Jeremiah 22

Jeremiah gave a message based on the Sinai covenant. It outlined the duties of a king of Judah. If the king fulfilled these duties, the dynasty of David would continue in Jerusalem. If the king refused, the palace and kingdom would vanish.

This collection of messages to the last kings from David's line in Judah ends with a promise. God will one day appoint a true descendant of David to lead his people.

Judah's leaders acted unfairly and unjustly. They did not help robbery victims or rescue the oppressed. They mistreated foreigners, orphans, and widows (see Isaiah 58:6–7; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9–10; 8:16–17; Matthew 23:23).

• Farmers grew valuable crops in the valleys and on the slopes of Gilead. Gilead is the highlands that rise eastward from the Jordan Valley.

• Lebanon is the area north of Israel along the seacoast. It includes a high mountain ridge on the country's eastern side. Lebanon was famous for its tall cedar trees.

After the Temple, Judah’s royal palace was the nation's most important building. Skilled craftsmen built this expensive structure (1 Kings 7:1–12). It served as the king’s home and the center of his government. Although the Lord valued the palace, it would not avoid the destruction he planned for Jerusalem.

The destruction of Jerusalem would show other nations what happens when Judah breaks their agreement with the Lord, their God.

King Josiah died in 609 BC, killed by the Egyptians at the Battle of Megiddo. The people of Judah were not to mourn his death. Instead, they should focus their sorrow on Josiah’s son, whom they had chosen as the new king. After three months, King Jehoahaz was exiled to Egypt, where he lived for the rest of his life (2 Kings 23:1–33; 2 Chronicles 36:1–8).

This section presents serious accusations against Josiah's descendants.

Jehoiakim made poor men work as unpaid slaves, so his building projects were unjust from the start.

Egypt put another of Josiah’s sons, Eliakim, on the throne in Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Most of the material in Jeremiah 7–20 was likely written during Jehoiakim’s reign, from 609 to 598 BC. The Lord accused him of being unfaithful and greedy, put him on trial, found him guilty, and sentenced him to death.

great palace: Archaeologists have discovered the foundations of this palace three miles south of Jerusalem. The foundations show that the building had very large rooms.

If Jehoiakim wanted plenty to eat and drink, he did not need to use corruption and oppression. Compared to his prosperous father, Josiah, Jehoiakim was not a great king. Josiah, on the other hand, was fair and honest in all his actions, serving both God and his people. Because he followed the ancient covenant's rules, God blessed him.

Jehoiakim, unlike his father Josiah, was greedy and dishonest. He ignored the covenant's requirements.

God judged Jehoiakim for his terrible sins. Neither his family nor his people would mourn him.

Jehoiakim died in shame (see study note on 2 Kings 24:6).

• Jehoiakim might have thought that nearby nations, like Lebanon and Bashan, would help him during a crisis. They could not, because the Babylonians had already destroyed them.

• Bashan was in the region east of the Jordan River.

• The days of prosperity had ended, and chaos covered Judah. Like a wind sweeping through the land, the Babylonians would defeat Judah’s allies and take many captives.

• Then you will be: Royal self-delusions would vanish, and the consequences of wickedness would bring shame to the king.

Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, became king at eighteen in 597 BC. The Babylonians attacked Jerusalem because his father rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. After just three months as king, Jehoiachin wisely surrendered and was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:8–14), along with most of the royal family.

Young King Jehoiachin feared the Babylonians would kill him, but they exiled him instead.

This poem taunts Jehoiachin with two rhetorical questions, both expecting the answer, "I do not know." Jehoiachin's sins and his ancestors' wrongdoings caused his fate. Yet, the people of Jerusalem seemed unwilling to accept the fairness of his exile.

O land: God calls nature as a witness against his unfaithful people (see also Jeremiah 6:19; Deuteronomy 30:19; Isaiah 1:2).

Jehoiachin had seven sons (see 1 Chronicles 3:17), but people called him childless because none of his sons became king of Judah. His uncle Zedekiah later ruled as king of Judah. However, many Israelites considered Jehoiachin the last true king of David's dynasty (see study note on Ezekiel 1:2).