
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Zedekiah as King of Judah and later deposed King Zedekiah to Babylon because he did not do what King Nebuchadnezzar had asked him to do.
King Zedekiah 20th and last king of Judah and was evil in God’s eyes.
Reigned for 11 years = 597BC -586BC.
King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylonia made King Jehoiakin’s Uncle Mattaniah King of Judah and at the same time changes the name of Mattaniah to Zedekiah. King Jehoiachin had been the 19th king of Judah.
Mattaniah in Hebrew means: gift of Jehovah.
Zedekiah in Hebrew means: The LORD is my righteousness.
Background Reading:
Zedekiah King of Judah – 20th and last king of Judah
11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. 13 Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Third Capture of Jerusalem
14 Meanwhile, all the officials who supervised the priests and the people remained unfaithful, following the detestable example of the surrounding nations. They polluted the LORD’s Temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. 15 The LORD God of their ancestors pleaded with them time and again through his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on the place of his residence, 16 but they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people. 17 Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king’s control, 18 who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers. 19 After this, they set fire to God’s Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value. 20Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 All of this fulfilled what the LORD had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land’s desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.
2 Chronicles 36:11-21
see 2 Kings 24:17-25:30 and Jeremiah 52:1-34
Other modules in this unit:
- King Rehoboam the 1st king of Judah, 1st Kings 11:41-12:24 and 2nd Chronicles 9:31-12:16
- King Abijah or Abijam the 2nd king of Judah, 1st Kings 14:31-15:8 and 2nd Chronicles 13:-22
- King Asa the 3rd and a Good King of Judah, 1 Kings 15:8-24 and 2nd Chronicles 14:-16:14
- King Jehoshaphat the 4th and a Good King of Judah, 1 Kings 22:41-50 and 2nd Chronicles 17:1-20:37
- King Jehoram the 5th King of Judah, 2nd Kings 8:16-24 and 2nd Chronicles 2:1-20
- King Ahaziah the 6th King of Judah, 2nd Kings 8:24-9:29 and 2nd Chronicles 22:1-9
- Queen Athaliah the 7th King of Judah, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12
- Joash the 8th King of Judah, 2 Kings 11:1-12:21 and 2nd Chronicles 22:10-24:27
- King Amaziah the 9th and a Good King of Judah, 2nd Kings 14:1-20 and 2nd Chronicles 25:1-28
- King Azariah the 10th and a Good King of Judah, 2 Kings 15:1-7 and 2nd Chronicles 26:1-23
- King Jotham the 11th and a Good King of Judah, 2 Kings 15:32-38 & 2nd Chronicles 27:1-9
- King Ahaz the 12th King of Judah, 2 Kings 16:1-20 & 2nd Chronicles 28:1-27
- King Hezekiah was the 13th and a Good King of Judah, 2 Kings 18:1-20:21 & 2nd Chronicles 29:1-32:33
- King Manasseh the 14th King of Judah, 2 Kings 21:1-18 & 2nd Chronicles 33:1-20
- King Amon the 15th King of Judah, 2 Kings 21:19-26 & 2nd Chronicles 33:21-25
- King Josiah the 16th and a Good King of Judah, 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 & 2nd Chronicles 34:1-35:27
- King Jehoahaz the 17th King of Judah, 2 Kings 23:31-35 & 2nd Chronicles 36:1-4
- King Jehoiakim the 18th King of Judah, 2 Kings 23:36-24:7 & 2nd Chronicles 36:5-7
- King Jehoiachin the 19th King of Judah, 2 Kings 24:8-17 & 2nd Chronicles 36:8-10
- King Zedekiah the 20th and last King of Judah, 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 & 2 Kings 24:17-25:30
- The 20 Kings of Judah who ruled between – 931BC-586BC=345 years
- Timeline of the Kings of Judah
- Next Module – Kings of Israel