The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-08-29

documentary on the Days Lesson.
/ /. Zedelziah's character and folly
/ Tvs. lib. II. "Xedekiah.p He was
one of the younger sons of the good Jo-
siah and uncle Of Jehoiachin. He was
a weak king, with no strength of char
acter to do what he knew to be right.
Anxious to follow the counsels Of Jere-
miah, but without courage to do so, be
became the mere sport of factions, ana
at last was brought into ruilious cor
| flict with Babylon against his own BET
! ter judgment. II. "Humbled not hiD.-
| self" Although jeremiah repeatedly
! entreated Zedekiah to obey the word
of the Lord, yet the king through the
pride of his heart and for fear of Of
Tending his princes would not listen
to the prophets advice.
10. "Rebellad,n etc. This was~the
height of folly Had he possessed wis
| dom and courage enough to obey the
taw0rds of Jeremiah and remain tr1e
/ to his allegiance to- Babylon, Jerusii3oISl
| might not have been destroyed sAIads.
Linn swear" Nebuchadnezzar hal
bound Zedekiah by a most solemn oath
to keep the peace by fidelity to the
| cOnqueror who had set him on the
/ throne. In Jer. 27:3 we find messeH-
| gers from the kings of Edom, NOAH
| Ammon, Tyre and Zidon consulting
with Hezekiah, perhaps concerning 4
| plan to throw off the Babylonian yoke
| and in Ezek. 17:15, Zedekiah Is repre-
! scented as sending his ambassadors int.S
| Egypt that they might give him horses
| and much people. Thus be seems te
have laid broad plans for his rebellion
and in all this he was encouraged By
| the false prophets Of his time Ger 49,
| II. Gods effort to save His people
| Tvs. IA, 15).
IA. "Trangressed very much" Here
we see the vile depths Into which JE
dab had fallen All classes were cor
rupted. Restraint was thrown off AMI
the people openly practiced alt the
heather denominations, even pollutiDg
the house oftBe~Iord.
! TO- The Eofd-sent to them. God
| did everything He wisely could to pre-
| vent His people from rushing down t.
| their own destruction. He laid upO,f
them several lesser evils as warnings
These were deVastations of the country
from which few years would suffice
| to recover Then Jerusalem was cap
| tured and part of its treasure removed
but the city was not destroyed, and the
temple stood Kings were made cap
4
Prophets were sent to warn and en-
treat.
III. Judah utterly rejects the Lopsl
| w. 16).
16. Knocked etc. jeremiah was
/ imprisoned, beaten and threatened
with death; Urijah was put to death
der. 26:20-23) No remedy" The ma
/ ton had gone beyond all hope. The
body was hopelessly corrupt 1t il
possible to sin too long, to sin away
ltie day of grace. 0 sinner. awake
repent.
| Nv. Jerusalem destroyed Tvs. 1T-2lI.
| II. Therefore" Because of theis
great wickedness HE brought-the
Chaldees." The siege lasted about one
year and six mcnths. The -fertifica
| tons were strong, and the defense wa
brave and skilful The thud OF the
battering rams shook the walls day ana
night; archers made the defense H.
creasingly hard by constant showers OF
arrows from the high wooden fortS-
catapaults of all sizes hurled stones
| into the town with force as deadly
| as that of modern bullets, and darts
| tipped with fire kindled the roofs o.
! the houses; mines were dug under thet
walls, and attempts at escalade by
| ladders were renewed at every favor
able opportunity. 'Who slew" etc
The siege was full of horrors. The
city was reduced to the last extremity
! Fearful pictures are presented by Jey
emiah in his prophecy and in the Ia
mentations The destructive fire os
the besiegers was aided by a severe
famine der. $3.50, and all the terrible
expedients had been tried to which the
urafchad iuho hffoufe 0f 1aacfoCcs1
town are forced to resort in such cases
Mothers boiled and ate the flesh OF
their own infants Clam. 410; EzeE
5:10); ladies in magnificent robes wan
dered about searching the refuse heaps
| for a morsel of food Clam. 1910,
| mo compassion" So hideous were
the cruelties practiced by Oriental vic
| tors upon their captors that, were ii
not for the most convincing evidence in
| sculpture and inscription, where the
! perpetrators glory in their deeds, we
| should hardly believe it possible fol
men to treat their fellow creatures
with such barbarity. When the assaii-
ants were once masters of the place
an indiscriminate slaughter appears
to have succeeded, and the city was
! generally given over to the flames
The prisoners were either impaled anil.
| subjected to horrible torments or car
rled away as slaves. HE gave them.
/ etc. God permitted the Chaldeans 10
! thus destroy Jerusalem. He might
have done to NebuchadnezzaR's army
what He didgto Sennaeherib's host.
90 Carried he away" When the
Chaldeans finally entered the city this
king and his men of war fed, but they
were pursued and captured Zede-
kiah's sons were slain before his eyes.
his eyes We're then put out and he was
carried to Babylon in chains. He was
put in prison till the day Of his death
! der. 52:T-11). ITO him and his sons.
There were three kings after Nebr
chadnezzar before Cyrus established
! Persian rule: Evil-Merodach e Kings
25:20, Neriglissar and Nabonldus.
81. Fulfill the word" See Jer. 25.
II, II; 29:10 Enjoyed her Sabbaths.
See Ley. 1854, 35, 43. God had com
manded them to let their land RESI-
every seventh year, and because they
had violated this command He now pro
| posed to give their land long SAX
bath, or rest, for seventy years.