at the Mercy of the Foe
The narrative here runs parallel with II Kings, but the events are described with a certain gravity of warning which enforces the lesson of history. Here was the final Catastrophe. Long predicted, at last it fell. The Jewish kings named here were mere puppets, and instead of turning to Jehovah, followed each other in persistent idolatry. Jehoahaz was deposed by Necho, who hoped for a more obsequious tool in his brother Jehoiakim; and the latter in his turn was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, because he was Necho's nominee. Jehoiachin was carried into captivity because he was the choice of the people, and Zedekiah because he rebelled. These are the superficial reasons for the changes that followed each other with such terrible rapidity. But the pages of Jeremiah and Ezekiel reveal other and deeper reasons, alluded to subsequently in this chapter.
It was a long process of pruning through which Israel had to pass, before this stock could bear that one pure flower, the mother of our Lord, who was to give the human side of His holy nature to the world.