Jeremiah 22
McGeeJeremiah 22:13
JUDGMENT OF JEHOIAKIMChapter 22, therefore, contains what I feel is the harshest judgment that is pronounced in the Word of God. It is harsher than the judgment pronounced by God upon Cain or by the Lord Jesus upon Judas. It is frightful, and at the same time one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Word of God. Before we consider the judgment against Coniah, or Jehoiachin, there is first the judgment against his father, Jehoiakim. He was an evil ruler also, but during his reign there was prosperity. The rich were getting richer, and the poor were being ground underfoot. It is very interesting that the Word of God has so much to say about the poor. God pays so much attention to them, both in the Old and New Testaments, that we cannot ignore it. This begins God’s message concerning Jehoiakim: Men were getting rich through wrong methods. The poor were being underpaid.
Jeremiah 22:14
“Thy father"Jeremiah is referring back to Josiah, the good king, and this is what he says about him:
Jeremiah 22:16
Josiah had “judged the cause of the poor and needy”; but in Jehoiakim’s day the rich were getting richer by wrong methods, and the poor were getting poorer. God has a great deal to say on this subject. Jeremiah called attention to the fact that the rich men were heaping up wealth by the labor of others and treading down the poor. In their pride and in their arrogance they built themselves palaces and lived as though God had forgotten their iniquitous means for the acquisition of their wealth. In the New Testament we read: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you …” (Jas_5:1-3). There are two things for which God condemns the rich: the way they get their money, and the way they spend their money or the way they use it. Have you noticed that everything is slanted for the rich man? I find that I am paying more taxes than some men who are worth a million dollars. You would think I am a millionaire judging from the taxes I must pay! The tax laws are geared to protect the rich. The politicians gear everything in favor of the rich, those who have given to their political campaigns. That is what the rich people support. Most of them don’t give to the work of the Lord; they don’t give in order to get out the Word of God. God notices that. He notices when the rich get rich at the expense of the poor, and He notices when they spend their wealth on themselves, building palaces to live in. Very frankly, it is sinful to live in a mansion when there are so many people in such poverty. I do not believe a Christian should do that. There are a lot of poor Christians who need help from the wealthier Christians. And I am not sure that Christian organizations should have plush and luxurious accommodations either. May I say also that there is too much of a tendency for religion to cater to the rich. I often hear preachers boast that they have a millionaire or two in their congregation. I’d like to know what they are doing to get the Word of God out. I played golf with a man who is reported to be worth twenty million dollars. I was told he might be interested in supporting our radio broadcast. After he asked me about it, I told him all about the broadcast and the needs of the program. He was interested, and he assured me he listens to the broadcast. Do you know how much support he has given the program? Not one dime. I give this isolated case as an example, but I would hate to be a Christian who left a million dollars when I died and have to face the Lord to account for what I had done with my money. I do not think this means we are not to enjoy what the Lord gives usthe comforts that He has made possiblebut if He has given you wealth, He is going to hold you responsible for using it for His glory. “He judged the cause of the poor and needy …was not this to know me? saith the LORD.” God says, “Josiah knew Me, and he knew that he could not be My follower and not have a concern for the poor and needy.” God says that He has a concern for these people. Do you know who are the two groups of people that are the hardest to reach with the gospel? They are the very rich and the very poor. God wants to equalize that because He wants them to hear the gospel and be saved. He wants the rich way up at the top to help those way down at the bottom. And He is concerned that both be reached with the Word of God. The fundamental social problem in America today is not a racial or a class struggle. It is a question of the rich and the poor. Communism would never have risen in the world if it were not for the struggle between the filthy rich and the very poor. And it is this inequality that God says He judges.
Jeremiah 22:24
JUDGMENT OF CONIAHNow we come to the very frightful and harsh judgment against the man Coniah. “Coniah” is Jehoiachin who was also called Jeconian. Why does God call him Coniah? It is because the “Je” in Jeconiah stands for Jehovah. God is saying, “Don’t identify Me with that man!” He goes on to say, “Why, if he were the ring on My finger, I would throw him away!”
Jeremiah 22:28
God cries to the whole earth to be His witness: No descendant of Coniah will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah. This is one reason that Joseph could not have been the father of Jesus. Joseph was in the line of Jeconiah, and God says no child of that line will sit on the throne of David. Does that mean the throne of David would be vacant from then on? Listen to another prophecy: “For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” (Jer_33:17). There will be Someone on the throne of David, but He will not be a descendant in the line of Jeconiah. In Jer_36:30 we read: “Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” I remind you that Jehoiakim was the father of Jeconiah. God cut off that line. Now the remarkable thing is that there are two recorded genealogies of Jesus Christ, and there is a reason for that. The one recorded in Matthew chapter 1 leads to Joseph. It comes from David, through Solomon and Jeconiah, to Joseph. Joseph’s line gave to Jesus the legal title to the throne. But Joseph was not the father of Jesus. Jesus is not a descendant of that line. The second genealogy is in Luk_3:23-38. This is the genealogy of Mary, and it does not come through Solomon but comes through another son of David, Nathan. There is no curse and no judgment on that line. The Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, and He came through Mary’s line. That is where He got the blood title to the throne of David. I find this to be one of the most remarkable things that has occurred in this world! That is why God calls the earth to listen: “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.” He wants the earth to see that this is the way He has worked it out. God’s purposes will not be thwarted. He is able to bring judgment upon whomever He wills; yet He was able to fulfill His promise that the coming Messiah would be a descendant of King David.