Stories Of The Prophets (Before The Exile) - free ebook by Isaac Landman

COMMISSION ON JEWISH EDUCATION

of the and the DAVID PHILIPSON, Chairman GEORGE ZEPIN, Secretary (Before the Exile) To My Parents Who first introduced me to the Prophets, this book is dedicated with love and devotion....

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FOREWORD

The company of inspired men, commonly known as the prophets of Israel, were the unique product of the Jewish religious genius. They were pre-eminently preachers of righteousness. Fearless and undaunted, they told the house of Israel their sins and the house of Jacob their transgressions. They contemplated the facts of life from the highest point of view. For them religion and morality were blended, ethics and politics were one. Theirs was peculiarly a social message; the demand for justice under

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CHAPTER I.

An End to War. "Damascus has fallen! Damascus has fallen!!" The whole city of Samaria rang with the glad tidings. Fleet-footed runners, who had started with this precious news on the day of victory, covered more than one hundred and fifty miles to bring it to the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. They crossed mountains and swam rivers, fairly flew over fertile plains and through busy cities, shouting, while there was breath in their bodies: "Damascus has fallen!" Many of the messengers fe

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CHAPTER II.

In the Days of Prosperity. It was market day in Samaria. Great throngs of people crowded all the streets. They jostled each other good naturedly, traded, bargained, renewed acquaintanceship, spoke of their home towns and expressed the hope of meeting again. The market place itself, where the many bazaars displayed wonderful merchandise from many cities and many lands, was an especially lively place. It was gay with life and color. Gilded chariots and ivory-bedecked litters passed to and fro. Her

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CHAPTER III.

The Man Who Dared. There lived a man in the little town of Tekoah, in the Kingdom of Judah, twelve miles south of Jerusalem, who made a living from "dressing sycamore trees." In ancient Palestine, the fruit of the sycamore that grew in Judah was dried, ground into flour and used for making coarse bread. This bread was eaten by the very poorest people, who could not afford to buy wheat. Now, the man who lived from gathering poor fruit, out of which poor bread was made, for poor people, must, hims

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CHAPTER IV.

Treason and a Fight. For some time, now, Amos had been preaching his new and formerly unheard-of ideas, to the effect that God prefers rather that man be just to his fellowmen than that he offer sacrifices; that Israel had become weakened because of its indulgence in luxuriant living, on the one hand, and because of the oppression and ill treatment of the poor and needy, on the other; that God would be with the people against their enemies only when the people turned away from their idolatrous w

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CHAPTER V.

Priest Against Prophet. That very night the most prominent people in Israel—military and civilian—assembled at Bethel, and decided that something must be done to get rid of the Prophet. They considered Amos crazy, and, therefore, dangerous. A little group of leaders gathered in the house of one of the merchant princes of Samaria to adopt a definite plan of action. The High Priest, Amaziah, was called into consultation. He saw the seriousness of the matter, as they all did. Such preaching must be

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CHAPTER VI.

The Prophet in Tekoah. King Jeroboam II was now an old man. The vehemence and determination and aggressiveness that had made him a far-famed conqueror had been mellowed by the years and rarely, if ever, showed themselves. The note he received from Amaziah regarding Amos, however, awoke the old spirit in him. The dispatch of the section of the royal guard with orders for the Prophet's immediate arrest was in line with the way Jeroboam did things during the days when he personally led his armies.

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CHAPTER I.

An Eventful Night. Whenever Jezreel was sent early to bed, although he had been a good boy during the day, and, in addition, when his little sister and brother were ordered to go with him, he knew the evening would be another one of those that made his little heart ache. Jezreel was only ten years old, but he was sharp and keen for his age. He understood that his parents wanted him out of reach and sound. Twice before, on similar occasions, after he had recited his night prayer and the maid-serv

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CHAPTER II.

The Tragedy With a Purpose. King Shallum soon discovered that a stolen throne is no sweeter than any other stolen thing. A palace is no more protection against conscience than a hovel; and Shallum passed miserable days of fear and nights of sleeplessness, because of his murder of Zechariah. Smitten by his conscience and tortured in mind, Shallum was not able to collect a large force of followers to protect him or his ill-gotten throne. When, therefore, a plot was set on foot to dethrone him, Sha

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CHAPTER III.

The Repentant Returns. With a bowed head, though with a stout heart, Hosea went to the market place on the following morning. He mingled with the people in the vicinity of the slave auction district, watching particularly a certain block, on which, he was told, Gomer was to be offered for sale. He studied carefully every woman that was put upon the block. At last he recognized her. But how changed she seemed. Her beauty, for which she had been famous, was gone. Her straight erect form was stoope

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CHAPTER I.

The Vision in the Temple. Even his closest friends could not explain what had come over young Isaiah, since the physicians announced that King Uzziah was nearing his end. Amoz, Isaiah's father, was of a noble family, very near the throne in Jerusalem, and a dear personal friend of the king. Isaiah, too, was a prime favorite of Uzziah's, not by virtue of his father's friendship for the king, but because of his own fine qualities and excellent disposition. Often Isaiah had been invited, with the C

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CHAPTER II.

The Parable of the Vineyard. The fact was that Isaiah did not grieve particularly over King Uzziah's illness and approaching death. What troubled him was the attitude taken by his dear friend, the Crown Prince, Jotham, toward the political future of the Kingdom of Judah, since his sick father had placed the reins of government in his hands. The differences of opinion between Isaiah and Jotham, as to what was best for the nation were so great as to be almost hopeless. So that, even before Uzziah

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CHAPTER III.

A Coward on the Throne. King Jotham was wise enough to follow the advice of the Prophet Isaiah in his reply to the embassy from Rezin and Pekah. At the Council of State, called to consider the message from the kings of Syria and Israel, Isaiah counselled an unhesitating and decisive refusal of their demand. While, therefore, the ambassadors were received and entertained royally in Jerusalem, they returned to their respective sovereigns, their mission unaccomplished. The answer that Jotham sent b

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CHAPTER IV.

On Deaf Ears. Though the spineless Ahaz sent his cowardly note, and the presents that followed, to Tiglath-Pileser secretly, the truth leaked out. Great indignation was aroused among certain opponents of the king in Jerusalem at the discovery of his act of treachery to the nation, and a new party was formed to fight against submission to Assyria. The aim of the new movement was, principally, to preserve the independence of Judah. The only avenue open seemed to be the alliance with Israel and Syr

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CHAPTER V.

The Survival of the Fittest. While Isaiah was thus attempting to influence the two parties in Jerusalem, exactly what he had warned Ahaz of happened. The Assyrian forces made a speedy march into Syria, with Damascus as the point of attack. The combined Syro-Israelitish army, upon hearing of Tilgath-Pileser's new move, abandoned the siege of Jerusalem and hurried back to defend their own countries. The great Assyrian conqueror easily subdued all the land about Damascus and finally besieged the ci

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CHAPTER VI.

Working With the Remnant. Isaiah called his little band of disciples and followers "The Remnant." He referred to them as "The Remnant" because he knew that, if only these remained true and faithful to God, for their sakes God would not forsake the Fatherland. It was upon "The Remnant" that he placed the future welfare of his country. Through these few he hoped to regenerate the rest of his people, despite the corruption and wrongdoing of their leaders. He aimed, especially, to prepare the young

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CHAPTER VII.

Like Father, Like Son. A chain, we are told, is as strong as its weakest link. The weak link in the long chain of Assyrian provinces was the fact that whenever a new king came to the throne, if he happened to be away, fighting in the field, he had to hurry back to the capital, backed by the complete military force under his command, in order to establish himself firmly in his dominions. Immediately upon the withdrawal of the king's armies from the field, all the provinces that hated Assyria bitt

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CHAPTER VIII.

The Prophet Triumphs. The fearful crisis through which Judah and Jerusalem had passed, before Sennacherib withdrew from Judah to fight his subjects in Babylonia, set both the king and the people to thinking. Hezekiah had evidently become convinced that Isaiah's counsel for peace with Assyria was the best; for, after he had reconquered several of the fortified cities and towns captured by Sennacherib, he made an arrangement with the Assyrian king to pay an annual tribute peacefully, in order that

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CHAPTER IX.

The Fruit of His Labor. Blessed is the man whose toil and striving of a lifetime bring results, even though he, himself, does not live to see them! Thrice blessed is the man, the fruit of whose labor is garnered while he is among the living, to see and enjoy it! The prophet Isaiah was a thrice-blessed man. Although no one knows where or how he died, every one knows where and how he lived, and how his life was fruitful in blessings for his people. He saw kings come and go on the throne of Judah.

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CHAPTER I.

His Awakening. Sloping down from the Judean hills toward the plain of Philistia and the Mediterranean Sea is the Shefelah, or Lowlands, a section of Palestine, far-famed for its stretches of rich farm lands, vineyards and olive groves. These foothills were once the constant battlefield on which the Israelites from the hill country and the Philistines from the plain struggled for mastery; but, since the days of King Amaziah, who conquered Philistia soon after he came to the throne of Judah, in th

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CHAPTER II.

The Cause of the Common People. Micah, the Moreshtite, came to Jerusalem when the capital was at comparative peace. The struggle between King Ahaz and the Prophet Isaiah had narrowed down to an armed neutrality, as it were—the king was paying his tributes to Tiglath-Pileser and the prophet was preparing his "Remnant" for the day when the crown prince, Hezekiah, would come to the throne. The young peasant took no sides and embraced no causes in Jerusalem. He stood aside, the better to study condi

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CHAPTER III.

When Samaria Fell. A man who is a traitor to his country will, in all likelihood, prove traitorous to his avowed friends. Hoshea, son of Elah, of Samaria, was such a man. Tilgath-Pileser, the Assyrian conqueror of Damascus assisted Hoshea to assassinate King Pekah, and appointed the assassin to rule in Pekah's stead, in the year 734 B. C. E., merely as a matter of expediency. It was an easier method of re-annexing the rebellious Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrian Empire without cost of life or tr

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CHAPTER IV.

Judah Learns its Lesson. King Hezekiah's preparation for rebellion against Sennacherib, in 715, shattered any optimistic hopes that Micah held for a continuation of improvement in the condition of the common people, in which he had been instrumental up to this time. The costs of war always fell heaviest on the poor, and the devastating results of war upon the farming population. Younger and readier to act than his older contemporary, Isaiah, he was not satisfied with a negative warning, such as

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CHAPTER I.

The Escape. The entirely unexpected assassination of King Amon, of Judah, in the year 639, surprised and appalled the entire country, as well as Jerusalem, the capital. King Amon had succeeded his father, Manasseh, to the throne of Judah but two years before. He had had no chance to show the character of man he was and the type of a ruler he would be, and yet, without apparent knowledge on anybody's part that a conspiracy was brewing among the princes of the royal palace itself, Amon's life was

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CHAPTER II.

The Boy King. It was interesting to see, the next morning, the effect upon the two boys when they discovered that instead of being in Josiah's bed in the palace in Jerusalem they were in Jeremiah's, at his home in Anathoth. Josiah thought it was a great joke and laughed at the miracle, as he called it, that was performed during the night. Jeremiah, however, being two years older than his friend and of a more active mind and imagination, tried quietly to study out what had taken place. Just as Jo

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CHAPTER III.

Jeremiah's Call. Josiah and Jeremiah passed through the first great and vital experience of their lives together and the friendship between these two lads was thereby knit as closely as was that of David and Jonathan. From the very beginning of Josiah's mounting the throne of Judah, this friendship promised even to outrival that of the king's great ancestor and Saul's son. Every day Hilkiah had to bring Jeremiah to the palace, because the young king was not permitted to leave Jerusalem and go to

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CHAPTER IV.

The Seething Caldron. An old Hebrew proverb says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he shall not depart from it." If one should say that the man who wrote this proverb must have thought of King Josiah, the statement could not be entirely denied. For the religious training he received at the hands of Zephaniah and Hilkiah soon showed itself in the way he began to revolutionize the religious life of Judah. When he was only eighteen years old he began to uproot the

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CHAPTER V.

The Great Discovery. The great deliverance from the Scythian invasion strengthened Josiah and the Prophetic Party in their work of reform. They felt that their God had spared them because much of the idolatrous worship had already been stopped in Jerusalem and many of the pagan shrines destroyed. The king also determined to repair and rebuild certain parts of the Temple. The great building that Solomon erected now looked like a hodge-podge of architecture. No repairs whatever had been made on it

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CHAPTER VI.

A New Covenant. Josiah was determined not to give up so easily. He would not admit to himself that his country and his people were beyond hope. He figured that perhaps the prophetess had exaggerated purposely in order to recall the people to their duty to their God and to the country, more quickly and more conscientiously. He was not at all happy over the fact that he himself would escape the threatened destruction of his people. What he wanted was to discover some possible way, and to make ever

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CHAPTER VII.

To the Fore Again. The mystery of the Scythian invasion of Asia has not yet been clearly solved. The results of that invasion, however, shook thrones and shattered kingdoms and changed the face of the then known civilized world. Assyria was the greatest sufferer, for the Scythian ravages had so weakened the great empire that it never recovered. Incidentally, this same cause reawakened the spirit of conquest in the Medes, led to the re-establishment of the independent Babylonian kingdom and broug

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CHAPTER VIII.

The Shadow of a King. Pharaoh Necho's ambitions were short-lived. The child's-play conquest of Judah was not to be repeated in dealing with the conquerors of Nineveh. Nebuchadrezzar really had no thought of extending the sway of his reborn Babylonia to Egypt; but he would not countenance for a moment Necho's encroachment upon Assyrian territory. In dividing up the Assyrian Empire, Cyaxerxes was perfectly satisfied with the absolute independence of Media and such Assyrian possessions as adjoined

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CHAPTER IX.

The Temple of the Lord. Nebuchadrezzar had taken up his headquarters where Pharaoh-Necho had encamped at Riblah, and there received the homage of the little Syrian and Palestinian states that he had wrested from Egypt. To Jeremiah's great surprise, Jehoiakim sent a secret embassy to Nebuchadrezzar vowing allegiance to Babylon. Jehoiakim's submission pleased Jeremiah. He saw in it a splendid opportunity for Judah. All that was needed now was to keep the people in the path of right. Their future,

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CHAPTER X.

A Narrow Escape. The issue was squarely drawn. Either the Temple Prophets were the true spokesmen of the God of Judah and Jeremiah was an impostor, or Jeremiah spoke the truth that had been "cut off from their mouth" and the Temple Prophets were feeding the people on "lying words." A great concourse of citizens of Jerusalem and pilgrims to the city gathered for the debate. Jeremiah, much older looking than his years, was the center of attraction. He was tall and erect. His face was somewhat draw

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CHAPTER XI.

A Taste of Martyrdom. Jeremiah returned home a very sad man, but not a wiser one from the point of view of his safety. He kept much to himself in the city of Anathoth and devoted his time to teaching a group of young men with whom he had surrounded himself. Among them was Baruch, son of Neriah, of a distinguished Jerusalem family, whose members had always stood high in the counsels of the kings. Baruch was not only a disciple of Jeremiah, but also acted as his secretary when writing was to be do

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CHAPTER XII.

The Woe of the Prophet. "What now?" Jeremiah asked himself. Without an idea as to what his next move should be or where he should now turn, he took the road leading to Anathoth. A day and a night in the stocks and the smarting lashes at Pashhur's hands, had given him a taste of martyrdom, and left him sick of heart and soul. He wanted to go home! Yes, he would go home where he would find, among his relatives and those dear to him, the shelter and comfort and rest that he longed for so much. His

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CHAPTER XIII.

Teacher and Pupil. Wonderful is the love of teacher and pupil! There is no blood relationship to fuse that love. No selfishness enters into it. There is only the common interest of the spirit upon which it feeds and grows. It is, therefore, a love of the purest type. Such a love was that of Jeremiah and his pupil, Baruch. Just as the friendship between Josiah and Jeremiah was lasting, because as boys they passed through the same danger at the time of the death of Josiah's father, and just as the

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CHAPTER XIV.

Baruch's First Venture. It was the year after, that is 603, the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and the ninth month, that Baruch took the completed scroll and went down to Jerusalem. He had timed his coming so as to arrive at the Temple on a great fast-day, when many people were in the Temple courts attending to their sacrifices. The young man met very few whom he knew and was practically lost in the crowd. Standing at the new gate in the upper court of the Temple, the one built by Josiah,

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CHAPTER XV.

The King Hears and Acts. Jehudi arrived in Gemariah's chamber to hear Baruch finish this: "Thus saith the Lord: "'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am the Lord who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.'" Jehudi pushed his way roughly

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CHAPTER XVI.

Beginning of the End. Jeremiah waited eagerly for the return of Baruch and listened most attentively to the story of his adventure at the Temple and in the palace of the king. His pupil's bravery and courage in trying moments pleased the master greatly, and he complimented Baruch on his achievements thus far. The question of the restoration of the scroll never entered Jeremiah's mind at all, on account of his gladness in having had his discourses brought home to the king. Three days later, howev

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CHAPTER XVII.

The First Deportation. Poor, miserable Jehoiakim! He was not even given an opportunity to meet Nebuchadrezzar on the battlefield in a single engagement. The Babylonian had hardly entered Judean territory when Jehoiakim died and was buried with his ancestors. Of course, Jeremiah's prophecy, at the moment of his anger, that Jehoiakim's body would be thrown to the dogs, did not come true; but the king's death did not in any way put off the calamity that was to befall Jerusalem and its people. Upon

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CHAPTER XVIII.

In Exile and in the Homeland. Stripped of all its best people the country was in a sorry plight when, in the year 596, Nebuchadrezzar, on departing for Babylon, raised Zedekiah to the throne of Judah. Zedekiah was an uncle of the ill-fated Jehoiachin. He was the third son of Josiah, and, like his brothers, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, he was to see the fortunes of Judah ebb to their lowest point, and finally to witness the destruction of the capital and the end of Judah. The king had to surround hims

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CHAPTER XIX.

A Friend in Need. Zedekiah sent messenger after messenger into Egypt, urging, pleading, begging Hophrah to come to his assistance. Jeremiah cried that it was too late; that Hophrah would not come. "Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise; he hath let the appointed time pass by." Hophrah, however, did finally bestir himself. Word came to Jerusalem, and it reached the besieging forces, that a vast army of Egyptians was on the march northward. To the surprise of all, Nebuchadrezzar withdrew from Jer

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CHAPTER XX.

In the Midst of Despair. The year 586! What a terrible year it was for Jerusalem and Judah—and Jeremiah! Oh, the famine, the misery, the horrors within Jerusalem when the Babylonians besieged the city for the second time. Oh, the carnage, the massacre, the hopeless destruction when the Babylonians finally captured Jerusalem and burned the Temple! On the ninth day of the fourth month the first breach was made in the outer walls of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan, the commander of Nebuchadrezzar's body g

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CHAPTER XXI.

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 ha

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CHAPTER XXII.

Cowardice and Treachery. Gedaliah had governed in Mizpah seven months when he was pleased to welcome back to his fatherland, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, a Judean chieftain of the royal family, who had been driven to Ammon during the guerrilla warfare with Babylonia, under Jehoiakim. A few days later, Johanan, son of Kareah, who was one of the governor's chief assistants, came to Gedaliah with the news that Ishmael was not sincere in his protestations of loyalty, that he was in the employ of Baali

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CHAPTER XXIII.

Jeremiah, the Martyred. The forcing of Jeremiah into Egyptian exile with the others was the stroke that finally broke Jeremiah's heart. Against such stiff-necked perversity he could hold out no longer. He submitted, like a lamb, this time to be led, literally, to the slaughter. Judah was destroyed, the Temple burnt, the royal family exterminated, the last of the friends of Jeremiah's family dead, the strength and nobility of the nation in Babylonian captivity, and now, the miserable remnant that

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SUPPLEMENT

B.C.E. 12th and 11th Centuries, Settlement of Canaan by Children of Israel 1037 United Hebrew Kingdom Established 1037 Saul 1017 David 977 Solomon 937 Rehoboam 937 Jeroboam 917 Asa 913 Baasha 887 Omri 876

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