Sermon Tone Analysis

Larkin's Commentary on Daniel and Revelation

The Beginning of Gentile Dominion

THE CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM

"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem , and besieged it.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the House of the Lord : which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god ; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god." .

Jeremiah () places this captivity in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Daniel in the third.

This seeming discrepancy is explained by the fact that Nebuchadnezzar set out on his expedition near the close of the third year of Jehoiakim, from which point Daniel reckons, but did not accomplish the subjugation of Jerusalem till about the ninth month of the following year, and from this Jeremiah reckons.

After the "Confusion of Tongues," and the scattering of the descendants of Noah at Babel, the nations of the earth were held in an unseen leash by God, and no one was permitted to conquer and subdue all the rest.

It was God's purpose to make the descendants of Abraham, the Hebrew Nation, the leading nation of the world, but their disobedience and idolatry prevented this.

In B. C. 721, the "Ten Tribes" were carried into captivity to Assyria by King Sargon, and in B. C. 606, 115 years later, began the "Seventy Years' Captivity" in Babylon, as foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah (), of the remaining two Tribes, known as Judah.

While God had not, up to this time, permitted any one nation to be a world conqueror, yet there were certain great powers that were ambitious for that honor and were warring for supremacy.

Among these nations was Babylon, that had already swallowed up Assyria .

In B. C. 605, Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, marched against Babylon, and was overwhelmingly defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at the Battle of Carchemish on the west bank of the river Euphrates, as had been foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah. .

The defeat of Pharaoh-necho by Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon the mistress of the world.

Nebuchadnezzar pursued Pharaoh-necho to Egypt, and having completely conquered Egypt, he marched against Jerusalem, and in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (B. C. 605) he besieged it.

All resistance was speedily overcome, the city was taken, King Jehoiakim was loaded with fetters and ready to be carried a prisoner to Babylon (), when Nebuchadnezzar, hearing of the death of his father, released King Jehoiakim and restored him to his throne, and hastened home to Babylon to claim his father's throne.

But he did not return empty handed.

He plundered the Temple, and took away some of its golden vessels, and ordered Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to select from among the princes of royal and noble blood the most comely and intellectual of the Hebrew youths, and convey them to Babylon, that they might be instructed in the language and tongue of the Chaldeans.

Three years later Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and the Lord sent neighboring bands of Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites to destroy Judah. .

This continued for five years, when Jehoiakim died a disgraceful death () and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his stead.

But he only reigned three months, during which he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar in B. C. 598 came the second time and besieged the city of Jerusalem and took it, and carried away Jehoiachin, and the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even 10,000 captives, and 1000 craftsmen and smiths, leaving only the poorest sort of people behind. .

This is commonly called—"The Captivity," because of the number and character of those carried away, but the "Seventy Years Captivity" began in B. C. 606, because it ran out at the "Fall of Babylon," and the commencement of the reign of Cyrus, who issued the edict for the Jews to return to Jerusalem in B. C. 536.

Before departing with his captives, Nebuchadnezzar made the uncle of Jehoiachin king, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and rebelled against the king of Babylon, and in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, and after two years took it (B.

C. 587) and destroyed the Temple and the city, and from that time the Jewish Nation ceased to exist.

; .

This is called "The Desolations," because of the desolate condition in which it left the city and the land for seventy years, as foretold by Jeremiah. .

When Nebuchadnezzar became king in B. C. 606, the "Times of the Gentiles" began.

His Kingdom was the first "Worldwide Empire" the world had ever seen.

by Grant Richison | Feb 3, 2002 | Daniel | 0 comments

Read Introduction to Daniel

“And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.”

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, The Lord was responsible for Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Judah.

Daniel understood that God was in charge of Gentile nations.

He viewed God as absolutely sovereign.

The word “Lord” here is Adonai.

Adonai refers to God as supreme master.

God was master of Jehoiakim’s situation.

The word “gave” indicates God’s absolute control.

Nebuchadnezzar was simply God’s tool or instrument for accomplishing His purposes for Judah.

with some of the articles of the house of God, The carrying off of the articles of the Temple was a gesture of victory over and subjection of a nation.

“Some” of the articles were taken at this time, and others when Jehoiachin surrendered (2 Kg 24:13; ).

Later in Daniel, Belshazzar brought these vessels out for a banquet ().

Almost one hundred years prior, in 701 B.C., Isaiah had predicted this act of carrying off the articles of the Temple because Hezekiah displayed them to an envoy of Babylon (2 Kg 20:13).

which he carried into the land of Shinar [Babylon] to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god “Shinar” is Babylonia, a place regularly viewed as hostile to God (; ; , ; ; ).

Nebuchadnezzar carried the vessels of the house of God to “the house of his god,” who was Bel or Marduk.

The main temple in Babylon was the Marduk temple near the Ishtar gate and a great ziggurat.

PRINCIPLE: God always squares the account.

APPLICATION: God always keeps His Word.

God prophesied previously that if Hezekiah exhibited the vessels of the Temple to a Gentile king, God would judge him (2 Kg 20:17-18; ).

God never fails to do what He says He is going to do.

God will ultimately square the account.

It is very easy to forget that God will do what He claims He will do.

In a day when we claim our rights, we can never be indifferent to God’s rights.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah.

The Captivity

Jehoiakim was the son of one of the best kings that ever sat upon the throne of David.

His father, Josiah, was a fearer of the Lord from his youth.

In a period of great degeneracy, he was enabled to live a holy and consistent life.

Convinced that religion is the true source of national prosperity, and that sin is the procuring cause of national calamity, Josiah exerted his royal influence to promote the revival of godliness among his subjects.

The land, however, was ripe for vengeance, and in wrath against it the days of this excellent prince were shortened.

He was “taken away from the evil to come.”

In the flower of his days, he was slain in the battle of Megiddo, while fighting against Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt.

After the death of Josiah, his son Jehoahaz was raised to the throne.

This appointment being offensive to the king of Egypt, he deposed Jehoahaz, after a reign of three months, and selected, as his successor on the throne of Judah, Eliakim, another son of Josiah, who, on that occasion, had his name changed into Jehoiakim.

The exaltation of such a prince to the throne, in so corrupt a state of society, was a token that judgment was nigh.

So early as the third year of his reign, the land was overtaken by the first stroke of calamity.

The minister of Divine indignation was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

From the days of Manasseh, the land of Judea was tributary to Babylon.

But when Pharaoh-Necho conquered Josiah, he obtained the superiority of Judea.

Babylon and Egypt were then rival monarchies, struggling with one another for the ascendancy of the world.

When, therefore, Nabopolassar king of Babylon heard that Pharaoh had taken Jerusalem and other towns in Palestine, he resolved to make an effort for their recovery.

Through age and infirmity, being unable to head such an enterprise in person, he assumed Nebuchadnezzar his son into partnership with him in the empire, and sent him into Syria.

Having conquered the Egyptians on the Euphrates, he marched into Judea and took Jerusalem.

Secular history is generally written, just as it would have been, if no agent had the least influence on the affairs of the world, besides those who are visible to our senses.

It traces the actions of man, as if man was all.

It takes no notice, or but little notice, of God.

But Scripture history is written on a different plan.

It begins with God, as the creator of the world, and throughout, it exhibits him as its governor, everywhere present, and always operating.

In an especial manner, it traces all the revolutions that take place in kingdoms—their origin—their progress—their decline and fall—to his sovereign and holy will, as the ultimate cause.

“And the Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah,—a mode of expression which signifies that Divine displeasure was the true and proper cause of this calamity.

In a period of defection from God, superstition often usurps the place of religion.

When men have ceased to confide in God himself, they often place their confidence in something pertaining to him, and trust in it for protection from danger.

To reprove such a spirit, God usually permits that in which they confide to fall into the enemy’s hand.

But while they had no confidence in God, they placed the most overweening confidence in the temple.

They thought, that so long as it remained among them, they was safe.

In one of the earlier messages of Jeremiah, God warned them against this delusion (Jer_4:4; Jer_4:12-14).

This threatening God now began to execute.

Literally, “judgment began at the house of God.” Having entered the temple, Nebuchadnezzar carried away part of the vessels of the Lord’s house.

These he took into the land of Shinar, the ancient name of the region in which Babylon was situated, and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.

Considering the place from which these vessels had been taken, and to whose service they had been consecrated for ages, they may certainly be regarded as one of the most remarkable trophies that ever a conqueror presented at the shrine of his deity.

But victories obtained over God’s people, when they are also triumphs over God himself, will in the end be found pregnant with disaster.

Thus, when the Philistines took the ark captive, God glorified himself in a very remarkable manner.

And, when he summons the nations to the overthrow of Babylon, one reason mentioned is, to take vengeance on her for what she had done to his temple.

“Make bright the arrows; gather the shields; the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for his device is against Babylon to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.”

In a subsequent chapter of the Book of Daniel, we shall meet again with these vessels, and see them prostituted, by an impious monarch, to bacchanalian purposes.

Jerusalem was taken in the third year of Jehoiakim.

We are not, however, to suppose that this was the end of his reign.

Having humbled himself, and promised to pay tribute to the king of Babylon, he was restored to his throne, and reigned seven years.

Having then rebelled a second time, Jerusalem was again taken, and he bound in chains, to be carried to Babylon, but died by the way.

The final overthrow of Jerusalem did not take place till the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, about eighteen years after this period.