Paragraph # 1 Study # 2
January 30, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
1769 Translation:
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
1901 ASV Translation:
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.
- I. The Focus and Facts of This Introduction.
- A. The focus is revealed by the repetitious use of "Jehoiakim king of Judah", the fluctuating uses of the identities of the "gods" involved, and the three-fold references to "the house of god".
- 1. The repetition of Jehoiakim king of Judah indicates a sense of shock. This is "Jehoiakim" (Eliakim whose name was altered by Pharaoh Necho, most likely as a put-down of "Jeh" because Pharaoh was able to defeat "Judah" in battle -- an apparent "failure" of the "God Who Establishes"). This is "Judah", the last remaining element of the Kingdom of David whose "house" was to be "established forever" (2 Samuel 7:13) and who had been told that "Yahweh of Hosts" would "plant [Israel] ... that [Israel] might dwell in a place of their own, and move no more, neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime..." (2 Samuel 7:10).
- 2. The fluctuating identities of the "gods" reveals an interplay with the historical facts.
- a. It was "Adonai" (the Lord) Who is first referenced as the One Who brought Abram to "faith" in the promise of a seed and then "justified" him (Genesis 15:2-8) because he "believed".
- b. To have "Adonai" "give" Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar builds on the shock value of the facts because it looks like the "promise" is being chewed up and spit out. This is a significant challenge to the legitimacy of any "faith" in "Jeh" (there are many such challenges revealed in the Scriptures -- a classic being Jeremiah 22:24 in context and the greatest being the crucifixion of Jesus after His Messianic identity had been established).
- 3. It was the vessels of the House of Elohim that Nebuchadnezzar carried away to the treasure house of his elohim.
- a. Here we have a triple repetition of "the house of God", "the house of his god", and "the treasure house of his god".
- b. This indicates that, perhaps, the issue of this entire book is "the worship of a god", challenging the reader(s) to press the question of Who is God? and/or Who is to be worshiped? This is the most basic of all "T"heological issues for one reason: the "Elohim" is the bottom line of all of the most critical issues facing mankind and eternity. Jesus' "I Am" declarations in the Gospel of John reveal how critical this issue is (particularly John 8:24). Interestingly, a major sub-theme in Isaiah is the issue of the identification of "The God" and his argument is "fulfilled prophecy" reveals the identity of the true God (and Matthew picks up this sub-theme and uses it extensively).
