Chapter 17: How aReed Stood as aPillar
Chapter 17: How a Reed Stood as a Pillar
(JEREMIAH 24, 34, 37).
"Thou vast alone through Thy redemption vigil,
Thy friends had fled;
The Angel at the garden from Thee parted;
And solitude instead,
More than the scourge or cross, O Tender-hearted!
Under the crown of thorns, bowed down Thy head.
"But I, amid the torture and the taunting,
I have had Thee!
Thy hand was holding my hand fast and faster,
Thy voice was close to me:
And glorious eyes said, 'Follow Me, thy Master,
Smile as I smile thy faithfulness to see.'"
MRS. HAMILTON KING.
TO A SENSITIVE nature it is an agony to stand alone. By a swift and unerring instinct such a soul can detect what is in men's hearts; and when it knows intuitively that the sympathy for which it yearns is dried up like a summer brook; that interest has changed to indifference, and warmth of friendship to the coldness of disdain—whether in society or in the great world of human life—its energy ebbs, and its native power of influence is frozen at its spring. To many, the sense of being esteemed and loved is the very breath of life. They would scorn flattery, and the adulation of wealth or fashion; they are quite content to dwell among their own people: but they are so constituted as to require an atmosphere of sympathy for the full forth-putting of their powers.
Many strong and stalwart souls, cast in an heroic mould, have no experience of this sensitive and tender disposition.
It is well that they have not. They were born to be the discoverers, the pioneers, the soldiers of the race; theirs the ribs of iron and the nerves of steel; theirs the courage which mounts higher on opposition and They will never realize the cost at which those do their work and bear their testimony, who have much of the woman in their nature, with its faculty of insight, its warmth of emotion, its keen sensitiveness to praise or hate, its yearning for sympathy, the smile of approbation, the kind word of cheer.
Jeremiah was one of the latter class. Tender, shrinking, sensitive, with a vast capacity for emotion, strong to hate, and therefore to love, not constituted by nature to stand alone. But herein let us adore that grace which stepped into his life, and for forty years made him a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land—against princes, priests, and people. They indeed fought against him; but could not prevail, because God was with him. He out-lasted all his foes, and maintained the standard to life's end. And this marvellous endurance and steadfastness of spirit was nowhere so conspicuous as during the last months of his nation's independence. We must tell part of this story in this chapter, that none may miss its helpful inspiration; because, if the presence of God could do so much for him, and for so long, it is sufficient for the weakest child of His that may read these words.
I. JEREMIAH'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE KING.—We gain much information concerning the situation at Jerusalem, during the reign of Zedekiah, from the pages of Ezekiel; who, though resident in the land of the exile, faithfully reflected, and in prophetic vision anticipated, what was transpiring in the beloved city, to which his thoughts were incessantly directed. His prophecies are most valuable and interesting when read in this light.
Zedekiah, as we have seen, on ascending the throne, bound himself under the most solemn sanctions to be loyal to the supremacy of Babylon; and there is no doubt that, at the time, he fully intended to be faithful, the more especially as, at Nebuchadnezzar's command, he took the oath of allegiance in the sacred name of Jehovah. But he was weak and young, and wholly in the hands of the strong court-party that favoured an alliance with Egypt, and the casting off of the Chaldean yoke.
Two years before the catastrophe befell, Ezekiel clearly foretold what was about to happen. He foresaw the embassy sent to Pharaoh requesting horses and people, and asked indignantly, "Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?" And he followed up his bitter remonstrances by the awful words, "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war" (Ezekiel 17:11-21).
Jeremiah, as we know, earnestly dissuaded both king and princes from entering into the alliance which was being advocated between Judah and the neighbouring states; and insisted, in the face of the false prophets, that the residue of the vessels left by Nebuchadnezzar in the Temple would certainly be transported, as the rest had been, to Babylon, if the mad project were persisted in (xxvii.). Notwithstanding all these remonstrances, however, the confederacy was formed: and in a fatal moment Zedekiah renounced his allegiance to the king of Babylon.
Then it befell precisely as Ezekiel had foreseen. Stung to the quick by the perfidy and ingratitude of the Jews, who had so persistently and obstinately outraged him, Nebuchadnezzar gathered a vast army, resolved to make a public example of them to surrounding peoples, by the swiftness and mercilessness of his vengeance. "A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished: it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning. Cry and howl, son of man: for it is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh" (Ezekiel 21:8-17, R.V.).
The king of Babylon comes to the junction of the ways —this to Jerusalem, that to Rabbah, the chief city of Ammon. He consults the usual signs of divination, which point him to the assault of Jerusalem, with battering rams, and mounts, and forts. And as he takes the road to the devoted city, the voice of Jehovah is heard bidding the prince of Israel, whose day is come, to remove the mitre, and take off the crown, because Jehovah was resolved to "overturn, overturn, and overturn." And then, as though to justify the awful sentence, there is given an enumeration of the crimes which were making the streets of Jerusalem red with blood, and foul with impurity. It is altogether a terrible description of the state of things in the city during those last years of Zedekiah's reign. A bitter experience for Jeremiah, whose soul must have been sore vexed from day to day, in seeing and hearing their lawless deeds (Ezekiel 21:18-27; 22:1-16).
At last, in December, 591 B.C., the siege began. On the approach of Nebuchadnezzar, the confederacy had melted away, and Jerusalem was left alone, an islet amid the roaring waves of Chaldean armies. But the citizens had laid in a good store of provisions, and were expecting daily the advance of Pharaoh-Hophra, with the chivalry of Egypt, to raise the siege.
At this juncture, Zedekiah sent two well-known men to Jeremiah, to ask whether Jehovah would not interpose for his people, as He had done in the great days of the past; as for instance, when He destroyed the host of Sennacherib in a single night. It must have been a trying ordeal to the prophet. One conciliatory word might have averted the dislike of princes and people, given a bright glint of popularity and hero-worship, and obliterated the charges of mean-spiritedness and lack of patriotism that were freely levelled at him. Why should he not be the Isaiah of this new siege? Why not arouse and encourage his people to indomitable resistance and heroic faith? Why not blend his voice with those of the prophets that foretold a certain deliverance, and so acquire an influence over them, which might be used ultimately for their highest good?
It is not impossible that such considerations passed before his mind. But if so, they were immediately dis-missed. "Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will gather them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy."
He followed up these terribly words by saying that the only way of safety was to go forth to the Chaldeans, who were now investing the city on every side. All who stopped in the city would die of sword, pestilence, or famine. They would be accounted as figs not fit to be eaten, and destined to be cast away as refuse. But those who went forth and surrendered themselves to the king of Babylon would save their lives (xxi.; xxii. ; xxiv.).
Yet once again, when the siege of Jerusalem was in progress, and every day the air was full of the cries of the combatants, the heavy thud of the battering-rams against the walls, and the cries of wounded men borne from the ramparts to the tendance of women—Jeremiah went fearlessly to Zedekiah with the heavy tidings that nothing could stay the sack and burning of the city, since God had given it into the hands of the king of Babylon; and that he would surely be taken, and behold him face to face. "He shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon" (xx14:1-7).
At the same time, rolling across the desert waste, and reverberating like a funeral knell, came the terrible voice of Ezekiel: "Woe to the bloody city! Heap on the wood; make the fire hot; then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the rust of it may be consumed. I the Lord have spoken it. I will not go back, neither will I repent" (Ezekiel 24:1-14).
II. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SLAVE-OWNING JEWS.—It is not impossible that Jeremiah's vehement words of reproof aroused the deeply-drugged conscience of his people; and they resolved, at the suggestion of Zedekiah, to make some reparation for their sins, and at the same time strengthen their garrison, by setting free their slaves. This was done at a solemn convocation, specially summoned in the temple; and the national resolve was ratified before God with the most sacred rites. A calf was cut in twain; and the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the principal people, passed between the parts of the calf, as much as to say, May God part us in twain, as this beast is, if we turn back from our vow to emancipate our brethren and sisters, Hebrews and Hebrewesses, who are enslaved.
Great joy spread through hundreds of hearts—a body of stalwart defenders was raised for the beleaguered city.
Best of all, the nation had done right in the eyes of the Lord. Two months or so passed, when, to the unbounded joy of the citizens, the attacks of Nebuchadnezzar became less frequent; the lines of the besieging army thinned; and presently the tents were struck, and the whole host moved off. How immense the relief, when the crash of catapult and ram ceased, and the population pent up so long within their walls could go freely forth! This diversion was caused by the approach of Pharaoh's army. The Jews thought that they would never see their foes gain, and must have derided Jeremiah mercilessly. They also repealed the edict of emancipation, and caused the servants and handmaidens whom they had let go to return to their former condition.
In that tumult of national rejoicing, when the prophet's words seemed falsified, and when the fear they had inspired turned to increased hatred against the man who had Token them; when he seemed cast off and disowned by Jehovah Himself, it must have needed uncommon faith and courage to raise a bold and uncompromising protest. But he did not swerve by a hair-breadth from the path of duty. The infatuation of his people; their treachery to their plighted oath; the disappointment and sufferings of the enslaved; and the honour of Jehovah so ruthlessly contemned—all compelled him to speak out. "Behold, saith the Lord, I proclaim liberty to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant into the hand of their enemies, and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, will I give into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant" (xxxiv.). It needed no common moral courage, and sense of the presence of God, to dare to speak such words; and they must have brought down on the devoted head of the lonely prophet storms of abuse. How easy to ridicule him when it seemed so sure that the false prophets were right, and he wrong! His opponents would be proportionately indignant, as the voice of conscience, not yet quite silenced, protested that he was speaking the very word of Jehovah.
III. HIS ATTITUDE DURING THE INTERVAL OF RESPITE.- The city was delirious with joy. The Chaldeans had withdrawn, Pharaoh would prove more than a match for them, they would not return. The thunder-cloud had broken, there was nothing to fear. But Jeremiah never changed his note. It seemed like a raven's croak amid the songs of spring-birds. Very depressing! very unpopular! very likely to spread suspicion and panic! Only too gladly would he have yielded to the current flowing around him. But he dared not; and when the king sent another deputation to inquire through him of Jehovah, he returned this terrible reply: "Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire" (xxxvii. 1-10).
God's prophets had too clear a vision of the issue of the duel between Chaldea and Egypt, to be able to buoy up their people with hopes of deliverance. Jeremiah had already foreseen that the daughter of Egypt should be put to shame, and delivered into the hand of the people of the north; he had even asked that the tidings of invasion might be published in her principal cities (xlvi. 13-28). Ezekiel was not less decisive: "Thus saith the Lord God, I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man" (Ezekiel xxx.).
Shortly after this, the prophet resolved to take the opportunity, offered by the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, to visit his inheritance at Anathoth, for the purpose of receiving his portion there, perhaps of rent, or of some division of tithes amongst the priestly families, of which he was a member. As he was passing out through the gate of Benjamin, he was recognised by a captain, whose family had long been in antagonism with him; and he was not slow to turn the occasion to advantage, by repaying a longstanding grudge (xxxvii. 13). He therefore laid hold on the prophet, saying, "Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans." It was an absurd charge; for the Chaldeans had raised the siege, and it was supposed they would not return. The pretext however was sufficient to serve Irijah's purpose, and though it was indignantly repudiated by Jeremiah, he was dragged with violence into the presence of the princes, who were as glad to have their intractable foe at their mercy, as the priests to whom Judas offered to betray his Master.
When he had been in a similar plight in the previous reign, Ahikam the son of Shaphan had rescued him, like another John of Gaunt; but he was now dead or in exile. Zedekiah was too weak to interpose to rescue the prophet from the fury of his lords, even if he were acquainted with his peril. And so they adjudged him to the bastinado ,: forty stripes save one fell from the scourge on his bare back; and he was then thrust into a dark, underground, unhealthy dungeon, where he remained many days at the peril of his life.
After awhile, Zedekiah, perhaps pricked by remorse, or alarmed at the tidings which came from the frontier, sent for him; much as Herod was wont to summon John the Baptist, from his dungeon to converse with him in his palace-halls above. "Is there any word from the Lord?" the king asked, anxiously.
What an opportunity was here for Jeremiah to trim his speech, to put velvet on his lips, and to mitigate the unwelcome truth! Thus he might curry the king's favour, and secure for himself deliverance from his intolerable sufferings. But again there was no compromise. "And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."
He then pleaded with the royal clemency for a mitigation of the severity of his sentence, with such good success, that he was committed, at the king's command, to the court of the guard, in the immediate vicinity of the palace; and fed daily with a loaf of bread out of the baker's street, until all the bread in the city was spent. In the meanwhile the army of the Chaldeans, having defeated Pharaoh, returned; and again formed their thick-set lines around the city, like a fence of iron, to be drawn closer and closer until Jerusalem fell, like a snared bird, into their grasp.
It is impossible to recite or read this story without admiration for the man who dared to stand alone with God against a nation in arms. It makes us think of Ziegenbalg, the first missionary to the East Indies, standing alone there against the whole force of the authorities, determined to crush his mission in the bud; of Judson, pursuing his work for the salvation of Burmah, amid the treachery and hostility of the king; of Moffat, going alone and unarmed into the territory of the terrible Africander; of John Hunt amid the ferocious cannibals of Fiji; of John G. Paton, who was preserved amid fifty attempts to take his life. Our sole duty is to see that we are on God's plan and doing his work; to wrap around our souls the sense of his presence; to keep our ears open to the perpetual assurance, "I am with thee, to deliver thee." Then we shall leap barrier-walls, pass unscathed through troops of foes, and stand as pillars in his temple, never to be removed.