In The Word
Read: Jeremiah 21-22
Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
21 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please inquire of the Lord in our behalf, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us in accordance with all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you are making war against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the middle of this city. 5 And I Myself will make war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, and in anger, wrath, and great indignation. 6 I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both the people and the animals; they will die of a great plague. 7 Then afterward,” declares the Lord, “I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, that is, those who survive in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine, over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to their enemies, and to those who seek their lives; and he will strike and kill them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Anyone who stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as plunder. 10 For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.”’
11 “Then say to the household of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord,12 house of David, this is what the Lord says:
“Administer justice every morning;
And save the person who has been robbed from the power of hisoppressor,
So that My wrath will not spread like fire
And burn, with no one to extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.
13 “Behold, I am against you, you inhabitant of the valley,
You rocky plain,” declares the Lord,
“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter our dwellings?’
14 But I will punish you according to the results of your deeds,” declares the Lord,
“And I will kindle a fire in its forest
So that it may devour all its surroundings.”’”
Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and there speak this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3 This is what the Lord says: “Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. And do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed perform this instruction, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a place of ruins.”’” 6 For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you a wilderness,
Cities that are not inhabited.
7 For I will set apart destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will cut down your choicest cedars
And throw them on the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”
10 Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep deeply for the one who goes away;
For he will never return
Or see his native land.
11 For this is what the Lord says regarding Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: “He will never return there; 12 but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will die and he will not see this land again.
Messages about the Kings
13 “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness,
And his upstairs rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And does not give him his wages,
14 Who says, ‘I will build myself a large house
With spacious upstairs rooms,
And cut out its windows,
Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’
15 Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did your father not eat and drink
And do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well for him.
16 He pled the cause of the afflicted and the poor,
Then it was well.
Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain,
And on shedding innocent blood,
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They will not mourn for him:
‘Oh, my brother!’ or, ‘Oh, sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Oh, for the master!’ or, ‘Oh, for his splendor!’
19 He will be buried with a donkey’s burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from Abarim,
For all your lovers have been crushed.
21 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.
22 The wind will sweep away all your shepherds,
And your lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will certainly be ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when sharp pains come on you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!
24 “As I live,” declares the Lord, “even if Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; 25 and I will hand you over to those who are seeking your life, yes, to those of whom you are frightened, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and your mother who gave birth to you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27 But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been hurled out
And cast into a land that they had not known?
29 O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says:
‘Write this man down as childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man among his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
How we live and build our lives is important in God’s eyes. The Lord gives a rebuke to those who build their lives without righteousness and justice. Here, we read that the king had built his life upon his own selfish desires and on the things of this world instead of taking care of God’s people. Because of his selfish heart, there were grave consequences; the king was not building his life the way God wanted him to.
The foundation that the Father wants us to build our lives upon today is his Son Yeshua. Building our lives upon Him is not just letting His teaching go in one ear and out the other but trusting in what He says and applying it to our lives. When we do that, we are putting His Kingdom and His righteousness first; we have the promise that all the things we need will be given to us. Above that, when we continue to live that way He will even give us the desires of our hearts.
Sometimes we are so worried about comparing our lives to the world’s standard of success that we stray away from pleasing God. Stop today and ask yourself, “Am I living a life where I truly put God first in everything that I do? If so, have I been faithful in that day in and day out?” Our hearts and our actions should be bent towards pleasing Him. Build your life each day upon Him, and He will work out all your needs.