22 Oct. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invades Judah
“While Jehoiakim was king, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land of Judah. So Jehoiakim became Nebuchadnezzar’s servant for three years.”
“Then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and broke away from his rule. The LORD sent raiding men from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah. This happened as the LORD had said it would through his servants the prophets.”
“The LORD commanded this to happen to the people of Judah, to remove them from his presence, because of all the sins of Manasseh. He had killed many innocent people and had filled Jerusalem with their blood. And the LORD would not forgive these sins.”
“The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king and all he did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.”
“The king of Egypt did not leave his land again, because the king of Babylon had captured all that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.”
(2 Kings 24:1-7)
In 605BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Judah and King Jehoiakim was forced to become a vassal king under the domination of Nebuchadnezzar.
After three years (in 602BC), Pharaoh Neco of Egypt recaptured Gaza on the Mediterranean coastal plain from the Babylonians (see Jeremiah 47:1), so Jehoiakim took the opportunity to rebel against his overlord, Nebuchadnezzar.
In December 599BC, Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite forces were deployed against Judah. Jehoiakim was killed and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin in 598BC.
It was around this time, prior its fall in 587BC, that the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah warned the people of Jerusalem that they would be judged for their unfaithfulness to God (see Jeremiah 9:1-11 & Zephaniah 3:1-8). And the prophet Habbakuk asked why God apparently allowed the cruel Babylonians to succeed (see Habbakuk 1:12-17).
The photo shows a Babylonian map of Mesopotamia (in the British Museum).
You can read more about the growth of the Babylonian empire @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/33-judah-after-the-fall-of-israel/king-nebuchadnezzar-of-babylon-invades-judah-/