lamented by all his people, and specially by the prophet Jeremiah. Lost as they were to shame, and given over to wickedness, they retained some sense, it appears, of what was good, and admired in others the qualities which they neglected in themselves :—a too common case, among those who have never applied themselves in earnest to religion, who have never considered, that to be good for any thing, it must be strictly personal-must influence what they think and do themselves every day of their lives. No man sits contented with his own poverty and sickness, because other people are rich and in good health; but many a one is satisfied with being one of a christian community, though he himself is destitute of christian knowledge, and christian feelings, with living among religious persons, without being religious. They resemble in this the Jews, who were wont to think themselves in safety, because they were Abraham's children, the absurdity of which opinion Christ made known to them when he said, "if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do Abraham's works :"* for having a good example to look to, and being in possession of great advantages, if we neglect to follow the one and use the other, can only increase our condemnation. Upon the death of Josiah, the people took one of his sons, named Jehoahaz, or Shallum, and made him king. This proceeding displeased the king of Egypt, who deposed him after he had reigned wickedly for the space of three months, and sent him prisoner into Egypt, from whence, as Jeremiah prophesied,† he never returned, nor saw his native country. Pharaoh Necho substituted in his room another of Josiah's sons, and changed his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim: his nature, however, remained unchanged by the alteration either of his name or condition: he did

• John viii. 39.

+ Jer. xxii. 10-12.

evil in the sight of the Lord, and persecuted, with bitter hatred, those who presumed to take notice of his offences, or warn him to repent. Thus when Urijah, a prophet of the Lord, had discharged his duty in this respect by openly proclaiming his message from heaven, the king sought to slay him; and when he fled into Egypt, sent men to fetch him thence, and put him to death with unpitying severity. Jeremiah was likewise in great danger, and had he not found some powerful protectors among the princes, would have suffered death, being accused by the priests of having prophesied the destruction of their temple. Jehoiakim, the nominee and tributary of Pharaoh, was now destined to change his master. The conqueror of Nineveh and the Assyrian empire, the great and victorious Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, having defeated the Egyptian army at Carchemish, came up against Jerusalem he bound Jehoiakim in fetters, with the intent of carrying him to Babylon, but this it does not appear that he did then, suffering him to remain as his servant, rather than as king of Judea, for three years; after which, upon his rebellion, he sent a host against him, who made him prisoner, and would have led him away captive to Babylon, had he not died when on the point of setting out upon his melancholy journey: and his dead body, in fulfilment of another prophecy of Jeremiah,* was buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. To this degrading end are brought the enemies of God, however high may have been their earthly station, when they provoke him by their crimes to make them examples of his vengeance. Happy rather are they, who, being poor perhaps and lowly in condition, are rich in faith, and patiently continuing in that state of life to which their God has called them, or

* Jer. xxvi. 19.

labouring honestly to better it by worthy means, go down at last into their decent and peaceful graves, regretted by those who knew them, and rest in hope of a joyful resurrection to glory hereafter, through Jesus Christ their Lord.

CHAP. XXXVI.

THE CAPTIVITY AT BABYLON.

WE have now arrived at that important period in the

history of the Hebrew nation, commonly known by the name of the Babylonish captivity, or, as it is styled in the genealogy of our Lord, according to St. Matthew,* the carrying away to Babylon. We are not, however, to suppose that this took place all at once; it was a work of time, and effected at various intervals, by successive removals of the people; so that while a part of them, and that, indeed, the principal and most useful part, were captives in the land of the Chaldeans, a part remained for some time under their ordinary kingly government, in the condition, however, of tributaries, in their own country. At the time of Jehoiakim's death, already spoken of, Nebuchadnezzar took back with him to Babylon a certain portion of the spoils of Jerusalem, and some children of royal or noble birth, recommended either for personal beauty, or quickness of understanding, to be servants in his palace. They were well treated, being nourished with a daily portion of the king's provision; four of them, however, Daniel and his three companions, best known by their Chaldean

Matt. i. 11.

names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were unwilling to break the law of their God, by partaking of these heathenish dainties, and throve so much the more upon the simple diet of pulse and water, which they prevailed upon him who had the charge over them to allow in their stead. After three years thus passed in attention to their duty, they were brought before the king, and pleased him so much by the progress they had made in learning, that he promoted them to honour, and caused them to be ranked among the wise men of Babylon: while Daniel continued to be held in high repute among his countrymen, and what is far better than any praise of men, enjoyed the favour of his God, being ranked by him with Noah and Job, among the excellent of the earth.* In the mean time, Jechoniah, son of Jehoiakim, was allowed by Nebuchadnezzar to occupy the throne of Judah; but for the space of three months only; at the end of which he also was carried to Babylon, and with him most of the chief men of the country; among whom was Ezekiel the prophet, and Mordecai, of whom mention is made in the book of Esther, or perhaps one of his ancestors, attended by a number of the best handicraftsmen of their various trades; so that Zedekiah, who succeeded to the kingdom, reigned for the most part over the poorest only, and those whom it was not thought worth while to take away. Exceptions to this there undoubtedly were; and among these one of the most eminent was the prophet Jeremiah, who remained at Jerusalem, and offered from time to time such counsels and warnings to its king, as, if they had been listened to, would have deferred, if not altogether prevented, his approaching doom. His advice was, that he should continue to serve the king of Babylon with fidelity,

Ezek. xiv. 14.

and not give ear to the lying prophets, who endeavoured to persuade him that those who had been led away captive would be restored again in a few years, and all things return to their former state of prosperity and independence. Nor were these deceitful expectations held out to the dwellers in Judea only; the captives in Babylonia had their false prophets also, who talked to them in the same manner; upon these Ezekiel, in his prophecy, denounced the severest judgments: and Jeremiah, feeling it his duty, as God's messenger to the whole nation, to instruct them also in the truth, sent them a letter, exhorting them to remain patiently as they were, and to seek the peace of the city where they were kept as captives, for the full space of seventy years, which God had appointed as the duration of the captivity. These prophets were as wicked in their actions as they were presumptuous and false in their words: two of them were burnt alive by Nebuchadnezzar,* for grievous crimes which they committed in Babylon, and another, Hananiah, was stricken by God with sudden death, for his rebellious conduct.

The prophecies of Jeremiah, at this time, were not limited to the ruin of his own country; he foresaw, also, the destruction of haughty Babylon, which had brought Zion under the yoke of bondage; and when king Zedekiah went there on a visit, attended by one of his princes, Seraiah by name, Jeremiah wrote his prophecy in a book, requesting Seraiah to read it there, and afterwards to cast the book into the river Euphrates, and to say, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."† It was this feeling, shared by others, who also had the prophetic spirit upon them, which prompted them,

* Jer. xxix. 22. xxviii. 17.

+ Ibid. li. 64.