Fall of Jerusalem and the Exile to Babylon
The Cave of Treasures tells the end of the kingdom in two stages. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, first comes against Jerusalem in the three month reign of Jehoiachin. He empties the treasure of the house of the Lord and of the king's house and carries the king, his mother, his wives, his nobles and the fighting men to Babel. He then sets Jehoiachin's uncle Methanya on the throne and renames him Zedekiah.
Zedekiah rebels, and the city is besieged from his ninth year to his eleventh. When the wall is breached the soldiers flee by night. The Chaldeans catch the king on the plain of Jericho, kill his sons in front of him, blind him and take him to Babel in chains. Simeon the high priest saves the books of Scripture by throwing them into a pit, and Jeremiah stays behind to lament over the empty city.
Did You Know?
Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem from the ninth year of Zedekiah until the eleventh, when the wall was breached and the soldiers fled by night.
The Chaldeans overtook Zedekiah on the plain of Jericho and brought him to the king of Babel at Riblah for judgment.
Simeon the high priest persuaded the Chaldean commander not to burn the books of Scripture, then hid them in a pit.
Jeremiah was the only person left in the ruined city, and he sat lamenting over it for twenty years.
The author claims that after the destruction of Jerusalem no Hebrew, Greek or Syrian writer could produce true genealogies of the tribes.
Key Passage
Fall of Jerusalem and the Exile to Babylon
The Cave of Treasures 63:1-6
Zedekiah was twenty years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mo...
1edekiah was twenty years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamtal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. And he did that which was evil before the Lord, even as did Jehoiakim, and the wrath of the Lord was (i.e. fell upon) Jerusalem.
Did You Know?
Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem from the ninth year of Zedekiah until the eleventh, when the wall was breached and the soldiers fled by night.
The Chaldeans overtook Zedekiah on the plain of Jericho and brought him to the king of Babel at Riblah for judgment.
Simeon the high priest persuaded the Chaldean commander not to burn the books of Scripture, then hid them in a pit.
Jeremiah was the only person left in the ruined city, and he sat lamenting over it for twenty years.
The author claims that after the destruction of Jerusalem no Hebrew, Greek or Syrian writer could produce true genealogies of the tribes.