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BIBLE STUDY TIME. Chapter 22 of Jeremiah. Judgment Against Evil Kings. Study Guide Included

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Here is a teaching of chapter 22 of the book of Jeremiah. If you want to check out Bible studies of the previous chapters, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the previous chapters. So if you haven't studied them already, you can print out the study guides that are available for you.


Chapter 22 of Jeremiah:



1 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5 But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”




6 For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah: “Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a desert, like towns not inhabited. 7 I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire. 8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ 9 And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’” 10 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again. 11 For this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”



Okay, so there are several things that I want to address here before we read further. The first thing that I want to point out here is that the whole book of Jeremiah is not in chronological order. So the events that happen here in chapter 22 of Jeremiah actually happened before the events in chapter 21. That is why in these verses here Jeremiah is proclaiming to the house of David and telling them to do what is just and right and if they do that than the people that are on David's throne will come in with their horses and their chariots accompanied by their officials and their people, but if they don't obey the command then the place will become a ruin. Which in chapter 21 we know that the only option that they had was to surrender because Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had already been besieging Jerusalem and he was already taking people captive in Judah, so this was before that.


We see an ongoing theme in all of these chapters of Jeremiah where the Lord is constantly coming to Jeremiah to tell these people of Judah and Jerusalem to obey the covenant that their forefathers swore, the covenant to obey the lord, do what is commanded of them, not have any false gods and worship him and only him and time and time again these people are doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and then wondering why they are being held captive and all their land is going in ruins.


In verse 11 where it talks about Shallum, he's also called Jehoahaz and he's the son of Josiah. In order for me to study this correctly and get all the facts for you guys and to be able to understand it myself, I went back into 2 Kings and read chapters 23 and 24. Those chapters talk about the reign of Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. We read about Zedekiah in the last chapter and Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, we will see both of them here in the next few verses. So in 2 Kings, it talks more about their reign, what they did in terms of their reign,how long they reigned, and all of that.





13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor. 14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.’ So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red. 15 “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. 16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the Lord. 17 “But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.” 18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’ 19 He will have the burial of a donkey— dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.”




I'm going to go into 2 Kings chapters 23 and 24 and refer to those to explain these verses here in chapter 22 of Jeremiah. So, king Josiah that it talks about here in chapter 22 of Jeremiah, renewed the covenant with the Lord with all of the people of Judah and Jerusalem, they all pledged themselves to the covenant. He did good in the eyes of the Lord. He got rid of all the mediums, the spiritists, the household gods, idols, and all of the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. But his sons after him did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They had forsaken the covenant that their father renewed with the Lord and the people of Judah and Jerusalem and they worshipped false idols and false gods.


Now here where it talks about Shallum (Jehoahaz,) he reigned for about three months, and just as it says in chapter 22 of Jeremiah, he took money from the people of Judah to build his palace and he was taken off to Egypt and died there. Starting off in verse 18 it talks about Jehoiakim (which is the son of Josiah,) he reigned after Jehoahaz (Shallum.) Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years and he also did evil the eyes of the Lord. During his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah and Jehoiakim became his vassal for 3 years until he turned on Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled against him. So the Lord sent Babylonian, Amranean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against them to destroy Judah in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his prophets and servants. So that's why it says here in the verses above that the people will not mourn for Jehoiakim.







20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, let your voice be heard in Bashan, cry out from Abarim, for all your allies are crushed. 21 I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me. 22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away, and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness. 23 You who live in ‘Lebanon, who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor! 24 “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to.” 28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know? 29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! 30 This is what the Lord says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”




So after Jehoiakim reigned, his son Jehoiachin reigned in Jerusalem. At that time, the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it. So here in verses 24-30 of the chapter, 22 of Jeremiah, the Lord is saying that even if Jehoiachin ends up doing good in the eyes of the Lord, he will still hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He will hurl Jehoiakchin and his mother who gives him birth to another country where they will die there because of all the evil that has been done with their fathers.


The covenant has been broken time and time again, they're doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, they're following false gods, they're being greedy and just only doing things for gain, shedding innocent blood, and even though the Lord has told them to do just and right, they still haven't. Jehoiachin reigned for three months and he and all of his family surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle King in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah (we heard about Zedekiah in chapter 21 of Jeremiah.)




Jeremiah Chapter 22:


  1. We’re the events that happened in chapter 22, before or after the events in chapter 21?

  2. What is the ongoing theme that we see in all the chapters that we’ve studied so far in Jeremiah?

  3. What is Shallum also called?

  4. In order to really understand chapter 22 of Jeremiah, what book of the Bible did I use for a reference?

  5. Did Josiah do good in the eyes of the Lord?

  6. Did Josiah’s sons do good in the eyes of the Lord?

  7. What did Shallum do during his reign that we read in chapter 22 in Jeremiah?

  8. Why does it say in Jeremiah chapter 22 that the people will not mourn for Jehoiakim?

  9. Why does the Lord say that he is going to hurl Jehoiachin and his mother to another country where they will die?






So that is a Bible study on chapter 22 of Jeremiah. I would highly recommend going to 1 and 2 Kings and reading all of that while reading Jeremiah. Reading 1 and 2 Kings is really going to help, especially 2 Kings is really gonna help when understanding and studying the book of Jeremiah. A lot of times, that's what I'll reference to, to get my information If there's missing information in the book of Jeremiah, and to be able to really understand it.


So the main thing in common with all of these chapters that we've read so far in Jeremiah is that when the people of Judah and Jerusalem follow the covenant of the Lord, worship him, follow him and only him and do good in the eyes of him, they will be his people and he will choose them. But time and time again, they're choosing other false gods, false idols, and only looking out for themselves and shedding innocent blood so then consequences happen and the land goes in ruins and they become besieged, held captive, and have to surrender.


The sad reality of the way that the world is today is a lot of people are following false idols and false gods. It may not be the Baals or the different gods and idols that were in Judah and Jerusalem at the time that we were reading in Jeremiah, but there are false gods and false idols that are being worshiped and it's being so normalized and we're just falling so short from the glory of God; we're not following and worshiping God and doing what's commanded of us like we should be doing.

Then we look at how the world is today, especially 2020, and wonder why the world is so horrible, but no one ever thinks that it's because we haven't acknowledged our guilt, repented, truly changed our ways, stopped worshiping these false idols, stopped worshiping these false gods, and turn to the one and only God and follow him, worship him, and do what's commanded of us. If we do those, then things will be a whole lot better for us, but until then, it's just going to continue to get worse and worse.



I'm going to say a quick prayer for you guys before I let you go... Lord, I pray that you are with each and every single person listening to this right now. Lord, I pray that you open up their eyes, their ears, their mind, and their spirits to you Lord and that they see the truth of your word. And they follow you, acknowledge their guilt repent, and truly change their ways. I pray that they do what's commanded of them and worship you and only you. I pray that they seek you and your glory all the days of their lives and that they let others know about you, the truth of your word, and help other people to be saved by you. And when it's their time to go, that there'll be going to heaven to see your glory. I love you so much, Lord. In Jesus's name. Amen.



I love you guys so much.


Never forget to choose faith over fear.

-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)

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