2 CHRONICLES LESSON 36
We will begin this lesson in II Chronicles 36:1 "Then the people
of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his
father's stead in Jerusalem."
Josiah had been a good king. The kings that followed him were
evil. The decline of Judah is swift now. Jehoahaz was known as
Johanan, as well. The people loved Josiah, and assumed his son would
be like his father.
II Chronicles 36:2 "Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem."
This speaks of a very short reign for this son of Josiah. He was
called Shallum in Jeremiah 22:11 "For thus saith the LORD touching
Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of
Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not
return thither any more:"
II Chronicles 36:3 "And the king of Egypt put him down at
Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and
a talent of gold."
The time that Huldah had spoken of would come about during the
reign of the next few kings. It seems, that Necho of Egypt captured
him and condemned him. He set a fine on Jerusalem of 100 talents of
silver, which would have been 150,000 ounces of silver and a talent of
gold, which was 1,500 ounces.
II Chronicles 36:4 "And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his
brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to
Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to
Egypt."
Eliakim, or Jehoiakim was the brother of Jehoahaz, who had been
captured. The king of Egypt thought he could control Eliakim easier.
II Chronicles 36:5 "Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and
he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God."
Jehoiakim was a puppet king for Egypt. His reign of eleven years
was in name only. The Pharaoh of Egypt gave the orders. He was an evil
king ruled by a heathen nation.
II Chronicles 36:6 "Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon."
He rebelled, and the king of Babylon chained him to take him back
to Babylon. There was a change of plans, and he was killed in
Jerusalem.
II Chronicles 36:7 "Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of
the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at
Babylon."
The sacred vessels of the temple were many made of gold, or
silver. They were gathered, and carried to Babylon, and put in the
temple of the false god, Merodach, their false god of war.
II Chronicles 36:8 "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and
his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him,
behold, they [are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and
Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead."
We have discussed before, that the kings in Chronicles, here,
are, also, mentioned in the books of Kings. In fact, much of the
information on them is in both books. Jehoiachin is just a slight
variation on his father Jehoiakim's name.
II Chronicles 36:9 "Jehoiachin [was] eight years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem:
and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD."
At the young age of eight, or eighteen {whichever he really was},
we can safely assume that outside influence caused him to be evil. His
father was evil, and it appears, the entire nation had slipped that
direction, as well. His reign was very short. He was captured and
carried to Babylon for 36 years, after which he was released.
II Chronicles 36:10 "And when the year was expired, king
Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly
vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king
over Judah and Jerusalem."
This is not speaking of a year after his reign came, but in the
beginning of a new year. It is saying in early spring. He was
captured, and carried to Babylon, and a puppet king of the Babylonians
was set up. We will find that the Babylonian captivity of the people
of Judah took place over several years.
II Chronicles 36:11 "Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old
when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem."
Zedekiah was the same as Mattaniah. He was actually the uncle of
Nebuchadnezzar. His name was changed to Zedekiah, when he began to
reign. His 11 years as king was actually in name only. Nebuchadnezzar
was the ruling authority through him.
II Chronicles 36:12 "And he did [that which was] evil in the
sight of the LORD his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah
the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD."
God had sent Jeremiah to him to warn him. He did not heed the
message of God. God had sent the Babylonians to Judah, to punish them
for their spiritual idolatry.
II Chronicles 36:13 "And he also rebelled against king
Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his
neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of
Israel."
He did not do what God told him to do, and he even rebelled
against Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel chapter 17, beginning with verse 12
speaks more on this. He did not submit to the will of the LORD in
this.
II Chronicles 36:14 "Moreover all the chief of the priests, and
the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the
heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in
Jerusalem."
This was the beginning of the end, when even the priests became
evil, along with the king and the whole nation. In Ezekiel, chapter 8
verse 16 we learn that the 24 elders and the high priest, himself had
turned their backs on God, and worshipped the sun. They had completely
gone bad.
II Chronicles 36:15 "And the LORD God of their fathers sent to
them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had
compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:"
We must remember that Jeremiah was speaking out against all of
this. He spoke the Words the LORD put in his mouth, but they did not
heed. God loved them and wanted them to return to Him, but they would
not. Isaiah, in his lifetime, had spoken out against this, until he
was killed by the wicked Manasseh. Ezekiel spoke out, also. No one
listened. Jeremiah chapter 25 verses 6 and 7 are such a message.
II Chronicles 36:16 "But they mocked the messengers of God, and
despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the
LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no remedy."
Finally, God would not accept anymore of their unfaithfulness.
His wrath was set and there was no turning back. Our society should
take a warning from this. God wants to save us, but we must be
willing. Our society is just about this sick right now. We have turned
our backs on godly principles to serve the filthy desires of the
flesh. We must listen to the warning and repent, or we will suffer
God's wrath.
II Chronicles 36:17 "Therefore he brought upon them the king of
the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of
their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old
man, or him that stooped for age: he gave [them] all into his hand."
When God's wrath had caused Him to turn away from His people,
there would be no mercy on anyone. About this time, God's presence
left the temple, and went out the eastern gate. The presence of God
was not in the temple anymore.
II Chronicles 36:18 "And all the vessels of the house of God,
great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the
treasures of the king, and of his princes; all [these] he brought to
Babylon."
These vessels, that were carried out of the temple in Jerusalem
to the house of the king in Babylon, would actually be the downfall of
Babylon.
II Chronicles 36:19 "And they burnt the house of God, and brake
down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with
fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof."
The judgement by fire had come upon Jerusalem. Babylon was the
instrument God had used to inflict His judgement on this evil land.
II Chronicles 36:20 "And them that had escaped from the sword
carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his
sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:"
There was just a remnant left. Some died from the sword and some
died of starvation. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-
Merodach. This captivity would last approximately 70 years.
II Chronicles 36:21 "To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth
of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: [for] as long as
she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten
years."
For hundreds of years, the people of God had not practiced
letting the land lie vacant on the seventh year for sabbath. These
seventy years that the land was desolate, made up for those missed
sabbaths for the land.
II Chronicles 36:22 "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that the word of the LORD [spoken] by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of
Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and
[put it] also in writing, saying,"
This happened about the end of the 70 years of Babylonian
captivity. God would rebuild his people in their promised land with
the remnant that was left. He puts into the heart of Cyrus the
necessity to re-build the temple. Jeremiah had prophesied this very
thing. It was possible that Daniel planted a seed of thought into
Cyrus, and God watered, and made grow the thought He had Daniel plant.
We do not know exactly how God brought this about.
II Chronicles 36:23 "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the
kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he
hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which [is] in
Judah. Who [is there] among you of all his people? The LORD his God
[be] with him, and let him go up."
This was at the height of the Persian rule. Cyrus seemed to be
familiar with the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.
He seemed to be at least acquainted with the LORD. He was aware the
desire to build the temple was from God. Cyrus will now seek out the
men of Judah to carry out this tremendous task. The return to
Jerusalem and the re-building of the temple will continue in Ezra.
Thank you for taking the time for me to share my thoughts on
these Scriptures in Chronicles. This was really a chronology of the
kings of Judah. May God richly bless you, as you continue to read His
Word.
Your friend in Christ,
Louise Haney
2 Chronicles 36 Questions
1. Who reigned in Josiah's stead?
2. What mistaken assumption had the people made about him?
3. How long did he reign?
4. What happened to him?
5. What is he called in Jeremiah chapter 22?
6. How much silver and gold did they give in tribute?
7. Who did the king of Egypt replace him with?
8. What did he change his name to?
9. How long did Jehoiakim reign?
10. Who was the king of Babylon at the time of his capture?
11. What terrible thing did the king of Babylon do, spoken of in verse
7?
12. How long was Jehoiachin kept captive in Babylon?
13. Who reigned in his stead?
14. What was his name changed to?
15. Who tried to prophecy to him of God's will?
16. Who sent the Babylonians to Judah?
17. Who did he rebel against beside God?
18. Verse 14 is speaking of the beginning of the end. Who had even the
priests begun to worship?
19. Who was one voice that was crying out for them to repent?
20. How does our society today relate to the sinful activities of the
people then.
21. What happened because they would not heed the warning from God?
22. When was there no mercy on anyone?
23. What happened that showed God had left His people?
24. What did they do to the temple of God?
25. Who was left to carry captive?
26. How long was the captivity?
27. In verse 21 we find that during these years of captivity, the land
took its _________ of ______.
28. Who did God move upon to re-build the temple?
29. He was king of _________.
30. Who would he send to do it?
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