Deeper Commentary
Jeremiah 22:2 Hear the word of Yahweh, king of Judah, who sits on the
throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by
these gates- That the king still sat on David's throne was a reminder
of the potential still possible; see on :4. The appeal is carefully made
not just to the king and his courtiers, but also to all the people; or at
least to all the people who entered the gates of the king's house. The
guilt for what was to happen is continually expressed as being far more
than merely with the leadership.
Jeremiah 22:3 Thus says Yahweh: Execute justice and righteousness, and
deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no
wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow;
neither shed innocent blood in this place-
Jeremiah 22:4 For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in
by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people-
Jeremiah 22:5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,
says Yahweh, that this house shall become a desolation- T
Jeremiah 22:6 For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of
Judah: You are Gilead to Me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make
you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited- God still found
them so attractive, even though they had sinned awfully, building their
"house" by abusing labourers (:13) and had to be destroyed. This was love
itself. There is a parallel between "the house of the king" and the
"cities"; the repentance of a minority, the royal family, could have led
to the restoration of all Judah, and their continuance in sin meant the
mass destruction of it. The entire society were guilty, and were not
punished just because of the sins of the royal family; the masses did not
suffer because of the sins of the minority. But God was prepared to work
the other way around; the repentance of a minority could lead to blessing
for a majority of sinners. This willingness of God in this regard came to
its acme in the salvation of sinners for the sake of the obedience of just
one man, His Son. And yet even though they did not repent, the "cities",
perhaps an intensive plural for the one great city, Jerusalem, did not
become literally a wilderness. The temple and great houses were burnt, but
some people still lived there, such as the local inhabitants encountered
by Ezra when he returned to rebuild.
Jeremiah 22:7 I will prepare destroyers against you, each one with his
weapons; they shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the
fire- These were the cedars of Lebanon which God had found so
attractive (:6). "Prepare" is literally 'sanctify'. Within the worldview
of the attackers, they had sanctified their war against Judah in the names
of their gods (s.w. Jer. 6:4 s.w.). But God worked through that, Himself
sanctifying or preparing these men. The false prophets were wrong to claim
that Jerusalem and the temple were sanctified by God and were therefore
inviolate; God would sanctify the destroyers and their weapons so that it
would all be destroyed.
Jeremiah 22:8 Many nations shall pass by this city and shall say every man
to his neighbour, Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city?- This
quotes Dt. 29:24, a curse for breaking the covenant (:9), and alludes to
the specific judgment upon the temple (1 Kings 9:8). There is no
particular example of this oft repeated curse coming true, apart from in
Lam. 2:15, which appears to be spoken by Jeremiah in deep grief, and does
not include the words predicted here and in :9. The actual destruction of
Jerusalem and Judah was not as extensive as threatened; either God took
pity, or there was a modicum of intercession or repentance which
ameliorated the extent of the judgment. And that would explain why neither
in the Bible nor other history is there any record of this happening.
Jeremiah 22:9 Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of
Yahweh their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them- See on
:8. The idea was that the destroyed city and temple would be a silent
witness to the power of Yahweh, and how this God who kept covenant was now
as it were 'free' as His earlier people had betrayed Him and left Him
without a people. The deserted city and ruined temple would therefore have
been an invitation to observers to seek this Yahweh, and enquire whether
they could enter a new covenant with Him, seeing His previous covenant
with His people had been broken and He was now, as it were, unattached.
Jeremiah 22:10 Don’t weep for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep
bitterly for him who goes away into exile; for he shall return no more,
nor see his native country-
Jeremiah 22:11 For thus says Yahweh touching Shallum the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went
forth out of this place: He shall not return there any more- Shallum
is the same as Jehoahaz. Perhaps he is called Shallum because that word
means 'The one marked out for judgment'. See on :12
Jeremiah 22:12 But in the place where they have led him captive, there
shall he die, and he shall see this land no more- The false prophets
were claiming that his exile was going to be very short lived and he would
return to establish a Messianic kingdom, thus twisting the prophecies of
the restoration which Jeremiah may have already given, along with those of
Isaiah which were already extant.
Jeremiah 22:13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his
rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbour’s service without wages, and
doesn’t give him his hire-
Jeremiah 22:14 who says, I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms,
and cuts him out windows; and makes a ceiling with cedar, painted with
vermilion- This obsession with building his own house recalls that of
Solomon. The only other mention of "vermilion" is in Ez. 23:14 where this
is what was used to portray images of the idols upon the walls of the
Jerusalem temple. The temple was famed for its cedars (:7), and so it was
as if he was turning his house into an imitation temple. A "wide" house is
literally a house built by measure, and this is the phrase used about the
construction of the temple (1 Kings 7:9; 2 Chron. 3:3). "Rooms" is the
term used for the "chambers" (s.w.) of the temple. "Cut out" or 'rendered'
windows are what were intended for the temple of the restored kingdom
(s.w. Ez. 40:25,29,33; 41:16 etc.). This is the classic path of apostasy-
to justify the worship of our own home and luxury in the name of
worshipping God.
Jeremiah 22:15 Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar?-
The temple was famed for its cedar work (:7), and so it seems that by
making his own house similar to the temple, the king was thinking that
this would make his house and dynasty likewise inviolate. But this was
mere religious tokenism.
Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was
well. Wasn’t this to know Me? says Yahweh- See on :15. To know Yahweh
means to have a relationship with Him and to respond in practice. This is
the Hebraic sense of 'knowing' a person. The Jews of those times had done
what many believers do today- assume that an intellectual knowledge of God
and external ritualism is the same as knowing God. But it is our attitudes
to the poor and needy which are the knowledge of God which the Bible has
in view.
Jeremiah 22:17 But your eyes and your heart are not but for your
covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for
violence, to do it- The reason why the poor and needy were abused by
the king was that he and his fellow rulers were covetous. Oppression,
abuse and violence all flowed from an attitude of heart. Innocent blood
was shed, referring not only to the babies sacrificed to fertility gods in
the hope of better harvests and therefore more wealth, but death sentences
were inflicted in return for bribes. The already wealthy king wanted yet
more wealth. The acquisition of wealth is an addiction.
Jeremiah 22:18 Therefore thus says Yahweh 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!- This is structured as poetry, as if a mock funeral
lament. Jeremiah uttered this prophecy during Jehoiakim's lifetime (Jer.
1:3). To so stridently criticize a king at the gates of his own palace was
a brave thing to do. No wonder it brought Jeremiah such opposition; indeed
it was but by God's protection that he was not murdered.
Jeremiah 22:19 He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and
cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem-
Jeremiah 22:20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in
Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers are destroyed-
Abarim was the mountain range in the south and Lebanon that in the north.
Throughout the entire land, including the former territory of the ten
tribes, Jeremiah was to travel with the message: that all Israel's
lovers, the nations surrounding her to whom she had prostituted herself in
return for promises of support against Babylon, were to be destroyed.
Jeremiah 22:21 I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not
hear. This has been your way from your youth, that you didn’t obey My
voice- Before the drought of Jer. 14 came (and the book of Jeremiah
isn't arranged chronologically), Judah were prosperous; as prosperous
(s.w.) as Sodom before she was destroyed (Ez. 16:49). Prosperity is
directly related to refusing to hear God's word (Dt. 32:15); so we should
be surprised if we as believers are relatively prosperous, and should
consider this condition an exception rather than the rule in the lives of
believers.
Jeremiah 22:22 The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers
shall go into captivity- The false prophets claimed to be full of the
wind / Spirit of God, but they would be filled with the wind which would
carry them away. And one by one, the "lovers", the nations whom Judah
hoped upon for salvation from Babylon, would be overcome by her and taken
into captivity. This ought to have been warning as to what would happen to
her, but they refused to hear the voice of God speaking to them through
observed experience of their neighbours. His voice speaks to us like that
today.
Jeremiah 22:23 Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars,
how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as
of a woman in travail!- As in Zech. 11:1, the cedars of Lebanon in
the temple resulted in the temple being called "Lebanon". The Jews thought
that the temple was inviolate and that they could take refuge there; and
the king's palace was a replica of the temple in this (see on :6,7,14). He
likewise reasoned that his palace was inviolate. But God is no respecter
of such literalism. The image is of a woman who dies in childbirth. But
even within that figure, there is the Divine hope of new birth, of
something coming out of it with whom He could work in restoring a renewed
Israel. But even that hope was to be dashed, as the exiles of the next
generation didn't respond, as Ezekiel's prophecy chronicles.
Jeremiah 22:24 As I live, says Yahweh, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, yet would I pluck you from
there- Coniah is also called Jeconiah, and then when he ascended to
the throne, Jehoiachin. The kings of Judah were intended to be kings on
behalf of God, His representatives on earth; and therefore they as it were
carried His signet ring. But this is expressed in the conditional sense,
because Coniah did not thus reign on God's behalf. God's intention was
that at the restoration, the throne of David should be restored and
Zerubbabel would have this signet ring and reign on God's behalf (Hag.
2:23). But that potential also didn't come about and was precluded by
human weakness. The prophecy is therefore deferred and rescheduled to
fulfillment in the Lord Jesus.
Jeremiah 22:25 and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your
life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand
of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans-
Their fear of Babylon was such that they were madly running to every
nation who might help them against Babylon, eagerly accepting their gods
as part of a contract in which they would receive their military help.
Jeremiah 22:26 I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into
another country where you were not born; and there you will die- This
was true, but he was shown great grace there in that he was released from
prison (Jer. 52:31), perhaps because he repented. See on :12,30. His
mother is also mentioned as going into captivity as his lack of
spirituality was likely partly her fault.
Jeremiah 22:27 But to the land to which their soul longs to return, to it
they shall not return- The same words are used of the desire of the
common people to return (Jer. 44:14). "Return" is the word also used for
repenting. This is the picture of all the rejected, the foolish virgins
banging on heaven's door all too late, wanting to repent / return, but all
too tragically late. Now is the day for repentance / returning.
Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel
in which none delights? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are
cast into the land which they don’t know?- This could be quoting the
imagined reaction of the Jews that their great king Coniah was being
treated as a useless potsherd, a piece of broken pottery. But that was
indeed how Israel and their king had been presented earlier- as a
shattered earthen jar, broken by the Divine potter (Jer. 19:1). It could
be that this is an interjection from Jeremiah, once again overly positive
in his view of Israel; and even in that, he was somehow representing the
view of God for His beloved people. Or these could be rhetorical
questions, as if to enquire why Coniah was being treated like this. See on
:29.
Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Yahweh- What
follows is a judgment of condemnation upon one man. But the people of the
entire land were to "hear" this word and be led to repentance by
considering the condemnation of another individual. And that is a
challenge for us today as well.
Jeremiah 22:30 Thus says Yahweh, Write you this man childless, a man who
shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed
prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah-
Hag. 2:23 and
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