Approaching Doom
281
service of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
When, early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar for the first
time besieged and captured Jerusalem, and carried away Daniel and
his companions, with others specially chosen for service in the court
of Babylon, the faith of the Hebrew captives was tried to the utmost.
But those who had learned to place their trust in the promises of God
found these all-sufficient in every experience through which they were
called to pass during their sojourn in a strange land. The Scriptures
proved to them a guide and a stay.
As an interpreter of the meaning of the judgments beginning to fall
upon Judah, Jeremiah stood nobly in defense of the justice of God and
of His merciful designs even in the severest chastisements. Untiringly
the prophet labored. Desirous of reaching all classes, he extended the
sphere of his influence beyond Jerusalem to the surrounding districts
by frequent visits to various parts of the kingdom.
In his testimonies to the church, Jeremiah constantly referred to
the teachings of the book of the law that had been so greatly honored
and exalted during Josiah’s reign. He emphasized anew the impor-
tance of maintaining a covenant relationship with the all-merciful and
compassionate Being who upon the heights of Sinai had spoken the
[429]
precepts of the Decalogue. Jeremiah’s words of warning and entreaty
reached every part of the kingdom, and all had opportunity to know
the will of God concerning the nation.
The prophet made plain the fact that our heavenly Father allows
His judgments to fall, “that the nations may know themselves to be
but men.”
Psalm 9:20
. “If ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not
hearken unto Me,” the Lord had forewarned His people, “I, even I, ...
will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after
you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.”
Leviticus
26:21, 28, 33
.
At the very time messages of impending doom were urged upon
princes and people, their ruler, Jehoiakim, who should have been a
wise spiritual leader, foremost in confession of sin and in reformation
and good works, was spending his time in selfish pleasure. “I will build
me a wide house and large chambers,” he proposed; and this house,
“ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion” (
Jeremiah 22:14
), was
built with money and labor secured through fraud and oppression.