And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin.
Jehoiachin as a victim of tyrannic despotism and as an object of delivering mercy
The incident here recorded presents Jehoiachin--
I. As a victim of tyrannic despotism. He had been in prison for thirty-seven years and was fifty-five years of age. It was Nebuchadnezzar, the tyrannic King of Babylon, who stripped this man of liberty and freedom, and shut him up in a dungeon for this very long period of time. Such despotism has prevailed in all ages and lands. To the eternal dishonour of England, it has existed here for centuries, and is rampant even now. Look at this man--
II. As an object of delivering mercy. We are told that as soon as “Evil-Morodach” came to the throne on the death of his father Nebuchadnezzar, mercy stirred his heart and he relieved this poor victim of tyranny. Corrupt as this world is, the element of mercy is not entirely extinct. This mercy gave honour and liberty to the men who had been so long in confinement and disgrace. Let not the victims of tyranny--and they abound everywhere--despair. Mercy will ere long sound the trump of jubilee over all the land. “The spirit of the Lord,” said the great Redeemer of the race, “is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” (D. Thomas, D. D.)