2 Kings 23:31-35. Jehoahaz becomes king; does what his evil in the sight of the Lord; is taken prisoner by Pharaoh Neo; and has his replacement, Jehoiakim, appointed by the Pharaoh, all in the span of three months. Jehoiakim is the Pharaoh's lackey, and he taxes the land heavily and sends the silver and gold to Egypt.

I don't know what Jehoahaz did that was evil, but his reign certainly didn't last long. Not that it was any better without him, though, Jehoiakim was a rotten king. When a country, or God's people, are going bad, it's always this way - one leader is replaced with another but things just keep getting worse. There has to be a change in the hearts and minds of the people, not just a change of leadership, and often for that change of hearts and minds to happen, things have to get very bad indeed. Jehoahaz was bad, but not bad enough to sell out his country to Egypt, so his reign only lasted a short three months, and he was taken prisoner in Egypt.

I am also reminded of my reading yesterday about transporting the gold and silver to Jerusalem. There, the gold and silver were honest tribute that had been freely given by the people and was being brought from a foreign land back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Here the silver and gold are taxes, they have been taken from the people in an act of betrayal by their king, and are being sent to another land, in service of a pagan king. It brings to mind that one good way to judge our leaders is by looking at what they do with our money.