A Story of God and All of Us Young Reade - By Roma Downey Page 0,26

man in the world. His rule as king of Israel is a time of prosperity and peace. But Solomon is a man easily corrupted by his privilege and passions. After he dies, power continues to corrupt Israel's kings. Maintaining God's kingdom on earth becomes harder and harder as powerful new enemies emerge to threaten the Israelite claim to the Promised Land.

A new prophet named Daniel will have a dream in which God promised to once again save the Israelites by sending them a new king. But Daniel does not know when he will come. Nor does Daniel know that this king will be directly descended from David, nor that his name will be Jesus.

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PART FIVE

SURVIVAL

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It is three hundred years since the death of King Solomon. The Babylonian Empire has claimed a part of the Promised Land. King Zedekiah sits on the throne in Jerusalem, but his reign is one of fear and oppression. The religious leaders of Jerusalem have perverted the people, turning worship into an act of commerce and enriching themselves at the expense of the faithful. But time has passed, and Jerusalem is now under attack. Armies from the east have come and laid siege to the City of David, just as he once took it from the Jebusites.

As the sun rises, Jeremiah is hunched, his head and wrists locked in the wooden stocks. Though he is an old man, deserving of respect, people shout abuse as they walk past, and Jeremiah accepts it. This is his lot in life.

Jeremiah knows he was marked as a prophet before he was even born.

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But Jeremiah's will has finally been broken. He no longer has the strength to preach. His body aches each and every day from his many injuries. His head has been shoved to the ground and kicked more times than he can remember. He is alone. Always alone. God is his refuge and his solace. His comforter.

"They will never hear," Jeremiah mumbles. "If I cannot open their hearts with truth, and help them remember the Lord's compassion, what else is left?"

Jeremiah's prayers are answered by his one friend on earth: Baruch. The scribe hurries to the stocks, where he bribes the soldier standing guard to unlock the chains. The soldier is shocked to see a member of the royal court standing before him, wearing the brightly colored robes of his position. He takes the money and looks the other way.

"Why are you doing this?" Jeremiah asks as Baruch drags him away. "If they find out, you'll lose everything."

Baruch would not ordinarily put himself at such great risk, but God has moved him to act, putting it upon Baruch's heart to help Jeremiah. So as he comes to Jeremiah's aid, he says the words God placed so carefully on Baruch: "I can no longer remain silent. I've seen you before. I've heard you

speak. And I've always known that God is with you."

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Baruch pulls Jeremiah into a small room in the temple. Finding a cloth and bucket of water, he cleans the scum off Jeremiah's face.

Then Jeremiah begins channeling the words of God. "They have set up their detestable idols... defiled my house..."

Baruch is listening to the words of God, as God speaks them. He frantically hunts for a scroll to write it all down.

"Prepare yourself. I am bringing disaster from the north," Jeremiah continues. "I am bringing terrible destruction."

Baruch scribbles furiously.

"I will hand all your country over to my servant... the king of Babylon. I will make even the wild animals subject to him.

"I will lay waste to the towns of Judah so that no man can live there,"

Jeremiah channels. "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals."

Hand shaking, heart pounding, Baruch writes down every word.

Jeremiah's prophecy comes true. King Nebuchadnezzar's enormous and terrifying Babylonian army has camped 108 outside the walls of Jerusalem.

It is too late to repent, and far too late to heed God's warnings.

When Zedekiah climbs to the highest room in his palace and looks out into the distance, he sees the Babylonian army preparing to lay siege to Jerusalem. Every day their numbers grow larger, and every day their force grows closer and closer to launching the great attack that will doom Zedekiah's kingdom.

Jeremiah is determined to deliver a harsh new message to Zedekiah--and in a way that the king will never forget. Jeremiah finds a wooden yoke, the type that is used to tether cattle. With Baruch's help, he hoists it onto his narrow shoulders and staggers into the palace.