Zedekiah King of Judah

2022-11-17

Mattaniah son of Josiah became king after Jehoiachin had surrendered. Nebuchadnezzar made him king and changed his name to Zedekiah. Like in the case of Necho and Jehoiakim, the Babylonian king was likely showing his authority over him when changing his name.

Zedekiah likewise did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he refused to submit to the Word of the LORD from Jeremiah and other prophets. “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” (2 Chronicles 36:16). Zedekiah put Jeremiah in prison, and at one point a miry, waterless place where the prophet was left to die (Jeremiah 32:3; 38:6). The people followed Zedekiah in his rebellion.

Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, despite an oath he swore to serve him, and the Babylonian king besieged Jerusalem for many months. The king was warned to surrender as Jehoiachin did. “And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey” (Jeremiah 21:8-9). There was an awful famine, and the city was eventually broken up. The armies and the king fled.

Zedekiah was captured and his eyes were put out, with the last thing he saw being the slaughter of his sons. He was chained and brought to Babylon. Jerusalem was burnt to the ground. Gedaliah the son of Ahikam was appointed governor over Judah in his stead. This ended the reigns of the kings of Judah.

This is a part of the Kings of Judah series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.