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©Bonnie LaBelle

Chapter 22:24-30 (ESV)

Posted on August 19, 2024  - By Chris LaBelle  

Chapter 22:24-30 (ESV) - “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
    a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
    into a land that they do not know?
O land, land, land,
    hear the word of the LORD!
Thus says the LORD:
“Write this man down as childless,
    a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
    in sitting on the throne of David
    and ruling again in Judah.”

Question to consider: By what other name do we know this son of Jehoiakim who only reigned three months?

The final descendant of Manasseh to reign as king was Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim who was called Jehoiachin. He reigned only three months before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar. The LORD’s word also described the capture of his mother which is indicated in 2 Kings 24:11-17, “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the Lord had foretold.  He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.”

If Jehoiachin did have children, they were born in captivity and never made it back to Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle whom he renamed Zedekiah. Zedekiah would break covenant with Nebuchadnezzar for an unwise treaty with Egypt, and the result was a full-on siege against Jerusalem which ended in its destruction.

It is worth noting that Manasseh’s line never would have existed had Hezekiah accepted the LORD’s word through Isaiah that he was going to die. The LORD granted his prayer for healing and gave him fifteen more years of life. It was during this time that he had Manasseh and showed off the temple treasury to Merodach-baladan, the envoy from Babylon.

After this action, Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” (2 Kings 20:16-19)

Given that the LORD called Jehoiachin a eunuch in the palace of the king of Babylon, it is not likely that he had kids of his own. The “children hurled and cast” with him into the land most likely referred to the surviving remnant of the people of Judah. 

Hezekiah has always been considered a faithful king, but in the last fifteen years of his life, he boasted about the treasures of Jerusalem and made her the target of her enemies, allowed his son, Manasseh, to be raised in wickedness, and seemed perfectly content with the downfall of his offspring as long as there was peace and security in his old age.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, help us to consider the life and salvation of the next generation by being faithful in connecting them with Christ. Please forgive us for having sacrificed future generations in our attempts to achieve security in our old age. Amen.