The Reign of King Jehoiakim/Eliakim

Above:  Jehoiakim

Image in the Public Domain

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READING 2 KINGS 22-25, 1 ESDRAS, 2 CHRONICLES 34-36, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH

PART VII

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2 Kings 23:36-24:7

2 Chronicles 36:5-8

1 Esdras 1:39-42

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You have renounced your covenant with your servant:

you have defiled his crown in the dust.

–Psalm 89:38, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

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King Jehoiakim (r. 609-598 B.C.E.) was a vassal then an exile and a prisoner.  He did not even get to keep his own name as King of Judah.  He, born Eliakim (“God raises up”), became Jehoiakim (“YHWH raises up”) at the behest of Neco II, Pharaoh of Egypt.  Then Jehoiakim became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II/Nebuchadrezzar II (r. 605-562 B.C.E.).  There was a new sheriff in town, so to speak.  The new sheriff even carried some of the sacred vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem off to Babylon.  The already-bad situation became worse as the chickens came home to roost.

Having two successive Kings of Judah sent into exile presaged the coming Babylonian Exile.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 5, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED TENNYSON, ENGLISH POET

THE FEAST OF ADAM OF SAINT VICTOR, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, AND LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, RENAISSANCE ARTISTS

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT, POET AND COMPOSER

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