_To the Fore Again._
The mystery of the Scythian invasion of Asia has not yet been clearly
solved. The results of that invasion, however, shook thrones and shattered
kingdoms and changed the face of the then known civilized world.
Assyria was the greatest sufferer, for the Scythian ravages had so
weakened the great empire that it never recovered. Incidentally, this
same cause reawakened the spirit of conquest in the Medes, led to the
re-establishment of the independent Babylonian kingdom and brought
about, indirectly and unnecessarily, the death of the good King Josiah.
During the last years of Ashurbanipal's long and brilliant reign over
Assyria, the Medes, under their king, Phraortes, turned the tables on
Assyria and invaded the empire. Ashurbanipal's army defeated the
ambitious Mede and drove him back into his own territory. But his son
and successor, Cyaxerxes, having made certain changes in the
organization of the Median army, again invaded Assyria and actually
besieged Nineveh.
At the same time the Scythians began to swarm over Media, and
Cyaxerxes was forced to return to his own country and defend it.
Cyaxerxes, being a wise as well as a great king, managed to buy off
the barbarian Scythians and later actually trained them for service in
his army, both as teachers of archery and as mercenaries.
In the meantime, the Assyrian successor of Ashurbanipal made the
mistake that cost him his life and his empire. He appointed
Nabopolassar, a Chaldean of ancient lineage and of enthusiastic
patriotism for his age-old country. Nabopolassar immediately entered
into an alliance with Cyaxerxes that had for its purpose the overthrow
of Nineveh and the establishment of Babylonia as an independent state.
Nabopolassar declared himself king of Babylonia, to the great dismay
of the Assyrian court. To seal his alliance with the Medes, a marriage
was arranged between Amytis, Cyaxerxes' daughter, and Nebuchadrezzar,
his son and Crown Prince.
Nineveh was attacked at the same time by the Babylonians and Medians
in the year 608. The great capital was besieged for two years. So
fierce was the vengeance wrought upon the city and its inhabitants by
the united armies that when the capture was finally made both were
completely blotted out. For many centuries not even the location of
Nineveh could be found.
This occurred in the year 606. The end of Nineveh brought to a close
the history of the great Assyrian power that had ruled so masterfully
over the then known entire world. It also brought about a situation
that had its direct effect upon the beginning of the end of the
Kingdom of Judah.
In Egypt history was in the making. Psammetich I, a Libyan soldier,
recognizing in the crumbling of Assyrian power his own opportunity,
made himself master of the country and established a new dynasty in
Egypt. His son and successor, Pharaoh Necho, grasped the chance given
him by Nabopolassar's attack on Nineveh to win back the provinces
along the Mediterranean, that had been Egyptian before they were
conquered by Assyria.
Without further ado, therefore, Necho, with a great army, started
north, to conquer all of Assyria that he could and add it to his own
Empire. This meant an invasion of Judah.
King Josiah was by no means ready to sit still and fall helplessly
from the frying pan into the fire, as it were. Once entirely free from
Assyria, he intended to maintain his independence. At least, he was
not going to allow Pharaoh Necho to slip the noose around his neck
without a struggle. Josiah, therefore, organized his armies and went
out to meet Necho. This was when the campaign against Nineveh began.
To the Pharaoh's great surprise, when he reached the plain of Megiddo,
he was confronted by Josiah. Necho sent him word that he had no
quarrel with Judah whatever; but Josiah could see nothing in the
future but the sovereignty of Egypt over his dominions and was
determined to retain his independence at all costs. So, the war was on.
It did not last long, however. It seems that not even a single pitched
battle was fought. Josiah was picked off by a Libyan archer in the very
first skirmish and wounded mortally, to the dismay of his entire army.
His old and devoted servant, Ebed-melech, was with the king in his
chariot. The faithful Ethiopian carried the wounded Josiah from the
royal chariot to another one. Protected by a detachment of the body
guard, as if in mockery, Josiah was taken back to Jerusalem, dying.
Before he reached the capital he was dead, and Necho declared himself
master over Judah without the least resistance. He made it, at once,
an Egyptian province.
The mourning for the dead King in Jerusalem and Judah was sincere and
widespread. It is recorded that many odes by the poets and musicians
of that day were written in his memory and that Jeremiah lamented for
his friend in accents more woeful than did David for Jonathan. Ebed-melech
hung around the sepulcher of his beloved master for many days. It was
months before he returned to the palace to resume his duties.
"Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to
the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with
all his might, according to the law of Moses; neither after
him arose there any like him."
To indicate the force and power of Josiah's life with the people of
Judah, and the genuine value in their own lives of the late king's
reforms, the people at large passed over Eliakim, Josiah's eldest son,
and raised his second son, Jehoahaz, to the throne of Judah.
Eliakim was a weakling, who loved ease and luxury above everything
else. The people feared that he would not continue the life and work
of his father. Jehoahaz, on the other hand, was a true son of his
father, and would have made a splendid successor to the throne of
Josiah, had not Pharaoh Necho interfered with the will of the people
of Judah.
In the third month of the young king's reign (he was only twenty-three
years old) Necho ordered him to appear before him at Riblah, on the
Orontes. Arrived there, Jehoahaz was immediately thrown into chains
and sent a prisoner to Egypt.
Necho then proclaimed Eliakim King of Judah and to show his complete
mastery over king, land and people, he changed Eliakim's name to
Jehoiakim.
The mourning in Jerusalem and Judah was now twofold. The people wept
for their beloved king who was dead and for his beloved son who was a
prisoner beyond hope.
A few men like Hilkiah and Jeremiah, and the others of the Prophetic
Party, saw in Jehoahaz's successor the coming of more evil days for
Judah. To those who hoped that there might again be a political change
and that Jehoahaz would return from Egypt, to reign in his father's
stead, Jeremiah held out no hope:
"Weep not for him who is dead, nor wail for him; weep rather
for him who is gone, for he shall not return, and never again
shall he see the land of his birth. For thus saith the Lord,
concerning Shallum (Jehoahaz), the son of Josiah, who was
king instead of Josiah his father, who went forth from this
place: 'He shall not return thither again, but in the place
whither they have led him away captive he shall die, and this
land shall not see him again.'"
Soon after Jehoiakim came to the throne, word came from Egypt that
Jehoahaz had died. It was then that Jeremiah, who with Shaphan and
Hilkiah had quietly aided the king in his policy of reform, but had
retired to his home in Anathoth when these reforms began to bear
fruit, heard again the call to go out and prophesy to the people of
Judah. Danger was threatening from the throne and this danger brought
Jeremiah out of his seclusion, to the fore again.