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BIBLE COURSE:
OUTLINE AND NOTES.
BY
Rev. F. H. GAINES, D.D.
From the Kingdom to End of Old Testament.
ATLANTA, GA. :
The Franklin Printing and Publishing Co.
i£q8
'■C.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by
F. H. GAINES,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
AUTHORS QUOTED.
Gustav Friedrich Oehler, D.D., Theology of Old Testa-
ment.
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., History of the Jewish
Church.
G. Glenworth Butler, D.D., Bible Work.
Wm. G. Blaikie, D.D., LL.D., Manual of Bible His-
tory.
Andrew Wood, M.A., The Hebrew Monarchy.
Alfred Edersheim, D.D., Ph.D., Bible History.
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.
John Henry Kurtz, D.D., Manual of Sacred History.
E. P. Barrows, D.D., Companion to the Bible. Bibli-
cal Antiquities.
Cunningham Geikie, D.D., Hours with the Bible. Old
Testament Characters.
Thos. Scott, Scott's Bible.
J. W. Farrar, D.D., F.R.S., The Minor Prophets.
E. B. Pusey, D.D., Pusey's Minor Prophets.
Albert Barnes, Notes on Isaiah.
Rev. A. W. Stearns, M.A., Cambridge Bible for Schools
and Colleges, Jeremiah and Lamentations.
A. B. Davidson, D.D., The Exile and Restoration.
A. T. Pierson, D.D., Keys to the Word and Helps to Bi-
ble Study.
Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia.
Ira M. Price, Ph.D., Syllabus of Old Testament His-
tory.
/2 7/
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BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
FROM THE KINGDOM TO CLOSE
OF OLD TESTAMENT.
FIFTH PERIOD.
THE KINGDOM
FROM THE ACCESSION OF SAUL TO THE
DISRUPTION— 120 YEARS.
Introduction.
1. The Demand for a King, 1 Saml. 8:4-5. Three rea-
sons are here assigned for desiring a king : (1) The old age
of Samuel. They had experienced under Samuel the benefits
of national unity, the advantage of having a wise and strong
hand to guide the affairs of the nation, and they looked with,
apprehension to the time when Samuel should die. (2) The
character of Samuel's sons. They doubtless had reason to
fear the succession of Samuel's sons to positions of authority
in the nation. Such was the manner of life of these young
men that the people were unwilling for them to become
rulers. (3) They desired a king "like all the nations." "This
request, in the sense in which it was made to Samuel, was
2 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
a denial of the sovereignty of Jehovah, a renunciation of
their own glory as the theocratic people, and a misconcep-
tion of the power and faithfulness of the covenant God, in-
asmuch as a faulty constitution, and not their own departure
from God and his law, was regarded as the cause of the mis-
fortunes they had hitherto experienced ; while their hope of
a better future was therefore founded upon the institution
of an earthly government and not upon the return of the
people to their God. Hence the divine answer, VIII. 7 :
they have rejected Me that I should not reign over them." —
Oehler,p.368.
2. The Divine Answer, vs. 7-9.
3. The Manner of the King,VB. 11-18.
4. The Reply of the People, vs. 19-20.
SECTION 1. SAUL (40*).
OUTLINE.
I. Who Saul Was.
II. Discovery and Anointing.
III. Election and Coronation.
IV. Early Reign, from his Coronation to his Final
Rejection.
V. Later Reign, from his Final Rejection to his
Death.
VI. Character and Place in History.
VII. The Prophet and his Place in the Theocracy.
NOTES.
I. Who Saul Was.
Tribe, family, residence, personal appearance, previous
-Believed to have lasted forty years.— Bla ikie, p. 228.
FIFTH PERIOD. 6
history? 1 Saml. 9:1-2. (See Smith's Bible Dictionary,
Art. Saul.)
II. Discovery and Anointing.
1. The Chain of Circumstances ivhich led Saul to Ramah,
1 Saml. 9:3-14.
2. The Divine Revelation to Samuel concerning Saul,
vs. 15-16.
3. The Meeting, vs. 17-21.
4. Samuel Entertains Saul at a Feast, vs. 22-24. Signifi-
cance ?
5. The Anointing, 1 Saml. 9:25—10:1.
"The sacred oil was used for his ordination as for a priest.
He was the 'Lord's anointed' in a peculiar sense, that in-
vested his person with a special sanctity. And from him
the name of 'the Anointed One' was handed on till it re-
ceived in the latest days of the Jewish Church its very highest
application — in Hebrew or Aramaic, the Messiah; in
Greek, the Christ." — Stanley, History of the Jewish Church,
Vol. II., jj. IS. "Anointing was a symbol of endowment
with the Divine Spirit ( com p. 1 Saml. 10:1 in connec-
tion with v. 9 sq., 16:13 ), the gift which is the condition
•of a wise, just and powerful government, — all ability to rule
righteously being but an outflow of divine wisdom, Prov.
8: 15 sq. Anointing made the king's person both sacred
-and inviolable, 1 Saml. 24:7 ; 26:9, compared with 2
Saml. 9:22.—" Oehler's Old Testament Theology, p. 369.
6. The Signs whereby Saul might knoio the Reality of his
Divine Anointment, 1 Saml. 10:2—13.
III. Election and Coronation.
1. The Assembly at Mizpah, 1 Saml. 10:17-19.
2. The Manner in which Saul was Chosen, vs. 20-24.
Significance ?
3. The Manner of the Kingdom written in a Book, v. 25.
4. The Ammonite War, 11:1-13. Saul's conduct and vic-
tory in this war evidently secured his recognition by the
people and prepared the way for what follows.
4 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
5. His Coronation, vs. 14-15. "The assembly at Gilgal
marks an important epoch in Jewish history. It ratified
the work of the assembly at Mizpah, finally closed the
period of the Judges, and formally inaugurated the new
Monarchy." — Butler's Bible Work
IV. Early Reign, from his Coronation to his Final
Rejection.
1. First Philistine War.
(1) The incident which led to the war, 1 Saml. 13:1-4.
(2) The Philistine army invades the land, v. 5. Effect
upon Israel, vs. 6—7.
(3) Saul's sacrilege, vs. 8-9. Samuel's rebuke and
sentence, vs. 10-14.
(4) Saul's army — number and condition, vs. 15-23.
(5) Saul's victory (describe), 14:1-23.
(6) Saul's vow and Jonathan, vs. 24-46.
2. Minor Wars. Moab, Ammou, Edom, Zobah, Philis-
tines, 14:47-48.
3. Amalehite War.
(1) The commission given Saul, 1 Saml. 15:1-3.
(2) How executed, vs. 4-9.
(3) Samuel sent unto Saul to rebuke him and an-
nounce his final rejection, vs. 10-31. A suggestive and
pathetic scene.
(4) Samuel slays Agag, vs. 32-33.
V. Later Reign, from his Final Rejection to his
Death.
1. The Second Philistine War.
(1) The two hostile armies, 1 Saml. 17:1-3.
(2) Goliath after defying Israel forty days is slain by
David, 17:4—18:5. The victory?
2. Saul Forsaken of the Lord and given over to an Evil
Spirit, 16:14-23. For the discussion of the question of
harmony, see Butler, p. 303 (Vol. III.) ; Geikie's Hours,
p. 84. David becomes his minstrel and armor -bearer,
v?. 21-23.
FIFTH PERIOD. 5
3. Saul's Jealousy of David, 18:6-8.
4. His Attempts to Slay David, 18:10-11; 17-27 ; 19:8-10;
11-17.
5 . Saul's first Pursuit of David, 19:18-24.
6. Second Pursuit of David, 23:6—24:22.
7. Third Pursuit of David, chap. 26.
8. Third Philistine War. (1) Saul consults Witch of En-
dor, chap. 28. (2) Battle on Mount Gilboa, Israel defeated
and Saul and Jonathan slain, chap. 31.
VI. Character and Place in History.
1. His Character. "He was pre-eminently marked by the
great defects of the Hebrew character generally, impulsive-
ness and self-will. As long as he was forming his posi-
tion, or acquiring influence in the community, he kept his
heart in subjection and acted with modesty and propriety.
But when his power was firmly established, he placed no
check on his impulsive and wayward nature. His desires
at last acquired a frightful, tyrannical influence that nothing
could subdue. The laws of God and the rights of man were
alike disregarded in the wild excitement of his self-well.
Even his self-respect was completely set at naught, when he
applied for counsel to a member of a class which he had
tried to extirminate as a nuisance. Occasionally he was
visited by impulses of a generous kind, but they were not
to be relied on. As he systematically resisted the Spirit of
God, he was at length left to the fruit of his own ways. His
death exemplified frightfully the misery of such a situation."
— Blaihie,p. 228.
2. His Place in History. In estimating this we must con-
sider the peculiar difficulties arising from a change of form
of government, the times, the lack of precedents, etc. "At
his accession Israel was crushed and helpless; he left it
victorious far and near. Philistine, Ammonite, Moabite,
Amalekite and Syrian, by turns found themselves defeated
and had to own the powers of the new Hebrew leader." —
Geikie's Old Testament Characters, p. 210. Unquestionably
Saul must be ranked as one of the great Kings of Israel.
He made possible the magnificent reign of David.
6 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
3. David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam],
1:17-27.
VII. The Prophet and his Place in the Theocracy.
Samuel was both judge and prophet. When Saul was
made king, Samuel's functions as judge, or ruler, ceased.
He continued, however, to exercise the office of a prophet.
He was the first of a long and illustrious line of prophets
who held such an important place in the history of the
Kingdom. So important was the position and work of the
prophets that it is necessary, in order to the understand-
ing of the reign of any king, to study carefully the prophet
of the reign. It is, therefore, desirable for us at this point
in our course to get a clear and correct idea of The Prophet
and his Place in the Theocracy.
1. The Prophet..^ "A prophet is a man specially called
and sent by God to communicate a divine revelation. This
is apparent from the name given to those divine messen-
gers. They are called prophets, seers, men of God, men
of the Spirit. The Hebrew word for prophet ( ' nabi ' )
and the English word as used in the Old Testament are
fully explained by a comparison of two passages in the'
Book of Exodus — 7:1 and 4:16. Moses was to be as God
to Aaron, Aaron as prophet, mouth, or spokesman to
Moses ; Moses to communicate to Aaron, and Aaron to
declare the message. According to this, prophet means
the declarer or interpreter of the divine will. He is one
who does not speak of himself, the workings of his own
mind, but declares the mind and will of God, and speaks
what he receives from without. To declare the will of
God and deliver his message, whether it regarded the
past, the present or the future, was the prophet's great
duty. To have received a call and message direct from
God, and to deliver it, constituted the essence of prophet-
ism."— Butler, Vol. VIII. t p. 7.
2. The Inspiration of the Prophets. t( With respect to
the nature of the inspiration under which these prophets
spoke and acted, there can be no doubt that the Bible itself
represents it as plenary, or fully adequate to the attain-
ment of its end (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). Where
FIFTH PERIOD. 7
this end was external action, it was sufficiently secured by
the gift of courage, strength and practical wisdom.
Where the instruction of God's people was the object,
whether in reference to the past, the present, or the future ;
whether in word, in writing, or in both; whether for tem-
porary ends, or with a view to perpetual preservation, the
prophets are clearly represented as infallible — i. e. incapa-
ble of erring or deceiving with respect to the matter of
their revelation. How far this object was secured by di-
rect suggestion, by negative control, or by an elevating in-
fluence upon the native powers, is a question of no practi-
cal importance to those who hold the essential doctrine
that the inspiration was in all cases such as to render
those who were inspired infallible." — Butler, Vol. VIII. ,
pp. 7-8.
3. Place and Functions of the Prophets. " The prophets
as God's living witnesses seem to have stood between the
priesthood and the monarchy ; on the one hand seeking to
keep the forms of religion vital with their proper spiritual
significance, and on the other to secure the administration
of the government in the interests of morality and religion.
Of course prophets would be indispensable in the kingdom
of Israel, unless that kingdom was to be immediately
abandoned of God as apostate.
They were the national poets of Judea. Music and
poetry, chants and hymns, were a main part of the studies
of the class from which, generally speaking, they were de-
rived. As is natural, we find not only the songs previously
specified, but the rest of their compositions, poetical, or
breathing the spirit of poetry.
" They were annalists and historians. A great portion
of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Daniel, of Jonah, of Haggai, is
direct or indirect history.
" They were preachers of patriotism, their patriot-
ism being founded on the religious motive. To the sub-
ject of the theocracy the enemy of his nation was the
enemy of God, the traitor to the public weal was a
traitor to his God ; a denunciation of an enemy was a de-
nunciation of a representative of evil, an exhortation in
behalf of Jerusalem was an exhortation in behalf of God's
kingdom on earth ; 'the city of our God, the mountain of
8 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,
the city of the great King' (Psalm 48:1, 2).
"They were preachers of morals and of spiritual religion.
The symbolical learning of the law had lost much of its
effect. Instead of learning the necessity of purity by the
legal washings, the majority came to rest in the outward
act as in itself sufficient. It was the work then of the
prophets to hold up before the eyes of their countrymen a
high and pure morality, not veiled in symbols and acts, but
such as none could profess to misunderstand.
"They were extraordinary, but yet authorized exponents
of the law. As an instance of this we may take Isaiah's
description of a true fast (58:3-7) ; Ezekiel's explana-
tion of the sins of the father being visited on the
children (chap. 18); Micah's preference of doing justly,
loving mercy and walking humbly with God, to thousands
of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil (6:6-8.) In
these, as in other similar cases (cf. Hosea 6:6 ; Amos 5:21),
it was the task of the prophets to restore the balance which
had been overthrown by the Jews and their teachers dwell-
ing on one side or on the outer covering of a truth or of*
duty, and leaving the other side, or the inner meaning, out
of sight.
"They were a political power in the State. Strong in the
safeguard of their religious character, they were able to
serve as a counterpoise to the royal authority when wielded
even by an Ahab.
But the prophets were something more than national
poets and annalists, preachers of patriotism, moral teachers,
exponents of the law, pastors and politicians. Their
most essential characteristic is that they were instruments
of revealing God's will to man, as in other ways, so
specially by predicting future events, and in particular
by foretelling the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the redemption effected by Him." — Butler, Vol. VIII.,
pp. 9-10.
FIFTH PERIOD.
SECTION 2. DAVID (40).
OUTLINE.
I. His Early Life, from his Birth to his Anoint-
ing.
II. His Preparation for the Throne, from his
Anointing to Beginning of His Reign.
I I His Reign.
IV. David and the Psalter.
V. The Prophets of David's Reign.
NOTES.
I. His Early Life, from his Birth to his Anointing.
1. His Tribe— Judah, 1 Chr. 2:10-15. The place which
this tribe held among the twelve ? Territory ?
2. His Family, 1 Chr. 2:10-13. "His father Jesse
was probably, like his ancestor Boaz, the chief man of the
place — the sheikh of the village. Through this ancestry
David inherited several marked peculiarities. There was
a mixture of Canaanitish and Moabitish blood in the
family, which may not have been without its use in keep-
ing open a wider view in his mind and history than if he
had been of purely Jewish descent. His connection with
Moab through his great-grandmother Ruth he kept up
when he escaped to Moab and entrusted his aged parents
to the care of the king." — Stanley's History of Jeivish
Church, Vol II, pp. 37-88.
3. His Birthplace — Bethlehem. (See Bible Diet. Also
Blaikie's Bible History, p. 230.)
4. Birth and Education. He was the youngest of seven
sons, 1 Chr. 2:15. His birth is " supposed to have oc-
curred B. C. 1080, about 100 years later than the date
commonly assigned to the Trojan war." (Blaikie, p. 230.)
Times? Blaikie as above.
10 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
5. Occupation — Shepherd, 1 Saml. 16:11. Kind of
life ? Bearing upon his later life ? (See Blaikie, p. 232.
Stanley, Vol. II., p. 41 ; Edersheim, Vol. IV., pp. 84-85.)
II. His Preparation for the Throne, from his
Anointing to the Beginning of his Reign.
1. His Anointing, 1 Saml. 16:11-13. This the first
great step in his preparation. The significance of this
anointing was not only to indicate to David his divine ap-
pointment to be king, but the outpouring of the Spirit
upon him, v. 13.
2. Minstrel and Armor-bearer to Saul, 1 Saml. 16:14-23.
Bearing upon his preparation ?
3. His Encounter with Goliath, 1 Saml. 17:1-54. "This
first heroic deed of David was of the greatest importance
to him aud all Israel, for it was his first step on the way to
the throne to which Jehovah had resolved to raise him."
— Butler's Bible Work, p. 307.
4. His Connection ivith the House of Saul. "The events,
as recorded in the sacred text, are not given in strict
chronological order, but rather in that ot their internal
connection." — Edersheim, Vol. IV., p. 95. David's connec-
tions with the house of Saul after the encounter with Go-
liath, and which exercised a great influence upon his future
were three — (1) He was taken into Saul's permanent em-
ploy. Thus he became acquainted with affairs of state and
was brought before the nation. (2) The friendship with
Jonathan. This began on the occasion of David's victory
over Goliath. Doubtless this friendship exercised a very
great influence on David's life. (3) His marriage with
Michal, the king's daughter.
5. His Life as an Outlaw, 1 Saml. chaps. 19-30. "How
these trials called out his faith, and consequently his pa-
tience ; how they drew him closer to God, ripened his in-
ner life, and so prepared him for his ultimate calling, will
best appear from a comparison of the Psalms, which date
from this time." — Edersheim, Vol. IV., p. 95.
Ill His Reign.
1. His Prosperous Reign.
(1) Reigned seven years and six months in Hebron over
FIFTH PERIOD. 11
Jndah only, 2 Saml. chaps. 2-4. During this period there
was constant war with the house of Saul, David growing
stronger and Saul's house weaker. Abner and Ishbosheth
slain.
(2) Anointed king over all Israel, 2 Saml. 5:1-3.
(3) Reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem, 2 Saml.
15:4. "Never was there a more statesmanlike act than
that whereby he made Jerusalem the center of the religious
life of Israel. Jerusalem belonged itself to no tribe ; was
made by him the capital, in order to bind them together
and to be the symbol of the national unity. He placed
there the ark of God, in due time to be deposited in a
splendid temple, and there he fixed the royal court, to
which the people were ever coming for the administration
of justice." — Wood, p. It.
(4) The principal events of his prosperous reign in
Jerusalem, (a) Victories, 1 Chr. 18:1-13 ; 2 Saml.
chaps. 10 and 11:1 ; 12:26-31; 1 Chr. chaps. 19-20. (b)
Establishes worship, 1 Chr. chaps. 13-16 and 23-27. (c)
Kindness to house of Saul, 2 Saml. chap. 9. (d) His
great prosperity, 2 Saml. 8:1-18. "Established upon the
throne in the full maturity of his powers, his wisdom and
capacity of organization are illustrated in this great work
of his life, for which God had anointed and prepared him,
the consolidation of the long disunited tribes into an im-
perial nation. With a statesman's constructive genius he
centralized the national power, and buttressed it with well
organized institutions of religion, education, justice, civil
order and even of industry." — Butler, p. 397. He has
himself celebrated his prosperity in a Psalm of great
beauty and power, 2 Saml. 22:1-51. (Analyze.)
2. His Calamitous Reign.
(1) His great sin, 2 Saml. 11:2-27.
(2) Nathan's parable, application and sentence, 2
Saml. 12:1-15. The child smitten, vs. 15-23.
(3) Rabbah of Amnion taken with much spoil, 2 Saml.
12:26-31.
(4) Domestic troubles, 2 Saml. chaps. 13-14.
(5) Rebellion of Absalom, 2 Saml chaps. 15-18. Ab-
salom steals hearts of people and raises an army, 15:1-12.
David's flight, 15:13 — 16:14. Hushai and Ahithophel,
12 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
16:15—17:24. The battle, and death of Absalom, 17:24—
18:33.
(6) The restoration. Describe and give incidents,
2 Saml. chaps. 19-20.
(7) Famine sent for Saul's treatment of Gibeonites;
how stayed, 2 Saml. 21:1-14.
(8) War with the Philistines, 21:15-22.
(9) David numbers the people, 2 Saml. 24:1-9 ; 1 Chr.
21:1-6. Judgment pronounced for his siu, 2 Saml.
24:10-25; 1 Chr. 21:7-27.
(10) Adonijah, 1 Kings 1:1-10.
(11) Solomon preferred and appointed as David's suc-
cessor, 1 Kings 1:11-53.
(12) David assembles people and delivers farewell
address, 1 Chr. 28—29:25.
(13) Charge to Solomon, 1 Kiugs 2:1-11 ; 1 Chr.
29:26-30.
(14) David's death, 1 Kings 2:11. Character"?
IV. David and the Psalter.
1. Titles. " The title Psalter, a collective term for the
Book of Psalms, originated from the Alexandrian, or
Greek version."— Butler's Bible Work, Vol. IV., p. 5. "The
name Psalms was first given to the collection by the
LXX. They used the Greek word Psalmos as the trans-
lation of the Hebrew word which signifies strictly a
rhythmical composition, and which was probably applied
in practice to any poem especially intended, by reason of
its rhythm, for musical performance with instrumental ac-
companiment."— Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. In gen-
eral these titles signify Songs of Praise.
2. The Arrangement of the Psalms. " They are divided
in the Hebrew Bible into five books, each closing with a
doxology except the last, to which, as well as to the whole
collection, the final Psalm serves as a doxology." — Barrows,
Cornp. of Bible, p. 285.
First Book — Psalms 1-41.
Second Book — Psalms 42-72.
Third Book— Psalms 73-89.
Fourth Book— Psalms 90-106.
Fifth Book— Psalms 107-150.
FIFTH PERIOD. 13
"It is probable these five books were arranged, not
simultaneously, but successively, with considerable
intervals between some of them." — Barrows, Comp.,
p. 286. Dr. J. G. Butler enumerates three successive col-
lections : The first made by Solomon; the second under
Hezekiab ; the third under Ezra and Nehemiah. (Vol.
IV., pp. 5-6.)
3. The Inscriptions. " In a very large proportion we'
find an ancient title or inscription, varying in length and
fulness ; sometimes simply describing the composition, as
a psalm, a song, a prayer, etc.; sometimes stating the sub-
ject or historical occasion, either in plain or enigmatical
expressions ; sometimes directing the performance, by in-
dicating the accompanying instrument, by specifying the
appropriate key or mode, or by naming the particular per-
former ; sometimes giving the name of the author ; these
various intimations occurring sometimes singly but fre-
quently in combination. . . . These superscriptions
are very old, for they are found in the Greek translation
called the Septuagiut, which was begun as early as 285
B.C. They were then so old that some of them were not
understood by the translators, and are therefore usually
represented by Greek letters. They must therefore have
been at least as old as Ezra. The authority of these titles
has been variously estimated. The ancients generally re-
garded them as equally inspired with the text itself. Some,
however, as Theodore of Mopsuestia, at the close of the
fourth century, began to reject their authority. Among
these may be found the greater number of modern critics.
But Hengstenberg and Tholuck, Delitzscb, Perowne, Alex-
ander and Moll attach weight to them. Their antiquity
and their greater frequency in the earliest books, as Del-
itzsch observes, afford a strong presumption that they are
not due to a later editor. They are mostly from a remote
date, if not from the very age of the authors." — Butler's
Bible Work, Vol. IV, p. 7.
4. The Relation of David to the Psalter. Dean Stanley
has well expressed the view of many learned writers: "He
was not only the founder of the monarchy, but the founder
of the Psalter. He is the first great poet of Israel. Al-
though before his time there had been occasional bursts
14 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
of Hebrew poetry, yet David is the first who gave it its
fixed place in the Israelitish worship." — History of Jewish
Church, Vol. II, p, 121. Maclaren says : " Practically
the Psalm began with David ; and, though many hands
struck the harp after him, even down at least to the return
from the exile, he remains emphatically 'the sweet psalmist of
Israel.' " — life of David as Reflected in His Psalms, p. 9.
As to the number of Davidic psalms writers differ.
Maclaren puts the number at about forty-five.
5. Some Leading Features of the Psalms.
(1) Their Poetical Form. "Ancient Hebrew poetry
was rather the poetry of thought and feeling than that of
form. Of course it had a style and diction of its own.
But its chief characteristic consists in what has been called
' parallelism ' or ' thought rhythm ' in the members which
compose each verse, forming, like the double beat of the
heart, a rise and fall, in which the two thoughts which
constitute the substance of the verse are expressed. The
following example will illustrate this :
" Give to Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty,
Give unto Jehovah glory and praise."
Sometimes, however, the verse, and with it the rhythm
and parallelism, consists not of two, but of three, four or
even more members. Subjoined is an instance of a three-
fold rhythm, which has been described as a logical parellel-
ism on account of its progressive thought :
"Happy the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
( 2 ) Their diversity.
" In them is exemplified to the full that extraordinary
complexity and variety of character and of history which we
have noticed in David himself. David struck the keys of
these hundred notes at once, and they have been reverbe-
rated yet more and more widely through the hundred
authors whose voices he awakened after him. Every one
with King David at their head, in their various modes of
thankfulness, sorrow, despair, hope, rage, love, mercy, ven-
geance, doubt, faith--every one of these, through their dif-
ferent trials, of wanderings, escapes, captivity, banishment,
FIFTH PERIOD. 15
persecutions, in their quiet contemplation of nature, in the
excitement of the battle-field, in the splendor of great
coronations, in the solemnity of mighty funerals — from each
of these sources each has contributed to the charm which
the Psalter possesses for the whole race of mankind." —
Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, Vol. II, pp. 288-9.
(3) The Imprecatory Psalms.
"It is easy to perceive that what we find in them is no
private feeling of anger venting itself in curses, but that
they are the product of zeal for the honor of that God who
is attacked in his servants. Comp. especially 69:10. Such
Psalms are just the expression of the sentiment ; Psalm
139:21: <Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
And am not I grieved with them that rise up against Thee ?
I hate them with a perfect hatred. I count them mine
enemies.'" — Oehler's Old Testament Theology, p. 558.
( 4 ) The Messianic Psalms.
There are two principal ways in which the Psalms pre-
sent Christ :
(a ) The royal Messiah : Psalms 2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 61,
72, 89, 110, 132.
( b ) The suffering Messiah : Psalms 22, 35, 41, 55, 69,
109. (See Butler's Bible Work, Vol. IV., p. 21.)
6. The Interpretation of the Psalms.
(a) Interpret historically. Ascertain, if possible, the
writer, the circumstances under which the Psalm was writ-
ten, the point of view of the writer, his scope, the occasion
which called forth the Psalm and the place where written.
( b ) Interpret according to the nature of the writing. The
Psalms are poetical and highly figurative.
( c ) Interpret grammatically according to the meaning of
the words and construction of the language.
( d ) Interpret in the light of the New Testament. "Our
Lord's interpretation of the Psalms is at once the starting
point and the goal of Christian interpretation of them." —
Butler's Bible Work, Vol. IV., p. S3. Comp. also the inter-
pretation in Acts and Epistles.
7. David's Addition of Psalmody to Mosaic Ritual. (See
Hebrew Monarchy, p. 11.)
8. The Psalms in History. Here the material would fill
volumes. One short passage from Stanley must suffice.
16 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
"The Psalter thus freely composed has further become the
sacred book of the world, iu a sense belonging to no other
part of the Biblical records. Not only does it hold its place
in the liturgical services of the Jewish Church, not only
was it used more than any other part of the Old Testament
by the writers of the New, but it is in a special sense the
peculiar inheritance of the Christian church through all its
branches." — History of Jewish Church, Vol. II., pp. 124--125.
V. The Prophets of David's Reign.
After David was crowned King of Judah at Hebron
until his death two prophets appear in the history, Nathan
and Gad.
1. Nathan. This prophet appears at three critical times
in David's reign. *
(1) When David desired to build the temple, 2 Saml.
7:1-17. David's answer, vs. 18-29.
Give the points in Nathan's communication to David.
Also the points in David's reply to the Lord.
(2) After David's great fall, 2 Saml. 12:1-15. The
prophet's address designed :
(a) To produce conviction of sin.
(b) To pronounce the judgment of God.
(c) To declare a prophecy.
(3) At the end of his reign, in the matter of the suc-
cession, 1 Kings 1:11-40.
2. Gad. Called David's seer, 2 Saml. 24:11. The
history shows that at two critical periods in David's life
Gad delivers to him a message from God.
(1) Warned to leave his hiding place in "the hold,"
1 Saml. 22:5.
(2) In connection with the numbering of the people,
2 Saml. 24:11-19; 1 Chr. 21:9-19.
FIFTH PERIOD. 17
SECTION 3. SOLOMON (40)
OUTLINE.
I. Before the Building of the Temple.
II, The Temple.
III. After the Building- of the Temple.
IV. The Books in the Canon Ascribed to Solomon.
V. Appendix— The Book of Job.
VI. The Prophets of Solomon's Reign.
NOTES.
I. Before the Building of the Temple.
1. Coronation, 1 Kings, chap. 1. The question of the
succession — how settled? Solomon king.
2. David's Charge to Solomon, 1 Kings 2:1-9.
3. Solomon's Dealing with Adonijah, 2 Kings 2:13-25,.
(exp.).
4. The Change in the Priesthood, 2 Kings 2:26-27, 35.
The double high-priesthood of Abiathar and Zadok (exp.).
(See Smith's Bible Dictionary, Abiathar.)
5. The Execution of David's Charge Concerning Joab
and Shimei, 2 Kings 2:28-46.
6. Makes Affinity with Pharaoh, 1 Kings 3:1.
7. Vision in Gibeon, 1 Kings 3:3-15. Character and
life at this time, v. 3. The sacrifice in Gibeon, v. 4. The
vision and word <5f the Lord to Solomon, v. 5. Solomon's
prayer, vs. 6-9. The Lord's answer, vs. 11-14. Return
to Jerusalem, v. 15.
8. Solomon's Wisdom Illustrated in Deciding who was the
Mother of a Child, 1 Kings 3:15-28.
9. King Solomon's Greatness.
2
18 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(1) His princes, 1 Kings 4:2-6.
(2) The twelve officers over all Israel, 1 Kings 4:7-21.
(3) His subjects and the extent of his kingdom,
1 Kings 4:20-21, 24. All in safety, v. 25.
(4) His provision for one day, vs. 22-23.
(5) His horses and chariots, 2 Chr. 1:14; 1 Kings
4:26-28; 2 Chr. 1:16-17.
(6) His great wisdom, vs. 29-34.
II. The Temple.
"Of all the monuments of the internal administration of
Solomon none is to be compared, in itself or in its effect
on the future character of the people, with the building of
the temple. It was far more than a mere architectural
display. It supplied the frame-work of the history of the
Kingdom of Judah. As in the Grecian tragedies we always
see in the background the gate of Mycense, so in the story
which we are now to traverse we must always have in view
the Temple of Solomon. There is hardly auy reign which
is not in some way connected with its construction or its
changes." — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 171. The building of the
temple may be considered the great event in the reign
of Solomon. Not only so, it also constitutes an epoch in
the history of the chosen people.
1. The Preparation for the Building of the Temple.
(1) Preparation by David. This twofold : (a) The
idea — the conception originated with him, 2 Saml. 7:
1-17; 1 Chr. 17:1-15. (b) The accumulation of a vast
amount of material, 1 Chr. chaps. 28 and 29.
(2) Preparation by Solomon.
(a) League with Hiram, King of Tyre, 1 Kings 5:1-12;
2 Chr! 2:3-16.
(b) Levies from his own kingdom. First "out of all
Israel," 1 Kings 5:13-16 ; and second of the strangers,
2 Chr. 2:17-18.
2. The Site of the Temple, Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem,
2 Chr. 3:1.
3. The Plan. "On comparing the Temple as described
in 1 Kings vi, and 2 Chr. iii, and by Josephus VII. 3,
with the Tabernacle, as just explained, the first thing that
FIFTH PERIOD. 19
strikes us is that all the arrangements were identical, and
the dimensions of every part were exactly double those of
the preceding structure. Thus the Holy of Holies in the
Tabernacle was a cube, 10 cubits each way ; in the Temple
it was 20 cubits. The Holy Place, or outer hall, was 10
cubits wide by 20 cubits long and 10 high in the Taber-
nacle. Iu the Temple all these dimensions were exactly
double." — Smith's Bio. of Bible, Art. Temple. For speci-
fications see 1 Kings 6:15-38.
4. History of its Erection.
(1) The architect, 2 Chr. chaps. 2:7 and 13-14.
(2) The material. 2 Chr. chaps. 2, 3 and 4.
(3) Number of workmen employed, 1 Kings 5:13-16 ;
2 Chr. 2:17-18. Besides there were all the workmen sent
by Hiram.
(4) Manner of its erection. All the material prepared
beforehand and put in place without sound of hammer, axe
or any tool of iron, 1 Kings 6:7.
(5) Time consumed in building, 1 Kings 6:1 and 38.
5. Bedtcation.
(1) The convocation, 1 Kings 8:1-3; 2 Chr. 5:11-12.
''The temple and its courts being completed the solemn
dedication took place with the greatest magnificence which
the king and the nation could display. All the chieftains
of the different tribes and all of every order who could be
brought together, assembled." — Butler's Bible Work.
(2) The consecration services, 1 Kings 8:1-21. (See
Edersheim, Vol. 6, p. 89.)
(a) Transference of Ark, Tabernacle and holy vessels,
vs. 3 and 4. "In accordance with the divine direction, the
whole of this part of the service was performed by the
Priests and Levites attended by the King, the 'elders of
Israel, the heads of the tribes and the Princes (of the
houses) of the fathers of Israel;' who, as representatives of
the people, had been specially summoned for the purpose.
As this solemn procession entered the sacred courts,
amidst a vast concourse of people, numberless offerings
were brought. Then the Ark was carried to its place in
the innermost sanctuary. As the priests reverently retired
from it, and were about to minister iu the holy place —
20 BIBLE COUBSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
perhaps to burn incense on the Golden Altar — 'the cloud/
as the visible symbol of God's Presence, came down, as for-
merly at the consecration of the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34,
35), and so filled the whole of the Temple itself, that the
priests, unable to bear 'the glory/ had to retire from their
ministry .... This was the real consecration of
the Temple."— Edersheim, Vol. V. pp. 89-91.
(b) Solomon's words of dedication, 2 Chr. 6:1, 2.
(c) His blessing the congregation and address, 2 Chr.
6:3-11; 1 Kings 8:12-20.
(d) The prayer of consecration, 1 Kings 8:22-53;.
2 Chr. 6:12-42.
"It seems like presumption and impertinence to refer in
laudatory terms to what for comprehensiveness, sublime-
ness, humility, faith, and earnestness has no parallel in the
Old Testament, and can only be compared with the prayer
which our Lord taught his disciples. Like the latter, it
consists of an introduction (1 Kings 8:23-30) of seven
petitions (the covenant number, vs. 31—53), and of a eulo-
gistic close (2 Chr. 6:40-42)."— Edersheim, Vol. V., p. 92.
(e) The consecration, thanksgiving, and offering, 1 Kings
8:54-63; 2 Chr. 7:1-5. "To the prayer of Solomon, the
descent of the fire upon the great altar — probably from out
of the Cloudy Presence — which is recorded in 2 Chr. 7:1,
seems a most appropriate answer (comp. Lev. 9:24). Ris-
ing from his knees, the king turned once more to the peo-
ple, and expressed the feelings of all in terms of mingled
praise and prayer Lastly, we have an account
of the vast number of festive offerings which Solomon and
all Isral brought, and of the Feast of Tabernacles, with
which the solemn dedication services concluded." — Eder-
sheim, p. 956.
6. Significance of Temple. Compare "Bible Course;
Outline and Notes," Vol. I., p. 121, Sigyiificance of Taber-
nacle.
7. Uses of Temple. Compare with Tabernacle. (Idem.
pp. 122-124.)
III. After the Building of the Temple.
1. The Completion of his Oivn Magnificent Palace,,
FIFTH PERIOD. 21
1 Kings 7:1-12. Chronological difficulty, see Butler's
Bible Work.
2. The Second Theophany at Gibeon, livings 9:1-9;
2 Chr. 7:12-22. Compare with first theophany, 1 Kings
3:5-15.
3. Solomon's Settlement roith Hiram, 1 Kings 9:10—14.
4. Cities Built by Solomon, 1 Kings 9:15-20; 2 Chr,
8:1.
5. Commercial Enterprises and Vast Revenues, 1 Kings
9:26-28; 2 Chr. 9:10-27.
6. Visit of Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chr-
9:1-12.
7. Solomon's Polygamy and Spiritual Decline, 1 Kings
11:1—8. Consequent judgment of God, vs. 9-13.
8. Adversaries Raised up against Solomon, 1 Kings
11:14-40.
9. Summary of Reign, 2 Chr. 9:26-28.
10. Death and Burial, 1 Kings 11:40; 2 Chr. 9:29-31.
Character.
IV. The Books in the Canon Ascribed to Solomon.
It is probable that a large part of the writings of Solo-
mon have been lost, 1 Kings 4:32, 33. Three books of
the Old Testament Canon, however, are ascribed to him,
namely: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
1. Proverbs.
"The Book of Proverbs consists, as the different titles in-
dicate, of several independent collections. The first nine
chapters constitute a complete whole, of a general charac-
ter, chiefly occupied with the praise of wisdom. With the
tenth chapter another collection commences, entitled 'The
Proverbs of Solomon.' The third, coutained in chapters
25—29, commences with the words: 'These are the prov-
erbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of
Judah, copied out.' These collections, accordingly, con-
tain no proverbs except those of Solomon, and were found
at different periods. The proverbs of another sage, named
Agur, are given in the thirtieth chapter; the next chapter
22 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
begins with 'the words of Kiug Lemuel, the prophet, that
his mother taught him/ and concludes (vs. 10—31) with au
alphabetical poem, containing the praises of a virtuous
woman. (Lemuel is an assumed name, equivalent to devoted
to God. Agur may also have written this concluding
chapter.)" — Kurtz, Sac. Hist., p. 202.
(1) Form of the book. " The collection of scriptural
proverbs transmitted to us and called the Proverbs of Sol-
omon, contains about 500 short expressive sayings (max-
ims, gnomes, Heb. mashal), in the form of poetry, — 'ap-
ples of gold in pictures of silver' (ch. 25:11). It is
inappropriate to term them merely Proverbs, as they are
by no means national or popular sayings to which popular
wit or prevailing opinions may have incidentally given
birth ; the latter often express thoughts which are remark-
ably deep or pointed, it is true, but they as often present
nothing but the unsauctified and crude moral principles
and the worldly wisdom of popular life. We find in those
before us, on the contrary, the aphorisms of particular
sages, who set forth fundamental principles on which the
true wisdom of life is established, and which are adapted
to promote the moral and religious customs of the people.
If David is the first and most successful writer of Psal-
modic poetry, Solomon is, on the other hand, the first and
most successful writer of Proverbial poetry, and by far the
largest portion of the remains of this style of composition
which we possess is undoubtedly furnished by him." —
Kurtz, pp. 201-202.
(2) General character. " In this book Solomon was in-
spired to use his surpassing wisdom and acquired knowl-
edge and to interpret the lessons of his own wide experi-
ence in the setting forth of wise, practical counsels tor all
that should live after him His aim is to set
forth the principles and rules of right living in this world.
His themes include almost every topic touching personal
and social relations, rights and duties, and bearing upon
the welfare of the individual, the family and the commu-
nity. The book, therefore, embodies an inspired manual
of ethics on right acting. For the individual it furnishes
all essential counsels pertaining to sobriety, purity and
all polity, as well as to industry and economy. And, says
FIFTH PERIOD. 2-3
Coleridge, 'it is the best statesman's manual that ever
was written.' An adherence to the political economy and
spirit of that collection of apothegms and essays would do
more to eradicate from a people the causes of extrava-
gance, debasement, and ruin than all the contributions to
political economy of Say, Smith, Matthews and Chalmers
together."— Butler, Vol. VI, p. 229.
(3) Analysis. (Smith's B. Die.)
1. Short continuous discourses on various topics of re-
ligion aud morality, chapters 1—9.
II. Single unconnected sayings, or maxims expressing
in few words the accumulated treasures of practical wis-
dom, chapters 10 — 22:16.
III. Brief moral lessons, in very short, continuous dis-
courses, less extended than those of the first division,
chaps. 22:17—24:22.
IV. Another collection of the Proverbs of Solomon,
chaps. 25-29.
V- An appendix containing the words of Agur, and the
words of King Lemuel, and closing with the beautiful por-
traiture of a capable woman, chaps. 30—31.
2. ECCLESIASTES.
Although some difference of opinion exists among
scholars as to the author of this book, yet the weight of
the evidence is in favor of Solomonic authorship. "Al-
though the name of Solomon is not prefixed to this book,
as it is to the Proverbs aud Song of Songs, yet the de-
scription of the author (1:1, 12) applies so definitely to him
and to no other that it answers the same purpose as if he
were named. Accordingly this book is placed, in the
most ancient Jewish and Christian lists, between the other
two books attributed to him, and the constant tradition of
the Jewish and Christian churches has handed down
Solomon without question as the author." — Butler, Vol.
VI., p. 4.33.
(1) The plan and purposes of the book. In determin-
ing this there is no little difficulty and difference of opin-
ion. Perhaps no better description in a short compass can
be found than that given by Scott : "It is evidently an in-
quiry after the chief good, or what can make man happy,
an inquiry which the most learned, sagacious aud ingenious
24 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
pagan philosophers often made, but never could solve.
Yet the inspired preacher has satisfactorily and finally
settled it, not merely by authority of argument, but by the
result of his own experiment."
(2) Summary of the arguments of the book. "First, to
show where happiness could not be found ; and secondly,
where it might. The first six chapters are principally em-
ployed on the former part of the argument, yet with coun-
sels interspersed tending to show how the vanity, or at least
the vexation, of earthly pursuits may be abated. The re-
maining six chapters gradually unfold the latter part of
the argument, teaching us how to make the best of things
as we find them, how to live comfortably and usefully in
this evil world, and how to derive benefits from the chang-
ing events of life. In respect to outward things, the
sacred writer inculcates a cheerful, liberal and charitable
use of them, without expecting from them permanent or
satisfactory delight. He counsels us to take the transient
pleasure which agreeable circumstances can afford, as far as
consists with the fear of God ; to be patient under una-
voidable evil ; not to aim at impracticable results ; to fill
up our allotted station in a peaceable, equitable and pru-
dent manner ; to be contented, meek and affectionate, and
to do good abundantly, as we have opportunity, in the ex-
pectation of a gracious reward. These general rules are
interspersed with warnings and counsels to princes and
great men, and to subjects in respect to their rulers." —
Barrows, Comp. to the Bible, pp. 201-2.
(3) Divisions of the book. (Pierson, Kevs to Word,
p. 49.)
I. 1:1-11. Preface.
II. 1:12 — 2:26. Results of experiment.
III. 3 — 8:15. Results of observation.
IV. Induction. 8:16—12:7.
V. Grand conclusion. 12:8-14.
3. The Song of Solomon.
In the Hebrew this book is called the Song of Songs ;
that is, the most beautiful of songs ; in the Vulgate it is en-
titled Canticum Cauticorum ; whence it is frequently
termed Canticles in English . . . The Jews revered the Song
FIFTH PERIOD. 25
as among the holiest of sacred books. Likening his writ-
ten works to his noble but less durable fabric of wood and
-stone, they compared the Proverbs to the outer court of
the Temple, Ecclesiastes to the holy place, and the Song of
Songs to the holy of holies, the inmost sanctuary of God." —
Butler, Vol. VI., p. 531.
(1) General description. "The Song of Songs is a grace-
ful and highly finished idyl. No pastoral poetry in the
world was ever written so exquisite in its music, so bright
in its enjoyment of nature, or presenting so true a picture
of faithful love. The song consists entirely of dialogue,
or monologue, the writer nowhere speaking in his own per-
son ; and the dialogue is connected with the development
of a certain action. There are, we believe, only three
chief speakers, the 'bride,' 'the beloved' and a chorus of
'virgins,' or 'daughters of Jerusalem,' having each their
own manner and peculiar words and phrases, and these so
carefully adhered to as to help us in some cases of doubt
to determine the particular speaker. The literary problems
arising out of the mixed character of the composition seem to
be solved in the higher question of its aim and purpose.
It is the adaptation of human affection and sentiment to
religious uses."— Butler, Vol. VI., pp. 531, 532, 534..
(2) Analysis. Three parts.
Part I. extends from the beginning to the fifth verse of
the third chapter, and may be described as The Rapture of
First Love.
Part II. extends from chap. 3:6 to chap. 5:1, and may
be called Nuptial Rejoicing.
Part III. extends from chap. 5:2 to chap. 8:14, and may
be named Separation and Reunion.
"But while these main divisions are traceable in the com-
position, there are subdivisions which enable us to arrange
the whole into a series of lyrical pieces, and to discover
in the language some distinction of speakers and some
variety of scene and action which give a wonderful life
and unity to the poem." — Butler, p. 534-
(3) Interpretation. " The theories of interpretation may
be classed under three heads : First, those which assume
that the work is allegory, that the facts contained in it are
merely employed for the purpose of frame-work, the Ian-
26 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
guage being mystical and figurative. Secondly, those-
which are founded upon a naturalistic basis, taking the
literary features of the work as the first in importance and
regarding it as some form of love poem or collection of
erotic songs. Thirdly, between these two extremes stands
the typical view, which, without discarding the historical
and literary basis, not to be disputed on the very face of
the work, endeavors to justify its position in the Word of
God by analogy with other portions of Scripture, in which
natural and national facts and interests are imbued with
spiritual significance. . . Of the three theories above de-
scribed the typical interpretation seems safest and best.
It admits a literal basis for the song, while it refuses to
be content with a literal sense. It assigns to the book a.
full spiritual significance, but saves it from fantastic and
eccentric meanings. There is an earthly theme in the
love of Solomon and Shulamite. The song celebrates a
pure affection and a wedded bliss. But it has at the same
time a deeper meaning and a loftier aim, well entitling
the poem to a place in Holy Scripture. Typically it sug-
gests and depicts the love, sacred and intense, which unites
the Lord himself to the people, who form, in inspired
language, his 'Bride.' 'Solomon is here' — and then,
typically, the Greater than Solomon. A beautiful bride is
here — and then, typically, Israel, and also the Church
adorned as a bride for her husband." — Butler, p. 5J/.2.
V. The Book of Job.
The reason for considering the Book of Job in this con-
nection is that it is one of the five principal poetical books
of the Old Testament, or as they are sometimes called,
"the Code of the Hebrew Wisdom." "These books are
Job, in which is revealed the art of suffering well; the
Psalms, which give us a model of true prayer; Proverbs^
in which is taught the art of acting rightly in all circum-
stances ; Eoclesiastes, which treats the right manner of
enjoying the good things granted to man here below; and
finally, in the Song of So ngs, the wisdom of the Israelites
rises to the contemplation of the supreme art, that of true
and pure love." — Godet, hi Butler'' s Bible Work.
FIFTH PERIOD. 27
Introduction.
1. Authorship. " As to the authorship of the book,
nothing is known with certainty. Some have attributed
it to Job himself; some to Elihu ; others to some unknown
Arabic author, under the impression that the book has
been translated into Hebrew. But no competent Hebrew
scholar can doubt that the poem is an original Hebrew
work ; others, following the Jewish tradition, have attrib-
uted the book to Moses, while some have discovered in the
philosophic cast of the poem the hand of Solomon. But
the authorship and the era must ever remain involved in
doubt." — A. B. Davidson, in Butler's Bible Work.
2. The Age to which Job Belonged.
11 Job plainly belonged to the patriarchal period. This
appears from his longevity. He lived after his trial a
hundred and forty years (42:16), and must have been then
considerably advanced in life. This points to a period as
early as that of Abraham. To the same conclusion we are
brought by the fact that no form of idolatry is mentioned
in the book, but only the worship of the heavenly bodies.
The simplicity of the patriarchal age appears, moreover,,
in all its descriptions." — Barrows, Comp. to Bible, p. 283.
3. Veritable History.
"The celebrated patriarch whose history is recorded in
the following book has been represented by some critics as
imaginary, and his book as a fictitious dramatic composi-
tion. But he was evidently considered as real by the
Prophet Ezekiel, who ranks Noah, Daniel and Job to-
gether as powerful intercessors with God ; the first for his
family, the second for the wise men of Babylon, and the
third for his friends (14:14), and the apostle James cele-
brates the exemplary patience of Job (5:11). And the
book itself, the early admission of which into the sacred
canon is strongly in favor of its veracity, describes the
residence of Job and his friends with all the geographical
precision of true history." — Hales, in Butler's Bible Work,.
p. 11.
4. The Literary Value of the Book.
" I call the Book of Job, apart from all theories about
28 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AKD NOTES.
it, one of the grandest things ever written with pen. One
feels, indeed, as if it were not Hebrew ; such a noble univer-
sality, different from noble patriotism or sectarianism, reigns
in it. A noble book; all men's book. It is our first oldest
statement of the never-ending problem — man's destiny
and God's ways with him here on this earth, and all in
such pure, flowing outlines ; grand in its sincerity, in its
simplicity, in its epic melody and repose of reconcilement.
Such living likenesses were never since drawn. Sublime
sorrow, sublime reconciliation ; oldest choral melody as of
the heart of mankind, so soft and great; as the summer
midnight, as the world with its seas and stars ! There is
nothing written, I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal
literary merit." — Thomas Carlyle, in Butler's Bible Work.
5. The Great Problem Discussed in the Book — The Mystery
■of Suffering.
PLAN OR STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK.
I. Introductory Narrative in Prose, chaps. 1-2.
II. The Poem, chaps 3. — 42:6.
1. Job's Complaint, chap. 3.
2. The Debate in Three Cycles.
(1) First cycle, chaps. 4-14.
(2) Second cycle, chaps. 15-21.
(3) Third cycle, chaps. 22-26.
3. Job's Second Complaint, chaps. 27-31.
4. Elihv's Speech introduced by Short prose Account of
Mm, chaps. 32-37.
5. The Lord's Voice and Job's Submission, chaps. 38—
42:6.
III. Concluding Narrative in Prose, chaps. 42:7-17.
"VI. The Prophets of Solomon's Reign.
There is no record of any prophet appearing to Solomon
•during his reign. Significance?
It is true that Nathan was present at his coronation
FIFTH PERIOD. 29'
and Ahijah was sent to Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:29-39), yet
neither was charged with any message to the king.
QUESTIONS ON THE PERIOD.
1 . Change of Form of Government f
2. Position and Influence of Samuel in the Transition f
3. The leading Features and. Characteristics of the Reign
of Saul f Of David f Of Solomon f
4. The Prophet and his Place in the Theocracy f
5. God in the Period f
6. Messianic Prophecy f
7. Additions to the Canon f
Summary of the History of the Period. The begin-
ning of this period marks a great epoclj in the history of
Israel, the change of the form of government of the nation
from Judges to a Kingdom. Saul was the first king.
The period lasted 120 years during which time there were
two dynasties, three kings ruling each forty years.
The period was one of great changes. The tribes were
consolidated into a nation, the Kingdom was organized, the
oppression of the surrounding nation was broken, many con-
quests were made, the territory of the kingdom greatly ex-
tended, so that in the time of David and Solomon the land
as originally promised was possessed. David's reign was one
of conquest, organization and vast acquisition of wealth.
Jerusalem was made the capital, and the way thoroughly
prepared for the peaceful and splendid reign of Solomon.
The reign of Solomon was noted for its lavish expenditure
of money, for its magnificence, its profligacy, and especially
for the building of the Temple.
Important additions were made to the Canon by David
and Solomon.
SIXTH PERIOD.
THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
CONTEMPORARY.
FROM THE DISRUPTION TO THE FALL OF
SAMARIA— 253 YEARS.
Introductory.
The Disruption.
Hitherto the twelve tribes have been united under the
same king. Henceforth there are two kingdoms.
1. The Causes of the Disruption.
(1) The pride and ambition of Ephraim.
"The disruption of the kingdom was not the work of a
day, but the growth of centuries. To the house of Joseph
— that is to Ephraim, with its adjacent tribes of Benjamin
and Manasseh — had belonged, down to the time of David,
all the chief rulers of Israel : Joshua the conqueror ; Deb-
orah the one Prophetic, Gideon the one Regal, spirit of
the Judges; Abimelech and Saul, the first Kings; Samuel
the restorer of the state after the fall of Shiloh. It was
natural that with such an inheritance of glory, Ephraim
always chafed under any rival supremacy. Even against
the impartial sway of its own Joshua, or of its kindred
heroes, Gideon and Jephthah, its proud spirit was always
in revolt, how much more when the blessing of Joseph
seemed to be altogether merged in the blessing of the rival
and obscure Judah ; when the Lord ' refused the Taberna-
cle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but
chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he had loved.'
All these embers of disaffection, which had well-nigh
burst into a general conflagration in the revolt of Sheba,
were still glowing; it needed but a breath to blow them
into a flame." — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 231.
(2) Solomou's idolatry, 1 Kings 11:9-13.
(3) The heavy burdens imposed by Solomon, 1
Kings 4:7, 22; 9:15; 12:4.
32 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(4) Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12:2-3; 2 Chr. 10:2.
2. The Division of the Kingdom.
(1) Coronation of Rehoboam at Shechem, 1 Kings.
12 : 1; 2 Chr. 10:1.
(2) The petition of Israel presented to the king, 1
Kings 12:3-4; 2 Chr. 10:3-4.
(3) The king's answer, 1 Kings 12:5-15 ; 2 Chr. 10:
5-15.
(4) The rebellion of the ten tribes, 1 Kings 12:15-
19; 2 Chr. 10:16; Jeroboam made king, 1 Kings 12:20.
The disruption is now an accomplished fact, and there
are two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel, and the King-
dom of Judah. Although the kingdoms were contem-
porary for 250 years, and the history interwoven or very
closely connected, yet we may get a clearer view of the his-
tory of each kingdom by studying them separately.
THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
Introductory.
1. Territory. "From the extreme north down to the
very confines of the fastnesses of Judea ; from the Medi-
terranean Sea to the Assyrian dessrt, and even to the
Euphrates, the Kingdom of Israel still reached. It in-
cluded not only the territory which centered round Eph-
raim, but reached away north and south to the distant
Naphtali beyond the sources of the Jordan ; to the tribes
beyond the Jordan ; through the whole valley of the Jor-
dan down to exit into the Dead Sea ; to the corner of Dan
on the seacoast. The frontier tribes of Simeon and of
Benjamin, which were almost enclosed within the dominion
of Judah, gave divided allegiance to both kingdoms. It
embraced the chief seats of secular and of religious great-
ness, Bethel, Shechem, Mahanaim, Jericho, Gilgal, at times
even Beersheba. Only the patriarchal burial-place of He-
bron and the Davidic capital of Jerusalem were beyond
its reach." — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 2%4->
SIXTH PERIOD. 33
2. Tribes and Population.
The Tribes "were probably Joseph (Ephraim and Ma-
nasseh), Issachar, Zebulon, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin,
Dan, Simeon, Gad and Reuben ; Levi being intentionally
omitted. Eventually, the greater part of Benjamin, and
probably the whole of Simeon and Dan, were included as
if by common consent, in the kingdom of Judah." —
Smith's Die. of Bible.
"The population of the kingdom is not expressly stated,
and in drawing any inference from the numbers of fighting-
men, we must bear in mind that the numbers in the He-
brew text of the Old Testament are strongly suspected to
have been subjected to extensive, perhaps systematic, cor-
ruption. Forty years before the disruption the census
taken by direction of David gave 800,000 according to
2 Saml 24:9, 1,100,000 according to 1 Chr. 21:5, as
the number of fighting-men in Israel. Jeroboam, B. C.
957, brought into the field an army of 800,000 men (2
Chr. 13:3). The small number of the army of Jehoahaz
(2 Kings 13:7) is to be attributed to his compact with Haz-
ael; for in the next reign Israel could spare a necessary
host ten times as numerous for the wars of Amaziah (2
Chr. 25:6). Ewald is scarcely correct in his remark that
we know not what time of life is reckoned as the military
age; for it is defined in Num. 1:3, and again 2 Chr. 25:5,
'as twenty years old and above.' If in B. C. 957 there
were actually under arms 800,000 men of that age in
Israel, the whole population may perhaps have amounted
to at least three millions and a half."- — Smith's Die. of the
Bible, Art. Kings of Israel.
3. Periods of the History.
Periods in history should not be marked off arbitrarily,
but by events which properly constitute epochs. There is
some difficulty in this history in fixing upon an event suf-
ficiently marked and important to constitute an epoch.
The nearest approach to it seems to be the building of
Samaria. Acceptiug this as the most important event — an
epoch in the history, we may divide the history into two
periods : First, from the beginning of the kingdom to
the building of Samaria. Second, from the building of
Samaria to its final overthrow.
34 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
SECTION 1. FROM THE BEGINNING OF
THE KINGDOM TO THE BUILDING OF
SAMARIA.
OUTLINE.
I. Dynasty of Jeroboam (2,24).*
II. Dynasty of Baasha (2,26).
III. Dynasty of Zimri (1,7 days).
NOTES.
I. Dynasty of Jeroboam.
1. Jeroboam (22).
(1) His pre-regal history, 1 Kings 11:26-40; 12:2-3,
12; 2 Chr. 10:2-3, 15.
(2) His elevation to the throne, 1 Kings 12:20.
(3) Builds two cities. What? Why? 1 Kings 12:25.
(4) His great sin, 1 Kings 12:26-33. In this sin,
" (a) He ignored the Theocratic character of the monarchy,
and his consequent obligation as king to submit his will to
God's will, as declared in the Law, or to be communicated
through His prophets, (b) He set up a corrupted form of
worship at sanctuaries, now superseded by the temple at
Jerusalem, in rivalry to the pure worship established
amid signal tokens of God's approval, in that one appointed
sanctuary, (c) He committed a threefold breach of the
Mosaic law, (first) by making an emblem of Jehovah,
(second) by establishing an unauthorized priesthood, (third)
by devising a festival of his own heart, (d) He persisted
in these evil ways, turning a deaf ear to God's warnings
by his prophets (1 Kings 13:33-34). Jeroboam made
Israel to sin by tempting his subjects to indulge in their
idolatrous proclivities and their superstitious regard for the
high places. His was a most insidious fashion of idolatry,
for it did not disown Jehovah, only acted against His law in
making a representation for purposes of wrorship." — The
Hebrew Monarchy (Wood), p. 265.
-'First figure gives number of Kings; Second figure the length of Dynasty.
SIXTH PERIOD. 35
(5) The prophecy of the man of God against the altar,
1 Kings 13:1-9. The sad end of the prophet, vs. 11-32.
(6) Visit of wife of Jeroboam to Prophet Ahijah. Pur-
pose, result and prophecy ? 1 Kings 14:1—18.
(7) Defeated by Abijah of Judah— why? 2 Chr. 13:
2-19.
(8) Death, 1 Kings 14:20; 2 Chr. 13:20.
Jeroboam as a man and a king ?
His great opportunity and responsibility ?
His place in history ?
Causes of his downfall ?
2. Nadab (2). 1 Kings 15:25-28. These verses consti_
tute the entire record of JSadab's reign. (Give the points.
II. Dynasty of Baasha.
1. Baasha (24).
(1) Who he was, 1 Kings 15:27.
(2) How he became king, 1 Kings 15:27-28.
(3) Began to reign in third year of Asa of Judah,
1 Kings 15:33.
(4) Did evil as Jeroboam, 1 Kings 15:34.
(5) Destroyed the house of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 15:29-30.
(6) Built Raman. Purpose? 1 Kings 15:17.
(7) Purpose thwarted by Ben-hadad of Syria, and a
number of cities smitten, 1 Kings. 15:18-21; 2 Chr. 16:
1-6.
(8) War with Asa all their days, 1 Kings 15:32.
(9) Prophecy of Jehu against Baasha, 1 Kings 16:1-8.
(10) Death, 1 Kings 16:6.
2. Elah (2).
(1) Accession, 1 Kings 16:8.
(2) Character and reign, 1 Kings 16:9 and 13.
(3) Death, 1 Kings 16:9-10.
III. Dynasty of Zimri.
1. Zimri (7 days).
(1) Who he was, 1 Kings 16:9.
(2) How he became king, 1 Kings 16:10.
(3) Executed the sentence of the Lord against the house
of Baasha, 1 Kings 16:11-13.
(4) Commits suicide, 1 Kings 16:18.
36 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
SECTION 2. FROM THE BUILDING OF
SAMARIA TO ITS FINAL
OVERTHROW.
OUTLINE.
I. Dynasty of Omri (4, 48).
II. Dynasty of Jehu (5, 102J).
III. Dynasty of Shallum (1, 1 mo).
IV. Dynasty of Menahem (2, 12).
V. Dynasty of Pekah (1, 20).
VI. Dynasty of Hoshea (1,9).
NOTES.
I. Dynasty of Omri (4, 48).
1. Omri (12).
(1) Proclaimed king by the arruyatGibbethon, 1 Kings,,
16:16.
(2) Established on the throne after four vears' war with
Tibni, 1 Kings 16:21-22.
(3) Reigns six years in Tirzah — i. e. two years after
Tibni's death, 1 Kings 16:23.
(4) Builds Samaria and makes it the capital, 1 Kings
16:24-28. "As Constantine's sagacity is fixed by his choice
of Constantinople, so is that of Omri by his choice of
Samaria. Six miles from Shechem, in the same well-
watered valley, here opening into a wide basin, rises an
oblong hill, with steep yet accessible sides, and a long
level top. This was the Mountain of Samaria, or as it is
called in the original, Shomeron, so named after its owner,
Shomer, who then lived in state, and who sold it to the
king for the great sum of two talents of silver. It com-
bined in a union not elsewhere found in Palestine, strength,
beauty and fertility. It commanded a full view of the sea
and the plain of Sharon on the one hand and of the vale
SIXTH PERIOD. 37
of Shechem on the other. The town sloped down from
the summit of the hill; a broad wall with a terraced top
ran round it. Outside the gates lived a colony of un-
happy lepers, such as are still to be seen under the walls of
Jerusalem. In front of the gates was a wide open space,
or threshing floor, where the kings of Samaria sat on great
occasions. The inferior houses were built of white brick,
with rafters of sycamore ; the grander of hewn stoue and
cedar. Tt stood amidst a circle of hills, commanding a
view of its streets and slopes, itself the crown and glory
of the whole scene. It was the only great city of Pales-
tine created by the sovereigns. All the others had been
already consecrated by Patriarchal tradition, or previous
possession. But Samaria was the choice of Omri alone. . . .
With this change of capital a new era opened on Israel,
which was continued on the accession of Omri's son Ahab."
—Stanley, Vol. II, pp. 2J$-2J$.
(5) Omri's reign in its political aspect. "He seems to
have been a vigorous and unscrupulous ruler, anxious to
strengthen his dynasty by intercourse and alliances with
foreign states. Thus he made a treaty with Ben-hadad I.,
king of Damascus, though on very unfavorable conditions,
surrendering to him some frontier cities (1 Kings 20:34).
and among them probably Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 22:3),
and admitting into Samaria a resident embassy, which is
described by the expression 'he made streets in Samaria' for
Ben-hadad. ... As a part of the same system he united his
son in marriage to the daughter of a principal Phoenician
prince, which led to the introduction into Israel of Baal
worship and all its attendant calamities and crimes. This
worldly and irreligious policy is denounced by Micah (6:16)
under the name of the statutes of Omri, which appear to
be contrasted with the laws and precepts to his people 'to
do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy
Ood."'— Smith's Die. of the Bible.
(6) Omri's reign in its religious aspect, 1 Kings 16:25-26.
(7) Death, 1 Kings 16:28.
2. Ahab (22).
(1) Comes to the throne by hereditary right, 1 Kings
16:28-29.
(2) The political aspect of his reign.
38 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(a) Internal improvements, showing worldly prosperity,
1 Kings 22:39. As to the cities notice particularly Jericho,
1 Kings 16:34; Jezreel, 1 Kings 21:1. (See B. Diet.)
(b) Double alliauce with Jehoshaphat, first by union
against Syria (1 Kings 22:1—4), and second by marriage
(2 Chr. 21:6).
(c) Alliauce with Tyre, 1 Kings 16:31.
(d) Wars with Benhadad of Syria. First war, 1 Kings
20:1-22. Second war, 1 Kings 20:23-34. Third war,
1 Kings 22:1-38.
(2) The religious aspect of his reign,
(a) Introduction of new form of idolatry, 1 Kings
16:31-33.
" Baal (always with article) signifies the Lord, as being the
highest of the Phoenician and Canaanitish gods. Whether
he originally represented the sun or the planet Jupiter is a
question that has been much discussed. It is certaiu that
the Baal hamman of the Phoenician inscriptions is Baal the
sun god. The Hebrew word hammonim (Lev. 26:30;
2 Chr. 14:4— Eng. Ver. 14:5; 34:4,7; Isa. 17:8; 27:9;
Ez. 6:4,6) signifies sun-images. It is several times joined
with Asheroth, images of Ashtoreth (2 Chr. 34:4, 7; Isa.
17:8; 27:9), and from 2 Chr. 34:4, it appears that the
sun-images stood above the altars of Baal. All this goes
far to show that Baal originally represented the sun, as the
great generative power of nature. The word Baal occurs
frequently in composition with another word. This denotes
sometimes an attribute of the god, as Baal-zebub, Fly Lord,
averter of flies; Baal-berith, covenant lord, as the god in-
voked in covenants; Baal-hammau, Sun Lord. In other
cases the compound word has passed into the name of a
place ; as Baal-gad, Lord of good fortune, the name of a
place at the foot of Mount Harmon, etc The num-
ber of these names shows the universality of the worship
paid to him by the Canaanitish tribes.
i( Ashtoreth, in the plural form Ashtaroth, is the corre-
sponding female deity, representing the productive power of
nature ; that is, either the planet Venus or the Moon, accord-
ing to the meaning assumed for Baal. The Greek form of her
name is Astarte. She is the queen of heaven to whom the
idolatrous Hebrew women burned incense, poured out
SIXTH PERIOD. 39
libations and offered cakes (Jer. 44:17-19), and corresponds,
not specifically, but in a general way, to the Venus of the
Greeks and Romans. The word Asherah, in the plural
Asheroth, occurs in close connection with the worship
of Baal. Our translators, following the authority of the
Septuagint and Vulgate, have everywhere rendered grove
and groves; but the incorrectness of this translation is now
generally admitted. It is not, however, perfectly clear
whether Asherah is identical with Ashtoreth; or a different,
but closely related goddess, or a wooden statue or pillar of
Ashtoreth planted on the grounds, and so called from its
upright form. The latter is the more probable view, and it
accords with the fact that the destruction of these statues or
pillars was effected by cutting them down and burning
them, Ex. 34:13; Deut. 12:3." — Barrows, Bib. Antiq., pp.
64.9-650.
(b) The persecution of the true religion, 1 Kings 18:4,
13,22; 19:10,14; 2 Kings 9:7. The heathen idolatry
introduced by Ahab could not coexist with the true
religion. "Now arises the first of a long series of like
events in ecclesiastical history — the first great persecution —
the first persecution on a large scale which the church had
witnessed in any shape." — Stanley, Vol. II, p. 24-0.
(c) Ahab worse than all before him, 1 Kings 16:30, 33.
"Note the descending scale : Jeroboam sinned ; Omri ' did
worse' than Jeroboam or Baasha ; Ahab 'above all/ 'more
than all ' his predecessors." — Wood, Hebrew Mon., p.
306.
(3) The prophets in Ahab's reign.
(a) ElijahT " In some respects this one of the most
wonderful names in Old Testament history. He appears
suddenly on the scene when the wickedness of the royal
court and the nation seemed to be almost hopeless. We
are left in uncertainty as to the scene of his bringing up,
as to whether he was a native of Gilead (the tract on the
east of the Jordon, from the Dead Sea to the sea of Chin-
nereth), or emigrated thither; what is said is that he was
a toshab of the toshabim of Gilead — i. e. either stranger of
the strangers, or Tishbite of Tishbi (site unknown.) His
dress, his strength, his endurance, his solitary habits, his
wanderings in the wilderness, all are characteristic of the
wild and hardy Gileadite."— Wood, pp. 310-311.
40 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
The following are the great events in his ministry :
First — His prophecy concerning the drought and related
incidents, 1 Kings 18:1-24. History of the drought ?
Elijah during the drought — at Cherith, at Zarephath?
Second — The great test on Carmel, I Kings chapter 18.
Elijah, Obadiah and Ahab, verses 1-18. The call for the
great meeting on Carmel, verses 19-20. The test and result,
verses 21-39. Slaughter of prophets of Baal, verse 40.
Rain, verses 41-46.
Third — Elijah under the Juniper tree, 1 Kings 19:1-7
(exp).
Fourth — At Horeb, 1 Kings 19:8-13. Still small voice?
Fifth — Sent to anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha, 1 Kings
19:14-21.
Sixth — Sent to Ahab in Naboth's vineyard, 1 Kings
21:17-29. Prophecy?
Seventh — Sent to the messengers of Ahaziah, 2 Kings
1:2-17. Destruction of fifties.
Eighth— Letter to Jehoram of Judah, 2 Chr. 21:12-15.
Ninth — His translation, 2 Kings 2:1-12. Significance ?
(b) "A prophet," 1 Kings 20:13-14, 22 (was this the
same ?)
(c) "A certain man of the sons of the prophets," 1
Kings 20:35-43.
(d) Micaiah, 1 Kings 22:1-28.
(4) Death. Fulfilment of prophecy, 1 Kings 21:19;
22:29-37. Character? Place in history ?
(5) Jezebel. In order to any proper understanding
of the life and reign of Ahab, Jezebel, his wife, must be
considered.
(a) Who she was, 1 Kings 16:31. "The royal family
of Tyre was remarkable at that time, both for its religious
fanaticism and its savage temper. Her father, Ethbaal,
united with his royal office the priesthood of the god-
dess Astarte, and had come to the throne by the murder of
his predecessor Phelles. The next generation included
within itself Sichteus or Matgenes, king and priest of
Baal, the murderer Pygmalion, and Elisa or Dido,
SIXTH PERIOD. 41
foundress of Carthage. Of this stock came Jezebel." —
Dictionary of Bible, Smith.
(b) Her character. She was evidently a woman of
ability, of imperious will, of bold and reckless disposition,
ardeutly devoted to her gods, unscrupulous, cruel, de-
praved.
(c) Her influence over her husband. It has been truly
said that "he was a mere puppet in her hands. "—Smith's
Dictionary of Bible. Cf. 1 Kiugs 21:25.
(d) Her influence over the natiou. " Her marriage with
Ahab was a turning point in the history of Israel. . . .
Even after Ahab's death, through the reigns of his sons,
her influence was the evil genius of the dynasty. Through
the marriage of her daughter, Athaliah, with the king of
Judah, it extended even to the rival kingdom. The wild
license of her li/e, the magical fascination of her arts and
her character became a proverb in the nation (2 Kings,
9:22). Long afterwards her name lived as the by-word of
all that was execrable, and in the Apocalypse it is given
to a church or an individual in Asia Minor, combining
in like manner fanaticism and profligacy." — Smith's Dic-
tionary of Bible.
(e) Manifestations of her influence and power. Intro-
duction of Phoenician worship, 1 Kiugs 16:31-33; 18:19.
Persecution of the true religion, 1 Kings 18:13; 2 Kings
9:7. Her vow to kill Elijah, 1 Kiugs 19:2. Seizing
JNaboth's vineyard, 1 Kings 21:1-16.
3. Ahaziah(2).
(1) Becomes king by succession, 1 Kings 22:51.
(2) His character, 1 Kings 22:52-53. ( Analyze. )
(3) Sends messenger to consult Baal-zebub, 2 Kings 1:2.
" The name of this god of Ekron, Baal-zebub, means
literally 'lord of flies.' Ekron was one of the cities of the
Philistines, but that people seem to have borrowed their re-
ligion largely from the Phoenicians. It is uncertain whether
the name Baal-zebub was a comtemptuous nickname invented
by the Hebrews or a name given to the god by his wor-
shipers on account of his supposed usefulness in ridding
them of the great nuisance of flies." — Blaikie, p. 282.
"Ahaziah's belief in idols goes far beyond Ahab's. He
really desires information and cure. Here was no love of
42 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
sensuous worship, no yielding to popular desire for pagean-
try. His heart's trust is set on Baal." — Wood, p. 34-5.
(4) Elijah sent to meet the king's messengers, 2 Kings
1:3-4. Why ?
(5) Return and reports of the king's messengers, 2
Kings 1:5-8.
(6) Efforts to arrest Elijah and result, 2 Kings 1:9-12.
Explain significance.
(7) Elijah before the King, 2 Kings 1:13-16.
(8) Death, 2 Kings 1:17.
4. Jehoram (12 ).
(1) Ascends the throne by succession, 2 Kings 1:17 ;
3: 1.
(2) Reconquest of Moab, 2 Kings 3:4-27. ( Describe.)
(3) His first war with Syria, 2 Kings 6:8-23. ( De-
scribe.)
(4) His second' war with Syria, 2 Kings 6:24 — 7:1-20.
(Describe.)
(5) Restores the possessions of the Shunamite, 2 Kings
8:1-6. Bearing upon king's religious attitude ?
(6) His third war with Syria, 2 Kings 8:28-29.
(7) Death, 2 Kings 9:16-26. (Describe.)
(8) Death of Jezebel, 2 Kings 9:30-37. (Describe.)
II. Dynasty of Jehu ( 5, 102*).
1. Jehu ( 28 ).
(1) Becomes king by divine appointment. Twice
anointed, 1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 9:1-6.
(2) The commission given him, 2 Kings 9: 7-10.
(3) The attack upon Jezreel and the destruction of the
house of Ahab, 2 Kings 9:13—10:11.
(4) Accompanied by Jehonadab enters Samaria, com-
pletes the destruction of house of Ahab, and "destroys Baal
out of Israel," 2 Kings 10:15-29.
(5) Character and reign. u The character of Jehu is not
difficult to understand, if we take it as a whole and judge it
from a general point of view. He must be regarded like
many others in history as an instrument for accomplishing
great purposes rather than as great or good in himself. In
the long period during which his destiny, though known to
SIXTH PERIOD. 43
others and perhaps to himself, lay dormant ; in the sudden-
ness of his rise to power ; in the ruthlessness with which he
carried out his purposes ; in the union of profound silence
with a stern, fanatic, wayward zeal — he has not been with-
out his likeness in modern times." — Stanley, in Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible.
"Jehu's reformation stopped half way. The worship of
Baal was indeed extirpated, but the illegal worship at Dan
and Bethel and also the Ashera (grove A. V.) at Samaria
was left unmolested (2 Kings 13:6)." — Oehler, p. 395. Jehu
himself a wicked king (2 Kings 10:31) was nevertheless com-
mended by the Lord for what he had done and given the
promise that his son of the fourth generation should sit on
the throne of Israel, 2 Kings 10:30. If Jehu did only what
he was commanded, how explain Hos. 1:4?
2. Jehoahaz (17), 2 Kings 13:1-9 and 22-25.
(1) Became king by succession, v. 1.
(2) Subjugated and oppressed by Hazael and Ben-hadad,
Kings of Syria, vs. 3 and 7, and 22-25. Note reason given
in v. 3.
(3) The king's prayer, and the Lord's answer, vs. 4-5.
(4) Character of king and condition of the country
during his reign, vs. 2, 6, 22.
3. Joash (16). 2 Kings 13:10-25.
(1) Became king by succession, v. 10.
(2) War with Judah, v. 12; 2 Chr. 25:17-24.
(3) Visits Elisha, and receives prophecy of victory over
Syria, vs. 14-19.
(4) Victory over Syria as promised, v. 25. Ground
of God's gracious dealing with Israel in giving this vic-
tory, v. 23.
(5) Character of the king and condition of the country,
v. 11 ; v. 25. " "When he succeeded to the crown the
kingdom was in a deplorable state from the devastations
of Hazael and Ben-hadad, kings of Syria." — Hervey in
Smith's Die. of Bible.
REVIEW OF THE MINISTRY OF ELISHA.
The work of Elisha has been referred to as it was per-
formed in the reigns of the different kings. In order,
44 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
however, to a proper appreciation of the prophet and his
ministry it is necessary to study his acts in a more con-
nected and orderly way.
1. His call to the prophetic office, 1 Kings 19:15-21.
2. Becomes the successor of Elijah, 2 Kings 2:1-18.
3. Length of his ministry. The call of Elisha seems to
have taken place about four years before the death of
Ahab. He died in the reign of Joash, the grandson of
Jehu. This embraces a period of not less than 65 years,
for certainly 55 of which he held the office of prophet in
Israel. The figures given above are arrived at as follows:
Ahab's reign after Elisha's call, say 4 years
Ahaziah's reign 2
Joram's reign . 12
Jehu's reign .28
Jehoahaz's reign . . 17
Joash's reign before Elisha's death, say_ 2
65
Out of the above Elijah lived probably 9 years; the 4
of Ahab, the 2 of Ahaziah, and say 3 of Joram, which
leaves 56 years from the ascent of Elijah to the death of
Elisha. — Smith's Die. of Bible, p. 83.
The work of his ministry may be conveniently arranged
under the reigns of the different kings.
MINISTRY UNDER JORAM.
(1) Heals the waters at Jericho, 2 Kings 2:19-22.
(2) Pronounces a curse upon the "children" who mocked
him, vs. 23-25.
(3) Provides water for the armies of the three kings,
2 Kings 3:4-20.
(4) Increases the oil of the widow, 2 Kings 4:1-7.
(5) Prophesies the birth of a son to the Shunammite,
2 Kings 4:8-17.
(6) Raises to life the son of the same Shunammite,
vs. 17-37.
(7) Renders harmless the poisonous pottage, vs. 38-41.
SIXTH PERIOD. 45
(8) Greatly multiplies the loaves and ears of corn,
vs. 42-44.
(9) Heals Naarnan of leprosy, 2 Kings 5:1-19.
(10) Visits Naaman's leprosy upon Gehazi, vs. 19-27.
(11) Makes the iron swim, 2 Kings 6:1-7.
(12) The confidential adviser of the king in Syrian war,
vs. 8-12.
(13) Leads the Syrian host to Samaria, vs. 12-23.
(14) Ministry during the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings
6:24—7:20.
(15) His influence in securing a restoration of posses-
sions of Shunamite, 2 Kings 8:1-6.
(16) Prophecies to Ben-hadad and Hazael, v. 7-15.
(17) Sends one of the sons of the prophets to anoint
Jehu, 2 Kings 9:1-10.
How powerful must have been the influence of such a
ministry.
MINISTRY UNDER JEHU.
Nothing recorded.
MINISTRY UNDER JEHOAHAZ.
Nothing recorded.
MINISTRY UNDER JOASH.
Prophecy of victory over Syria, 2 Kings 13:14-19.
Soon after the old prophet died and was buried (2 Kings
13:20).
Some time afterwards a dead man was restored to life by
touching the bones of Elisha (v. 21). "This extraor-
dinary miracle, wrought by the touch of the dead body of
Elisha (which by the ritual law could only render a man
unclean), declared that he was as much beloved as Elijah,
though he had not been translated ; and that the Lord was
his God after death as well as before ; and this intimated
both the immortality of the soul and the final resurrection
of the body. It might also intimate that many mercies
were reserved for Israel, in answer to Elisha's prayers and
in consequence of his labors for them in his lifetime." —
Scott in loco. Compare Elijah and Elisha.
46 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
4. Jeroboam II. (41), 2 Kings 14:23-29.
(1) Succeeds his father Joash, v. 23.
(2) Makes great conquest and acquires vast territory, as
predicted by Jonah, vs. 25 and 28. Cause of all this,
vs. 26-27. " The whole northern empire of Solomon was
restored. Damascus was taken, and the dominion was
once more extended northward to the remote Hamath, at
the source of the Orontes, and southward to the valley of
willows which divided Moab from Edom." — Stanley, Vol.
II, pp. 299-300.
(3) Character of the king, and condition of the king-
dom, v. 24. While there was great outward prosperity
the moral and religious condition was terribly corrupt.
"The sanctuary at Bethel was kept up in royal state (Amos
7:13), but drunkenness, licentiousness and oppression pre-
vailed in the country (Amos 2:6-8, 4:1; 6:6 ; Hos. 4:12-
14; 1:2), and idolatry was united with the worship of
Jehovah (Hos. 4:13 ; 13:6)." — Stanley in Smith's Die. of
the Bible. (See also Geikie's Hours, in loco.)
THE PROPHETS OF JEROBOAM'S REIGN.
During this reign a great change takes place in
the form and character of prophecy. " Hitherto the
prophets had been chiefly God-sent teachers and mes-
sengers to their contemporaries — reproving, warning,
guiding, encouraging. Henceforth the prophetic
horizon enlarges. Beyond their contemporaries, who were
hardened beyond hope of recovery, their outlook is hence-
forth on the great hope of the Messianic Kingdom. They
have despaired of the present ; but their thought is of the
future. They have despaired of the Kingdom of Israel
and of Judah ; but the Divine thought of preparation that
underlay it comes increasingly into prominence and
clearer vision. The promises of old acquire a new and
deeper meaning ; they assume shape and outline which
become even more definite as the daylight grows. It is
the future, with Israel's Messiah-King to rule a people re-
stored and converted, and an endless, boundless kingdom
of righteousness and peace which in its wide embrace in-
cludes, reconciles, and unites a ransomed world, obedient
SIXTH PERIOD. 47
to the Lord, which is now the great burden of their mes-
sage, and the joyous assured hope of their thoughts. For
doomed apostate Israel after the flesh, we have Israel
after the spirit, and on the ruins of the old rises the new :
a Jerusalem, a temple, a kingdom, and a King fulfilling
the ideal of which the earthly had been the type.
It is not meant that these prophets had not their mes-
sage for the present also, to Israel and Judah, and to their
kings, as well as regarding events either contemporary or
in the near future. Had it been otherwise, they would
not have been prophets to, nor yet understood by, their
fellow countrymen. Besides, God's dealings and discipline
with Israel still continued, and would of necessity continue
— primarily to the coming of Christ, and then beyond it
to the final fulfilment of his purposes of mercy. Hence
their ministry was also of the present, though chiefly in
warning and announcement of judgment. But by the side
of this despair of the present, and because of it, the ideal
destiny of Israel came into clearer minds, the meaning of
the Davidic Kingdom, and its final spiritual realization in a
happy future ; and along with denunciations of impending
judgment came the comfort of prophetic promises of the
future.
Two points here specially present themselves to our
minds. The first is, that with this period commences the
era of written prophecy. Before this time the prophets
had spoken ; now they wrote, or — to speak more precisely —
gathered their prophetic utterances and visions into perma-
nent records. And as connected with this new phase of
prophetism, we mark that it is rather by vision and predic-
tion than by signs and miracles that the prophets now
manifested their authority." — Edersheim, Vol. VII. , pp.
65-66.
This great change in the form and character of prophecy
leads us to a study of what is commonly known as
THE MINOR PROPHETS.
"The name Minor Prophets .... has proved to
be very misleading .... They owe the name solely
to their smaller size. The book which contained them
was known in the Greek as the 'twelve-prophet-book.'
48 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
Whether this title of ' Minor,' or the difficulty of under-
standing some of these writings, has led to their compara-
tive neglect can not be decided ; but certain it is that no
part of scripture has been so little studied, or is at this
moment so little known .... We may be better
prepared to estimate their value when we remember two
facts about them: — 1. In general it may be said that,
the writings of the Hebrew prophets are the crown and
flower of the Old Testament writings. They are also the
most unique representations of Hebrew nationality and
thought. Other nations have had their poets and histo-
rians ; but no nation has produced a set of writers so mor-
ally eminent and politically beneficent as the Greater
Prophets .... 2. The Apostles evidently attached
a high value to the Minor Prophets. In the New Testa-
ment they are more frequently quoted than the Greater
Prophets (by which we merely mean the Larger Prophets)
So too, if we look at the doctrines first
revealed by their instrumentality, we shall find that they
hold a very foremost place in our belief. It is Joel who
teaches us the momentous fact of a future resurrection and
a general judgment and of that outpouring of the Spirit
upon all flesh, without which those doctrines would be a
terror to us. It is Micah who reveals to man the birth-
place of our Lord. Zechariah preshadows his crucifixion,
Jonah his resurrection, though veiled under a sign
The Old Testament closes with the trumpet sound of Mal-
achi, telling us of the approach of the Forerunner, of the
separation of the Jews into those who accepted Christ and
those who rejected Him, and of the coming days when
from the rising sun even unto the going down of the same
no victim should bleed upon the altar, but the meat-offer-
ing, the type of Christian worship, be offered every day to
Jehovah's name." — Farrar, Minor Pi*ophets, pp. 2J-22.
It will be our plan to study the prophets in their histori-
cal connection.
Jonah.
Jonah is distinctly recognized in both the Old Testament
and the New as an historical person, 2 Kings 14:25 ;
Matt. 12:39-41 ; 16:4; Luke 11:29.
SIXTH PERIOD. 49
" The history of his mission Jonah doubtless himself
wrote. Such has been the uniform tradition of the Jews,
and on this principle alone was his book placed among the
prophets. For no books were admitted among the prophets
but those which the arranger of the canon believed (if this
was the work of the great synagogue ) or ( if it was the
work of Ezra ) kneiv to have been written by persons
called to the prophetic office. . . . The book also be-
gins with just that same authentication with which all
other prophetic books begin. As Hosea and Joel and
Micah and Zephaniah open, The word of the Lord that
came unto Hosea, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, and other
prophets in other ways ascribe their books, not to them-
selves, but to God, so Jonah opens, And the word of the
Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying. This in-
scription is an integral part of the book, as is marked by
the word, saying. ," — Puscy, Minor Prophets, Vol. I., p. 373.
(In this volume may be found a full discussion of the dif-
ferent views concerning the book of Jonah. Cf. also Far-
rar, The Minor Prophets, and Butler's Bible Work.)
" This brief Scripture of four chapters is a narrative
rather than a prophecy. In this book Israel is not men-
tioned, though referred to in every other prophetical writ-
ing. Only Nineveh, a heathen city, is spoken of. And a
chief purpose of the record, as well as of the divine mis-
sion it narrates, was to reprove and to warn the chosen
people of God at a period of solemn crisis in their history.
Here was a heathen people ready to hear and heed God's
warning, at its first and only utterance by a stranger of a
scorned race. But Israel, though often besought by God,
for centuries distinguished by his peculiar favors, under
circumstances of miraculous supply and deliverance, with
multiplied agencies of instruction and guidance — Israel had
long refused to hear God's call to repentance. — Butler's
BiUe Work, Vol. IX., p. UB.
The book is so simple as to render any analysis unnec-
essary save a mere outline of the history.
Subject: — Jonah's mission to Nineveh, chaps. 1-2.
1. His Attempt to Escape from Fulfilling this Mission
and its Outcome, 1:3 — 2:10.
*7 2 n I
50 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
2. His Fulfillment of his Mission and the Repentance of
Nineveh, chap. 3.
3. The Prophet's Conduct after Nineveh's Repentance,
chap. 4.
Amos.
1. Personal History of the Prophet. Amos was a herds-
man of Tekoa, a small town in Judah, about six miles
south of Bethlehem. " To tend alien flocks on those dry
and sandy uplands, and to look after the sycamore trees
which produced a scanty revenue, seems to have been the
first task of this great and early prophet of the judgments
of God. And just as we trace again and again in the
Psalms of David his youthful familiarity with the sights
and sounds of nature, owing to his life as a shepherd-boy
on the hills of Bethlehem, so do we trace it in the pages
of this peasant-prophet whose lot was cast in the same
region. ISo other prophet furnishes us with those meta-
phors from scenes of nature in such fresh, vivid and rich
variety. — Farrar, p. J/.1.
2. A Prophet Specially Sent to Israel, 7:15. "Amos, like
Hosea, was a prophet for Israel. After the second chap-
ter, in which he includes Judah in the circle of God's visi-
tations, because he had despised the laiv of the Lord, Amos
only notices him incidentally." — Pusey, Vol. I., p. 227.
3. The Times in which Amos Prophesied, 1:1. During
the time of his ministry the material prosperity of the
kingdom was at its height. In extent of territory, in wealth
and power, Israel under Jeroboam II. was greater than
ever before or after. , The prophet, however, saw the king-
dom, not as it appeared to man, but as it really was in
God's sight. "He saw the insolence of the rich and the
oppression of the poor. He saw extortion, greed, bribery,
perverted justice, iniquitous bargains, tampering with the
price of corn, hard usury, ruthless severity to debtors, false
balances, false weights. He saw callous luxury, shame-
less debauchery, drunken revelries. The corruption had
spread to the princes and to the women. The poor were
starving iu sullen misery among ' men full of meat whom
most God's heart abhors.' The rich and the ruling lolled on
SIXTH PERIOD. 51
couches inlaid with ivory and covered with the rich tap-
estry from the looms of Damascus, while their unheeded
brethern craved even for handfulsof corn." — Farrar,p. I/.5.
ANALYSIS.
" The book falls into five main sections : —
I. The prophet arraigns Israel and the neighboring
nations for their guilt, and threatens them with divine
punishment, chaps. 1 and 2.
II. He establishes specially the iniquity, and therefore
the necessary doom of Samaria (and Israel), chaps. 3
and 4.
III. He mingles his continued warnings and reproaches
with lamentations tor the approaching calamity, chaps.
-5 and 6.
IV. He narrates five visions (chaps. 7:1 — 9:10) inter-
posing between the third and fourth visions, the episode of
his personal history, when his work was violently inter-
rupted by the jealousy and alarm of the priest Amaziah
(7:10-17).
V. He ends with an epilogue of hope and promise for
the future, when punishment has accomplished its desired
work (9:7-15)." — Farrar, p. 4-9.
Hosea.
1. The Prophet. "Apart from a few valueless legends, no
facts of his biography have been preserved except such as
we learn from himself. Of his father Beeri nothing is
known That Hosea was a Northerner is cer-
tain Irom the whole tenor of his prophecy. . . . His
allusions to Judah are secondary and incidental
His whole soul yearns for his native country with an infinite
tenderness. The towns and places to which he refers —
Mizpah, Gilead, Tabor, Bethel, Gilgal, Shechem, Samaria,
Jezreel and Lebanon — are all connected with the land
which he tenderly calls ' Ephraim.' . . . Patriotism
was never more passionate than that which breathes through
every line of this Jeremiah of the North." — Farrar, pp.
75-76. There is some difficulty in fixing the length of
52 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
Hosea's ministry. He prophesied "in the clays of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the
days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel" (1:1).
But just how long he prophesied in the reign of Jero-
boam II., and just how long in the reign of Hezekiah we
do not know. According to Pusey (Vol. Z, p. 10) "the
shortest duration of Hosea's office must have been some 65
years."
2. The Times. In Hosea's time the idolatries of the
nation "had yielded their full bitter fruit. The course of
iniquity had been run. The stream had become darker and
darker in its downward flow Every com-
mandment of God was broken and that habitually. All
was falsehood, adultery, blood-shedding; deceit to God
produced faithlessness to man ; excess and luxury were sup-
plied by secret or open robbery, oppression, false dealing,
perversion of justice, grinding of the poor. Blood was
shed like water, until one stream met another, and over-
spread the land with one defiling deluge. Adultery was
consecrated as an act of religion. Those who were first in
rank were first in excess. People and king vied in de-
bauchery, and the sottish king joined and encouraged the
freethinkers and blasphemers of his court. The idolatrous
priests lived and shared in the sins of the people ; nay,
they seem to have set themselves to intercept those on either
side of the Jordan who would go to worship at Jerusalem,
laying wait to murder them. Corruption had spread
throughout the whole land ; even the places once sacred
through God's revelations or other mercies to their fathers,
Bethel, Gilgal, Gilead, Mizpah, Shechem were especial
scenes of corruption or of sin. Every holy memory was
effaced by present corruption. Could things be worse '?
There was one aggravation more. Remonstrance was use-
less; the knowledge of God was willfully rejected ; the
people hated rebuke; the more they called, the more they
refused ; they forbade their prophets to prophesy ; and
their false prophets hated God greatly. All attempts to
heal all this disease only showed its incurableness." — Pusey,
Vol. L, p. 12.
SIXTH PERIOD. 53
ANALYSIS.
All expositors agree that there is great difficulty in
making any satisfactory analysis of this book. While there
are no clear divisions in the prophecies, yet the following
analysis may be helpful:
I. A narrative of the Prophet's personal sorrows,
chaps. 1, 2 and 3.
"These chapters give us the secret of the imagery which
colors all the prophet's language, the autobiograpical cir-
cumstances which kindled within his heart the fire of
prophecy and the psychological influences which determined
the strange play of his ever-changing moods. It is only in
dim outline and with deep reticence that Hosea reveals to
us the story of his domestic agony and shame. And he does
so because the story was necessary to show us how the
truth had been brought home to his own soul that mercy is
God's chief est and most essential attribute." — Farrar, p. 97.
II. The arraignment of Israel and the judgment of God,
chapters 4-13.
In this division the indictment and the divine judg-
ments are so intermingled that it is scarcely possible to make
any division of this section of the book. Note the accusa-
tions and then read again and note the judgments. Ob-
serve also the patience, tender mercy and forbearance ot
•God and withal his justice.
III. The final exhortation, chapter 14. This chapter
one of great tenderness and earnestness, and holds out an
assured hope to the penitent.
5. Zachariah (6 mos. ), 2 Kings 15:8-10.
( 1 ) Succeeded his father, v. 8. Did he succeed him
immediately f " Usher inserts an interregnum of 11 years
here, and anarchy for some years at verse 30 to reconcile
the synchronisms of the Israelite kings with those of the
longer line of Judah. But Zachariah seems to have suc-
ceeded his father in the usual way." — Wood, p. 4-37. (See
.also Smith's Dictionary of the Bible Art. Zachariah, and
Farrar, Minor Prophets, p. 73.)
(2) Character and death, vs. 9-10. Fulfilment of
54 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
prophecy, v. 12. It is thought Hosea refers to the death of
Zachariah in 7:5-7. "Probably the prophet is describing a
scene of revelry, debauchery and scoffing which preceded
the murder of the unhappy Zachariah; and so fills up the
brief history of the Book of Kings." — Pusey, Vol. I., p. 75.
III. Dynasty of Shallum ( 1 mo. ), 2 Kings 15:10,
13-15.
( 1 ) Shallum, an usurper, came to the throne by the
murder of Zachariah, v. 10.
(2) His reign. Of his brief reign of one month very lit-
tle is known (vs. 13-15 ). From his accession "the king-
dom was occupied by a rapid succession of fierce soldiers,
who reigned for the next fifty years, leaving little but their
names behind. The military despotism which had charac-
terized the Kingdom of Israel more or less even from the
time of Saul now held unbridled and undivided sway." —
Stanley, p. 313. "Hosea unveils the private sins and public
crimes of the anarchy which follow — gross uncleauness,
drunkenness, lying, perjury, dishonesty, murder, burglary,
highway robbery, treason against the sovereign, regicide,
infatuated idolatry, heathenish practices, looking to heathen
states for protection." — Wood, p. 4.38.
IV. Dynasty of Menahem (2, 12).
1. Menahem (10), 2 Kings 15:14-22.
(1) Ascends the throne by the murder of his predeces-
sor, v. 14; overcomes all opposition by fierce cruelties, v. 16.
(2) Becomes a vassel of Assyria, v. 19. Assyria "now
first mentioned since Genesis 10:11 (Asshur). Pul com-
mences the series of inroads which ended in the total de-
struction of the Northern Kingdom (Green)." — Wood, p..
4-39. The tribute paid to Pul by Menahem was enormous,
equal to 400,0001; 60,000 persons paying 61. 13s. 4d. (Wood).
(3) Death (v. 22); character (v. 18) ?
2. Pekahiah (2), 2 Kings 15:24-26.
(1) Ascends the throne by right of succession, v. 23.
(2) Reign. Little known (vs. 23-24). He was a wicked
king and doubtless followed in his father's footsteps.
V. Dynasty of Pekah (20), 2 Kings 15:25-31.
1. Pekah Ascends the Throne by the Murder of his Prede-
cessor, v. 25.
SIXTH PERIOD. 55
2. War with Judah, 2 Chr. 28:5-15 ; 1 Kings 15:37 ;
2 Kings 16:5.
Pekah had formed an alliance with Rezin of Syria against
Judah. Results?
3. The Assyrian Invasion and Conquest, v. 29. For the ex-
tent of country included in Gilead, see 1 Chronicles 5:26.
"The inhabitants were carried off according to the usual
practice and settled in remote districts of Assyria." —
Smith's Dictionary of Bible, Article Pekah.
4. Death, v. 30. Character?
VI. Dynasty of Hoshea (9).
1. Game to the Throne by the Murder of his Predecessor,
1 Kings 15:30.
2. Was Better than the Kings who had Preceded Him,
2 Kings 17:2. /
3. Becomes a Vassal of Shalmaneser of Assyria, v. 3.
4. On Account of Attempted Alliance with Egypt Assyria
JIakes War upon Israel, v. 4. This war, begun by Shal-
maneser, culminated in the three years' siege of Samaria, and
ended in the fall of the northern kingdom under Sargon, the
capture and imprisonment of Hoshea, and the captivity of
Israel, vs. 5-6. "The Assyrian inscriptions inform us
that Sargon captured Samaria, led away 27,280 of its in-
habitants, took fifty chariots, leaving his subordinates to
take the rest of the property found in the city, and ap-
pointed a governor, with the same tribute as Hoshea had
paid." — Edersheim, Vol. VII., p. 117.
5. Priests Accompanied the Exiles, 2 Kings 17:27 ; yet not
of Levitical descent, 2 Chr. 11:14.
6. Sargon Transports Inhabitants of other Countries into
Samaria, 2 Kings 17:24. " From the inscriptions we further
learn that these transportations were successive and that
even the earliest of them did not take place immediately
on the removal of the Israelites." — Edersheim, Vol. VII,
p. 117. The history of this population, 2 Kings 17:25-41.
7. The Prophets and the Fall of Samaria. "In the
midst of this wild catastrophe the voices of the prophets
56 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
rise, alternately in lamentation and consolation. From the
Prophets of Israel — from the seven thousand of Elijah's
vision — two voices especially make themselves heard above
the rest. One is the author of the 80th Psalm
The Prophet Hosea is the only individual
character that stands out amidst the darkness of this
period — the Jeremiah, as he may be called, of Israel
From Judah, these strains are echoed,
more faintly, but still distinctly enough to show that the
anguish of the soul was felt there also. The Prophet
Jeremiah is not so lost in the misfortunes of Jerusalem
but that he has an ear for the earlier fall of Israel. He
hears a voice from the confines of Benjamin from the
height of Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. It is
Rachel, the mother of the three mighty tribes of the north,
the house of Joseph and the house of Benjamin, weeping
as she looks over the desolate country, weeping for her
children, and refusing to be comforted because they are
not."— Stanley, Vol. II, pp. 316-319.
SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY.
For more than a century the twelve tribes were united
in one kingdom. From the accession of Rehoboam the
kingdom was divided into two. The Kingdom of Israel
in the north comprising ten tribes, and the Kingdom of
Judah in the south comprising Judah and Benjamin. The
causes of this disruption were both remote and immediate.
The remote cause was the old jealousy of Ephraim against
Judah ; the immediate cause the burdens imposed by
Solomon.
The Kingdom of Israel lasted 253 years, during
which time there were nine dynasties and nineteeu
kings. All the kings, without a single exception, were
wicked. There were, however, three kings whose
reigns were specially notable. The first of these
was Jeroboam I. It was he who set up the golden
calves at Dan and Bethel with accompanying rites.
He thus committed the kingdom to a false worship
from which it never recovered. The sin of Jero-
boam, the son of Nebat, was transmitted it seems with the
crown itself to all successive monarchs. The second was
SIXTH PERIOD. 57
Ahab, who introduced and fostered the idolatry of Zidon
in the kingdom. The third was Jeroboam II., the greatest
of all the kings of Israel, during whose reign the bounda-
ries of the kingdom were more widely extended than ever
before or afterward. This prosperity, however, was only
outward and of brief duration. The leaven of sin was
surely working the ruin of the nation. After the death of
Jeroboam the kingdom rapidly declined until the final
catastrophe.
But the kingdom was not suffered to decline without the
most strenuous efforts to save it. From time to time the
Lord raised up prophets whose mission it was to lead
Israel back to God. Never in any age of the world have
nobler, grander men lived than the prophets. With un-
swerving courage, faith, fidelity, love and devotion, they
warned, rebuked, exhorted and plead. All to no avail.
The causes of the final overthrow are given by the hand of
inspiration, 2 Kings 17:7—23.
EEVIEW OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
1. Dynasties and Kings (name). Character?
2. The noted reigns of Jeroboam L, Ahab and Jeroboam
II. Noted for what ?
3. The different forms of idolatry practiced.
4. The oral Prophets and their work ? Particularly
Elijah and Elisha ?
5. The great change in the form and character of
prophecy ?
6. What additions were made to the Canon during this
period from this division of the history (Israel) ?
7. God in the history.
8. The general course of the history.
9. The Messianic Prophecies in connection with this
division of the history.
10. The outside nations and Israel.
11. Cause of downfall?
12. The ten tribes; where?
58 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
B
THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.
Introduction.
1. Territory.
The territory belonging to the tribe of Judah, a part of
Benjamin, "a part, if not all of the territory of Simeon,
and of Dan." (Smith's Die. of Bible.) "The boundary
line between the two kingdoms ran south of Jericho,
Bethel and Joppa. This line was, however, very variable,
being turned northward or southward, according to the
relative power of the kingdoms." (Hurlbut, p. 87.) Ac-
cording to the same author the kingdom had 3,400 square
miles, while Israel had 9,400 square miles.
2. Tribes and Population.
The kingdom included the tribes of Judah, a portion of
Benjamin and portions of Simeon and Dan. A very large
portion of the Levites eventually settled in this kingdom.
The population varied. Estimating it as about four times
the number of fighting men, the population would reach from
720,000 to over 4,000,000. As to accuracy of the figures
given in 2 Chr. 17:14-19, see Commentaries.
3. Capital.
Not only was Jerusalem a city of great natural strength
and beautiful for situation, but it was also the holy city.
Within its walls stood the magnificent temple, within the
precincts of which the priests of the Lord waited upon
him according to His own appointment. Hither the tribes
came four times a year to the great religious festivals-
Here the treasures of the nation were kept. Many and
strong were the ties which bound the people to Jerusalem.
Such a capital was a great source of strength to the south-
ern kingdom.
4. Dynasty.
While there were nine dynasties during the duration of the
kingdom of Israel, a period of 253 years, there was only
one dynasty during the entire history of the kingdom of
Judah, a period of 388 years — the dynasty of David.
SIXTH PERIOD. 59
5. The Priesthood.
"The design of the priestly vocation is in the first place
essentially to represent the nation as a holy congregation be-
fore Jehovah, with full divine authority (comp. Deut. 18:5),
and to open up for it access to its God. Standing as a holy
order between Jehovah and the congregation in its approach
to Him, the priests are to cover the latter by the holiness
of their office, which official holiness (Numb. 18:1) covers
also the guilt which adheres to the person of the priest
himself; and in the functions of his office the priest is the
medium of the intercourse which takes place in worship
between Jehovah and the congregation, and which, on ac-
count of the sinfulness of the congregation, becomes a
service of atonement Besides this me-
diatorial calling, the priest has the office of teacher and in-
terpreter of the law, Lev. 10:11, in which respect he has to
accomplish a divine mission to the people. Hence Mai.
2:1. "—Oehler, p. '209. It will be seen that the
functions of the priesthood were vital to the true worship
of Jehovah. But a Divine call was necessary to constitute
a true priesthood, and this call had been given only to the
Aaronites. Now it will be remembered that one of the
first acts of Jeroboam I. was to set up the golden calves
at Dan and Bethel, to thrust out the Levites, and to take
upon himself the appointment of priests, 2 Chr. 11:13-15.
From this moment the Kingdom of Israel was doomed as
a theocratic kingdom. Having been expelled from Israel
the Levites flocked into Judah, 2 Chr. 11:13. Thus the
divinely appointed worship of Jehovah was conducted at
the consecrated place in Jerusalem by the only divinely
appointed priesthood. It will be seen at once that this
tact gave to Judah an immense advantage.
6. The Messianic Line. From Judah the Messiah was
to come. (Gen. 49:10.) This promise had been made still
more definite to David ( 2 Samuel 7 ; 1 Chr. 17 ; Ps. 89;
24-50.) (See Oehler, p. 523.) The great hope of the
Israelitish nation, as well as of the world, was bound up in
the Kingdom of Judah. This gives to the southern king-
dom far greater interest and importance than attach to the
northern kingdom.
7. Divisions of the History. Various divisions have been
'60 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
made. (See Oehler, p. 400; Blaikie, p. 300 ; Stanley, Vol.
II., p. 325.) All ot these seem more or less artificial and
unsatisfactory. There is indeed difficulty in fixing upon
epochs in the history. It is perhaps most satisfactory to
include in one section that part of the history which falls
within this period — i. e. to the overthrow ot the northern
kingdom, and to classify the kings according as they did
good or evil.
SECTION 1. FROM THE BEGINNING OF
THE KINGDOM TO THE OVERTHROW
OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
OUTLINE.
I. Kings Who " Did that which Was Evil" (2).
II. Kings Who " Did that which Was Right" (2).
III. Kings Who " Did that which Was Evil" (2).
IV. Kings Who " Did that which Was Right" (4).
V. Ahaz Who " Did that which Was Evil" (1).
NOTES.
I. Kings Who " Did that which Was Evil" (2).
1. Rehoboam ( 17), 2 Chr. chaps. 10-12 ; 1 Kings 12 :
1-21 ; 14:21-31.
(1) Coronation at Shechem, 1 Kings 12:1. Why at
Shechem?
(2) The disruption, 1 Kings 12:1-20; 2 Chr. chap. 10.
His kingdom and capital after this event, 1 Kings 12:20-21;
14:21.
(3) His move to suppress the rebellion and the result,
1 Kings 12:21-24 ; 2 Chr. 11:1-4. Note the influence of
the prophets.
(4) His reign politically, 2 Chr. 11:5-12.
(5) His wars. (a) With Shishak, 2 Chr. 12:2-9 ;
SIXTH PERIOD. 61
1 Kings 14:25-26. (b) With Jeroboam, 1 Kings 14:30 ;
2 Chr. 12:15.
(6) His reign religiously, 2 Cbr. 12:1; 1 Kings 14:
22-24; 2 Chr. 12:5-8, 12, 14.
(7) The prophets in his reign. — Sheraaiah, 1 Kings 12:
22-24; 2 Chr. 11:2-4; 12:5.
(8) Great influx of Levites and the best of all the
tribes. 2 Chr. 11:13-17. Influence upon the kingdom"?
(9) Death, 2 Chr. 12-16. Character?
2 Abijah (3). 1 Kings 15:1-8 ; 2 Chr. chap. 13.
(1) War with Jeroboam, 2 Chr. 13:2-19. Number
of Abijah's army ? His address? Results of battle ?
( 2 ) His reign religiously, 1 Kings 15:3—5.
(3) Death, 1 Kings. 15:8. Character?
Mark the religious decline during these two reigns.
II. Kings Who " Did that which Was Right" (2).
1. Asa (41). 1 Kings 15:9-24; 2 Chr. chap. 14-16.
(1) Years of peace. For ten years "the land was quiet,"
affording opportunity for internal improvements, 2 Chr.
14:6-7 ; 1 Kings 15:23.
( 2 ) Wars, (a) With Zerah the Ethiopian. Asa with
an army of 580,000 gains a victory over Zerah with an
army of 1,000,000. Spoils? 2 Chr. 14:8-15. Explain
victory, vs. 11-12. (b) With Baasha, 2 Chr. 16:1-6.
(Describe.) Comp. 1 Kings 15:16-22.
(3) His reign religiously, 1 Kings 15:11-15 ; 2 Chr.
14:2-5.
(4) The prophets in Asa's reign. (a) Azariah, the son
of Oded, 2 Chr. 15:1-7 ; effect, vs. 8-19. (b) Hanani
the seer, 2 Chr. 16:7-9 ; result, v. 10.
(5) Death, 2 Chr. 16:12-14. Character?
2. Jehoshaphat (25), 2 Chr. chs. 17-20 ; 1 Kings
22:41-45.
(1) His early reign. Two leading features :
First: A great reformation. Himself a faithful and de-
voted servant of God (2 Chr. 17:3-4), he set about effecting a
reformation in the kingdom, (a) He took away the high
places, at least some of them, and the Asherim out of
Judah, 2 Chr. 17:6; 20:33. (b) He sent the princes
62 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
and Levitt's throughout t^^fl ^LU>UA" teach the law of the
Lord, 2 Chr. 1 7 : 7 — 1 1 . ''^B^^V bile there was no great
revival (2 Chr. 20:33), yet the Lord bestowed his blessing
in establishing the kingdom and bestowing riches and
honor upon Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 17:5, 10, 11 ; 18:1.
Second : Strengthened his kingdom, (a) He put all the
defences in order, 2 Chr. 17:2, 12. (b) He organized a
great army, aggregating 1,160,000, 2 Chr. 17:13-19.
Thus in his early reign he "waxed great, exceedingly."
(2) His alliance with Ahab, 2 Chr. 18:1-34 (a) The
false prophets and the proposed expedition against Ramoth-
Gilead, vs. 3-5. (b) Micaiah consulted, vs. 6-27. (c)
The battle, vs. 28-34.
(3) A second reformation. (a) The occasion of this
reformation, 2 Chr. 19:1-3. (b) The reformation itself,
vs. 4-11 (exp.).
(4) The great invasion, 2 Chr. 20:1-30. (a) The iu-
vaders, vs. 1-2. (b) Step taken by Jehoshaphat, vs. 3-4.
(c) The king's prayer, vs. 5-13 (analyze), (d) The an-
swer and the rejoicing, vs. 14-19. (e) The victory and
spoil, vs. 20-30.
(5) Alliance with Ahaziah of Israel, (a) The pur-
poses of the alliance, 2 Chr. 20:35-36. (b) The prophecy
of Eliezer and its fulfilment, v. 37.
(6) Alliance with Jehoram of Israel against Moab,
2 Kings 3:4-27.
(7) Death, 2 Chr. 21:1. Character ?
(8) The prophets of his reign. Micaiah, 2 Chr. 18:6-27;
Jehu, the son of Hanani, 19:2-3; Jahaziel, 20:14-17;
Eliezer, 20:37 ; Elisha, 2 Kings 3:4-20.
III. Kings Who "Did that which Was Evil" (24).
1. Jehoram (8), 2 Kings 8:16-24; 2 Chr. chap. 21.
(1) Accession, 2 Kings 8:16; 2 Chr. 21:1-4; 1 Kings
22:50. "Apparently Jehoram began to reign three times ;
in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat, when starting for Ra-
moth, he designated his son king by naming him regent ;
now in the 23d, when he became associate king, and in
the 25th, when his father died." — Wood, p. 376.
(2) His murders, 2 Chr. 21:4.
SIXTH PERIOD. 63
(3) Revolt of Edo^£^^^^8-l 0,2 Kings, 8:20-22;
of Libnah, Chr. v. 4. ^^UP^
(4) Invasion by Philistines and Arabians, 2 Chr. 21:
16-17.
(5) Religious aspect of his reign, 2 Chr. 21:6, 11 ;
"2 Kings 8:18.
(6) Letter of Elijah, 2 Chr. 21:12-15.
(7) Death. Unlamented. Fulfilment of prophecy,
vs. 18-20.
2. Ahaziah (1), 2 Kings 8:24-29; 9:16-28; 2 Chr.
22:1-9.
(1) Accession at age of 22, 2 Kings 8:26. (For har-
mony of different accounts as to age and name see Smith's
Die. of Bible and Commentaries.)
(2) Unites with Jehoram of Israel in war against
Hazael, 2 Chr. 22:5.
(3) Walked in the ways of Ahab, why? 2 Chr. 22:3-4.
(4) Slain. bv Jehu while on a visit to the wounded king
of Israel, 2 Kings 9:16-28 ; 2 Chr. 22:6-9.
Athaliah (6), 2 Kings ch. 11 ; 2 Chr. 22:2, 3, 10-12 ;
23:1-15.
(1) Who she was, 2 Chr. 22:2-3.
(2) How she came to the throne, 2 Chr. 22:10.
(3) Murders the seed royal except Joash, 2 Chr. 22:
10-11.
(4) Slain in a revolution led by Jehoiada for the restora-
tion of the rightful heir to the throne, 2 Kings 11:4—20.
Mark the influence and power of the priesthood. In
the usurpation and wickedness of Athaliah we see the very
spirit of her mother. How far-reaching the evil influence
■of Jezebel !
IV. Kings Who " Did that which Was Right" (4).
1 Joash ( 40), 2 Kings chaps. 11 and 12 ; 2 Chr. 22:11-
12; 23; 24.
(1) Rescue and training under Jehoiada, 2 Kings
11:1-3; 2 Chr. 22:11-12. "In the general massacre
of the princes, one boy, still a babe in arms, had been
rescued by Jehosheba. The child and nurse had first been
64 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
concealed in the store-rooniof mattresses in the palace
and then in the Temp^B JPPFt lie protection of her hus-
band Jehoiada and with her own children. He was known
as the ' king's son.' The light of David was burned
down to its socket, but there it still flickered. The stem
of Jesse was cut down to the very roots ; one tender shoot
was all that remained. On him rested the whole hope of
carrying on the lineage of David." — Stanley, Vol. II, p. 339.
Apparently God's promise to David came near failing,
and yet it was sure.
(2) The revolution which placed him on the throne, 2
Kings 11:4-20; 2 Chr. chap. 23.
" The restoration of the Throne of David after such a
narrow escape of total destruction was in itself a marked
epoch in the Jewish nation But the peculiar
circumstances of the restoration were also fraught with an
interest of their own. The part played by Jehoiada raised
the priesthood to an importance which (with the single
exception of Eli ) it had never before attained in the his-
tory of the Jewish nation, and which it never afterwards
altogether lost. Through its Priesthood the lineage o(
David had been saved and the worship of Jehovah restored
in Judah, even more successfully than it had been in
Samaria through the Prophets. During the minority of
Joash, Jehoiada virtually reigned." — Stanley, Vol. II, pages
34.2-343.
(3) The first period of his reign during which he did
right, extending to the death of Jehoiada, 2 Chr. 24:2.
His great work during this period was repairing the house
of the Lord, 2 Chr. 24:4-14 ; 2 Kings 12:4-16. It would
seem that Jehoiada survived for a time the completion of
the work of the restoration of the Temple, Chr. v. 4. His
death removed the influence which under God had guided
and supported the king in the right, and so ended the
first period of the reign of Joash.
(4) The second period of his reign, during which he
did evil — from the death of Jehoiada to his own death.
(a) Seduced by the princes he forsook the house of the
Lord and fell into idolatry, 2 Chr. 24:17-18. '
(b) Resists the influence and warning of the prophets
and of Zechariah, whom he murders, vs. 19-22. "The
SIXTH PERIOD. 65
sacreduess of the person and of the place, the concurrent
guilt of the whole nation — king, nobles and people — the
ingratitude of the chief instigator, the culmination of the
long tragedy of the house of Ornri, the position which the
story held in the Jewish Canon as the last great murder of
the last book of the Old Testament ( the Chronicles,
which stand last in the Jewish Canon), all conspired to give
it the peculiar significance with which it is recorded in the
Gospels as closing the catalogue of unrighteous deaths,
{ from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zecha-
riah . . . who was slain between the temple and the
altar.'"— Stanley, Vol II, p. 34.6.
(c) The judgment pronounced by Zechariah, 2 Chr. '24:20.
(b) His wretched end and disgraceful burial, 2 Chr. 24:
25-26.
2. Amaziah (29), 2 Kings 14:1-23 : 2 Chr. chap. 25.
(1) Slavs the murderers of his father, but not their chil-
dren, 2 Kings 14:5-6 ; 2 Chr. 25:3-4.
(2) The period during which "he did that which was
right"' partially (2 Chr. 25:4). The one great event of
this period was the reconquest of Edom. The army for this
expedition was composed of 300,000 from Judah and 100,-
000 mercenaries from Israel. The Israelites, however, were
sent back ; why ? Results ? 2 Chr. 25:5-13 ; 2 Kings 14:7.
(3) The period of his apostasy, (a) His idolatry, 2 Chr.
25:14; the message of the prophet, vs. 15-16. (b) War
with Israel and results, 2 Chr. 25:17-24. This a judg-
ment from God, 2 Chr. 25:16 and 20. (c) His reis;n
after his defeat, 2 Chr. 25:25-26.
(4) Death, 2 Chr. 25:27-28. Character?
3. Uzziah (or Azaeiah) (52), 2 Kings 15:1-7; 2 Chr.
26:1-23.
"Uzziah's long and prosperous (and also religious) reign
is in marked contrast to the contemporary anarchy in Is-
rael after the death of Jeroboam II. Uzziah saw six
kings on the throne of Israel — Jeroboam, Zachariah, Shal-
lum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah ; enjoying a longer reign
than any other king of Judah except Manasseh, and one
more prosperous than any, except Jehoshaphat's, in com-
merce, waraud agriculture." — Wood, p. j.28.
66 BIBLE COUBSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(1) Elected by the people to succeed his father, 2 Chr.
26:1.
(2) Built and restored Eloth (or Elath ) 2 Chr. 26:2.
This was the name of a town in Edom situated at the
head of the Arabian Gulf which was thence called
the Elonitic Gulf. It is thought by some that the restor-
ing of this town to Judah implies the reconquest of Edom.
(3) His conquests, 2 Chr. 26:6-8.
(4) Strengthens Jerusalem and Judah, 2 Chr. 26:9-10.
(5) Makes internal improvements and encourages agri-
culture, v. 10.
(6) Reorganizes and equips the army, vs. 11-15.
(7) Presumes to enter the temple and is smitten with
leprosy, vs. 16-20. " The High Priest makes his state-
ment as of a fact which the King very well knew (cf. Heb.
7:13). To enter the Holy Place was of itself sacrilege
(Num. 18:7) . . . Only the priest whose lot it was had
right to enter at that hour. The golden incense-altar was
the very holiest spot within the Holy Place, separated as it
was from the Ark, from God's oracle by the veil alone." —
Wood, p. If.39. Henceforth for the remainder of his life he
was compelled to dwell "in a several house," and Jotham
his son acted as regent.
(8) Death, 2 Chr. 26:22-23. Character?
(9) Prophets of his reign. Three prophets probably ex-
ercised their ministry during this reign, Zechariah, 2 Chr.
26:5. Joel and Isa. 2 Chr. 26:22. All we know of
Zechariah is recorded in a single verse in Chronicles. The
other two will require a more extended notice.
Joel.
1. The Prophet. All we know of him is the first
verse of the first chapter of his prophecy.
2. His Times. When did Joel live and prophesy ? It
is impossible to answer with certainty. " He has been
moved along the chronological lines of at least two cen-
turies, and fixed now here and now there at almost every
point."— Butler, Vol. IX., p. 382.
Under all the circumstances Pusey's conclusion seems
most satisfactory : " There being then no internal indica-
tion of the date of Joel, we cannot do better than
SIXTH PEKIOD. 67
acquiesce in the tradition by which his book is placed next
to that of Hosea, and regard Joel as the prophet of Judah
during the earlier part of Hosea's office toward Israel and
rather earlier than Isaiah." — Vol. I., p. 14-6.
ANALYSIS.
While it is true that Joel's prophecy is "altogether one "
(Pusey), yet we may appreciate all the more its unity by
studying the book according to its clearly marked divi-
sions.
I. The call to repentance and prayer, 1:13-14; 2:
12-17. The earnestness, urgency and energy of the
prophet's call is very striking.
II. The grounds of the call.
1. The judgments of God which have already been sent
upon the land, 1:2-12, 16-20.
2. The still more fearful impending judgments, 2:1—11.
III. The call heeded, 2:18-19.
IV. The answer of the Lord to his people's patient
cry. The answer relates :
1. To the nearer future, 2:19-27. (Analyze.)
2. To the distant future, 2:28 ; 3:21. ( Analyze.)
Isaiah.
By general consent the greatest of the prophets. His
ministry lasted for perhaps sixty years, embracing a part
of the reign of Uzziah, the entire reigns of Jotham and
Ahaz and a part or the whole of the reign of Hezekiah.
As to what part of the book of Isaiah belongs to the reign
of Uzziah biblical scholars differ ; probably chaps. 1-6.
In general these chapters describe the moral or religious
condition of the kingdom, showing that while there was
outward prosperity (2:7; 3:18-24.), there was corruption
within. The arraignment is a fearful one. He proclaims
their ingratitude (1:2-3) ; their apostasy from God (v. 4);
their total and incurable corruption (v. 6); their formal-
ity in worship ( vs. 11-15 ) ; their adoption of heathen cus-
toms (2:6) ; their idolatry (v. 8 ) ; the guilt of the elders
68 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
and princes (3:14-15); the utter worldliness of their women,
and the utter perversion of all their privileges and blessings
He had bestowed upon his church (5:1-7). This ar-
raignment is interspersed with prophecies of judgment upon
the nation and the salvation of the remnant. Notable
among the prophecies concerning the remnant is that found
in 4:2-6 ( exp.).
4 Jotham (16), 2 Chr. chap. 27; 2 Kings 15:32-38.
(1) Built the upper gate of the house of the Lord ; on
the wall of Ophel ; cities, castles and towers. 2 Chr. 27 :3-4.
( 2 ) Conquered the Ammonites and made them tribu-
tary for three years, 2 Chr. 27:5.
(3) Beginning of the Syrian invasion, 2 Kings 15:37.
(4) Death, 2 Chr. 27:9. Character?
(5) Prophets of his reign, (a) Isaiah. While his
ministry continued we cannot be sure any of the proph-
ecies contained in his book belong to this period. (See
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Art. Isaiah.) (b) Micah.
According to Micah 1:1 this prophet began his min-
istry in the reign of Jotham and ended it in the reign of
Hezekiah. Probably delivered some of the prophecies
embodied in his book during this reign ( Pusey), but the
greater part later. ( For analysis see Prophets of Heze-
kiah's reign.)
5. Ahaz (16). " Did evil," 2 Chr. chap. 28; 2 Kings
chap. 16.
1. His Reign Religiously, 2 Kings 16:3, 4, 8, 10-] 8;
2 Chr. 28:2-4, 22-25. According to this record Ahaz
" walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." " Made
molten images for the Baalim." " Burnt incense in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in
the fire." " Sacrificed and burnt incense in the high
places and on the hills and under every green tree."
Robbed the temple, built a heathen altar in Jerusalem and
introduced idolatry and heathen worship in Jerusalem and
Judah. "A religious change so complete as that which
has been described might seem incredible if it had been
sudden, or we were left in ignorance of its deeper causes.
In truth it was no less than a systematic attempt to sub-
stitute a complicated heathenism for the religion of the
SIXTH PERIOD. 69
Old Testament. If it had any deeper spiritual import,
everything in them must have been symbolic. Hence,
every alteration would necessarily destroy the symmetry,
the harmony, and with them the meaning of all. To sub-
stitute for the altar of burnt offering one after the heathen
pattern was not only to infringe on the divinely prescribed
altar, but to destroy its symbolism. More than this, it
was to interfere with, and in a sense to subvert, the insti-
tution of sacrifices, which formed the central part in the
religion of Israel. Again, to close the doors of the Holy
and Most Holy Places was to abolish what set forth Israel's
fellowship with their Lord, His gracious acceptance of
them, and His communication of pardon, light and life.
The temple of Ahaz was no longer that of Jehovah, and
the attempt to attach the old services to the new altar
would only aggravate the sin, while it exhibited the folly
of the king. Even more strange seems the mixture of
heathen rites which it was sought to introduce by the side
of the perverted temple ritual. It consisted of the wor-
ship of the Syrian deities, of Baalim, of Ashtoreth, of the
host of heaven and of Molech; in short, it combined
Syrian, Phoenician and Assyrian idolatry." — Edersheim,
Vol. VII. , pp. 94.-95.
2. His Reign Politically, According to the Record in
Kings and Chronicles, (a) " The Lord his God delivered
him into the hand of the king of Syria," 2 Chr. 28:5
Results? (b) He was also delivered into the hand of the
king of Israel, 2 Chr. 28:5. Results? (c) Elath was re-
covered to Syria, 2 Kings 16:6. (d) "Edomites had smitten
Judah," 2 Chr. 28:17. (e) Philistines had invaded the land
and made conquests, 2 Chr. 28:18. (f ) Becomes vassal of
Assyria, 2 Kings 16:7-9. Results? 2 Chr. 28:20-11. (g)
Judah brought low, 2 Chr. 28:5-6, 19, 25.
3. The Relation of the Religious and Political Aspect of
his Reign, Chr. vs. 5-6, 19, 25.
4. Death and Burial, Chr. v. 27. Character?
5. The Prophets of the Reign. Besides Oded, who
really was a prophet to Israel, Isaiah and Micah continued
active.
(1) Isaiah, chaps. 7 — 9:7. " The prophecy which com-
70 BIBLE couese: outline and notes.
mences at the beginning of this chapter (7) is continued to
ch. 9:7. All this was evidently delivered at the same
time, and constitutes a single vision, or oracle. This
should have been indicated in the division of the chapters.
Great obscurity arises from the arbitrary, and in many in-
stances, absurd mode of division into chapters which has
been adopted in the Bible." — Barnes, Vol. 1., p. 234-.
Outline of the section. (See Geo. Adam Smith, chaps. VI.
and VII.).
I. The historical situation, 7:1-4.
II. The Prophet and the King, 7:5-25.
III. The Prophet and the people, chap. 8.
IV. The Messiah, 9:1-7.
(2) Micah. Although we know Micah exercised his
ministry in the reign of Ahaz (1:1), yet "there is no part
of the extant prophecy which can with any probability
be assigned to the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz." — Farrar,
p. 125.
Hezekiah.*
SUMMARY.
The Kingdom of Judah possessed many advantages over
the Kingdom of Israel. (1) The city of Jerusalem was
the capital. (2) The Priesthood and the Temple. (3) A
large proportion of the most godly of all the tribes. (4)
Judah was the Messianic line and heir to greater prom-
ises, (Gen. 49:8-12) (5) One divinely appointed dy-
nasty.
Of the eleven kings (not counting Athaliah) who ruled
*Note. — The Period, "The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah Contempo-
rary," extends to the downfall of Samaria, which occurred in the 6th
year of the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:10). But inasmuch as there
is no connection in the history of the two kingdoms during these early
years of Hezekiah's reign, and as it is desirable that Hezekiah's reign
should be studied continuously, the history of Judah as contemporary with
Israel will be closed with Ahaz, and the entire reign of Hezekiah placed
in the next period.
SIXTH PERIOD. 71
over Judah during this period, six of them did that which
was right in the sight of God to a greater or less degree.
The others were wholly evil. The most notable reigns of
the good kings were those of Jehoshaphat, Uzziah and Jo-
tham. The most notable reigns of tjie wicked kings were
those of Ahaziah and Ahaz, to which' is to be added that
of the usurper Athaliah. The reformations and revivals
under the good kings served to check, bat not to stop, the
downward tendency.
There were ten oral prophets during the period, appear-
ing at various critical times. Of the prophets who have
left writings, three are assigned wholly or in part to this
period. The appearance and work of these messengers of
God shows His loving care over His people, and His effort
to save them.
The hand of God in the history is plainly seen, not only
in the work of the prophets, but in the divine blessings
and judgments from time to time.
The influence and power of the Priesthood may be
traced in the history. The most illustrious example is
Jehoiada.
Messianic revelations became clearer and fuller toward
the latter part of the period. Joel prophesies of Messianic
times (2:28-32), but Isaiah of the Messiah himself (7:14-
15; 9:1-7).
QUESTIONS ON THE PEKIOD.
1. Causes of the disruption?
2. The relations of the two Kingdoms to each other?
3. Wars between the Kingdoms and the results?
4. Alliances and results?
5. The influence of the Kingdoms upon each other?
6. Did each constitute a part of the Church of God?
7. Were there any senses in which the two were one?
9. Did God deal with both Kingdoms alike?
10. What parallel between the evil tendencies of the two
Kingdoms?
11. The Messianic revelations in the two Kingdoms?
12. The Prophets of the two Kingdoms?
SEVENTH PERIOD.
THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH CONTINUED.
FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE FALL
OF JERUSALEM — 135 YEARS.
While the fall of the Northern Kingdom was an event of
the utmost significance and importance to Judah, yet the
latter maintained itself for 135 years. It is not a new
Kingdom of Judah we are now studying, but the same
Kingdom which for 253 years was contemporary with the
Kingdom of Israel. The continuity is unbroken. The
course of events for more than a century continues very
much as for the past two centuries, now a good king and
now a wicked one, until the death of Josiah. This event
marked a great epoch in the history, virtually ended the
Kingdom of Judah, although there were several kings after
Josiah's death.
SECTION 1. FROM HEZEKIAH TO THE
DEATH OF JOSIAH.
OUTLINE.
I. Hezekiah.
II. Mauasseh.
III. Amon.
IV. Josiah.
NOTES.
I. Hezekiah (29), 2 Kings, chaps. 18-20; 2 Chr.
chaps. 29-32; Isa. chaps. 36-39.
1 . His Reign Religiously.
(1) Opened the doors of the house of the Lord, 2
Chr. 29:3.
74 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(2) Address to priests and Levites, vs. 4-11. Result,
vs. 12-19.
(3) The consecration of the house of the Lord, with
sacrifice, praise and thank-offerings, vs. 20-35. The re-
joicing of king and people, v. 36.
(4) Passover kept, (a) Plans for keeping it made, 2
Chr. 30:1-5. (b) An invitation sent to all Israel and
Judah by letter, vs. 6-9 (exp.). (c) The replies, vs. 10-11.
(d) The city purged and the Passover kept by a great mul-
titude, many of them unprepared, yet accepted through
prayer of Hezekiah, vs. 13-18. (e) The feast of un-
leavened bread kept seven days with great gladness, and yet
other seven days with great rejoicing, vs. 21-27.
(5) Destruction of idolatry, 2 Chr. 31:1 ; 2 Kings
18:4.
(6) Observance of the ceremonial law, and the stated
worship of Jehovah restored, 2 Chr. 31:2-19.
2. His Reign Politically before his Sickness.
(1) Rebelled against Assyria, 2 Kings 18:7.
(2) Won victories over Philistines, 2 Kings 18:8.
(3) The fall of Samaria, 2 Kings 18:9-12. Although
this was an event outside of Judah and not connected with
Hezekiah's reign, yet because of its significance it should
be here noted.
"And when after the fall of Samaria before the Assyrian
power, the little kingdom of Judah remained erect, it
gathered into itself the whole national spirit. From this
time began that identification of a single tribe with the
people at large, which is expressed in the word Jew. Only
byan anachronism do we apply the words Jew and Jewish to
times before the overthrow of Samaria." — Stanley, Vol.
II., p. 328.
(4) The first invasion of Sennacherib, 2 Kings 18:13-
16. "Sargon's younger son ; according to the inscriptions
he reigned from 705 to 681 B. C."— Wood, p. £86. "His
grandeur is attested not merely by the details of the cunei-
form inscription, but by the splendor of the palace which,
with its magnificent entrances, and chambers, occupies a
quarter of Nineveh, and by the allusions to his conquests
in all the fragments of ancient history that contain any
memorial of these times. With a pride of style peculiar
SEVENTH PEKIOD. 75
to himself, he claims the titles of 'the great, the powerful
king, the king of the Assyrians, of the nations, of the four
regions, the diligent ruler, the favorite of the great gods,
the observer of sworn faith, the guardian of law, the es-
tablisher of monuments, the noble hero, the strong warrior,
the first of kings, the punisher of unbelievers, the destroyer
of wicked men.' " — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 4-02.
The invasion seems to have created great alarm and a
number of important results followed, (a) Jerusalem was
at once put in the best possible condition for defense, 2
Chr. 32:1-6. (b) The king encouraged the people in the
Lord, 2 Chr. 32:7-8. (c) Hezekiah again becomes the
vassal of Sennacherib and pays a heavy ransom, 2 Kings
18:14-16. (d) A movement develops to seek an alliance
with Egypt and is denounced by Isaiah, Isa. 30:1-7;
31:1-5. (e) Encouragement and warning by the Prophets
Xahum and Isaiah, chap. 10. Barnes, alter expressing his
agreement with Lowth that Isa. 10 belongs historically at
this point, says : "It was designed to show to the nation
that the danger of invasion was not passed ; to assure them
that the king of Assyria would still come against the
nation (comp. 2 Kings 18:17, etc.) ; but that still God would
interpose and would deliver them from threatened inva-
sion."— Vol. I, p. 389.
3. Hezekiah's Sickness. Expositors differ as to the time of
this sickness, whether before or after Sennacherib's second
invasion. We here follow the order of events as given by
Wood, Price and others.
(1) His sickness, 2 Chr. 32:24; 2 Kings 20:1; Isa.
38:1.
(2) His prayer, 2 Kings 20:2-3 ; Isa. 38:2-3.
(3) The answer, 2 Kings 20:4-5; Isa. 38:4-6. W^e
have here a striking proof that God answers prayer. Ex-
plain how the answer is to be reconciled with unchange-
able purpose of God, v. 1.
(4) The promise of deliverance, 2 Kings 20:6 ; Isa.
38:6.
(5) The sign, 2 Kings ,20:8-11. Comp. Isaiah.
(6) Hezekiah's hymn (or song) of thanksgiving, Isa.
38:9-20. "The hymn or song is composed of two parts.
In the first part (vs. 10-14) Hezekiah describes his feel-
76 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
ings and his fears when he was suffering, and especially the
apprehension of his mind at the prospect of death; and the
second part expresses praise to God for his goodness." —
Barnes, Vol. II, p. lf.18.
(7) His pride and prosperity after recovery, 2 Chr.
32:25-30.
(8) The ambassadors of the king of Babylon, 2 Kings
20:12-19; Isa. 39:1-8. (a) Babylon. "The first mention
of Babylon in connection with Judah. Babylon, the old-
est city in the world (Gen. 10:10), was one of the capitals
of Northern Chaldea in the earliest empire
. The Chaldean empire seems to have sunk about
1500 B. C, and for about 900 years remained subject to
or dependent on Assyria till the rise of the great Baby-
lonian empire, 747 B. C, under JSabonassar, which, rather
Semitic than Cushite, occupied the region and resuscitated
the glories of the first Chaldean empire. This latter em-
pire, finally fixed by Nabopolassar, B. C. 625, was little
more than a reproduction of the Assyrian, and was not
marked by the original developments which stamp the
early Chaldean nation. It is to the Cushite, or first Chal-
dean empire, of which Babylon was a part, that Europe
owes the origin of her civilization. From it Assyria drew
her learning, architecture, laws, religion and most of her
customs. Babylonia excogitated an alphabet, worked out
arithmetic, invented instruments to measure time, studied
the movements of the heavenly bodies, marked chronology
with accuracy ; in fact made a beginning in almost every
branch of science. From Babylon rather than from Egypt
Greece derived her architecture, sculpture, science, philoso-
phy, mathematics and her intellectual life." — Wood, p. 501/..
(b) The object of M(B)erodach-baladan in sending this
embassy was threefold. ( 1) To congratulate Hezekiah on
his recovery, 2 Kings 20:12. (2) To enquire concerning
sign of the sun-dial, « the wonder," 2 Chr. 32:31. (3)
To form an alliance with Hezekiah against Assyria.
(c) Hezekiah's treatment of the ambassadors, 2 Kings
20:13; Isaiah 39:2.
(b) Isaiah's message to Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:14-19;
Isa. 39:3-8.
4. Sennacherib's Second Invasion, 2 Kings 18:17-18;
2 Chr. 32:9 ; Isa. 36:2-3.
SEVENTH PEEIOD. 77
(1) Sennacherib's message, 2 Chr. 32:10-12 ; 2 Kings 18:
19-25 ; Isaiah vs. 4-10.
(2) Scorning the remonstrance of Hezekiah's officers,
Rabshakeh addresses the people on the wall, Kings vs. 26-
35; Tsa. 36:11-20.
(3) The people are silent, but officers hasten to the King
with clothes rent or apart, 2 Kings 18:36-37 ; Isa. 36:21-22.
(4) Hezekiah humbles himself and seeks God, 2 Kings
19:1 ; seeks also the counsel and prayers of Isaiah, 2 Kings
19:2-5.
(5) The answer of the Lord, 2 Kings 19:6-7 ; Isa. 37:
6-7.
(6) Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah, 2 Chr. 32:17-19;
2 Kings 19:8-19.
(7) Hezekiah lays the letter before the Lord and prays,
2 Kings 19:14-19.
(8) The Lord's answer, 2 Kings 19:20-34; Isa. 37:21-35.
(9) Destruction of Sennacherib's army by au angel in one
night. Returns to Nineveh and is murdered, 2 Kings
19:35-37 ; 2 Chr. 32:21 ; Isa. 37:36-38.
5. The Prosperity and Honor of Ilezekiah's Last Days,
2 Chr. 32:23.
6. Death, 2 Chr. 32:32-33. Character ?
7. The Prophets of his Reign.
ISAIAH.
Introduction.
(1) Classification. Isaiah is the first of the Major
Prophets.
(2) The prophet. "Of the private history of Isaiah we
know almost nothing, except that he was the son of Amoz
( chap. 1:1 ), and that he was married and had sons (chap.
8:1-4). The Jewish tradition is that he was sawn asunder
under the reign of'Manasseh, to which it has been supposed
that there is a reference in the Epistle to the Hebrews
(chap. 11:37); but all such traditions are uncertain. Isaiah
prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hez-
ekiah (chap. 1:1). If with many, we suppose him to have
entered upon his office in the last year of Uzziah, we have
78 BIBLE COUESE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
sixty-two years to the close of Hezekiah's reign. He cer-
tainly exercised the prophetical office to the fifteenth year of
Hezekiah's reign, and possibly through the remaining four-
teen years." — Barrows, p. 299.
"He was a statesman as well as prophet. He lived not
in the remote villages of Judah like Micah, or wandering
over hill and dale like Elijah and Amos, but in the center
of all political life and activity. His whole thoughts take
the colour of Jerusalem. He is the first Prophet specially
attached to the capital and the court. He was, according
to Jewish tradition, the cousin of Uzziah, his father
Amoz being held to be a younger son of Joash The
length of his life, the grandeur of his social position, gave
a force to what he said beyond what was possible in the
fleeting addresses of the humbler Prophets, who had pre-
ceded him. There is a royal air in his attitude, in his
movements, in the sweep of his vision, which commands
attention." — Stanley Vol. II, pp. 384.-385.
( 3 ) The remnant. " ' A remnant — the remnant.' This
was his watchword. The remnant shall return. This was
the truth constantly personified before him in the name of
his eldest son. A remnant of God in the mass of corrup-
tion, a remnant saved from the destructive invasions of
Assyria, a burst of spring-time in the reformation of Heze-
kiah ; and far away in the distant future a remnant of the
stem of Jesse — a brauch, a genuine branch, out of the
withered root of David; and the wilderness and the soli-
tary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and
blossom as the rose ; it shall blossom abundantly, even
with joy and singing, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away"— Stanley, Vol. II., p. 389.
( 4 ) The mission of Isaiah. " Such was the hope and
trust which sustained the prophet through his sixty years
of trial and conflict. In the weakness of Ahaz, in the
calamities of Hezekiah, under the tyranny of Manasseh,
Isaiah remained firm and steadfast unto the end. Wider
and wider his view opened as the nearer prospects of his
country grew darker and darker. First of the prophets,
he and those who followed him seized with unreserved con-
fidence the mighty thought, that not in the chosen people
so much as in the nations outside of it was to be found the
SEVENTH PERIOD. 79
ultimate well-being of a man, the surest favor of God. . .
For to him also, with a distinctness which makes all
other anticipations look pale in comparison, a distinctness
which grew with his advancing years, was revealed the
coming of a Son of David, who should restore the royal
house of Judah and gather the nations under its scepter.
If some of these predictions belong to that phase of the
Israelite hope of an earthly empire, which was doomed to
disappointment and reversal, yet the larger part point to
a glory which has been more than realized. Lineament
after lineament of that Divine Ruler was gradually drawn
by Isaiah or his scholars, until at last a Figure stands forth,
so marvelously combined of power and gentleness and suffer-
ing as to present in the united proportion of his descrip-
tions the moral features of an historical Person, such as
has been, by universal confession, known once, and only
once, in the subsequent annals of the world." — Stanley,
Vol. II, pp. 389—390.
( 5 ) The book of Isaiah. It " naturally falls into two
great divisions. The first, after an introductory chapter,
contains a great variety of prophetic messages, delivered
on special occasions (chaps. 2-39). The second division,
comprising the remaining twenty-seven chapters, seems to
have had no special occasion, but to have been written after
the overthrow of Sennacherib's army, probably in the old
age of the prophet, for the comfort and encouragement of
God's people in all coming ages. ' Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God ' — that is its great theme as
expressed in the introductory verse." — Barrows, p. 299.
First Division, 1-39.
ANALYSIS.
1. General introduction, chap. 1.
2. Visions against Judah and Jerusalem, mingled with
promises to the remnant and Messianic hopes, chaps. 2-5.
3. The prophet's call, chap. 6.
4. Prophecies connected with the invasion of Judah by
the allied kings of Israel and Syria, chaps. 7-12.
5. The doom of the nations, chaps. 13-23.
80 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
6. General prophesies exhibiting God as the avenger
and deliverer of his people, chaps. 24-27.
7. Prophecies apparently delivered in view of the ap-
proaching invasion of the Assyrians in Israel and
Judah, chaps. 28-35.
8. Historical portion belonging to reign of Heze-
kiah, chaps. 36-39.
Second Division, 40-66.
ANALYSIS (Barrows).
Subject. — The future redemption and glory of Zion.
1. The relation of Israel to the heathen nations, chaps.
40-48. " From the redemption of Israel, effected through
Cyrus, the servant of God, the prophet unfolds the certain
victory of the Theocracy over the gods and powers of the
heathen world." — p. 302.
2. Israel as the seat of salvation of the world, chaps.
49-57. In this section the prophet carries out "the thought
that, just as Cyrus is to redeem Israel from the Babylonish
captivity, so must the true servant of Jehovah, by his vicari-
ous sufferings and death, make expiation for sin, raise the
covenant people to true glory and make them, through
the establishment of the true mercies of David ( 55:3) the
center of salvation for the whole world." — p. 303.
3. "After an exhortation in which the sins of the people
are acknowledged and rebuked (chaps. 58-59), the prophet
foretells, in a series of majestic images, how the Theocracy
shall be glorified when it shall become, in connection with
the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, the per-
fected kingdom of God," chaps. 58-66, p. 303.
MICAH.
1. The Prophet. "Of Micah, personally, we know noth-
ing beyond the fact recorded by Jeremiah. He is called
a Morasthite, and this undoubtedly means that he was an
inhabitant of the little town of Moresheth-Gath in the
Shefelah or low-lying sea-plain of Philistia. It is prob-
SEVENTH PERIOD. 81
ably to this circumstance that we owe the introduction of
the name of so small and obscure a place in the first chap-
ter (1:14). We see, then, that the position of Micah dif-
fered very widely from that of Isaiah. Isaiah was of
patrician, perhaps even of princely birth. He could speak
to kings in a tone of something like equality, and was
familiar with courts and cities. Micah, on the other hand,
was a provincial and a man of the people." — Farrar,
j). 126.
The length of his ministry cannot be positively stated.
He prophesied in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Heze-
kiah. If his ministry lasted during the entire reigns of
these kings, he prophesied 61 years; but whether or not
he began the first year of Jotham and continued to the
last of Hezekiah, we know not.
2. His Times, chap. 1:1. It is probable that the greater
part of Micah's ministry was in the reign of Ahaz. He
began to prophesy in the reign of Jotham, at what period
we know not. But his ministry extended over the entire
reign of Ahaz and probably ended very early in Heze-
kiah's reign. For description of reign of Ahaz, see 2
Ohr. 28:1-4, 19-27.
ANALYSIS.
I. Judgment upon Samaria and Jerusalem, chaps. 1-2.
In this section we have not only the judgments, but the
causes of the judgments. Especially does he expose the
great guilt of the capital (1:5). The section closes with
comfort for "the remnant," 2:12-13.
II. Judgment more specially pronounced upon Jeru-
salem, chaps 3-5.
This section foretells the utter destruction of Jerusalem,
3:12, and the Babylonish captivity, 4:6-12 ; also the causes
of this judgment, chap. 3. This portion is notable for
the clear and full Messianic predictions, 4:1-5; 5:2-4.
III. The final chapters, 6-7.
In this part " the prophet turns to exhortation, in
which threatenings and promises alternate with extraor-
dinary vividness and force." — B. B. Work, p. 4-69.
6
82 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
In the above analysis it is interesting to notice that
each section begins with a call to hear, 1:2; 3:1 ; 6:1.
"No book of the Old Testament strikes deeper chords
in our nature, and strikes them with a more masterly
hand, than that of Micah, the villager, but withal the
meet partner of Isaiah in revealing to mankind the rich-
ness of evangelic truth. — R. Payne Smith in B. B. Work,
p. 4.70.
NAHUM.
1. The Prophet. "Of Nahurn, as of most of the other
Minor Prophets, we know almost nothing. When we
have said that Nahum means ' Compassion,' and that the
Prophet was an Elkoshite — that is, in all probability the
inhabitant of a little Galilean village, which in St. Je-
rome's time bore the name of Elcesi, we have said practi-
cally everything which can be recorded." — Farrar, p. llf.1.
2. Sis Times. His great theme being the Fall of
Nineveh, there can be no reasonable doubt that he wrote
soon after the famous invasion of Judah by Sennacherib,
and the utter overthrow of his army. That this event had
thrilled the nation may be seen in numerous passages of
Isaiah — e. g. 10:24-34; 14:24-27; 17:12-14; 33:36-39.
Now, this great invasion was in
the fourteenth year of Hezekiak (2 Kings 18:13), whose
reign of 29 years fell B. C. 728-699 — consequently, about
B. C. 714, and Nahum would be located in time during the
latter part of Hezekiah's reign. The fall of Nineveh,
which Nahum so vividly describes, chaps. 2 and 3, took
place from seventy-five to eighty years after the date
assumed for this prophecy." — Henry Coombs in Butler's
Bible Work, p. 4.93.
ANALYSIS.
" The grandeur, energy, power, vividness of Nahum,
naturally can be fully felt only in his own language. The
force of his brief prophecy is much increased by its unity.
Nahum had one sentence to pronounce, the judgments of
God upon the power of this world, which had sought to
annihilate the kingdom of God. God, in his then King-
SEVENTH PERIOD. 83
dom in Judah, and the world were come face to face.
What was to be the issue ? The entire final, utter over-
throw of whatever opposed God." — Pusey, Vol. II., p. 125.
The prophecy, according to Dr. Pusey, falls into three
parts.
1. The majesty of God, chap. 1. "Who God is
against whom they rebelled ; the madness of their rebellion
and the extinction of its chief."
2. The siege and capture of Nineveh itself, chap. 2.
3. The overthrow of the whole power, chap. 3. "It was
to be the first instance, in the history of mankind, of a
power so great, perishing and forever." — Pusey, as above.
II. Manasseh (55), 2 Kings 21:1-16; 2 Chr. chap. 33.
" Manasseh's reign is the longest and darkest in the
Hebrew annals. His irreligion was only equalled by his
tyranny. His vices brought their own punishment in the
contemptible weakness to which the state was reduced.
Jerusalem surrendered to Esarhaddon, and the unworthy
heir of David and Soiomon was led away captive to learn
wisdom and piety in the dungeons of Babylon." — Wood,
p. 522.
1. His ultra-heathen reign. (Wood.)
(1) The different forms of heathen worship introduced,
2 Kings 21:1-9.
(2) Seduced Judah and Jerusalem to do worse than the
heathen, 2 Kings 21:9.
" So bold an intrusion of Paganism could not but in-
volve a displacement of the true religion. Before this
time the two forms of worship, when they had existed in
the kiugdom of Judah, had flourished side by side. Even
Athaliah had not ventured to supersede the Temple-ritual.
Not only were the high places in the country restored, but
two altars were set up in the two courts of the Temple to
the heavenly bodies. In the same sacred precincts was a
statue of Astarte. . . . Vessels too were consecrated
in the temple to the use of Baal." — Stanley, Vol. II, p. 4-21.
(3) The first persecution in Judah, 2 Kings 21:16.
(4) Warnings of the prophets unheeded 2 Kings 21:10-
15 ; 2 Chr. 33:10.
2. Capture by king of Assyria and imprisonment in
84 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
Babylon, 2 Chr. 33:11. "There he would find himself
surrounded by the gods whose images he had set up in
Jerusalem ; he would see that in its perfection which he
had tried to imitate on an insignificant scale ; he would be
under the rod with which he had wished to scourge his
subjects." — Wood, p. 528.
While bound in this Babylonish prison " he hum-
bled himself greatly before the God of his Fathers, and
he prayed unto him." Result? 2 Chr. 33:12-13.
3. His reign after his repentance and restoration.
(1) Internal improvements, 2 Chr. 33:14.
(2) Attempted reformation, vs. 15-17.
4. Death, 2 Chr. 33:20. Character?
5. Prophets of his reign, 2 Kings 21:10-15. Signifi-
cance of this prophecy ?
III. Amon (2), 2 Kings 21:19-26; 2 Chr. 33:21-25.
1. His great wickedness, 2 Kings 21:20-22; cf. Chr.
2. Murdered by his servants in his otvn house, 2 Kings
21:23 ; Chr. v. 24.
3. His murderers slain by the people, 2 Kings 21:24 ; Chr.
v. 25.
IV. Josiah (31), 2 Kings 22—23:30 ; 2 Chr. chaps. 34
and 35.
1. Began to reign at the age of eight years, 2 Kings 22:1.
"The popular election (2 Kings 21:24) which placed
Josiah on the throne of itself marks some stroug changes
of public feeling. There was also a circle of remarkable
persons in or around the palace and temple who, possibly
driven together by the recent persecutions, had formed a
compact band, which remained unbroken till the fall of
the monarchy itself. Amongst these the most conspicuous
at this time were Shaphan the Secretary, Hilkiah the High
Priest, and Huldah the Prophetess, who, with her husband
Shallum, himself of the priestly race and keeper of the
royal wardrobe, lived close by the temple precincts. Within
this circle the king had grown up with another youth des-
tined to be yet more conspicuous than the king himself —
SEVENTH PEEIOD. 85
the prophet Jeremiah." — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 1$7. It was
doubtless under the influence of this group that Josiah's
character was formed, his piety developed, and his early
reign directed.
2. In the tivelfth year of his reign he began to purge Ju-
dah and Jerusalem of Idolatry, 2 Chr. 34:3-5. Like-
wise the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, even
unto Naphtali, vs. 6-7.
3. In his eighteenth year repairs the House of the Lord.
2 Chr. 34:8-13; 2 Kings 22:3-7. During these repairs
Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law, 2 Kings
22:8. As to the different views concerning this book, that
of Wood is to be preferred : "'The book of the covenant/
2 Chr. 23:2; cf. 2 Chr. 17:9. The then only canonical
Scripture, the autograph book which God bade Moses
(eight centuries before) lay beside the Ark, hidden by acci-
dent or for safety, during the late troublous times. Mis-
take and imposition were alike impossible. Other existing
Scripture abounded in quotations from it ; it is not impos-
sible that (as in the case of the Samaritan Pentateuch) per-
sons could repeat the whole five books ; large portions
were embodied in the liturgies, and some copies, if not
many, must have existed in the houses of men of learning
and wealth, and in the schools of the prophets." —
Wood, p. 539.
4. The booh of the law read to the king, 2 Kings 22:
10-13; 2 Chr. 34:18-21. Not the first time that he had
heard it, 2 Kings 22:2-3. "But the book itself (more
than 850 years ) he had never seen, nor had the awfulness
of some of the passages ever before so struck him. It
came to him how terrible, and how imminent, the danger
was." — Wood, p. 54-0.
5. Consults the prophetess Huldah. The enquiry,
2 Kings 22:14. Her answer, 2 Kings 22:15—20; comp.
Chr. The evident purport of this answer may be ex-
pressed in two words — too late. Yet it would not come in
Josiah's day.
6. The great reformation.
(1) Renewal of the covenant by the nation, 2 Kings
23:1-3 : 2 Chr. 34:29-32.
86 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
(2) Suppression of idolatry in Jerusalem, Judah and
Samaria, 2 Kings 23:4-13.
(3) The altar at Bethel and the high places of Jero-
boam destroyed according to prophecy, 2 Kings 23:15-19.
(4) Slays the priests of " the high places," v. 20.
(5) All private superstitions suppressed, v. 24.
7. The Celebration of the Passover.
(1) Preparations for the Passover, 2 Kings 23:21-23 ;
2 Chr. 35:1-19.
(2) The Passover observed, 2 Chr. 35:10-19;
2 Kings 23:22-23. " Not that the Passover had not
hitherto been observed in his days ; but the newly-found
law disclosed wherein the observance had been defective.
The spirit of the people moreover, as the king hoped, was
now roused and they would attend in large numbers, and
from both kingdoms, as in the days of old. In exactness
of ritual observance (cf. 2 Chr. 30:2,18), in super-
abundance of offerings, and in the fact that now there
was no great mass of people who, though they had oppor-
tunity and invitation, scorned to come (2 Chr. 30:10),
this feast surpassed even Hezekiah's, though that had sur-
passed any from the days of Solomon." — Wood, p. 5Ifj '.
8. The Rest of the Acts of Josiah, 2 Kings 23:28. "A
blank of thirteen years occurs here. We only conjecture
that during this interval Judah enjoyed comparative peace,
prosperity and independence until the abrupt and astound-
ing close of Josiah's career." — Wood, pj). 54-9-550.
9. Josiah's Death at Megiddo.
(1) Expedition of Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt,
against the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 23:29 ; 2 Chron.
35:20. " Milman explains that Necho II. decided to take
the offensive against the rival empire of the Euphrates
valley, now probably weakened by dissensions among the
different kingdoms of which it was composed. His design
was to gain Carchemish and to make the Euphrates his
frontier. The further results of Necho's campaign are un-
known, but Necho and his troops are found at Carchemish
about ten years later." — Wood, p. 550.
(2) Josiah opposes Necho, and despite the remonstrances
SEVENTH PERIOD. 87
of the latter gives battle in the valley of Megiddo, 2 Kings
23:29; 2 Chr. 35:20-22. '"The valley of Megiddo' is
the name given to the southeast portion of the Plain of
Jezreel, familiarly known to us under its Greek form the
Plain of Esdraelon." — Wood, p. 550.
(3) The death of the king, 2 Kings 23:30 ; 2 Chr. 35:
23-24. " So mournful a death had never occurred in the
Jewish annals. All the population of the city and the
kingdom attended the funeral. There was an elegy over
the departed king probably as pathetic as that which David
had sung over Saul and Jonathan. It was by the most plain-
tive of the prophets, Jeremiah, who now first appears on
the scene of public acts Josiah was the last
royal hero of Israel. With his death the history of the
Jewish monarchy might end were it not for one great
event and one great person that still remain — the fall of
Jerusalem and the prophet Jeremiah." — Stanley, Vol. II.,
p. 4-36.
X. The Prophets of Josiah's Reign.
Habakkuk.
1. The Prophet. "Of the Prophet Habakkuk we
know no personal details. From the musical directions
attached to the third chapter (3:1-19) and the expression
' my stringed instruments/ it has been conjectured that he
was a Levite." — Stanley, p. 159.
2. His Times. Biblical scholars differ. Quite a number
think his prophecy belongs to the reign of Jehoiakim;
others, either the latter part of the reign of Manasseh or
the early part of Josiah's. There is no way of deciding
certainly. Fortunately the decision is not material to the
understanding of his prophecy.
ANALYSIS (Farrae).
I. The agonizing cry, 1:1-17.
1. The prophet's appeal to Jehovah, vs. 2-4.
2. The terrible announcement, vs. 5-11.
3. The troubled inquiry, vs. 12-17.
88 BIBLE COUESE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
II. God's answer, 2:1-20.
1. Patience and faith urged upon the prophet, vs. 1-4.
2. The certain doom of the wicked, vs. 5-20.
III. A psean and prayer, chap. 3. " One of the most
magnificent pieces of poetry in the Bible." — Stanley, p. 171.
1. Appeal to God's mercy on hearing his answer, vs. 1-2.
2. The congregation's hymn of praise, vs. 3-15.
3. The conclusion by the prophet, vs. 16-19.
Zephaniah.
1. The Prophet. " The biography of Zephauiah is abso-
lutely blank. He gives us his genealogy for four genera-
tions in the first verse, and from this it appears that he was-
a great-grandson of Hezekiah — apparently of King Heze-
kiah, and therefore a collateral descendant of the ' House of
David.' " — Farrar, p. 153.
2. His Times, chap. 1:1. Probably before the great
reformation.
ANALYSIS (Faeear, pp. 155-157).
The general outline of the book is very simple. In the
the first chapter the prophet announces a great day of the
wrath of the Lord (1:1-18). He then calls upon the vari-
ous peoples, and especially upon Jerusalem, to repent, ming-
ling appeals with stern denunciations of judgment (2:1 —
3:7). Finally, he promises to the nations generally, and
especially to Zion, a day of restoration, and calls on them
to rejoice in the coming deliverance.
I. The menace, 1:1—18.
II. The admonition, 2:1—3:7.
III. The promise, 3:8-20.
JEREMIAH.
In the thirteenth year of Josiah there appeared upon the
horizon of history one of the great names of the Old Tes-
tament— that of the Prophet Jeremiah. Henceforth until
SEVENTH PERIOD. 89
the fall of Jerusalem he is altogether the most prominent
and interesting figure in the history. He exercised the
office of prophet for over forty years. Eighteen years of
his ministry, beginning with his call, fell in the reign of
Josiah. " Only a small portion of his recorded prophecies
bear date in the reign of Josiah, viz.: chap. 1 and another
message beginning with chap. 3:6 and ending perhaps with
the sixth chapter."— Butler, Vol. V1IL, p. 391.
(For analysis of Jeremiah see reign of Zedekiah.)
SECTION 2. FROM THE ACCESSION OF
JEHOAHAZ TO THE FALL OF JERU-
SALEM.
Introduction.
In order for the student to be able to follow intelli-
gently the history of this section some explanation is neces-
sary.
1. The Position of Judah with Reference to Egypt and
Babylon.
Egypt and Babylon were great rival powers contending
for supremacy. Pharaoh-Necho in the latter part of the
reign of Josiah made war upon Assyria, apparently gaining
decided advantage. At any rate, by the defeat of Josiah
at Megiddo Judah became the vassal of the Egyptian king.
Three years later, on a second expedition, Necho was de-
feated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar. " This was after
the fall of Nineveh, when the Babylonian and Chaldean
empire had taken the place of the Assyrian." — Edersheim,
Vol. VII., p. 196. After this Palestine fell an easy prey to
the Babylonian power. Thus the little kingdom of Judah,
by its position between two great rival powers, was in pos-
session first of one then of the other, and when op-
pressed by one was disposed to turn to the other for help.
2. The Parties in Jerusalem. During the troublous
times from now until the destruction of the city there ap-
pear three great parties at the royal court excitedly con-
tending with each other.
90 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
I
(1) "The Party of 'the Princes' — that body of nobles
who, from the time of Joash, perhaps of Rehoboam, had
leaned to the idolatrous and licentious practices of the
early kings of Judah and who held the latter kings almost
as puppets in their hands. With them were associated
many of the elders .or chiefs of tribes, under whose auspices
the Polytheism, which Josiah had for the moment extir-
pated, still continued to linger, even in the courts of the
Temple itself "
(2) " By the side of these, and perhaps opposed to them,
perhaps allied with them in that strange combination which
often brings together, for purposes of political or religious
animosity, parties themselves most alien to each other,
was the great body of Sacerdotal, and even of the Pro-
phetic order . . ."—Stanley, Vol. II, pp. ^1-^9.
(3) Jeremiah and his friends.
These parties all appear in the book of Jeremiah.
3. The Successors of Josiah. "The kingdom of Judah
virtually perished with Josiah. Of Josiah's successors,
the two who came to the throne in independence, Jehoahaz
and Jehoiachin, reigned for only three months apiece. The
two who reigned eleven years each, Jehoiakim and Zede-
kiah, were but creatures of a foreign power. There was
no longer a question of independence, but of choice be-
tween two foreign sovereigns .... The shadows of
kings were dismissed at the breath of their liege lord. It
is a deplorable period of misrule and imbecility. Without the
ability to defend them, these kings had only the power of
entailing the miseries of siege and conquest on their peo-
ple by rebellions which had none of the dignity but all
the melancholy consequences of a desperate struggle for in-
dependence."— Wood, p. 552.
OUTLINE.
I. The Kings of the Final Decline.
II. The Destruction of Jerusalem.
III. The Remnant left in the Land.
IV. The Book of Jeremiah.
SEVENTH PEKIOD. 91
NOTES.
I. The Kings of the Final Decline (4).
1. Jehoahaz (3 iiios.), 2 Kings 23:30-33; 2 Chr. 36:1-3.
(1) Elected by the people and anointed, 2 Kings v. 30.
(2) Deposed by Pharaoh-Necho and the laud put to
tribute, 2 Kings 23:33 ; Chr. v. 3. Took Jehoahaz to Egypt
where he died, 2 Kings 23:34.
2. Jehoiakim (11), 2 Kings 23:34 ; 24:6 ; 2 Chr. 36:4-8.
(1) Made king by Pharaoh-Necho and name changed
from Eliakim to Jehoiakim, 2 Kings 23:34.
(2) Taxed the land to pay the tribute to Pharaoh, Kings
v. 35.
(3) Periods in the reign of Jehoiakim. " (a) Vassalage
to Egypt, about four years ; (b) vassalage to Nebuchadnez-
zar, three years ; (c) independence (in friendship with
Egypt) chequered by constant incursions of the Chaldeans
and their allies until Jehoiakim's mysterious and ignomin-
ious death (Jer. 22:18, 19, and 36:30)."— Wood, p. 553.
(4) The first deportation, 2 Chr. 36:6-7; Daniel 1:1-2.
(5) Death, 2 Kings 24:6. Character?
(6) The ministry of Jeremiah during Jehoiakim's reign.
(a) Jer., chap. 36. " This chapter apparently summa-
rizes the temple sermon of chs. 7—10, delivered soon after
Johoiakim's accession, and records its consequences. It
also illustrates Jeremiah's position and work during the
first period of Jehoiakim's reign, up to the crisis of the
fourth year." — Wood, p. 554-
(b) Jer. 46:1-12. Ode on the battle of Carchemish
(Wood).
(c) Jer. 25:1-14. The seventy years captivity.
(d) Jer. 35. The Rechabites (exp.).
(e) Jer. 36:1-4 ; chap. 45 ; 36:5-32. Baruch and the
roll of Jeremiah's prophecies (analyze).
3. Jehoiachtn (3 mos. and 10 days).
"Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin (' Jeho-
vah confirms'), a youth of eighteen years (or eight), who
reigned for only three months and ten days (2 Chr. 36:9).
He occupied the throne when Nebuchadnezzar himself ap-
92 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
peared a second time on the soil of Palestine (2 Kings
24:11). It is impossible to determine whether what now
happened was in punishment of the previous rebellion, or
because the young king was guilty of similar intrigues
with Egypt. From the indications in Holy Scripture we
are led to suppose that the queen-mother Nehushta ('the
brazen'), the daughter of Elnathan, an influential prince of
Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:8 ; Jer. 36:12, 25), had considera-
ble share in the events of this brief reign. We infer this,
on the one hand, from the connection of her father with
Egypt (Jer. 26:22), and on the other from the pointed ref-
erences to her and her fate (2 Kings 24:12; Jer. 13:18 ;
22:26; 29:2).
"At first the siege of Jerusalem was intrusted to subordi-
nate officers. But when the fall of the city seemed near
Nebuchadnezzar himself appeared. Jehoiachin, together
with the queen-mother, the court, the princes and the
leaders, seems to have surrendered to the victor. The pun-
ishment inflicted in the city was of signal severity. All
the treasures of the temple and the palace were carried
away, the heavier furnishings of the sanctuary being cut in
pieces. Thus was the word of the Lord, long and often
spoken, fulfilled (2 Kings 24:12, 13). The king himself,
his mother, his wives and all the officials, whether of the
court, the state, or the army, were carried to Babylon.
Nay, to make sure of the permanence of the conquest, all
Jerusalem — in the sense of what made it the capital — and
all who in any sense were strong and apt for war; who
could either lead, or fight, or prepare the meaus for it,
were carried into captivity." — Edersheim, Vol. VII., pp.
203-204..
Jeremiah. "Of the work of the prophet in this short
reign we have but the fragmentary record of Jer. 22:24-30.
We may infer, however, from the language of his later
prophecies, that he looked with sympathy and sorrow on
the fate of the exiles in Babylon, and that the fulfilment
of all that he had been told to utter made him stronger
than ever in liis resistance to all schemes of independence
and revolt." — Smith's Die. of the Bible, Art. Jeremiah.
4. Zedekiah (11).
(1) Appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 24:17. "His
SEVENTH PERIOD. 93
choice had fallen on Mattaniah ('the gift of Jehovah') whose
name was changed into Zedekiah ('the righteousness of
Jehovah'). The new king was the uncle of Jehoiachin,
being the youngest son of Josiah by the same mother as
Jehoahaz (comp. 2 Kings 23:31.)"— Edersheim, Vol. VII.,
p. 205.
(2) His reign religiously. Did evil ; disregarded Jere-
miah ; stiffened his neck and hardened his heart ; the chiefs
of the priests and people guilty of great sin ; mocked the
messengers of God, despised his word and scoffed at his
prophets, 2 Chr. 36:11-16. It appears, however, from Jer.
34:8-10, that the king made a weak attempt under the in-
fluence of Jeremiah to correct glaring evils. In this he
was speedily overruled, Jer. 34:11.
(3) His reign politically. Largely controlled by a pow-
erful party of princes and nobles, 2 Chr. 36:14-16 ; Jer.
37:15; 38:25-27.
Attempt to form a combination against Babylon, Jer.
27:1-11.
Sends messengers to Babylon to reassure the king, Jer.
29:1-3.
The king himself goes to Babylon, Jer. 51:59. Object ?
Fresh intrigues, chiefly with Egypt, Ezekiel 17:15-18.
Kebellion against Babylon, 2 Kings 24:20 ; 2 Chr. 36:13.
Nebuchadnezzar, with a great army invades Judah and
besieges Jerusalem, 2 Kings 25:1-2. Incidents of the
siege. Houses torn down to make defences, Jer. 33:4.
The king makes a covenant with the people to liberate all
Hebrew slaves, which covenant is speedily broken, Jer. 34:
8-11.
The king consults with Jeremiah, Jer. 21:1-2; 37:3;
38:14-18.
Jeremiah and the princes, Jer. 37:11-15 ; 38:1-13 and 27.
Famine in the city, 2 Kings 25:3.
Final assault, city taken and king captured, 2 Kings
25:4-7.
II. The Destruction of Jerusalem.
The following are the features of this destruction as given
in Kings and Chronicles:
1. The Slaughter, 2 Chr. 36:17.
2. Despoiling the Temple and Taking all Treasures,
2 Chr. 36:18 ;~2 Kings 25:13-17.
94 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
3. Burning of City and Temple, 2 Chr. 36:19 ;
2 Kings 25:9.
4. Captives Taken, 2 Chr. 36:17.
Thus perished Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of
Judah, the holy city, the pride and joy of the Hebrew peo-
ple. Scarcely any event could have so overwhelmed the
nation, and so filled them with sorrow and despair.
III. Jeremiah.
FIRST. THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH.
1. The Prophet. The second of the four so-called great
prophets. Lineage and birthplace, Jer. 1:1. "Of all the
prophets, Jeremiah is the most retiring, the most plaintive,
the most closely compassed with ordinary human
weakness. The cry which he uttered as the dark truth
first broke upon his young mind was characteristic of his
whole career: 'Ah, Lord! I can not speak; I am but a
child.' It is this childlike tenderness which adds force
to the severity of his denunciations, to the bitterness of his
grief. He was not one of those stern characters which bear
without repining the necessary evils of life. He who was
to be hard as brass and strong as iron, who had to look
with unmoved countenance on the downward descent of his
country, yet longing that his head were waters, and his
eyes a fountain of tears, that he might weep clay and night
for the daughter ol his people." — Stanley, Vol. II., p. 4-4-6.
Although an ardent patriot he was sent to declare the
downfall of the kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem and
the captivity of his people. Although gentle, retiring,
tender and loving, he was called to face danger, to endure
persecution and to exercise a courage and force of character
of the highest order. His most difficult and perilous mis-
sion he fulfilled with strict loyalty to God and his brethren.
2. Times, Jer. 1:2-3. "It was a time of the swift decay
and breaking up of Judah. The two great powers east and
west of Palestine, Babylon and Egypt, were in mortal
struggle which involved Judah in their disasters, and
finally blotted out what still remained of the king-
dom of the Ten Tribes. Nor was there unity and peace
even in the narrow bounds of Judah. A fierce party-strife
SEVENTH PERIOD. 95
raged between the forerunners of foreign idolatry and those
who were still faithful to the worship of Jehovah." — Gei-
kie, Old Testament Characters, p. 4#? '•
ANALYSIS. (The Cambridge Bible for Schools
and Colleges (Stearne), Intro, p. xxxi.).
"So far as any order is observable it is not an order of
time but of subject-matter. The following is a summary
of the contents of the book.
I. Prophecies mainly relating to home events and his-
tory of the times, chaps. 1-45.
1. Prophecies mostly from the time of Jeremiah's call
(13th year of Josiah) to the 4th year of Jehoiakim, chaps.
1-20.
2. Prophecies directed at various times against the kings
of Judah and against the false prophets, chaps. 21 — 25:14.
3. A kind of Summary of the fuller Predictions against
Foreign Ncdions, chaps. 46— 51 ; perhaps placed here as sug-
gested by the announcement of the approaching overthrow
of Babylon, chaps. 25:15-38.
4. Prophecies concerning the Fall of Jerusalem tuith His-
torical notices interspersed, chaps. 26—28. These belong to
different periods of Jeremiah's life.
5. Letter and Message to the Captives in Babylon, chap.
29.
6. Prophecies mainly of Comfort and Hope, chaps.
30-31.
7. History of the two years preceding the Capture and
Destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and the Prophe-
cies of Jeremiah during that time, chaps. 32-44. Chaps.
35 and 36 break the chronological order here.
8. A Supplementary notice on the part of Baruch, chap. 45.
II. Prophecies relating to foreign nations, chaps. 46-51.
1. Superscription, 46:1.
96 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
2. Against Egypt, 46:2-28.
3. Against the Philistines, chap. 47.
4. Against Moab, chap. 48.
5. Against Anion, chap. 49:1—6.
6. Against Edom, 49:7-22.
7. Against Damascus, 49:23-27.
8. Against Kedar and Hazor, 49:28-33.
9. Against Elam, 49:34-39.
10. Against Babylon, chaps. 50-51.
III. Supplementary and historical, chap. 52.
SECOND. THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS.
1. Author. "The unanimous voice of antiquity ascribes
it to Jeremiah, and with this tradition agree its internal
character and style." — Barroivs, p. 31If.
2. Subject. Destruction of Jerusalem.
3. Structure. "Its five chapters constitute five poetical
compositions, each complete in itself so far as outward form
is concerned, but the whole inwardly bound together as
parts of our great theme." — Barroivs, p. 315. (For alpha-
betical arrangement of clauses see Smith's Die. Bible.)
4. Subjects of the jive chapters. (See Smith's Die. Bible.)
Chap. 1. Solitude of the City.
Chap. 2. The Destruction which Laid it Waste.
Chap. 3. The Prophet's own Misery.
Chap. 4. The Miseries of the Destruction and its Cause.
Chap. 5. Recapitulation and Prayer.
5. Relation of Lamentations to Book of Jeremiah. "Forms
a supplement to Book of Jeremiah. There we traced the
life and thoughts of the prophet while events were grad-
ually leading to the final catastrophe. Here we see him
after that catastrophe has been reached, aud mark that it is
the same man still, clearly recognizing the sin of his fel-
lows, but as full as ever of sympathy for them aud of love
SEVENTH PERIOD. 97
for his country." — Cambridge Bible for Schools and Col-
leges, p. 359.
IV. The remnant left in the land.
1. Who composed this remnant f
(1) The poorest of the land, Jer. 40:7.
(2) The Jews who returned from surrounding nations,
Jer. 40:11-12.
2. Gedaliah appointed governor by Nebuchadnezzar,
2 Kings 25:22.
3. Jeremiah returns and joins the remnant, Jer. 40:1-6.
4. Gedaliah encourages Ishmael, Johanan, aud their
company to dwell in the land and cultivate it, Jer. 40:8-10;:
2 Kings 25:23-24.
5. Ishmael and others conspire against Gedaliah and slay
him, 2 Kings 25:25; Jer. 40:13; 41:10.
6. Johanan leads in the pursuit of Gedaliah and recovers
the captives, Jer. 41:11-17. Effect of the slaying of
Gedaliah, Jer. 41:18.
7. Jeremiah requested to seek counsel of God, Jer.
42:1-6. The answer, Jer. 42:7-22.
8. Contrary to the Word of the Lord and the exhorta-
tion of Jeremiah, the remnant go down to Egypt, taking
Jeremiah with them, Jer. 43:1-7; 2 Kings 25:26.
9. Jeremiah to the remnant iu Egypt, Jer. 43:8-13.
10. Jeremiah warns the people against the idolatry into
which they had fallen, Jer. 44:1-14. The warning
despised, vs. 15-23. Judgment pronounced, vs. 24-30.
11. Hope for the land, Ezekiel 36:1-15.
SUMMARY OF THE PERIOD.
This period lasted for 135 years, during which time there
were eight kings, all of the dynasty of David. Of these
two only are said to have done "that which was right."
These two, however, Hezekiah and Josiah, were great kings.
Manasseh was noted for his great wickedness. After the
death of Josiah the decline was rapid. The prophets be-
•98 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
longing to the period who have left writings were Isaiah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jeremiah. Be-
sides, there were from time to time oral prophets. During
the year immediately preceding the fall of Jerusalem false
prophets were active. The capture of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar brought the kingdom to its final end.
A remnant was left in the land and Gedaliah appointed
governor. He was soon murdered by Ishmael, and the
people sought an asylum in Egypt, against the advice of
Jeremiah. Here, as prophesied by Jeremiah, the judgment
of God overtook them.
QUESTIONS ON THE PERIOD.
1. What were the most important events of the period ?
2. What was the general character of the life and
prophecies of Isaiah ? Of Jeremiah ?
3. What foreign nations came in conflict with Judah
during the period ?
4. What were the causes of the downfall of the king-
dom?
5. What advance in Messianic prophecy ?
6. What effect had the fall of Jerusalem on the people,
the sacred literature, and the church of God ?
7. What is the meaning and importance of the "rem-
nant"?
8. God in the history of the period?
EIGHTH PERIOD.
THE BABYLONIAN EXILE— SEVENTY YEARS.
1. Predicted. By Isaiah, Isa. 39:5-7; by Micah, 4:10;
by Jeremiah, Jer. 25:11 ; 34:2-3, etc.
2. The Predictions Fulfilled in Five Successive Deporta-
tions. (Comp. Price, p. 149.)
First deportation, 2 Chr. 36:6-7 ; Daniel 1:1-2.
Second deportation, Jer. 52:28.
Third deportation, 2 Kings 24:10-16.
Fourth deportation, 2 Chr. 36:18-20; Jer. 39:8-16;
52:12-27 and Jer. 52:29.
Fifth deportation, Jer. 52:30.
3. Classes of Exiles. The principle seems to have been
to take each time the best of the land ; so at the last only
the poorest were left, 2 Kings 25:12.
4. The Exiles in Babylon. "When the people were car-
ried away from Judah they were settled, not as isolated in-
dividuals, but in masses at various points in the Babylo-
nian empire. One colony which included Ezekiel, was
located at Tel-abib, on the Chebar, some tributary of the
Euphrates in Babylonia, and where they were planted in
great towns such as Babylon, probably a special quarter of
the city was assigned for their occupation. There is no
reason to suppose they were persecuted or harshly treated.
In the midst of a great empire and surrounded by a thick
population, they would be considered harmless and allowed
the same freedom as other inhabitants. The example of
Ezekiel shows that they married and owned houses, as
Jeremiah advised them, 29:5 ff; and no doubt they culti-
vated the soil and traded like those about them." — David-
son, Bible Glass Primer Series, Exile and Restoration,
p. 1,6.
5. Religious Life. Of this there are two distinct periods
100 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
that before the fall of Jerusalem, and that after. Before the
fall of the Holy City the exiles confidently looked for a
speedy restoration in which they were encouraged by the
false prophets, Jer. 29:8-10. It was during this period that
"Ezekiel sought to induce his fellow-exiles of 597 to take
a retrospect of the past history of the nation and to learn its
lessons. Particularly in chapters 16, 20 and 23, he reviews
the history of the people, which he characterizes as one long
act of infidelity to Jehovah: in their worship they had not
been worshiping Him, and by their immoralities they had
profaned His name. And this was the cause of the judg-
ments which had already fallen on them, and would yet fall
more heavily till the State was a ruin (Chr. 15)." — David-
son, p. 50.
Obviously Ezekiel was laboring during this period to
bring the people to repentance. After the fall of Jerusa-
lem all hope of a speedy restoration was gone ; the predic-
tions of the true prophets of Jehovah had been verified ;
and the people were thoroughly humbled and cast down,
Ez. 33:10.
"It is this stupor of despair, paralyzing all moral action
on the part of the individual, that Ezekiel has to minister
to. And this is his true work as a prophet. He stands
between two eras. The old era was closed, but a new era
was about to open, and a new Israel about to arise. Before
the Exile all the prophets threaten, after it they all com-
fort by promises.1' — Davidson, p. 52.
The religious life of the exiled captives is still further
reflected in the Psalms of the Exile — e. g. 14, 137, etc.,
and also in the book of Daniel.
6. The Results of the Exile. (Condensed from Stanley, pp.
22-41.)
(1) Poignant grief as of personal calamity that broods
over its literature — e. g. Psalms of Exile, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel.
(2) The rejection of polytheism. Before the exile given
to idolatry, afterwards strict monotheists.
(3) A strong sense of individual conscience and respon-
sibility. (See Ezekiel chap. 18.)
(4) Spirituality of religion. "The absence of any ritual
or local form threw them back on their own hearts and
EIGHTH PERIOD. 101
consciences to hold communion with Him who had thus de-
clared to them by the overthrow of His earthly sanctuary
that 'the heaven only was his throne and the earth His
footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me.'" — p. 35.
( 5 ) Importance of prayer. " Man's necessity is God's
opportunity ; the loss of earthly ceremonial is the occasion
for heavenward aspirations. And hence it is that from the
captivity dates, not indeed the first use, but the continued
and frequent use of prayer as a potent instrument for sus-
taining the nobler part of man, as the chief access to the
Invisible Divinity." — p. 85.
(6) Importance of practical religion, Isa. 58:1-7.
(7) The widening of view — e. g. Book of Daniel ; Isa.
40 ff.
7. Causes of the Exile.
(1 ) The sins of the people. This the great cause, 2 Chr.
34:24-25; 36:14-17; Ezekiel chap. 20 ; Micah 2:1-3 ; et
passim.
( 2 ) Rejection of the prophetic warning, Jer. 25:1-11 ;
26:1-6.
(3) Political. Rebellion against Babylon, 2 Chr. 36:13;
Jer. 27:12-15. Alliance with Egypt, Ezekiel 17:15-21; Jer.
37:2—10. These things, however, were rather the occasion
than the cause of the final overthrow.
8. The Prophets of the Exile.
EZEKIEL.
1. The Prophet, Ez. 1:1-3. " Ezekiel, the son of Buzi,
the great prophet during the Babylonian captivity, was,
like his predecessor Jeremiah, a priest. He was taken
captive in the captivity of Jehoiachin, eleven years before
the destruction of Jerusalem. He was a member of a com-
munity of Jewish exiles who settled on the banks of the
Chebar, a river or stream of Babylonia. It was by this
river in ' the land of the Chaldeans ' that God's message
first reached him (1:3). His call took place in the fifth
year of Jehoiachin's captivity, B. C. 595 (1:2), in the
thirtieth year, in the fourth month." — Philip Smith in But-
ler's Bible Work, p. 9.
102 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
2. His Times. " He was taken captive in the captivity
of Jehoiachin eleven years before the destruction of Jeru-
salem. . . . His call took place in the fifth year of
King Jehoiachin's captivity, B. C. 595 ( 1:2), ' in the thir-
tieth year, in the fourth mouth.' . . . The last date
he mentions is the twenty-seventh year of the captivity
(29:17), so that his mission extended over twenty-two
years." — Condensed from Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.
It will thus be seen that Ezekiel lived at a most critical
period in the history ; critical for the Kingdom of Judah
tottering to its fall, and critical for that portion of the na-
tion already in captivity, and, if anything, still more criti-
cal after the fall of Jerusalem.
3. The Mission of Ezekiel. "Though the voice of the
prophet may have sounded back to the country which he
had left, Ezekiel's special mission was to those among
whom he dwelt. He had, in the first place, to convince
them of God's utter abhorrence of idolatry, and of the sin
and irrevocable doom of those who practiced it, and thus
persuade his hearers entirely to cast out idols from their
homes and from their hearts. He had to show that the
Chaldeans were the instruments of God, and that therefore
resistance to them was both hopeless and unlawful, and so
teach his people to endure with patience the lot which their
own sins had made inevitable. He had next to destroy
their presumptuous confidence in external privileges, and
so to open their eyes to a true sense of the nature of the
divine promises, and lastly, to raise their drooping hearts
by unfolding to them the true character of the divine gov-
ernment and the end for which it was administered.
"The book of Ezekiel may be said in this respect to be
the moral of the captivity. For the captivity was not
simply a divine judgment, but a preparation for a better
state, an awakening of higher hopes. The state of exile
brought with it longings for and expectations of restora-
tion. These longings it was Ezekiel's part to direct and
satisfy. It was his to teach the progress of the Kingdom
of God from the first call of Abraham to the establish-
ment of the Kingdom of David, and to show that this
most triumphant period of his people's history was but a
shadow of still greater glory." — Butler's Bible Work, p. 12,
EIGHTH PERIOD. 103
ANALYSIS (Condensed from Butler).
I. Discourses directed chiefly against the Israelites and
inhabitants of Jerusalem, chaps. 1-24.
II. Prophecies chiefly against foreign nations, chaps.
25-32.
III. Miscellaneous prophecies, chaps. 33-39. This sec-
tion contains prophecies concerning the office of watch-
man ; the shepherds of Israel ; Edom ; God's care for
Israel ; valley of dry bones; and the overthrow of Gog
and Magog.
IV. Vision and description of the restored Temple,
chaps. 40-48. This the most obscure and difficult part of
the book.
The first half of the book (chaps. 1-24) contains dis-
courses and prophecies delivered before the fall of Jerusa-
lem, and is mainly denunciatory. The second half of the
book (chaps. 25-48) contains prophecies delivered after the
fall of Jerusalem, and is mainly consolatory.
DANIEL.
1. The Prophet. Taken captive to Babylon in the third
year of Jehoiakim, in the first deportation. Early selected
for the king's service, educated and trained in all the learn-
ing of the Chaldeans, yet remaining firm in the faith of his
fathers. Prime minister under Nebuchadnezzar and Bel-
shazzar, and also in the Medo-Persian period under Darius
and Cyrus.
"From tender youth to extreme age, for more than
seventy years, the prophet lived at the Babylouian aud
Medo-Persian court (1:1, 6, 21 ; 10:1). But more than this,
he took part in the government of the State, in which he
occupied a high official position, (2:48 ; 5:29 ; 6:29 ; 8:27.)
He was thus enabled to gain an insight and knowledge of
the organization of political affairs in the kingdom of the
world and fitted to be the recipient of what, perhaps, I
may be permitted to call his political revelations. But he
has likewise obtained the spiritual point of view." — Au-
berlen in Butler's Bible Work.
Daniel's ability and character are of the highest order. He
104 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
was a man of deep convictions, of unflinching courage,
righteous, true, a devoted and consistent servant of God,
greatly beloved of God and man, and withal a man of
commanding ability. "It cannot be doubted that Daniel's
quiet influence at court must have done much to soften the
rigors of the captivity, and it goes far toward explaining
the favorable disposition of Cyrus and the facilities which
were gladly accorded to Zerubbabel by Cyrus, and to Ne-
hemiah by Darius." — Behrends in Butler's Bible Work.
2. Times. The entire period of the seventy years' cap-
tivity. The reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Cyrus
and Darius in Babylon.
3. The Character of the Booh of Daniel — apocalyptic.
"In studying the book of Daniel it is of the utmost
importance to recognize its apocalyptic character. It is at
once an end and a beginning; the last form of prophecy, and
the first ' philosophy of history.' The nation is widened
into the world; the restored kingdom of Judah into a uni".
versal kingdom of God." — Smith's Diet, of Bible. (Comp-
Revelation,)
ANALYSIS (Condensed from Barrows and pe arson).
I. Introductory. An account of the selection and
education of Daniel and his three companions by direction
of the King of Babylon, chap. 1.
II. The relation of God's kingdom to the heathen
powers, chaps. 2-7. Written in Chaldee from middle
of 2:4.
1. Twofold vision of the four great monarchies of the
world, and the " Stone" and "Son of man," chaps. 2 and 7.
2. Protection and deliverance of God's faithful servants,
chaps. 3 and 6.
3. Humbling of heathen monarchs, chaps. 4 and 5.
III. Apocalyptic.
1. The vision of the Ram and He-goat, chap. 8.
2. Daniel's prayer and the answer, chap. 9.
EIGHTH PERIOD. 105
3. Angelic ministries, chap. 10.
4. Prophecies concerning Persia and Greece, chap.
11:2-45.
5. Times before the end, chap. 12.
"The intimate connection between the book of Daniel
and the Revelation of John must strike every reader of the
Holy Scriptures. They mutually interpret each other, and
together constitute one grand system of prophecy extend-
ing down to the end of the world. Both also contain pre-
dictions, the exact interpretation of which is extremely
difficult, perhaps impossible, till the mystery of God shall
be finished." — Barrows, p. 321.
BOOK OF ESTHER.
Introduction.
1. Where Written. Perhaps at Susa, where the history
was enacted.
2. When Written. During the time of the exile — prob-
ably during the reign of Artaxerxes I., son and successor
of Xerxes I. (Ahasuerus), and who reigned 465 B. C. —
425 B. C. If this date is correct the book of Esther be-
longs chronologically to the period of the Restoration.
But the matter of the book belongs to the exile. Hence
considered here. (See Johnson's Ency., Art. Artaxerxes.)
3. Author Unknown. By some supposed to have been
Mordecai.
4. Object of the Book. To give the history of the signal
deliverance of the Jews from destruction . " The crisis was
one of the most alarming that had ever occurred; the unalter-
able nature of the decrees of the Medes and Persians made the
plot doubly dangerous. Had it succeeded, the Jewish race
would have been totally exterminated in Judea, as well as in
other countries, and the church of the living God would
have been swept from the face of the earth. The protecting
arm of God was never more plainly or signally made bare,
not even in the destruction of Pharaoh or the catastrophe
of Sennacherib, than it it was on this memorable occasion.
To celebrate this deliverance the feast of Purim was insti-
tuted."—BlaiMe, p. 370.
106 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
5. The Name of God not Mentioned in the Book. But the
deliverance manifestly wrought by the special providence
of God and in answer to prayer.
6. Value of the Booh. The information here given us
concerning the Jews of the dispersion is exceeding interest-
ing and valuable. We here learn "that they were now
dispersed through the one hundred and twenty-seven
provinces of the Persian empire from the Indus to Ethiopia
(3:8) ; still that they retained their national laws and usages,
and continued a separate people (3:8); that they had many
enemies (9:1); that they contributed such a sum to the
royal revenue that 10,000 talents of silver, equal to
£2,000,000 sterling, was offered as an equivalent (3:9); that
they were so numerous as to be able, in Shushan, to slay
eight hundred of their enemies in two days, and through-
out the whole empire seventy-five thousand (9:6,15,16) ;
and that many subjects of the great king became proselytes
to their religion." — Blaikie, p. S70.
ANALYSIS.
The story is very simple, and the analysis little more
than a table of contents.
I. Queen Vashti and her divorcement, chap. 1.
II. Esther chosen queen, chap. 2.
III. Haman and his anger against Mordecai ; his ploty
chap. 3.
IV. Mordecai's conference with Queen Esther, chap. 4.
V. Through Esther's influence with the king, Haman
is hanged, Mordecai is exalted, and a counter
decree granted in favor of the Jews, chaps, 5-8.
VI. Decrees executed, 9:1-19.
VII. Institution of Purim, 9:20-32.
VIII. Mordecai honored, chap. 10.
SUMMARY OF THE PERIOD.
The Babylonian exile was the fulfillment of prophecy,
and was accomplished in five successive deportations.
Each time the best of the people were taken. The captives
EIGHTH PERIOD. 107
were taken to different places in the Babylonian empire,
located in companies, and not harshly treated. During
the exile they married, built houses, and transacted the
ordinary affairs of life. Before the fall of Jerusalem they
were hopeful of speedy restoration. Afterwards they were
in despair. Ezekiel was the great prophet of the captivity.
He found great difficulty, not only in the spirit of the
people, but also in the opposition of false prophets.
Among the exiles were found men of great ability, influ-
ence and piety. Conspicuous among these were Daniel
and his three companions. A most interesting indication
of the number, condition, etc., of the Jews of the disper-
sion is found in the Book of Esther.
QUESTIONS ON THE PERIOD.
1. What change in the social and religious condition of
the Jews was made by the Captivity ?
2. What was the significance of the fall of Jerusalem ?
3. What were the causes of the Exile?
4. What were the results of the Exile ?
5. What were the history and character of the Baby-
lonish empire ?
6. What was the mission of the prophets during this
period ?
7. What is the view of the Jews of the dispersion given
in the Book of Esther?
8. The literature of the period?
NINTH PERIOD.
THE RESTORATION.
Introduction.
1. Predicted, Isa. 11:11-12; 27:12-13; Jer. 16:14-15;
30:3; Ezekiel 37:21.
2. The Manner of the Restoration. Accomplished grad-
ually, in three returns, with intervals, discouragement and
opposition intervening.
OUTLINE.
I. The First Return, under Zerubbabel.
II. The Second Temple.
III. The Second Return, under Ezra.
IV. The Third Return, under Nehemiah,
V. Malachi.
NOTES.
I. The First Return, under Zerubbabel.
1. The Edict of Cyrus, 2 Chr. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4.
"No monarch of antiquity awakened such interest as
Cyrus, both from his character and his exploits.
Cyrus was ambitious, bold and chivalrous; clement and
considerate to the fallen provinces over whom his armies
had been victorious, and conciliatory towards the popula-
tions whom his conquests had given him for subjects. No
butcheries stained his victories such as those too often per-
petrated by Shemitic conquerors like Nebuchadnezzar. . .
He was sympathetic towards the natural aspirations of his
new subjects and scrupulously regardful of their religious
feelings. Out of respect to the sentiment of the Babylo-
nians he restored the gods of the various ancient cities,
110 BIBLE COUKSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
which Nabonidus had carried to Babylon, to their native
shrines and repaired their temples. It was, therefore, in
conformity with his character and policy that he should
grant liberty to the Jewish captives to return to their
homes and that he should rebuild the house of their God
and restore its sacred vessels." — Davidson, p. 73. But was
it only a fortunate concurrence of circumstances which
placed such a king on the throne just at the expiration of
the seventy years captivity? Can the edict be explained
on merely natural grounds ? Not so do the Scriptures
explain it. As early as the reign of Hezekiah, Isaiah had
predicted that Jehovah would raise up Cyrus, and that he
would do all God's pleasure. (See Isa. 45:1-7, 13; 44:28.)
2. Preparation for the Return. Vessels of the house of
the Lord restored by Cyrus, Ezra 1:7-11. Gifts and offer-
ings of the Jews who remained, 1:6.
3. Who Returned, (a) The leading men, 2:2; of these
Zerubbabel and Jeshua were prominent, (b) The number
who returned, 42,360 Israelites; 7,337 slaves, 200 of them
singers ; of the twenty-four priestly courses, 4,000 ;
Levites 74, Ezra 2:64-65, and vs. 36-40. Though the move-
ment seems to have been national, yet the great mass
belonged to Judah and Benjamin.
4. The Spirit of the Return, Isa. 48:20-21; Psalms 137
and 126.
5. Arrival in Palestine. After a wearisome journey of
over four months the caravan reaches the home land. They
then find their permanent homes, 2:70. As soon afterward
as possible they assembled at Jerusalem and " builded the
altar of the God of Israel," and began the observance of
the Mosaic ritual, Ezra 3:3-6. (For a description of the
condition of the land on the arrival of the exiles, see
Geikie's Hours, p. 232.)
II. The Second Temple.
1. The Offerings for Building the Temple, Ezra 2:68-69;
61,000 golden darics = £36,600 ; 5,000 niime of silver^
£50,000 (Geikie).
2. Preparations for Building, 3:7-9.
NINTH PERIOD. Ill
3. The Foundation Laid, 3:10-13. Scene?
4. The Work Suspended. The cause of the suspension,
Ezra, chap. 4.
5. Haggai and Zechariah.
The foundation of the temple was laid in the sec-
ond year of Cyrus ( B. C. 535). The Samaritans came
forward and asked permission to take part in the work.
The request was denied. This aroused their enmity,
and they resolved to do their utmost to retard and prevent
the building of the house. At last they succeeded in
securing a peremptory order from Artaxerxes that the
work should be stopped. Not until the reign of Darius
Hystaspes (B. C. 521) were the circumstances favorable for
beginning again the work. But by this time the people
seem to have become so absorbed in their own affairs, so
discouraged, and so cold and indifferent, that they seemed
entirely indisposed to undertake the completion of the
temple. It was largely to meet this indifference, to arouse
and encourage the people to finish the house of the Lord,
that the two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were sent.
(1 ) HAGGAI.
(a) The Prophet. "With regard to his tribe and
parentage both history and tradition are alike silent. Prob-
ably he was one of the exiles who returned with Zerub-
babel and Jeshua." — Butler.
(b) Times. After the first return from the captivity —
from 535 B. C. to 520 B. C. His prophecies all belong to
the latter date.
( c ) His Mission. To arouse the people to complete the
temple.
ANALYSIS.
First — An appeal to build the Lord's house, 1:2.
The appeal enforced —
( a) By the contrast between their own houses and the
house of the Lord, 1:4-5.
(b) By interpreting to them the providences of God,
1:6-11.
112 BIBLE COUKSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
The result of this appeal, 1:12-15.
Seco n d — Comfort.
(a) Jehovah's presence promised, 2:4-5.
( b ) The gloVy of this house shall be greater than that
of the first, v. 9.
Third — A promise that plenty shall reward the fulfill-
ment of duty (Farrar), 2:10—19. The former order of
God's providence reversed.
Fourth — A special promise to Zerubbabel, 2:20-23.
(2) ZECHARIAH.
( a ) The Prophet. Zechariah, the second and greatest
prophet of the Restoration, calls himself the son of Bere-
chiah, the son of Iddo ( 1:1 ). But in Ezra the name of the
father is omitted, perhaps as being less known, and he is
called simply the son of Iddo ( chaps. 5:1; 6:14), the
word son being used in the general sense of descendant.
There is no reason to doubt the identity of this Iddo with
the priest of that name who went up from Babylon with
Zerubbabel and Jeshua ( Neh. 12:4 ) ; so that Zechariah,
like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was of priestly descent." —
Barrows, p. 34-6.
(b) Times, Ezra 5:1. This reference probably marks
the beginning of his prophecy. We have another reference
in Zech. 7:1, two years later. How long after this latter
date his ministry lasted we know not.
ANALYSIS.
I. Prophecies relating mainly to the times of the prophet,
chaps. 1-8.
(a) A series of eight visions, chaps. 1-6.
The general purport is encouragement concerning the
temple and city. The series closes with a very remarkable
Messianic prophecy, 6:9-15.
(b) Instruction and warning concerning fasting, chap. 7.
(c) Encouragement and promises, chap. 8.
II. Prophecies relating mainly to the distant future,
chaps. 9-14.
NINTH PERIOD. 113
According Barrows (p. 347) these chapters are generally
understood to predict:
(a) The conquests of Alexander the Great, 9:1-8.
(b) The conflict of the Jews with their enemies in the
Maccabseau age, 9:13-16.
(c) The advent of Christ, 9:9.
(d) The corrupt and rapacious character of the Jewish
rulers at that era, their rejection of Christ and the conse-
quent rejection of the nation by God, chap. 11.
(e) The final reunion and restoration of the house of
Judah and the house of Joseph, chap. 10.
(f) The great and decisive conflict of the last days which
is to usher in the millennial glory, chaps. 12-14.
It should be borne in mind, however, that the interper-
tation of unfilled prophecy is attended with great difficulty.
Especially is this true concerning the prophecies of Zecha-
riah.
6. Under the Ministry of Haggai and Zechariah the People
again begin the Work of Rebuilding the Temple, Ezra 5:1-2.
7. Tatnai and Others Interfere and Write to Darius, Ezra
5:3-17. Result, 6:1-12.
8. The House Finished, and Dedicated with Joy, Ezra
6:13-18.
9. Passover Kept, 6:19-22.
III. The Second Return, Under Ezra.
It had been eighty years since the first return under
Zerubbabel, and nearly sixty years since the completion of
the Temple. "If the community of the Lord was not to lose
its individuality and disappear among the surrounding peo-
ples, and the precious treasure which it contained not be
lost to mankind, two things were imperatively necessary;
first, a reinforcement to the members and the spirit of the
strict and faithful party; and secondly, the imposition of a
new law of worship and life which would create and con-
tinue to express a sharp distinction between the people and
all around them. Both these needs were supplied from
Babylon." — Davidson, p. 90. The needs referred to above
were supplied by Ezra aud the company he led back to
8
114 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
Judea, and not, indeed, by "the imposition of a new law"
but by the revival of the old.
1. Ezra. "All that is really known of Ezra is con-
tained in the four last chapters of the book of Ezra, and in
Neheraiah 8 and 12:26. From these passages we learn
that he was a learned and pious priest residing at Bayblon
in the time ofArtaxerxes Longimauus." — Smith's Diction-
ary of Bible.
As regards the traditional history of Ezra, it is extremely
difficult to judge what portion of it has any historical
ioundation. The principal works ascribed to him by the
Jews, and on the strength of their testimony, by Christians
also, are: "(1) The institution of the Great Synagogue, of
which the Jews say, Ezra was president (2) The
settling the canon of scripture, and restoring, correcting and
editing the whole sacred volume according to the threefold
arrangement of the Law, the Prophets and the Hagiographa
.... (3) The introduction of the Chaldee character in-
stead of the old Hebrew or Samaritan. (4) The author-
ship of the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and some
add Esther. ... (5) The establishment of synagogues."
— Smith's Dictionary of Bible.
Obviously Ezra was a great and good man, and was raised
up of God at a critical period in the history of the church
to do a work of vital importance.
2. The Decree of Artaxerxes, Ezra 7:11-26. Ezra re-
ceives the decree with prolound thanksgiving to God, vs.
27-28.
3. The Company who Returned with Ezra, 8:1-20. Gei-
kie estimates the whole caaravan at over 5,000, of whom
1,500 were men. — Hours, p. 271.
4. The Gifts and Offerings Entrusted to Them, 7:15-17;
8:25-27. Ryle is quoted by Davidson as giving total value
as £957,250. Meyer calculating the talent differently
makes the amount somewhat over a quarter of a million.
— Davidson, p. 93.
5. Preparations for Departure, Ezra 8:21-30.
6. Arrival, vs. 31-36.
7. The Mixed Marriages. Ezra's grief, humiliation and
prayer, chap. 9.
NINTH PERIOD. 115
8. The Chiefs of the Priests, the Levites and all Israel
Enter into a Covenant and Call an Assembly, 10:1-8. The
meeting, v. 9. Results, vs. 10-41.
IV. The Third Return, under Nehemiah.
Nehemiah. " Thirteen years after Ezra arrived at Jeru-
salem the first of two visits was paid to it by one who be-
came a most zealous helper in the work of reformation —
the distinguished Nehemiah. . . . He was a man of
singular faith, courage and enterprise, one to whom no un-
dertaking seemed difficult, because he always realized the
presence of God in connection with it. He was a worthy
member of the old line of Hebrew ' believers'; one whose
character was cast in the same mould as that of the Joshuas
and Calebs, the Baraks aud Gideons, the Davids and Je-
hoshaphats of other days." — Blaikie, pp. 373-4-.
ANALYSIS OF BOOK OF NEHEMIAH.
First. Nehemiah's visit to Jerusalem.
1. What led to it, chap. 1.
2. His mission, 2:3-5.
3. The action of the king, 2:6-8.
Second. The building of the wall.
1. Inspection by night, 2:11-15.
2. Address to rulers aud result, 2:16-18.
3. The adversaries — Sanballat, Tobiah aud Geshem,
2:10, 19—20. Their opposition kept up in various ways
during the progress of the work. See 4:1-5; 7-23; 6:
1-14.
4. Walls begun, 3:1, etc.
5. Complaints of the people doing the work, 5:1-5.
How adjusted, vs. 6-13. A personal explanation, vs. 14-19.
6. The walls finished, 6:15. Effect on enemies, vs. 16-19.
Instruction concerning keeping the city, 7:1-3.
7. Wall dedicated, 12:27-43.
8. Provision made for service of sanctuary, 12:44-47.
116 BIBLE COURSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
Third. Genealogies, 7:5-73.
Fourth. Revival under Ezra.
1. Reading and expounding of the law, 8:1-12.
2. Feast of tabernacles, 8:13-18.
3. Reading and expounding of the word continued, in-
terspersed with fasting, confession and worship, 9:1-3.
4. Prayer and covenant, 9:4 ; 10:39. Note characteris-
tics of this revival.
5. People distributed in Jerusalerfi and other cities, 11:1;
12:26.
Fifth. Further reforms under Nehemiah.
1. Mixed multitude separated, 13:1-3.
2. House of God cleansed and worship established.
3. Sabbath observance enforced, 13:15-22.
4. Mixed marriages condemned, 13:23-31.
V. Malachi.
1. The Prophet, 1:1. "The name means ' my messen-
ger' or 'my angel.' It is a name which occurs nowhere
else in the Old or New Testament All that
we can say is that Malachi was either the actual name of
this, prophet, probably abbreviated from Malachyahn, or a
name which he earned by his administrations, and which
became current among the people. Of his life uo single
fact is recorded, but we may infer from the book itself that
he was a priest, or had close relations with the priesthood."
— Farrar, p. 223.
2. Times. " All the notes of time it contains point
steadily and with one consent to the second sojourn of
Nehemiah at Jerusalem — i. e. about B. C. 420." — Butler's
Bible Work, p. 622.
For the character of the times see Neh. chap. 13.
ANALYSIS (Farrar; cf. Butler).
First. Sins of the Priests.
1. Introductory statement, 1:2-5
2. Arraignment of the priesthood, 1:6 — 2:9,
NINTH PERIOD. 117
Second. The sius of the people, 2:10 — 3:18.
1. Deal treacherously with each other, 2:10-17.
2. Defiance, 2:17 ; Bat. 3:1-6.
3. Warnings, 3:7-12.
4. Distrust, 3:13-15. Exceptions, 3:16-18.
Third. The day of the Lord, chap. 4.
"The prophet concludes with a few last words of admo-
nition and blessing. The day of the Lord is at hand. It
shall utterly consume the wicked. But upon those who
fear God the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing
in his wings (4:1-3).
"'Malachi is like a late evening which brings a long day
to a close, but he is also like a morning dawn which brings
with it the promise of a new and more glorious day.'" —
Farrar, pp. 129-130.
SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE
PERIOD.
The restoration was the fulfillment of prophecy. It was
accomplished gradually in three returns with intervals inter-
vening and with much discouragment and opposition.
Zerubbabel was the leader in the first return. Cyrus was
on the throne and the return was by his permission and
under his patronage. The whole number who returned
was nearly 54,000. Soon after settling in land they
began observance of Mosaic ritual, and ere long began
to build the Second Temple. The work was suspended on
account of opposition until the people were aroused to re-
sume the work by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, dur-
ing the reign of Darius. The second return was under
Ezra nearly eighty years later. This return took place
under the patronage of Artaxerxes, the whole number re-
turning being about 5,000, who brought with them much
treasure. Ezra proved a great reformer and corrected
many evils. The third return was under Nehemiah. He
undertook his mission under the patronage of Ahasuerus,
and did a great work as builder and reformer,
118 BIBLE COUKSE: OUTLINE AND NOTES.
QUESTIONS ON PERIOD.
1. What were the motives and spirit of the return to
Palestine?
2. What led the kings ruling over the Jews to send
them back to their own land?
3. How did the Second Temple compare with the first?
4. Who opposed the building of the temple and walls
of the city? Their motives?
5. What was the condition of the people during this
period?
6. What were the nature, extent and character of the
reformations during the period?
7. The leaders in the returns? Their position, charac-
ter and ability ?
8. The prophets of the period and their work?
A.S.C.
220
G12b
Gaines
7371
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