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This final ruler’s eleven-year reign represents the nadir of faithlessness and exile. Religiously, Zedekiah does not obey the Lord’s word from Jeremiah (v.12). The leading priests and all the people become more and more unfaithful to God (v.14). The chronicler draws attention to his key text, 2Ch 7:14, and demonstrates that the Exile comes as a result of repeated refusal to obey God’s call for repentance. The Exile is not due to the Lord’s failure, but is an episode in his consistent dealings with his people. Politically, Zedekiah rebels against Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonians become God’s instrument of judgment to expel Israel.
In his description of the fall of Jerusalem, vv.15-21, the chronicler emphasizes that an obstinate people repeatedly refused God’s grace. This rebellion continued until, in the terminology of 7:14, there was no healing for the people (v.16). The exile came not as a punishment for apostasy but for the perpetual refusal to heed divine warnings for repentance. No one is spared, the temple is razed, and the land rests. The chronicler ignores the historical reality that some people remain in the land during the Exile, and he paints a picture of the complete transfer of survivors to Babylon. At the end of his narrative, the chronicler describes a hopeless situation similar to the uncertainty prevailing at the start of his story. There is an exile: no king; no temple; and, apparently, no hope. However, the Lord will heal his people when they humble themselves and seek him.