Jeremiah’s Prophecy Fulfilled

Jeremiah gave the prophecy warning Jehoiakim and Judah to yield to the Babylonians shortly after Nebuchadnezzar attacked the Assyrian and Egyptian forces in Carchemish.  About three years later, Nebuchadnezzar officially took over Judah, Leaving Jehoiakim as king, 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.”

Jehoiakim hac destroyed the first copy of Jeremiah’s prophecy, and he ignored the message that if they would simply yield, they would be spared and allowed to keep their land, as Jeremiah 27:8-11 stated.  “And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.  Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.  But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.”

Jehoiakim refused to acknowledge the sins of his grandfather or to listen to Jeremiah’s prophecies.  Three years after swearing allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiakim led a rebellion against him, which was decisively suppressed, as II Kings 24:1-tells us.  “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.  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.”

Jehoiakim was killed in the fighting, and his son Jehoiachin became king as II Kings 24:6 tells us.  “So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.”   Jehoiachin continued what his father had started, refusing to surrender to God or to Nebuchadnezzar, as II Kings 24:8-9 tells us.  “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.”

The war with Babylon was essentially over when Jehoiachin assumed the throne.   Jehoiachin only held the throne three months and ten day before Nebuchadnezzar dethroned him and took him as a hostage, in II Kings 24:10-12.  “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.  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.”

By the eighth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had conquered everything from the border of Egypt to to part of present day Turkey, and began moving their treasures to Babylon.  He took Jerusalem’s treasure, as well as ten thousand of their leaders and most skilled artisans, leaving only the least skilled behind, as II Kings 24:13-16 tells us.  “And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.  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.”

Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin’s refusal to obey produced exactly the results God warned them about. 

Historical notes  

Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah or Coniah, He would remain a slave in Babylon for thirty seven years, before being freed by Evil Merodak or Amel Marduk, Nebuchadnezzar’s son.  The king we know as Nebuchadnezzar was in fact Nebuchadnezzar II.  Nebuchadnezzar I had lived five hundred years earlier. 

Daniel and Mordecai, Esther’s uncle were two of those who were carried away at this time.