and with the death of this best and most devoted of her monarchs, the independence, the happiness, and the glory of Judah disappeared.

SECTION VI.

THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.

WHO were the successors of Josiah?

UPON the death of Josiah, the people placed the crown upon the head of JEHOAHAZ one of his sons; but when Necho came to Jerusalem, he A. C. 610. deposed this phantom of a sovereign, and elevated Eliakim, afterwards called JEHOIAKIM, to the supreme authority. This prince, in spite of all the pathetic warnings and earnest expostulations of Jeremiah, not only abandoned himself to the most abominable wickedness, but he insanely persisted in relying upon the support of Egypt, to enable him to offer a successful resistance to the formidable Nebuchadnezzar, already on his march with an irresistible army, to Judæa. The predictions of the prophet were fulfilled; Jehoiakim was compelled for three years to bear the yoke of servitude; his rebellion was punished with a complete desolation of his country; he was taken by his enemies; slain, and his body was cast into a common sewer. JEHOIACHIN, the son of the prece- A. C. 598. ding monarch, had scarcely ascended his fa

ther's tottering throne, than he was compelled to surrender himself to Nebuchadnezzar; that haughty conqueror carried Jehoiachin, his wives, and his mother to Babylon; ten thousand of the best workmen in Judah, seven thousand men capable of bearing arms, and a thousand smiths and carpenters, were also taken into Chaldæa; the vessels of the temple and all the treasures of the palace became the spoil of the conqueror ; and ZEDEKIAH, a son of Josiah, having sworn fealty to the Assyrian monarch, was dignified with the empty title of king of Judah.

A. C. 598.

Describe the reign of Zedekiah the last king of Judah. The short account of the infatuation, perjury, and

and impiety of this prince, and of the obstinate profligacy of his subjects, given in the Sacred Volume, is inimitably touching and pathetic. "He rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of God arose against his people till there was no remedy."

How was Zedekiah taken away captive and Jerusalem destroyed?

It was in the ninth year of his miserable reign, that Zedekiah revolted from Nebuchadnezzar; that active king and able general immediately advanced into Judæa, and formed the siege of Jerusalem. His operations were interrupted by the approach of Hophra the king of Egypt, who came with an army to the assistance of the Jews; and the departure of Nebuchadnezzar filled both Zedekiah and his subjects, with the most_extravagant expectations of deliverance. But the Egyptians were defeated, Nebuchadnezzar returned, the ravages of famine began to be felt in Jerusalem, and it was evident that the infatuated resistance of Zedekiah, which only served to exasperate the fury of his enemy, must soon be terminated. In vain Jeremiah declared the hopelessness of the contest; in vain he proclaimed the judgments of God; in vain he directed the unhappy inhabitants of the devoted city to those extraordinary and impressive signs which established the truth of his assertions; his patriotic fidelity was recompensed by his imprisonment in a noisome dungeon, where his life was in the most imminent danger; Zedekiah still held out with reckless desperation, and madly tempted his punishment and

ruin. At length the city was taken, Zede- A. C. 588. kiah attempted to escape, but he was over

taken, and was brought before the irritated king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar reproached him with his perfidy; caused all his children to be slain before his face; commanded his eyes to be put out; loaded him with chains of brass, and sent him a slave, wretched, helpless, and blind, to his metropolis. The ruin was complete; Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guards, levelled the temple, the palaces, the fortifications of Jerusalem with the dust; the whole population which had escaped from the sword were carried into captivity by the relentless conquerors; and the anniversary of the fall of the city is commemorated by the Jews to this day, with every demonstration of sorrow and repentance. When the last of the kings of Judah expired, the captive Hebrews are said by the Rabbins to have exclaimed, "Alas! king Zedekiah is dead, who has drank up the dregs of all ages, who has suffered the punishment due to all his prede

cessors.

What epochs are to be distinguished in the captivity of

the Jews?

There were four distinct epochs in the captivity of the Jews. The first, in the reign of Jehoiakim, when among others, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were taken to Babylon;-the second, in the seventh year of the same king, when upwards of three thousand Jews were removed-the third in the reign of Jehoiachin, when this king and part of his people were taken away-and the fourth and last, under Zedekiah, from which period the seventy years' captivity began, according to the prediction of the prophet Jeremiah.

Where were the Jews placed in their captivity?

Although most of the Jews appear to have been placed in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, who designing to make that city the metropolis of the world, transplanted to it a vast multitude from the different nations he subdued, yet a considerable number were settled on the Chebar, a river which falls into the Euphrates in the upper part of Mesopotamia. Thus the

prophet Ezekiel states, that it was by this stream when he "was among the captives," that those awful visions of futurity passed before him, which he has described with such unrivalled and tremendous sublimity.

What was the state of the Jews in their captivity?

It is impossible to ascertain the precise condition of the Jews in their melancholy captivity. It seems that they were made subservient to the luxury, and that their musical talents were called forth for the gratification, of their masters. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Sion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" But on the whole it would seem that they were treated by their conquerors with lenity and moderation; and from various circumstances, it may be gathered, that they had among themselves judges and elders, who juridically decided matters in dispute according to their laws.

Did the Jews in their captivity addict themselves to the idolatries of the Assyrians?

Although surrounded with every temptation to idolatry, which was likely to seduce a people who had so repeatedly and so impiously forsaken the God of their fathers, yet their national afflictions and the horrors of their captivity, appear to have produced the most salutary effects, and to have demonstrated to them the necessity of inviolable fidelity to the true religion. When Nebuchadnezzar set up his A. C. 560, golden image on the plain of Dura, the three heroic youths whose names have been just mentioned preferred to be thrown to the flames rather than apostatize from their faith; and Daniel chose rather to encounter the hungry lions in their den, than to abandon his custom of devotion and prayer.

What was the character of Daniel?

In every point of view Daniel was a most extraor

A. C, 556.

dinary man. While the spirit of prophecy unfolded to him the destinies of the nations, and evinced to him the advent and the mediation of the Messiah, his exaltation to unrivalled dignity and power must have proved of incalculable advantage to his countrymen. The wisdom and knowledge he displayed by interpreting the mysterious dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, so recommended him to that great monarch, that he was established governor of the province of Babylon, and chief of the wise men who obeyed the orders of the king. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel still retained his influence and power. When amidst the royal revelry of that awful night, when Belshazzar with insulting and blasphemous impiety, drank from the sacred vessels which had been used in the temple of Jerusalem, a mysterious hand was seen writing the doom of the wretched sovereign upon the palace walls, Daniel explained the ominous words, and proclaimed to the terrified prince the victory of the Persians, who, under the command of Cyrus, were at that very moment ready to burst in overwhelming numbers upon the voluptuous inhabitants of Babylon. When the Assyrian empire was annihilated by the Medes and the Persians, Darius, most probably synonymous with Cyaxares the uncle of Cyrus, made Daniel the first president of the princes of his kingdom; he retained his authority when Cyrus took possession of the sceptre of the East; and it is very probable that it was by his representations and influence that the ever-memorable decree was issued which ordained the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the triumphant restoration of the Jews.

How long did the Jews remain in captivity?

Seventy years of exile rolled away; the gracious promises of God were fulfilled; "the captivity of his people was turned again, their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing, they had sown in tears, they had reaped in joy.'