(Ph1uaob - llopbra) in Egypt. And his at the root of the whole series of events, not mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter causing men's sins, but allowing them to go of J'eremiah of Libnah. He wns thus full on until the cup of their iniquities was full, brother of Jehoahaz (eh. xxiii. 81), but only and the time had arrived for vengeance. half-brother to Jehoiakim (eh. xxiii. 86). Until he had cast them out from his presence His father-in-law, "Jeremiah of Libnah," is (comp. eh. xvii. 18, 20; xxiii. 27; xxiv. 3). not the prophet, who was of Anathotb. To be "cast out of God's presence" is to Ver. 19.-And he did that which was evil lose his protecting care, to be separated ofi in the sight of the Lord, accordmg to ell from him, to be left defenceleBB against our tho.t J'ehoiakim had done. Keil says, " His enemies. When Israel was once finally cast attitude towards the Lord exactly resembled off, its fate was sealed; there was no furthcr that of his brother Jeboiakim, except that hope for it; the end was come. That Zede- Zedekio.h does not o.ppenr to have possessed kiah rebelled against the King of Babylon; FO much energy for that which was evil." rather, And Zedekiah rebelled, etc. The sen- He allowed the people to continue their tence is a detached one, and woolcl, perhaps, "pollutions" and "abominations" (2 Chron. better commence eh. xxv. than terminate, as xxxvi. 14). He let the "princes" have it does, eh. xxiv. Zedekiah, when he re- their way, and do wl,atever they plea.sed ceived his investiture at the hands of Nebu- (Jer. xxxviii. 5), contenting himself with chadnezzar (ver. 17), took a solemn oath of sometimes outwitting them, and counter- allegiance and fidelity (2 Chron. xxxvi. 13; acting their proceedings (Jer. xxxviii. 14- Ezek. xvii. 13) to him and to his successors; 28). He fell into the old error of '' putti1,g but almost immediately afterwards he began trust iu Egypt" (Jer. xxxvii. 5-7), and to intrigue with Egypt, sent a contingent made an alliance with Apries (Pharaoh- of troops to help Psamatik II. in his wars Hophra), which was an act of rebellion, at (Wie:liemann, • Geschichte 1Egyptens,' p. once ago.inst God and against his Babylonian 159). and thus sought to parn the way for suzerain. He was, upon the whole, rather an Egyptian alliance, on the strength of weak than wicked; but his weakness was which he might 'l'enture upon a revolt. It as ruinous to his country as active wicked- was probably owing to the suspicions which ness would have been. these acts aroused that, in the fourtli year of Ver. 20.-For through the anger of the his reign, B.c. 594, he had to visit Babylon Lord it oBIDe to pass in J'erusalem andJ'udah. (Jer. li. 59), where, no doubt, he renewed his It was "through the anger of the Lord " engagements and assured the Babylonian at the persistent impenitence of the people, monarch of his fidelity. But these proceed- that that came to pass which actually came ings were nothing but a blind. On tho to pass-the rejection of the nation by God accession of Hophra (Apries) to the throne and the casting of it out of his presence. In of Egypt in B.C. 591, Zedelriah renewed his his anger he suffe1·ed the appointment of applico.tion to the Egyptian court, openly another perverse e.nd faithless monarch, who sending ambassadors (Ezek. xvii. 15), with made no attempt at a reformation of religion, a request for infantry and cavalry, Thus and allowed him to run his evil course un- was his rebellion complete, his "oath des- oheoked, and to embroil himself with his pised," and his "covenant broken" (Ezek. suzerain, and to bring destruction upon his xvii. 15, 16). The ,rnr with Babylon, and nation. God's anger, long provoked (eh. the siege of J eruBlllem, were the natural ~xi. 10-15; xx.ili. 26, 27 ; xxiv. 3, 4), lay consequences.
HOMILETICS. Vere. l-4:.-0onquering kings and nations instruments in God's hands to work out liis purposes. The sudden disappearance of Assyria from the scene, and the sudden appearance of Babylon upon it at this point of the history, are very remarkable. Without a word upon the circumstances that had brought it about, the writer of Kin"s shows us that a great crisis in the world's history has come and gone; that the mighty state which had dominated Western Asia for centuries is no more, and has been super- seded by a new, and hitherto scarce heard of, power. "In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebu- chadnezzar King of Babylon came up." We have thus presented to us, by implication- I. AssYnu.'s FALL, For nearly a thousand years Assyria hnd been "the rod of God's anger" (Isa. x. 6). She had been sent against nation after nation, to execute God's wrath, with "a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the nire of tbe streets" (Isa, x. 6). As Hezekiah confessed in bis prayer (eh. xix. 17, 18), their success had been continual: "Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria hav6 destroyed the nations and their lands, nnd have cast their gods into the fire," etc. But THE SECOND BOOK OF '.CHE KINGS. [oa, xxxv. 1-20.