Evidence for God from Science

under who's rule did Judah become a tributary of Babylon?


note: not talking about the fall of Jerusalem and collapse of Judah under zedekiah

Murray wrote:under who's rule did Judah become a tributary of Babylon?


note: not talking about the fall of Jerusalem and collapse of Judah under zedekiah

The answer to your question can be found in 2 Kings 23:36 to 2 Ki 24:15. The times were turbulent, so read the passage and decide for yourself.

FL

I've been reading of this time in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, so I'll attempt a chronological account (using 2 Kings; 2 Chronicles 36 is parallel, but much less detailed; I also drew from Jeremiah 51) of what took place:

* Pharaoh Necho crossed Judah while going to Carchemish to fight against Babylon (where Necho lost); King Josiah (of Judah) went out to oppose Necho's crossing Judah and was killed in a losing battle;

* Josiah's son Jehoahaz ascended the throne, but Necho replaced him with his half-brother Eliakim (renamed Jehoiakim by Necho); Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt and died there;

* Under Jehoiakim, Judah paid tribute to Egypt for some years (probably 5 or 6 of his 11-year reign ... 2 Kings doesn't say, directly), but then became a tributary to Babylon for three years; near the end of his reign he rebelled against Babylon; 2 Kings doesn't speak of the manner of his death;

* Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin became king; evidently Jerusalem was besieged when Jehoiachin became king, and after 3 month Jehoiachin surrendered;

* Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin (and much of Jerusalem) captive to Babylon, where Jehoiachin eventually died; Nebuchadnezzar made his uncle (Josiah's son? son-in-law?) Mattaniah king and renamed him Zedekiah;

* Zedekiah paid tribute to Babylon until the 8th or 9th year (2 Kings doesn't say, directly) of his reign, when he rebelled; Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in Zedekiah's 9th year and took it in his 11th year; Zedekiah was forced to watch his sons executed, then was blinded, and then taken captive to Babylon along with most of those remaining in Jerusalem; Zedekiah died in Babylon.

Unlike what Dickens said of the end of the 18th Century, the years after Josiah's death were simply and only "the worst of times". Ungodly, weak, kings who ignored God; variously tributary of Egypt and Babylon; caught between Egypt and Babylon in their power struggle (geographically and politically), trying to play one against the other while being a pawn for both at various times; Judah's best and brightest died in battle and of starvation (many of the more prosperous and skilled were taken captive to Babylon with Jehoiachin, some 11 years before the final destruction of Jerusalem), with a small remnant going into captivity. The general impression I get from Isaiah and Jeremiah is that this time frame amounted to a general time of judgment on Judah, Egypt, Ammon, Moab, Edom and several small desert kingdoms, with Babylon being the tool God used ... and some seven decades later God brought judgment on Babylon.

As my pastor pointed out several months ago in a survey of the history of this time, when Solomon's kingdom divided, neither Israel nor Judah had the size and population to survive, long term, without God's continual protection. "Coincidentally", during David's and Solomon's reigns major regional powers such as Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and the Hittites were all in times of decline and turmoil; they, "coincidentally", recovered and were again powerful during the times when God judged Israel and Judah. Neither were faithful (Israel not at all, Judah inconsistently though generally becoming less and less faithful). Jeremiah and Ezekiel both made it clear that if Judah repented, God would cancel the disaster planned for them (even as late as the final siege of Jerusalem, per Ezekiel 23).

Murray wrote:under who's rule did Judah become a tributary of Babylon?


note: not talking about the fall of Jerusalem and collapse of Judah under zedekiah

Welcome back Murray - have not seen you for a while.

Israel's (the northern kingdom) last years had a similarly chaotic kingship - multiple "dynasties", some lasting only a week or two. Governance got/get messy and ugly when nations fall apart.

Silvertusk wrote:

Murray wrote:under who's rule did Judah become a tributary of Babylon?


note: not talking about the fall of Jerusalem and collapse of Judah under zedekiah

Welcome back Murray - have not seen you for a while.

im slowly trying to return