At Christmas we join the herald angel singing, “Glory to the newborn King!” Like the wise men from the east, we ought to seek Him and worship Him. All of us serve someone, but Jesus is the only King worthy of our devotion. Unlike every human leader, He is totally good and always faithful. The contrast is evident in Jeremiah 22, where we are reminded that each of the last four monarchs of Judah was a bad king, and each met a horrible fate. Careful readers of Jeremiah will recognize that he does not always arrange his material chronologically. So at the beginning of the chapter, the focus is still on Zedekiah, Judah’s last king. Carrying on a theme from the previous chapter (21:12), Zedekiah is exhorted to ward off imminent disaster by doing justice and righteousness. But he will continue in his self-centered ways, unfaithful to the covenant of the LORD, so Jerusalem will soon be destroyed (v 1-9). Next, Jeremiah tells of Shallum, otherwise known as Jehoahaz. As the fourth to last king, he was a son of Josiah, the last of the reforming kings. Shallum was the people’s choice when Josiah died in battle, but he reigned only three months. At the time of Jeremiah’s writing, Shallum had already been deposed to Egypt, before Babylon had become the regional superpower. Jeremiah composes a eulogy for him, because Shallum will never return. He is the first of the Davidic kings to die in exile (v 10-12). Then came Jehoiakim, another of Josiah’s sons. As Shallum’s older brother, he never even made it into captivity. He was oppressive, greedy, foolish, and idolatrous—reversing all the righteous policies instituted by his father. Like most kings, Jehoiakim had an appetite for the finer things in life. He wanted a palace with a view, lined with cedar. But Jeremiah was not impressed. He reminds Jehoiakim of the simple reign of his father, the righteous Josiah, who was content with daily bread as he cared for the needs of the poor. Though God spoke to Jehoiakim in his prosperity, he would not listen. So Judah will fall, and Jehoiakim’s corpse will be taken out with the garbage (v 13-23). Then came Jehoiachin (also called Coniah), son of Jehoiakim, who ascended the throne when he was a teenager. He ruled for three months, then was taken as a captive to Babylon, where he lived out the rest of his years. None of his children or grandchildren would sit on the throne of David (v 24-30). Yet God’s promises will not fail–for the family line continued, and the rightful king did come to reign in Jesus Christ. As the angel said, “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” For further meditation: