Jeremiah 22:5-15

5 " ' "But suppose you do not obey those commands," announces the Lord. "Then I promise you that this palace will be destroyed. I make that promise by taking an oath in my own name." ' "

6 The LORD speaks about the palace of the king of Judah. He says, "You are like the land of Gilead to me. You are like the highest mountain in Lebanon. But I will make you like a desert. You will become like towns that no one lives in.

7 I will send destroyers against you. All of them will come with their weapons. They will cut up your fine cedar beams. They will throw them into the fire.

8 "People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?'

9 "And the answer will be, 'Because its people have turned away from the covenant the LORD their God made with them. They have worshiped other gods. And they have served them.' "

10 Don't sob over dead King Josiah. Don't be sad because he's gone. Instead, sob bitterly over King Jehoahaz. He was forced to leave his country. He will never return. He'll never see his own land again.

11 Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father Josiah. But he has gone away from this place. That's because the LORD says about him, "He will never return.

12 He will die in Egypt. That is where he was taken as a prisoner. He will not see this land again."

13 The LORD says, "How terrible it will be for King Jehoiakim! He builds his palace by mistreating his people. He builds its upstairs rooms with money that was gained by sinning. He makes his own people work for nothing. He does not pay them for what they do.

14 He says, 'I will build myself a great palace. It will have large rooms upstairs.' So he makes big windows in it. He covers its walls with cedar boards. He decorates it with red paint.

15 "Jehoiakim, does having more and more cedar boards make you a king? Your father Josiah had enough to eat and drink. He did what was right and fair. So everything went well with him.

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Jeremiah 22:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 22

This chapter is a prophecy of what should befall the sons of Josiah, Jehoahaz or Shallum; Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. It begins with an exhortation to the then reigning prince, Jehoiakim, his family and court, to do justice, relieve the oppressed, and refrain from doing injury to any; with a promise of prosperity upon so doing, Jer 22:1-4; but, on the contrary behaviour, the king's family, however precious they had been in the sight of the Lord, should be destroyed, by persons described as fit for such work, which would occasion others to inquire the cause of such destruction; when it would be told them, it was for their apostasy from the Lord, their breaking covenant with him, and their idolatry, Jer 22:5-9; then of Shallum, who was then carried captive, it is predicted that he should never return more, which was matter of greater lamentation than the death of his father Josiah, Jer 22:10-12; next Jehoiakim, the present king on the throne, is reproved, and a woe denounced upon him for his injustice, luxury, covetousness, rapine, and murders, Jer 22:13-17; and it is particularly threatened that he should die unlamented, and have no burial, Jer 22:18,19; and then the people of the land are called upon to mourning and lamentation, their kings one after another being carried captive, Jer 22:20-23; also Jeconiah the king's son, and who succeeded him, is threatened with rejection from the Lord, and a delivery of him up into the hand of the king of Babylon, with exile in a strange country, and death there, and that without children; so that Solomon's line should cease in him, Jer 22:24-30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Jeremiah 22:5-15

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Jeremiah 22:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 22