“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice. Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him nothing for his work.” (v.13)
Chapter 21 ended with Jeremiah bringing a message to the house of David saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment in the morning; and deliver him who plundered out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my furry go forth like fire” (v.12).
This warning was repeated here in chapter 22, “Thus says the LORD, Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor” (v.3). It is pretty obvious that God felt the judicial system had become corrupted, that there was no true execution of justice, and He wanted to see that changed.
But instead of ruling over God’s people with righteousness, the kings had been taking advantage of them, using them as slave labor. One king in particular, Shallum, built a great palace for himself in a time of economic hardship in Judah. He was so despised, that when he fell in battle against the invading armies of Babylon, his body was left to rot in the fields.
God intended that the kings rule over the people with a shepherd’s heart. Not enslave them, abuse them, nor look down upon them as a taskmaster. They were to reflect God’s righteousness as a steward of the throne, not as a dictator accomplishing their own desires. This poor leadership would bring destruction down upon them, as it would any nations leader who governs in his own self interest.
The Truth: “Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.” (Jeremiah 17:11)
Chapter 21 ended with Jeremiah bringing a message to the house of David saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment in the morning; and deliver him who plundered out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my furry go forth like fire” (v.12).
This warning was repeated here in chapter 22, “Thus says the LORD, Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor” (v.3). It is pretty obvious that God felt the judicial system had become corrupted, that there was no true execution of justice, and He wanted to see that changed.
But instead of ruling over God’s people with righteousness, the kings had been taking advantage of them, using them as slave labor. One king in particular, Shallum, built a great palace for himself in a time of economic hardship in Judah. He was so despised, that when he fell in battle against the invading armies of Babylon, his body was left to rot in the fields.
God intended that the kings rule over the people with a shepherd’s heart. Not enslave them, abuse them, nor look down upon them as a taskmaster. They were to reflect God’s righteousness as a steward of the throne, not as a dictator accomplishing their own desires. This poor leadership would bring destruction down upon them, as it would any nations leader who governs in his own self interest.
The Truth: “Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.” (Jeremiah 17:11)
