Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 22:1

Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

1. Go down ] from the Temple on the eastern hill of Jerusalem to the king’s house, which was S. of it on lower ground. Cp. Jer 36:10-12 ; 2Ki 11:19.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Go down – i. e., from the temple to the kings house. Compare 2Ch 23:20.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XXII

This section of prophecy, extending to the end of the eighth

verse of the next chapter, is addressed to the king of Judah

and his people. It enjoins on them the practice of justice and

equity, as they would hope to prosper, 14;

but threatens them, in case of disobedience, with utter

destruction, 5-9.

The captivity of Shallum, the son of Josiah, is declared to be

irreversible, 10-12;

and the miserable and unlamented end of Jeconiah,

contemptuously called Coniah, is foretold, 13-19.

His family is threatened with the like captivity, and his seed

declared to be for ever excluded from the throne, 20-30.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXII

Verse 1. Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word] This is supposed by Dahler to have been published in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Some by

the king of Judah, here mentioned, understand Jehoahaz. made king upon the death of Josiah by the people, (being the second son of Josiah,) 2Ki 23:30. Others understand Jehoiakim, whom Pharaoh-necho made king, carrying his elder brother Jehoahaz, after a short reign of three months, with him into Egypt, 2Ch 36:4.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Go downThe temple (whereJeremiah had been prophesying) was higher than the king’s palace onMount Zion (Jer 36:10; Jer 36:12;2Ch 23:20). Hence the phrase, “Godown.”

the king of Judahperhapsincluding each of the four successive kings, to whom it wasconsecutively addressed, here brought together in one picture:Shallum, Jer 22:11; Jehoiakim,Jer 22:13-18;Jeconiah, Jer 22:24; Zedekiah,the address to whom (Jer 21:1;Jer 21:11; Jer 21:12)suggests notice of the rest.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Thus saith the Lord, go down to the house of the king of Judah,…. To the palace of Jehoiakim, who was now the reigning king; the prophet is bid to go down to it, because, as Kimchi thinks, he was now upon the mountain of the house, or in the temple, from whence to the king’s house there was a descent:

and speak there this word; of prophecy, relating to the several kings hereafter mentioned. This prophecy was delivered some years before that in the preceding chapter, though it stands here. It is indeed by some thought to be repeated here on occasion of what is before said, and for the confirmation of it, putting in mind of what he had prophesied in former times: and they render the words, with which it begins, “thus hath the Lord said” x; so he said to me years ago; which agrees with what is now delivered.

x “haec dixit”, Grotius; “sic dixit”, Schmidt.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The king is warned against injustice, and the violent oppression of the poor and defenceless. – Jer 22:1 . “Thus said Jahveh: Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, Jer 22:2 . And say: Hear the word of Jahveh, thou king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that go in by these gates. Jer 22:3 . Thus hath Jahveh said: Do ye right and justice, and save the despoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; to stranger, orphan, and widow do no wrong, no violence; and innocent blood shed not in this place. Jer 22:4 . For if ye will do this word indeed, then by the gates of this place there shall come in kings that sit upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. Jer 22:5 . But if ye hearken not to these words, by myself have I sworn, saith Jahve, that this house shall become a desolation. Jer 22:6 . For thus hath Jahveh said concerning the house of the king of Judah: A Gilead art thou to me, a head of Lebanon; surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities uninhabited; Jer 22:7 . And will consecrate against thee destroyers, each with his tools, who shall hew down the choice of thy cedars and cast them into the fire. Jer 22:8 . And there shall pass may peoples by this city, and one shall say to the other: Wherefore hath Jahveh done thus unto this great city? Jer 22:9 . And they will say: Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jahveh their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.”

Go down into the house of the king. The prophet could go down only from the temple; cf. Jer 36:12 and Jer 26:10. Not only the king is to hear the word of the Lord, but his servants too, and the people, who go in by these gates, the gates of the royal castle. The exhortation: to do right and justice, etc., is only an expansion of the brief counsel at Jer 21:12, and that brought home to the heart of the whole people in Jer 7:6, cf. Eze 22:6. The form for , Jer 21:12, occurs only here, but is formed analogously to , and cannot be objected to. is strengthened by “do no violence.” On “kings riding,” etc., cf. Jer 17:25. – With Jer 22:5 cf. Jer 17:27, where, however, the threatening is otherwise worded. , cf. Gen 22:16. introduces the contents of the oath. “This house” is the royal palace. as in Jer 7:34, cf. Jer 27:17. The threatening is illustrated in Jer 22:6 by further description of the destruction of the palace. The royal castle is addressed, and, in respect of its lofty situation and magnificence, is called a Gilead and a head of Lebanon. It lay on the north-eastern eminence of Mount Zion (see on 1Ki 7:12, note 1), and contained the so-called forest-house of Lebanon (1Ki 7:2-5) and various other buildings built of cedar, or, at least, faced with cedar planks (cf. Jer 22:14, Jer 22:23); so that the entire building might be compared to a forest of cedars on the summit of Lebanon. In the comparison to Gilead, Gilead can hardly be adduced in respect of its great fertility as a pasturing land (Num 32:1; Mic 7:14), but in virtue of the thickly wooded covering of the hill-country of Gilead on both sides of the Jabbok. This is still in great measure clothed with oak thickets and, according to Buckingham, the most beautiful forest tracts that can be imagined; cf. C. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 82.

(Note: In 1834 Eli Smith travelled through it, and thus writes: “Jebel ‘Ajlun presents the most charming rural scenery that I have seen in Syria. A continued forest of noble trees, chiefly the evergreen oak, covers a large part of it, while the ground beneath is clothed with luxuriant grass and decked with a rich variety of wild flowers. As we went from el-Husn to ‘Ajlun our path lay along the summit of the mountain; and we often overlooked a large part of Palestine on one side and the whole of Haurn.” – Rob. Phys. Geog. p. 54.)

is a particle of asseveration. This glorious forest of cedar buildings is to become a , a treeless steppe, cities uninhabited. “Cities” refers to the thing compared, not to the emblem; and the plural, as being the form for indefinite generality, presents no difficulty. And the attachment thereto of a singular predicate has many analogies in its support, cf. Ew. 317, a. The Keri is an uncalled for emendation of the Chet. , cf. Jer 6:5. – “I consecrate,” in respect that the destroyers are warriors whom God sends as the executors of His will, see on Jer 6:4. With “a man and his weapons,” cf. Eze 9:2. In keeping with the figure of a forest, the destruction is represented as the hewing down of the choicest cedars; cf. Isa 10:34. – Thus is to be accomplished in Jerusalem what Moses threatened, Deu 29:23; the destroyed city will become a monument of God’s wrath against the transgressors of His covenant. Jer 22:8 is modelled upon Deu 29:23., cf. 1Ki 9:8., and made to bear upon Jerusalem, since, along with the palace, the city too is destroyed by the enemy.

From Jer 22:10 onwards the exhortation to the evil shepherds becomes a prophecy concerning the kings of that time, who by their godless courses hurried on the threatened destruction. The prophecy begins with King Jehoahaz, who, after a reign of three months, had bee discrowned by Pharaoh Necho and carried captive to Egypt; 2Ki 23:30-35; 2Ch 36:1-4.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Jeremiah Preaches before Jehoiakim.

B. C. 590.

      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.

      Here we have,

      I. Orders given to Jeremiah to go and preach before the king. In the foregoing chapter we are told that Zedekiah sent messengers to the prophet, but here the prophet is bidden to go, in his own proper person, to the house of the king, and demand his attention to the word of the King of kings (v. 2): Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah! Subjects must own that where the word of the king is there is power over them, but kings must own that where the word of the Lord is there is power over them. The king of Judah is here spoken to as sitting upon the throne of David, who was a man after God’s own heart, as holding his dignity and power by the covenant made with David; let him therefore conform to his example, that he may have the benefit of the promises made to him. With the king his servants are spoken to, because a good government depends upon a good ministry as well as a good king.

      II. Instructions given him what to preach.

      1. He must tell them what was their duty, what was the good which the Lord their God required of them, v. 3. They must take care, (1.) That they do all the good they can with the power they have. They must do justice in defence of those that were injured, and must deliver the spoiled out of the hand of their oppressors. This was the duty of their place, Ps. lxxxii. 3. Herein they must be ministers of God for good. (2.) That they do no hurt with it, no wrong, no violence. That is the greatest wrong and violence which is done under colour of law and justice, and by those whose business it is to punish and protect from wrong and violence. They must do no wrong to the stranger, fatherless, and widow; for these God does in a particular matter patronise and take under his tuition, Exo 22:21; Exo 22:22.

      2. He must assure them that the faithful discharge of their duty would advance and secure their prosperity, v. 4. There shall then be a succession of kings, an uninterrupted succession, upon the throne of David and of his line, these enjoying a perfect tranquillity, and living in great state and dignity, riding in chariots and on horses, as before, ch. xvii. 25. Note, the most effectual way to preserve the dignity of the government is to do the duty of it.

      3. He must likewise assure them that the iniquity of their family, if they persisted in it, would be the ruin of their family, though it was a royal family (v. 5): If you will not hear, will not obey, this house shall become a desolation, the palace of the kings of Judah shall fare no better than other habitations in Jerusalem. Sin has often been the ruin of royal palaces, though ever so stately, ever so strong. This sentence is ratified by an oath: I swear by myself (and God can swear by no greater, Heb. vi. 13) that this house shall be laid in ruins. Note, Sin will be the ruin of the houses of princes as well as of mean men.

      4. He must show how fatal their wickedness would be to their kingdom as well as to themselves, to Jerusalem especially, the royal city, v. 6-9. (1.) It is confessed that Judah and Jerusalem had been valuable in God’s eyes and considerable in their own: thou art Gilead unto me and the head of Lebanon. Their lot was cast in a place that was rich and pleasant as Gilead; Zion was a stronghold, as stately as Lebanon: this they trusted to as their security. But, (2.) This shall not protect them; the country that is now fruitful as Gilead shall be made a wilderness. The cities that are now strong as Lebanon shall be cities not inhabited; and, when the country is laid waste, the cities must be dispeopled. See how easily God’s judgments can ruin a nation, and how certainly sin will do it. When this desolating work is to be done, [1.] There shall be those that shall do it effectually (v. 7): “I will prepare destroyers against thee; I will sanctify them” (so the word is); “I will appoint them to this service and use them in it.” Note, When destruction is designed destroyers are prepared, and perhaps are in the preparing, and things are working towards the designed destruction, and are getting ready for it, long before. And who can contend with destroyers of God’s preparing? They shall destroy cities as easily as men fell trees in a forest: They shall cut down thy choice cedars; and yet, when they are down, shall value them no more than thorns and briers; they shall cast them into the fire, for their choicest cedars have become rotten ones and good for nothing else. [2.] There shall be those who shall be ready to justify God in the doing of it (Jer 22:8; Jer 22:9); persons of many nations, when they pass by the ruins of this city in their travels, will ask, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this city? How came so strong a city to be overpowered? so rich a city to be impoverished? so populous a city to be depopulated? so holy a city to be profaned? and a city that had been so dear to God to be abandoned by him?” The reason is so obvious that it shall be ready in every man’s mouth. Ask those that go by the way, Job xxi. 29. Ask the next man you meet, and he will tell you it was because they changed their gods, which other nations never used to do. They forsook the covenant of Jehovah their own God, revolted from their allegiance to him and from the duty which their covenant with him bound them to, and they worshipped other gods and served them, in contempt of him; and therefore he gave them up to this destruction. Note, God never casts any off until they first cast him off. “Go,” says God to the prophet, “and preach this to the royal family.”

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 22

JUDGMENT UPON THE ROYAL HOUSE

Here is a series of utterances concerning the last four of Judah’s rulers.

Vs. 1-9: ADMINISTER JUSTICE OR FACE DESTRUCTION

1. Jeremiah is sent to Zedekiah to urge that both the king and his kingdom give attention to the word of Jehovah, (vs. 1-2; 29; Jer 19:3; Jer 29:19-20; comp. Amo 7:14-17).

2. Zedekiah is called upon to administer judgment, with equity, at all levels of national life, (vs. 3).

3. Submission to the divine order of social justice will assure a succession of kings upon the throne of David, and the prosperity of both Jerusalem and the temple, (vs. 4; Jer 17:24-25).

4. If Judah rejects the counsel of Jehovah, her house will become a desolation, (vs. 5-7; Jer 7:14-15; Jer 26:4-9; comp. Mat 23:28; Luk 13:35).

a. The beautiful forest will be cut down.

b. The choice cedars of Lebanon will be consumed by the fire of divine indignation.

5. When Jehovah swears by Himself, He is reminding Judah of His authority as the Initiator of the covenant-relationship which they have so flagrantly violated, (comp. Gen 22:16; Isa 45:23; Heb 6:13 -18).

6. When inquiry is made as to why the Lord has abandoned Jerusalem to destruction, the answer will be quite clear: they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, to worship and serve no gods! (vs. 8-9; Jer 11:3; Deu 29:24-26; 1Ki 9:8-9; 2Ch 7:19-22; 2Ch 34:24-25).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

The Prophet is again bidden to reprove the king and his counsellors; but the exhortation is at the same time extended to the whole people. It was necessary to begin with the head, that the common people might know that it was not a matter to be trifled with, as God would not spare, no, not even the king himself, and his courtiers; for a greater terror seized the lower orders, when they saw the highest laid prostrate. That what is here taught might then penetrate more effectually into the hearts of all, the Prophet is bid to address the king himself and his courtiers: he is afterwards bidden to include also the whole body of the people. And hence it appears, that there was some hope of favor yet remaining, provided the king and the whole people received the admonitions of the Prophet; provided their repentance and conversion were sincere, God was still ready to forgive them.

We must at the same time observe, as I have already said, that they could not escape the calamity that was at hand; but exile would have been much milder, and also their return would have been more certain, and they would have found in various ways that they had not been rejected by God, though for a time chastised. As then we now say, that a hope of pardon was set before them, this is not to be so understood as that they could avert the destruction of the city; for it had once for all been determined by God to drive the people into a temporary exile, and also to put all end for a time to their sacrifices; for this dreadful desolation was to be a proof that the people had been extremely ungrateful to God, and especially that their obstinacy could not be endured in having so long despised the Prophets and the commands of God. However the hope of mitigation as to their punishment was given them, provided they were touched by a right feeling, so as to endeavor to return into favor with God. But as Jeremiah effected nothing by so many admonitions, they were rendered more inexcusable.

We now see the design of what is here said, even that the Jews, having been so often proved guilty, might cease to complain that they suffered anything undeservedly; for they had been often admonished, yea, almost in numberless instances, and God had offered mercy, provided they were reclaimable. I come now to the words —

Thus saith Jehovah, Go down (32) to the house of the king We see that the Prophet was endued with so great a courage that the dignity of the king’s name did not daunt him, so as to prevent him to perform what was commanded him. We have seen elsewhere similar instances; but whenever such cases occur, they deserve to be noticed. First, the servants of God ought boldly to discharge their office, and not to flatter the great and the rich, nor remit anything of their own authority when they meet with dignity and greatness. Secondly, let those who seem to be more eminent than others learn, that whatever eminence they may possess cannot avail them, but that they ought to submit to prophetic instruction. We have before seen that the Prophet was sent to reprove and rebuke even the highest, and to shew no respect of persons. (Jer 1:10.) So now, here he shews that he had, as it were, the whole world under his feet, for in executing his office, he reproved the king himself and all his princes.

(32) Or “descend;” it appears that Jeremiah was in the Temple when he had this commission. And it would be better to render the first words, “Thus said Jehovah,” as it is a narrative of what had taken place. In Jer 18:1, it is said the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and then he was commanded to go down to the potter’s house; which intimates that he was at the time in the Temple, officiating probably in his course as a priest. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.1. Chronology of the Chapter. Early in Jehoiakims reign; contemporary with chap. 22. See Notes. Dr. Payne Smith places this prophecy prior to Jehoiakims manifestation of the violence of his character by murdering Urijah (chap. Jer. 26:23), and thus synchronous with chap. Jer. 17:19-27. Its appeal to the house of David is conditioned on the fact that the nations ruin might yet be averted. The chapter divides itself into four chronological sections. Jer. 22:1-9 : Early in Jehoiakims reign. Jer. 22:10-12 : Immediately following the deposition and captivity of Jehoahaz. Jer. 22:14-19 : Jehoiakims reign again; but towards the close of his wicked rule. Jer. 22:20-30 belong to Jeconiahs reign, for the reference (Jer. 22:24) indicates him as the then reigning king. Cf. Personal Allusions below.

For 2. Contemporary Scriptures; 3. National Affairs; 4. Contemporaneous History, see Notes on chaps. 7 and 17.

5. Geographical References.Jer. 22:6. GileadVide note on Jer. 8:22. Lebanonthe loftiest height of Lebanon is about 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. Vide note on Jer. 18:14. Jer. 22:20. Bashan, and the passages: i.e., the route from Jerusalem to Babylon. Passages should be Abarim, a range of mountains south of Gilead, opposite Jericho. Those mountains, Lebanon, Bashan, and Abarim, overlook the course the captives would take.

6. Personal Allusions.Jer. 22:11. Shallum, the son of Josiah. Shallum is the same as Jehoahaz, Josiahs second son. Although younger than Eliakim (afterwards called Jehoiakim), he was yet raised to the throne by the acclaim of the people (2Ki. 23:30-36), the rights of primogeniture being disregarded owing to the evil character of Eliakim. (Comp. Personal Allusions chap. i.) Shallum reigned only three months: for Eliakim, indignant at this usurpation, threw himself into the arms of the Egyptians; and Pharaoh-Necho deposed Jehoahaz and placed Jehoiakim (Eliakim) on the throne as tributary and dependent king. Shallum was thereupon carried into Egypt, and from that time is heard of no more. (Comp. 2Ch. 36:1-4; Eze. 19:3-4.)

Jer. 22:18. Jehoiakim, son of Josiah: see note above, also note to chap. 1. (Comp. 2Ch. 36:5-6.) We have no record of his death; but from this prophecy (repeated in chap. Jer. 36:30) we may suppose that he died soon after he reached Babylon, died under his chains, probably of pestilence or of a broken heart (Payne Smith), and his body was dragged away without any show of respect. It is just as probable that he was slain by Nebuchadnezzar on his retreat to Babylon, and that his corpse was left unburied by the wayside outside Jerusalem. Certainly, however, he perished miserably, and at the age of thirty-six.

Jer. 22:24. Coniah, son of Jehoiakim: This was Jehoiachin. He reigned only three months and ten days. He was eighteen years of age (according to 2Ki. 24:8) when crowned, but only eight according to 2Ch. 36:9which is probably a corruption of the text. He remained in Babylon a captive during thirty-six years, the lifetime of Nebuchadnezzar; but when Evil-Merodach succeeded Nebuchadnezzar he was considerately raised by that king to some show of dignity and personal regard (2Ki. 25:27-30; Jer. 52:31-34). Ezekiel dated his prophecies by the year of king Jehoiachins captivity (Eze. 1:2; Eze. 8:1; Eze. 24:1, &c.) An exciting expectation prevailed among the Jews four years after Jeconiahs removal to Babylon (Jer. 28:4) that he would quickly return to power; but this was probably a rumour created by the sanguine hopes and conversation of the Jewish captives at Babylon.

Jer. 22:26. Thy mother that bare thee. Nehushta; see chronological note to chap. 13.

7. Natural Historynone.

8. Manners and Customs.Jer. 22:10. Weep ye not for the dead, &c. An annual lamentation had been celebrated by the nation for good king Josiah (2Ch. 35:25). This custom might now be used for one who needed the bemoaning morehis son Shallum.

Jer. 22:14. Ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion. Jehoiakims palace was gorgeously adorned with cedars of Lebanon. The vermilion was not like ours, a preparation of red lead, but a compound of quicksilver and sulphur; a preparation much valued by Orientals.

9. Literary Criticisms.Jer. 22:7. I will prepare destroyers: i.e., consecrate. (Vide note, chap. Jer. 6:4.)

Jer. 22:14. A wide house: , lit., a house of extensions: (comp. Num. 13:32; Isa. 45:14), where is rendered staturemen of large proportions. A spacious house. Large chambers, from ; to breathe: airy chambers.

And it is ceiled with cedars: ; either roofing it with cedars (Payne Smith), or inlaying it (Hitzig, Graf., &c.)

Jer. 22:15. Closest thyself in cedar. Various reading. The LXX., Codex Alex., and Ewald give viest with Ahaz: for Ahaz did build the palace (1Ki. 22:39). But the literal rendering of received text is, viest in cedar-work.

Jer. 22:19. Beyond the gatesafar from.

Jer. 22:20. The Passages. See Geog. Ref. supra, Abarim, a range of mountains.

Jer. 22:23. O inhabitant of Lebanon: inhabitress. How gracious shalt thou be: how wilt thou sigh (Hitzig, Ewald, Graf); how wilt thou groan (Lange, Payne Smith), be pitiable (Gesenius).

Jer. 22:27. Desire to return: lift up their soul to return. Our English equivalent is set their heart upon.

Jer. 22:28. A despised broken idol: lit., piece of work, a vessel, a piece of common earthenware in which the potter has no interest.

HOMILETIC SURVEY OF CHAPTER 22
Theme: THE ERRORS AND THE DOOM OF JUDAHS KINGS.

The chapter separates itself into four prophetic messages, containing sentences of judgment on Jehoahaz (Shallum), Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah. Chronological order of events is disregarded in the grouping of these prophecies; but similarity of subject rules. Connecting Jer. 21:11end with chap. 22, the last four kings of Judah are arraigned for judgment. Each is proved to have utterly failed in righteousness, and on each is pronounced the sorrowful denunciation which his impiety invoked.

I. An exhortation to righteous reforms. Addressed to Jehoiakim, probably quickly after his accession to the throne, he is charged, in the name of Jehovah (Jer. 22:3)himself, his ministers, and his peopleto act aright, to administer justice, and eschew all wrong. This appeal is emphasised with an encouraging promise of prosperity upon obedience (Jer. 22:4), and alarming warnings of desolation if disregarded (Jer. 22:5-9).

II. A mournful instance of judgment. The prophet cites the fate of Shallum (Jehoahaz), the predecessor of Jehoiakim, as confirmatory of Jehovahs warnings. On his accession Shallum assumed the name Jehoahaz, meaning Jehovah sustains, but Jeremiah refuses to call him by that name, and writes him down in irony as Shallum, meaning retributionwhich had verified its appropriateness in the kings fatedeposed after three months reign, and now a captive in Egypt, never more to behold his native land. So soon may a king be dethroned, so hopelessly may an exile be banished (Jer. 22:10-12).

See Addenda: WEEP NOT FOR THE DEAD.

III. A rebuke of ambitious tyranny. Reverting to Jehoiakim (Jer. 22:13), and proceeding openly and indignantly to name him as the criminal (Jer. 22:18), God denounces him for his vainglory (Jer. 22:14), his injustice (Jer. 22:13), his covetousness and cruelty (Jer. 22:17). Against him the woe (Jer. 22:13) is uttered; he is derided for his false confidence (Jer. 22:15-16) in thinking that his throne is secured by vaunting display of splendour rather than in righteous administration; and his miserable degradation is proclaimed (Jer. 22:18-19).

IV. A lamentation over Judahs ruin. Jeremiah 1. appeals to Jerusalem, whom he personifies as a sorrowing woman, to ascend the mountains which overlook the route her captives would take on being carried into Babylon, and bewail her calamity. 2. Threatens Jeconiah (here called Coniah as if in contempt); who, although he was idolised by his people (Jer. 22:24-28), would nevertheless be treated with violence (Jer. 22:26-28), carried into exile (Jer. 22:25), and with him would end the royal honours of his house (Jer. 22:30).

GENERAL TRUTHS SUGGESTED BY THE CHAPTER

I. Perpetuity and prosperity are conditional upon righteousness. This holds good for nations and governments (Jer. 22:4), cities (Jer. 22:8-9), individuals (Jer. 22:11; Jer. 22:19; Jer. 22:30).

The most effectual way to preserve the dignity of the government is to do the duty of it.Henry. God does not spare even the authorities, for though He has said that they are as gods, yet when they do not rightly administer their office they must die like men (Psa. 82:6). No cedars are too high for God. No splendours too mighty; He can destroy all at once, and overturn, overturn, overturn (Eze. 21:27).Cramer. Sin will be the ruin of the house of princes as well as of meaner men. Even in this world God often makes it clear that He destroys neither nations, cities, nor persons, except for sin; and it will be made clearer in the day of judgment.

II. Advantages and exaltation secure no exception from doom. The house of the kings of Judah enjoyed historic dignity and the Divine benignity (Jer. 22:6): Jerusalem also (addressed in Jer. 22:20-23) had enjoyed prosperity (Jer. 22:21) and material splendour (Jer. 22:23); whereas Jeconiah had seemed peculiarly secure and honoured (Jer. 22:24). Yet that house of Judah became a desolation (Jer. 22:5); Jerusalem was dethroned (Jer. 22:8-9); and confounded for her wickedness (Jer. 22:22); and Coniah was cut off from royalty (Jer. 22:30).

See how easily Gods judgments can ruin a nation, and how certainly sin will do it.Henry. How little is earthly grandeur to be depended upon, or flourishing families to be rejoiced in! Notwithstanding the privileges of a mans birth (as with Coniah), if he make himself unworthy of honour, God will cast him off. Yet God never casts any off until they first cast Him off (Henry on Jer. 22:9). Here, however, may be seen how perverse and unjustifiable is the illusion that Gods election is a surety against His anger, and a licence to any wilfulness.Naegelsbach.

III. Spoliation and punishment are varied according to individual sin. Numerous are the resources of Divine judgment. God prepares the destroyers, every one with his weapons (Jer. 22:7). And He determines the form of desolation upon individual transgressors. Shallum is doomed to perpetual bondage: Jehoiakim is punished with an unlamented death and contemptible buriala most despicable end (Jer. 22:18-19). Jeconiah, whom the nation had idolised and cherished with pleasure, should become despised by his people (28), and be written childless (Jer. 22:30).

They expose themselves to fearful possibilities and perils who live in hostility to God. No life is secure from calamity which is not hid with Christ in God.

HOMILIES AND COMMENTS ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 22

Jer. 22:1-5. Theme: THE CONDITIONS OF CONTINUANCE IN PRIVILEGE.

Hereditary rights, royal prerogatives, are valueless as guarantees of prolonged existence and prosperity as a nation. Righteousness alone protects and preserves governments from overthrow and peoples from extinction. So with a church: it must be and do right, or Christ will remove the candlestick, &c. So with the soul: it must faithfully serve and loyally follow Christ, or it forfeits grace.

This message to Jehoiakim is similar in import to that sent to Zedekiah (Jer. 21:11-14). See Homilies in loc.

Matthew Henrys arrangement of this section is

i. Orders given to Jeremiah to preach before the king.

He is to go in person and demand the kings attention to a message from the King of kings.
ii. Instructions given him what to preach.

1. He must tell them what was their duty (Jer. 22:3). (a.) Do all the good they can with the power they have. (b.) Do no hurt with it.

2. He must assure them that the faithful discharge of their duty would advance and secure their prosperity (Jer. 22:4).

3. Likewise that the iniquity of their family if persisted in would be the ruin of their family, though it was a royal family (Jer. 22:5).

4. He must show how fatal their wickedness would be to their kingdom as well as to themselvesto Jerusalem especially, the royal city (Jer. 22:6-9).

Jer. 22:6. Theme: BEAUTY AND MAJESTY DEGRADED.

I. Significant imagery. Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon.

i. The meaning of these natural metaphors. They suggest

1. Graceful fertility. Gilead was the poetic symbol of this. Dr. Payne Smith notes that it is extolled for its aromatic plants (chap. Jer. 8:22), its grassy uplands where the goats feed (Song Son. 4:1; Son. 6:5), and one district of it, Bashan, for its sheep (Deu. 32:14), its noble breed of cattle (Psa. 22:12), its general fertility (Isa. 33:9), and especially for its splendid oak forests (Isa. 2:13; Zec. 11:2).

2. Surpassing magnificence. Lebanon is the metaphor of this. It is the frequent figure for grandeur. It is praised for its snows (chap. Jer. 18:14), its firs and cedars (Isa. 37:24), its waving forests (Psa. 72:16), its wealth of springs (Song Son. 4:15), its flowers (Nah. 1:4), and its sweet scents (Song Son. 4:11; Hos. 14:6-7).

ii. The reference of this metaphorical address.

1. Primarily to theroyal house of David.

2. By analogy to the royal priesthood of Christian believers. The Church is in Gods esteem the perfection of beauty.

3. By direct application to the individual Christian. We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. Every Christian should combine in himself beauteous fertility and incomparable majestynobleness of character and life.

II. Startling degradation. Yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

i. Its incredibility necessitates that God affirms it with an oath, Surely I will. Literally this is, If I make thee not, &c.

1. The threatening creates an involuntary recoil. We reply to itSurely it can never be so! The old Jews revolted from the idea that their royal house of David could ever become a desolation (Jer. 22:5). We recoil from the idea that on a Christian church there could ever be inscribed Ichabod! Or that a godly soul, a privileged disciple of Jesus, could ever become a cast-away. Yet God corrects our Surely it cannot be with His Surely I will!

2. The threatening seems a total impossibility. The Jews believed in the perpetuity of the Davidic line and the continuance of their national prosperity. So we think of a church and of ourselves. But for the church see Lam. 1:1; and Zep. 2:15; and for the individual, 1Co. 10:12.

Jer. 22:8-9. Comp. chaps. Jer. 18:15-16; Jer. 19:8.

Jer. 22:10. Theme: DEATH PREFERABLE TO LIFE. Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away, &c.

Less reason for tears over Josiah, the righteous father who is dead, than over Jehoabaz, the ungodly son, who, though alive, is yet worse than dead, being banished from all the blessings of life; and who goes away not as his father to the land of rest and joy, but to captivity and dishonour.

I. Death may prove a gracious goal. It was to Josiah. Mors janua vit: Death is the gate of life. Of course only to the godly. Blessed as life is to the Christian, yet to die is gain. Here is a test which divides the ranks of the living. To which of us would death be an advantageknowing as we do what awaits souls after death?

1. Death terminates much that makes life so sad.

(1.) Personal sorrows: physical weaknesses, earthly deceits, lifes cares, struggles with adversity, the risks and delusions incident to all effort and enterprise here, wearying toils.

(2.) Social troubles: misunderstandings and misinterpretations, disappointments and grievances, the anguish over wayward children, the pangs over false friendships and unrequited kindness: desolating bereavements.

(3.) National distresses: so much wounds our patriotism, and urges the outcry, O for a lodge in some vast wilderness, &c. (Jer. 9:2).

(4.) Spiritual anxieties: conflicts with besetting sins, a wayward heart, the worlds seductions, &c., grief over disobedience to God, forgetfulness of Divine love, &c.

I would not live alway. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
2. Death commences much that makes life so glad.

(1.) Heaven won: to go no more out. Neither sorrow, nor crying, &c.

(2.) Deity beheld in open vision. We shall see Him as He is.
(3.) Earths mysteries solved. Now we know in part, but then shall we know, &c.

(4.) Lost ones regained. I shall go to her, but she shall not return to me.

(5.) The perfect life attained. I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness.

II. Life may prove a grievous path. It would to Shallum.

1. Its pleasures all desolated. Jehoahaz would pine in captivity. Think of

(1.) The invasions of disaster or death. Remember what pestilence and accident have done for once happy families.

(2.) Young lives early blighted: afflicted, crippled, &c.

(3.) Hearts ruthlessly broken: by falsity of lovers, by desertion of relatives, by disgraces brought upon homes through recklessness or wickedness of fathers or sons.

(4.) Losses irretrievably suffered. Change in fortune: children hurled by reverses into penury, &c.

2. Its possibilities all devastated.

(1.) Character or virtue wrecked. By one criminal indulgence or act, confidence may be forfeited, the door of promotion be closed, and honour exchanged for a career of shame.

(2.) Powers suddenly smitten or withered. The right hand may lose its cunning, the mind its balance, &c.

3. Its prospects all destroyed.

(1.) An irreligious career, lifes years spent in practical ungodliness, destroys the souls prospects. For sin darkens the soul, and divorces it from all present peace and gracious anticipations, and impenitence shuts out the soul from the redemption of Christ and reconciliation with God.

(2.) An atheistic mind, the abandonment of revelation, the rejection of the Bible, the denial of God and spiritual things: these cover the soul and its outlook with a dense and desolating gloom.

Rather than such a life, let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.

Theme: THE DEAD LESS MOURNED THAN THE LIVING.

I. Evil times enforce this truth. They are taken away from the evil. When war or desolation come upon the land, or disaster upon the home, we think this.

II. Wicked careers emphasise the truth. The living Cain more a grief than the dead Abel. We mourn less for the dead though we loved them dearly, than for the living who violate all our hopes, and fill us with grief and shame.

III. Divine revelation elucidates the truth. For blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, they rest from their labours, &c. See Scriptures which exhibit the future of the redeemed, as contrasted with our lot on earth.

See Addenda: WEEP NOT FOR THE DEAD.

Note:
Dying saints, says Henry, may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospects of the times may be, that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be restrained, that they may be reserved for ourselves and our children (Luk. 23:28).

See Further, Noticeable Topics: GRIEF FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GONE AWAY TO WAR.

Jer. 22:13. Theme: RAPACITY DENOUNCED.

See Addenda: COVETOUSNESS.

He who builds his house with other peoples property, collects stones for his grave.Cramer.

Sepulchri immemor struis domos.Horat.

Though impoverished by the tribute imposed upon them by the king of Egypt (2Ch. 36:3), the inhabitants were cruelly ground by Jehoiakim, who scrupled not at the adoption of any measures by which he might be able to carry on the building of a large and splendid palace.Henderson.

Not only did Jehoiakim tax the people (2Ki. 23:25) for Pharaohs tribute, but also took their forced labour without pay for building a splendid palace; in violation of Lev. 19:13; Deu. 24:14-15.

God will repay in justice those who will not in justice pay those whom they employ.Henry.

Jehoiakim lived in splendour amid the misery of the nation, amused himself with building palaces when the whole land was ground down by heavy taxation, and miserably perished at the age of thirty-six, so little cared for that his body was cast aside without burial.Payne Smith.

Jer. 22:15-16. Theme: JEHOIAKIMS DEGENERACY FROM HIS FATHERS PIETY.

Jehoiakims character given (Jer. 22:13 seq.) He a young prince, son of pious father, degenerated; hence God sent awful message in text by Jeremiah. Woe denounced upon him for pride, &c., when nation in distress (Jer. 22:13-14). Then God expostulates; wickedness aggravated and inexcusable, because of bright example of piety and righteousness in his father (Jer. 22:15-16).

I. God remembereth the piety and usefulness of our ancestors, and observeth how far we resemble them (Jer. 22:15-16; contrast Jer. 22:17).

1. God can forget nothing. Past, present, all naked and open. (1.) Remembers piety of our fathers. As Josiah. Kind remembrance of His faithful servants after left this world: not unrighteous to forget, &c. (2.) Instructive to observe with how much respect God mentions those who have been upright before Him. Thus the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; treats good men as favourites. (3.) This a great encouragement to be religious: enjoy favour while here, and our memory precious in His sight when forgotten by survivors. (4.) Motive to all, especially children of pious parents, to reverence the memory of saints.

2. God takes notice how far we resemble them. Charges Jehoiakim that trod not in fathers steps. (1.) God makes just estimates of our religious advantages and our improvement of them. (2.) Observes declension. (3.) Whether our hearts be right as our fathers were, e.g., Timothy (2Ti. 1:5), or whether as Solomon (1Ki. 11:4-6). (4.) An incentive to utmost caution: not cast off the entail of religion, lose truest hereditary honours, involve Divine displeasure.

II. Young persons often forsake the religion of their fathers through pride and love of elegance, pomp, and show (Jer. 22:15). Pride led him to covet splendour and practise injustice.

This sin easily besets and ensnares the young. They scorn their fathers lowliness. Begin with extravagance greater than where their wiser fathers ended. (1.) It leads them to forsake their fathers religious profession. Favours and preferments of the world are not on that side. Count their fathers religion narrow, and abandon their principles. (2.) Love of pomp and elegance lead to the loss of the life and power of godliness. Luxury and irreligion (Jer. 22:13), practices their fathers would have abhorred. Go from bad to worse: as Jehoiakim, oppressed Jeremiah and slew Uzziah (Jer. 26:21). Won an ill character (Eze. 19:6-7).

To the young: Set out in life with moderate desires. Be content with your rank. Strengthen religious dispositions. Do justice and mercy. Humility the brighest ornament; religion the defence of the soul.

III. It is a great dishonour and reproach to any to forsake the good ways of their fathers. Jehoiakim was over twenty when Josiah died. God intimates that his conduct was both dishonourable and inexcusable.

1. Religiously trained as he doubtless was, his forsaking religion was a reproach. The good example of our fathers aggravates our guilt and shame. 2. Let young persons consider the usefulness and honour for which their parents were eminent. Was it not well with them? They were beloved and lamented (Jer. 22:18). 3. Consider for what it is that so many forsake the good ways of their fathers. 4. Here are terrible threatenings from God against this wickedness (Jer. 22:19, also Jer. 36:30). Forsake religion of ancestors, it will be your shame. If thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever.

IV. The way of religion is the way of wisdom, honour, and happiness.

1. Wisdom. Jehoiakim thought himself wise in building, &c. His father was a good man and good king, and was not this to know Me? (Jer. 22:16); Psa. 111:10; 1Jn. 1:3-4. Right knowledge consists in being religious.

2. Honour. Josiah universally esteemed (2Ch. 35:25). Luxury and splendour do not secure honour (Pro. 3:3-4).

3. Happiness. Well with him (Jer. 22:15); repeated (Jer. 22:16). Over against this the young prince is asked, Shalt thou reign because, &c.? (Jer. 22:15). Piety and righteousness a surer foundation and defence.

Way to be happy is to be and do good. While we do well, it will be well with us (Psa. 34:12; 1Ti. 4:8).

(Abstract of Sermon, by Rev. Job Orton, Kidderminster, A.D. 1775).

Jer. 22:18. Theme: A PERVERSE SON. Thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah.

That godly men should have ungodly children is a problem hard to solve. Josiah had both a Shallum and a Jehoiakim, both wicked men; David, Absalom, a rebellious son; Eli, Hophni and Phineas, both sons of Belial that knew not the Lord.

I. Parental discipline and proper training are suggested as lacking. Stress is laid on the proverb, Train up a child, &c. But this assumes without proof

1. That in these instances there was a lack of parental discipline and proper training.
2. That piety in children is the natural result of parental discipline and proper training.
But what are the facts of the case?
(a.) Piety is sometimes found in the children of godless parents, where there has been no religious training at all; whereas

(b.) Impiety will sometimes be seen in the children of godly parents, who have striven to bring them up in the fear of the Lord.

Such facts teach that youthful piety is not the natural result of early training; and the mystery of the entire subject is left unsolved.

II. Religious education does not always form a religious character. Religious habits may be formed without the vital principle of religion possessing the heart

What is the reason why a child cannot be trained to be a Christian?

1. Because to become a Christian is to have a new nature, a new life, which no training can originate. Nothing can be trained except what has life. None can train a dead vine or dead tree. Training supposes life.

2. No child has by nature religious life, but only mental and moral life; and a child can only be trained mentally to think, morally to act.

III. It is Gods prerogative to quicken our children to newness of life.

Parental duty it is to train children: but equally their duty to pray that God would impart the life of real religion, that life without which a correct creed and a cold morality leave the soul dead in sins. If parents see in their children the germ of the new life, this is Gods handiwork, and the pledge for the children of a life of grace and a glorious destiny.D. Pledge.

Jer. 22:19. Theme: AN IGNOMINIOUS BURIAL.

The end of some men is very different from what might have been expected, considering their parentage, education, and advantages.
Jehoiakim was the son of a king: naturally suppose that he also would be buried with the pageantry of a prince.

Also the son of a pious father: might have hoped his death had been the death of the righteous.

Sin brings men to an ignominious end.

1. What a blighting thing is sin! Blasts every fond hope. When Jehoiakim was a youth he had fairest earthly prospects; yet what degradation befel him!

2. A degraded burial is not the worst event. Funeral rites have been denied to godly men and faithful witnesses for Christ. But the burial of a man is of little moment: that is not the end of the man: Worse issues follow.

3. Burial affects not our future destiny. Be he interred as a brute, or amid the pomp of royalty, the destiny of a man depends upon life, not upon death and burial.

4. Piety exalts, while wickedness debases men. Jehoiakims impiety set him below beggars. Piety raises beggars from the dunghill and sets them among princes. Piety is Gods high-road to heaven: impiety is Satans high-road to perdition.Ibid.

See Addenda: THE SINNERS BURIAL.

Jer. 22:21. Theme: REGARD FOR GOD DEADENED BY PROSPERITY.

The condition of life most coveted may be most harmfulprosperity. Only by denials of our wishes are we kept low at Gods feet. We can recall events and experiences in which God came to our souls and arrested them in falling away from Him. Yet notwithstanding all He has done, we are very far from God.

If so far from Him despite all He has done to keep us obedient, what would have been our case had He never crossed our wishes by afflictions and discipline? We should be grateful that He has desolated our prosperity and reclaimed us from disloyalty to Him.

Judahs case shows: A people suffered to advance with a prosperity that became fatal to their spiritual life.

It reflects the state of a church which through prosperity declines from spiritual fervour and zeal; of the saint, who through prosperity grows indifferent: of the sinner, who through prosperity becomes reckless of Gods calls to submission and repentance. I spake to thee in thy prosperity, &c.

I. The voice of God is addressing itself to the souls of men.

Effects prove the cause; and in the sinner alarmed, the backslider arrested, the church awakened, we see evidences that God has spoken and made His voice heard.

1. In what ways the voice of God utters its appeals. Whatever speaks of God to the soul is the agent of God. Earthquakes, fire, or still small voice. Calamity, pestilence, death, losses; conscience, the Bible, the preacher, the Spirit. God speaks thus in various voices to the heart of man.

2. To what extent God is speaking to men. To all. For there is a common call as well as an effectual call (comp. Jer. 22:29).

3. For what purpose God addresses men. He warns against sin, ruinous selfishness, absorption in the world, forgetfulness of God, death and eternity. He appeals to men to repent, be reconciled, flee from wrath to come, &c.

II. Mans attention to Gods voice is influenced by his circumstances.

I spake in thy prosperity, and thou saidst, I will not hear. We take no heed in the day of youth and health and ease. But trouble is a good teacher. In their affliction they will seek Me early.

1. There is going on in every heart a struggle for ascendancy. Selfishness is at war with conscience, sin with Christ. In every heart there will be a supreme: and if our pleasures or possessions absorb our affections, then the spiritual must succumb.

2. What holds the heart supremely subjugates all else. If any one ungodly thing sways us, then Gods claims become ignored. And the law with us, as with the universe, is advance. No affection is stationary. It strengthens or weakens. Thus, when any object holds our affections before God, or in opposition to God, the heart becomes turned against God, and we repudiate His voice.

III. Prosperity in life deadens our souls susceptibilities to Divine appeals.

1. Prosperity is not in itself an evil. The Bible honours it. There may be commercial prosperity, social prosperity, spiritual prosperity, church prosperity: and all may be good. May God give you all these prosperities.

2. But while in itself good, and coveted as a good, prosperity may prove the souls snare. It may be bad in its effect on us. What is full can receive no addition; and if prosperity fill our hearts, Christ has no place there. Thus: commercial prosperity has made many spiritually wretched and poor and miserable. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. Few can carry a full cup with a steady hand, or bear the world on their shoulders without bowing to the earth.

So even spiritual prosperity may beget elation, self-security. The successful Christian worker may be ready to trumpet his successes, Come, see my zeal for the Lord! Paul found danger lest he should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations.

There may be less of Christ in a numerically prosperous church, than where there is little strength: less of Christ in the prosperous soul than in the heart desolate through darkness and non-success. And hence I dwell with the humble and contrite.

IV. Hindrances to our regarding Gods voice He will remove.

Comp. Jer. 22:5, also 8, 9.

1. What deadens our attention God dooms. Be it pride, health, or energy, eagerness after success, refuges of lies, favours and privileges. He will remove them far from us, or us from them.

2. Gods voice must be heard. There was a rich man, who was a fool; all Gods calls were disregarded. But God made His voice heard at lastin terror, in scorn.

For if we refuse to hear through life, death will come when that awful Voice will drown all others, and in judgment it will silence all appeals in its sentence of doom.

See Addenda: PROSPERITY.

Theme: INFLUENCE OF PROSPERITY.

I spake unto thee in thy prosperity, and thou saidst, I will not hear.
In heaven, the more abundantly Gods bounties are dispensed, the more is He loved and adored; but on earth, the richer His gifts, the more will He be neglected and disobeyed. A striking proof of our depravity, that constant prosperity hardens, and is unfavourable to piety.

I. That abundant earthly blessings do tend to make the heart rebellious towards God.

1. Scripture teachings are emphatic on this matter. The Israelites were warned (Deu. 8:12-14). A frequent metaphor likens men to beasts luxuriantly fed (Hos. 13:6). Agurs prayer was prompted by distrust of himself (Pro. 30:8-9).

2. Experience confirms Scripture. David, the man after Gods heart, when exalted became a polluted murderer. Solomon, the wisest man, was transformed into a besotted sensualist. Moses, the meekest man, spoke contemptuously, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch water, &c. In these instances we see that the highest human virtues and holiest saints of God were unable to withstand the influence of prosperity. They could endure affliction and profit therebyas certain liquors ripen in the shade, which under the noonday beams turn to acidity and corruption.

Similar instances occur now. Many a religious career, which began with fervour and zeal, has, been checked by worldly prosperity and ended amid the stupidity and sensuality of a worldling.
3. It is doubtful whether there ever was a single instance of piety which could pass uninjured through the ordeal of unmingled prosperity. Tone of religion is lowered amid riches and honours. Where simplicity and humility of spirit are preserved amid prosperity, it is owing to some hidden trouble, which like the cord on the feet of the aspiring bird keeps the proud spirit lowly and abased.

II. If then, upon the highest religious characters worldly prosperity has a hardening influence, what must be its effect on those who have no religious principle to counteract it, and who are avowedly lovers of the world and its pleasure?

1. They will not heed the messages of God. In the chamber of sickness and among the afflicted there may be success; but none among the children of prosperity and nurslings of vanity.

2. Religion, with its sober realities, is despised. Their heart is set upon the world, wealth invites to its enjoyment.

3. Those favoured of fortune are the most pitiable objects in the world. We may not limit Gods grace, which can bring the soul from amid unmingled prosperity to bow in lowly subjection before the sceptre of Jesus. Affliction may bring down the soul, or it may become surfeited with lifes good things, and then Gods message will be heard; but those who are full and laugh now too often inherit only the Saviours woes.

III. They who have worldly prosperity should be led to self-inquiry as to its effect upon themselves.

1. In no country like our own are there so many who have risen from small beginnings to great estates and honours. Has God granted your requests but sent leanness into your souls? When riches increased, have you set your heart upon them? Are you the same simple-hearted and sincere follower of Jesus as when you began to lay the foundation of your worldly exaltation? Remember from whence thou hast fallen.

2. What a caution is here to those who are seeking prosperity! Can you discover a means of preserving a lowly spiritual mind amid prosperity? Unless so, there is no alternative but that you must suffer adversity to keep you humble, or become worldly and spiritually hardened.

3. They who have become more indisposed to hear the voice of God should awake to their peril. Had you been placed amid afflictions and deprivations, it might have been better for your soul. The goodness of God should lead thee to repentance; but it has had the opposite effect, and led to greater sin. What depravity is here! Is not that a brutish nature which is more rebellious to its owner the richer the pasture he provides? Is this the spirit of a reasonable intelligent creature? Does not such a heart need a change?

4. Prosperous ones may well regard their case with apprehension. The evil days will come when they will say, I have no pleasure in them. Spare yourselves the blow by renouncing the world for Christ. Is the sacrifice too great for Him who gave His life for you?W. H. Lewis, D.D., Sermons for the Christian Year.

Theme: PROSPERITY BANEFUL.

Scripture uniformly teaches that distance from God is the greatest miserynearness to Him the greatest good. Hell is the extreme point of distance from Him: Heaven is the perfection of nearness and resemblance to Him. In proportion as we are under the power of religion, we are said to walk with God, conforming ourselves to His will, placing ourselves beneath His eye, and rejoicing in the proofs of His acceptance and favour. In proportion as we are destitute of religion, we are said to live without God in the worldwe neither are solicitous for His glory, nor are mindful of His friendship, nor are disposed to listen to His voice. In affliction we do not bow in holy resignation to His will, in prosperity we do not own the hand from whence our mercies flow. And this is the description of Israel: I spake to thee in thy prosperity, but thou wouldst not hear.

The text is a charge brought against the Jewish nation; and it is accompanied with a threat of the removal of those mercies they had abused by a long and mournful captivity. The same charge is applicable to most men in a greater or less degree.

I. The exactness with which God observes all that relates to human character and conduct.

The text is the language of regret. A father weeping over a child: a benefactora Saviour deploring I spake in prosperity.

1. All our relative circumstances are immediately before His eye; and He notices with tender and faithful scrutiny the various effects which His merciful dispensations have upon the mind. In riches and poverty, in prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness, in joy and sorrow, in youth and age: and He traces with most minute inspection the different effects produced with a view to the development and progression of moral character. Not with angry eye merely, but with kind solicitude and regard: as a father a child.

How different a thing is life in human and Divine estimation. Man thinks what shall I eat. But God looks to growth of piety and principle.

2. The circumstances of human life, however produced, are undoubtedly under the guidance of Providence, and therefore subservient to a wise and perfect design. Each mans history is arranged and adapted with utmost precision to the growth of permanent character. When the outline is fully sketched, when the discipline has had its perfect operation, when the education is completed not to our conceptions but to the eye of Deity, we no longer continue here. The fruit being set, the winds scatter the blossoms; the fruit being ripe, the sun loses its power; the fruit falling or being gathered, winter is at hand.

God marks everything. This thy manner from thy youth. Thou hast not obeyed. A faithful record is kept.

II. The tendency of unsanctified prosperity to render us insensible to the claims of religion and separate us still farther from God.

Prosperity and adversity relative terms.
1. Uninterrupted comfort tends to lessen our confidence in God: to form in the mind a feeling of self-confidence: a security nothing can shake: so much so that religion can make no entrance into the mind. It overcomes that feeling of humility and dependence which is the source of every virtue, and consequently weakens the hold of principle, and aims directly at the foundation of all religion.

2. Another fatal effect of it is to harden the heart. God would have every temporal blessing raise the inquiry, Lord, what is man? But wicked and irreligious men are only concerned for enjoyment, and for scope for their ambition. They feed and grovel like swine beneath the oak, without looking up to the boughs that bore the fruit or the hand that shakes it down. Hence prosperity is but a bad nurse to virtue, a nurse which is like to starve it in its infancy and to spoil it in its growth. The corrupt affection, which seemed dead and chill under the winter of affliction, is like the serpent warmed into life and venom by the sun of prosperity.

3. Then comes pride. Hezekiah shows his treasures. Nebuchadnezzar exclaims, Is not this Babylon? Pride and pomp. Then God is forgotten: prayer neglected. If Jeshurun wax fat, ten to one he kicks against Him who made him so.

4. Leaves a dulness and lethargy of mind. All Divine threatenings, warnings, promises unheeded.

III. Various ways in which God rebukes this tendency and humbles men.

God speaks to men in various ways, and He distinctly marks the various impressions produced upon the mind by His communications. He speaks to us by His Word and ordinances, by the instructions we receive in religious education, by the various dispensations of His providence, by affliction, by mercies, all are the voice of God to man. I spake.

The externals of life undesirable. Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Afflictionits design.
The care of the soul is the one thing needful.
Immediately apply to Christ.

Samuel Thodey, A.D. 1828.

SERMON TO THE YOUNG.

This has been thy manner from thy youth (Jer. 22:21).

The habits formed in youth generally continue in future life. The early customs of Judah led on to the settled condition of indifference to Gods calls and counsels.

I. Mankind generally continue to live according to the habits formed in youth.

There are some exceptions. Youths who were profligate have in after life become godly, &c. By the period of youth I mean from, say twelve to twenty-five: this is the season when habits are formed. And the words of the text will apply to those
1. Whose life is given to the luxury of pleasure.

2. Who pass the season of youth in indulging in gross vices. (a.) To the Sabbath-breaker; (b.) to the profane; (c.) to the drunkard.

3. Equally relevant to vices of the mind. (a.) Selfishness; (b.) pride; (c.) malignity.

4. So also as regards their attitude towards religion. (a.) Those who pass their youth in a merely formal regard to the external duties of religion usually become formalists. (b.) Those who practise guile and deceit become hypocritical. (c.) Those who in youth slight the Gospel, in old age are seen to be unfeeling and hardened. (d.) Those who are sceptical frequently become confirmed infidels.

Youth is generally the season when a decision is made either in favour of religion or against.

II. Custom in any course generally issues in confirmed habits. This has been thy manner from thy youth.

1. The commencement of a course in life is often attended with a struggle and with difficulties. When a young person begins a sinful course, there is the struggle against instruction, remonstrances of conscience, &c. So also in a religious career.

2. But continuance in a course renders habits congenial and easy. So difficult then is it for those who have accustomed themselves to pursue evil ways to desist, that little hope is entertained for a change. Shall the Ethiopian change his skin? &c. This has been thy manner from thy youth.

III. Solemn uses to which these truths may be applied.

You are old enough now to decide your future. You are now in the most important season of your life. Accept
1. A few cautions.

(1.) Guard against slighting parental instruction. (2.) Against slighting the gospel. (3.) Against slighting the Sabbath. (4.) Avoid also ungodly companions.
2. A few exhortationsfounded upon the fact that your future life may be expected to correspond with the habits formed in youth.

(1.) Accustom yourselves to consider your accountability to God. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth; and think that for the sins and habits of your youth He will require an account in the day of judgment. (2.) Study the Sacred Book by which your future should be directed.

(3.) Decide early in favour of religion. This will be the best security from the evils to which you will surely be exposed. It will equip you to be useful in life. It will ensure your future happiness. It will prepare you for death. There is another world beyond the present.Old MS.

Jer. 22:20-23. Theme: HASTENING DESOLATIONS.

Judah and Jerusalem, spoken to as an individual, appear in a threefold character.
i. Very haughty in the day of peace and safety (Jer. 22:21). It is common for those who live at ease to live in contempt of the Word of God. This is so much the worse because it is habitualthy manner from thy youth.

ii. Very timorous at the alarms of trouble (Jer. 22:20). When thy lovers, idols and foreign alliances, fail thee, thou wilt ascend the mountains and cry for help (Jer. 22:20); but all in vain (Jer. 22:22).

iii. Very tame under the heavy and lasting pressures of trouble (Jer. 22:22). Ashamed and confounded, &c. Many will never be ashamed of their sins till they are brought by them to their last extremity. She was proud and self-secure in her prosperity (Jer. 22:23), made her nest in cedars: but in her humiliation she will promise God to be humble and amend her ways: how gracious wilt thou be, &c.Henry.

Jer. 22:24. Theme: THE PUNISHMENT OF THE IMPENITENT.

Such punishment is both(a) inevitable: (b) justifiable.

I. Awful instances in which God has verified this declaration.

1. The apostate angels. 2. Our first parents. 3. Destruction of mankind by the Flood. 4. The children of Israel. 5. Moses, David, the disobedient prophet. 6. The death of Christ as mans substitute.

II. Reasons which support this declaration.

1. Not a disposition to give pain: nor a desire for revenge. 2. It is the nature and tendency of sin to produce misery.Payson.

Theme: WOE TO CONIAH.

Here, in this malediction, the prophet describes Jehoiachin under three similes:

I. A signet plucked from Gods hand. A signet was like the great seal of England, the badge of office. It meant the loss of kingship and royal authority.

1. Plucked off by God Himself (Jer. 22:24). So that God by special action renounces this godless king.

2. Handed over to the Chaldean tyrant (Jer. 22:25). Thus God puts him, entirely separated from Himself, into the power of Nebuchadnezzar; without God in the worldgiven over to the foe!

Zerubbabel, Gods servant, the nephew of Jeconiah, was made by God as a signet (comp. Hag. 2:23; see also Gen. 41:42; 1Ki. 21:8; Est. 3:10; Est. 8:2; Dan. 6:17; 2Ti. 2:19; Rev. 7:3; Rev. 9:4).

Jeconiah was a signet, but plucked and cast away. After only three months reign, he was carried captive to Babylon.

Thus God can put down the mighty from their seats, and exalt them of low degree (Luk. 1:51-53).

II. A cherished idol despised (Jer. 22:28). Coniah was once idolised by the Jews; and great things had been expected of him. Indeed it was hoped he would frustrate the Chaldean power, avert or bring back Judah from the Chaldean captivity, and thus falsify Jeremiahs sad prediction.

He had also been exalted by Jehovah as king of Gods favoured and covenant people.

Henry states these facts thus:

1. Time was when he was dignified, almost deified. But now that he is deposed, he is despised. What is unjustly honoured will be justly contemned; and rivals with God will be the scorn of men.

2. Time was when he was delighted in. But now he is a vessel in which is no pleasure, because either out of fashion or unserviceable. Those whom God has no pleasure in will some time or other be so mortified that men will have no pleasure in them (see Psa. 21:13; Hos. 8:8).

III. A king deprived of posterity (Jer. 22:30). Jeconiah was not literally childless (comp. Jer. 22:28 : his seed, 1Ch. 3:17-18; Mat. 1:12); but was to be written lineally childless. Messiah was only lineally descended from Jeconiah through Joseph, who though His legal was not His real father. The succession to the throne failed in his line: nevertheless, the promise to David (Psa. 89:30-37) was revived in Zerubbabel, and consummated in Christ.

The king who succeeded Jeconiah was his uncle Zedekiah, and with him the Hebrew monarchy as a visible institution was destroyed.

See Addenda: WRITTEN CHILDLESS.

Eusebius, the historian (Eccles. Hist. iii. 20), says, Jeconiah was the last king of Davids line. His uncle indeed actually reigned after him, but perished with his sons long before Jeremiahs death (chap. Jer. 52:10). In the legal genealogies Salathiel (Heb. Shealtiel), who was descended from David through his son Nathan, is counted as his son, but neither he nor Zerubbabel prospered so as to sit on Davids throne. And gradually their descendants became so insignificant as to be but a cut-down tree (Isa. 11:1), and a dry ground (Isa. 53:2). When from this uncrowned lineage Christ had come, and the growing strength of Christianity had aroused the jealous fears of Domitian, he caused a search to be made for the descendants of David; but when they were brought before him, they proved to be such simple country people that he despised them and let them go.

1. From so proud an ancestor no descendant of note ever rose upon the notice of history.
2. Yet from a family so utterly fallen, came the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jer. 22:29. Theme: MISSIONARY SERMON. GODS CALL TO THE WORLD.

Judah would not heed or believe Gods message (Jer. 22:19); so God appeals to the world to record His denunciations and watch their fulfilment. The treble repetition of earth emphasises the appeal: it is therefore urgent that earth should hear Gods Word. The repetition is also an intensitive form, and expresses Gods earnestness in making this call to earth.

I. The whole wide earth engages Gods solicitude.

1. As His creative product. He formed the world; and peopled it.

2. As His undivided possession. Satan may deem himself god of this world, but it is only a temporary and delusive occupancy. The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. All souls are Mine.

3. As the sphere of His benignant rule. He works not locally, in limited territories, bounded by narrow geographical lines: but over the wide world His Providence works. As wide as the light of His sun floods, &c., so is His rule. He doeth according to His will among the inhabitants of the world. The nations are but as a drop in the bucket, &c. None overlooked. There is not an isolated spot on earth where God has not worked, adorning it with life and beauty.

4. The whole round world is mans sphere of being. And His delights are with the sons of men. This is regardless of national divisions. God hath made of one blood all the nations for to dwell upon the earth.

5. God is intent on making the entire globe the theatre of His most glorious reign. The uttermost parts of the earth are to share in His glory. All men shall be blessed in Him, and all nations call Him blessed.

II. To the whole wide earth God addresses His messages.

1. Under Old Testament dispensations there were world-wide communications which overleaped the restrictions of Judaism. The Jews would have kept Jehovah to themselves, and all His revelations. But many grand truths were gathered into the Mosaic code, the Jewish Scriptures, which were for all people. The Sabbath was not for the Jews alone, but a law for all nations and all time. Gods character declared on Sinai was a revelation for every one. His words of mercy to sinners, Come, let us reason together, Let the wicked forsake his way, &c., were without any Jewish limitation. In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him (Act. 10:34-35).

2. Prior to the Gospel, God gathered the whole world into His love. The Gospel but expressed that love. He so loved that He gave His Son. Glad fact that the love of God is older than the Incarnation. It is everlasting loveuniversal love.

3. Jesus Christ proclaimed the universal religion. Gods message to sinners. Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.

4. In Gods revelations there is adaptation to and provision for the whole earth. Warnings: counsels: invitations: pleadings: promises.

Enough for each, enough for all.

III. Over the whole wide earth His Word is to be proclaimed.

1. By human lips. Jeremiah is the speaker. Men who know the Word of the Lord must tell it.

2. With impassioned earnestness. Pleading and appealing. O earth, earth, earth! Enthusiasm should impel us.

3. With restless urgency. Not holding our peace day or night, we that make mention of the Lord.

4. With dauntless persistency. Men will not heed the first crythen cry again; O earth, earth, EARTH!

5. With universal fulness. Tell a Gospel which is unto all people, to all people; till every soul shall know the joyful sound: till Christ is Lord indeed.

See also Noticeable Topics: GODS VOICE TO MAN.

NOTICEABLE TOPICS IN CHAPTER 22
Topic: WAR THEME: GRIEF FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GONE AWAY TO WAR. (Jer. 22:10.)

For those who, as soldiers or seamen, have left their native country, there is more occasion to mourn than for the quiet dead.
Notice some of the TEMPTATIONS, TRIALS, and DANGERS to which they are exposed.

I. Temptations to vice, which meet those who leave virtuous homes and enter the camp or the ship of war. They may have been the children of many prayers, &c. But away from home restraintsthe scoffers jest, licentious inducements, the gambling table, allure them from Bible-reading, Sabbath reverence, &c., and they go down to graves of infamy and woe. Of how many such is it true, that

Doubly dying, they go down
To the vile dust from whence they sprang,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.

II. Exposure to sickness and death, when far removed from home and those who love them. It may be easy to die in battle where the spirit is stirred to a courageous madness, and

Fame is there to tell who bleeds,
And Honours eyes on daring deeds.

But to waste away by sickness through exposure to drenching rains and deadly climate, to be crushed or mangled by a blow, and left to rude attentions until death ends all!

III. Ponder the horrors of captivity to which battles expose soldiers and sailors. The crowded prison-cell, scanty food and drink, fiend-like foes, and sufferings and cruelties inflicted on the conquered: from such horrors we turn away in bitter indignation and anguish; feeling and saying

O judgment! thou hast fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!

IV. The horrors of the battle-field. Truly, every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood. The maimed and mangled left to bleed and die! Or turn to naval battles, where are bursting shells, shattered masts, gory decks, shrieks of anguish, and heaps of slain!

V. Brutalising effect of war on soldiers. What secret theft, open and violent robbery, the outrages on virtue and humanity, now abandoned to the heat of passion, to unbridled lust, &c.

Such is war: cruel and relentless, with hands of violence and eyes of flaming rage, with gory locks and crimson banners, &c. The rejoicing of nations for victories won is mingled with the wail of the widow, the cry of the orphan, the anguish of parents bereaved.
All this should constrain us to
1. Do all we can for the spiritual good of our army and navy. Succour them with all bodily comforts amid the miseries of battle, but write them personal letters when we can, and also send them messengers and ministers of sacred truth.

2. Pray for them that God may restrain them from temptations and lead them as good soldiers of the Cross to triumph over their spiritual foes. Thus, should they die, we may hope they would gain the victors crown of life on high.

The more we do for the spiritual good of our national defenders the sooner may we hope for enduring national peace, and for the coming years of universal peace: when

No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered oer,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in the ploughshare end.

Rev. Charles Rockwell, New York, 1864.

Topic: GODS VOICE TO MAN. O earth, hear the word of the Lord (Jer. 22:29).

The Bible is the Word of God, and every man is interested in its contents. It is Gods own message to His own worlda message transparent with light and warm with love. It brings, as we believe, its own evidence of its truth, the credentials of its Divine original in every pagefor the best argument in favour of the Bible is the Book itselfin the grandeur of its doctrines, in the purity of its precepts, in the richness of its promises; in the faithfulness of its warnings, and above all in its complete adaptation to the state and condition of guilty man; revealing as it does an atoning sacrifice and a sanctifying Spirit, a sacrifice worthy of God to accept, and equal to the salvation of a fallen world. The evidences of this religion, sustained as they have been by MIRACLE and by PROPHECY, have been sufficient to satisfy the keenest inquiry of the wisest and best of men, and to guide countless myriads in their path to heaven, who, living, have owned its power, and dying, have rejoiced in its grace. We may go round to all the varieties of this worlds population and say, O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord, assured of finding a ready echo and response in every honest and penitent mind. The great doctrine this text contains is the importance of listening to the Bible as the voice of God. Hear the Word.

I. Specify some respects in which we should hear Gods voice.

1. In the still small voice of heavenly mercy.

This threefold adjuration supposes great indifference, great reluctance on mans part to listen to Gods voice of mercy. We might well ask, Are the inhabitants of the world dead or deaf that God calls the cold and barren earth to listen to His Word when man would not?
The Gospel itself, though it proclaims peace on earth and goodwill to man, is coldly regarded. How striking that announcement of the angels, unto you is born a Saviour; to you MEN, not to US ANGELS. There was no olive branch in their deluge: no brazen serpent in their rebellious camp: no city of refuge in all their courts: no star of Bethlehem in their sky: no mighty to save travailed in the greatness of His strength on their behalf. When angels sinned, justice took its own unfettered course; but when Adam fell, a Saviour was provided.

From heaven the sinning angels fell,
And wrath and vengeance chained them down;
But man, vile man, forsook his bliss,
And mercy lifts him to a crown.

It is under this last best dispensation of heavenly truth and grace that we are living. O listen to the still small voice of eternal mercy.
2. In the loud thunder of Gods providential dispensation.

God calls attention to the overthrow of Judea and its monarchy. It is, therefore, to the crash of falling thrones and of extinguished dynasties that God appeals, to teach His people that sin is a great destroyer; for wherever guilt reigns, the pale angel of retribution is sure to follow. The Bible is the interpreter of Providence, and Providence is the best interpreter of the Bible. The Jews have a saying, That God spake as truly to Israel by His ten plagues in Egypt, as He did by His ten words on Sinai. We are exhorted to hear the Rod and Him that appointed it; and we are sure that, sooner or later, they who will not hear His voice in His WORD, must be made to feel the weight of His ROD.

3. In your personal and relative afflictions, God speaks and demands a hearing.

The various methods in which God meets with man and causes solemn warnings to affect the heart, form a striking part of His procedure; and every such appeal rejected will constitute a fearful item in our last account. God has been no niggard in His communications, and has studied economy in nothing so little as in the impressions and convictions He conveys to the guilty conscience. Men are met, day by day, in their business, in their families, in their public walks, in their private retirements, in the exchange of merchandise, in the temple of religion, with warning voices and monitions, of which God is the immediate author. In every family affliction, in every sudden death, in every instance of wounded affection, or disappointed ambition, or ruined hope, and in the overwhelming dismay created by the prospect of poverty on the one hand, or by the removal from our side of those upon whose right arm we leaned, God comes very near to us, and seems to say in accents we cannot misunderstand, Now I will be seen; now I will make Myself heard. God speaks to us from the grave of a friend; from the cradle of a child; from the death of an enemy; and from the great changes and losses always going on in the troubled theatre of human affairs, The Lords voice crieth unto the city, in every variety of accent, O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord.

It has often been remarked that in the time of the great plague in Florence, in Venice, and in London, those who escaped became more dissipated and abandoned to evil than ever, acting upon the libertine sentiment, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Affliction where it does not soften, only hardens the more.

4. In the ample promises and encouragements addressed to returning penitents.

To humble the sinner and to exalt the Saviour is the leading design of the whole Record, but it is the death of the sin and not the death of the soul that God contemplates. Truly the case of the long-hardened sinner is mournful and hazardous, but it is not either remediless or desperate, seeing that there is a great sacrifice provided for sin, and an all-sufficient Saviour revealed in the Gospel.

Yet think not that repentance and faith, important as they are in the order of means, can be in any sense the meritorious conditions of salvation. This were to put those things in Christs stead, which are only the stepping-stones in our way to Him. It is not the virtue of our believing, but the merit of Him in whom we believe that avails for acceptance and pardon.

Nor is it to the strength of our faith merely that the promise is made, but to the reality of it. The weak hand of a child may hold that precious pearl which worlds want wealth to buy; and faith which is as a grain of mustard-seed has power to remove mountains.

Come, upon the strength of His own invitation: or let urgent and desperate necessity be your warrant, for you must perish if you stay away. Let the acceptance which others have found induce you to come; for their experience is your encouragement. Let the wonders of His redemptive work urge your footsteps towards His throne. Return to Me, for I have redeemed thee. Every leaf of His Book has a voice to say RETURN. All the threatenings and all the promises say RETURN; all His judgments and all His mercies say RETURN. The whole intelligent universe would seem to have but one voice. Voices from heaven and voices from hell say RETURN. If the redemption of the soul be precious, RETURN. If the terrors of hell be awful, if the joys of heaven be attractive, RETURN. O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord.

II. Enumerate some reasons why the whole earth is interested in these communications.

i. Because the Gospel shows the only plan of salvation.

ii. Because the progressive improvement and advancement of the race is connected with this message.

Christian nations have been distinguished by intelligence. The spirit of science rests solely with them: in dark ages it burnt in secret. Since the Reformation the progression of knowledge has been constant. In the East the mind has lost somewhat of its capacity and power. In the West, under the auspices of Christianity, men appear to have attained a vigour in intellectual exertions. An impregnable barrier is fixed against the return of general ignorance and barbarism.
iii. Because the success of missionary work shows the practicability of diffusing it.

iv. Because the signs of the times are in direct accord with the promises of God.

Samuel Thodey.

ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 22 ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS

Jer. 22:10. WEEP NOT FOR THE DEAD.

Weep not for the dead, i.e., of Jehoiakim, who died on the road when taken captive.

Weep for him that goeth away, i.e., Jehoiachin, who was a prisoner thirty-seven years, and ultimately died in captivity.

The prophet says they should not weep for Jehoiakim, for he died at once, a death common to mortals, but should weep for Jehoiachin, because he lingered in wretchedness and dishonour, and never returned to his beloved country.
So enlarging on the evils of the Captivity, he would not have them weep for the warriors of the house of David who had died in honourable conflicts, and who had slept in sepulchres of their ancestors, but for those who had been taken captive, and died away from home.
The ancients in the Gemara say, Weep not for the deadthat is immoderately: three days are allowed for weeping; on the seventh the obsequies are performed; after which they dress not showily, but shave and anoint. But weep for him that goeththat is, childless. Our sages apply this moral, that in our feelings we should combine nature with Scripture; meaning, feel as mortals, but with moderation as Israelites, to whom it was forbidden to indulge in the excesses of the heathen, and who might hope to meet at the resurrection of the dead.

The ancients apply it to Abram and Esau (Gen. 25:34). Esau coming in, saw Jacob cooking lentilesasking why? For their grandfather, Abram, said Jacob, it being food for mourners. Esau said, Is it possible that upright man was included in the pain of death? Then there is no reward nor resurrection, and he resolved to sell his birthright as useless benefit. Weep not for dead, i.e., Abram; but for him that goeth, i.e., Esau, who went and despised his primogeniture. Conciliator: By R. M. BEN ISRAEL (E. H. Linto.)

Vide Kittos Daily Readings: ISAIAH AND THE PROPHETS, on this verse.

Jer. 22:13. COVETOUSNESS. Some men are so covetous, as if they were to live for ever; and others so profuse, as if they were to die the next moment.Aristotle.

The covetous man lives as if the world were made altogether for him, and not he for the world, to take in everything and part with nothing.South.

The covetous man pines in plenty, like Tantalus up to the chin in water and yet thirsty.Adams.

BUILDETH BY UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. Such injurious and therefore accursed builders were the pyramid-makers in Egypt. Tarquinius Priscus, Caligula, Nero, Phocas, who is said to have heard this voice of heavenThough thou shouldst erect thine edifice as high as heaven, yet sin that lieth at the foundation will soon overturn all. Bernard inveigheth against some in his time who did with great care and cost (erigere muros, negligere moros) build high manors, but not amend their manners.Trapp.

Jer. 22:19. BURIAL OF AN ASS. He who had such a stately house in Jerusalem should not have a grave to house his carcase in. Our Richard III., for his exactions to maintain a great court and favourites, lost his kingdom, was starved to death at Pomfret Castle, and scarce afforded common burial. King Stephen was interred in Faversham monastery, but since, his body, for the gain of the lead wherein it was coffined, was cast into the river. Let great ones so live as that they meet not in the end with the death of a dog, the burial of an ass, and the epitaph of an ox, such as Aristotle calleth that of Sardanapalus , &c.Trapp.

THE SINNERS BURIAL.

Wrapt in a Christless shroud,

He sleeps a Christless sleep;

Above him the eternal cloud,

Beneath, the fiery deep.

Laid in a Christless tomb,

There bound with felon-chain,

He waits the terrors of his doom,

The judgment and the pain.

O Christless shroud, how cold!

How dark, O Christless tomb!

O grief that never can grow old!

O endless, hopeless doom.

O Christless sleep, how sad!

What waking shalt thou know?

For thee no star, no dawning glad,

Only the lasting woe!

To rocks and hills in vain

Shall be the sinners call;

O day of wrath, and death, and pain,

The lost souls funeral!

O Christless soul, awake,

Ere thy last sleep begin!

O Christ, the sleepers slumbers break;

Burst Thou the bands of sin.

Bonar.

Jer. 22:21. PROSPERITY. It is the bright day that brings out the adder. Too much sail is dangerous.Common Proverbs.

No sooner does the warm aspect of good fortune shine, than all the plans of virtue, raised like a beautiful frostwork in the winter of adversity, thaw and disappear.Warburton.

Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament. [How many eminent saints from being poor grew rich, as Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel.] Adversity is the blessing of the New Testament. [As we see in Peter, James, John, Paul, &c.].Lord Bacon.

What shall I come to, father, said a young man, if I go on prospering in this way? To the grave, replied the father.

Men are usually best when worst, and worst when best; like the snake which being frozen lieth quiet and still, but waxing warm, stirreth and stingeth. It is as hard to bear prosperity as to drink much wine and not be giddy. In rest we contract rust.Trapp.

Who feels no ills

Should therefore fear them; and, when fortune smiles,
Be doubly cautious, lest destruction come
Remorseless on him, and he fall unpitied.

Sophocles.

More ships in calms on a deceitful coast,
Or unseen rocks, than in high storms, are lost.

Denham.

Behold, Sir Balham, now a man of spirit,
Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit;
What late he called a blessing, now was wit,
And Gods good Providence a lucky hit.
Things change their titles as their manners turn:
His counting house employed the Sabbath morn:
Seldom at church (twas such a busy life),
But duly sent his family and wife.Pope.

Jer. 22:30. WRITTEN CHILDLESS. As to succession in the royal dignity as well as to success in his reign. This God would have to be writtenput upon public record for the use of posterity. Our chronicles tell us of John Dudley, that great Duke of Northumberland in King Edward VI.s days, who endeavoured by all means to engrand his posterity, reaching at the crown also, which cost him his head; that though he had six sons, all men, all married, yet none of them left any issue behind them. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; serve the Lord with fear.Trapp.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

B. General Remarks Regarding the Royal House

Jer. 22:1-9

TRANSLATION

(1) Thus says 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, who sits upon the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. (3) Thus says the LORD: Execute justice and righteousness and deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor. And do not oppress or do violence to the stranger, orphan or widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (4) For if you completely comply with this commandment, then kings sitting in Davids stead shall pass through the gates of this house riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants and his people. (5) But if you do not hearken to these words, I swear by Myself (oracle of the LORD) that this house shall become a desolation. (6) For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: A Gilead are you to Me, the top of Lebanon! Surely I will make you a wilderness, as cities uninhabited. (7) And I will appoint against you destroyers each man and his weapons; and they shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them upon the fire. (8) And many nations shall pass by this city; and they will say one to another, Why did the LORD deal with this great city in this manner? (9) Then they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and they bowed down to other gods and served them.

COMMENTS

At some point during the reign of Jehoiakim God sent Jeremiah to the house of the king with an oracle directed to the royal family (Jer. 22:1). In this oracle Jeremiah stresses the obligations of the royal house (Jer. 22:2-3) and promises that if these obligations are met then the dynasty of David would continue (Jer. 22:4). But if the words of God are ignored then the nation is doomed to destruction (Jer. 22:5-9).

1. Obligations (Jer. 22:2-3)

The king and princes who passed through the gates of the palace each day may have been the lineal descendants of David but they certainly were not his spiritual descendants. They were not men after Gods own heart nor were they amenable to the rebuke of a prophet. With Nathan-like boldness Jeremiah meets the king on his own ground to deliver to him the word of the Lord (Jer. 22:2). Under the old covenant theocracy the laws of the state were the laws of God. The king was responsible for enforcing those laws and establishing social justice in the land. Specifically the king was to be the defender of the poor and the helpless. But under the tyrant Jehoiakim, the Solomon of the last days of Judah, the people were being ruthlessly oppressed through governmental taxation in order that the king might undertake lavish building projects. (see Jer. 22:13 ff.). Jeremiah cries out the necessity for the king to cease oppressing the helpless ones of societythe strangers, orphans and widows. Other nations looked with suspicion on strangers but the Bible teaches tolerance for those of other nationalities. Jeremiah also demands in the name of his God that Jehoiakim cease his violence and the shedding of innocent blood (Jer. 22:3). That innocent blood was shed during this period is evident from case of Uriah the prophet who was executed because he spoke out against the king. Jeremiah was putting his life on the line when he preached this sermon at the gates of the royal palace!

2. Promise (Jer. 22:4)

To his list of royal obligations Jeremiah adds a promise which he has previously made (see Jer. 17:25). If the monarch will only heed the message of the prophet the Davidic line will continue to reign in Jerusalem. The king and his servants and attendants would continue to pass through the gate of the palace even as they were doing while Jeremiah spoke these words.

3. Threat (Jer. 22:1-9)

If the royal family chooses to reject their obligations then the most dire punishments will befall Jerusalem. Because He could sware by no greater, God swears by Himself[218] that the royal dwelling of the king of Judah would become desolate (Jer. 22:5). Because of the height of this building and because it was constructed from cedar-wood the prophet calls it figuratively Gilead . the top of Lebanon. Both Gilead and Lebanon were noted in antiquity for their stately forests. Such forests were often denuded in time of war to provide fuel and weapons for an attacking army. So God would bring destruction upon the kingdom of Judah, making that land a virtual wilderness (Jer. 22:6). The divinely appointed destroyers will take their weapons and cut down the choice cedars of the land i.e., the princes and leaders of the nation (Jer. 22:7). Foreigners who pass by the ruins of Jerusalem will ask one another why the Lord has dealt with the once proud city in this manner (Jer. 22:8). They will rightly conclude that the destruction has come upon the land because the people of the Lord forsook their covenant with Him and worshiped other gods (Jer. 22:9). Jeremiah is definitely influenced in these last two verses by Deu. 29:23 ff.

[218] The same expression occurs in Jer. 49:13; Gen. 22:16; and Isa. 45:23. A similar expression occurs in Amo. 6:8 and Jer. 51:14.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

XXII.

(1) Thus saith the Lord . . .The message, delivered in continuation of Jeremiah 21, and therefore probably as following up the answer to the messengers of Zedekiah (Jer. 21:1), reviews the history of the three preceding reigns, and apparently reproduces the very words of the warnings which he had uttered in each to the king who then ruled, and which had been but too terribly fulfilled. It was delivered, we are told, in the very palace of the king.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

AN EXHORTATION TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, Jer 22:1-9.

1. Go down From the temple to the king’s house. See 2Ch 23:20; Jer 26:10; Jer 36:12.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The One Who Sits On The Throne Of David Is Called On To Ensure Justice And Freedom From Oppression For His People, Something Which If Accomplished Will Result In His Triumph, But Accompanied By The Warning Of The Consequences If He Does Not ( Jer 22:1-9 ).

Once again we have a general vague reference to the son of David, this time as ‘the one who sits on the throne of David’. We are thus presumably to see that it applies to all the sons of David to whom Jeremiah will refer, and this is especially so as at the end of this chapter he refers to Shallum/Jehoahaz, the one who succeeded directly after Josiah, as being in recent memory. We do not therefore have to ask which son of David of the house of Josiah he is intending to refer to. The answer is ‘all of them’.

Jer 22:1

“Thus says YHWH, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,”

Jeremiah probably took this trip to each of the sons of David in their palaces as they ascended the throne, first Jehoahaz, then Jehoiakim, then Jehoiachin and then Zedekiah, although he probably did not receive an effusive welcome from any of them. But he was ‘going down’ to the king’s house, presumably from the Temple, to speak the word of YHWH so that his own feelings had to be ignored. It was necessary that each should receive their warning. It will in fact be noted that some of the ideas are paralleled in Jer 1:12 (see Jer 22:3), and some of them in Jer 17:25 (see Jer 22:4). They were thus repeated more than once.

Jer 22:2

“And say, Hear the word of YHWH, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.”

These words are typical of what we might expect from a prophet of YHWH giving a coronation speech or as an official exhortation soon afterwards. They call on the one who, as king of Judah, has now taken the throne of David and will be sitting on it, that is, will continue ruling from it from then on, along with his courtiers and his people, to listen to the word of YHWH. Their failure to respond adequately to his words was probably the first step in their designation as ‘those who had done evil in the eyes of YHWH’, that is, as having no intention of commencing reforms. ‘These gates’ probably refers to the gates of the palace complex.

Jer 22:3

“Thus says YHWH, deliver you justice and righteousness, and save him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

His initial words are very similar to the opening exhortation in Jer 21:13. The representative of the house of David is called on by YHWH to ‘deliver (ensure the carrying out of) justice and righteousness to his people during his reign, and to save/deliver the one who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor’. The word used here for delivering justice is a different one from that in Jer 21:13. In Jer 21:13 it was a technical legal word requiring justice in the king’s court, here it is a more general word seeking justice and righteousness at all times. Furthermore he is to avoid all wrong, and is especially to prevent violent treatment of resident aliens, and those without parents or husbands, who because they had no one else to defend them were always of great concern to YHWH. It was always the sign of a great king that he was concerned for and took an interest in the weak and helpless, and one example of this is the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon a thousand years before, a king who was powerful enough to be able to show concern for the defenceless with no influence. Finally the son of David was to prevent the spilling of innocent blood. This would include both the innocent victims offered to Molech, and the faithful worshippers of YHWH who would be a target of the rich and powerful. When a king’s rule was not firm and just, people began to take the law into their on hands.

Jer 22:4

“For if you do this thing indeed, then will 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.”

And if they did walk in accordance with YHWH’s instructions then the dynasty of David would continue, and it would continue in splendour. The idea is not that they will enter the palace or the Temple literally sitting on a portable throne, riding in a chariot, and astride a horse, but that the king will enter the palace or the Temple as one who, along with his courtiers and people, can do all three whenever he chooses because they are so plentiful, because of the affluence and strength of the country. On the other hand there may have been partly in mind a great cavalcade of chariots and horsemen sweeping in splendid procession in through the gates of the palace into the large palace complex. The ‘gates of this house’ may in this case refer either to the king’s palace or to the Temple.

Jer 22:5

“But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, the word of YHWH, that this house will become a desolation.”

A warning is then given in a most solemn way (YHWH swears by Himself, because He has no greater to swear by) of what the consequence will be of not hearing and responding to YHWH’s words. The consequence will be that ‘this house (either the palace or the Temple) will become a desolation’. The fact that the destruction of the Temple was an important factor to Jeremiah may suggest that that is what is in mind here. For the idea of YHWH ‘swearing by Himself’ compare Jer 49:13; Jer 51:14; Gen 22:16; Isa 45:23; Amo 6:8.

Jer 22:6

“For thus says YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah,

You are Gilead to me,

The head of Lebanon,

Surely I will make you a wilderness,

Cities which are not inhabited.

YHWH then declares concerning the kings of Judah that, ‘You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon.’ Gilead was a very fruitful place and the oaks of Bashan in Gilead famous for their strength and growth. The head of Lebanon would probably be the mountain top covered with cedars. Thus YHWH is declaring how splendid the son of David and his people are in His sight. He treasures each one and looks for great things from them. He expects them to be fruitful. Thus ‘if they do these things’ (Jer 22:4) then He will watch over them and protect them as a treasured possession, and they will be fruitful. But in contrast, if they do not hear His words, He will make them into a wilderness, and the cities of his kingdom will be bared of inhabitants. They will become ghost towns.

Jer 22:7

“And I will prepare (literally ‘sanctify’) destroyers against you,

Every one with his weapons,

And they will cut down your choice cedars,

And cast them into the fire.”

Indeed He will raise up a holy war against them. He will ‘sanctify’ destroyers against them, those who are set apart by Him for the purpose of carrying out His judgment (compare Isa 13:3). They will arrive fully armed, and they will cut down his choice cedars and cast them into the fire. All at the behest of YHWH. ‘His choice cedars’ may refer to the house of the forest of Lebanon with its multitude of cedar supports, together with his other cedar palaces, or may have in mind his courtiers and his mighty men seen as proud cedars, or indeed both. The thought is that all that is best will be lost.

Jer 22:8

“And many nations will pass by this city,

And they will say every man to his neighbour,

Why has YHWH done thus,

To this great city?”

That ‘his choice cedars’ certainly includes his palaces and the many large buildings in the city comes out in the aftermath, for many nations will pass by the ruined city and will say to each other, “Why has YHWH done this to this great city?”. Compare for this Deu 29:24-26.

Jer 22:9

“Then they will answer,

Because they forsook the covenant of YHWH their God,

And worshipped other gods,

And served them.

And the answer will come that it was because they had forsaken the covenant of YHWH their God, and because they had worshipped other gods and had served them. The questioners will acknowledge the uniqueness of YHWH as the One Who demands that He alone should be worshipped, for had such a question been asked of any other nation’s city this would not have been the answer, for as long as their own ritual was satisfactorily maintained, such gods would not have minded their worshippers also worshipping other gods. Indeed they would (theoretically) have expected it. Thus the questioners are seen to be more believing that Judah.

So the emphasis once again is on the importance of their genuinely observing the covenant, and on the importance of their not worshipping other gods and ‘serving’ them, that is, maintaining their ritual requirements. That was also the significance of observing the Sabbath in Jer 17:19-27.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 1. An Overall Description Of Jeremiah’s Teaching Given In A Series Of Accumulated, Mainly Undated, Prophecies, Concluding With Jeremiah’s Own Summary Of His Ministry ( Jer 2:4 to Jer 25:38 ).

From this point onwards up to chapter 25 we have a new major section (a section in which MT and LXX are mainly similar) which records the overall teaching of Jeremiah, probably given mainly during the reigns of Josiah (Jer 3:6) and Jehoiakim, although leading up to the days of Zedekiah (Jer 21:1). While there are good reasons for not seeing these chapters as containing a series of specific discourses as some have suggested, nevertheless they can safely be seen as giving a general overall view of Jeremiah’s teaching over that period, and as having on the whole been put together earlier rather than later. The whole commences with the statement, ‘Hear you the word of YHWH O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel, thus says YHWH —.’ It is therefore directed to Israel as a whole, mainly as now contained in the land of Judah to which many northerners had fled for refuge. We may divide up the main subsections as follows, based partly on content, and partly on the opening introductory phrases:

1. ‘Hear you the word of YHWH, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel —’ (Jer 2:4). YHWH commences by presenting His complaint against Israel/Judah because they have failed to continue to respond to the love and faithfulness that He had demonstrated to them in the wilderness and in the years that followed, resulting by their fervent addiction to idolatry in their losing the water of life in exchange for empty cisterns. It ends with a plea for them to turn back to Him like an unfaithful wife returning to her husband. This would appear to be mainly his initial teaching in his earliest days, indicating even at that stage how far, in spite of Josiah’s reformation, the people as a whole were from truly obeying the covenant, but it also appears to contain teaching given in the days of Jehoiakim, for which see commentary (Jer 2:4 to Jer 3:5).

2. ‘Moreover YHWH said to me in the days of King Josiah –’ (Jer 3:6). This section follows up on section 1 with later teaching given in the days of Josiah, and some apparently in the days of Jehoiakim. He gives a solemn warning to Judah based on what had happened to the northern tribes (‘the ten tribes’) as a result of their behaviour towards YHWH, facing Judah up to the certainty of similar coming judgment if they do not amend their ways, a judgment that would come in the form of a ravaged land and exile for its people. This is, however, intermingled with a promise of final blessing and further pleas for them to return to YHWH, for that in the end is YHWH’s overall purpose. But the subsection at this time ends under a threat of soon coming judgment (Jer 3:6 to Jer 6:30).

3. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 7:1). In this subsection Jeremiah admonishes the people about the false confidence that they have in the inviolability of the Temple, and in their sacrificial ritual, and warned that like Shiloh they could be destroyed. He accompanies his words with warnings that if they continued in their present disobedience, Judah would be dispersed and the country would be despoiled (Jer 7:1 to Jer 8:3). He therefore chides the people for their obstinacy in the face of all attempts at reformation (Jer 8:4 to Jer 9:21), and seeks to demonstrate to them what the path of true wisdom is, that they understand and know YHWH in His covenant love, justice and righteousness. In a fourfold comparison he then vividly brings out the folly of idolatry when contrasted with the greatness of YHWH. The section ends with the people knowing that they must be chastised, but hoping that YHWH’s full wrath will rather be poured out on their oppressors (Jer 9:22 to Jer 10:25).

4. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 11:1). He now deprecates their disloyalty to the covenant, and demonstrates from examples the total corruption of the people, revealing that as a consequence their doom is irrevocably determined (Jer 11:1 to Jer 12:17). The section closes with a symbolic action which reveals the certainty of their expulsion from the land (13).

5. ‘The word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah –’ (Jer 14:1). “The word concerning the drought,” gives illustrative evidence confirming that the impending judgment of Judah cannot be turned aside by any prayers or entreaties, and that because of their sins Judah will be driven into exile. A promise of hope for the future when they will be restored to the land is, however, once more incorporated (Jer 16:14-15) although only with a view to stressing the general judgment (Jer 14:1 to Jer 17:4). The passage then closes with general explanations of what is at the root of the problem, and lays out cursings and blessings and demonstrates the way by which punishment might be avoided by a full response to the covenant as evidenced by observing the Sabbath (Jer 17:5-27).

6. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 18:1). Chapters 18-19 then contain two oracles from God illustrated in terms of the Potter and his handiwork, which bring out on the one hand God’s willingness to offer mercy, and on the other the judgment that is about to come on Judah because of their continuance in sin and their refusal to respond to that offer. The consequence of this for Jeremiah, in chapter 20, is severe persecution, including physical blows and harsh imprisonment. This results in him complaining to YHWH in his distress, and cursing the day of his birth.

7. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 21:1). This subsection, which is a kind of appendix to what has gone before, finally confirming the hopelessness of Jerusalem’s situation under Zedekiah. In response to an appeal from King Zedekiah concerning Judah’s hopes for the future Jeremiah warns that it is YHWH’s purpose that Judah be subject to Babylon (Jer 21:1-10). Meanwhile, having sent out a general call to the house of David to rule righteously and deal with oppression, he has stressed that no hope was to be nurtured of the restoration of either Shallum, the son of Josiah who had been carried off to Egypt, nor of Jehoiachin (Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim who had been carried off to Babylon. In fact no direct heir of Jehoiachin would sit upon the throne. And the reason that this was so was because all the current sons of David had refused to respond to his call to rule with justice and to stamp down on oppression. What had been required was to put right what was wrong in Judah, and reign in accordance with the requirements of the covenant. In this had lain any hope for the continuation of the Davidic monarchy. But because they had refused to do so only judgment could await them. Note in all this the emphasis on the monarchy as ‘sons of David’ (Jer 21:12; Jer 22:2-3). This is preparatory to the mention of the coming glorious son of David Who would one day come and reign in righteousness (Jer 23:3-8).

Jeremiah then heartily castigates the false shepherds of Judah who have brought Judah to the position that they are in and explains that for the present Judah’s sinful condition is such that all that they can expect is everlasting reproach and shame (Jer 23:9 ff). The subsection then closes (chapter 24) with the parable of the good and bad figs, the good representing the righteous remnant in exile who will one day return, the bad the people who have been left in Judah to await sword, pestilence, famine and exile.

8. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah –’ (Jer 25:1). This subsection contains Jeremiah’s own summary, given to the people in a sermon, describing what has gone before during the previous twenty three years of his ministry. It is also in preparation for what is to follow. He warns them that because they have not listened to YHWH’s voice the land must suffer for ‘seventy years’ in subjection to Babylon, and goes on to bring out that YHWH’s wrath will subsequently be visited on Babylon, and not only on them, but on ‘the whole world’. For YHWH will be dealing with the nations in judgment, something which will be expanded on in chapters 46-51. There is at this stage no mention of restoration, (except as hinted at in the seventy year limit to Babylon’s supremacy), and the chapter closes with a picture of the final desolation which is to come on Judah as a consequence of YHWH’s anger.

While the opening phrase ‘the word that came from YHWH to Jeremiah’ will appear again in Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 34:8; Jer 35:1; Jer 40:1 it will only be after the sequence has been broken by other introductory phrases which link the word of YHWH with the activities of a particular king (e.g. Jer 25:1; Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 28:1) where in each case the message that follows is limited in length. See also Jer 29:1 which introduces a letter from Jeremiah to the early exiles in Babylon. Looking at chapter 25 as the concluding chapter to the first part, this confirms a new approach from Jer 26:1 onwards, (apparent also in its content), while at the same time demonstrating that the prophecy must be seen as an overall unity.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Subsection 7). Words Concerning Various Kings ( Jer 21:1 to Jer 24:10 ).

This subsection proceeds in logical sequence although not chronologically, and will centre on three special themes, firstly on the fact that all hope for Judah in the short term has now gone, secondly that the promises of the false prophets suggesting that any of the current sons of David will be restored to the throne are invalid, and thirdly that while final blessing ‘in coming days’ will truly be at the hands of a son of David, it is meanwhile to be stressed that that ‘son of David’ will not be one of the current regime.

The subsection commences by making clear that prior to the future coming of the exalted son of David the doom of Jerusalem under the present sons of David is certain and will unquestionably happen (echoes of Isaiah). Neither Zedekiah nor any of his current relations (Jehoahaz who had been taken to Egypt and Jehoiachin who had been taken to Babylon) are therefore to be seen as the hope of Judah/Israel.

The whole subsection may be summarised as follows:

A Jerusalem and Judah are unquestionably doomed under Zedekiah (Jer 21:1-10).

B Concerning the current sons of David. None of the current batch of ‘sons of David’ can be seen as presenting any hope for Israel. Uniquely over this period Judah had a plurality of kings. Initially Jehoahaz was hostage in Egypt with Jehoiakim reigning in Jerusalem, and this was followed by three ‘reigning’ kings, one held hostage in Egypt (Jehoahaz, although nothing is known of his fate), one reigning in Jerusalem as ‘regent’ (Zedekiah), and one who was still seen as king in Babylon, (Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah). But all of them are to be written off as presenting Judah with any hope (Jer 21:11 to Jer 22:30).

C In ‘the days that are coming’ YHWH will attend to the false rulers above and will intervene in the person of the coming Son of David, (the Righteous Shoot (Branch), ‘YHWH our righteousness’) who will rule righteously in YHWH’s Name (Jer 23:1-8).

B Concerning the current prophets. They are promising peace and that no harm will come to Judah, but they are not speaking in the Name of YHWH. There is no current hope for Judah and Jerusalem (Jer 23:9-40).

A The removal of Jehoiachin from Jerusalem has left it in the hands of second rate leaders, which includes their king (regent) Zedekiah, with the result that Jerusalem and its people are without hope and will certainly be destroyed (Jer 24:1-10).

It will be noted that the opening and closing passages form an inclusio based on the guaranteed fate of Jerusalem under Zedekiah. The inadequacy of the sons of David is paralleled by the inadequacy of the prophets (and priests). Central is the promise of the coming Son of David Who will introduce righteousness.

The question may well be asked, however, as to why Zedekiah is mentioned first rather than in the sequence in which the sons of David reigned, namely Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah. One clear answer to that question lies in the fact that Zedekiah was never sole ruler of Judah. When he died Jehoiachin was still in fact seen as king of Judah. Jeremiah is thus bringing out that Zedekiah was not even under consideration as the hope of Israel. He was a ‘bad fig’ (chapter 24). Furthermore to have placed Zedekiah after Jehoiachin would have been to ignore royal protocol and to suggest openly that Jehoiachin’s reign was over, something which would have caused great dissatisfaction in Judah.

There are in fact four reasons for putting the prophecy about Zedekiah first (quite apart from the coincidence of the name Pashhur):

1. It is intended to demonstrate that the final fulfilment of Jeremiah’s earlier prophecies will take place, regardless of the fact that the Son of David was coming, and was in order to explain why Jeremiah had had to undergo what he did as described in the previous chapter.

2. Had Zedekiah (‘YHWH is righteous’) been dealt with in chronological order, then he could have become confused in people’s minds with the coming of ‘the righteous branch’, ‘YHWH our righteousness’, as will be apparent subsequently. By dealing with him first any likelihood of confusion was avoided.

3. Strictly speaking it was Jehoiachin who was seen as the current reigning monarch, with Zedekiah merely acting as his regent in his absence. This was the position accepted both by the Babylonians, who still called Jehoiachin ‘King Yaukin of Yahuda’ on their ration lists, and in Judah where handles of vessels have been discovered coming from the final days of the city inscribed in the name of ‘Eliakim servant of Jehoiachin’ (and not ‘of Zedekiah’). This is further confirmed by the fact that Ezekiel dates his writings in terms of the exile of ‘King Jehoiachin’ (e.g. Eze 1:2). Zedekiah was seemingly simply seen in Judah as an appointee of Nebuchdrezzar rather than as the appointee of the people. His legitimacy was therefore always in doubt. So it would have been seen as fitting that Jehoiachin be presented as still the main feasible option from among the current choices to be the ‘coming Son of David’, and therefore as rightly finalising the list of options. To have presented the situation otherwise would have been seen as insulting.

4. The opening passage dealing with Zedekiah forms an inclusio with chapter Jer 24:1-10, for both deal with the final demise of Judah and Jerusalem. The intervening passages then justify and explain this coming assured judgment, while at the same time centring on Judah/Israel’s final hope. Thus by this inclusio it is made clear that Jer 21:11 to Jer 23:40 are intended to be viewed against the background of the final catastrophe which must necessarily come before there could be any possibility of restoration.

So in the initial chapter of this subsection the justification for Jeremiah having had to endure such affliction as was described in the previous chapter will first be made clear, for it confirms that such arduous continuing prophecy was necessary in the face of what was to be the future. Furthermore it describes the final ‘smashing of the vessel’ as portrayed in chapter 19, demonstrating that that came to fulfilment, and confirms the certainty of final Babylonian victory as previously asserted to an earlier Pashhur in chapter 20. Thus there were good reasons for putting Jer 21:1-10, which is so clearly out of order chronologically, immediately after chapters 19 & 20 connecting with what has gone before.

However, having initially emphasised the certainty of the doom that was coming on Zedekiah and Jerusalem the passage then goes back in time at Jer 21:11 to YHWH’s open offer of repentance to the one of the house of David (Jer 21:12) who sat on the throne of David (Jer 22:2) if only he, as king of Judah, would turn round in his ways, execute justice and fulfil the covenant (Jer 21:12; Jer 22:3), although even then it was with grave doubts about Judah’s willingness to repent. It is reasonable to see in this an open offer to all the sons of David who came to the throne during Jeremiah’s ministry, and indeed may have been specifically presented to each one by Jeremiah on his accession. In Jer 22:3 the same offer is repeated and accompanied by a promise of the certain triumph of the royal house (Jer 22:4) if only they will respond, but it is again followed by a warning of the consequences if they would not.

Following that Jeremiah then sets out to demolish the false hopes offered to the people by the false prophets. He makes clear that Shallum (Jehoahaz), appointed by the people as Josiah’s heir-apparent as the son of David, will not be returning from Egypt where he had been taken by Pharaoh Necho (Jer 22:10-12; compare 2Ki 23:31-35), and castigates the one who had been appointed in his place (Jehoiakim), because he did not follow in the ways of his father (Jer 22:15-16) and especially because he was crushing the people by his expansive building plans, with no intention of paying for the work that was done (Jer 22:13-17). For him there would only be an ignominious death (Jer 22:19). And finally he emphasises that they were not to look for the return of their reigning king Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) from Babylon (Jer 22:20-30; compare 2Ki 24:8-17), who, as we have seen above, was still officially looked on as king both in Babylon (he is described as King Yaukin in Babylonian ration lists) and in Judah. Jeremiah is making clear that while it was true (as earlier prophets had underlined) that Israel’s future hopes did remain with the house of David, and that they would also one day celebrate their deliverance from the north country, it would nevertheless only be after they had first been exiled (Jer 23:1-8), and it would not be by the false shepherds (rulers) who had wrecked the morals of Judah, and certainly not by someone from the house of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) (Jer 22:30). He then roundly turns on the prophets who were offering precisely those false hopes and completely disposes of them (Jer 23:9-40). Following that in chapter 24 he confirms that Judah’s future hopes do not rest with Zedekiah and his ilk, for while it was true that one day the good figs (those who will repent among the exiles) would return to the land, and be built and planted, and God will again be their God, they will not include the bad figs who were running Judah in the days of Zedekiah, who as already described in Jer 15:4 would be tossed about among all the kingdoms of the earth because of their evil, and who according to Jer 21:1-10 would undoubtedly suffer great devastation and be exiled. Thus Jer 21:1-10 and Jer 24:1-10 form an inclusio for the subsection, a subsection which both demonstrates that there was no point in looking to the current sons of David, and emphasises that one day there would be a son of David who would fulfil all their hopes.

Up to this point most of Jeremiah’s prophecies have not been openly attached to specific situations (Jer 3:6 being a partial exception), but it will be noted that from this point onwards in the narrative there is an undoubted change of approach. Whereas previously time references have been vague and almost non-existent, with the result that we cannot always be sure in whose reign they took place, Jeremiah now addresses his words to various kings, usually by name, and as we have seen the first example is Zedekiah who was the ‘king’ of Judah at the time when Jerusalem was taken for the second time and emptied of its inhabitants at the same time as the Temple was destroyed. This took place in 587 BC. By its very nature it could not have been a part of Jeremiah’s initial writing down of his earlier prophecies, for that was in the days of Jehoiakim, so that this part of chapters 2-25 must have been updated by him later. Furthermore from this point on Jeremiah will openly and constantly urge submission to the King of Babylon by name and title (although compare the first mention in Jer 20:4). On the other hand it will be noted that the subsection has been opened by the same formula as that used previously (contrast the marked change in formula in chapters 26-29) and this would appear to suggest therefore that these chapters are intended as a kind of appendix to chapters 1-20, illustrating them historically and confirming their message and its fulfilment.

To summarise. The subsection opens with the familiar words, ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (Jer 21:1). It then goes on to deal with Jeremiah’s response to an appeal from King Zedekiah concerning Judah’s hopes for the future in which he warns that it is YHWH’s purpose that Judah be subject to Babylon and that Judah’s doom is sealed. Meanwhile he warns that there is no hope of the restoration of Shallum (Jehoahaz) the son of Josiah or of Jehoiachin (Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim who had been carried off to Babylon.

He castigates the false shepherds (rulers) of Judah who have brought Judah to this position, but promises that one day YHWH will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a king Who will reign and prosper, and execute righteousness and justice. He will be called ‘YHWH our righteousness’. He then castigates the prophets. For the present Judah’s sinful condition is seen as such that all that Judah can expect is everlasting reproach and shame. The subsection then closes with the parable of the good and bad figs, the good representing the righteous remnant in exile (part of the cream of the population exiled to Babylon (2Ki 24:15-16) who were experiencing the ministry of Ezekiel) who will one day return, the bad the people who have been left in Judah to await sword, pestilence, famine and exile. Destitute of experienced leadership, and under a weak king-regent, they were unstable and too inexperienced to govern well, carrying Judah forward inexorably to its worst moment.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jer 22:30 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.

Jer 22:30 Word Study on “childless” Strong says the Hebrew word “childless” ( ) (H6185) means, “bare, i.e. destitute of children, childless.” The Enhanced Strong says it occurs 4 times in Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “childless 4.” Strong says this word comes from the primitive root ( ) (H6209), which literally means, “to bare,” and figuratively, “to demolish.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 4 times in Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “make bare 1, raise up 1, utterly 1, broken 1”.

Jer 22:30 Comments – Coniah is another name for Jehoiachin, found in Jer 22:24; Jer 22:28; Jer 37:1.

Jer 22:24-26, ““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; 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. 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.”

Jer 37:1, “And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim , whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.”

Since Coniah was the father of Shealtiel (Mat 1:12), how could he be made childless. John Gill cites older Jewish tradition that suggests Jechoiachin repented while in prison in Babylon and God then granted him posterity. A better suggestion is given by John Gill, who says that the broader use of the Hebrew word “childless” is more fitting in this verse, which Hebrew word “denotes not only such as have no children, or are bereft of them, but such as are by any providence stripped of the blessings of life, and are left bare, destitute, and unhappy, as Jechonias and his posterity were.” [20] The idea is that this king has been stripped of his kingship and of the divine and material blessings came with it. This view is supported later in the same verse when it says, “ for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” Therefore, the same verse acknowledges that he will have seed. Thus, this verse means that Jechoiachin and his posterity were stripped of the royal kingship and lived in bondage during the Babylonian Captivity and that his seed would no longer have a king over Israel. The NIV supports this view.

[20] John Gill, Matthew, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Matthew 1:12.

NIV, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Warning Against Unrighteousness and Oppression

v. 1. Thus saith the Lord, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, from the Temple to the palace, which was situated at a lower level, and speak there this word, not merely in the presence of the king, but as a message to the entire nation,

v. 2. and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, a fact which committed him to the high standards set by that friend of God, thou and thy servants, the members of his court, and thy people that enter in by these gates, those of the royal palace:

v. 3. Thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, as the fundamental principle of Jehovah’s nation, Cf. Jer 7:6; Jer 21:12, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, rescuing those who were being systematically plundered by the mightier people of the nation; and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, in excessive taxation and other unjust exactions, neither shed innocent blood in this place, all of these transgressions having freely been committed by the later kings of Judah; for in the same measure as their standing among the nations lost in prestige, they practiced tyranny at home.

v. 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, as his successors in a direct line, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants and his people. Cf. Jer 17:25.

v. 5. But if ye will not hear these words, disregarding their solemn warning, I swear by Myself, saith the Lord, by the highest instance to which appeal can be made at any time, that this house shall become a desolation, the splendid royal palace becoming a total ruin.

v. 6. For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah, concerning the royal palace with all its inestimable splendor. Thou art Gilead unto Me and the head of Lebanon, the point of comparison being the many pillars and ornaments of costly wood derived from the forests of Gilead and of Lebanon, which made the complex of buildings comprising the royal palace a veritable forest of oaks and cedars; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, a treeless wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

v. 7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, consecrated, as it were, to perform His will in bringing destruction upon Jerusalem and the palace of the king, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice cedars and cast them into the fire, the picture of a forest’s destruction being maintained to this point.

v. 8. And many nations shall pass by this city, the entire capital being destroyed with the Temple and the royal palace, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, in wonder and astonishment over such utter desolation, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?

v. 9. Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord, their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them. Cf Deu 29:23 ff. ; 1Ki 9:8-9. Jerusalem is only one of the many cities which, in the course of time, have become spectacles of God’s vengeance, as a warning to all men to heed His commands.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Jer 22:1-30 and Jer 23:1-40, are connected together by similarity of subject. The temporal and spiritual leaders of the people, who are mainly responsible for the national catastrophe, receive their merited castigation. Jer 23:1-8 of Jer 23:1-40; properly speaking, belong to Jer 22:1-30.; thus we get a well-rounded discourse on the conduct of the kings, with four symmetrical parts or strophesJer 22:1-12, Jer 22:13-19, Jer 22:20-30, and Jer 23:1-8. Each begins with a general exhortation or meditation, and continues with a poetical description of the fates, successively, of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin. The prophecy is concluded, according to the good old rule of Isaiah, by a Messianic promise.

Jer 22:1

Go down. Not literally, for the royal palace was probably the highest building in the city (comp. Jer 22:6); but because of the spiritual eminence of the temple (comp. Jer 26:10, “They came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord”).

Jer 22:2

And thy people. The Septuagint reads, “And thy house and thy people;” thus the passage will agree with Jer 21:11, Jer 21:12.

Jer 22:4

Parallel passage, Jer 17:25.

Jer 22:5

I swear by myself. “Because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself” (Heb 6:13). A synonymous expression is, “As I live, saith Jehovah” (Jer 22:24).

Jer 22:6

Unto the king’s house of Judah; rather, concerning the house of the King of Judah; i.e. the royal palace, which, on account of its height and its being constructed so largely out of cedar-weed (comp. Jer 22:14, Jer 22:23), is called “Gilead, and the summit of Lebanon,” just as Solomon’s palace was called “the house of the forest of Lebanon” (1Ki 7:2). Of Gilead in general, Canon Tristram writes, “No one can fairly judge of Israel’s heritage who has not seen the luxuriant exuberance of Gilead, as well as the bard rocks of Judaea.” And again, “Lovely knolls and dells open out at every turn, gently rising to the wooded plateau above. Then we rise to higher ground and ride through noble forests of oak. Then for a mile or two through luxuriant green corn, or perhaps through a rich forest of scattered olive trees, left untended and uncared for, with perhaps patches of corn in the open glades”. The cedars of Lebanon, however diminished, still bear witness to the ancient fame of this splendid mountain district. A wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. The comparison has a terrible significance when read in the light of De Vogue’s and Freshfield’s discoveries. For Gilead itself is full of ruined cities of massive stone architecture. “It is no uncommon thing,” says Mr. F.A. Eaton, “to see these houses in a complete state of preservation, built of huge blocks of black basalt, with slabs of the same for the roof, twelve feet long, a foot and a half wide, and half a foot thick, and entrance doors also of basalt great solid stones of the same material being used as lintels at the top and bottom”. Cities which are not inhabited; not, indeed, the cities of Gilead of the time of Jeremiah, but constructed of materials which may reasonably be presumed to have been chiseled in a far more remote antiquity. (The date of the cities in their present state is subsequent to the Christian era.)

Jer 22:7

I will prepare; literally, I will consecrate; the Babylonians being instruments of the Divine vengeance (see on Jer 6:4).

Jer 22:10-12

There is a fate worse than that of the dead Josiah. Weep not, in comparison, for him, but weep sore for him that goeth away (or rather, that is gone away). The king referred to is probably Jehoahaz, who, though two years younger than Jehoiakim, was preferred to him by the people on the death of Josiah. The counsel to “weep sore” for this royal exile was carried out, as Mr. Samuel Cox observes (and we have, perhaps, a specimen of the popular elegies upon him in Eze 19:1-4): “A young lion of royal strain, caught untimely, and chained and carried away captive,this was how the people of Israel conceived of Shallum”. The conjecture is incapable of proof; and Ezekiel, we know, was fond of imaginative elegies. But probably enough he was in harmony with popular feeling on this occasion. The identification of Shallum with Jehoahaz is confirmed by 1Ch 3:15 (Shallum, the youngest son of Josiah); the name appears to have been changed on his accession to the throne, just as Eliakim was changed to Jehoiakim (2Ch 36:4). There is, therefore, no occasion to suppose an ironical allusion to the short reign of Jehoahaz, which might be compared to that of the Israelitish king Shallum (somewhat as Jezebel addresses Jehu as “O Zimri, murderer of his lord,” 2Ki 9:31). This view has the support of F. Junius, of Graf, and Rowland Williams; but why should not the Chronicler, though writing in the Persian period, have drawn here, as well as elsewhere in the genealogies, from ancient traditional sources? There is nothing in 1Ch 3:11 to suggest an allusion to the fate of the earlier Shallum.

Jer 22:13

Shallum, or Jehoahaz, in his short reign of three months, had no opportunity of distinguishing himself for good or for evil It was otherwise with Jehoiakim, whose eleven years were marked by the worst characteristics of idolatry and despotism. He “had, besides, a passion for building splendid and costly houses; and as he esteemed his own position secure under the protection of a superior power, he did not scruple severely to oppress his helpless subjects, and wring from them as much money as possible” (Ewald, ‘History of Israel,’ 4.252; see 2Ki 23:33-35). The building mania, to which Oriental sovereigns have always been prone, had seized upon Jehoiakim. The architecture of the original palace no longer, perhaps, suited the higher degree of civilization; the space was as confined as that of a Saxon mansion would have appeared to a Norman. That buildeth his house by unrighteousness; i.e; as the second half-verse explains, by not paying the workmen (comp. Hab 2:12).

Jer 22:14

A wide house; literally, a house of extensions. Large chambers. The Hebrew specifies “upper chambers “the principal rooms in ancient houses. Cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar; rather his windows, roofing it with cedar. “Cutteth out” is, literally, rendeth; it is the word used in Jer 4:30 of the apparent enlargement of the eyes by putting powdered antimony upon the eyelids. Windows are, as it were, the eyes of a building (Graf compares Ecc 12:3). Beams of cedar wood were used for the roof of the palace, as being the most costly and durable (comp. Isa 9:10). And paintedrather, and painting itwith vermilion; a taste derived from the Egyptians rather than the Babylonians, who seem to have had a difficulty in procuring red.

Jer 22:15

Shalt thou reignrather, dost thou reign; i.e. dost thou prove thy royal qualities)because thou closest thyself in cedar? The second part of the clause must at any rate be. altered. Some render, “because thou viest (with thy forefathers) in cedar” (i.e. in building cedar palaces). Hitzig would strike out “in cedar,” as having intruded from the preceding line (such a phenomenon meets us occasionally in the received Hebrew text), but this does not help us to a ‘connected translation of the passage. Graf’s rendering is grammatical, and not against usage; it is, “Dost thou reign because thou art eager about cedar-wood?” and yet the impression left on the mind is that there is some error in the text. The Septuagint finds a reference to one of Jehoiakim’s predecessors, “because thou viest with Ahaz” (so the Vatican Codex), or, ” with Ahab”. The latter king is celebrated in the Old Testament on account of his buildings, especially his ivory palace (2Ki 22:1-20 :39). The former was at any rate addicted to the imitation of foreign ways (2Ki 16:11; 2Ki 20:11). Did not thy father eat and drink? There was no call upon Jehoiakim to live the life of a Nazarite. “Eating and drinking,” i.e. enjoying the good things within his reach, was perfectly admissible (Ecc 2:24); indeed, the Old Testament view of life is remarkable for its healthy naturalness. There was, however, one peremptory condition, itself as much in accordance with nature as with the Law of God, that the rights of other men should be studiously regarded. Josiah “ate and drank,” but he also “did judgment and justice,” and so “it was well with him.”

Jer 22:17

But thou, O Jehoiakim, art the opposite of thy father. For (not, But) thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness. “Covetousness” includes the ideas of injustice and violence (comp. Jer 6:13; Jer 8:10); hence the second half of the verse emphasizes the cruel tyranny which marked the internal policy of Jehoiakim.

Jer 22:18

Josiah had been bitterly missed and universally lamented (2Ch 35:25); and so, only perhaps with less heartiness in most cases, Jehoiakim’s other predecessors (Jer 34:5). The Babylonian kings, too, received the honors of public mourning, e.g. even the last of his race, who surrendered to Cyrus, according to the British Museum inscription translated by Mr. Pinches. Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! The Septuagint omits the latter part of this phrase, apparently because it seemed inappropriate to the death of Jehoiakim; but the parallelism requires a two-membered clause. According to Movers, the funeral procession is to be conceived of as formed of two parts, condoling with each other on having to share the same fate. Or perhaps mythology may supply a reason; it is possible that the formulae of public mourning were derived from the ceremonies of the Adonia; Adonis was an androgynous deity (Lenormant, ‘Lettres assyriologiques,’ 2.209), and might be lamented by his devotees as at once “brother” and “sister.”. Ezekiel (Eze 8:13) testifies to the worship of Tammuz, or Adonis, and the highest compliment a king could receive might be to be lamented in the same terms as the sun-god. Jeremiah does not approve this; he merely describes the popular custom. The recognition of the deeply rooted heathenism of the Jews before the Exile involves no disparagement to Old Testament religion; rather it increases the cogency of the argument for its supernatural origin. For how great was the contrast between Jeremiah and his semi-heathen countrymen! And yet Jeremiah’s religion is the seed of the faith which overcame the world. Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! Lord is in the Hebrew adon (comp. Adonis and see above). His glory is against the parallelism; we should expect “lady” or “queen.”

Jer 22:19

Jehoiakim’s miserable death, without even the honor of burial. The prediction is repeated in Jer 36:30, where the statement is made in plain language. At first sight it appears to conflict with 2Ki 24:6, “So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead;” but it is only appearance, and when we remember that the complete formula for describing the natural death of a king of Judah is, “slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David” (1Ki 14:31; 1Ki 15:24; 1Ki 22:50; 2Ki 8:24; 2Ki 15:7, 2Ki 15:38; 2Ki 16:20), and that the phrase, “slept with his fathers,” is used of Ahab, who fell on the field of battle (1Ki 22:40), we are naturally led to the conjecture that Jehoiakim did not die a natural death, but fell in battle in some sally made by the besieged. Buried with the burial of an ass; i.e. cast out unburied. Beyond the gates; rather, far from the gates.

Jer 22:20

A new strophe begins here, relative to Jehoiachin, the son and successor of Jehoiakim. Go up to Lebanon, and cry. The people of Judah is addressed, personified as a woman (comp. Jer 7:29). The penetrating character of the long-toned cry of an Arab has been mentioned by Dr. Thomson. In Isa 40:9 a similar command is given to Zion; but in what different circumstances! From the passages; rather, from Abarim. The range of AbarimNebo, from which Hoses surveyed the land of Israel, belonged to it (Deu 32:49)completes the circle of mountain stations; Lebanon was in the north, Bashan in the northeast, Abarim in the southeast. All thy lovers; viz. the nations whom self-interest had combined against Nebuchadrezzar, and between whom and Judah negotiations had from time to time been entered into (Jer 2:36; Jer 27:3). “Lovers” (comp. Jer 4:30; Jer 30:1-24; Eze 16:33, Eze 16:37).

Jer 22:21

From thy youth; i.e. from the time that thou didst become a nation (comp. Jer 2:2; Hos 2:15). It is tile Exodus which is referred to.

Jer 22:22

Shall eat up all thy pastors. The verb is that connected with the participle rendered “pastors;” strictly, therefore, shall pasture upon all thy pastors. The wind referred to is doubtless the parching east wind, the symbol of calamity, which is actually called a “sharp” wind in Jer 4:11.

Jer 22:23

O inhabitantrather, O inhabitressof Lebanon. It is the people of Jerusalem which is meant; the “Lebanon” are the palaces of cedar-wood which together are called” the house of the King of Judah” (Jer 22:6). How gracious shalt thou be; rather, How wilt thou sigh!

Jer 22:24

Coniah. A shorter form of Jeconiah (1Ch 3:1), found again in Jer 37:1. Perhaps this was the name this king bore prior to his accession, after which it was certainly Jehoiachin; Jeremiah has already spoken of one king by his earlier name in verse 11. The Divine speaker solemnly announces that though, as the representative of Israel’s invisible King, Coniah wereor rather, bethe signet upon his right hand (a most valued jewel), yet wouldor rather, willhe pluck him thence; i.e. depose him from his high dignity. The same figure is used in Hag 2:23, “I will take thee, O Zerubbabel, and make thee as a signet;” and Eze 28:12, where there is a well-attested reading, “Thou (O King of Type) art a deftly made signet-ring.” (For the fulfillment of the prediction in this verse, see 2Ki 24:12, 2Ki 24:15; Jer 24:1; Jer 29:2.)

Jer 22:26

Cast thee out. The Hebrew is stronger”hurl thee” (comp. Isa 22:17, Hebrew). And thy mother; i.e. the queen-mother Nehushta (comp. Jer 29:2; 2Ki 24:8). She seems to have been particularly influential (see introduction to Jer 13:1-27.)

Jer 22:28

Is this man Coniah, etc.? The prophet’s human feelings are stirred; he cannot withhold his sympathy from the sad fate of his king. What! he exclaims; is it possible that this Coniah is treated as a piece of ill-wrought pottery ware (comp. Jer 18:4), and “hurled” into a strange land? He and his seed. These words have caused some difficulty, owing to the youth, of Jehoiachin. According to 2Ki 24:8 he was only eighteen when he was carried captive, while 2Ch 36:9 makes him still younger, only eight (Josiah’s age on his accession). Hitzig thinks the latter number is to be preferred; his chief reasons are the prominence given to the queen-mother, and the fact that the length of Jehoiachin’s reign is given with more precise accuracy in 2 Chronicles than in 2 Kings. It is true that the king’s wives are mentioned in 2Ki 24:15. But that he had wives may, according to Hitzig, have been inferred by the late compiler of Kings from the passage before us; or the “wives” may have been those of Jehoiachin’s predecessor. Graf’s conjecture is, perhaps, the safest view of the case, whether we accept the number eighteen or the number eight; it is that the “seed” spoken of as born to Jehoiachin in his captivity, and is reckoned to him by anticipation. It should be mentioned, however, that the Septuagint omits “he and his seed” altogether.

Jer 22:29

O earth, earth, earth. The repetition is for solemnity’s sake (comp. Jer 7:4).

Jer 22:30

Write ye this man childless; i.e. enter him in the register of the citizens (comp. Isa 4:3) as one who has no heirs. He may have children, but none of them shall succeed to his place in the community. This is all that the passage means; there is no discrepancy with history: how should there be, when Jeremiah himself has mentioned the posterity of Jehoiachin? Yet the Septuagint thought it necessary to avoid the appearance of such a discrepancy by rendering, not “childless,” but “one proscribed” ().

HOMILETICS

Jer 22:1-5

Court preaching.

Jeremiah has been preaching in the valley of Hinnom, in the temple courts and in the streets of Jerusalem; now he is called to enter the king’s palace with a message from God. The preacher must not wait for his audience to run after him, but he must create it. He must make his work public, not hiding it in modesty, but bringing it to bear on the widest possible field. He must not be content to maintain his unopposed ministry in the Church, but must boldly carry out his mission in the world. Religion is not a concern for religious people alone; people who will not come to church may be supposed to need it more than those who manifest their interest in it by attendance at regular services. If the court is irreligious there is the more need for the prophet to go into its midst.

I. THE HIGHEST RANK SHOULD NOT BE EXEMPT FROM THE MOST FAITHFUL PREACHING. The Hebrew prophets were remarkable for their clear and bold utterances before kingsoften at the peril of their lives (e.g. Amo 7:10-13). Christ expects his servants to be equally faithful and fearless (Act 9:15). When court preachers descend to become court flatterers they are doing their utmost to ruin their patrons. Kings may not often need to be addressed in the style of John Knox, in his sermons before Mary Queen of Scots; but they certainly should not be treated only to the drawing-room delicacies of Atterbury. The fastidiousness which makes strong words about unpleasant subjects seem in “bad form” in fashionable congregations is really a sign of sacrificing truth and right to mean pleasantness. Kings are men, and have human failings and sins. Rank confers power for evil as well as for good. The privileges and talents of a high position involve such great responsibilities, that the neglect or abuse of them is a crime of first magnitude in the sight of God. To ignore these truths is to act cruelly to the persons whom the preacher deceives by his smooth words.

II. THE CHARACTER OF THE COURT IS OF GREAT INTEREST TO THE NATION. As men, the king and his courtiers have a fight to be dealt faithfully with by the preacher. But as persons in authority, their influence makes their condition of importance to all. The people are largely responsible for the condition of the court, since popular applause and popular censure always carry great weight there. Thus Jeremiah associates the people with the king in the address which is intended chiefly for the king. Even under a constitutional government such as that of our own country, the court has immense influence especially in social circles, and it is of vital interest to us all that this influence should be pure and true and righteous.

III. THE PROSPERITY OF A COUNTRY LARGELY DEPENDS UPON THE MORAL CHARACTER OF ITS GOVERNMENT. This great truth is one of the chief lessons to be derived from the Bible accounts of the history of Israel. We commonly rely too much on physical resources, wealth, commerce, military power, etc.; on political resources, legislative schemes, diplomatic complications, etc. We in England have yet to learn how much of our prosperity depends on honesty in trade, fairness in dealing with foreign nations and a high tone of political morality. To judge by some of our newspapers, it would seem that religion has no business with politics; that a county is glorified when her leaders stoop to underhand work that would disgrace the name of the most unscrupulous lawyer. The doom of Israel should warn us against this political atheism. Three duties are specially to be noted in the discourse of Jeremiah.

1. To execute judgment and righteousness; not only to pronounce just verdicts, but to carry out an active policy of justice.

2. To deliver the oppressed; non-intervention may be cowardly and selfish when the weak claim our help.

3. Not to oppress the weak; this applies to nationalities as well as to individuals, and is a warning for our conduct with dependencies, and the native races with which we come in contact in the colonies. For righteousness in these respects the promised reward is, not a mere deliverance from approaching calamities, but glory, fiches, triumph.

Jer 22:8, Jer 22:9

On visiting the ruins of a city.

What a picture we have here! Many nations passing by on the high-road between Egypt and the East struck with amazement at the ruins of Jerusalem. Is not the sight of a city in ruins always a source of pathetic interest? As we wander about the silent streets of Pompeii the stillness of death is appalling by contrast with the tumult of pleasure and commerce which formerly thronged those once busy thoroughfares. Such a melancholy spectacle muses thought and inquiry. Gibbon tells us that it was while seated among the ruins of the Capitol that he first thought of writing the history of the decline and fall of the city of Rome. The magnificent ruins of Carnac and of Persepolis naturally lead us to ask how prosperity and power came to pass away from Persia and Egypt. So must it have been in ancient times with the ruins of Jerusalem. Jeremiah warns the citizens that their city, now brilliant in splendor and prosperity, will soon astonish all beholders with its overthrow. We have in the words of the prophet a question and an answer.

I. THE QUESTION. (Verse 8.) It is put by the heathen nations. These people who cannot understand the religion of Jerusalem can see clearly enough her ruin. The world has eyes for the shame of the Church in her overthrow, though none for her highest glory, that of the beauty of holiness. The question is asked by many nations. The spectacle is open to all, and so startling that many are arrested by it. How true is this even in the case of individual men! If a Christian falls into sin and shame the scandal rings through the world.

1. This question bears witness to the horrible doom of sin. The ruins are so extensive and so completely wrecked, that all who pass by are fascinated and appalled by the sight of them. If strangers are so struck, how must the children of the city feel? Well may they hang their harps on the willows, and sit them down in despair by the waters of Babylon. Yet the temporal ruin of a city is slight compared with the spiritual ruin of a soul.

2. The question bears witness to the surprise that this calamity excited.

(1) It was in contrast to former prosperity. We are too ready to see in prosperity the promise of its continuance. But no delusion can be greater.

(2) It was in opposition to the boasts of the Jews. They had regarded their city as sacred and invulnerable. So the French under the empire were taught to consider Paris. And this serf-confidence carries weight with others; for the world is indolent and thoughtless enough to take people very much at their own estimate of themselves. Nevertheless it is vain.

(3) It was in spite of the supposed protection of God. The Jews were the elect nation. Hence the expectation of their immunity; but a vain expectation. No Divine favoritism will save us from the consequences of our sins.

3. The question suggests no possibility of kelp from the nations. They may pity, but they can do nothing. The stare of the crowd only aggravates the calamity. Well may such a prospect strike grief into the people interested.

II. THE ANSWER. (Verse 9.)

1. The cause of this calamity may be known. Even the heathen nations may know it. Providence is not so mysterious as we suppose. No study is more lofty or more useful than the study of the moral philosophy of history. Treated only on secular grounds, it may be perplexing and unsatisfactory. But regarded in the light of the principles of the Bible, it may be fruitful in sound results.

2. The cause is moral. The hosts of Nebuchadrezzar conquered Jerusalem. Swarms of northern races and Asiatic hordes swept away the power of imperial Rome. Paris fell before the guns and discipline of the German army. Yet in each of these cases moral corruption was behind the physical cause of ruin, sapping the strength of the doomed city and provoking the onslaught of its foes.

3. The special cause was unfaithfulness to God:

(1) forsaking Godfor God never withdraws his protection from his people till they have abandoned their fidelity to him;

(2) breaking the covenantfor this had two sides, and God’s promised grace is conditioned by the conduct of his people; and

(3) positive idolatryfor the unfaithful servant of God never rests with the abandonment of his God. He must serve some master. Such moral and religious corruption justifies punishment and requires chastisement. We may believe that a right understanding of the guilt and necessities of men will ultimately convince us of the righteousness and wisdom of God’s sterner dealings, which at first naturally excite our wonder and dismay.

Jer 22:10

Misspent tears.

I. WHY NOT WEEP FOR THE DEAD? It is natural to do so. The religion of the Bible is not stoicism. Christ wept by the grave of Lazarus. Yet there are times and circumstances which make it fitting not to weep for the dead, and there are always grounds for the mitigation of such grief.

1. The dead are taken from the evil to come. This is the idea of Jeremiah. If death was a calamity, the fate of the living at the overthrow of Jerusalem would have been a worse one. If an evil, death is still the less of two evils. Even if we only think of the dead as leaving the sunlight of this upper world and passing to the dim land of shades, still they go to the place “where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.” In less calamitous times we should feel that, as God knows all, he may have taken our loved ones to save them from some fearful evil which he, though he alone, saw in their path.

2. The dead are removed according to the wall of God. David wept for his child while it lived; after it was dead he dried his tears, for then he knew God’s will and resigned himself to it (2Sa 12:22, 2Sa 12:23). This resignation is more than a sensible recognition of the inevitable; it is a calm and trustful acquiescence in the will of God as righteously supremefor if the Lord gave, may he not take away?wise, and good.

3. The dead have fallen into the hands of God. In what better hands can they be? How much better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of man! We dare not dogmatize concerning the deep mysteries of futurity. But one thing we know”The mercy of the Lord endureth forever.” He is just, he may seem stern; the impenitent must suffer punishment, which can be nothing else but fearful, though fair. Yet may not this be the very best thing for them, even during their sufferings? For it is better for us to suffer for sin than to sin without suffering. And who knows what ultimate designs God may have?

4. The dead in Christ never need our tears. We may weep for our own loss, but this is their gain. Weep that the battle is over and victory won? Weep that the pilgrimage is finished and the pilgrim safe at home? Weep that the toil and sorrow, the temptation and sin, of this world are left behind, and the joys of heaven inherited? that the night has ended, the shadows flown away? that the light of the celestial city is beaming on the weary wanderer? Such tears are tears of unbelief.

II. WHY WEEP FOR THE LIVING? This may be required by special causes. Life is his children m this “a blessing. God gives many joys to his children in this world. The continuance of life is a privilege carrying with it the extension of advantages for faithful service. The brave and loyal servant of God will not selfishly crave a premature release from the duties of his life. Still there is a pathos about all life. “Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught.” Special circumstances may make it fitting to weep for the living. There are calamities that are worse than death. Such seem to have been realized in the horrors of the sieges of Jerusalem. It is worse to live in sin than to die. The lost and ruined life claims our pity far more than that which is cut off by an early death. What curse could be greater than that of the “Wandering Jew?” Matthew Henry says, “Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospects of the times may be, that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be restrained, that they may be reserved for ourselves and our children (Luk 23:28).’ Why should not this situation justify suicide? Because

(1) we are not the masters of our own lives;

(2) no man can tell what may follow the gloomiest prospects in the boundless possibilities of life, even in this world;

(3) the man who lays violent hands on himself in rash, cowardly, and willful rebellion against God, may expect a worse condition in the future life than that of the man who is called away by Providence, and possibly far worse than any he is attempting to escape.

Jer 22:13

Dishonest builders.

In no age could these words of Jeremiah be more appropriate than in our own. Whilst we must be most careful to discriminate and not to vent wholesale censure, there can be no doubt that the building trade of our day furnishes numerous instances of an unrighteousness in business transactions which is a scandal to the commercial character of our nation, and which, if it becomes general, must be a sure presage of ruin.

I. THE WICKEDNESS OF THE DISHONEST BUILDERS.

1. It is seen in bad work. Attempts are made to palm off wretched work with external decorations. There is a double crime herelying and stealing; the work pretends to be what it is not, and undue payment is wrung out of the purchaser. Is not this commercial immorality to be witnessed in many branches of trade? In how many instances is it impossible to draw the line between the trader and the swindler? We find people accepting it as a maxim that every advantage should be taken of the ignorance, weakness, and trustfulness of others. It is forgotten that work should be done well for its own sake and in justice to others. Remember, God judges us more by the character of our work in the week than by the appearance of our worship on Sunday.

2. This wickedness is seen in the treatment of workmen. Those who live in rapidly growing neighborhoods know how common it is for poor tradesmen to be ruined by the speculative builders to whom they have supplied materials, and for the artisans to have the utmost difficulty in obtaining their wages. This is especially bad, because it is the oppression of the poor and the abuse of confidence. We have no right so to speculate as to risk the property of other people. The cruelties of slavery which accompanied the gigantic building operations of antiquity (e.g. in the building of the Pyramids) may be equaled in wickedness by the crime of those who steal the work of the poor to increase the chance of their own aggrandizement.

II. THE RUIN OF THE DISHONEST BUILDERS. “Woe unto him,” etc.! Undue anxiety to get rich overreaches itself and ends in bankruptcy. Dishonesty in trade is poison to successful business in the ultimate issue, for it cuts at the root of the mainspring of all businesstrust. The abuse of confidence must finally destroy confidence. No doubt commercial depression is largely due to this cause. If the abuse were general, there could be no commerce in the form that this must assume if it is to be carried on largely with the complicated civilization of modern life. We may be assured, too, that God will not overlook this wickedness. Success may be attained at first. The rich man may have built his palace and may be enjoying its luxuries. The commercial man may have brought his dishonest transactions to a successful termination. Yet the fraud and the cruelty are noted in heaven; and if there is a Judge above, the palace of the great will be no citadel to protect the guilty man from the thunders of Divine judgment.

Jer 22:21

The voice of God disregarded in prosperity.

I. GOD SPEAKS TO US IN OUR PROSPERITY.

1. There are important words which need to be spoken to us at such a time. We can never have all the wants of our souls supplied by the richest abundance of material good things, and we need heavenly words for our soul’s sustenance then as much as in the conscious helplessness of trouble. We have special duties belonging to the time of prosperity. Prosperity brings talents, opens up opportunities for enlarged service, calls for renewed devotion of love and gratitude. There are also peculiar dangers attending prosperity, and it is well that we should hear a Divine voice warn us against them, and heed a Divine counsel which will direct us how to conquer them.

2. There are means by which God speaks to us in prosperity. He is ever speaking to us, even when we do not hear his voiceby the Bible we should be reading, by the ordinances of the Church and the institution of preaching, by the course of providence, by the life of nature, by the still small voice of conscience. But there are special voices of prosperity. Prosperity speaks to us of the goodness of God exercised towards us in spite of our ill-desert and in a degree beyond all reckoning.

II. THERE IS DANGER LEST WE SHOULD DISREGARD THE VOICE OF GOD IN PROSPERITY. God does not thrust his messages upon unwilling ears. We may refuse to hear. Yet he speaks so that we may always hear, so that if we do not heed his voice it must be because we will not hearken to it.

1. Prosperity may disincline us to do this because it seems to satisfy us without God. Really satisfy us it cannot. But temporarily it acts as an opiate, and when we do not feel the need of God we are tempted selfishly to disregard his voice.

2. Then prosperity is distracting. Sorrow is lonely and silent, and leaves us in the dark night to listen to heaven? voices and gaze on the wonders of the world above. The garish day of prosperity, with its noisy and dazzling distractions, withdraws our attention from such things.

3. Further, prosperity begets pride. It leads us to think much of self, to yield to self-will, and to rebel against the requirement to act as God’s servants and stoop beneath the yoke of his will. Hence it inclines us to a rebellious disregard for his voice.

4. If men have been hardened against God from their youth, it is not likely that they will heed his voice in the time of prosperity. The longer we neglect this voice the more deaf do we become to it. It is terrible to think of the folly and wickedness of persistent disregard to God’s truth while he is patient and long-suffering and persevering in seeking access to our hearts: Some great shock seems to be required to disturb this habit of hardened indifference. An earthquake of adversity may be required to break up such fallow ground. If trouble comes with this end it is a great blessing. The adversity of the Captivity was such a blessing to the Jews; it led them to regard the voice that was unheeded in their prosperity. So our sorrows are often blessings if they make us to hear the voice of our Father in heaven.

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR

Jer 22:1-23

Truth-speaking under difficulties.

The prophet is commanded to go down to the king’s palace and deliver his prophecies in the royal audience. His mission did not admit of time-serving or evasive utterance. Like that prophet who said to David, “Thou art the man,” he had to speak to the king face to face and with great plainness.

I. GOD‘S CHILDREN ARE OFTEN CALLED UPON TO WITNESS TO HIM IN DIFFICULT PLACES. In king’s courts; in society; in unbelieving homes; in the office, workshop, etc.

II. THEIR WITNESS IS OFTEN IN SHEER CONTRADICTION TO THE ACTIONS AND HABITS THAT PREVAIL THERE. The sin of Judah was flagrant and open, affecting the most elementary laws of righteousness, The Law of Moses guarded the widow and the orphan. The Law of God, in its righteousness, purity, and love, is still strange to the world’s life, and is constantly violated in it. But the duty of witnessing is only rendered the more imperative.

III. THEY ARE SUSTAINED BY:

1. The consciousness of inner rectitude and duty.

2. The witness of conscience in the transgressors.

3. The presence and promises of him who sends them.M.

Jer 22:5, Jer 22:7, Jer 22:13, Jer 22:14

Building in unrighteousness.

The building of a house, be it small or great, is always an interesting and suggestive process. It is a lengthened operation, expensive, and representing a great part of a man’s aims and efforts. Various purposes may be sought in it according to the character, circumstances, etc; of the buildermere shelter, comfort, splendor, protection. As these come into view the object in which they are to be realized becomes representative of the living personality and character with which it is associated. Jehoiakim was a despot, bent upon aggrandizement, and so he sought to build a magnificent palace with forced, unpaid labor. The ambitions of unspiritual men, the exclusive and absorbing projects of earthly life, resemble the palace-building of this Hebrew tyrant in

I. THE UNION OF EXTRAVAGANT DESIRES AND DISHONEST, UNLAWFUL METHODS. Easy for Jehoiakim to “go in” for a splendid palace, as he is not in the habit of paying his employee. Are there not many in modern life who act on the same principle? The desire for self-advancement and aggrandizement overtops every other consideration.

1. Unlawful methods of securing these are employed. Speculation; getting on in business in order to get out of it; adulteration; insufficient wages; prices that do not admit of honest manufacture; clap-trap advertisements, etc.

2. Imagining that others exist for the sake of one‘s self. This reverses the golden rule and the spirit of Christ’s life.

II. ITS FUNDAMENTAL SIN. This is selfishnessself-glorification, neglect of God and of human claims. The great principles of the Divine kingdom are contradicted;justice, mercy, brotherly sympathy, etc.

III. ITS RESULTS.

1. The ruin of the building; i.e. the life-projectthe unhallowed aim.

2. The ruin of the builderfor time, perhaps for eternity.M.

Jer 22:8, Jer 22:9

Monumental judgments.

I. EXCEPTIONAL PENALTIES WILL ATTEND THE ABUSE OF EXCEPTIONAL PRIVILEGES.

1. As a measure justice. The position attained by Jerusalem was due not so much to its site as to its being the center of a theocracy. The foundation of its prosperity was a spiritual one. It was God’s elective favor which had lifted it up above the cities of the earth. Presuming upon this, the first laws of righteousness had been violated and the whole conditions of the covenant relation ignored. This assumption of the inalienability of Divine blessings is at the root of every great apostasy. It is doubly unrighteous.

(1) As a robbing of God.

(2) As a misuse of a falsely acquired advantage and reputation.

The robbery of such things is of infinitely greater heinousness in so far as they transcend in their value merely earthly treasures, and differ from them in the terms of their acquisition. It is free grace and unrequited love that are trampled on, and the punishment must therefore be the more exemplary.

2. As a necessary precaution. Pretensions so great are apt to mislead others. People who say, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we,” may be taken at their own estimation if no marked change takes place in their external condition. God, therefore, uses his judgment in its external signs as an index of his reprobation. Other nations than Israel have illustrated this principle in their decline and fall. The great peoples of Christendom are on their trial. There is nothing more hateful in the sight of God than a people that has outlived its religion and yet retains the profession of it. Although the chief penalties of unfaithfulness in spiritual things must be inward, external evidences will not be wanting of what has taken place. How colossal the ruin of a power that has once been Christian, and has been exalted through Divine grace for the fulfillment of pledges, which have never been redeemed (Mat 23:37; Mat 11:23)!

II. THE JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL BE ENDORSED BY THE VERDICT OF THE WORLD. Even the ruins of Jerusalem would be a thing to gaze at. Its desolation would be unlike any other. The epitaph of a forfeited spiritual supremacy would seem to be graven on the very stones. There is ever something unmistakable and peculiar in the condition of those who are rejected by God. Their misery is not as other misery, their ruin not as other ruin.

1. The spectacle will be self-explanatory. Not that every sin and failing of God’s people would be written in earthly chronicles, but the causes of their decay would be broadly apparent. So is it with the Church from which God removes his candlestick, and the soul in whom the light has become darkness.

2. It will be morally impressive. Even in its misery the people of God will instruct the nations; and the Church of Christ will be a spectacle to angels and to men in its failures as in its successes.M.

Jer 22:10-12

Fates worse than death.

Josiah’s death was still fresh in the memory of the people. But their hopes were reviving at the accession of the young Jehoahaz, his son. For three months he reigned in Jerusalem, following the evil and not the good of his predecessor, and “Pharaoh-Nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem.” After appointing Eliakim, another son of Josiah, to reign in his stead, he took the captive prince to Egypt, where he died (2Ki 23:31-35). The exile of “Shallum” was quite recent at the time of this prophecy, and the nation was naturally more concerned over the tragic fate of Josiah than the evil fortune of his son. Jeremiah hastens to correct this mistake by assuring them of the miserable death of Shallum in Egypt. From this we learn that

I. DEATH IS NOT THE GREATEST CALAMITY THAT CAN BEFALL MEN. Shallum living, but in shameful exile, was really more to be pitied in himself and to he deplored for the sake of his country, than Josiah dead. The latter was-free from the degradations to which his descendants were exposed, and saved the pain of seeing his country rendered tributary; he had also children to occupy his place. But Shallum experienced all his nation’s shame, as it were, vicariously, and was helpless to rescue it from the foreign yoke under which the intrigues of his brother had brought it. The hopes of Israel had in a special but easily understood way centered upon Shallum, in whom it trusted to see the restoration of ancient glory. All these are cut off by a decree more than human. He became, therefore, the type:

1. Of forfeited possibilities of usefulness.

2. Of national ignominy.

3. Of an irremovable curse.

The apostate professor of religion, the impenitent sinner, etc; are worse than dead. It were better for the offender of the little ones that he had never been born (cf. Heb 10:26; 2Pe 2:20, 2Pe 2:21).

II. THE COMPASSION OF MEN SHOULD BE CALLED FORTH FOR THE MISERY OF THOSE WHOSE WRONG–DOING THEY HAVE SHARED.

1. Because of its vicarious character.

2. Because of the Divine displeasure which it represents. This extends to themselves, even although they are not personally punished. Shallum, in this respect, is a type of him who was “made sin for us.”

3. In order to practical measures being taken for its relief. There are many in our own day who, like Shallum, are the victims of national crimes and social sins. It is for those who have escaped the penalty to seek, by practical measures and the earnest presentation of the gospel, to redeem them to a happier life. The outcast and the fallen will be the brightest gems in the crown of the Church which gives itself to their redemption.M.

Jer 22:15, Jer 22:16

True royalty.

The contrast between Josiah and his son has had many a parallel. The family emerges from honest homespun into splendid dishonor, dropping its virtues and its religion as it goes. In all periods of external development and material civilization it is well to remember that true greatness must be in the man and not in his circumstances, and that the richest amongst us cannot afford to do without the graces and benevolence that dignify and adorn even the humblest life.

I. SHAM ROYALTY. “Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?” With such persons the romp of circumstance is everything. Autocratic imperiousness is mistaken for empire. The whole superstructure is unsafe because the foundation is false. The ground is undermined. In proportion as men lose the reality of power they grasp at its shadow.

II. TRUE ROYALTY. Essentially a spiritual thing.

1. In what it consists. In moral authority and real influence over men. This is never impaired by mere loss of external circumstance. The true king does not require his crown.

2. How it is secured. By

(1) dependence on God,

(2) simplicity of personal wants,

(3) singleness of patriotic purpose,

(4) sympathy with the ruled.

“It was well with him.” This repetition is intended to impress. “Then it was well with him”an emphasis of time that was to be noted. Josiah himself had gone away from this ideal life and God cast him off.M.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Jer 22:1-10

The mighty pleadings of God,

These verses contain record of what we may fitly term a Divine wrestling with his sinful people to induce them to abandon their wickedness and live, so intense and urgent are the motives which he brings to bear upon them. Note

I. FOR WHAT GOD PLEADS. “That they should execute righteousness and judgment.” It is the King Jehoiakim who is addressed specially, a monarch one of the worst who filled the throne of David. “He remained fixed in the recollections of his countrymen as the last example of those cruel, selfish, luxurious princes, the natural products of Oriental monarchies, the disgrace of the monarchy of David.” For the estimate formed of him, cf. Jer 22:13, etc. To him, therefore, God thus appeals. Now, this appeal is one God is ever making. Righteousness is his supreme solicitude (cf. homily on Jer 7:1-34, on “Relation of religion and righteousness”). False or corrupted religions are ever characterized by indifference to righteousness. So long as outward adhesion to the creeds and customs they enjoin is given, a wide margin is allowed for the indulgence of the natural and evil propensities of humanity. But a constant characteristic of the religion taught us in God’s Word is its demand for righteousness. The gospel is no less stringent than the Law, yea, is more and justly more so, as it has brought to our aid a Divine force by which the demands of righteousness may be more readily met. It does not make void the Law. So far from that, it establishes the Law. If we understand by “belief” that which a man “lives by,” which some say is the etymology of the word, and at any rate its meaning, then the scornful lines of the sceptic may be admitted to be true

“For creeds and sects let senseless bigots fight;
His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right.”

For if those principles of conduct, those governing motives of a man’s life, lead him to right, then, though encrusted with what amount of error and superstition soever they may be, they nevertheless, because hearing such fruit, cannot be wrong at the root. And, on the other hand, however orthodox and scriptural the professed creed, if it do not tend to right conduct then that fact proves that the professed belief is not the real one, but one far other. “Be ye holy as I am holy,” is ever God’s demand. Note

II. HOW HE PLEADS. See what forcible arguments he employs.

1. The mighty attraction of hope. Thus he would draw men off from sin. If those to whom he appeals would but hearken, he would work what would be virtually a miracle for them. He would stay the progress of ruin and decay which were now threatening the state; he would turn back the tide of events which was now rushing on in such vast volume and force to overwhelm the throne and people, and he would re-establish the ancient monarchy of David in all its pristine glory (cf. Jer 22:4). To do this now that matters had gone so far would be as great a moral miracle as the cleaving of the waters of the Red Sea, and the Jordan, and the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, were physical ones. But God would do that if but the wicked king would turn from his wickedness and execute righteousness and judgment.

2. The mighty compulsion of fear. Thus he would “drive them off” from their present evil ways. See the terrible threatenings of Jer 22:5, etc. What a picture the prophet draws of calamity and of shame, which would be theirs if they did “not hear these words!” And to prevent the force of this threat being diminished, he distinctly warns them that his affection for them and the joy he ever had in them will not hold him back from doing what he said. They had been as Gilead and as Lebanon for beauty, fertility, majestyhis choice possession, his precious heritage; nevertheless his wrath would go forth against them if they refused his words. And this appeal to the King of Judah is like the Divine appeal addressed to sinful men now. What promises to draw men to himself, what threatenings to drive them from their sins, the Bible is filled with! So intent is the Divine mind upon righteousness. In face of this earnestness of God in this matter, what fools they must be who make a “mock at sin”!

III. WHY HE THUS PLEADS. Because of:

1. His love of righteousness. It is the element in which God lives and moves and has his being. He cannot live in an atmosphere of unrighteousness. It is hateful to him. Righteous men feel thus; how much more, therefore, the righteous God!

2. His love of men. How would a father feel towards any one who was ever causing distress and ruin to his children? How he would detest such a person! And, on the other hand, how would he desire that which ever furthers his children’s good! Thus God must, out of love for us his children, hate that which ever hurts and harms us, and desire that for Us which ever ministers to our good.

3. His love for the sinner. God separates between the sinner and the sin, and whilst his love yearns over the sinner, his wrath burns against the sin. All his dealings with us are designed to effect a severance between the two. Death is the last and most effective separater; its keen sickle cuts the last bond that binds God’s children to the dominion of sin. “He that is dead hath ceased from sin.” Blessed be God that it is so! His providence, his Word, conscience, the strivings of his Spirit, are all designed to the same end, and our Lord was called Jesus because he should” save his people from their sins.”

IV. WITH WHAT RESULT HE PLEADS. In this case it was of no use (cf. 2Ch 36:16, etc.). Andalas that it should be soit is often the same. When sin has got a certain hold on the will, no considerations will stay its course. No promises, no threats. How solemn a fact this I How it calls us to resist the beginnings of sin, to dread lest it should become such a habit of the soul as that God should say, “He is joined to his idols: let him alone!” But what is the result of God’s pleading on ourselves? That is the question. God grant we may be able to answer it as he would desire!C.

Jer 22:10

Misplaced sorrow.

“Weep ye not for the dead,” etc. Reference is to Josiah, the pious and patriotic King of Judah, who died deeply lamented (2Ch 35:24, 2Ch 35:25), being spared the pain of seeing and sharing the disgrace and suffering of his country (2Ki 22:20). And by “him that goeth away” Shallum is probably meant. He was a younger son of Josiah, and was raised by the people to the throne under the name of Jehoahaz, but was soon carried captive into Egypt, never to return (2Ki 23:31-35). Taking the words of tiffs verse generally, we note

I. WE DO WEEP FOR THE DEAD. Not, however, in the same hopeless way in which the dead were mourned ere Christ brought life and immortality to light by the gospel. Still, though in a very real sense Christ has abolished death, we yet weep for the dead.

1. For the beloved dead. We can hardly comprehend how, if they be conscious, they can be happy without those they have loved here on earth. We know how much her children were to the fond mother of whom they have been bereaved, how she delighted in them and they in her, and hence we cannot see how she can be happy and blessed apart from them. And the fearful vacancy which the removal of the beloved dead causes in the circle of those who mourn them, the constant and dreary sense of irreparable loss,all this is sufficient to make us weep for the dead.

2. And for the holy dead, as we think of the influence they exerted, the power for good they were to the family, the Church, the neighborhood.

3. And for all who die we mourn. For life itself is a blessing: “All that a man hath will he give for his life.” If, therefore, they have been cut off in the prime of their existence, their “sun gone down while it was yet day,” we grieve over the possibilities of honor, happiness, and usefulness which are thus lost to them. And if they have been unbelieving and godless, we weep yet more. So far as we can see, the door of heaven is shut on them ere ever they have sought entrance there. It is a fearful thing for a man to die unforgiven, impenitent, and unbelieving. But it is not of such that mention is made in this verse. How can the thoughtful soul do aught but weep for them? But

II. WE SHOULD AT TIMES WEEP MORE FOR THE LIVING. Great blessing as life is generally, there are times when death is less a reason for tears than life is. It is so when life is a prolonged sorrow, or shame, or suffering, or, especially, sin. Our Lord himself bade the women of Jerusalem weep not for him, but, etc. (Luk 23:28). He thus declared that deatheven such as his was to bewas preferable to life such as theirs would soon be. And death is a relief in cases not a few. Has not many a mother, heart-broken by the wild, wicked ways of a godless son, felt often that had he been taken from her when a little child, that sorrow had been less than his life now causes her? And our Lord said of Judas, “It had been better for that man if he had never been born.” If sore sorrow can make life to be more pitiable than deathand it canhow much more grievous sin? Such a one is making the worst of both worlds. What is our life?

III. BUTT IS NOT DEATH, FOR THE GODLY, ALWAYS PREFERABLE TO LIFE? Is it not always the living who are to be pitied? St. Paul says, “To depart and be with Christ is far better.” And the author of Eccclesiastes declares, “Better is the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.” And without doubt the condition of the blessed dead is better than any earthly lot whatsoever. An old divine represents one such as saying to those who mourned him, “Weep not for me. For,” he says, “consider the evils I am freed from. I had a sickly, crazy body, especially toward my latter end; wearisome days and nights were appointed me. What would I have given many times for an hour’s rest? But now all this is at an end. I shall be no more sick, no more pained; my head shall now ache no more. And are you sorry for this? I had my share also of worldly losses and crosses in my worldly affairs. I had one house burned over my head, and almost all that was in it, in a few minutes, and have had other cares and troubles besides; but now farewell all such cares. And are you sorry for this? You know that as long as I was able I was laborious in my particular calling. I never ate the bread of idleness, but of honest diligence; but now all that toil is over. I am got to bed, where I rest from my laborsfrom all my labors of that kindnever to return to them again. And will you grieve for this? A great deal of pains I have taken in travelling and attending upon holy ordinances, on Sabbath days and on weekdays, sometimes above and beyond my strength; but I am now where I have communion with God at the spring-head, without the conduit-pipes of ordinances. And will you grieve for this? You all of you have, and I doubt not some of you feel, a body of death. I am sure I did; and many a time it made me cry out, ‘O wretched man that I am!’ You know what I meanthe corrupt nature in the carnal mind, the sin that dwells in us, a proneness to evil, a backwardness to good; but death has eased me of that burden. When the health went out of the body that indwelling sin went out of the soul. There was an end of the leprosy that was in the walls. What all the praying and hearing, the Sabbaths and sacraments, the care and watchfulness, of forty years would not do, death has done at one blow. Weep not for me, then. I had daily grief in my heart for my own sins, for the sins of others, and for’ the afflictions of my friends, and for the troubles of the Church of God; but now all tears, even those of godly sorrow, are wiped away from mine eyes. Therefore let none be in yours upon my account. And, lastly, the bitterness of death is past with me. I have shot the gulf; that last enemy, that son of Anak, is vanquished, and I am triumphing. ‘O Death, where is thy sting?’ And, therefore, weep not for me. But this is not all. If you consider the happiness I am entered into, that fair palace in which death was but a dark entry, you would not weep for me, but rejoice rather. Would you know where I am? I am at home in my Father’s house, in the mansion prepared for me there. I am where I would be, where I have long and often desired to be; no longer on a stormy sea, but in a safe and quiet harbor. Would you know how it is with me? I am made perfect in holiness. Would you know what I am doing? I see God. I see him as he is; not as through a glass darkly, but face to face. I am in the sweet enjoyment of my blessed Redeemer, whom my soul loved and for whose sake. I was willing to part with all. Would you know what company I keep? Blessed company, better than the best on earth. Here are holy angels and the spirits of the just made perfect. I am set down ‘ with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God,’ with blessed Paul, and Peter, and James, and John, and all the saints. And here I meet with many of my old acquaintance that I fasted and prayed with, who got before me hither. And, lastly, will you consider that this is to continue? It is a garland that never withers, a crown that fadeth not away.”

IV. STILL WE ARE TO CHOOSE LIFE, IF IT BE GOD‘S WILL. St. Paul did so; and we all, notwithstanding the blessed revelation of the gospel, desire life. And it is a natural and lawful desire. God ‘has placed us here; he has visited us here; he has given us something to enjoy and something to do here. He expects us to value what he has bestowed. Christ did not desire that his disciples should be taken out of the world, but only kept from its evil. Paul desired to abide in the flesh, even when he was ripe for glory, and they are the healthiest Christians who in this matter tread in his track.

V. HOW, THEN, SHOULD THE TWO CONDITIONS OF LIFE AND DEATH BE REGARDED BY US? Are we, as this verse implies, and as is the common way, to count death a great misfortune? Certainly not. The world does, but the believer in Christ should not. Then, on the other hand, should we count life a misfortune, and weep and moan over it? As certainly not. In morbid, unhealthy, and therefore unhappy moods (cf. Jer 20:14-18), a man may long to die and to have done with the weary woefulness of his life. And at such timesand they do occurhe has felt some sort of sympathy with the ancient stoic, who said that “the best gift the gods had given us in this life was the power of putting an end to it.” But the universal instinct of man condemns this, and life is valued even for its own sake, and so it ought to be. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come”such should be the soul’s language, even under the heaviest trial. But the right regard of life and death is that of St. Paul. He was “willing to wait, but ready to go” (Php 1:23, Php 1:24). To be in his “strait“ is the best position for us. To be evenly balanced between-the two desires for life and for deaththat is the happiest mood in which a man can be. For the desire of life greatly to preponderate is to come under that fear of death which makes some “all their lifetime subject to bondage.” And a preponderating desire for death is certainly not good. The strait of St. Paul is the place. God bring and keep us there! His desire for the “far better” lot of companionship with Christ was met and counteracted by his desire to glorify Christ in life through being helpful to his brethren, for whom it was “more needful” that he should abide in the flesh. And so he was kept in equilibrium, as it were, by these opposed forces, and the result was, as it ever will be, a saintly and devoted life. Paul’s “strait” is the only easy position on the earth. Oh, to be in it! If you are held by both of these bonds you will not fear a fall on either side. “Although your life, instead of being in your Father’s hands, were at the disposal of your worst enemy, in his utmost effort to do you harm he would be shut up between these twoeither to keep you a while longer in Christ’s work or send you sooner to Christ’s presence. That were indeed a charmed life that should tremble evenly in the blessed balance. This way, we shall do good to men; “that way, we shall be with the Lord.” Weep not, then, either for the blessed dead or for the holy living; bemoan neither, but bless God for both. But we may weep sore for him that goeth away an exile from God, never in this life, so far as we can see, to return. That sorrow is just; all other is misplaced.C.

Jer 22:13

The Nemesis of oppression.

“Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness!” It is one of the many precious characteristics of the Bible that it ever represents God as the Avenger of the poor and oppressed. It tells over and over again how God “plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.” And it is interesting and most instructive to note the manner in which God does this. Not so much by direct punitive inflictions of his wrath as by the results of those laws according to which his universe is ordered. That law of his universe is against the oppressor, and sooner or later overtakes and overwhelms him.

“Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small.”

Now, here, in these verses, we have a Divine denunciation of oppression: “Woe unto him,” etc.! And we note

I. THERE HAS BEEN, AND YET IS, OPPRESSION. We trust that there is far less of it than once there was, but that it has disappeared we cannot affirm. Here, in our own land of liberty, we may know but little of it, but in the lands of the East, its original home, it prevails still to terrible extent. And the ancient kings of Israel were sorely tempted to allow themselves in it, and often did so, and would have mere largely had it not been for the perpetual protest maintained against it by the prophets of God. But if we feel, as we do, that a tyrant and an oppressor would meet but with short shrift in such a liberty-loving land as our own, how was it that oppression became so easy and so common in other lands? Therefore note

II. THE CAUSES OF OPPRESSION, These will be most readily seen by noticing the lands wherein it has most prevailed. It has ever been where the earth has brought forth fruit of itself abundantly and without demanding much labor from the cultivator. And these lands, with scarce an exception, lie along that belt of the earth’s surface which reaches from the East Indies and on westward to Mexico and Peru. It includes the Euphrates valley, Egypt, and then, crossing the Atlantic, it comprises the extinct civilizations of Equatorial America. It may be remarked in passing that Judah and Jerusalem were, at the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy, in alliance with Egypt, one of these lauds of oppression, and whence the evil lesson would be easily learnt. But it will be asked, Wherefore was oppression more rife in these lands than in others? It has never been so in Northern countries as in these more favored lands. The explanation lies in such facts as these. All these lands have abundance of heat and moisture. The tropical sun furnishes the one and their magnificent rivers the other. And sometimes, in addition to these rivers, if not in place of them, as in the Gulf of Mexico, a large extent of coast-line ensures that vapors shall arise plentifully from the sea, which, descending on the already heated soil, provides the moisture it needs.

2. In consequence of all this the soil becomes very fruitful, and yields such abundance, and that with so little cost of labor, that it permits the formation of a leisure class, who subsist on its superfluous wealth.

3. These have become the intelligent and learned, and so the powerful, classes.

4. Meanwhile the wage-receiving population has multiplied greatly, and the wage fund having to be spread over so much larger surface, the share of each laborer has become less and less.

5. Here, then, on the one hand is a vast swarm of impoverished people, and as ignorant as they are poor, and on the other a rich, intelligent, and therefore powerful minority. And as the rich grew richer and richer the poor grew poorer and poorer, and gradually sank down, as in these countries they have ever done, into a mass of slaves, the ready victims of the oppressors’ power. No doubt other forces were at work at the same time to favor the growth of this oppressionthe superstition of the people and the enervating influence of the climate. But thus oppression grew, and its fruits are still visible in the huge Pyramids, temples, palaces, and the like, which remain to show the abundance of labor and the prodigality with which it was used.

6. But in the colder climes of the North the more niggard soil demands continuous, careful, and laborious cultivation, and thus the growth of population was checked and the distribution of wealth became more equal; and at the same time the rugged soil seemed to impart its character to those who cultivated it, and rendered it impossible that such men should ever become the passive victims of oppression. And so, whilst the soft, luxurious climes such as those referred to have never been favorable to the development of the people inhabiting them, those more stern and inhospitable regions, where toil, severe and continued, is necessary would men live, have nurtured races of men who, more than any others, have approached the true ideal of manhood. But whilst the facts now noted became the occasion, opportunity, and temptation to oppression, other laws have been at work, securing that, where this temptation has been yielded to, as it has been so often, there the oppressed shall ere long be avenged. Note

III. THE NEMESIS OF OPPRESSION. There is such an avenger. For oppression ever kills patriotism and loyalty. What can a horde of wretched slaves care for a country or a rule which has never been other than horribly cruel to them and theirs? Patriotism and loyalty are the offspring of freedom and righteous rule, but never of the oppressor’s rule. And thus, sooner or later, “woe” ever cometh “to him who buildeth his house by unrighteousness.” For when such a land is invaded, or insurrection arises, or in any way the authority of the rulers is threatened, they have no support in the people who are altogether indifferent as to who their rulers may be, and feel that almost any change must be for the better. See this illustrated in the revolt under Jeroboam, whereby Israel was forever separated from Judah; in the fall of Nineveh and of Babylon, and in the oft-recurring revolutions and invasions amid the dynasties and thrones of the East (cf. also Buckle’s ‘History of Civilization’ for further illustration). Thus in nature and in providence, as well as in his written Word, God has pronounced “woe’ on oppression and the oppressor. Learn from all this:

1. To accept gratefully the sterner conditions of life which may be appointed for us. Sunny skies, warm climates, and prolific soils nurture slaves rather than men. No cross, no crown, is a universal law.

2. Adore and trust in that God who has said so emphatically that he will judge the poor and needy, and hurl the oppressors from their seats.

3. Remember that the woe against unrighteousness falls on every house that is built thereby.C.

Jer 22:13-19

Son and father: a sad contrast.

A wicked son, Jeheiakim is not only reproached with his wickedness, but reminded of the very different conduct of his honored father. The contrast is very striking, varied, and instructive. It is seen

I. IN THE PARENTAGE OF THE TWO PRINCES. Jehoiakim had the great advantage of being the son of an eminently good father. All the impulse and help that could come from such a fact was his. Josiah, on the other hand, was the son of a pre-eminently bad manof King Amen, of whom it was said, “Amen sinned more and more.” Yet, in spite of his godly parentage, Jehoiakim became so evil, whilst Josiah, notwithstanding his evil parentage, became so good. T. Fuller, noting in connection with the genealogies of our Lord a similar fact, quaintly remarks, “I find a good father had a bad son; that is ill news for me: but I find also that a bad father had a good son; that is good news for my son.” For further consideration of facts like these, see homily (infra) on “Exceptional facts in the law of transmission of character.”

II. IN THEIR CONDUCT. Jehoiakim lived in splendor amid the misery of the nation, and amused himself with building palaces when the whole land was ground down by heavy taxation (cf. 2Ch 36:3; 2Ki 23:25). He also took the people’s forced labor without pay for these buildings, in violation of Le Jer 19:13; Deu 24:14, Deu 24:15 (cf. also Deu 24:13-15). But Josiah his father did “judgment and justice;” “he judged the cause of the poor and needy” (Deu 24:15).

III. IN CHARACTER. Jehoiakim’s is summed up in the short, stern sentence, “He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God” (2Ch 36:5). And the facts above noted show his rapacity, cruelty, and oppression. But what a contrast to what his father Josiah was (cf. 2Ch 34:1-33.)!

IV. IN HAPPINESS. With all his tyranny Jehoiakim could not command happiness for himself. The mutterings of the thunder of the Divine judgments were continually being heard, and the rebukes of the prophets of God, together with those of his conscience, which could not have been silent, and the sullen discontent of his people, all combined to haunt his palace with omens of wretchedness and to fill his heart with fear. On the other hand, it is said of King Josiah that he “did eat and drink, and it was well with him;” the meaning of which is, that he was no ascetic, that he enjoyed life and lived prosperously and joyously. It is ever so. “In keeping of God’s commandments there is great reward”in the sunshine of the soul which comes from the consciousness of the Divine approval, and the testimony of a clear conscience, and the love and esteem of those over whom rule is exercised.

V. IN THEIR DEATH. The actual circumstances of Jehoiakim’s death are not declared. But sufficient hints are given to show that his sun went down in clouds and darkness, that his end was miserable. “According to one account;’ says Stanley, “his memory was held in detestation; there were no funeral dirges over him, as there had been over his father and brother, but his corpse was thrown out, like that of a dead ass (cf. Deu 24:18), outside the walls of Jerusalem, exposed to the burning sun by day and the biting frost by night. And this prophetic curse was darkened with a yet deeper hue by the legend which described how, on the skin of the dead corpse, as it thus lay exposed, there appeared in distinct Hebrew characters the name of the demon Codonazer, to whom he had sold himself. He remained fixed in the recollections of his countrymen as the last example of those cruel, selfish, luxurious princes, the natural product of Oriental monarchies, the disgrace of the monarchy of David.” But of King Josiah the record is far otherwise. “So mournful a death had never occurred in the Jewish annals. All the population of the city and the kingdom, attended the funeral. There was an elegy over the departed king, probably as pathetic as that which David had sung over Saul and Jonathan. It was by Jeremiah, the most plaintive of the prophets, who then first appears on the scene of public acts. Long afterwards was that sad day remembered, both as it was celebrated on the field of battle and at Jerusalem. The lamentation of Jeremiah was preserved in the memory of the male and female minstrels as a national institution, even till long after the return from the Captivity. Every family shut itself up and mourned apart. In the prospect of the heaviest calamity that could befall the nation, this was the mourning which recurred to them, mourning as one mourneth for his only son, in bitterness as one is in bitterness for his firstborn. The childless mother laid herself down to die; the sun of her life went down as at midday, as in the total eclipse of that fatal year. Josiah was the last royal hero of Israel.” Such are some of the contrasts presented by these two careers of the son and father. They teach us:

1. That whilst we should be thankful for the blessings of a pious parentage, we are not to presume upon it as if it were a sure safeguard or a certain prophecy of what our end shall be.

2. That should it be our lot to be the child of ungodly parents, the same grace that made Josiah what he was can surmount all early disadvantages, and make us far other and better than what our start in life may have led men to expect. He who, as did Josiah, wilt set himself whilst he is yet young to seek the Lord shall surely find him, and also that he who honors God, God will honor.C.

Jer 22:18

Exceptional facts in the law of transmission of character.

“Concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah King of Judah.” The law is that like begets like. It is so physically and mentally to large extent, and morally and spiritually as well. Generally, blessed be God, the children of his servants become his servants too. And, on the other hand, the habit of sin in the parent is reproduced in the child, so that we have criminal classes, hereditary drunkards, profligates, and much else of a similar sad sort. But the law has frequent exceptions on both sides. The two names in this verse are both of them instances of such exception. Now, how are we to account for them? We have frequent instances in the Old Testament. The sons of “Aaron the saint of the Lord;” of Eli, the devout high priest; of Samuel, the upright judge. What a set David’s children were! And here we have Josiah the good, father of the infamous Jehoiakim. But we have nothing of this in the New Testament. It does not seem to be recognized there that the children of the godly can be otherwise than godly themselves. Even when one of the parents was an unbeliever, a heathen, the faith of the other was held to have such virtue that of their children St. Paul says, “Now are your children holy.” We have very many instances of whole households being believers, but none of the children of believers being other than what their parents were. Would to God it were always so now! And, on the other hand, we have, as in the cases of the pious Hezekiah, son of the wicked Ahaz, and Josiah, son of Amen, who “sinned more and more,” instances of ungodly parents having godly children. Now, how are these to be accounted for? Consider the sad case

I. THAT GODLY PARENTS SHOULD HAVE UNGODLY CHILDREN. We are accustomed to assent to the possibility and frequency of this as an unquestionable truth. But is it so? We would ask two questions with a view to a better understanding of the matter.

1. Is it meant that godly parents who have been both able and anxious to train their children for God may yet have ungodly children?

(1) Some godly parents are not thus able. Probably Josiah was not. The might of evil, the fearful sweep and rush of its tide, was probably in those days, and in that court and city, too great for even the godly king to withstand, and it bore away his son before his eyes. For a prince in that age to be godly was almost a miracle. And that which we have suggested as perhaps and probably accounting for the ungodliness of Josiah’s son may explain some similar cases now.

(2) But more are not really anxious about it. If parents were as anxious about the godliness of their children as they are about their health, education, and start in life, and took as much pains to secure it, such cases as we are considering would be more rare than they are.

(3) The children of believers ought not to need conversion. They should grow up in the kingdom of God in which their baptism declared them to be already members. But there is a deadly doctrine all too influential in thousands of Christian homes, that children must go into the far country first, and there live more or less prodigal-like, and then afterwards come to themselves, be converted, and return. And of course what is expected of such children happens, as far as the going away is concerned: not always the return. But why should they ever go into that far country? The elder son though, like Jonah and many a devout Jew (cf. Paul’s “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,” etc.), he was perplexed at the Father s gracious way of dealing with repentant sinners, was the elder Son still who had been ever obedient, and to whom the father said, “Son, thou art over with me, and all that I have is thine;” as much as to say, “Why do you complain of my treatment of your poor wretched brother? Yours is far the better lot; you are so much the happier that you assuredly ought not to complain.” So did the lather “entreat him,” and, no doubt, successfully. But from most mournful forgetfulness of the fact that there is no need that our children should go away, and that they ought not to go away, many parents let them go, or at least acquiesce in their going as something that is inevitable. Hence, as it is of no use to be anxious and guard against the inevitable, they take no such pains about their children’s godliness as they do about those other more temporal matters which concern their welfare, and which they know do very largely depend upon the endeavors they, their parents, put forth. They cannot avoid desiring their children’s highest good, and in family prayers and private ones it is remembered before God. But the energies of the will are never roused up to seek it as other and lesser things are sought. Would to God they were! Now, we say that if you have a case of real ungodliness in the children of the godly, it is to be accounted for by the fact that either the parents were not able or else not really anxious to train them for God. More often the latter is the sad truth.

2. But we ask, alsoWhat is meant by ungodly? Do you mean those who for a while go astray, but afterwards come back? Of course, if the sin be like Manasseh’s, very flagrant and long-continued, then, even though there may be the after coming back, as there was in his case, it must be allowed that such are ungodly. But that stern word should generally be reserved for a life wholly without God, and not be cast carelessly on those who, like so many of God’s saints have done, may fall yet rise again; still less on children because of their natural thoughtlessness and incapacity of thinking seriously for a long time about anything. God forbid they should I But if the word “ungodly” Be confined, as it should be, to those whose lives are wholly or for the most part without God, then we affirm that such children do not spring from parents both able and really anxious to train them for God. To affirm that they are would be to contradict:

(1) God‘s word; e.g. “Train up a child and when he is old he shall not depart from it;” “Ask, and ye shall receive;” and the many promises to answer prayer. Now, we know that the godliness of our children must be in accordance with the Divine will, therefore all these promises must be set aside if, etc. And St. Paul bids parents train their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;” and he never hints that such training may after all be thrown away. What was the constant baptism of households but an indication of the apostolic and primitive belief that, as a matter of course, in the faith of the father the children would share? The promise was to them and their children.

(2) Analogies. If there be real pains to train children in a given manner educationally, socially, morallyas there is on the part of parentssuccess is gained nearly always. And so it would be in things spiritual. There is no slight done to the truth of the Holy Spirit’s agency in this great matter, but all that is urged is that we obey the laws of the Spirit.

(3) Facts. No instance can be shown where there has been real solicitude and opportunity on the part of the parents that their children should be godly, of such children having been permanently ungodly. There has not been permanent failure, though there may have been temporary. It would be horrible to believe that God had drawn forth the earnest yearning of the parent’s heart for the salvation of their childrena yearning attested by all loving and consistent endeavor in the way of example, education, influence, direct and indirectand yet, after all, such desire to be miserably and forever disappointed. We will not believe it. And, on the other hand, there are innumerable instances which show that it is the rule that godly parents should have godly children. Nearly all the godly today are the children of the godly. Instead of the fathers have risen up the children. Such is God’s blessed order, and we should be slow to believe that he ever sets it aside. It is well for every father and mother to take it to heart that if their children turn out ungodly the fault is, in all probability, theirs. But now note the opposite case

II. THAT UNGODLY PARENTS SHOULD HAVE GODLY CHILDREN. We have referred above to such cases. And they frequently occur. The chaff nourishes the wheat in its bosom. The ungodly home nurtures godly children. How is this?

1. Sometimes it is because ungodly parents are more careful than even others about the companionships of their children. They try to gain a good for their children which they know they have not for themselves. Many a bad parent wishes his child to be good.

2. Sometimes the children, seeing how wretched sin makes their home, are led to seek “a more excellent way’ for themselves. The ways of godliness seem like paradise to the victim of the ungodliness of many a home. How Sunday school childrenmany of them from terrible homeslove their school!

3. God willing to show them that there is nothing too hard for the Lord. Can a man bring forth a clean thing out of an unclean? Certainly not. But God can, and in these instances does. And the reasons for such gracious action may be:

(1) Pity for the children.

(2) Instruction to his Church. They are to despair of none.

(3) The glory of his Name.

Hence he snatches these, trophies as it were, from the very gates of hell; plucks them as brands from the burning.

4. Conclusion. Let us give God thanks that he does this. That Amens have Josiahs for children; Ahaz, Hezekiah; Henry VIII; Edward VI. That from such a court as that of the previous reigns our own beloved queen should have come. God be praised for this and every such instance!C.

Jer 22:29

The impassioned cry of God to man.

This cry, “O earth, earth, earth,” etc; sounds out like the alarm of fire, or some bitter cry of distress. It startles by its earnestness, arrests and demands attention, and compels us to inquire into its cause. Note, therefore

I. THE OCCASION OF IT. This will show us what word of the Lord’s is meant. It was wrung out from the prophet’s heart by the sight of the calamities now so swiftly coming upon his beloved land. To think of that land overrun by the cruel armies of Babylon, the holy city burnt with fire, the temple of the Lord desecrated and destroyed, and her kings, one after another, ending their days in misery; Josiah, the happiest of them, slain in battle; Shallum, his son, exiled in Egypt, and dying there; Jehoiakim carried off by Nebuchadrezzar, and perishing at a very early age, and in some miserable manner”buried with the burial of an ass” (Jer 22:19); Jeconiah, with his mother, seized by the Chaldeans, torn from his home and taken to Babylon, and there living and dying in drear exilehe the last of the royal race, after whom none other filled the throne of David. It was the sight of all these calamities, and the shame and disgrace attached to them, and especially the remembrance of the cause of them all, that extorted this loud cry of pain, this impassioned appeal. (Cf. Stanley’s ‘Lectures on Jewish Church,’ Leer. 40; for history of period.) Would we realize the prophet’s distress, let us endeavor to imagine that the circumstances were our own; that it was our own land, people, temples, princes, thus threatened, thus exiled, thus miserably perishing. What should we think then? No wonder that Jeremiah was “the weeping prophet;” that he felt the woes of his country to be so great that he could appeal to all who witnessed them, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if,” etc. (Lam 1:12). And, like Dives in hell, who bethought himself of his five careless, godless brethren, and would have them warned; so the prophet of God, knowing how all the world was heedless of God, even as his own land had been, to its sore cost, now passionately cries, “O earth, earth, earth,” etc. He would have sinners everywhere take heed, by Judah’s awful fate, of how God will surely punish sin. The word he would have them hear was the word Of warning. This is the lesson which the occasion of this appeal teaches us. There are many other words which God addresses to uswords of mercy, promise, instruction, and the like; but unless we take heed to this word and dread the sin which works such woe, all’ the others will be but lightly esteemed. And that which makes this word yet more emphatic is the position of privilege and honor and security which those now judged of God once occupied (cf. verse 24). Coniah was as God’s signet ring, precious, honorable, and guarded with all care. But it made no difference: as a ring might be plucked off and cast away, so now God would root out and east away these evil-doers, though once so dear to him. It matters not, then, what position of privilege, profession, reputation, service, and the like we fill, disobedience to God’s commands will cast us down and work our ruin. “Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall;” “Be not high-minded, but fear;” “If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”

I. THE MANNER OF IT. This will show how disregarded this word of the Lord too commonly is. There would have been no need of such impassioned appeal if men were eager to listen. But the cry has to be loud, repeated, and ever louder still. The world has but to whisper; the lowest accents of pleasure, self-interest, and often of sin, are caught in a moment and obeyed. But the word of the Lord finds no such reception ready. How different this from all other creatures of God!from the holy angels that “excel in strength and do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word,” down to the meanest and humblest of all the works of his hands. Man alone stands out in disgraceful exception. One should have thought that the near approach of danger would quicken the sense of fear and lead to increased caution. As when the ship nears a perilous coast how frequent the soundings, how sharp the look out! But the ungodly, the nearer they come to the shore of the, for them, awful other world, the less concerned they seem to be, the more dull of hearing the word of the Lord. Like the cold, which benumbs and paralyzes the more intense it becomes. Hence, if man is to be awakened from his spiritual slumber, God must cry aloud, lift up his voice with strength, as here, “O earth, earth, earth,” etc. Does not our own conscience bear witness to the truth of our backwardness to hear God’s word which the manner of this appeal implies. How often God has called to us, by his Word, his Spirit, his providence, and we have not answered!

III. THOSE TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED. Thus we shall learn the importance and universality of this word. For by the earth which is appealed to we may understand:

1. Inanimate nature. As Isa 1:1-31; “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.” As if the prophet would call on the very stones to cry out and attest the momentous importance of this word of the Lord; as if the earth might be trusted to hear though man would not. And is not this word important, in these days especially, when the sense of sin has become so feeble, and men trifle with it as a matter of indifference? It is every day ensnaring souls and hardening them more and more. And the time for awakening them is short. The crash of the gates shutting against them will arouse them, but then it will be too late. When the ship has struck, the shock of the blow is but the prelude to the cry of despair, which tells that there is no hope, for there is no time to escape. Yes, men need to be warned, need to hear this word of the Lord; and woe to them whose duty it is to declare it if they fail so to do.

2. But earth or land tells of the people who dwell thereonthe inhabitants of the world. The prophet appeals to them all, not to a mere section of them. Not to Palestine, still less Judah only, but to the whole earth. For it is a word which all need to give heed to: the believer, that his compassion for sinners may be aroused; the undecided, that his indecision may come to an end; and the ungodly, that they may tremble with a holy fear. Lastly

IV. THE AUTHOR OF IT. This will show to us the heart of love that utters itself in it. The stern “threats of God do not lessen his love but enhance it. They are the crowning marks of mercy. A shepherd, foreseeing a snowstorm that will drift deep into the hollows of the hill, where the silly sheep, seeking refuge, would find a grave, prepares shelter in a safe spot and opens its door. Then he sends his dog after the wandering flock to frighten them into the fold. The bark of the dog behind them is a terror to the timid sheep; but it is at once the sure means of their safety and the mark of the shepherd’s care. Without it the prepared fold and the open entrance might have proved of no avail. The terror which the shepherd sent into the flock gave the finishing touch to his tender care, and effect to all that had gone before it. Such precisely, in design and effect, are the terrible things of God’s Word” (Arnot). It is because God is so intent on moving us from impending woe that he utters his impassioned appeals, and draws, in such terrible descriptions, the portraiture of his wrath. A mother seeking her child lost in the bush does not once whisper its name, but she repeats it again and again, with shrill, dear, loving, strong cry. And it is the like cry of God that is heard in all his warning words, awful as some of them are. God wants that we should be saved.

CONCLUSION. But by the earth which is bidden hear the word of the Lord, our thoughts have suggested to them the company of the dead. They are in the graves. They are gone “earth to earth;” and concerning them our Lord says, “Behold, the hour cometh when all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth” (Joh 5:25-28). What shall be the manner of that awakening, when the trumpet shall sound and the cry, “O earth, earth, earth,” etc; is again heard? What? Shall it be unto life and immortality, or to shame and everlasting contempt? All depends on how we hear the Word of the Lord now. May he grant that we may both hear it and hear it aright!C.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG

Jer 22:1-9

A king addressed in mingled promise and warning.

Here is the announcement of what Jehovah requires from the king and his executive in particular; although it will be seen that exactly the same principles apply to the conduct of the king as to the meanest of his subjects. But inasmuch as the king was in circumstances of special power, responsibility, and temptation, it was just what might be expected from the Divine consideration for every man’s position, that the king should receive special counsels. If he acted wrongly, his conduct would be quoted and his example followed by every one who wished to act in the same way. This warning message here however, so timely and so plain, would take away all ground from those who thought they might do what a king did. Jeremiah, preaching righteousness to the meanest of the people, could insist on this, that he asked no more from them than he ha a been specially enjoined to ask from the very king himself. Note

I. THOSE WHO WERE TO BE APPROACHED. This is a message for the king and for such people as live in palaces. Remarkable to notice how God’s messengers have been brought into contact with the kings and grandees of the earth. Divinely guided, they have been able to find their way where others, even with large worldly influence, have been excluded. So Moses comes to deal with Pharaoh; Jeremiah with this king here; John the Baptist with Herod; Jesus with Pontius Pilate; Paul with Felix, Festus, and Agrippa. As God can make a way for his servants out of prisons, so he can also make a way for them into palaces. And once entered into the palace, the prophet was to address himself first and chiefly to the king. Kings have many counselors, and their temptation is to say what may he agreeable to the royal ears. This king, maybe, had not one honest, disinterested man about him; if so, all the more need for Jeremiah’s counsels. Further, the king is reminded of a former distinguished occupant of his throne. In pondering this expression, “the throne of David,” there was much to fill the heart of a king, who was also a true man, with noble purpose and endeavor. David, even with all his transgressions and vicissitudes, was a fine example of the success and glory following on sensitiveness to God’s commandments. If David had not been enabled to do so much that was good, his successors would not have found scope for the doing of so much that was evil. Then from the king there is a turning to those around them. Kings cannot help being a great deal influenced and even limited by those who stand next to them. God, who knows all conditions of life, sees the peculiar difficulties of kings and sympathizes with them. One of the greatest troublers of David’s life was his headstrong servant Joab.

II. GOD‘S DEMAND UPON THOSE WHO HOLD POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY. He sent his servant to show how a king’s government may become stable, glorious, and happy. Nothing is said about victorious armies and increased territories. These were the things the Gentiles sought after, but God wished the powers and opportunities of the kings of his people to be used for far other ends. There was plenty of room for this king to make conquests, and conquests not easily made. He had his own selfish inclinations to repress, and the selfish proceedings of many of his people to undo. He is commanded to execute judgment and righteousness. He must not neglect the ever necessary functions of a judge; righteous principles must rule in all his decisions; and thirdly, he must see that the decisions are carried into effect. How can any human government be approved of God unless there are both righteous laws and a resolute execution of them. The king must also be the vigilant guardian of the weak and defenseless. From out of his palace his servants should go forth commissioned to champion those who are unable to protect themselves. Never should a strong man more exult in his strength than when it enables him to become sword and shield to the feeble. A righteous government will not wait until it is dinned with importunities. In many instances the king was the only one who could rescue from the hand of the oppressor. Every temporary occupant of the throne of David was in his turn a type of that abiding King and anointed One, of whom it is true in the highest sense that salvation is in no other (Act 4:12). And as the king was to deliver from the oppressor, so he was to be careful not to oppress. So subtle is selfishness in its influence upon us that we need to be peculiarly on our guard against taking advantage of the weak. Lastly, the king is not to be a shedder of innocent blood. He must not be weakly indulgent as to the blood of the guilty. If a man by the laws of the land has deserved to die the death, there must be no tampering with just deserts. And so, on the other hand, a king was not to allow his fury free course against some one who had offended him, and seek his death simply to gratify resentment. It is easy to see that the despotic character of Eastern kings in ancient times would make this injunction against the shedding of innocent blood to have an application such as it fails to have with the constitutional governments we are accustomed to.

III. The prophet has to point out that ACCORDING TO THE RECEPTION OF THESE COUNSELS THERE WILL BE CORRESPONDING RESULTS. The king is plainly told that it is for him to determine whether his reign shall be glorious and his palace continue and increase in splendor. The king who can rise above all temptations to mere outward show; who can be gloriously independent of selfish traditions and examples; who can show the spirit of a real king by living for his people, instead of expecting his people to drudge and sweat and groan for him;this is the king whom God will reward. The reward will come in the very way such a man will desire. His throne will become more stable for his successors; the land more prosperous and better worth living in. On the other hand, if there is negligence of these counsels, the ruin of the negligent ruler will be correspondingly terrible. No man, however great his resources, can build up anything glorious and satisfactory on a foundation of disobedience to God. Against that tree of temporal prosperity which has been planted in Selfishness and nurtured in selfishness, a consecrated axe is laidlaid at the root of the tree to cut it down altogether. The greatness of the prosperity measures the greatness of the ruin. We must delight in the Law of the Lord if we would be as trees of God’s own planting; and then, assuredly, no weapon formed against us can prosper.Y.

Jer 22:10-12

The mistakes of the mourner.

Two persons are presented here as furnishing occasions for lamentation. One is Josiah, King of Judah, lately dead; the other is Shallum, his son, just succeeding him, and taken into captivity by Pharaoh-Nechoh, King of Egypt. The prophet, therefore, looks upon his countrymen as sorrowing both for the dead and the living. Moreover, he sees that, in accordance with all the natural tendencies of the human heart, a deeper sorrow is professed for the dead than for him who has been taken away into a foreign land. And yet this was not according to the necessities of the position. The captivity of Shallum, rightly considered, was a more distressing event than the death of his father. It may be truly said that we always exaggerate death as a calamity. In the instance of Josiah, his comparatively early deathfor he seems to have been no more than forty when he perished in battled produced peculiar feelings of pity. He seemed to be one whose “sun had gone down while it was yet day.” But we must remember that this very death had been prophetically spoken of as a blessing (2Ki 22:20): “Thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place.” For one who is faithfully trying to serve God, it can matter very little when he dies. His service goes on. A man may benefit the cause of God more by the faithful testimony of a Christian death than by fifty years of continued work. If a man has come to death by his own folly and recklessness, we do well to grieve over him; but death in itself is an event which we may only too easily come to look at in a distorted, exaggerated way. There are things far Worse than death. Again and again it happens that people fall into severe illnesses, recover, and then return into the world, only to find that the years seemingly added in mercy to life have become a period of disaster and shame. In the midst of a world of misery, we cannot be too pitiful, too sympathetic, but we must be careful not to make erroneous estimates as to what most deserves our pity and sympathy. We can do nothing for the dead. When the last breath is breathed, there is straightway a great gulf fixed between us and them. But we may do much for the living, if only in a self-denying spirit we keep them in our recollection and strive to help them; seizing every opportunity, and economizing our energies so as to make the most of it.Y.

Jer 22:13-19

A right aim pursued by a wrong and cruel method.

I. A RIGHT AIM. What this aim was is indicated in Jer 22:15. Jehoiakim wanted to be a king. In one sense he was a king, without any effort of his own, for he had succeeded to the position and honors of his father. But very rightly he sought to be reckoned a king by virtue of something more than mere rank. He wished to do something which would mark off his reign as peculiar. He wished something more to be said of him than that he merely reigned so many years. His office would have made him to be remembered in a certain way, but he preferred that his office should be a mere vantage-ground to give him the chance of showing what he could do as a man. Bad as Jehoiakim was, he had individuality of charactera strong feeling that a king was bound to do something more than just sit on a throne, wear a crown, and hold a scepter in his hand. There is nothing pleasing to God in our being mere colorless copies of those who have gone before us. Jehoiakim was right in so far as he wished to go in a way that was more than the mere beaten track of others.

II. A WRONG NOTION OF HOW HIS AIM WAS TO BE ATTAINED. Jehoiakim thought he could get great renown for himself individually by building a splendid palace. There would be such a contrast between it and the common houses in Jerusalem as to make people ask at once, “Whose abode is that?“ and, in so acting, Jehoiakim showed that he understood pretty well the way in which popular opinion is most easily influenced. The way of the world is to estimate men by the visible splendors they can gather around them. One who lives in a wide house is looked at through the medium of his possessions, and thus becomes correspondingly magnified himself. But with all the worldly shrewdness of Jehoiakim, he was taking the wrong way to become really celebrated. Even supposing he had not been guilty of the peculiar wickedness rebuked in this passage, he would not have attained his end. The building of a big house sufficiently showed his ambition; but it did not of necessity show any of those peculiar powers by which men live lives that are remembered. Many of those whose fame will last as long as the world lasts, lived and died poor men. At least, they did not reside in wide houses. And thus the careers of such men, whenever they are considered, cast a permanent irony on the pursuit of mere external wealth.

III. THE PECULIAR WICKEDNESS CONSEQUENT ON THE TAKING OF THIS WRONG WAY. Jehoiakim’s scheme was not only vainglorious and delusive in itself, but very oppressive to his subjects in the carrying of it out. What we read of here makes us regard very dubiously many of the monuments of architectural power belonging to ancient civilizations. We may suspect that only too many of them were constructed by forced labor. How much of unrequited toil there must have been, not only in temples, palaces, Pyramids, but also in such plainly useful works as roads, bridges, and aqueducts! The results have been pleasing enough to the eye, and rich in giving resources to the lovers of art; but their beauty becomes only deformity, if we have reason to believe that force, fraud, and cruelty had a considerable share in the production of them. Even Christian cathedrals and churches may have been built in this way to a greater extent than we should like to think possible. There must always be a great temptation to the natural greed of man to get the largest amount of labor with the least remuneration. And this prophecy here shows that God has his eye on all such doings. His prophet sets forth principles which are the condemnation of slavery in all its forms, and by which every extortionate and greedy spirit will have to be judged.

IV. A CONTRAST WITH ONE WHO TOOK THE RIGHT WAY. Jehoiakim had been favored with constant nearness to a good example of how a king should live and act, which made his wickedness the greater. Josiah, succeeding to a throne, had also wished to be more than a nominal king. But he had very different notions from his son as to how authority should be exerted. He was just and righteous, and paid special attention to the poor and humble, and the result was that all went well with him. Jehoiakim may have been feared, but he would be hated at the same time, or, if loved, loved only by those who found their chances in helping his pretentious schemes. Josiah was feared, but by the extortionists and knaves among his subjects. And he would be equally loved by all who, needing justice, knew that at his throne it was never sought in vain.

V. THE DISGRACEFUL END OF JEHOIAKIM‘S PRIDE. He would die unregretted, and be buried like a beast. None of all who had been his associates while alive, would pay the slightest regard to him when dead. The prophecy here does not, of course, mean that-God approves of such indecency to a corpse. He is simply pointing out how little selfish men may expect from their selfish associates. He who squeezes others like sponges, and throws them away when he can squeeze no more, only meets what may be expected when he comes to be thrown away in turn.Y.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Jer 22:1. Thus saith the Lord This happened long before what is mentioned in the preceding chapter.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

II. MAIN DISCOURSE

Jeremiah 22, 23

Against The Wicked Kings And Prophets

1. Against the wicked kings, (Jer 22:1 to Jer 23:8)

a. The alternative offered the royal house

Jer 22:1-9

1Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah]: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, 2and speak there this word. And say, Hear the word of the Lord [Jehovah], O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and 3thy people that enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah]:

Execute judgment and righteousness,
And rescue him that is plundered out of the hand of the oppressor,1

Strangers, orphans and widows oppress not, nor be violent towards them,
And innocent blood shed not in this place.

4For if ye indeed do thus,

Then through the gates of this house,
Kings, sitting for David on his throne,
Shall enter in chariots and on horses,
He, his ministers2 and his people.

5But if ye hearken not to these words,

I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah,
That this house shall become a desolation.

6For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah:

Gilead art thou to me, summit of Lebanon!
Surely a wilderness will I make thee,
Cities uninhabited.

7And I consec ate against thee destroyers,

The man and his weapons,
Who shall fell thy choice cedars,
And cast them into the fire.

8And many nations shall go by this city and say one to another,

Why has Jehovah done thus to this great city?

9And they shall say:

Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God,
And worshipped other gods and served them.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The prophet receives the command to go down to the kings house and to deliver to the king and his servants, and to the people, the following divine message (Jer 22:1-2): if they would practice justice and righteousness (Jer 22:3), kings of Davids line should possess the throne in royal power and glory (Jer 22:4); if not, the kings house should be made desolate (Jer 22:5). For though hitherto like Gilead and Lebanon, it is to be devastated (Jer 22:6). Destroyers shall come and shall fell the cedars and cast them into the fire (Jer 22:7), so that afterwards it shall be asked in astonishment, why such a great calamity has come upon the city (Jer 22:8). To which no other answer can be given than that they forsook the covenant of the Lord and served idols (Jer 22:9).As to the relation of these verses to the preceding (Jer 21:11-14), the former appear almost only like an extension of the latter. Not only is the fundamental thought the same, but even in details there is great, in part verbal, agreement. The admonition which forms the basis, is found in Jer 21:12 and Jer 22:3, partly with the same words, only in the latter passage somewhat extended (comp. the second half of Jer 22:3) As to the promises and threatenings based on the admonition, the form of the alternative is not found in Jer 21:11-14, for here the idea of non-fulfilment reigns exclusively. But in the form in which the punishment is announced there are great similarities; both times the royal house is compared with a wooded height, the wood of which will be consumed by fire. Since now repetitions occur so frequently in Jeremiah, there is nothing against the supposition that we have here before us two utterances, related in form and purport because they proceed from the same historical situation. That this situation was in the reign of Jehoiakim and before the crisis of the battle of Carchemish appears to me to admit of no doubt. For 1. there is no mention of the Chaldeans; 2. the king addressed is warned against despotic acts of violence. This warning corresponds neither to the character of Josiah nor to that, of Jehoahaz, who was most probably elected by the people, because he was supposed to be free from despotic inclinations, and besides he reigned only three months. The warning, however, corresponds entirely to the character of Jehoiakim, who is also afterwards reproved for such acts of violence (Jer 22:13-17). 3. Jehoiakim is in Jer 22:13-15 especially reproached with his lust for building, which he gratified by despotic means. His cedar palace was a monument of this. Jeremiah is to go down to this proud house (Jer 22:1 coll. Jer 22:23), and announce to him the judgment of fire (Jer 22:7). It follows that 1. the section 19 refers to Jehoiakim; 2. it is closely connected with Jer 22:13-23.

Jer 22:1-5. Thus saith become a desolation.Go down. Out from the temple. Comp. Jer 26:10; Jer 36:12 coll. Jer 18:2.Thou, etc. Not the king alone, but his servants, and the people also are to hear the word of the Lord. All are to co-operate in complying with the admonition, as they will all be affected by the consequences.Execute judgment and righteousness. Comp. Jer 7:6; Jer 21:12; Eze 22:6-7; Eze 45:9.The stranger. Comp. Exo 22:20-21.For if ye will, etc. Comp. Jer 7:5.There shall enter. Comp. Jer 17:25 coll. Jer 13:13.But if ye will not hear. Comp. Jer 17:27.I swear by myself. Comp. Gen 22:16; Isa 45:23; Jer 49:13.

Jer 22:6-9. For thus and served them. Gilead, which taken in its wider meaning, comprises Bashan (comp. V. Raumer, Palstina, S. 229, sqq.), is a type of luxuriant fertility, especially with respect to pasturage. Comp. Num 32:1; Mic 7:14; Jer 1:19.Lebanon, the far-reaching, adorned with cedars, is also frequently elsewhere an emblem of the lofty and splendid: Isa 2:13; Isa 10:33-34; Isa 35:2; Isa 60:13; Hos 14:6-8; Zec 11:1-2.The figures of blessing and exultation are applied to the house of David, not on account of its present prosperity, for this does not exist, nor only on account of its former prosperity,under David and Solomonfor this is a secondary consideration with the Lord. From the words to me we perceive that the Lord has here in view rather the significance of the Davidic house, which He has most at heart, its universal and transcendent mission (2 Samuel 7.). For this reason we must not translate: Thou wast to me, but Thou art to me. The comparison with Lebanon is one of the points of coincidence with 21:31. Although the royal house of Judah thus stands before the Lord in such ideal glory, He will make it in outward form a desolation and ruin. (comp. Isa 53:1-5).On uninhabited comp. Comm. on Jer 2:15. But why cities in the plural? Evidently because the prophet wished to intimate that the judgment on the kings house will be declared in the desolation of the land and the destruction of the cities, especially the capital (Jer 22:8). It follows that Jer 22:6 stands to Jer 22:5 in the relation of more particular explanation, that for, Jer 22:6, is therefore to be regarded as an explicative. For not only the reason but the manner of the desolation is more particularly defined in Jer 22:6-9.Consecrated. It is commanded by God and therefore a holy war. Comp. rems. on Jer 6:4. Therefore both the warriors and their weapons are designated as holy.They shall fall, etc. The house of David is still regarded as a wooded mountain (comp. Jer 11:14). At the same time the remembrance of the cedar palaces (Jer 22:23; 2Sa 7:2; 2Sa 7:7; 1Ch 17:1; 1Ch 17:6; 1Ki 7:2) seems to prevail.Cast them. Comp Jer 21:12; Jer 21:14.

Jer 22:8-9. The prophet has Deu 29:23 sqq. in mind. Comp. also 1Ki 9:8-9.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Jer 21:2. King Zedekiah sends word to Jeremiah, that the Lord is to do according to all His miracles, that Nebuchadnezzar may withdraw. A demand rather cavalierly made in such evil circumstances. But the noble are so unfortunate! It is indeed as though it only depended on them to arrange matters with God; as if He were only waiting for them, as if it were a point of honor not to be over-hasty, but first to await a little extremity . It is a very necessary observance for a servant of the Lord, that he try his superiors, whether there is any trace remaining in them of having been once baptized, well brought up and instructed in the fear of the Lord. If he observe anything of this kind, he must insist upon it and especially not allow them to deal too familiarly with the Judge of all the earth, but plainly demonstrate to them their insufficiency and nothingness, if they measure themselves by Him. Though Zedekiah had spoken so superficially, Jeremiah answered him without hesitation, definitely and positively, and accustomed him to a different manner of dealing with the Lord. Zinzendorf. When the ungodly desire Gods help, they commonly appeal not to His saving power to heal them, but to His miraculous power to save them, while they persist in their impenitence. Starke.

2. On Jer 21:8. It is pure grace on the part of God, when He leaves to man the choice between the good and the evil; not that it is permitted him to choose the evil, but that he may choose freely the good, which he is under obligation to do, Deu 30:19. Starke. God lays before us the way of life and the way of death. The way of life is however always contrary to human reason, and that on which it sees merely death and shame. If thou wilt save thyself thou must leave the false Jerusalem, fallen under the judgment, and seek thy life where there seems to be only death. He who would save his life must lose it, and he who devotes it for the sake of the truth will save it. Diedrich.

3. On Jer 21:11-14. To be such a king is to be an abomination to the Lord, and severe judgment will follow. God appoints magistrates for His service and for the use of men; he who only seeks his own enjoyment in office, is lost. Jerusalem, situated on rocks in the midst of a plain, looks secure; but against God neither rocks avail nor aught else. The fire will break out even in them, and consume all around, together with the forest of cedar-houses in the city. The corruption is seated within, and therefore proceeds from within outwards, so that nothing of the former stock can remain. What shall a government do which no longer bears the sword of justice? What shall a church do which is no longer founded on Gods truth as its only power? Diedrich. Comp. moreover on the whole of Jeremiah 24. the extended moral reflections of Cyrillus Alex. . . Lib. I.

4. On Jer 22:1. Jeremiah is to deliver a sermon at court, in which he reminds the king of his office of magistrate, in which he is to administer justice to every man. Cramer.

It was no easy task for Jeremiah to go into the lions den and deliver such an uncourtly message to him. We are reminded of the prophet Jonah. But Jeremiah did not flee as he did.

5. On Jer 22:1-3. [But we ought the more carefully to notice this passage, that we may learn to strengthen ourselves against bad examples, lest the impiety of men should overturn our faith; when we see in Gods church things in such disorder, that those who glory in the name of God are become like robbers, we must beware lest we become on this account alienated from true religion. We must, indeed, desert such monsters, but we must take care lest Gods word, through mens wickedness, should lose its value in our esteem. We ought then to remember the admonition of Christ, to hear the Scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses seat (Mat 23:2). Calvin.S. R. A.]

6. On Jer 22:10. [Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospect of the times may be, that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be restrained, that they may be reserved for ourselves and our children (Luk 23:28). Henry.S. R. A.]

Nequaquam gentilis plangendus est atque Judus, qui in ecclesia non fuerunt et simul mortui sunt, de quibus Salvator dicit: dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos (Mat 8:22). Sed eos plange, qui per scelera atque peccata egrediuntur de ecclesia et nolunt ultra reverti ad earn damnatione vitiorum. Hieron. Epist. 46 ad Rusticam. Nolite flere mortuum, sed plorate raptorem avarum, pecuni sitientem et inexplebilem auri cupidinem. Cur mortuos inutiliter ploramus? Eos ploremus, qui in melius mutari possunt. Basilius Seleucensis. Comp. Basil, Magn. Homil. 4 de Gratiarum actione post dimid.Ghislerus.

7. On Jer 22:6-9. God does not spare even the authorities. For though He has said that they are gods, when they do not rightly administer their office they must die like men (Psa 82:6) No cedars are too high for God, no splendor too mighty; He can destroy all at once, and overturn, and overturn, and overturn. Eze 21:27, Cramer.

Another passage from which it is seen how perverse and unjustifiable is the illusion that Gods election is a surety against His anger, and a permit to any wilfulness. The individual representatives of the objects of divine election should never forget that God can march over their carcases, and the ruins of their glory, to the fulfilment of His promise, and that He can rebuild on a higher stage, what He has destroyed on a lower. Comp. remarks on Jer 22:24.

8. On Jer 22:13-19. It is blasphemy to imagine that God will be frre et compagnon to all princes as such, and that He has a predilection for them as of His own kind. Does He not say to his majesty the king of Judah, with whom, in respect of the eminence of his dynasty and throne no other prince of earth could compare, that he should be buried like an ass, dragged and cast out before the gates of Jerusalem? This Jehoiakim was however an aristocrat, a heartless, selfish tyrant, who for his own pleasure trampled divine and human rights under foot. If such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

He who builds his house with other peoples property, collects stones for his grave. Cramer.

9. On Jer 22:14. [It was a proof of luxury when men began to indulge in superfluities. In old times the windows were small; for use only was regarded by frugal men; but afterwards a sort of madness possessed the minds of many, so that they sought to be suspended as it were in the air. And hence they began to have wider windows. The thing in itself, as I have said, is not what God condemns; but we must ever remember, that men never go to excesses in external things, except when their hearts are infected with pride, so that they do not regard what is useful, what is becoming, but are carried away by fondness for excess. Calvin.S. R. A.]

10. On Jer 22:15. God may grant the great lords a preference in eating and drinking and the splendor of royal courts, but it is not His will that these be regarded as the main things, but that true religion, right and justice must have the precedence;this is the Lords work. But cursed is he who does the Lords work remissly. Jer 48:10. Cramer.

11. On Jer 22:17. Description of haughty, proud, magnificent, merciless and tyrannical lords and rulers, who are accomplices of thieves. Cramer.

12. On Jer 22:19. [God would have burial a proof to distinguish us from brute animals even after death, as we in life excel them, and as our condition is much nobler than that of the brute creation. Burial is also a pledge as it were of immortality; for when mans body is laid hid in the earth, it is as it were a mirror of a future life. Since then burial is an evidence of Gods grace and favor towards mankind, it is on the other hand a sign of a curse, when burial is denied. Calvin.S. R. A.]

13. On Jer 22:24. Great lords often imagine that they not only sit in the bosom of God, but that they are a pearl in His crown; or as the prophet says here, Gods signet-ring. Therefore, it is impossible that they should not succeed in their designs. But God looks not on the person of the princes, and knows the magnificent no more than the poor. Job 34:19. Cramer.

14. On Jer 22:28. [What is idolized will, first or last, be despised and broken, what is unjustly honored will be justly contemned, and rivals with God will be the scorn of man. Whatever we idolize we shall be disappointed in, and then shall despise. Henry.S. R. A.]

The compliment is a very poor one for a king, who thinks somewhat of himself, and to whom it in a certain measure pertains that he be honored.But here it is the word of the Lord, and in consideration of these words it is declared in 2Ch 36:12, to be evil on the part of Zedekiah, that he did not humble himself before Jeremiah. Teachers must be much on their guard against assuming such purely prophetic, that is, extraordinary acts. It cost the servants of the Lord many a death, who were obliged thus to employ themselves, and when it is easy for one to ape it without a divine calling he thus betrays his frivolity and incompetence, if not his pride and delusion. Zinzendorf.

15. On Jer 22:28-30. Irenus (Adv. Hr. 3:30) uses this passage to prove that the Lord could not have been Josephs natural son, for otherwise he would have fallen under the curse of this passage, and appear as one not entitled to dominion (qui eum dicunt ex Joseph generatum et in eo habere spem, abdicatos se faciunt a regno, sub maledictione et increpatione decidentes, qu erga Jechoniam et in semen ejus est). Basil the Great (Epist. ad Amphilochium) endeavors to show that this passage, with its declaration that none of Jeconiahs descendants should sit on Davids throne, is not in contradiction to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen 49:10), that a ruler should not be lacking from Judah, till He came for whom the nations were hoping. Basil distinguishes in this relation between dominion and royal dignity.The former continued, the latter ceased, and this period of, so to speak, latent royalty, was the bridge to the present, in which Christ rules in an invisible manner, but yet in real power and glory as royal priest, and at the same time represents Himself as the fulfilment of the hope of the nations. In like manner John of Damascus concludes that according to this passage there could be no prospect of the fulfilment of the promise in Gen 49:10, if Mary had not virgineo modo borne the scion of David, who however was not to occupy the visible throne of David. (Orat. II. in Nativ. B. Mari p. med.)Ambrose finally (Comment. in Ev. Luc. L. III. cap. ult.) raises the question how Jeremiah could say, that ex semine Jechoni neminem regnaturum esse, since Christ was of the seed of Jeconiah and reigned? He answers: Illic (Jer 22:30) futuros ex semine Jechoni posteros non negatur et ideo de semine ejus est Christus (comp. Mat 1:11), et quod regnavit Christus, non contra prophetiam est, non enim seculari honore regnavit, nee in Jechoni sedibus sedit, sed regnavit in sede David. Ghislerus.

16. On Jer 23:2. Nonnulli prsmles gregis quosdam pro peccato a communione ceiciunt, ut pniteant, sed quali sorte vivere debeant ad melius exhortando non visitant. Quibus congrue increpans sermo divinus comminatur: pastores, qui pascunt populum meum, vos dispersistis gregem meum, ejecistis et non visitastis eum. Isidor. Hisp. de summo bono she LL. sentt. Cap. 46. Ghislerus.

17. On Jer 23:5-6. Eusebius (Dem. Ev. VII. 9) remarks that Christ among all the descendants of David is the only one, who rules over the whole earth, and everywhere not only preaches justice and righteousness by His doctrine but is Himself also the author of the rising [of the Sun] of righteousness for all, according to Psa 72:7 : , (LXX.) Cyril of Alex. (Glaphyr. in Gen. I. p. 133) explains as justitia Dei, in so far as we are made righteous in Him, not for the sake of the works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His great mercy. Rom 3:24; Tit 3:5.

18. On Jer 23:6. [If we regard God in Himself, He is indeed righteous, but not our righteousness. If we desire to have God as our righteousness, we must seek Christ; for this cannot be found except in Him. Paul says that He has been given or made to us righteousness,for what end? that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (1Co 1:30). Since, then, Christ is made our righteousness, and we are counted the righteousness of God in Him, we hence learn how properly and fitly it has been said that He would be Jehovah, not only that the power of His divinity might defend us, but also that we might become righteous in Him, for He is not only righteous for Himself, but He is our righteousness. Calvin. See also a long note in Wordsworth, to show that Jehovah our Righteousness refers to Christ;S. R. A.]

The character of a true church is when the Lytrum, the ransom-money of Jesus Christ, is known and valued by all, and when they have written this secret, foolish and absolutely inscrutable to reason, in the heart with the finger of the living God: that Jesus by His blood has taken away the sins of the world. O let it neer escape my thought, at what a price my soul was bought. This is the evening and morning prayer of every church, which is a true sister from above. Zinzendorf.

19. On Jer 23:5-8. The return under Ezra was also a fulfilment of this promise, but inferior and preliminary: not all came, and those who did come brought their sins back with them. They were still under the Law and had to wait for Righteousness; still in their return they had a pledge that the Messiah was yet to come and prepare the true city of peace. Now, however, all has been long fulfilled and we can enjoy it perfectly, if we have the mind for it. We have now a country of which no tyrant can rob us; our walk and citizenship is in heaven. We have been delivered from all our suffering, when we sit down at the feet of Jesus to hear His word. Then there is a power of resurrection within us, So that we can fly with our souls beyond the world and laugh at all our foes. For Christ has made us righteous by His daily forgiveness, so that we may also bring ourselves daily into heaven. Yea verily, the kingdom of heaven is come very nigh unto us! Jeremiah then longed to see and hear this more nearly, and now we can have it. Diedrich.

20. On Jer 23:9. Great love renders Gods servant so ardent, that he deals powerful blows on the seducers. He does not think that he has struck a wasps nest and embittered his life here forever, for he has a higher life and gives the lower one willingly for love. Yet all the world will hold him for an incorrigible and mad enthusiast, who spares no one. He says himself that he is as it were drunk with God and His word, when he on the other hand contemplates the country. Diedrich.

21. On Jer 23:11. They are rogues. They know how to find subterfuges, and I would like to see him who accuses a false and unfaithful teacher, and manages his own case so that he does not himself come into the dilemma. Zinzendorf.

22. On Jer 23:13-14. In the prophets of Samaria I see folly. This is the character which the Lord gives to error, false religion, heterodoxy. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I find abomination. This is the description of the or thodox, when they apply their doctrine, so that either the wicked are strengthened or no one is converted. Zinzendorf.

23. On Jer 23:15. From the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy goes forth into all the land. This is the natural consequence of the superiority, which the consistories, academies, ministers, etc., have and in due measure ought to have, that when they become corrupt they communicate their corruption to the whole region, and it is apparent in the whole land what sort of theologians sit at the helm. Zinzendorf.

24. On Jer 23:16. Listen not to the words of the prophets, they deceive you. Luther says (Altenb. Tom. II. p. 330): But a Christian has so much power that he may and ought to come forward even among Christians and teach, where he sees that the teacher himself is wanting, etc.; and The hearers altogether have the right to judge and decide concerning all doctrine. Therefore the priests and liveried Christians have snatched this office to themselves; because, if this office remained in the church, the aforesaid could retain nothing for their own. (Altenb. Tom. II. p. 508).The exercise of this right on the part of members of the church has its difficulties. May not misunderstanding, ignorance, even wickedness cause this to be a heavy and unjust pressure on the ministers of the word, and thus mediately tend to the injury of the church? Certainly. Still it is better for the church to exercise this right than not to do so. The former is a sign of spiritual life, the latter of spiritual death. It will be easier to find a corrective for some extravagances than to save a church become religiously indifferent from the fate of Laodicea (Rev 3:16).

25. On Jer 23:16. [But here a question may be raised, How can the common people understand that some speak from Gods mouth, and that others propound their own glosses? I answer, That the doctrine of the Law was then sufficient to guide the minds of the people, provided they closed not their eyes; and if the Law was sufficient at that time, God does now most surely give us a clearer light by His prophets, and especially by His Gospel. CalvinS. R. A.]

26. On Jer 23:17. The pastors, who are welcome and gladly seen at a rich mans table, wish him in fact long life, good health, and all prosperity. What they wish they prophesy. This is not unnatural; but he who is softened by it is ill-advised. Zinzendorf.

27. On Jer 23:21. [There is a twofold call; one is internal, the other belongs to order, and may therefore be called external or ecclesiastical. But the external call is never legitimate, except it be preceded by the internal; for it does not belong to us to create prophets, or apostles, or pastors, as this is the special work of the Holy Spirit. But it often happens that the call of God is sufficient, especially for a time. For when there is no church, there is no remedy for the evil, except God raise up extraordinary teachers. Calvin.S. R. A.]

28. On Jer 23:22. If I knew that my teacher was a most abominable miscreant, personally, and in heart the worst enemy of God in his parish; so long as, for any reason, he preaches, expounds, develops, inculcates the word of God; even though he should betray here and there in his expressions, that this word was not dwelling in him; if only he does not ex professo at one time throw down what at another time he teaches of good and true quasi aliud agendo: I assure you before the Lord that I should fear to censure his preaching. Zinzendorf.

29. On Jer 23:23. Gods essential attribute is Omnipresence. For He is higher than heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know? Longer than the earth and broader than the sea (Job 4:8). And He is not far from every one of us (Act 17:27). Cramer.We often think God is quite far from us, when He is yet near to us, has us in His arms, presses us to His heart and kisses us. Luther. When we think the Sun of righteousness, Jesus, is not risen, and is still behind the mountain, and will not come to us, He is yet nearest to us. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. (Psa 34:19) Deus et omni et nullo loco Cuncta Deus replens molem se fundit in omnem. MS. notes to my copy of Cramers Bibel. Si vis peccare, O homo, qure tibi locum, ubi Deus non videat. Augustine.

30. On Jer 23:28. [When any one rejects the wheat because it is covered with chaff, and who will pity him who says that he has indeed wheat on his floor, but that it is mixed with chaff, and therefore not fit for food? If we be negligent, and think that it is a sufficient excuse for despising the Word of God, because Satan brings in his fallacies, we shall perish in our sloth like him who neglects to cleanse his wheat that he might turn it to bread. Calvin.S. R. A.]

He who cannot restrain his mouth or his ink let him expectorate. But let him say openly and honestly that they are his own dreams, which he preaches. The false prophets certainly know that mere falsehood is empty straw. They therefore always mingle some of the genuine word of God amongst it. An unavailing mixture! It is in this mingling that Satans highest art is displayed, so that he at the same time furthers his own work and testifies against himself. Comp. Genesis 3

31. On Jer 23:29. Gods word is the highest reality, life and power, while the dreams of the false prophets are pretence, death and weakness. Gods word is therefore compared to a fire which burns, warms, and enlightens, so that it burns up the hardest flint, melts the thickest ice, illuminates the deepest obscurities. It is compared further to a hammer which crushes the hardest rocks into sand.He who mingles Gods wheat among his straw, will find that the wheat will become fire and burn up the straw (1Co 3:12-15). He Who handles the word of the Lord purely, let him not despair if he sees before him hearts of adamant (Zec 7:12). He who seeks peace is not ashamed to bow beneath the hammer of the word. For the destructive power of the word applies to that in us which is opposed to God, while the God-related elements are loosed and set free by those very crushing blows.He, however, to whom the peace of God is an object of derision, may feed on the straw of this world. But how will it be when finally the day comes that God will come upon him with fire and hammer? What then remains to him as the result of his straw-diet, which is in a condition to withstand the blows of the hammer and the fire?

Help, Lord, against Thy scornful foes,
Who seek our souls to lead astray;
Whose mockeries at mortal woes
Will end in terrible dismay!
Grant that Thy holy word may root
Deep in our hearts, and richer fruit
May ever bear to endless day.
Gods word converts, all other doctrine befools. Luther.

32. On Jer 23:29. Gods word in general is like a fire: the more it is urged the more widely and brightly it extends. God has caused His word to be proclaimed to the world as a matter, which they can dispense with as little as fire. Fire often smoulders long in secret before it breaks out, thus the power of the divine word operates in its time. Gods word can make people as warm as if glowing coals lay upon them; it shines as brightly upon them, as if a lamp were held under their eyes; it tells every one the truth and purifies from all vices. He who deals evilly with Gods word burns himself by it, he who opposes it is consumed by it. But the word of God is as little to blame as a lamp or a fire when an unskilful person is burned by it. Yet it happens that often it will not be suffered in the world, then there is fire in all the streets. That is the unhappy fire of persecution, which is kindled incidentally in the world by the preaching of the Gospel. Jos. Conr. Schaller, Pastor at Cautendorf, Sermons on the Gospels, 1742.

33. On Jer 23:30. Teachers and preachers are not to steal their sermons from other books, but take them from the Bible, and testify that which they speak from their inward experience (Joh 3:11). False teachers steal Gods word, inventing a foreign meaning for it, and using this for the palliation of their errors. StarkeHinc illi at auctions, who can obtain this or that good book, this or that manuscript? Here they are thus declared to be plagiarios; and they are necessarily so because they are not taught of God. But I would rather they would steal from true men of God than from each other.Zinzendorf.

34. On Jer 23:33-40. When the word of God becomes intolerable to men, then men in their turn become intolerable to our Lord God; yea, they are no more than inutile pondus terr, which the land can no more bear, therefore they must be winnowed out, Jer 15:17. Cramer.

35. On Jer 24:5-7. He who willingly and readily resigns himself to the will of God even to the cross, may escape misfortune. But he who opposes himself to the hand of God cannot escape. Cramer.The captives are dearest to God. By the first greater affliction He prepares their souls for repentance and radical conversion, so that He has in them again His people and inheritance. O the gracious God, that He allows even those who on account of sin must be so deeply degraded and rendered slaves, even in such humiliation to be His people! The captives are forgiven their opposition to God; they are separated from the number of nations existing in the world, politically they are dead and banished to the interior. Now, God will show them what His love can do; they shall return, and in true nearness to God be His true Israel. Diedrich.

36. On Jer 24:7. [Since He affirms that He would give them a heart to understand, we hence learn that men are by nature blind, and also that when they are blinded by the devil they cannot return to the right way, and that they cannot be otherwise capable of light than by having God to illuminate them by His Spirit. This passage also shows, that we cannot really turn to God until we acknowledge Him to be the Judge; for until the sinner sets himself before Gods tribunal he will never be touched with the feeling of true repentance. Though God rules the whole world. He yet declares that He is the God of the Church; and the faithful whom He has adopted He favors with this high distinction, that they are His people; and He does this that they may be persuaded that there is safety in Him, according to what is said by Habakkuk, Thou art our God, we shall not die (Hab 1:12). And of this sentence Christ Himself is the best interpreter, when He says, that He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Luk 20:38). Calvin.S. R. A.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Jer 21:8. This text may be used on all occasions when an important decision is to be made or on the entrance on a new section of life, as, e. g., at synods, diets, New Years, beginning of the church-year, at confirmations, weddings, installations, etc. What the present day demands and promises: I. It demands from us an important choice. II. It promises us, according as we choose, life or death.

2. On Jer 22:2-9. In how far the divine election is conditional and unconditional. I. It is conditional with respect to individual elected men, places, things. For 1, these become partakers of the salvation promised by the election only by behaviour well-pleasing to God; 2, if they behave in a manner displeasing to God, the election does not protect them from destruction. II. The election is unconditional with respect to the eternal ideas lying at the foundation of the single appearances, and their absolute realizations.

3. On Jer 22:24. [Payson:The punishment of the impenitent inevitable and justifiable. I. To mention some awful instances in which God has verified this declaration: (a), the apostate angels; (b) our first parents; (c) destruction of mankind by the flood; (d) the children of Israel; (e) Moses, David, the disobedient prophet, Christ. II. Some of the reasons for such a declaration. Not a disposition to give pain or desire for revenge. It is the nature and tendency of sin to produce misery.S. R. A.]

4. On Jer 23:5-6. The Son of David. What the prophet declares of Him is fourfold: 1. He will Himself be righteous; 2. He will rule well as king and execute judgment and righteousness; 3. He will be our righteousness; 4. Under Him shall Judah be helped and Israel dwell safely.

5. On Jer 23:14. [Lathrop: The horrible guilt of those who strengthen the hands of the wicked. 1. All sin is horrible in its nature. 2. This is to oppose the government of the Almighty. 3. It directly tends to the misery of mankind. 4. It supports the cause of the Evil Spirit. 5. It is to become partakers of their sins. 6. It is horrible as directly contrary to the command of God, and marked with His peculiar abhorrence.S. R. A.]

6. On Jer 23:23-24. The Omnipresence of God. 1. What it means. God is everywhere present, (a). He fills heaven and earth; (b) there is no removal from Him in space; (c) nothing is hidden from Him. 2. There is in this for us (a) a glorious consolation, (b) an earnest admonition. [Charnock, Jortin, and Wesley have sermons on this text, all of very similar outline. The following are Jortins practical conclusions; This doctrine 1. Should lead us to seek to resemble Gods perfections 2. Should deter us from sin. 3. Should teach us humility. 4. Should encourage us to reliance and contentment, to faith and hope.S. R. A.]

7. On Jer 23:29-30. Gods Word and mans word. 1. The former is life and power (wheat, fire, hammer). The latter pretence and weakness (dream, straw). 2. The two are not to be mixed with each other. [Cecil: This shows 1. The vanity of all human imaginations in religion, (a). What do they afford to man? (b). How much do they hinder? 2. The energy of spiritual truth. Let us entreat God that our estimate may be practical.S. R. A.]

8. On Jer 24:1-10. The good and bad figs an emblem of humanity well-pleasing and displeasing to God. 1. The prisoners and broken-hearted are, like the good figs, well-pleasing to God. For (a) they know the Lord and turn to Him; (b) He is their God and they are His people. 2. Those who dwell proudly and securely are displeasing to God, like the bad figs. For (a) they live on in foolish blindness; (b) they challenge the judgment of God.

Footnotes:

[1]Jer 22:3., if not written by mistake for , occurs here only. It is formed like , meaning oppressor.

[2]Jer 22:4.[A great number of MSS. and two of the earliest editions, read his servants, or ministers, according to the Keri. Henderson.S. R. A.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

In this Chapter the Prophet is calling to repentance. Heavy sentences of judgment are pronounced upon Shallum and Coniah.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

In the preceding Chapter messengers from the King, were sent to the Prophet, to know the Lord’s will concerning his people. In this, the prophet is sent with a message to the King, and with promises of a most gracious nature, to assure both him and his people, both of peace and prosperity, if they were found obedient to the Lord. But in point of failure, very heavy denunciations are given: and to confirm them, the Lord swears by himself, since he could swear by no greater, that his purposes shall stand: and desolation should follow. Heb 6:13 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Woes of the Unjust

Jer 22:13

The whole law is contained in these words, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself’. These two parts cannot be separated. God places us among our own kind, and our character cannot be formed and our souls saved without doing justly and loving mercy, while we walk humbly with our God. If we are servants, we are to do honest work for our masters; and if we are masters, we are to give equitable wages to our servants. The text denounces woe against those who deal unrighteously. An unjust man may, as the Psalmist complains, prosper in life, and have no bands in his death, and leave his substance to his children; still there are subtle woes which he cannot escape.

I. The Woe of Estrangement from God. God says, ‘Woe to him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness’. He is the Father of the fatherless and the shield of the widow; and it cannot be that the man who is conscious of defrauding any weak creature of his bare rights will enjoy God’s blessing and communion. Many an unjust man, it is true, affects, and in a spurious way feels, devotion towards God and love to Christ. They rob widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. But what real communion can light have with darkness? the God of perfect righteousness with the man whose every possession, the house in which he lives, the clothes he wears, the sumptuous fare on which he exists, speak of oppression and wrong? ‘When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him.’ ‘What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth?’ ‘I hate robbery for a burnt-offering.’ Must not the dishonest man strive hard in his fancied communion with God to forget many a stern feature in God’s character? It is a god of his own imagining and moulding as really as the man’s which is hewn by him out of the stock of a tree, whom the unjust man serves. He who lives in a house built by unrighteousness can never feel the exquisite joy of him who may, like his Saviour, have nowhere of his own to lay his head, but who can say, ‘Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations’.

II. The Woe of the Curses of those who are Oppressed. The man who buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong, is like one who builds his house in the heart of a poisonous swamp. He is like the old Norman tyrants who built their fortresses (which were really prisons in which they immured themselves, and from which they fought often for bare existence) among the people whom they had wronged, and whom they despised. How unlike the sweet experience of Job ‘When the eye saw me, then it blessed me. I was eyes to the blind, feet was I to the lame; I was a father to the poor, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.’

III. The Woe of an Accusing Conscience. The accusation may not be loud or very persistent. But surely there must be times in which the hoarse voice of the hireling defrauded of his wages mingles with the songs and merriment of the feast; in which ‘the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it’: ‘Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city in iniquity ‘. If men would but believe that ‘a little that a righteous man hath is more and better than the wealth of many wicked,’ what woes would be averted from the heads of their fellow-men, and from their own hearts!

IV. The Woe of a Perverted Nature and Deadened Heart. As men’s hands are dyed by the colours they work in, as the bodies of those who work daily in some constrained and unnatural position get gradually distorted, as the speech of the child reproduces that which his ear perpetually drinks in, so the heart of the man who, for the sake of gain, defrauds his neighbour and oppresses those who are under him, is gradually deteriorated and benumbed. This, it is true, may be hailed as a relief by the man whose heart is too pitiful by nature, and his conscience too tender for the work he chooses to do. But, all the same, it is the ear which is quick to hear God’s voice, and the heart which is alive and which thrills at His touch, that alone can know what the joy of the Lord, which is the only true joy, means. ‘The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow.’

References. XXII. 13-19. A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, p. 93. XXII. 15, 16. Ibid. p. 71. XXII. 19. T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons, p. 291. XXII. 21. “Plain Sermons “by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. i. p. 118. XXII. 23. R. Allen, The Words of Christ, p. 274. XXII. 24, 27. A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, p. 179. XXIII. 1-32. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2460. XXIII. 5. C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 298. XXIII. 5, 6. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. ii. p. 301.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Coming One

Jer 22 , Jer 23

The particular reference is to Josiah, on the occasion of whose death Jeremiah had composed a grand and pathetic dirge. It is supposed from 2Ch 35:25 that this dirge was repeated annually in memory of Josiah’s death. The injunction of the text puts an end to this annual commemoration. The weeping is forbidden in the case of Josiah, but it is ordered to continue in the case of Jehoahaz ( Jehovah sustains .) Jehoahaz was probably a name assumed by Shallum on his accession to the throne. It would seem that the word Shallum had a peculiar significance attached to it from the fact that the name had been borne by one of the later kings of Israel, whose reign lasted only one month. The point which is immediately before us is that men may often be weeping for the wrong object, and neglecting to shed tears over men and memories that deserve nothing but lamentation. The prophet says: Weep not for Josiah, but lor Jehoahaz. So we may often say: Weep not for the dead, but for the living; weep not for the afflicted, but for the evil-hearted; weep not for those who pass away out of sight into the immortal state, but weep for those who linger here, and whose day is turned into night by hopelessness. Men will always persist in weeping for the wrong thing, or weeping at the wrong point. Who does not cry over death? whereas, the probability is, if we understood the economy of nature better, it would be wiser to weep over birth. It is certain that birth introduces us into a sphere of trial, difficulty, where we have to absorb much that is bitter, and undergo much that is distressing; whereas it is possible that death may introduce us into immortal and ineffable blessedness. Jesus Christ said to the woman who followed him to the cross, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Misspent tears exhaust or pervert the very emotion which they express. We are not to weep for the consequences of sin so much as for sin itself. If we were great enough in the realisation of our ideals and our aspirations, we should not so much weep that men are sent to perdition as that God’s holiness is dishonoured, and God’s law disobeyed, and the music of his creation thrown into discord by iniquity.

“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! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” ( Jer 22:18-19 ).

The description of Jehoiakim really begins in the thirteenth verse. Jehoiakim had revived forced labour, such as was known in the days of Solomon a labour which pressed not only on strangers, but on the Israelites themselves. Jehoiakim went on building palaces when his kingdom was threatened with ruin, and when his subjects were overborne by burdens which it was impossible to sustain. In the thirteenth verse the prophet begins a description of a man without naming him; a man who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by ruin; a man who useth his neighbour’s services without wages, and giveth him not for his work; a man who yields to the impulses of a foolish ambition, saying, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and who gratifies himself by cutting out windows, and deling his chambers with cedars, and painting his retreats with vermilion. It is not until we come to the eighteenth verse that the prophet specially indicates the man against whom this accusation is levelled. Jehoiakim was king, and yet not one word of thanks do we find, nor one word of love, nor one word of regret, expressed concerning his fate. We should learn from this how possible it is to pass through the world without leaving behind us one sacred or loving memory. He that seeketh his life shall lose it. A man that sacrifices daily to his own ambition, and never sets before himself a higher ideal than his own gratification, may appear to have much whilst he actually has nothing, may even appear to be winning great victories when he is really undergoing disastrous defeats. What is a grand house if there be not in it a loving heart? What are walls but for the pictures that adorn them? What is life but for the trust which knits it into sympathetic unity? What is the night but for the stars that glitter in its darkness? Jehoiakim had only a magnificent mausoleum; his palaces were mortuaries; his pretensions were nightmares. Jehoiakim was dragged in chains with the other captives who were carried off to Babylon. The disappointed and mortified king died on the journey. See to what we may come after all the whirl of our excitement, all the mad dance and tumult of our ambition. It is better to begin at the other end of life, so that we may realise the proverb which speaks of men being born mud and dying marble. We all know men who are born marble but who die mud. There is an awful process of retrogression continually operating in life. Experienced men will tell us that the issue of life is one of two things: either advancement, or deterioration; continual improvement, or continual depreciation: we cannot remain just where we are, adding nothing, subtracting nothing, but realising a permanence of estate and faculty. The powers we do not use will fall into desuetude, and the abilities which might have made life easy may be so neglected as to become burdens too heavy to be carried. It lies within a man’s power so to live that he may be buried with the burial of an ass: no mourners may surround his grave; no beneficiaries may recall his charities; no hidden hearts may conceal the tender story of his sympathy and helpfulness. A bitter sarcasm this, that a man should be buried like an ass! What may be honourable to the ass is an infinite dishonour to the man. We often do the animal creation injustice by comparison of wicked or foolish men with its creatures. We sometimes speak of a man as being “as drunk as a beast,” a phrase in which we dishonour the beasts that perish. How mighty men may become, how noble, how helpful to his brother-men! How much of beauty and tenderness, purity and gentleness, may be brought within the limited scope of threescore years and ten; every year may be a gathering of jewels, every moment may glitter like a diamond. Happy he who sits down to calculate how much good he can do, and how much of honest labour and genuine helpfulness he can crowd into the little space which he calls his life.

‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” ( Jer 23:5 ).

Still in these solemn pages we hear as it were the footfall of the Coming One. History never tells us in these ancient pages that the true man has descended to the earth, that the ideal man has breathed the common air, but still prophets and historians look forward and say, There is One coming whose right it is to reign; there is a sign upon the horizon of a Man who shall represent all other men, and in men shall glorify humanity. The words of the text point to an undefined future; yet they speak with certainty of the realisation of that distant age. It is thus we are drawn on from century to century: always the greater man is coming; always the greater discovery is to be made; always are we within sight of the horizon which is the threshold of heaven. That we never reach it is a joy rather than a regret, because our hope is never turned to despair, but always increased to an intenser brightness, so that whilst we are disappointed on the one hand we are elevated on the other, and the aching that is occasioned in our hearts by the literal non-fulfilment of promises is more than compensated for by the assurance that what is yet to come is worth waiting for, and that when it does come we shall forget all regrets and disappointments in its infinite satisfaction. We are told that there is to be raised unto David “a righteous Branch.” The word literally means a sprout or scion, springing from the root of the tree after the tree itself has been cut down, and is not a branch which grows out of the mere trunk of the tree beautiful indeed, but in a sense accidental; it is rather a growth that belongs to the root, that is so to say part and parcel of the tree itself: so when this Coming One shall have come, he will not belong to the trunk, he will not be a branch or part of a branch in any sense in which he can be amputated; he will express the idea that is hidden in the root; in other words, he shall represent the purpose of God concerning humanity and time. Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, is not one of ourselves; he has not come up from the root of Adam; he has rather come up from the root of Being, from the very fount and origin of Eternity, so that he will not be classed with ourselves or judged as we are; he will belong to us, and yet stand apart from us: we shall not be fellow-branches of the same tree; we shall be branches which grow out of him, for he is the root and the offspring of David.

“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” ( Jer 23:23-24 ).

All these questions depend, as to their effect upon the reader, upon the moral condition of the reader or hearer himself. Let the bad man hear these questions, and they will smite him as swords, sharp and heavy; let the good man hear these same inquiries, and he will receive them as so many assurances of protection and security. God is nigh at hand for judgment: the period of judgment, therefore, need not be postponed until a remote age; every man can now bring himself within sight of the great white throne, and can determine his destiny by his spirit and by his action. God is nigh at hand for protection: he is nearer to us than we can ever be to ourselves: though the chariots of the enemy are pressing hard upon us, there is an inner circle, made up of angels and ministering spirits, guarding us with infinite defences against the attacks of the foe. God is near us for inspiration: if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God: what time we are in doubt or perplexity as to the course we should take, let us whisper our weakness into the ear of the condescending and ever-accessible Father, and by the ministry of his Spirit he will tell us what we ought to do. It is an infinite mistake to suppose that God is enthroned far beyond the stars, in any sense which separates him from immediate contact with ourselves. If our heart be humble, it is God’s temple; if our spirit be contrite, it is an altar whereat we may meet the Father day by day. This is the essential glory of God, and the mystery of his being, that he is far away, yet near at hand; near at hand, yet losing nothing through familiarity; far away, yet able to come at a moment’s notice to guide, inspire, and sanctify his trustful children. We must never lose anything of the divine majesty: there is a purpose of the highest kind in a proper realisation of divine majesty, dignity, glory; but we shall be mere idolaters if we recognise these attributes or distinctions alone, and do not balance and chasten them with conceptions of sympathy, tenderness, nearness, such as our hearts delight in. Our religion should not be merely a sublime theology; it should be an actual friendship, an affectionate companionship with God.

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord” ( Jer 23:28 ).

This is the grand characteristic of the Bible, that it fears no competition; that whilst it is not weak enough to be defiant, it is always strong enough to be competitive. The Bible would not merely silence false prophets by force or by arbitrary arrangement of any kind; it would not expel heresy by overwhelming majorities; it would not oppose opinion by mere numerical strength: the Bible says, If you have a message to deliver, let us hear what it is; if it is only a dream, tell us every line and syllable of it, that we may estimate its value; if it is only a theory or an imagination, submit it to the practical test of life; it is a poor faith that cannot bear the rude blasts of common intercourse, the criticism of the market-place, the testing of the sick-chamber, the pressure of life’s daily need. The Bible would thus expel heresy by trying it; would thus condemn the spirits that are not of God by calling upon them to do godly work. In this way should all heresy be treated; in this way should all theories be momentarily entertained, as if they were duly qualified and well-accredited guests, worthy at least of temporary courtesy: let us give them house-room; let us ask them questions; let us create for them opportunities of self-revelation. Our confidence is expressed in the inquiry, “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” Men know the difference between the one and the other; if in some mood of mere intellectual ambition or hilarity they pretend that one is as good as the other, they will soon by tragical experience be brought to distinguish values, to see exactly what is what, what is valuable and what is worthless, what is strong and what is weak. We should allow time to work out its mystery upon all propositions, hypotheses, and speculations. If we cannot intellectually try the spirits whether they are of God, we can practically submit them to the most infallible tests.

“Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten” ( Jer 23:37-40 ).

This passage has justly been regarded as a protest against every form of pious cant. In these verses the prophet is denouncing the use of solemn words when they do not express really unaffected and solemn meanings. It is as if the prophet had heard men speak great swelling words of vanity, and had punctured them with the edge of a spear. He heard men talking as if they were great, as if they were the favourites of Heaven, as if they had been entrusted with a special vocabulary, arranged and dictated by Almighty God himself; and now the prophet challenges such speakers to reduce their words to action, he calls upon them to submit their lofty terms to the trial of actual life. The Lord sets himself against all hypocrisy. The Litany is an offence to him if it carry not with it the praise and trust of the heart. On the other hand, where the heart is right towards God the very simplest words will be accepted as if they were the most majestic tributes of thought and expression. The supreme consideration with God relates to the state of the heart. When men say to Christ, “Lord, Lord, have we not cast out devils in thy name?” he cares nothing for the miracle, but inquires into the state of the spirit. So today we may be performing miracles in Christ’s name, even miracles of beneficence, in which we do but modify our own ambition: the Lord will look not at the great pile of gold and stones which we erect, he will look to the spirit which has inspired and assisted the industry of our hands; then though the pile be built of the poorest material, yet if it were the best material we could obtain it would be accepted as gold and silver, yea, and precious stones. Let us beware of the affectation of great words; let us beware of the impiety of religious polysyllables. Christianity has not been revealed to us, or has not been felt by us, in all its quality and divine dignity, if we do not realise its simplicity, its condescension, its self-sacrifice. Praise the Bible for its nobleness; recognise the spirit of challenge, yea, even of occasional defiance, which fills its immortal pages. “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” “With what likeness will ye compare me? saith the Lord”; and as for the idols, he scorns them, yea, he sets his feet upon them, and defies them to rise again. All this spirit of triumph and conscious supremacy, which is represented in the noblest rhetorical imagery, ought to find its counterpart and moral realisation in the behaviour of Christians; they are not to be as other men; Jesus Christ says when Christians do certain pious works, “Do not even the publicans the same?” He also says, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” As the Bible is distinct from all other books, so Christian character should be distinct from all other behaviour. It is not enough to compare surfaces or external relations; there should be a solemn and exhaustive judgment of motive and purpose. The vital criticism should be conducted within the sanctuary of the heart. It is in vain that we compete with other men who have no God, if we cannot show that every action we do springs from a true conception of human nature and divine requirement All action is ultimately determinable as to its value and utility by the motive which inspires it.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

VIII

THE LIFE OF JEREMIAH DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM

Jeremiah 18-20; 22-23, Jer 22:25 ; 35-36; Jer 45

We have already described some of the events that occurred during the reign of Jehoiakim and this period, but we group them together in this chapter and discuss them more in detail. These prophecies may have been written by Baruch at the time they were uttered or at Jeremiah’s dictation. Some of them may have been written later and one of them was doubtless written by Jeremiah himself. They comprise the chapters given at the head of this chapter. We shall take them up in the order there given. It is quite probable that some of these prophecies and events occurred a little subsequent to 604 B.C., or after the roll was written and then burned by the king. We cannot fix with any certainty the events of Jeremiah’s life in chronological order. The chapters of this book are grouped with no regard to the order of events in the life of the prophet. In fact, the book makes no claim whatever to be a biography.

We have here in these chapters some lessons from the potter, the prophet’s message to the kings, the princes, the priests, and the shepherds of Israel, as well as the prophets of Judah; prophecies against the neighboring nations; the incident of the writing and the reading of the roll of prophecy; and admonitions to Baruch, his scribe.

We have the story of the potter in Jer 18:1-4 . Jeremiah had been preaching about twenty years and had used, as we have seen, a great many illustrations, a great many figures to make forceful his teachings and illustrate them, so that they would show the workings of divine providence in Israel. One day when he was sitting in the city meditating as to what he should say to the people, what he should use as an illustration so that they would feel the weight of their doom and rejection, suddenly an inspiration comes to him to go down into the lower part of the city from where he was sitting, down into the valley, the valley between Zion and Mount Moriah, called the Tyroean valley, or it may have been the valley of Hinnom. So he goes down and notices a potter sitting at his work. While he watches him, there leaps into his mind and heart a great idea, and he draws an illustration from the potter and his works. In this he is like Jesus who drew many of his illustrations from the common things of life and the affairs of men about him.

Jeremiah watched the potter. He saw him place a lump of clay on his wheel and with his deft fingers begin to mold and fashion it into a piece of pottery, and while he is attempting to fashion it into a beautiful piece, it crumbles and goes to pieces. It would not respond to his treatment. It was too crude for the fine purpose he had in mind, and so it crumbled and fell. It would not adjust itself to the ideal of the potter, and so he could not make the vase he had intended. He did not throw it away but picked it up again and began to mold it into another pattern not so beautiful or fine. He made this one but it was a poorer grade, a more common piece of pottery. We find this recorded in Jer 18:1-4 .

In the application (Jer 18:5-12 ) Jeremiah brings before our minds one of the most beautiful lessons, illustrating divine sovereignty and human freedom, to be found in the Bible. The application shows the relation of the human will to the movement of divine power. He says, Jer 18:6 , “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.” That is a weighty expression; that nations are clay in God’s hand, as individuals are; the world is but a lump of clay in God’s hands to be fashioned as he wills. “As the clay is in the potter’s hands, so are ye in my hand.” He goes on to explain the import of that truth: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it [that was the mission of Jeremiah to the nation of Israel and to the surrounding nations] ; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”

This brings us face to face with a great truth in human life; a great fact that must be considered in order to understand the mysteries of divine providence. We can apply the truth to ourselves and ought to do so. It is a statement that in the event that a nation changes its conduct, or repents, God changes his attitude, not that he changes his will, but that he wills to change. Repentance in the main is a change of the will, that is, repentance in man is a change of the mind, or will, but repentance in God is the will to change. So God changes his attitude toward men when they repent. That is the way it is with the potter; he wills to fashion the clay according to his plan, but when it will not adjust itself to his ideal, then he changes his plan and fashions it as best he may. The idea is this, if the potter cannot make the best kind of a vessel out of the clay, he will do the next best thing. How mightily this truth applies to individuals. He uses the materials we give him. He does the best he can to train us as we submit to his leading. Thus, this principle, as illustrated by the potter and his clay, applies to us in our daily lives. It is only as we are pliable that God can work with us and through us.

In Jer 18:10 he says, “If they do that which is evil in my sight then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Now, that is the same idea as set forth in repenting and not doing evil. If we change, he will, in harmony with his changelessness, change, too. He will do with us as we do with him. Jonah said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” That was God’s prophecy concerning that wicked city. After all that threatening, God did not do it because they repented, and Jonah was angry and disappointed. He wanted the city to be destroyed. The city repented, and then God repented, too, and thus the change was in the city and in God. Here in Jer 18:11 he says, “Behold I frame evil against you; return every one from his evil ways.”

Then in Jer 18:14 he draws lessons from nature. He shows how constant nature is. He says, “Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?” He fixes his eyes on the snow-capped Lebanons or Hermon, and he sees that the snows are there perpetual according to the laws of nature. That snow as it melts is the source of the rivers of Damascus and the winding Jordan and they never dry up. Their source is stable; it faileth not. These streams run perpetually. He says in verse Jer 18:15 : “My people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; they have been made to stumble in their ways.” They are unstable but nature is not, and God is not, and thus he describes their defection from him.

As a result of this preaching the people begin to devise plans for taking Jeremiah (Jer 18:18 ). They decide that his preaching must stop. They must get rid of him. They concocted a scheme against him once before and he was saved from their trap. Now they concoct another scheme. They said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for [even though he be dead] the law shall not perish from the priests, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” Now what is the use of listening to this preacher of calamity? We have the law. We will not lose the book of wisdom. We will always have these with us. Then Jeremiah begins to pray to the Lord to punish these plotters, verses Jer 18:19-20 : “Give heed to me, O Lord, . . . Shall evil be recompensed for good? Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them,” and now they plan to kill me.

He had been standing there and preaching the truth to these men and now he fears the Lord is going to let them kill him. He says, “I have tried to help them. I would give my life to save them. And now this is what they are doing.” He prays that God will punish them; that he will give them over to the sword and destroy their children. “Let their women become childless.” Now, was that an expression of mere bitterness? No! It was not mere human anger; it was a deep sense of outraged justice. Verse Jer 18:23 : “Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquities, neither blot out their sin from thy sight.” That reminds us of Psa 109 . It seems contrary to the spirit of Christ, yet it reminds one of the spirit of Jesus when he says to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

We have here another lesson from the potter (Jer 19:1-13 ). Jeremiah is told to go and buy an earthen bottle made also by a potter. He bought it. We do not know what sort; it may have been a good one. Then the Lord said, “Take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests; and go forth into the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate of Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee.” That place was just outside the walls of the city, the place where the rubbish was thrown, perhaps where the potters and their factories were. Now, go down there, Jeremiah, with that vessel.

This is what he was to say: “Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; . . . Behold, I will bring evil upon this place.” Then he goes on to give the reasons. They had worshiped idols continually. They had done evil repeatedly. “This place,” as a result, “shall no longer be called the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the place of slaughter.” Verse Jer 19:8 : “I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing.” Destruction shall come. “Every one that passeth by shall be astonished and hiss and they shall eat the flesh of their children.” Then he took the elders and the priests and in their presence he broke the bottle to pieces. Then he said, “As I have broken this bottle, so will Jehovah break in pieces this city, so that it cannot be put together again.” The lesson is seen in Jer 19:11 : “It cannot be made whole again.” As that bottle is destroyed forever, so will I destroy this nation and I will destroy it forever, as far as human power is concerned.

Immediately after this incident Jeremiah comes back to the Temple and repeats the warning he had given, to the elders and the priests: “I stood in the courts of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, I will bring upon this city and this people all the evils that I have pronounced against them, because they have made their necks stiff that they hear not my words.” There are no people on earth so sure of doom as those who have simply made up their minds that they will not hear. These are they who are deaf by choice. These people had gone so far that they would not even listen. Of course, then, they could not hear. Even now sometimes people simply make up their minds that they will not hear and there is no hope for them.

Pashhur was the chief officer in the Temple. He was himself a prophet but a false one. He heard the words of Jeremiah and noted that threat. It enraged him. He set upon Jeremiah and struck him and put him in the stocks, till the following day. His smiting probably refers to whipping on the soles of his feet with the bastinado. He then put him in the stocks. His hands and feet put through openings in planks, he is forced into a stooping position. His head perhaps was put through a wooden stock or pillory. This is the first physical violence that Jeremiah had suffered.

“Then said Jeremiah unto him, the Lord hath not called thee Pashur, but Magor-missabib.” “Pashur” means a man in quietness or peace, and “Magor-missabib” means terror all around. Mr. Pashur, your name must be changed. You are going to be a terror to yourself. That is your fate. Thy friends shall fall by the sword and thine eyes shall behold it. “For thus saith Jehovah, I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and shall slay them with the sword. I will give them the treasures of the Temple and this city. This shall happen to you and your friends who prophesy falsely.” And so they did. Very soon Mr. Pashur was taken captive to Babylon and died, surrounded by terrors. The rest of this chapter contains Jeremiah’s lamentation. We studied this in the chapter on “The Life and Character of Jeremiah.” I called attention to that section where Jeremiah cursed the day in which he was born. He accused God of alluring him into prophesying and then deserting him. Then God led him step by step out of his despondency and up to the plane of praise and joy.

About this time, when Jeremiah was at liberty, a great many enemies had overrun the land of Palestine and the people had flocked to Jerusalem for protection. Among this host came the Rechabites. When Jehu was carrying on his revolution he met Jonadab who had founded this order, or sect, of the Rechabites and invited him into his chariot. They were noted for three things: They vowed not to live in houses; to have no vineyards; and to drink no wine forever. This class of people took refuge in Jerusalem; Jeremiah goes to these Rechabites, takes their leaders into the Temple and sets bottles of wine before them.

Note Jer 35:3 (Jeremiah writes, this himself): “Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, . . . and I brought them into the house of Jehovah.” He goes on: “And I set before the sons of the Rechabites bowls of wine, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. “But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, commands us.” They were faithful to the commands of their ancestor. Jeremiah seized upon this occasion as a basis for addressing the people. He goes on to say that Jonadab had commanded this people so and so. “They kept that command, but ye would not obey God who commanded you to serve him.” He outlines the punishment that will come upon the people, but makes a promise unto the sons of Jonadab, verse Jer 35:19 : “Therefore saith the Lord of hosts, . . . Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.”

He inculcates the principle of righteousness and justice in Jer 22:1-9 . The king is to be the instrument of righteousness and justice. There is no doubt that Jehoiakim, the vassal of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, sat on the throne. Jeremiah appeals to him to do right and be just. In Jer 22:4 he says, “If you 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. But if ye will not do these things, I swear by myself, that this house shall come to desolation.” And thus he goes on with his message of destruction. He repeats it over and over again.

The fate of Shallam, or Jehoahaz, is described in Jer 22:10-22 : “Weep for him that goeth away; for he shall return to his native land no more.” Then a charge against Jehoiakim is found in Jer 22:13-23 . This king was a heartless tyrant. He had a passion for building. He had a magnificent palace. He built by using the people unjustly. He was without conscience or principle: “Woe unto him that buildeth a house with unrighteousness.” The son of this king succeeded him and the prophet goes on to describe the ruin coming upon this house (Jer 22:20-23 ).

Then follows judgment on Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30 ). This was doubtless written after the death of Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon, and it may have been written immediately preceding that event. We cannot be sure as to the exact time this section was penned. Verse Jer 22:24 : “As I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim were a signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.” He then goes on to describe the fate of the house; how Jehoiachin with his mother should be cast out and die in a foreign land, never to return to Judah. The king was to have no heir to sit upon his throne.

The message of Jer 23:1-8 is one regarding the princes, or shepherds. These princes of Judah and Jerusalem are spoken of as the shepherds of the people. They were the political and civil shepherds. God called them the shepherds of his pasture. He charged them with neglect of duty: “Therefore saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Ye have scattered my flock.” They had not provided them spiritual pasture. But a time is coming when they shall come together again and shall have good shepherds. Jer 23:5 is a messianic prophecy: “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, . . . Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.”

The prophet’s own title of Jer 23:9-40 is, “Concerning the Prophets.” We discussed this in a former chapter. We showed Jeremiah’s charge against these false prophets. They were caterers and time-servers. They preached what the people wanted them to preach. They felt the pulse of the people and then shaped their messages accordingly.

The prophecy of Jer 25 is a prophecy concerning Judah and the surrounding nations. This was in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 604 B.C., after Jeremiah had been preaching twenty-three years. Note some details here:

1. In Jer 25:1-14 Jeremiah predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would take Palestine, Judah, and Jerusalem; that he would lead them captive to Babylon; that there should be desolation; that this nation should serve the king of Babylon seventy years; that when the seventy years was accomplished, then Jehovah would punish the king of Babylon, and that nation for their iniquity and their land should be a desolation forever.

2.Jer 25:15-26 show that the cup of the wrath of Jehovah must be drunk by all the nations surrounding Judah. He said that they should drink the cup of the wine of his fury. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, shall drink it; the land of Uz, the Philistines, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, those of the Grecian Archipelago, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, Zimri, Elam, the Medes, and Sheshack shall drink of it.

3.Jer 25:27-29 show that the nations must drink it. This is the substance of that passage. The doom is inevitable. The last part of the chapter, verses 30-38, gives a description of the conquest of the Babylonians, and the terrible destruction which should come upon the nations.

An account of the writing, reading, burning, and rewriting of the roll is given in Jer 36:1-32 . This is an interesting incident. In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 604 B.C., the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and told him to write his prophecy. Doubtless the persecution was so intense that he had to stop preaching. Jeremiah was a faithful prophet, but be could not preach any more in the open, and so the Lord told him to write his prophecies in a book, or roll. That was a wonderfully wise suggestion. If Paul had not been imprisoned two years at Caesarea, it is possible Luke would not have written his Gospel. If the same great apostle had not suffered his Roman imprisonment, we would doubtless never have had his matchless epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, and Hebrews. If Bunyan had not gone to jail, doubtless Pilgrim’s Progress would never have been written. And so it is here, if Jeremiah had not been persecuted, we would in all probability never have had his written prophecy. He ordered Baruch to write it down as he dictated it to him. It was the substance of his twenty-three years of ministry. How long he was in writing it, we do not know, doubtless some months. After he had written it the next thing was to read it to the people. We cannot go into details. Here is the story in substance: Baruch took the roll and went to the Temple where the people passed, stood in the door with the princes and the friends of Jeremiah at his back and read the prophecy. It made a deep impression on the princes and the people. It had a different effect on others. They resented it and hated Jeremiah the more. Some of them went and told the king about it. In brief, he had it brought to him. Jehudi read it and the king cut it to pieces and soon every shred of it was a heap of ashes. Then he ordered the arrest of Jeremiah, but he had securely hidden himself. Then Jeremiah and Baruch wrote the prophecies again.

We have certain admonitions of Jeremiah to Baruch in Jer 45 . After all his heroism this man Baruch grew despondent. This faithful scribe who had stood by Jeremiah through all his troubles now becomes troubled. We are told about it in chapter Jer 45:3 : “Thus didst thou say, Woe is me, for Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain.” Jeremiah tells him that the Lord breaks down that which he has planted: “Behold, I will pluck up this whole land.” Baruch, have you thought that there were great things coming to you? Did you expect better things? “Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.” I am going to bring evil upon this whole land. You are not going to be a great man but your life is going to stand. What fine advice that was to this faithful secretary and scribe. Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. Your life will be spared, that is enough.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the subject of this chapter of this INTERPRETATION? And what are the dates of these several chapters of Jeremiah?

2. What, in general, are the contents of these chapters?

3. What is the story of the potter in Jer 18:1-4 ?

4. What is the prophet’s application of the incident of the potter to Israel and what, in particular, is the meaning of God’s repentance here toward Israel for good or evil? (Jer 18:5-12 .)

5. What is the lesson here drawn from nature by the prophet? (Jer 18:13-17 .)

6. What is the result of the prophet’s preaching (Jer 18:18 ) and what his response? (Jer 18:19-23 .)

7. What is the second incident of the potter’s vessel and what its application? (Jer 19:1-13 .)

8. What is the prophet’s message in the Temple immediately following the second lesson from the potter’s vessel?

9. Give an account of Pashhur’s persecution.

10. Who were the Rechabites, what were their characteristics and what was the lesson enforced by Jeremiah based upon their history?

11. Who addressed in Jer 22:1-9 and what is the message to him?

12. Who is spoken of in Jer 22:10-12 and what is there said of him?

13. What is the charge against Jehoiakim and what is the result (Jer 22:13-23 )?

14. What is the contents of Jer 22:24-30 ?

15. What is the message of Jer 23:1-8 and how are the shepherds here characterized?

16. What is the prophet’s own title of Jer 23:9-40 and what is the charge of Jeremiah here against these false prophets?

17. What is the prophecy of Jer 25 and what are the essential points noted?

18. Give an account of the writing, reading, burning, and rewriting of the roll (Jer 36:1-32 ).

19. What are the admonitions of Jeremiah to Baruch in Jer 45 and what is their lesson?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Jer 22:1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

Ver. 1. Go down to the house of the king of Judah. ] To the palace royal of Jehoakim, son of Josiah, who reigned after that his brother Jehoahaz was carried captive to Egypt. 2Ki 23:34

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jeremiah Chapter 22

But this call to awake to righteousness the Lord follows up in Jer 22 by sending the prophet down to the king’s house with a further appeal. “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: 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. 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. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 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. 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. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every one to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto to this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. (Ver. 2-9.)

Nor is this all. The various kings of Judah who had reigned during the crisis of the capital come before us successively. Never had a louder wail been heard in the land than when all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. “And Jeremiah [we are told expressly in 2Ch 35 ] lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men, and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel; and behold, they are written in the lamentations.” But here, long after, the same Jeremiah says of Josiah’s son, “Weep ye not for the dead [i.e., Josiah], neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 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: but shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.” (Ver. 10-12.) Josiah might be mourned justly by a people that lost so godly a king cut off prematurely; but far more deplorable in itself was the lot of his son deposed and carried away into Egypt by Pharaoh-Necho.

Was this all? Far from it. The king of Egypt set up another son of Josiah, changed his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim; but Nebuchadnezzar bound the guilty monarch in chains, and carried him to Babylon. And his dirge follows: “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; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar and painted with vermilion. 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? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 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! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” (Ver. 13-19.) Who of the kings had lived with less conscience? Who had died with more shame? No lamentation for him but an ass’s burial (i.e., base exposure) beyond the gates of Jerusalem. For the innocent blood he shed, the Lord would not pardon. See Jer 36:30 .

But had not Jehoiakim a son? Wretched was he, Jehoiachin, who succeeded to his father’s guilt and misery. How could he be said to sit upon the throne of David? He reigned in Jerusalem but three months before the lion came up from his thicket and the destroyer of the Gentiles was on his way, the avenger under divine Providence of one who did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father had done. “Go up to Lebanon and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 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. O inhabitant 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! 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; 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. 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. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 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? O earth, earth, earth, hear ye the word of the Lord. 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.” (Ver. 20-30.)

Thus the roll is complete: for he with whom the chapter opens was the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, before the capital finally sunk, and the sanctuary was burnt, and the king of the Chaldees had all given into his hand. The answer to his message brings before us the sad group, miserable successors of the righteous king taken away from the evil now come.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 22:1-7

1Thus says the LORD, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the LORD, Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. 5But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a desolation.’ 6For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:

You are like Gilead to Me,

Like the summit of Lebanon;

Yet most assuredly I will make you like a wilderness,

Like cities which are not inhabited.

7For I will set apart destroyers against you,

Each with his weapons;

And they will cut down your choicest cedars

And throw them on the fire.

Jer 22:1-2 The directions to Jeremiah are emphatic.

1. go – BDB 432, KB 434, Qal IMPERATIVE (go down refers to the palace, being on a lower hill than the temple, cf. Jer 26:10)

2. speak – BDB 180, KB 210, Piel PERFECT

3. hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah – BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE

Jer 22:1 the house of the king of Judah All of this chapter is a word play on house, meaning

1. descendants (cf. 2 Samuel 7)

2. king’s palace (Jer 22:13-14 speak of enlarging and beautifying the palace in an attempt to be a great king)

Only God can build a house (cf. Psa 127:1-2). God’s house is depicted as

1. His temple (cf. 2 Samuel 7)

2. His king (cf. 2 Samuel 7)

3. His people

All will be captured, destroyed, or exiled!

Jer 22:3 There is a series of commands addressed to the Davidic King which addresses covenant faithfulness.

1. do justice – BDB 793, KB 889, Qal IMPERATIVE (see Special Topic at Jer 4:2)

2. do righteousness – same as #1 (see Special Topic at Jer 4:2)

3. deliver the one who has been robbed – BDB 664, KB 717, Hiphil IMPERATIVE

4. do not mistreat the stranger, the orphan, or the widow – BDB 413, KB 416, Hiphil IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense

5. do not do violence to (the group mentioned in #4) – BDB 329, KB 329, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense

6. do not shed innocent blood (lit. pour out) – BDB 1049, KB 1629, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense (this could refer to murder or child sacrifice)

the stranger, the orphan, or the widow This is a key phrase from Deuteronomy. It characterized YHWH’s action and care (Deu 10:18; Psa 146:8-10). It is mentioned several times in Deuteronomy.

1. help them – Deu 14:29; Deu 24:17; Deu 24:19

2. rejoice with them – Deu 16:11

3. special offering for them – Deu 26:12-13

4. cursings if one distorts their justice – Deu 27:19

Jer 22:4 if The verse states the conditional element which is related to the actual doing of the covenant commands of Jer 22:4. Jer 22:4 is first found in Jer 17:25.

then Here are the promises to the king if he will be faithful to the covenant.

1. kings (i.e., generations of kings) will enter the gates of this house

2. sit on David’s throne

3. riding in chariots and on horses with his household

Jer 22:5 Again the conditional if. YHWH swears (BDB 989, KB 1396, Niphal PERFECT) by Himself that if covenant faithlessness continues, Jerusalem and the temple will become a desolation (BDB 352)! YHWH’s oath has a sense of certainty and finality (cf. Gen 22:16; Amo 6:8; Heb 6:13).

Jer 22:6-7 This is a brief poem describing the desolation.

1. Judah will become a wilderness (BDB 184)

2. Judah’s cities will be uninhabited (BDB 442, KB 444, Niphal PERFECT [Qere])

3. YHWH will consecrate (i.e., set apart for His service, BDB 872, KB 1073, Piel PERFECT, cf. Jer 6:4) the armed destroyers (i.e., this is holy war terminology. The point being YHWH is not on Judah’s side).

a. cut down your best forest (i.e., cities, cf. Isa 10:33-34)

b. burn them

Just a textual note, the last VERB of Jer 22:6, inhabited (BDB 442, KB 442), in the MT, is a Niphal PARTICIPLE, SINGULAR, but the Masoretic scholars suggested (Qere) a Niphal PERFECT, PLURAL.

You are like Gilead to Me These first two lines of poetry in Jer 22:6 b and c are parallel and address the royal house. The imagery is that as Gilead and Lebanon were beautiful and forested, so too, the house (palace) of Judah. But it will be destroyed! The house of the king (physical and seed) and the house of the Lord will both be destroyed! Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-28 have come to painful reality!

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

Go down. Compare Jer 36:12.

king of Judah: i.e. Jehoiakim.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 22

Now the Lord commanded Jeremiah to go down to the king’s house and speak there at the king’s house this word. The other, it was a message sent back to the king. Now go on down to his house and speak this further word.

Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you that are sitting upon the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people that enter in by these gates: 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. 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. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation ( Jer 22:2-5 ).

Now here even at this late date, God is still holding out to the king the offer of deliverance. As God said, “I’ve set before you life and death.” And though they are really on the gallows and they’re waiting for the handle to be pulled that drop the trap door, the rope in a sense is around their neck. I mean, they are as close to being gone as you can get. But even now the Lord is saying, “Look, if you’ll just do what’s right, if you’ll only have righteous judgments and seek to deliver the fatherless, the widow, the poor from the oppression, if you’ll only do that which is right, then I will continue this dynasty, this kingdom. And there will be kings that will be able to go in and up and sit upon the throne and they’ll ride in and out of these gates in their chariots and all. All you have to do is turn around, even now.” And so God is giving them, really, one final chance. But it seems that many times the evil and the corruption is so deeply imbedded. The greed has gone so far that you just can’t turn.

Now it is interesting to me that the main cry of God was the lack of real justice that was coming forth in the land. The poor, the orphans, the widows were being oppressed. It is interesting to me how that God so often takes up the cause of the poor or of the orphan or of the widow who cry upon Him and cry unto Him. And here God’s judgment would be forestalled if only they would be righteous that they would execute judgment and righteousness and deliver those who had been spoiled out of the hands of those that were oppressing them. Do no violence to the stranger, or to the fatherless, or the widow. If you do this thing indeed, you can remain. Kings will go in and out. But if you don’t, God declares, I swear by myself. Now in Hebrews it says that the Lord can’t swear by any higher so He swears by Himself. But when God takes an oath to swear by Himself, you can be sure that He’s going to do it.

Now the oath is always to confirm the word. And when a person makes an oath, you swear by something that is higher than you. Now Jesus in a sense tells us that we should not swear. “I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is God’s footstool. But when you say yes, just let it be yes. When you say no, let it be no” ( Mat 5:34-35 , Mat 5:37 ). Just be a person of your word. Don’t have to be a person that takes an oath to prove, “Oh, I’m telling the truth,” you know. By my mother’s name or by heaven or whatever that a person may take an oath by. The Lord says you shouldn’t have to do that to affirm the truth. Just speak the truth. Let your yes be a yes, let your no be a no, rather than having to swear by something other than yourself, something higher than yourself. But God when He desired to make a firm commitment, because He could swear by no higher, He swore by Himself. That is, of course, you can’t get anything more sure than that. When God says, “I swear by myself that I will do it,” man, there’s nothing in the world more sure than that. You say, “Well, we’re sure the sun will come up tomorrow morning.” No, you’re not. But if God declares it, then you can be sure. And if God swears by Himself that it will, then you can know. There is no question. There is no doubt. And so God really is laying it on just as heavy. “This is it. This is your final. I swear by Myself. I will just make this place a desolation.”

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 the cities which are not inhabited ( Jer 22:6 ).

Gilead and Lebanon, beautiful areas. Forested and all. That’s what you are to me, but surely I’m going to make you just a desolate wilderness.

I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Why has the LORD done this unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them ( Jer 22:7-9 ).

So this place, this was once so glorious and so beautiful. Really the pride of the earth for glory and beauty. It’s going to be laid waste and desolate and become as a wilderness and people will pass by and they say, “Why in the world did God do this to this area, to this place? Why such desolation?” And the answer would come back, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of God and worshipped other gods.”

Now God had made a covenant with the nation Israel, a covenant whereby they would be His people and He would be their God. There were several factors to this covenant that God had made, several special aspects to the covenant. One of them was the Sabbath day. That was a special covenant between God and Israel forever–their observance of the Sabbath day. Another aspect to the covenant was the circumcision of the males. Another aspect of the covenant was that their approach to God was to be through the sacrifice of animals. For sinful man cannot approach a holy God. And God had said in His covenant, “For without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins” ( Heb 9:22 ). And so God established in His covenant with them the various sacrifices that they would offer unto the Lord: the sin offerings, the peace offerings, the whole burnt offerings, the meal offerings. Now God said, “You’ve broken the covenant.”

It is interesting to me today that they are still not keeping the whole covenant with God. Though they observe the Sabbath and though they will not eat meat with dairy products, and though they still follow circumcision, yet they have tried to circumvent that portion of the covenant whereby God made provision for their covering of their sins. And they offer no sacrifice. There is no shedding of blood, without which, God said, there is no remission. But they now through some strange quirk seek to approach God on the basis of their own works and their own goodness.

Now where did this come from? Surely not from God or God’s Word. This was one of man’s substitutes that was introduced by man and picked up by the people and now followed by them religiously. So that on that great day of the year, Yom Kippur, when the priest was to go in and offer the atonement for the nation and for the sins of the nation, that day, the greatest day of the year really for them when the high priest that one day would enter into the presence of God within the holy of holies and there offer the sacrifice unto the Lord for the atonement of the sins of the nation. That day is now devoted to meditation upon your good works and upon your evil works. And hopefully balancing out with a little bit on the good works side so that your good works overbalance your evil works, and this is my acceptance before You, God. And yet, right here in the prophecy of Jeremiah he declares, “Your works are as filthy rags in the eyes of God.” What a tragedy. Here they are trying to offer filthy rags to God for the atonement of their sins. Can’t be done.

And so God said, “You’ve broken the covenant.” They continue to break the covenant to the present day. But, of course, Jesus said when He took the cup, “This is a new covenant–My blood which is shed for the remission of sins.” You see, they could come to God now by the new covenant. But somehow in their minds they feel that if they come to God by the new covenant, they will no longer be Jews. And this is a very weird perversion of the truth, because they are not really keeping the true covenant of God, the shedding of blood for the remission of sins. But what they don’t realize, they don’t have to keep that part. What they offer instead is their own works. But Paul the apostle writing to the Ephesians said, “It’s not our works, lest any man should boast. By grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast” ( Eph 2:8-9 ).

And yet, they are seeking to be accepted by God for their works that they do. But God will not accept any man’s works as an atoning factor for that man. You cannot work your way into God’s grace or into God’s favor or into heaven. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Without the remission of sin there is no fellowship with God. If you’re to have fellowship with God there has to be the righteous basis for fellowship, and right now God has established a new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. “This cup is My blood. A new covenant in My blood which is shed for the remission of sins.”

So why did the Lord do this? Why is this once glorious city such a desolation? Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God. They’ve worshipped other gods and served them.

Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep for him that is carried away ( Jer 22:10 ):

Those that have died, don’t weep for them. They’re out of it. They’re out of their miseries. But weep for those that are being taken captive to Babylon.

for they will never return again, nor see their native country ( Jer 22:10 ).

Of course, in a couple of chapters we’re going to find out that their captivity is going to last for seventy years. So there were a very, very few who did return, who can remember the former temple that they used to see when they were children. Old men now, probably in their eighties, who were just children when they were taken captive. Now returning to Jerusalem after the captivity, and as they lay the foundation for the rebuilding of the temple and everybody’s worshipping and excited, “Oh, glory, glory,” these men are weeping because this is such a pitiful looking thing in remembrance of the glorious temple that was once there. So he is saying, “Don’t weep for those that are slain. They are well off. Those that are being taken away to Babylon, they are the ones that are going to have continual suffering. Weep sore for those.”

For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum ( Jer 22:11 )

And this is Jehoahaz who was taken down to Egypt by the Pharaoh. He was the king of Israel for a period of time, but he was taken as a captive to Egypt. “Thus saith the Lord concerning Shallum.”

the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He is never going to come back again: but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and he will never see this land again ( Jer 22:11-12 ).

Jehoahaz is going to die in Egypt. He’ll never come back.

Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness ( Jer 22:13 ),

Now he’s laying it on to king Zedekiah again. “Who built his house by unrighteousness.”

and his chambers by wrong; that used his neighbor’s service without wages ( Jer 22:13 ),

Because he was the king, he refused to pay those that worked upon his house. God’s always for the laboring man; God’s always for the underdog. God doesn’t want you to rip anybody off and especially those that can’t afford it, but just nobody, really. God wants righteousness. “Who used his neighbor’s service without wages.”

and gives him nothing for his work; That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and he cuts out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion ( Jer 22:13-14 ).

That must have been quite a house–vermilion walls and cedar ceilings.

Shalt thou reign, because you closed yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD. But your eyes and your heart are not but for your own covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it ( Jer 22:15-17 ).

Talking about his father, of course, going back to Josiah and how that in his reign he was righteous before God and God blessed him. He judged the cause of the poor and it went well with him. But this king was covetousness. He was taking advantage of the people.

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! But he will be buried with the burial of an ass, that is drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem ( Jer 22:18-19 ).

So the fearsome judgment against Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all of the lovers are destroyed ( Jer 22:20 ).

All of your lovers.

I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but you said, I will not listen. This has been your manner from your youth, you just haven’t obeyed my voice ( Jer 22:21 ).

How many people in their prosperity have turned their heart from God. And God speaks to them but they just won’t hearken. They won’t listen. But God said, “This has been your case from the beginning. You just won’t obey My voice.” God help us that this not be the case of our own selves as God has spoken to us over and over in His Word. As God has declared in His Word how we are to walk and how we are to live after the Spirit and not after the flesh. And when God has given us so many warnings of the perils of the flesh-dominated life, God help us if we don’t obey Him. But if we become covetous, if we become greedy, if we begin to take advantage of other people because of our own position.

Jesus said to His disciples, “The heathen love to exercise lordship over others. But it shall not be so among you. For whosoever would be the chief among you, let him be the servant of all” ( Mar 10:44 ). Now that’s what it’s to be like in the kingdom. Not to be taking advantage of your position. If you have a position of leadership or authority over others, not to be using it for your own personal advantage. Not to be using it to build your own house as the king did. Not to take unfair advantage of other people. If they work for you, pay them. And if you’re going to be the chief, then learn to be the servant of all. Rather than taking, give. Use your position to help and to give to those that are lacking. And thus shall you truly be the servant of the Lord. God help us. God said, “Hey, I spoke to you in your prosperity, you wouldn’t listen. And that’s been the case. You just haven’t listened. You haven’t obeyed My voice from the beginning.”

The wind shall eat up all of your pastors, and all of your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all of your wickedness. O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makes thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! 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 ( Jer 22:22-24 );

Coniah, of course, is Jeconiah who reigned just a short period and was cut off. Three months is all that he reigned. And God said, “Though he were the signet on My ring, on My right hand, yet I would pluck thee thence.”

For I will give thee into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 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. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return ( Jer 22:25-27 ).

You’ll never come back again. You’re going to die in captivity.

Is this man Jeconiah 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? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD ( Jer 22:28-29 ).

You see, God had been speaking to men for a long time. God says, “You’re not listening. I spoke to you in your time of your prosperity, you wouldn’t listen to Me.” And so finally Jeremiah’s so upset. He has given this message to this people. They’re not listening so he turns and he says, “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. They won’t listen. Earth, you listen.”

You ever had the problem of talking to a group of people and you look up and no one’s listening? You’re telling something very interesting. A lot of times I turn and talk to my menu. No one else is listening, you know. “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.”

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 ( Jer 22:30 ).

This is the end of the line; Zedekiah’s it. The dynasty is cut off with him. No one’s going to arise of his seed to reign on the throne in Judah. That is a fact. It has happened. That was the end of the road for that dynasty. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Jer 22:1-9

Jer 22:1-9

Thus said Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, And say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates. Thus saith Jehovah: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place. 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. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king 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. 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. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

If ye will do this thing indeed…

(Jer 22:4) Thompson translated this clause, If you scrupulously carry out this commission.

They shall cut down thy choice cedars…

(Jer 22:7). In keeping with the figure of a forest, the destruction of Jerusalem is represented as the hewing down of the choice cedars. The destroyed city will become a monument to God’s wrath against the transgressors of his covenant.

Jer 22:8 reflects the promise recorded by Moses in Deu 29:23-29. Along with the king’s palace, the whole city will be destroyed.

Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah…

(Jer 22:9). The covenant in view here is the one commonly called the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, or the Sinaitic Covenant (Exo 20:3; Deu 5:7).

“The covenant violated here was not the Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7, but the initial covenant at Sinai, referred to recurringly in earlier portions of Jeremiah. The extensive devastation was a lesson to all nations on the perils of idolatry.”

Although Jellie thought that these first nine verses were addressed to the early days of the reign of Jehoiachim, Harrison assigned them to the times of Zedekiah. As we have frequently noted, if such distinctions were very important, God would have revealed the exact situation. Here it makes little or no difference, because the words perfectly fit either one of the monarchs mentioned.

General Remarks Regarding the Royal House

Jer 22:1-9

At some point during the reign of Jehoiakim God sent Jeremiah to the house of the king with an oracle directed to the royal family (Jer 22:1). In this oracle Jeremiah stresses the obligations of the royal house (Jer 22:2-3) and promises that if these obligations are met then the dynasty of David would continue (Jer 22:4). But if the words of God are ignored then the nation is doomed to destruction (Jer 22:5-9).

1. Obligations (Jer 22:2-3)

The king and princes who passed through the gates of the palace each day may have been the lineal descendants of David but they certainly were not his spiritual descendants. They were not men after Gods own heart nor were they amenable to the rebuke of a prophet. With Nathan-like boldness Jeremiah meets the king on his own ground to deliver to him the word of the Lord (Jer 22:2). Under the old covenant theocracy the laws of the state were the laws of God. The king was responsible for enforcing those laws and establishing social justice in the land. Specifically the king was to be the defender of the poor and the helpless. But under the tyrant Jehoiakim, the Solomon of the last days of Judah, the people were being ruthlessly oppressed through governmental taxation in order that the king might undertake lavish building projects. (see Jer 22:13 ff.). Jeremiah cries out the necessity for the king to cease oppressing the helpless ones of society-the strangers, orphans and widows. Other nations looked with suspicion on strangers but the Bible teaches tolerance for those of other nationalities. Jeremiah also demands in the name of his God that Jehoiakim cease his violence and the shedding of innocent blood (Jer 22:3). That innocent blood was shed during this period is evident from case of Uriah the prophet who was executed because he spoke out against the king. Jeremiah was putting his life on the line when he preached this sermon at the gates of the royal palace!

2. Promise (Jer 22:4)

To his list of royal obligations Jeremiah adds a promise which he has previously made (see Jer 17:25). If the monarch will only heed the message of the prophet the Davidic line will continue to reign in Jerusalem. The king and his servants and attendants would continue to pass through the gate of the palace even as they were doing while Jeremiah spoke these words.

3. Threat (Jer 22:1-9)

If the royal family chooses to reject their obligations then the most dire punishments will befall Jerusalem. Because He could sware by no greater, God swears by Himself that the royal dwelling of the king of Judah would become desolate (Jer 22:5). The same expression occurs in Jer 49:13; Gen 22:16; and Isa 45:23. A similar expression occurs in Amo 6:8 and Jer 51:14. Because of the height of this building and because it was constructed from cedar-wood the prophet calls it figuratively Gilead . the top of Lebanon. Both Gilead and Lebanon were noted in antiquity for their stately forests. Such forests were often denuded in time of war to provide fuel and weapons for an attacking army. So God would bring destruction upon the kingdom of Judah, making that land a virtual wilderness (Jer 22:6). The divinely appointed destroyers will take their weapons and cut down the choice cedars of the land i.e., the princes and leaders of the nation (Jer 22:7). Foreigners who pass by the ruins of Jerusalem will ask one another why the Lord has dealt with the once proud city in this manner (Jer 22:8). They will rightly conclude that the destruction has come upon the land because the people of the Lord forsook their covenant with Him and worshiped other gods (Jer 22:9). Jeremiah is definitely influenced in these last two verses by Deu 29:23 ff.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The message Jeremiah gave the deputation was not enough. He was commanded to go to the house of the king. This he did, and what he there said occupies the succeeding chapters up to and including chapter twenty-seven.

Arrived at the court, he, first of all, repeated at greater length his call to repentance and warning. The way of repentance is the way of restoration. The way of disobedience is the way of destruction.

He then reviewed in three movements the history of the three predecessors of Zedekiah. First, concerning Jehoahaz, he declared that there was no need to weep for Josiah who had died, but rather for Jehoahaz (that is, Shallurn), who had been carried away to die in captivity. Moving on to the reign of Jehoiakim, he described the sin of his unrighteous reign, which ,was characterized by injustice and oppression. For this sin he had been judged and cast out from Jerusalem. Yet his influence had remained. Finally, the prophet described the doom of Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin (Coniah), and its reason.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Widespread Corruption

Jer 5:1-6; Jer 19:1-15; Jer 20:1-18; Jer 21:1-14; Jer 22:1-30; Jer 23:1-40; Jer 24:1-10; Jer 25:1-38; Jer 26:1-24; Jer 27:1-22; Jer 28:1-17; Jer 29:1-32; Jer 30:1-24; Jer 31:1-40

Diogenes, the cynic, was discovered one day in Athens in broad daylight, lantern in hand, looking for something. When someone remonstrated with him, he said that he needed all the light possible to enable him to find an honest man. Something like that is in the prophets thought. God was prepared to spare Jerusalem on lower terms than even Sodom, and yet He was driven to destroy her. Both poor and rich had alike broken the yoke and burst the bonds. The description of the onset of the Chaldeans is very graphic. They settle down upon the land as a flock of locusts, but still the Chosen People refuse to connect their punishment with their sin. It never occurred to the Chosen People that the failure of the rain, the withering of their crops, and the assault of their foes, were all connected with their sin. There is nothing unusual in this obtuseness for as we read the history of our own times, men are equally inapt at connecting national disaster with national sin.

How good it would be if the national cry of today were that of Jer 5:24 : Let us now fear before the Lord our God! Notice the delightful metaphor of Jer 5:22. When God would stay the wild ocean wave a barrier of sand will suffice. The martyrs were as sand grains but wild persecutions were quenched by their heroic patience.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

There is no hesitancy or uncertainty about his utterances. It is “the word of the Lord” (Jer 22:2) he brings. He speaks as “the oracles of God.” His address is a call to righteousness. If the king will be the leader in turning to GOD, as he has been a leader in rebellion against Him, there shall still enter in by the gates of the royal house kings sitting upon the throne of David. Otherwise “this house shall become a desolation.” (Jer 22:5)

As Gilead and Lebanon for glory and beauty had they been before Him: they should become as the dry and parched wilderness; insomuch that the nations, in wonderment, should ask as they passed by, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?” and the answer would be, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them” (Jer 22:8-9).

How abundantly the prophetic burden has been verified, let the centuries witness! Jerusalem is to-day the pillar of salt to the nations, crying to all the kingdoms of the earth, “Remember!” The dead should, at least, find a grave in the land of their fathers – soon to be hallowed by Messiah’s feet. For them let none weep. For him that goeth away let them “weep sore,” for “he shall return no more, nor see his native country” (Jer 22:10).

Shallum, otherwise called Jehoahaz (see 1Ch 3:15; 2Ki 23:30; 2Ki 23:32), had been carried away to Egypt by Pharaoh-Necho about eighteen years previously, after an evil and ignominious reign of but three months. Some perhaps had hope that he, a son of the godly king Josiah, might yet return as their deliverer, but the seer declares that “he shall not return thither any more: but he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more” (Jer 22:10-12). This sentence was fulfilled very shortly afterwards.

Ever since Josiah’s untimely death on the plains of Megiddo, his unworthy successors had been characterized by iniquity.

“Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong,” the reprover of kings goes on – that useth his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; that saith, I will build me a wide house,” etc. (Jer 22:13-14).

The Lord’s heart is ever concerned about the poor and needy. When Josiah did judgment and justice, it was well with him. He judged the cause of the afflicted and poverty-stricken; and this, the Lord declares, was “to know Him.” (Jer 22:16)

This crying sin of Jeremiah’s age is being multiplied a thousandfold in these last days.

Rich men heap up wealth by others’ labor, and tread down the poor. In their pride and hauteur they build themselves palaces and live as though GOD had forgotten their iniquitous means of acquisition of wealth. But He that is higher than the highest is not an unconcerned spectator. He has said: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you” (hoarded riches, while multitudes are in distress, witness against their possessors), “and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped together treasure for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, and is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth” (hosts). “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.” (Jam 5:1-8)

The hour of the Lord’s vengeance is about to strike!

Meantime the word to the poor and lowly who trust in His name is: “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord: . . . the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (Jam 5:1-8).

He will not look on forever in apparent (only apparent) indifference. There shall yet be a righting of all the wrongs of the ages. The workers of iniquity shall be visited with swift retribution, as this city of GOD was delivered to the Gentile oppressor for its manifold wickedness.

It took more than ordinary boldness to enable a poor priest to face proud Zedekiah and declare, “Thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence” (Jer 22:17) – a solemn and terrible indictment, to which the wicked king made no reply. His conscience, as in Herod’s case, was on the accuser’s side.

Jehoahaz’ doom has been pronounced – to die in Egypt. His successor, Jehoiakim, set up by Pharaoh-necho, whose name had been changed from Eliakim (2Ki 23:34), should have no better fate: he had been carried to Babylon seven years prior to this time, and for him none should lament, but he was destined to die in captivity and to be “buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer 22:19); see also Jer 36:30). Thus one by one the kings of Judah should be destroyed; for in their prosperity the Lord had spoken; but they had willfully said, “I will not hear.” “This,” He declares, “hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou hast not obeyed My voice.” (Jer 22:21) Therefore all the shepherds of the people should go into captivity, that they might be ashamed and confounded for all their wickedness; when their anguish came upon them like the pangs of a travailing woman, then might they become gracious and subject to His will.

There was still another Judean king in captivity. Coniah (called variously Jeconiah, Jehoiachin, Joiakim and Joachim) had, after a brief and inglorious reign of a little over three months, been likewise carried to Babylon. For him, too, there should be no return. He must die in the land of the stranger, as “a vessel wherein is no pleasure” (Jer 22:24-28).

Thus one by one the men on whom the people had set their hopes were being taken away in judgment. Would they never learn?

O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. 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” (Jer 22:29-30).

In him the line of Solomonic succession ends. Royalty passes over to the line of David’s son Nathan.

This explains why we have the two genealogies of our Lord in the New Testament.

Matthew gives Joseph’s line through this very Coniah. But if CHRIST came through him, He would not be able to sit upon the throne. In Luke we evidently have the line of Mary the daughter of Heli, Joseph’s father-in-law, through Nathan, thus preserving the blood-line of David while avoiding the curse of Coniah.

“Write ye this man childless” (Jer 22:30) is a solemn word for a Christian, if we may venture to spiritualize it. Every one saved by the blood of CHRIST should covet to be a winner of souls. “He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him” (Pro 11:26).

If my reader has been born again, he is now in possession of a treasure for lack of which needy men and women on every hand are perishing – dying in their sins and going down to a Christless eternity. Oh, see to it that you share with them the great and precious things confided to you. Strive to be one whom GOD can use in leading others to Himself. “He that winneth souls is wise” (Pro 11:30). Thus you shall have the joy of beholding your children in the faith who shall be your crown of rejoicing in that day (1Th 2:19-20). Who can conceive the loss if one must then be written “childless!” (Jer 22:30)

Israel’s pastors – that is, their kings – had to a great degree failed to use their exalted office for the blessing of the sheep confided to their care.

The last four, especially, who reigned in Jerusalem were recreant shepherds, intent only upon enriching themselves, and caring nought for the flock. In the opening verses of the 23rd chapter a “woe” is pronounced upon them for destroying and scattering the sheep of the Lord’s pasture.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Jer 22:8-9

I. The man who wrote these words was a very sorrowful man; one who was full of grief for what he saw, and for what he expected. He was an Israelite, one of the race of Abraham. He believed that God had chosen his nation to be a blessing to all nations. But he felt that his country, the country which he loved, was polluted by the evil things that were done in it. He could not tear himself from his nation. He was tearing himself from God if he did. God’s covenant was with Israel. He was in God’s covenant because he was an Israelite. Whatever calamities befel Israel must befal him. Jeremiah supposes that people of other countries would walk through the land of Israel, and see its capital city in ruins, and would say, “Wherefore hath the Lord done this to this great city?” And this, he says, would be the answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord, and have worshipped other gods and served them.” He who was their true Lord would let them learn by hard punishment what was the fruit of their wilful ways, what comes of forgetting His commandments.

II. God has made with us a new covenant; a better covenant than that which He made with the Jews, because God does not merely say to us, “Keep My commandments,” but He says, “I will give you My Holy Spirit that you may keep them.” But the commandments which He bids us to keep are the very same. And when people grow indifferent to these commandments, then it fares with us as it fared with the Jews. We cease to be a strong people, a united people, a wise and understanding people, in the sight of the nations; we become weak, and divided, and foolish. If we hold fast to the covenant it will go well with us, and with our seed after us. We shall be true citizens of our land. God will bless our land and cause His face to shine upon it.

F. D. Maurice, Sermons Preached in Country Churches, p. 305.

References: Jer 22:19.-J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young-Men, p. 233. Jer 22:21.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts’ for the Times,” vol. i., p. 48.

Jer 22:29

I. The manner of this cry. In form it is obviously and intensely peculiar. When the awakener utters such a piercing cry you may conclude that the sleep of the sleeper is deep. The two elements multiplied into each other which swell into a peal so loud, are the mercy that glows in the warner’s breast, and the danger to which the sleeper lies exposed. The earth itself-all the creatures on it under man-have a quick ear for their Maker’s voice, and never needing, never get a call so urgent. The alacrity of the creatures that lie either above or beneath him in the scale of creation brings out in higher relief the disobedience of man. The mystery of God’s mercy to man is, we know, one thing into which unfallen angels desire to look; the mystery of man’s heedlessness of God must be another. Angels, our elder brothers, must wonder both at our deep sleep and at God’s long, loud, awakening cry. Both mysteries lie beyond their view.

II. The matter of this cry. (1) The speaker is the only living and true God. (2) The thing spoken is the word of the Lord. (a) The word of the Lord lies in the Scriptures; (b) the word of the Lord in the Scriptures is mercy; (c) the word of the Lord is Christ. (3) The injunction to regard that word: “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.” The Eternal Word has come into the world to show us the Father, “Hear ye Him.”

III. Several aspects of this shrill warning cry remain for consideration. (1) The earth so summoned, has already, in a sense most interesting and important, heard the word of the Lord. Christ’s Kingdom is even now more powerful on the earth than any other kingdom. (2) The earth through all its bounds will one day hear and obey the word of the Lord. (3) When the earth hears its Lord’s word forthwith it calls upon the Lord. (4) Earth-that is, men in the body-should hear the word of the Lord, for to them it brings a message of mercy. (5) Earth-the dust of the dead in Christ-shall hear the word of the Lord, and shall come forth.

W. Arnot, Roots and Fruits of the Christian Life, p. 198.

Reference: Jer 22:29.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 151.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Concerning the Kings of Judah (22:1-23:8)

CHAPTER 22

1. The message in the house of the king of Judah (Jer 22:1-9)

2. Touching Shallum, the King of Judah (Jer 22:11-12)

3. Concerning Jehoiakim and his fate (Jer 22:13-19)

4. Concerning Coniah and his fate (Jer 22:20-30)

Jer 22:1-10. What a figure Jeremiah was as he stood, obedient to the divine command, before the royal palace to deliver his God-given message! The door of mercy still is open. Let them execute judgment, let them stop oppressing the stranger, the widows and orphans, let them shed no longer innocent blood, then the house of David shall prosper. If not, the house shall become a desolation. The nations astonished at the destruction and overthrow of the city will hear the answer that it is because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshipped other gods and served them.

Jer 22:11-12. He is also called Jehoahaz 1Ch 3:15; 2Ki 23:30-37. He was carried away by Pharaoh-Necho into Egypt; he will return.

Jer 22:13-19. This wicked king and his evil doings are described in these verses. He was a cruel despot, who built his palaces by forced labor; covetousness, shedding of innocent blood, oppression and violence characterized his reign. Then his ignominious burial, the burial of an ass, is predicted. It means that an ass has no burial and so Jehoiakim would have no burial; he is the only king of Judah whose burial is not recorded. It may be possible that Jeremiah added these words by divine command, after this king had cut the roll to pieces and burned it in the fire Jer 36:1-32. The prophet wrote the same words contained in the roll (all these chapters beginning with chapter 2 constitute the roll the king burned), and many others were added. Most likely because he had done that wicked work in cutting the Word of God to pieces and casting it into the fire, this special shameful end was announced. Beware you cutters of the Bible, you mutilators of the Word of God, your end, too, will be an ignominious end!

Jer 22:20-30. Coniah, also called Jehoiachin, Joiakim and Joachim, after a brief reign of a few months had been carried away to Babylon to die there. Then the prophets voice breaks in with a mighty appeal, O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Every true believer feels like shouting these words in the present days of departure from God and rejection of His Word. Then there is a prediction as to Jeconiah, 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. A curse was thus pronounced upon the house of David in the line of Solomon. But there was still the line of Nathan the son of David. Messiah, the Son of David, could therefore not spring from the line of Solomon; he must come from the line of Nathan. Joseph, the husband of the virgin Mary of Nazareth was a son of David through the line of Solomon, the disinherited line; but Mary of Nazareth was a daughter of David through the line of Nathan.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

am cir, 3406, bc cir, 598

Go: Jer 21:11, Jer 34:2, 1Sa 15:16-23, 2Sa 12:1, 2Sa 24:11, 2Sa 24:12, 1Ki 21:18-20, 2Ch 19:2, 2Ch 19:3, 2Ch 25:15, 2Ch 25:16, 2Ch 33:10, Hos 5:1, Amo 7:13, Mar 6:18, Luk 3:19, Luk 3:20

Reciprocal: 2Ki 22:10 – the king Isa 7:3 – Go forth Isa 39:3 – came Isaiah Jer 1:18 – against Jer 7:2 – Stand Zec 11:17 – Woe Act 5:20 – stand

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 22:1. A reference to Jer 21:1 will tell us that Zedekiah was the king to whom the prophet was to deliver this special message.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 22:1-2. Thus saith the Lord The prophecy which follows to Jer 23:9, was evidently delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim; for it speaks of his immediate predecessor as already gone into captivity, and foretels the death of Jehoiakim himself. Blaney thinks it followed immediately after what is said in the xixth and xxth chapters to have passed in the temple precincts, from whence, as from a higher ground, he supposes the prophet is ordered to go down to the house of the king of Judah. Hear, &c., O king of Judah Namely, Jehoiakim, (Jer 22:18,) who was established upon the throne by the king of Egypt, in the place of Jehoahaz, in the year of the world 3394, according to Archbishop Usher. That sittest on the throne of David Thus the prophet puts him in mind of the promises God had made to Davids family, if they would live in obedience to his will, 1Ki 8:25. Thou, and thy servants, and thy people Thy courtiers and other officers, who attend continually on thee, comprehending likewise all the people of the city: all whom this word of the Lord concerned; that enter in by these gates Namely, the gates of the palace, whereby they went in to the king. The king was evidently at the gate of his palace, with his principal officers, when Jeremiah presented himself before him.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 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.

Jer 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 2Ki 15:3. Jeconiah is also called Coniah by way of contempt: Jer 22:24.

Jer 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. 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 Jer 9:17.

Jer 22:19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass. He was carried to Babylon, 2Ki 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.

Jer 22:23. How gracious shalt thou be. This is spoken ironically, to humble his pride.

Jer 22:26. I will cast thee out, and thy mother. See 2Ki 24:12.

Jer 22:30. Write ye this man childless. He had seven sons, 1Ch 3:17, but no successor on the throne, and no more name in Israel.

REFLECTIONS.

Jeremiahs 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 fathers 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 fathers 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 mens minds: Jer 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 mens 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.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 22:1 to Jer 23:8. This section contains several distinct Jeremianic prophecies, relating to contemporary kings of Judah; they have been editorially collected, probably with some expansion.

Jer 22:1-9. Introduction.The prophet is sent down to the palace (lower than the Temple, and on the S.) to declare judgment and justice as the condition of permanence in the royal line. He bewails in a dirge (Jer 22:6 f.) the fall of the royal house, which is like that of well-wooded districts (Gilead, Lebanon) delivered over to the axe. The cause is the disloyalty of the city to Yahweh (Jer 22:8 f.; taken from Deu 29:4 f.).

Jer 22:5. For this solemn oath by Yahweh, cf. Jer 49:13, and Heb 6:13-18.

Jer 22:10-12. Josiah and Jehoahaz.The fate of Josiah (the dead; slain in battle at Megiddo, 608, 2Ki 23:29 f.; cf. 2Ch 35:25) is less pitiful than that of Jehoahaz (Shallum), who reigned (for three months in 608) until taken captive by Pharaoh Necho into Egypt, where he died (2Ki 23:31 ff.; this king, like Jeremiah, was anti-Egyptian in his policy).

Jer 22:13-19. Jehoiakim (608597; 2Ki 23:36-37).His injustice and rapacity (Jer 22:17 mg.), as shown in his sumptuous palace-building, are contrasted with the normal life and upright rule of his father, Josiah. Jehoiakim shall not be honoured in death by his relatives (1Ki 13:30) or subjects (Jer 34:5), but flung forth unburied (Jer 36:30; cf. 2Ki 24:6, where there is no mention of burial).

Jer 22:14. chambers: the word denotes structures on the roof; cf. Thomson, p. 160. In Jer 22:14 b read panelling it . . . painting.

Jer 22:20-30. Jehoiachin.Jerusalem is bidden to climb the heights and lament (Jer 7:29), because her lovers (Jer 4:30; probably of allies) are broken, and the wind shall shepherd her shepherds (rulers). Her fancied security, as of a bird making its nest in Lebanon, will be turned into groaning travail (Jer 22:23 mg.). Jehoiachin (Coniah or Jeconiah, who reigned for three months in 597, 2Ki 24:8 ff; 2Ki 25:27) is rejected by Yahweh, and will be exiled with his mother (Nehushta, Jer 13:18. 2Ki 24:8); he is to be recorded (Isa 4:3) as having no royal successor.

Jer 22:20. Abarim: E. of Dead Sea.

Jer 22:24. signet: Hag 2:23.

Jer 22:30. Jehoiachin was not childless according to 1Ch 3:17.

Jer 23:1-8. Conclusion.Denunciation of the unworthy rulers (shepherds, Jer 22:22): ye have scattered, I will gather my flock (Psa 95:7) and appoint worthy rulers (Jer 23:1-4). The king called the Shoot (Jer 23:5 mg.) will continue the worthy traditions of David (2Sa 8:15) and rule over a united people (Israel as well as Judah). His symbolic name shall be Yahweh is our righteousness, i.e. the source of all our well-being. This restoration will eclipse the original deliverance from Egypt (Jer 23:5-8). Note that this Messianic king is an ideal human ruler, acting as Yahwehs administrator, and subordinate to him.

Jer 23:5. Branch: Shoot, i.e. from the ground, as in Heb. of Gen 19:25; for the later use of the term as title, cf. Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12.

Jer 23:6. The title is used of Jerusalem in Jer 33:16; cf. Eze 48:35; there is a tacit reference here to Zedekiah (597586), whose name means Yahweh is righteousness.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

The Lord told Jeremiah to go down to the king’s palace, evidently from the temple or perhaps from Anathoth, and deliver a prophetic message to him, his servants, and the people who gathered there.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER XXVI

INTRODUCTORY

“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”- Jer 31:1

IN this third book an attempt is made to present a general view of Jeremiahs teaching on the subject with which he was most preoccupied-the political and religious fortunes of Judah. Certain (30, 31, and, in part, 33) chapters detach themselves from the rest, and stand in no obvious connection with any special incident of the prophets life. These are the main theme of this book, and have been dealt with in the ordinary method of detailed exposition. They have been treated separately, and not woven into the continuous narrative, partly because we thus obtain a more adequate emphasis upon important aspects of their teaching, but chiefly because their date and occasion cannot be certainly determined. With them other sections have been associated, on account of the connection of subject. Further material for a synopsis of Jeremiahs teaching has been collected from chapters 21-49, generally, supplemented by brief references to the previous chapters. Inasmuch as the prophecies of our book do not form an ordered treatise on dogmatic theology, but were uttered with regard to individual conduct and critical events, topics are not exclusively dealt with in a single section, but are referred to at intervals throughout. Moreover, as both the individuals and the crises were very much alike, ideas and phrases are constantly reappearing, so that there is an exceptionally large amount of repetition in the Book of Jeremiah. The method we have adopted avoids some of the difficulties which would arise if we attempted to deal with these doctrines in our continuous exposition.

Our general sketch of the prophets teaching is naturally arranged under categories suggested by the book itself, and not according to the sections of a modern treatise on Systematic Theology. No doubt much may legitimately be extracted or deduced concerning Anthropology, Soteriology, and the like; but true proportion is as important in exposition as accurate interpretation. If we wish to understand Jeremiah, we must be content to dwell longest upon what he emphasised most, and to adopt the standpoint of time and race which was his own. Accordingly in our treatment we have followed the cycle of sin, punishment, and restoration, so familiar to students of Hebrew prophecy.

NOTE SOME CHARACTERISTIC EXPRESSIONS OF JEREMIAH

This note is added partly for convenience of reference, and partly to illustrate the repetition just mentioned as characteristic of Jeremiah. The instances are chosen from expressions occurring in chapters 21-52. The reader will find fuller lists dealing with the whole book in the “Speakers Commentary” and the “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.” The Hebrew student is referred to the list in Drivers “Introduction,” upon which the following is partly based.

1. “Rising up early”: Jer 7:13; Jer 7:25; Jer 11:7; Jer 25:3-4; Jer 26:5; Jer 29:19; Jer 32:33; Jer 35:14-15; Jer 44:4. This phrase, familiar to us in the narratives of Genesis and in the historical books, is used here, as in 2Ch 36:15, of God addressing His people on sending the prophets.

2. “Stubbornness of heart” (A.V. imagination of heart): Jer 3:17; Jer 7:24; Jer 9:14; Jer 11:8; Jer 13:10; Jer 16:12; Jer 18:12; Jer 23:17; also found Deu 29:19 and Psa 81:15.

3. “The evil of your doings”: Jer 4:4; Jer 21:12; Jer 23:2; Jer 23:22; Jer 25:5; Jer 26:3; Jer 44:22; also Deu 28:20; 1Sa 25:3; Isa 1:16; Hos 9:15; Psa 28:4; and in slightly different form in Jer 11:18 and Zec 1:4.

“The fruit of your doings”: Jer 17:10; Jer 21:14; Jer 32:19; also found in Mic 7:13.

“Doings, your doings,” etc., are also found in Jeremiah and elsewhere.

4. “The sword, the pestilence, and the famine,” in various orders, and either as a phrase or each word ocurring in one of three successive clauses: Jer 14:12; Jer 15:2; Jer 21:7; Jer 21:9; Jer 24:10; Jer 27:8; Jer 27:13; Jer 29:17-18; Jer 32:24; Jer 32:36; Jer 34:17; Jer 38:2; Jer 42:17; Jer 42:22; Jer 44:13.

“The sword and the famime,” with similar variations: Jer 5:12; Jer 11:22; Jer 14:13; Jer 14:15-16; Jer 14:18; Jer 16:4; Jer 18:21; Jer 42:16; Jer 44:12; Jer 44:18; Jer 44:27. Cf. similar lists, etc., “death . . . sword . . . captivity,” in Jer 43:11 : “war . . . evil . . . pestilence,” Jer 28:8.

5. “Kings . . . princes . . . priests . . . prophets,” in various orders and combinations: Jer 2:26; Jer 4:9; Jer 8:1; Jer 13:13; Jer 24:8; Jer 32:32.

Cf. “Prophet . . . priest . . . people,” Jer 23:33-34. “Prophets . . . diviners . . . dreamers . . . enchanters . . . sorcerers,” Jer 27:9.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary