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More Jeremiah commentaries
Jeremiah 19:1-15
A Day of Judgment is Coming
Jeremiah 20:1-18
Jeremiah’s Message of Judgment
Jeremiah 21:1-14
God is Not Some Kind of Genie
Jeremiah 22:1-12
The Consequences of Worshiping Other Gods
Jeremiah 22:13-23
Reaching Out to Those in Need
Jeremiah 22:24-30
God is Sovereign
Jeremiah 23:1-8
Looking Forward to The Lord’s Return
Jeremiah 23:9-24
Being True to God’s Word
Jeremiah 23:25-40
Not Everyone is a Prophet Who Dreams
Jeremiah 24:1-10
Depending on The Power of God
Jeremiah 25:1-14
It is Important to Never Quit
Jeremiah 25:15-29
Nations Who Experience God’s Wrath Will Fall
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Reaching Out to Those in Need
Jeremiah 22:13–23
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
D.L. Moody said, “I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition a … More
Jeremiah says that in those days they even had trouble with rulers wasting money in an extravagant way on their own private homes (vv. 13,14). When the nation of Judah was bankrupt and deep in trouble, king Jehoiakim used his power to force unpaid Jewish slave labor to build him a palace! Jeremiah says “Because you can build a bigger house than anyone else, do you think that is what makes you a king (v. 15). Then he reminded him that his father King Josiah lived comfortably and still did what was just and right. Josiah defended the cause of the poor, and God blessed him, but Jehoiakim thought only of himself (v. 16). It didn’t worry him that God watched as he robbed the poor, killed the innocent, and oppressed the just (v. 17).
Because of Jehoiakim’s heavy-handed oppression, the people would not mourn for him at his death (v. 18). Instead of the lavish funeral normally given a monarch, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah predicted, would have the burial of a donkey (v. 19). Because of Jehoiakim’s foolishness Jeremiah called on the city of Jerusalem to lament her fate (v. 20). God had warned Jerusalem of the consequences of disobedience when she felt secure, but she refused to listen (v. 21). Now she could only watch in sorrow as her shepherds (kings) were taken away and her allies (possibly the Egyptians) also faced exile (v. 22). So much cedar had been imported to Jerusalem from Lebanon (Jer. 22:6-7, 13-15) that living in Jerusalem was like dwelling among Lebanon’s cedars (v. 23). Yet those living there would groan when the pangs of God’s judgment came on them like a woman with labor pains.Application
Jehoiakim wasn’t much different from some modern politicians who profit from dishonest gain while they ignore the cries of the poor and needy. Lord, help me to never get so concerned with the things of this world that I neglect to reach out to those who are in need.
Jeremiah 22:13-23 (English Standard Version)
"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, 'I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD. But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence." Therefore thus says 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 majesty!' With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem." "Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed. I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, 'I will not listen.' This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice. The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil. O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!"
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »
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