EZEKIEL 1:2
[Ezekiel 1:2 NKJV] – On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— [Ezekiel 1:2 BSB]
Ezekiel's Day-Five of Month-Four (in his 30th year) was both the day the heavens opened to him to see visions of God and also that day was a reference in the fifth year anniversary of the king's, Jehoiachin's, captivity in exile at Babylon.
Jehoiachin was the last descendant of David as king before the carrying into Captivity, though Nebuchadnezzar replaced him with his uncle (father's brother) as king of Judah instead, the last and final besieging and destruction of Jerusalem by the King of Babylon. Thrice did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to besiege and destroy Jerusalem:
*1* The First Time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem was where the Book of Daniel in the Bible began. It was in the third year of Jehoiakim kingship over Judah, and Jehoiachin was the son of Jehoiakim or the grandson of Josiah. So basically, the Book of Daniel began before the Book of Ezekiel, even though the Bible arrangement placed Book of Daniel immediately after the Book of Ezekiel. However, Ezekiel spoke about Daniel's wisdom in "Ezekiel 28:3" and about Daniel's righteousness in "Ezekiel 14:14,20."
That first time Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem was the year Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon, and was the third year of Jehoiakim. However, Nebuchadnezzar did not carry Jehoiakim as captive to Babylon, but he carried some princes (kings' descendants) away as captives to Babylon: Daniel and his three friends were among the captives and princes that were captured and carried away into Babylon. Jehoiakim continued as king of Judah and Jerusalem after for 8 years, totalled 11 (3+8) years. Then Jehoiakim died, and Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) his son succeeded him as king of Judah (2 Kings 24:6).
*2* The Second time Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem was during the era of Jehoiachin, the grandfather of Zerubabbel. Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah in the Bible, e.g. [1 Chronicles 3:16, Esther 2:6, Jeremiah 24:1). This happened at about the 8th year of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) as king of Judah.
—+— Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) began to reign as king being 18 years old Teenager after his father's (Jehoiakim's) death (2 Kings 24:8).
—+— 8 years later, when Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) was 26 years and was invaded by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Jerusalem. This time Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the royal seeds and vessels of God's Temple of Solomon, including carrying into captivity Jeconiah and his entire family, and the strong and attractive people, including Ezekiel, into Captivity. However, Nebuchadnezzar left and made Jeconiah's brother, Zedekiah, king over Jerusalem, while he carried Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) into captivity. This was the carrying into captivity that Matthew spoke about.
[Matthew 1:11-12 AMPC] — And Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers about the time of the removal (deportation) to Babylon. [II Kings 24:14; I Chron. 3:15, 16.] After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel [Salathiel], Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
—+— At 26 years old, Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) was not only carried away into captivity, but was exactly 28th generations from Abraham, 14th generations from David or 14th generations to the Birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. As it is written,
[Matthew 1:17 NKJV] — So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
—+— At "26+5" years old or 31 years of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin), Ezekiel the Priest in Captivity, a Levite Priest, called to become a Prophet like Jeremiah, saw the visions of God, being among the captives at River Chebar, where the heavens were opened to him. That was the 5th year of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin), king of Judah, captivity, precisely on the 5th day of the 4th month. This is the main Lines of this page.
—+— At "26+5+32" years old or 63 years of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin), Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had already become transformed into animal (beast) for 7 years and returned back to being human being again. Then, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (who carried Jeconiah and Jerusalem into captivity), died after about his 53 years as king of Babylon. Then EvilMerodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar or father of Belshazzar, was already in his first year reign as king of Babylon when Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) was 63 years old or 37 years in Captivity. Then see what the new king of Babylon did to Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) at his 37th year in captivity (2 Kings 25:27):
[Jeremiah 52:31-34 ICB] — Jehoiachin king of Judah was in prison in Babylon for 37 years. That year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon. He let Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison that year. He set Jehoiachin free on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. Evil-Merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave Jehoiachin a seat of honor. It was above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table. Every day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin an allowance. This lasted as long as he lived, until Jehoiachin died.
Twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month is "Christmas Day" for some people, but it was freedom and promotion day for Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) from prison to palace throne above all the other kings except one king, the king of Babylon. This was just as Pharaoh raised Joseph out of dungeon as slave and promoted him into Lord and Governor of Egypt, second to Pharaoh alone above all princes in the entire realms. Jeconiah became the second most powerful man in the entire political world on the 25th day of the 12th month.
*3* The third and fourth or last time Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem was when he sent the captain of his guard (Nebuzaradan), and did not come himself, to invade and destroy Jerusalem. This time, Nebuzaradan burnt the greatest temple of Solomon, and destroyed many precious things or carried away many of them into Babylon. He killed the children of the sitting king of Judah, and then removed the two eyes of that king, Zedekiah. Zedekiah became like Samson, who were men that had their two eyes destroyed when they were captured as slaves. Then he was carried away into Babylon after watching all his children killed and his eyes destroyed. (Jeremiah 52).
Now relate all these things with Ezekiel Lines in "Ezekiel 1:2." There are three significant points:
№ 1. Apart from being with Jeremiah and the rest men of God still in Jerusalem during after the carrying away into captivity of Babylon, God was basically being more with the Captives carried away into Babylon alongside Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) the king than with the rest of them left in Jerusalem with Zedekiah the king. More of the power, grace and miracles of God were with those in captivity in Babylon, than with those who were continually getting invaded by Babylon at home in Judah. It's like the two baskets of fruits: one basket full of good fruits represented those carried away into Babylon together with Jeconiah (Jehoiachin), and the other basket full of rotten fruits were those who were not carried away into Babylon but left to enjoy their fathers land. As it is written,
[Jeremiah 24:1-10 NKJV]
The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.” Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. ‘And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the Lord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”
№ 2. Those who were not in captivity with king Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) may have thought they were fortunate to not have been made captives or slaves in Babylon, but they were like those bad or rotten figs in one basket, and their own doom was even worse together with Zedekiah their king.
№ 3. Those who were in captivity with king Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) may have seemed unfortunate, but were the good figs in the basket. Their captivity in Babylon was meant to make them better and give them expected end. People like Daniel and Ezekiel were raised great prophets and men of God in captivity of Babylon, including Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) that was raised to become the second most powerful king in the world from captivity of Babylon. As you can see in Ezekiel's Lines above, Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) was still referred to as "King" even in his captivity of Babylon; but Zedekiah the king lost all kingly honor when he was captured and blinded.
Dividing this Letter of Jeremiah to the Captives in Babylon into two segments: see the thoughts God think toward those carried away into Babylon with Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) their king, and the thoughts God think toward those left in Jerusalem with Zedekiah their king.
Segment 1 - For those in captivity with king Jeconiah (Jehoiachin)
[Jeremiah 29:1-15 NKJV]
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—
Segment 2 - For those who were not taken captives with king Zedekiah
[Jeremiah 29:16-19 NKJV]
therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they have not heeded My words, says the Lord, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the Lord.