Mattaniah, meaning gift from Jehovah, who was later known as Zedekiah, meaning righteousness of Jehovah, was the third son of King Josiah of Judah; his mother was Hamutal. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah as it fell to the Babylonians. Zedekiah's sons were killed, but his royal daughters escaped alive to Egypt with the prophet Jeremiah (i.e. Jeremiah 43:6-7). After being brutally blinded, Zedekiah himself was taken as a prisoner to Babylon where he died. The fall of the kingdom of Judah came gradually, over a period of years, in which the Babylonians killed or exiled leading members of society, while leaving behind others who they thought that they could more easily control, in what became a subordinate kingdom. After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon removed King Jehoiachin of Judah, he chose 21 year old Mattaniah, who he renamed Zedekiah, as Judah's vassal king: in exile.
The name Zarahemla has a prophetic meaning. There were many prophets, kings and great men in Hebrew history whose name began with Ze or Za. This originally meant descendant of. There are two Hebrew words to consider. Zara, the name given to Judah's son, means the seed; the true seed. Its root has several potent meanings: to thrash; to scatter; to sow; to plant; a male son, hence a son. Another Hebrew word is rahem. This word means the womb, the seat of love and emotion. Hence, za re hem is a loved son of my womb. The la at the end of the word negates, or cancels. Put together the word Zarahemla means a son of my womb, forsaken of love, scattered without mercy.
Zarahemla is used two times in the Bible, Deuteronomy 13:18 and Isaiah 47:6. The word has significant implications and prophetic meanings for Restoration believers.
Zarah was the eldest son and rightful heir to the blessing that Jacob gave Judah. While he was the first to breach his mother's womb by extending his hand, his twin brother, Pharez, came out first. The midwife knew which child was the firstborn because she had tied a scarlet thread around Zarah's exposed hand before it disappeared into the womb. Since the boy with the scarlet thread was the chosen seed, the midwife named him Zarah. The birth of Zarah and Pharez symbolized the breach caused when Pharez's descendants achieved the throne before the rightful seed reigned over Israel. David was a descendant of Pharez.
Zarah had five sons. Descendants of two of Zarah's sons, Calcol and Dara, perhaps along with other members of Zarah's family, left the Hebrews before the Egyptian exodus and populated some Grecian isles and the coasts of Turkey. Surviving histories do not reveal the reason for this separation. Later generations of these exiles migrated to Spain and, then, Ireland, scattering the chosen seed along the coasts of the known world and fulfilling the meaning of the word Zarahemla.
Israelites inhabiting the Promised Land knew about the dispersed Hebrews. Solomon traded with his brethren in Tarshish, a city on the Atlantic coast of Spain, and imported tin from Britain. When Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem and executed King Zedikiah's sons, he ended the reign of Pharez's descendants. Although he took Zedikiah to Babylon, he left the king's daughters with Jeremiah. Contained within that group of women were all nursing infants from the king's household. One of those infants was Mulek, an unweaned son of Zedikiah and, therefore, a descendant of Pharez. Mulek means belonging to the king. Ezekiel prophesied that tender twigs would be preserved on eagle's wings. One of those twigs was Mulek. Another was Tea-Tephi, a daughter of Zedikiah. Jeremiah took them to Egypt and then Ireland, where he wedded Tea-Tephi to Eochaidl, the Heremon, a descendant of Zarah. Afterwards, he crowned Eochaidl king. God had not forgotten the ancient blessing, nor had he abandoned his scattered seed. When Jeremiah gave the scepter to a descendant of Zarah, God healed the breach that Pharez caused and showed that the name Zarahemla implied an eventual refuge for God's people.
He ruled 11 years, from 597 - 587 BC, after Nebuchadnezzer exiled his nephew, Jehoiachin to Babylon and made him king. He rebelled against Babylon and the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Zedekiah's sons were killed before his eyes then his eyes were put out. He was put in fetters and carried to Babylon.
At this time all of the important people in Judah were transported to Babylon where they remained about 60 - 70 years.
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