{"id":1719,"date":"2014-01-13T07:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T15:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2014-01-13T07:32:57","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T15:32:57","slug":"jeremiah-221-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/?p=1719","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah 22:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 22:1-12.\u00a0 In yesterday\u2019s reading Jeremiah was approached by representatives of King Zedekiah, they wanted him to have a little talk with God about the attack on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Instead God gave them a little talk about how he<\/span> was going to destroy Jerusalem; he would make Nebuchadnezzar successful.\u00a0 The only way to escape was to surrender to the invaders.\u00a0 In today\u2019s reading Jeremiah goes to the kings house to deliver a message.\u00a0 We find out in verse 11 that this is not the same king who sent guys to talk to Jeremiah in yesterday\u2019s reading.\u00a0 Remember yesterday\u2019s reading was about events in 588-586 BC.\u00a0 In verse 11 we find out that this message was to a king named Shallum the son of Josiah.\u00a0 Bible experts tell us he was also known as Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah who ruled for three months in 609 BC after his father was killed by Pharaoh Necho.\u00a0 According to 2 Kings 23:32-33 he did not honor God with his life and God allowed Necho to remove him from the throne and exile him.\u00a0 He was sent to a town called Riblah.\u00a0 The town was about 100 mile north of Damascus; more than 200 miles north of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah goes to the palace and offers advice to the king.\u00a0 In verse 3 he basically tells the king and his men to be fair and just; to look out for people who are being treated unfairly especially strangers, widows, and orphans.\u00a0 According to verse 4 if the king and his men would do this his reign would be successful.\u00a0 In verse 5 Jeremiah warns the king that if he does not look out for the people that his house would become barren like a desert.\u00a0 The idea of fairness and justice are so important to Yahweh (LORD, the one true God) that he swears by himself.\u00a0 God is always consistent (James 1:17), he doesn\u2019t need to swear for us to believe what he says, so for him to \u201cswear\u201d (not cussing but making a serious promise) here makes these words especially serious.<\/p>\n

In verses 7-9 God tells us why he is so serious about the actions of the king.\u00a0 First notice that he refers to the \u201chouse of the king of Judah\u201d. \u00a0This is not just about one king but about a succession or dynasty.\u00a0 Back in verse 4 God promised that kings (plural) would sit on the throne of \u201cDavid\u201d.\u00a0 God had promised David that his throne would last forever (Psalm 89).\u00a0 This is talking about his dynasty or kingdom not a physical piece of furniture.\u00a0 We know from history that there have been interruptions of that kingdom and in fact Jeremiah is warning about that possibility here, but the promise remains and will ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus (see Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19-22).\u00a0 The king that Jeremaih is talking to here has the opportunity to be one of the \u201ckings\u201d who will sit on David\u2019s throne or one who will be removed.\u00a0 So the kings of Israel or Judah had a serious responsibility because their kingdom and actions reflected on the one true God, Yahweh.\u00a0 God then uses the picture of a beautiful forest to explain the situation.\u00a0 People love forests, they like to drive through them or walk in them and are very impressed with the trees and streams.\u00a0 Deserts can be cool too (well actually hot, but we do like to visit them, except maybe in the summer), but forests and mountains seem to be a favorite of most people.\u00a0 Gilead is the fertile and partially forested region east of the Jordan river between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.\u00a0 The \u201csummit of Lebanon\u201d refers to the forested mountains in Lebanon that were famous for their cedar trees.\u00a0 If this king would make sure his kingdom was fair and just then his reign would be like a forest, but if he did not make sure his kingdom was fair and just God would destroy it.<\/p>\n

In verse 8 we see the connection with God and his reputation.\u00a0 As people passed by and looked at the ruined kingdom they would be shocked and ask why Yahweh had done this to this place.\u00a0 \u00a0The answer would be because they had broken the agreement God had made with them (see yesterday\u2019s post about the warning Moses gave the people) and had followed other gods.\u00a0 It is interesting that this verse links not looking out for others with honoring or following false gods.\u00a0 In Matthew 22:34-40 an expert in the laws that God gave to Moses for the Jewish people asked Jesus which one of the laws was most important.\u00a0 Jesus answered that loving God with all we are is the most important.\u00a0 But then he added two more comments.\u00a0 He said loving your neighbor like you love yourself was the second most important and finally he told the expert that these two summed up all the requirements of what Moses had written for them.\u00a0 God is very concerned with how we treat others because he loves people.\u00a0 If we love God then we need to love and care for others; Paul said \u201call me\u201d (Galatians 6:10).\u00a0 So in the time of this king there was the opportunity to follow and honor Yahweh resulting in fairness and justice in his kingdom or he could follow false gods which would result in brutality and injustice.\u00a0 As far as I can tell (and I\u2019m no particular expert) other religions usually seem to be about \u201cme\u201d.\u00a0 Even when other religions tell us to treat others in a kind way it is so I can get credit for it and be exalted or go to heaven or what ever.\u00a0 In Christianity, God has given his people a secure place, through what Jesus has done for us, our good deeds are about God getting the credit not us.<\/p>\n

Some Bible experts think that verses 10-12 are separate from verses 1-9 and that those verses are about a different king.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure who else would fit in the time that verses 1-9 fit.\u00a0 Jeremiah served God from the time of Josiah.\u00a0 Josiah had already decided to follow God when Jeremiah came on the scene.\u00a0 As we saw yesterday Jehoiachin took over the kingdom in the face of an invasion and Mattaniah or Zedekiah was really more of a governor for Nebuchadnezzar than a king.\u00a0 That leaves Shallum (Jehoahaz) or his brother Jehoiakim as the king in verses 1-9.\u00a0 I suppose it could be either but since verses 10-12 mention Shallum (Jehoahaz).\u00a0 Also if you have read the \u201cWhat\u2019s in a Name\u201d<\/a> page you know that names often reflect the life of a person in the Old Testament.\u00a0 \u201cShallum\u201d means \u201cretribution\u201d, we might say \u201cpayback\u201d which is one part of justice, the topic of verses 1-9.\u00a0 \u201cJehoahaz\u201d means \u201cYahweh has seized or taken control\u201d another idea that is behind verses 1-9.\u00a0 In verses 10-12 The people are told not to mourn or cry for a certain dead person but to to cry for the one who \u201cgoes away\u201d.\u00a0 We are told that this is about Shallum and Josiah.\u00a0 Don\u2019t cry for Josiah (the one who has just recently died in battle) but cry for Shallum (who was being exiled by Necho).\u00a0 As I mentioned above 2 Kings 23:32-33 tell us that Shallum, or Jehoahaz, was evil and links that with his exile.\u00a0 That seems to be a pretty good example of what happens when the king follows false gods and doesn\u2019t make sure his kingdom is filled with justice.\u00a0 So either this was a warning to Shallum and a note about his failure or a warning to Jehoiakim and a reminded of what happened to his brother.<\/p>\n

For us it\u2019s just a warning.\u00a0 God is serious about how we treat others if we really love God it will show in how we treat others.\u00a0 Do we love them like we love ourselves?\u00a0 If not then we probably don\u2019t really love God either.\u00a0 But remember these warnings are opportunities.\u00a0 The king had two paths to choose Jehoahaz chose poorly, we have a choice too.\u00a0 For most of us we have already chosen poorly but God allows us to correct our course and come back, but it is a choice we have to make.\u00a0 In John 14 Jesus told his followers that he was the way, the truth, and the life and that no one could come to God except through him.\u00a0 In John 3:16 we are told that God loved the world so much that he gave Jesus (to die on the cross to pay the price for our disobedience and rebellion, sin) so that who ever would believe in him would not perish.\u00a0 In John 1:12 we are told that whoever will accept who Jesus is and what only he can do for them can become part of God\u2019s forever family.\u00a0 And finally in 1 John 2:2 John told the believers of his day that Jesus death was enough for everyone in the world.\u00a0 Clearly not all believe in Jesus and allow him to make things right between us and God, but the offer is there; the path is available to anyone regardless of where they have been or what they have done.\u00a0\u00a0 That is an amazing story.\u00a0 God is an amazing God.\u00a0 God loves people and he wants us to reflect that to the world.\u00a0 The question is will you?\u00a0 Do I love Jesus?\u00a0 Yes I do and with his help I will love others too.<\/p>\n

God help me love others.\u00a0 Help me care about and for all people especially the needy.\u00a0 Let love others the way you do.\u00a0 Let me be willing to sacrifice for others the way you do.\u00a0 Fill my life with love and care.\u00a0 Let me reflect the love and care you have given me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah 22:1-12.\u00a0 In yesterday\u2019s reading Jeremiah was approached by representatives of King Zedekiah, they wanted him to have a little talk with God about the attack on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Instead God gave them a little talk about how he was going to destroy Jerusalem; he would make Nebuchadnezzar successful.\u00a0 The only way to escape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1720,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions\/1720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deltaforcedaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}