For all the spiritual decline that runs throughout the narrative of 2 Kings, the end of the book is particularly shocking. Judah's last king, taken captive into Babylon and imprisoned for decades is graciously released at the hand of Evil-Merodach and set up for a life of peace and security.
2 Kings 25:27–30 (ESV) And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.
Why would kings end like this? Why would God allow the wicked lineage of kings to have even a hint of restoration? Did they deserve this? Did Jehoiachin do something good? No. It is because of God's gracious mercy and His faithfulness to His word that Judah's king would rise again from the place of death and imprisonment.
Ironically the name of the king of Bablyon is Evil-merodach. His name means "a rebellious fool." Perhaps he was a foolish kind of king who made decisions such as reinstating a conquered king to his own table. We don't know. What we do know is God used this "evil" and foolish king to accomplish His purposes for Israel.
What we know from Jeremiah's prophecy during this time was that Jehoiachin was cursed to be childless as a result of the rebellion in which he led Israel.
Jeremiah 22:30 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”
Yet, when we turn to the New Testament, Jehoiachin shows up in the noblest of places having had children - in the lineage of Christ himself.
Matthew 1:11–12 (ESV) and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
So we are left with a question of the Biblical text. On the surface, it would seem to be a contradiction. Ah, but that is why we must read Scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all. For Jeremiah prophesied that Jehoiachin would be childless in HIS DAYS producing no child to sit on David's throne, again, in HIS DAYS. There would be a day to come when the true son of David through Jehoiachin would reign on the throne, and that day has come.
Now here's the incredible part of the end of Judah's existence at the end of 2 Kings. It plants in many ways the seeds of hope that are ours in Christ Jesus. For though Satan thought he had conquered at the Cross, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and showed the Devil's best efforts to be foolish in his own mind. Secondly, this passage reveals that though we might be judged for our sins and cost our lives and our futures, Jesus Christ is the one who reclaims what was lost and brings us back from the despair of loss into the wonderful promise of God's future.
So even this dark book of Kings ends with a note of hope. For after all, that is what God offers us all in Christ. He takes the attempts of satan to undermine and destroy our futures and turn them for His ultimate good. Christ our conquering King has won the victory over sin and shame and we stand assured by God's grace in the family of heaven.
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