Oh, King! God will Have the Last Word!
Book of Jeremiah • Sermon • Submitted
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· 22 viewsOur pride will bring destruction and God will have the last word.
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Introduction
God was not directing a message toward the kings, even after addressing the kings of Judah in general and Shallum (Jehoahaz) personally, God now turns to two other kings. The son and grandson of Josiah, king Jehoiakim and king Jehoiachin. His word for them was not much better than that than of Shallum. Truly his message to them was simplified into one sentence…Your pride will bring your destruction and I will have the Last Word, thus saith the Lord.
Focus Passage | Jeremiah 22:13-30
Opening Passage | Jeremiah 22:13-23
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.
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!
Outline
Oh, King! Pride brings your destruction (vv.13-14)
Oh, King! Pride brings your destruction (vv.13-14)
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.
Jehoahaz, or as called within our text, Shallum, had an older brother, Jehoiakim, who was well like by the Egyptian king, Neco, and was placed as king over Jerusalem, when Neco killed Shallum after only three months on the thrown, and he reigned for 11 years. It was 11 years of destruction and decline. Jeremiah stood in great friction with Jehoiakim, and was burdened for his people and their land. As he saw the decline and destruction of his people and his land, he broken hearted. The friction can be seen in Jeremiah’s declaration of destruction to come to Jehoiakim, as he brought destruction to the people of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah, renounces the character of Jehoiakim, and declares that the kingdom he is building is not a kingdom built on the righteous of God - ‘Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness...’ Rather than building a kingdom on the righteousness of God and taking care of the poor, as God declared that needed to be done...
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.
He did the exact opposite, That useth his neighbor’s service without wages, And giveth him not for his work. He not only held back wages, but he built his kingdom on bride and not on humility, that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers , And cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermillion. As red as the city was made, was the anger that Jeremiah had had toward this king for what he had one to the prophets people and land.
As Solomon wrote, it is not a stumble that comes after pride, but destruction.
18 Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.
As he looked into self and followed his pride, he scorned and ignored the example that was there before him in his father, king Josiah.
Oh, King! You should have followed the example before you (vv.15-16)
Oh, King! You should have followed the example before you (vv.15-16)
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.
Jehoiakim was the exact opposite of his father, Josiah. Josiah, came to the throne at a young age, but brought revival to the people of Israel. He was not a king that ruled through pride, but rather through righteousness and fairness, Did not thy father eat and drink, And do judgment and justice. The same could not be said for Jehoiakim himself. Jehoiakim was a prideful king and thought that he should reign just because of his lineage and the pride of that lineage, Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar. Too many in life follow this example. They believe that because of their wealth, their ego, their talents, their this or that, they deserve to reign. However, this was not what God intended for the king. The king was not to abuse the people, especially the poor, but rather was to protect and provide for the poor and needy, He judged the cause of the poor and needy.
Twice, Jeremiah repeats, it was well with him, declaring the truth of what God will bless rather than judge. Once the statement was posed as a question and the second time as a declaration. Either way, God reveals through the prophet Jeremiah, that if one is to know God it will come through righteousness and being obedient to the call of taking care of the people through the teaching of the word and providing support and provision for the poor and needy. As Jeremiah writes, Was not this to know me? saith the Lord.
Oh, King! God will have the last word (vv.17-20)
Oh, King! God will have the last word (vv.17-20)
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.
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.
As Jeremiah continues his message to Jehoiakim, he points out the corrupt heart of the king, 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. He was not concerned with the people or their care. He was concerned with self and self propagation. He wanted his kingdom, not God’s kingdom to be puffed up. Jehoiakim, in all his pride and ego, found a truth that one day all will know, God will have the last word. We must all understand that each of us will one day find ourselves before God facing judgment and giving account of our lives.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
When he was judged and weighed by God, Jehoiakim was found wanting. As God declares that rather than his pride and ego building a legacy, he builds a tower of rejection, There will be none that mourn his loss, 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! The people will not care about him after he is gone. He has built a kingdom based on pride and in the end, he will find himself cast out by those he once ruled over, He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, Drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
What brought this judgment? What caused his stoned heart? He refused to listen to the warnings and commands of God.
Oh, King! Why did you refuse to listen (vv.21-23)
Oh, King! Why did you refuse to listen (vv.21-23)
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!
Jehoiakim had a pattern that set up in his life from his youth, and this pattern was the cause of his destruction. Despite the blessings of God, he refused to give his heart and ear to God, 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. This is a pattern that is in many within the church today. God continues to bless and we continue to ignore His hand in those blessings. Where we should be repentant and thankful for those blessings, we become more and more callused. Truly, the judgment of God was coming to bring judgment with an end result of humility, The wind shall eat all thy pastors, And they lovers shall go into captivity: Surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. Truly, those that lived within Jerusalem, were fixing to feel the truth of Proverbs 16:18, destruction was coming, 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!
Truly, Jehoiakim’s pride was going to bring forth judgment, but he was not the only king that was part of this prophecy. As we have seen, God blessed the kingship of the grandfather, Josiah, and has promised judgment on the dad’s kingship of Jehoiakim, and even the grandson would face judgment, Jehoiachin. Josiah was the only one of the three that was faithful to the Lord and His teachings. Truly we find the sins of the father flowing to the second and third generations.
Oh, King! Your pride has resulted in judgment (vv.24-27)
Oh, King! Your pride has resulted in judgment (vv.24-27)
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.
Jerusalem was desperate. Jehoiakim was dead. His reign of ternary was over. And the people of Jersualem, choose a an immature 18 year old as their king and he would only last on the thrown three months before being removed and sent to Babylonian captivity. God tells Coniah, short for Jehoiakim, he would remove him from his position of honor, As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet up my right hand, yet would I pluck thence. God declares to Jeremiah, he would be driven away from where He was raised, And I will case thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die (v.26).
God declared that the judgment began at the house of God and began at the core of how to honor God and the result of what would happen if they did not honor God. He reveals this by pointing out two questions for myself and other staff. Is what we are saying and doing, growing the kingdom of God. Does what we are saying or doing is agains the Word of God itself?
Oh, King! God will have the last word (vv.28-30)
Oh, King! God will have the last word (vv.28-30)
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.
God had called his people to repentance. He had called them to seek him and not this world for pleasure. Yet, this is what he church does repeatedly. We make unto ourselves idols of self. They will always cost us more than we know and could expect.
Conclusion
Do not mock God! God is not a man that he should be mocked! You can only play church for so long. Eventually, one needs to come to a point of repentance before it is eternally too late. Be assured, oh, king, God will have the last word.