2 Kings 24:1, 20 In his days Nebuchnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him….For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out of his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
After the good king Josiah reigned, the kingdom of Judah deteriorated rapidly just as the Lord prophesied. The curses of the covenant came into effect, the people were exiled, Judah destroyed, Jerusalem leveled, and the temple demolished. Three times in successive waves the King of Babylon came up and exiled some and then all of the people.
First, Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchnezzar and the Lord sent armed bands against Judah to destroy it. Second, Jehoiachin ruled Judah and he along with the elite and wealthy of Jerusalem were taken to Babylon in exile. Third and finally, Zedekiah, the ruler whom Nebuchadnezzar set up, rebelled against the king of Babylon and he ended up destroying everything.
All of this written as though God did it all, using Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies to bring His judgment against Judah as prophesied. The immediate, the human, cause of the destruction and exile is given as the rebellion of two of the three kings. But real cause, the spiritual reason, is given as the sin, idolatry, unbelief, and rebellion of God’s people against the one true God. This judgment had been warned about by Moses and the Prophets many times.
Political rebellion was the human cause of the destruction of the Kingdom and the Temple, but spiritual rebellion was the divine cause of the judgment and the exile. It is fairly easy for human writers and historians to analyze cause and effect in earthly history, but we need God’s revelation to see the real cause and effect relationship of events. This revelation of Law and Gospel in Scripture is what we really need to bring about repentance instead of rebellion. We are saved by grace through faith.