History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

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СКАЧАТЬ cease. The names of only four of these prophets have been preserved: Jeremiah, Uriah, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel. But the prophecies of others, who fought the battle against idolatry, have remained, though their names have not been recorded.

      Of Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from the Forest City (Kirjath-Jearim), nothing is known, except his tragical death. At the commencement of the reign of King Jehoiakim (between 607–604) he had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and of the whole land, if the people did not give up their evil ways. When Jehoiakim was informed of this prophecy of evil, he dispatched messengers to seize and kill its author. Meanwhile Uriah, having been secretly warned of his danger, fled to Egypt. Jehoiakim, however, was so enraged against him, that he sent one of his nobles to Egypt to demand his surrender. He was brought back to Jerusalem and beheaded, his body being cast on the burial-place of the common people. This murder of the prophet, instead of intimidating Jeremiah, seems to have confirmed him in his energetic action. With the accession of Jehoiakim and the relapse of the nation into its former state of sin, he began anew his work as a prophet, which had been in abeyance during the reign of Josiah. Jeremiah now, for the first time, comprehended the meaning of the words which had been addressed to him as a disciple in the first hours of his prophetic calling. "I have made thee a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land." He was to remain firm and unmoved, and to meet fearlessly the impending persecutions. Acting on this idea, he prepared to announce the inevitable destruction, though his tender heart bled, and he often had to seek fresh courage in order that he might not grow faint in his task of prophesying evil. Jeremiah, meanwhile, had grown to man's estate; but he took no wife. He could not devote himself to household joys whilst the shadow of approaching troubles darkened his soul. He went forth alone and in sadness. He could take no part in convivial pleasures, because the sins of the nation crushed in him all feelings of gladness.

      Through one of his first addresses in Jehoiakim's reign he drew on himself the hatred of all zealous idolaters, and especially of the priests and false prophets. When the populace, at one of the festivals, had assembled to offer up sacrifices, he called to them,

      "Thus saith the Lord God of Hosts: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.... Is this house, which is called by my name, to be a den of robbers? Behold even I have seen it, saith the Lord.... And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not, and I called you and ye answered not, therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh." (Jerem. ch. vii.)

      Hardly had Jeremiah finished these words when the priests and false prophets seized him, and said, "Thou shalt die—as thou hast prophesied that this Temple will become as that of Shiloh." A tumult arose in the courts of the Temple, and some of the bystanders supported Jeremiah. This tumult induced some of the princes to repair from the palace to the Temple—amongst these was Ahikam, son of Shaphan—and others who belonged to the prophet's party. The princes immediately formed a court of justice at one of the gates of the Temple, and heard the accusation and the defence. The priests and the false prophets said, "This man deserves death, for he has prophesied destruction to the city and the Temple." A few of the elders spoke in favour of Jeremiah. Then the princes said to the angry priests and the false prophets, "This man does not deserve death, for he has spoken to us in the name of our God." Through the exertions of his friends, and especially of Ahikam, Jeremiah was set free for the time. But the hatred of the priests and the false prophets towards him raged the more fiercely, and they watched for an opportunity to attack him.

      Meanwhile the doom of the Assyrian empire had been fulfilled. It fell ignominiously, through the united exertions of Cyaxares of Media and Nabopolassar of Babylon. Nineveh, the giant city, fell after a long siege (605). The last king of Assyria, Sardanapalus, burnt himself in his citadel. In consequence of the downfall of Assyria, important changes occurred on the central scene of passing events. Media became the chief heir of the Assyrian possessions—Cyaxares took the lion's share, and gave to his ally, Nabopolassar, Babylonia, Elymais, and the privilege of conquering the countries on the western side of the Euphrates. King Nabopolassar did not long survive his victory. He was succeeded by Nebuchadnezzar—a great warrior (604–561), and a wise, far-seeing statesman. He was by no means cruel, and only punished his enemies as severely as was necessary to render them harmless. Nebuchadnezzar strengthened his now enlarged kingdom internally, erected gigantic buildings, and established a system of navigation by means of canals. He then undertook a more extensive expedition of conquest. Aramæan Assyria, or Syria, which was split up into small districts, was subdued without much opposition. Next Phœnicia fell, and its king, Ithobal (Ethbaal) II., also became Nebuchadnezzar's vassal.

      The mighty conqueror then offered Jehoiakim the alternative to pay him allegiance or to be crushed. On the other hand, the king of Egypt counselled him to resist firmly, and promised that he would send help. Judah fell into a condition similar to that in the days of Hezekiah, and became the battle-field for the contest between two great powers. A policy had to be resolved on, but whilst awaiting aid from Egypt, or a miracle, Jehoiakim and his counsellors delayed coming to a decision from day to day.

      Amidst the general alarm a fast was proclaimed; in the ninth month, in the winter of 600, the whole nation was summoned to Jerusalem, and there it entreated the Lord to avert the impending evil from the land. The nation, in great excitement and fear as to what the future might bring on it, crowded to the Temple as though it would find security there. Jeremiah meanwhile commanded his faithful disciple, Baruch, to write down the prophetic exhortation which he had uttered some years before, and in which he had predicted that Judah herself, as well as all the nations around her, would be reduced to subjection to the young Chaldæan empire. After Baruch had inscribed this address on a roll, Jeremiah commanded him to read it in front of the Temple, in the presence of all the inhabitants of the capital and the entire country. The prophet himself was from some cause prevented from being present, and therefore Baruch was to represent him. Baruch, though not without hesitation, undertook this task. In an open hall, in the upper court of the Temple, he read the contents of the scroll to the whole nation. The address made a deep impression on the people, confronted as they were with the impending danger of an attack from Nebuchadnezzar's army, which now lay but a short distance from Jerusalem. A young man, Michaiah, son of Gemariah, hastened to the princes who had assembled in one of the halls of the palace, and there, agitated as he was, he communicated to them what he had heard. The alarmed princes invited Baruch to read again, in their presence, Jeremiah's scroll. Each word fell heavily on their hearts, and they were seized with terror. They, therefore, determined to inform the king of what they had heard, hoping that he, too, would be moved and convinced that he must give up all opposition to Nebuchadnezzar. For a moment they hoped for the best, when Jehoiakim commanded that the scroll be brought and read to him. But as each leaf was read, it was, by the king's order, handed to him, and he threw it into the fire. The princes witnessed this act of defiance with dismay, and entreated the king not to draw down destruction on them. He, however, paid no heed to them, and continued to throw the pages into the fire until the whole scroll was consumed. Jehoiakim then issued an order that the prophet of evil and his disciple be sought, in order that they might be killed as Uriah had been. Happily, the anxious princes had previously made arrangements to save Jeremiah and Baruch by hiding them in a secure place.

      It was, doubtless, a day of intense excitement for Jerusalem. The entire nation that had assembled for the fast departed without having gained its end. The reading of the scroll had, however, one effect: it brought about a division in the council of the princes. Those who were convinced by Jeremiah's prophecies, and had been instrumental in saving him, were determined to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. Amongst them was the Keeper of the Lists (Sopher), Elishama, who directed the war arrangements. He and other men of note being opposed to war, Jehoiakim could not undertake war, or his throne might be endangered. He therefore made peace with Nebuchadnezzar, paid the tribute imposed, promised him military aid, and assumed all the duties which in those days were imposed on a vassal. This was the commencement of СКАЧАТЬ