IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

The Lord Reigns in History

Date: May. 27, 2025

Passage

2 Kings 23:31-24:7 (ESV)

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 23:24:3

Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

After Josiah’s death, his son Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum, was made king bypassing his older brothers probably because of his anti-Egyptian stance like his father (1Ch 3:15). But his kingship lasted only three months before he was captured by Pharoh Neco (v.33). His older brother Eliakim was made king by Pharaoh, who changed his name to Jehoiakim (v.34).

Jehoiakim became Pharaoh’s vassal (v. 35), and refused to accept the word of the Lord through Jeremiah (Jer 36:22-24,28,29) concerning the invasion of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who God was using as the rod of discipline (24:1-2). Jehoiakim would have murdered the prophet Jeremiah if it hadn’t been for the LORD’s intervention (Jer 36:26). But he was responsible for the murder of the prophet Uriah, who had the same message for him as Jeremiah (Jer 26:20-24).

His father King Josiah had carried out spiritual reformation and had undone evil practices his grandfather Manasseh had started (v. 3-4). But Josiah’s sons, who had succeeded him as king, did not continue the spiritual legacy of their father.

Prayer: Father, you have granted us your great servants to learn from. Please help us continue their legacy with a learning mind and overcome the evils of this world which they also fought against valiantly. Amen.

One Word: Remember our spiritual heritage

Daily Bread

The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Key Verse: 20:3

“You shall have no other gods before me.

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