Jeremiah 1:13-19 “And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north." (14) Then the Lord said to me: "Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. (15) For behold, I am calling All the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the Lord; "They shall come and each one set his throne At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, Against all its walls all around, And against all the cities of Judah. (16) I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burned incense to other gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands. (17) "Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. (18) For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land-- Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. (19) They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you," says the Lord, "to deliver you."
The next key event that we will discuss is Judah’s exile and its loss of sovereignty. Just as He did with the northern kingdom of Israel, over many years the Lord sent His prophets to warn the southern kingdom of Judah of its impending judgement if they refused to repent of their wicked ways. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of one of the Lord’s warnings to Judah, delivered by His prophet Jeremiah. The context of this prophecy is that it was delivered by Jeremiah during the reign of King Josiah in approximately the year 627 BC[1]. In this prophecy, the Lord informed Judah that He was preparing the nations of the north as His instrument of judgement against them. This passage reveals to us the reasons why God’s judgement was about to fall; i.e. because Judah had forsaken the Lord and burned incense to other gods, worshipping the works of their own hands.
2 Kings 23:23-27 “But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. (24) Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. (25) Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. (26) Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. (27) And the Lord said, "I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'”
King Josiah reigned over Judah between the years 640 BC and 609 BC[2]; and as we will see in this section, he was their last king before Judah finally lost its sovereignty. The irony of Jeremiah's prophecy which we looked at earlier, is that as we can see from the above-quoted passage of scripture, King Josiah was committed to following the Lord and he endeavoured to lead Judah along that same path. Nevertheless, this passage teaches us that the Lord refused to change His decision to remove Judah in the same manner that He removed Israel. The Lord tells us in this passage why He refused to reverse His decision; because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. Historical records show that King Manasseh reigned over Judah between the years 697 BC and 643 BC[3]. The context of the Lord’s comment is that King Manasseh coerced Judah to fully embrace the worship of foreign gods, even building their altars in the Lord's temple. The Lord also stated that King Manasseh acted more wickedly than all the nations that were before them (2 Kings 21:1-11). Another reason why God refused to change His decision, was that under Josiah's reign, the people of Judah served the Lord in pretence only, whereas, in reality, they continued to worship foreign gods (Jeremiah 3:10).
2 Chronicles 35:20-24 “After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. (21) But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you." (22) Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo. (23) And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded." (24) His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.”
Judah refused to heed the Lord’s warnings about their ungodliness, and so 113 years after Israel’s judgement, the Lord eventually judged Judah in the year 609 BC. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of the event that precipitated Judah’s judgement. The context of this passage is that, against God’s counsel, King Josiah decided to enter into an unprovoked war with Necho, King of Egypt. And so in the year 609 BC, King Josiah led Judah into battle against King Necho of Egypt, and in that battle, King Josiah was killed[4]. As an aside, other than King David, Josiah was by far the best king Judah ever had, for He served the Lord with all his heart and endeavoured to lead Judah into following the Lord (2 Chronicles 34:33). Sadly, however, although Judah “served the Lord” under Josiah’s reign, the Lord said that they did so in pretence and not in sincerity (Jeremiah 3:10).
2 Chronicles 36:1-5 “Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. (2) Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. (3) Now the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. (4) Then the king of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt. (5) Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.”
God’s judgement of Judah began with the removal of their sovereignty as a nation-state and continued with a series of exiles which took place over a total period of approximately 22 years. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of Judah’s loss of sovereignty and the first exiling of the Jewish elite. This passage teaches us that after King Josiah was killed, Judah attempted to install his son Jehoahaz as their new King. But that only lasted for three months, because after King Necho of Egypt had defeated the Assyrians in Carchemish, he returned to Jerusalem, deposed Jehoahaz, and imposed a tribute on Judah. King Necho then installed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim, as King over Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. In other words, Judah became Egypt’s vassal, governed by a puppet ruler of their choosing, i.e. Judah lost their sovereignty as a nation-state. And so we see that Judah lost its sovereignty in the year 609 BC. This passage then teaches us that King Necho took Jehoahaz into exile in Egypt; it is also obvious that several Jewish elites would have been taken into exile along with Jehoahaz. And so we see that this was the first in what was to become a series of the exiling of Judah’s elites. Historical records reveal that Judah remained a vassal state of Egypt for the next four years[5].
Michael E.B. Maher
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