(Concluded.)
There has been much speculation on Josiah’s motives for advancing against the army of Pharaoh-N echo. Whatever these were, this step was as unwise as the result of it proved disastrous; for though Josiah disguised himself, he was mortally wounded at Megiddo by the Egyptian archers.
“And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.” The prophet Zechariah, many years afterward, referred to “the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon” as a type of that day of deepest national affliction, in which the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son (Zechariah 12:10-1410And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 14All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. (Zechariah 12:10‑14)). Nell might Judah and Jerusalem bewail the loss of their beloved king, for with Josiah perished all hope of the preservation of the kingdom. Humanly speaking, Josiah was the only remaining pillar that upheld the kingdom, and after his removal by death, it tottered, and finally fell.
This is one of several instances in the Word where we find that, after the mass of the people have failed, a godly leader has been suffered to fall. (Compare Numbers 14:1-41And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. (Numbers 14:1‑4), with 20:10-12, and Psalms 106:3232They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: (Psalm 106:32); Isaiah 29:1313Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: (Isaiah 29:13) with 2 Chronicles 32.3 T; 2 Corinthians 12:20,2;120For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: (2 Corinthians 12:20)
2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:2)
2Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:2)). Before Josiah advanced to meet Necho, Jeremiah had faithfully delivered a direct and most solemn word from the Lord to the people of Judah (Jeremiah 3:66The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. (Jeremiah 3:6) to vi. 30), from which we now quote. “ Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord......Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.. Among my people are found wicked men The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so.” The distressed prophet anxiously appealed to the common people, but in vain did he entreat these to turn unto the Lord. “They have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” Then he turned to the great men, and spake unto them who knew the way of the Lord, but he found that these had “ altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.” (v. 3-5). There were those who returned, confessing their sins, but these were but a remnant (Jeremiah 3:22-2522Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. 23Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 24For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. (Jeremiah 3:22‑25)).
The remarkable prophecy just referred to, was indeed a direct word from the Lord to Judah, but her people repented not: Judah’s relapse into idolatry almost immediately after the death, of Josiah, proves most conclusively that that reformation in his days which outwardly appeared so very fair and promising, was rather the fruit of the godly zeal of her pious king, than the abiding result of the genuine repentance of the people of Judah. And he was taken- over whom Jeremiah lamented thus,-” The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.” Lamentations 4:2020The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. (Lamentations 4:20).
Jehoahaz (or Shallum, Jeremiah 22:1111For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: (Jeremiah 22:11)), who succeeded Josiah, had reigned only three months in Jerusalem when Necho carried him away into Egypt. And the prophet, who had so bitterly mourned for Josiah, now said, “ Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan (or honor) him: weep sore for him that goeth away; for he shall return no more, he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.” Jeremiah 22:10-1210Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: 12But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. (Jeremiah 22:10‑12).
Necho set Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, upon the throne of Judah, but changed his name to Jehoiakim. In the beginning of this vassal king’s reign, Jeremiah took his stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and once more exhorted Judah to repentance; but the priests, prophets, and people conspired together against the prophet of the Lord, and threatened to take his life. Jehoiakim had already stained his hands with the blood of the prophet Urijah, but now, certain princes and elders interposed, and prevented the priests and prophets from carrying out their threat concerning Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26). But in vain did certain attempt to make the prophet hold his peace; despite all their threatenings and cruelty, he ceased not to proclaim the Word of the Lord; displaying indefatigable zeal, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, he lifted up his voice, and faithfully reminded the people of the curses contained in that solemn covenant which Judah had so recently engaged to keep; at the same time he earnestly protested unto them that because they had not obeyed the voice of the Lord, but had conspired against and broken His covenant, He would certainly bring evil upon them from which their false gods could not deliver them (Jeremiah 11) The prophet also referred to the obedience of the Rechabites to the commands of Jonadab their father: thus he reproved an ungodly nation that refused to obey the commands of God (Chapter 35).
Jeremiah also sternly rebuked Jehoiakim for his injustice, and selfish indifference to the cause of the poor, as also for his covetousness, violence, and oppression, and predicted that his burial would present a most shameful contrast to that of his honored father (Chapter 22:13-19). Nevertheless Jehoiakim persisted in his evil ways, and in the third year of his reign, both he and his people were made to smart beneath Jehovah’s chastening rod. For Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem, and took it. The conqueror at first bound Jehoiakim, with intent to carry him to Babylon, but he afterward reinstated him upon the throne as his vassal, and, taking with him certain vessels of the sanctuary, and several youthful princes of the blood royal (Daniel 1), so he departed from Jerusalem.
It was probably after this that Baruch the scribe (because Jeremiah was at the time “shut up”) took the roll which he had written at the dictation of that prophet, and went and read it in the house of God to all the people. When this roll was read before the king he burnt it in the fire, and would have seized Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them.
The king that despised the covenant of the Lord, after three years rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and a second time, did the Chaldees, (now assisted by the surrounding enemies of Israel) besiege the city.
From the language employed by the sacred historian, (2 Kings 24:1-161In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 2And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. 3Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon. 5Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 7And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. 10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. 14And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. (2 Kings 24:1‑16),) and the historical fact of his dead body being cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the might (Jeremiah 36:3030Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. (Jeremiah 36:30)), coupled with the statement that his son and successor had only reigned three months and ten days when the city capitulated, and the special mention of “ the king’s mother,” as being amongst the captives, we are inclined to the thought that Jehoiakim died during this second siege of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah compared the brief reign, followed by the captivity of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah) to the plucking off, and casting away a signet ring, and foretold that none of his seed should succeed to the throne of Judah (22:24-30).
Having set Zedekiah, the brother of Jehoiakim, upon the vacant throne, Nebuchadnezzar a second time retired from Jerusalem, carrying away all the treasures of the temple and palace, and leading into captivity all the mighty men of Judah, and all the skilled artisans, so that none remained save the poorest of the people.
We will now leave Jerusalem awhile, and follow this mournful procession of Jewish captives to Babylon. When these reached the city which was the glory of the Chaldees’ excellency, they sat down, and wept as they remembered Zion. It only added to their grief when they were required to sing one of the songs of Zion. Though these had not the heart to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, they would not, they could not forget Jerusalem (Psalms 137). And the Lord graciously acknowledged those that He had sent out of Judah for their good, that returned unto Him with their whole heart (Jeremiah 24), and comforted them with the assurance that, when seventy years were fulfilled, He would return the captivity of Zion.
In most sublime language Habakkuk had described the coming of Jehovah to take vengeance, Jeremiah had also declared that a whirlwind from the Lord was gone forth in fury, which should fall grievously upon the head of the wicked (23:19). The captive Ezekiel was by the river of Chebar when the heavens were opened, and he saw visions of God. And, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself, &c. Out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, glorious in appearance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Yet the vision inspired Ezekiel with awe and dread, and the words “ dreadful,” and “ terrible,” occur in the prophet’s description of the appearance of these Cherubim and their attendant wheels, which set forth the judicial greatness of God in His attributes of power. These symbolic figures display the glorious, irresistible, and overwhelming power of Him who was then about to “ remove the diadem, and take off the crown” of the profane and wicked Zedekiah (Ezekiel 21:25,2625And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. (Ezekiel 21:25‑26)), and to send upon Jerusalem His four sore judgments, viz., the sword, the famine, the noisome beast; and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast, Ezekiel 14:2121For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Ezekiel 14:21). The visible agents employed by Jehovah to accomplish this work of destruction being Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans (Hab. 1:6-96For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 7They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. 9They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. (Habakkuk 1:6‑9); 2 Chronicles 36:1717Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. (2 Chronicles 36:17)).
While those captives whose names are mentioned in the Book of Daniel, by their faithfulness, and obedience to His commands glorified God in a strange land, the weak-minded and vacillating Zedekiah and his princes at Jerusalem were simply adding iniquity to iniquity. The Babylonish king exalted the prophet Daniel to great honor, but the last of Judah’s kings suffered the prophet Jeremiah to be cruelly ill-treated (Jeremiah 38:4-64Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. 6Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. (Jeremiah 38:4‑6)). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego obeyed God rather than man, and Nebuchadnezzar blessed the God that delivered them that trusted in Him, (Daniel 3:2828Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. (Daniel 3:28)). Because Zedekiah broke that covenant which he had sworn by God to keep, Nebuchadnezzar resolved to destroy Jerusalem.
Exactly thirteen months after he had seen the visions by the river of Chebar, was Ezekiel brought in the visions of God to Jerusalem. One of the duties of priests was to “put difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean.” In the light of the Divine presence this priest and prophet beheld the great abominations which the house of Israel were committing, even in the several courts of the sanctuary (Ezekiel 8); for both priests and people had polluted the house which the Lord had hallowed in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:1414Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 36:14)). Within that sanctuary the prophet again beheld the living Cherubim, but those golden cherubim which overshadowed the mercy-seat, were no longer “ cherubim of glory,” for Ezekiel informs us “that the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house “ (9:3), “ and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.” (10:4). The prophet heard the dreadful sound of the Cherubim’s wings, (10: 5.) and beheld the glory of the Lord depart from off the threshold of the house, and stand over the cherubim. “ And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted from the earth in my sight” (10: 19); rising from the midst of the city, the glory lingered awhile upon the Mount of Olives, and finally disappeared (11: 22 -24).
This removal of the glory from the Temple and city signified the entire removal of the Divine presence from both. Neither were any longer shielded from destruction by the protecting arm of Jehovah. The Lord had lingered long, but Judah had not repented; the days of grace would therefore be succeeded by a day of wrath! This is also plainly shown by the word of the Lord,-” Smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary,” (Ezekiel 9:5,65And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. (Ezekiel 9:5‑6).) While on the one hand, 2 Chronicles 36:17-1917Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. 18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. (2 Chronicles 36:17‑19) and Jeremiah 52 show how-thoroughly the conquering Chaldeans carried out the Divine commission to destroy both city and people of Jerusalem,, another scripture (Jeremiah 39:11-1411Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, 12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. 13So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylon's princes; 14Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people. (Jeremiah 39:11‑14),) testifies on the other hand of their careful protection of Jeremiah from violence. Though Israel had despised the word of the Lord, and misused His prophets, Nebuzar-Adan spake with becoming, reverence of the former, and treated Jeremiah with very great kindness. (Jeremiah 40:2-42And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 3Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. (Jeremiah 40:2‑4)). For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests and people, Jerusalem became a desolation, and her sanctuary a heap of ruins.
The conditional promises made to Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:19-2219But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house? 22And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them. (2 Chronicles 7:19‑22)) were fulfilled in the destruction and desolation of the Temple. With regard to that sanctuary, the sole confidence of the faithful in Israel was now reposed in the unconditional promises ‘which Jehovah made at the same time (7:14-16). Though that city and sanctuary were at the moment a ruinous heap, the prophet Daniel ceased not to esteem Jerusalem, “ thy holy mountain,” and he further entreated the Lord to “ cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.” (Daniel 9:16-1716O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. (Daniel 9:16‑17).) Though that “ holy and beautiful house” was burnt up with fire, amid his tears, Jeremiah could, with the assurance of faith exclaim, “ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” And though at this moment the mosque of Omar stands where the Temple once stood, Moriah has not ceased to be the place of His earthly sanctuary. When the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, in the Lord’s own time, a Temple shall be builded Avon that mountain, and the prophet who beheld the departure of the “ Former Glory of the Temple,” has foretold that the glory of the Lord shall return, but another prophet has said that the glory of the latter house shall exceed the glory of the former (Haggai 2:99The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:9)). In that day the city of Jerusalem shall be overshadowed with the glory of the Lord, Isaiah 4:5,65And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:5‑6).