2 Kings 24:1

2 Kings 24:1 says, In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.  Jehoiakim became a servant of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, for three years, and then he rebelled.  Matthew Henry says that Jehoiakim had been subjected to Nebuchadnezzar for a period of time, then Nebuchadnezzar had restored him to power with a promise from Jehoiakim that he would be loyal to him, and then Jehoiakim rebelled.   No matter how powerful a ruler may be today, we as Christians cannot afford to become their servants instead of being God's servants.  We must always stand in opposition to anyone teaching something that is not in accordance with God's word, no matter what it may cost us, and we should never enter into pacts with them to start with just to give us more freedom or power.  Verse two adds, And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.  We are told that God then sent several countries against Judah to destroy it as His prophets had said would happen.  Had he remained true to Nebuchadnezzar, he would have been better off than he was when he rebelled.  If we simply rebel against those who are in power in the world so that we may have freedom and power without turning to God for support, we may end up worse off than we were before. Verse three continues, Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;  We are the told that the commandment of the Lord came upon Judah to remove them because of the sins of Manasseh for his idolatry and the people following him in that idolatry.  It had been several years since this prophesy, and Josiah had been the best king at following God's commandments, but I don't believe that most of the people ever did.  What we can be sure of is that God's promised judgment is going to come, no matter how many years it takes, and we just have to be faithful to Jesus Christ as long as we live or until He returns.  We will never find assurance and security anywhere else but in our faith in Him.  Verse four states, And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.  There is then the added reason why God had pronounced His judgment on Manasseh, and that was because he had shed innocent blood.  I believe innocent blood would be the blood of those who were faithful to God or the very young, since we are only innocent until we know right from wrong and if we repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ once we do.  We will never be innocent in God's eyes any other way.  Verse five adds, 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?  As always with the kings of Israel and Judah, we are told that the rest of the works of Jehoiakim were recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings.  Verse six continues, So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.  After Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became king.   God's promise that Judah would be destroyed because of the sins of Manasseh and the people following him in those sins still had not totally come to pass, but that didn't make it less certain that it would happen.  No matter how long it may be before it happens, we can be certain that God's ultimate judgment is coming.  Verse seven concludes, And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.  Judah didn't have to worry about Egypt at this time, nor could they enter into an agreement with him for protection, because the king of Babylon had taken all the land of Egypt near them.  Just because the threat from one powerful enemy may end, that doesn't mean we are safe, because a more powerful one may have taken his place.  The only way to have real security in this old sinful world is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.