A detour with a signet ring – Part 6

The LORD has a harsh rebuke for King Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22.

“As I live,” declares the LORD, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it.” Jeremiah 22:24-26

The imagery is shocking. The signet ring, a symbol of the king’s power, is a depiction of King Jeconiah. The Lord was done with kings who mocked his authority. Close your eyes and imagine His disgust at the evil Jeconiah did. 2 Kings 24 tells us Jeconiah did evil in the Lord’s sight just as his father Jehoiakim had. The Lord removed Jeconiah the way he would discard a signet ring.

But that’s not the end.

A beautiful story of redemption unfolds decades later. When Cyrus, King of Persia, allows the Jews to return to Israel, Zerubbabel leads them. The prophet Haggai tells us that Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, Yahweh Elohim.

Selah.

At last, the people showed reverence for the Lord. Through Haggai, He declared, “I am with you.” Zerubbabel’s leadership and the people’s dedication pleased Him.

Haggai’s little book ends like this:

‘On that day,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’” declares the LORD of armies.

I have chosen you. Those four words bring tears to my eyes every time I read them. What the Lord discarded with Jeconiah He redeemed with Zerubbabel.