2 Kings 25

2 Kings 25:1

25:1-7 Zedekiah’s intrigue with Egypt brought the final blow on the city of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar . . . besieged it for eighteen months, causing severe famine conditions within the walls. Zedekiah and his men of war tried to escape from the city at night and to flee to the wilderness near the Dead Sea. The Chaldeans captured the king and brought him . . . to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (in Hamath of Syria). After slaying his sons . . . before his eyes, the king of Babylon ordered that his eyes should be put out and that he should be carried in bronze fetters to Babylon. This fulfilled two remarkable prophecies: Jeremiah had predicted that Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon face to face (Jer_32:4; Jer_34:3).

This was fulfilled at Riblah. Ezekiel had also prophesied that he would be brought to Babylon but would not see it and would die there (Eze_12:13). Zedekiah’s eyes were put out before he ever got to Babylon. He died in Babylon.

2 Kings 25:8

I. The Fall of Jerusalem (25:8-21)25:8-12 The final destruction of Jerusalem took place in 586 B.C. by Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian guard. He burned the temple, the royal palace, and all the great buildings. He broke down the walls and carried into exile all but the poorest people of the land. 25:13-17 These verses describe the wholesale looting of the temple treasures. Those things which were too big to be carried away were cut up into smaller pieces. The bronze which was seized was beyond measure. In addition, the Chaldeans . . . took all the solid gold and solid silver they could find. 25:18-21 Nebuzaradan . . . took about seventy-two of the leading citizens of Jerusalem to King Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah, where they were summarily executed.

2 Kings 25:22

J. Gedaliah’s Governorship (25:22-26)The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah to be governor over the people remaining in . . . Judah. When four army captains . . . heard this, they came to him at Mizpah, perhaps to recommend that the people flee to Egypt. Gedaliah counseled them to submit to the Babylonian yoke and that all would be well. Later Ishmael, a member of the royal family, attacked and killed Gedaliah and his associates. The people were thus left without organized government and fled to Egypt.

2 Kings 25:27

K. King Jehoiachin (25:27-30)The book closes on an encouraging note. Second Kings and Jeremiah have identical endings (cf. Jer_52:31-34). In his thirty-seventh year of exile, Jehoiachin was afforded honorable treatment by the king of Babylon. This gave hope that the rigors of the exile would be eased and later ended completely. First Kings opens with David’s death and 2 Kings closes with Judah’s destruction. The nation had failed under Moses, had failed under the judges, and now had failed under the kings. The people refused to listen to God’s Word. They refused to be moved by the tears of the prophets. They hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks until God appointed the Assyrians and the Babylonians to teach them that the wages of sin is death. The captivity served its purpose well: it purged the heart of God’s chosen people of idolatry.