22:1ffChapters 22-25 may not be in chronological order. \n 21:8-10 God implied that it was too late for repentance. In 22:4, however, God said that there was still time to change. The events to which this chapter refer occurred before those of chapter 21.
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 22
Jeremiah 22
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1239, 1240, 1241
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
22Jeremiah 22
A Message for Judah’s Kings
12 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him, 2‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you king of Judah, sitting on David’s throne. Let your attendants and your people listen, too. This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent! 4If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. The king will ride through the palace gates in chariots and on horses, with his parade of attendants and subjects. 5But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the LORD, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.’”
A Message about the Palace
66Now this is what the LORD says concerning Judah’s royal palace:“T love you as much as fruitful Gileadand the green forests of Lebanon.But I will turn you into a desert,with no one living within your walls.
7Twill call for wreckers,who will bring out their tools to dismantle you.They will tear out all your fine cedar beamsand throw them on the fire.
8"People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, ‘Why did the LORD destroy sucha great city?’ 9And the answer will be, ‘Because they violated their covenant with the LORD their God by worshiping other gods.””
A Message about Jehoahaz
1010 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss.Instead, weep for the captive king being led away!For he will never return to see his native land again.
11For this is what the LORD says about Jehoahaz,* who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was taken away as a Captive: “He will never return. 12He will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.”
A Message about Jehoiakim
1313 And the LORD says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim,*who builds his palace with forced labor.*He builds injustice into its walls,for he makes his neighbors work for nothing.He does not pay them for their labor.
14He says, ‘I will build a magnificent palacewith huge rooms and many windows.I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedarand paint it a lovely red.’
15But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king!Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink.But he was just and right in all his dealings.That is why God blessed him.
16He gave justice and help to the poor and needy,and everything went well for him.Isn't that what it means to know me?”says the LORD.
17“But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty!You murder the innocent,oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”
18Therefore, this is what the Lor says about Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah:“The people will not mourn for him, crying to one another,‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’His subjects will not mourn for him, crying,‘Alas, our master is dead! Alas, his splendor is gone!’
19He will be buried like a dead donkey—dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!
20Weep for your allies in Lebanon.Shout for them in Bashan.Search for them in the regions east of the river.*See, they are all destroyed.Not one is left to help you.
21[warned you when you were prosperous,but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’You have been that way since childhood—you simply will not obey me!
22And now the wind will blow away your allies.All your friends will be taken away as captives.Surely then you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.
23It may be nice to live in a beautiful palacepaneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon,but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish—anguish like that of a woman in labor.
A Message for Jehoiachin
2424“ As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “I will abandon you, Jehoiachin* son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. 251 will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, those you so desperately fear—to King Nebuchadnezzar* of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian* army. 26I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country, not in your native land. 27You will never again return to the land you yearn for.
28“Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken jar?Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land?
29O earth, earth, earth!Listen to this message from the LORD!
30This is what the LORD says:‘Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless.He is a failure,for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of Davidto rule over Judah.’
Textual footnotes
- See 22:18.
- 22:11 Hebrew Shajllum, another name for Jehoahaz.
- 22:13a The brother and successor of the exiled Jehoahaz.
- 22:13b Hebrew by unrighteousness.
- 22:20 Or in Abarim.
- 22:24 Hebrew Coniah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin; also 22:28.
- 22:25a Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant
- 22:25b Or Chaldean.
Life Application Notes 7 notes
22:3God gave the king the basis for rebuilding the nation— turn from evil and do right. Doing what is right is more than simply believing all the right doctrines about God. It means living in obedience to God. Good deeds do not save us, but they display our faith (James 2:17-26).
22:10-12Good King Josiah had died at the battle of Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29); his son Jehoahaz reigned for only three months in 609 B.C. before being taken away to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco. He would be the first ruler to die in exile. The people were told not to waste their tears on the death of Josiah but to cry for the king who was taken into exile and would never return.
22:15,16God passed judgment on King Jehoiakim. His father, Josiah, had been one of Judah’s great kings, but Jehoiakim was evil. Josiah had been faithful to his responsibility to be a model of right living, but Jehoiakim had been unfaithful to his responsibility to imitate his father. God’s judgment was on unfaithful Jehoiakim. He could not claim his father’s blessings when he had not followed his father’s God. We may inherit our parents’ money, but we cannot inherit their faith. A godly heritage, a good education, or a beautiful home doesn’t guarantee moral character. We must have our own relationship with God.
22:21Jehoiakim had been hardheaded and hard-hearted since childhood. God warned him, but he refused to listen. His prosperity always took a higher priority than his relationship with God. If you ever find yourself so comfortable that you don’t have time for God, stop and ask which is more important—the comforts of this life or a close relationship with God.
22:24,25A signet ring was extremely valuable because a king used it to authenticate important documents. Jehoiachin’s sins spoiled his usefulness to God. Even if he were God's Own signet ring, God would depose him because of his sins (see 24:1).
22:30Zedekiah reigned after Jehoiachin but died before him (52:10, 11). Jehoiachin was the last king of David's line to sit On the throne in Judah (1 Chronicles 3:15-20). He had seven Sons, but not one served as king. Jehoiachin’s grandson Zerubbabel ruled after the return from exile (Ezra 2:2). He was Only a governor, nota king.