| |
It’s definitely fitting that the fate of Israel was determined at Jericho.
“It seems ironic that here, at the very spot where Israel first set foot on the Promised Land, the last of the Davidic kings was captured and his monarchy shattered. Here, where Israel experienced her first victory as the walls of Jericho fell before unarmed men who trusted God, was the scene of her last defeat.”
Russell Dilday
How far had they fallen since that day when they first set foot in the Promised Land.
Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah predicted many of the events that take place in this final chapter. The prophets of God spoke truth but the people and leaders refused to listen. Through it all, we still find God’s grace at work.
Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; 28 and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.
2 Kings 25:27-30 NASB
Although Jehoiachin was an evil king, God preserved him in prison and provided for him upon release. He was representative of David’s dynasty through which the coming Messiah would eventually be born. Was this foreshadowing? It seems like an interesting appendix to an otherwise depressing chapter. I believe God, through this writer, was showing his grace and mercy once again. In some ways, this text sends a clear message – The Messiah is on His way, and no act of man can stop Him. Joseph, the father of Jesus, would eventually come through the lineage of Jehoiachin.