King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2025
Chapters: II Kings 24-25, II Chronicles 36
Message: II Kings/II Chronicles: Babylon Besieges Judah
Hello My Friend,
As we take a pause from Jeremiah and return to and come to the end of the reading of II Kings and II Chronicles we learn that God will follow through with His judgments when there are no efforts being made to repent. We need to look at God’s judgments from a judicial perspective, there are laws that we must follow and if we break the law then there are consequences. The world has lost its fear of breaking the law because there has been no enforcement when breaking them, [Psalms 36:1-3 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. 3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.]
Laws, are made for those who break the law, but in case you have not noticed, there are some crazy laws on the books of our nations and those laws are actually hurting more than helping. Look at what has happened even within the last five years, children are more wicked than some adults, protected under a law that says, you can go to jail if you look at them the wrong way. Men are dressing as women, abusing kids and getting away with it under a law that says, they are too mental to know any better. Thugs are being protected, victims are being persecuted, and kids are being mutilated because they have parents who wanted them to be another gender. We were actually warned several times in the Bible that we would come to this.
[2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.]
As you can see, the Church is not off the hook either, they have their own demons that they must deal with, and if it does not get taken care of, the God will take care of it. II Kings and II Chronicles, also gives the account of the judgment that God had placed on Judah because they refused to repent of their wicked ways and of the kings that reigned at the time that Jeremiah confronted all of them. First we learn of why Jehoiakim became king in the first place and now we can see how everything we read yesterday make more sense.
[2 Chronicles 36:1-5 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.]
Jehoiakim, means, whom Jehovah sets up so in other words God is the one who set all this up. Now, this would be the only time that Egypt would be used by God as Nebuchadnezzar would take over shortly after. While natural disasters happen, wars and take overs such as these are what God sets up to judge not only His people, but the world as well. It was not God’s plan to use Egypt to take over Israel, He was going to use Babylon for that. Nebuchadnezzar, wasted no time coming after them, and God reminds them of why.
[2 Kings 24:1-4 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.]
God, will tolerate many things, but when it comes to taking the lives of innocent people for their gods, including the god of self, then it is an abomination to Him and there will be consequences. God, is the one who gives and takes life, not to mention that He would never think of using anyone to sacrifice another persons life to save their own, which is why He gave His own life through His Son, [John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.]
Everyone who has any fear of hell and believes in God loves the idea that Jesus came here to save them, but very few will acknowledge that He is the Son of God and accept Him as their Saviour. And do you see why? They love their sin more than God. God, did not cause these things to happen, wicked, selfish, immoral, and yes religious people who love their sin more than God caused it, but God is the one finishing it. These judgments that God places on His nations are the warnings and it is only a matter of time before He is done with the warnings. Now Jehoiakim reigned for three years and served under Nebuchadnezzar, but he rebelled but he was no match for Nebuchadnezzar, they took him to Babylon too, and that was when Jehoiachin reigned.
[2 Chronicles 36:6-9 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.]
II Kings, actually has his age at eighteen so it is probable that Jehoiachin was eight when his father reigned and that would make him eighteen. If he was a wicked as his father at that age of eight could you imagine how bad it would have been had he remained as king? We often wonder why women and children are included in these judgments, but some are worse than adults and must be accountable for their actions just as adults are. Well, at that point Nebuchadnezzar captured and took thousands more people into Babylon.
[2 Kings 24:10-12,16-17 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.]
Do you see why God took all the strong people? He did not want them to fight a battle that they would not have been able to win. When man goes over God’s limits nothing can stop His judgment except for repentance. If we should learn anything from this story it is that every nation that turns on God will be destroyed, but if we trust Him, and wait patiently, He will restore everything even better than what it was, [Hebrews 10:35-36 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.]
Mattaniah, was Jehoiakim’s uncle, Nebuchadnezzar, changed his name to Zedekiah, which means, the justice of God, for even he knew that God was the only reason why he was there. The people of Judah brought all this on themselves, they were warned of this several times, not only by Jeremiah, but several others as well, but they mocked and abused them until God saw no other option, but to follow through with the judgment.
[2 Chronicles 36:12-16 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.]
Jesus is the remedy for when there is no remedy! God, is pretty lenient with us, gives us an ample amount of warnings, and several opportunities to do the right thing, but there does come a time with enough is enough and when all of His efforts to get us fail that is when judgment comes. This nation does not have to fall into the hands of Satan. It does not have to become desolate of any form of morality, it does not have to become impoverished of any form of humanity, and it does not have to become a wasteland of any form of god. You would think that at this point they would have just surrendered to God, but they still refused, each king becoming more proud and rebellious than the last one, Now we come to Zedekiah, who we know had Jeremiah arrested because he refused to listen and blamed him for all the chaos.
[2 Kings 25:2–7 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.]
Zedekiah, was not only captured he was forced to watch them execute his sons, had his eyes gouged out, and became a slave to them. My goodness, does God not know how to deal with those who rebel against Him? Well, God had accomplished His mission to remove the Judians out of His sight, and once they had taken all the Jews out of the city, the temple, the palace, and all the wealthy homes were burned, completely destroyed.
[2 Chronicles 36:18-21 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.]
All the glory in Jerusalem, the city of David, the temple, and everything David and Solomon built for God was reduced to nothing, but ashes and crumbled walls and it would remain that way for seventy years. However, not every Jew was gone, Jeremiah was still there, but so were the poorest people and they would soon be put to use while they were there.
[2 Kings 25:22,24-26 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. 25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.]
God, is allowing His faithful to be in the fire of His judgment, He is trying our reins to see if we are going to endure it with Him or rebel. God, is calling on us and is depending on us. Are we going to stand up and help Him get people on the safe foundation of Christ? God, needs willing vessels, people who are not double minded, not trying to be God, and are strong in their faith. We need to stand true to Jesus, not fight with each other, love one another as Jesus does, and not provoke each other with pride and ridiculous laws that God never made or condoning sin as the norm.
[James 4:10-14 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.]
Today’s Prayer: God, It is so sad to see the world falling apart, even my own nation has forsaken You, and turned to abominable lifestyles, idols, and wicked imaginations. I know Your Son is returning, and things are going to get worse before that happens, we need a revival, a spiritual revival of all who know You, but are afraid to stand up to the truth. A revival of faith, boldness, and passion to speak the Gospel, and not be ashamed. Lord, give us Your power to get up and fight, the strength to keep going in Your truths, and the plan, wisdom, and tools we need, to help You restore the Church before Your limit is up, and You do send Your Son. Give us Your mercy, grace, and hedge of protection from all the evils. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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