📖 Jeremiah 22: 13-19
📝 In today’s reading portion, it is mentioned twice that “ALL WENT WELL with King Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim” (v 15b, 16). Having said that the Lord reminds Jehoiakim that his father, Josiah, had everything he needed and ALL WENT WELL because he did what was just and right (v 16 ; 2Kings 22:1-2) . But ” ALL WAS NOT WELL ” with king Jehoiakim.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH JEHOIAKIM ❓
📝 In 2Kings 23: 36-37 it is recorded that Jehoiakim did evil in the eyes of the Lord during the 11 years of his reign.
Jehoiakim’s sins can be summarized as follows (Jer 22: 13-17):
✔️ He had no regard for justice or righteousness.
✔️ He used forced labour to build his palace and upper rooms without paying their wages.
✔️ He had no concerned about the poor and needy.
✔️ His personal greed caused him to shed innocent blood.
✔️ He oppressed his subjects.
✔️ His eyes and heart were set only on dishonest gain.
✔️ He deliberately rejected the Word of God (Jer 26:20-23 ; 36:20-25)

📌 King Jehoiakim said, ” I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms ” pannelled with cedar wood (v 14). He was not aware of God’s wrath and coming judgement. Jehoiakim was like the Rich Man in the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21) who had planned to dismantle his store house / barns and to build a bigger one to store his grains. But God said to him that this very night his life will be taken back.
📌 As a result of his sins, ” no one will mourn for king Jehoiakim ” (v 18) and ” his body will be thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem like a dead donkey ” (v 19)

💞 Beloved Church, we know that we have fallen
nature into the sin of extravagance when our luxuries begin to deprive others of their necessities (James 5:4-6) .
💫 The Lord, while referring to king Josiah’s righteousness, asked a question to Jehoiakim: Is that not what it means to KNOW ME? v 16b.
📌 To KNOW HIM is to love God fully which results in living a pious life and serving those in need (Deut 10:12-13; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:8)
With this ingradients let us be an example of justice and righteousness in all our dealings with others 🙏

Glory to God 🙌
✍🏻 Mark Boje
Arunachal Pradesh, India 🇮🇳