The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 443

"We suffer bec,mse we sinned against the Lord." This is the explanation of the trihulnt.ion and distre~s, of the darkness and the death, of the human world. II. A~ A PURGATION. God meant thal Babylonian captivity to boa fiery trial whioh should burn up the large measure of" wood, hay, and stubble" in the character of the Jews th11t needed to be consumed. Strange it may seem to ue that they should learn purity of creed among the heathen; that, away from the city and the temple of God they sh?uld. acquire a taste and a love for bis service and worship shown for many generations m their synagogues ; that in the midst of many superstitions they should come t-0 bate all idolatrous forms and tendencies with the utmost abhorrence. But 80 it was. In the hmd of the stranger they lost their inclination to aposta.tize from God; they were purged of their old folly a.nd jtllilt. And what early instruction, what fuller privileges, what later experiences will not do, tha.t Divine chastisement may accomplish. God passes us through the :fiery trial to purge us of our dross, to con- sume our earthliness, our sol:fisbness, our grossness, our unbelief. And in some" stra.nge land," in some place of spiritual solitude, in conditions under which we are compelled to feel as we never felt before, to learn what we never knew before, to lay to heart what we never realized before, we leave many things behind us which are weights and hin<lrances, we move on to that which is before us. III. As A PICTURE. Of what is that exile a picture? Is it not of our spiritual distance from God? To be living in sin, in a state in whioh we are not reconciled unto God,-is not this the exile of the soul? For what does it mean? 1. It is distance fro11~ God. It is to be a long way, an increasing distance, from him, from his favour, from bis likeness, from the desire to hold communion with him, and therefore from his felt presence. 2. It is captivity. It is to be in the hands of the enemy; it is to be where silken cords at :first, and at last iron chains, of unholy ha.bit hold us fast in a cruel and degrading bondage; where we are held fast to covetousness, or to vanity, or to procrastination, or even to some dishonouring vice. 3. It is unsatisfiedness or even misery of soul. In that "strange land" these exiles could not sing "the Lord'11 song;" they "wept when they remembered Zion." Spiritual exile is joylessness of soul; unre- conciled to him, there can be no "joy a.nd rejoicing in him" or in his holy service. Dut let us bless God that away in this saddest exile we have not to wait until an appoia.ted term is fulfilled, or until some Cyrus issues a proclamation (ver. 22); we may hear, if we will listen, the voice of One who does indeed rule over "all the king- doms of the earth " ( ver. 23), who is ever saying to us, "Return unto me, and I will return unto you." We may hear the blessed words of him who never ceases to address the generations of men, saying, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." We may learn of that Divine Teacher that whoever comes back from the "far country" of sin, and seeks the heavenly Father's mercy, shall find the most cordial welcome he could hope to meet, and he taken back at once to all the love and to all the freedom of the Father's home.-C. Vers. 1--4.--Jelwahaz; or, three months of royalty. I. ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE or 'l'HE LAlID. (Ver. 1.) 1. In his father's stead. When Necbo had defeated Josiah, instead of turning back to seize Jerusalem, which was virtually in his power, he pushed forward on his first intended march towards the Euphrates. Accordingly, on Josiah's death, Josiab's second son, Sballum, "He who shall be requited" (Jer. x.xii. 11)-a name of evil omen (2 Kings xv. 13)-was called to the throne under the name Jehoaha.z, "He whom Jehovah sustains." Like his predecessor of the same name, Ahaz the son of Jotha.m ( eh. x.xviii 1), he failed t.o follow in the steps of his pious father, and rather, like the earlier untheocratic kings, surrendered himself to the practice of idolatry under the guidance of the heathen party in the state (2 Kings x.xiii. 32), According to Josephus, he was "an impious man, and impure in his course of life' (' Ant.,' x. 5. 2), Most likely it was he whom Ezekiel described as "a young lion that learned to catch the prey and devoured men, but, as soon as the nations heard of him, he was taken in their pit, and brought with hooks int.o the land of Egypt" (xix. 3, ~). 2. 0vl!1'. h!s elder "brother. As Eliakim was twenty-five years when he began to reign (ver. 5), 1t 1s obvious be was older than Shallum, who must, therefore, have been elevated to the throne by the voice of the people. As Shallum was not the legitimate heir, he was anoia.ted (2 Kings x.xili. 30)-a custom usual in the case of foundiirs of new dynastieit CH, xxxv1, 1-23.] '£HE SEOOND BOOK 01'' THE CHRONICLES. 447