©Laura Haverkamp
Chapter 22:10-23 (ESV) - Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the LORD.
But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!”
Question to consider: Why do people seem to have such a hard time walking closely with the LORD during times of prosperity?
After condemning the line of Davidic kings who forsook the covenant God had made with their forefather, the LORD specifically addressed the sons of Josiah who failed their father and acted wickedly in the sight of the LORD.
The people of Judah were told they shouldn’t weep for Josiah (“him who is dead”), for he was the only one on this list who actually cared for the kingdom of Judah and would have restored her to the LORD and allowed her to remain independent from the other nations. This was a subtle way of saying that any hope of an independent nation of Judah was gone upon his death.
The one who was carried away was his son, Jehoahaz, who is called by his personal name here, Shallum, which means “recompense or payment”. He was carried away by Pharaoh Neco to Egypt and would die there. He was replaced by Eliakim whom Neco renamed Jehoiakim, and the rest of today’s passage referred to his reign of wickedness.
The description of Jehoiakim building his house was reminiscent of king Solomon who drafted forced labor from the people of Israel in order to build a great house. However, the house Solomon had built was the temple of the LORD whereas Jehoiakim had them work on his personal dwelling.
The LORD mocked his abilities as a ruler because he seemed to measure his greatness by the size of his house rather than his ability to administer his vocation in a just and righteous manner. His father, Josiah, managed to be a faithful king so Jehoiakim didn’t learn his bad behavior from him.
Therefore, he would be dragged out of the city like a donkey, and no one would weep for him. If he had something to say about it, the LORD suggested he take it up with places he obtained the building materials for his house and tell them that their “lovers are destroyed”, a mocking reference to the destruction of his house.
During times of blessing and prosperity, the LORD repeatedly gave His word of warning to repent, and now Jehoiakim would lose everything and go cry to the trees. People wonder why God allows such things to happen in this world, but our corrupt nature is such that we seldom seem to hear the word of the LORD during times of prosperity and blessing.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for caring for us enough to correct us and turn us back to You. Thank You for Your mercy when we do sin against You, and please help us to cling ever more tightly to Christ and His righteousness. Amen.