Josiah was a rare good king of the nation of Judah. In the midst of repairs of the temple, prophecies were discovered about the judgement that was coming in the nation. Josiah trusted those prophecies, and in return that judgement was stayed through his lifetime.
Later, though, Josiah got it in his head that he needed to go fight a war, so he went out and picked a fight with the king of Egypt. This did not go well, and Josiah was killed.
The prophet Jeremiah lamented the death of Josiah, in 2 Chronicles 35, echoed here in Jeremiah 9.
Jeremiah weeps for and laments the evilness of the age and of his people. This is not an incidental evil, but planned and trained for like a bowman learns his careful craft. In response, God pledges to lay waste to the nation, leaving it not even fit for scavengers and wild beasts.
God will send war and famine to Israel. Jeremiah calls for loud wailing and lamentation, and for preparing the traditional mourners for the death that will come across generations, to all ages and all economic levels. There will be so much death that the bodies will lay “like dung in the field.”
Then comes the call to repentance. Because of all this, we have no reason to trust in our strength, riches or intelligence. All these things are fleeting and can be taken away at any moment. The only thing that can last is the steadfast love, justice and righteousness of God. We see the later in the story when the obedience of the Ethiopian eunuch Ebed-melech results in the sparing of his life.
In the final verses of chapter 9 we see that this judgement is promised broadly, and that the “uncircumcised in heart” are no better than the pagan nations surrounding them.
What does all this mean for us today as followers of Christ? The first few verses of Philippians 3 serve as a New Testament companion piece to Jeremiah 9.
Like Jeremiah, Paul counsels us to put no confidence in any of the things that humanity prizes – anything we have gained, whether religious or secular, whether money or power or intelligence, anything that is not founded on Christ. The false circumcision is not worth any more than an utter lack of it – and we can substitute church attendance, good works, the “right” social media posts or any other outward signs that may well be falsified. Christ in what matters, and our connection to Him is all that we ultimately can take with us.
– Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, August 11, 2019