Nebuchadrezzar, on the throne of
Babylon. And the existence of the kingdom of Judah depended on
submission to him. But, just as in Isaiah's time a century before,
there was now a party in Jerusalem who were constantly plotting to
rebel against the Babylonians, hoping for help from Egypt.

=Jeremiah as a patriot.=--Jeremiah had no sympathy with them. He loved
his native land deeply and tenderly. But until the people were
_worthy_ of liberty he was sure Jehovah would not give it to them.

Again and again they proved their unworthiness. Once when the
Babylonian armies were knocking almost at the gates of Jerusalem they
remembered that law about Hebrew slaves, which had been made even
more strict in the new law, Deuteronomy. According to this law, no
Hebrew could be kept in slavery longer than seven years. So in their
fear of the Babylonians these rich nobles solemnly set free a great
number of slaves whom they had been illegally keeping in slavery. A
few days later the hostile army, for some reason or other, withdrew.
And within a month all these slaves who had been set free were seized
and reenslaved. How Jeremiah denounced this hypocrisy!

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

If Jeremiah's advice had been followed, the people of Judah would have
been spared a world of sorrow. But the leaders of the kingdom seemed
bent on dragging the whole nation into ruin. In B.C. 597, Jerusalem
was captured and some ten thousand of the inhabitants were carried
away as exiles to Babylon.

Even that lesson was not enough. Within a few years the new king,
Zedekiah, and his nobles again rebelled against Nebuchadrezzar.
Jeremiah protested and was called a traitor. Many times his life was
threatened; for a long period he was kept in a filthy dungeon, and
almost perished from hunger. But friends saved him. Very soon, in B.C.
586, the city came to the horrible end which Jeremiah had so patiently
tried to ward off. The city was captured by Babylonian soldiers and
burned. Thousands were carried away as exiles. Thousands more fled to
Egypt and to other foreign countries. Only the poorest farmers were
left to till the soil. David's kingdom and dynasty were ended.

Jeremiah himself was not taken to Babylon, but remained in Palestine.
According to tradition, his last days were spent in Egypt, with a
Hebrew colony there. His life had been spent in keeping alive the soul
of true religion in an age when few would listen. He is one of the
great heroe