The Lord’s covenant with Israel made it very clear that the kings of Israel had to be faithful to the covenant. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of the law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of the law and these statutes and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel
(Deuteronomy 17:18–20). The covenant also made it very clear that Israel was to be a nation that pursued justice (Deuteronomy 1:9–18; Deuteronomy 16:18–20). Therefore, the Lord reminds the king of Judah that one of his most important responsibilities was to execute justice in the morning
(Jeremiah 21:12). The Hebrew word labboqer is translated here as morning
and it means daily
or regularly.
1 The king played a central role in maintaining justice in the land, especially for those who were vulnerable and marginalized: And deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed.
This was such an important part of the king’s responsibilities that the Lord warns of the consequences of failure: Lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.
The clear implication here is that Zedekiah, and the kings who came before him, had failed to uphold justice and the Lord’s words of warning suggest that repentance and change were still possible. This may have been the case if Jeremiah had spoken these words much earlier in his ministry, but in their current context the time for repentance has gone. Jerusalem is already under siege and the consuming fire of the Lord’s judgment is now unavoidable. In that context these words of warning don’t offer hope, but rather highlight the stubborn disobedience of the kings of Judah and point out where the kings have gone wrong.
2
12 O house of David! Thus says the LORD: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”