PERIOD VII.

THE CAPTIVITY AND THE RETURN OF THE JEWS.

B.C. 606-B.C. 400. 206 years.

LESSON 118. DANIEL i; 2 KINGS Xxii. 24-30, xxiv. 1-20. Daniel and his Friends.

Nebuchadnezzar directed Ashpenaz to select from among the captives brought from Judah, the noblest, the most beautiful, and the most skilful of the princes. Children in whom was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Among them were Daniel, and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king's meat, and God gave him favour with Ashpenaz. Their portion of meat was taken away, and they were fed on pulse; and they were fairer than all those who ate of the king's meat. God blessed Daniel and his friends in their captivity, and gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom.

visions and dreams.

And Daniel had understanding in all

After Jehoiakim had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord sent against Judah, to destroy it, bands of the Chaldees, the Sy

PERIOD VII.]

THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH.

rians, the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon. All this came upon Judah at the commandment of the Lord. Jehoiakim died after reigning eleven years, and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him. He reigned only three months and did evil; against him Jeremiah prophesied.

Soon after, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, and the king and the princes were taken captive to Babylon. The treasures of the temple and of the king's house were taken to Babylon, and all the mighty men, and craftsmen, and smiths in the land. None were left in the land save the poorest of the people. Zedekiah was then made king over Judah and Jerusalem. He also did evil, and Jeremiah was commanded to declare God's judgments upon him and his people.

LESSON 119.

JEREMIAH XXviii-xxxi.

Jeremiah's Exhortations.

Jeremiah wrote this letter to the elders of the Jews, to the priests, and to the prophets who were carried away into Babylon; "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; build ye houses, and dwell in them; ... and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them, ... marry... and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts

JUDGMENTS ON FALSE PROPHETS.

[606-400 B.C.

that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." Jeremiah declared God's judgments against Ahab and Zedekiah, who prophesied falsely in the name of the Lord; also against Shemaiah who caused the captives in Babylon to trust in a lie, and to rebel against the Lord. He again spoke of the redemption of the Jews from the land of their captivity, and of the prosperity which should come upon their nation; and proceeded to say, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;...I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah also foretold the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem, and said of his own people, "Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God,... though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel." A false prophet named Hananiah said that within the space of two years the people should return from captivity. Jeremiah denounced him for making the people trust in a lie, and said that he should die during that year, for teaching rebellion. So he died the same year in the seventh month.

PERIOD VII.] THE COVENANT WITH BONDMEN BROKEN.

LESSON 120.

JER. XXXIV. EZEKIEL.

Ezekiel Prophesies. Jeremiah denounces the Princes.

God commanded Jeremiah to tell Zedekiah, that he would give the city to the king of Babylon, and it should be burned with fire, and that the king should be taken captive. Zedekiah made a covenant to proclaim liberty to all in the land who were bondservants. Soon after the princes brought them again into subjection. Jeremiah condemned their conduct, and reminded them of God's merciful laws towards bondmen; he said, "Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty... to return, and to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant... into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes will I give into the

...

PROPHECIES OF EZEKIEL.

[606-400 B.C.

hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation."

Ezekiel prophesied to the captive Jews in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar. He spoke of the judgments of God on Jerusalem, saying, "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.... So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it." He thus predicted the fate of Zedekiah: "And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands;... and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries." He exhorted idolaters to repent for fear of God's judgments, but promised to remember his covenant, and to be merciful in the last days, when Judah should know the Lord.

Chebar—a river of Mesopotamia which falls into the Euphrates; it was the scene of one of Ezekiel's visions.