Inductive Bible Studies,

Thirty-Seventh  Study.—The Reign of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.

[The material of this "study" is furnished by Professor Beecher. It is edited by Professor Harper.]

Prepare for recitation 2 Kgs. 23:29-25:30; 2 Chron. 35:20-36:23, and parallel passages, in the order of the following topics:

1. Death of Josiah, B. C. 608, 2 Kgs. 23:29,30; 2 Chron. 35:20-25.

(1) Trace on the map the route of Necho's expedition, and the site of Megiddo.

(2) 2 Kgs. 23:29, "king of Assyria :"

(a) was the Assyrian empire still in existence?

(b) or is the term here used in a general sense, as in Ezra 6:22?

(3) from reading the history of the great empires of the East, what do you learn as to the importance of the movements of which this expedition formed a part?

2. Jehoahaz, three months of B. C. 608.

(1) 1 Chron. 3:15; Jer. 22:11,12; 2 Kgs. 23:31,36, his name; it was originally Shallum, and not Johanan.

(2) 2 Kgs. 23:30-33; 2 Chron. 36:1-3, the tenure by which he held the throne.

(3) 2 Kgs. 23:32, character of his reign.

(4) Jer. 22:11,12, did he die directly after going to Egypt?

3. Jehoiakim's Accession, 608 B. C., his "first year" being the year 607 B. C. 2 Kgs. 23:33-36; 2 Chron. 36:3-5.

(1) His tenure of the throne.

(2) The fine, why levied, and how paid?

(3) General character of his reign.

4. "The Beginning" of his Reign, perhaps B. C. 607, 606.

(1) Jer. 26:20-23, the prophesying and death of Urijah (by extradition from Egypt).

(2) Jer. 26, the trial of Jeremiah for prophesying.

(3) Jer. 7-10, fuller text of the prophecies for which he was tried, cf. 7:2 and 26:2:

(a) 7:12-15 and 26:6,9, etc.; 9:11, cf. 26,9, the two specifications of the charge;

(b) 26:17-19, the precedent cited in Jeremiah's favor; (c) 26:20-23, the precedent cited against him.

(4) Inference from these prophecies as to Jehoiakim's position in regard to the reforms made by Josiah.

(5) The condition of Judah at this time, as exhibited in these chapters.

(6) Jer. 8:20, at what date did the case of Judah become irretrievable?

(7) Jer. 7:29-34; 8:18-22; 9:1-6, 17-22, etc., can you connect these "Lamentations" with the death of Josiah, and the resulting consequences (cf. 2 Chron. 35:26)?

(8) Jer. chs. 11-20, the prophet still preaching, and still persecuted.

5. His Third Year, B. C. 605, accession year of Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kgs. 24:1; 2 Chron. 36:6,7; Dan. 1:1-16.

(1) Jehoiakim changes masters.

(2) What befell Daniel and his companions?

(3) Cf. 2 Chron. 36:6,7 and Dan. 1:1,2; do they describe the same event?

(4) Does the account in Chronicles say that Jehoiakim was actually carried to Babylon?

(5) Were these events results of the great battle of Carchemish (see 6) or preliminary to it?

6. His Fourth Year, B. C. 604, the "first year" of Nebuchadnezzar.

(1) Jer. 46: 1-49:33; 25:1-38, especially verse 13:

(a) Jeremiah's written prophecy "concerning the nations;"

(b) the great battle of Carchemish.

(2) Jer. 45; 36:1-8, Baruch writing Jeremiah's prophecies.

7. His Fifth Year, B. C. 603, Jer. 36:9-32.

(1) Burning of Baruch's first roll, and writing of the second.

(2) Daniel and his companions,

(a) Dan. 1:17-20, they graduate from Nebuchadnezzar's civil service training school;¹

(b) Dan. 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

8. The Remainder of his Reign, B. C. 602-597.

(1) 2 Kgs. 24:7, and prophecies of Jeremiah, did Jehoiakim owe rightful allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar?

(2) 2 Kgs. 24:1c-4, his rebellion and the consequences.

(3) Jer. 35 (cf. 35:11 with 2 Kgs. 24:2), the Rechabites.

(4) Jer. 22:1-4, etc., opportunities for repentance.

(5) Jer. 52:28, 3023 persons deported, in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, the tenth of Jehoiakim.

(6) 2 Kgs. 24:6; Jer. 36:30,31; 22:18,19, his death, in Jerusalem, by violence, in his eleventh year.²

9. Jehoiachin, otherwise called Jeconiah, and Coniah, B. C. 597.

(1) 2 Kgs. 24:8, 9; 2 Chron. 36:9, his accession and length of reign.

(2) 2 Chron. 36:10; 2 Kgs. 24:10-16, the principal deportation to Babylonia.

(3) 1 Chron. 3:16, 17; Jer. 22:24-28; 37:1; 24:1; 27:20,; 28:4; 29:2; Ezek. 1:2; Esth. 2:6; Jer. 52:31-34; 2 Kgs. 25:27-30, gather additional information concerning this king.

10. Early Years of Zedekiah, B. C. 596-594.

(1) 2 Kgs. 24:17-19; 2 Chron. 36:1012, his accession and character.

(2) Jer. 24, Jews in Babylonia, Judah, and Egypt.

(3) Jer. 29, Jeremiah's letter to the Babylonian Jews, and incidents connected with it (cf. 29:17 with 24:3, etc., and the names in 29:3 with those of the men sent in the fourth year, 51:59).

(4) Jer. 49:34-39, prophecy concerning Elam.

11. Zedekiah's Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Years, B. C. 593-590.

(1) Jer. 27,28, Hananiah and Jeremiah.

(2) Jeremiah 50 and 51, Jeremiah's prophecies against Babylon.

(3) Jer. 51:59-64, Zedekiah's special act of homage, in his fourth year.

(4) Ezek. 1:2, and chs. 1-7, the exiles in Babylonia, in the fifth of Zedekiah.

(5) Ezek. 8:1-19:14, prophecies of Ezekiel, the latter half of the sixth of Zedekiah.

(6) Ezek. 17:12-21; 2 Kgs. 24:19,20; 2 Chron. 36:12,13a, Zedekiah's perjury and rebellion.

(7) 2 Chron. 36:13b-16; Ezek. chs. 20-23, Zedekiah's seventh year; Jehovah still remonstrates.

12. Zedekiah's Ninth and Tenth Years, the seventeenth and eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 588-587.

(1) 2 Chron. 36:17,20,21, general statement.

(2) Jer. 21; 39:11-14; 40:1-5, etc., Jeremiah's political position.

(3) Jer. 34, the slavery question.

(4) Ezek. 24:1; 2 Kgs. 25:1; Jer. 52:4; 39:1, Jerusalem besieged, the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah, say in February of B. C. 587.

(5) Jer. 37, interval of siege, owing to Egyptian interference; hard times for Jeremiah. Is Jer. 37:5,7,11, contradictory to 2 Kgs. 24:7?

(6) Jer. 52:29, 832 persons deported, the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 587.

(7) Jer. 32, Jeremiah's land-purchase.

(8) Ezek. 29:1 seq., prophecies against Egypt, etc.

13. Zedekiah's Eleventh Year, the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 586,

(1) 2 Kgs. 25:3-7; Jer. 52:6-11; 39:4-7, capture of the city, in the fourth month, and fate of the king.

(2) 2 Kgs. 25:8-21; Jer. 52:12-27; 39:8-10; 2 Chron. 36:18-20, fifth month, burning temple, breaking down walls, deporting people and temple vessels.

(3) 2 Kgs. 25:22-24; Jer. 40:5-16, Gedaliah made governor.

(4) 2 Kgs. 25:25; Jer. 41:1-10, Gedaliah assassinated, seventh month.

(5) 2 Kgs. 25:26; Jer. 41:11-44:30, flight of the people to Egypt, and incidents there.

14. Later Deportation of 745 persons, the twenty-third of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 582, Jer. 52:30.

15. Contemporaneous History.

(1) Learn what you can concerning Nebuchadnezzar.

(2) Mention events in Greek and Roman history B. C. 608-582,

1) The three years, Dan. 1:5,18,seem to have been the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar, his "first year," and his second year, i. e., B. C. 605, 604, and 603. At some time before the close of his second year, they were brought before the king, Dan. 2:1. Probably the same three years were those in which Jehoiakim was faithful to Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kgs. 24:1.

2) If we suppose that the deportation of the 3023 persons occurred near the close of the year, and the death of Jehoiakim early in the year following, the two may have been accomplished by the same expedition of the Babylonians. It is possible that the incident of Jehoiakim's being put in fetters, 2 Chron. 36:6,7, may belong to this point of time, rather than to the third year of Jehoiakim.