"Hear
ye and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord
your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark
mountains, and while ye look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death,
and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in
secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with
tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive". (Jeremiah
13:15-17)
Seeped in iniquity the Northern Kingdom of
Israel fell in 721 B.C. and was taken captive by Assyrians. One hundred years
later the remaining Kingdom of Judah totally abandoning the God of Israel faced
extinction at the hands of Babylon.
So total was
Judah’s rejection of Jehovah that they turned to animal worship "turning a
large room in the temple into a chapel for its' services... the sun worship
also finding a footing in its' court...in the very holiest spot of the
sanctuary, about twenty-five men, presumably representatives of the high
priest...stood with their back to the temple-the open sign of apostasy-and
worshipped the rising sun, their faces turned to the east...they even offered
their children in sacrifice to god Molech (Jeremiah 32:35) (Old Testament
Student Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, p 261).
The moral
corruption of Judah was astounding and qualified them for utter destruction:
"Instead of doing righteous works, the people swore falsely, showed no
repentance or compassion, they turned to the houses of prostitution, they
coveted their neighbour's wife, had a 'revolting and rebellious heart', laid
snares for other men and grew fat with illegal gains (Jeremiah 5:1-31).
When the
Lord was ready to deal with Sodom and Gomorrah, he promised deliverance of
these cities if 10 righteous souls could be found there. For Judah he made the
promise that it would be spared if ANY could be found who lived justly or
sought the truth (Jeremiah 5:1) but no such person could be found. Judah was
filled with corrupt prophets and priests and people seeped in sin who 'loved to
have it so' (Jeremiah 5:31). The real national tragedy was Judah's
unwillingness to 'give ear' and repent. Over and over they rejected the sound
political counsel and a call to repentance until they came to the point of no
return.
Jeremiah,
ordained to his calling long before he was born (Jeremiah 1:4,5) did not cease
striving to save his people begging them in vain, for 40 years, to turn back to
God. The persecution he suffered during his ministry at the hands of his
countrymen was who were full of venom and hated him because he wouldn’t pander
to their wickedness, was astounding.
Even though
he was full of despair and no one would pay any heed to his words, Jeremiah
could not desist from his calling which burned within him like a fire: "I
am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I
cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto
me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor
speak any more in his name. But his
word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was
weary with forbearing and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:7-9).
Despite the
undeserved treatment he received at their hands, he sorrowed greatly for his
people and is known today in Christendom as ‘the weeping prophet”:
"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my
people!" (Jeremiah 9:1)
The siege of
Jerusalem was savage and lasted 18 months. During that time 'the people of
Jerusalem were starved to the point of cannibalism (Lamentations 4:8-10). As
the final defenses broke down and the Babylonians became victorious, King
Zedekiah and his army fled toward the Jordan River but were captured. He was
forced to watch as his family was murdered and after the Babylonians put out
his eyes they took him captive to Babylon. The city was burned, Solomon's
temple was destroyed, and the fall of the kingdom of Judah began....the
Babylonians took the remnant of the people to Babylon except for some who were
left behind under Babylonian rule....to harvest the crops ' (Old Testament
Student Manual p. 261).
And so Judah
joined the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the scattering prophesied by Moses in
Deuteronomy 4:25-31. Their captors changed hands from Assyria to Babylon to
Medes to Persians to Greeks to Romans. It began in 721 B.C. and ended in 70
A.D. with the sacking of Jerusalem at the hands of Titus who himself was sick
at heart at the daily horrors he witnessed. Six thousand Jews perished in the
burning of the second temple the Jews built under Cyrus’ decree and more than a
million and a half people died in the siege with many sold into slavery and
thus were ‘scattered among all nations’ (D&C 45:19-21).
Mercifully,
there is Part 2…..
We
roam this earth
Lost,
scattered, disowned,
Yet
forgotten nevermore.
From
the anguish of Your heart
You
have promised to gather the lost
To
keep them safe in Thy keep;
Thou
art the Shepherd
Who
desires in His bosom
The
flock of His beloved sheep.
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