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Context No. 4247 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 24:7-20: in context

7The king of Egypt didn’t come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt. 8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, according to all that his father had done. 10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign. 13He carried out from there all the treasures of the LORD’s house and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the LORD’s temple, as the LORD had said. 14He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained except the poorest people of the land. 15He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For through the anger of the LORD, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

This passage records the deepening ruin of Judah. Jehoiachin becomes king and does evil in God's sight, just as his father had done. Babylon besieges Jerusalem, carries off its treasures and its people into exile, and installs Zedekiah, who also does evil, just as those before him had done. A refrain runs through the account: each king did evil, according to all that his father had done. The pattern of sin passed from one generation to the next, and it led to disaster.

What stands out is this repeated phrase: he did evil, as his father had done. Son after son inherited and continued the sins of the fathers, walking in the same wrong paths, until the accumulated evil brought the nation to ruin and exile. No one broke the pattern; each simply repeated it, and the consequences fell at last.

We can absorb and repeat the wrong patterns of those who came before us, our families, our culture, doing evil as our fathers did, without ever stopping to break the cycle. But such patterns, left unbroken, lead somewhere, and not somewhere good. The call is to be the one who breaks the pattern, who refuses to simply repeat the sins handed down, who turns to God and walks a different way, so that what was passed down is not passed on.

Are there wrong patterns handed down to me from my family or culture that I am simply repeating, doing as those before me did, and will I be the one to break the cycle, turning to God and walking a different way so that what was passed down to me is not passed on?

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