Nearly a quarter of a century had rolled away, and again the city of
Jerusalem was ablaze with light and social gayety. But vastly different
was the moral tone of the government. The good King Josiah had been
called to rest, and his profligate son Jehoiakim was on the throne.
Nightly the walls of the royal palace rang with the sound of high
revelry. Laughter and drunken song echoed through every part of the
proud edifice. Jehoiakim, following the example of some of his
predecessors, did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and
filled the Holy City with his foul abominations. His counselors also
lived in forgetfulness of the God of Israel. They flattered the king’s
vanity and encouraged his excesses. Pride and infidelity promenaded
together. Crimes of the darkest hue were being perpetrated with
official sanction, and, although God’s prophets had the courage to
rebuke the sinful rulers and warn them of their fearful doom, the moral
standard of the city went lower and lower.
The night was serene and calm. The glorious orb shone brightly in the
eastern skies and shed her silvery beams on the glassy lakes of Judea.
In the clear moonbeams, those lofty towers of spotless white stood
forth in majestic grandeur on the walls of the great metropolis.
Nature, with smiles of lovely innocence on her fair countenance, was
hushed to sweet repose; but not so the busy thousands that thronged the
wide thoroughfares of Jerusalem. This day was one of the anniversaries
of Jehoiakim’s reign, and at an early hour the city presented a scene
of excitement. The king’s vanity provided everything requisite for a
general display; and, although far from being loved by his numerous
subjects, yet because they could eat, drink, and be merry at the
expense of others, the streets of Jerusalem were thronged with those
who cared far more for the gratification of their appetites than they
did for their vain sovereign.
The royal palace was thronged with the rich, the great, the gay, and
the giddy. Unholy excitement ran high. Wines and strong drinks flowed
freely. Flattery without measure was poured into the ears of the king.
“Long live Jehoiakim!” echoed from a thousand voices. The prophets of
the Most High, who prophesied evil against Jerusalem, were ridiculed
and laughed to scorn; and those few persons of influence who regarded
them in a favorable light were made the subjects of their keenest
sarcasm and their most insulting wit. It was about the third hour of
the night. The king’s heart was merry with wine. A thousand of Judah’s
nobles, with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, sat at the
banquet table. Suddenly a voice, deep and solemn as the grave, was
heard below, as if in the garden at the rear of the palace, crying,
“Woe unto Jehoiakim, King of Judah! Woe! Woe to the Holy City!” The
sound was of an unearthly nature. The assembly heard it, the king heard
it. For a moment, all was still. Again the same deep minor sound was
clearly heard. “Woe unto Jehoiakim, King of Judah! Woe! Woe unto the
Holy City!”
“Seize the accursed wretch!” rang through the great apartment.
The king’s countenance was flushed with anger, while he cried, “Who is
this vile dog that dares insult the King of Judah? Let the abominable
one be dragged into my presence and then receive his instant doom!”
A thorough search was made for the mysterious author of the confusion;
guards and sentinels ran to and fro. Every corner of the enclosures was
thoroughly examined, but all in vain. No trace could be found of the
unwelcome herald. After a short interval, the agitation subsided and
the company was again in the midst of wild revelry and merriment. The
king endeavored to be merry; but the peculiar deep tone of that
messenger of woe still sounded in his ears; and, with all his efforts,
he could not forget it. In the midst of his depravity and wickedness,
he still at times had some dread of that God whom he daily insulted. He
sought to drown his unpleasant thoughts in mixed wines, but the King of
Judah felt a presentiment of some awful calamity near at hand. With
desperation he struggled against it, and joined in the boisterous laugh
and merry song.