CONCERN FOR ONE’S NATION

CONTENT

1. The Captivity and Destruction of Jerusalem (II Kings 24, 25:1-17)
2. Report on the Conditions of the Nation (Nehemiah 1:3)
3. The Concern of Nehemiah, Ezra and Zerubbabel for their Nation and their Response to the State of the Nation Despite Opposite (Neh. 1:1-11, 2:9-20; Ezra 1:5-11; 7:1-10)
4. Reconstruction of the Nation in the Face of Opposition (Ezra 4; 5:1-2; 6:13-22; Neh. 4:1-23)

The Captivity and Destruction of Jerusalem (II Kings 24, 25:1-17)

Judah slide back into apostasy after the death of Josiah. The kings who succeeded him could not maintain his religious reforms as a result of their moral and personal weakness. Consequently, the nation began to experience turbulent and unpleasant situations due to their rebellion against God which eventually led to the captivity and destruction of Jerusalem as a fulfillment of God’s word against their apostasy. 

Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt in a battle at Megiddo. Consequently, Judah became a vassal of Egypt.  Jehoahaz who succeeded his father Josiah as king at the age of twenty-three reigned for three months before he was deposed by Pharaoh Neco, and in his place made Jehoiakim (Jehoahaz brother) a vassal king over Judah.