JUDGMENT UPON

lonians pursued them, and overtook
Zedekiah near Jericho, and brought
him to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebu-
chadnezzar was very cruel to his
poor fallen enemy. He took Zede-
kiah’s two sons, and slew them
before their father’s eyes; and then
he put out the eyes of Zedekiah,
and bound him with chains, and
carried him to Babylon. All the
nobles in Judah were slain; and
the king’s house was thrown down
by the Babylonian army, and burnt
with fire; and the houses of all the
people in Jerusalem were destroyed
too. And the holy temple of God,
which Solomon built, where the
people of Judah had so often met
to pray, and praise the Lord, that
holy temple was burnt down to the
ground, and the vessels in it were
destroyed, or carried away to Baby-
lon. Almost all the people of
Judah were taken captive; only
some of the very poorest were left
behind.

But where was Jeremiah? Was
he taken prisoner, and carried to
Babylon? No; God who had taken
care of Jeremiah so long, still pre-
served him, and inclined the heart
of Nebuchadnezzar to show him
kindness) When the city was
taken, Nebuchadnezzar commanded
his captain to “look well to Jere-
miah, and do him no harm.” fo
the captain sent, and took Jeremiah
out of the prison court, where Zede-
kiah had put him, and delivered
him to Gedaliah. Who was Geda-
liah ? He was the governor whom
Nebuchadnezzar had set over the
poor Jews who still stayed in Jeru-
salem. He lived at Mizpeh; and
Jeremiah went to him there, and
lived with him. God can preserve

 

JUDAH. 307

His people in the greatest dangers,
and He had promised to keep Jere-
miah safely in all the troubles which
came upon Judah. And there was
another good man whom God prom-
ised to protect too. This was Ebed-
melech, the kind servant who asked
Zedekiah to take Jeremiah out of
the dungeon. Ebed-melech loved
Jeremiah, and showed him kind-
ness, out of love to that God in
whom both Jeremiah and Hbed-
melech put their trust. God saw
Ebed-melech’s faith and love; and
now, when the city was destroyed
and the people killed, or scattered,
or taken prisoners, He sent a mes-
sage of comfort by Jeremiah to this
faithful servant. What was the
message? “Thus saith the Lord ;
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt
not be given into the hand of the
men of whom thou art afraid. I
will surely deliver thee, and thou
shalt not fall by the sword, because
thou hast put thy trust in me, saith
the Lord.” Let us put our trust in
the Lord too, and then, whatever
troubles or sorrows we may have,
the God of Jeremiah and of Ebed-
melech will be with us to comfort
and bless us. He will preserve and
guide us while we live, and take us
to be with Him for ever in Heaven
when we die.

Gedaliah was a wise governor.
He advised his people to stay quietly
in Mizpeh, and submit to the king
of Babylon, who was now their
master, and whom it was their duty
to obey; and many of the Jews at-
tended to Gedaliah’s advice, and
dwelt peacefully and safely at Miz-
peh, where they had fields, and
vineyards, and fruit, and oil, and
wine. But after a little time, Geda-