into Egypt for safety. Jeremiah uttered a last unheeded protest, and followed the people into their self-appointed exile. In a foreign land against whose enticements he had set his face for a life time, old and spent with suffering, Jeremiah did not fail, in the atmosphere of idolatry into which his companions so easily settled, to lift his voice against strange gods. The last words. which have come down to us are words of warning to those who in Egypt burned incense to the Queen of Heaven.

I

Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt:

"Behold, I have sworn by my great name," saith Jehovah, "that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any 5 man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Jehovah liveth. Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. And they that escape the sword 10 shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs. And this shall be the sign unto you," saith Jehovah, "that I will punish you in this 15 place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:" Thus saith Jehovah, "Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar 20 king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life."

The Contribution of Jeremiah

Whether Jeremiah died in Egypt or upon Palestinian soil, or eventually joined the exiles in Babylon, we do not know. It remains only to gather from the preceeding pages the essence of his contribution to the religion of the Hebrews, and to reflect upon his character. Self-forgetting, courageous, and loyal, his message forced him to hide a heart which was bleeding with sorrow for his people, in a stern and rigid proclamation of the displeasure of

1 Jer. 44:26-30 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission).

Jehovah. He literally laid down his life for his enemies, not suddenly and in spectacular heroism, but patiently, day by day, in ignominy and persecution, through a period of fifty years. His spirit was his greatest contribution to the religion of his people.

In Jeremiah also we see dawning a conception of the importance of the individual in his relation to God, a relation depending not upon residence in Palestine nor upon worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, but upon the attitude of the individual heart of the Jew wherever he might turn to Jehovah for help. This conception carried with it unlimited faith in the power of Jehovah over all the nations of the earth, and his ability to carry out his purposes regardless of the attitude of the chosen people.

Not only this, but more clearly than any of his predecessors does Jeremiah emphasize the willingness of Jehovah to forgive and to change his purpose of punishment into blessing if only "ye will turn from your evil way.'

" I

"And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

"I am Jehovah the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?"

1 A comparison of the lives of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah leads us to raise the question whether sympathy is not the greatest motive power in human life. Could Isaiah with his commanding presence, his lofty conception of Jehovah, but with his aloofness from the people, have accomplished as much as Jeremiah whose heart was continually torn with the anguish of the suffering nation? Was Jeremiah's life and work a step in the progress toward our modern idea of God as the essence of love and sympathy? Has every man his own particular work to do in the world, a necessary work without which a link in the chain, however small, is missing?

40

30

20

B.C.

586

561

558

554

549

545

538

529

525 523?

522

521 520

516

490

TABLE OF IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS

THE PERSIAN PERIOD OF JEWISH HISTORY

Jerusalem captured by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all the people of Judah except the poorest of the land" taken captive to Babylonia.

Ezekiel commenced his work of prophesying among the exiles a little
later.

Nebuchadnezzar succeeded upon the throne of Babylon by his son
Evil-Merodach.

Jehoiachin, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had kept in a
dungeon, is liberated by Evil-Merodach and honored as a royal
prisoner.

Evil-Merodach assassinated by Nergal-sharezer who seizes the throne for himself.

Nergal-sharezer dies and is succeeded by Labashi-Marduk, his young son, who was murdered by his nobles after a reign of nine months.

Nabonidus chosen king by the conspirators.

Cyrus, king of Persia and of Anshan (a province of Elam) and a vassal of Media, overthrows the Median king, and himself becomes king of the great empire of the Medes; but he fixes his title as “King of Persia."

Cyrus defeats Croesus, the wealthy king of Lydia in Asia Minor,
and pushes his conquests as far as the Aegean Sea.

The "prophet of the Exile” (Isa., chaps. 40-55) begins to preach in
Babylonia.

Cyrus enters Babylon without resistance.

Exiles begin to return in small numbers to Judah. Shesh-bazzar, perhaps a son of Jehoiachin, becomes the first governor of Judah.

Zerubbabel, probably a nephew of Shesh-bazzar, succeeds him as governor of Judah.

Cambyses succeeds to the throne of Persia upon the death of his father, Cyrus the Great.

Cambyses completes the conquest of Egypt.

Gaumata, a pretended son of Cyrus, seizes the throne of Persia.
Cambyses on his way home from Egypt commits suicide.

Revolts break out all over the Persian empire.

Gaumata slain by conspirators, who place Darius upon the throne. Darius undertakes to reduce revolting Babylon and other rebellious provinces to submission; this task requires a full year.

Haggai and Zechariah arouse Zerubbabel and the people of Judah to the rebuilding of the temple.

Completion and dedication of the temple.

Battle of Marathon, in which the Greeks defeat a Persian army, much larger than their own.