2 Kings 24
McGeeCHAPTERS 24 AND 25THEME: The kingdom of Judah goes into captivity
2 Kings 24:1
NEBUCHADNEZZAR COMES AGAINST JUDAHEgypt’s Pharaoh-nechoh had put Jehoiakim on the throne, but he lost all Egypt’s Asiatic possessions to Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar. Now when Nebuchadnezzar comes against Judah, Jehoiakim knuckles under for three years, then rebels against him.
2 Kings 24:2
As we have seen, Manasseh was an evil man. If the shekinah glory didn’t depart during his reign, there was nothing worse afterward that would have caused it to depart. Because these people did not depart from the sins of Manasseh, they will be going into captivity.
2 Kings 24:4
While it is true that God will pardon all sin, the sinner will have to come to Him in repentance. There are certain sins that are not pardonable. Although Christ died for all sins, they are not pardonable because men will not come to Christ in repentance. My friend, He is the only One in the world who can forgive your sin. He died for you and paid the penalty for your sins. Who else can forgive your sins? He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
2 Kings 24:5
JEHOIAKIM DIES, AND JEHOIACHIN REIGNSThe names of father and son are so similar, it is easy to confuse them.
2 Kings 24:7
This is the exact land that God had vouchsafed to Abraham and to those who came after him. Why was Babylon, instead of Israel, in control of this area now?
2 Kings 24:8
This is the reason. They have continued in sin and in their rebellion against God. Remember that God had given them the occupancy of the land on one condition: their obedience. Did they still own the land? Oh, yes. God had given them the land by an unconditional covenant. But their occupancy was conditional, and they failed to meet that condition.
2 Kings 24:10
JEHOIACHIN IS TAKEN CAPTIVE (FIRST DEPORTATION)The king and all the nobility were carried away in the first group that went into captivity. This took place about 605 B.C.
2 Kings 24:13
This is a sad and sordid story.
2 Kings 24:17
ZEDEKIAH IS MADE KING BY NEBUCHADNEZZARZedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle. He did not improve the line of kings. You would think that the captivity would sober him. It did not at all. Trouble will do one of two things for an individual. It will either soften or harden you. It will either draw you to God or drive you away from God. You can never be the same after you experience trouble and suffering. The sun will soften wax, but the sun will harden clay. It is the same sun that softens one and hardens the other.
2 Kings 24:20
Once again the false prophets said, “Look, God is on our side.” But God was not on Israel’s side because Israel was not on God’s side. Presumption is something many people need to be careful about. I have heard people say, “I am doing this certain thing because I know it is God’s will. He has revealed it to me.” Then they go ahead and do whatever they had in mind, and they fail. God was not in it at all. I know missionaries who have gone to the field and come back to say, as one young man said to me, “I made a mistake in going out.” “But,” I said, “you told me you were in God’s will. You were sure.” He said, “I thought I was.” Well, we had better not think so, we had better be sure when we begin to talk about God being on our side. Actually we should make sure not that God is on our side but that we are on His side. This was Judah’s problem. They were far from God, yet they felt that they were God’s people and He would protect them. In chapter 25 we see the final deportation of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came three times against Jerusalem. He deported the royalty and the military and the skilled workmen, but he did not destroy the city until he came the third time. We have seen that Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah king of Judah, but after a few years Zedekiah rebelled, and now we see that Nebuchadnezzar comes the final time and makes an end of Judah.