“He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.”
~ 2 Kings 25:28
Hi James and Ellen,
How good are you at remembering dates? How good are you at recalling facts? How good are you at record keeping? The Kings Book historian remembered specific dates. The Kings Book historian recalled detailed facts. The Kings Book historian maintained precise records. 2 Kings 25 is the final chapter in the Kings Book historian’s single volume book which became over time two volumes. The Kings Books historian recounts in this chapter that the day was January 15, 588 B.C. when a Babylonian king – Nebuchadnezzar, and his army began an extended siege against the city of Jerusalem. Thirty months and three days later – on July 18, 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers were finally able to breach the walls of the city of Jerusalem. God’s specially chosen guys and gals who Nebuchadnezzar and his army had trapped in the city of Jerusalem had run out of food by the time that the walls of their city had been penetrated. Nebuzaradan – the imperial guard commander of Nebuchadnezzar’s army, returned on August 14, 586 B.C. to the city of Jerusalem to burn the temple of God, raze the palace where the kings of Judah lived and demolish every important building and many of the houses. Nebuzaradan also saw to it that the walls that were surrounding the city of Jerusalem were knocked down. Gedaliah – who was Nebuchadnezzar’s appointee for overseeing God’s specially chosen guys and gals who had been left behind and in the city of Jerusalem and in Judah’s land area by Nebuchadnezzar and his army, was assassinated in October of 586 B.C. by Ishmael. Ishmael was another guy who had been left behind in the city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his army. The final date that the Kings Books historian noted in his missive is March 22, 561 B.C. Evil-Merodach became Babylonia’s king on March 22, 561 B.C. Jehoiachin had once been a king who ruled over God’s specially chosen guys and gals who lived in Judah’s land area. Jehoiachin was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and his army and taken to Babylonia where he would spend 37 years in a jail in Babylon – surviving on rationed oil and barley. When Evil-Merodach became Babylonia’s king, Evil-Merodach may have offered a general amnesty to guys like Jehoiachin. Evil-Merodach had Jehoiachin eat at his table for the rest of his life and he gave Jehoiachin a daily allowance to use for whatever.
The Kings Book historian recounts in what is now the second book – after the Kings Book had been divided into two books, the final events that took place during the last moments involving the fate of the city of Jerusalem. As the Babylonian army was breaking through the walls that were surrounding the city of Jerusalem, the army that was in the city of Jerusalem – which was made up of God’s specially chosen guys, escaped between the two walls that surrounded Jerusalem. Zedekiah – who was the king over Judah’s land area at this time also tried to escape from the Babylonian army by going between the two walls. Zedekiah was captured by the Babylonian army after he became separated from his soldiers. The Babylonian army also captured Zedekiah’s kids. Zedekiah and his kids were taken to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar had his headquarters. Nebuchadnezzar’s pronounced sentence on Zedekiah was for Zedekiah to see his kids killed before his eyes, after which he was to have his eyes gouged out and then he was to be taken to Babylonia to live out the rest of his life as a blind guy. After Nebuzaradan returned to the city of Jerusalem to burn and devastate everything that had not already been trashed, Nebuzaradan carried off with him to Riblah all the bronze that had been used in the building of a temple for God in the city of Jerusalem along with all the gold, silver and bronze articles that had been made to be used the temple. Nebuzaradan also took with him Seraiah – who had been the chief priest, Zephaniah – who was next in line to become the chief priest, three guys who had been temple doorkeepers, the officer who had been in charge of the guys who made up Judah’s land area’s army, five guys who had loyally advised this officer, the guy who had the job of conscripting guys for Judah’s army and sixty of this guy’s guys with him as prisoners to Riblah. When Nebuzaradan got to Riblah with his prisoners, Nebuchadnezzar had all the guys that Nebuzaradan brought to him executed.
What took place in the city of Jerusalem and to God’s specially chosen guys and gals 2590 years ago is still taking place in different forms today. There is always fighting going on someplace. There are always guys getting killed because of egotistical and self-seeking actions of other guys. Ethnic cleansing is taking place in countries in Africa. Religious biases are fomenting altercations in the Middle East. Euthanasia is purging the old, weak and physically challenged in a European country. Abortions are killing babies. Mankind’s future may appear to be really bleak but . . . the Kings Book historian finished scribing his missive in an upbeat way when he wrote in verse 28 regarding Jehoiachin’s release from the jail in Babylon where he had spent 37 years as a prisoner, “He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.” If you do not believe what the Kings Book historian scribed in his Kings Book, an archaeological dig discovered clay ration receipts that confirmed that a guy by the name of Yaukin (Jehoiachin) was a prisoner in Babylonia in the timeframe that Jehoiachin was in a jail. Other clay tablets – called the Murashu archives, are commercial transaction documents that relate explicitly to the 5th century B.C. timeframe which was the same timeframe when some of God’s specially chosen guys and gals stayed in the Mesopotamia – Babylonia, region after Ezra had returned to the city of Jerusalem with a group of God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Your grandpaa is always intrigued with canonical exactness.
2 Kings 25 (550)