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We have here -

I. A LONG CAPTIVITY. "In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Jehoiachin King of Judah."

1. Weary years. Thirty-seven years was a long time to spend in prison. The king was but eighteen years of age when he was taken away, so that now he would be fifty-five. Existence must have seemed hopeless, yet he went on enduring. He was suffering even more for his fathers' sins, and for the nation's sins, than for his own. Life is sweet, and hard to part with, and the love of it is nowhere more strongly seen than when men go on clinging to it under conditions which might, if anything could, suggest the question, "Is life worth living?' Jehoiachin must have had a stout heart to endure so long.

2. A change of rulers. Nebuchadnezzar at length died, and his son Evil-Meredach ascended the throne. Possibly this prince may have formed a friendship with Jehoiachin in prison, and this may have contributed to sustain the captive king's hopes. A change of government usually brings many other changes in its train.

II. A GLIMPSE OF SUNSHINE AT THE CLOSE.

1. At the close of Jehoiachin's life. The new ruler treated Jehoiachin as a human being, a friend, and a king.

(1) He took him out of prison, charting the policy of harshness for one of kindness.

(2) He set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon. It was a shadowy honor; but is any earthly throne more than a shadow? Evil-Merodach himself kept his for only two years, and was then murdered.

(3) He gave him suitable provision. The ignominy of prison garments was changed for honorable clothing; the scarcity and hard fare of the dungeon was altered for the royal bounty of the king's own table. Jehoiachin, in short, had now everything but freedom. But how much does that mean? He was still an exile. All he enjoyed was but an alleviation of captivity.

2. At the close of the book. It is not without purpose that the Book of Kings closes with this glimpse of brightness. The story it has had to tell has been a sad one - a story of disappointment, failure, rejection, exile. But there is unshaken faith, even amidst the gloom, that God's counsel will stand, and that he hath not cast off his people whom he foreknew (Romans 11:2). Jeremiah had predicted the exile, but he had also predicted restoration after seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11, 12; Jeremiah 29:10). That period had but half elapsed, but this kindness shown to Jehoiachin seemed prophetic of the end, and is inserted to sustain faith and hope in the minds of the exiles. The history of the world, like the history in this book, will close in peace and brightness under Christ's reign. - J.O.

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KJV: And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

WEB: It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;