Книга пятая. Царство иудейское

Chapter 37. Ahaz and the Prophet Isaiah While the kingdom of Israel, having finally rejected the true religion and the law of God, inevitably strove for destruction and lived out its last days, accelerated by the ever-increasing wickedness and idolatry of its rapidly successive kings, in the kingdom of Judah, from time to time, hope for a better future still shone through. There, with the enthronement of the young Joash, the only surviving descendant of the Davidic family, under the beneficial influence of the high priest Jehoiada, the religious and moral revival of the people began. The young king fully followed the wise advice of the high priest, restored the church to its former splendor and, to streamline its income, made a cash box at the church gate for offerings. Divine services were carried out correctly there until the death of the high priest Jehoiada, which followed in the 23rd year of the reign of Joash. But with the death of the high priest, all good undertakings collapsed. The ruling princes of the Jews, who, apparently, with displeasure tolerated the influence of the high priest on the king, now tried to destroy this beneficial influence and openly began to set an example for the people of disdain for the church of Jehovah and idolatry, to which they persuaded the king himself. The prophet Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, courageously rebelled against such wickedness, but his voice was drowned out by a terrible crime, a murder, which, by order of the king, was committed against him in the very courtyard of the church, between the altar and the church (2 Chron. 24:21; Matt. 23:35), in the very place where the prophet’s father had once anointed the now forgotten Joash to the kingdom. Dying under a hail of stones, the prophet cried out: “Let the Lord see and seek!” And the Lord soon exacted the price of righteous blood. The kingdom was punished by the invasion of the Syrians, who, having destroyed many people and the princes of Judah, forced the treasures of the church to be handed over to themselves, and Joash, stricken with illness, was killed in bed by his entourage and was not even awarded burial in the common royal tomb, where the high priest Jehoiada was buried instead. The next kings of Judah, Amsiah, Uzziah, and Jotham, present a strange duality in their character. Trying to be pious, they at the same time show extreme self-will and disrespect for the shrine, so that the otherwise pious Uzziah even dared to arrogate to himself the priestly right to burn incense before the altar of incense, for which he was struck with leprosy. Nevertheless, they managed to raise the state to a fairly high degree of political power and brought many neighboring Philistine cities and Ammonites into tributary status. But this power was quickly destroyed again with the accession to the throne of the twelfth king of Judah, Ahaz, the son of the pious Jotham. Ahaz ascended the throne when he was twenty years old. His father, Jotham, a cunning, practical man and active warrior, left him a kingdom strong, rich and well organized. Long-term prosperity contributed to the accumulation of silver and gold in it, and the state had a strong and well-organized army. The cavalry and chariots were especially famous in it, and the large merchant fleet of Tarshish ships departing from Elath was proud of its wealth, as it even had gilded bows and masts and purple sails, and brought home rich cargo from the distant East. The areas east of the Jordan, returned by Uzziah, were still under the rule of the kingdom of Judah. But, although himself devoted to Jehovah, Jotham was unable to prevent the growing corruption of his time. The inclination of the people to their old “heights,” which had now become places of complete superstition, if not even paganism, prevented them from completely destroying them, and relations with various surrounding peoples, thanks to trade and the vastness of the very borders of the state, gradually filled the country with idols. Along with the mental culture and manufactured goods of Syria and Western Asia in general, various soothsayers arrived in the country in droves, so that in Jerusalem there were many cloud diviners who arrived from Philistia, as well as people practicing all sorts of black arts (Isa. 2:6–8). Under such circumstances, the young king Ahaz ascended to the throne of Judah. In character, he was the complete opposite of his father. We know nothing of his early education, but his very tastes show that he grew up and was brought up under the influence of the old pagan court party - admirers of foreign customs, for whom the ancient simplicity of the people and their hereditary faith were too low and vulgar in comparison with the brilliant idolatry of Phenicia and Assyria. Under the influence of this party, Ahaz, although an Israelite by blood, turned out to be essentially a foreigner in all other respects. He usually elevated pagan foreigners to the highest positions in the state. Already in the last years of Solomon's reign, Assyrian culture began to gain influence in Judea through the Phoenician architects and artists who were used by this wise king. The "House of the Forest of Lebanon" was largely copied by the latter from the great buildings of Nineveh, because its dimensions, its cedar roofs, its numerous columns, its windows and square-topped doors correspond exactly to the throne chamber of an Assyrian palace. The division of various royal buildings into several separate groups, large courtyards, stone pavements in them and the use of stone slabs for facing the palace walls - all this also constitutes a feature of the royal buildings of Nineveh. Overlaying the church with pure gold, which seems so miraculous to us, was a common occurrence among the Babylonians, Assyrians and Medes. The decoration of the church, palm trees and open flowers, pomegranates and lions, all this, although made by the Phoenicians, also resembles the Assyrian way of decorating buildings. The height of the columns of Jachin and Boaz, their volume and complex capitals, also have something similar in Persepolis. The guard lions on the steps of Solomon's throne also resemble the sculpted lions at the gates of the Assyrian palace, and the ivory throne finds its counterpart in the fragments of ivory furniture found in Nineveh 261 . But Ahaz went much further. Being a man of developed taste, as it was understood at that time, he tried to make Jerusalem a rival to the pagan capitals of his time. Gold and silver idols sparkled on all sides. His imagination was especially struck by the Assyrian altar, which he later saw in Damascus, and a copy of it was erected in Jerusalem from a drawing sent there by the king (2 Kings 16:10). It was probably made of cut stone, tripartite and decorated with sculptures, and thus differed sharply from the altars of Israel. The morning and evening sacrifices from this time were offered on this new altar, and the brass altar of Solomon was used for the personal sacrifices of Ahaz himself, because, like the Assyrian king, whom he wanted to imitate, he personally addressed the gods when it seemed necessary to him. The old altar, however, was moved from its position of honor in front of the sanctuary to the north side of the church, and, in the place thus freed, this new altar was erected. The high priest Uriah, apparently, gave in to this innovation without any resistance, without opposing the other changes to which it led. The copper bulls on which the great laver stood were in later times taken to pay tribute to Assyria, and a stone pedestal was placed in their place, and small copper lavers on wheels, the metal cover over the royal seat in the church courtyard and the copper decorations of the royal entrance to the church suffered the same fate. In his passion for everything Assyrian, as if to show not only his taste, but also his gross servility, Ahaz went even further and introduced the entire system of Mesopotamian idolatry. He accepted in Jerusalem the idolization of the sun and moon and all the powers of heaven, as it was performed on the banks of the Tigris (2 Kings 23:5). Snow-white sacred horses and magnificent chariots, dedicated, as it was in Assyria, to the solar god and used at solemn holidays, such as. at the onset of different seasons, they were kept in some of the rooms originally intended for priests and for sacred vessels, at the very entrance to the church 262. To worship the planets and signs of the zodiac, according to the Assyrian model, altars were placed on the flat roof of the palace, and private residents followed this example, setting up similar altars in their private homes. Near the palace, undoubtedly in imitation of the Assyrians, a tower was erected for measuring time, which apparently consisted of a number of steps to indicate the daily movement of the sun's shadow, and its top could also serve as an observatory, from where one could observe the movements of the heavenly bodies for idolatrous purposes at night. The courtiers indulged in the study of the Assyrian language, which was similar to Aramaic or Syriac, and thus was easy for the Israelites (2 Kings 18:26). And this predilection for imitating Nineveh was not without some benefits. It apparently introduced a better method of dividing time and a higher taste in the decoration of the houses of the nobility and in the very forms of furniture and vessels, because in this respect the Assyrians were teachers even of the Greeks. A new style of house architecture also came into fashion in Jerusalem. But the evil that invaded the land of Israel along with this far exceeded the elements of good contained in it. Altars to pagan gods were placed at street corners so that those passing by could burn incense on them (2 Chron. 28:4). An Asherah was erected in the church itself - a synonym for gross debauchery (2 Kings 23:6). Wretched creatures of both sexes, devoting themselves to dirty idolatry, lived in the church premises, and women prepared in the sacred courtyards materials for colorful tents in which debauched orgies were performed. At the gates of Jerusalem and in other cities and villages (2 Kings 23:8; 17:9), “high places” were erected dedicated to the evil spirits of the desert. The idolization of foreign gods was established everywhere, not only in all the already existing sanctuaries in the earth, but also in new churches deliberately erected for this purpose. The old churches or high places built by Solomon on the top of the Mount of Olives for Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Moloch were still intact, and idolatry began to be practiced in them again. The last of these idols had a new church erected in the valley of Ginnom, under the walls of Jerusalem, on a place that henceforth became known among the faithful as Tophet, that is, spittoons. Here was erected a large copper image of Moloch, with a furnace inside it and an altar under his outstretched hands, on which children were to be sacrificed. All these innovations were unfortunately not only outward imitation, but evidently showed an inner conviction in Ahaz himself, for he gave the first example of his devotion to this savage idolatry by sacrificing at least one of his sons on one critical occasion in his life (2 Kings 16:3, 2 Chronicles 28:3). True worship of Jehovah meanwhile was more and more abandoned, so that towards the end of his reign the great doors of the church were finally completely locked, the sacred lamps remained unlit, no incense was offered, and the entire interior of the church was left unattended and in complete neglect 263 . Instead of white-robed priests of the true faith, crowds of priests of pagan gods dressed in black cloaks moved along the streets and roads. All this wickedness, acting in a corrupting way on the government and the people, inevitably had to entail severe punishment, which soon followed. Neighboring states saw that the strong hand that had guarded the kingdom of Judah had disappeared. The kings of Israel Pekah and Syrian Rezin took advantage of this weakness, who, no longer fearing the power of the kingdom of Judah, made a bold invasion of the country and devastated it to the very gates of Jerusalem. The united forces of the kings, having inflicted a terrible defeat on the army of Judah, which lost 120,000 people, along with rich booty, captured 200,000 women, sons and daughters, although, at the admonition of the prophet Oded, the captives were released. But misfortunes soon worsened. Elath on the Red Sea was taken by the Syrian king Rezin and thus the kingdom of Judah lost its only seaport. The Edomites, who had long been vassals, regained their independence and captured many Jews. The Philistines also rebelled and recaptured the cities of the coastal plain, which under the previous kings had belonged to the kingdom of Judah. In a word, according to the biblical historian, “the Lord humiliated Judah because of Ahaz, king of Judah, because he corrupted Judah and sinned grievously before the Lord” (2 Chronicles 28:19). But even this hard lesson did not bring Ahaz to his senses. Seeing himself in a hopeless situation, he, without thinking of seeking the help of the only Helper of the chosen people, decided to rely on powerful Assyria, thus becoming closer to the monarchy, which took every opportunity to conquer and absorb all neighboring states - both hostile and friendly to it. Among such sad circumstances of the kingdom of Judah, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Isaiah, entered public activity, whose name was destined to be more memorable and majestic than all the monarchs or warriors of that time. Isaiah was born around 760, or perhaps a little earlier. He came from the tribe of Benjamin and was the son of a certain Amos, about whom nothing is known except his name, although Jewish traditions identify him either with Amos the prophet or with the brother of King Amaziah. His great-grandson (Jer. 29:21; Neh. 11:7) and great-great-grandson also appear to have been prophets, and the name of one of his great-great-grandsons, Colaiah, "the voice of Jehovah," shows that prophecy had been a special gift in this family for several generations. It is also remarkable that when Isaiah got married, he chose a wife who was also a prophetess (Isaiah 8:3). Living in Jerusalem, that center of political life and activity, the family of the prophet apparently occupied a social position that provided them with all sorts of advantages. Instead of being lost somewhere in an unknown village, like his contemporary Micaiah, or spending his days on the hills or in the sycamore groves, like Amos, he was surrounded from childhood by the lively life of the capital, in which he was later destined to become the chief adviser to the throne and the highly respected personal friend of King Hezekiah. His childhood and adolescence, moreover, passed under the beneficial religious and political influence of the wise and kind Uzziah, from the glory of whose reign his very character and his mood received a tone that was not erased throughout his life. In all likelihood, in his early childhood, Jeroboam II still reigned in the kingdom of Israel, but as he grew older, the northern kingdom became increasingly subject to anarchy and paganism, despite the zealous and fearless preaching of Amos and Hosea. From some passages of his prophecies, in any case, it is clear that he was familiar with these predecessors. He has many passages, allusions and expressions that show that he was well acquainted with the sacred books of his people, which acquaintance he acquired from early childhood. Actually, the prophet Isaiah’s start to prophetic activity dates back to the year of Uzziah’s death, when prolonged prosperity in many respects contributed to a strong decline in the moral level. Wealth introduced the corrupting influence of luxury among the upper classes, and military glory supported the arrogant pride of the whole people. Social virtues were falling and the germs of fatal degeneration clearly appeared in all classes in the tendency towards idolatry and superstition. Isaiah, although still a young man, was already deeply aware of the abnormality of this state of affairs and, possessing an exalted spirit, grieved for it and prayed. One day he visited the church. There the sound of trumpets, the solemn songs of praise of the Levitical choirs and the cloud of incense from the sanctuary further intensified the religious feelings with which his soul was filled. And then he was granted a vision that was the first and last in his life. At that moment he stood in front of the court of the priests, in front of him was the sanctuary, and beyond that the mysterious Holy of Holies. And so, when he looked deeply in the direction of the sanctuary, it seemed to him that the dimensions of the church began to expand extremely before him. Through the wide cedar gates, wide open for the priests to enter to the golden altar of incense, the multi-colored curtain that hid the interior of the sanctuary was pulled back and before it, in a mysterious darkness, appeared the solemn vision of Jehovah, sitting on His Throne above the Ark of the Covenant, which seemed to stand between earth and heaven. Here, as in other places in St. Scripture, as befits the spiritual character of the divine essence, does not make any description of the divine person who sat on the Throne. But the edges of His royal garments filled the majestic church of vision. “Seraphim stood around the Throne, each of them had six wings; With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he covered his face. And they called to each other and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The whole earth is full of His glory.” From this thunderous praise, the tops of the gates shook, and the church was filled with incense. The young prophet was extremely frightened by all this, and exclaimed: “Woe is me, I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” But when he was in such a state of bewilderment and horror, one of the seraphim flew to him, and, holding in his hands a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar, touched his lips and said: behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity has been removed from you; and your sin is cleansed." After this, when the mysterious voice of Jehovah asked who could now undertake the work of preaching Him in Judea, the trembling spirit of the chosen prophet was filled with sacred confidence, and Isaiah immediately stepped forward to the ministry offered to him. “Here I am, send me,” he said. His proposal was accepted, and Isaiah was recognized as a prophet. “Go and tell this people,” He who sat on the Throne said to them: “You will hear with your ears, but will not understand; and with your eyes, you will see, but will not see. For the heart of this people is hardened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes. Let them not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and be converted, so that I may heal them.” Isaiah did not yet know what great work lay ahead of him and asked how long he would be called to serve and how long the people would remain in this state. Then the Lord made a terrible revelation to His new servant. “Until,” He said, the cities are desolate, and there are no inhabitants, and the houses are left without people, and until this land is completely desolate. And the Lord will remove the people, and there will be great desolation on this land.” After this, the vision disappeared, but the spirit of God remained on Isaiah, which inspired his courageous strength to fight the moral disorders of his time (Isaiah 6:1–13). And so, from this time on, the voice of the prophet Isaiah did not cease to be heard in the land of Judea, serving as a guiding light for both kingdoms. As a servant of the true God and a selfless patriot, he did not limit his preaching to any one kingdom, and took the fate of both kingdoms equally close to his heart. While in Jerusalem, he at the same time clearly foresaw the approaching destruction of the northern kingdom, and addressed it with deeply touching warnings. When a terrible thunderstorm from the Assyrians was already approaching over Samaria, he addressed her with such stern warnings: “Woe to Samaria, to the crown of pride of the drunken Ephraimites, To the withered flower of its beautiful decoration, Who is at the top of the fat valley of those slain by wine! Behold, strong and strong with the Lord, Like a hailstorm and a destructive whirlwind, Like an overflowing flood of stormy waters, Forcefully throws him to the ground. The wreath of pride of the drunken Ephraimites is trampled under foot. And with the withered flower of its beautiful decoration, which is at the top of the fat valley, The same thing happens that happens to a fig that is ripe before its time, Which, as soon as anyone sees, He immediately takes it in his hand and swallows it." 264. After the fall of Samaria, Isaiah turned his attention entirely to the fate of the kingdom of Judah, and with the keen eye of a seer watched the increasingly intensifying moral corruption in it. With every further step in this direction, his voice did not cease to expose and teach, and he gradually prepared his listeners for the terrible fate that was inevitably supposed to befall the people for idolatry and wickedness, at the same time more than once repeating previous promises about future glory, if only the people would turn to the true faith. When the first punishment of Ahaz for his blind devotion to Assyrian idolatry and Assyrian morals and customs of life followed, namely the invasion of Pekah and the Syrian king Rezin, Isaiah issued a stern warning, explaining the meaning of this disaster and at the same time comforting the king. Having met Ahaz at the water pipes of the upper pond, on the road to the Belilnichy field, he addressed him with such a sublime speech: “Watch and be calm; Do not be afraid, and do not let your heart become sad. From the two ends of these smoking brands From the inflamed anger of Rezin and the Syrians and the son of Remali. Syria, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah They plot evil against you, saying: Let us go against Judea and stir it up, And we will take possession of it, and make the son of Tabeel king in it, But the Lord God says this: this will not take place and will not come true; For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; And after sixty-five years Ephraim will cease to be a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. That’s because you are not certified” 265. Isaiah remarked to King Ahaz that he apparently did not believe his words and promise of divine help, and therefore continued: “Ask yourself a sign from the Lord your God; Ask either in the depths or in the heights.” Ahaz responded in disbelief: “I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.” Such distrust showed the prophet how the representative of the chosen people had weakened faith in his historical destiny, and therefore, turning to the king, he uttered, along with a reproach to him, a sublime prophecy about the miraculous birth of the Messiah - that anchor of salvation on which the chosen people should rely: Isn't it enough for you to make things difficult for people? Why do you want to trouble my God? So, the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child, And she will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel. He will eat milk and honey, Until he understands to reject the bad and choose the good. For before this child understands Reject the bad, choose the good, The land you fear is the one She will be abandoned by both her kings, But the Lord will bring upon you and your peoples, And the days of your father's house, Which have not come since Ephraim fell away from Judah, He will bring the king of Assyria. And it will happen on that day that the Lord will give a sign to the fly, Which is at the mouth of the Egyptian River. And the bee, which is in the land of Assyria. And they will all fly and sit down Through deserted valleys and rocky clefts, And through all the thorny bushes, From the near future, the gaze of the prophet Isaiah turned to the most distant. He saw how the land was devastated by the hordes of Assyrians, how it was covered with thorns and thistles, and especially the hills, which until then were covered with the most excellent vineyards, serving as a place of amusement and prosperity. "For the day of the Lord of hosts is coming For everything proud and arrogant, and for everything exalted, And for all the cedars of Lebanon, Tall and exalted, And to all the ships of Tarshish, And all their desired ornaments. And human greatness will fall, And the lofty of humanity will be humbled; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." 267 But even this sublime speech of the prophet could not bring Ahaz to reason. He ignored the true anchor of salvation for his people and entered into an alliance with the Assyrians. This alliance contributed to the acceleration of the fall of the kingdom of Israel, but of course did not bring any benefit to Ahaz himself, although he humbly groveled before the powerful Tiglath-Pelassar II and gave him all his treasures, even robbing the temple of Jerusalem, which he then locked and thus stopped worship, establishing idolatry instead, with disgusting altars to idols, in all corners of Jerusalem. Not yet completely, however, the light of piety on the throne of David went out and it flared up again in the person of Ahaz’s son and successor, Hezekiah. The situation of the kingdom of Judah, when Hezekiah ascended the throne at the age of twenty, after the death of his father in 728, was extremely sad. Politically it was humiliating. The ruinous tax paid to Assyria by Ahaz was, of course, bound to continue. The court party, which was in favor, benefited from this state of affairs, partly as a condition of patronage of the state, partly as a condition of an alliance with the great king, whose slaves or mercenaries they were at heart. Pride and oppression reached the point of constant disregard for justice, and lawless violence against the masses of the people reigned everywhere. Numerous members of the royal family and the nobility seized control of all judicial institutions, and even encroached on the power of the king. Ordinary citizens, villagers and shepherds trembled before them. The priests became infected with general corruption, and even among the prophets many abused their position, using it for selfish and dishonest purposes (Isa. 9:13-15; Mic. 3:11, 4:5). Not caring at all about the result, they made false revelations to the people, as their highest patrons wished, and often misled the people. True prophets, faithful to their duty, were considered public enemies, while their rivals were hailed as patriots. Public opinion was thus excited against the fearless and valiant prophets, so that they were even threatened with persecution like that which occurred in the time of Jezebel, and the servants of God were forced to hide to save their lives. Moreover, while the mass of the people became increasingly impoverished, the rich became more and more selfish and oppressive, the judges became corrupt, and pagan superstitions increasingly penetrated all classes of society, the state was torn apart by competing parties (Isa. 29:21; Hos. 9:8; Isa. 30:20). One party stood for an alliance with Egypt, and another for the continuation of the Assyrian tax, and the third insisted on national independence. Hezekiah had the difficult task of managing public affairs in such a disordered state. Fortunately, he was not without moral support from the better class of the population, and at the head of this class was the valiant Isaiah, who in every possible way contributed to the maintenance of the good direction. Now there was no longer any need to form separate communities of prophets and to keep those who were preparing for the prophetic position away from the mass of the population. He expanded the scope of prophetic activity and acted as a general educator of the people. He acquired a mass of disciples who, without forming separate communities, could live in their own homes under the auspices of the church and gather around the teacher in his courtyards. And with such educational activity, Isaiah actually formed many disciples, from whom that healing element in the population was made up, which, acting as a leaven, could heal the entire national body. King Hezekiah himself was a man of noble character. Descending on his mother's side from Zechariah, the beloved prophet Uzziah, he seemed to inherit from this great ancestor his sublime devotion to the true faith. In contrast to his father, who was passionately devoted to everything Assyrian, Hezekiah fully adhered to national morals and customs, and devoted his life to restoring the worship of Jehovah and cleansing the land from the paganism introduced by Ahaz. “Law” was for him the guiding star in public and private life. The prophets were his most revered and beloved advisors. An intelligent and educated man, he was at the same time humble and pious, and was the first to take measures to collect and put in order the sacred books. Jewish tradition then attributes to him the collection of the prophecies of Isaiah and the preservation of the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. But his time was not without a brilliant flourishing of its own literature, because, in addition to the writings of modern prophets, the origin of many psalms dates back to this time, testifying, in any case, to the high excitement of religious feeling. To provide for the maintenance of the priests and Levites, he restored the payment of tithes determined by the Law of Moses, including “the firstfruits of corn, wine and oil, and honey, and all the produce of the field, and tithes of everything” (2 Chron. 31:5; Exod. 22:29; 23:16–19). Without any oppression of the people, with his wise and honest management he achieved that his treasury again became full, and in his palace there were large reserves of spices, precious oil and all kinds of weapons. Jewish tradition, exalting his glory and the merits of subsequent years, even saw in him the promised Messiah, and the inspired chronicler of the 2nd book of Kings, serving as a reflection of public opinion about the king, says of him that “in the Lord, the God of Israel, he trusted; and there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, either after him or before him” (2 Chronicles 18:5). As the grandson of a prophet, Hezekiah showed favor towards the ancient religion from his very youth. He was apparently, at least once, strongly influenced spiritually by the prophet Micah. This prophet in many respects retained the external characteristics that distinguished the ancient school of prophets. Occupying a humble position in comparison with Isaiah, he walked through the streets of Jerusalem and, taking off his outer cloak, mixed loud cries with his prophetic speeches and warnings, “weeping like one robbed and naked, howling like a jackal, and weeping like an ostrich” (Mic. 1:8). Such a prophet, day after day exposing the sins of Jerusalem and threatening even in the presence of the king and in front of the palace with impending destruction, made an extremely deep impression on the king (2 Chron. 28:27), and this impression, apparently, was a turning point in his religious life. His entourage, frightened by the invasion of the prophet and his bold words, wanted to seize and punish the culprit, but the king found it best to take note of his warning. Hezekiah's first concern was to bury his unworthy father, but even in this respect he showed respect for popular opinion, refusing the remains of Ahaz a place in the royal tomb, although he ordered them to be buried within the walls of Jerusalem. Then, in the first month of his reign, he opened the gates of the church and began the restoration of the building. Having assembled the priests and Levites in the open square to the east of it, he commanded them to proceed at once to cleanse it and prepare it for the restoration of public worship therein. The sacred lamps had long been extinguished in it, no incense had been offered and no sacrifices had been burned, and now all this had to be corrected. The misfortunes of the people, as he was convinced, were a direct punishment for such abandonment of religion. The priests, having first purified themselves, zealously set about fulfilling the royal behavior, and after two weeks made the church fit for use. The abominations found in it were carried to Kidron and scattered in the stream; the altar of burnt offerings was restored to its place, and all the church vessels and utensils removed by Ahaz were again prepared for their proper use. When everything was ready, a propitiatory offering was brought for the kingdom, church and people. The sacrifice was performed in the presence of Hezekiah himself; the choirs of Levites took their assigned places and took part in the service; The trumpets sounded solemnly, and the singers and musicians again filled the air with the words of ancient psalmody, and the king and all the courtiers, together with the assembled people, offered up fiery prayers. It was a fitting inauguration of a noble reign. Meanwhile, the northern kingdom, having exceeded the measure of its iniquities, deserved its destruction and Samaria had to fall before the pressure of the Assyrian king. When the northern kingdom thus perished and disappeared, Hezekiah remained of necessity inactive, since to provide any help in this case meant immediately bringing a similar fate to the kingdom of Judah. Therefore, refraining from any interference in politics and thereby diverting the attention of the Assyrians from himself, he completely devoted himself to internal improvement. Despite the restoration of worship in the Temple of Jerusalem, there remained many places of private worship in the country, which especially contributed to the maintenance of idolatry, namely the so-called “high places.” Many kings have already made attempts to abolish these heights, but their attempts were unsuccessful. Now Hezekiah began a similar attempt, but with greater success. All the heights that were in the kingdom of Judah and even Israel were overthrown by him; the sun pillars, probably representing unclean symbols, were destroyed, and the unclean images of Asherah were destroyed. In his jealousy, Hezekiah did not stop there, and began to destroy everything that could serve as a source of superstition. The copper serpent, made in the desert almost eight hundred years earlier at the command of Moses, stood for many centuries in the middle of Jerusalem as one of the most sacred national treasures. But over time, due to the decline of the religious spirit of the people, he became a source of special evil. An altar was erected in front of him, on which incense was offered, so that many among the people idolized him. Therefore, Hezekiah destroyed this historical monument. Then he began other transformations. Before Hezekiah, the Passover appears to have been celebrated privately in each family separately. But from now on the church was to become one center of public worship. Hitherto the national religion was predominantly local. To ensure the purity of religion, centralization was necessary. Hezekiah decided to celebrate the great national holiday of Passover in Jerusalem. An error in calculation, which occurred due to the shortness of the lunar months, violated the accuracy of the original time for this holiday, which took place in the first month; the barley harvest, after which it should have taken place as a spring festival, was now carried out almost a month later. Therefore, this holiday was moved to the second month, and, to prevent a similar error in the calendar, a new month was introduced, which was necessary for the equation of the lunar year with the solar one. Such additional months had long been in use in Nineveh, with which Judea, starting from the reign of Ahaz, was in close relationship. The fall of the northern kingdom deeply touched the hearts of the Jewish people, and their old mutual bitterness turned into sincere regret. The remnants of the population that were not taken to Assyria now became the subject of fraternal sympathy, which contributed to the resettlement of many Israelis within the borders of the kingdom of Judah. Special messengers were sent throughout the country, from Dan to Beersheba, inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem for the Passover holiday; but, unfortunately, this invitation was now rejected with contempt and disdain (2 Chron. 30:10). The remainder of the population of the kingdom of Israel finally surrendered to paganism, and remained Israeli only in the flesh, and after a while they could not even be proud of this, since marriages with other tribes became commonplace, although in the tribes of Manasseh, Asher and Zebulun there were still people who worshiped the God of their fathers and joyfully responded to the invitation. Proper preparations were made for such a meeting. In accordance with the command of the Law of Moses, Hezekiah ordered the cleansing of the holy city. The pagan altars built by Ahaz were destroyed and the materials were thrown into the Kidron, behind the walls. The church itself was cleansed at the beginning of the reign. Religious enthusiasm gripped the entire people. The priests and Levites resumed their proper service according to the order established since the time of David. As in former times, the fathers of families sacrificed lambs for their families, and in general all rituals were performed with complete precision. And so, when all the preparations had been made, the public celebration of Easter took place with such solemn psalmody and music, with such a wealth of sacrifices and with such a multitude of people present that the celebration was reminiscent of the famous celebration of the consecration of Solomon's Temple. Seven days turned out to be insufficient for such a celebration, and the holiday extended for another seven days. Such a great celebration could not but have a high inspiring significance for the people. The prophets, led by Isaiah, used it to proclaim great spiritual truths. Already before, the prophets, from time to time describing the real destinies of the people and predicting the future, foreshadowed the coming of the great spiritual King, under whom the House of David would reign forever. The hope of a great Messiah, which had been the guiding star of the life of the chosen people throughout its historical life, was increasingly repressed and expanded, especially since the time of David. But over time, it gradually acquired an increasingly spiritual and sublime character. Joel preached about the terrible day of Jehovah, when, following the judgment that would befall the pagans in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the golden age would come, and the Spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh. Amos consoled the believers of his time with the prediction that the fallen tabernacle of David would be restored again (Amos 9:11). Hosea predicted to the next generation that the children of Israel would one day return from captivity, seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and, like his predecessors, depicted the bliss of this time. But the revival of a higher spiritual tone during the reign of Hezekiah further contributed to the purification and elevation of such joyful expectations. Pious people in the past cherished the great hope that the great kingdom of God would be realized in Israel, and its ruler would be a divine, victorious Leader. The glory of David and the unbroken succession of his house in the kingdom of Judah, together with the sacred inspirations of the prophets, naturally supported the conviction that the expected Messiah would come from his line. But only Isaiah for the first time expressed in its entirety the essential properties of the expected Messiah, as the perfect head of the true government of God. He preached that the fulfillment of God's promise was coming, according to which the throne of David would be established forever, and nothing would shake it. In all circumstances of the life of the people, he did not cease to support faith in the coming Messiah. He did not hesitate in this even when the hordes of Sennacherib apparently threatened the immediate destruction of the state, because his confidence never wavered, even when the Assyrians were at the very gates of Jerusalem. To him we owe the inspired presentation of those messianic expectations of the past in a clear and majestic outline, which henceforth served as a source for maintaining this hope in subsequent centuries. But the bright visions of Isaiah and other prophets were still far from fulfillment. The moral ulcer of paganism was too deeply rooted in the body of the people to be healed by the pious zeal of one king, and prophetic visions of the future glory of the Messiah had to be darkened more than once by denunciations and warnings. Meanwhile, an important change took place in the political world. Tired of campaigns, Sargon began construction in his old age. At Dur-Sargin (present-day Khorsabad), near Nineveh, a magnificent palace was built under his direction as a tranquil and magnificent refuge for his old age. How proud he was of the grandeur of this palace can be seen from the lengthy descriptions given in his chronicles of the costly wood used in its construction, of the furniture of gold, silver, copper and precious stones, of the sculptured lions and bulls at the gates, and of the rows of alabaster slabs with which the walls of his innumerable chambers were decorated, and on which the narrative of his exploits was engraved. But the common fate of this great conqueror was soon to befall. The one who destroyed and devastated so many kingdoms in his life now had to give an account for all this. The majestic palace was completed in 706, and in 705 Sargon lay already killed on its very floor. The vacant throne was occupied by Sennacherib, the youngest son of the conqueror. Inferior to his father in political abilities, he was no less ambitious, and spent his life in military campaigns, undertaken on a grand scale. Having gained fame throughout the earth as a great destroyer, he knew no higher policy except force. By bringing disaster upon the peoples he conquered, he forced them to resort to constant disturbances at the first opportunity. The thirst for power, cruelty, pride and arrogance - the usual properties of eastern despots - in his person reached their highest development. The splendor of the palace at Kuyunjik, with which he wanted to outshine his father's palace at Khorsabad, its majestic chambers and entrances, its vast space, which occupied a whole quarter of Nineveh, is confirmed both by its own proud inscriptions and by its far-extending ruins. Under him, Assyria achieved almost its highest glory. Chapter 39. Sennacherib's Campaign When the news of the death of the formidable conqueror, Sargon, swept across Western Asia to the banks of the Nile, it aroused hope everywhere that it would be possible to overthrow the heavy Assyrian yoke. This movement was led by the Egyptian pharaoh Seti, who, in alliance with Tirgak, king of the Ethiopians, planned to raise all of Western Asia against Assyria. Legends about the former greatness of Egypt still continued to have a magical effect on neighboring peoples, and any attempt, no matter how desperate, seemed well-timed, if only it could at least somewhat promise liberation from the hated yoke of Assyria. As a result, the kings of Phenicia and the Philistine region, the rulers of Orontes, the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites immediately responded to Egypt’s proposal, refusing to pay tribute to Assyria and preparing for self-defense. The flames of the uprising engulfed all of Western Asia, and it could spread to the entire monarchy. To suppress this movement, Sennacherib set out on his famous campaign against Palestine. He entered the country, according to custom, from the north. Enormous masses of his chariots, horsemen and archers moved through the Passage of Lebanon, and occupied its heights. The majestic cedars and cypresses, in the words of the prophet, wept under the ax and the fire that devoured their comrades, since the conquerors prepared military engines from these trees, or cut them down into beams for the palaces of Nineveh. Where there was a shortage of water, numerous wells were dug, or those already filled up were dug up again. Sennacherib proudly declared that with the sole of his foot he could dry up all the canals of Egypt, which was the last goal of his campaign. In passing he will also pitch his silken tent, not only on the high passes of the north, but also in Jerusalem itself, and desecrate its palace gardens, those luxurious refuges of Hezekiah's capital. To facilitate the movement of troops, bridges were built across mountain streams, and convenient roads for his chariots were laid across wadis. Having descended from the mountain through the neck of the Dog River 268, he ordered his figure to be depicted on the rocks, next to the figure of Ramses II, who passed along the same path a thousand years before, and left a similar memory of his presence here. Finally, a huge horde came out onto the Phoenician plains. Proud Sidon was the first to feel the vengeful hand of the conqueror. He was completely helpless, since no help was expected from Egypt yet. Elulei, the rebellious king, had to flee to the island of Cyprus or some other island of the Levant, and in his place a more pliable vassal Etobaal was installed, who undertook to pay the usual tribute. The princes of the other rebel countries, frightened by the presence of such a formidable enemy, or, as the inscriptions say, amazed by the “brilliance of the weapons of Assur,” the god of Sennacherib, immediately submitted and again repeated signs of their respect for the conqueror, kissing the feet of the great king, bringing him rich gifts and pledging to pay tribute. Only Zedek, king of Ascalon, did not follow this general servility, but he was punished for this by being dethroned in favor of a vassal king, and his entire family, with all its members, its god and all its property, was taken into captivity by the Assyrians. The cities of Beth-Dagon and Joppa, with two others whose names are unknown, were subject to Zedek, paid severely for their assistance. After this, only Hezekiah remained among those who were indignant. Thus, Sennacherib’s campaign towards Egypt was for him like a triumphal procession, before which everyone slavishly bowed. In view of everything that had happened, the excitement in Jerusalem was extraordinary. The city was put under martial law. Hezekiah, however, did not despair. He hoped for help from the Ethiopian king Tirgak. The troops of Seti and the local Egyptian kings, under the leadership of Tirhak, were moving to his aid, but Sennacherib encamped between them and Jerusalem, and thus intended to prevent them from joining. “The kings of Egypt,” says the Assyrian chronicle, “and the warriors, archers, chariots and horses of Ethiopia, innumerable in their multitude, gathered together and went to the aid of the people of Ekron and Hezekiah. They deployed their battle formation before me in the plains of Elteka, and threw their arrows; but I marched against them and defeated them with the weapons of Assur, my Lord. In the midst of the battle, my hands captured the captain of the chariots and the sons of the king of Egypt, and the captain of the chariots, the king of the Ethiopians. I made an attack, took and plundered the cities of Elteka and Timna" 269. Having thus secured himself from the Egyptian army, Sennacherib directed his weapons against Ekron, which quickly fell, and all its heads were subjected to cruel punishment. “The chief priests and great men who committed the crime,” say the chronicles, “I put to death, and hung their bodies on pillars around the city. I gave into slavery those people of the city who committed sins and crimes, but spared the rest.” Having completed this matter, Sennacherib then gave the order to one detachment of his army to move against Jerusalem, and now the mountain passes thundered with the noise of the moving Assyrian infantry and their chariots. The movement of this army was marked by fire and blood. Forty-six fortified cities of Hezekiah were taken by storm, and at the same time the enemy captured a lot of all kinds of livestock with a large amount of military material. The entire population that could be captured was taken away as slaves, so that a total of 200,150 people were taken, “small and great, men and women, along with horses, mares, donkeys, camels, bulls and sheep without number.” Hezekiah himself anxiously awaited the attack on Jerusalem. The city was soon surrounded by the enemy, who began preparations for a proper siege. Pointing out this, Sennacherib proudly says in his inscriptions: “I shut him (Hezekiah) like a bird in Jerusalem, his royal city, and built siege towers against him, because he gave orders to renew the fortification of the great gates of the city.” At the sight of the formidable Assyrian army, horror gripped the entire population of the city. Only the great prophet Isaiah remained calm, who fearlessly raised his voices to calm his fellow citizens and prevent general panic. Even in view of the Assyrians who were already standing under the walls, he did not lose hope in God, and believed that He would deliver His people from the impending danger. Addressing the people, he said that the decrees of the Lord of hosts are unchanged, and a terrible punishment awaits the Assyrians (Is. 14:24–27). Nevertheless, the very spectacle of the siege must have aroused horror in the bravest of the besieged. The red cloaks and shining shields of the Assyrians, the strange clothes of many foreigners and barbarian tribes who served in the Assyrian army, their countless chariots, their banners and tents - all this covered the area in front of the northern gates of the city, the surrounding hillsides and adjacent valleys 270. For some, salvation seemed hopeless, others still continued to harbor hope for Tirgak's help, despite his defeat. As usually happens in times of extraordinary excitement, all sorts of moods prevailed in the city. There were quite a few people who, out of despair, indulged in all sorts of debauchery. Drunkenness and unbridled rioting reigned. Isaiah lost all influence over the mass of citizens, although some with pale faces still listened to his comforting words. Meanwhile, the siege dragged on because Hezekiah did not want to surrender. Many people worked to build fortifications, but a new, terrible enemy was quickly approaching the besieged, namely hunger. Amid these horrors and spreading demoralization, the voice of the prophet was heard again, turning to Jerusalem and saying: “What is the matter with you, O Jerusalem! Why are you all up on the rooftops? The city is noisy, exciting, the city is jubilant! Those slain by you are not slain by the sword, Calls you on this day to cry and lament, And cut off your hair and gird yourself with sackcloth. But, behold, joy and joy! They kill oxen and slaughter sheep; And the Lord of hosts opened in my ears: This wickedness will not be forgiven you, Said the Lord, the Lord of hosts" 271. Despite all efforts to resist the enemy, soon everyone and Hezekiah himself felt that any resistance to the Assyrians was hopeless. And so, in order to appease the formidable conqueror, Hezekiah decided to voluntarily surrender the capital. Consequently, he sent envoys to Sennacherib at Lachish to declare his repentance for falling away from him and his desire to submit to him again. Sennacherib fully saw Hezekiah's helplessness, and therefore took advantage of this opportunity to exact a fine from him, which could most strongly serve as a punishment for his indignation. He says about this in his inscriptions: “I cut off from his kingdom his cities, which I plundered, and gave them to the kings of Azoth, Ekron and Gaza. I reduced his kingdom. I appointed annual gifts and taxes, which he had to pay to my Majesty, in a larger amount than before. The terrible brilliance of my greatness suppressed him. The workers, warriors and masons whom he had gathered to fortify Jerusalem now brought the tribute he sent to me to my royal city of Nineveh. It consisted of 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, 272 woven fabrics, trimmed scarlet, precious stones of large volume, couches of ivory, movable thrones of ivory, buffalo skins, buffalo teeth, Dan trees, Ku trees, many treasures of every kind, his daughters, the male and female inhabitants of his palace, together with male and female slaves. He also sent an envoy with tribute and to declare honors” 273. Following a declaration of submission on such difficult and humiliating terms on the part of Hezekiah, the Assyrians retreated from Jerusalem to the coastal plain, where Sennacherib was busy besieging Lachish. The stipulated tribute was sent there first. Assyrian officials collected tribute through a tax on citizens, and when they received it, they duly weighed it. But public and private sources were insufficient to pay such a huge tribute. To do this, it was necessary to decisively empty both the state and church treasuries, and, in addition, it was even necessary to take the gold that remained on the gates and doorposts of the sanctuary. Having received submission from Jerusalem, Sennacherib directed all his forces towards Lachish, a city of the kingdom of Judah, which lay to the south in the hills of the Negeb, not far from the border of Egypt. His position and strength gave him the opportunity to always hold out for a long time against the besiegers, so that in the time of Joshua he held out for two days, although all other neighboring cities immediately fell under the pressure of this conqueror (Joshua 10: 3, 5, 26, 31–33, 35). Its original population consisted of Amorite mountaineers, and their love of independence seems to have passed on to their successors. This city was fortified by Rehoboam after the fall of the ten tribes, and, apparently, escaped the common fate that befell most of its fortifications during the invasion of Susakim. It was there that Sennacherib headed “with all his strength in order to conduct the siege personally.” But then he learned that Seti, the Tanis king of Egypt, having recovered from his defeat at Eltek, had raised a new army against him and had again secured help from Tirgak, whose capital, Napata, was located in Upper Egypt. This warlike king, moreover, as he knew, rejoiced at the opportunity to intervene in Egyptian affairs as a patron and supreme sovereign, moved from the banks of the Upper Nile with all the Ethiopian troops against the Assyrians. Under such circumstances, Hezekiah's very submission may have seemed like a mere diversion to gain time for the arrival of the Ethiopian monarch. Enraged by all this, Sennacherib, despite the newly concluded treaty, again sent a flying detachment to Jerusalem with three court commanders: Tartan, the commander-in-chief, Rapsaris, the chief of the eunuchs, and Rapsaks, the chief of the military staff. The appearance of the Assyrians before Jerusalem again spread despondency in the city, which increased even more when their demands became known. The rumor of the approach of Tirgak, the furious attack on Lachish and all other news of war had already reached Jerusalem. The return of the entire Assyrian army could be expected, and therefore the gates were again locked and the walls were put in a defensive position. Meanwhile, those sent from Sennacherib began to fulfill the instructions of their sovereign. Approaching the walls, they demanded that Hezekiah send a negotiator to them, which was done. From Hezekiah's side came Eliakim, the ruler of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the recorder, who went out onto the wall so that they could hear what the Assyrians would say. Hezekiah himself refused to appear for such negotiations, considering it beneath his royal dignity. And so negotiations began, representing a curious example of diplomatic negotiations of ancient times. On behalf of Sennacherib, Rapsaks, the chief of staff, acted as negotiator. Since Hezekiah himself did not find it convenient to speak in person, his ministers had to convey to their sovereign, whom Rapsaks did not even honor with the royal title, what exactly the Assyrians wanted to say. Rapsaks said that Hezekiah obviously maintained secret relations with some external power, otherwise he would never have dared to behave this way towards the great king. What could such insolence mean? On whom could he rely, opposing Sennacherib and closing the gates against his representatives? It is absurd to say that he relied on his own abilities and his own sources. It is clear to the Assyrians in whom exactly Hezekiah is relying, but this hope is in vain. “You are thinking of relying on Egypt,” Rapsak said arrogantly: “on this bruised reed, which, if anyone leans on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. Such is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. And if you say to me,” continued Rapsaks: “we trust in the Lord our God, then is it in the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah abolished and said to Judah and Jerusalem: worship only before this altar in Jerusalem?” So, enter into an alliance with my lord, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses - can you get yourself riders for them? How can you defeat even one leader among the least servants of my lord? And do you trust in Egypt for chariots and horses? Moreover, did I go to this place without the will of the Lord to destroy it? The Lord said to me: go to this land and destroy it” (2 Kings 18:19–25). This speech was cunning and diplomatic. Spoken from behind the walls, it could reach the ears of the crowd, who stood close enough to the ministers on the wall to hear all the negotiations. Aware of the possibility that these words would cause panic or disturbance in the city, Hezekiah's representative asked Rapsakes to speak Aramaic, and not the Hebrew language, which Sennacherib's commanders could speak freely, since the educated classes of the time studied different languages. But the Assyrian envoy was not the kind of person who would be ready to cede such an advantage to his opponents. “Did my master send me only to your master and to you to say these words? – he said proudly. No, also to the people who sit on the wall to eat their dung and drink their urine with you." Then, raising his voice and speaking loudly in Jewish, so that the people could hear, he continued: “Listen to the words of the king, the great king of Assyria! Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot save you from my hand; and do not let Hezekiah encourage you in the Lord, saying: The Lord will save us, and this city will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Be reconciled to me, and come out to me, and let everyone eat the fruit of his vine and his fig tree, and let everyone drink water from his own well, until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and wine, a land of fruits and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, and you will live and not you will die. Do not listen to Hezekiah, who deceives you, saying: The Lord will save you. Did the gods of the nations, each his own land, save from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Separvaim 274, Ena and Ivva? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these lands saved their land from my hand? So will the Lord (Jehovah, this weak God of a weak people) save Jerusalem from my hand” (2 Kings 18:27–35)? This impudent and blasphemous speech was received by the people in deep silence, since Hezekiah wisely forbade any answer to it, so as not to provoke the Assyrians to even greater hostility and, perhaps, even to an attempt to storm the city. The negotiations were obviously going to end unsuccessfully, and the Assyrians were preparing to head back to their camp. Hezekiah's three ministers, extremely depressed by the tone and demands of the enemy, went to the palace, tearing their clothes and, together with the people, filling the air with weeping. The news of everything that happened shocked the king. In extreme grief, tearing his clothes, he put on a shroud as a sign of grief, and, being a pious man, went straight to the church and turned to God with a prayer. The whole court also followed his example, put on black robes, and Eliakim and Shebna, with the elder priests in their sackcloths, were sent to tell Isaiah everything that had happened. “This day is a day of sorrow, and punishment, and shame,” they said to him in the name of Hezekiah: “for the babies have reached the opening of their mothers’ wombs, but there is no strength to give birth. Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rapsacus, whom the king of Assyria, his lord, sent, blasphemes the living God and reviles the words that the Lord your God heard. Bring a prayer for those who are still alive." In this speech there was already some distrust of the help of the great prophet, but Isaiah, in any case, was firm in his faith, and answered them: “So tell your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria reviled Me. Behold, I will send a spirit into him, and he will hear the message 275 and return to his land, I will smite him with the sword in his land” 276. Encouraged by this assurance, Hezekiah immediately sent his answer to the Assyrians, refusing under any circumstances to surrender the city, and Rapshakes was to return with his annoying message to Libnah, to which Sennacherib now retreated, fearing the approach of Tirhak. During these days or weeks of extraordinary excitement and anxiety, Isaiah remained, as always, fearless and unyielding. Hezekiah and the people heard his courageous, encouraging voice every now and then, encouraging them to trust in Jehovah even in this dark hour. The famous speech probably dates back to this time, in which the prophet, with truly thunderous peals of righteous anger, struck the conqueror: “Woe to you, devastator who was not devastated, And a robber who was not robbed! When you finish the devastation, When you stop the robbery, Be our muscle from early morning, And our salvation in difficult times. The nations will flee from Your terrible voice; When you rise, the tribes will be scattered. And they will gather your spoils, They will rush at her like locusts. High is the Lord who dwells on high; He will fill Zion with judgment and righteousness. And your safe times will come, Abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord will be your treasure The Lord is our Lawgiver, Nevertheless, King Hezekiah, trembling for his fate and for the fate of his capital, tried to somehow appease the anger of Sennacherib, the terrible news about which reached him from near Lachish, which was again under siege. For this purpose, he sent envoys, in the hope that they might be able to convince the formidable king that Hezekiah had no treasonous intentions, and save the country from a second invasion. The embassy found the king already in this city, which was taken by storm and given over to the will of the enraged army 278. One slab from the palace of Nineveh, now in the British Museum, depicts him "receiving the spoils of the city of Lachish." He sits on a throne in front of his tent; in one hand he has two arrows, and in the other a bow. Prisoners are brought to him, and one military leader, accompanied by guards, makes a report on them. Behind the king stand two eunuchs with feather fans to keep him cool and drive away flies. Behind him stand two horses prepared for him; with them stand soldiers with large spears. The first row of prisoners bows before him to beg mercy, and behind them stretches a long line of their ill-fated comrades. Those of them, whose fate has already been decided by the king, are taken to a certain distance and killed, while others are given mercy and turned into slavery. Nearby stands a chariot drawn by two horses, perhaps the chariot of Sennacherib himself, and the countless fruit trees throughout the slab seem to indicate the fertility of the conquered country. A strong cavalry and foot detachment on the right of the picture serves as cover for the king. It was under such circumstances that those sent by Hezekiah found Sennacherib. Their embassy was unsuccessful. It was extremely important for Sennacherib to capture Jerusalem in order to secure his rear, and therefore he released the envoys without even listening to their requests. This is precisely what the prophet Isaiah points out in the following words of his speech: “Here are the strong shouting in the streets; Ambassadors for peace weep bitterly. The roads were empty, there were no more travelers; He broke the treaty, destroyed the cities, - Sharon became like a desert, And Bashan and Carmel were stripped of their leaves. Today I will rise, says the Lord, Now I will rise, now I will ascend And the nations will be like burning lime, Like a felled thorn tree, Listen further to what I will do, And you, your neighbors, know My power." 279 Having finished with Lachish and the surrounding cities, Sennacherib then decided to move on Jerusalem without further delay and capture it before help came to him from Egypt. Concealing his real intentions, he even wrote a letter to Hezekiah, and with it he sent Rapsacus again to make a second attempt to force the king to surrender through fear. Taking this city by formal siege would take too long. Enumerating, like Rapshakes at the first negotiation, a long series of cities and countries whose gods were powerless to protect them against his weapons, and boasting of his deeds in all the countries that he had devastated, Sennacherib in his letter warned Hezekiah not to succumb to the deceptive promise on the part of Jehovah about the deliverance of the city from him. This new movement of the enemy again spread horror and alarm throughout Jerusalem, and the king once again, with touching piety, went to the church to pray to Jehovah to appease His wrath and grant protection to the unfortunate city 280. His prayer was touching and sublime. “The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who sits on the cherubim!” – he prayed: “You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; You created heaven and earth. Bow down, O Lord, Thy ear and hear; Open, O Lord, Thy eyes, and look and hear the words of Sennacherib, who sent to revile You, the living God. True, oh Lord! The Assyrian kings devastated all their countries and lands, and threw their gods into the fire. But these were not gods, but products of human hands, wood and stone - that’s why they destroyed them. And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand; and all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You, O Lord, are one God” (Isa. 33:16–20). Hezekiah was addressing God, who hears prayer and never forsakes the righteous when they cry out to Him in the day of trouble. And indeed, his prayer was heard. The Prophet Isaiah immediately received a new inspiration, which he was instructed to immediately convey to Hezekiah. Hastening to the palace, this unyielding patriot encouraged and strengthened the king with words that are still capable of filling the hearts of those who read them with courage. “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: What did you pray to Me for against Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word that the Lord spoke about him: “He will despise you, laugh at you The daughter of Jerusalem will shake her head after you. Whom did you blame and revile? And to whom did he raise his voice, And raised your eyes so high? Through your servants you reproached the Lord and said: With many of my chariots I ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the ribs of Lebanon; And he cut down his tall cedars, his excellent cypresses. And he came to the very top of it, into the grove of his garden. And I dug and drank the water; And I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the soles of my feet. For your insolence against Me, And because your arrogance has reached My ears, I will put My ring in your nostrils, And I will bring you back the same way, And here is a sign for you, Hezekiah: Eat this year what has grown from the fallen grain, And the next year, native; And in the third year sow and reap, And plant vineyards and eat their fruit. And the remnant that remained in the house of Judah Will take root again below, For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, And what was saved was from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, And he will not approach him with a shield, And he will not rain down a storm against him. He will return along the same road he came, But he will not enter this city, says the Lord: I will guard this city, To save him for Myself and for the sake of David My servant" 282. The prophecy was encouraging, but in view of the circumstances of the case, Jerusalem still had to feel extreme anxiety. It was in danger of complete destruction. But Jehovah is great, and the word of His prophet is true. In his extremity, Hezekiah cast hopeless glances to the south and west, waiting for help to approach from somewhere. There was already a rumor that Tirgak, the king of Egypt, had set out on a campaign to liberate Jerusalem. This rumor also reached Sennacherib, and this is precisely what forced him to try to capture Jerusalem as quickly as possible. But help was closer than even the pious Hezekiah could have expected. When evening came, an unbearable burden of fear and anxiety still lay over Jerusalem, and with the dawn of the morning everything changed. On this very night one of the most amazing and wonderful events in the history of mankind happened. On that very night, as the biblical narrator says, “the angel of the Lord went and smote one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all the bodies were dead” (1 Kings 19:35). “And the Lord sent an angel,” it says in another place, “and he destroyed all the brave men, and the chief officers, and those in command in the army of the king of Assyria. And he returned in shame to his own land” (2 Chronicles 32:21). This event finds indirect confirmation in other evidence, although in them it receives a completely different historical and local flavor. Thus, Herodotus tells that the priests of Egypt told him how “Sennacherib, king of Arabia and Assyria, moved with a large army to Egypt. On this occasion, the Egyptian army refused to provide assistance to their king Seton, a priest of Vulcan. Therefore, being placed in an extremely difficult position, he entered the church and cried before God on the occasion of the threatening disaster. From extreme stress he fell asleep, and God appeared to him in a vision, telling him that He would help him, and encouraging him with the assurance that the king would not suffer, since God would send him help. Relying on this vision, the priest-king took with him all those who wanted to follow him, and locked himself in Pelusium, at the entrance to Egypt. But when they arrived there, myriads of field mice, rushing at their enemies, chewed their quivers, bows and shield handles, so that when the enemies fled defenseless the next day, many of them were beaten. And to this day - adds Herodotus - a stone statue of this king stands in the church of Vulcan, with a mouse in his hand and with the inscription: “let everyone who looks at me worship the gods” 283. It is difficult to determine exactly at what point in the implementation of Sennacherib's plans against Jerusalem this disaster befell him. But in any case, both from the course of the biblical narrative and from the prophecies of Isaiah, it is clear that disaster befell the Assyrians at the very moment when they completed their preparations for the final attack on Jerusalem, which, perhaps, was postponed only in view of the desire to achieve the surrender of the city through capitulation. The Greek translation of this passage in the book of Kings simply indicates that God's visitation struck the enemy by night. Josephus, in accordance with the tradition of his time, suggests that the first day of the siege was at the same time the last for the Assyrians, and on the following night the enemy was beaten and fled. The huge number of dead indicates a much greater disaster than could have befallen a single detachment sent to take Jerusalem. One might think that Sennacherib's affairs, despite his pompous and arrogant inscriptions, were not entirely successful from the very beginning. This can be guessed even by reading between the lines of these inscriptions, because although he is proud of his victory at Elteka, however, the inscription does not report either a list of prisoners or any details about the booty, and the proud king had to limit himself to the statement that he took the cities of Elteka and Timna, of which the latter, perhaps, was only an unprotected village. In the inscriptions he says that he locked Hezekiah like a bird in a cage, but says nothing about the capture of Jerusalem, nor about the conquest of Egypt, or even about his entry into it, although this was the main goal of his campaign. He boasts, however, that he forced Hezekiah to hand over to him, along with the imposed tribute, “his daughters, both the male and female inhabitants of the palace”; but this, in all likelihood, is only empty self-praise, because the surrender of members of the royal family and members of the court, along with the ladies of the harem, was considered such a humiliation that could be achieved only after the unconditional capture of the city, and there is no indication of this in the biblical narrative. Most likely, after the dubious victory at Eltek, Sennacherib limited himself to the siege and capture of Lachish by part of his army, and a significant part was probably sent to Egypt, and the third corps was moved against Jerusalem. But an ulcer appeared in his army, which, apparently, began to rage especially strongly in his various detachments in front of Jerusalem and in Libn, where the main quarters were transferred after the fall of Lachish. Jewish tradition, passed down from generation to generation, understood the defeat set forth in the Bible as an extremely strong ulcer, similar to that which occurred during a similar visit to Jerusalem under David, when an angel of God was instructed to subject the city to divine wrath 284 . At the same time, alarming rumors could have reached Sennacherib that Tirgak had come out against him with great force. Even if his army were in good condition, then in any case this new struggle with such a dangerous and strong enemy should have worried him extremely. But under the circumstances the situation was quite dangerous. News from other detachments, showing that his army in its entirety was subjected to the same extermination from the plague as was the case in Libn, should have further humbled the spirit of the proud king. Instead of the thousands of armored warriors who had so recently been eager for battle, he could gather around himself only a small remnant of the terror-stricken and demoralized army. His bravest warriors, the flower of his proud battalions, his officers and generals, partly lost heart, and partly were exterminated. The region's magnificently dressed, chiefs and city governors, horsemen riding horses, and all the selected youths, squadrons and detachments, as numerous as the leaves in the forest - they all lay in dead heaps around him. His main patron, the god Assur, abandoned him, and the evil spirits of the abyss - maskims, gigims, utuks and air spirits - all these terrible geniuses with fiery bodies fell upon him and his army to destroy them. Abandoned by heaven and left to the fury of terrible demons, plague and death, the terror-stricken king could think of nothing else than an immediate, albeit shameful flight towards Nineveh, where he could hope to appease the gods. Retreat in any order was impossible. The pitiful remains of the troops were extremely demoralized. Mortal horror gripped those who survived. The spectacle presented by the camp of each of the detachments was too terrible for one to hesitate as to what should be done now 285 . The news of the defeat of Sennacherib and the flight of the Assyrians was a signal for the irresistible pursuit of the enemy, to whom almost the entire population surrendered. The garrisons of cities and fortresses left in them by Sennacherib undoubtedly abandoned them, and the entire Assyrian army, in disorderly and confused crowds, cared only about fleeing as quickly as possible from a country so terrible for it. According to Isaiah, the spoils captured were immeasurable. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, like locusts attacking a green field, rushed to destroy the Assyrian camp (Isa. 33:4). Even the lame and crippled, he says, hastened to the prey. The hills over which the Assyrians fled were called “mountains of spoil.” Just as the French army, during its retreat from Moscow, was pursued even by peasants of both sexes and mercilessly beaten in its helplessness by thousands, so the same undoubtedly happened with the Assyrian army. Lost in spirit and weakened by horror and disease, Sennacherib’s soldiers fell along the way and, dying, became prey for birds of prey on the mountains and beasts of the field, “and the birds spent the summer on them, and all the beasts of the field wintered around them” (Is. 18:6). Perhaps the most striking example of these details known in modern times is the flight of the French from Russia in 1812, when 30,000 horses died in a few days, and out of an army of half a million only 20,000 people remained alive, almost deprived of any weapons. Such a miraculous deliverance filled the hearts of everyone with a feeling of deepest gratitude. The menacing cloud that hung over the state and threatened to destroy it to the ground suddenly went bankrupt and disappeared. What no human power could have accomplished was accomplished, without any human effort, by the almighty word from the mouth of Jehovah. The most powerful of monarchies turned out to be powerless against the King of kings and the Lord of lords, like ghosts and ghosts. This war ultimately proved to be a great struggle between Assyrian idolatry and true religion, as the greatest patriot of the time, Isaiah, constantly pointed out. This triumph was the triumph of the true God. Greatness, power, glory and all victory belonged to Him (1 Chronicles 29:11). The salvation that He granted to His people was, as it were, a repetition of that which had already been accomplished under Moses, centuries ago, when Pharaoh and his persecuting army perished. It is not surprising that such an event, which made an extraordinary impression on the people’s mind, also contributed to its moral and religious excitement. And worship in the church had never been attended, since the times of David, Solomon and Jehoshaphat, with such zeal and eagerness as it was now. The psalms of David and the musical doxology of the Levitical choirs again filled the church courts with rapturous songs, and the smoke of countless sacrifices rose during the solemn services of successive turns of priests. At the same time, this event served as the subject for new enthusiastic songs. It is assumed that the famous 45th Psalm dates back to this time, in which the national triumph on the occasion of the fall of the formidable enemy of the country is fully expressed. “God is our refuge and strength, Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth shakes, And the mountains moved into the heart of the seas. Let them make noise, let their waters rise, The mountains are shaking from their excitement. River flows make glad the city of God, Holy abode of the Almighty. God is in the midst of him; he will not hesitate: God will help him early in the morning. The nations roared, the kingdoms moved: The Almighty gave His voice, and the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our protector, Come and see the works of the Lord, - What devastation He caused on earth: Stopping fighting to the ends of the earth, He broke the bow and broke the spear, Stop and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, exalted on earth. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our protector.” (Ps.45) Then, the next psalm expresses the people's very delight at the occasion of deliverance: “Clap your hands, all nations, Shout to God with a voice of joy, For the Lord Most High is terrible, Great King over all the earth. Sing to our God, sing; Sing to our King, sing” 286. Psalm 75 also refers to the same event, which, in the Greek translation of 70, bears the inscription “to the Assyrian.” Its content fully corresponds to the event, and in it the psalmist, on stringed instruments, glorified God like this: His name is great in Israel. And His dwelling place was in Shiloh, And His stay in Zion, And He broke the arrows of the bow, You are glorious, more powerful than the predatory mountains. The strong in heart have become prey, They fell asleep and found no more From Your baptism, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and the horse took a nap. And who will stand before You in the time of Your wrath?” 287. The impression of this miraculous deliverance was so deep that it was never erased in the subsequent centuries of the historical life of the people. Judas Maccabee, on the eve of his great battle with Nicanor, inspired his soldiers with the memory of him. The story of the flight of the great king from Jerusalem before the outstretched hand of God is still read in the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church on the anniversary of the retreat of the French from Russia. The opening words of the psalm: “God is our refuge and strength” were once written on the most majestic of Christian churches, namely St. Sofia in Constantinople. And it served as the basis for Luther's majestic hymn "Eine feste-Burg ist unser God", which was sung by German troops during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 before every battle, as it was at all other historical crises of the people for almost a full 300 years. Freed from the terrible enemy, Hezekiah set about improving his state. During these years, perhaps, he conquered that part of Judah that was taken from Ahaz by the Philistines (2 Kings 18:8). The roads, abandoned during the Assyrian invasion, were again crowded with travelers and industrialists, and the destroyed cities were rebuilt again. Some have expressed the opinion that Sennacherib made a new invasion of Palestine 11 years later. But there are no sufficient reasons for this. This once formidable conqueror had little inclination to revisit the places marked by such a terrible disaster for him, and from here Judea remained in peace. Those areas that were abandoned during the past troubles were again covered with flourishing communities, because the population gradually compensated for the loss of their brothers taken to Nineveh. The colonies of Simeon's tribe spread to the far reaches of the southern Negeb (1 Chronicles 4:34–43), industry revived throughout the country, and the kingdom was respected by the surrounding nations. As for Sennacherib, although he survived for several years the terrible disaster that befell him in Palestine, nevertheless the history of his subsequent life was vague and disappointing. He undertook several more campaigns in the surrounding countries, as if trying to at least partially atone for the shame of his defeat, but these campaigns were not accompanied by much success. Sennacherib spent the last years of his life in Nineveh, in the majestic palace that he built for himself and which was a building of extraordinary size. This palace of Sennacherib was 1,500 feet long and 700 feet wide. All the art that Assyria possessed, and all the booty that was captured by its warriors from neighboring countries, was used on it, so that this palace was the most majestic building that had ever risen in Nineveh. True to the warlike instincts of his race, and perhaps also anticipating future dangers to his monarchy, he spent his last years strengthening his capital so as to make it impregnable. The walls and gates were restored and partly rebuilt, and other gigantic fortifications were also erected, stretching for many miles in a circle. But the walls could not protect the proud king from the fate that pursued him. He was killed in his magnificent palace. We know nothing more about the circumstances of this murder. Violent death was, however, the usual fate of Assyrian kings. Sennacherib had many sons, the eldest of whom was made governor of Babylon, but apparently died before his father. Subsequently, as one might think, disputes arose regarding the rights to the throne, and the matter ended in a conspiracy on the part of his two sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, who decided to kill their father and seize the throne. They committed this heinous crime of theirs while their father was praying in the church of Nisroch (the blessed one), that god to whom, in a strange irony, prayers were especially offered for the blessed state of families. But the parricides did not achieve anything with this crime, since their third brother Asardan (Esargaddon) became a contender for the throne. so the murderers had to flee to Armenia, where the reigning sovereign allowed them to stay. “And Asardan his son reigned in his stead” (2 Kings 19:37). Chapter 40. Hezekiah's illness and the last years of his reign If the excitement caused by the Assyrian invasion was extremely strong, then the joy was also limitless due to the deliverance of the kingdom from its destruction by the formidable conqueror, but it soon gave way to new anxiety due to a serious illness that befell Hezekiah, especially since he was still in the prime of life and did not have a son to whom he could inherit the throne. The disease was fatal, depending, perhaps, partly on the recent mental stimulation. In Jerusalem it soon became known that Isaiah was called to the royal bed, who was entrusted with conveying to the sufferer a prophetic word about what the outcome of the illness would be, and the prophet told him in the name of Jehovah that he must make a will for his house, since he would die and not recover. An extraordinary sadness spread everywhere, but Hezekiah himself grieved most of all. Wanting to still live and almost despairing for his country, not having, in addition, still that hope that was subsequently given to humanity by the Gospel, which shed bright light on the afterlife and strengthened faith in immortality, he in despair turned his face away from the daylight, which he was destined to leave, to the wall and wept bitterly. His grief intensified due to the fact that he had no heir to the throne and there was no one to reign after him 288. He had just experienced great anxiety and hoped to take advantage of the prolonged peace, but instead the grave opened up before him. His tender heart feared the gloomy grave, and he fervently prayed to God for recovery. "Oh my God!" - he prayed: “Remember that I walked before Your face faithfully and with a heart devoted to You, and did what was right in Your sight.” His prayer was interrupted by strong crying, and it did not go unheard. Faithful Isaiah had hardly left his sickbed when the sad message was canceled. Before he reached the gates of the middle city to go down to the lower city, the prophet was divinely inspired to return and tell the king that his prayer had been heard, that in three days he would be able to personally thank God in the church for his recovery, that his life would be extended another fifteen years. To cure the disease, the simplest means were sufficient. The most common oriental medicine, consisting of a layer of figs, which is still used for the same purpose in Persia and Turkey, was applied to the abscess that appeared on the king’s body, and relief immediately followed 289. To encourage the sick king, a sign was also given, or the highest guarantee of his complete recovery. Ahaz, as stated above, built a sundial on the Babylonian model, perhaps in order to serve Baal and measure time at the same time. It was, in all likelihood, a tall building, on the ascending steps of which the sun's shadow fell in its gradual movement, or perhaps it was a horizontal circle on which steps or successive features were marked. When Hezekiah asked what sign would be given to him to ensure that he would recover, Isaiah offered him the choice that the shadow would move ten steps either forward or backward. Hezekiah noticed that the shadows would easily move forward ten steps, and therefore it would be a more convincing sign for him if the shadow moved back ten steps. And indeed the shadow, through Isaiah’s prayer, returned ten steps back. How this phenomenon happened is unknown. But in any case, it is interesting to note that at that time, precisely on September 26, 713, there was a partial solar eclipse visible in Jerusalem, and it could have produced exactly the phenomenon that the biblical narrative reports 290. The news of Hezekiah's illness and his miraculous recovery quickly reached even distant countries, and, by the way, Babylonia. There Merodach Baladan, “the son given by the god Merodach,” still supported the independence of the state, although Sargon more than once made formidable attempts to crush it. Seizing upon every hope in his desperate situation, he thought that Hezekiah, who might be disposed to enter into an alliance with Babylon, and thus in some degree weaken the power of the great common enemy. As a result, an embassy was sent to Jerusalem with a handwritten letter from Merodach Baladan and the usual expensive gifts with which eastern monarchs always address each other. Among this embassy there were probably also Chaldean sages who wanted to investigate the wonderful and mysterious phenomenon of shadow movement for them. The ostensible purpose of this embassy was the desire to congratulate Hezekiah on the occasion of his recovery, but its real purpose was to conclude an offensive and defensive agreement with him. Such an honor for the king of a small country like Judea was, of course, very flattering, and the embassy was accepted by Hezekiah with all sorts of signs of oriental courtesy. All types of the kingdom were proven by foreign envoys, including among others the royal stores, arsenal and treasury. They offered for inspection all the military and civil institutions of Judea, as if to show the ambassadors that the support of Judea was quite worthy of being sought by the king of Babylon. For the simple and careless Hezekiah, such a disclosure of his secret resources to the envoys of a sovereign, whose reign was a constant and unsuccessful struggle against Assyria, his own great enemy, seemed innocent and harmless. But his faithful adviser Isaiah understood the matter much better than the sovereign himself. The rise and fall of eastern monarchies was commonplace. Their provinces were always ready to throw off the yoke imposed on them only by irresistible violence. The persistence of Merodach Baladan in opposing Assyria revealed that vitality in his claims, which could subsequently completely change the relationship between him and Nineveh, and prophetic foresight clearly saw the possibility of what could be foreseen in part by natural consideration. It was revealed to the prophet that Babylon would subsequently gain supremacy, and Judah would pay for Hezekiah’s vanity with complete destruction. Always fearless in the discharge of his duty as a servant of God, he could not refrain from reproaching the king, although Hezekiah was his king and his friend. Having learned about everything that had happened, the prophet appeared in a private room of the palace, and the monarch had to hear from him that he had been sent by Jehovah in order to predict the future destruction of the kingdom by that very power, whose representatives were thus privy to all the secrets of the Jewish state. This very palace will be plundered, the people's wealth will be seized, and the descendants of Hezekiah himself will be taken into captivity in order to make them servants in the palace of the king of Babylon. This reproach was heavy, but it fell on the heart of the king, who knew how to humble himself and repent. “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken,” Hezekiah humbly answered, and prayed that peace and prosperity might continue in his days. Such humility found reward in the answer of Isaiah, who concluded with the assurance that such a disaster would in any case not occur during the days of his reign. Hezekiah was the last king of Judah, who ended his reign amid unbroken prosperity. Having ascended the throne at a time when Hosea was still king of Samaria, he saw how the northern kingdom was crushed by Assyria and its population was taken by the conqueror to the banks of the Tigris and to other countries of the east. The great Nineveh monarchy was successively reigned under him by Shalmaneser IV, Sargon and Sennacherib, and Jerusalem was twice threatened by them with their armies: once during the reign of Sargon, with Sennacherib perhaps acting as commander-in-chief, and a second time by that sovereign when he ascended the throne. The sudden destruction of his vast hosts, without any human agency, filled the world with awe and surrounded Hezekiah with a kind of sacred immunity, as one enjoying the special protection of heaven. The embassy from Meradach Baladan of Babylon, the heroic opponent of the great king of Assyria, turned the eyes of the whole world to Jerusalem and ignited the already powerless rage of Assyria at that time; but the kingdom of Judah survived all these dangers, and for three or four years before the death of Hezekiah it enjoyed unbroken peace. The Philistines in the coastal plain had won their independence under Ahaz, but again submitted to his successor. Under the influence of divinely inspired prophets like Isaiah and Micah, Hezekiah completely changed the religious direction that was introduced by his father, drove out idolatry, destroyed pagan high places, restored the temple, transformed its worship and observed ancient national religious holidays with such animation as had not been known since the time of Jehoshaphat, two hundred years before. The revival of the ancient Israeli faith, which began under the influence of the preaching of Joel more than 150 before the reign of Hezekiah, reached its highest degree under the influence of the son of Amoz. With the increasing influence of the priests, it is true that formalism spread and special importance was attached to ritual worship, but this direction caused all the more persistent activity of the prophets, who, while fully recognizing the authority of the Mosaic system, nevertheless insisted that its main advantages lay in the spirit, and demanded life in accordance not only with external, but also with the moral provisions of the law. For some time, their preaching, however, remained partially without effect. Deeply infected with the vices of the neighboring pagan world, the people abandoned that moral purity, which was the subject of preaching by the noblest members of the prophetic order and, without yet renouncing the worship of Jehovah, at the command of the king, they worshiped Him only formally, without introducing the principles of true religion into their everyday life. The prophets were in fact far ahead of their time. Their religious ideas turned out to be too high for their contemporaries. The world had never seen a religion in which rites and ceremonies did not occupy a primary position, and could not look upon the outward forms of worship merely as symbols of a sublime religious life. For the average Jew, as for the pagan, sacred actions and external institutions constituted the very essence of religion. Therefore, Hezekiah's transformation was largely superficial. The mass of priests and people, and even many of the prophets, easily returned to idolatry when it was again introduced by Manasseh. It is difficult to imagine the state of Hezekiah's kingdom in the last years of his peaceful reign. Being the birthplace of the one true religion, which was supposed to educate the world for God, it, however, in essence was a very small country. The newly conquered Philistine region gave her once again some dominance over the rich fields of Shephelah to the west. But from the south, its narrow borders soon came into contact with the scorched hills of the Negeb, and the Tribe of Judah itself, since the destruction of its primeval forests, was only an area of ​​bare gray hills, intersected by a labyrinth of narrow and mostly rocky valleys. Nevertheless, the climate was favorable and the soil bore abundant fruit. With careful cultivation of the mountain slopes, valleys and wadis, it would be possible to collect quite a significant amount of grapes, olives, grain and generally garden products - generally simple but abundant means for supporting the inhabitants of cities and villages, if only the ancient land laws were carried out everywhere. Unfortunately, these land laws remained only an ideal that was rarely applied in reality. With the development of the monarchy and the gradual rise of the courtiers, nobles and rich people, fatal abuses penetrated their environment. Moneylenders took advantage of times of disaster, or temporary crop failure, to oppress their brothers. These important predators built themselves house after house in the cities, seized field after field, so that, finally, their large estates began to completely supplant peasant land ownership (Isa. 5:8). Many small property owners were even forcibly expelled from their former possessions, others through legal deceptions, so that the poor were, as it were, devoured from the land (Prov. 30:14). As a consequence, the rural population had to move to cities or become workers on land that was once their property. Wealth increasingly accumulated in the hands of a few, and the population generally became poorer. The tyranny of the moneyed class, based on bad laws or customs, quickly created a proletariat. Among many of those who still retained their hereditary possessions, discontent prevailed, and it found expression in the person of the prophets. The people complained greatly that in bad years they had to mortgage their lands, vineyards and houses in order to buy bread for themselves or pay taxes. In the houses of the few, splendor and luxury prevailed, while in the huts and huts of the majority, depressing poverty reigned. Under such circumstances, national destruction could still be stopped for a time by a wise and good ruler, but no power could completely heal this evil. With the increase of population over the course of centuries, and with the gradual destruction of the forests, there was of necessity a gradual decrease in the rains during the times of the later kings, which of itself increased the difficulties of the landowners and made their harvests more meager. Nevertheless, with persistent and diligent work it was possible to obtain a sufficient number of works even from the exposed limestone hills of Judea. Large underground cisterns were filled during the winter and spring rains with a sufficient amount of water, which, together with the abundant summer dew, was enough to support the cereals during even the hot and dry months. In Egypt, the ancestors of the people had to raise water from the low level of the Nile to irrigate their fields and their gardens, but in Palestine there was no need to resort to such hard work. The available supply of water, thanks to the undulation of the country, could be distributed directly over the surface of the soil in the direction in which it was required. The neighbors' fields or gardens were not separated from each other by any fences, so their boundaries were marked by simple boundary stones. Wealthier landowners used slaves and hired workers, who worked in their fields under the guidance of a special overseer, but did not themselves take any part in the labors of their subordinates. The long period of the seventh or Saturday year gave the soil periodic rest, thanks to which, together with the autumn fumes of straw and chaff and, perhaps, the introduction of systematic fertilizer, the productive power of the land was restored. On the mountain slopes and open plains the main cereals were wheat and barley; the country consisted of a whole series of small plots sown with lentils, beans, millet, caraway seeds, cucumbers, melons and hemp. Apparently even cotton was produced. The terraced hills were covered with lemon and olive trees, interspersed with apricots, plums, mulberries and fig trees, and in some places date palms, pomegranate, almond and pear trees grew magnificently. The sowing of winter cereals began in mid-October, when early rains fell mostly at night and in intervals. The cultivation of the land was carried out using oxen. Beans, peas and lentils were usually sown at the beginning of November; Then barley was sown for two weeks, and wheat the next month. Summer grains were sown in mid-January and February, in anticipation of the late rains that usually fell in March. After sowing there was some rest from field work, but only short-lived, because the barley harvest in these warm countries began around Jericho in the last week of March, although the harvest on the coastal plains and then in the whole country took place in early April. As the grain ripened, the plots were guarded by special guards, but travelers always considered it their right to pluck as many ears of grain as they needed in case of famine. The reapers could not begin their work until the first ripened sheaf was collected from the valley near Jerusalem, but was offered to God in gratitude at the beginning of the Passover holidays. The wheat harvest began around Jericho in the first half of May, although in higher areas elsewhere the harvest occurred a month later. By mid-June, the fields throughout the country were already a variegated thorny stubble, and grain was threshed on open threshing floors, on the tops of hills, or in long closed valleys. Before the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, all the grain was already collected in bins and the people had free time to solemnly celebrate their second great annual holiday, during which the priests brought bread from the new grain and part of the new flour in front of the altar to express the people’s gratitude to Jehovah for the collected bread. In September and October, grapes were usually harvested and pomegranates were picked, after which it was time to gather figs and prepare oil from them. Then finally came the third great Feast of Tabernacles, which consisted of seven days of extraordinary celebration and joy. The old year ended in September, and the months of the next year began in October. In good years, the soil not only provided absolutely enough to satisfy the needs of the people, but also left a significant surplus of grain for export. During the reign of Solomon, more than 80,000 quarters of wheat were paid annually by this wise king to Hiram of Tire (1 Kings 5:11), and in the time of Isaiah and later, the Phoenicians imported the grain they needed not only from Egypt, but also from different regions of Palestine, especially from the central and northern, as well as from the tribes beyond the Jordan. As for the general appearance of the kingdom of Judah, at this time the country was dotted with numerous villages and walled cities, some of the latter being fortified according to all the rules of the undeveloped engineering art of that time. These fortresses, however, were mostly destroyed by the Assyrians, but they were gradually rebuilt, although the country of course still bore many traces of Sennacherib's invasion. The huge gates of these fortresses, usually decorated with the text of the law carved into the wall above them (as can still be seen in the east), usually remained open during the day, but with the onset of evening the massive doors were closed and strengthened with heavy iron or copper locks. To strengthen these entrances to the city, special towers were usually built above them, from which the entire surrounding area could be guarded, so that, at least in times of danger, the guards, by voice or sound of trumpets, could signal to residents that danger was approaching. In many cities, the gateway arch was covered with special parapets on the inside as well. In front of the gate was an open space that served as the place for the market meeting in the early morning, the seat of the citizens during the cool of the day, as well as serving as a place for royal entrances, public transactions, and a meeting area during social movements. Most of the streets inside the walls were too narrow even for two loaded camels to pass, although carts and chariots 291 could move freely along some. Only those places where streets intersected provided enough free space for the preaching of some prophet or other public teacher. Sanitary precautions were unknown at the time. The streets were often littered with all sorts of rubbish or even worse sewage. All the house sewage was actually thrown directly onto them, where it was devoured by hungry packs of city dogs that roamed the streets at night, as is still the case in eastern cities. Institutions for the convenience of pedestrians appear to have been as yet unknown, for, notwithstanding the testimony of Josephus that Solomon paved the great trade routes with black basalt, it is doubtful whether there were any paved roads or streets before the birth of Christ. Various industrialists had their own shops or huts, which were located in different quarters or bazaars, called by special names. Thus, bakers, goldsmiths, merchants, wool merchants, coppersmiths, cloth sellers, etc. were engaged in trade in various streets, each of which had its own special gates, which were locked when necessary. The industrial part of the cities was for the most part a special area, separate from the houses (Zeph. 1:11). The houses for the most part had more than one floor, with flat solid roofs, protected by a special parapet, and the windows to the street were closed with special shutters, which, if opened, almost touched the shutters of the opposite houses, as can be seen now in Cairo. In the case of a significant premises, each house had a special courtyard, which was the center of family life. Above the outer doors, as well as over the city gates, words from the law were usually displayed, and in later times, strips with texts were even nailed on or against the inner doors 293 . In cities, of course, there was nothing like street lighting, and citizens had to carry special lamps with them early, if they had to be in the city after dusk. Without such precautions, anyone could be attacked by semi-wild street dogs, or arrested by city guards. From here the city, apparently, completely stood still for the night, except for some marriage procession with lamps and torches, breaking the “utter darkness,” which, in comparison with the bright interior lighting of the houses, became a parable to denote misfortune, as opposed to happiness. In Nehemiah's time, if not earlier, the city gates began to be locked at sundown on Friday evening, and not opened until after the Sabbath, at twilight on the Sabbath. When peace was fragile, the volume and prosperity of cities depended on the strength of their position, but many of them were completely without walls. The villages, like the villages of Europe in the Middle Ages, were mostly located near some fortified place or city, as a result of which they were called his daughters (Num. 21:25–32; Josh. 15:45 et seq.). Most cities stood on the tops of mountains, or on the ledges of narrow valleys, like Shechem and Hebron, etc. Jerusalem owed its comparative greatness to its strong position. But even it was, compared to modern cities, an insignificant city. Its population at this time probably did not exceed 50,000 souls, as can be judged from the fact that its men capable of bearing arms, led away by Nebuchadnezzar, together with Joachim, formed a detachment of 10,000 people. Other cities were even much smaller. Thus, at the time of the conquest of Canaan, the city of Ai had 12,000 inhabitants (Josh. 8:25), and if Gibeon was larger than this, then the population of Gibeah, even at the time of the Judges, was apparently no more than 3,000 people. The busiest time of the day in these ancient cities was the early morning, when the rural population gathered in the open square in front of the gates to sell their products, and the authorities, judges or even the king sat in the shadow of the gate, deciding public or private affairs. During the day, everyone sought refuge from the heat, but between 8 and 10 o’clock a fresh sea wind began to blow, bringing beneficial coolness, which the citizens took advantage of, leaving their houses and narrow streets for a pleasant pastime outside the city gates. Children could play under the shade of the houses all day long, but the elderly men and women who watched them preferred to sit in the cool area of ​​their gates until the sun began to set. Cities, like villages, were governed by special elders who managed the affairs of their communities in the same way that the affairs of tribes and generations were managed by their princes or chiefs. A high court was established in Jerusalem, in which civil and ecclesiastical judges took part. Although in early times the elders of the various divisions were the only judges, this ancient simple device has now outlived its time. The bazaar in each city was under the supervision of a special overseer. Thanks to special wise precautions, the burial of the dead was strictly prohibited within the boundaries of any city or village. Cemeteries, shaded by numerous trees, usually lay outside the walls. Most of the ordinary dead rested in ordinary tombs, and the rich rested under expensive monuments or in special rooms carved out of rock, where the dead were “attached to their fathers,” and these gloomy dwellings were usually covered with large stones. Around cities and villages, wherever the soil allowed, gardens and vegetable gardens were planted. Gardening and horticulture were so significant that large quantities of works were exported to Egypt and Phenicia. The king himself had his own olive gardens on the fertile slopes of Shephelah and on the Mount of Olives, in Gethsemane and Bezefa, in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Large vineyards are now found only around Hebron, but at that time they covered the whole of Palestine, serving as one of the sources of the people's wealth. During the time of Hezekiah, the grapes of Engedi, Hebron, Shechem, Carmel and Jezreel were especially famous. Lebanese wine enjoyed enormous fame, and the luxurious vineyards of northern Moab were no less famous. On the shores of Lake Gennesaret, grapes could be collected for ten months of the year. Ripe grapes were brought to the Jerusalem market from Jericho and from the seashore almost in mid-July, although grapes were generally harvested in the country until the beginning or end of September. The literary glory of the reigns of David, Solomon and Jehoshaphat, which was a sign of the general prosperity of their time, naturally rose again under Hezekiah. At this time, on the one hand, famous works of past times, namely parables and psalms, were again removed from oblivion and collected in special collections, but the modern prophecies of Isaiah and Micah formed a new great appendage to them, and the sacred poetry of the people was increased by many more sublime works of other unknown writers. The triumph over Sennacherib reawakened the spirit of the people, and it was sung by many poets. Some of these songs of triumph have already been indicated before; but this event was an inexhaustibly fruitful topic for poetry. Thus, it is enthusiastically sung in Psalm 47, which among other things says: “Great is the Lord and most praised in the fence of our God, They became embarrassed and fled. And pain, like women in childbirth. So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness; For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our Leader until death” (Ps. 47). That all the hitherto preserved literature of the people is distinguished by such a sublime religious spirit as these psalms is a peculiarity of the people of Israel alone. The existence of the one living God, our complete dependence on Him, His holiness and the necessity of spiritual religion for pleasing Him, sacrifice and offering - all these truths are assumed in these hymns as not requiring any proof. The only thought of the inspired writers is to merit His mercy, to point out His hand in all human affairs, both national and personal, to glorify His goodness and implore His forgiveness. The constant subject of the only collection of Jewish books that we have is God. This in itself constitutes a striking difference between sacred literature and the literature of all other peoples. In order to correctly judge the religious enthusiasm in the time of Hezekiah, or the deadly struggle against paganism under his son Manasseh, it is necessary to keep in mind this striking feature of the people. The national party, constantly professing zeal for the worship of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, constantly turned its eyes to the golden age of David, but from that time on it saw the rise and temporary triumph of foreign paganism, supported by many kings, as well as by the court and the upper classes. Under Athaliah, the zealots of true religion and antiquity had to wage a fierce struggle against the invasion of Phoenician idolatry, under Ahaz - against paganism, advancing from the banks of the Euphrates. Led by the prophets, they crushed the first in the reign of Joash, and the last in the reign of Hezekiah, refusing to pave their national faith with the faith of any other people or state, no matter how great or powerful it was. The glory of Tire or Nineveh could serve as evidence for the foreign party among them in favor of the greatness of the gods, with the help of which this glory was allegedly achieved; but they, for their part, always clung to that true God, Who opened before their fathers the way across the sea, Who made David the conqueror throughout the entire space from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates, and Who now, in these last years, miraculously defeated the armies of the great Assyrian king and forced them to flee from under the walls of His beloved Zion. But, as with all peoples at all times, only a minority held such lofty convictions, as a result of which the very principles of this faith triumphed only for a while. The mass of the people, as always, passively submitted to the spirit of the times. She willingly followed the reforms of Hezekiah, but with no less willingness she went over to the pagan party, as soon as the latter gained the upper hand. At this time, two forces fought for supremacy among the Jewish people: the national party or worshipers of Jehovah, led by the prophets, and the aristocratic party, which strived for the external splendor of foreign customs and imaginary security from foreign alliances and for this purpose willingly accepted the paganism of neighboring monarchies. Unfortunately, this latter party was so strong that soon after the death of Hezekiah it gained complete dominance, which led to a new and most terrible revival of paganism in the land of Judah. Chapter 41. The reign of Manasseh The Jewish people were not destined to enjoy even for several human generations happy days, so their stability had to be constantly tested by a rapid change of favorable and unfavorable circumstances. The prosperity and unity that distinguished the second half of Hezekiah’s reign was followed by rapid weakening, tolerable peace by stormy anxiety, and by the magnificent flowering of spiritual productivity by exhausted sterility. Actually, political disasters had not yet occurred during the reign of Hezekiah’s closest successors; they threatened the country only from afar, and the danger soon passed; but extremely unfavorable conditions arose inside, which led to decomposition and, as a result, established prolonged weakness. What could be worse for the life of the state than that its members are in constant rivalry and hatred among themselves, and the rural population feels a deep disgust for the main city? And this is precisely the state that occurred under the son of Hezekiah, who unfortunately ruled the country for more than half a century. The cause of the disaster was partly the youth of Manasseh, who ascended the throne as a twelve-year-old boy. Under him, the management of the state was naturally in the hands of those around him, as a result of which full scope was opened for ambition, greed and even lower passions, especially since the rulers were not distinguished by the height of morality and did not at all put love for the fatherland above the aspirations of their egoism. This was precisely the moral state in which the Jewish princes who surrounded the throne of David at that time were in. One might think that Hezekiah, before his death, appointed a special guardian for his son, in accordance with his own mood - a guardian who, during the young king’s minority, could rule the state. But the nobles, with their intrigues, soon overthrew this leader, and the courtiers and dignitaries took over the state helm, who did not strive for anything else with such zeal as to overthrow all the transformations made by Hezekiah. The old order restored by this king was rooted in the ancient Israeli teaching about the unity and invisibility of God, about the lawlessness of all idolatry and about the unity of worship. To overthrow this establishment was the main task of those who were now directly or indirectly again at the head of government. An idolatrous party formed around the young king, which, not only from the habit of imitation or perverted religious ideas, but also from a passionate hatred of everything ancient Israel, preferred to follow everything foreign. These were the same people who, already under Hezekiah, were secretly devoted to idolatry and showed it now, when the full opportunity for it presented itself. At the head of this party were the princes or younger sons and relatives of King Ahaz, who hated Hezekiah’s activities and therefore tried to incite his young son against her. The young king unfortunately succumbed to their insidious influence, and a new government commander of the palace was elected from among them. The Jewish princes showed a special devotion to idolatry, partly out of a sense of revenge for the previously experienced removal from the throne, and partly out of devotion to dissolute life, which paganism so much indulged in. Soon after Manasseh's accession to the throne, the nobles, acting on behalf of the king, began to carry out the plan of systematic reform they had outlined. First of all, it was announced that those “high places” that Hezekiah had so persistently destroyed and abolished were being restored again. With this statement, the majority of the people were inclined in favor of the new policy, because Hezekiah’s behavior was considered a restriction of freedom, especially since in the absence of such heights, the people had to constantly go to Jerusalem to make their sacrifices, which naturally was not always convenient. In Jerusalem and in the church itself, these statesmen again restored and intensified the abominations of idolatry. Here not only the old Canaanite cult was introduced, which Ahab and Jezebel tried to introduce in the kingdom of Israel and Athaliah in Jerusalem, but, as if to mock the God of Israel, Assyrian-Babylonian idolatry was also introduced. In both courtyards of the church, altars were again erected for Baal and Astarte, and small altars were erected on the roofs in honor of the five wandering stars. In general, the system of Ahaz was reintroduced. A special solar chariot was dedicated to the luminary of the day, for which horses were kept in order to carry out a solemn procession on certain holidays. In the courtyard of the church, a large image was erected, in all likelihood, of the Assyrian goddess Melitta, in order to cause the greatest possible offense to the God of Israel. It is clear that the introduction of such a cult was quickly followed by all the abominations of moral corruption. For Ashtoreth or Melitta, special church fornicators and harlots were kept, and special rooms were erected for the habitation of these ministers and servants of lascivious idolatry. In the beautiful valley of Ginnomova Tophet was rediscovered, where in accidents innocent children were burned in honor of Moloch. All those horrors and abominations that marked the reign of Ahaz were again completely established under Manasseh, even surpassing everything that was done in the kingdom of Israel during the worst times of the dynasty of Omri. This wicked king apparently enjoyed such service to idolatry, since he did not abolish it even in his mature age. Every effort was made to completely eliminate the God of Israel and subject it to oblivion. The idolatrous party tried to convince everyone that this God is powerless and cannot give either happiness or misfortune (Zeph. 1:12). Religious and moral perversity was also accompanied by a passion for imitation. The leaders of the Jewish people wanted to become completely like the rest of the peoples and destroy the mediastinum that separated them from these peoples and erase their past. Out of habit or compulsion, all this wickedness, emanating from the court and the surrounding princes, spread throughout the entire earth. The priests from the tribe of Aaron at first naturally rebelled against this direction and refused to contribute to the falling away from the God of Israel. As a result, the country was overrun with idolatrous priests, just as it was in the times of Jezebel and Athaliah, and they were allowed to worship idols in the church itself. But over time, when members of the priesthood, with the loss of their position, were deprived of their means of support, there were many among them, especially from the descendants of Abiathar, who, having suppressed the reproaches of their conscience, came to terms with this state of affairs. There was no shortage of false prophets who spoke approvingly in favor of all these abominations. What could be worse than the fact that the established abomination of desolation not only enjoyed the favor of the powers that be, but also found eloquent defenders who not only tried to brighten it up, but also to justify it and even present it as the only true and saving direction? This state, which lasted for such a long time, could naturally lead to complete oblivion of the very essence and purpose of the people, and should inevitably lead to the complete destruction of the people, if no other opposing force were encountered. Fortunately, another party continued to exist constantly in Jerusalem, which held high the standard of the ancient true doctrine of a spiritual God and the necessity of a moral life, maintained the memory of the wonderful leadership of the people, and opposed the encroaching idolatry. The strength of this party lay in its deep conviction, which it was ready to imprint even with its blood. These “disciples of God,” whom the prophet Isaiah taught and raised as his own children, these psalmists who, under Hezekiah, composed solemn songs about the salvation of the people, and especially the prophets, whom the fiery eloquence of Isaiah aroused to boundless zeal in favor of the eternal inheritance of Jehovah—all of them, although representing a minority, were valiant fighters for the trampled upon truth. Among them, the conviction was vividly maintained that the paganism of all peoples, even the wisest, is vain and insignificant, is stupidity and blindness, that God is not with the strong and powerful, but with the weak, that He Himself accepts widows and orphans and loves strangers. It is clear that a fierce struggle was about to begin between these two parties, and many difficult trials were the consequence for the adherents of the true faith. The matter began with the fact that those of them whom Hezekiah placed in judicial and government positions were ousted from their position by the court party; members of the Aaronic priesthood from the high priestly family of Zadok, who did not want to take part in idolatry, were expelled from the church and lost their income from sacrifices and offerings. The Levites, who during sacrifice had to obey the priests, like church servants, were forcefully inclined to idolatry. When the prophets raised their voice against this injustice, the court party, fearing their influence, did not hesitate to take more drastic measures. Not afraid of any crime, the princes of Judah and King Manasseh himself did not think of suppressing the voice of the prophets even with blood. Like the wicked Jezebel, they did not hesitate to put the prophets to the point of the sword. At this time, many such valiant fighters for the true faith died, although the names of these martyrs are unknown to us. At the same time, the voice of the great prophet Isaiah should have fallen silent. The venerable prophet, according to ancient legend, was persecuted and suffered cruel martyrdom, being sawn in two, thus sealing with his blood the truth of his prophecy, which did not cease during the reign of the five kings of Judah (for at least 60 years). With him, the word of the prophets fell silent for a whole generation, and only “dumb dogs” remained, as Isaiah sarcastically called the imaginary prophets who indulged in the vices of the wicked king. Such internal unrest naturally weakened not only the religious and moral, but also the political state, and meanwhile the political horizon darkened again, and the threat of a new conqueror began to approach from Assyria. After the short reign of the son of Sennacherib, a new king, Esargaddon, reigned on the Assyrian throne. Being a warlike man, he took advantage of the unrest and civil war that lasted for several years in Babylonia to once again subject this rich region to his scepter. Having achieved his goal in this direction, Esargaddon then undertook a military campaign in Egypt, the conquest of which his father was to abandon in due time. But his army apparently went to this country not by land through half-deserted northern Palestine and through Judea, the movement through which would have taken him a lot of time, but on ships that the Phoenicians were supposed to supply him at that time. Some of his generals, however, apparently landed on the Judean seashore in order to threaten Manasseh into submission. This latter, feeling his complete helplessness, expressed complete submission, but, despite this, he was made a prisoner and taken in chains to Babylon. This was a bad omen for the house of David, which violated fidelity to its destiny and indulged in a blind love for all things foreign. Esargaddon then subjugated all of Egypt, installed his own ruler on the banks of the Nile, and took various signs of victory, among which were several huge stone sphinxes, with him to Assyria. On the way back of the Assyrian king, when he apparently had very bad plans for the kingdom of Judah, his fleet was defeated by a strong storm near the Judean coast, and the Jewish people were thus freed from danger, since otherwise they would have suffered the fate of the people of Israel and they would undoubtedly have been resettled in the Assyrian countries. The psalmists saw in this deliverance a new sign of divine care for their holy city and their holy mountain, and sang it in an enthusiastic psalm. Manasseh himself was subsequently released from captivity and sent by Esarhaddon, or his successor, to his homeland. The severe trial that befell him apparently awakened repentance in him; Upon his restoration to the throne, he tried to at least partially atone for his previous wickedness and restored worship in the church. His previous deeds, however, deprived him of the honor of burial in the royal tomb and his name became hated by posterity. The long reign of Manasseh, which lasted more than half a century, greatly demoralized the people. Rough and sensual idolatry destroyed the foundations of morality and introduced decay into the entire structure of society. After him, the throne passed to his son Ammon, but with the change of reign there was no change for the better. The pagan party, which held power in the country, could easily influence the new king. Ammon, at his accession to the throne, was a young man of twenty-two and apparently popular; but for some reason he aroused hostility towards himself in the court party. It is difficult to think that the reason for this enmity was his reluctance to support the paganism established in the country, since, on the contrary, the biblical narrator directly says that “Ammon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as Manasseh his father did. And he walked exactly in the same way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them” (2 Kings 21:20, 21). However, there were probably some indications in his actions that he might, in the course of time, succumb to the influence of the opposing party. Frightened by the fear of such a change, the dominant party decided to end his reign, and indeed Ammon soon fell victim to a criminal conspiracy, just as his ancestor, King Joash, died (2 Kings 12:20). But the success of his killers was short-lived. The people, enraged by such a crime, took up arms and, overthrowing all opposition, captured and killed the perpetrators of the conspiracy. Ammon was buried with due honors in a tomb built in the garden of Uzza, where the remains of Manasseh already rested. After this, a great public meeting took place, at which, in accordance with ancient custom, Josiah, the young son of the murdered king, was elected to the throne. Chapter 42. The reign of Josiah and the prophet Jeremiah Ammon was succeeded by his young son Josiah. This change of reign did not at first entail any change in the direction of the state. On behalf of the minor king, who was only eight years old when he ascended the throne, the princes of Judah continued to reign again and they continued to support the idolatry introduced under Manasseh with all the vices and disorders that distinguished it. Taking advantage of the time of the regency, the wicked courtiers, not satisfied even with the dissolute cult of Baal and Astarte, the Babylonian worship of the stars and the terrible service of Molech, who demanded the sacrifice of children, began to introduce idolatrous customs of other peoples in order to satisfy the insatiable thirst for their imitation. Upon entering the church, they, like the worshipers of the Philistine Dagon, jumped over the threshold, dressed in foreign costumes, which had their origin in idolatrous customs, and, since at this time the power of the Egyptians began to increase again, they also began to imitate Egyptian customs, not distinguishing good from bad in them. After the removal of Esargaddon from Egypt, there was an uprising against the Assyrian governors left by him. Egypt overthrew the Assyrian yoke, and the chief figures in this liberation seized power into their own hands and each sought to proclaim himself king, so that at the same time twelve kings reigned over the separate parts of Egypt. Rivalry and civil strife naturally followed between them, and one of them, namely Psammetichus, having defeated all the others, again restored his power over all of Lower and Upper Egypt, and again returned power to the country weakened by long unrest. He founded his residence in Sais, and the Sait dynasty founded by him reigned until the penultimate king of Egypt. Since Psammetichus had in mind to extend Egyptian power to the coastal lands of the Philistines and Phoenicians, conquered several Philistine cities and the long-defended city of Azoth, the Jewish princes, fearing for their fate, sought the mercy of Psammetichus and thought to achieve it by adopting Egyptian customs, as a result of which even the Egyptian cult of animals was introduced in Jerusalem. At the entrance to the city, altars for goats were erected. Along with unbelief, during Josiah's childhood, all kinds of violence and injustice continued to be committed. The Jewish princes and shameless judges were like roaring lions and wolves of the desert, oppressing the poor, trampling on the right, mocking innocence, and what they could not achieve by force, they achieved by deceit. But the bloody persecution of the prophets, as it was especially carried out under Manasseh, apparently weakened. As a result, the number of valiant patriots and champions of the true religion again increased, and they continued to fight against the false direction. From the circle of well-meaning people and patriots, in the first years of the reign of Josiah, a whole series of prophets emerged, who, with their fiery zeal and enthusiastic speech, tried to awaken in the people the conscience dulled by previous iniquities. This was a new generation of prophets. At the same time, a prophetess also rose up, and the people listened to her sayings just as they once listened to the sayings of Deborah. The oldest of these prophets was Zephaniah. Originally from Jerusalem, he came from a noble family, whose ancestors were known up to the fourth generation (Zeph. 1:1). He boldly castigated the vices and shortcomings of his contemporaries, denounced their moral depravity and their idolatrous error, directing his denunciations at the vices of nobles and royal sons, who placed their glory in the pathetic imitation of everything foreign. Like the previous prophets, Amos and Joel, he proclaimed the coming of the “dreadful day of the Lord”: “The great day of the Lord is near, Close and in a hurry; The voice of the day of the Lord has already been heard; Then even the bravest will cry out bitterly! Day of desolation and ruin, Day of Trumpet and Cry Against fortified cities and high towers And they will walk like blind people Because they have sinned against the Lord, And their blood will be scattered like dust, Neither their silver nor their gold, He cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. And all this earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy; For destruction, and sudden one at that, He will do it over all the inhabitants of the earth" 294. The prophet predicted the approach of disaster for other nations, threatening the Philistine land, which was inhabited by the Phoenicians, Ammon and Moab, which proudly stood over the people of God. But in particular he proclaimed the imminent destruction of proud Nineveh: “And He will stretch out His hand to the north, And will turn Nineveh into ruins, To a place as dry as a desert; And the flocks will rest among her, The pelican and the hedgehog will spend the night in her carved decorations, Their voice will be heard in the windows, Destruction will be found on the door pillars; For there will be no cedar paneling on them. This is what the triumphant city will be, Saying in his heart: I, and there is no other but me. Anyone passing by him He whistles and waves his hand" 295. Around this time, the gradual decline of Assyria from the heights of its greatness and power really began. The peoples who had not managed to fall away earlier fell away during the reign of the penultimate Assyrian king, or were forced to fall away by the Medes, who began to act in the field of historical life and conquest. The second Median king, Phraortes, subjugated the peoples one after another, until he finally subjugated the Persians, uniting with whom he undertook a military campaign against Nineveh. Meanwhile, the Assyrians, although abandoned by their allies, were still strong and warlike enough to inflict a defeat on the Median army, in which Phraortes himself died (635). But his son, Cyaxares, who was even more enterprising and bolder than his father, hastened to avenge the death of his father, gathered a large army, which he divided into various types of weapons, invaded Assyria, defeated enemy army and approached Nineveh (634). But while he himself was besieging the main Assyrian city, news reached him that from the steppes of the Don, Volga, Caucasus and from the outskirts of the Caspian Sea, barbarian countless wild hordes of Scythians were approaching, destroying everything before them. These were the Scythians or Saks of the Slavic tribe, who, together with their subordinate peoples, invaded Media and, prancing on their fleet-footed horses, engaged in robbery, destroying and burning everything that came their way, not sparing human life at all. The news of this forced Cyaxares to lift the siege of Nineveh and withdraw his army back to defend his own country. But he was unable to defeat these hordes and had to submit to them and pay them tribute. This wandering Scythian people, indulging in predation and accumulation of wealth, however, was not satisfied with subjugating Media, but moved on, heading towards Assyria. The Assyrian king had to pay off the barbarians with countless treasures from his palaces. From Assyria, the Scythians turned west to the rich cities of Phenicia, penetrated along the seashore into the Philistine region and, apparently, had the intention of penetrating Egypt, whose riches attracted them. King Psammetichus, not hoping to hold them back by force, offered them rich treasures and begged them to leave their land. Then most of the Scythians left this country and again retired to the north, although some of them again moved to Asia Minor. One horde of them still remained in the Philistine land, carried out devastation there and burned the church of the Assyrian goddess of debauchery Melitta. From Philistia, the Scythians also invaded neighboring Judea, indulged in robbery, stole herds and burned cities and villages. Jerusalem, however, was not attacked by them, since, in all likelihood, the young king Josiah prevented this attack by coming out to them with his chief courtier and begging them, with an offer of treasures, to spare his capital. This terrible time, in which terrible rumors constantly circulated about burned cities and barbarously killed people, made a strong impression in Judea. If the formidable sermons of the prophets were not enough, then these very facts themselves exposed the whole madness of idolatry. Did their worshiping gods save the Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians and Philistines from the devastating attack of the Scythians? As a result of this, a change in the mood of the people involuntarily occurred, at least among the population of Jerusalem, and most of all this change was noticeable in the soul of King Josiah himself. He was by nature a gentle, pious and receptive man; It was only out of habit that he allowed idolatrous wickedness, without giving himself over to it with all his soul. Terrible events forced him to notice that he and his people were on the path of error. True, he did not yet dare to openly declare his best convictions and eliminate paganism from the capital of the country, idolatry, which had prevailed there for more than half a century. He was afraid to stir up against himself the princes of the Jews, who still held power in their hands and were completely devoted to idolatry. This required heroic determination, and young Josiah lacked it. To take this step, he needed some external reason that would force him to pay attention to the surrounding circumstances and give him the opportunity to throw off the yoke of the court party that was weighing on him. It was in this direction that the prophets acted, who tried to encourage Josiah to turn to the worship of the true God and to the abolition of foreign cults. Under the influence of the prophets, Josiah actually began to turn little by little towards the right cause, and first of all he took one step, indicating a change in his mood. It was he who decided to bring the church dedicated to the true God out of its shameful abandonment. Due to the introduction of foreign cults, Solomon's temple was almost completely abandoned, so that no attention was paid to it, and no repairs were made. For religious services, people usually gathered in various places, of which there were as many as cities. The walls of the premises and the adjacent buildings of the church showed cracks and threatened to collapse, the decorations were dilapidated and crumbled. And who would care about this? The members of the Aaronic priesthood, who were entrusted with the care of the church, for the most part had long been inclined to foreign cults, and those who remained faithful were in disgrace and did not have access to the church. It was this outward omission that Josiah first of all tried to make up for. He again called the exiled priests and Levites to church service and instructed them to take care of collecting offerings for the repair of the church. At their head he placed Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, as high priest, whose house remained clean from idolatry. But how was it possible to raise money for such a big cause? The love of the rich for the church cooled so much, and in general the population became so poor as a result of the predatory invasion of the Scythians, that voluntary offerings, as was the case during the time of King Joash, almost two hundred years before, could not be counted on. As a result, it was necessary to engage in the formal collection of gifts and offerings for the sanctuary. Special Levites, who stood as guards at the gates of the church, walked around the city and country from house to house, and everywhere begged for this sacred work (2 Kings 22:3-5). But although King Josiah cared so zealously for the church, he, however, did not have enough determination to openly speak out against idolatry, although a turn for the better began to be noticed among some of the nobles, since they had already sworn by Jehovah, although they still adhered to idolatry. In order for Josiah to begin transformative activities with greater determination, some other events had to influence him. The impetus for this step came to him from two sides. On the one hand, it came from a prophet who, in his tender youth, made strong, stunning speeches, and on the other hand, from a book that immediately changed the king’s entire mood. The young prophet who had such an enormous influence on the young king was none other than one of the four greatest prophets of the Old Testament, namely Jeremiah. The son of a priest, he was born in Anathoth, a small town on the high road, about eight miles north of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin 296 . Anathoth lay on a small hill overlooking the surrounding plains, in a landscape that was to excite the heart of the future prophet. Many of the most glorious historical memories were associated with the surrounding Veniamin hills, exciting the spirit of the prophet. To the east he could see, from the flat roof of his home, the valley and plain of Jordan, with the mountains of Gilead rising above it. To the southeast, at the foot of the purple mountains of Moab, lay the blue waters of Lake Lobova, as the Bedouins of the present day still call the Dead Sea, and to the north, near the village itself, stretched a green valley that reached the northern part of the present Wadi Sulem. Jeremiah's parents were not rich, but they were not entirely poor either. His uncle, Shallum, and the latter's son, Hanameel, on his mother's side, had ancestral land in Anathoth (Jer. 32:7). But the richness of Jeremiah himself lay in the fullness of his spirit, which was clear like a mirror and deep like an inexhaustible spring. By nature gentle and prone to melancholy, Jeremiah, from his earliest youth, looked with regret at the sad religious and moral state of the society around him. Everything false, perverted, unworthy was disgusting to his soul, and filled him, as soon as he noticed it, with deep sorrow. It is impossible to determine how much his upbringing influenced his mental mood. His father, Hilkiah, and his relatives did not stand out from the rest, and were priests of the most ordinary nature. His fellow villagers, priests from Anathoth, from the very beginning, as soon as he began to act, treated him with great distrust and dislike, so that they could not have a beneficial influence on him. But he had other teachers and other sources of education, and he was obviously greatly impressed by the books of the former prophets. His soul became so deeply immersed in these divinely inspired works that he completely assimilated their thoughts, their phrases, and even their words 297 . This occupation with prophetic books gave his spirit a certain direction, filled him with sublime ideas about God and the moral world order, about the great past of Israel, and its destiny for a great future, and taught him to hate everything base and immoral, as well as to despise the madness and insignificance of idolatry. With his elevated mood, he felt like a complete stranger among the people closely surrounding him, in his little Anathof. He saw the madness of idolatry already in his homeland, where the local priests indulged in the prevailing idolatrous wickedness; but he saw this wickedness on an even greater scale when he went to nearby Jerusalem. To fight the prevailing vices and delusions, for him, in his young years and with his innate shyness, seemed completely impossible. But then a prophetic spirit visited him. One day he clearly heard a voice, just as Samuel had once heard him in the tabernacle in Shiloh, and this voice said to him: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you, I made you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). Confused Jeremiah responded to this: “Oh, Lord God! I don’t know how to speak, because I’m still young.” But the voice continued: “Don’t say - I’m young; For to everyone to whom I send you you will go, and whatever I command you you will say. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, said the Lord.” At the same time, Jeremiah felt a hand touch his lips and heard the words: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and destroy, to plunder and to destroy, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:9, 10). Then Jeremiah saw a branch of an almond tree in blossom and a boiling cauldron blown by the wind from the north. The first for him meant: “I am watching over My word, so that it will soon be fulfilled,” the other meant: “from the north a disaster will be revealed on all the inhabitants of this land.” At the conclusion of this terrible vision, Jeremiah received instructions to be strong, not to be afraid, to speak boldly to kings, princes, priests and people. They will be hostile against him, but he should not worry about this and be like a fortified city, an iron pillar and a copper wall throughout the whole earth. “They will fight against you,” said the divine voice, “but they will not prevail over you; for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you” (Jer. 1:19). From that time, for forty years, which were for the most part years of national calamity, which increasingly pushed the people towards political ruin, the memory of this solemn calling served as a constant reinforcement for the prophet to be faithful in his high office, and to encourage him amid all the trials of his ministry. During all this long ministry, which took place chiefly in Jerusalem, no personal dangers, no personal interests, no ridicule, hatred and persecution could turn him away from the task entrusted to him by the mouth of God himself. His necessary and sensitive nature could for a moment be afraid of the dangers and labors of the commission given to him, but the divine command, as he himself declares, burned in his heart like a burning fire, and he could not remain silent (Jer. 20:9). Wherever he met his countrymen, his voice was constantly raised for the cause of the true God, whether in the courtyard of the church, at the gates of the city, in the palace of the king, in prison, in private houses, in the open country around Jerusalem - wherever circumstances required it or opportunity presented itself, Jeremiah did not cease to preach the word of truth entrusted to him. In terms of their external character, the prophetic speeches of Jeremiah are generally inferior to the artificial eloquence of the greatest prophet Isaiah, but this external deficiency in them is compensated by a special dignity, namely, general intelligibility and certainty. The time now demanded different speeches than before. Moral decay had penetrated deeply into people's life, and now it was necessary to deal not only with the higher and educated classes, but also with the masses. For such listeners, artificial sophistication of speech was inappropriate; it was necessary to speak clearly and understandably so that the speech would act directly on the mind and heart, and therefore Jeremiah for the most part spoke in simple prose, only from time to time decorating it with the colors of oratorical eloquence. His prophetic speeches were distinguished by another feature. Most of the prophets of the past made their predictions about the distant future not clearly, they prophesied about the terrible day of the Lord, which would bring with it a complete revolution and after which the ideal time would come for Israel. The threats of punishment and the announcements of salvation in the ancient prophets, with the sole exception of Isaiah, were for the most part of a vague nature, which gave the population of Jerusalem, prone to ridicule, a reason to mock the prophetic speeches. These speeches, as it seemed to the people, belonged to such a distant time that the present generation had nothing to worry about them. Jeremiah had to reckon with this mocking indifference to prophetic speeches. He announced the impending punishment of Judah and Jerusalem in the near future, a punishment that was to be fulfilled in his own time. Jeremiah, more than all his predecessors, even the prophet Isaiah himself, was gifted with miraculous prophetic insight. From year to year he proclaimed how the well-deserved fate was moving closer and closer to the Jewish people; from month to month he followed the events taking place, and his predictions were fulfilled with amazing accuracy. He saw the future not in ambiguous visions, but in clear daylight, with cheerful feelings and in constant communication with the outside world. Therefore, he did not speak in mysterious speeches, did not make his predictions with artificial hints, but called things by their proper names. The earliest of his speeches that has reached us appears to date back to the first year of his calling in 627 BC, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah. It contains a fervent denunciation of the people for their unwillingness to keep aloof from Egypt and Assyria and to follow the prophets, who were the organs of Jehovah, their true King. The political parties in Jerusalem at this time were demanding an alliance with one or the other of the great powers of the time; one party sought an alliance with Egypt against Assyria, while the other, on the contrary, wanted to establish close relations with Assyria against Egypt. Jeremiah, on the contrary, argued that both these parties were on the wrong path, that Judah should not have any foreign relations, that, as the people of God, it should keep itself aloof from the pagan world. In his eyes, an alliance with a pagan people was tantamount to recognizing idolatry, as in reality it always turned out to be. Jeremiah's speech was bold and enthusiastic. From the time he was called to prophecy, all shyness and weakness disappeared in him. He himself depicted the sensations that the prophetic spirit evoked in him. “The word of God in him was like fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks” (Jer. 23:29). When the prophet hesitated to speak, his inner prophetic fervor burned his entire being. “It was in my heart,” he says, “like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I grew weary, holding it, and could not” (Jer. 20:9). His first speech against the deviation of the people from their original destiny, against idolatrous wickedness and immoral abominations, is distinguished by captivating power. “Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the houses of the family of Israel!” – he addressed the audience. “This is what the Lord says: What iniquity your fathers found in Me, that they departed from Me, and followed vanity and became futile; and they did not say, “Where is the Lord, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land desolate and uninhabited, through a dry land, through the land of the shadow of death, where no one walked, and where no man dwelt?” And I brought you into a fruitful land, so that you might eat its fruits and its goodness. But you entered and desecrated My land, and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? and the teachers of the law did not know Me, and the shepherds fell away from Me, and the prophets prophesied in the name of Baal, and walked after those who do not help. Therefore, I will go to court with you again, says the Lord, and I will go to law with your sons’ sons. For go to the islands of Hittim, and look, and send to Kedar, and scout diligently, and consider: was there anything like this there? Has any people changed their gods, although they are not gods? But My people exchanged their glory for something that does not help. Marvel at this, O heavens, and tremble and be horrified, says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewed out for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Is Israel a slave? Or is he a household member? Why did he become prey? The young lions roared at him, raised their voices, and made his land desolate; its cities were burned, without inhabitants. And the sons of Memphis and Taphna have eaten up your crown. And now why do you go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why do you go to Assyria to drink water from its river? Your wickedness will punish you, and your apostasy will expose you; and so, know and consider how bad and bitter it is that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and My fear is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts.” Having then depicted how the people, contrary to their promise to serve the true God, indulged in filthy idolatry, and how a thief, when caught, is disgraced, so he disgraced himself and the house of Israel with foreign idolatry, the prophet then, pointing out the plight of the people, asks them: “Where are your gods, which you have made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in your time of distress! For as many cities as you have, so many gods do you have, Judas. Oh, kind! Heed the word of the Lord. Was I a wilderness to Israel? Was I a land of darkness? Why do My people say: we are our own masters, we will no longer come to You? Does a maiden forget her jewelry and a bride her outfit? But My people have forgotten Me” (Jer. 2:4–19, 28–32). The formidable words of the young prophet were heard not only against idolatry, but also against frequent bloodshed. “In vain have I struck your children; they did not accept admonition; Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion, and you were not afraid. Even on the hem of your clothes there is the blood of poor, innocent people whom you did not find at the break-in, and despite all this you say: since I am innocent, His anger will surely turn away from me. Why do you wander around so much, changing your path? You will also be put to shame by Egypt, just as you were put to shame by Assyria; and you will come out from it with your hands on your head, because you have rejected the Lord, your hopes, and you will not prosper with them” (Jer. 2:30, 34-37). Such fiery words from the lips of the young prophet could not fail to make the proper impression. Several noble families turned away from wickedness and turned to the true God about whom Jeremiah and other prophets preached. The family of Saphan, who occupied a high position, sided with the prophets, and this influential family persistently protected them from persecution. King Josiah himself, when news of the glory of the young prophet reached him, also received new reinforcement in his intention to put an end to wickedness and turn to true religion. He carried out the restoration of the abandoned church firmly and persistently. He gave instructions to three of his high dignitaries, namely Shaphan the scribe, Maasei the mayor and Joah the scribe, to inform the high priest Hilkiah that the sums collected would finally be used for the intended purpose, so that the silver would be transferred to these high dignitaries, who would use it to partly buy building materials and partly pay architects and workers. And so, work began. But while preparations for these works were still underway, the high priest Helkias, while sorting through various debris in the church, suddenly, to his greatest amazement, found an old manuscript, which turned out to be the greatest treasure. It was the book of the law, written by the hand of Moses. In what part of the church it was found is unknown, but the discovery took place at a time when dignitaries were taking out the money collected for the restoration of the church from the boxes in which they were located. According to rabbinic tradition, the book was found under a pile of stones, under which it had been hidden when Ahaz burned the other copies of the law. But it is possible that she lay hidden in the ark itself, which Manasseh threw aside into one of the many rooms around the church, where she could easily remain unnoticed until she came into the eyes of the high priest. As soon as this jewel was found, it was immediately reported to the king. Safan, experienced in reading such manuscripts, as his position as a scribe required of him, having examined the book himself, immediately tried to acquaint his sovereign with its contents. The impression the book made on the king was extraordinary. When the pious king listened to the decree of this long-forgotten law, he was horrified to see how far the life of the chosen people had deviated from the commandments of God and what terrible wrath of God awaited for this. In despair, he tore his clothes and turned to the prophetess Huldana (the second prophetess after Deborah) with a request to explain to him the meaning of many incomprehensible passages of the law that amazed him. Convinced from her explanation of the inevitability of God’s righteous wrath for wickedness and mercy for himself for pious zeal, Josiah convened a national meeting to introduce all his people to the open book. On the appointed day, the vast space of the church fence was overflowing with crowds of people who appeared at the head of the prophets, priests, Levites and heads of the tribe. A special platform was erected for the young king in the courtyard of the church, and the elders of the people stood in rows around him. Opening the precious scroll, the king himself, to enhance the impression, began to read it loudly to the people, introducing them to all the details of the ancient covenant concluded with the people of Jehovah, about the promises that were given to the people if the covenant was kept, and about the curses that would inevitably fall on the people if the covenant was broken. After the reading, a striking scene followed. Raising his voice, Josiah solemnly declared his determination to live in accordance with all the requirements of the divine word. Having stood on an elevated place, says the biblical narrator, the king “concluded a covenant before the face of the Lord - to follow the Lord and keep His commandments, and His revelations, and His statutes, with all my heart and with all my soul, to fulfill the words of this covenant written in this book” (2 Kings 23:2, 3). Inflamed to the point of delight by his example, the elders, on behalf of the people, immediately expressed their sympathy with the action of the king, and the whole assembly of the people, apparently, accepted this decision, declaring it with a loud “Amen”. The Jewish people once again, at least externally, entered into a covenant with God. Just what part of the Bible was thus rediscovered after a long period of oblivion was the subject of heated and bitter debate. Many scholars believe that this was the book known as Deuteronomy 298; others - that the scroll, containing this book, at the same time contained some other parts of the Pentateuch. With good reason we can believe that Hilkiah opened the entire book of the law, but the reading was done only from Deuteronomy. This particular part of the law sets out more fully the blessings that await the executor of the covenant, and the curses that threaten the violator. Moreover, the book of Deuteronomy represents the law in that brief form in which it was most convenient for the people to read it. After the renewal of the covenant with God, an intensified cleansing of the promised land began from the iniquities that had accumulated during the previous reign. The king instructed the high priest Hilkiah, who was entrusted with putting the church in order, to cleanse it of various paraphernalia of idolatry. So, there, during the reign of Manasseh, a shameful image of Astarte was erected, altars and premises for the debauchery of church harlots, various accessories for the cult of Baal and Astarte, solar horses at the entrance to the church, and finally, altars for the worship of the stars were erected. All this was now removed, destroyed, burned in the Kidron Valley, and the very ashes were scattered on the graves of the lower class of the people. Those places in the valley of Ginnom where children were sacrificed, Josiah ordered to be subjected to every desecration. The idolatrous places on the Mount of Olives that had existed since the time of Solomon, which Hezekiah still provided to foreigners, were subject to desecration through human bones and all uncleanness, as well as the altars at the entrance to the city for the veneration of goats. Then throughout the country all those high places that served idolatrous or superstitious purposes were abolished. This cleansing extended to Bethel, where the Jews who migrated there and the Israelites who remained there had their sanctuary, as well as to the cities that once belonged to Samaria (2 Kings 23:4–19). The priests who served idols and on high places were deposed; those who were of Levitical origin were left in Jerusalem so that they could be observed, but did not dare to make sacrifices, although they received a portion of the income that went to the true priests. Foreign priests who served in foreign cults were completely rejected and, apparently, even expelled from the country. But Josiah acted even more severely with those Israeli priests in Bethel who still continued to perform the cult of the calf introduced by Jeroboam and gave rise to the confusion of the Israelites. He ordered these priests to be killed on the altars located there, and he ordered the altars themselves to be desecrated with human bones 299 . Since it was from Bethel that the rejection and perversion of the original worship of God came, the king here gave a terrifying example of severity. The grandchildren had to, as often happened in ancient times, be punished for their guilty ancestors. This was the end of the bull cult at Bethel. The king himself led the desecration and overthrow of the lawless sanctuaries in Bethel. Thus he put an end to all the various paraphernalia of idolatry, which at various times had penetrated the soil of Israel, and did everything according to the instructions of the book of the law that he had found. “And Josiah destroyed the callers of the dead, and the magicians, and the teraphim, and idols, and all the abominations that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, to fulfill the words of the law that were written in the book, which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:24). But all this was only preparation for the formal restoration of true religion. Many of its rites fell into disuse or were not performed in the prescribed form. Hezekiah celebrated the Passover with great solemnity almost a century before, but it probably remained without celebration during the entire long reign of Manasseh. Now, after the cleansing of the land from the abominations that desecrated it, it was possible to celebrate this holiday again with hitherto unknown accuracy. Full details regarding its implementation could be found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and these decrees were ordered by Josiah to study all the priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 35:2). According to the law, the celebration of Passover was set on the fourteenth day of Nissan, the month also known as Abib, the month of harvest. Hezekiah deviated from this law as far as it seemed possible to him, holding a feast in the second month of Jairus and allowing strangers from the remaining northern tribes to attend him, even without the full purification required by the law. Now it was decided to restore this holiday in all its accuracy and purity. The religious spirit of the people at this time was excited, thanks to the discovery of the law, to the highest degree, and all the Jews were ready to fulfill it with all precision. Josiah was the soul of this whole religious revival, as in other respects. He himself again distributed the ordinary priests into their departments or orders, and it was he who aroused their jealousy with animated words, making sure that they studied their duties in detail in accordance with the letter of the law. The priests and Levites, as well as other teachers of the law, were then sent throughout the whole country to instruct all the people in the preparations required for the Passover, and in teaching in general the provisions of the law. The Levites, in the proper sense of the word, were ordered to restore the ark of the covenant from the place where it was hidden during the reigns of Manasseh and Ammon, to its old place in the church, since they had the privilege of moving this shrine on their shoulders. The Levites brought it into the sanctuary, gave it to the priests, who then brought it into the Holy of Holies. This was the last time they received that great honor that their ancestors enjoyed a thousand years before. Henceforth, the sacred ark had to remain constantly in the Holy of Holies, and the Levites had to exclusively take care of the rituals of the church and its lesser duties, taking care most of all to ensure that the decrees of the law were strictly followed by the people flocking to the church or on holidays. The ritual cleansing of pilgrims, the delivery of firewood, salt and other items for the altar, the observation of victims during the sacrifice and their proper killing, the supervision of the very celebration of Passover and other holidays - all this from now on constituted the distinctive duty of the Levites. The task entrusted to the priests and Levites to prepare the people for the approaching Passover would not have been easy if they had had to be guided only by the details of the rites set forth in the books of the law. But besides the law, they had at their fingertips additional, very important aids, which consisted of ancient manuscripts containing a description of the rituals used by David and Solomon (2 Chron. 35:4). That such written documents existed in the seventh century B.C., and that they survived the turbulent period of persecution, is a striking proof that other documents, like the books of the law, may also have existed from the earliest times, although before the reign of Josiah we have no evidence concerning them, because these missals from the ancient days of the monarchy are mentioned only in this casual allusion, centuries after their composition. Detailed instructions were then given to the Levites themselves. They were to serve in the church, as they had been in the days of David and his great son, with a portion of each Levitical house being assigned to the service of the people. Rules were also given about how to kill the Passover lamb when the festival came, and to sanctify oneself by washing before the blood was given to the priests, and how to prepare lambs for the people in strict accordance with the divine decrees made by the hand of Moses in the newly revealed law. As the great day approached, masses of people began to flock to Jerusalem, including many of those Israelites who remained after the fall of the kingdom of Israel. Many people, however, out of poverty or ignorance, from difficulty in getting a Passover lamb or kid, came to Jerusalem without stocking up on them, since hitherto the flocks had not yet been brought to Jerusalem for sale on this holiday, as was the case in later times. As a result, thirty thousand lambs and kids were distributed by the king himself among the poor and those who, for whatever reason, did not stock up on them. To this royal bounty another three thousand calves were added from the royal pastures to supply material for the seven-day holiday that followed Easter. The upper wealthy classes were no less generous, also giving large quantities of cattle, lambs and goats to the priests and Levites, as well as to the people for free sacrifices. The highest representatives and dignitaries of the church did not lag behind the others. The high priest Hilkiah of the house of Eleazar, Zechariah, apparently his delegate, and Jehiel, probably the representative of the house of Ithamar, gave to the priests for the Passover sacrifice two thousand six hundred sheep, lambs and goats, and three hundred oxen; The leading Levites competed with them in this generosity, who gave the Levites five thousand sheep and five hundred oxen for the Passover sacrifice. In view of such general enthusiasm, on the eve of Easter everything was ready for the celebration of the great holiday. The priests, in their white robes, with their feet bare and their heads covered, stood in their places at the altar; The Levites, in their successive orders, took their places next to them, in accordance with the king's command. When the sun began to set and before the stars began to sparkle, the lambs and kids were killed and prepared for the Passover celebration by hundreds of Levites, their blood being handed over in special cups by the priests to sprinkle on the altar. Part of the sacrifices required for the burnt offering was then given by the householders, each of whom took it to the priest to be placed on the sacrificial fire. The same was done with the oxen during the next week; parts of them were sacrificed, and the rest was given to the property of the bearer, to whom it was returned. The preparation of meat for the people, however, in this case was left to the Levites, perhaps to prevent possible ritual omissions, since the whole celebration was essentially new for this generation. Lambs and young goats were duly roasted according to the law, and the consecrated meat, as the meat of the sacrificed oxen was called, was boiled in pots, cauldrons and other vessels. At the same time, the priests and Levites had to endure almost superhuman labor, since they could neither rest nor refresh themselves until the end of their difficult service. Each order, both Levites and priests, could enjoy only very short leisure. Not only that night, but every day of the next week, all the time from morning to evening during the seven days of unleavened bread, they were busy preparing and burning huge offerings of so many sacrifices. During all these days, proper worship was performed, and singers from the famous choir of Asaph sang psalms suitable for this celebration, appointed a century ago by David, Asaph and Idufun. The service was performed so continuously that neither they nor the guards at the gates could leave the church, so the food was brought to the place of service by the Levites. Such a solemn Passover had never been celebrated since the time of Samuel, because the decrees of the law had never before been observed with such strictness and precision. No less remarkable was the celebration that followed Easter and was accompanied by all kinds of amusements and manifestations of the joy of the people. The influence of such a great holiday affected the mood of the people in all directions. It was an expression of the complete restoration of the worship of Jehovah and kindled zeal for His service in the hearts of the people. Israelis were present here from all over the country and carried with them in all directions, to Shechem, Shiloh, Samaria and other places, a sense of devotion to the Temple of Jerusalem, which continued to persist until the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, and even after returning from captivity. But among this general religious enthusiasm, which found its expression in the holiday, which was celebrated in accordance with all the provisions of the law and at which so many people were present, there were, however, many who remained indifferent and even secretly hostile to this entire movement. All this transformation partly came from the will of the pious king himself and therefore did not have the depth of those movements that arise by themselves, from the internal needs of people's life. To deepen this movement and break secret opposition, the inspired word of a prophet was needed, and Jeremiah spoke with this word. In his fiery speeches he points to strong opposition to him. Turning first to his brother prophets, he exhorts them to diligently preach the word of God, to instill and explain to the people the meaning of the covenant that has just been concluded with Jehovah by the representatives and elders of the people. The book of the law in which this covenant was made was unknown to entire generations, and it was therefore necessary that the population at large should be acquainted with it, since it was the only means of achieving the reasonable execution of the law and securing the benefits promised therein. Therefore, the prophet addressed the congregation with the following speech: “Hear the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Cursed is the man who will not listen to the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt and the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do all that I command you, and you will be My people and I will be your God, to fulfill the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today. And I answered saying, Amen, Lord!” ( Jer. 11:1–5 ). Then, the divine voice commanded the prophet to proclaim all the words of the newly found law throughout the kingdom. “And the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and say: Hear the words of this covenant, and do them, for I warned your fathers continually from the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt until this day; He exhorted them early in the morning, saying; obey My voice; but they did not obey, and did not bow their ear, but each walked according to the stubbornness of his evil heart: therefore I brought upon them everything that was spoken in this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not” (Jer. 11:6-8). How long the prophet carried out this assignment given to him throughout the entire earth, everywhere introducing the newly discovered law, is unknown. But if this sermon was successful with individuals, the prophet nevertheless had to complain about the persistent stubbornness of very many. One might even think that the pagan party formed a secret conspiracy against Josiah, trying to take revenge on him for the reform. Moreover, it soon turned out that the same pagan party had formed a conspiracy against the life of the prophet himself. He was soon to experience all the bitterness of the great truth that a prophet has no honor in his own country. His truthful speeches aroused even the worldly priests of his own native Anathoth against him, and some of them even intended to kill him. All this clearly showed how deeply wickedness and lawlessness had taken root in the Jewish people and how much work was needed in order to bring about a complete transformation of the religious and moral life of the people. In essence, the depravity was so great that no transformations could completely put the people on the true path of life, and a great historical lesson was needed that, with a strong blow, could produce a great revolution in the very consciousness of the people. And this historical lesson was now rapidly approaching, and the first signs of it were experienced by the pious Josiah himself. Already at his first preaching, the prophet Jeremiah announced the onset of general destruction and devastation, and the fulfillment of this prophecy began in the last years of the reign of Josiah. The global Assyrian monarchy, as mentioned above, was now quickly heading towards complete decline and a new great monarchy was taking its place. Media and Babylonia, the closest vassal states of Nineveh, taking advantage of the weakening of Assyria, now took revenge on her for the oppression that they had previously experienced from her. The Median king Cyaxares, having got rid of the Scythians who had flooded his country by force and cunning, entered into a war with a neighboring country in the west, namely Lydia, which, due to its wealth and advantageous coastal position, also indulged in the dream of becoming a great monarchy. For five years Cyaxares waged war with Aliattes, king of Lydia (614–610). Assyria was already so weakened that it was forced to calmly look at this independent performance in the field of political activity of its former vassals. At the same time, Nabopolassar of Babylon (reigned from 625–604), an enterprising king, broke the last thread by which his country was still tied to Assyria, and likewise declared himself independent. Cilicia, which had also previously been under the rule of Nineveh, also became an independent country and had its own king, Syennesis. Egypt also wanted to take advantage of the growing weakness of the Assyrian state in order to then take revenge on it for the defeats and oppression so often inflicted on it. Here the brave king Necho, the son of Psamettichus, took control into his own hands, and he sought to again restore the former power of Egypt. At the same time, many other ambitious princes also came forward, who zealously sought to seize into their hands at least part of the world dominion of Assyria. Necho, even more warlike and enterprising than his father, is the same sovereign who ordered the neglected connecting canal between the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile and the Red Sea to be made navigable again (during which work 120,000 workers died in the desert sands), the same sovereign who equipped the Phoenician fleet to open a circular route around Africa, which left the Red Sea and returned in the third year through The pillars of Hercules into the Mediterranean Sea - this Necho gathered a large army with the goal of conquering the Lebanese country to the Euphrates and at the same time subduing Assyria. Since his rivals, Cyaxares and Alyattes, were exhausting themselves in an endless war, Necho, without much difficulty, thought of subjugating the Syrian regions and, perhaps, annexing Assyria to Egypt. Meanwhile, both these kings made peace with each other. The solar eclipse that occurred on September 30, 610, during the battle between the Indian and Lydian troops, frightened both to the extreme, as a result of which both kings expressed their readiness to make peace, in which Nabopolassar and Syennesis took upon themselves to mediate. At the end of this war, Cyaxares concluded a close triple alliance with Aliattes and Nabopolassar, which was sealed by the marriage of the daughter of the Lydian king with the son of Cyaxares and the daughter of the Median king with the son of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar. This alliance was directed against Assyria, which was then headed by King Sardanapalus, devoted to luxury and careless bliss. And so these three most powerful kings of that time simultaneously moved into the field of extensive conquests, with Cyaxares, together with Nabopolassar, heading against Nineveh, and Necho against the countries lying off the coast of the Euphrates. Necho, having taken by storm the fortified Philistine city of Gaza, then moved further along the lowlands of the Mediterranean coast and intended to reach the Jordan through the Jezreel Valley, cross it, and then, by the shortest route through Damascus, reach the banks of the Euphrates. Josiah wanted to prevent this campaign through the former Israeli region. Whether he considered the strengthening of Egypt dangerous for the well-being of his state, or Nabopolassar persuaded him to take a hostile position in relation to Necho, in any case, he gathered a significant army and moved towards the Egyptian pharaoh. He fully hoped for the help of God, whose law he established in Judea with such zeal. And so, as soon as Necho and his army reached the middle of the plain of Jezreel, at Megiddon he came across a Jewish army that wanted to block his further path. The Egyptian king, apparently, assured Josiah that his military campaign was by no means directed against the land of Judah, but had as its goal more distant countries. Despite this, Josiah was resolutely unwilling to allow him to move any further and was prepared to oppose him by force of arms. Then Necho was forced to resort to military force, moved his troops against Josiah, and the latter, suppressed by the numerical superiority of the enemy, was completely defeated and himself mortally wounded. The bodyguards hastily took the body of their beloved dying king to Jerusalem, and upon arrival there he gave up his spirit to God. At the sight of such a sad sight, loud cries arose in the capital. When he was buried in the garden of Uzza, in the new tomb of the last kings of Judah, men and women competed with each other in screams and tears, crying out: “O lord, O glory!” Every year on the day on which the last worthy king from the house of David was mortally wounded by an arrow, a lamentable song was repeated, which the prophet Jeremiah composed on this occasion. Josiah was almost the last and, after David, the best and most pious of the kings of Judah. The lamentable songs that accompanied the burial of Josiah became the historical property of the people and, collected in a special book, were used by the people for a long time. Chapter 43. The Decline of the Kingdom of Judah After the death of Josiah, the kingdom of Judah actually fell under the rule of Egypt, whose pharaoh Necho managed to raise the power of his state so much that even the Mesopotamian warriors trembled before him. He took possession of all of northern Syria, which made up the provinces of Assyria, and in order to keep it behind him, he built a military camp on the banks of the Orontes, near Imath. Having in mind the main enemy, Assyro-Babylonia, Pharaoh left the kingdom of Judah for a time without any attention. The Jews took advantage of this circumstance and, imagining themselves as still an independent state, began to elect a new king, who elected the second son of the late Josiah - Cellum, preferred to others probably because he was from the most beloved wife of the late king. To ensure his royal dignity against disputes over the throne, he was anointed in a special way. In accordance with custom, upon his accession to the throne, he adopted a different name, namely Joahaz. Meanwhile, in reality, neither the will of the people could install a king for itself, nor the sacred anointing was able to make him inviolable. The decision of this important state matter now belonged to another force. The king of Egypt, to whom, after the victory of Megiddon, supremacy over the land of Judea passed, decided otherwise. When the newly elected king went to his military camp in Rivla to receive approval in his choice, he apparently did not find any mercy from the Egyptian warrior. Whether it depended on the simple whim of Necho, or, perhaps, out of respect on his part for the legal order of succession to the throne, but in any case, Necho deposed Jehoahaz, ordered him to be imprisoned and sent to Egypt, and in his place he proclaimed his elder brother, Elgakim, king of Judah. Jehoahaz was thus king only for three months. He remained in Egypt as a prisoner until his death. It would be better for him to die on the battlefield, like his father. He was an energetic and promising young man, “a young lion who began to walk among lions and learned to catch prey.” But the foreign ruler “put him in a cage on a chain, and led him into the fortress, so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel” (Jer. 19:6,9). Speaking about his fate, the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed: “Do not cry for the deceased, and do not regret him; but weep bitterly for the one who goes into captivity, for he will never return and will never see his native country.” The new king, a protege of the pharaoh (renamed Joachim), received the kingdom under difficult conditions of the annual payment of a huge tribute. He undertook to pay his master one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold - a sum that was unbearable for the small kingdom of Judah, and all the more difficult because it was levied with merciless severity. But even this tribute did not limit the hardships of the people. The king himself, who bought his throne at a great price, was not a true lover of the people. Trying to live with royal pomp, he also imposed new taxes on the people, which he collected with the help of military force. He built himself a new palace in Jerusalem and used the free labor of the people, who were forced to do so by force, for the construction. It is clear that such a king could only hasten the death of his state. All these disasters should have an intelligible effect on the people and turn their gaze to the only true King of Israel; but alas, the evil of former idolatry had already poisoned the conscience of the people so much that in these very disasters they began to see vengeance on the part of the gods rejected under Josiah. It seemed to him that he was happier when he worshiped Baals and Ashtoreth. There were people who began to preach the restoration of paganism. “Let us, they said, burn incense to the goddess of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem; because, they added, then we were full and happy, and did not see trouble” (Jer. 44:17). Joachim willingly joined this movement, and idolatry quickly began to take root in the land again. In addition to Canaanite idols, Egyptian idols were also introduced. In the very basements of the Temple of Jerusalem, sacred animals were placed, the patron gods of Pharaoh Joachim, and incense was offered up to them. At the northern gates of the church, women screamed about the disappearance of the Phoenician god Adonis, so that when they found him, they would indulge in the most shameless debauchery. Even worse, in the courtyard, between the portico and the sanctuary, pagan priests gathered, who, turning their faces to the east, idolized the rising sun as their god Baal. The gods in Judea became as numerous as the cities. Idols made of gold and silver, wood and stone were also worshiped in private homes. The heights of the hills were smoking from idolatrous sacrifices. All the groves were desecrated by the shameful churches of Astarte. In the valley of Ginnomova, under the very walls of Jerusalem, the wild triumph of madmen was again heard, sacrificing their children to Moloch. In accordance with such a religious state, the moral state was equally terrible. The pages of the books of modern prophets are striking in their depiction of the abyss of the moral decline of society. Around the prophet Jeremiah and his disciples Baruch and Habakkuk there was still a small circle of people devoted to Jehovah, but they were powerless to stop the increasingly spreading flood of evil. For their loyalty to religion they were subjected to oppression and persecution. Life itself became a burden for them, and they sadly sought refuge, even somewhere in the wilds of the desert, just to get rid of evil. But the duty of service kept them in place. Some of the prophets and their followers had to endure severe persecution and suffering. Jeremiah was imprisoned and thrown into an underground drainage pit turned into a prison, and was forced to flee Judea to save his life. The Prophet Uriah, for his denunciations of the king and the people, was also persecuted by Joachim, who wanted to put him to death. Fleeing from the king's vengeance, Uriah fled to Egypt, but at the request of Joachim, he was extradited by the Egyptian government and vilely killed in Jerusalem. Nature itself seemed to be indignant at the lawlessness committed on earth and the sky did not give rain, so that the country suffered a terrible drought, which, according to the prophets, was precisely the punishment for lawlessness. The Sabbath was not observed at all, and this holy day was spent in the market, trade and revelry. For all this, according to the prophets, the kingdom of Judah was to be subjected to the greatest disasters from external conquerors, and this is exactly what the alliance with Egypt will lead to. But such preaching only made the preacher-prophets themselves even more hated by the people, who despised them and persecuted them as violators of public order. Meanwhile, the punishment it deserved was carried out over the Assyrian kingdom. This once great power, which for six centuries prescribed laws to the peoples and ruled from the foot of the Caucasus and the shores of the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf and from eastern Media to Asia Minor and Egypt, treated with unheard-of cruelty all these peoples subordinate to it, whose formidable kings imagined themselves to be gods - this powerful state quickly fell under the combined pressure of Cyaxares of the Media and Nabopolassar of Babylon. Proud and gigantic Nineveh fell after a long siege (about 605). The last king of Assyria, Sardanapalus, burned himself in his palace. This terrible judgment over the Assyrian capital and people was already foretold in advance by two Jewish prophets, Nahum and Zephaniah. Nahum, for at least two generations, depicted the fall of Nineveh in gloomy colors: “Woe to the city of blood,” he exclaimed: “it is all full of deceit and murder; The robbery does not stop there. You can hear the flapping of a whip and the sound of rolling wheels, the neighing of a horse and the roar of a galloping chariot. The cavalry rushes, the sword flashes and the spears glisten; there are many killed and piles of corpses, there is no end to the corpses, they stumble over their corpses. This is for the many fornications of a harlot of a pleasant appearance, skilled in sorcery, who sells nations with her fornications, and tribes with her enchantments. Here I am against you, says the Lord of hosts! And I will lift up the hem of your garment over your face, and I will show your nakedness to the nations, and your shame to kingdoms, and I will pelt you with abominations, and I will make you despised and put you to shame. And it will happen that everyone, seeing you, will run from you and say: Nineveh is ruined! Who will regret it? Where will I find comforters for you! All your fortifications are like a fig tree with ripe fruits: if you shake them, they will fall straight into the mouth of someone who wants to eat. You have more merchants than there are stars in the sky, but these locusts will scatter and fly away. Your princes are like locusts, and your commanders are like swarms of midges, which during cold weather nest in the cracks of the walls, and when the sun rises, they fly away, and you do not recognize the place where they were. Your shepherds sleep, O king of Assyria, your nobles rest; Your people are scattered across the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. There is no medicine for your wound; your ulcer is painful. Everyone, having heard the news about you, will applaud you, for to whom has your malice not incessantly extended?” (Nahum. 3). Another prophet, Zephaniah, also predicted for an entire human generation: “And the Lord will stretch out His hand to the north, and destroy Assyria, and turn Nineveh into ruins, into a dry place like a desert. And flocks and all kinds of animals will rest in its midst; the pelican and the hedgehog will spend the night in her carved decorations. Their voice will be heard in the windows; the destruction will be found on the door posts, for there will be no cedar paneling on them. This is what a triumphant city will be, living carelessly, saying in its heart: I am and there is no other besides me. How it became a ruin, a den for animals! Everyone passing by him will whistle and wave his hand” (Zeph. 2:13–15). All these predictions have now been fulfilled literally; in later times it was impossible even to find a specific place where Nineveh once stood. The prophets, who closely followed the events of the history of peoples, saw in the fall of Assyria a confirmation of their convictions about the moral government of the world, manifested in the lives of peoples. Assyria fell because it was vicious and arrogant; The powerful Western states will also fall if they indulge in the same lawlessness 300. As a result of the fall of Assyria, important changes took place on the then main stage of history. Media became the main heir to the former Assyrian possessions, Cyaxares took the lion's share and gave his allies, Nabopolassar, only Babylonia, Elimaid and the lands east of the Euphrates 301. The lands and peoples on the western side of the Euphrates, where the Arameans before Lebanon belonged, the Syrians, the Kupheans between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, the Assyrian colonies in the former region of the Kingdom of Israel, then Judea, the Philistine region. Idumea and the peoples on the other side of the Jordan - all these peoples and lands from the Euphrates to the border river of Egypt were taken into possession by the Egyptian king Necho at a time when other kings were busy besieging Nineveh. Continuing the plan of his conquests, Necho even intended to extend them to the eastern side of the Euphrates. Meanwhile, King Nabopolassar, one of the participants in the destruction of Nineveh, died. Hearing about this, Necho thought that it would be easy for him to defeat the young successor of the deceased king. But this young king was Nebuchadnezzar. He was an extremely warlike man with a penetrating mind. He immediately saw the real position and power of his state and could defend its independence. As soon as Necho, with his army brought from Egypt and reinforced in the conquered lands, crossed the Euphrates, the Babylonian army came out to meet him. A battle took place near the city of Carchemish, located at the confluence of Chebar and the Euphrates. In Judah and Jerusalem everyone was awaiting the outcome of this conflict between Egypt and Babylonia with extraordinary excitement. The people wanted Necho's defeat, since they had reduced him to a semi-slave state. This tense state was further intensified by Jeremiah with his speech, in which he predicted the defeat of the Egyptian army. In this speech, the prophet prophesied about Egypt in sublime, highly artistic words: “Prepare your shields and spears and enter the battle; Saddle your horses and sit down your riders, Sharpen your spears, put on your armor. Why, I see, they became timid Hence the horror, says the Lord. To the north, near the Euphrates River, Who is it that rises like a river, And are its waters troubled like streams? And he says: I will rise up and cover the earth, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants. Egypt rises like a river And its waters were troubled like streams. Mount your horses and race your chariots, And the mighty Ethiopians and Libyans, armed with shields, will advance, And the Lidians holding bows and drawing them. For this day is the day of vengeance among the Lord, the God of hosts, To take revenge on His enemies; And he will be satisfied and drunk with their blood; For this will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the God of hosts, In the northern land, near the Euphrates River. Go to Gilead and take the balm, In vain will you multiply medicines, The nations have heard about your shame, And your cry filled the earth; For the strong clashed with the strong, Necho's troops suffered a complete defeat at Carchemish, near the Euphrates. The Egyptian pharaoh had to abandon his plan to conquer Babylonia. Given the current situation, he could hardly maintain his previous conquests. Now he had to again lose all the lands he had conquered from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. This defeat served as a complete confirmation of the prediction of the prophet Jeremiah. As a result, the kingdom of Judah breathed free for a time from Egyptian rule. Thus, once again the people of Judah were delivered from a ruler who threatened the complete destruction of their political independence. Jeremiah often predicted a dark future for the living generation if it did not abandon its errors and vices. Even if the king and courtiers were not enlightened by these prophecies, they were nevertheless depressed by secret fear. But Egypt, their closest enemy, was defeated and weakened; Assyria, which for a whole century had been a constant scourge and yoke for Judea, disappeared from a number of nations; the neighboring nations were not powerful enough to threaten the destruction of the kingdom of Judah. A new, conquering, powerful monarchy had not yet been formed. Media, the main heir to the Assyrian kingdom and which consequently became a powerful monarchy, was too far from Judea to interfere in its fate; Babylonia still had nothing to fear, because it still had to take care of strengthening itself and organizing its state affairs, which had been shaken in the past. She herself had just freed herself from the oppressed position in which she had been for so long during Assyria's rule over her. In any case, to a superficial glance she seemed not at all dangerous. King Joachim and his advisers could therefore, putting aside their worries about the future, freely indulge in their debauchery and their characteristic follies. Freed from the present danger, Joachim indulged in all kinds of revelry, drinking and debauchery. But if the king and his closest advisers did not see any danger in the future, then the seer, the prophet Jeremiah, saw it. It was clear to his divinely inspired vision that with the fall of Assyria, the turmoil of the peoples on the Euphrates and Tigris did not stop, and on the contrary, wars and devastation would continue to an even greater extent. In the Chaldean people, who had hitherto been known only by name, and in their king Nebuchadnezzar, who was emerging from obscurity, he saw the emergence of a new gaming monarchy, which in its power would surpass Assyria and amaze the whole world. Already after the first speech of the Babylonian king, not long after his victory over Necho, Jeremiah predicted that he would extend his victorious hand to the nations, and Judah would especially feel its weight. On one occasion, when the villagers gathered together with the residents of the capital, the prophet laid out before them a terrible vision that had happened to him, and in direct, unvarnished words predicted the fate that lay ahead for the Jews and their neighboring peoples. After opening words that he himself had been exhorting the people to conversion for twenty-three years and that almost daily other prophets preached in vain in the same sense, he announced that the long-threatened fate would befall the Jews through the people of the north and Nebuchadnezzar, who was called to this by God. Speaking on behalf of the Lord of hosts, the prophet preached: “Because you did not listen to My words, behold, I will send and take all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, and will send them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant. And I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all the surrounding nations; And I will completely destroy them, and I will make them a terror and a laughing stock, and an everlasting desolation, and I will also put an end to their voice of joy and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp. And all this land will be desolation and terror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. 25:8-11). In confirmation of his prediction, Jeremiah told how in a prophetic vision he was given a cup of wine of wrath, which he had to give to all nations to drink: Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, then the king of Egypt, his nobles and his people, the kings and cities of the Philistines, Edomites, Moab and Ammonites, in a word, all the nations that became free as a result of the fall of Nineveh and the retreat Egyptian king Necho. According to the command of God, the prophet, giving them this cup, said to them: “Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and do not rise at the sight of the sword that I will send against you.” Depicting the horrors that were to come, the prophet proclaimed: “And those who are slain by the Lord in that day will be from the end of the earth to the end of the earth; will not be mourned, and will not be cleaned up and buried; they will be dung on the face of the earth. Weep, shepherds, and groan, and sprinkle yourself with dust, leaders of the flock; for your days are fulfilled for your slaughter and your dispersion, and your fall as a costly vessel. And there will be no refuge for the shepherds and no salvation for the leaders of the flock” (Jer. 25:33–35). But even this formidable prophetic speech remained without influence for the deaf hearts and minds of the king and his nobles. Nevertheless, the prophet tirelessly continued to warn in various forms about the danger threatening the people from the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar. Next to Jeremiah, the prophet Habakkuk also preached, who also announced the judgment threatening Judea and Jerusalem and predicted that the Chaldeans would be its perpetrators. Habakkuk had much in common with Jeremiah. He was a man of as tender a sensitive heart as the last one. In view of the excessive corruption of the ruler and the people during the reign of Joachim, he was deeply shocked in his soul, and denounced this fall not only in prophetic speeches, but also in lamentable songs. He was, like the son of Hilkiah, not only a prophet, but also a psalmist, and his psalmody was distinguished by a deeply touching tone. Habakkuk's prophetic speeches generally bear the stamp of mournful psalms. True, he did not have such fascination and variety as the prophetic eloquence of Jeremiah, but in his speeches, along with general intelligibility and insight, poetic sublimity and bitter irony were combined. At the same time, he attached more importance to form and art, the dual division of the train of thought and its strophic structure. When Nebuchadnezzar with his warlike people, the Chaldeans, had already entered the banks of the Euphrates to subjugate; the lands between this river and the Mediterranean Sea, previously in the possession of Necho, Habakkuk, in the form of a lamentable song, prophesied that the conqueror would reach Judea, carry out a terrible judgment on it and serve as an instrument of punishment for the sins of the king and the people. But, predicting this disaster, the prophet Habakkuk at the same time prayed to God for the aversion of the approaching thunderstorm. Having depicted the robbery and violence of the Chaldeans at the head of their new king, who, like an eagle, rushed at the prey and subjected everything to destruction before them, the prophet, making an allusion to Nebuchadnezzar himself and turning to God, said: “You, Lord, only allowed him for the sake of judgment. My rock! You appointed him for punishment. It is not natural for Your pure eyes to look at evil deeds, And You cannot look at oppression; Why do you look at the villains and remain silent? When the wicked consumes one who is more righteous than himself, And you leave people like fish in the sea, Like reptiles that have no ruler? And he takes them into his nets, And that’s why he rejoices and triumphs For this he makes sacrifices to his network, Because part of him is fat from them, Does he really have to empty his network for this? And constantly beat up peoples without mercy? 303 With such a deeply touching prayer he turned to God. And after this, the prophet had a new vision, and he was ordered to write clearly on the tablets, so that the reader could easily read what was going to happen in the near future. “Behold, the arrogant soul will not rest, And the righteous will live by his faith An arrogant person, like fermenting wine, does not calm down, So he expands his soul like hell, And like death, he is insatiable, And gathers all nations to himself, And he takes over all the tribes. But won't they all speak a parable about him? Woe to the one who enriches himself beyond measure with what is not his own - for how long? – And he burdens himself with collateral! Since you have robbed many nations, Then all other nations will rob you, For the shedding of human blood, For the ruin of the country, the city and everyone living in it” 304. Here Habakkuk clearly expressed the idea of ​​moral justice in the history of nations, namely, that formidable conquerors will suffer a similar fate from other conquerors, so that “nations labor for fire, and nations torment themselves in vain,” but over time, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” From this vision, Habakkuk again moved to an unbearable state in the kingdom of Judah, and again began to expose those oppressions, injustice, bloodthirstiness and idolatry, the main culprit of which was King Joachim. “Woe to you, who give your neighbor drink.” And you make him drunk so that you can see his shame! You are fed up with shame instead of glory. Drink, too, and show your shame, The cup of the right hand of the Lord will also turn to you, And shame upon your glory. For your wickedness in Lebanon will fall upon you, For the extermination of frightened animals, For the devastation of the country, the city and everyone living in it. What is the use of an image made by an artist, Although the sculptor, making dumb idols, Relying on your own work? Woe to him who says to the tree: Arise! And to the dumb stone: wake up! Will he teach you anything? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And the Lord is in His holy church: Let all the earth be silent before Him." 305. The exhortations, predictions and threats of Jeremiah, Habakkuk and other prophets, despite all their eloquence and persistence, however, did not make any impression on the leaders and the masses. They all seemed to bounce powerlessly from their hard hearts. It was precisely because the prophets repeated their threats so often, because they spoke every day, that the people's ears became accustomed to them and turned out to be dull and insensitive. Everyone continued to live carelessly, relying on a happy accident, belittling the importance of Nebuchadnezzar and laughing at the prophets, since the threats they predicted were not carried out immediately. “Where is the word of the Lord? - the people asked mockingly, “let it come!” (Jer. 17:15). Or they directly rejected the truth of the prophecy: “trouble will not come to us, and we will not see either sword or famine. And the prophets will become wind, and the word of the Lord is not in them; let it be over themselves” (Jer. 5:12, 13). Even those who still believed the prophets consoled themselves with the fact that the threatened evil would not befall them, and that the prophecies referred to a later, more distant time: “many days will pass and every prophetic vision will disappear” (Ezek. 12:22). Finally, the deceptive speeches of the false prophets completely undermined the actions and admonitions of Jeremiah and his companions. The false prophets reassured the people and, constantly saying: “peace, peace!”, assured that the earth would not be disturbed by war. Jeremiah had to suffer most of all from such false prophets and false priests, because he spoke directly and harshly, exposing the very depths of the moral wounds of the people. Even his own friends took part in the criminal plans against him and opposed him 306. In view of the anger directed against him, his own trust in God’s help involuntarily wavered, and he often indulged in bitter complaints: “You have carried me away, Lord, and I have been carried away; You are stronger than me and have overcome; and every day I am in ridicule, everyone mocks me. For as soon as I begin to speak, I shout about violence, I cry out about ruin, because the Word of the Lord has been turned into reproach to me and into everyday ridicule” (Jer. 20:7). In the distress of persecution, when Jeremiah had to stand alone against a whole pack of enemies, princes, priests, false prophets and erring people, the prophet sometimes cursed even his very existence: “Cursed is the day on which I was born; May the day on which my mother gave birth to me not be blessed! Cursed is the man who brought the news to my father and said: You have a son, and thereby made him very happy. Why did I come out of the womb, so that I could see labors and sorrows, and so that my days would disappear in disgrace?” (Jer. 20:14–18). Together with his teacher, his faithful disciple Baruch, the son of Neriah, was also persecuted, who inseparably followed him, like Elisha the great Tishbite. And he also complained about the sorrows and disasters that he had to endure. But the truth of the word of God is not put to shame forever, and its proclaimers are not liars; their prophecy was about to come true, the disaster they had predicted was approaching ever closer from the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar, having completed the strengthening of his enlarged state inside and at the same time taking care of improving the waterways inside through the digging and regulation of canals, undertook a further campaign of conquest. Aramaic Syria, divided into small regions, submitted to him without any resistance; then it was the turn of Phenicia, whose king, Etobaal II, also became a tributary of Nebuchadnezzar. But this important Chaldean enterprise was actually directed against Egypt. For a more successful conquest of this country, Nebuchadnezzar needed to subjugate the lands lying between Syria and Egypt, namely Judea, Philistia and Edom. No matter how insignificant they were in comparison with this game monarchy, however, their hostile attitude could present Nebuchadnezzar with some obstacles on his way, which gave him a reason for their subjugation. And so, the Chaldean army, heading towards the borders of Egypt, moved further and further. From Dan, the beautiful city at the foot of Hermon, the neighing of war horses was already heard, and the earth trembled from the military cry of the Babylonians (Jer. 8:16). Joachim was presented with a demand from the powerful conqueror that he express submission or be ready for a destructive invasion of the Babylonians. On the other hand, Egypt encouraged him to resist firmly, promised help and deceived him with dubious promises. As a result, Judah found itself in the same vacillating position as it once was in the time of Hezekiah, becoming a battlefield for the struggle of two great monarchies. It was necessary to decide on something; but, awaiting Egyptian help or some miracle, Joachim and his advisers postponed the decision day after day. In extreme anxiety, a day of fasting was appointed for the ninth month; all the people were convened in Jerusalem to pray to God to avert the threatening disaster. Despite all the idolatrous perversion, the people still put their extreme trust in Jehovah, hoping that He would provide them with protection against their most powerful enemy. The people were in extreme excitement, and fearing for their future, flocked to the church square, as if they could find a sure refuge there. At the same time, numerous sacrifices were made, many put on coarse hair clothes and sprinkled ashes on their heads, as if hoping to ward off the impending disaster with these signs of grief. Jeremiah ordered his faithful disciple Baruch to write down that prophetic speech in which several years earlier he had predicted the irresistible power of the then newly emerging Chaldean kingdom, prophesying that all the nations around Judea and she herself would be subject to his yoke. When Baruch entered this prophecy into the scroll, Jeremiah ordered him to openly read the contents of the scroll in front of the church in the presence of the assembled people of the capital and country. From here the people should have learned that the prophet had already foreseen and foretold the impending danger earlier. Jeremiah hoped by this to awaken in the people the consciousness of their guilt and force them to turn to God with all their hearts. For some reason, the prophet himself could not give a sermon, as a result of which Baruch replaced him. But this latter at first did not dare to begin this business, fearing bad consequences for himself. By the content of his speech, he obviously had to exhort the assembled people to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, while the people gathered at the church to pray for deliverance from this disaster. In this predicament, Baruch exclaimed: “Woe is me! for the Lord added sorrow to my illness; I am faint with my sighs, and find no rest” (Jer. 45:3). To this Jeremiah answered him half-reproachfully, half-tenderly: “Thus says the Lord: Behold, what I have built I will destroy, and what I have planted I will uproot—all this land. And you ask yourself something great: don’t ask.” Every individual person must sacrifice himself during such grave upheavals and disasters. Baruch finally agreed and accepted the assignment given to him. And so, in one of the open rooms, in the eastern courtyard of the church, he read the contents of the scroll to the people. Many of those present may have heard this warning speech before, but they did not pay due attention to it or forgot. Now, in view of the threatening disaster, when Nebuchadnezzar’s army was already not far from Jerusalem, the contents of the scroll made a terrible impression on everyone. The event that now hung like a threatening sword over the country had been predicted by the prophet several years earlier - namely, that the king of Babylon would come to the country and destroy it if correction did not follow; at the same time, enslavement was predicted against those peoples for whose help Judea hoped. The entire people's assembly was amazed and shocked. One young man, Micaiah, the son of Jemariah, immediately ran from the square to the princes gathered in one of the chambers of the palace, and told them about the stunning impression that Jeremiah’s prophecy made on the listeners. When he conveyed the contents of the sermon, it amazed the nobles too. Many princes were present at the meeting, and among them Elisha, the recorder of the army, in whose premises the nobles gathered, Jemariah, the father of Micah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, who, by order of Joachim, brought the prophet Uriah from Egypt to Jerusalem to trial. They all invited Baruch to once again read in their presence the contents of the scroll confirming the truth of Jeremiah's prediction. Every word of this scroll was like a heavy blow to their hearts, and they were seized with fear. As a result, they decided to report this to the king, in the hope that he would also be touched and shocked, would renounce all opposition to Nebuchadnezzar, and perhaps, like his father Josiah, when reading the found book of the law, would repent and begin a moral and religious transformation. The princes actually went to the king and made a report to him about everything that had happened. At first, their hope seemed to be justified, because Joachim ordered the scroll to be brought to him so that it could be read in his presence. Since the time was quite cold, the king sat in front of a warming vessel filled with burning coals placed in the middle of the room, and the princes and nobles stood around him. With intense attention they listened to the words of the scroll of Jeremiah, which was read by the experienced reader Jehudi, the son of Nathan. But the reading of the prophecy made no impression on the king’s hardened heart. Joachim calmly ordered each individual piece of paper to be handed to him as he read it, and threw them onto the burning coals. The princes looked at this with horror, expecting the favorable effect of the reading, and asked the king not to bring a terrible fate upon the people. But he did not pay attention to this and continued to throw the sheets of paper on the fire until the entire scroll was burned. All those close to the king, the king’s sons and his confidants, who also did not pay any attention to the warning, remained indifferent to what was read. Joachim even gave them the command to find the prophet and his disciple who announced such disasters in order to take their lives, as had already been done with the prophet Uriah. Fortunately, the frightened nobles took care earlier to hide Jeremiah and Baruch in a place where no one could find them, which was the only way they were saved from the death that threatened them. Then a new prophecy was uttered to the wicked king by Jeremiah, who predicted that for such arrogance and unbelief the king would not personally transfer the throne of David to his son, that his body would be thrown out unburied in the streets, and only after decomposition would it be buried in a “donkey’s burial,” and no one would utter the usual lamentations about him: “alas, sir!” - “alas, his greatness!” This prediction soon came true in all its terrible accuracy. But nevertheless, it was a day of great excitement in Jerusalem. The reading of the scroll at least partially produced its effect, and not only among the people, but even among the princes. Those who were convinced by the prophecy of Jeremiah and took care of his salvation decided to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and among them was also the writer Elisham, who was in charge of military affairs. Since together with him many other noble members of the council were against the war, Joachim, of course, could not undertake it, since otherwise he could endanger his very throne. Therefore, he made peace with Nebuchadnezzar, offered him the tribute imposed on him, promised to supply him with an army, and assumed all the duties that a tributary would then have to perform. This was the beginning of the Chaldean tributary of Judea (600). Jeremiah could not yet leave his refuge, since the king was still extremely hostile against him and could pour out all his anger on him. The princes who were on his side supported him, and even the Babylonian conqueror, who became aware that the prophet foreshadowed a brilliant future for him and persuaded him to recognize his power, even then, as later, could provide him with protection. Idolatry, it is true, was abolished, as many might have expected as a result of this event; Only one madness was abolished, and even then only in order to replace it with another. The cult of the so-called “heavenly queen,” the Egyptian Neita, was abolished. Before the eyes of the Chaldean ruler, it was impossible to tolerate external signs of Judea's devotion to Egypt. But instead of this cult, the Babylonian cult of the stars was introduced, which was performed with no less, at least ostentatious, zeal. Joachim, however, endured the Babylonian yoke with displeasure and did not want to curb his passion for autocracy any longer. The Chaldean vassalage was apparently difficult. The Egyptian king, of course, did not abandon various intrigues to induce Joachim to fall away from Nebuchadnezzar. And so, when the Phoenician king Ethbaal II refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar (598) and strengthened the city of Tire so much that he could provide long-term resistance, Joachim followed his example in an incomprehensible blindness; he also refused tribute and entered into an alliance with Egypt, as well as Phenicia. As soon as the news reached Nebuchadnezzar about this, he quickly appeared before the gates of Jerusalem, which the frightened king opened without resistance to the formidable warrior, hoping by this to at least partially soften his anger. But still he had to pay a heavy fine and the saddest thing was to see how the Babylonian warrior took with him all the expensive vessels of the church and sent them to Babylon. At the same time, the conqueror also captured several noble young men as hostages, intending at the same time to give them a Chaldean education and subsequently make them faithful servants of the throne. Among these young men was Daniel with his three companions - Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, whose subsequent fate made them famous in history. This was the so-called first captivity, which is considered the beginning of the seventy-year captivity of Babylon. Joachim himself died an inglorious death a few years later. With his new intrigues in favor of the pharaoh, he again aroused the wrath of the Babylonians, who took Jerusalem, chained the rebellious king to send him to Babylon, but he was soon killed in Jerusalem itself and his body, according to Jewish tradition, was thrown into the street and only then given a “donkey” burial. In place of Joachim, his eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin reigned, or rather his mother Nehushta, the daughter of a Jerusalemite, who held the reins of government in her hands. Jehoiachin continued to indulge in the pipe dream of being able to resist Nebuchadnezzar and did not obey him. He also continued all the immoral and idolatrous abominations of his father. But his and his mother's blindness could only last for a short time. Nebuchadnezzar was finally able to divert a large army from the siege of Tire in order to direct it against Egypt, which began hostile actions against him. This Chaldean army easily conquered the entire land right up to the Egyptian River (Rinocolura). At the same time, almost all of Judea was occupied, right down to the cities in the south that opposed the conqueror. Many of the Jews captured at this time were taken captive. Nevertheless, Jehoviah continued to resist, thought to find safety behind the strong walls of Jerusalem and counted on deliverance from Egypt during the siege. Nebuchadnezzar therefore sent several of his generals to besiege Jerusalem. Jeremiah, who, apparently, during the last years of the reign of Joachim stopped prophesying, again began to preach courageously during this siege and, moreover, with such freedom and courage that lead us to assume that he could count on the support of several princes and part of the people. To give special expressiveness to his speech, he used one visual symbol. He hid in a rocky cleft near the Euphrates a linen belt, which he had worn on his body for a long time, and after some time, when it had already decayed, he again took it out from there. With this decayed belt in his hand, he stood before the people and said: “So I will crush the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem, says the Lord. This worthless people, who do not want to listen to My words, live according to the stubbornness of their hearts and follow other gods to serve them and worship them, will be like this belt, which is good for nothing. For as a belt lies close to the loins of a man, so I have brought close to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says the Lord, that they may be My people and My glory, praise and adornment; but they did not listen. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every wineskin is filled with wine. They will say to you: don’t we know that every wineskin is filled with wine? And you say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land with wine until they become drunk, and the kings who sit on the throne of David, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will crush them one against another, and fathers and sons together, says the Lord, I will not spare, nor will I have mercy, nor will I regret to destroy them. Listen and take heed, do not be proud, for the Lord speaks. If you do not obey this, then My soul will mourn your pride in hidden places, it will weep bitterly, and My eyes will shed tears; for the flock of the Lord will be carried away into captivity. Tell the king and queen: humble yourself, sit down, for the crown of your glory has fallen from your head. And if you say, daughter of Zion, in your heart: why has this happened to me? Because of the multitude of your iniquities, your hem is uncovered, your heels are exposed. Can an Ethiopian change his skin and a leopard his spots? So, can you do good if you are accustomed to doing evil? Therefore, I will scatter them like dust carried by the desert wind” (Jer. 13:1-24). Rising to a highly moving pathos in his prophecy, Jeremiah exclaimed: "Come up to Lebanon and shout, And on Bashan lift up your voice, and shout from Avarim, For all your friends are crushed. I told you during your prosperity; But you said: I won’t listen. This has been your behavior since your youth, That you did not listen to My voice. All your shepherds will be carried away by the wind, And your friends will go into captivity; And then you will be ashamed And I am put to shame for all your atrocities. Living in Lebanon, nesting in cedar trees! How pitiful you will be when torment befalls you, Like the pain of a woman in childbirth" 307. And then, the prophet ended his prophecy with a direct prediction about the fate of Jehoiachin: “As I live, said the Lord, if Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the ring on My right hand, then from here I will pluck you, and give you into the hands of those who seek your life, and into the hands of those whom you fear, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hands of the Chaldeans, and I will throw you and your mother, who gave birth to you, into a foreign country where you were not born, and there you will die; but to the land where their soul desires to return, it will not return there. Oh, earth, earth, earth! Listen to the word of the Lord!” (Jer. 22:24–27). Jehoiachin had little time left to think about correction, because the disasters of the siege soon took their toll. These disasters were apparently aggravated by the lack of rain. Jeconiah was forced to enter into negotiations with the besieging military leaders on the issue of surrender, when Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived in the enemy army, deciding to put an end to the rebellious king. It was then that the ill-fated king of Judah, along with his queen-mother and a large retinue, turned to him to ask him for mercy. But the winner was not inclined to mercy, and made the most severe demands. Jehoiachin had to leave the throne, and with his mother, his wives, sisters and eunuchs accompanying him, he was sent into captivity to Babylon. He occupied the throne of David for one hundred days. It was also a mercy on the part of Nebuchadnezzar that he left him alive and did not shed any blood at all. He could have wiped out the people of Judah from the face of the earth or taken them all into captivity, but in reality he sent into captivity only ten thousand Jerusalemites and transferred them to Babylonia, and among them there were seven thousand soldiers, two thousand persons from different classes, among whom were members of the Aaronic priesthood, Levites and Benjamites, who mostly lived in the capital, as well as a thousand artisans who knew how to forge military weapons and make fortifications, in a word, the best and selected population. Actually, from the rural Jews he took 3023 people into Babylonian captivity at the same time. At the same time, Nebuchadnezzar burned the treasures of the palace and church, and this was not any act of special violence, but was completely in accordance with the military law of that time. Nevertheless, he left the social structure in its previous state, spared the city and walls, and did not touch the church itself. The first external conqueror of Jerusalem, after almost five hundred years of its historical life, treated it much more leniently than many conquerors in subsequent times. Chapter 44. The death of the kingdom of Judah After the occupation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the sending of its best population into Babylonian captivity, only the poor and inferior population remained in Judea. This event is actually called the “great captivity,” but with it the existence of the kingdom of Judah had not yet completely ended. To manage its remains, Nebuchadnezzar appointed the third son of the pious Josiah, Matthaniah, renamed Zedekiah. He was a man of a meek, non-belligerent, compliant character. The Babylonian conqueror thought to find in him a guarantee that he would not put him in any more difficulties. But in order to more accurately ensure his obedience, Nebuchadnezzar entered into a solemn alliance with him and took an oath of allegiance from him. The land of Judea was of particular importance to him as a stronghold against Egypt, the conquest of which continued to occupy him. As a result of this, he sent the most noble families and princes of the Jews into captivity, so that with their free-thinking they would not prompt the king to warlike enterprises and to fall away from him. Judaism was supposed to constitute a small, weak state, which was supposed to rely only on him and draw its strength from him. Of the noble families, Nebuchadnezzar left only those of whose loyalty he was convinced. They formed the basis of the Chaldean party, which equally represented the pledge of fidelity, and at their head was the house of Shaphan, whose grandson, Gedaliah, was a constant supporter of Nebuchadnezzar. The Prophet Jeremiah, although he was not a direct supporter of the Chaldeans, however, represented even more of a guarantee for a good attitude towards Babylonia, since he more than once predicted its dominion over the peoples as a divine predestination. It could have been foreseen that he would continue to speak to the people in this sense. Nebuchadnezzar therefore, in political terms, wanted not only the continued existence, but also the development and internal strengthening of the Jewish state. He left the fortifications of Jerusalem intact, as well as other fortified cities, such as Lachish, Aceh, etc., without destruction. It was only necessary to ensure that Judea did not indulge in the unrealizable dream of regaining its independence, but relied entirely on Babylonia. She was supposed, as the prophet figuratively said, to be like a grapevine with hanging branches; although it had to grow, but only to a certain height, and feed its roots from soil common to Babylonia. Judea in its humble position could have existed for a long time. She could soon recover from the cruel blows. No matter how regrettable it was for those who remained to be taken into captivity by so many noble families, the colors of the military power of the people, no matter how the capital and the country in general were depressed by sadness as a result of this subjugation, they nevertheless miraculously recovered from the shock and again soon achieved prosperity. Until very recently, Jerusalem was considered a populous and beautiful city, which was famous as the “crown of beauty”, “the joy of the whole earth”, as “the princess between the lands” 308. Next to the palace built by Solomon and enlarged by Joachim, there were several other excellent buildings of the nobles, built of cedar or cypress trees. The church, which at various times was decorated and enlarged with additional courtyards, presented, from its elevated position on the hill of Moriah, a delightful spectacle. In general, the state of the kingdom of Judah, despite its tributary status, was so satisfactory that with greater modesty the people could have been satisfied with their fate and led a quiet and peaceful existence. But, unfortunately, moral depravity had already so corrupted the body of the Jewish people that they could not withstand the tests of time and were inevitably moving towards their decay. This was facilitated both by the nobles surrounding the court, who constantly indulged in base rivalry at court, and by the tsar himself, who, succumbing to the influence of one party or another, naturally could not steer the small ship of his state with a firm hand. This manifested itself with particular force under Zedekiah, since this young king was a man of completely unroyal weakness and gentleness, as a result of which he was not able to resist the machinations of his nobles. He was a well-intentioned man, apparently not particularly devoted to idolatry; he even grieved over moral decay when this was reported to him, and was ready to listen to the preaching of the prophets. But he did not have sufficient strength to resist the nobility and their machinations. Zedekiah apparently intended to honor his oath to Nebuchadnezzar and remain faithful to him, but he did not have sufficient willpower to insist on his decision. Rebellious plans were constantly being drawn up behind his back, which he, in his alienated life in his palace, did not find out about at the time, and when he found out, he could not counteract them. This weakness on the part of the king and the insane insolence on the part of the nobility quickly brought the Jewish state closer to complete destruction. At first, after the expulsion of King Jeconiah and entire thousands of the oldest families, the dangerous power of the Chaldeans, experienced by Judah, did not allow any serious thought about rejecting the Babylonian vassalage. Of necessity, they had to put up with the inevitable, especially since since the death of Josiah the people had become accustomed to enduring the foreign yoke. Consequently, during the first three or four years of Zedekiah's reign, nothing changed in the condition of the people. Idolatry, injustice, oppression of the poor by the rich - all this continued to remain as it was under Joachim. Only the persecution against the prophets ceased, since Zedekiah was a gentler ruler than his half-brother, Joachim, and in the depths of his heart believed the prophecies of Jeremiah, who did not cease to exhort to reconcile with the Chaldean tributary and not make any attempts at rebellion. But influential people at court were not content with such a modest fortune and continued to wage an underground struggle, little by little dragging the people into a terrible abyss. They were gripped by a positively insane dazzle. From different sides, representations and hints were made to the king about the possibility of breaking away from Nebuchadnezzar. First of all, there was an opportunity to rely on Egypt, which, for its part, offered brilliant promises for alliance, although it rarely kept its word. For Judah, as the prophet expressively said, Egypt represented a broken reed, which, if you take it in your hand, cracks and wounds your hand with splinters, and if you lean on it, it breaks and leads to a fall (Ezek. 29:7). Psammetichus II, the son of Pharaoh Necho (695–590), reigned in Egypt at that time. Having defeated the Ethiopians and expanded the borders of Egypt to the south, he was carried away by a bold plan - to extend his rule to the regions of the Euphrates. He also persuaded neighboring states, including Judea, to the same goal. He offered Zedekiah horses for cavalry and military assistance if only he would agree to defect from Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, an Egyptian party formed among the nobility in Jerusalem, which sought to break away from Babylonia. Of course, she could not openly declare her inclination towards Egypt. But she made this known by accepting the Egyptian cult of animals. The son of Saphan, Jezania, with seventy other persons, painted images of animals revered in Egypt in one of the church courtyards, in several magnificent rooms decorated with mosaics, and brought incense to them. Even some members of the Aaronic priesthood became so humbled and succumbed to such crazy schemes that they joined this party. On the other hand, King Ethbaal of Tire also pestered Judea, who encouraged it and other neighboring countries to also wage war against Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian king continued to besiege the island Tire, where the king and the flower of the people fled with their treasures collected from all over the world. It constrained him so much that, completely cut off from the mainland, he had to supply himself with provisions and weapons from Cyprus. A general uprising was therefore extremely desirable for Ethbaal; it might force Nebuchadnezzar to divert his forces from the siege of Tire, or at least ease his blockade. Therefore, he took all measures to induce Judah to fall away from Babylonia. The princes of Edom, Moab and Ammon were already inclined to this cause. All that remained was to persuade King Zedekiah to join the anti-Babylonian alliance. Judea was also encouraged to fall away from Babylonia from a third party, namely from the captive Jews, who were in constant communication with their fatherland through letters and special messengers. They encouraged war because they harbored the unrealistic hope that Nebuchadnezzar’s army would be defeated and they, one way or another, would regain their freedom and have the opportunity to return to their homeland. At the same time, the Jewish captives in a foreign land intrigued against Zedekiah, since in their unrealizable plan they were even presented with the idea of ​​​​restoring the deposed king Jehoiachin in place of Zedekiah (Jer. 28:4). It is not known by whose inspiration, but in any case it is certain that false prophets and various dreamers, wizards and astrologers began to preach in chorus, as if by order, in the squares of Jerusalem and the church: “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” “Behold, the vessels of the house of the Lord will soon be returned from Babylon” (Jer. 27:9, 16). There was the same excitement among the Babylonian captives, and false prophets also appeared among them, preaching about return and freedom, about peace and happiness for Jerusalem 309. They proclaimed all this before the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and three such prophets are known: Ahab, the son of Kolea, Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, the Nechelamite. The character of these “prophets” can be judged by the fact that the first two of them were said to have engaged in debauchery with married women. Shemaiah was the forerunner of those unscrupulous people who, while demanding complete freedom of speech, were at the same time so intolerant of those who differed in their views with them that they sought to silence them through prison and death (Jer. 29:24 et seq.). In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign, envoys from different countries simultaneously arrived in Jerusalem to induce Zedekiah to resign from Nebuchadnezzar, namely ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tire and Sidon; they exhausted their art of eloquence and presented all kinds of promises and plans just to win over the wavering king. Judaea, they flatteringly said, should be proud that so many people sought its assistance; it could become a focal point on which the entire course of political events depended. What answer Zedekiah gave to those sent is unknown. With his weak character, he could hardly come to any definite decision. On the one hand, he was smiling at the hope of independence, and on the other hand, he was depressed by the fear of the consequences to which he exposed himself if the wrath of the powerful king of Babylon were aroused against him. But the princes of Judah, who continued to indulge in impossible dreams, presented to the messengers a satisfactory assurance that they would induce or induce the weak king to a general alliance against Nebuchadnezzar. But what gave the insignificant kings of Edom, Moab and Ammon, whom Nebuchadnezzar could crush with one blow of his foot, the courage to so often build feats against him, and the king Zedekiah and his advisers the courage to accept the messengers of these kings, and discuss with them the possibility of hostile actions against a powerful monarch? What also gave the Babylonian captives the courage, in some ways in front of Nebuchadnezzar himself, to preach against him and predict the fall of his power? What was the basis of all their vain hope? One might think that Nebuchadnezzar, while part of his army was busy besieging the island of Tire, was forced to wage a serious war against the Elamites. This people, who were extremely warlike and experienced in the use of weapons, after the division of the Assyrian kingdom between Media and Babylonia, went to the latter. But dominion over him was only apparent, since in reality he could not be completely subjugated. He constantly fought for his wild freedom and stubbornly resisted every conqueror. In order to break this rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar, apparently, at this very time began military action against Elam and, perhaps, suffered some defeat. In addition, the powerful king Cyaxares of Media, whose daughter was married to Nebuchadnezzar, also died. The Babylonian king was no longer on friendly terms with his successor, Astyages. Moreover, he even feared the Medes would invade his country and ordered the construction of a huge wall, 100 feet high and 20 feet thick, between the Euphrates and the Tigris, the so-called Median wall, seven miles long, precisely to prevent a hostile attack by the Medes 310. This confusing situation in which Nebuchadnezzar found himself in the twelfth year of his reign gave the little kings the courage to engage in intrigue, instill in the Jewish captives in Babylonia a crazy dream of their imminent release, and influential persons in Jerusalem, who received news of all events through these captives, the hope of overthrowing the Babylonian yoke, and, finally, together with false prophets and various fortune-tellers, cherish the dream that “the slavery of Judea will soon end.” The true patriot of his people, the prophet Jeremiah, spoke out against this madness, although this required a lot of courage. It was clear to his prophetic spirit that Nebuchadnezzar was called upon irresistibly to make his victorious movement and bring many nations under his scepter. Therefore, he warned King Zedekiah, the people and the priests not to indulge in flattering dreams, but to put up with Babylonian tributary, otherwise they would be crushed and crushed by the powerful conqueror. To give special expressiveness to his words, he placed a wooden yoke around his neck, appeared to the messengers of foreign lands and, in the name of God, declared to them that He who created the earth in all its fullness provides it to the one who is called by Him, and that He gives Nebuchadnezzar the power to subjugate all these lands. As a result, they must voluntarily bend their necks under his yoke, otherwise the disasters of war, famine and plague will befall them. He announced to the Jewish people with full confidence that not only would his hope for the restoration of the church vessels taken to Babylon not be fulfilled, but the magnificent columns, the copper sea and water chariots would also be taken there (Jer. 27). While he was preaching to the people like this with a yoke around his neck, one of the false prophets, Hananiah, the son of Azur from Gibeon, came up, broke his yoke, and flattering the people’s passions, falsely spoke in the name of God: “I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. After two years I will return this place, all the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and carried them to Babylon.” Jeremiah himself was amazed at the unexpected appearance of this false prophet and said: “So be it! May the Lord do this! May the Lord fulfill your words which you have spoken concerning the return of the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the captives to this place.” But immediately then it was revealed to his spirit that he would say that instead of a wooden yoke, Nebuchadnezzar would place an iron yoke on the necks of all nations who would oppose him. He foreshadowed the imminent death of Ananias, since he wanted to seduce the people with false prophecies in the name of God. And indeed, less than two months had passed before Ananias died (Jer. 28:15–17). Jeremiah considered it his prophetic duty to warn the insane captives in Babylon. He sent them a letter with the following content: “This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruits. Take wives and give birth to sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they will bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and do not decrease. And take care of the welfare of the city to which I have resettled you, and pray to the Lord for it; for with his prosperity, you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who are among you and your fortunetellers deceive you; and do not obey the dreams that you dream. They prophesy to you falsely in My name. I did not send them, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When you are seventy years old in Babylon, then I will visit you and fulfill My good word concerning you, to bring you back to this place” (Jer. 29:1-10). He predicted to the false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah that the king of Babylon would put them to death through fire, and that their names would become a curse among the captives. Jeremiah entrusted his letter to two messengers, whom King Zedekiah sent to Nebuchadnezzar, probably with gifts as proof of his loyalty. He, apparently, considered it necessary to bring to the attention of the king of Babylon that he remained vassal allegiance to him and did not take part in the alliance of various princes against his rule. Were it not the fiery words of Jeremiah that kept Zedekiah from taking that step that would have plunged him into great danger? Or perhaps the advisers themselves found the situation dubious because some unexpected event had occurred. In any case, Zedekiah remained faithful to his oath, and Judah enjoyed tolerable peace for another two years (593–591). But those who expected a change in the situation were dissatisfied and wanted to take revenge on Jeremiah for their disappointment. In mockery they often asked him: “What is the Lord’s burden?” Playing with words, he answered them: “What burden? I will leave you, says the Lord” (Jer. 23:33ff). Among the captives in Babylonia, there was likewise a hostile agitation against Jeremiah. One of the local leaders, Shemaiah, a Ne-Helamite, accused him in one letter of acting treacherously by exhorting the captives to settle for a long time in Babylonia. Shemaiah then made bitter reproaches to the priest Zephaniah, the overseer of the church, for treating the prophet so considerately; it was his duty to take appropriate measures against Jeremiah, as well as against all the prophets of the same mind with him, in order to bring them to trial and even torture them. The dissatisfied among the captives sought no less than the separation of Judea from Nebuchadnezzar, and would like to suppress every voice that loudly denounced the madness of such a plan. The rebels in Jerusalem were in complete agreement with these rebels in Babylon. False prophets constantly exclaimed, “I had a vision,” and told their dreams about the great prosperity that was coming to Judah if only she would decide to throw off the yoke of Babylon. In this dizzying confusion, less and less attention was paid to Jeremiah's voice. He could only indulge in complaints, and exclaimed about these false prophets: “My heart is completely torn, all my bones are shaking. I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome with wine for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of His holy words” (Jer. 23:9 et seq.). Before these insane voices within, before this external pressure from Egypt and neighboring countries, as well as before the riot of the ambitious nobles of Judah, the weak Zedekiah was unable to resist. He allowed himself to be carried away by this dangerous trend, refused Nebuchadnezzar tribute and, not paying attention to his oath, broke the tributary relationship of Judea to Babylon (in 591). Thus the lot was cast, which was to decide the entire future of the Jewish people. The blame for this crazy step cannot be laid entirely on the court or the Egyptian military party. The spirit of mad enthusiasm finally gripped most of the people, at least in the capital. Jeremiah, with his gloomy forebodings and prophecies regarding the outcome of this step, stood completely aloof. Even his own like-minded people, faithful followers of Jehovah, firmly held the belief that Jerusalem was the city of God, and the church could not perish, and that the enemy, no matter how numerous his army, would not be able to conquer them. Even neighboring countries apparently considered Jerusalem secure against military disaster and destruction. “The kings of the earth and all those living in the world did not believe that the enemy and the enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem” (Pl. 4:12). The Jewish capital, during its five-hundred-year existence, although it was captured by enemies (such as Susakima), however, always remained unharmed; this fact could serve as a sign of its indestructibility for its inhabitants. Moreover, many prophets praised it as a holy city of refuge, which could give its inhabitants support and protection under its motherly wings in any trouble. The prophet Joel, who announced the terrible day of the Lord for sinners and criminals, promised that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation, as the Lord has said, and for the rest whom the Lord will call” (Joel 2:32). And the prophet Isaiah expressed the same promise, saying that when the Lord washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion, then over all the revered shrines of St. the city will be covered: “and there will be a tent for shade during the day from the heat, and for shelter and protection from storms and fire” (Is. 4:4-6). It is not surprising in view of all this that the military party was in a very cheerful mood, and was confident that the defection from Nebuchadnezzar would not entail any disasters. Jazania, Phaltia and other princes of the people, who were striving to fall away, confidently and sharply said: “It’s not close yet, we will build houses; he (the city) is a cauldron, and we are meat,” which cannot be separated from each other (Ezek. 11:1, 2). Of course, the leaders of the people did not waste time for military preparations; they tried to give the walls of Jerusalem greater resistance, collect military funds and supply it with the necessary supplies. And in fact, all this was done on such a scale that the city could withstand the most brutal enemy attack for a year and a half. But the residents pinned their main hope on the inexplicable spiritual steadfastness of the city, on a miraculous salvation. The roles have now changed. During the time of Isaiah, during the siege by Sennacherib, the prophet specifically pointed out to the people spiritual protection, and the people had little confidence in it. Now, on the contrary, another great prophet was destroying the dream that the people could find salvation thanks to the church. But Jeremiah's voice during the preparations for war was even less listenable. Subsequent events apparently confirmed the flattering promises of various soothsayers and dreamy soothsayers. Nebuchadnezzar did not immediately send his army to punish Zedekiah for treason and apostasy, and to destroy Jerusalem. More than a year passed before he set out on a military campaign, and then another whole year passed again before he finally decided to attack Jerusalem. What could be the reason for such slowness? Nothing definite is known in this regard; but it is likely that Judea did not stand alone, since the neighboring nations that sent messengers to Jerusalem entered into an alliance with Judea against Nebuchadnezzar. Baalis, king of Ammon, decidedly became hostile to Babylon. Tyre, who undoubtedly belonged to the same alliance, without special inducement, although could not do much, since its main island was still under siege, was nevertheless able to give money to the allies for military needs. The Edomites and Philistines then also sided with Judea. But at the head of all, Egypt was inciting a hostile attitude towards Babylon, which promised Judea and neighboring peoples military assistance against it. Psammetichus II was succeeded by his son Apries 311, who was an enterprising king and ruled the country for a long time (590–571). He promised King Zedekiah not only auxiliary troops and horses, but he himself set out with a large army to expel the Chaldeans from Judea 312. Zedekiah closely sided with Apries, and placed all his hope in him. Under such circumstances, in view of the strong defensive alliance of peoples from Lebanon to the borders of Egypt on this and that side of the Jordan, Nebuchadnezzar undoubtedly did not find it so easy to punish Zedekiah’s treason with a quick military campaign. He had to first equip a large, experienced army with siege weapons, and this required time. As a result, the inhabitants of Judea, and especially the inhabitants of the capital, could increasingly indulge in the dream that the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar would not befall them. The prophets who foretold impunity for treason were apparently right in exposing the prophecies of Jeremiah. Even those who were still strong to believe him consoled themselves with the fact that the threat of punishment he proclaimed would not be carried out in their time. Even special current sayings were formed in Judea. Some said: “Many days will pass, and all prophetic vision will disappear”; others echoed them, saying: “The prophetic vision which he saw will come to pass after many days, and he is prophesying about times far distant” (Ezek. 12:22, 27). But all these dreams were soon to crumble into dust before harsh reality. Finally, a truly terrible hour struck for the Jewish people and their capital. Nebuchadnezzar, having slowed down for some time, for the reasons indicated, now set out on a campaign with a large army to punish the rebellious peoples, like indignant slaves. He arrived in the regions of Lebanon and Jordan and there decided by lot to determine against which country he would first open military operations: against Ammon or against Judea; he fired two arrows from his bow with the inscriptions of the names of these countries, asked his household gods and ordered fortune-telling to be done using the entrails of sacrificial animals. But he didn't need to make particularly big preparations. The neighboring nations, inclined to fall away under external influence, Ammon, Moab and Edem, already at the mere rumor of Nebuchadnezzar’s approach, lost all courage and humbled themselves before him. The Edomites, who were closest to Judah, in order to atone for their guilt, even became directly hostile towards their former ally. Tire, himself in straitened circumstances, could not provide any help. Thus, Judea could only rely on the help of Egypt. But even this latter was slow to provide any resistance to the advancing conqueror. Therefore, it was not difficult for Nebuchadnezzar to deal with Judea, and he quickly took many fortified cities; only in the southwest did Lachish and Azekah provide him with significant opposition (Jer. 34:7). But the Babylonian army, leaving them alone for a while, moved straight towards Jerusalem, which it approached on the tenth day of the tenth month. The Jewish capital was strongly fortified and supplied with all kinds of supplies and water so much that it could withstand a long siege. But the surrounding villagers, when the enemy approached, fled to the city with their children and herds and became unexpected consumers. Likewise, the Rechabites, with their leader named Jazania, descendants of that Jonadab who introduced the Nazirite way of life in his family, also sought refuge in Jerusalem (Jer. 35:2 et seq.). Since Zedekiah or his courtiers and nobles responded to Nebuchadnezzar’s demand to surrender with a decisive “no,” the Babylonian king began a proper siege. According to the ancient rules of siege, special ramparts were erected around the walls of Jerusalem in order to reach the height of the walls, siege towers were built so that soldiers under their cover could throw arrows into the city, and battering machines were brought in to use heavy stones to shake the walls and make breaches in them. The inhabitants of Jerusalem defended themselves, however, courageously and the siege, with minor interruptions, continued for almost a year and a half. The leader of the Jewish defensive forces was one eunuch who was in the service of King Zedekiah. The tsar himself played only a passive role, since he was neither a commander nor, in general, the leader of the entire movement. His helplessness and weakness were fully revealed at this dangerous time. If all the events in Judea and Jerusalem, since the reign of Joachim, resembled a motley, playful comedy, now the whole life of the people turned into a terrible tragedy, and with a general decline in spirit, the most courageous and outstanding person was the prophet Jeremiah. His internal mood, as well as his external situation, thanks to the ensuing siege of Jerusalem, became extremely difficult and painful. Compassion for the people, as well as a generally fiery love for the fatherland, forced him to encourage those who were fighting, although he himself, due to his advanced age, could not take part in the defense of the city. His prophetic calling and the gift of foresight forced him, on the contrary, to often proclaim that this struggle was in vain, that much blood would be shed in vain, that the death of the city and the people was a decided matter, for the sake of his bloody guilt and sinful burden. At this time, he was no longer deprived of freedom of speech, and, perhaps, they could not have been deprived, because respect for him as a true prophet was fully confirmed by the circumstances that had arisen. The peoples of the north positioned their forces before the gates of Jerusalem and were ready to carry out the Last Judgment on it. Jeremiah would have been able to incite the people and soldiers against the king and nobles, wrest power from their hands, in order to enter into an agreement with the enemy and accept Nebuchadnezzar into the city under favorable or lenient conditions. But such a revolution was alien to his soul; At the beginning of the siege, he did not even advise individuals to go over to the enemy and thus ensure their own personal salvation. He limited himself to repeating his warnings in general and calling for the elimination of outrageous injustice. He boldly and fearlessly said to Zedekiah himself: “Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through this gate. Thus says the Lord: execute justice and righteousness, and save the oppressed from the hands of the oppressor; do not mistreat or oppress the stranger, the orphan or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place” (Jer. 22:1-3). In particular, his sympathy was aroused by that class that was reduced to a slave position. These were those who, out of poverty, either sold their children into slavery, or those who, due to unpaid debts, were reduced to slavery by their creditors. The law of deliverance, which was to be applied every seven years for such unfortunates, was as little fulfilled in this troubled time as the other sublime laws of Moses. Jeremiah worked with extraordinary zeal for the benefit of these unfortunates. He persistently preached to both the king and the people the need for proper observance of the Sabbath, so that no work was done during it, and especially that no burden was carried from the gates of the city and from the houses (Jer. 17:19 et seq.). Associated with the holiness of the seventh day was the holiness of the seventh or sabbatical year, which was supposed to bring freedom to the enslaved. Jeremiah seems to have strongly insisted on the execution of this law, and we do see that the princes and rich men found themselves compelled to proclaim the emancipation of the slaves, although perhaps they were prompted to do so by the threat of rebellion from the slaves themselves. In any case, whatever the motive for this great deed, Jerusalem witnessed a magnificent spectacle. By order of the king, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the king's governors, the priests and the people came to a solemn agreement that those condemned to slavery would be granted freedom. To confirm this commitment, an ancient rite was performed in front of the church. The young calf was divided into two parts, which were placed on two sides, one opposite the other, and nobles, slave owners and priests passed between these parts. The agreement and obligation were thus legally confirmed (Jer. 34:8, 10, 15, 19). The slaves freed in this way could increase the ranks of the city’s defenders. Meanwhile, the siege of Jerusalem had been dragging on for almost a whole year, during which the happiness of the combatants changed significantly. But now the long-awaited event has arrived. The Egyptian king, Apries, finally decided to fulfill his often repeated promise, and sent an army against Nebuchadnezzar. This Egyptian army was probably so significant that the Chaldeans, having received news of its approach, lifted the siege of Jerusalem and moved towards it. The rejoicing in Jerusalem was extraordinary as a result of this. When the gates, which had remained locked for so long, were opened, the inhabitants hastily rushed out of the city to again enjoy the feeling of freedom and see how things were in the country and what happened to their fields and vineyards, or also to make new supplies of provisions in case of a repetition of the siege. But at the same time, the criminal frivolity of an incorrigible and doomed people was also fully revealed. As soon as the horror of the siege passed, many nobles and rich people again indulged in their former heartlessness and rapacity. The slaves and slaves who had recently been released were forced either to return to their former service and to their former humiliating position, and this despite the solemn agreement and oath. The prophet Jeremiah was outraged to the depths of his soul by this hard-heartedness and self-interest; he addressed the nobles and the king with a loud speech, in which he reminded them of their oath-breaking and announced that the retreating Chaldeans would return again, take Jerusalem, and that fire, war, famine and plague would break out over the people (Jer. 34:16). The king, who, through the mediation of two courtiers and the church overseer Zephaniah, ordered him to ask him to help with his prayer so that the Chaldeans would not return again, he answered that the pharaoh would soon return to his land, and the Chaldeans would again begin the siege, so that the king and the people should not indulge in any self-deception. Even if they were able to defeat all the Chaldeans and only a few wounded remained of them, then these last ones would rise from their tents and “burn this city with fire” (Jer. 37:7 et seq.). If many of the princes of Judah had already been hostile against Jeremiah, now they came out against him with decidedly deadly hatred. When he once wanted to leave the city to go to the region of the tribe of Benjamin, perhaps to his native Anathoth, one overseer attacked him, accusing him of allegedly wanting to transfer himself to the Chaldeans. Despite his assurance that he had no thought of escaping, he was nevertheless taken to the princes. These, rejoicing at the opportunity to carry out their revenge, treated him as a traitor and a spy, subjected him to beatings and threw him into one underground dungeon, in the house of the writer Jonathan, a cruel and heartless man, who was made his overseer. There Jeremiah remained in cramped, dirty, unhealthy quarters for many days. His stern overseer, not allowing a soul to see him, not even his relatives, seemed to want to wear him out with loneliness or even completely destroy him. The princes, however, did not dare to lay hands on him. In this prison, the prophet composed several touching, lamentable songs about his misfortune, complaining not only about his suffering, but even more about the perversion of his intentions. The joyful rejoicings in Jerusalem were also short-lived. The Chaldean army, moving against the Egyptian army, which was under the command of Apries, defeated it completely and put it to complete flight. The pharaoh himself received a severe wound; it was his arm that was broken. Then Judea was left completely helpless. Neighboring peoples, even her former allies, now only mocked her and waited only for the day of the fall of Jerusalem. The Chaldeans again began the siege of Jerusalem and constrained it even more in order to decisively put an end to it. The siege was so fierce and stubborn that the defenders of the capital began to lose heart. Many, thinking only about their salvation, left the besieged city in droves in those places that were left without guards, went over to the Chaldeans, or even fled to Egypt. King Zedekiah himself thought with alarm about the outcome of the siege and realized too late what a stupidity he had committed, dreaming of measuring his strength with the Babylonian power, without having in his favor the entire people animated by a sense of freedom. He also placed faint hope in the prophet Jeremiah. Secretly, he ordered him to be summoned to the inner chambers of his palace and asked if he had any prophecy about the outcome of the siege. “Yes,” answered the prophet, “I have a prophecy that you will inevitably fall into the hands of the king of Babylon if you do not obey him.” Zedekiah listened to these words in an extremely depressed spirit and despair; he was fair enough not to take revenge on the prophet for them. He, at the request of Jeremiah, did not send him back to the disgusting prison of the writer Jonathan, but gave him a place in his palace, in the courtyard of Mattara, and ordered him to be given bread daily from the royal bakery. Here Jeremiah remained for several months. Although he continued to remain in the position of a prisoner, this confinement was very easy - he could receive visitors and talk to them; his faithful companion and follower Baruch, son of Neriin, was again near him. One day his father came to him from Anathoth and offered him to buy the family field, since he was the only person who had the right to it. In a prophetic spirit, he was given information about this visit and proposal in advance, with instructions to make this purchase with some solemnity. As a result, before the eyes of those present in the court of Mattara, he weighed the purchase money, wrote, in accordance with the rules, two bills of sale, one sealed and the other open, ordered the witnesses to sign, and handed both to his disciple Baruch, so that he, for better preservation, would put them in an earthen vessel. At the same time, however, Baruch could not refrain from surprise: the ramparts of the Chaldeans were rising higher and higher, Jerusalem would obviously soon become the prey of the enemy and the people would be taken into captivity, and meanwhile the prophet was buying a field for himself! But his perplexities were resolved by Jeremiah. His prophetic vision moved from the cramped and gloomy present to the region of a distant, more beautiful future. Of course, Jerusalem, for the sake of its centuries-old atrocities and sins, is inevitably approaching destruction. But the time will come when again his sons will buy fields for silver in the land of Benjamin, in the surrounding area and in the south, because the people will again return from captivity (Jer. 32:7 et seq.). Meanwhile, the siege became more and more difficult, and then famine began in the capital. It is not known what was the reason for this: either that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, during the interval when the Chaldean army retreated from Jerusalem, did not take care of sufficient provision of supplies in the hope of the undoubted death of the Chaldeans, or the enemy opened secret accesses to the city, through which provisions were brought in, and, carefully guarding them, deprived Jerusalem of sources of food. In any case, it is known that there was immediately an urgent need for provisions, and bread had to be distributed according to exact weight. The supply of grain became scarcer and scarcer, and soon a terrible famine began to rage in the besieged city. The sword outside the walls, the hunger within, daily more and more corpses accumulated in the houses and on the streets, so that it was no longer possible to bury them; in the hot season they indulged in rotting, and then produced a terrible ulcer. As if in fulfillment of the gloomy predictions of the prophets, who for two centuries had foretold a terrible punishment for the people, in order to turn the people away from their idolatrous error and moral corruption, the streets of Jerusalem now presented a terrible sight that could never be forgotten by those who remained alive. Pitiful, emaciated children ran through the squares and cried out mournfully: “Oh, mother, give us bread and wine,” and with a desperate cry from exhaustion they died on the knees of their mothers (Lamentations 2:11–12). The elders and nobles, who at first lived in complete contentment and wore purple, wandered like dead shadows; with dry and sagging skin on their bones, they were now unrecognizable in this pitiful situation, and they were also dying of hunger. As the prophets predicted, it was in vain that the rich scattered their treasures for a piece of bread: no one gave it to them. But the most terrible thing was that tender, loving mothers in this extreme need laid hands on their own children and prepared them for food in order to satisfy their frenzied, mortal hunger with their meat (Lamentations. 2:20; 4:10). And at this terrible time, the soul-breaking speech of the prophet Jeremiah was heard, who said: “whoever remains in the city will die by sword, hunger and plague, and whoever goes over to the Chaldeans will save his life; for the city must fall and be burned!” When the nobles who were in charge of the guards, Safaniah, the son of Matthan, Gedaliah, the son of Paschor, and others heard this speech, they rushed to the king and insisted that he put the prophet to death, since he was taking away the courage of the soldiers to further fight. Zedekiah, in irrational despair, answered them: “He is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” Taking advantage of this, the princes threw Jeremiah into a cistern in the courtyard of Mattara, filled with mud. But even now they did not dare lay hands on him, but simply plotted to destroy him by this very situation in a dirty tank. He probably would have died there if one Ethiopian from the king’s servants, named Ebedmelech, had not taken pity on him. This slave was outraged by such treatment of the respected prophet and the weakness of the king, who was lenient about all this. He drew Zedekiah's attention to the fact that Jeremiah would inevitably die in this tank from hunger. As a result, the king instructed Ebed-melech to pull him out of the pit with a rope. The cistern was so deep, and the people so weakened by hunger, that it took as many as thirty men to pull one prophet out of this pit. Jeremiah's life was saved, but he was not given his freedom; the king continued to keep him under arrest in the court of Mattara, although he took care that the nobles could no longer encroach on his life (Jer. 21:9 et seq.; 38:1). This Ethiopian slave infused some courage into the heart of the king himself. Zedekiah in general, in the depths of his heart, was inclined to surrender to the enemy, but various considerations kept him from doing so. In order to consult regarding such a fatal step, he arranged a meeting with Jeremiah in a secret room and asked him: is it really decided that the city will fall, and if he dares to surrender, will he not be subjected to shameful mockery and death by the Jews themselves in the Chaldean camp? The Prophet gave him complete assurance that if he surrendered now, not a single hair on his head would be harmed in the enemy camp, and added to this that if the fight continued, the very women of the palace would laugh at his madness, saying: “You have been seduced and overcome by your friends; your feet sank into the mud, and they departed from you” (Jer. 28:14–22). Zedekiah, apparently, decided to surrender to the winner, and asked the prophet to keep silent about the subject of their conference before the princes, if rumors about this audience reached them. However, the ill-fated king did not have the courage to decide on this step: he did nothing and allowed fate to approach him. Until the very last moment, he was unable to overcome his innate cowardice. This was the last and most pitiful king from the house of David. Meanwhile, the scourge of death devastated the population in three ways; the number of city defenders was increasingly reduced, until finally so few remained that they could no longer defend the wall. Then the last hour of the fall of the city, which even the pagans considered impregnable, struck. On the 9th day of Tammuz (June 586) there was no longer the slightest piece of bread in the city, and as a result of this complete exhaustion of its defenders, the Chaldeans managed to make a wide breach in the wall, through which they invaded the city. Nebuchadnezzar was not present at this time; at that time he was in Rivla, in Syria, probably for the purpose of simultaneously monitoring the actions against besieged Tyre. His generals who led the siege, Nergal-Sharetzer, the oldest of the magicians, Nebuzaradan, the chief of the bodyguard, and others entered Jerusalem without hindrance and placed their tents in the middle gate, which connected the lower city with Zion, in order to carry out their trial and reprisal against the population here. The Chaldean warriors, apparently, no longer met any resistance, since the inhabitants, exhausted by hunger and horrors, could hardly drag their feet. Therefore, they freely scattered throughout all parts of the city, killed young men and adult men who seemed to them at least somewhat dangerous, captured others and put them in chains (Lam. 1:15, 18; 2:21). These stern warriors, embittered by a long siege, raped wives and maidens and gave no quarter to any age (Lam. 5:11). They also invaded the church, carried out a bloody massacre there among the priests and prophets, who thought to find refuge in the sanctuary, and burst into furious cries, as if wanting to overcome the God of Israel himself. Along with the Chaldeans, neighboring peoples also invaded and sided with Nebuchadnezzar, namely the Philistines, Edomites and Moabites. They mercilessly plundered the treasures and desecrated the sanctuary (Lam. 2:7, 20). Zedekiah, meanwhile, managed with the rest of his soldiers to make his way through the royal garden at night through an underground passage in the north-eastern part of the city, and flee from the capital. He wanted to reach the Jordan to hide in the deserts of Gilead. But as soon as the Chaldeans found out about this, they set out to pursue him and the Chaldean horsemen blocked the fugitives’ path in the gorges. Since the fugitives were weakened by hunger and all previous disasters, crawling rather than running, they could easily be overtaken and captured. In the city, the Chaldeans found among the high-ranking officials only the high priest Seraiah, the church commander Zephaniah, the eunuch who led the war, the recorder, five or seven of the king’s close associates, the gatekeepers and seventy other people (Lam. 1:3, 6; Jer. 52:24 et seq.). All of them were taken captive and, together with the rest, were chained and taken to Rivla, to the king of Babylon, who was to decide their fate. They could not be left in Jerusalem or its vicinity, since the air there was contaminated by dead, unburied corpses. Among those chained was the prophet Jeremiah. He was captured in the courtyard of Mattara, in the royal palace, and appeared to the Chaldean warriors, who captured him, as one of the palace servants. His disciple Baruch probably shared his fate with him. The conquerors appointed a Jew of noble birth as the overseer of the prisoners and fugitives. Gedaliah. The son of Akiham, from the family of Saphan, he was probably a supporter of Nebuchadnezzar from the very beginning of the siege. The unfortunate people's last hope disappeared when news arrived that the king himself had also been captured. Zedekiah, along with his retinue, was indeed overtaken by Chaldean horsemen near Jericho, when he was already close to the Jordan, the crossing of which could have brought him salvation. While the warriors who were still near him, at the approach of the Chaldean pursuers, scattered and crossed the Jordan, or generally sought refuge in the forests and gorges, Zedekiah himself, his sons and several close dignitaries fell into the hands of the enemy and were taken to Rivla, where Nebuchadnezzar was located. The formidable conqueror poured out all his anger on the king, who, with his infidelity and perjury, caused him so much anxiety and concern. The punishment to which he doomed Zedekiah was cruel. If any king, then it would be Zedekiah who would deserve some leniency, since he himself was an instrument in the hands of his treacherous nobles. Nebuchadnezzar, without any leniency, ordered the execution of his sons and all his relatives before the eyes of Zedekiah, and then ordered him to be blinded. Blind and chained, he was then taken to Babylon, and there he briefly experienced his unspeakable grief. But what was to be done with the city of Jerusalem itself? It has already become a dwelling place for corpses; “all its gates were empty; his priests sigh, his maidens are sad, he himself is bitter” (Lamentations 1:4). But he still stood; The military leaders who conquered him did not yet have any instructions regarding his fate. Nebuchadnezzar himself appears to have been hesitant in this regard at first. He did not at all want to turn the land of Judea into a desert, since he could not manage without it in the event of a war against Egypt, which he intended to start again. The land, without a large stronghold, could not be of particular benefit to him. Thus, much spoke for the preservation of Jerusalem. But on the other hand, it seemed dangerous to leave such a rebellious city untouched. Who will guarantee his loyalty in the future? This last consideration prevailed, and as a result Nebuchadnezzar sent the chief of his bodyguard, Nebuzaradan, with instructions to destroy Jerusalem. The old haters of the chosen people, the Edomite leaders, deliberately inflamed them in order to carry out this destruction without any mercy. “Destroy, destroy it to the foundations of the earth,” they said (Ps. 137:7). As a result, Nebuzaradan issued an order to destroy the walls, burn the church, palaces and all the best buildings, and this order was carried out with merciless precision. The remaining treasures of the church, artistically made bronze columns, a copper sea, copper lavers, sacrificial bowls of gold and silver, musical instruments - everything was broken into pieces and sent to Babylon. Jerusalem became a heap of ruins, and the church mount turned into a deserted height, as predicted not only by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but also by the prophet Micah 140 years before the event itself. It was on the 10th day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and this terrible day of the fall of the city of David is still remembered by the Jews with strict fasting. None of the royal cities, which fell from the height of their splendor into the dust of insignificance, was so glorified in its fall as Jerusalem. Divinely inspired poets depicted his sad fate in lamentable songs, psalms and prayers with such touching that it is still capable of stirring every tender and sensitive heart. Poetry placed a martyr's crown on his head, which turned into a crown of radiant glory. His greatest son, the prophet Jeremiah, mourned the fate of Jerusalem with especially touching songs. And these lamentable songs make up a special book known as “The Lamentations of Jeremiah.” The first lamentable song was composed immediately after the capture of Jerusalem. The city still stood, the walls, palaces and church were not yet destroyed, but the capital was already deprived of its inhabitants and its joys: “How lonely the city sits, once crowded And his tears are on his cheeks. He has no comforter among all those who loved him; All his friends cheated on him They became his enemies" 313. Then the abandonment of Jerusalem is mourned; the prophet pours out his greatest sorrow at the infidelity of the allies, who now spoke with malicious joy on the occasion of his fall: 2Fire stretches out its hands, Listen, all you nations, and look at my illness; My maidens and my youths went into captivity. I called my friends, but they deceived me; My priests and my elders are dying in the city, They are looking for food for themselves to strengthen their souls” 314. In touching verses, the prophet also describes the misery to which even noble people were exposed during the horrors of the siege from hunger and all kinds of need: “As gold has become dim, the best gold has changed, The stones of the sanctuary are scattered at all intersections. Sons of Zion, precious, equal to the purest gold, How they are compared to pottery, The tongue of an infant sticks to his larynx from thirst; The children ask for bread and no one gives it to them. Those who eat sweets melt away in the streets; Those brought up on the scarlet huddle close to the dung, The princes in it were purer than snow, whiter than milk; They had a body more beautiful than coral, And now their face is darkest of all; Their skin stuck to their bones, She became as dry as a tree" 315. Addressing those traitors who so gloated over the destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet exclaims with deep sarcasm: “Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, inhabitant of the land of Uz! You'll get drunk and naked. Daughter of Zion! the punishment for your iniquity is over; He will no longer cast you out; But your iniquity, daughter of Edom, He will visit and reveal your sins" 316. Such sad songs of mourning were the fate of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. His political existence was over. To cultivate the land and vineyards, Nebuchadnezzar left the pitiful remains of the population under the command of Gedaliah. Some rebels killed Gedaliah and made a desperate attempt to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. But then, fearing the vengeance that awaited them, they, with many of their accomplices, and also by force taking with them the rest of the population, fled to Egypt, and thus the land of Judea was completely deserted. The prophet Jeremiah was also forcibly taken to Egypt, where he died. Chapter 45. Old Testament prophets When the chosen people, having divided into two kingdoms, instead of fulfilling their highest destiny, in both halves seemed to compete with each other in violating the covenant of God and revealed the shameful weakness of being carried away by the voluptuous lures of the Canaanite vile idolatry, then God, to support his work on earth, put forward special figures who constituted a distinctive feature of the people of Israel. These are the Old Testament prophets, whose activity, having begun in the time of Samuel, reached its highest development precisely during the period of the divided state of the people. Both the mission and the aspirations of the prophets represent such an important phenomenon in the history of the chosen people that they deserve special consideration 317. Prophecy, considered in its general sense, is a miracle in the realm of thought and knowledge. It is knowledge that, by virtue of supernatural revelation, has reached that breadth of volume and height of clarity at which the human spirit, freed from the limitations of space and time, has the opportunity to look with a bold look at the entire complex, rationally expedient process of world-historical development, along its entire path - from beginning to end - to note the decisive moments, to indicate their meaning and the ultimate goal that has to complete the entire process of development. Such knowledge, of course, presupposes freedom from the limiting conditions of space and time - such knowledge should be equally accessible and clear to both the present, the past and the future, both near and distant. History actually confirms this assumption. But the phenomenon of such extraordinary knowledge in world history itself presupposes the important, extraordinary significance of this very phenomenon. There are periods in the history of mankind in which the genius of mankind, usually hidden piecemeal in the entire mass of individuals, suddenly concentrates with such extraordinary force and manifests itself in such a long series of great personalities that these periods at first glance seem to be extraordinary periods, appointed for extraordinary purposes. This is in conditions of natural consciousness. But if the same phenomenon occurs in conditions of higher natural consciousness, if a supernatural influence appears in this phenomenon, then, of course, the period of origin of this phenomenon has the greatest world-historical significance. And this is exactly what the phenomenon is - prophecy, or more precisely prophetism (as the expression of an entire phenomenon in its figures and activities). Throughout almost the entire Old Testament history, one after another, great God-inspired men - prophets - appeared and with powerful words and energetic activity they proclaimed to people the great truths of the destinies of world-historical development, explained them to human consciousness and exhorted them to adequately prepare for the acceptance of the great moments of history that were to come. Considered from a historical point of view, prophecy or prophetism is a phenomenon motivated by known historical conditions, and therefore itself closely, organically connected with these conditions. Its characteristic features as a historical phenomenon will be clarified by determining its organic connection with Old Testament history. Old Testament history is the complete opposite of our Christian history and developed under conditions that are now almost incomprehensible. In our time, the idea of ​​the true God is already enlightening the consciousness of almost the entire earth, and only rare dark spots are waiting for that ray that will drive them away from the bright horizon. On the contrary, in ancient history, thick darkness lay over the entire earth, and only one insignificant corner of the earth, like a light in the middle of a gloomy night, shone on the dark earth. In this corner lived the people of Israel, that chosen people who were appointed to be a light to the pagan world (Isa. 42:6). Due to this special position in history, the people of Israel represent the same contrast to the pagan world as light to darkness. While the pagan world was left to the law of natural sinful development, the law of holiness was revealed to the people of Israel. Here human nature no longer seeks with instinctive melancholy and dark groping for the unknown God, as it was in paganism; here the Lord himself, in his revelation, comes to meet man and enters into a close alliance with him. By virtue of this union, the people of Israel immediately moved out from the midst of the pagan world, and according to the covenant, the agreement, they concentrated in themselves everything holy, just, humane, which did not find shelter in the pagan world. By the legislation of Sinai, this people were entrusted with the safekeeping of simple, but eternal and profound truths about a personal spiritual God, the Deliverer who accepts all the oppressed and despised, about the duty of reverence to parents, about the duty of chastity, respect for human life and property, justice to each other and pure morality. Here, contrary to all the laws of antiquity, the laws of the oppressors who imposed a yoke on the oppressed, the laws of the strong for their own benefit in order to keep the masses of the weak in slavery - here the law of equality was discovered, the harmful system of division into castes was rejected. In this respect alone, Israel becomes a teacher of humanity. But the purpose of this people was not to implement any political or social world idea. These people are neither philosophers nor politicians. his vocation in history was limited exclusively to a religious task. The ultimate goal of world history is the implementation of the kingdom of God on earth 318. Old Testament history, with the general religious and moral corruption of mankind, represented the only oasis on which the germs of the kingdom of God, the idea of ​​monotheism and the idea of ​​salvation, which had to spread throughout all of humanity, could rest. This oasis - the people of Israel - was chosen as the place for the temporary kingdom of God. “You must be to Me a holy kingdom and a holy people” (Ex. 19:5) - this is the legal definition of the position of the people of Israel in history. By this act, he stood out from all sinful humanity as a holy people, freed himself from the domination of dark world forces and came under the direct rule of Jehovah, became the kingdom of Jehovah, a theocracy. Hence its significance in history is easily explained. According to the covenant, he must be a missionary of the idea of ​​the kingdom of God on earth, and in the sinful world of nations he must be the same thing as conscience in the sinful nature of individual people. Given his significance for all humanity, he received everything he needed to carry out his world-historical mission. All that remained for him was to sacredly fulfill the law given to him by God and sacredly keep the deposit entrusted to him. But the people of Israel, chosen for such a high goal preferably over all other peoples, were nevertheless a living people, capable of receiving impressions from the external pagan world, being carried away by them and, thus, darkening the pure consciousness of their mission. Surrounded on all sides by peoples guided by the principles of a naturally sinful state, the chosen people could naturally become carried away by these principles, worship idols, adopt a sensually relaxing morality, and get involved in the political intrigues of neighboring states. From the collision of two diametrically opposed principles a struggle was bound to arise. And this struggle developed throughout Old Testament history and was the reason that the people of Israel in their historical life constantly fluctuate in two opposite directions: either they worship Jehovah and live peacefully under the shadow of their vineyards, then they follow the footsteps of foreign gods and suffer all sorts of political and social disasters, which with their bitterness force them to turn to Jehovah again, and so on. The people of Israel sometimes succumbed so strongly to the dark influences of the pagan world, sank so completely into the pool of a sinful state, that, apparently, they were ready to perish morally and politically, and thus destroy with them the treasure of entire humanity - the idea of ​​monotheism and the idea of ​​salvation. But holy principles do not perish in history, they are the driving motives of history, without them history would remain aimless and would stop in its movement. God is alive and the soul of history is alive. During periods of the greatest moral and religious decline of the people, from among them God raised up men strong in God and in their spirit, who, bearing within themselves a higher understanding of the purpose of the people, a higher consciousness of its historical mission, with their powerful words and unremitting moral energy saved the people from destruction. These are the great people of the Israeli people. According to the special position of the people of Israel in world history, their special character, religious and moral principles and civil and social relations, which distinguished them from all peoples, according to their special spirit, their greatest people differ from the great people of other nations. The spirit of the people in its religious and ideal perfection was expressed in the great men of the Israeli people. Therefore, during periods of religious and moral decline of the people, the higher, the purer their ideal was reflected in those few individuals who were alien to the decline. The religious and moral genius of the people was then concentrated in them alone. When the consciousness of a high world-historical mission faded among the mass of the people, God and the law were forgotten, political and social relations were distorted, at that time, in the peaceful silence of green pastures, or on the working field of a farmer, or at the height of mountain cliffs, in the unknown, far from the worries of the vain world, powerful men matured, who, like heavenly thunder, awakened the morally lulled people, poured into them refreshing elements of life, awakened the consciousness of the ideal and thus they saved him from death. Such were the judges and prophets of the people of Israel. But judges are mainly political figures, although they also reflected the spirit of theocracy, which constituted the essence of Old Testament history; Moreover, they are a temporary phenomenon, obviously caused by temporary historical circumstances and ceased with their change. Therefore, the spirit of Old Testament history was not fully expressed in the judges; they did not fully embody the ideal of the Israeli people. Prophets appear to be a different kind of phenomenon. All the most important Old Testament events - in religious and moral life, in political and social relations - have their prophets, who, standing at the ideal height of understanding of the law, explain to the people its requirements in relation to given circumstances, give a proper assessment of the events and thereby firmly support the entire edifice of theocracy. Such activity of the prophets was necessary and irreplaceable in the history of the Israeli people. The people of Israel, called to be the guardian of the great idea of ​​monotheism, the idea of ​​salvation and the highest ideal of morality, could not fully realize this calling in each of its individual members. True, Moses wanted all the chosen people to be prophets (Num. 11:29), i.e. so that each individual member of the people carries within himself a clear consciousness of the religious and moral ideal, but for this it is necessary for each to have a completely bright unearthly consciousness. Therefore, the religious and moral ideal remained unclear to the majority. Moreover, the law, once forever enshrined in the code, could not respond to each individual case that was unforeseenly brought forward by a combination of historical circumstances. Therefore, the prophets were necessary bearers of the religious and moral ideal, its highest consciousness and living interpreters of its people. This irreplaceable importance of the prophets in the history of the Israeli people is provided for by the Mosaic Law itself. The words of Moses in Deuteronomy (Deut. 18:15): “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from among your brethren, like me; listen to him,” based on the words of Jehovah: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them whatever I command him” (Deut. 18:18), - these words constitute a legal definition of the appointment of the prophet, his rights and range of activities. However, there are different opinions regarding this place, of which, according to some, it constitutes a prophecy about the Savior, his coming and activity, and according to others, it is a simple definition of the rights and circle of activity of the prophets who had to appear in general, and the name “prophet” is a collective designation of all prophets. Giving justice to both views, we, for our part, are thinking of eliminating the difference between them, taking into account one very important consideration. This passage refers to the Savior who had to appear, and specifically to his prophetic activity. But since the Redeemer had to appear in his prophetic activity and was the ideal executor of the prophetic calling, it is clear that the definition of this ideal prophetic ministry is at the same time an ideal for every other prophet, an ideal with which every prophet must conform in his activity. Thus, the indicated saying, which defines the prophetic activity of the Redeemer, is at the same time a legal definition of the activity of each prophet. This understanding is also inspired by the comparison of the words of Moses with the previous verse: “these nations (the pagans) listen to fortune-tellers and soothsayers, but the Lord your God has not given you that.” And what he gave is explained by the words of Balaam: “there is no magic in Jacob and no divination in Israel: in due time it will be told to them what God does” (Numbers 23:23). if so, then the position of the prophets in the history of the people of Israel becomes clear; the law recognizes itself as incomplete; it presupposes further revelations or development when it says: “I will put My words in the mouth of the prophet, and he will speak to them,” etc. and recognizes the prophet as its further representative, developer and spokesman. And since the law was given to the people as a means for them to fulfill their purpose, the prophets, as exponents and representatives of the ideal understanding of the law, were called upon to revive in the minds of the people the idea of ​​its world-historical purpose, to protect it in times of danger, to develop it in all directions, to explain its meaning in relation to the facts of living historical reality, and, thus, to lead the people to the implementation of its purpose. And we see in history that the prophets fulfilled their calling to perfection. Receiving new revelations, they explained the various provisions of the Law of Moses, depending on the requirements of the circumstances, so that some principles of the law were sometimes insisted on preferentially over other principles. Thus, in times of decline of living faith, the dominance of dead religious formalism, the prophets insisted primarily on the spiritual moral side of law and religion, and at the same time sometimes used expressions that even gave reason to think that the prophets did not know or did not recognize other requirements of the law. Here are a few of these sayings: “Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6). “I hate, I reject your holidays, and I do not smell the sacrifices during your solemn assemblies. Let justice flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream!” ( Amos 5:21, 24 ). “Is it possible to please the Lord with thousands of rams, or with countless streams of oil? - Oh man! It has been told to you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:7, 8). “My soul hates your new moons and your holidays; they are a burden to Me.” But “wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; stop doing evil; seek the truth; save the oppressed; protect the orphan; intercede for the widow,” etc. (Isa. 1:14–17). Based on these and similar prophetic sayings, some learned critics decided that the prophets were not simple guardians and interpreters of the law, but independent exponents of a new, higher stage of religious development. But such a view is unfounded. If we consider the essence of the religious and moral principles of the prophets, and not their individual expressions regarding certain temporary circumstances, then the identity of the prophetic principles with the principles of the Mosaic Law cannot be doubted. The principles of the Mosaic Law about the worship and confession of one God, the Lord of all nations, about the election of the people of Israel from all the nations of the earth into a covenant people, about its purpose to be a light for the Gentiles, about judgment according to the highest idea of ​​\u200b\u200bjustice - all these principles are carried out both in the Mosaic Law and in the prophets 319. At the same time, the prophets have direct expressions aimed at protecting the external ritual Mosaic Law. Thus, eating pork and unclean animals is condemned, breaking the Sabbath is condemned, sacrificing unclean bread and vicious animals is condemned, etc. 320. From this it is clear that the prophets were only interpreters of the law, applying it to various circumstances of historical life, but by no means innovators, not representatives of a new stage of religious development. But from the fact that the prophets were called to be living interpreters of the law, in relation to the changing conditions of historical life, it is also clear that the prophets agreed with the Mosaic Law only in principle, but not in all the details of the application of the principles. This last difference between the law and the prophets was the reason for the disassembled incorrect opinion about the essence of the prophetic ministry. And so now the mission of the prophets is clear, as members in the body of theocracy: they are living bearers of the religious and moral ideal specified in the Mosaic Law, ideal exponents of the essence of the world-historical significance of the chosen people. But for such a high position they had to have great means. If the exponents of the ordinary natural-folk ideal are only people who have the highest powers possible and achievable for the national spirit, then in order to be the exponent and bearer of the divinely revealed ideal, the divine idea expressed in the Law of Moses, to clearly recognize it and bring it into the consciousness of the whole people, it is necessary to have extraordinary, supernatural means. Such means consisted of prophetic inspiration. But what is prophetic inspiration? – The mental life of a person has such hidden aspects that remain inaccessible to the most penetrating gaze. There is no doubt, however, that the human spirit, even without the help of external senses, has the ability to penetrate the mysterious combinations of things and combinations of heterogeneous forces. People discover truths that lie beyond the senses. External feelings can only confirm and justify the truths found, but not reveal them. The fact that truth is always revealed by an individual mind endowed with special powers, and only subsequently becomes the common property of the people, shows that the soul has properties that go far beyond the limits of sensory perceptions and reason, and therefore has the ability to discover high truths. Based on this, some critical researchers tried to explain the miraculous fact of prophetic inspiration in a natural psychological way. Western literature presents several such attempts, but they all came from one general view, and therefore, without examining individual opinions and theories, we will consider in general terms this view of prophecy 321. According to this view, prophecy is the highest degree of manifestation of the natural human spirit. It, prophecy, is not supposedly an original, purely Jewish Old Testament phenomenon, but to a greater or lesser extent is found among all peoples, constitutes a necessary postulate of human religiosity, and stems from a feeling of unconditional dependence on God as the highest power that determines the fate of a person and guides him in all events of life. At first, the religious consciousness of man, which does not yet have a clear idea of ​​​​the deity, cannot distinguish the finite from the infinite, the deity from nature, vaguely seeks it in nature, and thinks to find the answer to its existence, its destiny in the phenomena of external nature. This includes fortune telling by the noise of tree leaves, by the flight of birds, by the entrails of animals, etc. This is the lowest level of prophecy. At the highest level of religious development is mantika, as a direct communication with the deity. Here a person, wanting to know his destiny and for this to communicate with the deity and considering his ordinary strengths insufficient for this, artificially evokes in himself new forces that lift him above all the limitations of the everyday world, and in religious ecstasy unites with the deity, from whom he learns about the destinies of himself, his people and all humanity. Mantika was the dominant type of divination among the Greeks, where Pythia was its famous representative. At a further stage of development of religious consciousness is the Jewish prophecy, the distinctive features of which, according to this view, are the highest concept of the Divine as a personal principle, and, according to this concept, the best assessment of the human personality in its relation to the Divine. Here, a person, when communicating with the Divine, does not lose his individual characteristics, but only through a natural mental process expands his mental powers to that breadth and brings them to that degree of tension at which ordinary consciousness is thrown off the soul as a burden, and its place is taken by a higher, ecstatically tense state, making the prophet capable of perceiving the most sublime truths inaccessible to ordinary consciousness. Ewald expressed a slightly different view. In his opinion, in the depths of the human soul lie eternal, unshakable religious and moral truths, which lie unrecognized in the depths of the human soul for a long time until they find a worthy organ capable of becoming their spokesman for people. The best organ for these truths is the pure, impressionable soul. In such a soul, under the pressure of corresponding impressions, hidden religious and moral forces awaken, and awaken with such irresistible force that a person feels forced to express them outwardly - in word or deed. The consciousness of these truths takes possession of him with such force that he imagines them in the form of clear images that float before his spirit in the form of visions; his personality as a person fades away, and it seems to him that he hears a voice, not his own voice, but the pure, clear voice of another being standing above him. “Prophetic phenomena were the first strong impulses and wonderful excitements of higher thoughts in their application to human problems and errors, these are the first sparks that fell like lightning into the darkness of human aspirations. The excitement may have failed, the sparks may have died out, but the extraordinary and miraculous here lies in the fact itself, and without it no truths would have awakened in humanity” 322. The whole difference between pagan prophecies and Jewish ones, according to Ewald, is that in paganism, due to certain unfavorable reasons, the expression of truths was less successful, and they appeared in a distorted form, while among the Jews it was more successful. – Looking critically at all the stated judgments, I must say that they bring the most diverse things under one category. Old Testament prophecy does not contain any features that would equate it to any form of fortune telling. Fortune telling is dark, carried out in the absence of solid foundations - by groping, searching for answers to questions about human destiny, and prophecy presupposes immediate clear revelation, in principle, already announced to humanity in the law. Nevertheless, it has similarities with mantics, which implies a tense-ecstatic state caused by artificial means and darkening human consciousness. The prophetic state is a completely conscious state; in it, a person perceives not the products of a disordered imagination, but the highest revelations, consciously perceived by the prophet and consciously transmitted to the people. As for Ewald’s view in particular, it suffers from a lack of attention to the essence of prophecy and to the properties of human nature. Considering prophecies to be only expressions a priori of great religious and moral truths lying in the human soul, it presupposes the integrity of human nature, i.e. sins in the same way as Pelagianism and the philosophers of the Rousseau school who were condemned in their time sinned. This view has long been refuted and has received proper assessment in science. Here we will only note that the religious and moral truths, revealed to primitive man, were so obscured in the sinful natural process that the best representatives of the pagan world despaired of awakening them by any human means, and looked for salvation from moral destruction only from above. Moreover, this view does not want to know that in the Old Testament prophecy is not an expression of natural human truths, achievable by the natural process of thinking, but of divine truths, inaccessible to man with his natural powers alone. But if we consider the prophecy from a general historical and philosophical point of view, it still seems inexplicable, as a natural phenomenon. The very fact that it preaches universal, highest religious and moral truths indicates its highest origin, because the result of theological and philosophical research is quite inclined to recognize these truths as having a higher origin. This is fully confirmed by the history of the mental and moral development of mankind. If these truths were the product of the human mind, then of course they would be the product of the mind at its highest stage of development. Yet this is not so. In ancient times (where the prophecy actually refers), human genius reached its highest development and expression in Greek philosophy: here, in the person of Plato and Aristotle, it reached such a height, such a power with which it still, thousands of years later, influences science and philosophy. Meanwhile, standing at the highest possible height, the philosophizing mind could hardly free itself from the crude anthropomorphism of the crowd and did not achieve the concept of a single personal Deity, a wise and just world government; and in moral terms, the philosophizing mind was so powerless that it could not even determine the true relationships of people among themselves. It is known that Aristotle and Plato in their “Politics” consider slavery to be a completely normal phenomenon and even necessary. In comparison with these minds, the prophets are truly divine, proclaiming in their simplicity truths that were a mystery to philosophical speculation. But they were not philosophers and belonged to a non-philosophical people. Consequently, prophecies cannot be explained by the natural historical process of mental development. No, the spirit that animates the prophets does not come from the depths, as Ewald thinks, but from above, because from childhood the human heart is vicious. Ewald does not dare to descend into this depth of corruption, but wants to find in human nature itself a healthy embryo that, under favorable circumstances, can develop and conquer everything dark, weak, sinful, and this is for him God in man, the spirit of the prophets. The church has long condemned this opinion as Pelagianism. And according to the prophets themselves, human nature is more likely an abyss of corruption than the soil of dormant germs of goodness and truth; therefore, they hold fast to Jehovah, and He is the rock for them, leaning on which they recognize themselves as strong to fight against all dark forces 323. This is about prophecy, as one of the types of revelation in general. But prophecy has its own characteristic features that distinguish it from other types of revelation and give it special significance in the history of mankind, as an unparalleled supernatural lever in the development of mankind. The very fact that prophecy is an exponent of religious and moral truths, which were a secret to the philosophical mind, places it above all kinds of exponents of ordinary truths in their historical development. But it also has another side, which makes any comparison with human conclusions impossible. Of course, predictions of the future. The desire to lift the mysterious veil of the future has always been a cherished and tenacious passion in man. It is rooted in human nature itself. Placed in the limiting conditions of space and time and at the same time endowed with a spiritual power that strives to rise above these conditions, man naturally begins to try by all means to expand the limited field of his knowledge. History is filled with such attempts. Fortune telling, mantling, witchcraft, shamanism - all these are expressions of the same impulse of the human spirit to rise above the conditions of space and time. But all these attempts to push the limits of spiritual human existence were only subjective in nature and, like fog, disappeared as soon as the ray of science fell on this protected area. Now science considers these aspirations an innocent illusion with which the infant mind amused itself. The Old Testament prophecies alone stand unshakably. Their historical reality is not denied even by the most extreme thinkers of the rationalist school. These thinkers only try to explain the prophecies with some scientific data more suitable to their views, bold and arbitrary analogies. We will analyze some attempts at a natural scientific explanation of the fact of prophecy. And first of all, it seems worthy of attention to explain prophecy as a fact of predicting the future, from a psychological point of view. Scientists, based on some mysterious facts of mental life and finding in them some analogy with the facts of predictions or premonitions of the future, wanted to explain prophecy, deducing it from the inherent ability of the human spirit of premonition, foreknowledge, first of all in the area of ​​individual life, and then in the area of ​​general human life. This theory was developed by the German philosopher-historian Lasol in his essay: “The prophetic power of the human soul in poets and thinkers.” Based on the pantheistic-rationalistic view with its world soul, hidden both in individuals and in entire nations, and nowhere losing the consciousness of its unity, he comes to the following conclusions: “if in the soul of each person there is a part of the collective forces of the soul of his people, of all humanity or even of the world soul, and if in moments of prophecy, as in every great moment of human life, the individual soul merges or even plunges into the universal soul, into the great the universal reason of natural life and the human world and from there is reborn with renewed strength, it is clear that since the present is as essentially and inextricably linked with the future as with the past, each individual soul can foresee not only its own future, but also the future of its people, even of all humanity. From the depths of the human soul, from its divine creative power, come all great thoughts, everything new, wonderful, everything that leads humanity to its destiny” 324. Through the vaguely pantheistic shell of these expressions one can see the fair idea that the human soul is inherent in a teleological idea, by virtue of which it has the ability to deduce one or another conclusion from given premises; it is inherent, so to speak, in a moral instinct, by which a person, recognizing the reality of moral world governance and observing the destinies of individual people and nations, has the opportunity to foresee the further course of events. So, seeing a corrupt people who have lost all sound political, moral and religious principles, we can probably say that the days of this people are numbered. But does such a prediction constitute what is actually called a prophecy? No: such a prediction is very limited and is only possible in the most general areas, such as. regarding the fact that every crime is followed by punishment, that every power based on lies and untruth contains in itself elements of decay, and that in general all worldly glory and greatness are transitory and subject to destruction. But such predictions cannot contain specific predictions, such as those that distinguish Old Testament prophecy and which, in fact, constitute a miraculous fact in the realm of the spirit. Lasol calls “a truly prophetic word” the saying of Scipio, which he uttered on the ruins of Carthage in the words of Homer 325 about the future destruction of Rome. But not to mention the fact that the Homeric expression could involuntarily escape from Scipio’s lips at the sight of the terrifying picture of the death of the famous city, which until recently had been a thunderstorm for Rome itself, at the sight of the picture that vividly reminded the Roman of the overwhelming dominance of inexorable fate over everything - Scipio’s prediction does not have in itself the characteristic feature of prophecy - a positively concrete definition of the subject of the prediction, the reasons and purpose of its fulfillment: it was the consequence of an unconsciously sad consciousness of the inevitable death of all earthly greatness under the cruel rule of inexorable fate. Finally, this fatalistic prediction knows nothing but destruction. A completely different kind of prophetic prediction. Predicting the destruction of a city, e.g. Babylon, the prophecy indicates the circumstances, the people, the king who will destroy - and this over tens, hundreds of years. And after the destruction of worldly glory, according to prophecy, only sad, dead ruins will remain, witnesses of aimless fatalistic destruction, but the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters fill the sea (Hab. 2:14); after the kingdoms of the world, one after another having prevailed in humanity, the eternal kingdom of the Son of Man coming from heaven will triumph. True, Virgil, in his famous 4th Eclogue, heralds the return of the golden age and the appearance in the world of a royal baby who will bring a new time. But the difference between one and the other prediction will be clear if we take into account the narrowness of the last of them: Virgil connects the return of the golden age with the consulate of Pollio and the birth of his son, in the Emperor Augustus he sees the renewer of the world and proudly looks at Rome as an imperium sine fine 326. No, prophecies cannot be explained from the inherent power of foreknowledge in the human spirit. Even if this ability really, by its nature, could give a person the opportunity to penetrate far beyond the limits of what is usually achievable, then even then pure foreknowledge would be possible only with the full healthy development of this ability. But from the time when sin penetrated the entire human nature, darkened all the abilities that were inherited by everyone in such a darkened state, humanity became an unfavorable environment for the development of the human spirit, and therefore its completely normal and correct development became impossible. Only a higher power can support the spirit in this environment, and only with the help of a higher power can it fully achieve what it has been striving for from time immemorial, but which is never attainable for itself due to the indicated unfavorable conditions. But the more sublimely and more fully he develops with the help of this higher power. Finding in it support for its primordial desire for the perfection of knowledge, the human spirit is freed from the limiting conditions of space and time - its knowledge becomes limitless, the present, past and future are equally accessible to its bright gaze. This is the spirit of the Old Testament prophets. But from this it clearly follows that he achieved this height not by his own strength, but by the supreme power of supernatural inspiration. The prophets’ clear awareness of the plan for the Old Testament historical development, a precise explanation of its purpose, a specific indication of the particular facts in which this completion of the Old Testament historical development was meant to be expressed, and a visual presentation of the process itself that would lead to the goal, in a word - those clear, detailed predictions of the most elusive events that the prophets give us, are, of course, in no way explainable by natural means. From here it is clear that the prediction that positive science strives for with its well-known motto “to know in order to foreknow” is of a completely different nature and has nothing in common with prophetic predictions. It is based on the law of strict causality, and therefore only phenomena that directly follow from given obvious causes, or are located in a chain of causes, are subject to it: any phenomenon that stands outside a continuous causal connection is elusive to it. Meanwhile, the essence of prophetic prediction consists precisely in the prediction of phenomena that do not have a causal connection with phenomena that are obvious at a given time. In contrast to a prediction that is naturally possible according to the law of causality, a prophetic prediction is a completely spiritual miracle, a fact that is possible only with the assistance of a higher supernatural power. The consciousness of this assistance of supernatural power completely penetrates the prophets. Supernatural inspiration is the main principle of their activity - the holy spirit calls them, enlightens and elevates their natural powers, guides them and speaks through them to the chosen people and all humanity. C. Scripture presents many expressions and facts in which the operation of supernatural power on the prophets is expressed and evidenced. “I am filled with the power of the Spirit of the Lord,” says the prophet Micah about himself. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon me and spoke to me,” says the prophet Ezekiel. “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy.” “The Spirit of God came upon Saul’s servants and they began to prophesy.” And in general, everywhere prophecy is put in a causal connection with the descent of the Holy Spirit and the word of Jehovah. That is why, before almost every speech of the prophets, we read their statement: “and the word of Jehovah came to me,” “thus saith the Lord God,” etc., etc. 327. The apostles clearly testify to the divine inspiration of the prophets: “never was prophecy pronounced by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit”; “God spoke of old through the prophets” (2 Pet. 1:21; Heb. 1:1). Thus, the prophet utters his word (this is a miracle in the theological, philosophical and historical sense) under the inspiration of a supernatural force, and only under this condition, according to the biblical view, prophecy receives the meaning of real truth, as it has shown itself to be in history. But with the recognition of a supernatural factor in prophecy, one of the most difficult questions of theological science arises, the question of the method of inspiration and the method of perceiving this inspiration, a question that naturally arises in view of the two-sidedness of the fact of inspiration: one side is divine, incomprehensible, and the other is human, in all its parts it was before the eyes of people. The miraculous fact of the inspiration of the prophets began to interest us from the first centuries of Christianity, that is, even at a time when the prophetic spirit was not only a historical fact, but a living, active phenomenon. Of the Christian thinkers, the first to draw attention to the fact of prophecy was the apologist Athenagoras. He explains prophetic inspiration as an action “according to the frenzy of the mind in them” (χατ έχστασιν), and the action of the Holy Spirit on the prophets is equated to playing the flute. Justin the Philosopher holds the same view: “the prophetic spirit descends on the prophets like a plectrum on a lyre and extracts from them the necessary sounds” 328. This explanation of prophetic inspiration gives it a passive character. It deprives the prophets of any independent activity, presents them as a passive instrument of the Holy Spirit and even, judging by the expression έχςασις, acting unconsciously. This view apparently reflects the influence of Plato, who expresses himself as follows: “God, taking away the minds of his servants, himself speaks through them to us” 329. Some church teachers also hold this view. Tertullian insisted on it with particular force, with whose Montanistic views it could not have been more consistent. But such a view naturally should have met with protest from the church fathers, who were alien to Montanist errors. Indeed, from this time, with the advent of Montanism, the question of the fact of inspiration entered a new phase of its development. In view of the strong development of imaginary prophecy, expressed in Montanism in an artificially excited ecstatic state, the view of prophecy should naturally take a different direction. A number of thinkers spoke out, considering themselves the best representatives of theological thought of the first centuries, who began to explain prophetic inspiration differently. Here the principle of activity, initiative, and consciousness was put forward. The ecstatic state, which was the characteristic expression of prophecy among the Montanists, was recognized as a sure sign of a false prophecy: for true prophecy this state was considered unworthy, degrading prophecy itself. The principle of activity and consciousness in the prophecy of Origen proved with particular force. They said that when the Holy Spirit influences a person, normal mental activity in a person does not stop, free will and the power of judgment remain in their normal state, and Origen considers the clearest consciousness to be the surest sign of the highest inspiration, and recognizes any darkness of the mind as an obstacle to inspiration 330. The same idea is energetically supported by St. Epiphanius, Jerome and Chrysostom. They all recognize that prophecy is an internal illumination controlled by rational consciousness, and therefore can be translated into clear concepts of reason. Thus, according to Epiphanius, “the prophets spoke with consistency in thought and consistency, and proclaimed from the Holy Spirit, expressing themselves harmoniously” 331. In the same sense, say Bl. Jerome: “the prophets did not speak in ecstasy, not as Montanus raves with his crazy women, not knowing what they are saying, and teaching others to be ignorant of what they are talking about” 332. The same thought, but even more strongly, is expressed by St. John Chrysostom. Comparing prophecy with mantika, he finds a huge difference between them, which is even expressed in their names. The concept of a mantik contains the concept of a person who is in an abnormal state, deprived of consciousness, a person who is in a frenzied ecstatic state, hence his very name - mantik (μάντις from μαινομαι - I am in a rage, I am in an abnormal state of mind). On the contrary, a prophet - προφήτης - in the general and first meaning - is an orator who speaks truths, and, as such, maintains sound consciousness and mental calm. “Therefore, it is common for a mantic to lose his temper, obey necessity, go into unnatural movement, and twitch convulsively, like a mad man. A prophet is not like that: he speaks with a clear mind and calmness, knowing what he is saying” 333. Thus, the opinions of the church fathers are decisively inclined towards the activity and consciousness of the prophets. This view was constantly repeated by subsequent Christian thinkers and theologians until recently. And only in the present century did some German theologians try to revive the theory of ecstasy, basing it on newly obtained psychological data. Thus, Hengstenberg says: “And the true prophets were in an extraordinary, characteristically different state from the usual, were in a certain kind of ecstasy, in which rational consciousness was darkened, and all mental life was constrained by the violent action of the divine Spirit and became in a passive position” 334. Although in the second edition of his work Gengstenberg softens his view, his main view remains unchanged: “the prophetic state of inspiration is έχοταοις, the personal life and consciousness of the prophet are suppressed by divine influence.” They want to substantiate this theory on certain facts and expressions, from which it seems to be revealed that the prophets were not aware or did not quite clearly understand what they were saying. These are those expressions where the action of the Holy Spirit is represented in the image of the “hand of the Lord” - the expression: “The Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me,” etc., which expressions seem to indicate a violent, suppressive action, “total submission,” as Hengstenberg claims. True, the expression “the hand of the Lord” means the power of action, but the power of action can be directed not to suppress consciousness, but to other goals, as some researchers understand this, for example. Bonfire. Expression Is. 8:11 - “the Lord spoke to me, holding a strong hand on me,” in his opinion, should be translated and understood this way: “and the Lord spoke to me, supporting me with His hand, to encourage me, since He wanted to tell me terrible things.” It is known that some visions had a strong effect on the prophets: “there was no strength left in me, and the appearance of my face changed extremely, there was no vigor in me,” the prophet Daniel tells about himself when he saw a terrible vision (Dan. 10:8). Likewise, the words of Jeremiah: “You have drawn me, O Lord, and I have been drawn; You are stronger than me, and you prevailed. And I thought: I will not remind of Him, and I will no longer speak in His name; but it was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I grew weary in holding it, and could not” (Jer. 20:7 and 9). But here, too, there is no talk of a suppressive effect on consciousness, but only an irresistible force is expressed, forcing him to fulfill his prophetic purpose, despite the persecution to which the prophet was subjected for his speeches. It is known with what force the consciousness of moral duty attracts a person to fulfill this duty, despite attractions in the opposite direction, and, however, a person does not go into ecstasy under the influence of this consciousness, even intense in the fight against immoral impulses. In general, the entire theory of Gengstenberg seems to have little justification. It strengthens the divine element at the expense of the human, and thereby puts itself in conflict with the biblical view, according to which man entered into direct “friendly” relations with Jehovah and entered into an alliance with him. After Gengstenberg, the theory of ecstasy was defended by Tolyuk, but in his view the independent significance of the prophetic personality is recognized to some extent. “We consider the state of ecstasy to be only a relatively passive state, because if during the perception of revelation, under the action of the Holy Spirit, the self-activity of the perceiver ceases, then receptivity does not cease; Consequently, here we are talking, perhaps, not so much about the suppression of the subjective activity of the spirit, but about its elevation, as Origen already argued against the Montanistic view. If the Montanists insist on amentia, and the newest scientists on the cessation of “consciousness,” then this is a misleading inaccuracy of expression, because even in sleep only the consciousness of the external world ceases, and not self-consciousness and reasoning. It is clear that in this state the absence of self-activity does not entail a lack of self-awareness” 335. This view obviously wants to preserve the personality and self-awareness of the prophets in an ecstatic state. But it does not stand up to criticism from a psychological point of view, because the state of ecstasy differs from an ordinary mental state in that it excludes self-consciousness; This view does not agree with the facts either, because prophets constantly speak with full consciousness of both themselves and the outside world. There are many examples. So, how can we determine the mental state of the prophets during inspiration? In order to scientifically answer this question, it is necessary to consider the data that can serve as premises for a correct scientifically based conclusion regarding the subject under consideration. Such premises in our question can primarily serve as philological data. Among the many names of the prophet in the Hebrew language, the most characteristic, the most common, although not the most ancient name is nabi. This word primarily came into use only in the time of Samuel, although there were prophets before. Previously they were called by other names (1 Sam. 9:9). For us in this case, the meaning of the word Nabi is of particular interest, because, as we said, it is the most commonly used, and its appearance in an era when prophecy, as a whole society of people acting in one direction, acquired an influence on the people that did not stop until the time of the second church, the appearance of the name Nabi in this era indicates its characteristic, etymological correspondence to the phenomenon itself. Therefore, we will pay special attention to the analysis of this word, citing other names only as secondary, explanatory words for the secondary qualities of the prophet. The etymological meaning and origin of the word Nabi is still a subject of debate for scientists of various directions. Learned researchers in this case adhere to the production that is most consistent with their basic view of prophetic inspiration. And since these directions, as we have seen, are divided into two categories (with minor modifications in particulars), the theory of ecstasy and the theory of active consciousness, then the very production of the word nabi is of a twofold kind. Scientists of the first direction derive it from the verb naba and from its grammatical form they want to derive certain characteristic properties of the prophet. Since this verb is used only in passive forms and never in active forms, like the Latin ones - loqui, fari, vociferari, valicinari, then, according to these scientists, the word nabi should mean a passive state. The verb naba means to pour out, burst out, burst out. Nabi, a verbal noun, must mean, when applied to a person, one “in whom the deity excites streams of speech,” i.e. this production is based on a metaphor taken from a fountain bursting out of the earth. Wiener, Gezeshus, Redslob, Stanley, Tolyuk and others adhere to this view. According to this view, therefore, the prophet is an inspired speaker who is under such a strong, uncontrollable influence of an external force that he speaks involuntarily, just as a fountain involuntarily throws out its waters, has no control over his speech, in a word - he is in an ecstatic state. A different opinion was expressed by Koster 336. He adheres to the same production from nab and admits that this verb has an exclusively passive meaning; but he also admits that such proceedings do not explain the matter. It is more natural, he thinks, to bring this word closer to the Arabic naba, which originally means: to produce, and then metaphorically - to pronounce words, to proclaim, to teach. Hence nabi would mean learned or learned. This production can be based on the fact that the prophets are called disciples and students, which corresponds to the New Testament διδαχτοι Θεού 337. Therefore, nabi originally meant “taught (from God), scholar.” And from here, naturally, it could receive that active meaning with which it constantly appears, just as naturally as from the Russian passive participle “taught”, a verbal noun with an active character was imperceptibly, naturally developed - scientist. Consequently, according to this production, nabi means one who, being himself taught, actively passes on what he was taught to others; and since the prophet receives teaching, the word from God, then, by prophesying, he proclaims the word of God to others. This production completely preserves the active character in the meaning of nabi, and the very process of forming nabi from nab a verbal noun with an active character from a verb with a passive meaning clarifies those two different moments, of which in the first the prophet is receptive, passive, and in the second - transmitting, active. Hence, in the second moment of his state, nabi, by the very essence of the matter, appears as a speaker, preacher, as an orator, a preacher; and since he speaks someone's words to someone, he is a mediator who speaks for someone. This understanding of the word nabi has clear evidence from St. Scriptures. Thus, Jehovah says to Moses: “I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your boss” (Ex. 6:1). Here, obviously, Aaron is called nabi in relation to Moses because he had to convey the words of Moses, tongue-tied, to Pharaoh. The same meaning is found in the following verse: “And he (Aaron) will speak in your place to the people. And so he will be your mouth, and you will be to him instead of God” (Ex. 4:16). Here, therefore, the prophet is a mediator between God and people in order to clearly proclaim the words of Jehovah to people. The same thought, finally, is contained in the words of Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise up for them a prophet, says Jehovah to Moses, from among their brothers, like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything that I command him.” To Jeremiah, Jehovah Himself says: “You will be like My mouth” (Jer. 15:19), thereby defining the activity of the prophet as a mediator who must convey the words of Jehovah to people. So, these places clearly confirm the significance of a nabi as a person appointed to convey to people what was communicated to him by God. Hence the translation of the word Nabi by 70 interpreters with the word προφήτης is understandable: with this word they wanted to express the main concept of a prophet, as someone who conveys someone’s words, who speaks for someone. Προφήτης from προφημι means one who speaks for someone, speaks ahead, predicts. All these meanings are contained in this verb. Thus, according to the Greek translation, nabi is a conscious speaker, destined to convey the word of Jehovah to people; but in the name προφήτης another feature, imperceptible in nabi, clearly appears, namely the feature of a predictor, and this makes the prophet stand out from among ordinary people, ascribes to him knowledge inaccessible to other people. The Slavic “prophet” is quite similar to the Greek, although the latter in its philological meaning deviates from the Greek. The preposition “about” does not correspond to the Greek preposition προ, as it might seem at first glance. The Greek preposition προ corresponds to the Slavic and Russian preposition “pred” in its spatial and temporal meaning; and “pro” means deepening, penetration into something hidden, inaccessible. Thus, a “prophet” is one who penetrates with his thought into depths inaccessible to ordinary people, and conveys the secrets of this depth to others - and since the concept of depth is equally applicable to space and time, a prophet is one to whom the most intimate truths are accessible, who sees equally clearly in the present, past and future, in the near and far. Such a concept of unlimited knowledge obviously presupposes a consciousness that is not only not suppressed, not obscured by ecstasy, but, on the contrary, presupposes a consciousness as sublime, as penetrating and clear as compared to the ordinary, insofar as it penetrates further and deeper into the innermost depths of things. Those prophetic visions, in which the prophets sometimes seem to show a lack of self-control, appear as such only with a superficial, biased look at them. We have already noted above that the weakness that Daniel showed during the visions (Dan. 8:27; 10:8-10) did not at all come from the ecstatic properties of the state, as some try to explain, but solely from the extraordinary nature of the phenomenon itself. This is clearly proven by the fact that the exhaustion that threw Daniel to the ground did not precede the vision itself, but followed it, that is, exhaustion was not the state in which the vision was perceived, but only a consequence of it. No, the prophets did not lose their pure self-awareness during visions, they did not speak without knowing what they were talking about - on the contrary, their consciousness at the moments of visions was enlightened to the point that it gave them the opportunity with a clear look to penetrate into the depths of their hearts and the souls of their fellow men, and there to discover smoldering sparks of good, to ignite them to fight and destroy everything evil and vicious. If we look at other visions, we will notice in them the clear consciousness of the prophets. Isaiah, during the vision by which he was called to prophetic service (chap. 6), was in full self-awareness. He was aware of all his sinfulness and unworthiness and was also aware, down to the smallest details, of how he had received cleansing from the hand of Seraphim, who had touched his unclean lips with a burning coal, and how, cleansed, he had boldly volunteered to take upon himself the preaching of the word of God. Jeremiah, during the same vision (Jer. 1:6, 20:9–11, 18:18) realizes his unworthiness, his youthful inexperience and weaknesses; but after cleansing and strengthening, he takes on the great feat of preaching and accepts it with such strength of moral self-determination that neither persecution, nor shame, nor any disasters could force him to abandon the accepted feat. When Ezekiel saw a vision, wonderful and incomprehensible, he fell on his face. It is clear that the same thing happened to him as happened to Daniel: the extraordinary nature of the vision struck him. But to receive the revelation, he had to stand up. The Spirit entered him, raised him to his feet, and the prophet began to hear the speaker speaking to him, and, therefore, in a completely clear consciousness began to perceive divine revelation. Thus, the prophets know down to the smallest details about visions, about their states during them, and everything seen and heard is clearly reproduced and transmitted to others: a clear sign of uninterrupted self-awareness. Based on the physiological and factual data we have reviewed, the general conclusion about the mental state of the prophets is as follows. Prophets are men inspired from above, but in their inspiration they do not lose their self-awareness and initiative; on the contrary, by virtue of this very inspiration, they receive illumination in their self-consciousness - an illumination that reveals what is hidden in space and time and imparts to them the wisdom that gave authority to their proclamations of the destinies of kingdoms and peoples. If you need to compare them with anyone on earth in order to more clearly represent the characteristic feature of the prophets with this comparison, then they can be compared with geniuses. A genius differs from ordinary people in that his spirit possesses such mighty power that with its bold flight in all areas of mental or moral activity it outstrips the collective movement of all ordinary minds contemporary to it. Hence the enormous difference in the clarity and breadth of their vision: where for ordinary minds there is only a barely dawning dawn, for a genius it is a clear sunny day, where for the former there is a dark, narrow gorge, for a genius there are wide, bright plains. But this is still in the ordinary state of man. When a ray of inspiration falls on the great human spirit, then, roused, it rises to those areas that are inaccessible to ordinary minds, and sees things that seem to ordinary minds like madness or a dream, and which, however, thousands of years later become the property of grateful posterity and all of humanity. The same, but only to an incomparably higher degree, is the spirit of the prophets. Called to guard the embryo of the kingdom of God on earth, to preach all that is good, to fight evil on a sinful earth, called to proclaim on earth the thoughts of God, thoughts that, according to the word of God, are as much higher than the thoughts of men as heaven is higher than the earth (Isa. 55:8), the prophets naturally possessed a consciousness that surpassed in clarity and insight any human consciousness, and if geniuses were able to see what the crowd was unable to see, then the prophets were able to see what neither the deepest philosophers nor the strongest, boldest geniuses dared to even dream of. To a certain extent, strong minds can penetrate into the secrets of nature, the destinies of history, and the secrets of the human spirit and thought; but to penetrate into the secrets of God’s destinies, to comprehend the definitions and predestination of God, to see the movement of the very muscle that controls the destinies of history and eternity, and to know the direction of this movement - in a word, to follow the paths of God throughout their vast extent in history and in eternity, to know the “secret of God” (Am. 3:7): - this can only be prophets and no one else among people. Because of this calling, their inspiration is more sublime, purer than any human inspiration: it comes to them as a power that revives and enlightens them. An invisible force descended on them, and they felt a burning fire within themselves, and heard, as it were, the blows of a hammer, from which the rocks would crumble (Jer. 20:9; 23:9, 29): their mouths began to speak. And they were fully aware that the word they uttered did not come from their own stock of thought, but was communicated to them by another divine spirit (Num. 16:28; Ezek. 13:2 et seq.), coming from outside, and this spirit revived them, made the weak courageous, the young man mature, the sinner pure. Hence moral purity, selflessness, complete devotion and fiery zeal for the work to which they were called are the outstanding features of the life and work of the prophets. But further, according to the sublimity of the content of the prophetic word, their very form, in its sublimity, must correspond to the content. The most sublime form of the human word is the poetic form; it alone is capable of expressing in itself the most tender, subtle, noble and sublime movements of the human spirit. From this it is clear why the prophets chose the poetic form of speech for their divine word: it alone, and even then barely, could express the wondrous prophetic word, because the secrets of this word are so high that the human language is too poor and insufficient to express them in a worthy manner. But despite the insufficiency and poverty of language for the full expression of the prophetic word, prophetic speech, however, constitutes a miracle of poetry. Regularly flowing in free logical-rhythmic couplets or tercets, prophetic speech, depending on the content, is majestic and reverent when, for example. the prophet depicts his calling (Is. 6 ch. Ezek. 1 ch. etc.) – awe penetrates the reader to the depths of his soul; it is formidable and terrible, like a scorching fire, a hammer breaking rocks, like a trumpet blast at the hour of judgment, when, for example. the prophet turns to the corrupt and morally lulled people and announces the onset of the well-deserved punishment of God 338; then meek and gentle, like the voice of a tenderly loving mother, when the prophet turns with consolation to the suffering people: at this time she is able to heal mortal gaping wounds - dissolved from the depths of the soul by the tears of the prophet bursting out, she is a healing balm that delights suffering (Jer. 30-31 ch. Is. 40, 54 ch.); then again sublime and solemn, like the sound of a victorious trumpet, when the prophet, from the deplorable events of the present, turns his bright gaze to the future, to the cherished promise, to the coming Messiah - his suffering tone is enlivened, the spirit is encouraged, the tears just shed are dried and the prophet, full of joy, forgets all the bitterness of the present and sings solemn hymns 339. In the prophetic books there are pages that, in terms of sublimity and power of expression, have nothing like them in the poetic literature of all times and peoples, and it is clear: prophets are sacred poets, and their works are imprinted with religion and truth, while the poetry of other peoples is often overshadowed by superstition, passion and delusion. Among the external rhetorical forms the prophets use: allegories, for example. a song about the vineyard, under which the chosen people are depicted (Is. 5 ch.); and perbolas, when for example. revolutions and popular movements are presented as movements of heaven and earth, as the darkening and falling of stars 340; bold metaphors, when e.g. spiritual gifts are presented under sensory images - divine inspiration like a stream of water in a thirsty desert, glory and happiness like the never-setting sun and moon (Isa. 60:20); poetic personifications, when e.g. the prophet addresses soulless objects as living persons (these are: “listen to the heavens, and listen to the earth!” “The mountains and hills will sing a song before you, and all the trees of the field will applaud you!” etc. 341; energetic repetitions such as: “Comfort, comfort My people,” “O earth, earth, earth!” listen to the word of the Lord,” etc. (Isa. 40:1; Jer. 22:29); irony, when for example human weakness is depicted in contrast with the greatness of God ("Is the ax magnified before the one who moves it? As if the rod rises up against the one who lifts it!" or "Woe to him who disputes with his Creator, a shard of the shards of the earth!" (Isa. 10:15, 45:9) Prophetic speeches, generally different from lyrical songs, often turn into them when prophets or insert into their speeches are folk hymns of former times, or they compose their own 342, and then the feeling flows even more fully and deeply, the pictures are drawn even more vividly, the flight of thought becomes even bolder. These interpolated hymns are new rays, giving a new shine to the picture, new sounds, introducing the charm of variety into the whole harmony. Chapter 46. The internal state of the chosen people As for the general condition of the chosen people during the period of their division into two kingdoms hostile to each other, the latter entailed not only a weakening of the political power of the people, but also their fall in religious and moral terms. That tendency towards wickedness and idolatry, which manifested itself among the people even during the monarchy, did not find a counterbalance in the piety of the kings, who observed (in the best years of their reign) the implementation of the religious and moral laws of Moses; with the division of the kingdom, it received state approval and was encouraged by the entire direction of politics in the kingdom of Israel. The kings of the latter, starting with Jeroboam, presented idolatry as a sign of their political independence and, in order to strengthen their throne, by all means alienated the people from the temple of Jerusalem. With this direction, the kingdom of Israel was forever lost for the economy of God, and although God, in His great mercy, raised up great prophets in it, who with their preaching and miracles awakened the criminally dormant conscience of the kings and people, their preaching could no longer turn this kingdom away from the religious and moral error into which it had entered and which preached the advantages of internal piety over external, the superiority of works mercy and love over the ritual acts of sacrifice. With the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, both the church and the ark of the covenant itself disappeared without a trace. As the chosen people became more and more unable to be the living bearer and custodian of the covenant of God and the promise of the Savior, writing became increasingly important in this regard, which reached a high level of development by the time of the fall of the kingdoms. The main representatives of the enlightenment were the prophets, who still formed religious brotherhoods or prophetic schools, reaching their most flourishing state under the prophets Elijah and Elisha. After these two greatest representatives of oral prophecy, written prophecy began to develop more and more, as it provided more opportunities for preserving the spoken truths in the troubled and difficult times of the people's life. Thus, eleven books of the prophets were compiled at this time, written by the prophets Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Zephaniah and Jeremiah. The Prophet Jeremiah compiled another special book called “Lamentations of Jeremiah,” in which the fall of Jerusalem is mourned. In civil government with the division of the monarchy, political unrest became inevitable, weakening both states and often turning into internecine devastating wars. But in the kingdom of Judah there was more stability and order than in the kingdom of Israel. In it, the throne, according to the promise of God, was invariably preserved in the line of David and generally passed from father to son; Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Israel, the newly established dynasty of Jeroboam ended with his son, and then a whole series of regicides and usurpations followed, as a result of which kings quickly succeeded on the Israeli throne. In the space from the division of the kingdom to the simultaneous killing of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and Joram, king of Israel by Jehu (which will be a period of 90 years), only six kings were replaced on the throne of Judah, while there were ten kings on Israel, and during the entire 257-year period from the division of the monarchy until the fall of the kingdom of Israel, 20 kings were replaced on the throne of Israel, while in Judah, only 12, is a clear proof of the greater stability of government in the latter. Both this instability and the fact that in the kingdom of Israel all the laws of justice were brazenly trampled upon (the story of Naboth) and thereby undermined the very foundations of state and social life, explains the fact that the kingdom of Israel fell 134 years earlier than the kingdom of Judah. Moreover, it died completely, while the latter was resurrected to a new political life and existed until the foundation of the true spiritual kingdom of David, his Divine Son, the King of the universe. The shameful weakness of the chosen people during this period was manifested in the fact that they lost sight of their destined position of being a light for all other peoples. Instead of morally dominating the surrounding nations and preparing them for joining the kingdom of God, the people of Israel themselves completely succumbed to the corrupting influence of these peoples, and not only in the kingdom of Israel, but also in the kingdom of Judah, idolatry was completely established on the soil of the promised land and often triumphed over true religion, especially under Manasseh, who placed the idol of the disgusting Asherah in the very church of God. This state of affairs was all the more sad because the cult of the pagan peoples became more and more disgusting and ugly due to the immoral influence that it produced. Hence, superstition and corruption were the inevitable consequences of such a cult, and in this respect the chosen people often fell even lower than their seducers - the pagans. The latter, of course, only rejoiced at such a fall of the Israeli people and during their death they openly expressed their gloating. At the sight of the destruction of both kingdoms, and especially Jerusalem, the Ammonites exclaimed maliciously: “Ah! A! about the sanctuary, because it has been desecrated; about the land of Israel, because it was desolate, and about the house of Judah, because they went into captivity” (Ezek. 25:3). Moab and Seir said with contempt: “Here is the house of Judah, like all nations!” (Ezek. 25:8). The Philistines, seeing the death of the Israeli people, “acted vindictively, and took revenge with contempt in their souls, to destruction, out of eternal hostility” (Ezek. 25:15). The once friendly Tire now spoke of Jerusalem: “Ah! A! he is broken, the gates of cities; he turns to me; I will be filled; it is desolate” (Ezek. 26:2). And Edom cruelly took revenge on the kingdom of Judah for the slavery it had once endured and maliciously exclaimed: “Destroy, destroy it to its foundations” (Ps. 137:7). As for the state of the surrounding peoples, as was clear from the very course of history, during this period many great revolutions took place in their destinies. After a temporary weakening of the most powerful monarchies of the ancient east of Egypt and Assyria, a weakening that made it possible for the sovereign kings of Israel to expand their state to the extreme limits of their possession, the strengthening of these states again began, and already under Rehoboam, the Egyptian pharaoh Susakim began to make regular campaigns deep into Asia, and took and plundered Jerusalem. At the same time, in the northeast of the promised land, a new state, the Syrian, had become very strong, which, having as its capital Damascus, famous for its antiquity and wealth, had sufficient power to constantly threaten both kingdoms of the Jews. But beyond the Euphrates, the power of Assyria again began to rapidly increase, on the throne of which are a number of indomitable warriors who were thirsty for conquest. With a mighty hand they moved their hordes to the west, destroyed the Syrian kingdom, pushed back the Egyptians, conquered all the small states - right up to the Phoenician cities, and under the blows of these warriors the kingdom of Israel fell, as it lay closer to the military road of the Assyrian conquerors. Continuous campaigns, however, weakened Assyria. Nineveh was taken and destroyed by the combined forces of the Medes and Babylonians, and the power of Mesopotamia was concentrated in Babylon. The Egyptian pharaohs wanted to take advantage of this weakening of their long-time rival, and Necho laid claim to all Asian countries that had hitherto been under the rule of Assyria. But he met a formidable opponent in Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who, having crushed the power of the Egyptians, became the ruler of all western Asia and completed the death of the Israeli people with the capture and destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in the 19th year of his reign in Babylon, precisely in 588 BC. The basis for calculating the period described is the testimony of St. books of Kings and Chronicles regarding the years of reign of each king both in the kingdom of Judah and Israel. It is further facilitated by the fact that when reporting the accession of any new king, the year of reign of the corresponding king in another kingdom is also indicated. But this double number system also has its disadvantages, since with the slightest modification of the number (which undoubtedly happened when copying books), the entire chronology became confused. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the entire period of “iniquity of the house of Israel” is defined as 390 years; This figure shows approximately the time of existence of the people of Israel from Jeroboam to the destruction of Jerusalem. This figure also agrees with the private indication of the years of reign of the kings in both kingdoms, as can be seen from the following table: Kings of Judah: Kings of Israel: This table takes as its starting point the year 980, as the generally accepted date for the death of Solomon and the division of the monarchy. But since this date is more precisely determined by the year 978, then the entire subsequent table should receive a corresponding modification. Rawlinson, Hist, llustr. of Old. Test., p. 105. 2 Kings 23:11. Such horses were sometimes sacrificed to the sun. 2 Kings 16:18, 2 Chron. 28:24, 29:3, 7, 16, 17. This river, first called Lik, that is, the Wolf River, is now called Nar-El-Kelb, that is, the Dog River. It flows from the mountains with clear waters under overhanging rocks, 7½ versts north of Beirut and 90 versts north of Tire. See map of Kiepert. Joseph. Bel. Jud. v, 12, §2. The hills in front of Jerusalem in the north were known as the “Assyrian camps” until the fall of the city. 800 Assyrian talents of silver were equal to 300 Jewish talents. 2 Kings 18:14 Records of the Past, v. I, p. 41. That is, a rumor about the approach of Tirgak. Sennacherib, as is known, was killed in Assyria by his sons several years after this. On a small tablet depicting the siege of Lachish are the words of Senyacherim. “I give permission for its destruction.” La yard, Nineveh and Babylonia, 149–152. Antiquity provides many examples of how kings in other countries, in cases of extreme political actions, turned to the gods in prayer. A striking example reminiscent of Hezekiah's mood is told of Assurbanipal. Having received a message that one powerful enemy decided to oppose. him, he went to the church of Ishtara and, approaching the goddess, wept before her and reminded her of his good deeds in restoring her churches, declaring that he loved her courts, comparing the behavior of his enemy - a violent man, a hater of the gods - with his own; enumerating all her titles and glorious qualities, he told how his enemy was gathering troops against him, and begged her to overthrow this daring enemy like a stone in the day of battle, and ruin him like a storm and an evil wind. Then he tells how the goddess heard his prayer, exhorted him not to be afraid, and how on the same night a seer had a vision in a dream in which the goddess appeared to him, surrounded by glory, holding in her hand a bow prepared for war. She sent encouraging news to the king, commanding him to eat food and drink wine and indulge in feasts, since she would give him victory. Smith, Assyria, pp. 156, 157. It is remarkable that other conquerors expressed their pride in a similar way. Alaric, during his campaign against Rome, said!: “We saw how the mountains fell before us; the rivers dried up before us.” Negod, II, 141. A similar statue of Apollo, with a mouse at his feet, stood in Troas. It was allegedly erected in memory of the defeat of the Teucrians by a flock of field mice, which gnawed the leather straps of their weapons at night and forced them to retreat. If we assume that this legend was borrowed from Egyptian legend, then it could indirectly arise from the story of the defeat of the Assyrians. The mouse was a symbol of devastation and destruction, and the mention of it, perhaps, was meant only to express the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bmysterious and insurmountable destruction. Josephus, Aut. x, 1, 5; 2 Sam. 24:15, 16, 17. Byron's genius, embodying with amazing precision the details conveyed by the biblical narrator, allows us to clearly imagine this terrible picture: “Like wolves on a herd, the enemies came running... Their hordes shone with crimson and gold; Like stars on the sea, swords burned, When their wave reflects in the night. Like the leaves of an oak forest in spring, at sunset, The banners of a countless army were visible; Like the leaves of an oak forest in autumn, Their corpses had been lying around since dawn. Before the wing of Azrael made a noise, He breathed death into the face of the wicked, And a deep sleep closed their eyes, And, trembling, their heart froze forever. Here the horse lies in an ugly heap, The breath of flared nostrils does not live, And the foam, frozen with the last snoring, It turns white like the splashes of the surf on the stones. Here the rider lies silently aside, Dew on his brow, rust on his armor: And in the bets there is no noise or ringing, The trumpet is wordless, the banners are motionless. And the widows of Assyria cry out in tears, The idols of Baal are thrown into dust, And their army carried us shackles without a fight. Melted into snow from the sight of Jehovah.” The Works of Lord Byron in Translations of Russian Poets, ed. II. V. Gerbel, vol. I, cg. 11, XXII Hebrew melody: “The defeat of Sennacherib.” The original is much more sonorous, more expressive and brighter than this translation by the Russian publisher. The Greeks and Romans also used fig leaves in a similar way in case of severe inflammatory boils. Bosancs says of the solar eclipse visible in Jerusalem on January 11, 689 BC, that “it could cause the shadow cast on the stairs from the south to recede exactly the space as described in the biblical story, precisely ten steps, and this movement, noticeable to everyone, should have lasted more than 20 minutes.” Tgans. of Bibl. Agch. III, 36. In Cairo, many streets are now no more than one and a half arshins wide. 2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5, Jer. 17:25. Herod Agrippa II appears to have paved the narrow alleys of Jerusalem for the first time, and the earliest system of city drainage appears to have been introduced at Kecapia by Herod the Great. Josephus, Antt. XV, 9, 6; XVI, 5, 3. The rabbis in later times invented the so-called mezuzah - "jamb" - in supposed agreement with the command in Deut. 6:9, write famous words on doorposts and gates. It was a piece of parchment that was prepared according to special rabbinic rules, and on which the verses Deut. 6:4-9 and 9:13-21 were written. This parchment was placed in a wooden, tin or tin cylinder with a hole in the place where the word Shaddai was written on the outside of the parchment. A similar mezuzah was nailed to the doorposts of all rooms of the house on the right side so that everyone who entered would remember that the eye of God was always looking at him. Unfortunately, this wonderful custom was subsequently subjected to many superstitious perversions. It is worth noting that sacred texts were also written on the doors of ancient Egyptian houses. Wilkinson, II, 102. Jer. 1:29, 27; Ref. 10:30 , Nav. 21:18; 1 Kings 2:1; Steam. 6:45. In Jeremiah, more than in other prophets, borrowings from the most ancient prophets are noticeable, which, in any case, indicates that he diligently read their works, and they were imprinted on his memory. Gesenius, DeWette, Graetz, Reiss, Schrader, Bleek, Berto, Ewald, Dielman and others think so. Ibid., 20, and also 1:13 and 2. Ezek. 31:14. This prophet was already almost an adult when Nineveh fell. Herodotus also points to this uneven division of the Assyrian region between Cyaxares and his allies, saying that the former captured all of Assyria, except for the regions of Babylonia. I, 106. Jer. 18:18ff; 20:10 onwards Jer. 29:8, 15ff; Iz. 13:1ff. Duncker showed with probability that the construction of the Median wall, which legend attributed to Semiramis, that is, Nitocris, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, dates back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Or, according to other readings, Khofra, Uafris. Ezek. 17:15; Jer. 37:5ff. This treatise was written by us in 1876 and published as a separate article in “Christian Readings” of the same year, No. 5–6, pp. 695–729. Open 20:1–7; 1 Cor. 15:28. Is. 66:17. Iz. 20:11, 13. Mal. 1:7, 8, etc. Ref. 19:5, 6. 20:5, 6. Deut. 26. Small 1:2. Is. 42, 43, 49. Is. 1:20. Its representatives are Ewald, Gitzig, Davidson, Dunker, Knobel, etc. Ewald, Die Propheten. S. 9. Baumgarten. Einl. in d. Pentateuch. See Lasaulx, decree, op., p. 43. Lasaulx, S. 20. Iliad. IV, 164 et seq. Aeneid. I, 278. Herzog, Real-Encyclopädie, Bd. XVII. S. 642. Mich. 3:8. Ezek. 11:5; 1. Tsar. 19:20; 10:6. Ezek. 16:1. Is. 66:1, etc. Advertisers. Haeres: xlviii, cap. 3. Preface to comms, e.g. Isaiah. Homil. XXXIX in epist. prim. ad Corinth. A. Tholuck, Die Propheten und ihre Weissagungen. 1861. S. 68, 69 and 70. Köster, Die Propheten d. A.u. N.Testaments. S. 182 and 183. Is. 8:16; 54:13, 50:4; In. 6:3, 8; Wed Jer. 31 Is. Chapter I, Am. Chapter 1 Joel. 1 and 2. Jer. 23:29. Is. 11–12 ch. 19 and 40. Joel. Chapter 3 Agg. 3; Joel 3; Is. 13:10; 14:12. Is. 1:2; 55:12. Mich. 6:2. Is. 56:19. Is. 5:12 et c. 12 ch. 42:9. Avv. Chapter 3 etc. You might be interested in: