2 Kings 23:28-37
Jeremiah 22-23:1-23
2 Kings 24:1-5
Jeremiah 25&26
Daniel 1
Who is King?
God has handed the people of Judah over to their own desires. Although King Josiah had attempted to bring reform and Jeremiah was warning the people of the dangers that lay ahead if they did not change, they refused to listen. God told Jeremiah he was to no longer pray for the people. Things are happening quickly now. The end is near.
Today we read of the death of King Josiah. He was killed in battle by Pharaoh Neco who was attempting to help Assyria in their battle with Babylon who was allied with the Medes. Assyria was always a threat to Judah and at this point in history Judah was forced to pay tribute to Assyria. During Hezekiah’s reign the King of Babylon, a Chaldean, sent an envoy to Hezekiah after he had recovered from his illness. At this point in time the Chaldeans were thought of favorably by many in Jerusalem.
There were always battles between Assyria and the Chaldean people. The King of Babylon was killed shortly after he sent his envoy to Hezekiah, but by the time of Josiah’s reign, Assyria was becoming unstable. Nabopolassar, a Chaldean, rebelled against Assyria and proclaimed himself as King of Babylon. War broke out between Assyria and Babylon. The commander of the Babylonian army was the king’s son, Nebuchadnezzar.
Josiah stalled the advance of Egypt allowing Babylon to overrun Assyria. Egypt did attempt to take control of Judah and disposed of Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, who the people made king after Josiah’s death. Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in his place. Neco changed his name to Jehoiakim and forced him to pay tribute to Egypt.
Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem after defeating Egypt in the battle of Carchemish. This is the first of three invasions of Jerusalem by Babylon. At this time Jehoiakim became a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, along with others, was taken to Babylon to be trained to serve in the Kingdom of Babylon.
There will be two more invasions of Jerusalem and two more kings before Jerusalem and the temple is destroyed. We will be jumping around from book to book and in the case of the book of Jeremiah, chapter to chapter in order to stay with the time frame of what is going on. My hope and prayer is that we will learn from the history of the fall of Judah so we do not follow the path they took.
King Josiah is a type of King Jesus. He did battle with the enemy and was cut off. Daniel 9:26
Jesus did, however, defeat the enemy on the cross and is building His kingdom today. One day He will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Will you receive Him as King? We need to learn from history.
Pastor Dave