Jeremiah 22:11

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:11-14, “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.” Notice that in verse 12 God gave the details about when Shallum would die. God could do the same about any of us. It says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” God gives each person life, and then God takes it away at exactly the time that God chooses. No one else decides this: it is God’s time and God’s decision. This truth is a reminder of the fact that life is temporary and life is short, especially compared to eternity. The fact that we are all going to die and then live somewhere forever after we die is central to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The book of Romans is the great book of the doctrine of salvation, and one of its key verses on that subject is Romans 6:23. It says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 6:23 tells us why we die and why we need to be saved. The problem is sin, and the problem goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It says in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Physical death is symbolic of spiritual death. As soon as Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they died spiritually, and they began to age and to die physically. There are two deaths: the physical death and the spiritual death. In order to avoid spiritual death, you must acquire spiritual life. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-7, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.[4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?[5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.[7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

You need to have the new birth in order to avoid the second death. Concerning the judgment, it says in Revelation 20:11-15, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.[12] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.[13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.[14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Returning to Romans 6:23, it tells an important truth about how we obtain the spiritual birth. It says, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Instead of receiving our wages, what we have earned and what we deserve, we receive the “gift” of eternal life. Jesus purchased eternal life for us by His death on the cross. A gift is given freely. There is nothing you can do to earn the gift. Just like any other gift, you simply receive it, and then it belongs to you. You receive the gift by receiving Christ, by believing on Him and trusting in Him. It says in John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

Concerning the death of Shallum, the son of Josiah, that is recorded for us in Jeremiah 22:12, we notice that the death of Shallum appears to be some kind of judgment or punishment. Everyone is going to die, and everyone has an appointed time to die, but because of someone’s sinfulness the Lord might decide to move up that person’s appointed death so that it happens earlier than it otherwise would have occurred. Life on this earth is a privilege and a blessing. If you do not use that privilege in the way that God intends for you, then why should God leave you on the earth? This truth supports the doctrine of eternal security. Just because you are going to heaven freely through faith in Christ does not mean that there is nothing for you to lose. This is especially true for believers. It says in First John 5:16-17, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.[17] All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” If you lose your life prematurely, you lose your opportunity to serve Christ and gain rewards in heaven. This will be no small loss. The Apostle Paul strived mightily not to lose his rewards. He wrote in Second Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:15-21, “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.” Notice carefully the phrase in verse 21, “I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear.” There will always be the temptation that when you are prosperous that you will turn away from God because you will not see your need of Him. You might think that your prosperity came from yourself, and you might rest comfortably in your prosperity, not knowing the spiritual storm that can come into your life. You do not need to be prosperous. You need to be spiritually strong with an abiding trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sad truth that people fight so hard to get their life in order from a material standpoint, but then when they get there, to find that their prosperity becomes a great impediment to turning to the Lord and trusting in Him. One of the ways of keeping that from happening is to always be thankful for the Lord has given you including all of your material possessions, and to make sure that you have them surrendered to His glory. Look for opportunities to serve Jesus with what you have, whether you have little or much. In your heart dedicate what you have to Christ, and He will guide you and use you so that what you have and how you use it is a testimony to Him.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:22-24, “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;” These few verses demonstrate one more way in which the Lord explains just how wicked the nation of Israel had become. In most circumstances a given country can be vastly improved if only the leaders of that country were better people. Sometimes we have wicked leaders and we see problems arise because of their wickedness. When that happens, we long for better leaders, thinking that the country will be so much better off with the change in leadership. This might be true in some situations, but it was not true in the nation of Israel during the time of Jeremiah. Alexis de Toqueville was a French historian who studied America in the first half of the 19^th century, and here is an observation that he made: “I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secrets of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” No matter who our leaders are, we are headed for great trouble unless many, many people get on their knees and turn to Christ for forgiveness of sins.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 22:25-30, “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.” Notice verse 29. It says, “O earth, earth, earth hear the Word of the Lord.” This is a very dramatic statement introducing a very important change to what the Lord was going to have happen to Israel. That important change is stated in the last part of verse 30 that says, “for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” God loved David and God made some great promises to King David. One of those promises had to do with the fact that the Messiah would rule on the throne of David, and therefore the linage of the king of Israel would last forever through King David’s lineage. For example, it says in Psalm 89:34-37, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.” Notice carefully that Jeremiah 22:30 says, “no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David.” The next one to sit upon the throne of David is not a man, but is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. That is one of the promises that the Messiah would fulfill: the promise of a king to sit upon the throne of David forever, and that is why the life of Christ is introduced in Matthew 1:1 with these words, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” If you bow before Jesus and trust Him as your Savior, then you shall reign with Him forever.

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