Year 3, Day 75: Jeremiah 22

More Specific Words to the Kings

As I said yesterday, Jeremiah 22 continues the conversation with Jeremiah and the kings of the Hebrew people.  Jeremiah specifically tells the kings what God expects of them.  They are to be just.  They are to be righteous.  They are to deliver those who have been robbed from the hand of the oppressor.  They are to do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.  They are not to shed innocent blood.

This really got me thinking today.  What is God really saying?  God is saying that the only good government is a government that genuinely is looking out not for itself but for others.  The only good leadership comes from leaders who are seeking to deliver people from the humanity that wants to oppress them.  Good leaders are just.  Good leaders are righteous.  Good leaders pay special attention to those who have nobody else to champion their cause.  Good leaders seek to preserve innocence rather than destroy it.

I find this perspective refreshing yet challenging.  I am a leader – although certainly there are leaders with more weight upon their shoulders than me.  But I find this section challenging even here in my neck of the woods with the leadership I bear.  Am I always a champion for those who have no champion?  Am I always seeking fairness, justice, and righteousness?  I’d like to say that I am.

But that would be a lie.

The truth is that sometimes as a leader I champion my own agenda.  The truth is that sometimes I take advantage of the people who have little support.  The truth is that sometimes I am guilty of not listening to the little small voice of the person that other people are already ignoring.  I’m no king of Israel, but that doesn’t make me any less guilty.

Grace

That leads me to the Lutheran’s favorite topic: grace.  One of the things that I love about this chapter is that even now there is a chance for hope.  How many times has God told Jeremiah to stop praying for these wretched Hebrew people and their despicable leadership?  How many times has God told Jeremiah that His mind is made up and His wrath is coming down the pipeline?  How many times has God been more than clear about what Nebuchadnezzar is going to do about those people who resist the siege and stay in Jerusalem?

Yet here is God once more saying, “If you just do this, you will see that the true king of David will enter these gates riding in splendor.”  God is saying, “Just repent and change your ways and I’ll return Judah and Jerusalem to its prior splendor and glory.”  Even now in the midst of the tremendous shadow of God’s wrath, there is an olive branch to be offered by God.

That’s really the cool part.  God would be righteous even if He didn’t extend that olive branch of grace.  God would be righteous if He sent every one of the Hebrew people into famine, sword, pestilence, or captivity.  God has no need to extend grace!  But God loves.  God extends the olive branch because God’s love is greater than His need for righteous wrath.  That’s what is so neat about this chapter.

Reality Sets In

Of course, just because God is gracious doesn’t mean the people receive God’s grace.  Not everyone wants to be humble.  Not everyone is willing to turn to God even in the midst of certain doom.

So the time will come when people will pass by Jerusalem and shake their head.  The time will come when people will say, “It sure is a shame about the Hebrew people.  They could have had it all, but they were rebellious against their God and turned to other gods who could not save them.”  The time will come when the splendor of Jerusalem will be pulled down and destroyed.

Grace abounds, but not everyone basks in it.

The “Sons” of Righteous Josiah

For historical reference to the end of this chapter, you might want to read 2 Kings 23:23 – 24:17.  (Shallum is the same person as Jehoahaz, Coniah is the same person as Jehoiachin)

We see Jeremiah talking about three of the Hebrew kings in this passage.  The message is not good in any of the cases.  King after king after king falls into disobedience.  Shallum (Jehoahaz) is removed by Pharaoh Neco.  Jehoaikim is so evil that when he is killed the people of Jerusalem don’t even mourn for him.  {Note the parallel messages against the shedding of innocent blood found at the beginning of this chapter in Jeremiah and the condemnation of Jehoiakim in 2 Kings 24:3-5.}  Jehoiachin is so evil that his reign only lasts three months before God sees to it that he is removed.  In fact, Jehoiachin is so evil that he is the last of the line.  His uncle succeeds him as king.  God is done with that particular branch of David’s lineage.

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