Wow, even way back then people marked their stuff so no one could steal it. I’m surprised nobody hasn’t stolen all the stuff the archaeologists found and try and sell it on eBay or something.
I see in the following chapter the kings were pretty evil. I guess the people couldn’t do anything about it either. America is a republic so the people have the right to make changes, but that isn’t going to happen. The United State is no longer the home of the free and brave, now it’s full of idolaters, homosexuals, and sissies, their like cock roaches, annoying vermin.
Jeremiah 22
A Burden About Evil Kings
1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
“Go down” the palace was at a lower elevation than the temple.
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:
“King of Judah” – probably Zedekiah whose predecessors are mentioned in sequence later in the chapter.
“Throne of David” – though all the kings of the Davidic dynasty failed to a greater or lesser degree, the victorious Messiah would someday appear as the culmination of David’s royal line.
3 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.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, everyone with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 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:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
Tel Abel Beth Maachah is located in the Upper Galilee, between Kfar Giladi and Metula. The ruins of the ancient city are located on a high oval shaped mound. The northern section of the mound rises to the height of 414m (1360ft) above sea level, while the lower but longer southern section is only 368m (1207ft) high.
The artificial mound towers about 50m (164ft) above the surrounding area. The deep valley of the Ayun stream loops around the site, providing it yet another natural defense advantage.
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is sealed with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
James defines a proper relationship to God in similar terms (see Jas 1:27).
“To know me” – to love God fully, which results in living a pious life and serving those in need (see Deut 10:12-13; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:8).
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 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!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
“Lovers” – “Lovers” here refers to nations jointed together by treaty. Judah’s onetime allies included Egypt, Assyria, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Phoenicia, all of whom had been, or soon would be, conquered by Babylon.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
“Shall eat up…pastors…wickedness” – the initial fulfillment of this verse took palace in 597 B.C. (see Kgs 24:12-16).1
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 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;
22:24-30 – a prophecy against King Jehoiachin (fulfilled in 24:1, 29:2), who was also known as Coniah, a shortened form of Jeconiah. The meaning of the name means “The Lord establishes.”
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
Fulfilled in 597 B.C. (see 29:2; 2 Kgs 24:15).
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 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.
“No man of his seed” – not in the sense of Coniah’s having no children because he had at least seven, but of having none to sit on the throne of David in Judah. Coniah’s grandson Zerubbabel (1 Chr 3:17-18; Matt 1:12) became governor of Judah, but not king.
Zedekiah was a son of Josiah, not of Coniah, and he and his sons died before the latter. Coniah therefore was Judah’s last surviving Davidic king until Christ.
Ramat Rahel
Ramat Rachel (Lit. “Rachel’s Heights”) is a kibbutz located south of Jerusalem in Israel, as an enclave within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries. Overlooking Bethlehem and Rachel’s Tomb (for which the kibbutz name is named) and situated within the Green Line, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. As of 2010, the kibbutz’s population numbers approximately 400 members, children and residents.
Ramat Rahel was fortified during the 8th century B.C. and occupied with some breaks, until the 8th century A.D. an Israelite citadel during the late 7th century B.C., it included a palace and administrative buildings.
Archaeologists have discovered small decorative capitals (the tops of columns that bear their weight) and columns with traces of red paint that formed the banister and railing of a window. Larger capitals were found with recesses at the top of ceiling beams, which were typically made of cedar wood.
These finds remarkably match the description of Jehoiakim’s palace in Jer 22:13-15; indeed, Ramat Rahel may have served as the king’s summer palace (cf. Jer 36:22).
In addition, numerous jar handles were discovered there. Of those found, 145 were stamped with the Hebrew word lmlk, which means either “(belonging) to the king” (indicating that they were royal stock) or “(certified) by the king” (specifying that they conformed to royal standards of weights and measures).
Another handle was found stamped with the Hebrew words for “belonging to Eliakim, steward of Jehoiachin.” This Eliakim may have been a subordinate of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, who was exiled to Babylon in 597 B.C.
Later jar handles, stamped with “Jerusalem,” “Judah,” “Judah, the Governor,” etcetera., indicate the site’s use as an administrative center during the Persian period.
Evidence suggests that Ramat Rahel may be identified with Beth Hakkerem, which means “house of the vineyard” (Neh 3:14; Jer 6:1). Herodian remains include coins dated up to 69 A.D., the year before the destruction of Herod’s temple.
It was clear that when Obama was president he wished he could be king, but sense he couldn’t be he had hoped that he could declare Martial Law. Such an evil man. If Obama could he’d try and defeat the non-existing god Allah.