Jehoiachin was the son of Jehoiakim and his name means “God will fortify his people”. He ruled Judah during the sixth century BC, which is when he appears on the Biblical Timeline. When Jehoiachin came to power, his father Jehoiakim had passed away after ruling the land for eleven years.
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Once he became king he continued in the pagan practices of his father. Instead of leading people back into the true worship of God he chose to continue leading them in the wrong direction. King Jehoiachin had a short reign that lasted for only three months and one week. God had to remove this king from power because he didn’t want to repent of his sins. He was alive when his grandfather Josiah ruled the kingdom.
King Josiah was a righteous ruler who believed in God. Just like his father, Jehoiachin didn’t learn how to trust in the Lord. God had decided to send the people into captivity for their sins at the hands of the Babylonians. The Babylonians made Judah pay them tribute during the reign of Jehoiakim. One day King Nebuchadnezzar decided to attack Judah during the rule of Jehoiachin. Before he marched on Judah, he forced King Jehoiachin to come to Babylon. Once King Jehoiachin arrived in Babylon King Nebuchadnezzar made him a prisoner.
King Nebuchadnezzar arrived in Judah and took the people into slavery. The Babylonian King then carried away all of Judah’s treasures from the palace and the Temple of the Lord. This was a prediction that was given to King Hezekiah of Judah in the past. It finally was fulfilled during the reign of Jehoiachin. King Nebuchadnezzar took all of the important people in the land which included the princes, the skilled craftsmen, soldiers, Smiths and even some of the priests.
After he had taken King Jehoiachin away to Babylon, a king named Mattaniah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. This event was the second time that Babylon took the people of Judah away into captivity. God used Nebuchadnezzar to enslave the people of Judah at different time periods during its history. Only the extremely poor people were allowed to remain behind in the land of Judah. God used the Babylonian captivity as a last resort to get the people to turn back from their sins and to believe in him.
This extreme form of judgment was used by God to help them to realize how important it is to have a heart that truly wants to follow his ways and serve him. This was the beginning of many years of sorrow for the people of Judah. All hope was not gone because God was going to bring his people back from captivity and destruction when the time was right. King Jehoiachin ultimately ended his short reign as a prisoner in the Kingdom of Babylon.
Biblical References:
- 2 Kings 24: 8, 9 Background information on Jehoiachin. He was an evil king.
- 2 Kings 24: 10 -12 King Nebuchadnezzar and his officials siege Judah and Jehoiachin relinquishes control of Jerusalem
- 2 Kings 24: 12 – 14 Babylonian King carries away Jehoiachin and the people into captivity, and he plunders the temple of God.
- 2 Kings 24: 15 -17 Nebuchadnezzar places Mattaniah on the throne. Jehoiachin’s uncle and changes his name to Zedekiah.
- 2 Chronicles 36: 9 -10 alternate story of Jehoiachin’s reign.
