Jeremiah 22:1-3 - Do what is just and right

22:1,2

“Go down ...”, the palace was at a lower elevation than the temple. Jeremiah, as he had done before, was to take the word of God to the king. Kings and rulers have authority, but they are all under God’s authority, all are answerable to the Lord. When they claim to not be under God’s authority they are living a lie. Jeremiah is to remind the king that he sits on David’s throne. This throne was established by God, not by man, and required obedience to the word of God. The word applied not just to the king himself, but also to all the officials.

22:3

“Do what is just and right”. This is the responsibility of all people, but especially of rulers. So rulers are to protect and rescue people from robbers. They are to treat foreigners properly, not doing any violence to them. And the same applies to widows and orphans. With foreigners a ruler may be tempted to think “no one likes foreigners anyway, I can do what I like”. Or with widows and orphans he may think that they are weak and powerless so I can do what I like and get away with it. A ruler must not shed innocent blood.