Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days

Jehoiakim reigned 11 years (609 - 598 BC). In Jehoiakim's 11th year, Nebuchadnezzar came and brought his reign to an end by taking him to Babylon in chains (2Chronicles 36:5-6), but he died on the journey and his body was cast out and exposed to the elements, so that he did not receive a proper burial, just as Jeremiah had prophesied (36:30, 22:19). His son, Jehoiachin, was only installed as king after news of Jehoiakim's death arrived in Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:6). Thus there was a short Interregnum of a few months between the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiakin.

Jehoiachin only reigned for 3 months and 10 days (2Chronicles 36:9, 2Kings 24:8), because Nebuchadnezzar immediately deposed him. The Babylonian Chronicle says that in his 7th year (Nisan 598 - 597 BC) he started to besiege Jerusalem in Kislev (12th Dec 598 - 11th Jan 597 BC), and captured it on 2nd Adar (10th March 597 BC), ending Jehoichin's reign of 3 months 10 days. Therefore he started to reign on 28th November 598 BC. Therefore, he did not reach the start of his 1st regnal year, which is why it is recorded as 3 months long rather than 1 year. However, there was also a short Interregnum before his reign, and we will see that this Interregnum started before Tishri 1st in October 598 BC. Therefore, in the overall reckoning 'this Interregnum + Jehoiachin's reign' should count as 1 year.

Jehoiachin surrendered to Babylon on 10th March 597 BC, in Nebuchadnezzar's 7th year, just before the start of the Nisan new year in April. By the time Nebuchadnezzar had taken the treasures and organised the many captive to take to Babylon and installed the new king (Zedekiah), they had crossed over into the new year, which is why it says in 2Kings 24:12 that Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon early in his 8th year, as confirmed by 2Chronicles 36:10. Also Ezekiel 40:1 says that this happened on the 10th Nisan. Ezekiel went into captivity at the same time as Jehoichin, in Nisan (April) 597 BC - this is a well-established fixed date. Ezekiel gives all his dates as 'the years of king Jehoichin's Captivity' (1:2), which were also 'the years of our Captivity' (40:1). These must be Nisan years, so the first year of this Captivity was Nisan 597 - 596 BC.

Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah and Coniah. Jeremiah prophesied he would go into Captivity (22:24-28), and that none of his physical seed would ever sit on the throne of David (22:29-30). Thus the next and last king (Zedekiah) was his uncle, not his son. This created a problem, for the Messiah must be descended from the royal line, but any physical descendent of Jehoiachin is disqualified! The solution is the Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew 1:1-16 gives the ancestry of Jesus on Joseph's side, showing His legal right to be king. Joseph was in the royal line, a descendant of Jehoiachin (1:11,12,16). The curse on Jehoiachin's seed (Jer 22:30) would disqualify Jesus from being the rightful king, if he was the physical son of Joseph, but this does not apply because of the Virgin Birth, which is why Matthew goes on to establish the Virgin Birth (1:18-23). Notice also that Matthew 1:16 does not say Joseph begat Jesus, but rather he was the husband of Mary, who brought Him forth (so he was the adoptive father of Jesus). Luke's genealogy traces His ancestry through Mary, proving He was also a physical son of David, which means that He fulfils all the legal requirements to sit on the throne of David in fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant (1Chron 17:11-14). Moreover, the curse on Jeconiah (Jer 22:30) means that all the other descendants of the royal line of kings, which passes through Jehoiachin, are disqualified by their physical relationship to Jeconiah. Therefore, by virtue of the uniqueness of the Virgin Birth, Jesus is the only physical Son of David, who is also in the royal line of kings, who is not disqualified by the curse on Jeconiah. Therefore, He is the only One, who satisfies all the conditions, to sit as King on the Throne of David.

It is especially important to determine the exact dating of Jehoiakim's reign, because the 3rd Jehoiakim marks the start of the 70 years of Captivity (Daniel 1:1), as well as the 7 Times of the Gentiles. In order to get an accurate chronology of the kings from Josiah's death in 609 BC to the start of Zedekiah's reign in Nisan 597 BC, there is a technical issue to be decided.

We have 3 established fixed dates from known links to the Babylonian chronology:

(1) Josiah's death, Jehoahaz's accession, and the end of the Assyrian Empire in 609 BC (17th Nabopolassar),

(2) the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, in the 4th year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 46:2), which was also the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:1), and

(3) the start of Zedekiah's reign when the captives were taken to Babylon in 597 BC, at the start of the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:12).

The 12 years (609 - 597 BC) start with the 3 months of Jehoahaz, fol

Jeremiah prophesied that there would be (1) 70 years of Servitude to Babylon of Israel and the nations (609 - 539 BC, Jeremiah 25:9,12, 27:1), (2) 70 years of Captivity in Babylon (607 - 537 BC, Jeremiah 29:10), and (3) 70 years of Desolations of the Land (588 - 518 BC, Jeremiah 25:8-11, Daniel 9:2).

When Cyrus conquered Babylon in October 539 BC, this brought the first period of 70 years to an end. This stimulated Daniel to pray for the restoration of Israel in view of the fact that the remaining periods of 70 years were also approaching their fulfilment (Daniel 9:1-2). Daniel prayed this in the first year of Darius the Mede (whom Cyrus had appointed as king of Babylon), which is Nisan 538 - 537 BC. In response, God sent Gabriel to give Daniel the prophecy of the 70 Weeks or Sevens. When viewed as 70x7 years, this prophecy gives the Countdown to the Messiah, predicting the exact date of His death and resurrection (see my book and videos on Daniel's 70 Weeks). But viewing it as 70x7 days, gave an initial fulfilment, because 490 days later at Tishri 537 BC, Cyrus issued his famous Decree, releasing Israel from Captivity, allowing them to return to Israel, in fulfilment of Jeremiah 29:10. Darius only reigned 1 year, after which Cyrus claimed the kingship (Daniel 6:28), so Cyrus' first year was Nisan 537 - 536 BC, which is when he made his Decree (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). The 70 years of Captivity started with Daniel going into Captivity in Tishri 607 BC (Daniel 1:1) and ended with the Cyrus Decree in Tishri 537 BC. Thus in answer to Daniel's prayers God revealed the timing of the initial short-term fulfilment - the end of the Captivity by the Cyrus' Decree, and the timing of God's ultimate restoration of Israel by the Coming of the Messiah.

In the final part of the video we complete our study of the 11-year reign of Jehoiakim (609 - 598 BC), an evil king who encouraged idolatry and ignored Jeremiah's warnings, by rebelling against Babylon in his 6th year. In his 11th year, Nebuchadnezzar came and brought his reign to an end by taking him to Babylon in chains (2Chronicles 36:5-6), but he died on the journey and his body was cast out and exposed to the elements, so that he did not receive a proper burial, just as Jeremiah had prophesied in Jer 36:30, 22:19, which was a judgment upon him for burning Jeremiah's prophetic scrolls (Jer 36). His son, Jehoiachin, was only installed as king after Jehoiakim's death (2 Kings 24:6). This means that there was a short Interregnum of a few months between the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiakin, which is necessary to understand, in order to obtain an accurate chronology of this time-period, as we will see in the next video of this series (not seeing this Interregnum results in a 1-year error in the timings of the kings of Judah).

After Necho killed Josiah, his son Jehoahaz became king for 3 months, before Necho replaced him with Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 25:1-3 proves that these 3 months were within his accession year. Daniel's Captivity in Babylon in the 3rd Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1, 2Kings 24:1) marked the start of the 70 years of Captivity. Thus, Israel came under Babylonian domination, one year BEFORE the famous Battle of Carchemish, when Babylon defeated Egypt in the 4th Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 46:2), which was also the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:1), as confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicles which tell us that Nabopolassar died shortly after Carchemish.

Unfortunately most chronologies ignore this Biblical evidence and assume that Daniel's Captivity must have been in the same year as Carchemish, rather than the year before. We provide further evidence that is assumption is false from Daniel, based on his 3 years of training (1:3-5), before he was brought before Nebuchadnezzar and given a position in the palace (1:18). These 3 years of training must have taken place before the events in Daniel 2, which were in the 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar (2:1). This means that he must have gone into Captivity the year BEFORE Nebuchadnezzar's accession year in the 4th Jehoiakim, just as Daniel 1:1 states. This enables us to fix the 4th Jehoiakim from Tishri 606 - 605 BC, placing Carchemish in 605 BC in agreement with the Babylonian records.

This means that Daniel went into captivity in the previous year, the 3rd Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1), which was 607 - 606 BC. Thus, the 70 years of Israel's Captivity started in 607 - 606 BC, and they were ended by Cyrus Decree in 537 BC. Therefore, Daniel's Captivity must have started in 607 BC, giving us a perfect solution of 607 - 537 BC for the 70 years of Israel's Captivity.

Daniel's Captivity in 607 BC also marked the start of the Times of the Gentiles, an extended era of 7x360 years = 2,520 years of Gentile Dominion over Israel, the main subject of the visions in Daniel, revealing the successive Gentile world-empires that would rule over Israel, before the Messiah returns from Heaven, to destroy all the kingdoms of this world, and to establish His Kingdom over all the earth (see my book and videos called: 'The 7 Times of the Gentiles' - the book is available on Amazon).

We also note the significance of Jeremiah 25:1 in giving us a perfect connecting link between sacred and secular chronology (4th Jehoiakim - the Accession Year of Nebuchadnezzar), enabling us to fix absolute dates. The timing of this synchronism is appropriate, because it is from this very time that secular records became accurate and reliable. Moreover, it is appropriate that at the start of the era of Gentile dominion over Israel, God established a connecting link between Israel's chronology and the start of the reign of the first of these Gentile rulers - Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold (Daniel 2:38).

Because of Solomon's compromise with idolatry, the 430 years of sin against God's Presence in the Temple (Ezekiel 4:1-8) started as soon as it was dedicated by Solomon in 1018 BC, when God's Glory filled the Temple, and continued until God's Glory departed the Temple in 588 BC, as witnessed by Ezekiel. So these 430 years correspond exactly with the time that God's Presence dwelt in the first Temple. We establish that God appeared to Solomon immediately after the Dedication of the Temple to warn him about the danger of idolatry and its consequences (1 Kings 9:1-9). This meant that he (as Israel's representative) was in deliberate sin (rebellion) against God, when he allowed idolatry to continue and increase, despite this warning. This helps to understand the seriousness of this sin, and why God had to start counting the 430 years of sin (idolatry) from this point.

The 390 years of sin from the Temple Dedication in 1018 BC to when the 40 years of sin began in 628 BC with the start of Jeremiah's ministry at the start of Josiah's 13th year, perfectly confirms the long chronology, which we have constructed by tracing and harmonising the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel, just using the information given in the Bible. The 390-year measurement also enables us to determine the exact length of Jotham's reign (22 years). The Biblical account says he reigned at least 20 years, but it does not specify the exact length of his reign, but the 390 years provides this one piece of missing information.

Another wonderful confirmation of this Biblical Chronology of the kings is that it explains why God measured exactly 70 years for the Desolations of the Land. 2 Chronicles 36:14-21 explains the cause of the Desolations (unrepentant idolatry), and why they had to last 70 years (they had to continue until the Land had enjoyed her lost Sabbaths - v21). Because of their sin, Israel failed to keep God's Law concerning the Sabbath Year (Leviticus 25:1-3) - God told them to rest the Land 1 year in 7. Therefore, He removed them from the Land, until the Land had enjoyed the correct number of Sabbaths, as He had warned them He would do in Leviticus 26:31-35. Thus the time of the Desolations was measured on this basis. Therefore, if a proposed chronology is correct, it must be able to explain why God measured exactly 70 years for the Desolations of the Land, according to this Sabbath principle. As the climax of this video, we demonstrate the perfect solution to this difficult challenge, thus providing an independent confirmation of this chronology!

In Ezekiel 8-11, Ezekiel had a 2nd major vision where he saw the Glory of God leaving the Temple on account of Israel's idolatry, which was even going on within the Temple itself. This idolatry had aroused God's anger, so that He was now ready to move in Judgment. The departure of God's Presence from the Temple marked the start of this time of Desolating Judgment, as signified by the scattering of burning coals over the city (10:2). By this departure in 588 BC, God was initiating the Desolations of Jerusalem. From the moment God departed from Jerusalem, her desolation was inevitable and irreversible, for she was now without His protective covering.

The start of this Desolating Judgment was physically manifested as the final Siege of Jerusalem by Babylon, at the very same time that God's Glory departed from the Temple. After Ezekiel's first vision, when God called him to be a prophet (1:1 - 3:14), in 4:1 - 7:27, God revealed the Desolations that would fall on Israel, which would begin with the final Siege of Jerusalem, and that the cause of these desolating judgments was 430 years of sin (idolatry), from 1018 - 588 BC, made worse by the fact that God's Presence and Glory was with them in the Temple. It was direct sin against the holiness of God.

Finally, we show that these 430 years (of idolatry, against God's Presence in the Temple) began from the Dedication of the Temple, when God's Glory filled the Temple, because even by the time the Temple was dedicated, Solomon had allowed idolatry to take root at the heart of Israel; and even though God had appeared to him immediately after the Dedication of the Temple and warned him about this very issue (1Kings 9:1-9), he did not repent, but rather he greatly multiplied his foreign wives and for their sakes he increased his permission and promotion of idolatry in Jerusalem. This meant that his sin was rebellious in nature. The fact God had appeared to Solomon twice made this sin even more serious. 1Kings 11:1-13 describes how this idolatry began during Solomon's reign, and that it was so serious, that God announced to Solomon that as a result of this sin, his Kingdom would be divided after his death. So, clearly the 430 years of sin against God's Presence in the Temple are not to be measured from the Division of the Kingdom, as some say, but must start before that, even at the Temple's Dedication.

Thus, the 430 years of sin against God's Presence in the Temple covers the entire time that God's Presence was in the Temple from its Dedication in 1018 BC, until God's Glory departed the Temple in 588 BC, as witnessed by Ezekiel, at the start of the final Siege of Jerusalem, which resulted in the Temple's destruction in 586 BC.

We study the ministry of Ezekiel and his visions, as he warns Israel about the soon-coming Judgment of Desolations coming on Jerusalem and the Land, as a result of their idolatry.

Ezekiel 4:1-8 reveals the 430 years of sin, which led up to the final Siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC, which marked the start of these Desolations, which were prophesied to last 70 years in Jeremiah 25:11. These 430 years of sin consist of 390 years followed by 40 years. The nature of the sin which initiated the 430 years of sin is revealed in 1Kings 9:1-9 and 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, as the sin against the Presence of God in their midst in the Temple, by the idolatry and worship of other gods. We show that these 430 years of sin began with the Dedication of Solomon's Temple in 1018 BC. After the first 390 years were completed in 628 BC, a judgment was inevitable, as Josiah discovered when he enquired of the Lord - this was the 70 years Servitude to Babylon, which Israel would experience along with all the other nations in the region (Jeremiah 25:1-14), which started in 609 BC with the end of the Assyrian Empire, when it fell to Babylon, and ended in 539 BC, with the end of the Babylonian Empire, when it fell to Cyrus, king of Persia.

628 BC marks the end of the 390 years of sin and the start of the 40 years of sin, which coincide with the 40 years of Jeremiah's ministry (628 - 588 BC), in which he warned Israel to repent and to submit to God's discipline through Babylon, otherwise they would also suffer the greater judgments of Captivity in Babylon, and finally the Desolations of Jerusalem and the Land. Because Israel continued in sin, in 607 BC, she started to come under the Judgment of Captivity in Babylon, which was again measured by God as a 70-year period from 607 - 537 BC (Jeremiah 29:1-14). Because Israel still did not repent, the number of people going into Captivity continually increased in stages, until the whole nation went into Captivity in Babylon in 586 BC. These 70 years ended in 537 BC with the Cyrus Decree releasing the Jews to return to Israel.

Once the allotted 40 years of final warnings had ended in 588 BC, with Israel still unrepentant, God consigned her to the even greater judgement of the Desolations of Jerusalem and the Land, which included her total expulsion from the Land. This Judgement of Desolation was also measured out by God to last 70 years, from 588 - 518 BC (Jeremiah 25:11, 2 Chronicles 36:14-21, Daniel 9:2). Ezekiel saw God's Glory leaving the Temple because of the idols, and this took place at the end of the 40 years, in 588 BC (Ezekiel 10-11), coinciding with the start of the final Siege, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple soon after, and the whole nation going into Captivity in Babylon in 586 BC.

Thus we can distinguish 3 distinct (but related) 70-year periods of escalating judgement on Israel: (1) the Servitude, (2) the Captivity, and (3) the Desolations, which were prophesied over Israel, and which were perfectly fulfilled on time. Because Israel did not repent, God kept increasing the severity of His discipline of His people. In addition, we note a 4th period of 70 years from the Destruction of the first Temple in 586 BC until the Dedication of the 2nd Temple in 516 BC, which we could call the Desolations of the Temple.

We explain the 390 years of Israel's sin (1018 - 628 BC) followed by the 40 years of Judah's sin, the 40 years of Jeremiah's warnings from 628 - 588 BC (Jeremiah 25:3), which led up to the final Siege of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1-8), which marked the start of the 70 years of Desolations of Jerusalem and the Land from 588 - 518 BC (Ezekiel 4:9 - 7:27), as prophesied in Jeremiah 25:8-11. We show that the 390 years of sin resulted in Israel's Servitude to Babylon, and the extra 40 years of sin resulted in the greater Judgment of the Desolations. This explains why Jeremiah told Israel to submit to Servitude under Babylon, because it was an unavoidable divine discipline, and he also pleaded with them to repent, lest the greater Judgment of the Desolations should come upon them.

These time measurements confirm the chronology of the time of the kings that we have been developing by taking the Bible literally. This produces a chronology, which is about 60 years longer than the shorter chronology, which is commonly used. This shorter chronology changes the Bible's chronology to make it fit with Assyrian chronology. So for example, the true date of the start of the Divided Kingdom is 993 BC, rather than 931 BC (the date given in most books). The shorter chronology can make no sense of Ezekiel's 430 years (390 + 40).

We show that the starting point for the 430 years of sin must be the start of the Great Jubilee Cycle - the Dedication of Solomon's Temple. The nature of the sin which initiated the 430 years of sin is revealed in 1Kings 9:1-9 and 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, as the sin against the Presence of God in their midst in the Temple, by their idolatry and worship of other gods. This sin led to God's Glory leaving the Temple in 588 BC (Ezekiel 10), resulting in its destruction soon after.

The prophet Jeremiah ministered during the reign of King Josiah. For 40 years, from 628 - 588 BC he warned Judah to repent or else God would send desolating judgments upon her, but she refused (these are the 40 years of Judah's sin in Ezekiel 4:6). Therefore, when time ran out in 588 BC, the final Siege of Jerusalem by Babylon began, which marked the start of the Desolations of Israel and Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 4-7, confirmed by Ezekiel 24).

Jeremiah made some stunning prophecies concerning three 70-year periods of judgment upon Israel and the nations, at the hands of Babylon. In this study, we see how two of them were perfectly fulfilled. We see how Jeremiah 25:1-14 is a 2-fold prophecy, which predicted: (1) 70 years of Servitude of Israel and the nations to Babylonian domination (609 - 539 BC), which started in 609 BC with the end of the Assyrian Empire, when it fell to Babylon, and ended in 539 BC, with the end of the Babylonian Empire, when it fell to Cyrus, king of Persia, and (2) 70 years of Desolations for Israel and Jerusalem, which included their total expulsion from the Land (588 - 518 BC). Jeremiah warned God would increase the level of judgement from Servitude to Desolation, because of Israel's lack of repentance, despite many years of Divine warnings. (The other 70-year period of Captivity in Babylon is from 607 - 537 BC - see Jeremiah 29:1-14).

Jeremiah 27 confirms that the start of Babylonian domination over the nations began in 609 BC (v1,3). It says that if any nation submits to Babylonian rule she would be spared worse judgment, but if she rebelled she would suffer increasing Captivity and Desolation (including total expulsion from her land). Despite Jeremiah's warnings, this happened to Israel, because she resisted God's discipline through Babylon.

After Hezekiah the next king was Manasseh, followed by Amon (both evil kings), followed by Josiah (a good king), who was killed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at the battle of Megiddo in 609 BC. Josiah's reign coincides with the decline and fall of the Assyrian Empire. In 612 BC the Assyrian capital, Ninevah, was destroyed by Babylon, just as Nahum had prophesied, and 609 BC marks the final end of the Assyrian Empire.

At this time, the Babylonian Empire took over from Assyria as the dominant power in the region. Soon after, this dominance was made complete by Babylon's decisive victory over Egypt at the famous battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. From that time on, Egypt was no longer able to exercise international power. 609 BC marks the start of a 70-year period, granted by God, of Babylonian dominance over the nations (Jeremiah 25:8-14), which ended with the Fall of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians in 539 BC.

This is the 4th and final part of our study on King Hezekiah's reign. After a recap of the previous videos on Hezekiah, Derek reveals the full typology that results from realising there were 2 invasions by Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah, where the rerun of Hezekiah's 15 years is a type of the rerun of Daniel's 70th Week (the coming Tribulation).

We see how Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, is a type of the antichrist, and how his 2nd invasion of Israel in 701 BC is a type of Armageddon, threatening Israel's very survival. Just as the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ) personally destroyed Sennacherib's army in 701 BC in the Land of Israel, in response to Hezekiah's prayer (Isaiah 37), so Jesus Christ will personally destroy the antichrist's armies, who have invaded Israel at Armageddon, in response to Israel calling upon His Name to save them (Revelation 19).

In this context, it is interesting that in Micah 5:5-6 the antichrist is described as 'the Assyrian'. When he invades the Land of Israel, the one who saves them will be Christ Himself, the Son of David (Micah 5:2). He will "deliver Israel from the Assyrian" (v6), when He returns at the end of the Tribulation (the time of birth pains) and completes the regathering and restoration of Israel (v3). Then He will establish His Kingdom of peace over Israel and the whole world, reigning as the King of kings from Israel. He will be 'the Ruler in Israel' over the whole world, for His power and greatness will extend 'to the ends of the earth' (v2,4,5). He will rule from Jerusalem over the whole earth (Zechariah 14:3-9, 16-19).