Read: 2 Chron. 36:1-4; 2 Kings 23:31-24:4; Jeremiah 22, 25: 1-14, 26
Josiah was one of the most godly kings next to David yet both his sons refused to walk in his foot steps. As a parent I think this is a sad scenario. We see two pictures of what happens to those who refuse to walk with God. The first one was Jehoahaz which means “God will take hold”. God took hold of him after three months and caused Neco to take him into Egypt where he lived the rest of his life in captivity. Neco means “his smiting”. Neco was used by God to smite the evil of Jehoahaz. Neco put Eliakim (“God will establish”) as king and changed his name to Jehoiakim (“God will set up”). God was establishing himself as their king and was about to bring down the gauntlet of judgment over their nation. Jehoiakim had to send enormous tribute to Neco for payment. Both kings went into captivity: one physically and the other mentally. When we rebel against the Lord we will find ourselves in some sort of captivity. Sometimes it manifests openly for all to see and other times it is our secret anguishes that destroy us from within. Only God can bring true peace and prosperity and only repentance can deliver us from bondage.
God sent them prophets like Uriah and Jeremiah to tell them what would happen because they turned away from the Lord …again. They killed Uriah and were about to kill Jeremiah when some of the elders of the land stood up for him and reminded the people about Micah. Micah was a prophet from years past who had prophesied the same thing against Jerusalem. At that time the people had repented and God saved Jerusalem. It looks like “lights out” this time.
Lord, help us to listen to the voice of the prophets of our day and repent. Please have mercy on our nation and raise up god-fearing leaders that will judge fairly.
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