JEREMIAH
cerned
outward
religion,
this
was
a
drastic
and
enduring
revolution.
Not
merely
the
later
idolatries
imported
from
the
East
under
the
Assyrian
supremacy,
but
also
the
indigenous
rites
of
Molech
and
the
Baalim
were
abolished.
Above
all,
an
end
was
put
to
the
immemorial
cultus
of
the
local
'
high
places,'
at
which
the
service
of
Jehovah
had
been
corrupted
by
mixture
with
that
of
the
Canaanite
divinities.
Worship
was
centralized
at
the
royal
Temple
of
Jerusalem
;
and
the
'
covenant
'
with
Jehovah
made
by
king
and
people
there
in
the
terms
of
Deuter-onomy,
followed
by
the
memorable
Passover
feast,
was
designed
to
inaugurate
a
new
order
of
things
in
the
life
of
the
people;
this
proved,
in
fact,
a
turning-point
in
Israel's
history.
However
disappointing
in
its
im-mediate
spiritual
effects,
the
work
of
Josiah
and
his
band
of
reformers
gave
the
people
a
written
law-book
and
a
definitely
organized
religious
system,
which
they
carried
with
them
into
the
Exile
to
form
the
nucleus
of
the
OT
Scriptures
and
the
basis
of
the
later
Judaism.
The
fall
of
Josiah
in
battle
concluded
the
interval
of
freedom
and
prosperity
enjoyed
by
Judah
under
his
vigorous
rule.
For
three
years
the
country
was
subject
to
the
victorious
Pharaoh,
who
deposed
and
deported
Shallum-Jehoahaz,
the
national
choice,
re-placing
him
on
the
throne
of
Judah
by
his
brother
Eliakim-Jehoiakim.
The
great
battle
of
Carchemish
(605),
on
the
Euphrates,
decided
the
fate
of
Syria
and
Palestine;
the
empire
of
Western
Asia,
quickly
snatched
from
Egypt,
passed
Into
the
strong
hands
of
the
Chaldffian
king
Nebuchadrezzar,
the
destined
destroyer
of
Jerusalem.
From
this
time
'Babylon'
stands
for
the
tyrannous
and
corrupting
powers
of
the
world;
she
becomes,
for
Scripture
and
the
Church,
the
metropoUs
of
the
kingdom
of
Satan,
as
'
Jerusalem
'
of
the
kingdom
of
the
saints.
The
Chaldsean
empire
was
a
revival
of
the
Assyrian,
—
less
brutal
and
destructive,
more
ad-vanced
in
civilization,
but
just
as
sensual
and
sordid,
and
exploiting
"the
subject
races
as
thoroughly
as
its
predecessor.
The
prophecies
of
Habakkuk
(chs.
1
and
2)
reveal
the
intense
hatred
and
fear
excitejl
by
the
approach
of
the
Chaldseans;
the
ferocity
of
Nebuchadrezzar's
troops
was
probably
aggravated
by
the
incorporation
with
them
of
Scythian
cavalry,
large
bodies
of
which
still
roamed
south
of
the
Caspian.
The
repeated
and
desperate
revolts
made
by
the
Judaeans
are
accounted
for
by
the
harshness
of
Nebuchadrezzar's
yoke,
to
escape
which
Tyre
endured
successfully
a
thirteen
years'
siege.
His
enormous
works
of
building
(see
Hab
2i2-
'')
must
have
involved
crushing
exactions
from
the
tribu-taries.
Jehoiakim,
after
Carchemish,
transferred
his
allegiance
to
Babylon.
For
three
years
he
kept
faith
with
Nebuchad-rezzar,
and
then
—
apparently
without
allies
or
reason-able
hope
of
support
—
rebelled
(2
K
24').
Jehoiakim
was
a
typical
Eastern
despot,
self-willed,
luxurious,
un-principled,
oppressive
towards
his
own
people,
treach-erous
and
incompetent
in
foreign
poUcy.
Jeremiah
denounces
him
vehemently;
the
wonder
is
that
he
did
not
fall
a
victim
to
the
king's
anger,
hke
his
disciple
Uriah
(Jer
262<i-2«
362«-'»
2213-").
The
revived
national
faith
in
Jehovah,
which
had
rested
on
Josiah's
poUtical
success,
was
shaken
by
his
fall;
the
character
of
the
new
king,
and
the
events
of
his
reign,
furthered
the
reaction.
A
popular
Jehovist
party
existed;
but
this
was
the
most
dangerous
factor
in
the
situation.
Its
leaders
—
the
prophet
Hananiah
amongst
them
(Jer
28)
—
preached
out
of
season
Isaiah's
old
doctrine
of
the
inviolability
of
Zion;
even
after
the
capture
of
Jeru-salem
in
697
and
the
first
exile,
'
the
prophets
'
prom-ised
in
Jehovah's
name
a
speedy
re-instatement.
The
possession
of
the
Temple
and
theobservance
of
the
Law,
they
held,
bound
Jehovah
to
His
people's
defence.
The
fanaticism
thus
excited,
of
which
the
Jewish
race
has
given
so
many
subsequent
examples,
brought
about
the
second,
and
fatal,
rupture
with
Babylon.
Nebuchadrezzar
showed
a
certain
forbearance
towards
JEREMIAH
Judah.
On
Jehoiakim's
first
revolt,
in
601,
he
let
loose
bands
of
raiders
on
the
Judsean
territory
(2
K
24^;
cf.
Jer
12»-
»);
four
years
later
he
marched
on
the
capital.
Jehoiakim
died
just
before
this;
his
youthful
son
Jehoiachin
(called
also
Jeconiah
and
Coniah)
surrendered
the
city,
and
was
carried
captive,
with
the
queen-mother
and
the
€Ute
of
the
nobles
and
people,
to
Babylon,
where
he
lived
for
many
years,
to
be
released
upon
Nebuchadrezzar's
death
in
561
(2
K
248-"
25"-'",
Jer
22^-30).
The
reign
of
Mattaniah-Zedekiah,
raised
to
the
throne
by
Nebuchadrezzar,
was
in
effect
a
repetition
of
that
of
his
elder
brother.
Zedekiah
failed
through
weakness
more
than
through
wickedness;
he
sought
Jeremiah's
advice,
but
lacked
decision
to
follow
it.
Early
in
his
reign
a
conspiracy
was
on
foot
in
Palestine
against
the
Chaldsans,
which
he
was
tempted
to
join
(Jer
271-";
see
RVm
on
v.')-
The
Judteans,
instead
of
being
cowed
by
the
recent
punishment,
were
eager
for
a
rising;
pubUc
opinion
expressed
itself
in
Hananiah's
con-tradiction
to
Jeremiah's
warnings
(ch.
28).
The
same
false
hopes
were
exciting
the
exiles
in
Babylon
(ch.
29).
Nebuchadrezzar,
aware
of
these
movements,
summoned
Zedekiah
to
Babylon
(Jer
SP');
the
latter
was
able,
however,
to
clear
himself
of
compUcity,
and
returned
to
Jerusalem.
At
last
Zedekiah
yielded
to
the
tide;
he
broke
his
oaths
of
allegiance
to
Nebuchadrezzar
—
■
conduct
sternly
condemned
by
Ezekiel
(17"-")
as
well
as
by
Jeremiah
—
and
the
Jewish
people
were
launched
on
a
struggle
almost
as
mad
is
that
which
it
undertook
with
Rome
660
years
later.
The
siege
of
Jerusalem
was
stubbornly
prolonged
for
two
years
(588-686).
The
Egyptians
under
the
new
and
ambitious
Pharaoh-hophra
(Apries,
588-569),
effected
a
diversion
of
the
Chaldsean
troops
(Jer
376-'»,
Ezk
17");
but,
as
often
before,
Pharaoh
proved
'a
broken
reed
to
those
who
trusted
in
him.'
Reduced
by
famine,
Jerusalem
was
stormed,
Zedekiah
being
captured
in
his
attempt
to
escape,
and
meeting
a
pitiable
death
(2
K
25'-').
This
time
Nebuchadrezzar
made
an
end
of
the
rebels.
Jerusalem
was
razed
to
the
ground;
the
survivors
of
the
siege,
and
of
the
executions
that
followed,
were
carried
into
exile.
A
remnant,
of
no
pohtical
import-ance,
was
left
to
till
the
ground;
the
bulk
of
these,
after
the
tragic
incidents
related
in
Jer
39-43,
fled
to
Egypt.
Jeremiah,
who
had
in
vain
resisted
this
migra-tion,
was
carried
with
the
runaways;
he
had
the
distress
of
seeing
his
companions
relapse
into
open
Idolatry,
protesting
that
they
had
fared
better
when
worshipping
'
the
queen
of
heaven'
than
under
the
national
Jehovah.
Jewish
tradition
relates
that
he
died
at
the
hands
of
his
incensed
fellow-exiles.
The
prophet's
prediction
that
the
sword
of
Nebuchadrezzar
would
follow
the
fugitives,
was
fulfilled
by
the
Chaldsean
invasion
of
Lower
Egypt
in
the
year
569,
if
not
earUer
than
this.
The
Babylonian
empire
lasted
from
b.c.
605
to
638,
—
a
little
short
of
the
'
70
years'
assigned
to
it,
in
round
numbers,
by
Jeremiah
(26"
29'").
2.
The
man,
—
The
Book
of
Jeremiah
is
largely
auto-biographical.
The
author
became,
unconsciously,
the
hero
of
his
work.
This
prophet's
temperament
and
experience
have
coloured
his
deUverances
in
a
manner
peculiar
amongst
OT
writers.
His
teaching,
moreover,
marks
an
evolution
in
the
Israelite
religion,
which
acquires
a
more
personal
stamp
as
its
national
frame-work
is
broken
up.
In
Jeremiah's
life
we
watch
the
spirit
of
revelation
being
driven
inwards,
taking
refuge
from
the
shipwreck
of
the
State
in
the
soul
of
the
individual.
Jeremiah
is
the
prophet
of
that
'church
within
the
nation,'
traceable
in
its
beginnings
to
Isaiah's
time,
to
which
the
future
of
revealed
religion
is
hence-forth
committed.
This
inner
community
of
heart-beUevers
survived
the
Exile;
it
gave
birth
to
the
Bible
and
the
synagogue.
Jeremiah
was
a
native
of
Anathoth,
a
little
town
some
3i
miles
N.E.
from
Jerusalem,
perched
high
on
