054. I. The Changed Situation

I THE CHANGED SITUATION The twelve years of the reign of Josiah which followed the reformation were the brightest in the history of Judah. Immunity from foreign attacks enabled that worthy prince and his able advisers to organize the resources of his little kingdom, and to extend its influence until the southern part of the territory, formerly belonging to the northern Israelites, fell under his sway. More important still, the prophetic party, who included in their ranks all who truly worshiped the Jehovah of the prophets as opposed to the Jehovah of whom the ignorant masses conceived, found in Josiah a strong champion; for he advanced, by the influence of the throne, and, if need be, by the sword, the principles inculcated by the prophets in their sermons and by the priests in the written law. The effect of a half-century of idolatry could not, however, be effaced in one moment, nor even in a decade. The tendencies toward a more sensuous nature-worship were inborn in the popular heart, while the austere moral demands of the new prophetic religion were too exalted to be clearly appreciated by the masses, and too counter to all their cherished traditions not to arouse their secret antagonism.

While prosperity crowned the efforts of the reforming party, blind popular discontent found no open expression; but when Josiah, who had gone out against the Egyptian king, Necho, confident that Jehovah would give him the victory, fell, slain on the plain of Megiddo, that opposition became apparent.

After Necho had brushed aside the foolhardy king, who sought to hinder him in his eastward march, he hastened onward to meet more important foes. The prophetic party improved this respite to raise to the kingship Shallum, a younger son of Josiah, who assumed, on ascending the throne, the name of Jehoahaz. They undoubtedly hoped that he would be able to revive the shattered fortunes of the kingdom, and carry on the religious policy so nobly instituted by his father; but the disaster on the plain of Megiddo destroyed their influence with the majority of the people. The masses clamored for the old régime which had been set aside by Josiah, while the return of Necho within a few months deprived the prophetic party of the last vestige of power. Recognizing that Jehoahaz represented the supporters of his enemy, Josiah, the Egyptian king carried off the young Judean monarch in chains to the land of the Nile. Jeremiah refers touchingly to this incident in chapter Jeremiah 22:10-12 of his prophecy. “Lament not over the death of Josiah, but wail for his son Shallum (Jehoahaz; cf. 2 Kings 23:30, and 1 Chronicles 3:15), who has been carried away into the land of captivity, where he shall die, never again rejoicing his eyes with a view of his native land.”

Jehoiakim, Josiah’s eldest son, was appointed king by Necho in place of Jehoahaz. For the patriotic prophetic party a worse choice could not have been made. Not only was the new king lacking in sympathy with reform and in ability as a ruler, but he also soon showed himself a foe to the true prophets and a champion of the old, half-heathen party which had survived from the days of Manasseh, and which now was in the ascendency. He seems to have lacked completely all patriotic ambitions. Although he reigned at a time when Canaan was the coveted possession for which the Egyptians, led by Necho, and the Chaldeans, led by Nebuchadrezzar, were struggling, he made national interests entirely secondary to his personal greed and to his passion for splendid buildings. In vain Jeremiah exhorted him to rule righteously, that his family might enjoy the blessings promised them, and that the overwhelming judgment, which Jehovah would otherwise visit upon Jerusalem and Judah, might be averted (Jeremiah 21:11 to Jeremiah 22:9). In chapter Jeremiah 22:13-19, the prophet presents an estimate of the young king’s character, which is confirmed by other references: “Woe to that ruler who builds his palace with funds gained by unjust exactions and unfair decisions, who forces his subjects to toil for him, and pays them nothing; whose dominant ambition is to rear a large and magnificent residence. Do you think, Jehoiakim, that it is essential that you as a king surpass all other potentates in the splendor of your palace? Your father was deemed by all a successful king,—and why? Because he was a just ruler, giving his first attention to those who needed his help. This is Jehovah’s will. But you are intent only upon securing dishonest gains. You hesitate not at murder and cruel oppression.

“Therefore, this shall be your fate: your dead body shall be cast out like that of a beast Neither your kindred nor your family shall mourn your death. No one shall be found to say a kind word concerning you, when you are dead.”

Under such a ruler as Jehoiakim, Judah began to take that sudden and fatal plunge which ended in her ruin. It was an age when the most optimistic could do little but mourn. To the patriot and the enlightened prophet, who was enabled to estimate the true trend of events, the folly and the crimes of the period appeared by contrast all the more lamentable because outlined against the almost ideal reign of Josiah. We have reason to believe that Jeremiah preached constantly throughout the reign of that noble prince; but when he collected his earlier sermons, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, it was for the purpose of laying them before this king. Naturally, the addresses of denunciation and warning, such as would be best adapted to the moral needs of that depraved ruler, were selected. The result is, that we have little information respecting what must have been the brighter and more hopeful side of Jeremiah’s character and work. In the reign of Jehoiakim the circumstances were even more hopeless than when he entered upon his career of reform under Josiah. Now the people stood in the full light of the reformation, enforced by the teachings of the prophets. Their return to idolatry, therefore, was a deliberate turning of the back upon higher truth. In so doing, they showed their sodden contempt for the exhortation of the true prophets. Instead of enjoying the support of Josiah, Jeremiah was constantly the victim of the secret opposition or the open persecution of Jehoiakim. Most of all Jeremiah must have felt the lack of the companionship of that earnest body of true priests and prophets whose place was filled for the most part by fawning tools of the king. These men, prophesying in the name of Jehovah, undermined the influence of the true ambassadors of the Highest, and ultimately wrecked their state. Earlier hatred of Jeremiah broke forth into personal persecutions. Fiercer denunciations and a more hopeless tone now characterize his prophecies. A deep despondency not infrequently seized him. Through those trying years, however, he continued fearlessly to proclaim the eternal truths which make his sermons messages for all times.