Monday 21st March Daily notes from The Hub

v 1  During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled.

This was the first invasion of Judah by the Babylonians. They left the city intact but King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land. (v 14) Things had come to a pretty bad pass – but Jerusalem still stood. It was madness on Jehoiakim’s part to rebel. King Nebuchadnezzar was unlikely to overlook a rebellion in his Empire, and in the very next chapter we come to the crunch point. The rebellion was to be crushed.