The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-07-14

over Judah and benjamin; he ant
his subjects also fell into idolatrv
and :Shishak King of Egypt entere,
Jerusalem and carried off the treas
ures of the temple and palace. Th
subsequent history OF this people wa
varied and checkered one. Unde
some rulers they were idolators ant
suffered severest punishment for tn,
sin, while under others the WORSHIP
of the true God was restored and they
prospered.
At the time the ten tribes were
overcome by Shal-manezer, Ahaz was
king over Judah. He brought the
country to the very brink of ruin; hi
had betrayed his people and laid
them under tribute to the king O.
Syria, and had sacked the temple o
all its silver to meet the greedy de
mands of that ruler. But God, fol
David's sake, desired to save Judah
and at this uncture 1Ahaz died anC
the throne descended to his son, the
good Hezekiah, who soon shook of
the Syrian yoke, which his father had
placed on their necks, and began his
reign in reforming the abuses the
people had fallen into. Sennacherit
son of Shal-manezer now king OF
Syria, determined to be revenged
upon Hezekiah for this resistance to
| his dominion and sent large army
against Jerusalem b. &. Ill; but God
sent into the Syrian camp a destroy
ing angel by night, and on the NOR
row 1S5, 200 corpses told of the Divine
| protection to those who serve and
| trust God. (This Intervention of Prov
| idence is thought by some to have
been accomplished by the pestilential
simeon, so well known in the desert
| and is in direct accord with the as
surance Of Isaiah to Thus
saith the Lord, behold | will send a
blast upon him. Isaiah xlii-6-7,)
Hezekiah was succeeded by his son
Manassah who revelled in the abomi-
nation of Eastern idolatry and was
carried away captive to Babylon.
He however repented of his sins and
was restored to his kingdom, only to
be succeeded by his son Anon, who
was likewise corrupt and idolatrous.
The good Josiah now came upon the
throne of Judah b. G Gao. His
reign was a religious era, but the
country being invaded by Pharaoh
Necho, king of Egypt, Josiah was
killed in war and Jerusalem was
taken by the enemy. Jehoahoz being
the succeeding king was taken cap
tive to Egypt, and Jehoiahim sue
ceeded to the throne of Judah.
woven with the fate of Judah, shows
that at this time the Egyptian mon
arch in pursuing his conquest east
ward was utterly defeated by Nebu-
chal'1ezzar near the Euphratcs and
thus prepared the way for the over
throw of Judah and western Asia.
Nebuchadnezzer elated with this sue
cess pressed westward and entered
Jerusalem with his conquering army,
laid the city under tribute and car
ried many mobiles and members of the
royal family among them the young
prophet Daniel away as hostages for
the fidelity of the king and people.
Zedekiah next became the tributary
ruler over Judah, and desiring to
throw off the yoke of the Tyrian
monarch joined rebellion of the sur
rounding nations against Nebuchad-
nezzar But their puny army was
not sufficient. Jerusalem was be-
sieged for eighteen months, when
weakened by the horrors of famine,
the sacred city fell at midnight, a
dreadful carnage followed, the city
was burned, its walls DESTROYED, and
the temple was levelled to the ground,
the king and his deciminated subjects
were carried away in captivity to
Babylon, and thus B. c. $50 ended
the kingdom az Judah and the reign
of the house of David.
The children of Israel were then
held in captivity in Babylon for sew
enty long years, until the handwrit-
ing on the wall of Belshazzar's ban
quet hall told of the overthrow Of
that licentious king by the Modes and
Persians, in b. c. $50. when CYRUS
the Persian king terminated their
captivity and issued his edict per-
mlttlng the Jews to return to Pales-
tine and rebuild Jerusalem and the
temple. Only jealous few avaied
themselves of the privilege, and but
little progress was made in rebuild |
ing when the work was stopped by
order of Cyrus successor, but during |
the reign of Darius Hystaspes king
of Persia, Zerubabel obtained new |
edict and in four years the temple
was completed and dedicated to the
worship of Jehova, b. c. 516.
The ceremonies of the Jewish law |
were restored, and never again did
the Jew as people relapse into idol
airy.
Under Darius the Persian Empire
from the Aegean sea to the
Indies and from the plains of Tartary
to the cataracts of the river Nile.
And Judah remained Persian PROV
lnce until b. G. &C, when Pompey at
the head of large army defeated
on the banks of the
and drove that monarch
from his kingdom, at once over run
syria and Palestine, captured Jerusa-
EN- and tore down its walls and for
and Judah became Ro-
nan province.
The Jews thereafter increased Won
lerfully in population, and in a great
iegree God prospered them until they
ELECTED and crucitied the Lord Jesus
1hrlst, and boastingly invoked His
blood upon them and their children.
he cloud that overshadowed the
ross, and the earthquake that rent
ne veil in the temple, but feebly
orecasted the awful retribution near ,
t hand.
The Roman general Titus was sent
o punish the Jews for a revolt
galnst Roman authority. 1t was the
eason for the feast of the passover,
While the city of Jerusalem was
rowded with 100000 pilgrims from