History · Chapter 24 of 25

2 Kings 24

Babylon rises as the instrument of judgment on Judah. Jehoiakim rebels and dies; his son Jehoiachin reigns only three months before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar. The temple treasures are stripped, ten thousand of the leading citizens are deported to Babylon, and Mattaniah is installed as a puppet king renamed Zedekiah, who also does evil in God's sight and finally rebels against Babylon himself.

What happens in 2 Kings 24

In Jehoiakim's days Nebuchadnezzar makes him a vassal, but Jehoiakim rebels, and the LORD sends raiding bands against Judah, the narrator says, because of the innocent blood shed under Manasseh that God would not pardon. Jehoiakim dies and his son Jehoiachin, eighteen years old, reigns three months. Babylon besieges Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin goes out and surrenders with his mother and officials. Nebuchadnezzar carries off the temple treasures and cuts up the golden vessels Solomon had made.

He deports ten thousand captives, the princes, mighty men, craftsmen, and smiths, leaving only the poorest of the land. Jehoiachin, his family, and the elite are taken to Babylon. The king then makes Mattaniah, the young king's uncle, ruler in his place, renaming him Zedekiah, who does evil and finally rebels against Babylon.

2 Kings 24 in context

This chapter opens the final act of the kingdom of Judah, roughly 605 to 597 BC, as Babylon replaces Assyria as the dominant empire. It records the first major deportation, the exile that carried Ezekiel and Daniel's generation to Babylon.

The writer reads these political events theologically, tracing the disaster back to covenant unfaithfulness and the prophetic word already spoken.

Main themes of 2 Kings 24

2 Kings 24 (KJV)

1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 2And 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. 3Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. 5Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 7And 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. 8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12And Jehoiachin the king of Judah 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. 13And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and 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, as the LORD had said. 14And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For 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.

Verses to carry from 2 Kings 24

“Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;”2 Kings 24:3

“And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and 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, as the LORD had said.”2 Kings 24:13

“And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.”2 Kings 24:14

Reflection

Judah trusted golden vessels and a famous temple more than the God who gave them. Ask where you lean on the outward signs of faith, its buildings, reputations, and traditions, while the heart drifts. God is not looking for splendor; He is looking for a people who turn to Him.

A prayer from 2 Kings 24