All right, now turn with me to
Jeremiah chapter 22. Jeremiah chapter 22. If you had an opportunity to
read through this chapter, and as I pointed out to you in the
prior message, these chapters 21 through 24 are one prophecy. to the kings of Judah, to the
people, to the priests and the prophets. And this chapter 22
is a continuance of the message of God through the prophet Jeremiah
to the kings. This began back in chapter 21
in verse 11. Look back there, it says, as
touching the house of the king of Judah. That's the dynasty
of David. That's what that is, the kings
of Judah. Say, hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of David.
Thus saith the Lord. I read in Psalm 89 about the
covenant that God made with David, the royal covenant. We'll be
referring back to that later on. But there it begins, the
message to the kings of Judah. As you know, Josiah was the last
godly king. And there were four others after
him, his sons and grandsons. and they were all evil kings.
There was one named Jehoaz. He's also called Shalom here
in chapter 22. He reigned about three months.
And then after him was one named Jehoiakim, who reigned about
11 years. And then one who's called Jehoiachin,
or you might see the name Coniah, and I'll show you why that is
here in this chapter. He reigned about a year. And
then the last king, Zedekiah, that's who's king now that Jeremiah
is speaking to. Remember back in chapter 21,
it says, the word of the Lord, verse 1, that came unto Jeremiah
from the Lord when king Zedekiah sent unto him, Pasher. So king
Zedekiah is here. And so what we have in chapter
22 is a message to king Zedekiah which incorporates three earlier
messages to the three earlier kings. Judah all of them Josiah's
sons or grandsons and these messages that God gave to these earlier
Kings is repeated here to Zedekiah to show this that the king and
the people and the priest and the prophets had not changed
at all despite all of the Word of God through Jeremiah to this
nation to the Kings and to the prophets and the priests and
the people, there still was no repentance. Absolutely none. Now it's clear, as God makes
it clear throughout this prophecy, that had these kings led the
nation in repentance, God would have shown mercy, but they persisted
in their sin. But we also know from God's testimony
that He knew that they wouldn't repent, and He had no intention
of showing mercy. This was His purpose all along,
and I'll show you why that is. So, therefore, receiving their
just punishment from the Lord, and God is vindicated in His
judgment. Now you look at all these kings,
and He's going to give the plight of four kings here in chapter
22. And I've entitled this message in this way, the king we all
need, the king we all need. Now of course you know who that
is, that's the king of kings, the king priest, the high priest,
the king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the king that we
all need because none of these earthly kings ever lived up to
the terms of the covenant that they were under. Think about
it this way, look at the first nine verses here. Here's Zedekiah,
Jeremiah speaking to Zedekiah, and he lays out the responsibility
of a man who is put on David's throne. That's what he does in
the first nine verses. Here's the responsibility of
any man who's put on David's throne. Look at it. He says,
Thus saith the Lord, Go down to the house of the king of Judah,
and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord,
O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David." Now,
at this time, that's Zedekiah. But this is a general statement
of the covenant obligations that were laid upon any man who had
that responsibility. Thou, he says, and thy servants,
and thy people that enter in by these gates, that is of Jerusalem. And he says in verse 3, look
at it, He says, thus saith the Lord, execute ye judgment and
righteousness. That's the king's responsibility.
And deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor. In
other words, the king was to be a leader in protecting the
people. Preserving the people. Helping
the people. He wasn't there to spoil them. To make riches from them. He
was there to protect them. He says, and do no wrong. Now
that's not talking about sinless perfection, even though that's
the goal of every true child of God. But he's talking about
the covenant. He's talking about the covenant.
Do no wrong according to the covenant. Do no violence to the
stranger. You know, the nation Israel was,
you know, strangers. That's a foreigner. And people
were very suspicious of foreigners back then just like they are
today. And many times a foreigner would come into a nation or come
into a people and they'd just kill him or they'd just capture
him or they'd imprison him. But the people of God were not
to be that way. They were to be hospitable to
all people. He says, the fatherless nor the
widow, the orphans and the widows. Those two classes of people there
that were always treated badly and always left in destitution.
But the king was to be the leader in helping the fatherless and
the widow. And then neither shed innocent
blood in this place, that is in Israel. So like David, like
King David, whoever sat upon the throne of the king of Israel,
the king of Judah especially, was to lead the people in the
ways of the Lord. Now when you read that verse
three, those things were indicative of David's reign in general.
Doesn't mean that David, when it says do no wrong, that doesn't
mean that David personally did no wrong. David did a lot of
wrong. You've read, you know, we did a series of, I did a series
of messages on the biography of David in 1 and 2 Samuel. He
was a man after God's own heart. He was a sinner saved by the
grace of God. He lived by faith in the promised
Messiah, God-given faith, all of those things. He spoke highly
and often of the righteousness of God, the same righteousness
that we believe and preach that's revealed in the Gospel, which
is the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. meritoriously
charged to us so that we can stand before a holy God without
sin and be accepted and not have to shirk back under a sense of
legal fear and condemnation. David spoke highly of that. And
it's quoted often in the New Testament. So David, he was just
a man, he was a sinful man. But in general, his reign was
one that could be described by verse 3 there. And then you look
at a man like Hezekiah, the king that came after David. His reign
could have been described in general in that way, though he
messed up too. He's a sinner saved by grace.
And then we look at a man like Josiah. Josiah probably even
more so than, and I didn't mention Solomon, you can mention Solomon
too, but you know Solomon messed up. Now what, of course, you
know what that's a, what are we? We're sinners saved by the,
we all mess up. You know, we're not sinlessly
perfect in ourselves. So we can mention Solomon too,
but in general, he led the people in the ways of the Lord. Now,
he didn't necessarily, Solomon didn't necessarily lead his wives
that way. You read about Solomon. But Josiah,
probably more than any of the others, this could fit. He was a godly king, the last
godly king. But what happened with Josiah?
Well, he died. And the point is this, that of
all those godly kings who by the grace and power of God led
the people in the ways of the Lord according to the covenant,
they're still not the king that we need. Because the king that
we need is the same king that they need. And they need it. Now certainly these fellows we're
going to read about tonight, they're not the kings we need.
Look at verse 4. Now he's still talking about
covenant obligations here. He says, For if you do this thing
indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house
kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots
and on horses, He and his servants and his people talking about
prosperity of the king. That's the conditional aspect
of that old covenant now. That shows the conditional nature
of it. And the earthly dynasty of David,
you see, he says in verse 5, But if you will not hear these
words, now we know most of them didn't. Hear means to obey. Most of them didn't obey these
words. I swear by myself Let me tell you something, when God
ever swears by Himself, you know what He is talking about, His
glory is engaged here. I swear by myself, Satan, that
this house shall become a desolation. The house there is the household
of David. The household there is the dynasty
of David. And what He is saying is the
earthly dynasty of David would become a desolation. And that
is what we are seeing in action here. in the book of Jeremiah. The kingdom going down the tubes.
All right? Look at verse 6. He says, For
thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah, Thou art
Gilead unto me. Now Gilead was a favored place.
You know, it was a place of healing. They said they grew a lot of
good herbs and medicines there. Jeremiah asked the question,
Is there no balm in Gilead? And then the head of Lebanon,
like the cedars of Lebanon, the wood that the king's palace was
made out of was made out of the cedars of Lebanon. In fact, it
was sometimes called the house of cedar, the house of Lebanon. So in other words, what he's
talking about is Judah, thou art highly favored of God. But
look at the next line. Yet, yet surely I will make thee
a wilderness and cities which are not inhabited. Though Judah
was highly favored of God, God would and must punish her sin. And you know, I tell you, that's
a good lesson for people today. You know, people who, especially
people in our country who enjoy the affluence The riches of democracy
and freedom and all of that we take it for granted don't we
well don't think Don't think that that's not don't think that
that's that it means that God's wrath does not abide on you Because
God's wrath abides anywhere upon anyone without Christ I don't
care how rich or healthy or whatever you are Without him it's nothing
but wrath and that will be exposed in the end Well, look at verse
7. He says, I will prepare destroyers
against thee, every one with his weapons. They shall cut down
the choice cedars and cast them into the fire. See all those
blessings? And many nations shall pass by
this city, and they shall say, every man to his neighbor, wherefore? Why hath the Lord done this unto
this great city? This great city of Jerusalem. Why did the Lord punish her?
Why did the Lord destroy her? And it says in verse 9, Then
they shall answer, because they have forsaken the covenant of
the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
They broke the covenant. Now again, that's that conditional
covenant towards that earthly people. What is that but a testimony
again of how any conditional covenant, any covenant that's
conditioned on a sinner is a failure. That's why we need grace, grace,
grace. Well, you notice back here, you
know, he said, if you keep the covenant, you'll prosper. Kings
upon David's throne, riding in chariots and horses. But if you
don't, it'll be a desolation. I was reading one commentator
on that. He said, it seems to some that
it jumps back and forth. God says, well, remember earlier
he told Jeremiah the punishment's coming and it cannot be Cannot
be changed. God will not repent. It's a sure
thing. In the last couple of chapters
we read language where Jeremiah told him. Well, he answered Zedekiah
that way. Zedekiah sent the emissaries to Jeremiah and said, intercede
for us. Intercede with the Lord for us
and see if He'll turn this back. And Jeremiah said, no, your only
hope of living is submitting to the punishment. Take sides
with God against yourselves. Because this is a just punishment.
So to some it seems to jump back and forth, the certainty of punishment
that cannot be changed and the promise of prosperity based on
covenant obedience. Well, we know that God knew that
Israel and Judah would not repent and would ultimately be destroyed.
So why do we have this language in the Scripture? One time He
says, well, if you keep it, you'll prosper. And then He says, if
you don't, you won't. Then it's a sure thing. Well,
let me tell you something. Understand this. This is where you've got
to go to the whole Scripture. Why was the law given? Why was it given? I'll give you
two verses. Here's the first one, Romans
chapter 5 and verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. See that? But where sin abounded,
grace did much more The law was given to expose the impossibility
of sinful man meeting those conditions. That's why it was given. It was
given to show us our need of God's grace. To show them their
need of the promise of grace in the Messiah. To show them
that what they need was not a return to the glory days of David, which
in essence were pretty good, but not that glorious. Remember
how David ended up, although my house, my dynasty, my kingdom,
my family be not so with God. You know, when David died, the
kingdom was in a shambles. So to show them that their need
was not to return to the glory days of David, but to look for
the king that we all need, the Messiah, the greater son of David,
who would ultimately fulfill the covenant of David's throne,
not in an earthly way, not upon an earthly throne, but in a heavenly,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then here's another verse.
Why was the law given? Galatians 3.18. Paul writes, for if the inheritance,
that's salvation, if it be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? Why is the law brought
in? He said it was added because
of transgressions. You see that? To show the transgressions
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Who
is that? That's Christ. And it was ordained
by angels in the hands of a mediator. Why was that law given? To show
us that by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight. But by the law is the knowledge
of sin. That's what it is. Well, look at verse 10. Now,
here we come to this fellow Jehoaz. It's called Shalom. He reigned
about three months. Listen to what it says. Weep
ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him, but weep sore for
him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native
country. He's alienated. For thus saith
the Lord touching Shalom. That's Jehoaz. 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
anymore." He's going to be taken to Babylon and he'll never return
to Jerusalem again. But he shall die in the place
where they have led him captive and shall see this land no more.
He was alienated. Under Shalem or Jehoahaz, here
we have a great picture of alienation from God. That's what that is. Alienation from God without Christ. That's all it is. Separation
from God. I believe that's the best description
of hell we can give. Eternal separation from God. And the best description of heaven
is eternal union with God in Christ. That's what happened
under Jehoias. Look at verse 13. He says, now
this is talking about the next one, Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim, he
reigned for about 11 years. It says, Woe unto him that buildeth
his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong, that
useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him
not for his work. You see, this is an unjust king
building a house on unrighteousness. Think about that. You see, the
house of our king is built on righteousness. He said, upon
this rock I will build my church. We stand upon the rock, Christ
Jesus, who is our righteousness. Christ is a just king. He deals
justly. He rules righteously. His scepter
is a scepter of righteousness. Verse 14, that saith, I will
build me a wide house and large chambers, cutteth him out windows,
and it is sealed with cedar and painted with vermilion. See,
very meticulous about his own house. 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?
That's talking about Josiah, his father there. He did deal
in justice. Verse 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? That's what it is to know the
Lord. And you know, the Word of God has a lot to say about
the poor and needy, doesn't it? And it's not that physical poverty
or neediness ensures salvation, but poverty. The poor is such
a great picture of the spiritual state of man fallen in Adam. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's what we are by
nature. We're poverty stricken, spiritually
bankrupt. And that's why we need the riches
of the king of glory. the riches of Christ. And then
verse 17, he says, But thine eyes and thine heart are not
but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and
for oppression, violence, to do it. 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.
They're not going to cry for you. That's what he's saying.
Oh Lord, all his glory. He shall be buried with the burial
of an ass drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
What's that talking about? He died in shame. He died without
a righteousness. What'd they do to a dead donkey?
They took him out to the dung gate and they threw him out on
the heap. They didn't hold a big funeral and cry and all that.
That's what's going on. This king would die in shame
without a righteousness. And then we come to Jehoiachin,
or Coniah. Look at verse 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. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity,
but thou says I would not hear. Rebelliousness, disobedience.
This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyest
not my voice. The wind shall eat up all thy
pastors. Thy lovers shall go into captivity.
Surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars."
How great. And what he's talking about is
their false assurance because they're on the throne of David.
how gracious shalt thou be when pains come upon thee the pain
as of a woman in travail it's like a process you see process
of pain he says as I live saith the Lord though Koniah the son
of Jehoiakim now sometimes he's called Jeconiah the in other
words that the word the letters JE are at the front of his name
why is it why is he called Koniah here Well, those letters J-E
are equivalent to the name of God, Jehovah. And what it is,
is the king of Israel, the king of Judah, was to be identified
with Jehovah, but this man was not identified with Jehovah at
all. So by inspiration of the Spirit,
Jeremiah took that J-E off his name. He's a rebellious, disobedient,
taken away. He's not identified with Jehovah
God at all. at all. And here's what he says,
he says, Te dekanai the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were
the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.
That signet, meaning that God owns it, the authority of God. He said, I'll pluck it off. Verse
25, And I'll 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 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand
of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and
thy mother that beareth thee, into another country where you
were not born, and there shall you die. But to the land whereunto
they desire to return, thither shall they not return. Is this
man Koniah 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?
Now these last two verses. Some say these are the harshest
pronouncements of judgment to be found in the whole of the
Bible. And why would you think that? Well, look at it. Oh, earth,
earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. This is a message for
the whole earth. And this is a message of destruction.
What's behind all those messages of destruction for sin? What
did Christ teach in Luke 13? Except you repent, you shall
likewise perish. Don't go the way of these men.
Look at verse 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. You see that? What's he talking about? Well,
he's talking about barrenness here. This man Chalbus, a man
that shall not prosper in his days. What's he saying here? He's saying
this is the end of the line for this dynasty. It's over. Here ended the race of kings
of the house of David. Until what? Until Messiah came. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh comes. And though there were of this
man's line governors of Judah, like Zerubbabel, there were no
more kings. Jeconiah, or Coniah as he's called
here, was the last of the house of David in the line of Solomon.
Now, he had seven sons. You look at this man, Chalus.
Now, some say they were adopted sons. I don't know for sure. But I know this, none of them
occupied the throne of David in Jerusalem. None of them were
kings of Judah. And so far as a continuing dynasty
was concerned, this Koniah was to be considered childless. And
although his line of descendants retained the legal throne rights,
they did, the legal throne rights, no physical descendant, no man
of his seed would ever reign on the throne of David. Now,
let me show you how the Lord pulls all this together and just
boggles our minds. If you were to, you go read this,
I don't have time tonight, but if you were to read the genealogy
recorded in Matthew chapter 1, the genealogy of Christ, It traces
the descent of Christ through Solomon and Jeconiah here. In fact, his name is mentioned
in Matthew 1.12. And this is the genealogy of
our Lord's legal father, earthly father, Joseph. That's the legal
right to the throne of David. And we know that Christ was born
of the flesh of the seed of David, according to the flesh. But through
Joseph, he had a legal right to the throne of David. The Lord
Jesus of Nazareth had a legal right to the throne of David.
And it was through this line right here. But if you go and
read the genealogy in the book of Luke, I think it's in chapter
2, isn't it? It's a little different, isn't
it? It traces our Lord's physical descent back through Mary. his
mother who also was a descendant of David. It traces his descent
back through Mary and Nathan and David bypassing this man's
line, Jeconiah's line and showing accurately the fulfillment of
this prophecy right here in Jeremiah that no man would sit upon David's
throne from his line. So that if our Lord had been
born only of the line of Joseph, Coming through Jeconiah, he would
have been disqualified to reign on the throne of David according
to what God says right here. But you know what? Our Lord is
the seed of woman, isn't He? And His earthly humanity without
sin was created for Him in the womb of the Virgin Mary without
the aid of man. So he wasn't of David's line
through Jeconiah. He was of David's line through
another man named Nathan which was another of Solomon's sons.
And he had the legal right to that throne. But here's the thing
about it. Our Lord was never in prophecy
or in picture or in type barred from his right to that throne.
He always had it. And so it would all be fulfilled
in Him. Now look back at Psalm 89 that
I read at the beginning. Let me show you what I'm talking
about here. You see, the succession of the throne failed in Jeconiah's
line. But still the promise to David
was revived and consummated in the Lord Jesus Christ. But not
in the earthly throne. in a spiritual throne. But look
back here. He is talking about the covenant
with David. Listen to what he says. Look here in verse 29. He said, his seed also will I
make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments,
if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then
will I visit their transgression and with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes. That's what happened, isn't it?
His seed broke the covenant, David's earthly seed. But verse
30, nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from
him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not
break nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once
I've sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. Now
that faithful promise has been fulfilled not through the earthly
line of David on that earthly throne. but through David's line
in Christ, the seed of woman, on a spiritual, heavenly, eternal
throne. That's the king we need. The
one who will execute judgment and justice, the one who will
establish righteousness, who will build his house with righteousness,
the one who will never die, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down
at verse 39. He says, Thou hast made void
the covenant of Thy servant. Thou hast profaned his crown
by casting it to the ground. Thou hast broken down all his
hedges. You see that? That's David's physical descendants. Sinful men. But let me show you
this. You remember I told you, look over at Jeremiah now. We'll
conclude with this. Look at chapter 23. You remember
I told you that chapter 23 verses 5 and 6 were the key to this
prophecy? Behold, the days come, look at
it, Jeremiah 23, 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judas shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell safely. This is his name, whereby he
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And you know who
that's talking about, Christ. That's the king we need right
there. What a description of him. Isn't that something? That's
who we need. Well, turn over to Jeremiah 33. Later on, we have the same prophecy,
but put in a different light. And look at verse 15. Jeremiah
33. Same prophecy, same description,
same king that we need. In those days, And at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he
shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name whereby she shall be called the Lord our righteousness."
Now, who's the she there? That's his church. That's his
bride. See, when the bride marries the
groom, she takes the groom's name. And we're in him. But look at the next verses.
Verse 17. For thus saith the Lord, David
shall never want or lack a man to sit upon the throne of the
house of Israel. Now we just read back in chapter
22 where he says, never again. The end of the line. Here he
says, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne
of the house of Israel. Now how's that going to be, how's
God going to be faithful to his word, keep his word according
to the curse that he pronounced upon the kings of Judah, and
still fulfill this promise. And fulfill the promise that
the psalmist spoke of in Psalm 89. By sending the king that
we need. The king of eternity. The king
of righteousness. The king Messiah. Verse 18, he
talks about the priest, and we'll get into them more in the next
message, but he says, neither shall the priest and Levites
want a man before me to offer burnt offerings and to kindle
meal offerings and to do sacrifice continually. Does that mean,
does that mean that once everybody gets right with God, that God's
going to reinstitute the priesthood and the sacrifices? No, the veil's
written too. How's that going to be fulfilled?
And God keep his word. through Christ, our great high
priest. You see, all of it's going to be fulfilled in not
only the king we need, but the priest we need, the high priest
we need, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, putting our hopes in
the establishment or reestablishment of an earthly kingdom by a mere
sinful human being is futile. That's not what we need. That's
not how forgiveness is going to be brought about. Forgiveness
comes by the blood of Christ. That's not the righteousness
we need. We need the righteousness of
God. And that'll come from the King that we all need, the Lord
Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. All right. Let's
sing hymn number 359. My faith looks up to thee. 359.