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II. THE INCORRIGIBLE NATION. 1. "But neither he (Zedekiah), nor his servants (courtiers and officials), nor the peo- ple of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which He spake by the prophet Jeremiah" (37:2). 2. They asked prayer (v. 3). In the s ame spirit they had formerly "proclaimed a fast" (36:9. It is futile to ask others to pray for us if wb do not pray for ourselves; we cannot pray for ourselves if we do not pray as penitents in our hearts. "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me" (Psa. 66:18). Their repentance was insincere. Contrary to law they had kept their enslaved brethren in bondage. In their trouble they let them go, but when the siege of the city was raised and danger, apparently, over they re-enslaved them (see 34:); their "goodness was as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away" (Ho. 6:4). "Rend your hearts, and not your gar- ments," says the prophet (Joel 2:13). Peril- piety and peril-prayers are of no avail. The latter go no higher t h an the former go deep. 3. But, doubtless, J. said, in his heart, with Samuel, "God forbid t h at I should sin . . . in ceasing to pray for you" (1 Sam. 12:13); for he was a preadvent Christian who would "Pray for them who depltefully used" him (Luke 6:28). 4. "Then P h a r a o h 's a r my . .. . when the Chaldeans . . . heard . . . they de- parted from Jerusalem." Was not this an answer to J.'s prayer? A respite was given to test the sincerity of the people's repent- ance. But no sooner were the Chaldeans gone than, as we stowed, they took their brethren back into bondage, which, alone, was enough to prove their repentance only "skin deep." It was not much trouble to the Lord to bring the Chaldeans speedily back. "Wh en the devil was sick 5. Wi th such a proof of their depravity and hypocrisy is it stran.ge t h at this oracle came: "Though ye had smitten the whole a r my of the Chaldeans, and there remained but wounded men amo ng them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire" (v. 10)? III. THE PROPHET'S ARREST. 1. "Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans!" So the captain of the guard a t the city gate falsely charged J. when he was about to go out as he "came in and went out among the The devil a monk would be; But when the devil was well The devil a monk was he."
THE PATRIOT-PROPHET PERSECUTED AND IMPRISONED. Lesson VIII. Jer. 37. 1. THE STAGE OF PROGRESS IN JU- DAH'S DOWNFALL. 1. Jehoiakim had six more years of pro- bation even a f t er cutting up and burning the inspired roll (36:23); then Nebuchadnezzar carried him off to Babylon in chains, to die in exile, with time to reflect on the futility of opposing God's word with knife and flame. 2. His son Jehoiachin was made king, and reigned an inglorious three months. He soon got into trouble with Nebuchadnezzar, who came a second time to settle the affairs of Jerusalem. "The punishment inflicted on the city w as of signal severity. All the treasures oi the temple and the palace were carried away, the heavier furnishings of the sanctuaries being cut in pieces. Thus w a s the word of the Lord, long and often spoken, fulfilled (2 Kings 24:12, 13). The king him- self, his mother, his wives, and all the of- ficials, whether of the court, the state, or the army, were carried to Babylon" (Eder- sheim), and ma ny thousands of the people, artisans, and soldiery. The end had prac- tically come, b ut an eleven years postpone- ment of the final issue followed. This is certainly to show, for it does show, t h at "the Lord doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33) b ut would have ail men come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). And yet men do not know t h at "the good- ness and long suffering of God leadeth to repentance" (Rom. 2:3). Truly "the Lord is slow to anger" (Neh. 9:17; Psa. 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2; Nah. 1:3). 3. Neb- uchadnezzar "made Zedekiah his (Jehola- chin's) brother king" (2 Chr. 36:10). Zede- kiah "did evil in the sight of the Lord," such is the refrain of this sad history. Would we not think he would have done right, with the evil example and punishment of his pre- decessors before his eyes, and the words of predicted and fulfilled Judgments in his ears? "Though thou shouldest bray a, fool In a mortar . . . Yet will not his foolishness de- part from him." Unregenerate humanity is t h at fool. Wh at has been will be, and the race will not learn wisdom until all predic- tion is come to pass (2 Thes. 2:11, 12).
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