2 Kings 25:8-30

2 Kings 25:8-30

[8] And in the fifth  month,  on the seventh  day of the month,  which is the nineteenth  year  of king  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of Babylon,  came  Nebuzaradan,  captain  of the guard,  a servant  of the king  of Babylon,  unto Jerusalem:  [9] And he burnt  the house  of the LORD,  and the king's  house,  of Jerusalem,  and every great  man's house  burnt  he with fire.  [10] And all the army  of the Chaldees,  that were with the captain  of the guard,  brake down  the walls  of Jerusalem  round about.  [11] Now the rest  of the people  that were left  in the city,  and the fugitives  to the king  of Babylon,  with the remnant  of the multitude,  did Nebuzaradan  the captain  of the guard  carry away.  [12] But the captain  of the guard  left  of the poor  of the land  to be vinedressers  [13] And the pillars  of brass  that were in the house  of the LORD,  and the bases,  and the brasen  sea  that was in the house  of the LORD,  did the Chaldees  break in pieces,  and carried  the brass  of them to Babylon.  [14] And the pots,  and the shovels,  and the snuffers,  and the spoons,  and all the vessels  of brass  wherewith they ministered,  took they away.  [15] And the firepans,  and the bowls,  and such things as were of gold,  and of silver,  the captain  of the guard  took away.  [16] The two  pillars,  one  sea,  and the bases  which Solomon  had made  for the house  of the LORD;  the brass  of all these vessels  was without  weight.  [17] The height  of the one  pillar  was eighteen  cubits,  and the chapiter  upon it was brass:  and the height  of the chapiter  three  cubits;  and the wreathen work,  and pomegranates  upon the chapiter  round about,  all of brass:  and like unto these had the second  pillar  with wreathen work.  [18] And the captain  of the guard  took  Seraiah  the chief  priest,  and Zephaniah  the second  priest,  and the three  keepers  of the door:  [19] And out of the city  he took  an  officer  that was set  over the men  of war,  and five  men  of them that were  in the king's  presence,  which were found  in the city,  and the principal  scribe  of the host,  which mustered  the people  of the land,  and threescore  men  of the people  of the land  that were found  in the city:  [20] And Nebuzaradan  captain  of the guard  took  them to the king  of Babylon  to Riblah:  [21] And the king  of Babylon  smote  them, and slew  them at Riblah  in the land  of Hamath.  So Judah  was carried away  out of their land.  [22] And as for the people  that remained  in the land  of Judah,  whom Nebuchadnezzar  king  of Babylon  had left,  even over them he made Gedaliah  the son  of Ahikam,  the son  of Shaphan,  ruler.  [23] And when all the captains  of the armies,  heard  that the king  of Babylon  had made Gedaliah  governor,  there came  to Gedaliah  to Mizpah,  even Ishmael  the son  of Nethaniah,  and Johanan  the son  of Careah,  and Seraiah  the son  of Tanhumeth  the Netophathite,  and Jaazaniah  the son  of a Maachathite,  [24] And Gedaliah  sware  and said  unto them, Fear  not to be the servants  of the Chaldees:  dwell  in the land,  and serve  the king  of Babylon;  and it shall be well  with you. [25] But it came to pass in the seventh  month,  that Ishmael  the son  of Nethaniah,  the son  of Elishama,  of the seed  royal,  came,  and ten  with him, and smote  Gedaliah,  that he died,  and the Jews  and the Chaldees  that were with him at Mizpah.  [26] And all the people,  both small  and great,  and the captains  of the armies,  arose,  and came  to Egypt:  for they were afraid  of  the Chaldees.  [27] And it came to pass in the seven  and thirtieth  year  of the captivity  of Jehoiachin  king  of Judah,  in the twelfth  month,  on the seven  and twentieth  day of the month,  that Evilmerodach  king  of Babylon  in the year  that he began to reign  did lift up  the head  of Jehoiachin  king  of Judah  out of prison;  [28] And he spake  kindly  to him, and set  his throne  of the kings  that were with him in Babylon;  [29] And changed  his prison  garments:  and he did eat  bread  continually  before  him all the days  of his life.  [30] And his allowance  was a continual  allowance  given  him of the king,  a daily  rate  for every day,  of his life. 

What does 2 Kings 25:8-30 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar"s commander-in-chief, returned to destroy Jerusalem more thoroughly and to preclude any successful national uprising in Judah.
His burning of Yahweh"s house ( 2 Kings 25:9) was a statement that the Babylonians had overcome Yahweh as much as it was an effort to keep the remaining Judahites from worshipping Him. This act would have thoroughly demoralized even the godly in Judah, since in the ancient Near East the condition of the house (temple) of a god reflected on that god"s reputation. The breaking down of Jerusalem"s walls ( 2 Kings 25:10) prevented the inhabitants from defending themselves but also visualized the fact that Judah no longer had any defense. Yahweh had been her defense. The third deportation removed all but the poorest of the people from the land ( 2 Kings 25:11-12).
The writer"s emphasis on the desecration of Yahweh"s temple ( 2 Kings 25:13-17) illustrates God"s abandonment of His people (cf. 1 Kings 9:7-9). His special interest in the pillars ( 2 Kings 25:17) draws attention to the fact that Israel, which God had established (Jachin), had suffered destruction. Israel"s strength (Boaz) had also departed from her because of her apostasy (cf. Samson). Most scholars believe the Babylonians either destroyed the ark of the covenant or took it to Babylon from which it never returned to Jerusalem (but cf. 2 Chronicles 5:9). A few believe the Jews hid it under the temple esplanade.
The Babylonians also cut the priesthood back ( 2 Kings 25:18-21) so the people could not unite around it and rebel. Its temporary termination also meant that Israel was no longer able to worship God as He had prescribed because she had been unfaithful to Him. Access to God as the Mosaic Law specified was no longer possible. Both the temple furnishings and the priesthood that God had ordained for access to Himself were no longer available to the people. Israel could no longer function as a kingdom of priests as God had intended her to live ( Exodus 19:5-6).
Ezekiel and Daniel both ministered in Babylon during the Captivity: Ezekiel to the exiles in their settlement, and Daniel to the Babylonians and Medo-Persians in their capitals. The context of the Book of Esther is also the Babylonian captivity and the Persian capital.
"In the exile and beyond it, Judaism was born." [1]
By this, Bright meant the present form of Israelite worship that operates around the world today without a temple and Levitical priesthood.
Gedaliah ( 2 Kings 25:22) was a descendant of Josiah"s secretary (of state? 2 Kings 22:3). He was a friend of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 39:14) who followed that prophet"s advice to cooperate with the Babylonians. Ishmael ( 2 Kings 25:25) possessed royal blood and evidently wanted to rule over Judah (cf. Jeremiah 41:2). Mizpah, the Babylonian provincial capital, was just seven miles north of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Samuel 7:5-12).
"It is not altogether clear whether this [2] is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (=early July; Jeremiah 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (=early August; Jeremiah 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives ( Jeremiah 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah ( Jeremiah 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem ( Zechariah 8:19)." [3]
It is ironic that the Judahites who rebelled against the Babylonians and God"s will in an attempt to secure their independence ended up fleeing back to Egypt. Their forefathers had been slaves there, and God had liberated them from Egypt850 years earlier ( 2 Kings 25:26; cf. Deuteronomy 28:68).
In560 B.C, the Babylonian king Evilmerodach (562-560 B.C.) permitted Jehoiachin to enjoy a measure of freedom. Perhaps the writer of Kings chose to end his book on this positive note because in the Abrahamic Covenant, God had promised that He would never abandon His chosen people completely ( Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 12:7). In the Mosaic Covenant, He also assured them that if they repented, He would bring them back into their land ( Deuteronomy 30:1-5; cf. 1 Kings 8:46-53). God"s mercy to Jehoiachin also points to the continuation of the Davidic dynasty that God had promised would never end ( 2 Samuel 7:16). God"s mercy to His people is one of the persistently recurring motifs in Kings.