A Brief Summary Of Zedekiah's Reign (Jeremiah 52:1-3).
This parallels 2 Kings 24:18-20, and briefly summarises Zedekiah's reign as ‘evil in the sight of YHWH' because of his maintenance of idolatry and gross breach of the covenant with YHWH as contained in the books of Moses.
‘Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.'
Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign (in 597 BC) and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem ‘the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there' for David's sake (1 Kings 14:21). It was to be the last eleven years of Jerusalem's existence. The name of the queen mother was Hamutal. Her father was Jeremiah (a different Jeremiah) of Libnah, a large city in the foothills (the Shephelah). Zedekiah was thus the full brother of Jehoahaz (Jeremiah 23:31), and the half-brother of Jehoiakim.
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, in accordance with all that Jehoiakim had done.'
Zedekiah continued to walk in the same way as Jehoiakim had done, permitting the continuation of the worship of Baal and Asherah, as well as necessarily having to perpetuate the worship of the gods of Babylon. He also allowed gross breaches of the covenant. (Neither Jehoahaz nor Jehoiachin had reigned long enough to be seen as a pattern). All Josiah's efforts had, in the long term, seemingly been in vain, and the Temple was being defiled. Zedekiah chose to ape Jehoiakim rather than his own godly father. YHWH had given Judah its last chance and it had rejected it.
‘He did what was evil in the sight of YHWH.' This is a constant refrain in the book of Kings indicating the promulgation of idolatry and of false gods, and gross disobedience to the covenant.
‘For through the anger of YHWH did it come about in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.'
The fact of YHWH's anger against Judah and Jerusalem, and their removal from His sight is an important theme in 2 Kings (2 Kings 21:12-14; 2 Kings 22:13; 2 Kings 23:26; 2 Kings 24:2-3), and also in Jeremiah's prophecy (Jeremiah 4:8; Jeremiah 4:26; Jeremiah 7:18-20; Jeremiah 8:19; Jeremiah 11:17; and often). It had been His continual purpose from the time of Manasseh. The warnings of Leviticus 18:25; Leviticus 18:28; Leviticus 26:28-35; Deuteronomy 29:28 were being fulfilled. And it was being brought about by YHWH Himself. But it should be noted that humanly speaking it was brought on them by the actions of the king and his advisers. It was Zedekiah who, against all YHWH's advice through Jeremiah, rebelled against the king of Babylon.
This rebellion appears to have been inspired as a result of news being received of an internal rebellion in Babylon in which many Jews were involved (there was constant contact with Babylon), and was no doubt partly stirred up by the continuing urgings of Egypt, who would indeed at one stage send an army to temporarily relieve Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5). Tyre and Sidon, Edom, Moab and Ammon all appear to have been involved (Jeremiah 27:1-11).