Chapter XXXVI: Preface (8)

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and {308} Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord. He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord.

Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the law of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. And the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

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DIGGING IN THE MOUND WHICH COVERS THE ANCIENT CITY OF LACHISH.

From a photograph of the Palestine Exploration Fund and used by
special permission.

Lachish, a very ancient city, was captured by the Hebrews when they
first came into Palestine. It was an important military post,
guarding the passes into southern Judea. It was captured by
Sennacherib in the great raid when he took "all the fenced cities of
Judah." Assyrian sculpture has been found depicting this siege of
Lachish. About 120 years later, the city was again captured by
Nebuchadnezzar when he carried the people into captivity. When the
people returned it was again occupied. The pictures show the
excavation in the mound which covers the site of this very ancient
city. In this mound there are 14 layers of ruins one above the
other. Important tablets dating before the first occupation of the
Hebrews have been found.
[End illustration]

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And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, "Since the people began to bring the oblations into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store." Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them.

After these things, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he intended to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and they helped him. So there was gathered many people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?"

And he took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and the other wall without, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance. And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, "Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there is a greater with us than with him: with him is {312} an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles." And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem (now he was before Lachish, and all his army with him), unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, "Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide the siege in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, 'The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria'? Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 'Ye shall worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye burn incense'? Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands any ways able to deliver their land out of my hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither believe ye him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?"

And his servants spoke yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah. He wrote also letters, {313} to ridicule the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand."

And they cried with a loud voice in the Hebrew language unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands. And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, his own children slew him there with the sword.

Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

In those days Hezekiah was sick even unto death: and he prayed unto the Lord; and he spoke unto him, and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not again {314} according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of goodly vessels; storehouses also for the increase of corn and wine and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and flocks in folds.

Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him very much substance.

This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

And Hezekiah died and they buried him in the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

[Footnote: The story of the relations between Hezekiah the king and
Isaiah the prophet will be found in Vol. V. of this series.]

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THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,
But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride,
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone.
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
--_Lord Byron_.

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HYMN BY THE EUPHRATES

O Thou that wilt not break the bruised reed,
Nor heap fresh ashes on the mourner's brow,
Nor rend anew the wounds that inly bleed,
The only balm of our afflictions Thou,
Teach us to bear Thy chastening wrath, O God!
To kiss with quivering lips--still humbly kiss Thy rod!

We bless Thee, Lord, though far from Judah's land;
Though our worn limbs are black with stripes and chains;
Though for stern foes we till the burning sand;
And reap, for others' joy, the summer plains;
We bless Thee, Lord, for Thou art gracious still,
Ev'n though this last black drop o'erflow our cup of ill!

Forgive, forgive,--even should our full hearts break;
The broken heart Thou wilt not, Lord, despise;
Ah! Thou art still too gracious to forsake,
Though Thy strong hand so heavily chastise.
Hear all our prayers, hear not our murmurs, Lord;
And, though our lips rebel, still make Thyself adored.
--_Henry Hart Milman_.

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MANASSEH.

(Manasseh began his reign by doing every evil thing he could possibly think of; he sacrificed to all the heathen idols and made his own children "pass through the fire." In the book of Chronicles it is said that he was taken captive and carried away to Babylon. Here he repented of his many sins, and became a good and holy man.)

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the idols of Baal, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: and he practiced augury, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David {318} and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers; if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses."

But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke by his servants the prophets, saying, "Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.'"

Moreover Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, so that they did evil more than did {319} the nations, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they gave no heed. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he prayed unto him; and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

(God forgave his sin, and he went back to his kingdom to serve him
all the rest of his life.)

Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate; and he compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he built up the altar of the Lord, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto the Lord their God. So Manasseh died and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

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THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH.

(In the Apocrypha is found a prayer which is said to have been the prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, while he was in captivity in Babylon. It is certainly a very beautiful prayer for forgiveness and pardon.)

[Footnote: Apocrypha--See note at the end of the volume.]

"O Lord Almighty, that art in heaven, thou God of our fathers, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous race; who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name; whom all things fear, yea, tremble before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and the anger of thy threatening toward sinners is irresistible: thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the Lord Most High, of great compassion, longsuffering and abundant in mercy, and repentest of bringing evils upon men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner: for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions are multiplied, O Lord: my {321} transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head by reason of my sins, neither have I any respite: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done that which is evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied detestable things. Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities: but, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me; and destroy me not with mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me into the lower parts of the earth. For thou, O Lord, art the God of them that repent; and in me thou wilt show all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy. And I will praise thee forever all the days of my life: for all the host of heaven doth sing thy praise, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen."

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AMON.

(Amon failed to profit by his father's experience, but turned again to idolatry. After only two years on the throne, he was assassinated by his own courtiers, who probably expected to make one of their own number king. In this, however, they were disappointed, for the people insisted upon making the son of Amon, Josiah, a little boy only eight years old, the king.)

Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: and Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them. And he humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more. And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

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JOSIAH.

_The Story of the Little Boy Who Became a Good King_.

(The reign of Josiah was marked by one of the most sweeping and important reforms in the history of Judah. For the first ten years of his reign, until the king reached the age of eighteen, things went in much the old idolatrous way. Then the young king began to assert himself with spirit. First he ordered repairs made upon the temple, which had fallen into decay and ruin. While these repairs were going on, Hilkiah, the high priest, made a great discovery. He found an old book of the law. He hastened to tell Shaphan the scribe, who in turn told the king. When the king read this book, and discovered how the nation had disobeyed the law he was in great distress. He called an assembly of all the people and the law was read to them. Then he ordered a great reform. The idols were all swept away, and the old law was established everywhere. But after all, this good king met a sad fate. A great army of the Egyptians advanced against the country. They were not intending to destroy Judah, but Josiah, fearing that the nation was in danger, went out to fight them. They met in the great battle of Megiddo. The army of Judah was destroyed, and Josiah, mortally wounded by the arrows of the Egyptian archers, was taken back to Jerusalem to die.)

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

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And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may make account of the money which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the workmen which are in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house; unto the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons; and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house." Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered in to their hand; for they dealt faithfully.

And Hilkiah the priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord."

And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, "Thy servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the Lord."

And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book."

And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and the king's officers, saying, {325} "Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, and the king's officers went to Huldah the prophetess, who said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched.' But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.'"

And they brought the king word again. And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house {326} of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people consented to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to {327} Beer-sheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat bread among their brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king break down, and beat them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for heathen gods, did the king defile.

Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

And the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant." Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.

{328}

But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, "I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'"

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, "What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war; and God hath commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not."

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco, from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away; for I am sore wounded." So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in {329} the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchers of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations, unto this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

(Another account of the reformation of Josiah and his death is taken from the Apocrypha.)

[Footnote: See note at the end of the volume.]

And Josiah held the passover in Jerusalem unto his Lord, and offered the passover the fourteenth day of the first month; having set the priests according to their daily courses, being arrayed in their vestments, in the temple of the Lord. And he spoke unto the Levites, the temple-servants of Israel, that they should hallow themselves unto the Lord, to set the holy ark of the Lord in the house that King Solomon the son of David had built: and said, "Ye shall no more have need to bear it upon your shoulders: now therefore serve the Lord your God, and minister unto his people Israel, and prepare you after your fathers' houses and kindreds, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the magnificence of Solomon his son: and standing in the holy place according to the several divisions of the families of you the Levites, who minister in the presence of your brethren the children of Israel, offer the passover in order, and make ready the sacrifices {330} for your brethren, and keep the passover according to the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto Moses."

Thus were the things that belonged to the sacrifices of the Lord accomplished in that day, in holding the passover, and offering sacrifices upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of King Josiah. So the children of Israel which were present at that time held the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. And such a passover was not held in Israel since the time of the prophet Samuel. Yea, all the kings of Israel held not such a passover as Josiah, and the priests, and the Levites, and the Jews, held with all Israel that were present in their dwelling place at Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover held. And the works of Josiah were upright before his Lord with a heart full of godliness. Moreover the things that came to pass in his days have been written in times past, concerning those that sinned, and did wickedly against the Lord above every people and kingdom, and how they grieved him exceedingly, so that the words of the Lord were confirmed against Israel.

Now after all these acts of Josiah it came to pass, that Pharaoh the king of Egypt came to raise war at Carchemish upon Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. But the king of Egypt sent to him, saying, "What have I to do with thee, O king of Judah? I am not sent out from the Lord God against thee; for my war is upon Euphrates: and now the Lord is with me, yea, the Lord is with me hasting me forward: depart from me, and be not against the Lord."

{331}

Howbeit Josiah did not turn back unto his chariot, but undertook to fight with him, not regarding the words of the prophet Jeremiah spoken by the mouth of the Lord: but joined battle with him in the plain of Megiddo, and the princes came down against King Josiah. Then said the king unto his servants, "Carry me away out of the battle; for I am very weak." And immediately his servants carried him away out of the host.

Then got he up upon his second chariot; and being brought back to Jerusalem he died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his fathers. And in all the land they mourned for Josiah; and Jeremiah the prophet lamented for Josiah, and the chief men with the women made lamentation for him, unto this day: and this was given out for an ordinance to be done continually in all the nation of Israel.

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JEHOAHAZ.

(Jehoahaz was the third son of Josiah, but was made king after the death of his father over the heads of his brothers. His reign lasted only three months. Neco the Egyptian, conqueror of Josiah at Megiddo, sent a detachment to Jerusalem which deposed the king and took him away captive to Egypt.)

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and took tribute from the land, an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.

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AN OLD STREET OF JERUSALEM
[End illustration]

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JEHOIAKIM.

(The Egyptians who deposed Jehoahaz put Eliakim, whose name they changed to Jehoiakim, on the throne and he became during his reign of eleven years one of the worst and most idolatrous kings who ever sat upon the throne. He persecuted the prophets of his time, and especially Jeremiah. His hatred of this great prophet, and how he put him in the foulest dungeon of Jerusalem, is told elsewhere. [Footnote: In Volume V. of this series.] The following is one of the prophet's fierce denunciations of this wicked king:)--

"Thus saith the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord: Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.' For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of {336} the king of Judah: 'Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, everyone with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them.'

"Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him who goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went forth out of this place: 'He shall not return thither any more; but in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.'

[Footnote: Shallum was perhaps the original name of Jehoahaz, the
preceding king, who after his brief reign had been carried captive
to Egypt. ]

"Woe unto him who buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; who useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not his hire; who saith, 'I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers,' and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

"Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? then it was well with him. He judged the {337} cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. 'Was not this to know me?' saith the Lord.

"But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not lament for him, saying 'Ah, my brother!' or, 'Ah sister!' they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah lord!' or, 'Ah his glory!'

'He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

"Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan: and cry from Abarim; for all thy lovers are destroyed. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, 'I will not hear.' This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. The wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee! 'As I live,' saith the Lord, 'though Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother who bore thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall {338} ye die. But to the land whereunto their soul longeth to return, thither shall they not return.'

"Is this man Jehoiachin a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord, 'Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.'

"'Woe unto the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!' saith the Lord.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that feed my people: 'Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking,' saith the Lord.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, 'The Lord is our righteousness.'

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"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, 'As the Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt'; but, 'As the Lord liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.'

"Concerning the prophets. Mine heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome; because of the Lord, and because of his holy words. For the land is full of evil doers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

"Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen an horrible thing; they walk in lies, and they strengthen the hands of evil doers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, {340} and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.'

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 'Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they teach you vanity: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say continually unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto everyone that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it? Behold, the tempest of the Lord, even his fury, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly. I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spoke not unto them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

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VIEW LOOKING TOWARD JERUSALEM FROM THE WEST.
Used by special permission of the Detroit Photograph Company.

This view looks toward the city from the southwest. The winding road
enters at the Jaffa gate.
[End illustration]

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"'How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies; even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.'

"'What is the straw to the wheat?' saith the Lord. 'Is not my word like as fire?' saith the Lord; 'and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?'

"'Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets,' saith the Lord, 'that steal my words everyone from his neighbor.' 'Behold, I am against the prophets,' saith the Lord, 'that use their tongues, and say, He saith.' 'Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams,' saith the Lord, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither shall they profit this people at all,' saith the Lord.

"And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, 'What is the burden of the Lord?' then shalt thou say unto them, 'What burden! I will cast you off,' saith the Lord.

"And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, 'The burden of the Lord,' I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, 'What hath the Lord answered?' and 'What hath the Lord spoken?' And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for ye have {344} perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

"Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, 'What hath the Lord answered thee?' and 'What hath the Lord spoken?'

"But if ye say, 'The burden of the Lord'; therefore thus saith the Lord: 'Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence: and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten."

(This prophecy was already hastening on to fulfillment. The power of Egypt had been broken by Nebuchadnezzar at the battle of Carchemish, and now the great king of Babylon came sweeping down upon Judah to put an end to its existence as a nation. Tradition says that the evil king, Jehoiakim, was slain during a sally from the walls, and that his dead body lay there dishonored and unburied.)

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the {345} 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 spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets. Surely 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; and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and the Lord would not pardon. So Jehoiakim died.

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JEHOIACHIN.

(Jehoiachin had hardly begun his reign before the city of Jerusalem yielded to the assaults of the armies of Babylon, and the king, with the flower of the nation, men, women, and children, artisans and soldiers, were carried away into captivity. Tradition says that a later king of Babylon, Evil-Merodach, released Jehoiachin, then fifty-five years old, and treated him with distinguished respect.)