Jehoiakim, King of Judah 609-598 BC seals, bulla They're Digging up Bible Stories!

Archaeologists are digging up bible stories:

Johoiakim, King of Judah: 609-598 BC (609 BC - 9 Dec 598 BC)

70 year Babylonian Captivity begins 605 BC

"LEFT BEHIND… The biblical movie"

is what happened in 605 BC when the 70 year Babylonian captivity began.

Jehoiakim has said to himself: "I will build myself a roomy house with spacious upper rooms, and cut out its windows, paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father (Josiah) eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?”

“He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty." (Jeremiah 21:9)


				Jehoiakim: The Bible Burning King Josiah's oldest son 1. Five archeological clay seals verify the story as true! 2. Appointed king first by Neco II, then Nebuchadnezzar. 3. He disregards the words of Jeremiah. 4. Refuses to obey God 5. He cuts the scripture scroll in half and burns it. 6. Beats and imprisons Jeremiah. Jehoiakim: The Satan king!

	Azariah, son of Hilkiah	Hanan, son of Hilkiah	Gemariah, Jeremiah's scribe		Neco II, King of Egypt	Battle of Carchemish
	Elishama son of Semachiah	Jerahmeel, the king’s son	Baruch the son of Neriah		Seraiah, son of Neriah	Pedaiah son of the king
Archaeologists are digging up bible stories!!!
Archaeology is an important science that confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible. Since the Bible refers to hundreds of cities, kings, and places, we would expect to find evidence from on-site excavations. And this is exactly what we have found. The Bible is the most historically accurate book of history on earth. Read the Bible daily!

Introduction:

1. After Josiah, three of his sons were king of Judah:

a. "The sons of Josiah were Johanan the firstborn, and the second was Jehoiakim (succeeded Shallum), the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum (king deposed by Neco II). The sons of Jehoiakim were Jeconiah (deported to Babylon) his son, Zedekiah his son. The sons of Jeconiah, the prisoner, were Shealtiel his son, and Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah." (1 Chronicles 3:15–18)

b. Jehoiakim is the oldest and strangely, when Josiah died, the people made his younger brother Jehoahaz king instead of him.

c. What was it about Jehoiakim that had them unconventionally appoint the second oldest son as king instead of the oldest?

d. It was Pharaoh Neco II who deposed Jehoahaz on and made his older brother Jehoiakim king.

e. When Jehoiakim was deported in bronze chains to Babylon the people made his 8 year old son Jehoiachin king from 9 Dec 598- 16 March 597)

f. Nebuchadnezzar deposed the child king and deported him to Babylon.

g. In the 8 year old king's place Nebuchadnezzar appointed the third and final son of Josiah as king: Zedekiah.

h. It is sickening and sad that the righteous Josiah was unable to transmit his message of "back to the Bible" to any of his children or grandchildren who were kings.

i. Both Josiah and Jehoiachin had sons named (Mattaniah) Zedekiah, however 2 Kings 24:18 uses the specific Hebrew word for "uncle" of Jehoiachin. This fact in addition to the decree that no son of "Coniah" (Jehoiachin) will ever sit as king proves beyond doubt that King Zedekiah, the last king of Israel, must be the son of Josiah.

2. Jehoiakim (birth name: Eliakim) was appointed as king of Judah by Egyptian king Neco II and reigns 11 years (609 BC - 9 Dec 598 BC).

3. Immediately Jeremiah begins to prophecy against Judah to king Jehoiakim. Indeed! If righteous Josiah could be killed by God, how much more the wicked!

a. "Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not lament for him: ‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’ “He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 22:18–19)

b. "The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’ ”" (2 Kings 23:27)

4. Jehoiakim burns the scroll dictated by Jeremiah to Baruch in the winter house fireplace of the palace.

a. God sends Nebuchadnezzar to attack Jerusalem and "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon." (2 Chronicles 36:6)

5. Jehoiakim was one of the most evil kings in the Bible because he burned the inspired scroll of Jeremiah simply because the words condemned him and called him to repentance.

a. Jehoiakim has said to himself: "I will build myself a roomy house with spacious upper rooms, and cut out its windows, paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father (Josiah) eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?”

6. Quick Summary of Bible books studied in this outline during the reign of Jehoiakim:

The book of Jeremiah: 629-561 BC

The outcast priest with the offensive message: Jerusalem will become like Shiloh!" Jeremiah was an outcast descended from the disgraced Eli bloodline priesthood of Shiloh warning that just as Shiloh had been destroyed for Idolatry, so too would Solomon's temple be destroyed.

The book of Habakkuk: 606 BC

Habakkuk has a meltdown and demands God take action against sinful Judah. Jeremiah 22:13–23 (spoken in 587 BC) provides an overview of the crimes and sins God charged Jehoiakim with through the prophet Jeremiah. Josiah's spiritual and moral reforms have been reversed and it angers Habakkuk. Habakkuk, like Lot (2 Peter 2:7-9), had his righteous soul tormented as he saw the wickedness of his fellow Judeans and called for God to take action. When he learned the entire nation was going to be deported and the temple destroyed, he trembled in fear. Be careful because sometimes you get what you wish for.

The book of Daniel: 605-536 BC (Chapters 1-3: 605-602 BC)

God used Daniel as the direct object to represent the 70 year Babylonian Captivity. The Captivity of the entire nation was specifically played out in the time of Daniel's specific captivity. The captivity starts when he surrenders to the Babylonians in 605 BC and ends with the proclamation of Cyrus in 536 BC. Daniel was a youth around 15 years old when the captivity began in 605 BC and about 85 years old when the captivity ended in 538 BC. In this study we will be tracing chapters 1-2 which span the dates of 605-602 BC.

7. Chronological details of the book of Daniel by chapter:

Daniel 1:1 (Summer of 605 BC)	Records the time Daniel's captivity began and so for the entire nation as well.
Daniel 1:2-17 (winter of 605 BC)	Records the time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego enter the three year training program competition to become king Nebuchadnezzar's personal advisors.
Daniel 1:18-20 (fall of 603 BC)	Records the time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego are examined by Nebuchadnezzar and chosen as the top four candidates in the competition to serve the king of Babylon
Daniel 2 (Spring 602)	Nebuchadnezzar's vision of four-kingdoms statue
Daniel 3:1 (Summer 602)	Nebuchadnezzar's commissions his 90 foot statue which takes 7 years to build. (602-595 BC)
Daniel 3:2 595 BC	90 foot statue completed: Nebuchadnezzar sends a message to all vassal heads of state, including Zedekiah, to attend the formal dedication service of the 90 foot statue.
Oct 595 BC	Zedekiah leaves for Babylon with Seraiah to attend dedication ceremony of 90 foot statue. Jeremiah 51:59-64
Spring 594 BC Daniel 3:8-30	All vassal heads of state, including Zedekiah, attend 90 foot statue dedication. Zedekiah, as head of state, was in prime location close to the front and he did bow down it or else he would have been killed on the spot. Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego refuse to bow down and are thrown into the furnace of fire. God brings all heads of state, including Zedekiah to the furnace of fire to witness the miracle of God in saving Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego from death. Zedekiah, who had bowed to the statue from the front row of the dedication ceremony, is humiliated when he is rebuked by the pagan Nebuchadnezzar to worship YHWH as Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego stand nearby.

I. Prophets message: Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or die: "Come out from among them"

"LEFT BEHIND… The biblical movie" is what happened in 605 BC when the 70 year Babylonian captivity began. Prophets commanded everyone in Jerusalem to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or die: "Come out from among them (Jerusalem), Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, live in Babylon and be blessed." This language transcends the entire Bible from Abraham to Revelation

DESTRUCTION OF SODOM: LOT REMOVED: "COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE (2075 BC)

"Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city." (Genesis 19:12-16)

OF LITERAL JERUSALEM AT THE ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY OF 723 BC:

"Depart, depart, go out from there [Jerusalem], Touch nothing unclean; Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, You who carry the vessels of the Lord." (Isaiah 52:11)

OF LITERAL ASSYRIA/BABYLON after the captivity of 732 BC:

"Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”" (Isaiah 48:20)
"“I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down! “Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you save yourselves From the fierce anger of the Lord." (Jeremiah 51:44–45)
History records that some of the Jews deported from Israel did return to Judah

OF JERUSALEM AT THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY OF 605-587 BC: Jeremiah's message was to leave Jerusalem and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar:

587 BC: to Zedekiah “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. “He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. “For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.” ’" (Jeremiah 21:8–10, 587 BC pre 10^th Av)

5. 605 BC: DANIEL, SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABED-NEGO SURRENDER:

a. 605 BC: "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. … Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego." (Daniel 1:1-7; 605 BC)

b. 605 BC: Baruch is told to be prepared to surrender because Jerusalem will surely be destroyed: "This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel to you, O Baruch: ‘You said, “Ah, woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’ “Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.” ‘But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’ ”" (Jeremiah 45:1–5, 605 BC)

6. 597 BC: JEHOIACHIN (Coniah) SURRENDERS!

a. 597 BC: "At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon." (2 Kings 24:10–16, 598 BC)

b. 597 BC: "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord, and he made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem." (2 Chronicles 36:9–10, 598 BC)

7. 595 BC: ZEDEKIAH WAS ORDERED TO SURRENDER

a. 595 BC: "I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! “Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, famine and pestilence, as the Lord has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?" (Jeremiah 27:12–13, 595 BC)

b. “Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. “All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand." (Jeremiah 27:6-8)

c. 595 BC: "Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you. “Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?" (Jeremiah 27:16–17, 595 BC)

8. 589 BC: ZEDEKIAH WAS ORDERED TO SURRENDER

a. 589 BC: “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’" (Jeremiah 38:2, 589 BC)

b. 589 BC: "Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. ‘But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’" Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have gone over [voluntarily surrendered] to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.” But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live." (Jeremiah 38:17–20, 589 BC)

9. 587 BC pre 10^th Av:

a. 587 BC: to Zedekiah “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. “He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. “For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.” ’" (Jeremiah 21:8–10, 587 BC pre 10^th Av)

b. 587 BC pre 10^th Av: “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [rescued Jeremiah from the cistern: Jer 38:7-13], saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. “But I will deliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. “For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’ ” (Jeremiah 39:16-18, 587 BC, pre 10^th AV)

10. 587 BC: Zedekiah, all the royal officials and the High priest refused to surrender and were executed at Riblah:

a. "Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple. He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land." (Jeremiah 52:24–27)

b. "Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the nobles of Judah. He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon." (Jeremiah 39:3–7, 587 BC)

c. "On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death." (Jeremiah 52:6–11, 587 BC, written in 561 BC)

d. "Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon." (2 Kings 25:4–7, 587 BC)

11. 587 BC post 10^th Av: SOME JERUSALEMITES OBEYED AND SURRENDERED

a. “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;" (Deuteronomy 30:15)

b. 587 BC, Post 10 Av: "As for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried them into exile in Babylon." (Jeremiah 39:9; post 10 Av, 587 BC)

c. 587 BC, Post 10 Av, written in 561 BC: "Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans." (Jeremiah 52:15, 587 BC, written in 561 BC)

OF THE JERUSALEMITES TO MOVED TO EGYPT IN 587 BC

Jeremiah was called a liar by the post 587 BC Jews who wanted to flee Jerusalem and live in Egypt: "Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’; but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”" (Jeremiah 43:2–3)
The post 587 Jews who survived the Babylonian captivity by hiding or fleeing to Moab had literally BECOME EGYPT by moving there: Jeremiah warned them to leave Egypt and move back to Judah but they refused: "‘And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach. ‘And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence. ‘So there will be no refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return and live; for none will return except a few refugees.’ ” Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, WE ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU! “BUT RATHER WE WILL CERTAINLY CARRY OUT EVERY WORD THAT HAS PROCEEDED FROM OUR MOUTHS, BY BURNING SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND POURING OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER, JUST AS WE OURSELVES, OUR FOREFATHERS, OUR KINGS AND OUR PRINCES DID IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM; FOR THEN WE HAD PLENTY OF FOOD AND WERE WELL OFF AND SAW NO MISFORTUNE. “BUT SINCE WE STOPPED BURNING SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND POURING OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER, WE HAVE LACKED EVERYTHING AND HAVE MET OUR END BY THE SWORD AND BY FAMINE.” “And,” said the women, “when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”" (Jeremiah 44:12-19)

OF LITERAL BABYLON in 561 BC shortly before the Darius the Great conquers Babylon in 536 BC:

"“Wander away from the midst of Babylon and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock." (Jeremiah 50:8)
"Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, For this is the Lord’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her." (Jeremiah 51:6)
"We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies." (Jeremiah 51:9)
"“Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you save yourselves From the fierce anger of the Lord." (Jeremiah 51:45)

OF LITERAL JERUSALEM IN REVELATION BEFORE 70 AD:

In 587 BC and 70 AD the curses of Babylon were transferred to Jerusalem.

"Revelation was written in 66 AD and is John's 'Olivet Discourse' on the destruction of Jerusalem: Rev = Mt 24 = Lk 21 = Mk 13."

Dr. Scott Stripling

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled." (Luke 21:20–22)
When reading the book of Revelation replace BABYLON/GREAT CITY/HARLOT with JERUSALEM and it will suddenly make perfect sense.
Both in Revelation and during the Babylonian captivity of 587 BC, Jerusalem was called SPIRITUALLY EGYPT AND SODOM.
Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC and 70 AD ON THE SAME DAY OF THE YEAR: 10 Av.
Both Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC and Titus in 70 AD were "princes" who became kings after capturing Jerusalem!
Peter, Bishop/Elder/Shepherd of the church in Jerusalem, writing from Jerusalem called Jerusalem, BABYLON! Unless you are Roman Catholic this is an easy point to see: "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you [Just as Peter was shepherding the Jerusalem flock among himself], exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. … She [the church] who is in Babylon [Jerusalem], chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark." (1 Peter 5:1-4,13)
"Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, [notice the "mystery" name indicates it is not literal Babylon but Jerusalem!] “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus [crucifixion of Christ and persecution of Christians in Jerusalem]. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen [Julius Caesar - Claudius], one is [Nero, 54-68 AD, NRON QSR = 666, dates book of Revelation to 66 AD], the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while." (Revelation 17:1–10)
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great [Jerusalem]! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.” I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her [Jerusalem], my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." (Revelation 18:2–5)
"crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ “Rejoice over her [destruction of Jerualem], O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city [Jerusalem], be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. … because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery [idolatry in 587 BC, Rejecting Christianity as false, when it was true. “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth. [crucifying Jesus and persecuting the church].”" (Revelation 18:18–24)
TWO WITNESSES OF REVELATION: "Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. … “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” … When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:1-8) (see Jer 23:14-15)
587 BC: Jerusalem became like SODOM and her prophets MISLEAD the people with immorality and lies: "“Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem pollution has gone forth into all the land.’” (Jeremiah 23:14–15)
587 BC: Jerusalem was like Egypt: “Son of man, there were two women [Israel and Judah] , the daughters of one mother [time of Solomon]; and they played the harlot in Egypt [Jeroboam]. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. … And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah. “Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians … “Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. [captivity of 723 BC] … “Now her sister Oholibah [Judah/Jerusalem] saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. … “Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth. “Therefore, O Oholibah [Jerusalem], thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans [587 Captivity] … ‘Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’" (Ezekiel 23:2–27, 591 BC)
"After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her [Jesus, persecution of Christians that had Jerusalem as the command post].” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.”" (Revelation 19:1–3)

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF SALVATION TO COME OUT OF THE WORLD:

“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you." (2 Corinthians 6:17)
"And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:40–41)

II. Jehoiakim as a vassal king between Egypt and Babylon:

609 BC	Jehoiakim is appointed by Neco II and pays tribute to him
608 BC	Jehoiakim submits to Nabopolassar in 608 BC when he conquered Egypt
607 BC	Nabopolassar, king of Babylon is sick and unable to go to war.
606 BC	Jehoiakim (and Egypt) rebel in the Spring of 606 BC because of Nabopolassar's illness
606 BC	Habakkuk becomes frustrated with the reversal of reforms of Josiah under Jehoiakim and demands God take action for their sin!
605 BC	Jehoiakim again submits to Babylon under Prince Nebuchadnezzar in the summer of 605 BC
605 BC	Nabopolassar dies and after Nebuchadnezzar conquers Egypt and Jerusalem (without a battle) he returns to ascend to the throne of Babylon as her second dynastic king.
601 BC	After three years of submission, Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon: (2 Ki 24:1) Nebuchadnezzar lost a battle against Egypt and returned home. The following year he reorganized his troops after the loss: "In the fourth year [601 BC] the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to the Hatti-land. In the Hatti-land they marched unopposed. In the month of Kislîmu he took the lead of his army and marched to Egypt. The king of Egypt [Pharaoh Neco II] heard it and mustered his army. In open battle they smote the breast of each other and inflicted great havoc on each other. The king of Akkad turned back with his troops and returned to Babylon. In the fifth year [600 BC] the king of Akkad stayed in his own land and gathered together his chariots and horses in great numbers." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet, reverse lines 5-8)
598 BC	Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem and deports Jehoiakim to Babylon on chains.

III. Accession vs non-accession reckoning of lengths of kings reigns and bible chronological events:

Period	Accession reckoning/dating Always used by Daniel, Babylonians, Berosus and Josephus (For Jehoiakim, Daniel, 2 Kings & 2 Chron & Babylonian Cuneiform Chronicles always use accession dating)	Non-accession reckoning/dating Always used by Jeremiah (For Zedekiah, Jeremiah, 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles always use non-accession dating)
1	Ascension year 0 From the date he becomes king to the next Adar 29. (could be a day or 364 days long)	Year 1 From the date he becomes king to the next Elul 29. (could be a day or 364 days long)
2	Year 1 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)	Year 2 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)
3	Year 2 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)	Year 3 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)
4	Year 3 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)	Year 4 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)
5	Year 4 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)	Year 5 (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29)
	The Babylonian regnal dating month is Nisan whereas Judea used Tishri in 600 BC.

1. "Daniel and the Babylonian Chronicles always uses accession reckoning and Jeremiah always uses non-accession reckoning. 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles use accession reckoning for Jehoiakim but non-accession reckoning for Zedekiah. Why was it this way? Because that’s apparently the way Zedekiah wanted it done. He was a king and it wasn’t up to you or me or his court recorders to say, “O honorable king, you’re doing it wrong; your honorable ancestors used accession reckoning.” The fact that Zedekiah used non-accession reckoning, whereas Thiele, McFall, and a host of others said he “should” have used accession reckoning, is the key that straightens out the confusion regarding all the dates associated with Zedekiah's reign, including the fall of Jerusalem in 587, not 586." (Rodger C. Young, Biblical Chronologist, Staff for Associates for Biblical Research, Personal Email, 2015 AD)

2. Accession reckoning/dating: first year = 0

a. Daniel, Berosus (Babylonian historian 300 BC) Josephus (Jewish historian 70 AD) and the Babylonian Chronicles always use accession reckoning for all kings.

b. For Jehoiakim, Daniel, 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles and Babylonian Cuneiform Chronicles always uses accession dating.

3. Non-accession reckoning/dating: first year = 1

a. Jeremiah always used accession reckoning for all kings.

b. For Zedekiah, Jeremiah, 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles always use non-accession dating

4. Regnal years used to calculate length of reign by kings and bible events:

a. Nisan = March/April and Tishri = Sept/October.

b. The Babylonian regnal dating month is Nisan 1 - Adar 29) whereas Judea used Tishri (12 months: Tishri 1 - Elul 29).

c. The Babylonians would add one number to the length of reign after Nisan 1

d. Judah would not add the number to the years reigned by a king until after Tishri.

5. Note: Jer 25:1; 46:2; Dan 1:1 do not contradict each other. Jeremiah's 4^th year = Daniel's 3^rd year. Jeremiah used non-accession reckoning and Daniel used accession reckoning.

a. "Some scholars have questioned the historicity of the invasion described here, yet today no reasonable doubt exists concerning the fact of Nebuchadnezzar’s 605 b.c. campaign. Not only does the Babylonian priest-historian Berosus (ca. 300 b.c.) relate that Nebuchadnezzar was involved in campaigns in Egypt, Syria, and Phoenicia at the time his father died, but it has been verified by recent archaeological discoveries. In 1956 a cuneiform tablet was published that stated that immediately after the battle of Carchemish in the spring of 605 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar “conquered the whole area of the Hatti-country.” Wiseman explains that the geographical term “Hatti” included, “at this period, the whole of Syria and Palestine.”⁹ It was reasonable for Nebuchadnezzar, after defeating the Egyptians at Carchemish (north of Palestine), to move quickly against Jehoiakim, who had been one of Pharaoh’s allies and who, in fact, had been placed on the throne of Judah by Pharaoh Neco himself (cf. 2 Kgs 23:34). Jeremiah 46:2 reports that the battle of Carchemish took place in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, whereas Dan 1:1 places the invasion of Judah (which took place within a few weeks or months after this battle) in the third year of Jehoiakim. This difficulty is best explained by the fact that both the Babylonian and Judean calendars were employed by the Jews at this time." (The New American Commentary: Daniel, p57 1994 AD)

b. "The second, though much smaller, difficulty in Daniel 1:1 arises out of the biblical evidence, for whereas Daniel dates the intervention of Nebuchadrezzar in the third year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah 46:2 gives the fourth year of Jehoiakim as the date of the battle of Carchemish (cf. Jer. 25:1, where the fourth year of Jehoiakim is said to be the first year of Nebuchadrezzar’s reign). It is now well known that two methods of reckoning the years of a reign were in use in the Ancient Near East: the one most usual in the history books of the Old Testament counts the months between the king’s accession and the new year as a complete year, whereas the method most usual in Babylon called those months the accession year and began to count the years of the king’s reign from the first new year. The date in Daniel would appear to have come from a source compiled in Babylon and those in Jeremiah from a Palestinian source, but rightly understood there is no discrepancy. Whether or not the invasion of Nebuchadrezzar could be described as taking place in the third year of Jehoiakim depends on the period of the year when the New Year was celebrated, and on the time of year when Jehoiakim came to the throne. ‘On the accession year system and with an autumnal New Year, his first year would run from September 608 to September 607, his second 607–606, his third September 606–October 605. This last would just accommodate the statement of Daniel 1:1 in chronological terms.’ The statement, while not without its uncertainties, can nevertheless be envisaged as a possibility, and while that is so it should not be dismissed as inaccurate." (Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, TOTC, p23, 1978 AD)

IV. Sequential reading assignment:

The following texts and books are represented during the reign of Jehoiakim:

609-597 BC: Chronology of Bible events with Bible books and texts
Date	Texts	Events
609 BC	2 Chron 35:20-27; 2 Kings 23:28-29	Josiah Killed by Neco II at Megiddo Josiah is killed by Pharaoh Neco II at Megiddo before the battle of Carchemish.
Fall 609 BC	2 Kings 23:30-37; 2 Chro 36:1-5	Neco II deposes Jehoahaz, appoints Jehoiakim The people appoint his son Jehoahaz (23 years old) as king for 3 months. Neco II deposes Jehoahaz and appoints his older brother Jehoiakim (25 years old) to be king who pays tribute to Egypt through a Judean tax levy.
Late 609 BC	Jer 26	Jeremiah condemns Judah First year of Jehoiakim's reign. Pubic preaching to the people in the temple court that Jerusalem will become like Shiloh and warning of 70 year Babylonian captivity. Death sentence is pronounced against Jeremiah by the kings officials and the false prophets. Some wise elders remind them that Micah preached the same to Hezekiah and God spared Jerusalem when they repented. In spite of this, an oral prophet named Uriah fled to Egypt and was killed by the king after being repatriated.
609-598 BC	Jer 35	The Rechabite allegory During Jehoiakim's reign. The Rechabites are a family who continued to obey their fathers to live like hermits that lived in simple tents and didn’t drink wine. God contrasts their obedience to their earthly father with Judah's disobedience to their heavenly father.
606 BC	Habakkuk	Habakkuk demands action from God for Judah's sin Demands God take action against sinful Israel. God tells him that Nebuchadnezzar, His servant, is coming to "spank" Israel for their crimes, dishonesty, materialism, injustice and idolatry. Habakkuk challenges the justice of God in allowing a nation like Babylon, which is more wicked than Israel, to be used by God. Habakkuk is told "the just shall live by faith".
Oct 606 - Jan 605 BC	Jer 25, 45	Jeremiah condemns all nations Fourth year of Jehoiakim. God tells Jeremiah to again prophecy destruction and captivity, but now destruction is forecast for Babylon and all the other nations. He will strike Babylon with insanity, which occurred in both Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus: See the Prayer of Nabonidus (DDS, 4QprNab = 4Q242 Frags. 1–3) from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Chapter 45 is a short reassurance from God to Baruch that all will be well with him in Babylon.
Feb 605 BC	Jer 36:1-8	God tells Jeremiah to write a scroll and wait for a fast Fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah is told by God to create an inspired scroll by dictating it to Baruch the scribe. Baruch is to read the scroll on a fast day that will be called soon in response to Babylonian occupation by the people.
Summer 605 BC	2 Ki 24:1 Dan 1:1	Babylonian captivity begins Nebuchadnezzar's first attack on Jerusalem between summer of 605-spring 604 BC. Year 1 of 70 year captivity that ends in 536 BC. Daniel is taken captive as he surrenders in the summer of 605 as soon at the army arrives. "Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.'" (Jeremiah 38:2) 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar. Fourth Year of Jehoiakim. This was Jehoiakim's 3rd year using accession reckoning in Dan 1:1 which translates into 4 actual years using non-accession-counting.
Nov 605	Dan 1:2-17	Year 2 of 70 year captivity began Tishri/Sept 605 BC. Daniel enters the 3 year training program shortly after arriving in his new colony home in Babylon.
December 605 BC	Jer 36:9-32	Jehoiakim burns the Bible scroll of Jeremiah Fifth Year of Jehoiakim began Tishri (September) 605 BC. On a cold winter day in December (9^th month), the people, not the king call the fast because of Nebuchadnezzar and his army camped at Jerusalem. Sad the fast is called after the warnings were ignored by Jeremiah and the prophets when it is too late. Baruch reads the scroll to the people in the temple court. The kings officials were not part of the people's fast but they called for Baruch to read the scroll to them. When they heard the message of destruction they feared. Jeremiah is hidden by God. Meanwhile Jehoiakim is in his winter house warming himself at the palace fireplace. When he learns of the scroll he has it read to him but before it was finished he threw it into the fireplace and he burns Jeremiah's scroll.
Feb 604	2 Kings 24:1-2	Jehoiakim submits to Babylon Year 2 of captivity. Nebuchadnezzar leaves for Babylon after getting Jehoiakim to finally agree to submit to him and pay tribute.
fall 603	Dan 1:18-20	Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego chosen by Nebuchad. Year 4 of Captivity. After "3 years", Daniel is chosen to serve Nebuchadnezzar along with Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego. (THREE YEARS: Year 1: Ascension year: 605-Adar/March 604, Year 2: Nebuchadnezzar's first official year: Nisan/April 604-Adar/March 603. Year 3: second official year: Adar/March -Nisan 602 BC. So the fall of 603 was the "third year".)
spring 602	Dan 2	Nebuchadnezzar's vision of four-kingdoms statue Year 4 of Captivity. Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue representing the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the church/kingdom.
Spring 601	2 Ki 24:1-5	Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar God sends militias from Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites to attack Judea and Jerusalem. Year 5 of captivity.
Saturday 9 Dec 598 BC	2 Chro 36:6-8	Nebuchadnezzar's second attack: 9 Dec 598- 16 March 597 BC Year 9 of captivity. Nebuchadnezzar's second attack on Jerusalem began just before Jehoiakim was captured on Saturday December 9th 598. According to the Babylonian Chronicle cuneiform tablet, Jerusalem finally fell on 2 Adar (16 March) 597 BC which was Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year. He takes some of the vessels from Solomon's temple and puts them into his pagan temple in Babylon. Jehoiakim is deposed to Babylon in bronze chains. Jehoiakim's 8 year old son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) becomes king.
Saturday 16 March 597 BC	2 Chro 36:9-10; Jer 13:18-27; 22:20-30; Matthew 1:11-12	Jeconiah: End of Davidic dynasty (Coniah/Jehoiachin) On Saturday March 16, 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar deposes Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) after three months deports him to Babylon. Zedekiah, Josiah's son and Jehoiakim's younger brother, becomes king at age 21. Jeconiah/Jehoiachin is the end of the line of the Davidic dynasty. Most notable is the proclamation that no descendant of Jeconiah will ever rule as king in Judea ever again in Jer 22:24-30. This alone utterly refutes dispensational/premillennial theology which wrongly teaches that Jesus Christ will rule as king in Jerusalem for 1000 years at some future time. The problem is that Jesus is a direct descendant of Jeconiah: Mt 1:11-12 which means Jesus can never be kin on earth ever again. Of course Jesus was appointed king of the church/kingdom at the ascension and founded His new spiritual kingdom on the day of Pentecost.
March 597 BC	Jer 47:1; 2 Kings 24:7	Babylon repels Egypt from Judea Neco II loses control of Gaza which he conquered in 604. (see Jer 47:1). "The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates." (2 Kings 24:7)

V. Jeremiah the prophet: The outcast priest with the offensive message: 629-561 BC

Book of Jeremiah

Jeremiah was an outcast priest descended from the disgraced Eli bloodline priesthood at Shiloh and warned that Jerusalem would be destroyed for immorality and idolatry, just like Shiloh was.

1. Jeremiah was not the son of Hilkiah the High priest:

a. We have Jeremiah, a youth prophet like Samuel, sent to warn of the destruction of the temple.

b. A resident from Anathoth where the descendants of Eli were banished by David and dismissed forever from being high priest.

c. This answers the question definitively that Jeremiah's father, Hilkiah, was not the same as the Hilkiah the high priest who would find the book of the law in the temple.

2. Jeremiah was likely the same age as Josiah and they grew up together.

a. Jeremiah became active when he and Josiah were 19 years old, the year Josiah began purging idols.

b. Jeremiah was the central prophet of the Babylonian captivity, before, during and after.

3. Jeremiah, like Josiah, was an outsider because he descended from the Eli line of high priests from Anathoth who were deposed by David according to the prophecy of Samuel.

a. "The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month." (Jeremiah 1:1-3)

b. "It is likely that these priests of Anathoth were descendants of Eli and Abiathar, priests who at one time presided over worship before the Ark but who were exiled to Anathoth early in the reign of Solomon. This places Jeremiah in a rather unusual position as there is an almost automatic antagonism between Jeremiah and the Zadokite priests who preside over temple worship. This inbred antagonism explains the bitterness one senses in some of the conversations between Jeremiah and the temple priests (e.g., Jer 20:1–6; 29:24–32)." (NIV commentary, Jer 1:1, 2002 AD)

4. Both Josiah and Jeremiah were at war with the religious establishment and the idol worship that was rampant among the people.

a. Josiah destroyed the high places of worship, killed the false priests and did his best to reestablish fundamentalist Mosaic Judaism. This set him at war with the leaders and he became hated by the people.

b. Jeremiah was the mouth of God who condemned kings, idolatrous priests, false prophets and the masses who refused to obey God.

c. Jeremiah also prophesied everything king, priest and people knew, would be utterly destroyed by the Babylonians.

5. Josiah and Jeremiah mirror the ministry of Jesus, the apostles and all Christians today who are a tiny minority condemning the world, false religion and warning about impending judgement destruction from God.

6. Three times God told Jeremiah NOT to pray to him about the welfare of Judah: Should we stop saying, "God bless America until she repents".

a. “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you. “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me." (Jeremiah 7:16–18)

b. “For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster." (Jeremiah 11:13–14)

c. "So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. “When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”" (Jeremiah 14:11–12)

7. Dating the sequential chapters of Jeremiah:

Reference	Date	Comment
1:1-3	Composed after Av 587 BC	Superscription
1:4-3:5	Tishri 629—Adar 628 BC	Thirteenth year of Josiah
3:6-6:30	641-610 BC	During Josiah's reign
7-19	Undated (Zedekiah's reign?)	No date given at 7:1
20	597-587 BC	During Zedekiah's reign
21-23	10 Tebeth 589-9 Tammuz 587 BC	During siege of Jerusalem
24	Early 597 BC	After Jeconiah's exile
25	Tishri 606—Elul 605 BC	Fourth year of Jehoiakim
26	Late 609 BC	Beginning of Jehoiakim's reign
27-29	Tishri 595—Elul 594 BC	Beginning of Zedekiah's reign
30-31	Undated (Zedekiah's reign?)	No date given at 30:1
32	Nisan—Elul 588 BC	Tenth year of Zedekiah
33-34	Tishri 588—Nisan 587 BC	Jeremiah in court of the guard
35	609-598 BC	During Jehoiakim's reign
36:1-8	Summer/ Autumn 605 BC	Fourth year of Jehoiakim
36:9-32	Kislev 605 BC	Fifth Year of Jehoiakim
37-38	10 Tebeth 589	Zedekiah begins to reign
39-40	Composed after Av 587 RC	Historical narrative
41-43	Composed after Tishri 587 BC	Historical narrative
44	After Tishri 587 BC	After 41-43 (cf. 44:1)
45-47	Tishri 606—Elul 605 BC	Fourth year of Jehoiakim
48-51	Undated (after 9 lammuz 587 BC)	No date given at 48:1
52	Composed after 561 BC	Historical narrative
Chart Source: "From Abraham to Paul", Andrew Steinman, 2011 AD

8. Chronological chapters of Jeremiah with reigns of Kings:

Josiah: 640-609 BC	640-609 BC: C1-6
Jehoahaz: 609 BC	609 BC: 22:1-12 (Spoken in 587 BC)
Jehoiakim: 608-598 BC	609 BC: C26
	606 BC: 22:13-23 (Spoken in 587 BC)
	605 BC: C25, C35-36 C45-47
Jehoiachin: (Coniah) 598-597 BC (9 Dec 598- 16 March 597)	597 BC: 13:18-27; 22:20-30
	597 BC: 22:24-30 (Spoken in 587 BC)
Zedekiah: 597-587 BC	597 BC: C7-20, 24
	595 BC: C27-31; 51:59-64 (after October)
	589 BC: C37-38
	588 BC: C32
	587 BC: (on or before 10 Av) C21-23,C33-34; 39:16-18 C22 (Historical narrative)
Gedaliah: 587 BC (After 10 Av)	587 BC: C39-44;C48-51 (After 10 Av)
Gedaliah: 587 BC (After 10 Av)	561 BC: 52 (historical narrative)

8. Kings during Jeremiah's ministry:

Jeremiah	629-561 BC	Levite priest, son of Hilkiah	started his ministry in 629 BC, the 13th year of Josiah
Josiah	640-609 BC	Birth was prophesied in 931 BC: 1 Kings 13:1-2	Was killed by Pharaoh Neco II. Righteous Josiah didn't believe God had talked to Neco, and it cost him his life.
Neco II	610-562 BC	King of Egypt	God spoke directly to him and was with him in his battles. Neco warned Josiah he was on a mission from God before the Battle of Carchemish.
Nebuchadnezzar	605-562 BC	King of Babylon	God communicated with him and he was God's agent to punish Judah for idolatry. Battle of Carchemish tablet records capture of Jerusalem.
Jehoahaz	3 months, 609 BC	Josiah's son Jehoiakim's younger brother	Was appointed by the people but deposed and deported by Pharaoh Neco II.
Jehoiakim	609- 9 December 598 BC	Josiah's son Jehoahaz's older brother	Was appointed by Pharaoh Neco II. He burned the Bible scrolls of Jeremiah.
Jehoiachin (Coniah)	3 months (9 Dec 598- 16 March 597)	King at 8 years old Jehoiakim's son	Deported to Babylon. God forbid any of his descendants from sitting on the throne of David IN JUDEA, including Jesus. (Jer 22:24-30; Acts 2:29ff)
Zedekiah	597-587 BC	Josiah's son Jehoahaz's brother Jehoiakim's brother Jehoiachin uncle	Rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and sought the help of Pharaoh Hophra (Apries). Son's executed, blinded and deported to Babylon.
Hophra (Apries)	589-570 BC	King of Egypt	Came to help Zekekiah in Jerusalem but retreated from Nebuchadnezzar.
Gedaliah	587-587 BC	son of Ahikam grandson of Shaphan	Appointed governor by Nebuchadnezzar. Was assassinated by Baalis, king of Ammon.
Baalis	587 BC	King of Ammon	Sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah.

VI. Extra-Biblical documents: Babylonian Chronical, Berosus and Josephus

A. Babylonian Cuneiform tablet: Battle of Carchemish and capture of Jerusalem

Click here for full translation

Babylonian Chronicle for 605–595 BC

Click here for full translation of cuneiform tablet.

2 Ki 24:1-17; 25:1-30; 2 Chron 36:1-21; Dan 1:1-6; Jer 36:9; 46:1-12; 52:1-34

1. The tablet describes events shortly after the capture of Nineveh and the fall of the Assyrian empire in 612 BC.

2. Nebuchadnezzar’s defeats Pharaoh Neco II at Carchemish in 605 BC while he was still crown prince. (Jeremiah 46:2)

3. Note: In 609 BC, there was a previous battle at Carchemish between Neco II and Nebuchadnezzar. Before the battle of Carchemish Neco II killed Josiah at Megiddo . That battle is not mentioned in this tablet. (2 Ki 23:29-30; 2 Chron 35:20-27, Jer 46:2).

4. When Nebuchadnezzar learned his father Nabopolassar had died on the eighth of Ab (15 August 605 BC) he returned to Babylon to become king on the first of Elul (7 September 605 BC).

5. The tablet says that in August 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, along with king Jehoiachin, while appointing Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah renamed "Zedekiah") as the vassal king of Judah in Jerusalem. (2 Ki 24:1-17; 2 Chron 36:6-7; Dan 1:1-6).

Note: Regnal month for Babylon is Nisan and accession reckoning is used in the cuneiform tablet. Daniel used accession reckoning whereas Jeremiah used non-accession reckoning as indicated in square brackets.

Translation (Obverse) lines 1-20

1. In the twenty-first year [spring 605 BC] the king [Nabopolassar] of Akkad [Babylon] stayed in his own land, Nebuchadnezzar his eldest son, the crown-prince,

2. mustered the Babylonian army and took command of his troops [1st Campaign spring 605 - Aug 605]; he marched to Karchemiš [Carchemish] which is on the bank of the Euphrates,

3. and crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army [Pharaoh Neco II] which lay in Karchemiš.

4. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him.

5. He accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence. As for the rest of the Egyptian army

6. which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of Hamath

7. the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them so that not a single man escaped to his own country.

8. At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of Hamath. [Jehoiakim included]

9. For twenty-one years [22 years using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] Nabopolassar had been king of Babylon,

10. when on 8 Abu [15 August 605 BC] he went to his destiny; in the month of Ululu Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon

11. and on 1 Ululu [7 September 605 BC] he sat on the royal throne in Babylon.

12. In the accession year [7 Sept 605-Tishri 605, Year 1 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] Nebuchadnezzar went back again 2nd Campaign Oct 605-Feb 604] [Oct 605 BC] to the Hatti-land [Syria, Israel] and until the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604]

13. marched unopposed through the Hatti-land; in the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604] he took the heavy tribute of the Hatti-territory to Babylon.

14. In the month of Nisannu [March 604] he took the hands of Bêl and the son of Bêl and celebrated the Akitu festival.

15. In the first year of Nebuchadnezzar [Year 2 Jeremiah's using non-accession reckoning: Nisan] in the month of Simanu [May 604] he mustered his army [3rd Campaign May 604-Feb 603]

16. and went to the Hatti-territory, he marched about unopposed in the Hatti-territory until the month of Kislîmu [Nov 604].

17. All the kings of the Hatti-land came before him and he received their heavy tribute.

18. He marched to the city of Aškelon and captured it in the month of Kislîmu [Nov 604].

19. He captured its king and plundered it and carried off spoil from it.

20. He turned the city into a mound and heaps of ruins and then in the month of Šabatu [Feb 603] he marched back to Babylon.

Translation (Reverse)

Several lines missing: Second year campaign lines damaged and missing: [4th Campaign May 603-Feb 602] [Year 3 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning]

1'. In the third year [Year 4 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad [Babylon] left [5th Campaign Nov 602-Feb 601] and

2'. in the month of [...] on the thirteenth day, [the king's brother] Nabû-šuma-lišir [...]

3'. The king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched to the Hatti-land.

4'. and brought back much spoils from the Hatti-land into Akkad [Babylon].

5'. In the fourth year [Year 5 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad mustered his army [6th Campaign Nov 601-Feb 600] and marched to the Hatti-land. In the Hatti-land they marched unopposed.

6'. In the month of Kislîmu [November] he took the lead of his army and marched to Egypt. The king of Egypt [Pharaoh Neco II] heard it and mustered his army.

7'. In open battle they smote the breast of each other and inflicted great havoc on each other. The king of Akkad turned back with his troops and returned to Babylon.

8'. In the fifth year [Year 6 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad stayed in his own land [No Campaign Nov 600-Feb 599]and gathered together his chariots and horses in great numbers.

9'. In the sixth year [Year 7 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] in the month of Kislîmu [November] the king of Akkad mustered his army [7th Campaign Nov 599-Feb 598] and marched to the Hatti-land. From the Hatti-land he sent out his companies,

10'. and scouring the desert they took much plunder from the Arabs, their possessions, animals and gods. In the month of Addaru [Feb/March] the king returned to his own land.

11'. In the seventh year [Year 8 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of Kislîmu [November], the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, [8th Campaign Nov 598 -Feb 597]

12'. and besieged the city of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second day of the month of Addaru [February/March] he seized the city and captured the king [Jehoiakim and Jeconiah].

13'. He appointed there a king of his own choice [Zedekiah], received its heavy tribute and sent to Babylon.

14'. In the eight year [Year 9 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of Tebetu [Dec/January] the king of Akkad marched [9th Campaign Dec 597 -Feb 596] to the Hatti-land as far as Karchemiš [...

15'. ...] in the month of Šabatu [Jan/Feb] the king returned to his own land.

16'. In the ninth year [Year 10 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of [...] the king of Akkad and his troops marched [10th Campaign Nov 596 -Feb 595] along the bank of the Tigris [...]

17'. the king of Elam [...]

18'. the king of Akkad [...]

19'. which is on the bank of the Tigris he pitched his camp. While there was still a distance of one day's march between them,

20'. the king of Elam was afraid and, panic falling on him, he returned to his own land.

21'. In the tenth year [Year 11 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad was in his own land; from the month of Kislîmu [Nov/Dec] to the month of Tebetu [Dec/Jan] there was rebellion in Akkad [Babylon]. [Rebellion: Nov 595 -Jan 594]

22'. With arms he slew many of his own army. His own hand captured his enemy.

23'. In the month of [...] he marched [11th Campaign Jan-March 594] to the Hatti-land, where kings and [...]-officials

24. came before him and he received their heavy tribute and then returned to Babylon.

25. In the eleventh year [Year 12 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] in the month of Kislîmu [Nov/Dec], the king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched to the Hatti-land. [12th Campaign Nov 594-Feb 593]

Translations from:

Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, A.K. Grayson, 1975 AD

Mesopotamian Chronicles Jean-Jacques Glassner, 2004 AD

B. Berosus and Josephus

1. Berosus was a Babylonian historian who lived about 300 BC. We have none of his books of history except what others, including Josephus quoted.

2. Berosus and Josephus both used accession reckoning like the Babyonian Chronicles.

3. Josephus was a Jewish historian who lived in the 1^st century AD and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem

a. Here is Berosus' account of Nebuchadnezzar's life as quoted by Josephus:

b. CHAPTER 11: CONCERNING NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND HIS SUCCESSORS, AND HOW THEIR GOVERNMENT WAS DISSOLVED BY THE PERSIANS; AND WHAT THINGS BEFELL DANIEL IN MEDIA; AND WHAT PROPHECIES HE DELIVERED THERE

4. (219) Now when king Nebuchadnezzar had reigned forty-three years, he ended his life. He was an active man, and more fortunate than the kings that were before him. Now Berosus makes mention of his actions in the third book of his Chaldaic History, where he says thus:—(220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him. (221) So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years; (222) and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father, Nebuchodonosor [Nebopollassar], was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of the ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others, over the desert, and came to Babylon. (223) So he took upon him the management of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia; (224) but then he adorned the temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in a magnificent manner, with the spoils he had taken in the war. He also added another city to that which was there of old, and rebuilt it, that such as would besiege it hereafter might no more turn the course of the river, and thereby attack the city itself: he therefore built three walls round the inner city, and three others about that which was the outer, and this he did with burnt brick. (225) And after he had, after a becoming manner walled the city, and adorned its gates gloriously, he built another palace before his father’s palace, but so that they joined to it; to describe the vast height and immense riches of which, it would perhaps be too much for me to attempt; yet, as large and lofty as they were, they were completed in fifteen days. (226) He also erected elevated places for walking, of stone, and made it resemble mountains, and built it so that it might be planted with all sorts of trees. He also erected what was called a pensile paradise, because his wife was desirous to have things like her own country, she having been bred up in the palaces of Media.” (227) Megasthenes also, in his fourth book of his Accounts of India, makes mention of these things, and thereby endeavors to show that this king [Nebuchadnezzar] exceeded Hercules in fortitude, and in the greatness of his actions; for he saith, that he conquered a great part of Libya and Iberia. (228) Diocles also, in the second book of his Accounts of Persia, mentions this king; as does Philostratus, in his Accounts both of India and Phoenicia, say, that this king besieged Tyre thirteen years, while at the same time Ethbaal reigned at Tyre. These are all the histories that I have met with concerning this king. (Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.219-228)

VII. Quick reference chronology time chart:

CHRONOLOGICAL QUICK REFERENCE SUMMARY CHART Reign dates for Hebrew kings are non-accession reckoning to harmonize with Jeremiah. Reign dates from the Babylonian chronicle are converted from accession to non-accession reckoning to harmonize with Jeremiah. To convert to the accession reckoning numbering of subtract 1 from the years reigned.
Date BC	Source	Event
641	2 Chron 34:1	Josiah Becomes king of Judah, age 8, reigns 31 years (641-609 BC)
627	Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.221	Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylon, reigns 22 years. (627-605 BC)
610	2 Kings 23:29	Nico II becomes king of Egypt, reigns 15 years (610-595 BC)
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 610 BC 32nd (31st in 2 Kings) year of Josiah ends Summer 609 BC 1^st (0 in 2 Kings) year of Jehoahaz begins Summer 609 BC 17th (16^th in Babylonian Chronicle) year of Nabopolassar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan)
Summer 609	2 Chron 35:21-27	Neco II kills Josiah at Megiddo, then defeats Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, then returns to conquer Jerusalem. Although the people appoint Jehoahaz (Shallum) as king of Judah, Neco II deported him to Egypt and appointed Jehoiakim.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 609 BC 18th year of Nabopolassar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 1^st year of Jehoiakim begins after Tishri 1 609 BC
After Tishri 1 609	2 Chron 36:1-5 Jer 22:1-12 (spoken in 587 BC)	Neco II deposes Jehoahaz (Shallum) after 3 months and appoints Jehoiakim as vassal king, extracts heavy tribute from Judea. (late 609, ascension year)
Fall 609-Spring 608	Jeremiah 26	Jerusalem will be like Shiloh! Jeremiah condemns Judah: Jerusalem will become like Shiloh: Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or die Uriah, oral prophet is killed by Jehoiakim
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 608 BC 19^th year of Nabopolassar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 2^st year of Jehoiakim
Summer 607 BC	Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.219-220	Nabopolassar subdues Egypt (Neco II), Hamath Phoenicia and Judea. By subjecting Egypt (Neco II) he automatically controlled Judah and Jehoiakim without any literal invasion. Jehoiakim's submission changes from Egypt to Babylon.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 607 BC 20^th year of Nabopolassar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 3^nd year of Jehoiakim
Fall 607 - spring 606 BC	Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220 Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11	Nabopolassar sickly in the fall 607 BC By spring of 606 BC, vassals rebellion is triggered by Nabopolassar's illness. Egypt, Judea, Phoenicia, Ashqelon and Jehoiakim rebel against Babylon.
Summer 606 BC	Habakkuk	Habakkuk has a meltdown and challenges God With the spiritual reforms of Josiah forgotten and reversed by Jehoiakim, and the rebellion of Egypt, Judea, Phoenicia, Ashqelon and Jehoiakim because Nabopolassar the king of Babylon is sick, Habakkuk sees the sin of Judah and demands God take action and accuses God of sleeping on the job! God takes action one year later by sending Nebuchadnezzar to attack Jerusalem in the Summer of 605 BC!
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 606 BC 21^st year of Nabopolassar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 4^rd year of Jehoiakim
Oct 606- Jan 605	Jer 25:1; ch 45-47; 46:2;	Jeremiah condemns all nations
Feb 605	Jeremiah 36:1-8	Jeremiah prepares a scroll God tells Jeremiah to prepare a scroll dictated to Baruch the scribe to be read at an upcoming fast day the people will call in December of 605 BC.
March 605	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 1-7; Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220	Sickly Nabopolassar sends Prince Nebuchadnezzar on 1^st campaign in Hatti-land (Egypt, Judea, Syria etc) Jerusalem and Jehoiakim submit. Prince Nebuchadnezzar defeats Neco II at Carchemish
BABYLONIAN REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 Nisan 605 BC 22^nd year of Nabopolassar Nisan 605 - 15 Aug 605 BC 1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar begins 7 Sept 605 BC (Babylonian Regnal new year starts in Nisan and call this "ascension year 0") 4^rd year of Jehoiakim
70 YEAR BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY BEGINS SUMMER 605 BC, ENDS 536 BC 22^nd year of Nabopolassar he dies 15 Aug 605 BC (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar begins 7 Sept 605 BC (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 4^th year of Jehoiakim using non-accession reckoning of Jeremiah. (3^rd according to Daniel's accession recockining) 1^st year of captivity begins when Daniel surrenders and ends with the decree of Cyrus in 536BC Year 1of 70 year Babylonian Captivity starts summer 605 and ends Tishri/Sept 605: about 3 months long.
Summer 605	Daniel 1:1 (3rd year of Jehoiakim, accession reckoning using Tishri/Sept as new year); Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 8; Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220,222	After defeating Neco II at Carchemish, Prince Nebuchadnezzar attacks Hamath, "Hatti-land" which includes Jerusalem [Jehoiakim], Celesyria and Phoenicia. Daniel 15 years old, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego all surrender to Nebuchadnezzar who was also a "youth". Jehoiakim begins to submit again to Nebuchadnezzar for the next three years. Note: Daniel uses ascension reckoning with the new year as Tishri/September, but Jeremiah uses non-ascension reckoning with new year as Tishri, so that Daniel's 3^rd year = Jeremiah's 4^th year of Jehoiakim.
15 August 605	Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.221; Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11 (21^st year of Nabopolassar)	Nabopolassar dies 15 August 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar gets assurances of submission from Egypt and other nations then returns to Babylon to claim the throne after his father dies.
7 Sept 605	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 11; (ascension year of Nebuchadnezzar 7 Sept 605-Nisan=Mar/April 604) Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.222-223 Dan 1:1-17	Nebuchadnezzar ascends to throne on 1 September 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar leaves his army and the captives and travels directly across the desert in three weeks to claim the throne of Babylon. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego travel slowly to Babylon with the bulk of Nebuchadnezzar's army, supplies and munitions, he left behind. Nebuchadnezzar makes arrangements for the Jews to be put into colonies when they finally arrive and arranges for the brightest and best of them (Like Daniel) to enter the training program for the Kings service: Dan 1:1-17.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 605 BC 22^nd year of Nabopolassar ended on 15 Aug 605 BC (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 1^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar begins 7 Sept 605 BC (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 5^th year of Jehoiakim Year 2of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Oct 605 - Feb 604	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-14 (Ascension year of Nebuchadnezzar)	1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar: 2^nd campaign in Hatti-land (Egypt, Judea, Syria etc). Jerusalem and Jehoiakim submit. Nebuchadnezzar returns again to the Levant and by February 604, extracts a heavy tribute from all the kings, including Jehoiakim. He then returns to Babylon where he celebrates a festival to the pagan Akitu.
Nov 605	Dan 1:1-17	Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego arrive in Babylon and immediately enter kings service 3 year training program while captive in Babylon and while Nebuchadnezzar is camped at the city wall of Jerusalem.
Dec 605	Jeremiah 36:9-32	The people call a fast day in Dec 605 BC, worried about Jeremiah's predicted future invasion of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar has returned to Judea after claiming the throne and is perhaps camped outside Jerusalem preparing for invasion. Baruch reads the scroll Jeremiah prepared in the spring of 605 BC Jehoiakim burns the scroll in the fireplace of his winter house while Nebuchadnezzar is perhaps only a few kilometers outside Jerusalem ready to attack.
Feb 604	2 Kings 24:1–2 Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-13 (Ascension year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar returns to Babylon after collecting tribute and assurances of submission from Egypt (Neco II) and Jehoiakim and other nearby kings.
March 604	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 14 (Ascension year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar celebrates the pagan festival to Akitu.
April 604	Jeremiah 47:1	Egypt (Neco II) conquers Gaza
May - Dec 604	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 15-20 (1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar)	2^nd year Nebuchadnezzar's 3^rd campaign in Hatti-land (Egypt, Judea, Syria etc). Jerusalem and Jehoiakim submit. Nebuchadnezzar returns to the Levant and again receives heavy tribute from Egypt and Jehoiakim. The king of Ashkelon was unwilling to submit so Nebuchadnezzar killed him and destroyed the city in November 604 BC. He returns to Babylon in February 603 BC.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 604 BC 2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 6^th year of Jehoiakim Year 3of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Jan - Feb 603	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 15-20 (1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 3^rd campaign continues from previous year 2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar continues until Nisan 603.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 603 BC 3^rd year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 7^th year of Jehoiakim Year 4of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 603-Feb 602	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse (2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Missing: 4^th campaign of Nebuchadnezzar in his 3^rd year. The lines are damaged and missing in Babylonian Chronicle.
Fall 603, after 1 Tishri	Daniel 1:18-20	Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego chosen by Nebuchadnezzar to enter his personal service The fall of 603 was "after three years".
Spring 602	Daniel 2	Nebuchadnezzar's vision of four-kingdoms statue Daniel 2 Dan 2:1 records the vision took place in the 2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar. Since Daniel used accession reckoning, this translates to the 3^rd year of Nebuchadnezzar and harmonizes with Jeremiah.
Summer 602	Daniel 3:1	Nebuchadnezzar's commissions 90 foot statue Daniel 3:1 This 3x30 meter high statue took 7 years to complete. (602-595 BC)
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 602 BC 4^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 8^th year of Jehoiakim Year 5of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 602 - Feb 601	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 1'-4' (3^rd year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 5^th campaign missing dates 4th year of Nebuchadnezzar Note: the Chronicle is broken where the month of departure is, but the pattern for war is Nov-Feb.
Spring 601	2 Ki 24:1-5	Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar After Nebuchadnezzar was defeated by Neco II, Jehoiakim is rebellious from spring 601 - 598 when he is deported to Babylon.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 601 BC 5^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 9^th year of Jehoiakim Year 6of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 601-Feb 600	2 Ki 24:1 Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 5'-7' (4^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 6^th campaign in Hatti-land (Egypt, Judea, Syria etc). 5th year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar lost a battle against Egypt and returned home. This loss by Nebuchadnezzar triggers the rebellion of Jehoiakim. After three years of submission, Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon: (2 Ki 24:1)
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 600 BC 6^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 10^th year of Jehoiakim Year 7of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 600- Feb 599	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet, reverse lines 8' (5^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar stays in Babylon to reorganize his army after the loss against Neco II and perhaps focus on building his 90 foot statue. This further emboldens Jehoiakim to continue rebelling.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 599 BC 7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 11^th year of Jehoiakim Year 8of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 599 - Feb 598	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 9'-10' (6^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 7^th campaign in Hatti-land against Arabs 7^TH year of Nebuchadnezzar It is interesting that this is the second year that Jehoiakim has been free from direct contact with Nebuchadnezzar. Surely by now Jehoiakim feels he is going to be successful in his rebellion to Nebuchadnezzar and the direct order of God through Jeremiah to surrender or die.
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 598 BC 8^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 12^th year of Jehoiakim ends 9 Dec 698 BC (Using non-accession reckoning of Jeremiah) 11^th year of Jehoiakim ends 9 Dec 698 BC (Using accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) 1^st year of Jeconiah end 16 March 597 BC 1^st year of Zedekiah beings 16 March 597 BC (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 9of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
9 Dec 598 - 16 March 597	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 8^th campaign against Jerusalem. 8^th year of Nebuchadnezzar Jehoiakim is captured and deported to Babylon in bronze chains. The people appoint his son Jeconiah at age 8 with his mother (Queen mother, and wife to Jehoiakim). Zedekiah (Josiah's son) is appointed king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.
Saturday, 9 Dec 598	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar) 2 Chro 36:6-8; 2 Ki 24:12; Jer 22:13-23 (spoken in 587 BC)	Jehoiakim is captured and deported to Babylon in bronze chains. The people appoint his son Jeconiah at age 8 with his mother (Queen mother, and wife to Jehoiakim) and reigns for 3 months.
16 March 597	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar) Jer 22:24-30 (spoken in 587 BC)	Jeconiah surrenders, Zedekiah is appointed king In obedience to God and Jeremiah, 8 year old Jeconiah and his mother (wife of the now deported Jehoiakim) walk out of Jerusalem and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and are deported to Babylon. Jeremiah and a Babylonian tablet both record that in 561 BC, Evil-merodack (Nebuchadnezzar's son) frees Jeconiah from prison and issues him food rations. Nebuchadnezzar appoints Zedekiah as Israel's last vassal king who will reign for 10 years. (Jehoiakim also reigned for 10 years)
597	Jer 52:29	Ezekiel goes into exile. 3023 Jews surrender and are deported by Nebuzaradan: Jer 52:29 Ezekiel (age 26) the prophet surrenders and is taken to Babylon. Ezekiel probably surrendered in obedience to God and walked out with Jeconiah and was one of the 3023 Jews of Jer 52:29
March 597	Jer 47:1; 2 Kings 24:7	Babylon repels Egypt from Judea Neco II loses control of Gaza which he conquered in 604. (see Jer 47:1). "The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates." (2 Kings 24:7)
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 597 BC 9^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 2^nd year of Zedekiah (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 10of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Dec 597 - Feb 596	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 14'-15' (8^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 9^th campaign to Carchemish. 9^th year of Nebuchadnezzar
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 596 BC 10^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 3^rd year of Zedekiah (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 11of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 596 - Feb 595	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 16'-20' (9^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 10^th campaign along Tigris river against the king of Aram 10th year of Nebuchadnezzar
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 595 BC 11^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 4^th year of Zedekiah (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 12of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Oct 595	Dan 3:1 Jeremiah 51:59-64	Zedekiah and Seraiah begin travel to Babylon for the dedication ceremony of the 90 foot statue of Nebuchadnezzar
Nov 595 - Jan 594	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 21'-24' (10^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Rebellion and insurrection squashed in Babylon
Jan- March 594	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 21'-24' (10^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 11^th campaign in his 11^th year. With the civil war or coup under control he immediately launches his 11^th campaign!
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 594 BC 12^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 5^st year of Zedekiah (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 13of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC
Nov 594 - Feb 593	Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 21'-24' (11^th year of Nebuchadnezzar)	Nebuchadnezzar's 12^th campaign to Hatti-land (Syria, Judah) 12th year of Nebuchadnezzar using non-accession counting of Jeremiah
HEBREW REGNAL NEW YEAR BEGINS ON 1 TISHRI 593 BC 13^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan) 6^st year of Zedekiah (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles) Year 14of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC

VIII. Full outline: Jehoiakim's Chronological diary of events: 641 - 598 BC:

641-609 BC

641 Josiah king of Judah at age 8 (641-609 BC)

627 Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylon (627-605 BC)

610 Pharaoh Neco II becomes king of Egypt (610-595 BC)

1. 641 BC: Josiah king of Judah at age 8 (641-609 BC)

a. "Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images." (2 Chronicles 34:1-3)

b. Josiah was killed by Neco II in 609 BC at Megiddo.

2. 627BC: Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylon (627-605 BC)

a. Nabopolassar is never referenced in the Bible

b. Nabopolassar is the first dynastic king of the Neo-Babylonian empire in Mesopotamia that became Babylon under his son Nebuchadnezzar.

c. "So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years" (Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.221)

3. 610 BC: Pharaoh Neco II becomes king of Egypt (610-595 BC)

a. Very little is known about the rise and fall of Neco II, but the Bible tells the story of how he killed Josiah in 609 BC at Megiddo before Neco II defeated Nabopolassar at the 1^st battle of Carchemish in 609 BC.

b. 2 Kings 23:29

c. 2 Chronicles 35:21-27

d. 2 Chronicles 36:1-5

Summer 609 BC

Josiah Killed by Neco II at Megiddo; People appoint Jehoahaz as king of Judah

2 Chron 35:20-27; 2 Kings 23:28-29; 2 Kings 23:30-37;

2 Chro 36:1-5

1. Josiah is killed by Pharaoh Neco II at Megiddo before the battle of Carchemish.

5. Three of Josiah's son's will be kings of Judah:

a. "The sons of Josiah were Johanan the firstborn, and the second was Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. The sons of Jehoiakim were Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. The sons of Jeconiah, the prisoner, were Shealtiel his son, and Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah." (1 Chronicles 3:15–18)

b. Jehoahaz (Shallum) reigned 3 months in 609 BC at age 23 years old. He was the youngest born in 631 BC. The people appoint his son Jehoahaz (23 years old) as king for 3 months. Neco II deposes Jehoahaz and appoints his older brother Jehoiakim (25 years old) to be king who pays tribute to Egypt through a Judean tax levy.

c. Jehoiakim (Eliakim) reigned 11 years 609 - 598 BC, ages 25 - 36, was Josiah's second son born in 633 BC.

d. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Coniah) was the son of Jehoiakim and reigned for 3 months 9 December 598 - 16 March 597 BC at age 8 years old born in 606 BC.

e. Zedekiah (Mattaniah) reigned 11 years 597 - 587 BC, ages 21-31 was Josiah's third son born in 617 BC.

Fall 609 BC

Neco II deposes Jehoahaz, appoints Jehoiakim after Tishri 1

2 Chronicles 36:3–5; Jer 22:1-12 (spoken in 687 BC)

First year of Jehoiakim's reign: Fall 609 BC (Using non-accession reckoning of Jeremiah, year 0 for 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles)
Jehoahaz is deposed by Neco and deported first to Riblah, then to Egypt where he dies:

"Then the people of the land took Joahaz [Jehoahaz] the son of Josiah, and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God." (2 Chronicles 36:1–5)
Spoken in 587 BC: "Thus says the LORD, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. “For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. “But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.” ’ ” For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, Like the summit of Lebanon; Yet most assuredly I will make you like a wilderness, Like cities which are not inhabited. “For I will set apart destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will cut down your choicest cedars And throw them on the fire. “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?’ “Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’ ” Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him, But weep continually for the one who goes away; For he will never return Or see his native land. For thus says the LORD in regard to Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; but in the place where they led him captive, there he will die and not see this land again." (Jeremiah 22:1–12)

Pharaoh Neco II deposes Jehoahaz (Shallum) and installs Jehoiakim (Eliakim) as king:

a. After killing Josiah, Neco II returns to Egypt and deports king Jehoahaz first to Riblah, then to Egypt after three months.

b. "Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him [Jehoahaz] at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there." (2 Kings 23:33-34)

c. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim (older) were brothers and sons of Josiah their father.

3. 609 BC is the beginning of the period when Judah loses autonomy forever: From 609 BC - 70 AD Judah was an occupied vessel state:

a. Within the 679 year period between 609 BC and 70 AD, the Jews had independence only twice for a total of 51 years. Because of Idolatry, immorality and corruption in the courts God took away all independence of the Jews starting with the first attack of Nebuchadnezzar in 609 BC, ultimately the destruction of the temple of Solomon in 587 BC.

b. 47 years of Maccabean Independence: The total Hasmonean period was a short 129 year struggle for Judah independence: 166 - 37 BC: 47 years: From about 110 BC - 63 BC during the Maccabean/Hasmonean period. 110 BC was the time when the Maccabees had finally gained full independence from all outside governments of Greek/Seleucid empire. However this came to an end in 63 AD when General Pompey captures Jerusalem and reappoints Hyrcranus II as high priest.

c. 4 years first Jewish war with Rome: 66-70 AD during the first Jewish war, which ended in the total permanent destruction of the Jewish nation as a theocratic entity with God's approval.

Fall 609-Spring 608 BC

Jeremiah condemns Judah

Jeremiah's message: Jerusalem will become like Shiloh: Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or die

Uriah, oral prophet is killed by Jehoiakim

Jeremiah 26

Jeremiah (chapter 26) publically preaches to the people in the temple court that Jerusalem will become like Shiloh and warning of 70 year Babylonian captivity.

Jer 26 was written in 609 BC shortly after the death of Josiah.
Death sentence is pronounced against Jeremiah by the kings officials and the false prophets.
Some wise elders remind them that Micah preached the same to Hezekiah and God spared Jerusalem when they repented.

Twice Jeremiah predicted Jerusalem would suffer the same fate as Shiloh: At the beginning Jehoiakim's and Zedekiah's reign: 609 BC and 597 BC

First year of Jehoiakim: 609 BC: "“And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ” The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! “Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord." (Jeremiah 26:4–9)
First year of Zedekiah: 16 March 597 BC: "“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. “And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer, therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. “I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim." (Jeremiah 7:12–15)

Jeremiah's "Shiloh" warning was a stinging rebuke and insult to the establishment:

Jeremiah was a priest in the line of Eli who was high priest at Shiloh when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant.
Solomon dismisses Eli's descendant (high priest) according to prophecy of Samuel and sends him to his home city of Anathoth.
Solomon installs the Zadok line of priests in place of the Eli line of priests.
Jeremiah lived in Anathoth and was directly descended back to Eli.
Had Solomon not dismissed Eli, Jeremiah may have in fact been the High priest!
The Zadokite line of priests installed by Solomon looked with distain and disgust at the living relatives of Eli the same way the Jews viewed the Samaritans.
For Jeremiah, descendant of Eli, to tell the Zadokite high priest establishment that Jerusalem would become like Shiloh was a shocking and insulting claim!

Jeremiah's warnings to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or die:

"Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive." (Jeremiah 38:2, 589 BC)

587 BC: Jeremiah 21:9 (Zedekiah): "“He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty." (Jeremiah 21:9)

Daniel 1:1-7; 605 BC
2 Kings 24:10–16, 598 BC
2 Chronicles 36:9–10, 598 BC
Jeremiah 21:8–10, 587 BC
Jeremiah 27:12–13, 595 BC
Jeremiah 27:16–17, 595 BC
Jeremiah 38:2, 589 BC
Jeremiah 38:17–20, 589 BC
Jeremiah 39:9; post 10 Av, 587 BC
Jeremiah 39:16-18, 587 BC, pre 10^th AV
Jeremiah 45:1–5, 605 BC
Jeremiah 52:15, 587 BC, written in 561 BC

Plot to kill Jeremiah (ch 26) directly mirrors what happened to the apostles in Acts 5.

Plot to Kill Jeremiah/Apostles and counsel to spare!
Jer 26: 7-24	Acts 5:17–42
"You must die!" v8	"intended to kill them" v33
"elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly" v17	"Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and spoke" v34
Precedent #1: "Hezekiah did not kill Micah the prophet" v18	Precedent #1: "Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed" v36
Precedent #2 "Jehoiakim killed Uriah" v21	Precedent #2: "Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered" v37
Jeremiah spared v24	Apostles spared from death but beaten v40

In spite of this, an oral prophet named Uriah fled to Egypt and was killed by the king after being repatriated: "Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people." (Jeremiah 26:20–23)

Archeology has provided a stunning confirmation of this story in Jeremiah!
The Lachish Ostraca documents this event: read full outline

609-598 BC

The Rechabite allegory

Jeremiah 35

This parabolic story occurred during Jehoiakim's reign
The Rechabites are a family who continued to obey their father's oath to live like hermits in simple tents and didn’t drink wine.
God contrasts their obedience to their earthly father with Judah's disobedience to their heavenly father.
The Rechabites are promised an eternal place of honor in God's plan.

Summer 607 BC

Nabopolassar subdues Egypt (Neco II), Hamath Phoenicia and Judea. By subjecting Egypt (Neco II) he automatically controlled Judah and Jehoiakim without any literal invasion. Jehoiakim's submission changes from Egypt to Babylon.

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.219-220

1. 2^nd year of Jehoiakim; 19^th year of Nabopolassar

2. Now Nabopolassar defeats Egypt and all of Judea and makes Jehoiakim pay him tribute and submit to Babylon.

a. Notice that Berosus explicitly says that Nabopollassar had made Egypt and Judah (being a vassal of Egypt) into vassal states.

b. This was the last battle Nabopollassar fought before he became ill and died.

3. Jehoiakim had been appointed by Neco II as a vassal king and Judah paid a heavy tribute in 609 BC.

a. Now Jehoiakim became a vassal of Nabopollassar about a year or two later.

b. There was no war in Jerusalem, Jehoiakim simply sent messengers with tribute money to Nabopollassar as a sign of submission.

4. Jehoiakim as a vassal king:

a. 609 BC Jehoiakim is appointed by Neco II and pays tribute to him

b. 608 BC Jehoiakim submits to Nabopolassar in 608 BC when he conquered Egypt

607 BC Nabopolassar, king of Babylon is sick and unable to go to war.

c. 606 BC Jehoiakim (and Egypt) rebel in the Spring of 606 BC because of Nabopolassar's illness

d. 606 BC Habakkuk becomes frustrated with the reversal of reforms of Josiah under Jehoiakim and demands God take action for their sin!

e. 605 BC Jehoiakim again submits to Babylon under Prince Nebuchadnezzar in the summer of 605 BC

f. 605 BC Nabopolassar dies and after Nebuchadnezzar conquers Egypt and Jerusalem (without a battle) he returns to ascend to the throne of Babylon as her second dynastic king.

g. 601 BC: After three years of submission, Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon: (2 Ki 24:1) Nebuchadnezzar lost a battle against Egypt and returned home. The following year he reorganized his troops which likely emboldened Jehoiakim to continue rebelling till his deportation in 598 BC: "In the fourth year [601 BC] the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to the Hatti-land. In the Hatti-land they marched unopposed. In the month of Kislîmu he took the lead of his army and marched to Egypt. The king of Egypt [Pharaoh Neco II] heard it and mustered his army. In open battle they smote the breast of each other and inflicted great havoc on each other. The king of Akkad turned back with his troops and returned to Babylon. In the fifth year [600 BC] the king of Akkad stayed in his own land and gathered together his chariots and horses in great numbers." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet, reverse lines 5-8)

h. 598 BC: Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem and deports Jehoiakim to Babylon on chains.

5. Sources:

a. This story is not in the Bible but it is important to know that Egypt had become a vassal state BEFORE Nebuchadnezzar defeated Neco II at Carchamish in 605 BC.

b. "(219) Now when king Nebuchadnezzar had reigned forty-three years, he ended his life. He was an active man, and more fortunate than the kings that were before him. Now Berosus makes mention of his actions in the third book of his Chaldaic History, where he says thus:—(220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him. (Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.219-220)

Fall 607 - Spring 606 BC

Nabopolassar is sick! Egypt and other vassals states rebel

Nabopolassar falls ill which triggers rebellion by Egypt, Judea, Phoenicia, Ashqelon and Jehoiakim against Babylon.

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11

1. 3^rd year of Jehoiakim; 20^th year of Nabopolassar

2. With Nabopolassar sickly and unable to go to war, Egypt and other nations surrounding Judah decide it is a good time to rebel against the submission of Babylon and become free from their control and pay tribute no more.

3. Sources:

a. While the story of Nabopolassar getting sick which triggers the rebellion of Egypt is not in the Bible, it is important to keep in mind that since it explains the lack of concern of Jehoiakim when Jeremiah warns Babylon will come and destroy Jerusalem!

b. (220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him. (Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220)

606 BC

Habakkuk has a meltdown and demands action from God for Judah's sin

Book of Habakkuk

Jeremiah 22:13–23 (spoken in 587 BC) provides an overview of the crimes and sins God charged Jehoiakim with through the prophet Jeremiah.

The book of Habakkuk was written after the death of Josiah (609 BC) and before the first attack by Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem in 605 BC.

Written in 606 BC, after the death of the reformer and righteous Josiah (609 BC) the remaining righteous became angry that Judah was slipping back into the same old moral and religious wickedness. See Jeremiah 26 (written in 609 BC) for the backdrop of this message.
The book of Habakkuk was written in 606 BC, which was after the prophesied fall of Nineveh in the book of Nahum in 612 BC but before Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem after the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC.
Written in 606 BC one year before Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in 605 BC.

2. Jeremiah 22:13–23 (spoken in 587 BC) provides an overview of the moral crimes and sins God charged Jehoiakim with through the prophet Jeremiah.

a. "“Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness and his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages, Who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house With spacious upper rooms, And cut out its windows, Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father (Josiah) eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares the Lord. “But your eyes and your heart Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain, And on shedding innocent blood And on practicing oppression and extortion.” Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not lament for him: ‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’ “He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been crushed. “I spoke to you in your prosperity; But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your practice from your youth, That you have not obeyed My voice. “The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will surely be ashamed and humiliated Because of all your wickedness. “You who dwell in Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!" (Jeremiah 22:13–23)

3. Nahum's prophesied fall of Nineveh did not go unnoticed by Habakkuk. Indeed, news of the ferocious Babylonians clearly caught everyone's attention.

a. "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. “They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves. “Their horses are swifter than leopards And keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour." (Habakkuk 1:6-8)

3. Habakkuk, like Lot (2 Peter 2:7-9), had his righteous soul tormented as he saw the wickedness of his fellow Judeans and called for God to take action. When he learned the entire nation was going to be deported and the temple destroyed, he trembled in fear. Be careful because sometimes you get what you wish for.

This rare book opens the curtains of faith and allows man to see into the heavens how God is working behind the scenes to bring about His will on earth.
The book can be broken down into SEVEN sections which records the prophet's wild emotional rollercoaster ride:

First, Habakkuk accuses God of doing nothing about the wickedness in Judah: Hab 1:2-4. Habakkuk demands God take action against sinful Israel. Habakkuk accuses God of sleeping on the Job! Like Christian's today, Job was fed up with the corrupt, immoral and wicked people he lives among. He can take it no more, he has reached his limit and he demands God take action to spank Israel: "How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save." (Habakkuk 1:2)
Second God tells him that Nebuchadnezzar is coming to "spank" Israel for their crimes, dishonesty, materialism, injustice and idolatry: "“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told. “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs." (Habakkuk 1:5-6) Notice God NEVER justifies using Babylon by saying something like, "afterword I will punish Babylon". (see Jeremiah 25:12-16; Jer 51) This omission which is supplied in other texts, speaks volumes about the fact that God is God and you better just accept what he does is just, even if you don't understand it. Take the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell, many reject it saying, " a just God would never do that". Too bad they are very wrong, just like Habakkuk was.
Third, Habakkuk is first shocked and challenges the justice of God in allowing a nation like Babylon, which is more wicked than Israel, to be used by God to punish Judah: "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?" (Habakkuk 1:13) His reaction is similar to how Moses reacted when God was angry with Israel over the golden calf. "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”" (Exodus 32:7–10) In other words, God was going to destroy everyone, including what turned out to be the living ancestor of Jesus (refuting Calvinism) and make Moses a great nation, making Moses the new descendant of Jesus. Moses intercedes: "Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people." (Exodus 32:11–14) When Moses was able to save Israel from God's wrath, he then reads the "riot act" to Israel: "It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it." (Exodus 32:19–20) In the same way Habakkuk feels God is "overpunishing" Israel for their sin.
Fourth, after the shock factor passes, Habbakuk, in stunning arrogance, figures he has checkmated God in his argument and stands up, staring boldly and angrily into the heavens at God seeing if God has the courage to answer him: "I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved." (Habakkuk 2:1)
Fifth: Habakkuk is told again that Babylon will be God's instrument of punishment for Judah and rebukes Habakkuk for his arrogance: “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) and concludes this section with the majestic: “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)
Sixth, Habakkuk is terrified because he believes Jerusalem will be soon totally destroyed: "I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.(Habakkuk 3:16)
Seventh: Habakkuk is resolved that God is just and Holy: "Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength" (Habakkuk 3:18-19)

The faith lesson for us today is:

a. God says: LIVE BY FAITH. God allowed the prophet to look behind the curtain of faith and God opened it just this once to see what was happening behind the scenes in the spirit world. Now God closes the curtain and restores the principle of living by faith. This instructive for us today!

b. “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

c. Habakkuk's faith lesson becomes the foundation of the faith principle in the New Testament and is quoted no less than THREE TIMES: Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38

Oct 606 - Jan 605 BC

Jeremiah condemns all nations

Jeremiah 25, 45-47; 46:2

1. Jeremiah 25: Fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah has been preaching for 23 years! This section of preaching takes us up to the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar to Jerusalem in the summer of 605 BC.

a. “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened." (Jeremiah 25:3)

b. SHOCKING LANGUAGE: "Nebuchadnezzar My servant": "behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years." (Jeremiah 25:9–11)

2. In Jer 25:16, God promises to strike Babylon with insanity, which occurred in both Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus:

a. The word for "mad" in Jer 26:16 is the same word used of when David acted like a mad man in 1 Samuel 21:12-15 to escape the king of Gath. [halal, 1984, Hithpoel]

b. Nebuchadnezzar went mad in Daniel 4

c. Nabonidus (556-539 BC) went mad in the Dead Sea scrolls: The Prayer of Nabonidus (DDS, 4QprNab = 4Q242 Frags. 1–3) from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Chapter 45 is a short reassurance from God to Baruch that all will be well with him in Babylon.

Nabonidus was king of Babylon 556-539 BC but was co-regent with Belshazzar from 553-539 BC. Now we know why!!! He went insane for 7 years!
‘I was afflicted with an [evil] ulcer in Teiman [by decree of the Most High God]. For seven years [I] prayed to the gods of silver and gold, [bronze and iron], wood and stone and clay, because [I believed] that they were gods …’ (The Dead Sea scrolls in English, G. Vermes, 1995)
Notice the text of the DSS “have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone” is identical to Dan 5:23

Prayer of Nabonidus: DSS4Q242 (4QprNab) Frags. 1–3	Dan 5:23
[I] prayed to the gods of silver and gold, [bronze and iron], wood and stone and clay, because [I believed] that they were gods	have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand

Some say this is a mix up, error or changing of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar. We reject this and accept is as a true story. This means that two kings of Babylon, the first and last, went mad fulfilling Jer 25:16.

The "cup of wrath" Jeremiah is told to give the nations becomes the foundation for the "Cup of wrath" in Revelation (written in 66 AD) against Babylon (literally Jerusalem).

"For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. “They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:" (Jeremiah 25:15–17)
"For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs." (Psalm 75:8)
"You have made Your people experience hardship; You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger." (Psalm 60:3)
"Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs." (Isaiah 51:17)
"I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”" (Isaiah 63:6)
"The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon (literally Jerusalem) the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath." (Revelation 16:19)
"he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." (Revelation 14:10)
"Pay her (literally Jerusalem) back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her." (Revelation 18:6)
"From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty." (Revelation 19:15)

The balance of Jer 25 condemns all nations for their sin.
Jeremiah 46: Baruch the scribe is upset with Jeremiah's message: surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and live. Stay in Jerusalem and die

Jer 46 is a key chapter in understanding the message God was sending the righteous remnant: surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and live. Stay in Jerusalem and die.
"Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.” ‘But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’ ” (Jeremiah 45:4-5)

Feb 605 BC

God tells Jeremiah to write a scroll and wait for a fast day to read it.

Jeremiah 36:1-8

God tells Jeremiah to prepare a scroll dictated to Baruch the scribe to be read at an upcoming fast day the people will call in December of 605 BC.

2. Jeremiah is told by God to create an inspired scroll by dictating it to Baruch the scribe.

3. The scroll is a summary of the 23 years of Jeremiah's preaching from:

a. "Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day." (Jeremiah 36:2)

b. The message is never directly revealed but is summed up with words from Jehoiakim's own mouth: "And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’ ” (Jeremiah 36:29)

4. Baruch is to read the scroll on a fast day that THE PEOPLE NOT THE KING called in response to Nebuchadnezzar's arrival outside Jerusalem 9 months later in Dec 605 BC

March 605 BC

Sickly Nabopolassar sends Prince Nebuchadnezzar to squash the rebellion of vassal states previously subjected.

Prince Nebuchadnezzar defeats Neco II at Carchemish

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 1-7

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220

1. Fourth year of Jehoiakim, 21st year of Nabopolassar

2. "Jeremiah 25:1 explicitly identifies the first year of Nebuchadnezzar with the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 46:2 says that Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians in the battle of Carchemish on the Euphrates in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. It was shortly after this battle that Nebuchadnezzar succeeded to the throne." (Hermeneia, A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Dan 1:1, 1993 AD)

a. "In the third year [4^th year using non-ascension reckoning of Jeremiah] of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it." (Daniel 1:1)

b. "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon)," (Jeremiah 25:1)

c. "To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:" (Jeremiah 46:2)

3. When we combine the Babylonian tablet, Josephus and Berosus (quoted by Josephus) we come up with a clear historical chain of events.

a. Sometime between 609 - 606 BC that Nabopolassar had previously subdued Egypt (Neco II), Hamath Phoenicia and Judea

4. Nebuchadnezzar is engaged in defeating Neco II at Carchemish, in the spring of 605 while the events of Jeremiah 36:1-8 unfold.

Berosus quoted by Josephus: (220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him.(221) So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years; (222) and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father, Nebuchodonosor [Nebopollassar], was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, [Daniel would be among these] and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of the ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others, over the desert, and came to Babylon. (223) So he took upon him the management of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia; (224) but then he adorned the temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in a magnificent manner, with the spoils he had taken in the war. (Josephus Antiquities 10.219–224)
Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 1-7: "In the twenty-first year [605 BC] the king of Akkad [Nabopolassar] stayed in his own land, Nebuchadnezzar his eldest son, the crown-prince, mustered the Babylonian army and took command of his troops; he marched to Karchemiš [Carchemish] which is on the bank of the Euphrates, and crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army [Pharaoh Neco II] which lay in Karchemiš. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence. As for the rest of the Egyptian army which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of Hamath the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them so that not a single man escaped to his own country." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 1-7)

Summer 605 BC

70 YEAR BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY BEGINS

After defeating Neco II at Carchemish, Prince Nebuchadnezzar attacks Syrian/Judea (Jerusalem) summer 605 BC

Nebuchadnezzar attacks Hamath, "Hatti-land" which includes Jerusalem, Celesyria and Phoenicia.

Daniel (age 15), Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego Surrender and the Babylonian captivity officially begins: Daniel's captivity is the "stopwatch" for the 70 years.
2 Kings 24:1-2; Daniel 1:1

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 8

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.220,222

1. Year 1 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 4th year of Jehoiakim; 22st year of Nabopolassar

a. Daniel is taken captive as he surrenders in the summer of 605 BC as soon at the army arrives.

b. Later, in 598 BC, the SURRENDER message was clear: "Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.'" (Jeremiah 38:2: 598 BC) 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar. Fourth Year of Jehoiakim.

c. This was Jehoiakim's 3rd year using accession reckoning in Dan 1:1 which translates into 4 actual years as recorded by Jeremiah (non accession reckoning).

d. This surrender message is what upset Baruch in Jer 46. (see above)

2. Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 8: (At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of Hamath. [Jehoiakim included]" (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 8)

3. Josephus quotes Berosus who records these important facts:

Nebuchadnezzar had responded to nations who had rebelled, that his father, Nabopolassar had previously put into submission as vassal states.
At the time of his father's death, Nebuchadnezzar had already conquered Jerusalem and had refugees (Daniel) that returned at that time to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar learned of his father's death and he left immediately over the desert to ascend to the throne three weeks later. A three week trip through the desert is enough time to get from Jerusalem back to Babylon, although he probably had his command post set up at Riblah.
Nebuchadnezzar made arrangements for the refugees who followed, that they should be placed in colonies.
The "Bible Lands Museum" in Jerusalem recently published the 103 Cuneiform tables called the "Al Yahuda Archive" document everyday life in these same colonies the Jews lived in while in Babylon. (There are actually over 200 of these tablets but only 103 were featured at the museum in Israel).
(220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him.(221) So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years; (222) and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father, Nebuchodonosor [Nebopollassar], was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, [Daniel would be among these] and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of the ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others, over the desert, and came to Babylon. (223) So he took upon him the management of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia; (224) but then he adorned the temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in a magnificent manner, with the spoils he had taken in the war. (Josephus Antiquities 10.219–224)

4. Nebuchadnezzar's first attack on Jerusalem between summer of 605 BC - Feb 604 BC.

a. Nebuchadnezzar arrives in Jerusalem in the summer of 605 BC and begins the siege of the city. It is at this time that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego surrender by walking out of the city.

b. The siege was short lived because Nabopolassar dies on 15 Aug 605 BC and Nebuchadnezzar races back to Babylon to ascend to the throne.

"The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon)," (Jeremiah 25:1)
"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans." (Daniel 1:1–4)

5. "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets." (2 Kings 24:1–2)

6. In sermons, preachers usually confuse the three times Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and lump them all into the end the third siege in 587 BC when the temple was burned. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem three times:

a. 605 BC: (Summer 605 BC) Jehoiakim remains king of Judah but switches his submission from Pharaoh Neco II to Nebuchadnezzar in the spring of 604 BC

b. 598 BC: Jehoiakim rebels and is deported to Babylon, the people appoint his 8 year old son, Jeconiah as king for three months with the queen mother. Both obey Jeremiah's directive to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah is appointed King in his place by Nebuchadnezzar.

c. 587 BC: City and temple burned. Zedekiah deported to Riblah and blinded.

7. The message of God through the prophets to his faithful was simple: "surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and live"

a. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego Surrender in 605 BC by simply walking out to the Babylonian army.

8. The book of Daniel: 605-536 BC (Chapters 1-2: 605-602 BC)

a. God used Daniel as the direct object to represent the 70 year Babylonian Captivity. The Captivity of the entire nation was specifically played out in the time of Daniel's specific captivity. The captivity starts when he surrenders to the Babylonians in 605 BC and ends with the proclamation of Cyrus in 536 BC. Daniel was a youth of perhaps 15 years old when the captivity began in 605 BC and about 85 years old when the captivity ended in 538 BC.

b. In this study we will be tracing chapters 1-2 which span the dates of 605-602 BC.

1. Daniel 1:1 (Summer of 605 BC) records the time Daniel's captivity began and so for the entire nation as well.

2. Daniel 1:2-17 (Fall of 605 BC) records the time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego enter the three year training program competition to become king Nebuchadnezzar's personal advisors.

3. Daniel 1:18-20 (fall of 603 BC) records the time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego are examined by Nebuchadnezzar and chosen as the top four candidates in the competition to serve the king of Babylon.

c. Remember, the training program was initiated by Nebuchadnezzar shortly after conquering Jerusalem at the time he learned he father died. Nebuchadnezzar himself was very gifted and he gave instructions BEFORE he left to become king to begin the selection process. After he became king in Babylon a few weeks later, he repeated these instructions AGAIN to the official is Babylon. So when the deportees arrived in Babylon, after Nebuchadnezzar was already back in Canaan to continue the war, the officials who were travelling with Daniel would already have candidates ready to the officials waiting in Babylon. This shows just how wise and pro-active Nebuchadnezzar really was.

d. What was looked for in advance: "youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans." (Daniel 1:4)

1. This wisdom was present in the boys when they entered the training program at age 15.

2. But at the time of selection, they had also been endowed with supernatural knowledge and had the gift of prophecy.

3. The first century church was given 9 supernatural gives, four of which were the same as Daniel and his friends got: Knowledge, wisdom, prophecy and miracles: 1 Corinthians 12:7-10

4. At the time of the Exodus (1446 BC) when Israel was at Sinai, God supernaturally endowed the workmen to have the knowledge and skill to build the intricate patterns in the Tabernacle, furniture and accessories: "(Exodus 28:3; Ex 31:6; 35:25, 31–35; 36:1) "“And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship; to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. “He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. “He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs." (Exodus 35:31–35)

5. Daniel and his friends were the lights of truth for the Babylonians and the Jews during the captivity.

9. Daniel was likely 15 years old when he surrendered in 605 BC.

a. Daniel was born in 620 BC.

b. Daniel surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC age 15

c. Daniel was 15 when he was chosen to enter the three year training program

d. Daniel was 17 in the fall of 603 BC when he had been chosen by Nebuchadnezzar for his personal service.

10. Daniel's life is the stopwatch clock for the 70 year Babylonian captivity whose bookends of his career are his surrender in 605 and the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC:

a. 70 year Captivity begins: 605 BC Daniel surrenders. However remember that this is the time of Nebuchadnezzar's first arrival and he does not conquer the city until the spring of 604 BC.

b. 70 year Captivity ends: 536 BC Daniel reads Cyrus Isa 45 which motivates him to issue the decree of freedom that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem.

15 Aug 605 BC

Nebuchadnezzar learns his father, Nabopolassar has died. He returns to Babylon to assume the throne.

Nebuchadnezzar makes arrangements for the Jewish refugees who arrive afterwards to be placed into colonies.

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.221;

1. Year 1 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 4th year of Jehoiakim; 22st year of Nabopolassar (non-accession reckoning)

2. After Nebuchadnezzar defeats Neco II at Carchemish and subdues the king of Judah (Jehoiakim) and Syria, then learns his father, Nabopolassar died. He returns to Babylon to assume the throne

a. "In early 605 b.c. he took the initiative against Egyptian armies located south of Carchemish on the Euphrates River and won a decisive victory. After word was received of Nabopolassar’s death, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to formally ascend his father’s throne. He then left his capital city for Syria where, over the next three years, he forced a number of cities, including Damascus, to accept Babylonian suzerainty and provide tribute." (Nebuchadnezzar, ABD)

b. "Then in 605 bce, while the king remained home, Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonian army in an attack on Carchemish. The crown prince inflicted on the Egyptian army a horrendous defeat celebrated by the prophet Jeremiah in an oracle against Pharaoh Neco of Egypt (Jer 46:1–12). Nebuchadnezzar followed this initial victory by a swift pursuit (compare Hab 1:8) of the fleeing remnants of the Egyptian army, overtaking and annihilating them in the region of Hamath. Nebuchadnezzar proceeded to conquer all of Hamath, but when word came of his father’s death in Babylon Nebuchadnezzar raced back to Babylon to assume the throne. He then returned to the west and continued to march about Syria collecting booty until the winter of 604 bce. He briefly returned to Babylon in the spring of 604, and then marched west again to take tribute from the kings of Syria and Palestine." (Nebuchadnezzar, New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, 2009 AD)

3. Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11:

a. "For twenty-one years Nabopolassar had been king of Babylon, when on 8 Abu [15 August 605 BC] he went to his destiny; in the month of Ululu Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon and on 1 Ululu [7 September 605 BC] he sat on the royal throne in Babylon." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11)

3. Josephus quotes Berosus who records these important facts:

Nebuchadnezzar had responded to nations who had rebelled, that his father, Nabopolassar had previously put into submission as vassal states.
At the time of his father's death, Nebuchadnezzar had already conquered Jerusalem and had refugees (Daniel) that returned at that time to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar learned of his father's death and he left immediately over the desert to ascend to the throne three weeks later.
A three week trip through the desert is enough time to get from Jerusalem back to Babylon, although he may have had his command post set up at Riblah as we see later in 587 BC where he was stationed when Zedekiah was deported. Since the trip home is only three weeks from the time Nabopolassar dies to the time Nebuchadnezzar claims the throne, he may have been at his command base Riblah which would shorten the trip. The message of Nabopolassar's death was likely delivered by passenger pigeon to Riblah. It is common for passenger pigeons to be raised at places like Riblah, then transported back to Babylon where messages would be flown back to Riblah etc.
Nebuchadnezzar made arrangements for the refugees who followed, that they should be placed in colonies.
(220) “When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and the places about Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships [of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some parts of his army, and sent them against him.(221) So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years; (222) and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father, Nebuchodonosor [Nebopollassar], was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, [Daniel would be among these] and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of the ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others, over the desert, and came to Babylon. (223) So he took upon him the management of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia; (224) but then he adorned the temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in a magnificent manner, with the spoils he had taken in the war. (Josephus Antiquities 10.219–224)

7 September 605 BC

Nebuchadnezzar ascends the throne

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 11

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.222-223

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego travel slowly to Babylon with the bulk of Nebuchadnezzar's army, supplies and munitions, he left behind.

Nebuchadnezzar makes arrangements for the Jews to be put into colonies when they finally arrive and arranges for the brightest and best of them (Like Daniel) to enter the training program for the Kings service.

4^rd year of Jehoiakim

1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar

1. Nebuchadnezzar leaves his army and the captives and travels directly across the desert in three weeks to claim the throne of Babylon.

a. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego travel slowly to Babylon with the bulk of Nebuchadnezzar's army, supplies and munitions, he left behind.

b. Once he arrives to ascend to the throne of Babylon, he makes arrangements for the later arrival of the many captives, including those from Jerusalem who had surrendered.

c. Nebuchadnezzar also sets up the three year training program for the brightest and best of the captives (Like Daniel) to enter the training program for the Kings service. Dan 1:3-17

2. Jewish colonies in Babylon: "Al-Yahudaia"

The recently published Cindy and David Sofer collection at the "Bible Lands Museum" in Jerusalem of 103 Cuneiform tables called the "Al Yahuda Archive" documents everyday life in these same colonies the Jews lived in while in Babylon captivity.
Tablet "number 001" pictured below was written from one of these colony cities named, "Al-Yahudaia" in Babylon which means, "City of the Judeans".
Al-Yahudaia (City of the Judeans) was not Jerusalem in Judea but a brand new colony city set up by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC!
What an amazing confirmation that the Bible is true and what we read in the book we find in the ground!
The tablet has this inscription on the baked clay cuneiform script in Akkadian language: Translation, Reverse lines 11’-18’: "Witnesses: Tub-shalam son of Ahiqar; Azar-Yama son of Yahu-Kullu; Ah-lumur son of Balassu, and the scribe, Nabu-Na'id, son of Nabu-zar-iqisha. [Written in] Al-Yahudaia (City of the Judeans) On the 20th day of Nisan, year 33 of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon"
There are actually over 200 of these unprovenanced tablets that are believed to have been purchased on the private antiquities market from Iraq after 1970 AD, but only 103 were featured at the museum in Israel.
These tables, though unprovenanced are believed to be genuine by all experts.

2. Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11

a. "For twenty-one years Nabopolassar had been king of Babylon, when on 8 Abu [15 August 605 BC] he went to his destiny; in the month of Ululu Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon and on 1 Ululu [7 September 605 BC] he sat on the royal throne in Babylon. (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 9-11)

Berosus, Chaldaic History, book 3, Josephus Antiquities 10.222-223:

it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one years; (222) and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father, Nebuchodonosor [Nebopollassar], was dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive Jews, [Daniel would be among these] and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of the ammunition and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others, over the desert, and came to Babylon. (223) So he took upon him the management of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia" (Josephus Antiquities 10.222–223)

October 605

Nebuchadnezzar's 2^nd campaign in Hatti-land

After claiming the throne of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar immediately returns to attack Jerusalem then returns again to Babylon for a pagan festival.

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-14

5^th year of Jehoiakim

1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar

"In the accession year Nebuchadnezzar went back again to the Hatti-land [Syria, Israel] and until the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604] marched unopposed through the Hatti-land; in the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604] he took the heavy tribute of the Hatti-territory to Babylon. In the month of Nisannu [March 604] he took the hands of Bêl and the son of Bêl and celebrated the Akitu festival." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-14)
The young Nebuchadnezzar has just become king of Babylon and he returns immediately to the business at hand to subject Judah and the other nations like Egypt under this control.
He arrives in the Judean area about October 605 BC which triggers the people into calling a fast day!

November 605

Refugees arrive in Babylon, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego enter the 3 year training program in Babylon for the kings service.

Nebuchadnezzar is at the gates of Jerusalem

Dan 1:1-17

Year 2 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 5th year of Jehoiakim; 1st year Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, who have arrived in Babylon enter the 3 year training program competition to become the king's advisors.

Daniel refuses to eat the non-kosher "kings rich food".
Notice that Nebuchadnezzar is not present in the story because he has returned to besiege Jerusalem.
"The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself." (Daniel 1:5–8)

Meanwhile, Jehoiakim has rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar who has begun sieging the city which motivates the otherwise indifferent Jerusalemites to call a fast day.

December 605 BC

Nebuchadnezzar returns to Jerusalem from Babylon and perhaps camps outside city walls laying siege.

People call a fast day in the 9^th month = December 605BC

Jehoiakim burns the Bible scroll of Jeremiah during the fast

Jeremiah 36:9-32

Year 2 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 5th year of Jehoiakim; 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar

1. The dynamic of Jehoiakim having sworn allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar in the summer but is now back outside Jerusalem attacking the city, combined with the continued prophecies of doom of Jeremiah AND the fast day the people called, is an incredible backdrop to the events of Jeremiah 36.

2. Jeremiah's Uriah and Habakkuk's prophecies about Jerusalem being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar had made the people VERY NERVIOUS and they called a feast day to entreat God for relief.

a. God had told Jeremiah this fast day would happen and instructed him to prepare a scroll to be read during this fast day.

b. The King did not participate in the fast in any way. In fact he burned the scroll!

4. Fifth Year of Jehoiakim began in Tishri (September) 605 BC. On a cold winter day in December (9^th month), the people, not the king call the fast. This indicates a disconnect in reality for the King and his top men who simply disregarded all the words of the prophets about their upcoming doom.

a. Remember that 9 months earlier, in the spring of 605 BC, Baruch is instructed by Jeremiah to read the scroll, dictated by Jeremiah, on a fast day that will be called in December 605 BC.

b. It is sad the fast is called after the warnings were ignored by Jeremiah and the prophets when it is too late.

c. Their repentance is sorry for being caught, not for committing the sin in the first place: "I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death." (2 Corinthians 7:9–10)

d. Nebuchadnezzar arrived in the summer of 605 BC and left to claim the throne but then returned in October which triggers the people to call a fast to ask God to save them, but it is not enough.

5. Nebuchadnezzar had already got a promise of submission from Jehoiakim 6 months earlier in the summer of 605 BC before Nebuchadnezzar's father had died and he rushed back to Babylon to claim the throne.

a. The dynamic of Jehoiakim having Nebuchadnezzar camped outside Jerusalem attacking the city, combined with the prophecies of doom of Jeremiah AND the fast day the people called to save them, is an incredible backdrop to the events of Jeremiah 36.

b. The fact that Jehoiakim burns the inspired scroll of Jeremiah in the fireplace that warns that the newly crowned and youthful Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the city of Jerusalem (WHILE NEBUCHADNEZZAR IS ACTIVELY SEIGING THE CITY) is an indication of just how shockingly stupid and evil Jehoiakim was.

6. There is a disconnect between the palace and the people as Nebuchadnezzar is attacking Jerusalem:

a. With the return of Nebuchadnezzar, the people call the fast, not the king.

b. The people realize the extreme danger they are in and rally together to call a fast.

c. King Jehoiakim and his inner circle of officials are unconcerned by the Babylonian siege.

d. Perhaps Jehoiakim, who had been a vassal king from the beginning, expected it would be "business as usual" in the future except for the oath of submission and tribute he paid to Nebuchadnezzar.

e. When Jeremiah continued to predict destruction of Jerusalem he appeared to be out of touch and uninformed of the high-level negotiations that had already occurred in the summer of 605 between Nebuchadnezzar and himself!

f. This may explain why he was so unconcerned and burned Jeremiah's scroll.

7. Baruch reads the scroll to the people in the temple court since the king has forbidden Jeremiah to enter the temple compound.

a. Sadly, none of the king's officials were not part of the people's fast.

b. Scribe Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan was present for the reading and he reports the message to the kings officials the scribe's chamber room.

c. Jeremiah and Baruch are protected and hidden by God: "And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them." (Jeremiah 36:26)

8. Baruch reads the scroll to the king's officials in the chamber of Elishama scribe's room: Jeremiah 36:12, 20-21. Detailed outline

"he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials." (Jeremiah 36:12)
"So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king." (Jeremiah 36:20–21)

c. This is the very room where the bulla we possess today were stored. This room has been discovered in the city of David through archeological excavations!

d. Elishama the scribe: Jer 36:12,20-21; 41:1: Detailed outline

e. Bulla are simple lumps of clay placed on a document then pressed with a "seal" to create an impression. The document was then placed in the scribe's storage room pictured here and mentioned in Jer 36.

f. "The Bullae House, east of the House of Ahi’el, is so named for a collection of almost 50 clay sealings (bullae) with Hebrew lettering found there. The floor of this house, only partly excavated, was covered by a thick charred destruction layer containing the bullae as well as pottery vessels, arrowheads and limestone cult stands, all of which attest to the character of the house as a public building. The finds are typical of the final stage of the Iron Age and the bullae found in this context clearly date to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587-6 BCE. The bullae, made of fingernail-sized lumps of soft clay shaped as flat disks, were affixed to a string binding a papyrus document and then stamped with a seal. To open and read the document, the bulla sealing had to be broken in order to separate it from the string. The conflagration that destroyed the house and burnt the documents stored in it also fired the clay of the bullae, thus preserving them in very good condition - fully legible. They bear dozens of Hebrew personal names, two of them belonging to personages known from the Bible. One is Gemaryahu son of Shafan, a high official at the court of King Jehoiakim of Judah who reigned on the eve of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians" (Jewish Virtual Library)

g. When they hear the message on the scroll they report the message to the king.

h. Baruch "deposits" the scroll in the storage archive, likely sealed with his own signet ring into the clay creating a bulla and leaves.

9. Jehoiakim hears of the message and sends Jehudi to bring the scroll out of the archive so he can hear the message himself.

a. Jehoiakim is in his winter house warming himself at the palace fireplace.

b. As he indifferently warms himself, without concern, by the fireplace, the scroll is read to him.

c. Before the reader finished the reading, Jehoiakim grabs the scroll, cuts it in half with his knife and throws it into the fireplace.

d. Jehoiakim enters history as a notorious "Bible burner".

10. The story of the burnt scroll of Jeremiah 36 with highlighted names confirmed by archeology with clay seals:

a. Elishama the scribe: Jer 36:12,20-21; 41:1: Detailed outline

b. Hanon, son of Hilkiah the Priest was one of the "other officials" present but not named: Jer 36:12 (see 2 Chron 34:14) full outline

c. Baruch the son of Neriah: Detailed outline Jeremiah's personal scribe who wrote the scroll at Jeremiah's dictation: Jer 36:4:

d. Jerahmeel, Jehoiakim's son: Jer 36:26: Detailed outline "This bulla (my thanks are due to Mr. J. Sasson for permission to publish this bulla) measures 12 x 10 mm. The oval borderline was slightly deformed at the upper left by pressure during the sealing. It has a two-line inscription divided by a double line. ירחמאל (yerahme˒el), the owner of this sealing, is to be identified with Jerahmeel the king’s son, who is mentioned in Jer 36:26. The expression ב ́המל֡ (bn hmlk), “the king’s son,” also occurs elsewhere in the Bible (1 Kgs 22:26, 2 Kgs 15:5, Jer 38:6, 2 Chr 28:7) and has been found on a number of seals and seal-impressions." (Baruch the Scribe and Jerahmeel the King’s Son, Nahman Avigad, Biblical Archaeologist, 42, 1979 AD)

e. Gemariah son of Shaphan: Detailed Outline Jeremiah's personal scribe: Jer 36:10-27. This is the third of the most important clay seals because it was found as part of an official archeological dig in the city of David in 1982 AD.: "Among a horde of 51 seal impressions discovered in the 587 b.c. destruction level of Jerusalem is one which reads, “Belonging to Gemariah ben Shaphan” (Shiloh 1984: 19–20). The identification of this individual with the Gemariah of Jeremiah 36 appears certain, which then provides striking confirmation of Gemariah’s activities during Judah’s last days, as well as the authority which he had to seal official documents and other records." (ABD, Gemariah)

f. Seraiah son of Neriah, brother to Baruch: Jer 32:12; 51:12 587 BC

1. 10. BULLA AND SEAL NAMES FROM ARCHEOLOGY HIGHLIGHTED: "In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. “Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. “So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the Lord to the people in the Lord’s house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. “Perhaps their supplication will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house. Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord. Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people. Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.” And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.” So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’ ” ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. “I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ” Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them." (Jeremiah 36)

Feb-March 604

Jehoiakim finally submits to Nebuchadnezzar again

Nebuchadnezzar returns to Babylon in Feb and celebrates a pagan festival

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-13

Year 2 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 5th year of Jehoiakim; 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar leaves for Babylon after getting Jehoiakim to finally agree to submit to him and pay tribute.

"In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets." (2 Kings 24:1–2)

"In the accession year Nebuchadnezzar went back again to the Hatti-land [Syria, Israel] and until the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604] marched unopposed through the Hatti-land; in the month of Šabatu [January/Feb 604] he took the heavy tribute of the Hatti-territory to Babylon. In the month of Nisannu [March 604] he took the hands of Bêl and the son of Bêl and celebrated the Akitu festival." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 12-14)

April 604

Egypt (Neco II) conquers Gaza

Jeremiah 47:1

After Nebuchadnezzar leaves, Pharaoh Neco II who had initially appointed Jehoiakim, attacks and conquers Gaza.
"That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza." (Jeremiah 47:1)
The historic border between Egypt and Israel is the Wadi Arish and the port town of Arish. Gaza is 10 km east of Arish.
A battle for territory begins between Neco II and Nebuchadnezzar. Ultimately Neco will lose.
Nebuchadnezzar arrives a few months later and defeats Neco and recaptures Gaza.

May 604 - Feb 603

Nebuchadnezzar's 3^rd campaign in Hatti-land

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 15-20

2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar

6^th year of Jehoiakim starting in Tishri (Sept 604)

1. The Hatti-land is the region of Egypt, Judea, Syria, Moab, Edom etc). Jerusalem and Jehoiakim submit.

2. Nebuchadnezzar's 3^rd campaign:

a. Nebuchadnezzar returns to the Levant and again receives heavy tribute from Egypt and Jehoiakim.

b. "In the first year of Nebuchadnezzar [604 BC] in the month of Simanu [May 604] he mustered his army and went to the Hatti-territory, he marched about unopposed in the Hatti-territory until the month of Kislîmu [Nov 604]. All the kings of the Hatti-land came before him and he received their heavy tribute. He marched to the city of Aškelon and captured it in the month of Kislîmu [Nov 604]. He captured its king and plundered it and carried off spoil from it. He turned the city into a mound and heaps of ruins and then in the month of Šabatu [Feb 603] he marched back to Babylon." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet line 15-20)

c. The king of Ashkelon was unwilling to submit so Nebuchadnezzar killed him and destroyed the city in November 604 BC.

3. He returns to Babylon in February 603 BC.

Nov 603 - Feb 602

Missing: 4^th campaign of Nebuchadnezzar in his 3^rd year.

The lines are damaged and missing in Babylonian Chronicle.

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse (2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar)
Missing lines for 4^th campaign.
3^rd year of Nebuchadnezzar he went out on a war campaign but the Babylonian tablet is broken and the text is missing.
We do know for certain he had a 4^th campaign.
Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse is missing these lines

Fall 603, after Tishri

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego chosen by Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 1:18-20

Year 4 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 7^th year of Jehoiakim; 3st year of Nebuchadnezzar
After "3 years", Daniel is chosen to serve Nebuchadnezzar along with Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego.

Year 1: Ascension year: 605-Adar/March 604
Year 2: Nebuchadnezzar's first official year: Nisan/April 604-Adar/March 603.
Year 3: second official year: Adar/March 603 - Nisan 602 BC.

The fall of 603 was the "third year".
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego entered the kings service in the fall of 603 BC

Spring 602

Nebuchadnezzar's vision of four-kingdoms statue

Daniel 2

1. Year 4 of Captivity. 3rd year of Nebuchadnezzar. 7th year of Jehoiakim

2. Dan 2:1 records the vision took place in the 2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar.

a. Since Daniel used accession reckoning, this translates to the 3^rd year of Nebuchadnezzar and harmonized with Jeremiah.

b. Nebuchadnezzar was not in Babylon during his 4^th military campaign which occurred between Nov 603- Feb 602 BC.

c. The vision of Daniel 2 happened shortly after Nebuchadnezzar returned from his 4^th campaign as he lay on his bed in Babylon between March-May 602.

3. Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue representing the kingdoms of:

a. Babylon

b. Medo-Persia

c. Greece

d. Rome

4. The kingdom of God that is set up that will not be destroyed is the church of Christ established on Pentecost 33 AD.

Summer 602

Nebuchadnezzar's commissions 90 foot statue: 602-595 BC

Daniel 3:1

1. Year 4 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 7th year of Jehoiakim; 3rd year of Nebuchadnezzar

2. "Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon." (Daniel 3:1)

3. This 3x30 meter high statue took 7 years to complete. (602-595 BC)

Nov 602 - Feb 601

Nebuchadnezzar's 5^th campaign with missing dates

4th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 1'-4' (3rd year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the third year [Year 4 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad [Babylon] left [5th Campaign Nov 602-Feb 601] and in the month of [...] on the thirteenth day, [the king's brother] Nabû-šuma-lišir [...] The king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched to the Hatti-land and brought back much spoils from the Hatti-land into Akkad [Babylon]."

5^th campaign in Nebuchadnezzar's 4^th year.
Note: the Chronicle is broken where the month of departure is, but the pattern for war is Nov-Feb.

Spring 601

Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar

2 Ki 24:1-5

1. Year 5 of 70 year captivity; 8th year of Jehoiakim; 4th year of Nebuchadnezzar

2. Jehoiakim rebels:

a. The loss of Nebuchadnezzar to Egyptian king Neco II gives both Neco and Jehoiakim false confidence that Babylon is not a threat.

b. Jehoiakim is defiant from the spring of 601 BC until he is deported in chains in Dec 598.

c. "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely at the command of the Lord it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not forgive. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?" (2 Kings 24:1–5)

3. God sends militias from Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites to attack Judea and Jerusalem.

Nov 601 - Feb 600

6^th campaign in Hatti-land (Egypt, Judea, Syria etc).

Nebuchadnezzar lost a battle against Egypt and returned home.

5th year of Nebuchadnezzar

2 Ki 24:1

"In the fourth year [601 BC] the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to the Hatti-land. In the Hatti-land they marched unopposed. In the month of Kislîmu [November] he took the lead of his army and marched to Egypt. The king of Egypt [Pharaoh Neco II] heard it and mustered his army. In open battle they smote the breast of each other and inflicted great havoc on each other. The king of Akkad turned back with his troops and returned to Babylon." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 5'-7')
Year 5 of 70 year captivity: 605 BC; 8th year of Jehoiakim; 5th year of Nebuchadnezzar
Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 5'-7' (4th year of Nebuchadnezzar)
Nebuchadnezzar lost a battle against Egypt and returned home.

5. This loss by Nebuchadnezzar triggers the rebellion of Jehoiakim. After three years of submission, Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon: (2 Ki 24:1)

a. What is stunning about this loss is that it is his first battle after the vision of Dan 2 where he was proclaimed to be the head of Gold.

b. Perhaps he was careless or overconfident.

c. Perhaps he was pre-occupied with building his self-glorification statue in Dura province of Babylon.

d. Perhaps it was a humbling reminder to rely upon God.

e. Perhaps it was a rebuke for commissioning the 90 foot statue!

Nov 600- Feb 599

Nebuchadnezzar stays in Babylon to reorganize his army after the loss against Neco II.

6th year of Nebuchadnezzar

This further emboldens Jehoiakim to continue rebelling.

1. Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet, reverse lines 8': " In the fifth year [Year 6 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad stayed in his own land [No Campaign Nov 600-Feb 599]and gathered together his chariots and horses in great numbers."

2. Year 7 of 70 year captivity; 10th year of Jehoiakim; 6th year of Nebuchadnezzar

3. No Babylonian war Campaign in 600 BC

a. "In the fifth year [600 BC] the king of Akkad stayed in his own land and gathered together his chariots and horses in great numbers." (Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet, reverse lines 8')

b. This may have been to reorganize his army and/or to focus on building his 90 foot statue.

Nov 599- Feb 598

Nebuchadnezzar's 7^th campaign in Hatti-land against Arabs

7th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 9'-10' (6th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the sixth year [Year 7 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] in the month of Kislîmu [November] the king of Akkad mustered his army [7th Campaign Nov 599-Feb 598] and marched to the Hatti-land. From the Hatti-land he sent out his companies, and scouring the desert they took much plunder from the Arabs, their possessions, animals and gods. In the month of Addaru [Feb/March] the king returned to his own land."
7th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 11th year of Jehoiakim; 8th year of captivity
It is interesting that this is the second year that Jehoiakim has been free from direct contact with Nebuchadnezzar. Surely by now Jehoiakim feels he is going to be successful in his rebellion to Nebuchadnezzar and the direct order of God through Jeremiah to surrender or die.

Nov 598- 16 March 597

Nebuchadnezzar's 8^th campaign against Jerusalem.

8th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the seventh year [Year 8 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of Kislîmu [November], the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, [8th Campaign Nov 598 -Feb 597] and besieged the city of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second day of the month of Addaru [February/March] he seized the city and captured the king [Jehoiakim and Jeconiah]. He appointed there a king of his own choice [Zedekiah], received its heavy tribute and sent to Babylon."
Dates:

a. 8^th year of Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Regnal new year starts 6 months earlier in Nisan)

b. 12^th year of Jehoiakim ends 9 Dec 698 BC (Using non-accession reckoning of Jeremiah)

c. 11^th year of Jehoiakim ends 9 Dec 698 BC (Using accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles)

d. 1^st year of Jeconiah end 16 March 597 BC

e. 1^st year of Zedekiah beings 16 March 597 BC (non-accession reckoning of 2 Kings and Chronicles)

Year 9of 70 year Babylonian Captivity that ends 536 BC

3. Jehoiakim is captured and deported to Babylon in bronze chains.

4. The people appoint his son Jeconiah at age 8 with his mother (Queen mother, and wife to Jehoiakim).

Zedekiah (Josiah's son) is appointed king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.

Saturday 9 Dec 598

Jehoiakim is captured and deported to Babylon in bronze chains.

Jeremiah 22:13–23 (spoken in 587 BC)

3023 Jews surrender and are deported by Nebuzaradan: Jer 52:29

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the seventh year [Year 8 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of Kislîmu [November], the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, [8th Campaign Nov 598 -Feb 597] and besieged the city of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second day of the month of Addaru [February/March] he seized the city and captured the king [Jehoiakim and Jeconiah]. He appointed there a king of his own choice [Zedekiah], received its heavy tribute and sent to Babylon."
Nebuchadnezzar attacks on the Sabbath day.
2 Chro 36:6-8; 2 Ki 24:12; Jeremiah 22:13–23

"Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place." (2 Chronicles 36:6–8)
"Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign." (2 Kings 24:12)
Jeremiah's condemnation of Jehoiakim spoken to Zedekiah and recorded in 587 BC looking back in history: “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages, Who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house With spacious upper rooms, And cut out its windows, Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares the Lord. “But your eyes and your heart Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain, And on shedding innocent blood And on practicing oppression and extortion.” Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not lament for him: ‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’ “He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been crushed. “I spoke to you in your prosperity; But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your practice from your youth, That you have not obeyed My voice. “The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will surely be ashamed and humiliated Because of all your wickedness. “You who dwell in Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!" (Jeremiah 22:13–23)

Nebuzaradan deports 3023 Jews to Babylon: 598
The people appoint his son Jeconiah at age 8 with his mother (Queen mother, and wife to Jehoiakim) and reigns for 3 months.

Saturday, 16 March 597

Ezekiel goes into exile
Jeconiah surrenders, Zedekiah is appointed king

Jeconiah: End of Davidic dynasty (Coniah/Jehoiachin)

2 Kings 24:10–16; 2 Chro 36:9-10; Jer 13:18-27; 22:24-30 (spoken in 587 BC); 24:1; Matthew 1:11-12

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 11'-13' (7th year of Nebuchadnezzar)

1st year of Zedekiah; 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 8th year of captivity
Again, Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem on the Sabbath.

3. Ezekiel goes into exile.

a. 3023 Jews surrender and are deported by Nebuzaradan: Jer 52:29

b. Ezekiel (age 26) the prophet surrenders and is taken to Babylon.

c. Ezekiel probably surrendered in obedience to God and walked out with Jeconiah and was one of the 3023 Jews of Jer 52:29

4. In obedience to God and Jeremiah, 8 year old Jeconiah and his mother (wife of the now deported Jehoiakim) walk out of Jerusalem and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and are deported to Babylon.

c. Jeconiah is the only king to surrender in obedience to God.

d. Jeconiah is the only king to live a full life in Babylon after a period of jail.

e. Had Jeconiah not surrendered he would likely have died much earlier.

5. Jeremiah and a Babylonian tablet both record that in 561 BC, Evil-merodack (Nebuchadnezzar's son) frees Jeconiah from prison and issues him food rations.

f. "Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. For his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death." (Jeremiah 52:31-34, 2 Kings 25:27-30)

g. Here is the Babylonian Cuneiform tablet that directly confirms the Bible story.

h. What we read in the book, we find in the ground!

6. Nebuchadnezzar appoints Zedekiah as Israel's last vassal king who will reign for 10 years. (Jehoiakim also reigned for 10 years)

7. On Saturday March 16, 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar deposes Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) after three months deports him to Babylon. Zedekiah, Josiah's son and Jehoiakim's younger brother, becomes king at age 21. Jeconiah/Jehoiachin is the end of the line of the Davidic dynasty. FULL OUTLINE

a. Most notable is the proclamation that no descendant of Jeconiah will ever rule as king in Judea ever again in Jer 22:24-30. This alone utterly refutes dispensational/premillennial theology which wrongly teaches that Jesus Christ will rule as king in Jerusalem for 1000 years at some future time. The problem is that Jesus is a direct descendant of Jeconiah: Mt 1:11-12 which means Jesus can never be kin on earth ever again. Of course Jesus was appointed king of the church/kingdom at the ascension and founded His new spiritual kingdom on the day of Pentecost.

Spoken in 587 BC: “As I live,” declares the Lord, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. “I will hurl you (Jeconiah) and your mother (wife of Jehoiakim) who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. “But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it. “Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been hurled out And cast into a land that they had not known? “O land, land, land, Hear the word of the Lord! “Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man down childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’ ”" (Jeremiah 22:24–30)
View FULL OUTLINE on how Jesus was seated on the throne of David in heaven on the day of Pentecost.

8. According to the Babylonian Chronicle cuneiform tablet, Jerusalem finally fell on 2 Adar (16 March) 597 BC which was Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year (8^th using Jeremiah's non-accession counting). He takes some of the vessels from Solomon's temple and puts them into his pagan temple in Babylon. Jehoiakim is deposed to Babylon in bronze chains. Jehoiakim's 8 year old son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) becomes king.

9. Pedaiah son of the king: Detailed outline

The reference to a signet ring in Jer 22:24-30 is like this onyx seal in the Hecht Museum in Israel.
The seal would be embedded in a ring and used to create official bulla seals on documents tied with string.
Seals were used for thousands of years.

March 597 BC

Babylon repels Egypt from Judea

Jer 47:1; 2 Kings 24:7

1. Neco II loses control of Gaza which he conquered in 604. (see Jer 47:1).

2. "The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates." (2 Kings 24:7)

3. Whereas Nico II had been sent on a divine mission by God himself to defeat Nebuchadnezzar in 609 BC in the Battle at Carchemish, now he was forever in a position of submission to Nebuchadnezzar, God's new servant.

Dec 597 - Feb 596

Nebuchadnezzar's 9^th campaign: Carchemish

9^th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 14'-15' (8th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the eight year [Year 9 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of Tebetu [Dec/January] the king of Akkad marched [9th Campaign Dec 597 -Feb 596] to the Hatti-land as far as Karchemiš [....] in the month of Šabatu [Jan/Feb] the king returned to his own land."
9th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 2nd year of Zedekiah; 10th year of captivity

Nov 596 - Feb 595

Nebuchadnezzar's 10^th campaign along Tigris river against the king of Aram

10th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 16'-20' (9th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the ninth year [Year 10 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning], the month of [...] the king of Akkad and his troops marched [10th Campaign Nov 596 -Feb 595] along the bank of the Tigris [...] the king of Elam [...] the king of Akkad [...] which is on the bank of the Tigris he pitched his camp. While there was still a distance of one day's march between them, the king of Elam was afraid and, panic falling on him, he returned to his own land."
10th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 3nd year of Zedekiah; 11th year of captivity

Oct - Nov 595

Zedekiah and Seraiah begin travel to Babylon for the dedication ceremony of the 90 foot statue of Nebuchadnezzar

4^th year of Zedekiah; 11^th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Dan 3:1; Jeremiah 51:59-64

2. Jeremiah had given Seraiah a scroll to drop in the Euphrates river that condemns Babylon.

3. This ceremony recorded in Jer 51:59-64 has Zedekiah and Seraiah travelling together.

a. Notice the rebellion and insurrection that breaks out in Babylon as a result of Jeremiah's condemnation of Babylon in the scroll.

b. This may have given Zedekiah a mixed message from Jeremiah who had ordered Zedekiah to submit to Nebuchadnezzar.

c. After Zedekiah returns home from the dedication ceremony, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar in the summer of 594 BC.

Nov 595 - Jan 594

Rebellion and insurrection squashed in Babylon

11th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 21'-24' (10th year of Nebuchadnezzar) : "In the tenth year [Year 11 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad was in his own land; from the month of Kislîmu [Nov/Dec] to the month of Tebetu [Dec/Jan] there was rebellion in Akkad [Babylon]. [Rebellion: Nov 595 -Jan 594] With arms he slew many of his own army. His own hand captured his enemy. In the month of [...] he marched [11th Campaign Jan-March 594] to the Hatti-land, where kings and [...]-officials came before him and he received their heavy tribute and then returned to Babylon."
11th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 4nd year of Zedekiah; 12th year of captivity

Jan 595 - March 594

Nebuchadnezzar's 11^th campaign

11th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 21'-24' (10th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the tenth year [Year 11 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] the king of Akkad was in his own land; from the month of Kislîmu [Nov/Dec] to the month of Tebetu [Dec/Jan] there was rebellion in Akkad [Babylon]. [Rebellion: Nov 595 -Jan 594] With arms he slew many of his own army. His own hand captured his enemy. In the month of [...] he marched [11th Campaign Jan-March 594] to the Hatti-land, where kings and [...]-officials came before him and he received their heavy tribute and then returned to Babylon."
11th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 4th year of Zedekiah; 12th year of captivity
As soon as Nebuchadnezzar returns from his 11^th campaign, he has his dedication ceremony

April 594

The dedication ceremony of the 90 foot statue of Nebuchadnezzar.

4^th year of Zedekiah; 11^th year of Nebuchadnezzar

1. Zedekiah bows down from the "front row", a few feet from the 90 foot statue. Heads of state would surely be close to the "front" of the ceremony.

2. Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego refuse and are thrown into the lake of fire.

3. Nebuchadnezzar brings all heads of state including Zedekiah to the furnace of fire to witness the miracle and orders them all to respect YHWH.

4. Nebuchadnezzar's rebuke to Zedekiah, the king of the land of YHWH, in the presence of three Hebrews who had surrendered as Jeremiah commanded in 905 BC, must have been a stinging and humiliating experience.

5. After Zedekiah returns home from the dedication ceremony, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar in the summer of 594 BC which may have been triggered for these four reasons:

a. Jeremiah's scroll that Seraiah threw into the Euphrates condemning Babylon: Jeremiah 51:59-64

b. The insurrection he witnessed first hand in Babylon when he arrived which Nebuchadnezzar squashed.

c. The rebuke of Nebuchadnezzar

d. The miracle of Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego under the protection of YHWH.

Nov 594

Nebuchadnezzar's 12^th campaign to Hatti-land (Syria, Judah)

12th year of Nebuchadnezzar

Babylonian Chronicles cuneiform tablet reverse, line 25' (11^th year of Nebuchadnezzar): "In the eleventh year [Year 12 using Jeremiah's non-accession reckoning] in the month of Kislîmu [Nov/Dec], the king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched to the Hatti-land. [12th Campaign Nov 594-Feb 593]"

2. 12^th year of Nebuchadnezzar; 5^th year of Zedekiah; 13^rd year of captivity

Conclusion:

Jehoiakim was a vassal king his entire reign, first Egypt (Neco II) then Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) and the people of Judah were given countless chances to repent:

God sent Jeremiah, Uriah and Habakkuk to warn him of destruction and Jehoiakim responded by killing Uriah, barring Jeremiah from the Temple, ignoring Habakkuk but giving heed to lying, satanic, false prophets who led him to destruction.
God chastened him by through Nebuchadnezzar "My Servant" when he attacked Jerusalem in 605 BC forcing him into submission. Jehoiakim rebelled three years later so God chastened him more by sending bands of militia raiders to attack him from many foreign nations until he was deposed in 598 BC.
Twice God sent Nebuchadnezzar to Jerusalem and the second time the unrepentant Jehoiakim was deposed and killed.
Just what does it take to get through to sinners that God will be obeyed or you will be judged?
God disposed of the Satan King who burnt the Bible in an appropriate way: "Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not lament for him: ‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’ “He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 22:18–19)

Archeology has proven that what we read in the BOOK we find in the ground.

So many Bible events and names and places have been confirmed through archeology that we wonder why anyone would ever question it as an inspired message from God of real world history.
Archeology confirms the message of the Bible the real question is will you now obey the message of Jesus to repent and be baptized for eternal life?

"LEFT BEHIND… The biblical movie" is what happened in 605 BC when the 70 year Babylonian captivity began.

The message God sent to his faithful saints and believers was to give up every material possession you have, walk out and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar who will send you for the rest of your life to Babylon.
This VERY DISTRESSING command to SURRENDER was preached BEFORE the first attack on Jerusalem in 605 BC and only the spiritual "cream of the crop" would ever obey the message from Jeremiah and Uriah.
Those who LIVE BY FAITH and NOT BY SIGHT surrendered, "dying to self" in obedience to God.
Those who did not believe were LEFT BEHIND for destruction while the faithful were "taken" by God.
This is exactly what happened in 70 AD. Jesus warned the Christians living in Jerusalem to COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. (Lk 21:20)

The same thing is happening today with the gospel as the faithful heed the message of salvation to believe, repent, confess and be baptized in water for the remission of sins Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pe 3:21 (getting born again though water baptism: Jn 3:3-5)

Are you ready to leave everything else behind and walk out of your sinful life in a sinful world and become a Christian?
Why not attend a church this Sunday that practices simple, New Testament Christianity?
Don't you want to be a member of the church you can read about in the Bible?
Don’t be LEFT BEHIND: Click here to find a New Testament church in your own home town.

By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.

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