The Reign And Captivity of Jehoahaz
October 30, 2022
Commentary
Josiah’s body was transported back to Jerusalem, where he was buried. With his death, all hope of spiritual revival was gone. The events that followed his reign would soon bring down the proud Judean capitals.
Judah made Jehoahaz, Josiah’s fourth son, the new king. His reign only lasted three months and he was taken prisoner. His three short months were marked as “evil.” When Pharaoh Neco defeated Josiah at Megiddo, Judah came under Egyptian rule and a heavy tax was placed on them. He evidently did not like Jehoahaz so he imprisoned him and sent him to Egypt where he eventually died.
Neco then placed Jehoahaz’s older brother, Eliahim, on the throne of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim became a puppet to Neco the Egyptian king and reigned 11 years. Jehoiakim was a weak ruler and followed in the path of idolatry and self reliance.
Jehoiakim found his alliances shifting as Egypt was defeated by Babylon and Judah came under the rule of Babylon (24:1). He rebelled against Babylon which proved to be a crucial mistake. Nebuchadnezzar crushed Jehoiakim’s rebellion and took him to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:6).
Application
Many good kings had children who did not turn out to follow God. Being a strong believer as a parent doesn’t guarantee that your children will pick up your beliefs. We must make sure that our practice explains and teaches what we preach. Many times more is caught than what is taught.
2 Kings 23:21– 37 (NET)
21 The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.” 22 He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges who led Israel; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem.
24 Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.
26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose—both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, ‘I will live there.’
28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 29 During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. 30 His servants transported his dead body from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, and made him king in his father’s place.
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. He imposed on the land a special tax of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah. 37 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done.