What is your job description? Some are clearly defined: ride the back of the trash truck and empty trash cans into the truck at each stop. Others are loosely defined: be my personal assistant, show up at 8 every morning and do whatever I ask until I send you home.
What is the job description of a king? The role may seem terribly complex. But God gave Jeremiah a few simple words for King Jehoiakim:
“Thus saith the Lord, ‘Do what is just and right. Rescue … the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood” Jeremiah 22:3.
These are simple rules: (1) Do what is right; (2) Rescue the crime victims; (3) Show compassion to foreigners, orphans, and widows; and (3) Do not shed innocent blood. King Jehoiakim could sum up his job description in two words: JUSTICE and COMPASSION.
God promises to bless Jehoiakim if he obeys and to make the king’s palace a desolation if he does not, Jeremiah 22:4-5. Sadly, Jehoiakim chooses not to obey.
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done” 2 Kings 23:37.
Not only does Jehoiakim follow the evil ways of the kings before him, but he also refuses to listen to the Lord.
“I spake unto thee in thy prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your manner from your youth—you refuse to hear my voice” Jeremiah 22:21.
When King Jehoiakim chooses the evil path of so many kings before him, God sends the prophet Jeremiah to warn the nation of coming judgment. Jeremiah preaches the same message for twenty-three years: if Judah does not repent, it will suffer captivity and desolation.
“For twenty-three years … the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened … This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” Jeremiah 25:3,11.
For over two decades Jeremiah predicted seventy years of captivity in Babylon before it finally happened. But it did happen.
First Nebuchadnezzar invaded, capturing citizens of Judah and taking them captive back to Babylon, including Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. Then the Lord sent more armies:
“The Lord sent against [Jehoiakim] bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets” 2 Kings 24:1-4.
God gave Jehoiakim a crown and a job. What a nice combination. Most of us are lucky simply to have a job. But some of us should probably consider ourselves kings—whether in power, wealth, leadership, or simply because we love what we do. That is the kind of position God gave King Jehoiakim—he was the king. The job was simple: do the right things, enforce justice and compassion. But instead Jehoiakim rebelled against God, even cutting up and burning God’s words, Jeremiah 36:20-23. Eventually Jehoiakim paid the price—and the nation of Judah paid with him.
God, help us to obey you in all things. May we do our jobs well, exceeding the expectations of our employers. More importantly, help us to exercise justice and compassion, to treat people as you would have us to treat them and to worship and honor you in all that we do.
AΩ
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