lifting the restrictions the previous administration had imposed against the prophet Jeremiah, who was seen as a Babylonian sympathizer.
However, in Zedekiah’s fourth year as king, talk of independence from Babylonian vassalage began to circulate once again. In opposition to this, Jeremiah dramatically appeared in the marketplace with a wooden yoke around his neck urging a policy of continued submission. The Temple-affiliated prophet Hananiah, however, prophesied against Jeremiah:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon” (28:2-3).
Hananiah then grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah’s shoulders and broke it. Jeremiah withdrew to consider, and later countered with a prophecy of his own predicting Hananiah’s doom within the same two-year period. Jeremiah had come to view Nebuchadnezzar as God’s “servant” (Jeremiah 25:9), who had the mission of executing divine judgment on Judah because of her sins. He, thus, urged a policy of non-resistance to the Babylonians and even wrote to those who had been taken into exile instructing them to pray for the Babylonian king and settle permanently into life there (Jeremiah 29).
Rebellion
As the son of the great King Josiah, Zedekiah was understandably swayed by the patriotic call of Hananiah and others urging him to throw off the Babylonian yoke. He thus decided to support the rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, entering into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt. This act, however, brought Nebuchadnezzar, “with all his host” (2 Kings 25:1), to conduct a new siege of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah confronted Zedekiah directly, warning that resistance against Babylon constituted rebellion against God and would bring disaster. The distant voice of the prophet Ezekiel, already in Babylonian exile, was added to this warning, but in the current political climate—with other prophets claiming exactly the opposite of what Jeremiah and Ezekiel said—the independence-minded king refused to listen. When the Babylonians temporarily lifted their siege to deal with Zedekiah’s Egyptian allies, Jeremiah left Jerusalem on business in the nearby land of Benjamin and was arrested on the pretext of being a deserter. Beaten by palace guards, he was placed in a dungeon, but was soon released at Zedekiah’s command, remaining confined within the palace court. The prophet, however, stubbornly refused to keep silence, predicting Jerusalem’s imminent doom and affecting the morale of the soldiers, leading the king’s officers to silence him by imprisoning him in an empty cistern, where he nearly died until he was rescued by an Egyptian eunuch.
During the siege, which began 589 B.C.E. and lasted about 18 months, “every worst woe befell the devoted city, which drank the cup of God’s fury to the dregs” (2 Kings 25:3; Lamentations 4:4-9). In the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar succeeded in conquering Jerusalem. The city was plundered and reduced to ruins. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape, making their way out of the city, but were captured on the plains of Jericho, and were taken to Riblah. There, after seeing his sons put to death, Zedekiah’s own eyes were put out. Placed in chains, he was carried captive to Babylon, where he remained a prisoner to the day of his death.
After the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian general Nebuzaraddan was sent to carry out its complete destruction. The city was razed to the ground, and the Temple of Jerusalem, the crucial center of Judah’s religious life, was utterly destroyed.
Legacy
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Babylonians established a new capital of Judea in Mizpah, appointing the pro-Babylonian administrator Gedaliah as governor. Jeremiah remained captive in the Jerusalem palace prison until his liberation by the Babylonians, who honored him as a man of God and allowed him to choose his place of residence. He chose to move to the new capital in Mizpah. Gedaliah, however, identified as a Babyonian collaborator was assassinated soon afterward. His successor, Johanan, rejected Jeremiah’s counsels and fled to Egypt, supposedly taking the prophet with him.
As for Zedekiah himself, when his sons were killed by the Babylonians, he left no heir. It was to be through another branch of his father Josiah’s lineage that the Davidic line continued, in whom the Jewish hope of the coming Messiah, “son of David,” would be kept alive. The direct result of Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon was that Jerusalem was taken, plundered, and burned. Its leading population was deported to Babylon as captives, and the Jewish kingdom perished. His demise, and that of the Kingdom of Judah, marked the beginning of the second phase of the Babylonian exile of the Jews.
Source: New World Encyclopedia
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zedekiah
From The Old Testament
Zedekiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began his reign of 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:19-20).”
Second Chronicles records: “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord (2 Chronicles 36:12).”
Zedekiah also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, despite his oath of allegiance in the name of the Lord God.
And the chief of the priests, and the people had turned to the ways of the heathen, and polluted the house of the Lord.
Nonetheless, God had sent messengers to them because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place.
“But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy (2 Chronicles 36:16).”
So God sent the king of the Chaldees against them, and their young men were slaughtered with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. The Chaldees showed no compassion for the young; for the old.
The vessels and treasures of the house of God, and those of the king and princes were taken to Babylon.
The house of God was burned, and the wall of Jerusalem broken down; palaces also were burned.
Those who escaped the sword were carried away to Babylon, and were servants to the king and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, until 70 years of captivity had passed.
Now, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he proclaimed in writing:
“Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up (2 Chronicles 36:23).”
Nebuchadrezzar at Judah’s door
King Zedekiah also faced the threat of Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar.
So, Zedekiah sent his representatives Pashur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah. They asked that Jeremiah enquire of the Lord concerning Nebuchadrezzar.
Jeremiah delivered the Lord’s reply:
“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
“And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
“And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
“And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
“And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the Lord; O house of David, thus saith the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
“Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
“But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it (Jeremiah 21:4-14).”
Jeremiah’s warnings
Now Jeremiah had delivered God’s warning to King Jehoiakim, that Nebuchadnezzar would control the land of Judah and other lands too. God spoke of Nebuchadnezzar as his servant, and said of him:
“And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
“And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
“Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
“But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein (Jeremiah 27:7-11).”
Jeremiah writes that he also warned king Zedekiah:
“I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
“Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
“Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
“Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
“Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste (Jeremiah 27:12-17)?”
Of the vessels the lying prophets said would be brought back from Babylon, God said, that would not be. And the vessels that had been left — the pillars, the sea, the bases — that had not been taken, these would now be taken, and they would remain until the Lord restored them.
The lying prophet
Now, the prophet Hananiah confronted Jeremiah in the presence of the priests and the people. Hananiah delivered these words: “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
“And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 28:2-4).”
Jeremiah answered Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and the people that stood in the house of the Lord.
“The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
“The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him (Jeremiah 27:8-9).”
Now Jeremiah wore a yoke about his neck to symbolize the Lord’s instruction that the people of Judah should accept the rule of Nebuchadnezzar.
In defiance, the false prophet Hananiah took the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck, and broke it.
“Thus saith the Lord,” he said, “Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years (Jeremiah 27:11).”
Jeremiah went his way, but the word of the Lord came to him. Jeremiah was to go to Hananiah and say:
“Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also (Jeremiah 27:13-14).”
Jeremiah then told Hananiah: “The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord (Jeremiah 27:15-16).”
Hananiah the prophet died the same year.
Jeremiah held in prison
King Zedekiah had Jeremiah shut up in the court of the prison that was in his house. Zedekiah had imprisoned Jeremiah for saying the Lord would give Jerusalem and Zedekiah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, and Zedekiah would be led to Babylon.
The Lord told Jeremiah to speak to Zedekiah and tell him:
“Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
“Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 34:2-5).”
Covenant of freedom broken
When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against the cities that were left, king Zedekaih had made a covenant with the people at Jerusalem. Every man should let his servant that was a Hebrew go free. This applied to man or maid servant. And the people obeyed. But later, they had a change of heart and forced the servants to return.
The Lord spoke to Jeremiah:
“I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
“And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; “I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
“And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.
Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant (Jeremiah 34:13-22).”
Zedekiah’s prayer request
Before Jeremiah had been put in prison, and was among the people, Zedekiah sent men to him with the request:
“Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.”
Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard of it, they left Jerusalem.
So, Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord:
“Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
“Thus saith the Lord; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire (Jeremiah 37:7-10).”
When the army of the Chaldeans left Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, Jeremiah went into the land of Benjamin. At the gate of Benjamin, he was accused by the ward captain Irijah of being a supporter of the Chaldeans.
This, Jeremiah denied. Nonetheless, he was taken before the princes, who in anger, smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe.
Jeremiah remained in the dungeon many days.
Zedekiah had him taken out, and secretly asked if Jeremiah had word from the Lord?
Jeremiah answered, “Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
Jeremiah then asked king Zedekiah, “What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison (Jeremiah 37:18)?”
“Where,” he asked, “are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there (Jeremiah 37:19-20).”
Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah be held in the court of the prison. He daily was to receive a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent.
Judaen princes demand Jeremiah’s death
When four of the princes heard the words Jeremiah had spoken to the people, that those who remained in the city would die by sword, famine and pestilence, but those that go with the Chaldeans would live, they went to the king and sought Jeremiah’s death.
Zedekiah put Jeremiah into their hand. They took him, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah that was in the court of the prison. They used cords to lower him into the dungeon where there was no water, only mire, into which he sank.
The Ethiopian Ebedmelech, one of the eunuchs of the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. He went to the king, and told of the evil done to Jeremiah. The king told Ebedmelech to take 30 men and take Jeremiah out of the dungeon before he died.
They drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him to the court of the prison.
Zedekiah met Jeremiah in the third entry in the house of the Lord. “I will ask thee a thing.” said the king, “hide nothing from me.”
Jeremiah sought assurance from Zedekiah that he would not be put to death if he answered the king. He also asked that if he gave counsel, would Zedekiah listen?
Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah. He would not put him to death, nor hand him over to the men who sought his life.
“Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
“And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
“But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live (Jeremiah 38:17-20).”
Should Zedekiah refuse to go, said Jeremiah, all the women left in Zedekiah’s house would be brought before the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. They shall bring out thy wives and children to the Chaldeans, and you shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.
Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die ((Jeremiah 38:24).”
Zedekiah also told Jeremiah that if the princes learn of their talk, and ask what he had said to Zedekiah, Jeremiah was to say that he presented his supplication before the king, that he should not be returned to Jonathan’s house, to die there.
The princes came to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah answered as the king had commanded.
Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
Nebuchadrezzar destroys Judah
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadrezzar and his army besieged Jerusalem. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the city was broken up.
All the princes of the king of Babylon came in; they sat in the middle gate.
When king Zedekiah saw them, and the men of war, they fled, leaving the city by night. The Chaldeans’ army pursued them; they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, to Riblah in the land of Hamath.
“Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
“And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem ((Jeremiah 39:6-8).”
The remnant of the people who remained in the city were carried captive to Babylon by Nebuzaradan, captain of Nebuchadnezzer’s guard.
But Nebuzaradan left the poor, who had nothing, in Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields.
Note: Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity 586 B.C.
Prophets Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi served 586-450 B.C.
Note: Israel was taken into Assyrian captivity 722 B.C.
Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2017/07/updated-chart-of-israels-and-judahs-kings-and-prophets/