The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) (20 page)

You see, it was for the sake of the innocent little children, who could not tell their right hand from their left, that God had spared the great city; and he now wished to remind Jonah that one should be far more pitiful toward one's fellow-creatures than toward a mere plant.

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the reign of Jeroboam II., or of the kings who came just before, two other prophets arose in Israel, Hosea and Amos. Both spoke prophecies which are written down in the Bible, in books bearing their names. Hosea foretold the captivity of his people, and their return to the Holy Land, and he compared the sins of the people to those of his own wife, who had forsaken him. The Lord's forgiveness of his people was further made clear by Hosea's own generosity in receiving again, and tenderly supporting, this runaway wife in her old age.

Amos, the other prophet, was called from his labors as a shepherd to speak against idolatry, and to foretell the doom of all the nations that dwelt in that part of Asia. He too foretold the return from captivity, and before he died he had visions concerning the coming of the Messiah.

After reigning forty-one years, Jeroboam II., King of Israel, was succeeded by his son, who indulged in sin, and fell under the blows of a conspirator. This man destroyed all that was left of the race of Jehu, and took possession of the throne. But he did not long enjoy the royal authority; for he was murdered one month later by Menahem, who became king and reigned ten years, treating the people with great cruelty.

It was under the reign of Menahem, and while he and his people were again worshiping idols, that the strong Assyrians first came to attack the kingdom. But the king managed to buy them off, by offering them one thousand talents of silver to leave Israel in peace.

The second king after Menahem, however, made an alliance with the Syrians, and, thus strengthened, dared to fight against the haughty Assyrians. He was defeated, and saw a large part of his people led off into captivity, as had been foretold by the prophets. Menahem himself was allowed to keep his poor kingdom, but was soon murdered by Hoshea, his successor, the nineteenth and last king of Israel.

While all these unfortunate events were taking place in the kingdom of Israel, Amaziah, King of Judah, had been succeeded by his son Uzziah, an able monarch. As Uzziah served the Lord, he was granted a long and prosperous reign. But, encouraged by prosperity, he finally became very proud, and forgot to whom his blessings were due. He tried to assume the duties of a priest, which the Levites alone were allowed to perform; and thus he called forth the wrath of God.

Uzziah came into the temple to burn incense, in spite of the high priest and of eighty of his assistants; but as soon as he began it, the Lord struck him with leprosy, and a white plague spot suddenly appeared on his forehead.

When the people saw what had happened, they all took up the cry of "unclean, unclean," and drove Uzziah out of the temple, which his presence polluted. He had to go away to a lonely place, where he spent the rest of his life in torture, while his son governed in his name.

When Uzziah finally died, his son Jotham became king, and for sixteen years he ruled over Judah in the fear of the Lord, and led a godly and faultless life. But in spite of all his virtues, the people gradually grew more corrupt; and when Ahaz, his son, succeeded him, and no longer tried to restrain them, they again openly worshiped idols.

To punish Ahaz for thus sinking with his people into such gross idolatry, the Lord allowed the Kings of Israel and Syria to defeat him in war, and to kill one hundred and twenty thousand of his men. Jerusalem would have fallen into the hands of the Israelites on this occasion, had not Isaiah, a prophet, encouraged the people to repent and defend themselves bravely against the attack.

Thus delivered from the danger of falling into the enemy's hands, Ahaz still had to war against the Syrians and Philistines, who had both attacked him. But instead of relying upon the help of the Lord, Ahaz called the Assyrians to his aid, offering all the temple treasure as a bribe, and promising to recognize the Assyrian king as his lord.

In answer to this appeal, the Assyrians marched against Damascus, killed the Syrian king, and carried his people off into captivity. It was then, as we have seen, that a part of the Israelites were also captured and led away. They were the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, the very ones who had claimed the land east of the Jordan.

Ahaz then went to Damascus and had a talk with the Assyrian king, to whom he gave the sacred golden vessels, the bases under the lavers, and many other of the priceless ornaments of the temple. The King of Judah had by this time grown so wicked that he set up a heathen altar in the temple; and he would probably have done much more harm, had not his reign been mercifully cut short.

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wicked King of Judah, Ahaz, was succeeded by Hezekiah, his son, who "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord." He reopened and purified the temple, restored the worship of God, and called the people together to celebrate a grand Passover, the first which is mentioned since the time of Joshua.

On this solemn occasion, Hezekiah, the good king, publicly asked God's pardon for all who had sinned; and he pulled down all the heathen idols and altars. He even ordered that the Brazen Serpent, which had been made by Moses, should be broken to pieces, because the people had now begun to worship this too.

Then, relying upon the help of the Lord, Hezekiah drove back the Philistines, and boldly refused to pay any more tribute to the Assyrians. Of course they were very angry when they heard that this Jewish king had thus tried to free himself from their power, and they soon came marching toward Palestine.

Hoshea, King of Israel at that time, followed Hezekiah's example; so the Assyrians came into his land, and made his people suffer so much that they were glad to get rid of the enemy by promising to pay the tribute. Not long after this, however, the Israelites revolted again, and this time the Assyrians besieged Samaria. They became masters of this city after a three years' siege, and carried off twenty-seven thousand, two hundred and eighty families into captivity.

Thus the kingdom of Israel came to an end, and the ten tribes which formed it were led away to Assyria, whence they never came back as a separate people.

As you know, there are many different kinds of churches; well, there are different kinds of Bibles, too. In some of them nothing more is said about the ten tribes, but in the others we are told that some of the captives went on worshiping God in their new homes. In these Bibles also we find the story of Tobit, which is so interesting that many pictures have been made of the scenes which it describes.

The story tells that Tobit, a good Israelite, lent all his money to his poorer brethren, until he had none left, and had to depend on his daily labor for bread. One day, during the noon hour, he lay down in the shadow of a wall to sleep.

Some birds, building their nest above him, let fall little pieces of lime, which dropped into Tobit's eyes and made him lose his sight. Blind now, and unable to work, Tobit called his young son Tobias, bidding him seek a guide, and journey to a distant province. Here the young man was to find an old friend of his father's, and collect from him a sum of money, loaned many years before.

Young Tobias found a guide at the city gates, and set out with him, not knowing that he was the angel Raphael in disguise. In the course of their journey, Tobias, while bathing in a river, was attacked by a monster fish. Helped by the angel, he not only escaped from all peril but also caught the fish. After taking the gall and gills, which by the angel's advice he carried with him, Tobias went on.

He finally reached the debtor's house, and not only collected the sum of money, but also married the man's daughter. This damsel had already been married seven times, but each one of her husbands had been killed on his wedding night by a demon who loved her.

By the angel's advice, Tobias burned the fish gills in the wedding chamber, and the smoke killed the jealous demon. Then Tobias joyfully went home, with his bride and with the money which he had gone to seek.

The angel Raphael, who had ever been at his side, now bade Tobias rub his father's eyes with the fish gall. Thus the pious old man got back his sight just in time to see the heavenly messenger resume his angelic form, and wing his way back to heaven, amid the adoring silence of the happy family whom he had befriended.

TOBIAS AND THE ANGEL

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the siege of Samaria, the Assyrian host began to besiege the city of Tyre, which held out bravely for five years. But before it could be taken, the Assyrians were called home by a war with the Medes and Babylonians, and the Tyrians fancied that they had won.

But Isaiah, the great prophet whose predictions are written in the Bible, in a book bearing his name, sadly warned the merchant city of Tyre that although she had escaped this time, she was doomed to utter destruction.

Soon after this, Hezekiah, King of Judah, was "sick unto death." He was very unwilling to die, and in his distress he sent for Isaiah, begging the prophet to make his life longer. Isaiah then promised the king that he should get well again, and in token of the truth of this promise, the prophet made the shadow creep back ten degrees on the sundial, and said that Hezekiah's life would be lengthened by fifteen years.

This respite, and the miracle of the sundial, came to the ears of the King of Babylon; so he sent an embassy to congratulate Hezekiah, and to offer to make an alliance with him against Assyria. Hezekiah was so proud to receive an embassy from the Babylonian king that he showed all his wealth to the messengers, and even let them see all the treasures of the temple.

Isaiah was indignant at this vain display, and sadly told Hezekiah that his treasures would be wrested away from him, not by the Assyrians, whom he feared, but by the Babylonians, whom he trusted. Now that they knew what wealth was there, he said, they would long to get it.

When Hezekiah heard this, he repented of his vanity, and humbled himself before the Lord. He prayed so fervently for forgiveness that he was told that the misfortunes which had been foretold would not be allowed to happen during his day.

The Assyrian king, having made peace at home, again came into Judah, on his way to conquer Egypt. And now, although Isaiah had foretold the downfall of the Egyptians, the Jews offered them their alliance.

The Egyptians, sure of their own strength, scornfully refused to receive any help, and all that the Jews gained by their rash behavior was to call down upon their own heads the wrath of the Assyrians. Isaiah bitterly reproached his countrymen for what they had done, but at the same time he told them they need not fear the Assyrians, because God would defeat the invaders by strange means, while the people need but stand by and see his power.

Reassured by these words, Hezekiah at first showed no fear when the Assyrians came, but later on, influenced by the terrified people, he tried to buy off the invaders, by giving them three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. This large sum was procured by the sacrifice of his own plate, and by stripping the precious metal off the temple pillars.

The Assyrian king nevertheless sent one of his generals to take possession of Jerusalem, and then Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled; for, in the dead of night, "the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred four score and five thousand." When the Jewish watchman looked out in the early morning, he saw all the plain strewn with corpses!

Hezekiah, thus saved by a miracle from the awful danger which threatened him, now spent the rest of his life in peace and prosperity, and when he died he was honored by the chief place in the sepulcher of the Kings of Judah.

He was succeeded by Manasseh, his son, who was then only twelve years of age, and who ruled over the country fifty-five years. In the first part of this long reign, Manasseh fell into idolatry, profaned the temple, and made his own son undergo a heathen rite, and "pass through the fire," a sacrifice to Moloch.

Manasseh dealt with wizards and witches; he persecuted many of the prophets, and probably killed Isaiah. It was in punishment for all these sins that the Assyrians were again allowed to come into his kingdom, and even to carry him off into captivity.

Then Manasseh felt so sorry for all the wrong he had done that God took pity upon him, and sent him back to his kingdom at Jerusalem. Here this king spent the rest of his life quite comfortably; and when he died he left his throne to his son Amon.

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Amon, the new King of Judah, was wicked and idolatrous, his reign lasted only two years, and he died the victim of a conspiracy. His son Josiah succeeded him, and reigned at Jerusalem thirty-one years. This king was a very virtuous man, and although the people all around him were terribly wicked, he remained good and chose to serve the Lord.