Conquered By Egypt, And Then By Babylon

Josiah had ben argueably the best king Israel or Judah ever had, following God to the best of his ability.  When he was killed, the people crowned his son Jehoahaz as king.  Jehoahaz deliberately turned away from God’s standards, copying his ancestors such as Amon, Manasseh, and Ahaz.  His reign only lasted three months, as II Kings 23:31-32 tells us.  “Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”

Having defeated Josiah’s forces a Meggido, Pharaoh had gone on to carchemesh, where he successfully thwarted the Babylonian invasion.  On his way back to Egypt, he took control of Judah, forcing them to pay tribute according to II Kings 23:35.  “And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.”

As proof of his power, Pharaoh named his brother Eliakim king, changing his name to Jehoiakim, and carrying Jehoahaz to Egypt as a hostage, as II Chronicles 36:4 tells us.  “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.”

In order to retain power, Jehoiakim paid the tribute, taxing the people to make the payments.  He followed the same path his brother had taken, and most of the people went along with it.  He would reign for a total of eleven years. As we see in II Kings 23:35-37.  “And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”

Four years after Pharaoh had successfully defended Carchemesh, the Babylonians attacked the city, seizing control of the Assyrian Empire and expelling the Egyptian forces and claiming their territory.   Eight years after being taken over by the Egyptians, Judah became a Babylonian territory.  Three years later, Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylonian rule, as II Kings 24:1 describes.  “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.”

This resulted in an invasion by the combined forces of the Babylonian Empire, fulfilling God’s prophecies, as II Kings 24:2-4 describes.  “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.  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; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.” Though they had stopped doing those sins for a time, they had never repented of them or asked forgiveness, just kind of pushing them under the rug and ignoring them.

During this time, God sent various prophets, including Jeremiah to warn the people not to rebel, but to trust God, as described in Jeremiah 25, 26, 27, 35, 36, and 37.  As a result of the rebellion, Jehoiakim was taken as hostage and his son Jehoiachim became king, as II Chronicles 36:6-8 describes.  “Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.  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.”

With the taking of Judah, Basbylon controlled everything to the traditional border of Egypt, eliminating Egypt as a threat, as we see in II Kings 24:7.  "And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.”  Several years later, Nebuchadnezzar would invade and conquer Egypt as well.