=The Prophets.=—­Then appeared the prophets, or as they were called, the Seers:  Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel.  Usually they came from the desert where they had fasted, prayed, and given themselves to meditation.  They came in the name of Jehovah, not as warriors in judgment, but as preachers.  They called the Israelites to repent, to overthrow their idols, to return to Jehovah; they foretold all the woes that would come upon them if they did not reconcile themselves to him.  They preached and uttered prophecies at the same time.

=The New Teaching.=—­These men on fire with the divine spirit found the official religion at Jerusalem mean and cold.  Why should they, like the idolaters, slaughter cattle and burn incense to the honor of God?  “Hear the word of Jehovah,” says Isaiah:  “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices?  I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and of the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats....  Bring no more vain oblations, your incense is an abomination to me....  When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ... for your hands are full of blood.  Wash you, make you clean ... cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow....  Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”  In place of sacrifices, the prophets would set justice and good works.

=The Messiah.=—­Israel deserved its afflictions, but there would be a limit to the chastisement.  “O my people,” says Isaiah in the name of Jehovah, “be not afraid of the Assyrian:  he shall smite thee with a rod ... after the manner of Egypt ... for yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease ... and the burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder.”  The prophets taught the people to look for the coming of Him who should deliver them; they prepared the way for the Messiah.

THE JEWISH PEOPLE

=Return to Jerusalem.=—­The children of Judah, removed to the plain of the Euphrates, did not forget their country, but sang of it in their chants:  “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof, for there they that carried us away required a song ... saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’  How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” After seventy years of captivity, Cyrus, victor over Babylon, allowed the Israelites to return to Palestine.  They rebuilt Jerusalem, reconstructed the temple, restored the feasts, and recovered the sacred books.  As a sign that they were again the people of Jehovah they renewed the covenant with him; it was a formal treaty, written and signed by the chiefs of the people.