Doing Evil in God's Sight

INTRO

We wrap up our study in 2 Chronicles with chapters 34—36. Remember, all of Chronicles and the entire Bible points to Jesus as the coming Messiah. The theme for 2 Chronicles is Royal Throne. In chapter 34, King Josiah begins with his religious reforms and makes a new covenant with God. In chapter 35, King Josiah keeps the Passover feast, focusing on the blood of the lamb. At the end of the chapter, Josiah is killed by Egyptian arrows. While the situation seems dire, the book ends in hope!

TEACHING

2 Chronicles 36:1-4: Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son, was made king in Jerusalem in 609 B.C. (2 Kings 23:31-33), the exact period in which Jeremiah prophesied he would rule (Jeremiah 1:3). Jehoahaz was 23 years old and reigned only three months (vv. 1-2). The king of Egypt deposed Jehoahaz and fined Judah 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold (v. 3). How quickly things can change! The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king of Judah, renaming him to Jehoiakim, and had Jehoahaz imprisoned in Egypt (v. 4).

2 Chronicles 36:5-8: Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years (609–597 B.C.), and did evil in God’s sight (2 Kings 23:34—24:7) (v. 1). God sent His message to Jehoiakim through the prophet Jeremiah. Jehoiakim destroyed the message as it was read, showing his complete disdain for God. And then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked and had Jehoiakim taken to Babylon in shackles, along with the temple’s utensils (vv. 6-7). During this same period, in 605 B.C., Daniel was taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah continued to prophesy during this time.

2 Chronicles 36:9-10: Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, became the next king, reigned three months, and did evil in God’s sight (Jeremiah 22:24–30). Jehoiachin reigned in 597 B.C. (2 Kings 24:8-16). Note that Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon in 597 B.C. as well.

2 Chronicles 36:11-21: King Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah the next king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem (v. 11). Zedekiah reigned 11 years (597–586 B.C.) and did evil in God’s sight (2 Kings 24:17—25:21; Jeremiah 32:4-27). Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that took place in 586 B.C. Ezekiel received his commission as a prophet during Zedekiah’s reign and prophesied from 592–560 B.C. (Ezekiel 1:1). Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and against Yahweh (v. 13). The leaders of the priests and the people left behind in Jerusalem followed Zedekiah’s example and defiled the temple and followed pagan practices (v. 14). God kept sending His messengers to bring them back to Him, but they wouldn’t listen (vv. 15-16).

Remember Chronicles was written to explain to those who had just been released from this same captivity in Babylon what had happened that put them in captivity in the first place.

The Lord brought the king of the Chaldeans against them. The Chaldeans killed the choice young men of Judah in the temple and took everyone, men and women, young and old, into captivity to Babylon (v. 17). The Chaldeans also took all the treasures of the temple, the king, and his officials to Babylon (v. 18). Finally, the Chaldeans burned the temple and the palaces in Jerusalem, tore down the city wall, and destroyed everything in the city (v. 19). Everyone left in Judah was taken as servants to the Chaldeans (v. 20). This fulfilled God’s Word to Jeremiah and the land rested for 70 years during “the days of the desolation” (Jeremiah 25:8-12).

CLOSING

For 70 years the land 'rested' and the people began returning back to their land before going into captivity. God called King Cyrus to finance the building of a new temple in Jerusalem and to free all the captives in Persia (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). As God's people returned, they began rebuilding their city and the temple.