Jeremiah 22:1-30
1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and largea chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence,b to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity;c but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
23 O inhabitantd of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desiree to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
Jeremiah 22:10. Weep not for the dead, as you have wept bitterly for king Josiah, but weep for him who goes into captivity, for he shall return no more.
Jeremiah 22:11. Shallum the son of Josiah. Jehoahaz, called Shallum before he ascended the throne, for a change of name was common on a change of circumstances. Lowth thinks he is called Shallum by way of reproach, as resembling in the shortness of his reign king Shallum, mentioned in 2 Kings 15:3. Jeconiah is also called Coniah by way of contempt: Jeremiah 22:24.
Jeremiah 22:18. They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother; or, Ah sister! Ah lord; or, Ah his glory! The words of the funeral dirge sung by the mourning women at the funeral of great personages. הדה hodah, glory, being feminine, seems to refer to, ah sister! They shall neither lament for the king, nor bewail the sorrows of the queen, deprived of her glory, her husband. See on Jeremiah 9:17.
Jeremiah 22:19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass. He was carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 24:6, where the king of Babylon kept him bound with a chain; but for some reason he afterwards changed his mind, and put him to death. Being of royal blood, it would seem, he was allowed to be buried with his fathers in Jerusalem. However, when the Chaldeans searched the sepulchres for treasures, his body was cast out of the city, and contumeliously treated. Some say he was carried to Babylon after his first revolt, and being restored, the king of Babylon on his second revolt, came and put him to death, and threw his body out of the city.
Jeremiah 22:23. How gracious shalt thou be. This is spoken ironically, to humble his pride.
Jeremiah 22:26. I will cast thee out, and thy mother. See 2 Kings 24:12.
Jeremiah 22:30. Write ye this man childless. He had seven sons, 1 Chronicles 3:17, but no successor on the throne, and no more name in Israel.
REFLECTIONS.
Jeremiah's ministry opens here like sunshine after a storm of thunder: grace was again preached to an incorrigible nation, that kings should reign, and Judah rejoice. Though the king was slain, the Lord lived. Josiah was gone; he was taken from the evil to come, and received to his fathers; but let us weep over the degenerate children, whose guilt is aggravated by the instructions and examples of their pious parents. They bring more dishonour on religion, and do more mischief to others, than those who have not such advantages. They are seldom reclaimed, but generally go on to treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Their case is indeed truly pitiable.
See the wickedness of injustice and oppression. The sources of it are pride and covetousness, Jehoiakim could not be content with his father's palace, but must have a better. Yet he loved his money too well to part with it, and therefore never paid his workmen, or not so much as was their due. Thus many are fond of making a figure in life, who yet have not wherewith to support it: they get rich by the gains of oppression, and by screwing their workmen and servants, in order to encrease their wealth, or support their extravagance. But we here see that God takes notice of, and will punish the wrong which is done by rich and great men, to their poor workmen and labourers; for their cry cometh into the ears of the Lord God of hosts.
It would be more for the honour and happiness of children to imitate their fathers' virtues, than to exceed them in wealth and grandeur. Jehoiakim is reminded of his father's piety and integrity, and of the prosperity and honour which attended him. There are many persons who, when they inherit their fathers' substance, despise their old notions and fashions and way of living, while destitute of their excellencies. They make those inroads on justice and charity, which their fathers durst not have done: they are neither so just in their dealings, so charitable to the poor, nor so generous for the support of religion as their ancestors were. Yet they think it is enough that they are richer than they. A sad exchange. Let us consider what was truly excellent in our predecessors, and imitate that; and if our circumstances are better than theirs, let us be more generous and charitable than they were. All the comfort they had in religion should recommend it to us; and we should be followers of them, that it may be well with us now and for ever, as it undoubtedly is with those who lived and died under its influence.
We are taught the danger of prosperity. These unhappy princes are melancholy instances how sadly wealth and power may be abused; but the worst effect of prosperity is, that it puffs up men's minds: Jeremiah 22:21. They think themselves too wise to need advice; despise the word of God and its preachers, and take fire at the most distant hint of reproof. It is a wretched thing when prosperity hardens the mind against religious impressions; when men's hearts rise with their fortunes, and they proceed to contemn God as well as man. The case may soon be altered with them; and they will then be as abject and mean, as they were before insolent. It is well if adversity makes them truly humble and penitent. Let us take heed, brethren, lest we forget God and our duty in prosperous seasons; and therefore not be high- minded, but fear.