And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept 55 all his precepts, and done according unto all that he commanded you; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.' "I

Zedekiah Breaks with Babylonia

Not all the experience of his predecessors, much less the exhortations of Jeremiah, could hold the king true to his agreement with Babylon. The alluring claims of Egypt were to him as to former Palestinian kings the cause of his undoing. He was detected in treasonable negotiations with Pharaoh Hophra,2 and brought upon the already well-nigh ruined city a siege by Nebuchadnezzar.

Zedekiah, faithless as he was, turned to Jeremiah to learn Jehovah's will. Jeremiah had no word of comfort to offer. He told the king that the city would be taken and burned, and that its king would go to Babylon as a captive.

In the midst of such confusion, a relative of the prophet who had no longer use for the worthless land of his inheritance in Anathoth offered in a spirit of irony to sell it to Jeremiah. The prophet seeing in compliance with this request an opportunity to show his faith in the fidelity of Jehovah to the land, notwithstanding the apostasy of its people, bought the field, and thereby brought upon himself further derision. He hardly understood his own action, but believed it to be the will of Jehovah.

3Behold, the mounds, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what thou hast spoken is come to 5 pass; and, behold, thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me,

I He dismisses his "object-lesson" with words of approval rare upon his lips.

2 Pharaoh Hophra: The fourth king of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 585-569 B.C. He is mentioned only in the Bible and by Herodotus. His chief ambition was to gain for Egypt her old Asiatic control, but his efforts met with no success. Babylonian domination extended to the borders of Egypt under Nebuchadnezzar.

3 Jer. 32:24-27 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

O Lord Jehovah, "Buy thee the field for money, and call witnesses"; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Then came the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying, IO "Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?"

Jeremiah a Prisoner

But no suggestion of return of the exiles could atone for the immediate effect of Jeremiah's prediction of the unfavorable outcome of the siege. His utterances could only be interpreted as counsel to surrender, and were not calculated to put courage into the hearts of the defenders of the city who could but hope for some sudden deliverance such as that of Isaiah's day. We can imagine the worshipers of Jehovah contrasting Jeremiah's grim predictions with those of Isaiah under the former siege.

2 Then the princes said unto the king, "Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as 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: 5 for this man seeketh not the welfare of his people, but the hurt." And Zedekiah the king said, "Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you." Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon3 of Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and

In this act we see Jeremiah holding with what seems almost stubbornness to his belief in the possibility of a reinstated Judah. The statement of lines 10-11 is indeed a triumph of faith.

2 Jer. 38:4-6 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

3 The dungeon was probably an old cistern, an ignominious prison indeed for the prophet. The story of the death of another prophet, Uriah, is told in Jer. 26:20-24, as follows: "And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt; and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people." Jeremiah was fortunate in escaping with his life. For the full story see Jer., chap. 38.

10 they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.1

From the dungeon Jeremiah was rescued by an officer of the king's household and placed under guard in the courtyard of the prison. From this point he was allowed to come and go with a certain degree of freedom.

A new element had by this time come into the situation. The king of Egypt approached with his army to the defense of the city. The Babylonians were drawn off temporarily, giving a brief respite in the siege. A messenger from the king brought Jeremiah secretly into the palace where in the hope of some such message as that of Isaiah he was questioned as to the fate of the city. Note Jeremiah's characteristic reply.

Thus saith Jehovah,' the God of Israel, "Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans 5 shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire."

Thus saith Jehovah, "Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. For though he had smitten the whole army of the 10 Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire."3

During the temporary break in the siege Jeremiah attempted to go to Anathoth to look after his property. This act was interpreted as an effort to reach the Babylonians, and he was seized and imprisoned in the dungeon in the house of one Jonathan the scribe. The king, unable to satisfy himself without the further word of the prophet, again sent secretly for him, and asked for a message from

There was here a real problem to those who held to their belief that the power of Babylonia would be quickly broken. To them Jeremiah seemed a dangerous man and a menace to the city. This incident shows the weakness of Zedekiah in the hands of his princes.

2 Jer. 37:7-10 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

3 Jeremiah is bending all his energies to save the city from being burned and its people from the outrages of a victorious soldiery. He risks his life in vain, however.

Jehovah. Jeremiah was in imminent danger of losing his life. Branded as a traitor, a word from the king would have ended all. He knew his danger, yet with no thought of himself pleaded with the king to avert, by a timely surrender, the coming horrors of the sacking and burning of the city.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,' "Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire. But if thou wilt not 5 go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand." And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver 10 me into their hand, and they mock me."2 But Jeremiah said, "They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me: 15 Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back. And they shall 20 bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire."

The Fall of Jerusalem

But the king, fearing his princes, allowed the siege to continue until after many months a breach in the walls3 was made and the

I

Jer. 38:17-23 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

2 Note the littleness of the king who for fear of personal mockery from renegade Jews will sacrifice a city. For Zedekiah must surely by this time have been convinced that Jeremiah spoke the truth (lines 7-10). The mockery of the members of the king's own household when they are seized by the conqueror will be worse than that which he fears.

3 A breach in the walls: To those who are familiar with modern warfare the length of time which ancient cities withstood a siege is remarkable. The walls of a city were its chief defense. Thus Jerusalem, stripped of its valiant men and all its wealth was able to stand a considerable siege before falling into the hands of the enemy.

army of Nebuchadnezzar poured into the city. Under cover of the night Zedekiah and his guard escaped by way of the king's gardens, but the party was discovered by the Babylonians, when but a few miles from the city. They were captured and taken to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in Hamath. No quarter was given to Zedekiah. His eyes were put out, his sons and his guard killed, and he himself was sent in fetters to Babylon. The story of the destruction of the city as told in the memoirs of Jeremiah is graphic.'

And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people that remained 5 in the city, the deserters also that fell away to him, and the residue of the people that remained. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, that had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.2

The Last Days of Jeremiah

Jeremiah was too important a man to be overlooked by Nebuchadnezzar. He was given his choice, to go to Babylon and live in comfort or to remain with the hopelessly poor and inefficient little group of Jews left in the ruined city. With the latter he cast in his lot, under Gedaliah who was appointed governor of the colony by Nebuchadnezzar. The scattered Jews who had

fled to places of safety prior to the siege gathered again and planting and sowing was resumed in the long-forsaken fields. But the life of the colony was broken up by a conspiracy from within, in which Gedaliah was killed and many of his sympathizers as well. The leaders who remained, fearing lest Nebuchadnezzar should hold them responsible for the death of Gedaliah,3 resolved to go down

1 Jer. 39:8–10 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

2 Note that the king of Babylon does not wish to depopulate the land entirely, but to maintain there a harmless colony. He would doubtless have preferred to spare the city had it been safe to do so.

3 Gedaliah: seems to have been a brave man, but he was not able to cope with the difficult situation. For the full story of this incident and the record of the remainder of the prophet's life in the little colony, read Jer., chaps. 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,