Choices Have Consequences. (2 Kings 23:31-25:30)

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is an in-depth, daily study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes: Choices Have Consequences. (2 Kings 23:31-25:30)

Choices have consequences. Good choices bring good consequences. Bad choices bring bad consequences, and the Bible is full of stories that illustrate both.

Some made wise choices, some made foolish choices, and the consequences were very different. The consequences are not always the same.

 We’ve been walking through the book of 2 Kings, the book in the Bible that traces the slow, tragic decline of the nation of Israel, and especially the southern kingdom of Judah.... And now we’ve reached the end.

 From the end of chapter 23 through chapters 24 and 25, we watch the final unravelling of the nation, king after king, bad choice after bad choice, and consequence after consequence. 

Today’s lengthy closing passage will show us something important:

 Individuals can make wrong choices, and so can nations….

And both experience consequences….

Transcript

Choices Have Consequences. (2 Kings 23:31-25:30)

One of the unbreakable laws of life is this: 

Choices have consequences.

Good choices bring good consequences. Bad choices bring bad consequences, and the Bible is full of stories that illustrate both.

Scripture gives us biography after biography, men and women whose lives are recorded not just for history, but for instruction.

Some made wise choices, some made foolish choices, and the consequences were very different.

That’s the twist in this passage: The consequences are not always the same.

We’ve been walking through the book of 2 Kings, the book in the Bible that traces the slow, tragic decline of the nation of Israel, and especially the southern kingdom of Judah.

And now we’ve reached the end.

From the end of chapter 23 through chapters 24 and 25, we watch the final unravelling of the nation, king after king, bad choice after bad choice, and consequence after consequence.

And then, finally, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon.

Today’s lengthy passage will show us something important:

Individuals can make wrong choices, and so can nations….

And both experience consequences….

Let’s begin in 2 Kings 23:31.

Jehoahaz, King of Judah.

23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim, son of Josiah, king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.

(2 King 23: 31-35)

So, Jehoahaz was twenty‑three when he became king, and he reigned three months. 

Three months.

That’s all.

He came to the throne in 609 BC, just a few years before Babylon’s first invasion in 605.

Verse 32 then gives his evaluation: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord…”

And that is especially tragic, because his father was Josiah, one of the greatest kings Judah ever had.

Josiah brought revival. It was Josiah who restored the Passover, and it was Josiah who tore down idols, and we are told that he walked with God.

But Jehoahaz ignored all of that.

He rejected his father’s reforms; instead, he embraced idolatry, and he made bad choices, and the consequences came quickly.

Because “A Pharaoh called Necho put him in prison…”

That’s the first consequence — prison.

Then Pharaoh imposed a crushing tribute on the land:

100 talents of silver

1 talent of gold, In today’s terms, an enormous sum.

So Jehoahaz’s sin didn’t just affect him; it affected the entire nation, which tells us that bad choices rarely stay private.

The text then tells us that Pharaoh removed Jehoahaz and put his brother on the throne and even changed his name to Jehoiakim.

Changing a king’s name was a way of saying, “I own you.”

And verse 35 wraps up Jehoahaz’s story when it says, “He taxed the land… and gave the money to Pharaoh.”

So, the consequences of his sin were:

·         Personal — imprisonment

·         National — heavy taxation

·         Political — loss of sovereignty

All because he “did evil in the sight of the Lord.”

Jehoiakim, King of Judah.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.

24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. 2 The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants, the prophets. 3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.

5 As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 6 Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin, his son, succeeded him as king.

7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

(2 Kings 23:31–24:7)

We are then told Jehoiakim was twenty‑five years old… and he reigned eleven years…” So, he reigned from 609 to 598 BC, which means he was king during Babylon’s first invasion in 605.

Verse 37 gives us his evaluation: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord…”

Just like his brother.

Just like his father before him, and just like so many kings before him.

Jeremiah tells us even more about him because we discover in that book of the bible that Jehoiakim murdered a prophet. He also burned the Word of God and rejected every warning God sent.

And then chapter 24 begins: “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up…”

So, this is the first Babylonian invasion.

Jehoiakim submitted for three years to them, then he rebelled…. 

But the consequences came swiftly.

“The Lord sent raiding bands… to destroy Judah…” Not just Babylonian forces, but Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians, a coalition of enemies God allowed to discipline His people.

Why? Because this was all already prophesied, “…according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His prophets.”

Jeremiah warned them.

Habakkuk warned them.

Other prophets warned them.

But they would not listen.

So, at the command of the Lord this came upon Judah… “…because of the sins of Manasseh…”   “…and because of the innocent blood he shed…”

Manasseh’s sins had set the nation on a path of judgment. Jehoiakim continued that path, and now the consequences fell.

Jehoiakim himself was not imprisoned, but he lived to see something far worse: The beginning of the end of his nation.

Imagine being king and watching your country fall. Imagine seeing your people carried away in chains and imagine knowing your choices helped bring it about.

That was Jehoiakim’s consequence. Bad Choices, Swift Judgment

Verse 24:8 introduces the next king:

Jehoiachin, king of Judah.

24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.

10 At that time, the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin, king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles, and his officials all surrendered to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and cut up the gold articles that Solomon, the king of Israel, had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans – a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the prominent people of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. 17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

(2 Kings 24: 8-17)

So, “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old… and he reigned three months…”

Another three‑month king. Another short, tragic reign. And again…. “He did evil in the sight of the Lord…”

Now we’ve already seen two kings, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, make disastrous choices, and we’ve seen the consequences fall on both the king and the nation.

Now the story moves forward to the next king, Jehoiachin, and to the second Babylonian invasion.

And this is where the collapse of Judah accelerates.

“He did evil in the sight of the Lord…” Just like his father. Just like his uncle. Just like so many before him…. And now the consequences arrive.

The second Babylonian invasion happens. (597 BC), and the city was besieged.”

This is the second of Babylon’s three invasions.

Let me pause and put this in chronological perspective — because the timeline matters.

605 BC — First invasion (Jehoiakim)

597 BC — Second invasion (Jehoiachin)

586 BC — Third and final invasion (Zedekiah)

Jehoiachin is king during this second invasion.

It says, “Nebuchadnezzar… came against the city…” and the siege tightens, the pressure mounts, and Jehoiachin realizes resistance is futile.

Jehoiachin… surrenders. He is taken captive, and the consequences begin to multiply.

Then the temple is plundered.

This is heartbreaking. Solomon’s magnificent temple, filled with gold, craftsmanship, and beauty, and it is stripped. 

The Babylonians break up and split the gold into pieces so as to transport them. This is not just a political defeat; this is spiritual humiliation. The place where God placed His name is being emptied by a pagan king.

Ten thousand captives are taken and carried away to Jerusalem…

ten thousand captives, including all the craftsmen and smiths…

This is strategic.

Nebuchadnezzar removes:

The leaders, the soldiers, the skilled workers, the craftsmen, the educated, and the influential

He leaves behind only “the poorest people of the land.”

Josephus, the Jewish historian, later records the number taken away as 10,832.

By the way, among them was Ezekiel, the prophet who would later write his book from exile.

Verse 15–16 adds more detail to the devastation:

The king, the queen mother, the officials, the mighty men, the craftsmen, the smiths…. All taken.

This is the beginning of the Babylonian captivity.

Zedekiah king of Judah.

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end, he thrust them from his presence.

(2 Kings 24: 18-20)

Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Another name change, another symbol of Babylonian control.

Zedekiah is Josiah’s third son to sit on the throne, and like his brothers, he rejects his father’s example. He also” Did evil in the sight of the Lord…”

Three sons of Josiah. Three kings. Three failures.

This tells us that a godly father does not guarantee godly children because each person must choose for themselves.

Chapter 25 begins with the Third Babylonian Invasion (588–586 BC)

Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 25:1 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He camped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled towards the Arabah, 5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where a sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

(2 Kings 25:1-7)

This is the final siege. It begins in 588 BC and lasts 18 months.

“The famine is severe… There was no food…” This is another layer of consequence.

First: political defeat

Then: captivity

Now: starvation

The Babylonians surrounded the city. No food could enter, and the people slowly starved…. This is the cost of centuries of rebellion.

Then Jerusalem falls: Archaeology and ancient records allow us to date it precisely: (July 16, 586 BC) 

“The city wall was broken through…” This is the moment Judah falls.

The walls crumble.

The soldiers flee.

Zedekiah runs toward the plains of Jericho.

Then the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king…. They capture him, and they bring him to Nebuchadnezzar’s headquarters.

And then comes one of the most horrific scenes in Scripture.

This is graphic, painful, and heartbreaking.

“They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and then they blinded him, they put out the eyes of Zedekiah…”

The last thing he ever saw was the execution of his own sons.

Then he was blinded, bound, and taken to Babylon, and this is the final consequence of Judah’s rebellion.

The Point So Far.

Well, we’ve now watched:

·         Jehoahaz — imprisoned

·         Jehoiakim — saw his nation invaded

·         Jehoiachin — taken captive

·         Zedekiah — saw his sons killed, then blinded

·         Jerusalem — besieged, starved, conquered

·         The temple — plundered and destroyed

·         The people — carried into exile

All because of centuries of choices, and…. Choices have consequences.

For individuals.

For leaders.

For nations.

And Judah’s story is a sobering reminder that ignoring God’s Word always leads to collapse.

Bad choices have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are severe.

Bad decisions can destroy a life. Bad spiritual decisions can destroy a family, and bad national decisions can destroy a nation.

And that is exactly what happens.

But now the text shifts.

8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields. 13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands, and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord, and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls – all that were made of pure gold or silver.

16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.

(2 Kings 25: 8-17)

Beginning in 2 Kings 25:8, we see the consequences fall on the nation. And remember — this didn’t happen overnight.

For hundreds of years, God sent prophets to warn them: 

“Turn from idols.”

“Return to the Lord.”

“Obey My Word.”

Occasionally, a good king would rise like Hezekiah and Josiah, and reforms would follow. But the moment those kings died, the people went right back to idolatry.

Reform is not the same as revival.

Reform can be temporary, but revival must be personal and permanent.

And now the consequences continue to fall with the destruction of Jerusalem 

The temple — Solomon’s magnificent temple- was burned to the ground.

“…and the king’s house…”  The royal palace — gone. “…and all the houses of Jerusalem…” The whole city — destroyed.

They break down the walls of Jerusalem, the symbol of protection and they are torn down stone by stone.

This is the end of the nation, and they carry away captive the rest of the people…”

This is the third and final deportation.

Only the poorest of the land were left behind to keep the fields from turning wild.

Everyone else — leaders, soldiers, craftsmen, families- were all taken to Babylon.

The Temple is looted and dismantled, and the heartbreaking details are described for us. All the treasures were broken into pieces, and all were carried off to Babylon.

Everything that once symbolized God’s presence is now in the hands of a pagan king.

This is the lowest point in Judah’s history.

The leaders are then executed

18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisors. He also took the secretary who was the chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the commander, took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So, Judah went into captivity, away from her land.

(2 Kings 25: 18-21)

Verses 18–21 tell us that Nebuzaradan rounded up:

The high priest

The second priest

The temple officers

The military commanders

The royal officials…. And executed them.

The nation is leaderless.

The temple is gone.

The walls are down.

The people are exiled.

This is ultimately what centuries of rebellion produced.

As I said, choices have consequences.

Final verses….

22 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah – Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. ‘Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,’ he said. ‘Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.’

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.

(2 Kings 25: 22-26)

So, a Governor is appointed — and then assassinated

Nebuchadnezzar appoints Gedaliah as governor. Jeremiah urges the people to cooperate with him. But “Ishmael… came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down…”

An internal rebellion, a political assassination, and more chaos.

The people then flee back to Egypt. This is tragic irony. 

Where did Israel begin?

…Egypt.

Where are they now returning?

…Egypt.

After 850 years, they end up right back where they started, because of bad choices.

Sin always takes you backward.

But just when the book seems to end in total darkness, a small light appears.

Jehoiachin released

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day, the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

(2 Kings 25: 27-30)

Evil‑Merodach, king of Babylon, released Jehoiachin from prison. Jehoiachin — the king who reigned only three months is freed.

After all the judgment,

After all the destruction,

After all the consequences…

God leaves a little glimmer of grace.

One king — one man — receives mercy.

It’s as if God is saying: “Even in judgment, my grace is not gone.”

The closing chapters of 2 Kings teach one overwhelming truth:

Choices have consequences.

Yet even in judgment, God leaves a door open for grace.

So, we’ve covered a lot of ground today, and we’ve reached the end of the history of the kingdom of Israel.

The last five kings all did evil, one after the other. They made bad choices and every one of them experienced consequences.

Some were imprisoned.

Some watched their nation collapse.

Some were carried into captivity.

One watched his sons die before his eyes.

Bad choices always have bad consequences.

And we also saw that the nation followed the bad choices of its king; that nation will suffer national consequences.

They were conquered.

They were deported.

They were scattered.

They were destroyed.

Choices have consequences, personally and nationally.

The Book of Proverbs tells us that, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

And any nation that forsakes righteousness for sin will eventually face the judgment of God.

And in my humble opinion, the UK is making very bad choices at the moment.

Not politically — Spiritually.

This nation was founded on Judeo‑Christian principles. I am not saying that it was a “Christian nation,” but it was a nation influenced by Christians.

The founders — even the sceptical ones, respected the Bible, acknowledged God, and believed in personal responsibility.

But over the last 150 years, we have systematically dismantled those foundations:

Theological liberalism denied the supernatural

Many scientists these days try to deny the Creator

Many psychologists deny personal responsibility

Education has been redefined. We removed Scripture and prayer from schools

And now we are reaping the consequences.

We’ve made bad choices, and we are suffering bad consequences.

Please note I’m not speaking politically here…. I’m speaking spiritually.

I only speak of the UK, of which I know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you listening around the world, in over 200 countries these days, think the same applies to your own country.

We need to return to the Lord.

We need to return to the Bible.

We need Bible‑teaching churches.

We need people to come to Christ.

I’m not trying to save the UK, I’m not trying to save any country, I’m trying to save people.

If enough people in your country turn to the Lord, the country will take care of itself.

The message of 2 Kings is simple:

Bad choices lead to bad consequences.

Good choices lead to good consequences.

That’s true for individuals.

That’s true for families.

And that’s true for nations.

But before we end on a negative note, did you notice something at the very end of the book?

After all the judgment,

after all the destruction,

after all the consequences…

God slipped in a little grace.

Why?

Because the story of the Bible is not just judgment.

It is judgment and grace.

Consequences and mercy.

Sin and hope.

The Book of Kings teaches us that:

Failure to honour God brings ruin, but it also teaches us that God blesses those who trust and obey Him.

And He does so consistently, in every generation.

And here is the good news:

You can start making good choices today…. And good choices bring good consequences.

Maybe today you need to talk to the Lord. Maybe you need to put your finger on something in your life.

A habit, a pattern, a decision — and say:

“Lord, I’ve been making bad choices. Help me start making good ones.”

Because choices have consequences. And the grace of God is inviting you — right now — to choose well.

Let’s pray.