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The Changeable King N N Zedekiah of Judah

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The Changeable King N N Zedekiah of Judah n The Kings of the Divided Kingdom n THE CHANGEABLE KING n n ZEDEKIAH OF JUDAH (2 KI N G S 2 4 : 1 7 —25:7) When I disagreed with a friend of mine on a but he reigned only three months (2 Kings 24:6, question that she thought was more important 8). When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, than I did, she jokingly said to me, “Coy Roper, Jehoiachin paid him tribute to save the city. you’re too wishy-washy. You don’t stand for However, he and many others were taken away anything!” I replied, also in jest, “I do, too, stand to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14–16). Next, we read that for something! I stand for wishy-washiness!” “the king of Babylon made [Jehoiachin’s] uncle Zedekiah, the twentieth and last of the kings Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his of Judah, who reigned from about 597 to 586 B.C., name to Zedekiah” (2 Kings 24:17). This name could be described in that way. The only thing he means “Yahweh is (my) righteousness.” Zedeki- stood for was “wishy-washiness”; that is, he was ah himself was not responsible for his name “lacking in strength or character; indecisive.”1 change, yet that change seems to have foreshad- He was a “weak and wavering king.”2 He was owed a life characterized by fickleness. changeable, vacillating, and unstable. If Jesus is the “Rock of Ages,”3 Zedekiah was a straw His Allegiance blowing in the wind. Second, Zedekiah’s allegiance to the king of We will look at three areas of Zedekiah’s Babylon changed. According to 2 Kings 24:20b, life that reflect his variable nature, notice two “Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon” things that did not change while he ruled, and (see also Jeremiah 52:2). Concerning Zedekiah’s then consider what we can learn from him about rebellion, the chronicler said, “He . rebelled “changeability.” against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God” (2 Chronicles THREE THINGS THAT CHANGED 36:13a). IN ZEDEKIAH’S LIFE In the days of the last four kings of Judah, God’s people were never independent. The great His Name nations of Egypt and Babylon were fighting to First, we learn that his name was changed. control the region of Palestine. At first, Egypt was After Jehoiakim’s death, Jehoiachin became king, victorious in this contest, so the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Neco, deposed one king of Judah (Je- hoahaz) and placed another (Jehoiakim) on the 1The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed. (2001), s.v. “wishy-washy.” throne. Then Babylon gained the advantage. We 2Dayton Keesee, “Zedekiah: A Weak & Wavering King,” are told, “The king of Egypt did not come out of in “Jeremiah, 5,” Truth for Today (March 2001): 3–6. his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken 3A. M. Toplady, “Rock of Ages,” Songs of Faith and Praise, comp. and ed. Alton H. Howard (West Monroe, La.: Howard all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Publishing Co., 1994). brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates” (2 Kings 1 THE LAST FOUR KINGS OF JUDAH1 Jehoahaz Josiah’s son Made king by 609 B.C.; Deposed by Pharaoh Neco; (Shallum, the people three months taken to Egypt Joahaz) and died there Jehoiakim Josiah’s son Made king by 609–598 B.C.; Died; how is uncertain (Eliakim) Pharaoh Neco eleven years (2 Chronicles 36:6) Jehoiachin Jehoiakim’s son, Made king by 598–597 B.C.; Taken into Babylonian (Jeconiah, Josiah’s grandson birth three months captivity by Coniah) Nebuchadnezzar and died there Zedekiah Josiah’s son Made king by 597–586 B.C.; Taken into Babylonian (Mattaniah) Nebuchadnezzar eleven years captivity; blinded and died there 1For the biblical account of these kings, see 2 Kings 23:30—25:30. Gedaliah was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar as governor (not king) of Judah over those who were left in the land after most of the people had been taken to Babylon. Gedaliah was murdered after only seven months, and many of the people still left in the land fled to Egypt (2 Kings 25:22–26). 24:7). From that point on, Judah was subservient Nebuchadnezzar conquered the nation, destroyed to Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple, and carried all but the The Babylonian kings were relatively be- poorest of the land back to Babylon (2 Kings nevolent. As long as a nation continued to pay 25:1–21). tribute (the equivalent of a yearly tax) to Babylon, Judah’s final destruction came about when that conquered nation was allowed to govern “Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon” itself. However, if a nation tired of paying tribute (2 Kings 24:20b). He rebelled because he thought and rebelled against its Babylonian overlords, that he could get help from Egypt against Baby- then the Babylonian army would march upon lon (Ezekiel 17:15). He was wrong (Ezekiel 17:17), that country, wreaking as much vengeance as and the prophet Ezekiel condemned him for was necessary to bring the vassal state back into breaking his oath: submission. “As I live,” declares the Lord GOD , “Surely The kings of Judah seemed unwilling to ac- in the country of the king who put him on the cept Babylon’s rule for very long. When they throne, whose oath he despised and whose tired of paying tribute and/or decided they were covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die. [H]e despised the oath by breaking the cov- strong enough (or that they had allies who were enant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, strong enough) to defend against Babylon’s yet did all these things; he shall not escape.” forces, they would rebel. Such rebellions oc- Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD , “As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My curred three times during the waning days of the covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his Judean kingdom. Each time, the Babylonians head” (Ezekiel 17:16–19). came against the nation, subdued it, and took captives back to Babylon. The first deportation Zedekiah had broken a covenant, an agree- was in 605 B.C., when Daniel, with Hananiah, ment, with the king of Babylon (v. 16); but in Mishael, Azariah (also known as Shadrach, Me- doing so, he had also broken a covenant with schach, and Abednego), and others were carried God (v. 19). Why? Because God’s covenant with into cap tivity (Daniel 1:1–7). The second occurred Israel commanded His people to keep their oaths in 597 B.C., when Ezekiel and thousands of oth- and vows (see Leviticus 19:12). ers were taken to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10–16; Israel’s kings were forbidden to play the Ezekiel 1:1–3). The third was in 586 B.C., when customary political power game of changing 2 allegiances as often as the wind shifted. When the cistern. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, asked they made a pact, an agreement, or a covenant, the king to spare Jeremiah’s life, and the king they were required to keep it! Zedekiah broke responded by giving him thirty men to help him that rule; he pledged allegiance to Babylon— bring the prophet up from the cistern (Jeremiah swearing an oath in the name of God—and then 38:7–13). Ebed-melech saved Jere miah’s life with rebelled. Consequently, he was condemned by Zedekiah’s help. the prophets and his nation was destroyed. (6) He secretly sought a word about his future from Jeremiah. He sent for Jeremiah, asked him to His Response to God’s Prophet share God’s message with him, and promised Third, Zedekiah’s treatment of the prophet that he would not put him to death or deliver Jeremiah frequently changed. While his attitude him into the hands of those who wanted to kill toward the prophet may have remained the same him (Jeremiah 38:14–16). The prophet responded throughout his reign, his treatment of Jeremiah by saying that if Zedekiah would surrender to varied depending on the circumstances. the Babylonians, he would save himself, his city, (1) He sent for Jeremiah’s help. According to and his household; if he refused, he would be Jeremiah 21, when the Baby lonians were warring ridiculed and abused, and the city would be against Judah, Zedekiah sent messengers to re- burned with fire (Jeremiah 38:17–23). The king quest that Jeremiah ask God to cause the Baby- asked Jeremiah not to tell others what the two of lonians to withdraw. Jere miah responded with them had discussed (Jeremiah 38:24–28). an oracle threatening Judah’s destruction and (7) He would not listen to Jeremiah. The prophet saying that Jerusalem’s citizens should surrender knew as Zedekiah was seeking advice in Jere- to Nebuchadnezzar to save their lives (Jeremiah miah 38 that the king would not listen (38:14, 21:9). Jeremiah did not give Zedekiah the kind 15). An earlier verse contains this summary: of help he wanted. “But neither [Zedekiah] nor his servants nor (2) He imprisoned Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 32:1– the people of the land listened to the words of 5, Zedekiah had Jeremiah imprisoned “in the the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the court of the guard” because he did not like the prophet” (Jeremiah 37:2). prophet’s message: He did not want Jeremiah Why did Zedekiah’s relationship with Jere- preaching that Jerusalem would be destroyed miah vary? Why was there so much ambiguity and that he himself would be taken captive to in his dealings with the prophet? He respected Babylon.
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