ページの画像
PDF
ePub

Those who administered the affairs of his government, were called judges. This judgship was not hereditary, but he who had the address to make the people believe that he had the ear of the Sovereign, became his vicegerent. The King, that is the Creator of the universe-so the book says-held councils with his ministers, in which the affairs of his Kingdom were as familiarly discussed and canvassed as in those of any other king. And the people were made to believe that these judges did actually see and talk face to face with God Almighty, in that apartment of their tabernacles or temples where he held his court, and into which they were forbidden to enter.

At length they became dissatisfied with their judges, and actually dethroned God Almighty, and elected Saul to be their king. David succeeded Saul, and Solomon, David's son, succeeded him. Rehoboam, his son, succeeded him. Solomon had imposed great burdens on the people, and Rehoboam intimated that he would not lessen them. The consequence of all which was, that ten tribes revolted, and chose Jeroboam their king. After this separation, there were ever two kingdoms of the Israelites, until the captivity of the ten tribes. The two tribes that remained loyal to Rehoboam, were Judah and Benjamin, and were ever after called Jews, from Judah, and their Kingdom the Kingdom of Judah. The capitol of this kingdom was Jerusalem. The other ten tribes retained the name of Israelites, though sometimes they are called Samaritans, from their capitol Samaria. A line divided the two kingdoms; hence frequent and bloody wars arose between them. The ten tribes were taken captive by Palmanezar, King of Assyria, about one hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the consequent captivity of the Jews. This is called the Babylonian captivity, from which the Jews were restored; but the ten tribes never returned, we are told, and are. therefore called the lost tribes.

This Nebuchadnezzar, about four hundred years from the time of Saul, laid siege to Jerusalem, while Jehoiakin, sometimes called Jechoniah, was king; and, after a long and desperate defence, the Jews surrendered, and King Jehoiakin, and all the principal men of Judea, including the mechanics, were taken captive to Babylon, the conqueror leaving only the poorest part of the population behind, and placing Zedekiah king over them, whom he compelled to swear allegiance to him. About eleven years after this, in consequence of the defection of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar sent a strong force against Jerusalem, when it was taken, the walls thrown down, the temple destroyed, and the remainder of the Jews, except a few stragglers, taken captive to Babylon. Seventy years after this, we are told, that the king of Babylon (Cyrus) gave permission to the Jews in his dominions to

return, and rebuild the walls and temple of their capitol. About fifty or sixty thousand returned. I have thus given a succinct, though I hope a plain and intelligible history of the captivity and restoration. A more particular account of the one can be read in Kings and Chronicles; and of the other, in Ezra and Nehemiah. To this captivity and restoration all the Prophets allude, when speaking of a captivity and restoration. Let the following particulars be borne in mind: First, that Daniel and Ezekiel were captives in Babylon, and wrote their books there. The former was taken from Jerusalem when a boy, and became one of Nebuchadnezzar's pets, or pages, under the name of Belteshazzar; or, if an adult when taken, he was no doubt emasculated. Secondly, that Jeremiah was not, like Daniel, taken captive to Babylon, but remained at Jerusalem, under Zedekiah, and wrote, at the latter city, his famous letter to the Jews, that had been taken to Babylon with Jehoiakin. This letter was written, be it particularly noted, after Jehoiakin, but before Zedekiah was taken, at some period of the eleven years that intervened between the first and second sieges. Thirdly, that a king of Babylon was styled the king of all the nations of the earth. Fourthly, that Ezekiel says that Nebuchadnezzar shall come from the North (See Ez. 26, 7,) to Tyre, which is further North than Jerusalem.

I am now prepared to introduce the famous chapters of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which contain the prophecy respecting the great judgments that were to befall the Israelites, the sieges they were to undergo, and the captivity they were to endure. I quote them entire, that my opponents may not accuse me of unfairness. The prophecy is in the alternative. If the Israelites should remain a distinct and peculiar people, differing from, and therefore hating every other, they would, as a matter of course, continue a united, and therefore, a strong and powerful nation; if not, they would fall a prey to some conqueror.

1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken dilligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.

2. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

F

5. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

6. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy store-houses, and in all that thou settest thy hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

9. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

10. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13. And the Lord shalt make thee the head and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe to do them:

14. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15: ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.

16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

19. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

20. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thy hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

22. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

26. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

27 .The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.

29. And thou shalt grope at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

31. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee; thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thy hand.

33. The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always:

34. So that thou shalt be mad, for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.

38. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the locust shall consume it.

39. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them; but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

40. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them: for they shall go into captivity.

42. All thy trees, and fruit of thy land, shall the locust consume. 43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low.

44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

[ocr errors]

45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.

46. And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

47. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:

48. Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

50. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young:

51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

« 前へ次へ »