May the mumbling commence!
Sometimes, it is not like father like son. After Josiah died in battle, his son Jehoahaz came into being (also known as Shallum). We learn from 2 Kings 23:31-37 and 2 Chronicles 36:2-5 that Jehoahaz was not the oldest (his older brother Eliakim was put on the throne of Judah by Pharaoh Neco and named Jehoiakim) and that he did evil in the Lord’s sight.
Though Jehoahaz reigned only three months, he did much damage to the gains that his father Josiah had brought about. It just goes to show us and remind us that what takes years and years to build can be totally destroyed in the matter of months by someone with an evil intent. What exactly did Jehoahaz do? Read from Jeremiah 22:13-17 –
"Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.
He says, 'I will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.'
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar and decorates it in red.
"Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the Lord.
"But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion."
It matters how we get to where we are going. Do we want to be remembered as great? Then we must not build our wealth and power through unrighteousness and injustice – through shedding innocent blood, oppression and extortion. These were the ways of Jehoahaz. Through this great expense, Jehoahaz created the lap of luxury for himself at record pace. In the Lord’s eyes, the beautiful palace of Jehoahaz reeked.
Pharaoh Neco was once again giving the message of the Lord by removing and exiling Jehoahaz. Perhaps Jehoahaz was not ready for being a king, but he used murder and oppression and extortion to get the throne after his father’s death.
The Prophet Habakkuk mourned during the days of Jehoahaz. At the beginning of his book, he mourns the destruction and violence that surrounded him. Habakkuk pleaded for the Lord’s deliverance (1:2-3). And God answered Habakkuk in a way that was surprising. Read chapter one, verses 5-13:
"Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe, even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
they all come bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
They deride kings and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
they build earthen ramps and capture them.
Then they sweep past like the wind and go on –
guilty men, whose own strength is their god."
O Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up
those more righteous than themselves?
The Lord would purge the destruction and violence of Judah with the destruction and violence of Babylon. Like Habakkuk, we might question why the wicked would prevail against those more righteous than them. But the Lord does not separate levels of wickedness. Perhaps this bitter road of restoration was the way of the Lord impressing upon the people of Judah that they were equally wicked as Babylon. The Lord will not tolerate wickedness in any people, but God holds His people to a higher standard.
Heal us, O Lord, so that we may take part in the healing of our land. Calm the storms of our lives and make our way smooth (Habakkuk 3:13-15).
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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