King Jehoiachin: The King who would not repent (Ezekiel 1:2-3)

 (Introduction to the book of Ezekiel)

 This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.  The Lord gave a message to me, Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, there beside the Kedar River in the land of the Babylonians, and I felt the hand of the Lord take hold of me.

This is definitely not the book I would have chosen, but rather the book to the Romans.  But the Lord insisted and won and persuaded me to go through the book of Ezekiel with you.  The excuse I gave him was that it was too hard, but here we go, the book of Ezekiel.  He simply told me to tell you what I see.

King Jeoiachin, a troubled king by what I see.  He had been placed on the throne at quite a young age.  He became rebellious and all his life would not repent.  Here we see him in the fifth year of his thirty-seven years captivity in Babylonia.  His grandfather had been King Josiah, a reputable king who knew God and even brought a religious reform.

Why would King Jehoiachin had not repented after seeing his grandfather's record and example and the good things the Lord had done?

God had judged many of the kings of that day and had put a curse as well  on to King Jeoiachin which would stop him from having descendant to the throne.  These kings had not only rebelled, but had incited the people to do the same.  Thus God after 3 months and 10 days of reign had Jehoiachin exiled to the land of Babylonia by king Nebuchadnezzar.  That was the price he paid for an unrepentant and hard heart. A curse!

At the time of that fifth year of captivity came the prophet Ezekiel who received a message from God in the form of a vision.

We will look at it tomorrow.

Have a great Day!