2 Kings 24

Josiah was the last good king of Judah. After his death his son Jehoahaz reigned for three months until the Egyptians took another of Josiah's sons, Eliakim, and put him in charge instead of his brother. The Egyptians changed the new king's name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years.

Soon Babylon rather than Egypt was the power to be reckoned with in the region. Jehoiakim originally cooperated with the new empire, but then he began to rebel against the Babylonians, also known as the Chaldeans. Back in the days of Hezekiah the Lord had told His people that the Babylonians would carry them into exile. In the days of Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, the Lord had spoken again about His determination to follow through on this warning. Because of the sins of Manasseh, Judah would be brought into exile. Even the later obedience of Josiah did not change this decree.

All these names can be very confusing. Remember that there were two good kings in the line of David before the nation went into exile, Hezekiah and Josiah. These good kings had sons who were not righteous. Eventually the judgment of God came upon Judah in the south as it had earlier overtaken Israel in the north. The final kings that are mentioned in 2 Kings were the sons and grandson of the great king Josiah. These men were nothing like him.

The Lord God Almighty was the one who was bringing about the exile of His own nation. First He used nations that were bordering them to weaken them. He then used the Babylonian Empire to carry them off into exile. He did this “... to remove them out of his sight.” Their idolatrous kings had shed innocent blood and “... the Lord would not pardon.”

These are hard words to read, but they should not surprise us. The Lord's people were given generations to prepare for what would eventually come to pass. The destruction of Judah was not the result of blind fate or chance. It came from God and was very clearly known to be the result of the wickedness of His people. God's ancient promises of grace would not be established through their ability to obey God or to stay in the land that God had given them.

Eventually Josiah's grandson Jehoiachin was taken away to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babyon, took the king's uncle, Zedekiah, and left him in charge of the remaining poor people who were not valuable enough to take away to Babylon.

God had cast His people out of His presence. The poor would be able to live in the land as long as they followed the rules set by the Babylonians. Soon Zedekiah rebelled against the empire, and the stage was set for the utter destruction of Jerusalem.

Our hope does not rest on the obedience, wisdom, and power of evil rulers. They live and die like all men. Eventually they face the consequences of their rebellion. They cannot bring us security. Neither is our hope in the imperial powers of the world, whether the Egyptians, the Babylonians, or any other power that has already come or may come in the future. Our hope for grace and blessing is in the God who loved His people enough to discipline them for their disobedience. He brought them into Canaan so many centuries before the events recorded in this chapter. He would soon lead them out of Canaan and preserve a remnant for a later generation.

This eternal God would give His people a pathway to heavenly life that would not depend on their own merit or power. Beyond the exile, in the distant centuries to come, a Savior would secure our future with His own death and resurrection. We have put our trust in Him. We have a salvation through Him that can never be taken away. He has provided us with a godly heritage and a glorious destiny.