Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and
it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical
setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of
Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a
background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The
character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the
traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with
the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They
portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the
principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history
clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits
apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them.
It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai
and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not
long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule
and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic
counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed
community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully
realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and
commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The
abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official
responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of
perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which
all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is
natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the
fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals.

V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak
and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his
brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably