In Jeremiah, chapter twenty-two, verses one through thirty, Jeremiah’s prophecies are not organized in strict chronological order. In this chapter, he prophesies to the three kings who preceded King Zedekiah about God’s judgment against them. He predicted that God would punish the house of David, as in chapter twenty-one, verse twelve, and judge the following kings: Shallum from verses one through twelve, Jehoiakim, as in verses thirteen to twenty-three, and Coniah, in verses twenty-four through thirty.
Jeremiah exhorted Judah’s king, Shallum, to practice justice and righteousness and to help the oppressed and needy. If only the king would do this, he would not experience the desolation described in verses six to nine. Shallum, also called Jehoahaz, was the fourth son of Josiah, as in First Chronicles three, verse fifteen; he was king for three months before being carried off to Egypt, where he died.
This prophecy scathingly condemned King Jehoiakim for his sins of injustice and oppression. During Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Jerusalem, Jehoiakim was taken captive to Babylon; he was later released and given an dishonest burial outside Jerusalem, as in verses eighteen to nineteen. Coniah ruled for only three months before he was taken to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar’s second invasion of Jerusalem.
The way to preserve a government is to perform the duty. But sin will be the ruin of the houses of princes, as well as of meaner men. God destroys neither persons, cities, nor nations, except for sin. King Shallum lived and died a wretched captive. Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. The doom of Jehoiakim is that he defrauded his workmen of their wages. God notices the wrong done by kings to poor servants and labourers, and will repay those in justice, who will not pay those they employ.