And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign. 2 Kings 25:1-21 Captivity of Judah A. E. Kitteridge, D. D. We have two prominent characters in this lesson — Zedekiah King of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. The latter was one of the remarkable men of the world, not only as a military conqueror, but as a ruler of great genius and executive power. Zedekiah was the youngest son of Josiah, and was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar at the age of twenty-one. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord" ( 2 Kings 24:19 ). At length he revolted against the King of Babylon, and this revolt was the beginning of the end, which was the captivity of Judah. It was in the year 589 B.C., in the month of January, that the siege of Jerusalem commenced, and it lasted one year five months and twenty-seven days. During this time the besieging army, or a part of it, marched to meet the Egyptians, who were coming to the help of the Jews, and with the retreat of the Egyptians the siege was continued even more rigorously. As the Jews were accustomed to observe the anniversary of national disasters with lastings, the dates of such disasters were preserved accurately. (See Zechariah 7:3-5 ; Zechariah 8:19 .) By turning to Jeremiah 34:7 we learn that the army of Nebuchadnezzar also besieged the cities of Lachish and Azekah, which were the only strongholds remaining to the Jews, so that with their capture the victory was complete and the humiliation of God's people perfected (vers. 1-3). It is interesting to study the life of Jeremiah in connection with the events of this lesson (Jeremiah chaps, 37., 38.), for it was he who prevented for some time the revolt of the king against the yoke of Babylon by counselling submission and patience, and after the siege he urged Zedekiah to surrender to the enemy, assuring him, by the word of the Lord, that there was nothing to be gained by resistance, and that the end would be the burning of the city and the king's capture and death. And now commenced the afflictions of Zedekiah — afflictions which were the fulfilment of Divine prophecy, in which fulfilment the King of Babylon was unconsciously the instrument in God's hand in the punishment of this wicked monarch of Judah. And notice how terrible the punishment was. In the first place, his sons were put to death before his eyes, the purpose being to put an end to the dynasty. Then we learn from Jeremiah 12:10 that his daughters were carried into captivity. In addition to this, Zedekiah himself was bound in chains, "fetters of brass," and double fetters too, so that he was bound hand and foot, making escape impossible. His trial took place in the royal camp at Riblah, but we may suppose that it was a mere form, since the guilt of Zedekiah in breaking his oath of allegiance to the King of Babylon was known to all. Now let us consider what sins Zedekiah had committed, which brought down upon him and his family and the people of God this terrible punishment. 1. We know from 2 Kings 24:19 that he did not seek the glory of God in his reign. "He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all which Jehoiakim had done." By studying the history of the reign of his brother Jehoiakim we know that this "evil" consisted in the fact that he did not oppose and overthrow idolatry in the kingdom. We have no evidence that Zedekiah was himself an idolater, but we are responsible to God not only for what we say and do, but for our influence over others. 2. Another sin of Zedekiah's was his revolt from the King of Babylon, and we learn from the punishment visited upon Judah's king the sacredness of an oath in God's sight. 3. Zedekiah broke a solemn covenant which he had made with the people, that all Jews held in bondage should be set free. In accordance with the king's command, this degree of emancipation was carried out, and no Jew throughout Judah was a slave. But when it was known that the Egyptian army was coming to help them, then Zedekiah thought that he would not need the assistance of these freedmen in the battle with the enemy, and so the order of emancipation was revoked, and slavery was re-established in the land ( Jeremiah 34:16, 17 ). 4. Zedekiah's treatment of the prophet was another cause which led to his overthrow. Although in the beginning of the national peril he had sent to Jeremiah with the urgent message, "Pray now unto the Lord our God for us," yet we read ( Jeremiah 37:2 ), "Neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah." And not only did he refuse to follow the prophet's advice, but he yielded to the enemies of this fearless man of God, and suffered them to imprison and maltreat him. There are some very solemn lessons which we learn from the sad life and tragic end of this last king of Judah.They are — 1. The first and indispensable requisite to success is for one to gain the victory over his own lower nature. So long as we are slaves to sin, we cannot be great in any path of life, but he who keeps self under, who has conquered passions and appetites for the sake of God and His cause, is sure to live a royal life, though he may never sit on a throne. 2. The fact that any one is our enemy does not relieve us from the obligation to keep faith with him ( Joshua 9:19 ). Perjury is always a terrible sin. 3. If our trust is in God, we need never fear what our enemies may do, for with God on our side all must be well. Zedekiah feared his nobles because he had no faith in God. 4. The Christian is the only one who can be absolutely fearless of the future, for around him are the everlasting arms. Zedekiah put his trust in the fortifications around Jerusalem; if he had trusted in Jehovah and believed the words of Jeremiah, his life would have been safe and his kingdom would have been preserved. David sang: "In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God." 5. We never gain by doing wrong. When we do evil that good may come, we are always disappointed. 6. God is not mocked. If He determines to punish, no walls or weapons can defeat His purpose. When He says to us that all other paths but the one which he has marked out lead to destruction, we may be sure that our disobedience will in the end prove His words to be true ( Jeremiah 2:17 ; Hosea 13:9 ). ( A. E. Kitteridge, D. D. ) The captivity of Judah Monday Club Sermons. The destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the removal of the Jews into the Babylonish captivity, were a Divine judgment. Nebuchadnezzar was an unconscious agent of God in destroying, as Cyrus was in rebuilding and restoring. This judgment was not final Terrible as it was, it was a chastisement rather than a punishment. As such it illustrates some features of the Divine method in disciplinary judgment. I. IT IS A DIVINE METHOD TO DELAY JUDGMENT, not only final, but also partial judgment. The instructions of Moses had been clear. His warnings had been full and explicit. He had gathered in the Book of Deuteronomy a complete presentation of the conditions upon which his people would alone be blessed; failing to comply with which they would be afflicted and cursed. When the people began to transgress, God began to afflict them; first, however, reviewing the warning of Moses by His prophetic messengers. He was prompt to chide them. As a father He chastised them. II. THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS ARE CERTAIN. We do not know the time of them, but God does. It is delayed, but it is not indefinite. It is fixed. There are many hints in the Scripture at the exact timing of events in God's government. The Saviour began early to speak of His hour. At times He said it was not yet come. The night was coming, but it had not come. Then the fateful announcement fell from His lips in a prayer: "Father, the hour is come!" One chapter in Ezekiel, pointing to the culmination of judgment upon Judah, has for its awful refrain, It is come. The notes of time in the history grow definite. Nebuchadnezzar came in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month. In the eleventh year, the fourth month, the ninth day, the supply of food gave out, and famine prevailed. In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, in the fifth month, in the seventh day of the month, the city was destroyed. The very hour when the Chaldeans broke into the city is recorded. So certain are the delayed judgments of God, if men do not repent. They impend. They are withheld. They may be withdrawn. God would withdraw them. It grieves Him to inflict them. But when a certain definite hour is reached, and His people is still incorrigible, they must fall. A thousand years may pass. Men may grow bold, and say, "Since the fathers fell asleep, all things remain as they were from the beginning." But not when the hour strikes. Then, punctually, the fire falls upon the cities of the plain, and the floods of the deluge are poured out, and Shiloh falls, and Samaria falls, and Jerusalem falls. Here is a lesson for all nations, all families, all individuals, under the Divine government. To remain unsubmissive under the government of God is to expose ourselves to His judgments. These may be delayed. Not so, they will be delayed. But their time is not indefinite: it is fixed. When the hour is reached the blow will fall. It may be a trial; it may be an affliction! it may be a tragedy. It may be all these three, for disciplinary judgments are cumulative. III. THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE THOROUGH. It is true of those that are final, it is true also of those that are partial. When Nebuchadnezzar came, he had a force equal to his needs. He came in person with "all his host." Jeremiah says more explicitly, "All his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people." This immense host was the Lord's messenger. "It seemed," says Stanley, "to those who witnessed it, like the rising of a mighty eagle, spreading out its vast wings, feathering with the innumerable colours of the variegated masses which composed the Chaldean host, sweeping over the different countries, and striking fear in his rapid flight." If this array had not been sufficient for the conquest, God would have brought new levies; for the day was come. The siege was thorough. The city was surrounded. It was assailed from huge mounds and towers built up for the purpose. For a year and a half it held out. Then its store of provisions failed. Fathers devoured the flesh of their own sons and daughters. The hands even of pitiful mothers have sodden their own children, the mere infants just born. When the city still stubbornly held out, the siege was pressed more fiercely. At last the wall was pierced. At midnight the breach was made. The Chaldeans swarmed in. The destruction was complete. The, ark now disappeared, to be seen no more. Tradition says that Jeremiah buried it. Probably the fire destroyed it. It could not have been taken to Babylon with the spoil of the temple, the pillars of Solomon, and the molten sea, whose loss Jeremiah so bitterly bewailed; for otherwise it would have been returned with the other temple furniture by Cyrus. It was not needed longer. Religion had not disappeared from the nation. It is of much consequence to observe, in the light of this history, that a certain proportion of religious life is necessary to save a nation or an individual. There were individuals like Jeremiah and Baruch and their friends. There were youths like Daniel and his companions. There were others, perhaps even numerous, who cherished the law so recently discovered by Josiah, and whose recovery was so joyfully regarded as an event of national importance. But it was not enough to save the nation that there were good men and women in it, or that it had the Bible. IV. THE PURPOSE OF A DISCIPLINARY JUDGMENT IS KEPT EVER IN VIEW. Though the judgment of Judah was terribly thorough it was not final. Its aim was to save the nation, if possible, and as many of its individual citizens as possible. A considerable remnant of the poorer classes was left on the land to keep it in tillage. Those taken into captivity were told that it should only be of limited duration. After seventy years they should return. They were permitted to have prophets and religious teachers with them in Babylon and in Judah. ( Monday Club Sermons. ) Captivity of Judah S. Matthews. If we come to the fall of Jerusalem with the desire to see not merely a special judgment of God, but to gain lessons from the operation of what are commonly called natural causes, we shall discover three facts to which it was largely due. 1. Bad economic conditions. Judah fell into the hands of the Babylonians because her kings had wasted bet resources. David gave a united nation to Solomon, who in turn passed it, still entire, to Rehoboam. Under this its fourth king the nation was broken into two hostile kingdoms. The narrative gives the cause explicitly, — unendurable taxation. The glory of Solomon, his navy and palaces and harem and chariots, had been purchased at the price of great suffering on the part of the people. Had Rehoboam followed the advice of his older counsellors and lightened taxation, Jeroboam would never have become his rival, and the confederation of the twelve tribes, none too strong at best, would not have wasted its strength in civil war. 2. Moral degeneracy. But back of the bad financial policy of the nation lay its moral weakness. For a nation whose God was Jehovah, the Jews were wonderfully prone to idolatry. If we except a few years of David's reign, there was not a moment, from the Call to the Return, when Israel was not itching to run after strange gods. Solomon was a typical eclectic in religion, permitting heathen divinities to be worshipped by the side of his great temple. The reforms of such kings as Hezekiah and Josiah were short-lived, and served but to set in strange contrast the popular worship in the high places and the groves. 3. Disregard of religious teachers. Nothing is more dramatic than the struggle between the prophets and the kings of Israel. Samuel with the gigantic Saul cowering at his feet; Elijah defying Ahab, slaying the prophets of Baal, and running from Jezebel; Elisha travelling up and down a half-converted land; Isaiah outspoken and dying a martyr's death; Jeremiah deep in the filth of his prison, — are but leaders in the noble army of prophets whom God sent to guide Israel through the paths of national success, in the face of the bitterest opposition. Each of them was faithful and spoke his message; but his words passed unheeded, or only excited anger and persecution. Neither people nor king cared to follow the stern words of their religious teachers. except as they were threatened by some overwhelming disaster. Then. perhaps, for a few days or months, the worship of Jehovah was reinstated in its proper place, and the prophetical office was again honoured. Judah is the type of the world. Had its king listened to God's servants, the nation would have weathered its financial distress and been cured of its wickedness. In their words lay the only hope; and Judah laughed at them and stoned them. Jerusalem, the Zion of David, became the execution city of the prophets. Judah fell, just as any nation will fall that fails to apply religion to national problems. The one great lesson of the captivity of Judah is this: the fearless application of Christianity to living questions is the duty of both clergy and laymen, and the hope of the state. ( S. Matthews. ) And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest. 2 Kings 25:18 Unconscious heroism W. T. Harrison, D. D. 1. Most of us, I daresay, are familiar with the story of the faithful sentinel at Pompeii. It is told for us by Miss Yonge, in her little book of golden deeds. The man was an ordinary soldier, set to guard the city gate. It was the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and from the position assigned to him he was able to watch the stream of molten lava, like a cruel crawling hungry tide, setting in the direction of Pompeii: on and on it came: nearer and nearer with its blinding light and burning flame it advanced towards him: but the sentinel never stirred from his post; he stood where he had been ordered to stand: and when after more than a thousand years the buried city was, as it were, disentombed from her sepulchre, the good soldier's bones, still girt about with breast. plate and helmet, and with the hand still raised to keep the dust from his mouth, remained to tell all future generations how a Roman soldier, rather than leave the post of duty, was not unwilling to die. The story is not without modern parallels. Lord Wolseley pays a tribute of respectful admiration to the chivalrous faithfulness which was shown by one of the English sentinels at the battle of Inkermann. In the blinding mist of the November morning, the Russian soldiers crept within our lines. Through what some call chance, but what we would rather call the providence of God, the enemy in their progress failed to come across one of our sentries: all day long, with enemies before him and enemies behind him, that man remained where he had been placed; and when, in the evening of the day, the thin red line of our troops drove back their opponents into their entrenchments, Lord Wolseley found this sentinel, still holding his ground, at his post, doing his duty. I have referred to these two incidents, not merely because they are golden deeds, but because they help, I think, to illustrate the act of unconscious heroism which our text describes. In this last chapter of the Second Book of Kings we read the story of the abolition of the Jewish monarchy and of the leading away into captivity of the Jewish people. From the throne on which had once reigned David and Solomon and Hezekiah, the last occupant passed forth a blind and childless man, to the ignominy of a Babylonish prison: by command of King Nebuchadnezzar, the wall and the palaces of the city, once the joy of the whole earth, were levelled to the ground: and the holy and beautiful temple, fragrant with cedar wood and bright with gold, where in happier days the shining cloud of God's presence had rested upon the mercy seat, was turned into a charred and dilapidated ruin. Verily the weeping captives as they went forth to their exile in the land of the enemy must have learned at last the lesson which is taught so plainly on every page of history, and by the experience of every life, "be sure your sin will find you out." But just as some gleams of pleasant sunshine will often come to cheer us at the end of a cloudy and dark day, so this dark and terrible national catastrophe seems to have been lit up by at least one deed of noble unconscious heroism. When the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar forced themselves at last into the very precincts of the temple, the great crowd of worshippers, who habitually were present there, had gone; the many attendant priests and Levites, who habitually assisted at the services, had also gone; but Seraiah the chief priest was there; and Zephaniah the second priest was there: and there were also present three men whose names are not so much as told us, three men of whom the historian apparently knows nothing, three men who were faithful but not famous; they were only keepers of the door, but faithful among the faithless, they were ready to sacrifice their lives rather than desert their posts. "The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the door, and the king of Babylon smote them and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath." What epitaph shall we write on the grave of these unconscious heroes? "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." It is the peculiar glory of the Christian religion that it has sowed the world broadcast with unconscious heroes. By their love of God, by their devotion to duty, by the unselfishness of their lives, by their repression of themselves, by their enthusiasm for humanity you may know them; they are to be met with almost everywhere; in cottages, in palaces; in towns and villages; in busy workshops, in great seats of learning; in the silence of the sick-room, among those who go down to the sea in ships, in the darkness of the underground mine. They are of all ages; some are schoolboys and schoolgirls; some are young men and maidens; some are old and grey-headed, weary with the burden of three score years and ten, holding the staff in the hand for very age. Yes, "who can count the dust of Jacob or the number of the fourth part of Israel?" Thanks to the example which our Lord set, thanks to the teaching which our Lord gave, thanks to the Holy Spirit which our Lord sends, unconscious Christian heroes have been as the stars in heaven for multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. Quite impossible is it for human mind to measure the widespreading fruitfulness of any single life, however humble, thus given unreservedly to the service of God. As God's word expressly teaches us, as Church History continually reminds us, as our own experience of life shows us, it is, as a rule, Almighty God's way to work great results by apparently insufficient means. By little grains of sand the proud waters of the sea are held within their limits; by little drops of rain the earth is made to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. When our Lord Jesus Christ came to save the world He chose the humiliations of poverty and the ignominy of a death upon a cross. Not so much by the pre-eminent holiness of great saints as by the unconscious heroism of numberless Christian lives has the faith, which was once committed to the saints, won its way throughout the world. Sometimes it is given to us to know bow fruitful a humble Christian life can be. In our own time a single Christian nobleman has been allowed to lift hundreds and thousands of his fellow-countrymen out of abysses of ignorance 'and oppression, and in many cases to guide their feet into the way of peace. But whence did Lord Shaftesbury acquire his enthusiasm for humanity and his desire to serve God? He did not learn it from his father or mother; he did not learn it from his schoolmasters at Harrow or elsewhere; but he learned it, as he tells us, from that unlettered, faithful nurse who had the courage to lift up her voice for God, who spoke to him about our Lord Jesus Christ, and taught him to pray, who prayed with him and prayed for him, and who unconsciously sowed a seed in a kindly soil, which brought forth fruit thirtyfold, sixty-fold, hundredfold. 3. And here we stop and ask how is it possible to attain to that state of grace which produces as its natural fruit a life of unconscious Christian heroism? I answer you by referring you to a text of Scripture. We read that when Moses after forty days came down from the clouds and darkness that wreathed and settled on the top of Sinai, "he wist not," so the Revised Version has it, "that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with God." For forty days without weariness and without cessation he had lived in the light of the presence of God; during that time there had been revealed to him, as before time to no other, thoughts from the mind of God; and when at last he turned to go back to the camp of Israel, lo, just as the moon with its surface of extinct volcanoes gets illuminated by the beams of the sun, till it is beautiful with silver light, so the earthly features of the countenance of Moses were radiant with more than human brightness, and the Israelites could not bear to look upon him because he reflected the glory of God. Yet Moses wist not that his countenance did shine because of his speaking with God. Surely it is not difficult to guess the secret of the faithfulness to duty of those three keepers of the door in the house of the Lord. Do you ask how it was that when they heard the tramp of the army of the enemy they did not make haste to escape? How it was that when priest and Levite, and chorister, and worshipper were seeking safety they choose to remain at their post? Was it not because they were men worthy of their office? They preferred to be doorkeepers in the house of the Lord rather than dwell in the tents of ungodliness; their hearts rejoiced within them when they said one to another, day by day, "Let us go into the house of the Lord." They loved worship; they loved duty; they loved God; and so when the hour of their trial came they east in their lot with Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, being all the time as unconscious of their heroism as Moses was of his glory, when he wist not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with God. And not otherwise has it been with all the bright and shining lives which have made the pages of Church history, and the homes of pious Christians flash and glitter like a milky way. They were by nature men of like passions with ourselves, they were compassed like us with manifold infirmities; they found, as we do, a law in their members warring against the law of their minds; but over and over again, morning, noon, and night, they prayed God that for Jesus Christ's sake Satan might not have dominion over them, and so, out of weakness they were made strong, "and in the darkness o'er their fallen heads perceived the waving of the hands that bless." ( W. T. Harrison, D. D. ) Heroism instructive Amos R. Wells. Heroism is not heroism until it is ingrained in the character. No one can become an hero in an instant. Like the flower of the century plant, heroism is the sudden blossoming of what has been years in preparation. It is not premeditated, it is instinctive, because nobility has grown into a habit, and grandeur has become the fife-blood, and self-sacrifice the very fibre of the nerves. So we may parody Milton 's famous saying, "If you would write an epic, your whole life must he an heroic poem," and assert, "If you would do a deed of heroism at any time in the future, you must begin to be a hero now." ( Amos R. Wells. ) And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin. 2 Kings 25:27-30 Jehoiachin as a victim of tyrannic despotism and as an object of delivering mercy D. Thomas, D. D. The incident here recorded presents Jehoiachin — I. AS A VICTIM OF TYRANNIC DESPOTISM. He had been in prison for thirty-seven years and was fifty-five years of age. It was Nebuchadnezzar, the tyrannic King of Babylon, who stripped this man of liberty and freedom, and shut him up in a dungeon for this very long period of time. Such despotism has prevailed in all ages and lands. To the eternal dishonour of England, it has existed here for centuries, and is rampant even now. Look at this man — II. AS AN OBJECT OF DELIVERING MERCY. We are told that as soon as "Evil-Morodach" came to the throne on the death of his father Nebuchadnezzar, mercy stirred his heart and he relieved this poor victim of tyranny. Corrupt as this world is, the element of mercy is not entirely extinct. This mercy gave honour and liberty to the men who had been so long in confinement and disgrace. Let not the victims of tyranny — and they abound everywhere — despair. Mercy will ere long sound the trump of jubilee over all the land. "The spirit of the Lord," said the great Redeemer of the race, "is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." ( D. Thomas, D. D. )

Benson Commentary 2 Kings 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2 Kings 25:1 . Nebuchadnezzar came, and all his host, against Jerusalem — To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury: for, contrary to the solemn oath he had taken, he had been contriving and endeavoring to revolt from the king of Babylon, and shake off his yoke. They built forts against it round about — To keep all supplies of men and provisions from entering into the city, and that from thence, by such arts of war as they then had, they might batter the walls, shoot arrows, and throw darts or stones into it. Formerly Jerusalem was compassed with the favour of God as with a shield, but now their defence is departed from them, and their enemies surround them on every side. The siege lasted two years. At first the besieging army retired for fear of the king of Egypt, who came to help Zedekiah; and then Jeremiah endeavoured to get out of the city, to go into the land of Benjamin, but was hindered, seized, and imprisoned, Jeremiah 37:11 . The Chaldeans, finding that Pharaoh was not so powerful as they at first supposed, soon returned, as Jeremiah had foretold they would, with a resolution not to quit the siege till they had made themselves masters of the place. 2 Kings 25:2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 2 Kings 25:3 . The famine prevailed in the city — So that for a long time they ate their bread, as Ezekiel foretold they should do, ( Ezekiel 4:16 ,) by weight and with care, and drunk their water by measure and with astonishment, perceiving the quantity of it lessening fast every day, and having no hope of a fresh supply. Thus they were punished for their gluttony and excess, their fulness of bread, and feeding themselves without fear. At length there was no bread for the people of the land — For the common people, who, upon the approach of the Babylonian army, had flocked from all parts of the country, to secure themselves and their families, but only for the great men. Now they eat their own children for want of food, as had been foretold by one prophet, ( Ezekiel 5:10 ,) and is bewailed by another, Lamentations 4:3 , &c. Jeremiah, in this extremity, earnestly persuaded the king to surrender, but his heart was hardened to his destruction. 2 Kings 25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 2 Kings 25:4 . The city was broken up — It was taken by storm, the besiegers having made a breach in the wall, at which they forced their way into it. All the men of war fled — Being unable any longer to defend the city, they endeavoured to quit it, which many of them found means to do by the way of the gate between the two walls — That is, between the inward and outward walls of the city, or between the wall and the outworks, by a private way, having the advantage of the darkness of the night, and possibly of some vault under the ground. Many however, no doubt, were put to the sword, the victorious army being much exasperated by their obstinacy. To account, in some degree, for the besieged making their escape, Josephus observes, that as the city was taken about midnight, the enemies’ captains, with the rest of the soldiers, went directly into the temple, which Zedekiah perceiving, took his wives, children, commanders, and friends, and they all slipped away together, by a narrow passage, toward the wilderness. But what this narrow passage was, is still a question. The Jews think there was a subterraneous passage from the palace to the plains of Jericho, and that the king and his courtiers might endeavour to make their escape that way. And we learn from Dion, that in the last siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews had covered ways, which lay under the walls of the city, to a considerable distance into the country, out of which they were wont to sally, and fall upon the Romans that were straggling from the camp: but since neither Josephus nor the sacred historian takes notice of any such subterraneous passage at this siege, it is most likely that the Chaldeans having made a breach in the wall, many of the besieged escaped through it, proceeding privately between the wall and the outworks, by a passage which the Chaldeans did not suspect. The king went toward the plain — Of Jericho, as it follows. 2 Kings 25:5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 2 Kings 25:5 . The army of the Chaldees pursued after the king — Intelligence was soon given of his flight, and which way he was gone, so that they soon overtook him. And all his army — His guards; were scattered from him — Every man shifting for his safety. Had he made his peace with God, and put himself under his protection, he would not have failed him now. It seems to have been the design of the king, and of those with him, to escape into Egypt through Arabia Deserta. 2 Kings 25:6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 2 Kings 25:6 . And brought him to the king of Babylon, to Riblah — Where Nebuchadnezzar stayed, that he might both supply the besiegers with men and military provisions, as their occasions required, and have an eye to Chaldea, to prevent or suppress any commotions which might happen there in his absence. They gave judgment upon him — The king’s officers appointed thereunto examined his cause, and passed the following sentence against him. 2 Kings 25:7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. 2 Kings 25:7 . They slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes — Though they were but children, that this spectacle, the last he was to behold, might leave a deep and durable impression of grief and horror upon his spirit. And in slaying his sons they in effect declared that the kingdom was no more, and that neither he nor any of his breed were fit to be trusted: therefore not fit to live. And put out his eyes, and carried him to Babylon — Thus two prophecies were fulfilled, which seemed contrary the one to the other. Jeremiah foretold, That he should be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and should speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes should behold his eyes, and that he should go to Babylon, Jeremiah 32:4 ; Jeremiah 34:3 ; and Ezekiel prophesied, That he should never see Babylon, though he should die there, Ezekiel 12:13 . This seeming contradiction, Zedekiah the false prophet could not reconcile, and therefore concluded that both prophecies were false, and, if we may credit Josephus, Zedekiah the king stumbled at this difficulty. Both, however, were literally accomplished. The reflection which Josephus makes on this event, is worthy of the reader’s attention: “This may serve to convince even the ignorant, of the power and wisdom of God; and of the constancy of his counsels through all the various ways of his operations. It may likewise show us that God’s foreknowledge of things is certain; and his providence regular in the ordering of events; and besides, it holds forth a most exemplary instance of the danger of our giving way to the motions of sin and infidelity, which deprive us of the means of discerning God’s judgments, even though ready to fall upon us.” — Antiq., lib. 10., cap. 11. 2 Kings 25:8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 2 Kings 25:8 . And in the fifth month, &c. — Though we have reason to think the Chaldeans were much enraged against the city, for holding out with so much stubbornness; yet they did not, therefore, put all to fire and sword as soon as they had taken the city, which is too commonly done in such cases; but about a month after (compare 2 Kings 25:8 with 2 Kings 25:3 ) Nebuzaradan was sent with orders to complete the destruction of it. This space God gave them for repentance after all the foregoing days of his patience; but in vain; their hearts were still hardened, and therefore execution was awarded to the uttermost. 2 Kings 25:9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. 2 Kings 25:9 . And he burnt the house of the Lord — The king of Babylon, it appears, did not design to send any colonies to people Judea, and therefore ordered Jerusalem to be laid in ashes, as a nest of rebels. “At the burning of the king’s house,” says Henry, “and the houses of the great men, one cannot much wonder, the inhabitants had by their sins kindled the fire of God’s wrath against them; but that the house of the Lord should perish in these flames, that that holy and beautiful house should be burned with fire, ( Isaiah 64:11 ,) is very strange; that house which David prepared for, and which Solomon built, at such a vast expense; that house which had the eye and the heart of God perpetually upon it, ( 1 Kings 9:3 ,) might not that have been snatched as a brand out of the burning? No, that will not be fireproof against God’s judgments; this stately structure must be laid in ashes, and it is probable the ark in it; for the enemies, probably having heard how dear the Philistines paid for the abusing it, durst not seize it; nor did any of its friends take care to preserve it; for then we should have heard of it again in the second temple.” The temple was burned four hundred years after the time that it was built, says Sir John Marsham; four hundred and twenty-four years three months and eight days, says Archbishop Usher; four hundred thirty years, says Abarbinel and other learned Jews; but Josephus computes the matter still higher; for he tells us that the temple was burned four hundred and seventy years six months and ten days after the building of it; one thousand and sixty years six months and ten days from the time of the Israelites coming out of the land of Egypt; one thousand nine hundred, and fifty years six months and ten days from the deluge; three thousand five hundred and thirty years six months and ten days from the creation; and he mentions it as a very remarkable circumstance, that the second temple was burned by the Romans in the same month and on the very same day of the month that this was set on fire by the Chaldeans, and, as some of the Jewish rabbis say, when the Levites were singing the very same passage, namely, He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness: yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off , Psalm 94:23 . By the burning of the temple, God would show how little he cares for the external pomp of his worship, when the life and power of religion are neglected. The people trusted to the temple, as if that would protect them in their sins, ( Jeremiah 7:4 ,) but God by this let them know that when they had profaned it, they would find it but a refuge of lies. 2 Kings 25:10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 2 Kings 25:11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away. 2 Kings 25:11-12 . Now the rest of the people that were left in the city — Whom neither the sword nor famine had destroyed, who were eight hundred and thirty-two persons, ( Jeremiah 52:29 ,) being members and traders of that city: for it is likely that there were very many more of the country people fled thither, who were left with others of their brethren to manure the land. And the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon — That is, all that fled to him, and put themselves under his protection; with the remnant of the multitudes — Of the inhabitants of the country. For the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land — So while the rich were prisoners in a strange land, the poor had liberty and peace in their own country! Thus Providence sometimes humbles the proud, and favours them of low degree. 2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. 2 Kings 25:13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. 2 Kings 25:13 . The pillars of brass, &c., did the Chaldees break in pieces — Because they were too cumbersome to be carried away whole. And carried the brass of them to Babylon — As was foretold Jeremiah 27:21-22 . 2 Kings 25:14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 2 Kings 25:15 And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. 2 Kings 25:16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 2 Kings 25:17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work. 2 Kings 25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: 2 Kings 25:18-19 . The captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest — The high-priest, grandson of that Hilkiah mentioned 2 Kings 22:4 , and father of Jehosadak, who, it seems, was taken with his father; and when his father was slain, ( 2 Kings 25:21 ,) was carried away to Babylon, as is observed 1 Chronicles 6:13-14 . And Zephaniah the second priest — Who was the high-priest’s deputy, when he was by sickness, or any other means, prevented from the execution of his office. And five of them that were in the king’s presence — Who constantly attended upon the king’s person wheresoever he was, and were his most intimate counsellors. And threescore men of the land that were found in the city — These were some eminent persons, who had concealed themselves in some private place; but before Nebuzar-adan left Jerusalem, were discovered. 2 Kings 25:19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: 2 Kings 25:20 And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: 2 Kings 25:20-21 . Brought them to the king of Babylon — That he might dispose of them as he thought fit, they being not vulgar persons like those whom he had ordered to be carried captive or left in the land. The king of Babylon smote them — Ordered them all to be put to death, when in reason they might have hoped that surely the bitterness of death was past. He probably looked upon them as persons that had been active in opposing him; but divine justice, we may suppose, viewed them as ring-leaders in that idolatry and impiety which were punished by these desolations. So Judah was carried away out of their land — This completed their calamity, about eight hundred and sixty years after they were put in possession of Canaan by Joshua. 2 Kings 25:21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land. 2 Kings 25:22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 2 Kings 25:22 . Over them he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, ruler — A righteous and good man, and a friend to the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26:24 . Ahikam, his father, was a person in such credit in all the latter reigns, that he had been able to screen Jeremiah from the resentment of the king and the fury of the people; so that it is very probable the prophet, in gratitude to the father, obtained this favour for the son, from Nebuzaradan. Or, as some think, Gedaliah, by the advice of Jeremiah, had gone over to the Chaldeans, and had approved himself so well, that on that account the king of Babylon judged it proper to intrust him with the government. Gedaliah’s good conduct, together with the obligations which Jeremiah was under to his father, was probably the motive which induced the prophet to live with him in Judea rather than go to Babylon, when the Chaldean general put it to his option, not without some considerable encouragement to invite him to the latter, Jeremiah 39:11 . 2 Kings 25:23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 2 Kings 25:23 . When all the captains of the armies — Who escaped when Zedekiah was taken; heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor — One of themselves, and that things were put into a good posture: there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah — A place in the land of Benjamin, famous in Samuel’s time; Ishmael, Johanan, &c., they and their men — To put themselves under his protection. Gedaliah, though he had not the pomp and power of a sovereign prince, yet might have been a greater blessing to them than many of their kings had been, especially having such a privy counsellor as Jeremiah, who was now with them, and interested himself in their affairs, Jeremiah 40:5-6 . 2 Kings 25:24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. 2 Kings 25:24 . Gedaliah sware to them — Assured them by his promise and oath, that if they would be patient and peaceable under the government of the king of Babylon, and would conduct themselves properly, they should be kept from the evils which they feared. This he might safely swear, because he had not only Nebuchadnezzar’s promise, and interest too, but also God’s promise, delivered by Jeremiah. And it might seem that a fair prospect was now again opening for them. But, alas! this hopeful settlement was soon dashed to pieces, not by the Chaldeans, but by themselves. The things of their peace were so hid from their eyes that they neither knew when they were well, nor would believe when they were told so even by God himself. 2 Kings 25:25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 2 Kings 25:25 . Ishmael, of the seed royal, came — Moved with envy at Gedaliah’s advancement, and the happy settlement of the people under him; and ten men with him — That is, ten captains or officers, and under each of them many soldiers. And smote Gedaliah, and the Jews and Chaldees, &c. — Resolved to ruin him and them. Nebuchadnezzar would not, could not, have been a more mischievous enemy to their peace than this degenerate branch of the house of David was! We have a fuller account of this affair in the fortieth and forty-first chapters of Jeremiah, where we read that Gedaliah was admonished of this intended conspiracy against him; but, like other good men, who are commonly void of suspicion, because they have no design to hurt others, he did not believe what was told him. 2 Kings 25:26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees. 2 Kings 25:26 . And all the people arose, and came to Egypt — Contrary to the persuasion of Jeremiah, who pressed them to stay in the land, that it might not altogether lie uncultivated, (seeing they were to be settled in it again, according to the word of the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah, chap. Isaiah 44:28 , and Isaiah 45:1 ,) assuring them that they should be safe if they would stay in the land of Judah, but should perish if they went into Egypt. See Jeremiah 42:9-10 , &c. But they would not hearken. Thus this populous and fertile country was laid waste and desolate, part of the people being carried captive to Babylon, part of those who were left in the land being slain with Gedaliah, and the remainder fleeing into Egypt. So that it was left to be overrun with briers and thorns, and to be inhabited by wild beasts. Only some of the neighbouring nations seem to have settled themselves in some parts of it. And from hence the Jews found much greater difficulty when they came to be restored than they would have done if some of them had continued in their country and cultivated it. For they were afraid of the Chaldees — The Chaldeans had reason enough to be offended at the murder of Gedaliah; but, if those that remained had humbly remonstrated to them, that it was only the act of Ishmael and his party, we may suppose they who were innocent of it, nay, who suffered greatly by it, would not have been punished for it: but, under pretence of this apprehension they all went into Egypt, where, it is probable, they mixed with the Egyptians by degrees, and were never heard of more as Israelites. Thus there was a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience, and Egypt had the last of them, that the last verse of that chapter of threatenings might be fulfilled after all the rest, ( Deuteronomy 28:68 ,) The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again. For a more particular account of these events see the prophecy of Jeremiah, from chap. 40. to chap. 45. 2 Kings 25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 2 Kings 25:27-30 . Evil-merodach, king of Babylon — “Nebuchadnezzar, the father of Evil-merodach, died in the year of the world 3442, and before Christ 562, after he had reigned from the death of his father, according to the Babylonish account, forty-three years. He was certainly one of the greatest princes that had appeared in the East for many years before him; and, according to Megasthenes, as he is cited by Josephus, both for his enterprises and performances, far excelled even Hercules himself. The same historian, as he is quoted by Eusebius, informs us, that a little before his death he foretold to his subjects the coming of the Persians, and their subduing the kingdom of Babylon, which he might gather from the Prophet Daniel, and especially from the interpretation of his dreams.” — Dodd. In the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin, &c. — He released him out of prison, where he had lain thirty-seven years, and was now fifty-five years old. And he spake kindly to him — Paid more respect to him than to any other of the kings his father had left in captivity, gave him princely clothing instead of his prison garments, maintained him in his own palace, and allowed him a pension for himself and his family, some way agreeable to his rank; a daily rate for every day as long as he lived. This was a very happy change of Jehoiachin’s condition. To have honour, liberty, and plenty, after he had been so long in confinement and disgrace, and compelled to endure the straits and miseries of a prison, was like the return of the morning after a very dark and tedious night. Let none say they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil: the most miserable know not what blessed turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted, Psalm 90:15 . It is likely Evil-merodach thought his father made the yoke of his captives too heavy; and, therefore, with the tenderness of a man, and the honour of a prince, he made it lighter. The Jews tell us, he had himself been imprisoned by his own father, after the latter was restored from his insanity, for some mal- administration at that time, and that in prison he contracted a friendship for Jehoiachin; and, therefore, as soon as he had it in his power, showed him this kindness as a sufferer, and as a fellow-sufferer. It should seem that all the kings he had in his power were favoured, but Jehoiachin above them all. Perhaps, as some have suggested, he had learned from Daniel and his fellows the principles of true religion, and was well affected to them, and upon that account favoured Jehoiachin. This undoubtedly happened by the good providence of God for the encouragement of the Jews in captivity, and the support of their faith and hope concerning their enlargement in due time. Thirty-six of the seventy years of their captivity were now past, and almost as many yet remained, when now, in this midnight of their bondage and misery, they see their king thus advanced as a comfortable earnest to them of their own release at the appointed season. We are now come to the dreadful end of the Jewish monarchy, after it had stood four hundred and sixty-eight years from the time that David began to reign over it; three hundred and eighty-eight years from the revolt of the ten tribes from it; and one hundred and thirty-four years from the excision of the Israelitish commonwealth; and would have still continued under the sunshine of the divine protection, had it not been for the almost constant and horrid ingratitude of the people, and their invincible itch of imitating the idolatries and witcheries of other nations: crimes which, though abominable before God, were but too generally practised by mankind, through the amazing degeneracy of the human nature. Having now gone through the history of the Jewish state, from its first beginning to its total captivity in a foreign land, we must acknowledge it to be a history of such remarkable particulars, as distinguish it from all other histories: a history of a state founded upon such principles, governed in such a manner, concerned in such extraordinary circumstances, distinguished by such wonderful facts, and its condition, from the beginning to the end, so corresponding to its obedience or disobedience to the principles upon which it was first founded, that it cannot be paralleled by the history of any people in the world. 2 Kings 25:28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 2 Kings 25:29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 2 Kings 25:30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Kings 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 20 ZEDEKIAH, THE LAST KING OF JUDAH B.C. 597-586 2 Kings 24:18-20 ; 2 Kings 25:1-7 " Quand ce grand Dieu a choisi quelqu’un pour etre l’instrument de ses desseins rien n’arrete le cours, en enchaine, ou il aveugle, ou il dompte tout ce qui est capable de resistance. " - BOSSUET, " Oraison funebre de Henriette Marie ." WHEN Jehoiachin was carried captive to Babylon, never to return, his uncle Mattaniah ("Jehovah’s gift"), the third son of Josiah, was put by Nebuchadrezzar in his place. In solemn ratification of the new king’s authority, the Babylonian conqueror sanctioned the change of his name to Zedekiah ("Jehovah’s righteousness"). He was twenty-one at his accession, and he reigned eleven years. "Behold," writes Ezekiel, "the King of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon; and he took of the seed royal" ( i.e. , Zedekiah), " and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath: and took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. " {Eze 17:12-14} Perhaps by this covenant Zechariah meant to emphasize the meaning of his name, and to show that he would reign in righteousness. The prophet at the beginning of the chapter describes Nebuchadrezzar and Jehoiachin in "a riddle." "A great eagle," he says, "with great wings and long pinions; full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar" (Jehoiachin): "he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the land" (Zedekiah), "and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside great waters, he set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned towards him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs." {Eze 17:1-6} The words refer to the first three years of Zedekiah’s reign, and they imply, consistently with the views of the prophets, that, if the weak king had been content with the lowly eminence to which God had called him, and if he had kept his oath and covenant with Babylon, all might yet have been well with him and his land. At first it seemed likely to be so; for Zedekiah wished to be faithful to Jehovah. He made a covenant with all the people to set free their Hebrew slaves. Alas! it was very short-lived. Self-sacrifice cost something, and the princes soon took back the discarded bond-servants. {Jer 34:8-11} What made this conduct the more shocking was that their covenant to obey the law had been made in the most solemn manner by "cutting a calf in twain, and passing between the severed halves." But the weak king was perfectly powerless in the hands of his tyrannous aristocracy. The exiles in Babylon were now the best and most important section of the nation. Jeremiah compares them to good figs; while the remnant at Jerusalem were bad and withered. He and Ezekiel raised their voices, as in strophe and antistrophe, for the teaching alike of the exiles and of the remnant left at Jerusalem, for whom the exiles were bidden to entreat God in prayer. Zedekiah himself made at least one journey northward, either voluntarily or under summons, to renew his oath and reassure Nebuchadrezzar of his fidelity. He was accompanied by Seraiah, the brother of Baruch, who was privately entrusted by Jeremiah with a prophecy of the fall of Babylon, which he was to fling into the midst of the Euphrates. The last King of Judah seems to have been weak rather than wicked. He was a reed shaken by the wind. He yielded to the influence of the last person who argued with him; and he seems to have dreaded above all things the personal ridicule, danger, and opposition which it was his duty to have defied. Yet we cannot withhold from him our deep sympathy: for he was born in terrible times-to witness the death-throes of his country’s agony, and to share in them. It was no longer a question of independence, but only of the choice of servitudes. Judah was like a silly and trembling sheep between two huge beasts of prey. Only thus can we account for the strange apostasies-"the abominations of the heathen"-with which he permitted the Temple to be polluted; and for the ill-treatment which he allowed to be inflicted on Jeremiah and other prophets, to whom in his heart he felt inclined to listen. What these abominations were we read with amazement in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel. The prophet is carried in vision to Jerusalem, and there he sees the Asherah-"the image which provoketh to jealousy"-which had so often been erected and destroyed and re-erected. Then through a secret door he sees creeping things, and abominable beasts, and the idol blocks of the House of Israel portrayed upon the wall, while several elders of Israel stood before them and adored, with censers in their hands-among whom he must specially have grieved to see Jaazaneiah, the son of Shaphan, flattering himself, as did his followers, that in that dark chamber Jehovah saw them not. Next at the northern gate he sees Zion’s daughters weeping for Tammuz, or Adonis. Once more, in the inner court of the Temple, between the porch and the altar, he sees about twenty-five men with their backs to the altar, and their faces to the east; and they worshipped the sun towards the east; and, lo! they put the vine branch to their nose. Were not these crimes sufficient to evoke the wrath of Jehovah, and to alienate His ear from prayers offered by such polluted worshippers? Egypt, Assyria. Syria, Chaldaea, all contributed their idolatrous elements to the detestable syncretism; and the king and the priests ignored, permitted, or connived at it. {Eze 16:15-34} This must surely be answered for. How could it have been otherwise? The king and the priests were the official guardians of the Temple, and these aberrations could not have gone on without their cognizance. There was another party of sheer formalists, headed by men like the priest Pashur, who thought to make talismans of rites and shibboleths, but had no sincerity of heart-religion {Jer 7:4; Jer 8:8; Jer 31:33; Jer 7:34} To these, too, Jeremiah was utterly opposed. In his opinion Josiah’s reformation had failed. Neither Ark, nor Temple, nor sacrifice were anything in the world to him in comparison with true religion. All the prophets with scarcely one exception are anti-ritualists; but none more decidedly so than the prophet-priest. His name is associated in tradition with the hiding of the Ark, and a belief in its ultimate restoration; yet to Jeremiah, apart from the moral and spiritual truths of which it was the material symbol, the Ark was no better than a wooden chest. His message from Jehovah is, "I will give you pastors according to My heart and they shall say no more, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord’: neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more." {Jer 3:15-16} Doom followed the guilt and folly of king, priests, and people. If political wisdom were insufficient to show Zedekiah that the necessities of the case were an indication of God’s will, he had the warnings of the prophets constantly ringing in his ears, and the assurance that he must remain faithful to Nebuchadrezzar. But he was in fear of his own princes and courtiers. A combined embassy reached him from the kings of Edom, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Sidon, urging him to join in a league against Babylon. {Jer 27:3} This embassy was supported by a powerful party in Jerusalem. Their solicitations were rendered more plausible by the recent accession (B.C. 590) of the young and vigorous Pharaoh Hophrah-the Apries of Herodotus- to the throne of Egypt, and by the recrudescence of that incurable disease of Hebrew politics, a confidence in the idle promises of Egypt to supply the confederacy with men and horses. In vain did Jeremiah and Ezekiel uplift their warning voices. The blind confidence of the king and of the nobles was sustained by the flattering visions and promises of false prophets, prominent among whom was a certain Hananiah, the son of Azur, of Gibeon, "the prophet." To indicate the futility of the contemplated rebellion, Jeremiah had made "thongs and poles" with yokes, and had sent them to the kings, whose embassy had reached Jerusalem, with a message of the most emphatic distinctness, that Nebuchadrezzar was God’s appointed servant, and that they must serve him till God’s own appointed time. If they obeyed this intimation, they would be left undisturbed in their own lands; if they disobeyed it, they would be scourged into absolute submission by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. Jeremiah delivered the same oracle to his own king. The warning was rendered unavailing by the conduct of Hananiah. He prophesied that within two full years God would break the yoke of the King of Babylon; and that the captive Jeconiah, and the nobles, and the vessels of the House of the Lord would be brought back. Jeremiah, by way of an acted parable, had worn round his neck one of his own yokes. Hananiah, in the Temple, snatched it off, broke it to pieces, and said, "So will I break the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years." We can imagine the delight, the applause, the enthusiasm with which the assembled people listened to these bold predictions. Hananiah argued with them, so to speak, in shorthand, for he appealed to their desires and to their prejudices. It is always the tendency of nations to say to their prophets, "Say not unto us hard things: speak smooth things; prophesy deceits." Against Hananiah personally there seems to have been no charge, except that in listening to the lying spirit of his own desires he could not hear the true message of God. But he did not stand alone. Among the children of the captivity, his promises were echoed by two downright false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesied lies in God’s name. They were men of evil life, and a fearful fate overtook them. Their words against Babylon came to the ears of Nebuchadrezzar, and they were "roasted in the fire," so that the horror of their end passed into a proverb and a curse. {Jer 29:21-23} Truly God fed these false prophets with wormwood, and gave them poisonous water to drink. {Jer 23:9-32} After the action of Hananiah, Jeremiah went home stricken and ashamed: apparently he never again uttered a public discourse in the Temple. It took him by surprise; and he was for the moment, perhaps, daunted by the plausive echo of the multitude to the lying prophet. But when he got home the answer of Jehovah came: "Go and tell Hananiah, Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou hast made for them yokes of iron. I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadrezzar. Hear now, Hananiah, The Lord hath not sent thee: thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Behold, this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken revolt against the Lord. What hath the chaff to do with the wheat? saith the Lord." {Jer 28:13-16; Jer 23:28} Two months after Hananiah lay dead, and men’s minds were filled with fear. They saw that God’s word was indeed as a fire to burn, and as a hammer to dash in pieces. {Jer 23:29} But meanwhile Zedekiah had been over-persuaded to take the course which the true prophets had forbidden. Misled by the false prophets and mincing prophetesses whom Ezekiel denounced, {Eze 13:1-23} who daubed men’s walls with whitened plaster, he had sent an embassy to Pharaoh Hophrah, asking for an army of infantry and cavalry to support his rebellion from Assyria. {Eze 17:15} In the eyes of Jeremiah and Ezekiel the crime did not only consist in defying the exhortations of those whom Zedekiah knew to be Jehovah’s accredited messengers, in mitigation of this offence he might have pleaded the extreme difficulty of discriminating the truth amid the ceaseless babble of false pretenders. But, on the other hand, he had broken the solemn oath which he had taken to Nebuchadrezzar in the name of God, and the sacred covenant which he seems to have twice ratified with him. {2Ch 36:13; Jer 52:3} This it was which raised the indignation of the faithful, and led Ezekiel to prophesy:- "Shall he prosper? Shall he escape that doeth such things? Or shall he break the covenant and be believed? ‘As I live,’ saith the Lord God, ‘surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, Whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, Even with him in the midst of Babylon, shall he die.’" { Eze 17:15-16; Eze 28:19}Sad close for a dynasty which had now lasted for nearly five centuries! As for Pharaoh, he too was an eagle, as Nebuchadrezzar was-a great eagle with great wings and many feathers, but not so great. The trailing vine of Judah bent her roots towards him, but it should wither in the furrows when the east wind touched it. {Eze 17:7-10} The result of Zedekiah’s alliance with Egypt was the intermission of his yearly tribute to Assyria; and at last, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, Nebuchadrezzar was aroused to put down this Palestinian revolt, supported as it was by the vague magnificence of Egypt. Jeremiah had said, "Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, is but a noise [or desolation]: he hath passed the time appointed." {Jer 46:17} This was about the year 589. In 598 Nebuchadrezzar had carried Jehoachin into captivity, and ever since then some of his forces had been engaged in the vain effort to capture Tyre, which still, after a ten years’ siege, drew its supplies from the sea, and remained impregnable on her island rock. He did not choose to raise this long-continued siege by diverting the troops to beleaguer so strong a fortress as Jerusalem, and therefore he came in person from Babylon. In Ezekiel 21:20-24 we have a singular and vivid glimpse of his march. On his way he came to a spot where two roads branched off before him. One led to Rabbath, the capital of Ammon, on the east of Jordan; the other to Jerusalem, on the west. Which road should he take? Personally, it was a matter of indifference; so he threw the burden of responsibility upon his gods by leaving the decision to the result of belomancy. Taking in his hand a sheaf of brightened arrows, he held them upright, and decided to take the route indicated by the fall of the greater number of arrows. He confirmed his uncertainty by consulting teraphim, and by hepatoscopy- i.e. , by examining the liver of slain victims. Rabbath and the Ammonites were not to be spared, but it was upon the covenant-breaking king and city that the vengeance was to fall. {Eze 21:28-32} And this is what the prophet has to say to Zedekiah:- "And thou, O deadly-wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come in the time of the iniquity of the end; thus saith the Lord God, ‘Remove the miter, and take off the crown. This shall be not thus. Exalt the low, and abase that which is high. An overthrow, overthrow, overthrow, will I make it: this also shall be no more, until He come whose right it is: and I will give it Him."’ So (B.C. 587) Jerusalem was delivered over to siege, even as Ezekiel had sketched upon a tile. {Eze 4:1-3} It was to be assailed in the old Assyrian manner-as we see it represented in the British Musemn bas-relief, where Sennacherib is portrayed in the act of besieging Lachish-with forts, mounds, and battering-rams; and Ezekiel had also been bidden to put up an iron plate between him and his pictured city to represent the mantelet from behind which the archers shot. In this dread crisis Zedekiah sent Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and Jehueal, to Jeremiah, entreating his prayers for the city, {Jer 37:3} for he had not yet been put in prison. Doubtless he prayed, and at first it looked as if deliverance would come. Pharaoh Hophrah put in motion the Egyptian army with its Carian mercenaries and Soudanese , and Nebuchadrezzar was sufficiently alarmed to raise the siege and go to meet the Egyptians. The hopes of the people probably rose high, though multitudes seized the opportunity to fly to the mountains. {Eze 7:16} The circumstances closely resembled those under which Sennacherib had raised the siege of Jerusalem to go to meet Tirhakah the Ethiopian; and perhaps there were some, and the king among them, who looked that such a wonder might be vouchsafed to him through the prayers of Jeremiah as had been vouchsafed to Hezekiah through the prayers of Isaiah. Not for a moment did Jeremiah encourage these vain hopes. To Zephaniah, as to an earlier deputation from the king, when he sent Pashur with him to inquire of the prophet, Jeremiah returned a remorseless answer. It is too late. Pharaoh shall be defeated; even if the Chaldaean army were smitten, "its wounded soldiers would suffice to besiege and burn Jerusalem, and take into captivity the miserable inhabitants after they had suffered the worst horrors of a besieged city." THE FALL OF JERUSALEM B.C. 586 2 Kings 25:1-21 "In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all nations." - Zechariah 12:3 "An end is come, the end is come; it awaketh against thee: behold the end is come." - Ezekiel 7:6 "Behold yon sterile spot Where now the wandering Arab’s tent Flaps in the desert blast; There once old Salem’s haughty fane Reared high to heaven its thousand golden domes, And in the blushing face of day Exposed its shameful glory." - SHELLEY AFTER the siege had lasted for a year and a half, all but one day, at midnight the besiegers made a breach in the northern city wall. It was a day of terrible remembrance, and throughout the exile it was observed as a solemn fast. {Zec 8:19} Nebuchadrezzar was no longer in person before the walls. He had other warlike operations and other sieges on hand-the sieges of Tyre, Asekah, and Lachish-as well as Jerusalem. He had therefore established his headquarters at Lachish, and did not superintend the final operations against the city. But now that all had become practically hopeless, and the capture of the rest of Jerusalem was only a matter of a few days more, Zedekiah and his few best surviving princes and soldiers fled by night through the opposite quarter of the city. There was a little unwatched postern between two walls near the king’s garden, and through this he and his escort fled, hoping to reach the Arabah, and make good his escape, perhaps to the Wady-el-Arish, which he could reach in five hours, through the wilds beyond the Jordan. The heads of the king and his followers were muffled, and they carried on their shoulders their choicest possessions. But he was betrayed by some of the mean deserters, and pursued by the Chaldaeans. His movements were doubtless impeded by the presence of his harem and his children. His little band of warriors could offer no resistance, and fled in all directions. Zedekiah, his family, and his attendants were taken prisoners, and carried to Riblah to appear before the mighty conqueror. Nebuchadrezzar showed no pity towards one whom he had elevated to the throne, and who had violated his most solemn assurances by intriguing with his enemies. He brought him to trial, and doomed him to witness with his own eyes the massacre of his two sons and of his attendants. After he had endured this anguish worse than death, his eyes were put out, and, bound in double fetters, he was sent to Babylon, where he ended his miserable days. To blind a king deprived him of all hope of recovering the throne, and was therefore in ancient days a common punishment. The LXX adds that he was sent by the Babylonians to grind a mill. This is probably a reminiscence of the blinded Samson. But thus were fulfilled with startling literalness two prophecies which might well have seemed to be contradictory. For Jeremiah had said, - {Jer 34:3} "Thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the King of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon." Whereas Ezekiel had said, {Eze 12:13} - "I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldaeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there." Henceforth Zedekiah was forgotten, and his place knew him no more. We can only hope that in his blindness and solitude he was happier than he had been on the throne of Judah, and that before death came to end his miseries he found peace with God. The conqueror did not come to spoil the city. He left that task to three great officers, -Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, or chief executioner; Nebushasban, the Rabsaris , or chief of the eunuchs; and Nergalshareser, the Rabmag , or chief of the magicians. They took their station by the Middle Gate, and first gave up the city to pillage and massacre. No horror was spared. {Psa 79:2-3} The sepulchers were rifled for treasure; the young Levites were slain in the house of their Sanctuary; women were violated; maidens and hoary-headed men were slain. "Princes were hanged up by the hand, and the faces of elders were dishonored; priest and prophet were slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord," {2Ch 36:17; Lam 2:21; Lam 5:11-12} till the blood flowed like red wine from the winepress over the desecrated floor. The guilty city drank at the hand of God the dregs of the cup of His fury. It was the final vengeance. "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion. He will no more carry thee away into captivity." {Lam 4:22} And, meanwhile, the little Bedouin principalities were full of savage exultation at the fate of their hereditary foe. {Psa 79:1} This was felt by the Jews as a culmination of their misery, that they became a derision to their enemies. The callous insults hurled at them by the neighboring tribes in their hour of shame awoke that implacable wrath against Gebal and Ammon and Amalek which finds its echo in the Prophets and in the Psalms. After this the devoted capital was given up to destruction. The Temple was plundered. All that remained of its often-rifled splendors was carried away, such as the ancient pillars Jachin and Boaz, the masterpieces of Hiram’s art, the caldron, the brazen sea, and all the vessels of gold, of silver, and of brass. Then the walls of the city were dismantled and broken down. The Temple, and the palace, and all the houses of the princes were committed to the flames. As for the principal remaining inhabitants, Seraiah the chief priest, perhaps the grandson of Hilkiah and the grandfather of Ezra, Zephaniah the second priest, the three Levitic doorkeepers, the secretary of war, five of the greatest nobles who "saw the king’s face," {Comp. Est 1:14} and sixty of the common people who had been marked out for special punishment, were taken to Riblah, and there massacred by order of Nebuchadrezzar. With these Nebuchadrezzar took away as his prisoners a multitude of the wealthier inhabitants, leaving behind him but the humblest artisans. As the craftsmen and smiths had been deported, these poor people busied themselves in agriculture, as vine-dressers and husbandmen. The existing estates were divided among them; and being few in number, they found the amplest sustenance in treasures of wheat and barley, and oil and honey, and summer fruits, which they kept concealed for safety, as the fellaheen of Palestine do to this day. {Jer 41:8; Jer 40:12} According to the historic chapters added to the prophecies of Jeremiah, the whole number of captives carried away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar in the seventh, the eighteenth, and the twenty-third years of his reign were 4,600. The completeness of the desolation might well have caused the heartrending outcry of Psalm 79:1-13 . "O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance; Thy holy Temple have they defiled; they have made Jerusalem a heap of stones. The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of heaven, and the flesh Of Thy saints unto the beasts of the land. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was no man to bury them." Among the remnant of the people was Jeremiah. Nebuzaradan had received from his king the strictest injunctions to treat him honorably; for he had heard from the deserters that he had always opposed the rebellion, and had prophesied the issue of the siege. He was indeed sent in manacles to Ramah; but there Nebuchadnezzar gave him free choice to do exactly as he liked-either to accompany him to Babylon, where he should be well treated and cared for, or to return to Jerusalem, and live where he liked. This was his desire. Nebuchadnezzar therefore dismissed him with food and a present; and he returned. The LXX and Vulgate represent him as sitting weeping over the ruins of Jerusalem, and tradition says that he sought for his lamentations a cave still existing near the Damascus Gate. Of this Scripture knows nothing. But the melancholy prophet was only reserved for further tragedies. He had lived one of the most afflicted of human lives. A man of tender heart and shrinking disposition, he had been called to set his face like a flint against kings, and nobles, and mobs. Worse than this, being himself a prophet and priest, naturally led to sympathize with both, he was the doomed antagonist of both-victim of "one of the strongest of human passions, the hatred of priests against a priest who attacks his own order, the hatred of prophets against a prophet who ventures to have a voice and a will of his own." Even his own family had plotted against his life at humble Anathoth, {Jer 11:19-21} and when he retreated to Jerusalem, he found himself at the center of the storm. Now perhaps he hoped for a gleam of sunset peace. But his hopes were disappointed. He had to tread the path of anguish and hatred to the bitter end, as he had trodden it for nearly fifty years of the troubled life which had followed his call in early boyhood. "But, in the case of Jerusalem," says Dean Stanley, "both its first and second destruction have the peculiar interest of involving the dissolution of a religious dispensation, combined with the agony of an expiring nation, such as no other people has survived, and, by surviving, carried on the living recollection, first of one, and then of the other, for centuries after the first shock was over." 2 Kings 25:22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. GEDALIAH B.C. 586 2 Kings 25:22-30 " Vedi che son un che piango. " - DANTE, "Inferno." "No rather steel thy melting heart To act the martyr s sternest part, To watch with firm, unshrinking eye Thy darling visions as they die, Till all bright hopes and hues of day Have faded into twilight grey." - KEBLE IN deciding that he would not accompany Nebuchadrezzar to Babylon, Jeremiah made the choice of duty. In Chaldaea he would have lived at ease, in plenty, in security, amid universal respect. He might have helped his younger contemporary Ezekiel in his struggle to keep the exiles in Babylon faithful to their duty and their God. He regarded the exiles as representing all that was best and noblest in the nation; and he would have been safe and honored in the midst of them, under the immediate protection of the great Babylonian king. On the other hand, to return to Judaea was to return to a defenseless and a distracted people, the mere dregs of the true nation, the mere phantom of what they once had been. Surely his life had earned the blessing of repose? But no! The hopes of the Chosen People, the seed of Abraham, God’s servant, could not be dissevered from the Holy Land. Rest was not for him on this side of the grave. His only prayer must be, like that which, Senancour had inscribed over his grave, Eternite, deviens mon asile! The decision cost him a terrible struggle; but duty called him, and he obeyed. It has been supposed by some critics that the wild cry of Jeremiah 15:10-21 expresses his: anguish at the necessity of casting in his lot with the remnant; the sense that they needed his protecting influence and prophetic guidance; and the promise of God that his sacrifice should not be ineffectual for good to the miserable fragment of his nation, even though they should continue to struggle against him. So with breaking heart he saw Nebuzaradan at Ramah marshalling the throng of captives for their long journey to the waters of Babylon. Before them, and before the little band which returned with him to the burnt Temple, the dismantled city, the desolate house, there lay an unknown future; but in spite of the exiles’ doom it looked brighter for them than for him, as with tears and sobs they parted from each other. Then it was that- "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refuseth to be comforted, because they are not. Thus saith the Lord, ‘Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded,’ saith the Lord; ‘and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy time to come,’ saith the Lord, ‘that thy children shall come again to their own border."’ {Jer 31:15-17} Disappointed in the fidelity of the royal house of Judah, Nebuchadrezzar had not attempted to place another of them on the throne. He appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, his satrap ( pakid ) over the poor remnant who were left in the land. In this appointment we probably trace the influence of Jeremiah. There is no one whom Nebuchadrezzar would have been so likely to consult. Gedaliah was the son of the prophet’s old protector, {Jer 26:24} and his grandfather Shaphan had been a trusted minister of Josiah. He thoroughly justified the confidence reposed in him, and under his wise and prosperous rule there seemed to be every prospect that there would be at least some pale gleam of returning prosperity. The Jews, who during the period of the siege had fled into all the neighboring countries, no sooner heard of his viceroyalty than they came flocking back from Moab, and Ammon, and Edom. They found themselves, perhaps for the first time in their lives, in possession of large estates, from which the exiles of Babylon had been dispossessed; and favored by an abundant harvest, "they gathered wine and summer fruits very much." {Jer 40:12} Jerusalem-dismantled, defenseless, burnt-was no longer habitable. It was all but deserted; so that jackals and hyenas prowled even over the mountain of the Lord’s House. All attempt to refortify it would have been regarded as rebellion, and such a mere lodge in a garden of cucumbers would have been useless to repress the marauding incursions of the envious Moabites and Edomites, who had looked on with shouts at the destruction of the city, and exulted when her carved work was broken down with axes and hammers. Gedaliah therefore fixed his headquarters at Mizpah, about six miles north of Jerusalem, of which the lofty eminence could be easily secured. It was the watchtower from which Titus caught his first glimpses of the Holy City, as many a traveler does to this day, and the point at which Richard I averted his eyes with tears, saying that he was unworthy to look upon the city which he was unable to save. Here, then, Gedaliah lived, urging upon his subjects the policy which his friend and adviser Jeremiah had always supported, and promising them quietness and peace if they would but accept the logic of circumstances-if they would bow to the inevitable, and frankly acknowledge the suzerainty of Nebuchadrezzar. It was perhaps as a pledge of more independence in better days to come that Nebuzaradan had left Gedaliah in charge of the young daughters of King Zedekiah, who had with them some of their eunuch-attendants. As that unfortunate monarch was only thirty-two years old when he was blinded and carried away, the princesses were probably young girls; and it has been conjectured that it was part of the Chaldaean king’s plan for the future that in time Gedaliah should be permitted to marry one of them, and re-establish at least a collateral branch of the old royal house of David. How long this respite continued we do not know. The language of Jeremiah 39:2 ; Jeremiah 41:1 , compared with