Episode 113: 2 Kings 23:31-24:6

Living Water Community Church

We worked through the section of Kings which describes how Judah came to be under the authority and rulership of Pharaoh Neco the king of Egypt. The people of Judah had made Jehoahaz king when his father died even though he was not the oldest son of Josiah. We don’t know why this was and there is no good explanation given. He only reigned 3 months and the immediately returned to the evil which had marked the reign of the kings which came before his father Josiah. After 3 months Pharaoh Neco came and captured him and carried him off to Egypt where he lived out his days and died. He made his older brother Eliakim king and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He also placed a tribute on Judah of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Jehoiakim complied with this and extracted even more from the people. He used the extra to build himself a royal palace and he too did evil in the eyes of the Lord. For 3 years he became servant to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He rebelled against Babylon after 3 years at the same time Babylon was going against Egypt. During this time God sent all the surrounding nations against Judah to destroy it for the evil which they had done. After Jehoiakim’s death Jehoiachin his son came to reign in his place and we are now entering into a new era as Babylon has come to dominate the world of this time.