Coniah: Write ye this man childless

This is the first of six prophecies I will be looking at in Jeremiah.

22:24-30 Coniah 
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;  
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 Nebuchadrezzar 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.  
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.

What in the world does this have to do with Jesus being Christ?

Coniah, also known as Jeconiah and Jehoiachin, was the son of Jehoiakim, who was the son of Josiah, who are all in the line of David, to whom God promised Messiah. And to be the Christ, one has to be the son of David.

The New Testament opens with these words, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And in v 11 we find, And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren (Matthew 1:1, 11). So right at the beginning we are confronted with this possible problem: Jeremiah said, for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah, and then in Matthew we read that Jesus of Nazareth has Jeconiah in his lineage. Is Jesus hereby disqualified from being Christ?

Let’s consider this:

1) Coniah in Jeremiah
In 24-28 we see that even if Coniah was the signet ring on God’s right hand, yet would he be plucked off, that he will go into captivity, and that he will not return to the land.
Verse 30 is the left hook: not prosper - he only ruled for 3 months and spent the rest of his life in Babylon; no seed of his on the throne – there has been no king in Israel since his day. Wow! But childless? He had seven children. It says, write this man childless, maybe childless in that none of his seed assumed the throne after him.

2) According to an interesting article by Jews for Jesus, “The Problem of the Curse on Jeconiah in Relation to the Genealogy of Jesus” which you can read here:

“There are three parts to the curse on Jeconiah (who is also called Jehoiachin or Coniah):

- that he would be childless
- that he would not prosper in his lifetime
- that none of his descendants would rule in Judah

The Scripture shows that in fact none of these took place.

Though the Hebrew literally reads, “Record this man childless,” Jeconiah in fact had children.

The descendants of Jehoiachin the captive: Shealtiel his son, Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah — 1 Chronicles 3:17-18

He did prosper in his day.
In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. — 2 Kings 25:27-28

His grandson Zerubbabel prospered and ruled. In fact the same words God used in rejecting Jeconiah were deliberately used in establishing Zerubbabel.

“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. — Jeremiah 22:24

“‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” — Haggai 2:23

Though Zerubbabel did not sit on the throne as king, the fact that Haggai 2:23 uses the same terminology as Jeremiah 22:24 shows that Haggai intended to indicate a reversal of the curse.

We have to conclude that in Jeremiah 22:30, “in his lifetime” qualifies the following phrases, and “for” explains that no descendant of his will prosper and rule during his lifetime.

We find rabbinic sources which also agree that God reversed the curse on Jeconiah, which they attribute to repentance on Jeconiah’s part. We even find the idea that the Messiah will descend from Jeconiah – exactly the opposite of what some say is impossible!"

This is comforting! But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

3) But, in the final analysis, while Coniah was in Joseph’s line, Jesus was not the son of Joseph. He was born of the Virgin Mary, who was descended from David through Nathan.

My entire Christian life I have only ever heard the third explanation, that the curse was permanent and that Jesus received his identity as Son of David through Mary. I won’t argue with anyone about this, but I am now inclined to options one and two. It makes sense, even Manasseh, who reigned for 55 years and did astonishing evil, found forgiveness when he repented. Oh how the mercy of God is magnified!

I began with this prophecy, not because it speaks directly of Jesus, but because it is sometimes offered either as a contradiction or a disqualifier for Jesus to be the Christ. But it does not. So, the angel Gabriel, without fear of contradiction, can announce to Mary:

Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:30-33)

Amen! He is great! He is the Son of the Highest! He is King!

All hail, King Jesus!
All hail, Emmanuel!
King of kings
Lord of lords
Bright Morning Star.
And throughout eternity
I’ll sing your praises
And I’ll reign with you
Through out eternity

Next: A Righteous Branch; Jehovah tsidkenu