Jeremiah is told by God to go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim His message, Jeremiah 22:1. The king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, his officials and his people who come through the gates need to listen to what God says, Jeremiah 22:2.
The morals of the leadership of a nation determine the direction in which the nation is headed. In a corrupt nation, where no justice or righteous is practiced, then there is no one to take the defence of the poor, widows, orphans, and foreigners, Jeremiah 22:3. If the king will not come to their defence, Jeremiah 22:4, then the nation is morally doomed, Jeremiah 22:5. In other words, if the kings don’t obey then they would come to ruin.
The palace of the king of Judah was like Gilead to God, like the summit of Lebanon, but God says He surely make it like a wasteland, like empty towns, Jeremiah 22:6. Because the rulers of Judah remained corrupt, they will reap the punishment of the Lord. The palace will be the destroyers which God is going to send and the fine cedar beams will be thrown into the fire, Jeremiah 22:7. In other words, if the kings don’t obey, then desolation would come and the city would be wiped out.
Kiel, in his commentary, says the following.
‘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.’
Though the nations did not have a correct view of the covenant between God and Israel, they at least knew that a nation should never forsake her national god. When these other nations see what happens to the city, they would ask why has God done such a thing to this great city, Jeremiah 22:8 / Deuteronomy 29:23-28.
Though the nations remained patriotic to their national gods, Israel forsook her God, Jeremiah 22:9. They mocked Israel because she broke the covenant between herself and her God by violating the conditions of the covenant with her God, Jeremiah 22:9 / Exodus 20:3 / Deuteronomy 5:7.
The royal family was taken from the Jewish society and would never rise again on earth and those who were taken into captivity would die in captivity, Jeremiah 22:10. Jeremiah told the people not to weep for Josiah, Jeremiah 22:10 / 2 Chronicles 35:25, because he will not return, but for Shallum who would be taken into captivity by the Egyptians, Jeremiah 22:11.
Josiah was killed by Pharaoh-Necho at Megiddo, 2 Kings 23:29. The people then made Shallum their king in Jerusalem. However, after three months Pharaoh-Necho took Shallum as a captive in Egypt, Jeremiah 22:12 / 2 Kings 23:30-34 / 2 Chronicles 36:1-3. Pharaoh-Necho then placed Eliakim, Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, on the throne.
Jehoiakim was a ruthless and oppressive king, who reigned for eleven years and did what was evil before the Lord by bringing misery upon the people, 2 Kings 23:35-37. He followed after his own corrupt heart, exploiting the people for his own gain, Jeremiah 22:13. He was so corrupt that he placed his own people in bondage by having them work without pay, Jeremiah 22:13. He was in power for himself, not to serve the needs of the people, Jeremiah 22:14.
Jeremiah contrasted Jehoiakim’s life and reign to the life and reign of his father Josiah, Jeremiah 22:15-16. Josiah sought to restore Judah to God. Jehoiakim sought to lead God’s people away from God. The father failed to pass on to his son a moral ethic, for the son gave himself over to rebellion against all for which his father stood, 2 Chronicles 36:5. He stole the goods of the people, confiscating at will all that pleased his greed, Jeremiah 22:17. He was a murderous king, Jeremiah 22:17 / Jeremiah 26:20-23.
Jehoiakim would come to a disgraceful end and because he grievously oppressed the people with his corrupt behaviour, no one would lament his death, Jeremiah 22:18 / 2 Kings 24:6. He would be disposed of as a dead donkey, laid in the sun to rot, Jeremiah 22:19.
Scribner, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This prophecy is repeated in Jeremiah 36:30, but of its fulfilment we know nothing. However, the prophet would not have inserted it in Zedekiah’s roll, unless the circumstances of Jehoiakim’s death had been such as to give full weight to this warning.’
Jeremiah commanded them to go to the north, east and west to those nations on which Judah relied, Jeremiah 22:20. They would find that these nations were all gone, Jeremiah 22:20.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Both Bashan and Abarim were beyond the strict borders of Palestine, Abarim is the chain of mountains east of Jordan in which is located Mount Nebo, from which Moses viewed the Promised land. The thought seems to be that the whole land of Palestine, along with its surrounding areas, should moan, and weep and bewail the devastation coming upon Judah.’
When they were rich and economically doing well, they had no urge to depend on God, Jeremiah 22:21, and in their self-reliance, they refused to listen to God, Jeremiah 22:21. However, their idol god of prosperity brought them into poverty and captivity, Jeremiah 22:22.
The name ‘Lebanon’ was sometimes used in prophecy to refer to Jerusalem, Jeremiah 22:23. Because the temple and palace were constructed from the cedars of Lebanon, the figure of speech referred to the residents, specifically, the king, as dwelling in houses that were built from the cedars of Lebanon, Jeremiah 22:23.
Jeremiah speaks of Jehoiachin before he was taken into captivity and then of his time in captivity. Note that some translations have the name Coniah, instead of Jehoiachin.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This man was named Jeconiah, Jeremiah 24:1, and Coniah here and in Jeremiah 37:1, and he came to the throne under the name of Jehoiachin.’
Despite Jehoiachin bring like a signet ring on God’s right hand, God is going to remove him, Jeremiah 22:24.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the signet ring.
‘The most precious seal, ring, or armlet. Though dearer to me than the most splendid gem to its possessor.’
He was a corrupt and unrighteous king like his father, Jehoiakim. Fortunately, his reign was only three months because he did what was evil before the Lord, 2 Chronicles 36:9, before Nebuchadnezzar took him, Jeremiah 22:25, and the first group of captives into captivity in 597 B.C. He and his mother, Nehushta, with his wives, were taken with ten-thousand Israelites into Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah 22:26-27 / 2 Kings 24:12-13.
Thompson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The queen mother had some official status in Judah of that period and may have worn a crown and sat on a throne adjacent to that of the king. Jehoiachin was eventually released in Babylon by Evil-Merodach but he was required to remain in Babylon.’
Though he was taken into captivity, the Israelites still considered him their king of choice, Jeremiah 22:28. Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah, another son of Josiah and uncle to Jehoiachin, on the throne after Jehoiachin was taken into captivity, Jeremiah 28:1-4 / Ezra 17:22. Though the people may have envisioned Jehoiachin and his descendants continuing the Davidic lineage of kings, Jeremiah pronounced a termination of his heritage as kings in Jerusalem, Jeremiah 22:29-30 / 1 Chronicles 3:17.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is no proof that Jehoiachin ever had any children. None are mentioned in 2 Kings 24:15, and the fact that when his father Jehoiachim died the harem of that ruler passed to Coniah, suggests that the ‘children’ mentioned in 2 Chronicles 3:17, might merely have been his adopted children through that inheritance.’
As national Israel came to an end, never again to enjoy the pride of nationhood, the demise of the nation was symbolised by the termination of the Davidic kingship on earth through the descendants of David. Earthly kings did Israel no favour in keeping the nation close to God. Earthly kings were fallible, and so, their leadership behaviour in many ways led the people away from God.
Now that the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel had gone or were going into captivity, God sought a restoration of His sole kingship over the repentant remnant and eventually with the new spiritual Israel that would be ruled directly from heaven through King Jesus, Ephesians 1:20-23 / Philippians 2:5-11 / 1 Timothy 6:15. The earthly kings led Israel into destruction but King Jesus would reign from heaven and lead spiritual Israel into victory, Matthew 28:18.