Lamentations and a Vain Hope.

It is said that ties of true friendship are often stronger than ties of blood. Of such stuff were the ties made that bound together the families of Hilkiah, the priest, and Shaphan, the scribe. Hilkiah and Shaphan labored hand in hand with King Josiah in his reforms. Shaphan's sons, Ahikam and Gemariah, came to the assistance of Hilkiah's son, Jeremiah, when the latter was in sorest need. Now a grandson of Shaphan, Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, was to give a temporary haven to the weary Jeremiah.

The whole of the Shaphan family followed in the footsteps of their noble ancestor. Both Ahikam and Gemariah belonged to the Prophetic Party; though, unlike Jeremiah, they took the course of least resistance and continued in favor with the royal house.

Nebuchadrezzar, who kept himself informed concerning the political leanings of the leading families in Jerusalem, therefore believed that if he raised a scion of Shaphan's family to the governorship of Judah, the country would remain loyal and leave him to his peace in upbuilding Babylon.

Accordingly, Ahikam's and Gemariah's families were spared during the general slaughter in Jerusalem, and Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, was made governor of Judah when the victorious Babylonians had finished their work in the land.

There was still another person whom Nebuchadrezzar had given orders to spare—Jeremiah. Nothing would have pleased Nebuchadrezzar better than for Jehoiakim and Zedekiah to have followed the counsel of Jeremiah. Therefore, the prophet was not only to be saved from the carnage, but he was to be rewarded.

Nebuzaradan had strict orders to find Jeremiah. In fact, the troop which Jeremiah had heard in the garrison and that accidentally saved him was in search of him at the time.

Nebuzaradan knew that Jeremiah was alive, through Baruch. Baruch had been captured and thrown into chains on the seventh day of Ab. When he heard that the Babylonians were searching for Jeremiah to save him, he informed them that he was imprisoned in the garrison.

The captain of the troop had no idea that the emaciated old man was a prophet; but he thanked his stars that he had not permitted his soldiers to slay the poor fellow. He complimented himself when, at Ramah, he discovered that he had Jeremiah in his keeping and was complimented by the commander-in-chief when he brought Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan's tent.

While in the prisoners' camp, Jeremiah could not get out of his mind's eye the picture of devastation that he had beheld while passing through Jerusalem. He kept entirely away from his fellow prisoners. He wanted, and needed, to be alone. It was during these days he composed his Lamentations on Jerusalem:

"How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people?
She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces is become a tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her:
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are
become her enemies.
All that pass by clap their hands at thee:
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
Is this the city that men called
The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth?
All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee:
They hiss and gnash the teeth: they say,
'We have swallowed her up:
Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found,
we have seen it.'"

But Jeremiah, even in this great extremity, was not a man without hope for the future. He knew his God and understood that His anger with the worst of men or nations does not last forever:

"This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord's loving-kindnesses that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that
seeketh Him.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth;
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because He hath laid it
upon him;
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be
filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever."

Jeremiah was not particularly interested when he was ordered to appear before Nebuzaradan. It did not really matter to him any longer what would happen to him. He had fought a brave fight—and had lost. Life or death made no difference now. In fact, he would rather have died at the hands of the Babylonians than at the hands of his own people. So, he replied listlessly that he was ready.

Even when given clean garments and ordered to bathe and told to brighten up and be cheerful, because all would be well with him, he could not figure out what it all meant until he was in the tent of Nebuzaradan. Then, hope was born anew in his heart, as he listened to what the commander had to say to him:

"The Lord your God pronounced evil upon this place; you have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come to you.

"And now behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are upon your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me to Babylon, come and I will look out for you. But if it seem undesirable to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come; but go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go."

Jeremiah replied, shortly, that he preferred to remain in Judah. A clear look again came to his eyes; his shoulders straightened up; he carried his head erect once more; he had new work, on the old lines, to do.

He also asked a favor—that Baruch, son of Neriah, and Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian freedman of the royal house, if alive, should be permitted to remain with him.

Both his preference and his request were granted. Baruch was found among the living in Riblah and Ebed-melech at the camp in Ramah. Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah provisions and presents and sent him, with his two companions, to Gedaliah, who had established his capital at the ancient city of Mizpah, on the dividing line between the old kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

On his departure from Judah, Nebuchadrezzar had deported with him practically the entire population that was of any consequence. He left behind only the poorest of vine dressers and farmers.

Gedaliah's position as governor, therefore, seemed to be but an empty honor. The country a wilderness, the capital in hopeless ruins, the Temple a pile of smoking and smouldering ashes—it was not a picture to bring rejoicing to a governor's heart.

But Jeremiah laid a new plan for rehabilitating the land. Neither Jerusalem nor the Temple were to be rebuilt, for the present. All efforts were to be bent toward building up a new conscience in the simple farmers and vine dressers; to fit these for entering a new covenant with their God and to make them worthy, indeed, to be God's people.

In politics the land was to stand, above all, for faithfulness and loyalty to Babylonia. That was what Nebuchadrezzar expected from Gedaliah and that was what Gedaliah proposed to do. With the religion Nebuchadrezzar never did and never would interfere. Therefore, first of all, the new governor issued this proclamation to the remnant that remained in Judah:

"Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Settle down and be subject to the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, as your representative to receive the Chaldeans who shall come to us; but you gather for yourselves wine and fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels and dwell in your cities of which you have taken possession."

The future again looked bright. Under Gedaliah there was promise of a peaceful restoration of Judah.

Jewish refugees in Moab, Ammon and Edom began to return, because they looked for a just and benevolent rule from Shaphan's grandson; and they would not have been disappointed had not scheming selfishness and hateful treachery stepped in to shatter the last possible Judean hope.