Mattaniah was the youngest of the sons of Josiah. His mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah (this Jeremiah was not the prophet who hailed from Anathoth). Second Kings 24:17 said that the king of Babylon i.e. Nebuchadnezzar made him the king of Judah in place of Jehoiachin his nephew. His name Mattaniah meaning “gift of God” was changed to Zedekiah meaning “Righteousness of God.” Whether it was Mattaniah or Zedekiah, both were great names. Unfortunately, he was far from being the person he was expected to be.
Mattaniah or Zedekiah was 21 years old when he was made king and
he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. As wonderful as the meanings of his
names were, he did not live up to them. Instead of demonstrating himself as
God’s gift or the righteousness of God, 2 Kings 24:19 said he did evil in the
sight of the LORD.
His attitude toward the LORD was exactly
like that of his uncle Jehoiakim. Second Chronicles 36:12 said that “he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble
himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD.” In other words, he paid scant respect to God by not heeding the
message from Jeremiah, His Prophet.
A person’s name reflects what
his parent desires him to be. Josiah was probably humbled at the birth of
Mattaniah, and he named him the “Gift of God.” But he was far from being the
good gift his father expected him to be. Then Nebuchadnezzar renamed him
Zedekiah, and he was also far from being the “Righteousness of God.” He would
betray Nebuchadnezzar later and pivot to trust Egypt though he had sworn his
allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar in the name of God (2 Chronicles 36:13).
Ecclesiastes 7:1 said that “a
good name is better than good ointment.” Here Solomon was talking about a
person’s reputation. Both Mattaniah and Zedekiah are good names but the person
who was named thus had a bad reputation. He would have been a disappointment to
Josiah his godly father and to Nebuchadnezzar who made him king in place of
Jehoiachin. Most of all he was a disappointment to the Lord his God for he did evil in His sight.
Here’s the lesson for us: being identified with Christ and called a Christian,
each of us should now live up to the reputation of being one. It is needful that
we live up to our calling as Christian
and be a real one than just being one in name only. God expects us to be true
to our calling. Hence, we must Live worthy of the name of Christ each day of
our lives!
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