The 36th chapter from the book of 2 Chronicles is the final chapter. And it is jam-packed with leaders going back, not following the Lord and resulting in the fall of Jerusalem, only to rise again with the Lord at their side.
First we have king Joahaz, who reigned for a short three months. The Egyptian king Neco imposed a fine on Judah, also deposing him and replacing him with his brother Eliakim. However, Neco changed the king's name to Jehoiakim. He was then brought to Egypt.
In this chapter we also meet the Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar. He met king Jehoiakim and bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. He also took some of the articles from the Lord's temple.
After king Jehoiakim's reign was his brother Zedekiah. He not only rebelled against the Lord and His prophet Jeremiah, he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar. You see, Nebuchadnezzar made him swear allegiance to the Lord and Zedekiah's heart hardened. His officials also turned a hard heart against the Lord, bringing back many of the false pagan gods that had defiled the Lord's house during previous rulers.
Because of this, the Lord kept sending messengers to Israel, but His people mocked the messengers. Then the Lord's wrath was fierce. No one was saved against His might, brought down by the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans burned God's Temple, destroying all. The destruction lasted for seventy years, to fulfill the prophecy.
The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the king of Persia, Cyrus. He gave Cyrus all of His kingdoms and Cyrus proclaimed that he would rebuild the Lord's Temple once again.
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