God's Unsparing Ax: The End of Jehoiakim Text: 2 Chronicles 36:5-8
Introduction: History with a Point
We live in an age that believes history is a meaningless sequence of events, a random walk through time. Modern man, in his puffed-up autonomy, sees the rise and fall of nations as the product of economics, or military might, or sheer, blind chance. He writes his histories with God carefully edited out of the script. But the Bible will have none of this. Scripture teaches us that history is a story, and it is His story. It has a plot, a purpose, and a point. That point is the glory of God in the exaltation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Every king who reigns, every battle that is fought, every nation that rises, and every empire that crumbles does so under the sovereign decree of Almighty God.
The final chapters of 2 Chronicles are a grim, rapid-fire account of Judah's final, pathetic spiral into the drain of apostasy and judgment. The narrative pace is quick, like a judge reading off a list of charges and sentences. There is no lingering here, no romanticizing the downfall. This is the end of a covenant people who had become covenant-breakers. And in this brief, stark account of the reign of Jehoiakim, we are given a potent lesson in the nature of sin, the certainty of judgment, and the absolute sovereignty of God over the affairs of men, even the wicked affairs of wicked men.
We are told that our God is a consuming fire, and these verses show us what happens when the fire falls. This is not just an ancient history lesson about a forgotten king. This is a diagnosis of our own times. We live in a civilization that, like Jehoiakim, has done what is evil in the sight of the Lord. We have taken His law and mocked it. We have taken His blessings and squandered them. We have taken His warnings and burned them. We must therefore pay close attention, because the principles of God’s government do not change. What God did to Judah, He is more than capable of doing to us. History rhymes because the character of God and the character of rebellious man are constants.
The Text
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to lead him off to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of Yahweh to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.
(2 Chronicles 36:5-8 LSB)
The Simple Diagnosis (v. 5)
The writer of Chronicles does not waste words. The moral and spiritual assessment of Jehoiakim's eleven-year reign is delivered with brutal efficiency.
"Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God." (2 Chronicles 36:5)
That final clause is the only verdict that matters. It does not say he did what was evil in the sight of the Egyptians, who put him on the throne as a puppet. It does not say he did what was evil in the sight of the Babylonians, who would eventually remove him. It says he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. This is the foundational issue. The standard for all human conduct, and especially for civil rulers, is not political expediency or popular opinion. The standard is the fixed, holy character of God as revealed in His law.
This "evil" was not a matter of private peccadilloes. The prophet Jeremiah fills in the details of Jehoiakim's public evil. He was a man of greed and vanity, building lavish palaces for himself with forced, unpaid labor (Jer. 22:13-17). He shed innocent blood. But his ultimate act of defiance was his contempt for the Word of God. When Jeremiah's prophecies of judgment were written on a scroll and read to him, Jehoiakim did not tremble like his father Josiah had. Instead, he took a scribe's knife, cut the scroll into pieces, and threw it into a fire until it was completely consumed (Jer. 36:22-23). This was not just an act of disrespect; it was an act of war against God Himself. He was trying to destroy the reality of God's judgment by destroying the record of it. This is the essence of all godless rebellion. It is the vain attempt to edit God out of His own universe.
Our own rulers do the same thing, just with more sophisticated tools. They do not use a scribe's knife; they use the Supreme Court. They do not burn a scroll; they redefine marriage, they sanctify the slaughter of the unborn, and they declare that good is evil and evil is good. But the principle is identical. It is a public, official declaration that "we will not have this man to reign over us." And the verdict of God remains the same: it is evil in His sight.
The Sovereign's Crowbar (v. 6)
The consequence of defying God is not a sternly worded letter. The consequence is the arrival of God's appointed instrument of judgment.
"Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to lead him off to Babylon." (2 Chronicles 36:6 LSB)
Notice the direct cause and effect. Jehoiakim did evil, so Nebuchadnezzar came. The secular historian sees only the geopolitical machinations of the Babylonian empire. The Bible pulls back the curtain and shows us the hand of God moving the pieces. Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful pagan monarch on the face of the earth, was nothing more than God's crowbar. God Himself calls Nebuchadnezzar "My servant" (Jer. 25:9). This is a staggering statement. This pagan king, who knew nothing of Yahweh, was on Yahweh's payroll, doing Yahweh's bidding.
This is the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty, and it is a hard pill for modern, democratic man to swallow. We like to think we are in charge. But God raises up kings and He brings them down. He uses the righteous purposes of a Cyrus to deliver His people, and He uses the wicked ambitions of a Nebuchadnezzar to judge them. The pagan king thinks he is acting for his own glory, but he is merely fulfilling the script that God has already written. He is God's ax, and the ax does not boast itself against him who chops with it (Isaiah 10:15). This should be a profound comfort to the faithful and a terrifying thought for the rebellious. No tyrant, no corrupt government, no godless institution stands outside the sovereign control of God. They are all on His leash, and He gives them exactly enough rope to accomplish His purposes, whether of judgment or of mercy.
The Desecration of the Holy (v. 7)
The judgment was not just personal; it was liturgical. It struck at the very heart of Judah's identity as the people of God.
"Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of Yahweh to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon." (2 Chronicles 36:7 LSB)
This was not simple looting. This was a theological statement. The sacred vessels, the cups and bowls used in the worship of the one true God, were carried off and placed in the temple of a pagan idol. This was a visible, tangible sign that God was handing His people over. When a people corrupts their worship, God will eventually hand over the very instruments of that worship to their enemies. He is demonstrating that He will not be mocked. He will not inhabit a house that has been defiled by idolatry and injustice.
This is a picture of divine abandonment. The glory was departing. God was saying, in effect, "You have treated these holy things as common, so I will let them be treated as common plunder. You have bowed to other gods, so I will let the furniture of My house sit in the house of another god." This is what happens when the church becomes apostate. When she trifles with the Word, when she corrupts the sacraments, when she makes peace with the world, God removes His blessing. He hands her over. The salt loses its savor and is good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot by men. The lampstand is removed. What happened to the temple in Jerusalem is a standing warning to every church in every age.
The Final Ledger (v. 8)
The account concludes with a summary and a transition, pointing to a more complete record elsewhere.
"Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place." (2 Chronicles 36:8 LSB)
The Chronicler's purpose is not exhaustive biography; it is theological summary. He gives us the bottom line. The "abominations" he did, and "what was found against him," all point to the covenant lawsuit that God brought against this king and his people. The evidence was gathered, the verdict was rendered, and the sentence was carried out. The Book of Kings, and the prophecies of Jeremiah, are the prosecuting attorney's brief, filled with the sordid details.
But the ultimate book where all deeds are written is God's book. History is the unfolding of His judgment. Nothing is missed. Every act of rebellion, every proud word, every burned scroll is recorded. And the cycle of sin continues, for "Jehoiachin his son became king in his place." The cancer of sin is generational, until and unless there is a radical intervention of divine grace.
The Ax Falls, the Son Rises
The story of Jehoiakim is a stark reminder that covenant rebellion has consequences. When a man, or a nation, sets himself against the throne of God, that man or nation will be broken. God's patience is long, but it is not infinite. The ax of His judgment will surely fall.
We see this pattern throughout Scripture. Sin leads to judgment. Apostasy leads to exile. This is the outworking of the covenant curses laid out centuries before in Deuteronomy. God is simply keeping His Word. He promised blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience, and He is a covenant-keeping God. He keeps His promises to judge as faithfully as He keeps His promises to save.
But this is not the end of the story. The very chains that bound Jehoiakim, the very destruction of Jerusalem, were all part of God's larger, redemptive plan. This judgment was a necessary surgery to cut out the cancer of idolatry and prepare a remnant for the coming of the true King. The throne of David seemed to be shattered, but God had promised that David would never lack a man to sit on his throne.
The ultimate fulfillment of this is found in another King, Jesus Christ. The judgment that Jehoiakim and Judah deserved was poured out in its full, undiluted fury upon Him at the cross. He bore the covenant curse. He was, in a sense, bound in bronze chains and led away into the exile of death. The temple of His own body was destroyed. He was handed over, not to Nebuchadnezzar, but to the wrath of God against sin.
And because He took the judgment, we who trust in Him are set free from it. Because He was cut off, we can be grafted in. The story of Jehoiakim teaches us to fear God and to hate sin. The story of Jesus teaches us to love God and to trust His grace. The ax of God's judgment falls on one of two places: either on you, in eternal condemnation, or on Jesus, for your eternal salvation. There is no third option. Therefore, let us flee from the wrath to come and take refuge in the Son who bore it for us.