Jer 22:1
Jer 22: “Jehoahaz, king of Judah, was warned of the folly of
his action. Jeremiah was sent to the palace of the king, to tell him of the
determination of Yahweh to provide a king after His own heart. So the king is
warned (vv 1-5). His high position of authority required of him a responsibility
he was not prepared to present. As a result of his laxity in the matter of
righteousness, Yahweh also warned the people (vv 6-9). The curse of the covenant
would fall heavily upon both king and people. There is expressed a lamentation
for the decease of Jehoahaz (vv 10-13). But he typified the nation, and was led
from glory to banishment and obscurity, and to a fate worse than death. He is
adversely compared with Josiah and his ignominious death foretold (vv 13-19).
Despite the calamitous conditions of the times, the king wanted the public
resources in building an elaborate palace, opposing the workmen in so doing.
Jeremiah declared that Jerusalem would be bereft (vv 20-22). All the verbs in v
20 is in the feminine gender, indicating Jerusalem is referred to. Lebanon is
symbol of glory and exaltation. Then is described Coniah’s fate (vv 23-30). He
is also known as Jehoichin, and the shortening of his name by Jeremiah suggests
the cutting off of his rulership. He ruled only three months, indicative of the
impending judgment against Jerusalem” (GEM).
Jer 22:5
“Look, your house is left to you desolate” (Mat
23:38).
Jer 22:6
An allusion to Solomon’s “house of the forest of Lebanon” (1Ki
7:2), which became the armory of Jerusalem. Cp also Jer 22:23; Isa 2:13; 10:34;
Eze 17:3.
Jer 22:8
Is not the sight of a city in ruins always a source of
pathetic interest? As we wander about the silent streets of Pompeii the
stillness of death is appalling by contrast with the tumult of pleasure and
commerce which formerly filled those once busy markets and squares. Such a
melancholy spectacle provokes thought and inquiry. It was while seated among the
ruins of the Capitol in Rome that Gibbon first thought of writing the history of
the decline and fall of Roman Empire. The magnificent ruins of Carnac and of
Persepolis naturally lead us to ask how prosperity and power came to pass away
from Persia and Egypt. So must it have been in ancient times with the ruins of
Jerusalem. Jeremiah warns the citizens that their city, now brilliant in
splendor and prosperity, will soon astonish all beholders with its
overthrow.
“I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said — ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert… Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away'” (Percy
Shelley).
Jer 22:15
TO HAVE MORE AND MORE CEDAR: Thinking to wrap oneself
up in that which is incorruptible!
Jer 22:19
OUTSIDE THE GATES OF JERUSALEM: Prob into the valley of
Hinnom… Gehenna.
Jer 22:23
See v 6n.
Jer 22:28
A DESPISED, BROKEN POT: “Then break the jar while those
who go with you are watching, and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty
says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is
smashed and cannot be repaired’ ” (Jer 19:10,11).
Jer 22:30
Yet Jeconiah (Mat 1:12) is listed in Joseph’s genealogy in
Matthew. Perhaps this really means: “No IMMEDIATE descendant of Jeconiah will
sit on David’s throne… UNTIL the righteous branch of David finally comes” (cp
Jer 23:5,6).
In a similar vein, Ezekiel says that David’s throne will
become a ruin, and will be no more, UNTIL he finally comes “whose right it is”
(Eze 21:27).