_Lamentations and a Vain Hope._
It is said that ties of true friendship are often stronger than ties
of blood. Of such stuff were the ties made that bound together the
families of Hilkiah, the priest, and Shaphan, the scribe. Hilkiah and
Shaphan labored hand in hand with King Josiah in his reforms.
Shaphan's sons, Ahikam and Gemariah, came to the assistance of
Hilkiah's son, Jeremiah, when the latter was in sorest need. Now a
grandson of Shaphan, Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, was to give a temporary
haven to the weary Jeremiah.
The whole of the Shaphan family followed in the footsteps of their
noble ancestor. Both Ahikam and Gemariah belonged to the Prophetic
Party; though, unlike Jeremiah, they took the course of least
resistance and continued in favor with the royal house.
Nebuchadrezzar, who kept himself informed concerning the political
leanings of the leading families in Jerusalem, therefore believed that
if he raised a scion of Shaphan's family to the governorship of Judah,
the country would remain loyal and leave him to his peace in
upbuilding Babylon.
Accordingly, Ahikam's and Gemariah's families were spared during the
general slaughter in Jerusalem, and Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, was made
governor of Judah when the victorious Babylonians had finished their
work in the land.
There was still another person whom Nebuchadrezzar had given orders to
spare--Jeremiah. Nothing would have pleased Nebuchadrezzar better than
for Jehoiakim and Zedekiah to have followed the counsel of Jeremiah.
Therefore, the prophet was not only to be saved from the carnage, but
he was to be rewarded.
Nebuzaradan had strict orders to find Jeremiah. In fact, the troop
which Jeremiah had heard in the garrison and that accidentally saved
him was in search of him at the time.
Nebuzaradan knew that Jeremiah was alive, through Baruch. Baruch had
been captured and thrown into chains on the seventh day of Ab. When he
heard that the Babylonians were searching for Jeremiah to save him, he
informed them that he was imprisoned in the garrison.
The captain of the troop had no idea that the emaciated old man was a
prophet; but he thanked his stars that he had not permitted his
soldiers to slay the poor fellow. He complimented himself when, at
Ramah, he discovered that he had Jeremiah in his keeping and was
complimented by the commander-in-chief when he brought Jeremiah to
Nebuzaradan's tent.
While in the prisoners' camp, Jeremiah could not get out of his mind's
eye the picture of devastation that he had beheld while passing
through Jerusalem. He kept entirely away from his fellow prisoners. He
wanted, and needed, to be alone. It was during these days he composed
his Lamentations on Jerusalem:
"How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people?
She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces is become a tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are
become her enemies.
All that pass by clap their hands at thee:
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
Is this the city that men called
The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth?
All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee:
They hiss and gnash the teeth: they say,
'We have swallowed her up:
Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found,
we have seen it.'"
But Jeremiah, even in this great extremity, was not a man without hope
for the future. He knew his God and understood that His anger with the
worst of men or nations does not last forever:
"This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord's loving-kindnesses that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that
seeketh Him.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth;
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because He hath laid it
upon him;
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be
filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever."
Jeremiah was not particularly interested when he was ordered to appear
before Nebuzaradan. It did not really matter to him any longer what
would happen to him. He had fought a brave fight--and had lost. Life
or death made no difference now. In fact, he would rather have died at
the hands of the Babylonians than at the hands of his own people. So,
he replied listlessly that he was ready.
Even when given clean garments and ordered to bathe and told to
brighten up and be cheerful, because all would be well with him, he
could not figure out what it all meant until he was in the tent of
Nebuzaradan. Then, hope was born anew in his heart, as he listened to
what the commander had to say to him:
"The Lord your God pronounced evil upon this place; you have
sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed his voice,
therefore this thing is come to you.
"And now behold, I loose you this day from the chains which
are upon your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me
to Babylon, come and I will look out for you. But if it seem
undesirable to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come;
but go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of
Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the
cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go
wherever it seems right to you to go."
Jeremiah replied, shortly, that he preferred to remain in Judah. A
clear look again came to his eyes; his shoulders straightened up; he
carried his head erect once more; he had new work, on the old lines,
to do.
He also asked a favor--that Baruch, son of Neriah, and Ebed-melech, an
Ethiopian freedman of the royal house, if alive, should be permitted
to remain with him.
Both his preference and his request were granted. Baruch was found
among the living in Riblah and Ebed-melech at the camp in Ramah.
Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah provisions and presents and sent him, with
his two companions, to Gedaliah, who had established his capital at
the ancient city of Mizpah, on the dividing line between the old
kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
On his departure from Judah, Nebuchadrezzar had deported with him
practically the entire population that was of any consequence. He left
behind only the poorest of vine dressers and farmers.
Gedaliah's position as governor, therefore, seemed to be but an empty
honor. The country a wilderness, the capital in hopeless ruins, the
Temple a pile of smoking and smouldering ashes--it was not a picture
to bring rejoicing to a governor's heart.
But Jeremiah laid a new plan for rehabilitating the land. Neither
Jerusalem nor the Temple were to be rebuilt, for the present. All
efforts were to be bent toward building up a new conscience in the
simple farmers and vine dressers; to fit these for entering a new
covenant with their God and to make them worthy, indeed, to be
God's people.
In politics the land was to stand, above all, for faithfulness and
loyalty to Babylonia. That was what Nebuchadrezzar expected from
Gedaliah and that was what Gedaliah proposed to do. With the religion
Nebuchadrezzar never did and never would interfere. Therefore, first
of all, the new governor issued this proclamation to the remnant that
remained in Judah:
"Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Settle down and
be subject to the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with
you. As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, as your representative
to receive the Chaldeans who shall come to us; but you gather
for yourselves wine and fruits and oil, and put them in
your vessels and dwell in your cities of which you have
taken possession."
The future again looked bright. Under Gedaliah there was promise of a
peaceful restoration of Judah.
Jewish refugees in Moab, Ammon and Edom began to return, because they
looked for a just and benevolent rule from Shaphan's grandson; and
they would not have been disappointed had not scheming selfishness and
hateful treachery stepped in to shatter the last possible Judean hope.