Jeremiah 22 Devotional

Cedar Does Not Make a King

“He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.”Jeremiah 22:16 (BSB)

God sends Jeremiah to the palace with a plain message for the king on David's throne: do what is just and right, rescue the robbed, and protect the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow (22:3). Then he sets two kings side by side. Jehoiakim builds a grand cedar-paneled palace with unpaid labor (22:13-14). His father Josiah did justice and defended the poor and needy, and it went well with him (22:15-16).

God's verdict is striking. Taking up the cause of the poor is what it means to know him (22:16). Knowing God is not a feeling or a title. It shows up in how a person treats those who have no power to repay. Jehoiakim's splendor wins him no mourners (22:18-19), and his son Coniah will have no descendant on David's throne (22:30). That leaves a question the next chapter answers: who will ever sit rightly on that throne? Meanwhile, knowing God shows itself close at hand, in how you treat the people within your reach.

To think about: Who within your reach has little power to repay you, and how might knowing God show itself in the way you treat them this week?