What it means to know God (Jer 22:1-19)

Before I came to faith, I saw the reality of God in the lives of Christians I knew. Seeing their answers to prayer for guidance, for a job and so on I realised the absence of God in my own life and my desire to have a relationship with Him was awakened. For a friend, it was walking into a church and sensing God’s love through the Christians there that was the turning point. Conversely, there are non-Christians who may have sought God at one point but were disappointed in Christians who did not demonstrate a godly character. Jeremiah’s emphasis in the book is on the relationship with God and how Israel’s unfaithfulness is expressed in idol worship, but our reading focuses on another aspect of what it means to know God, namely how we treat each other. This section is part of a larger unit condemning Judah’s leadership (kings and prophets) in chapters 21-23.

Justice and righteousness

Jeremiah’s sermon at the royal palace is possibly still given to Zedekiah (Jer 22:1-2 cf. Jer 21:3, 11) though the lack of a name broadens the address to other kings too. Administering justice was a key role of the king (the ultimate judge in the land) that could easily be abused by the royal power, while righteousness meant fulfilling one’s obligations and commitments to others not only in a judicial context but also in personal relationships (Jer 22:3). Together, the two words in the OT usually focus on not taking advantage of the vulnerable. In ancient Israel, these were orphans and widows without male protector in a patriarchal society and strangers, i.e. resident non-Israelites and therefore outsiders. Jeremiah’s admonition echoes Deuteronomy’s choice of obedience and disobedience, blessing and curse (e.g. Deut 28:1-2, 15): be faithful and God will support your kingship or unfaithful and expect the destruction of your house (a double-entendre alluding to the devastation of the royal palace as well as the royal dynasty; Jer 22:4-6).[1]

Judah’s kings and what it means to know God

God’s judgment is illustrated in the life of two kings (Jer 22:11-12; 18-19). Shallum (throne name Jehoahaz) was Josiah’s son and reigned a mere three months before Pharaoh Neco took him captive to Egypt where he died (2 Kings 23:31-34).[2] Jehoiakim, the next king, was also Josiah’s son, but unlike his father who was just and cared for the needy as habitually as he would eat and drink (Jer 22:15-16), Jehoiakim’s reign involved the exploitation of workers without pay, a focus on luxurious extensions to his palace and on the abuse of power through oppression and extortion to gain more money (Jer 22:13-14, 17). Fittingly, the man who aggrandised himself was not going to be honoured by anyone but ignored and de-valued like a dead donkey (Jer 22:18-19). Jeremiah’s prophecy connects issues of justice and exploitation for money with idolatry (Jer 22:3, 8-9) and links looking after the needy with knowing God (Jer 22:16). The New Testament echoes this when greed is described as idolatry (Col 3:5) and knowing and loving God is linked with loving one’s neighbour (1 John 4:20).

What does it mean to know God today?

Once again, this is an apt message in an age when some churches exploit their members either through excessive work required of them for no pay or through manipulation for donations that line the pockets of church leaders. Even churches where there is a desire to honour God, supporting poorer members or those in need may be neglected or put as a lower priority. Sometimes, we simply do not know enough about fellow-Christians in the church to realise their need though understandably such people are also reticent to share their difficulties. The Church through the ages has also reached out to those outside its own community to share God’s love through practical ways and help outsiders in need as well. On a personal level, this passage challenges us to recognise that knowing God is not only about an intimate relationship with Him marked by guidance and answered prayers. Rather, our knowledge of Him should also affect how we relate to others. If someone, an outsider, knew we were Christian would we not make more of an effort to demonstrate Christian love and character? May we do so not because others know but because God does.

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[1] Both Gilead and Lebanon were forested areas, the former in the Transjordan, north of Moab, the latter north of Israel (Jer 22:6). God compares the royal dynasty to these lush areas that produced the wood for panelling luxurious houses (evidently a pre-occupation of kings; Jer 22:14) and tells the kings that He could just as easily sweep them all away as He could deforest those areas and make them into a wilderness.

[2] Israel and Judah were caught between two super-powers, Egypt in the south and Assyria then later Babylon in the north (north-east). In 609 BC, the Egyptian army marched through Israel-Judah to support the waning Assyrian power against the rising new force of the Babylonians. Josiah misjudged the political situation and still thought of Assyria as the major player, so that he tried to stop Pharaoh Neco from helping Assyria. He was killed at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:28-30) and his son, Shallum (Jehoahaz) was deposed by the Egyptians in retaliation for Judah’s opposition (2 Kings 23:31-34). In Jer 22:10 there is an allusion to Josiah’s tragic death and the deep mourning the country experienced (2 Chron 35:25).

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