2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
June 14, 2023
2nd Chronicles 36
Introduction: There had been several high and low points during the almost 400 years since Solomon had begun his idolatry. Solomon was given everything he could imagine and he still turned to idolatry. After Solomon things were never the same. The kingdom would split and the northern Kingdom quickly fell away from God with the southern kingdom not far behind. Some of the kings were so bad that you would think that God’s judgment would have fallen earlier, but He was merciful. God gave the nation 400 years of grace and mercy, but at a certain point God would need to severely discipline his people. Over those years, He patiently waited as recorded in 36:15: “And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.” At this point in the history of Israel, God is about to fulfill his word concerning the punishment of Israel. The next several kings will not reign long.
Verses 1-10. The regular succession to the throne of Judah ceased with Josiah. Jehohaz was not the eldest son of the late king. Johanan and Jehoiakim were both older than he (1 Chronicles 3:15). He was made king by popular choice: it was the preference of the multitude, not the appointment of God. This son of Josiah was made king by will of the people. His name is omitted from among those of our Lord’s ancestors in Matthew 1...which may imply that God did not recognize Jehoahaz, the people’s choice, as being in a true sense the successor. Joahaz took the throne and lasted three months before Pharaoh deposed him and took him captive to Egypt. After the defeat of King Josiah in battle, Pharaoh was able to dominate Judah and make it effectively a vassal kingdom and a buffer against the growing Babylonian Empire. He imposed on the land a tribute and put on the throne of Judah a puppet king. Pharaoh then installed Joahaz’s older brother Jehoiakim on the throne. Jehoiakim was nothing more than a puppet king presiding over a vassal kingdom under the Egyptians. He imposed heavy taxes on the people and paid the money to the Egyptians, as required (2 Kings 23:35). He lasted for eleven years, first subject to Pharaoh and then to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He did evil (36:5) and committed “abominations” (36:8). Jehoiakim, like his brother Jehoahaz, did not follow the godly example of his father Josiah. Jeremiah 36:22-24 describes the great ungodliness of Jehoiakim — how he even burned a scroll of God’s word-. In response to this, Jeremiah received this message from God: And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?”‘ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.”’ (Jeremiah 36:29-30). After his death, his 18-year-old son Jehoiachin took over for three months and ten days before Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon, where he spent the next 37 years in prison. Even so he managed, in three months, to do evil in the sight of the Lord (36:9).
Verses 11-14. Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Zedekiah (son of Josiah), who also did evil (36:12). Zedekiah reigned for 11 years, but wasted that time following idols and doing evil. Zedekiah had the opportunity to tum to the Lord, but he refused. He became stiff necked and hard hearted. Sometimes God will allow you to find the destruction you are searching for. Zedekiah “did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord.” (See Jeremiah 27-29). The prophet warned the King that God would definitely allow Babylon to carry them away, but the King wanted to listen to fake prophets. Jeremiah tells us that there were many false prophets in those days who preached a message of victory and triumph to Zedekiah, and he believed them instead of Jeremiah and other godly prophets like him. Therefore, he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. For example, Jeremiah 32:1-5 tells us that Jeremiah clearly told Zedekiah that he would not succeed in his rebellion against Babylon. Zedekiah arrested Jeremiah and imprisoned him for this. Zedekiah thought he could rebel against the King of Babylon, but God ordained for the king of Babylon to rule for almost 70 years as a punishment for Israel’s sins. These last kings of Judah were all wicked and deserving of judgment, but they were not alone in their sin and rejection of God. The leaders, the priests, and the people also transgressed more and more, pushing both God and Nebuchadnezzar to the limit. Finally, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who in tum besieged Jerusalem, which fell and was destroyed in the summer of 586 B.C. (36:19). Those who escaped the sword were taken captive to Babylon.
Verses 15-19. The writer summarizes that God gave the nation chance after chance, and opportunity after opportunity to repent and turn to God. The nation refused to seek God. They mocked and ridiculed the prophets God sent. They mocked. . .despised. . .scoffed: This tragic triple rejection of God’s message and messengers sealed the doom of Judah. They rejected the message until there was no remedy and nothing could turn back the judgment of God. This would be the destruction of the temple and the city walls. Since the people rejected God, he is now rejecting them and taking away his protection. Without his protection they will go into exile for 70 years. The Babylonians killed many and those they didn’t kill they carried off into exile. They raided the temple of the remaining treasures before they burned it to the ground.
Verses 20-21. We are told by the writer that the people were forced into exile and stayed in exile for 70 years. In that time the land experienced a Sabbath rest. (ten set of Sabbath years). The Israelites never gave the land a rest like they were supposed to, but now the land rested.
Verses 22-23. The writer fast forwards 70 years when God moves on a King in Persia to send the exiles home. This was spoken by Jeremiah 70 years prior.
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