Josiah's Sons - Jeremiah 22

Jeremiah 22:2 "And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates."

v3 "Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place."

Josiah started his reign when he was 8 years old and reigned for 31 years then was wounded in battle and died when he was 39. He was a good king.

He had several sons which were not good leaders. The Bible says they did evil.

v11 "For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more;" See I Chronicles 3:15 where he is also called Jeheahaz in Chronicles 36:4.

Well, some of the names were changed by Jeremiah, probably to show their standing at the time. It was common in the Bible to depict character or some other meaning i.e. Jeremiah 20:3 with Pashur changed to Magormissabib after he smote Jeremiah.

Shallum or Jeheahaz reigned 3 months and was carried away never to return.

v18 "Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying Ah my brother! or Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or Ah his glory!"

v24 "As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;"

Coniah is called Jehoiachin in II Chronicles 36:5. Again, Jeremiah is using another name. I think it could have been a way to wipe them from history or to separate them from the great kings of Judah at least. It does serve to confuse the tracing of their history. See all II Kings 24:12.

Verse 30 tells us the final judgment.

v30 "Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."

We can again read the Kings and Chronicles to see the evil things going on when these people were kings.

Hezekiah was a good king. His son Manasseh was evil. Amon his son did evil. Josiah, his son was a good king and followed Hezekiah's example.

II Chronicles 34:27 "Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God... v28 Behold I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same.

35:25 "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel; and behold they are written in the lamentations. (4:20)

Although there were some good kings during the end, before the captivity, there were also evil kings which reigned over the end and they expressed the evil that caused the judgment to come.