The first years of Jehoiakim's reign were filled with
warnings of approaching doom. The word of the Lord
spoken by the prophets was about to be fulfilled. The
Assyrian power to the northward, long supreme, was no
longer to rule the nations. Egypt on the south, in whose
power the king of Judah was vainly placing his trust, was
soon to receive a decided check. All unexpectedly a new
world power, the Babylonian Empire, was rising to the
eastward and swiftly overshadowing all other nations.
Within a few short years the king of Babylon was to
be used as the instrument of God's wrath upon impenitent
Judah. Again and again Jerusalem was to be invested
and entered by the besieging armies of Nebuchadnezzar.
Company after company--at first a few only, but later
on thousands and tens of thousands--were to be taken
captive to the land of Shinar, there to dwell in enforced
exile. Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah--all these Jewish
kings were in turn to become vassals of the Babylonian
ruler, and all in turn were to rebel. Severer and yet more
severe chastisements were to be inflicted upon the rebellious
nation, until at last the entire land was to become a desolation,
Jerusalem was to be laid waste and burned with fire,
the temple that Solomon had built was to be destroyed,
and the kingdom of Judah was to fall, never again to
occupy its former position among the nations of earth.
Those times of change, so fraught with peril to the
Israelitish nation, were marked with many messages from
Heaven through Jeremiah. Thus the Lord gave the children
of Judah ample opportunity of freeing themselves
from entangling alliances with Egypt, and of avoiding
controversy with the rulers of Babylon. As the threatened
danger came closer, he taught the people by means of a
series of acted parables, hoping thus to arouse them to a
sense of their obligation to God, and also to encourage them
to maintain friendly relations with the Babylonian government.
To illustrate the importance of yielding implicit obedience
to the requirements of God, Jeremiah gathered some
Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple and set
wine before them, inviting them to drink. As was to have
been expected, he met with remonstrance and absolute
refusal. "We will drink no wine," the Rechabites firmly
declared, "for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father
commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor
your sons forever."
"Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and
tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to My words?
saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab,
that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are
performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their
father's commandment." Jeremiah 35:6, 12-14.
God sought thus to bring into sharp contrast the obedience
of the Rechabites with the disobedience and rebellion
of His people. The Rechabites had obeyed the command
of their father and now refused to be enticed into
transgression. But the men of Judah had hearkened not to the
words of the Lord, and were in consequence about to suffer
His severest judgments.
"I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking," the
Lord declared, "but ye hearkened not unto Me. I have
sent also unto you all My servants the prophets, rising up
early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every
man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go
not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in
the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:
but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto Me.
Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have
performed the commandment of their father, which he
commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto
Me: therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God
of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have
pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them,
but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but
they have not answered." Verses 14-17.
When men's hearts are softened and subdued by the
constraining influence of the Holy Spirit, they will give
heed to counsel; but when they turn from admonition until
their hearts become hardened, the Lord permits them to
be led by other influences. Refusing the truth, they accept
falsehood, which becomes a snare to their own destruction.
God had pleaded with Judah not to provoke Him to
anger, but they had hearkened not. Finally sentence was
pronounced against them. They were to be led away captive
to Babylon. The Chaldeans were to be used as the instrument
by which God would chastise His disobedient people.
The sufferings of the men of Judah were to be in proportion
to the light they had had and to the warnings they had
despised and rejected. Long had God delayed His
judgments, but now He would visit His displeasure upon them
as a last effort to check them in their evil course.
Upon the house of the Rechabites was pronounced a
continued blessing. The prophet declared, "Because ye have
obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and
kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he
hath commanded you: therefore thus saith the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall
not want a man to stand before Me forever." Verses 18, 19.
Thus God taught His people that faithfulness and obedience
would be reflected back upon Judah in blessing, even as
the Rechabites were blessed for obedience to their father's
command.
The lesson is for us. If the requirements of a good and
wise father, who took the best and most effectual means
to secure his posterity against the evils of intemperance,
were worthy of strict obedience, surely God's authority
should be held in as much greater reverence as He is holier
than man. Our Creator and our Commander, infinite in
power, terrible in judgment, seeks by every means to bring
men to see and repent of their sins. By the mouth of His
servants He predicts the dangers of disobedience; He sounds
the note of warning and faithfully reproves sin. His people
are kept in prosperity only by His mercy, through the vigilant
watchcare of chosen instrumentalities. He cannot uphold
and guard a people who reject His counsel and despise His
reproofs. For a time He may withhold His retributive
judgments; yet He cannot always stay His hand.
The children of Judah were numbered among those of
whom God had declared, "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom
of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:6. Never did
Jeremiah in his ministry lose sight of the vital importance
of heart holiness in the varied relationships of life, and
especially in the service of the most high God. Plainly he
foresaw the downfall of the kingdom and a scattering of
the inhabitants of Judah among the nations; but with the
eye of faith he looked beyond all this to the times of restoration.
Ringing in his ears was the divine promise: "I will
gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither
I have driven them, and will bring them again to their
folds. . . . Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:3-6.
Thus prophecies of oncoming judgment were mingled
with promises of final and glorious deliverance. Those
who should choose to make their peace with God and live
holy lives amid the prevailing apostasy, would receive
strength for every trial and be enabled to witness for Him
with mighty power. And in the ages to come the deliverance
wrought in their behalf would exceed in fame that wrought
for the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus. The
days were coming, the Lord declared through His prophet,
when "they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which
brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the
seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and
from all countries whither I had driven them; and they
shall dwell in their own land." Verses 7,8. Such were the
wonderful prophecies uttered by Jeremiah during the closing
years of the history of the kingdom of Judah, when the
Babylonians were coming unto universal rule, and were even
then bringing their besieging armies against the walls of Zion.
Like sweetest music these promises of deliverance fell
upon the ears of those who were steadfast in their worship
of Jehovah. In the homes of the high and the lowly, where
the counsels of a covenant-keeping God were still held in
reverence, the words of the prophet were repeated again
and again. Even the children were mightily stirred, and
upon their young and receptive minds lasting impressions
were made.
It was their conscientious observance of the commands
of Holy Scripture, that in the days of Jeremiah's ministry
brought to Daniel and his fellows opportunities to exalt
the true God before the nations of earth. The instruction
these Hebrew children had received in the homes of their
parents, made them strong in faith and constant in their
service of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the
earth. When, early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar
for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem,
and carried away Daniel and his companions, with others
specially chosen for service in the court of Babylon, the
faith of the Hebrew captives was tried to the utmost. But
those who had learned to place their trust in the promises
of God found these all-sufficient in every experience through
which they were called to pass during their sojourn in a
strange land. The Scriptures proved to them a guide and
a stay.
As an interpreter of the meaning of the judgments beginning
to fall upon Judah, Jeremiah stood nobly in defense
of the justice of God and of His merciful designs even in
the severest chastisements. Untiringly the prophet labored.
Desirous of reaching all classes, he extended the sphere of
his influence beyond Jerusalem to the surrounding districts
by frequent visits to various parts of the kingdom.
In his testimonies to the church, Jeremiah constantly
referred to the teachings of the book of the law that had
been so greatly honored and exalted during Josiah's reign.
He emphasized anew the importance of maintaining a
covenant relationship with the all-merciful and compassionate
Being who upon the heights of Sinai had spoken the
precepts of the Decalogue. Jeremiah's words of warning and
entreaty reached every part of the kingdom, and all had
opportunity to know the will of God concerning the nation.
The prophet made plain the fact that our heavenly
Father allows His judgments to fall, "that the nations may
know themselves to be but men." Psalm 9:20. "If ye walk
contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me," the
Lord had forewarned His people, "I, even I, . . . will scatter
you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after
you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste."
Leviticus 26:21, 28,33.
At the very time messages of impending doom were
urged upon princes and people, their ruler, Jehoiakim, who
should have been a wise spiritual leader, foremost in
confession of sin and in reformation and good works, was
spending his time in selfish pleasure. "I will build me a
wide house and large chambers," he proposed; and this
house, "ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion"
(Jeremiah 22:14), was built with money and labor secured
through fraud and oppression.
The wrath of the prophet was aroused, and he was
inspired to pronounce judgment upon the faithless ruler.
"Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness,
and his chambers by wrong," he declared; "that useth his
neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for
his work. . . . Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself
in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do
judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He
judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well
with him: was not this to know Me? saith the Lord. But
thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness,
and for 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." Verses 13-19.
Within a few years this terrible judgment was to be
visited upon Jehoiakim; but first the Lord in mercy informed
the impenitent nation of His set purpose. In the fourth
year of Jehoiakim's reign "Jeremiah the prophet spake
unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem," pointing out that for over a score of years,
"from the thirteenth year of Josiah, . . . even unto this
day," he had borne witness of God's desire to save, but that
his messages had been despised. Jeremiah 25:2, 3. And
now the word of the Lord to them was:
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not
heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the
families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them
against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy
them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and
perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them
the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of
the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of
the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole
land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these
nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
Verses 8-11.
Although the sentence of doom had been clearly pronounced,
its awful import could scarcely be understood by
the multitudes who heard. That deeper impressions might
be made, the Lord sought to illustrate the meaning of the
words spoken. He bade Jeremiah liken the fate of the
nation to the draining of a cup filled with the wine of
divine wrath. Among the first to drink of this cup of woe
was to be "Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings
thereof." Others were to partake of the same cup--"Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all
his people," and many other nations of earth--until God's
purpose should have been fulfilled. See Jeremiah 25.
To illustrate further the nature of the swift-coming
judgments, the prophet was bidden to "take of the ancients
of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; and go
forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom," and there, after
reviewing the apostasy of Judah, he was to dash to pieces
"a potter's earthen bottle," and declare in behalf of Jehovah,
whose servant he was, "Even so will I break this people and
this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be
made whole again."
The prophet did as he was commanded. Then, returning
to the city, he stood in the court of the temple and declared
in the hearing of all the people. "Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this
city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced
against it, because they have hardened their necks,
that they might not hear My words." See Jeremiah 19.
The prophet's words, instead of leading to confession
and repentance, aroused the anger of those high in authority,
and as a consequence Jeremiah was deprived of his liberty.
Imprisoned, and placed in the stocks, the prophet nevertheless
continued to speak the messages of Heaven to those
who stood by. His voice could not be silenced by persecution.
The word of truth, he declared, "was in mine heart
as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary
with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jeremiah 20:9.
It was about this time that the Lord commanded Jeremiah
to commit to writing the messages he desired to bear
to those for whose salvation his heart of pity was continually
yearning."Take thee a roll of a book," the Lord bade His
servant, "and write therein all the words that I have spoken
unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against
all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the
days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the
house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to
do unto them; that they may return every man from his
evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."
Jeremiah 36:2,3.
In obedience to this command, Jeremiah called to his
aid a faithful friend, Baruch the scribe, and dictated "all
the words of the Lord, which He had spoken unto him."
Verse 4. These were carefully written out on a roll of
parchment and constituted a solemn reproof for sin, a warning
of the sure result of continual apostasy, and an earnest
appeal for the renunciation of all evil.
When the writing was completed, Jeremiah, who was
still a prisoner, sent Baruch to read the roll to the multitudes
who were assembling at the temple on the occasion of a
national fast day, "in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son
of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month." "It may be,"
the prophet said, "they will present their supplication before
the Lord, and will return everyone from his evil way:
for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath
pronounced against this people." Verses 9, 7.
Baruch obeyed, and the roll was read before all the people
of Judah. Afterward the scribe was summoned before
the princes to read the words to them. They listened with
great interest and promised to inform the king concerning
all they had heard, but counseled the scribe to hide himself,
for they feared the king would reject the testimony and
seek to slay those who had prepared and delivered the
message.
When King Jehoiakim was told by the princes what
Baruch had read, he immediately ordered the roll brought
before him and read in his hearing. One of the royal attendants,
Jehudi by name, fetched the roll and began reading
the words of reproof and warning. It was the time of winter,
and the king and his companions of state, the princes
of Judah, were gathered about an open fire. Only a small
portion had been read, when the king, far from trembling
at the danger hanging over himself and his people, seized
the roll and in a frenzy of rage "cut it with the penknife
and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all
the roll was consumed." Verse 23.
Neither the king nor his princes were afraid "nor rent
their garments." Certain of the princes, however, "had
made intercession to the king that he would not burn the
roll: but he would not hear them." The writing having
been destroyed, the wrath of the wicked king rose against
Jeremiah and Baruch, and he forthwith sent for them to
be taken; "but the Lord hid them." Verses 24-26.
In bringing to the attention of the temple worshipers,
and of the princes and king, the written admonitions contained
in the inspired roll, God was graciously seeking to
warn the men of Judah for their good. "It may be," He
said, "the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I
purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man
from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and
their sin." Verse 3. God pities men struggling in the blindness
of perversity; He seeks to enlighten the darkened understanding
by sending reproofs and threatenings designed
to cause the most exalted to feel their ignorance and to
deplore their errors. He endeavors to help the self-complacent
to become dissatisfied with their vain attainments and
to seek for spiritual blessing through a close connection
with heaven.
God's plan is not to send messengers who will please
and flatter sinners; He delivers no messages of peace to lull
the unsanctified into carnal security. Instead, He lays heavy
burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer and pierces
his soul with sharp arrows of conviction. Ministering angels
present to him the fearful judgments of God, to deepen
the sense of need and to prompt the agonizing cry, "What
must I do to be saved?" Acts 16;30. But the Hand that
humbles to the dust, rebukes sin, and puts pride and ambition
to shame, is the Hand that lifts up the penitent, stricken
one. With deepest sympathy He who permits the chastisement
to fall, inquires, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto
thee?"
When man has sinned against a holy and merciful God,
he can pursue no course so noble as to repent sincerely and
confess his errors in tears and bitterness of soul. This God
requires of him; He accepts nothing less than a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. But King Jehoiakim and his
lords, in their arrogance and pride, refused the invitation
of God. They would not heed the warning, and repent.
The gracious opportunity proffered them at the time of the
burning of the sacred roll, was their last. God had declared
that if at that time they refused to hear His voice, He would
inflict upon them fearful retribution. They did refuse to
hear, and He pronounced His final judgments upon Judah,
and He would visit with special wrath the man who had
proudly lifted himself up against the Almighty.
"Thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He
shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his
dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in
the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed
and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon
them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the
men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against
them." Jeremiah 36:30, 31.
The burning of the roll was not the end of the matter.
The written words were more easily disposed of than the
reproof and warning they contained and the swift-coming
punishment God had pronounced against rebellious Israel.
But even the written roll was reproduced. "Take thee again
another roll," the Lord commanded His servant, "and write
in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which
Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned." The record
of the prophecies concerning Judah and Jerusalem had been
reduced to ashes; but the words were still living in the
heart of Jeremiah, "as a burning fire," and the prophet
was permitted to reproduce that which the wrath of man
would fain have destroyed.
Taking another roll, Jeremiah gave it to Baruch, "who
wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of
the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in
the fire: and there were added besides unto them many
like words." Verses 28,32. The wrath of man had sought
to prevent the labors of the prophet of God; but the very
means by which Jehoiakim had endeavored to limit the
influence of the servant of Jehovah, gave further opportunity
for making plain the divine requirements.
The spirit of opposition to reproof, that led to the persecution
and imprisonment of Jeremiah, exists today. Many
refuse to heed repeated warnings, preferring rather to listen
to false teachers who flatter their vanity and overlook their
evil-doing. In the day of trouble such will have no sure
refuge, no help from heaven. God's chosen servants should
meet with courage and patience the trials and sufferings
that befall them through reproach, neglect, and misrepresentation.
They should continue to discharge faithfully
the work God has given them to do, ever remembering
that the prophets of old and the Saviour of mankind and
His apostles also endured abuse and persecution for the
Word's sake.
It was God's purpose that Jehoiakim should heed the
counsels of Jeremiah and thus win favor in the eyes of
Nebuchadnezzar and save himself much sorrow. The youthful
king had sworn allegiance to the Babylonian ruler, and
had he remained true to his promise he would have commanded
the respect of the heathen, and this would have
led to precious opportunities for the conversion of souls.
Scorning the unusual privileges granted him, Judah's
king willfully followed a way of his own choosing. He violated
his word of honor to the Babylonian ruler, and rebelled.
This brought him and his kingdom into a very strait place.
Against him were sent "bands of the Chaldees, and bands
of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of
the children of Ammon," and he was powerless to prevent
the land from being overrun by these marauders. 2 Kings
24:2. Within a few years he closed his disastrous reign in
ignominy, rejected of Heaven, unloved by his people, and
despised by the rulers of Babylon whose confidence he had
betrayed--and all as the result of his fatal mistake in turning
from the purpose of God as revealed through His appointed
messenger.
Jehoiachin [also known as Jeconiah, and Coniah], the
son of Jehoiakim, occupied the throne only three months
and ten days, when he surrendered to the Chaldean armies
which, because of the rebellion of Judah's ruler, were once
more besieging the fated city. On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar
"carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's
mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty
of the land," several thousand in number, together with
"craftsmen and smiths a thousand." With these the king
of Babylon took "all the treasures of the house of the Lord,
and the treasures of the king's house." 2 Kings 24:15,16,13.
The kingdom of Judah, broken in power and robbed
of its strength both in men and in treasure, was nevertheless
still permitted to exist as a separate government. At its
head Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah, a younger son of
Josiah, changing his name to Zedekiah.