_In Exile and in the Homeland._
Stripped of all its best people the country was in a sorry plight
when, in the year 596, Nebuchadrezzar, on departing for Babylon,
raised Zedekiah to the throne of Judah.
Zedekiah was an uncle of the ill-fated Jehoiachin. He was the third
son of Josiah, and, like his brothers, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, he was
to see the fortunes of Judah ebb to their lowest point, and finally to
witness the destruction of the capital and the end of Judah.
The king had to surround himself with a vulgar, arrogant and uncouth
set of people. All of the princes and leading Judeans who were taken
to Babylon had been forced to sell their estates and properties at
whatever price they would bring. These were bought up by anyone that
came along and created a class of newly-rich that the country had
never had before.
The court was now, therefore, composed of these newly-rich, who knew
nothing about affairs of state, but who prided themselves on the fact
that because they were spared in Judah, they were the choice remnant
of God.
Zedekiah himself was feeble, slow to make up his mind and to come to a
decision. He went to everybody for suggestions and help, including
Jeremiah and the horde of false prophets that swarmed in Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, he always took the wrong advice.
Notwithstanding these unpromising conditions, Jeremiah was filled with
new hope for his land and people. He believed that now they would
understand his position regarding them and the meaning of his constant
preaching and teaching.
One day he was walking through a fig orchard near Anathoth. It was
harvest time and everywhere there were baskets laden with figs. Under
a particularly fine tree he noticed two baskets. One was filled with
very good figs; the other with very bad ones. Immediately he saw in
them a symbol for his people.
He compared Zedekiah, his upstart courtiers and the remnant in
Jerusalem to the basket of bad figs. The princes, elders, mechanics
and artisans, whom Nebuchadrezzar had carried away, he compared to the
basket of good figs. There was no message of hope in the "bad figs"
now ruling the country; there was hope, however, in the exiles.
Therefore Jeremiah sent the following letter to the Jews in Babylonia:
"Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens and
eat the fruit of them. Take ye wives and beget sons and
daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your
daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters;
and multiply ye there, and be not diminished.
"And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you
to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it;
for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
"For, thus saith the Lord: 'After seventy years are
accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my
good word toward you, in causing you to return to this
place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,'
saith the Lord, 'thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give
you hope in your latter end.
"'And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto
me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me and
find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
"'And I will be found of you,' saith the Lord, 'and I will
turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all
the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven
you,' saith the Lord; 'and I will bring you again unto the
place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.'"
Jerusalem, however, swarmed with false prophets who took themselves
seriously. They prophesied the immediate fall of Babylonia; they
promised the people that within two years the very Temple vessels that
Nebuchadrezzar had carried away would be restored and Judah
rejuvenated in its ancient glory.
Politicians, too, became active. Zedekiah, urged on by them, was
making alliances with the little countries about Judah, with Edom,
Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, for the purpose of rebellion against
Babylon; and behind them all was Pharaoh Hophrah, who came to the
throne of Egypt in 589, and who immediately turned his eyes to
Babylon, hoping to accomplish what Pharaoh Necho had failed to do.
Jeremiah denounced both prophets and politicians most bitterly. When
ambassadors from the neighboring states came to Jerusalem, to consult
with Zedekiah and to receive a message from the Egyptian king that he
was ready to send an army to assist them against Babylon, Jeremiah
appeared in the Market Place with thongs and yokes around his neck and
on his arms. He sent a yoke to each of the foreign ambassadors, with a
message to all of them advising that they permit the yoke of Babylon
to remain around their necks, resting assured that the rebellion was
doomed to failure.
In the Market Place Jeremiah was met by Hananiah, one of the false
prophets. Hananiah tore the yoke from Jeremiah's neck, broke it over
his knee and exclaimed:
"Thus saith the Lord:
"'So will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon from the
neck of all the nations.'"
Jeremiah answered:
"Thus saith the Lord:
"'Thou hast broken the yoke of wood, but I will make a yoke
of iron. I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these
peoples that they may serve the king of Babylon.'"
And to Zedekiah he sent the following message:
"Bring your neck into his yoke and serve the king of Babylon;
for these prophets prophesy a lie to you. 'I have not sent
them,' saith the Lord, 'and they prophesy in My name falsely,
that they might drive you out, and that ye might perish,
together with the prophets who have prophesied falsely to you.'"
But Jeremiah's efforts were all in vain. That same year, 589, the
rebellion broke out. Nebuchadrezzar did not delay long. He poured his
trained veterans into Palestine. They marched through the country with
the ease and assurance of a brook running along in its smooth course.
Within a few months they were before Jerusalem and, in 588, besieged it.