The Chaotic Fall of the Nation of Judah
- Josiah and His Sons
King Josiah, the last great reforming king of Judah (c. 640-609 BC), died in battle against Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, to be succeeded in rapid succession by three sons and one grandson: Jehoahaz (c. 609 BC), who was removed by Pharaoh Necho and deported to Egypt after only three months on the throne; Jehoiakim (c. 609-598 BC), who rebelled against God and was carried off to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar; Jehoiachin (AKA “Jeconiah” or “Coniah”), the son of Jehoiakim and grandson of Josiah, whose brief three-month reign was similarly ended by deportation to Babylon (598-597 BC); and finally Zedekiah, brother of Jehoahaz and half-brother of Jehoiakim, who reigned for 11 years right up to the final fall of Jerusalem (c. 597-586 BC), and, after much vacillation, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, saw his sons put to death before his eyes and had his eyes gouged out, before being taken to Babylon.
- The Governor Gedaliah
Nebuchadnezzar installed the pro-Babylonian governor Gedaliah over the remnant left in Jerusalem. Gedaliah’s advice was the same as Jeremiah’s: serve Nebuchadnezzar, don’t rebel, and it will go well for you. Gedaliah was promptly assassinated by a group headed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah, an anti-Babylonian Jew, sponsored by Baalis, king of Ammon. Gedaliah had received a tip concerning the assassination plot, but refused to believe it, trusting that Ishmael was loyal to him (Jeremiah 40:13-16).
- Ishmael, Son of Nethaniah
The anti-Babylonian Ishmael assassinated Gedaliah over dinner in Mizpah, and then proceeded to wipe out many of the Babylonians and pro-Babylonian Jews.
The bloodbath was ended only when Johanan the son of Kereah (the man who attempted to warn Gedaliah) staged a counter-coup, with Ishmael escaping from certain death by fleeing to Ammon (from whence his anti-Babylonian sponsors had plotted the assassination).
- Johanan, Son of Kereah
Uncertain of his political strategy, Johanan consulted Jeremiah, who told him not to flee to Egypt, but to remain in the land and submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and that it would go well for the remnant if he did so. Jeremiah forbad them to flee to Egypt (as he had forbidden reliance on Egypt many times before). Apparently, the pro-Egyptian pressure was still strong, and the prophet’s advice was forcefully rejected (Jeremiah 43:1-4), after which the small remnant of Jewish leaders, including Johanan and his men, as well as an unwilling Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch, went off to Egypt. There Jeremiah prophesied against the small colony of Jews now residing in Tahpanhes in the eastern Nile delta, taking them to task for rejecting the word of God, and prophesying the fall of Egypt at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the punishment of the renegade Jews in Egypt (Jeremiah 43:8-44:30).