Upon
occasion of the message sent in the foregoing chapter to the house of the
king, we have here recorded some sermons which Jeremiah preached at court,
in some preceding reigns, that it might appear they had had fair warning
long before that fatal sentence was pronounced upon them, and were put in a
way to prevent it. Here is, I. A message sent to the royal family, as it
should seem in the reign of Jehoiakim, relating partly to Jehoahaz, who was
carried away captive into Egypt, and partly to Jehoiakim, who succeeded him
and was now upon the throne. The king and princes are exhorted to execute
judgment, and are assured that, if they did so, the royal family should
flourish, but otherwise it should be ruined, ver. 1-9. Jehoahaz, called here
Shallum, is lamented, ver. 10-12. Jehoiakim is reproved and threatened, ver.
13-19. II. Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias,
Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal to
hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in him
Solomon's house should fail, ver. 20-30.
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Jeremiah
Preaches before Jehoiakim.
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B.
C. 590.
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1 Thus saith the LORD;
Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD,
O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy
servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: 3 Thus
saith the LORD;
Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the
hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the
fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of
this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on
horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if ye will
not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD,
that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus saith the
LORD
unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and
the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and
cities which are not inhabited. 7 And I will prepare
destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down
thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8 And
many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his
neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD
done thus unto this great city? 9 Then they shall answer,
Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD
their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
Here we have,
I. Orders given to Jeremiah to go and preach before the king. In the
foregoing chapter we are told that Zedekiah sent messengers to the prophet,
but here the prophet is bidden to go, in his own proper person, to the
house of the king, and demand his attention to the word of the King of
kings (v. 2): Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah!
Subjects must own that where the word of the king is there is power over
them, but kings must own that where the word of the Lord is there is power
over them. The king of Judah is here spoken to as sitting upon the
throne of David, who was a man after God's own heart, as holding his
dignity and power by the covenant made with David; let him therefore conform
to his example, that he may have the benefit of the promises made to him.
With the king his servants are spoken to, because a good government
depends upon a good ministry as well as a good king.
II. Instructions given him what to preach.
1. He must tell them what was their duty, what was the good which the Lord
their God required of them, v. 3. They must take care, (1.) That they
do all the good they can with the power they have. They must do justice in
defence of those that were injured, and must deliver the spoiled out of
the hand of their oppressors. This was the duty of their place, Ps.
lxxxii. 3. Herein they must be ministers of God for good. (2.) That they do
no hurt with it, no wrong, no violence. That is the greatest wrong
and violence which is done under colour of law and justice, and by those
whose business it is to punish and protect from wrong and violence. They
must do no wrong to the stranger, fatherless, and widow; for these
God does in a particular matter patronise and take under his tuition, Exod.
xxii. 21, 22.
2. He must assure them that the faithful discharge of their duty would
advance and secure their prosperity, v. 4. There shall then be a
succession of kings, an uninterrupted succession, upon the throne of
David and of his line, these enjoying a perfect tranquillity, and living
in great state and dignity, riding in chariots and on horses, as
before, ch. xvii. 25. Note, the most effectual way to preserve the
dignity of the government is to do the duty of it.
3. He must likewise assure them that the iniquity of their family, if they
persisted in it, would be the ruin of their family, though it was a royal
family (v. 5): If you will not hear, will not obey, this
house shall become a desolation, the palace of the kings of Judah shall
fare no better than other habitations in Jerusalem. Sin has often been the
ruin of royal palaces, though ever so stately, ever so strong. This sentence
is ratified by an oath: I swear by myself (and God can swear by no
greater, Heb. vi. 13) that this house shall be laid in ruins. Note, Sin will
be the ruin of the houses of princes as well as of mean men.
4. He must show how fatal their wickedness would be to their kingdom as well
as to themselves, to Jerusalem especially, the royal city, v. 6-9.
(1.) It is confessed that Judah and Jerusalem had been valuable in God's
eyes and considerable in their own: thou art Gilead unto me and the head
of Lebanon. Their lot was cast in a place that was rich and pleasant as
Gilead; Zion was a stronghold, as stately as Lebanon: this they trusted to
as their security. But, (2.) This shall not protect them; the country that
is now fruitful as Gilead shall be made a wilderness. The cities that
are now strong as Lebanon shall be cities not inhabited; and, when
the country is laid waste, the cities must be dispeopled. See how easily
God's judgments can ruin a nation, and how certainly sin will do it. When
this desolating work is to be done, [1.] There shall be those that shall do
it effectually (v. 7): "I will prepare destroyers against
thee; I will sanctify them" (so the word is); "I will
appoint them to this service and use them in it." Note, When
destruction is designed destroyers are prepared, and perhaps are in the
preparing, and things are working towards the designed destruction, and are
getting ready for it, long before. And who can contend with destroyers of
God's preparing? They shall destroy cities as easily as men fell trees in a
forest: They shall cut down thy choice cedars; and yet, when they are
down, shall value them no more than thorns and briers; they shall cast
them into the fire, for their choicest cedars have become rotten ones
and good for nothing else. [2.] There shall be those who shall be ready to
justify God in the doing of it (v. 8, 9); persons of many nations,
when they pass by the ruins of this city in their travels,
will ask, "Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this city? How
came so strong a city to be overpowered? so rich a city to be impoverished?
so populous a city to be depopulated? so holy a city to be profaned? and a
city that had been so dear to God to be abandoned by him?" The reason
is so obvious that it shall be ready in every man's mouth. Ask those that
go by the way, Job xxi. 29. Ask the next man you meet, and he will tell
you it was because they changed their gods, which other nations never used
to do. They forsook the covenant of Jehovah their own God, revolted
from their allegiance to him and from the duty which their covenant with him
bound them to, and they worshipped other gods and served them, in
contempt of him; and therefore he gave them up to this destruction. Note,
God never casts any off until they first cast him off. "Go," says
God to the prophet, "and preach this to the royal family."
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The
Doom of Shallum and Jehoiakim.
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B.
C. 590.
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10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan
him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no
more, nor see his native country. 11 For thus saith the LORD
touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of
Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return
thither any more: 12 But he shall die in the place whither they
have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13 Woe
unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by
wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth
him not for his work; 14 That saith, I will build me a wide
house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is
cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15 Shalt thou
reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat
and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well
with him? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it
was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness,
and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith 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 glory! 19 He shall
be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates
of Jerusalem.
Kings, though they are gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like
men; so it appears in these verses, where we have a sentence of death
passed upon two kings who reigned successively in Jerusalem, two brothers,
and both the ungracious sons of a very pious father.
I. Here is the doom of Shallum, who doubtless is the same with Jehoahaz, for
he is that son of Josiah king of Judah who reigned in the stead of Josiah
his father (v. 11), which Jehoahaz did by the act of the people,
who made him king though he was not the eldest son, 2 Kings xxiii. 30; 2
Chron. xxxvi. 1. Among the sons of Josiah (1 Chron. iii. 15) there is one
Shallum mentioned, and not Jehoahaz. Perhaps the people preferred him before
his elder brother because they thought him a more active daring young man,
and fitter to rule; but God soon showed them the folly of their injustice,
and that it could not prosper, for within three months the king of Egypt
came upon him, deposed him, and carried him away prisoner into Egypt, as God
had threatened, Deut. xxviii. 68. It does not appear that any of the people
were taken into captivity with him. We have the story 2 Kings xxiii. 34; 2
Chron. xxxvi. 4. Now here, 1. The people are directed to lament him rather
than his father Josiah: "Weep not for the dead, weep not any
more for Josiah." Jeremiah had been himself a true mourner for him, and
had stirred up the people to mourn for him (2 Chron. xxxv. 25): yet now he
will have them go out of mourning for him, though it was but three months
after his death, and to turn their tears into another channel. They must
weep sorely for Jehoahaz, who had gone into Egypt; not that there was any
great loss of him to the public, as there was of his father, but that his
case was much more deplorable. Josiah went to the grave in peace and honour,
was prevented from seeing the evil to come in this world and removed to see
the good to come in the other world; and therefore, Weep not for him,
but for his unhappy son, who is likely to live and die in disgrace and
misery, a wretched captive. Note, Dying saints may be justly envied, while
living sinners are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospect of the
times may be that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be
restrained, that they may be reserved for ourselves and for our children,
Luke xxiii. 28. 2. The reason given is because he shall never return out of
captivity, as he and his people expected, but shall die there. They were
loth to believe this, therefore it is repeated here again and again, He
shall return no more, v. 10. He shall never have the pleasure
of seeing his native country, but shall have the continual grief of
hearing of the desolations of it. He has gone forth out of this place,
and shall never return, v. 11. He shall die in the place
whither they have led him captive, v. 12. This came of his
forsaking the good example of his father, and usurping the right of his
elder brother. In Ezekiel's lamentation for the princes of Israel this
Jehoahaz is represented as a young lion, that soon learned to catch the
prey, but was taken, and brought in chains to Egypt, and was long
expected to return, but in vain. See Ezek. xix. 3-5.
II. Here is the doom of Jehoiakim, who succeeded him. Whether he had any
better right to the crown than Shallum we know not; for, though he was older
than his predecessor, there seems to be another son of Josiah, older than
he, called Johanan, 1 Chron. iii. 15. But this we know he ruled no
better, and fared no better at last. Here we have,
1. His sins faithfully reproved. It is not fit for a private person to say
to a king, Thou art wicked; but a prophet, who has a message from
God, betrays his trust if he does not deliver it, be it ever so unpleasing,
even to kings themselves. Jehoiakim is not here charged with idolatry, and
probably he had not yet put Urijah the prophet to death (as we find
afterwards he did, ch. xxvi. 22, 23), for then he would have been
told of it here; but the crimes for which he is here reproved are, (1.)
Pride and affection of pomp and splendour; as if all the business of a king
were to look great, and to do good were to be the least of his care. He must
build himself a stately palace, a wide house, and large chambers,
v. 14. He must have windows cut out after the newest fashion,
perhaps like sash-windows with us. The rooms must be ceiled with cedar,
the richest sort of wood. His house must be as well-roofed and wainscoted as
the temple itself, or else it will not please him, 1 Kings vi. 15, 16. Nay,
it must exceed that, for it must be painted with minium, or vermilion,
which dyes red, or, as some read it, with indigo, which dyes blue. No
doubt it is lawful for princes and great men to build, and beautify, and
furnish their houses so as is agreeable to their dignity; but he that knows
what is in man knew that Jehoiakim did this in the pride of his heart, which
makes that to be sinful, exceedingly sinful, which is in itself lawful.
Those therefore that are enlarging their houses, and making them more
sumptuous, have need to look well to the frame of their own spirits in the
doing of it, and carefully to watch against all the workings of vain-glory.
But that which was particularly amiss in Jehoiakim's case was that he did
this when he could not but perceive, both by the word of God and by his
providence, that divine judgments were breaking in upon him. He reigned his
first three years by the permission and allowance of the king of Egypt, and
all the rest by the permission and allowance of the king of Babylon; and yet
he that was no better than a viceroy will covet to vie with the greatest
monarchs in building and furniture. Observe how peremptory he is in this
resolution: "I will build myself a wide house; I am resolved I
will, whoever advises me to the contrary." Note, It is the common
folly of those that are sinking in their estates to covet to make a fair
show. Many have unhumbled hearts under humbling providences, and look most
haughty when God is bringing them down. This is striving with our Maker.
(2.) Carnal security and confidence in his wealth, depending upon the
continuance of his prosperity, as if his mountain now stood so strong that
it could never be moved. He thought he must reign without any disturbance or
interruption because he had enclosed himself in cedar (v. 15),
as if that were too fine to be assaulted and too strong to be broken
through, and as if God himself could not, for pity, give up such a stately
house as that to be burned. Thus when Christ spoke of the destruction of the
temple his disciples came to him, to show him what a magnificent structure
it was, Matt. xxiii. 38; xxiv. 1. Note, Those wretchedly deceive themselves
who think their present prosperity is a lasting security, and dream of
reigning because they are enclosed in cedar. It is but in his own
conceit that the rich man's wealth is his strong city. (3.) Some
think he is here charged with sacrilege, and robbing the house of God to
beautify and adorn his own house. He cuts him out my windows
(so it is in the margin), which some understand as if he had taken windows
out of the temple to put into his own palace and then painted them
(as it follows) with vermilion, that it might not be discovered, but
might look of a piece with his own buildings. Note, Those cheat themselves,
and ruin themselves at last, who think to enrich themselves by robbing God
and his house; and, however they may disguise it, God discovers it. (4.) He
is here charged with extortion and oppression, violence and injustice. He built
his house by unrighteousness, with money unjustly got and materials
which were not honestly come by, and perhaps upon ground obtained as Ahab
obtained Naboth's vineyard. And, because he went beyond what he could
afford, he defrauded his workmen of their wages, which is one of the sins
that cries in the ears of the Lord of hosts, Jam. v. 4. God takes
notice of the wrong done by the greatest of men to their poor servants and
labourers, and will repay those, in justice, that will not in justice pay
those whom they employ, but use their neighbour's service without wages.
Observe, The greatest of men must look upon the meanest as their neighbours,
and be just to them accordingly, and love them as themselves. Jehoiakim was
oppressive, not only in his buildings, but in the administration of his
government. He did not do justice, made no conscience of shedding innocent
blood, when it was to serve the purposes of his ambition, avarice, and
revenge. He was all for oppression and violence, not to
threaten it only, but to do it; and, when he was set upon any act of
injustice, nothing should stop him, but he would go through with it. And
that which was at the bottom of all was covetousness, that love of money
which is the root of all evil. Thy eyes and thy heart are not but for
covetousness; they were for that, and nothing else. Observe, In
covetousness the heart walks after the eyes: it is therefore called the
lust of the eye, 1 John ii. 16; Job xxxi. 7. It is setting the eyes
upon that which is not, Prov. xxiii. 5. The eyes and the heart are then
for covetousness when the aims and affections are wholly set upon the wealth
of this world; and, where they are so, the temptation is strong to murder,
oppression, and all manner of violence and villany. (5.) That which
aggravated all his sins was that he was the son of a good father, who had
left him a good example, if he would but have followed it (v. 15,
16): Did not thy father eat and drink? When Jehoiakim enlarged and
enlightened his house it is probable that he spoke scornfully of his father
for contenting himself with such a mean and inconvenient dwelling, below the
grandeur of a sovereign prince, and ridiculed him as one that had a dull
fancy, a low spirit, and could not find in his heart to lay out his money,
nor cared for what was fashionable; that should not serve him which served
his father: but God, by the prophet, tells him that his father, though he
had not the spirit of building, was a man of an excellent spirit, a better
man than he, and did better for himself and his family. Those children that
despise their parents' old fashions commonly come short of their real
excellences. Jeremiah tells him, [1.] That he was directed to do his duty by
his father's practice: He did judgment and justice; he never did
wrong to any of his subjects, never oppressed them, nor put any hardship
upon them, but was careful to preserve all their just rights and properties.
Nay, he not only did not abuse his power for the support of wrong, but he
used it for the maintaining of right. He judged the cause of the poor and
needy, was ready to hear the cause of the meanest of his subjects and do
them justice. Note, The care of magistrates must be, not to support their
grandeur and take their ease, but to do good, not only not to oppress the
poor themselves, but to defend those that are oppressed. [2.] That he was
encouraged to do his duty by his father's prosperity. First, God
accepted him: "Was not this to know me, saith the Lord? Did he
not hereby make it to appear that he rightly knew his God, and worshipped
him, and consequently was known and owned of him?" Note, The right
knowledge of God consists in doing our duty, particularly that which is the
duty of our place and station in the world. Secondly, He himself had
the comfort of it: Did he not eat and drink soberly and cheerfully,
so as to fit himself for his business, for strength and not for
drunkenness? Eccl. x. 17. He did eat, and drink, and do judgment;
he did not (as perhaps Jehoiakim and his princes did) drink, and forget
the law, and pervert the judgment of the afflicted, Prov. xxxi. 5. He
did eat and drink; that is, God blessed him with great plenty, and he
had the comfortable enjoyment of it himself and gave handsome entertainments
to his friends, was very hospitable and very charitable. It was Jehoiakim's
pride that he had built a fine house, but Josiah's true praise that he kept
a good house. Many times those have least in them of true generosity that
have the greatest affection for pomp and grandeur; for, to support the
extravagant expense of that, hospitality, bounty to the poor, yea, and
justice itself, will be pinched. It is better to live with Josiah in an
old-fashioned house, and do good, than live with Jehoiakim in a stately
house, and leave debts unpaid. Josiah did justice and judgment, and
then it was well with him, v. 15, and it is repeated again, v.
16. He lived very comfortably; his own subjects, and all his neighbours,
respected him; and whatever he put his hand to prospered. Note, While we do
well we may expect it will be well with us. This Jehoiakim knew, that his
father found the way of duty to be the way of comfort, and yet he would not
tread in his steps. Note, It should engage us to keep up religion in our day
that our godly parents kept it up in theirs and recommended it to us from
their own experience of the benefit of it. They told us that they had found
the promises which godliness has of the life that now is made good to
them, and that religion and piety are friendly to outward prosperity. So
that we are inexcusable if we turn aside from that good way.
2. Here we have Jehoiakim's doom faithfully read, v. 18, 19. We may
suppose that it was in the utmost peril of his own life that Jeremiah here
foretold the shameful death of Jehoiakim; but thus saith the Lord
concerning him, and therefore thus saith he. (1.) He shall die
unlamented; he shall make himself so odious by his oppression and cruelty
that all about him shall be glad to part with him, and none shall do him the
honour of dropping one tear for him, whereas his father, who did judgment
and justice, was universally lamented; and it is promised to Zedekiah
that he should be lamented at his death, for he conducted himself better
than Jehoiakim had done, ch. xxxiv. 5. His relations shall not lament
him, no, not with the common expressions of grief used at the funeral of
the meanest, where they cried, Ah, my brother! or, Ah, sister!
His subjects shall not lament him, nor cry out, as they used to do at the
graves of their princes, Ah, lord! or Ah his glory! It is sad
for any to live so that, when they die, none will be sorry to part with
them. Nay, (2.) He shall lie unburied. This is worse than the former. Even
those that have no tears to grace the funerals of the dead with would
willingly have them buried out of their sight; but Jehoiakim shall be buried
with the burial of an ass, that is, he shall have no burial at all, but
his dead body shall be cast into a ditch or upon a dunghill; it shall be drawn,
or dragged, ignominiously, and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
It is said, in the story of Jehoiakim (2 Chron. xxxvi. 6), that
Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon, and
(Ezek. xix. 9) that he was brought in chains to the king of Babylon.
But it is probable that he died a prisoner, before he was carried away to
Babylon as was intended; perhaps he died for grief, or, in the pride of his
heart, hastened his own end, and, for that reason, was denied a decent
burial, as self-murderers usually are with us. Josephus says that
Nebuchadnezzar slew him at Jerusalem, and left his body thus exposed,
somewhere at a great distance from the gates of Jerusalem. And it is
said (2 Kings xxiv. 6) he slept with his fathers. When he built
himself a stately house, no doubt he designed himself a stately sepulchre;
but see how he was disappointed. Note, Those that are lifted up with great
pride are commonly reserved for some great disgrace in life or death.
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The
Desolation of Judah; The Doom of Jeconiah.
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B.
C. 590.
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20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy
voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are
destroyed. 21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but
thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy
youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 22 The wind shall eat up
all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt
thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 23 O
inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious
shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in
travail! 24 As I live, saith the LORD,
though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my
right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; 25 And I will give
thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them
whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 And I will cast
thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were
not born; and there shall ye die. 27 But to the land whereunto
they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28 Is
this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is
no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into
a land which they know not? 29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the
word of the LORD. 30 Thus saith the LORD,
Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his
days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of
David, and ruling any more in Judah.
This prophecy seems to have been calculated for the ungracious inglorious
reign of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, who succeeded him in
the government, reigned but three months, and was then carried captive to
Babylon, where he lived many years, ch. lii. 31. We have, in these
verses, a prophecy,
I. Of the desolations of the kingdom, which were now hastening on apace, v.
20-23. Jerusalem and Judah are here spoken to, or the Jewish state as a
single person, and we have it here under a threefold character:-- 1. Very
haughty in a day of peace and safety (v. 21): "I spoke unto
thee in thy prosperity, spoke by my servants the prophets, reproofs,
admonitions, counsels, but thou saidst, I will not hear, I will not
heed, thou obeyedst not my voice, and wast resolved that thou wouldst
not, and hadst the front to tell me so." It is common for those that
live at ease to live in contempt of the word of God. Jeshurun waxed fat,
and kicked. This is so much the worse that they had it by kind: This
has been thy manner from thy youth. They were called transgressors
from the womb, Isa. xlviii. 8. 2. Very timorous upon the alarms of
trouble (v. 20): "When thou seest all thy lovers destroyed,
when thou findest thy idols unable to help thee and thy foreign alliances
failing thee, thou wilt then go up to Lebanon, and cry, as one undone and
giving up all for lost, cry with a bitter cry; thou wilt cry, Help, help,
or we are lost; thou wilt lift up thy voice in fearful shrieks
upon Lebanon and Bashan, two high hills, in hope to be heard thence
by the advantage of the rising ground. Thou wilt cry from the passages,
from the roads, where thou wilt ever and anon be in distress." Thou
wilt cry from Abarim (so some read it, as a proper name), a famous
mountain in the border of Moab. "Thou wilt cry, as those that are in
great consternation use to do, to all about thee; but in vain, for (v.
22) the wind shall eat up all thy pastors, or rulers, that
should protect and lead thee, and provide for thy safety; they shall be
blasted, and withered, and brought to nothing, as buds and blossoms are by a
bleak or freezing wind; they shall be devoured suddenly, insensibly, and
irresistibly, as fruits by the wind. Thy lovers, that thou dependest
upon and hast an affection for, shall go into captivity, and shall be
so far from saving thee that they shall not be able to save
themselves." 3. Very tame under the heavy and lasting pressures of
trouble: "When there appears no relief from any of thy confederates,
and thy own priests are at a loss, then shalt thou be ashamed and
confounded for all thy wickedness," v. 22. Note, Many will
never be ashamed of their sins till they are brought by them to the last
extremity; and it is well if we get this good by our straits to be brought
by them to confusion for our sins. The Jewish state is here called an
inhabitant of Lebanon, because that famous forest was within their
border (v. 23), and all their country was wealthy, and well-guarded
as with Lebanon's natural fastnesses; but so proud and haughty were they
that they are said to make their nest in the cedars, where they
thought themselves out of the reach of all danger, and whence they looked
with contempt upon all about them. "But, how gracious wilt thou be
when pangs come upon thee! Then thou wilt humble thyself before God and
promise amendment. When thou art overthrown in stony places thou wilt be
glad to hear those words which in thy prosperity thou wouldst not
hear, Ps. cxli. 6. Then thou wilt endeavour to make thyself acceptable
with that God whom, before, thou madest light of." Note, Many have
their pangs of piety who, when the pangs are over, show that they have no
true piety. Some give another sense of it: "What will all thy pomp, and
state, and wealth avail thee? What will become of it all, or what comfort
shalt thou have of it, when thou shalt be in these distresses? No more than a
woman in travail, full of pains and fears, can take comfort in her
ornaments while she is in that condition." So Mr. Gataker. Note, Those
that are proud of their worldly advantages would do well to consider how
they will look when pangs come upon them, and how they will then have lost
all their beauty.
II. Here is a prophecy of the disgrace of the king; his name was Jeconiah,
but he is here once and again called Coniah, in contempt. The prophet
shortens or nicks his name, and gives him, as we say, a nickname, perhaps to
denote that he should be despoiled of his dignity, that his reign should be
shortened, and the number of his months cut off in the midst. Two instances
of dishonour are here put upon him:--
1. He shall be carried away into captivity and shall spend and end
his days in bondage. He was born to a crown, but it should quickly fall from
his head, and he should exchange it for fetters. Observe the steps of this
judgment. (1.) God will abandon him, v. 24. The God of truth says it,
and confirms it with an oath: "Though he were the signet upon my
right hand (his predecessors have been so, and he might have been so if
he had conducted himself well, but he being degenerated) I will pluck him
thence." The godly kings of Judah had been as signets on God's
right hand, near and dear to him; he had gloried in them, and made use of
them as instruments of his government, as the prince does of his
signet-ring, or sign manual; but Coniah has made himself utterly unworthy of
the honour, and therefore the privilege of his birth shall be no security to
him; notwithstanding that, he shall be thrown off. Answerable to this
threatening against Jeconiah is God's promise to Zerubbabel, when he made
him his people's guide in their return out of captivity (Hag. ii. 23): I
will take thee, O Zerubbabel! my servant, and make thee as a signet.
Those that think themselves as signets on God's right hand must not be
secure, but fear lest they be plucked thence. (2.) The king of Babylon shall
seize him. Those know not what enemies and mischiefs they lie exposed
to who have thrown themselves out of God's protection, v. 25. The
Chaldeans are here said to be such as had a spite to Coniah; they sought
his life; no less than that, they thought, would satisfy their rage;
they were such as he had a dread of (they are those whose face thou
fearest) which would make it the more terrible to him to fall into their
hands, especially when it was God himself that gave him into their hands.
And, if God deliver him to them, who can deliver him from them? (3.) He and
his family shall be carried to Babylon, where they shall wear out many
tedious years of their lives in a miserable captivity--he and his mother
(v. 26), he and his seed (v. 28), that is, he and all
the royal family (for he had no children of his own when he went into
captivity), or he and the children in his loins; they shall all be cast out
to another country, to a strange country, a country where they were not
born, nor such a country as that where they were born, a land which
they know not, in which they have no acquaintance with whom to converse
or from whom to expect any kindness. Thither they shall be carried, from a
land where they were entitled to dominion, into a land where they shall be
compelled to servitude. But have they no hopes of seeing their own country
again? No: To the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall
they not return, v. 27. They conducted themselves ill in it when
they were in it, and therefore they shall never see it more. Jehoahaz was
carried to Egypt, the land of the south, Jeconiah to Babylon, the land of
the north, both far remote, the quite contrary way, and must never expect to
meet again, nor either of them to breathe their native air again. Those that
had abused the dominion they had over others were justly brought thus under
the dominion of others. Those that had indulged and gratified their sinful
desires, by their oppression, luxury, and cruelty, were justly denied the
gratification of their innocent desire to see their own native country
again. We may observe something very emphatic in that part of this
threatening (v. 26), In the country where you were not born, there
shall you die. As there is a time to be born and a time to
die, so there is a place to be born in and a place to die in. We know
where we were born, but where we shall die we know not; it is enough that
our God knows. Let it be our care that we die in Christ, and then it will be
well with us, wherever we die, though it should be in a far country. (4.)
This shall render him very mean and despicable in the eyes of all his
neighbours. They shall be ready to say (v. 28), "This is
Coniah a despised broken idol? Yes, certainly he is, and much debased
from what he was." [1.] Time was when he was dignified, nay, when he
was almost deified. The people who had seen his father lately deposed were
ready to adore him when they saw him upon the throne, but now he is a
despised broken idol, which, when it was whole, was worshipped, but,
when it is rotten and broken, is thrown by and despised, and nobody regards
it, or remembers what it has been. Note, What is idolized will, first or
last, be despised and broken; what is unjustly honoured will be justly
contemned, and rivals with God will be the scorn of man. Whatever we idolize
we shall be disappointed in and then shall despise. [2.] Time was when he
was delighted in; but now he is a vessel in which is not pleasure, or
to which there is no desire, either because grown out of fashion or because
cracked or dirtied, and so rendered unserviceable. Those whom God has no
pleasure in will, some time or other, be so mortified that men will have no
pleasure in them.
2. He shall leave no posterity to inherit his honour. The prediction of this
is ushered in with a solemn preface (v. 29): O earth, earth,
earth! hear the word of the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world
take notice of these judgments of God upon a nation and a family that had
been near and dear to him, and thence infer that God is impartial in the
administration of justice. Or it is an appeal to the earth itself on which
we tread, since those that dwell on earth are so deaf and careless, like
that (Isa. i. 2), Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth! God's word,
however slighted, will be heard; the earth itself will be made to hear it,
and yield to it, when it, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt
up. Or it is a call to men that mind earthly things, that are
swallowed up in those things and are inordinate in the pursuit of them; such
have need to be called upon again and again, and a third time, to hear
the word of the Lord. Or it is a call to men considered as mortal, of
the earth, and hastening to the earth again. We all are so; earth we are, dust
we are, and, in consideration of that, are concerned to hear and regard the
word of the Lord, that, though we are earth, we may be found among those
whose names are written in heaven. Now that which is here to be taken notice
of is that Jeconiah is written childless (v. 30), that is, as
it follows, No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of
David. In him the line of David was extinct as a royal line. Some think
that he had children born in Babylon because mention is made of his seed
being cast out there (v. 28) and that they died before him. We read
in the genealogy (1 Chron. iii. 17) of seven sons of Jeconiah Assir (that
is, Jeconiah the captive) of whom Salathiel is the first. Some think that
they were only his adopted sons, and that when it is said (Matt. i. 12), Jeconiah
begat Salathiel, no more is meant than that he bequeathed to him what
claims and pretensions he had to the government, the rather because
Salathiel is called the son of Neri of the house of Nathan,
Luke iii. 27, 31. Whether he had children begotten, or only adopted, thus
far he was childless that none of his seed ruled as kings in Judah. He was
the Augustulus of that empire, in whom it determined. Whoever are
childless, it is God that writes them so; and those who take no care to do
good in their days cannot expect to prosper in their days.
