They lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, Against thee, O daughter of Zion (6. 22f.). But the immediate events seemed to discredit Jeremiah's message. The terrible Scythians came and went without destroying Judah, yet there had certainly been no reformation of national life. Within five years the great law book was found in the temple, and an impression was made upon the king and people which no words of the prophets had been able to effect. To outward appearance a thoroughgoing reformation took place. The young king, at all events, was heartily in earnest. He removed all the abominations of Manasseh, and directed that every prescription of the law should be rigidly obeyed (2 Kings 22f.; Deut 12). Deuteronomy is a book of hope. In clear and scathing words it declares inevitable punishment upon iniquity, but with equal insistence promises peace, prosperity, and success as a reward of national righteousness. Josiah was determined to earn the good favor of Jehovah upon the terms of this great covenant. We do not know very well what position Jeremiah took in the matter. It is probable that he saw that the reformation was the work of the king and was utterly external so far as the people were concerned. Yet he loyally preached the doctrines of Deuteronomy and hoped for the best (11. 1-8). We have only a scant reference to his work in those years, and it is likely that others who were more enthusiastic for the new law were more prominent. Then came that tragic day in Israel's history when the promises of Jehovah seemed to be broken against the rude facts of national experience. Egypt, who had been bitterly humiliated by the Assyrian kings, was eager to take advantage of the rapidly declining power of her old enemy and capture some of the territory of western Asia. The Pharaoh therefore marched along the old route by the shores of the Mediterranean and through the Pass of Megiddo to the plain of Esdraelon on his way to the Euphrates. Josiah decided to dispute his passage. He had great hopes that with the fall of Assyria a real independence should return to Judah. But the Egyptians were victorious, and the best king that had ever sat on David's throne was slain (2 Kings 23. 29f.). Judah became vassal to Egypt (vv. 31-35). 8 3. THE MESSAGE OF DOOM The religious reaction in Judah was immediate and complete. It seemed to the people that Jehovah had failed against the stronger gods of Egypt. The promises of Deuteronomy seemed to be vain. The people turned back to the old heathenisms, and Jehovah was but one of their many gods. With the revival of idolatry came in again all the selfishness, the sensuality, the injustice of the bad days of Manasseh. Under Jehoiakim Judah was a typical Oriental kingdom with all its worst features well developed. It There was, however, one curious article of faith in Jehovah which was very tenaciously held in Jerusalem. had never been forgotten that Isaiah had insisted that Jehovah would not abandon his city (Isa 37. 35). The defense of Zion was considered the peculiar province of the national God. The people, as was customary, conceived the whole matter in sacramental and not in ethical terms. Jehovah's favor must be secured by the splendor of the ceremonial; they never understood the prophetic demand for righteousness. Jeremiah made a great attempt to rectify this error. "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these" (7. 3-11). He not only insisted that there was no certainty of the perpetuity of the temple, but that the house of David which had stood so long would be swept away unless the kings realized their high obligation to see that justice was done (22. 2f). Jeremiah's plea had no effect. He became convinced that there was no opportunity of patching up the rags of the national life. He had not been deceived by the hollowness of the Josian reformation, and therefore his faith was not shaken by the fate of that good king. He and the prophets who shared his views gave as an explanation of the seeming failure of the Deuteronomic promise that the evils in Judah had gone too far, and the conditions of the promise had not been met (compare 2 Kings 23. 26f.). Jeremiah came to the conclusion that the only possibility of righteousness was in the complete destruction of the rotten organization of Hebrew society and a fresh start. Then he expected a glorious future. As he looked back upon his call he realized to how radical a mission he had been summoned, "to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant"-four words destructive, two words constructive, and the work to be done in that order (1. 10). Thenceforth the message of Jeremiah was one of doom. The temple was to be made like the ruined sanctuary of Shiloh and the city to be a curse to all the nations of the earth (26. 6). The priests and the professional prophets determined that Jeremiah should be indicted for treason. When, however, the matter was brought before the judicial authorities, the precedent of Micah in the time of Hezekiah was cited, and the right of free speech for a prophet was declared (vv. 16-19). It is noteworthy, however, that the king disapproved of the judgment, and soon found opportunity to show another venturesome prophet, who perhaps had not so many influential friends as Jeremiah, that such words were spoken at his peril (vv. 20-23). Jeremiah spoke his mind freely about Jehoiakim. He denounced the selfish extravagance of the monarch, who was carrying on expensive building operations in spite of the heavy tribute that was laid upon the land. Moreover he was resorting to that most objectionable method of royal extravagance, the employment of forced labor for which no wages were paid. The prophet compared him with his godly father, who did justice and righteousness and "it was well with him" (22. 15-17). Meantime in 605 B. C., Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had defeated the Egyptians in the decisive battle of Carchemish. As a consequence Judah became vassal of Babylon. Jeremiah declared that Nebuchadrezzar was the instrument of Jehovah, and that Judah must submit to his power (ch. 25). Jehoiakim foolishly revolted, Jerusalem was besieged, the king died during the siege, his son Jehoiachin succeeded him, within three months the city was captured, and the king, princes, and the best of the people were deported to Babylon (2 Kings 24. 8-16). Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, was made king of the poor remnant (vv. 17f.). Jeremiah knew that all the hope of a future Israel was with the exiles who had been carried away, but he remained in Jerusalem endeavoring still to serve his people by his counsel. He had the same difficult task that had confronted Isaiah, for Egypt was ever intriguing with the Palestinian peoples and endeavoring to get them to revolt against their eastern masters. Zedekiah and his nobles weakly listened to these seducing counsels, though Jeremiah sternly denounced them. The prophet insisted that for the time. Nebuchadrezzar was the chosen ruler of Jehovah and all nations must submit to him (ch. 27). But tribute was irksome, and Egypt's promises were fair, and probably there were counselors in Jerusalem bought with Egyptian gold. So at last Zedekiah refused to pay the tribute, taking the dangerous position of a rebel against his suzerain. Nebuchadrezzar lost no time in coming with a mighty army, and Jerusalem was again besieged. Jeremiah saw the inevitable end and told Zedekiah plainly that the city would be captured and destroyed (34. 1-5). Then occurred a remarkable incident that gave Jeremiah an opportunity to show his conception of ethical religion. The rulers were thoroughly frightened at the coming of the Babylonians and were desirous of winning the favor of Jehovah. They remembered that they had not allowed their slaves to go free at the end of the sixth year, according to the law, so they very piously released them in this emergency. But meantime the Egyptians had at last mobilized their army, and advanced against Nebuchadrezzar, who was obliged to raise the siege of Jerusalem that he might meet the new enemy. The wealthy Israelites immediately took advantage of the occasion to reenslave their manumitted brethren. Jeremiah came forth with a scathing message, "Thus saith Jehovah, You have not proclaimed liberty to your brethren: behold I proclaim unto you a liberty to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth" (34. 17). He told them that the Chaldeans would return and would take the city. Jeremiah was denounced as a traitor. It was said, and with truth, that he weakened the hands of the defenders of the city by his hopeless words. But he was trying to get Zedekiah to surrender, and thus secure from the conqueror, for he knew that the issue was inevisome clemency table. It was a sorry task for a man of tender spirit, and a patriot, but it was duty, and Jeremiah performed it to the end. 4. THE PROFESSIONAL PROPHETS The task of Jeremiah was rendered the more difficult by the attitude of the professional prophets. It was both to their taste and to their advantage to prophesy smooth things, to tell the kings that they would have success, to tell the people that prosperity would follow adversity. They were the cheerful optimists of their day, using the term in our current connotation of a man who is determined to expect good fortune and to shut his eyes to all contrary facts. The professional optimist is inevitably a defender of vested interests and of special privilege. He has no brief for the oppressed, for the victim of social iniquity. His emoluments |