THE LAST FIVE KINGS OF JUDAH

Lesson 3

Key Text:

“He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know

me?”

Jeremiah 22:16

Famed Russian writer Fyodor Dos-toevsky spent four years in a Siberian prison in the 1800s for subversive po-litical activities.

Later, writing about his experiences, he talked about some of his fellow prisoners’ utter lack of remorse for their terrible behavior. “In the course of several years, I never saw a sign of repentance among these people; not a trace of despondent brooding over their crimes, and the majority of them inwardly considered themselves absolutely in the right.”—Joseph Frank, Dostoevsky, The Years of Ordeal, 1850–1859 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1990), p. 95.

Dostoevsky could have been talking about, with the exception of Josiah, the five kings who ruled Judah during the ministry of Jeremiah. One after another, these men seemed totally unrepentant for their actions, even as it became clearer and clearer that their actions were bringing the calamities that the Lord, through Jeremiah, had warned would come. It had never been God’s intention to give Israel a king; by the end of this week’s lesson, we will better understand why. We’ll understand, too, the severe pressure that poor Jeremiah faced during much of his unappreciated ministry.

Josiah (640-609)• The last good king of

Judah.

Jehoiakim(609-598)• First deportation to

Babylon [Daniel].

Zedekiah (597-586)• Jerusalem is

destroyed.

(All dates BC)

Jeremiah was called as a prophet in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign (627 BC), so he could support Josiah’s religious reformation. After Josiah’s death, Jeremiah tried to make the last four kings of Judah leave their evil ways. Nevertheless, his efforts were in vain and Jerusalem couldn’t be saved from being destroyed.

JOSIAH “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (2 Chronicles 34:1-2)

At 8

He was crowned. His father and grandfather were idolatrous kings.

At 1

6

He began seeking God.

At 2

0

He stopped idolatry throughout Israel and Judah.

At 2

1

Jeremiah began prophesying. He was a little younger than Josiah. At

26

He cleansed the temple. He read the Law and made a covenant with God.

First phase of reformation: abandoning

sin. 2 Chronicles

34:3-7.

Second phase of reformation: a

covenant with God; keeping the law and

following the teachings from in Bible.

2 Chronicles 34:31.

JEHOAHAZ “Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 36:1-2)

Josiah died in a battle while he was fighting Pharaoh Necho II. His son Shallum (Jehoahaz) reigned after him.Three months after his campaign against Babylon, Pharaoh Necho brought Jehoahaz to Egypt and crowned Jehoiakim—who supported Egypt. Pharaoh Necho was trying to stop Babylon that way.God used Jeremiah to announce that Jehoahaz would never return from Egypt (Jeremiah 22:11-12).

JEHOIAKIM “Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.” (2 Kings 23:36-37)

Pharaoh Necho lost the battle of Carchemish against Nebuchadnezzar. Then, Jehoiakim had to surrender to Babylon in 605 BC.Two grave sins blotted his reign:

1. Idolatry and rejecting God (Jeremiah 22:20-21).2. Social injustice: “Woe to him who builds his

house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him nothing for his work.” (Jeremiah 22:13).

Those two sins often come together. Therefore, God invites us through the Bible to do good to those around us and to treat everyone with fairness.

JEHOIACHIN “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off.’” (Jeremiah 22:24)

Jehoiachin (also known as Coniah and Jeconiah) reigned for about three months.The main leaders and craftsmen were deported because he resisted Nebuchadnezzar. He and his family died as prisoners in Babylon.God had a message of hope for his people in those hard times. That’s our message, too:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).After some time, God’s grace was shown in Jehoiachin. Evil-Merodach—king of Babylon—delivered him and gave him a place at court (Jeremiah 52:31-34).

Zedekiah “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 36:11-12)Zedekiah and the people chose

to do “all the detestable practices of the nations” (2 Chronicles 36:14 NIV). They didn’t surrender their hearts to God, and they didn’t repent of their sins.

They systematically rejected Jeremiah’s message (Jeremiah 38:17). Finally, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.We are called to preach an unpopular message, just like Jeremiah was. We must encourage the world to stop “all the detestable practices” and to repent of their sins.

THE REMNANT “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.” (Jeremiah 23:3)

Many nations have disappeared and have been forgotten. Israel was going that way, but God didn’t abandon His people. He kept a faithful remnant.

Jesus is coming again to bring His people to the everlasting New Jerusalem. Let’s listen and obey His prophets.

A remnant would return to Jerusalem to meet God again after all those years of apostasy.God is gathering a faithful remnant today, after many centuries of apostasy. We are called to come back to the biblical roots of faith. We are called to preach the last repentance message.

The Lord, though, had other plans, and in the verses above (and in many others) He gave them the hope that all was not lost but that a remnant would return and through them the promises would be fulfilled. That is, amid all the warnings of doom and destruction, the prophets also gave the people their only hope.

JEREMIAH

DANIEL

EZEKIEL

“The dark years of destruction and death marking the end of the kingdom of Judah would have brought despair to the stoutest heart had it not been for the encouragements in the prophetic utterances of God’s messengers. Through Jeremiah in Jerusalem, through Daniel in the court of Babylon, through Ezekiel on the banks of the Chebar, the Lord in mercy made clear His eternal purpose and gave assurance of His willingness to fulfill to His chosen people the promises recorded in the writings of Moses. That which He had said He would do for those who should prove true to Him, He would surely bring to pass. ‘The word of God . . . liveth and abideth forever.’ 1 Peter 1:23.”—EGW, Prophets and Kings, p. 464.

“In his testimonies to the church, Jeremiah constantly referred to the teachings of the book of the law that had been so greatly honored and exalted during Josiah’s reign. He emphasized anew the importance of maintaining a covenant relationship with the all-merciful and compassionate Being who upon the heights of Sinai had spoken the precepts of the Decalogue. Jeremiah’s words of warning and entreaty reached every part of the kingdom, and all had opportunity to know the will of God concerning the nation.”

E.G.W. (Prophets and Kings, cp. 35, pg. 422)

Read the next quote carefully. How could you put it into practice?

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