Jeremiah 22
BBCJeremiah 22:1
22:1-9 Chapter 22 deals with the last four kings of Judah, though not in chronological order. The historical order was: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah; in other words the last king is first and the rest are in order. Zedekiah, the first king, is warned to dispense justice and righteousness; otherwise Judah, though magnificent as Gilead and Lebanon, will be stripped bare and depopulated. The warning is enforced by the history of three kings who met dismal ends.
Jeremiah 22:10
D. Prophecy against King Shallum (22:10-12)Shallum, the second king, also called Jehoahaz, was the son of Josiah. He was carried captive into Egypt and died there without seeing his native land any more.
Jeremiah 22:13
E. Prophecy against King Jehoiakim (22:13-23)22:13-19 Jehoiakim, the third king, built his palace with unpaid labor, failed to follow his father’s (Josiah) example and would therefore be dragged . . . out of . . . Jerusalem, to die unlamented. He would be buried with the burial of a donkey, that is, tossed into a ditch. 22:20-23 The populace is told to go up to Lebanon and Bashan and mourn the crushing of their lovers (foreign allies) and shepherds (rulers) by Nebuchadnezzar. They themselves will groan with the labor pangs of captivity.
Jeremiah 22:24
F. Prophecy against King Jehoiachin (22:24-30)Coniah (also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin), the fourth king, would be taken captive by the Babylonians and would die in Babylon. None of his descendants would ever sit on the throne of David. No offspring of Jeconiah succeeded him to the throne. His replacement, Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was his uncle. Charles Dyer comments: This prophecy also helps explain the genealogies of Christ in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Matthew presented the legal line of Christ through his stepfather, Joseph. However, Joseph’s line came through Shealtiel who was a son of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Mat_1:12; cf. 1Ch_3:17). Had Christ been a physical descendant of Joseph and not virgin-born, He would have been disqualified as Israel’s King. Luke presented the physical line of Christ through Mary, who was descended from David through the line of his son Nathan (Luk_3:31). In that way Christ was not under the “curse” of Jehoiachin.