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Bible    and    Prayer    Book 

THE 

HEBREW  MONARCHY 

SOLOMON-CAPTIVITY 

WHITHAM. 


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HANDBOOK    TO 
THE   HISTORY   OF   THE 

HEBREW    iVlONARCHY 

VOL.    II 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  SOLOMON 
TO  THE  CAPTIVITY  OF  JUDAH 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  TEACHERS  AND  STUDENTS 


By. 

THE  REV.  A.  R.  WHITHAM,  M.A. 

PRINCIPAL  OF   CULHAM   TRAINING   COLLEGE 


RIVINGTONS 

34  KING  STREET,   CO  VENT  GARDEN 

LONDON 

T904 


CONTENTS 


1  Kiiu 


Introduction,  .... 

Map  of  Assyrian  Empire,     . 
Map  of  Palestine,     .... 
Chronological  Table, 

chapter  sub, 

2  Chron.  i.  1  ;  1  Kings  iii.  n  ^,, 

iv.  20-34,  .  J'-^^ISDOM, 

I  (I)  Solomon  BUILDING  THE  Temple,  .\ 
'  ^^•'     •  '1(2)  Solomon's  Temple,  .  J 

1  Kings  vii.  1-22  ;  2  Chron.  "^  ,,,       ^ 

j^  .  ^,   2  j  Ihe  Furniture  of  the  Temple, 

2  Chron.  v.  2-14  ;  vi. ;  vii.  f{l)  Public  Worship,     ,  .  .  \ 

1-11,       .  .  .\('2)  Prayer,        .  .  .  J 

1  Kings  ix.  1-24;  2  Chron.  ] 

viii.  12-16  ;  1  Kings  ix.  hTHE  Queen  of  Sheba,  . 

26-28;   1  Kings  x.,  .J 

1  Kings  xi.  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  ^  ^  ,    ^ 

„Q  -Solomon's  Foolishness, 

1  Kings  xii.  1-24  ;  xiv.  21- ^ 

23;   2  Chron.'  xii.   1-12,  IRehoboam's  Self- Will, 

15,16,     .  .  .j 

1  Kings  xii.  25-33;  xiii.  ;/ Disobedience   (1)    of    the    Wicked,) 


PAGE 

vii 
ix 

X 

xi 


xiv.  1-20, 
2  Chron.  xiii.  ;  xiv.  ;  xv 

xvi. , 
1  Kings  XV.  25-34  ;  xvi., 
1  Kings  xvii., 
1  Kings  xviii, , 
1  Kings  xix., 
1  Kings  XX., 
1  Kings  xxi.  ;  xxii.  1-40, 

1  Kings    xxii.     51-53 ; 
Kings  i. , 

2  Kings  ii. ;  iii. ,     . 


,,  (2)   OF  THE  Good, 

Confidence,  True  and  False, 


.  The  Results  of  Disobedience, 

.  God's  Providence, 

,  Courage  for  God, 

.  The  Hidden  Ways  OF  (ioD, 

.  Victory, 

.  Imperfect  Repentance, 

2^ 

Fire  from  Heaven, 

.    The  Ascension  of  Elijah, 


1    Kings    xxii.     41-43;    2\ 
Chron.  xvii.  2-19  ;  xix. ; '  .Jehoshaphat  a  Type  of  Christ, 
XX.  1-28,  34-37,  .  J 


2 
12 

24 
34 

49 
60 

68 

77 

90 

102 
109 
115 
125 
132 
139 

151 

156 

168 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 


CHAPTER 

2  Kings  iv. , 
2  Kings  v., 
2    Kings    vi.  ;    vii. 
1-6, 


SUBJKCT 

.    Elisha  a  Type  of  Christ, 
.    Naaman — THE  Leper  cleansed, 
viii.  Ul)  Faith  AND  Unbelief, 
•  1(2)  Angel-Guardians, 


2     Kings     viii.     7-15  ; 

Chron.  xxi.  ;  xxii.  6 

Kings  ix., 
2  Kings  X.,  .  .    Jehu, 

2Chron.  xxii.  10-12;  xxiii.;^  Toash 


2  I  Elisha,  Hazael,  and  Jehu 


/• 


2  Kings  xiii., 


.(!, 


(1)  The  Death  of  Elisha, 
Elisha    in     Death    a 
Christ,    . 
Amaziah, 
UzziAH,  . 


Type    of 


>  Ahaz  and  Isaiah, 


2  Chron.  xxv., 

2  Chron.  xxvi., 

2  Kings  xiv.  23-29  ;  xv.  8- 

31  ;  2  Chron.  xxvii.  ;   2 

Kings  xvi.  1-5  ;  2  Chron. 

XX viii.    8-15  ;    2    Kings 

xvi.  6-20;  Isa.  vii.  1-14,^ 
^  „.  ..  f{l)  The  Captivity  of  Israel,  .  "i 

2Kmgsxvn.,         .  •  |, 2)  The  Samaritans,    .  .  J 

2  Kings xviii.  1-8 ;  2 Chron.  \ 

xxix.   3-36  ;  XXX.   1-27  ;  tHezekiah  the  Restorer  of  Religion, 

xxxi.  ],  .  .  .  ^ 

2  Kings  xviii.  13-37,  .    The  Great  Attack  on  Jerusalem,     . 

2Kingsxix.,  .  .    The  Great  Deliverance, 

2  Kings  XX. ,  .  .    God's  Lessons  to  Hezekiah 


PAGE 

180 
190 

197 


209 

221 

228 

239 

246 
252 

259 
273 


2  Kings  xxi.  1-16 ;  2  Chron. 


Manasseh, 


xxxiii.  11-25,       .  .  j 
2  Kings  xxii.  ;  xxiii.  1-28  ;\  , 

^    ^f  r.r.   r..,  JOSIAH,     . 

2  Chron.  xxxv.  20-27,  .  f  ' 

2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1-21,  .    The  Captivity, 

2    Kings    xxv.    27-30;  2) 

Chron.  xxxvi.  22,  23,  J  ^"^^'      ' 

Index,  .  .  .  .         .    . 


283 

295 
302 
312 

318 

324 
336 
343 

347 


INTEODUCTION 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 

The  same  general  principles  have  been  followed  in  the  notes 
and  lessons  in  this  volume  as  in  the  previous  one,  which  ended 
with  the  accession  of  Solomon.  The  reader  is  referred  to  the 
Introduction  of  that  volume  for  a  summary  of  the  sources  of 
the  history,  and  of  the  main  ideas  which  should  be  our  guide 
in  teaching  it. 

In  this  volume  the  Books  of  Chronicles  have  largely  been 
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without  the  light  which  is  shed  upon  them  by  the  prophetical 
books.  They  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  contemporary  society, 
thought,  religion.  Hosea  and  Amos  illustrate  the  decline  of  the 
northern  kingdom;  Micah  and  Isaiah,  the  southern  kingdom 
under  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah ;  Zephaniah,  the  age  of  Josiah ; 
Nahum  and  Habakkuk,  the  fall  of  Assyria  and  the  advance 
of  the  Babylonians ;  Jeremiah,  and  probably  Obadiah,  the 
closing  days  of  the  southern  kingdom  ;  Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  the 
Captivity;  Isaiah  (xl.-lxvi.,  whether  these  chapters  are  the 
work  of  the  historic  Isaiah  or  not),  the  later  years  of  the  same 
period,  and  the  bright  hopes  of  the   Return.     Attention   has 


viii       THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 

been  drawn  in  the  notes  to  passages  in  these  prophets  which 
are  of  special  importance,  but  the  teacher  would  do  well  also 
to  consult  such  a  book  as  Kirkpatrick's  Doctrine  of  the  Prophets 
for  fuller  treatment.  Other  books  which  will  be  found  most 
useful  are  Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine^  and  Dr.  G.  Adam 
Smith's  Historical  Geography  of  Palestine.  The  volumes  in  the 
Cambridge  Bible  covering  this  period  will  also  be  found  of  great 
assistance,  as  well  as  the  series,  'Men  of  the  Bible.'  Both  the 
Oxford  Helps  to  the  Study  of  the  Bible  and  the  Cambridge 
Companion  to  the  Bible  ought  to  Ijc  in  the  possession  of  every 
teacher.  The  late  Dr.  Liddon's  volume  of  Sermons  on  the  Old 
Testament  has  been  frequently  referred  to,  and  will  be  found 
most  suggestive. 

The  writer  has  endeavoured  not  to  ignore  the  results  of 
modern  criticism.  It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  deny,  or 
indeed  to  be  ungrateful  for,  the  enormous  help  that  modern 
scholarship  and  archa3ology  have  given  to  the  understanding  of 
Hebrew  history,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  the  Old 
Testament  writings  grew  up.  At  the  same  time,  the  ideas 
which  are  usually  associated  with  the  phrase  '  higher  criticism ' 
have  not  been  made  particularly  prominent  in  this  volume  or 
the  previous  one.  In  this  connection  the  writer  can  only  state 
his  own  firm  conviction  (1)  that  an  entirely  disproportionate 
weight  is  at  present  being  attached  in  many  quarters  to  these 
opinions  and  so-called  'results,'  with  the  effect  that  men's 
thoughts  are  being  distracted  from  the  'weightier  matters'  of 
the  Bible,  the  eternal  truths  which  underlie  the  letter  of 
Scripture,  and  from  a  reverent  and  devotional  study  of  them  ; 
and  (2)  that  the  Old  Testament,  by  whatever  processes  it  may 
have  come  together,  is,  in  the  form  that  we  now  possess  it, 
that  Word  of  God  which  is  sanctioned  ])y  our  Blessed  Lord 
Himself,  and  by  the  unanimous  witness  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


The  extracts  from  the  Revised  Version  contained  in  this  volume  are 
printed  by  permiss^ion  of  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 


9;t 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 

This  Table  is  approximate  only.  Considerable  doubt  exists  as 
to  the  dates  of  the  reigns  of  the  undivided  kingdom,  and  there 
is  also  uncertainty  with  regard  to  some  later  periods,  especially 
the  reigns  of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Pekah.  A  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  problem  of  chronology  will  be  found  in  Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 


B.C.            B.C. 

Saul 

1073  or  1095 

David     . 

1033  ,,  1055 

Solomon 

993  ,,   1015 

Rehoboam 

953 

.     Jeroboam  i. 

Abijali  . 

932 

Asa 

929 

927 

.     Nadab 

925 

Baasha 

901 

.     Elah 

899 

.     Zimri 

897 

. 

.     Omri 

875 

. 

.     Ahab 

Jehoshaphat  . 

873 

853 

. 

Ahaziah 

851 

.     Jehoram 

Joram    . 

848 

Ahaziah 

844 

Athaliah 

843 

, 

.     Jehu . 

Joash     .         .         . 

837 

814 

.     Jehoahaz 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 


B.C. 

798 

.     Jehoasli 

Amaziah 

797 

790 

.     Jeroboam  ii. 

Uzziali  . 

792 

749 

.     Zachariah 

748 

.     iShallum 

748 

.     Menahem 

Jotham  . 

740 

737 

.     Pekahiah 

735 

.     Pekah 

Ahaz 

734 

733 

.     Hosliea 

Hezekiali 

728 
o;-726 

722 

.     End  of  northern 
kingdom. 

Manasseli 

697 

Amon    . 

642 

Josiah    . 

640 

Jehoahaz 

609 

Jehoiakim 

609 

Jehoiachin 

598 

Zedekiah 

598 

Fall  of  Jerusalem 

587 

THE   HISTOEY   OF 
THE   HEBREW   MONAECHY 

VOLUME  11. 


IlEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  11. 


2  CHRON.  I.  1  :   1  KINGS  III.  :   IV.  20-34 


2  CHRON.  I.  1  ;  1  KINGS  III. ;  IV.  20-34 

A  ND  Solomon  the  son  of  David  was  strengthened  in  his 

r\      kingdom,  and  tlie  Lord  his  God  ivas  with  him,  and 

magnified  him  exceedingly. 

1  KINGS  III.  1.  And  Solomon  made  affinity  with  Pharaoh 

king  of  Egypt,  and  took  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  brought 

NOTE. — Marginal  readings  not  in  italics  are  from  the  Revised  Version. 

2  Chron.  i.  1.  The  happy  beginnings  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  are 
described  in  1  Chron.  xxviii.-xxix.  and  1  Kings  i.-ii.  (see  The  Hebrew 
Monarchy,  vol.  i. ,  Lessons  xxix.  and  xxx. ).  He  was  crowned  king  before 
his  father's  death,  as  was  often  done  in  ancient  times,  when  the  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  was  not  guarded  by  constitution  or  by  long  pre- 
cedent. His  unworthy  rival  Adonijah,  and  conspirators  like  Joab  and 
Shimei,  had  been  put  to  death.  He  had  received  the  counsel  and  bless- 
ings of  David,  and  had  been  welcomed  by  the  popular  voice.  He  com- 
menced his  reign  with  God's  special  benediction.  The  throne  of  Israel 
was  pre-eminently  founded  on  religion.  Prophecy  had  foretold  its  con- 
tinuance (2  Sam.  vii. )  and  its  prosperity  so  long  as  the  king  was  faithful 
to  God.  Solomon  was  '  strengthened  in  his  kingdom  '  because  '  the  Lord 
was  with  him ' ;  and  his  early  acts  show  his  devout  sense  of  this. 

1  Kings  iii.  L  And  Solomon  made  affinity  with  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt. 
If  Solomon's  reign  began  in  1015  B.C.,  the  Pharaoh  with  whom  he  thus 
allied  himself  would  be  either  the  last,  Psusennes  ii. ,  of  the  twenty-first 
dynasty,  or  the  last  but  one,  Psinaces.  The  twenty-second  dynasty 
began  with  Shishak  (more  properly  Sheshonk),  who  received  Jeroboam 
and  humiliated  Rehoboam  (1  Kings  xi.  40,  and  xiv.  25,  26). 

This  marriage  with  Pharaoh's  daughter  is  a  very  remarkable  event. 
It  seems  at  first  sight  like  the  beginning  of  Solomon's  worldliness,  which 
ended  in  idolatry  and  the  loss  of  God's  grace.  Such  marriages  were  for- 
bidden by  Moses  (Deut.  vii.  3),  and  alliances  with  Egypt  are  warned 
against  frequently  by  the  prophets  (see  Isa.  xxx.  ;  Hos.  vii.  11,  etc.). 
But  this  particular  marriage  is  mentioned  without  any  reproof ;  and  no 
Egyptian  idolatry  seems  to  have  been  introduced  by  it.  We  must  there- 
fore conclude  that  this  P^gyptian  princess  was  converted  to  the  faith  of 
Israel ;  and  that  tlie  marriage  was  divinely  sanctioned  as  a  type  of  the 
future  conversion  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  their  inclusion  in 
the  better  Israel,  the  Catholic  Church,  Psalm  xlv.,  which  is  often 
referred  to  this  marriage  of  Solomon,  strikingly  illustrates  this  view. 
The  bride,  the  king's  daughter,  is  exhorted  to  forget  her  own  people  and 
her  father's  house  ;  and  it  is  promised  her,  '  Instead  of  thy  fathers  thou 
shalt  have  children,  whom  thou  mayest  make  princes  over  all  the  earth.' 
And  this  psalm,  in  its  most  inward  and  truest  interpretation,  describes 
prophetically  'the  marriage-supper  of  the  Laml)'— the  union  of  Christ 


EARLY  PROMISE 


her  into  the  city  of  David,  until  he  had  made  an  end  of 
building  his  own  house,  and  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  wall  of  Jerusalem  round  about.  2.  Only  the  people 
sacrificed  in  high  places,  because  there  was  no  house  built 
unto  the  name  of  the  Lord,  until  those  days.  3.  And 
Solomon  "  loved  the  Lord,  walking  in  the  statutes  of  David  "  Deut.  vi.  5 ; 

'  ="  XXX.  IG,  L'O. 

his  father  :  only  he  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense   in  high 

places.      4.   And  the   king  went  to  ^  Gribeon  to  sacrifice  h  2  Chron.  i.  3. 

there;  '"for  that  was  the   great   high   place:  a   thousand  c  1  Chron.  xvi. 

burnt  oflerings  did  Solomon  ofi'er  upon  that  altar.     5.  In 

Gibeon   the   Lord   appeared   to   Solomon  in  a  dream  by 

Himself,  Whose  'throne  is  for  ever  and  ever,'  with  redeemed  humanity, 
the  Bride,  '  the  new  Jerusalem.' 

For  the  promise  of  the  inclusion  of  Egypt  within  the  future  kingdom 
of  God  see  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  4  (Rahab  — Egypt),  and  Isa.  xix.  18-25. 

1.  The  city  of  David.  See  2  Sam.  v.  7,  9  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  11.  By  '  the  city 
of  David'  is  evidently  meant  Mount  Moriah,  the  eastern  part  of  the  high 
ground  within  the  city  walls.  The  Temple  was  built  here  ;  and  Solo- 
mon's house  was  formerly  supposed  to  have  been  on  the  higher  or  western 
hill,  which  is  separated  from  Mount  Moriali  by  the  valley  of  Tyropoeon. 
This  western  hill  was  called  '  Mount  Zion '  in  later  times,  but  apparently 
not  before  the  fifth  century  a.d.  (see  'Jerusalem'  in  Smith's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible).  Scholars  incline  now  to  believe  that  both  Solomon's 
Temple  and  Solomon's  house  were  built  on  the  same  hill,  and  were  closely 
connected  (see  supplementary  note,  p.  31). 

2.  Only  the  people  sacrificed  in  high  places.  In  the  earliest  legislation 
of  Moses  sacrifice  is  permitted  at  any  place  where  God  has  revealed  Him- 
self (Exod.  XX.  24).  This  was  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the 
patriarchs.  But  in  Deut.  xii.  13,  14,  this  was  shown  to  be  only  a  tem- 
porary concession.  One  place,  and  one  only,  would  be  revealed  by  God 
for  sacrificial  worship.  This  one  place  was  not  revealed,  however,  until 
the  reign  of  David  (1  Chron.  xxii.).  Till  then  the  earlier  custom  was 
tolerated  ;  and  long  afterwards,  although  denounced  by  the  prophets 
as  a  national  sin,  the  '  high  places '  retained  their  fascination  in  the 
popular  religion.  These  '  high  places  '  or  '  Bamoth '  may,  in  many  cases, 
have  been  regarded  as  sacred  places  by  the  Canaanites  before  the 
entrance  of  Israel  into  Canaan.  But  whether  Canaanite  in  origin  or  not, 
they  were  recognised,  definite  places,  whose  supposed  sanctity  rested 
upon  either  some  local  superstition,  or  some  real  appearance  of  an  angel, 
or  of  the  Divine  presence. 

4.  Gibeon — the  city  of  the  deceitful  Hivites  (Josh.  ix.).  The  special 
sanctity  of  this  place  lay  in  its  being  the  resting-place  of  the  Tabernacle 
(2  Chron.  i.  3-6). 

5.  The  LORD  appeared  to  Solomon  in  a  dream.  There  can  be  no  reason- 
able doubt,  from  Holy  Scripture,  that  God  does  sometimes  employ  the 


4  2  CHRON.  I.  1  ;    1  KINGS  III.  ;   IV.  20-34 

night :  and  God  said,  Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee.  6.  And 
Solomon  said,  Thou  hast  shewed  unto  thy  servant  David 

i  kindness.  my  father  great  ^  mercy,  according  as  he  walked  before  thee 
in  truth,  and  in  righteousness,  and  in  uprightness  of  heart 
with  thee  ;  and  thou  hast  kept  for  him  this  great  kindness, 
that  thou  hast  given  him  a  son  to  sit  on  his  throne,  as  it  is 
this  day.  7.  And  now,  0  Lord  my  God,  thou  hast  made 
thy  servant  king  instead  of  David  my  father :  and  I  am 

d  Jer.  i.  6.         hut  a  little  ''  child  :  I  know  not  liow  ^  to  go  out  or  come  in. 

e  Num.  xxvii. 

17.  8.  And  thy  servant  is  in  the  midst  of  thy  people  which 

/  Deut.  vii.  6.  -^thou  hast  chosen,  a  great  people,  that  cannot  be  numbered 
g  Wisd.  ix.  4, 5.  nor  counted  for  multitude.  9.  ^  Give  therefore  thy  servant 
an  understanding  heart  to  judge  thy  people,  that  I  may 
discern  between  good  and  bad  :  for  who  is  able  to  judge 
this  thy  so  great  a  people  ?  10.  And  the  speech  pleased 
the  Lord,  that  Solomon  had  asked  this  thing.  11.  And 
God  said  unto  him.  Because  thou  hast  asked  this  thing, 
and  hast  not  asked  for  thyself  long  life  ;  neither  hast 
asked  riches  for  thyself,  nor  hast  asked  the  life  of  thine 
enemies  ;  but  hast  asked  for  thyself  understanding  to  dis- 
cern judgment  ;  12.  Behold,  I  have  done  according  to  thy 
words  :  lo,  I  have  given  thee  a  wise  and  an  understanding 
h  Eccies.  i.  16.  heart ;  so  that  there  was  none  like  thee  before  thee,  '*  neitlier 

time  of  sleep  for  direct  revelations  of  Himself  to  men.  Although  this 
was  a  dream  which  Solomon  saw,  (^od  really  'appeared'  to  him.  So 
several  revelations  were  made  to  S.  Joseph  by  dreams  (S.  Matt.  i.  and  ii.) ; 
and  the  prophetic  promise  concerning  the  New  Covenant  is,  '  Your  young 
men  shall  see  visions,  and  your  old  men  shall  dream  di^eams'  (Acts 
ii.  17). 

7.  I  am  but  a  little  child.  Solomon  would  be  at  this  time  a  very  young 
man,  between  eighteen  and  twenty-one. 

I  know  not  how  to  go  out  or  come  in.  A  common  scriptural  phrase, 
implying  ordinary  intercourse  and  the  fulfilment  of  ordinary  duties  (see 
Deut.  xxxi.  2;  1  Sam.  xviii.  16;  Acts  i.  21).  In  the  case  of  a  king  it 
might  have  special  reference  to  his  duties  of  leading  and  guiding  his 
people,  as  a  shepherd  ;  and  particularly  to  the  duty  of  being  their  captain 
in  time  of  war. 

9.  An  understanding  heart.  Heb.  '  a  hearing  heart,'  i.e.  a  heart  open 
to  the  inspiration  and  guidance  of  God.  This  is  a  frequent  metaphor  in 
the  Old  Testament.  Cf.  Ps.  xl.  6,  '  Mine  ears  hast  thou  opened  '  ;  and 
Isa.  1.  5. 


WISDOM 


after  thee  shall  any  arise  like  unto  thee.  13.  And  I  have 
also  given  thee  that  which  thou  hast  not  asked,  both  riches, 
and  honour  :  so  that  there  shall  not  be  any  among  the 
kings  like  unto  thee  all  thy  days.  14.  And  if  thou  wilt 
walk  in  my  ways,  to  keep  my  statutes  and  my  command- 
ments, as  thy  father  David  did  walk,  then  I  will  lengthen 
thy  days.  15.  And  Solomon  awoke  ;  and,  behold,  it  was 
a  dream.  And  he  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  stood  before  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  offered  up  burnt 
offerings,  and  offered  peace  offerings,  and  made  a  feast  to 
all  his  servants.  16.  Then  came  there  two  women,  that 
were  harlots,  unto  the  king,  and  stood  before  him.  17.  And 
the  one  woman  said,  0  my  lord,  I  and  this  woman  dwell  in 
one  house  ;  and  I  was  delivered  of  a  child  with  her  in  the 
house.  18.  And  it  came  to  pass  the  third  day  after  that 
I  was  delivered,  that  this  woman  was  delivered  also  :  and 
we  xvere  together  ;  there  teas  no  stranger  with  us  in  the 
house,  save  w^e  two  in  the  house.  19.  And  this  woman's 
child  died  in  the  night ;  because  she  overlaid  it.  20.  And 
she  arose  at  midnight,  and  took  my  son  from  beside  me, 
while  thine  handmaid  slept,  and  laid  it  in  her  bosom,  and 
laid  her  dead  child  in  my  bosom.  21,  And  Avhen  I  rose  in 
the  morning  to  give  my  child  suck,  behold,  it  was  dead  : 
but  when  I  had  considered  it  in  the  morning,  behold,  it 
was  not  my  son,  which  I  did  bear.  22.  And  the  other 
woman  said.  Nay  ;  but  the  living  is  my  son,  and  the  dead 
is  thy  son.  And  this  said.  No  ;  but  the  dead  is  thy  son, 
and  the  living  is  my  son.  Thus  they  spake  before  the 
king.  23.  Then  said  the  king.  The  one  saith,  This  is  my 
son  that  liveth,  and  thy  son  is  the  dead  :  and  the  other 

14.  As  thy  father  David  did  walk.  This  refers  to  the  general  tenor 
of  David's  life,  not  to  the  isolated  acts  of  sin  into  which  he  fell,  for  which 
lie  bitterly  repented  and  endured  punishment.  See  note  on  2  Sam.  xii. 
13  in  I'he  Hebrew  Monarchy,  vol.  i.  p.  210. 

15.  The  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  LORD.  Although  the  Tabernacle 
remained  at  Gibeon,  David  had  brought  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem,  and  placed 
it  in  a  temporary  tent,  as  recorded  in  2  Sam.  vi. 


6  2  CHEON.  I.  1  ;    1  KINGS  III.  ;   IV.  20-34 

saitli,  Niiy  ;  but  thy  son  is  the  dead,  and  my  son  is  the 
living.  24,  And  the  king  said,  Bring  me  a  sword.  And 
they  brought  a  sword  before  the  king.  25.  And  the  king 
said,  Divide  the  living  child  in  two,  and  give  half  to  the 
one,  and  half  to  the  other.  26.  Then  spake  the  woman 
whose  the  living  child  was  unto  the  king,  for  her  bowels 
yearned  upon  her  son,  and  she  said,  0  my  lord,  give  her 
the  living  child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it.  But  the  other 
said,  Let  it  be  neither  mine  nor  thine,  hut  divide  it.  27. 
Then  the  king  answered  and  said,  Give  her  the  living 
child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  it :  she  is  the  mother  thereof. 
28.  And  all  Israel  heard  of  the  judgment  which  the  king 
had  judged  ;  and  they  feared  the  king  :  for  they  saw  that 
the  wisdom  of  God  ^vas  in  him,  to  do  judgment. 

i  Gen.  xxii.  17.  IV.  20.  Judah  and  Israel  were  many,  as  '  the  sand  which 
is  by  the  sea  in  multitude,  eating  and  drinking,  and 
making  merry.     21.  And  Solomon  reigned  over  all  king- 

j  Gen.  XV.  IS.  doms  •?  from  the  river  unto  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and 
unto  the  border  of  Egypt  :  they  brought  presents,  and 
served  Solomon  all  the  days  of  his  life.  22.  And  Solo- 
mon's  provision  for  one  day  was  thirty  measures  of  fine 

26.  Her  bowels  yearned.  In  tlie  language  of  the  Bible  'bowels'  is 
exactly  equivalent  to  our  common  use  ot  'heart,' to  express  the  seat  of 
the  emotions.  In  this  case  the  phrase  denotes  the  natural  impulses  of  a 
mother's  love,  which  Solomon's  wisdom  knew  could  not  be  dissembled. 
True  wisdom  follows  the  lead  of  nature. 

IV.  21.  And  Solomon  reigned  over  all  kingdoms,  etc.  The  empire  of 
Solomon  marks  the  widest  extent  of  political  power  that  Israel  ever 
attained.  It  was  the  exact  fulfilment  of  the  promise  to  Abraham  (see 
marginal  reference).  In  addition  to  the  land  occupied  by  the  twelve 
tribes,  Solomon  was  recognised  as  overlord  by  the  kingdoms  stretching 
eastwards  as  far  as  the  Euphrates  ('the  river'),  and  southward  to  the 
'border  of  Egypt,'  i.e.  the  frontier-brook,  Wady  el  Arish,  elsewhere 
called  '  tlie  river  of  Egypt,'  Among  these  subject  kingdoms  which 
})rought  Solomon  presents  would  be:  on  the  south,  the  Edomites,  the 
Amalekites,  and  other  wandering  Arabian  tribes  ;  on  the  east,  the 
Moabites  and  Ammonite?!,  the  Hagarenes,  the  inhabitants  of  Kedar, 
the  kingdom  of  Zobah,  and  the  Syrians  of  Damascus  (cf.  '2  Sam.  viii.) ;  on 
the  M^est,  the  Philistines  also  were  subject  to  Solomon. 

22.   And  Solomon's   provision  for  one  day.     The  'measure'  or  'cor,' 


SOLOMON'S  GLORY 


flour,  and  threescore  measures  of  uieal,  23.  Ten  fat  oxen, 

and  twenty  oxen  out  of  the   j)astures,  and   an  hundred 

sheep,  beside  harts,  and  ^  roebucks,  and  fallow  deer,  and  ^  gazelles  and 

fatted  fowl.     24.  For  he  had  dominion  over  all  the  region 

on  this  side  the  river,  from  Tiphsah  even  to  ^Azzah,  over  all  s  Gaza. 

the  kings  on  this  side  the  river  :  and  he  had  peace  on  all 

sides  round  about  him.     25.  And  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt 

safely,  every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree, 

from  Dan  even  to  Beer-sheba,  all  the  days  of  Solomon. 

26.  And  Solomon  had  forty  thousand  stalls  of  horses  for 

his   chariots,  and   twelve   thousand   horsemen.      27.  And 

those  officers  provided  victual  for  king  Solomon,  and  for 

all  that  came  unto  king  Solomon's  table,  every  man  in  his 

month  :  •*  they  lacked  nothing.     28.  Barley  also  and  straw  •*  they  let 

for  the   horses   and  ^  dromedaries  brought  they  unto  the  lacking. 

,  1  .1        ^  ^-         ,      ■,-    ^  swift  steeds. 

place  where  the  ojjicers  were,  every  man  accoramg  to  his 

according  to  Josephus,  contained  eighty-seven  gallons.  It  was  the  same 
measure  as  the  'homer'  (distinguish  from  the  'omer,'  which  was  only 
the  hundredth  part  of  the  'homer').  It  is  very  difficult,  of  course,  to 
estimate  the  number  of  persons  who  formed  Solomon's  court ;  one  calcu- 
lation is  15,000. 

24.  Tiphsah,  i.e.  Thapsacus  on  the  Euphrates;  'Azzah'  is  the  Philis- 
tine Gaza. 

25.  Every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree.  This  is  a  pro- 
verbial sayiug,  implying  undisturbed  prosperity.  The  vine  and  the  fig- 
tree  were  the  two  most  valuable  natural  productions  of  Palestine.  See 
Micah  iv.  4  ;  Isa.  xxxvi.  16  ;  also  Zech.  iii.  10,  for  the  promise  of  renewed 
prosperity  after  the  exile. 

26.  Forty  thousand.  2  Chron.  ix.  25  gives  the  number  as  four  thousand, 
which  seems  more  likely.  One  of  the  most  frequent  discrepancies  in  the 
Bible  is  found  in  the  use  of  numbers.  Numbers  were  denoted  by  letters, 
and  the  distinguishing  marks  were  often  very  slight  and  easily  mistaken 
by  copjdsts. 

The  horses  and  cavalry  of  Solomon  mark  a  new  departure  in  the 
Hebrew  monarchy  :  an  approximation  to  the  state  and  grandeur  of  the 
older  kingdoms,  especially  to  Egypt.  The  Law  of  Moses  had  specially 
warned  against  this  (Deut.  xvii.  16).  Cf.  the  confession  of  penitent 
Israel  (Hosea  xiv.  3). 

27.  Those  oflBcers.     These  had  been  specified  in  verses  7-19. 

28.  The  place  where  the  officers  were.  'The  officers'  is  not  in  the 
Hebrew.  The  expression  means  either  'the  place  where  it  was  required,' 
or  '  the  place  where  the  king  was'  (R.V.  margin). 


2  CHEON.  I.  1  ;    1  KINGS  III.  ;   IV.  20-34 

charge.  29.  And  God  gave  Solomon  wisdom  and  under- 
standing exceeding  much,  and  largeness  of  heart,  even  as 
the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea  shore.  30.  And  Solomon's 
wisdom  excelled  the  wisdom  of  all  the  children  of  the  east 
country,  and  all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt.  31.  For  he  was 
wiser  than  all  men  ;  than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite,  and  Heman, 
and  Chalcol,  and  Darda,  the  sons  of  Mahol  :  and  his  fame 
was  in  all  nations  round  about.  32.  And  he  spake  three 
thousand   proverbs  :  and  his  songs  were  a  thousand  and 


29.  Largeness  of  heart.  This  remarkable  expression  implies  width  of 
knowledge  and  sympathy  ;  the  power  of  understanding  not  one  subject, 
but  many ;  a  mind  unfettered  by  the  limitations  of  ordinary  men — ignor- 
ance, prejudice,  inability  to  see  both  sides  of  a  question.  The  com- 
parison to  'the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea  shore'  is  very  suggestive.  The 
ordinary  mind  felt  itself  baffled  by  the  extent  and  comprehensiveness 
of  Solomon's  wisdom. 

30.  All  the  children  of  the  east  country.  A  general  expression  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Arabia  and  Ciialda3a.  This  district  was  the  traditional 
home  of  'wisdom.'  Balaam  was  one  of  these  'wise  men';  to  the  same 
class  belonged  the  Magi  of  a  later  date,  who  perhaps  were  influenced  by 
Balaam's  prophecy  of  the  Star.  The  book  of  Job  is  an  instance  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  East,     See  Job  i.  3  ;  ii.  11  ;  and  Jer.  xlix.  7. 

The  wisdom  of  Egypt.  The  antiquity  and  wealth  of  Egyptian  civilisa- 
tion, the  proficiency  of  Egyptians  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  are  still  the 
wonder  of  the  world.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  notice  the  awe 
and  fascination  which  Egypt  evidently  exercised  upon  the  younger 
nations  throughout  the  Old  Testament  histor}^  (cf.  Acts  vii.  22).  See 
a  sermon  on  this  subject  by  Dr.  Liddon  in  the  volume  of  Old  Testament 
Sermons. 

31.  Ethan  the  Ezrahite,  etc.  After  the  classes  of  wise  men,  mentioned 
above,  some  typical  examples  are  given,  no  doubt  well  known  in  the 
writer's  time,  but  to  which  we  have  lost  the  historical  clue.  Ethan  and 
Heman  were  the  names  of  two  of  David's  singers  (1  Chron.  xv.  19).  In 
1  Chron.  ii.  6  Ethan,  Heman,  Calcol,  and  Dara  appear  as  members  of  one 
family  ;  but  the  identification  is  doubtful. 

32.  Three  thousand  proverbs.  Some  of  these,  no  doubt,  have  been  pre- 
served in  the  l)0()k  of  Proverbs,  Hezekiah  seems  to  have  made  an  effort 
to  collect  Solomon's  proverl)s.  See  Prov.  xxv.  1.  But  the  majority  of 
these  three  thousand  have  perished.  Tlie  word  '  proverb '  was  used 
widely  to  describe  not  only  a  maxim,  but  any  wise  parable. 

His  songs.  Possibly  some  of  these  may  be  included  in  the  Psalter,  e.g. 
i.,  Ixxii.,  and  cxxvii.  (see  titles  to  the  two  latter).  The  Song  of  Solomon 
may  also  be  one  of  these  '  songs,'     But  the  rest  cannot  be  traced. 


WISDOM 


five.  33.  And  he  spake  of  trees,  from  the  cedar  tree  that 
is  in  Lebanon  even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of 
the  wall :  he  sf)ake  also  of  beasts,  and  of  fowl,  and  of 
creeping  things,  and  of  fishes.  34,  And  there  came  of  all 
^people  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  from  all  kings  of  ^  peoples. 
the  earth,  which  had  heard  of  his  wisdom. 

33.  And  lie  spake  of  trees,  etc.  It  is  impossible  to  say  of  what  nature 
these  writings  of  Solomon  were.  Perhaps  the  book  on  trees  may  have 
dealt  with  the  medicinal  properties  of  plants.  And  in  the  poetical 
descriptions  of  the  war-horse,  behemoth  (hippopotamus  ?)  and  leviathan 
(crocodile?),  in  Job  xxxix.-xli.,  we  may  have  examples  of  the  way  in 
which  Solomon  would  speak  of  'beasts,'  etc. 

The  cedar  of  Lebanon  was  the  finest  tree  known  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Palestine.  The  '  hyssop '  is  of  uncertain  identification.  It  was 
probably  either  the  marjoram  or  the  caper-plant.  In  contrast  with  the 
cedar,  it  is  named  here  as  the  humblest  of  plants.  So  the  ancient 
Church,  seeing  in  this  contrast  a  type  of  the  Incarnation,  sang  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Purification  : — 

'  Now  conforms  the  cedar  tall 
To  the  hyssop  of  the  wall. 

the  cedar  representing   the  Divine  nature  of  Christ  and   the  hyssop 
human  nature. 


LESSON  I 

Solomon's  Choice  of  Wisdom 

Introduction. — Material  will  probably  be  found  in  this  scheme  (and 
in  some  of  the  subsequent  schemes)  for  more  than  one  lesson.  This 
is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  teacher,  who  must  be  guided  by  the  age 
and  previous  knowledge  of  the  children.  These  schemes  for  lessons  are 
meant  to  be  suggestive  merely,  and  not  to  be  used  verbatim. 

Matter.  Method. 

1.   What  wisdom  is.  1.  Describe  and  question  on  God's 

Solomon's     prayer,    and     God's     ofi"er,  Solomon's  prayer,  and  God's 
answer    to    it,    show    us   what    in     answer 
God's  eyes  is  the  most  important 
possession  in  life.     '  Wisdom,'  how- 
ever,   does   not   mean    mere   intel-         Explain  that  '  wisdom '  does  not- 
lectual  ability.     It  implies  (a)  the     „^can  merely  cleverness;  illustrate 
knowledge  of  God,  of  His  will  and     .      ^,g^_  g    .  rpj^^^  j  jig^.ern  be- 

purpose  ;    (o)   the   gift   which   God     ^•'  ,        ,  ^     ,  ,   *' 

gives  to  those  who  love  Him,  the     ^^'^^^  S^^^  ^'''^  ^^^^- 
gift  of   being   able  to  discern  His 
will,  and  to  have  themselves  the  will 
and  the  power  to  obey  it.     Cf.  Jer.         Show    that    Solomon    asked    for 


10 


2  CHRON.  I.  1  ;    1  KINGS  III.  ;   IV.  20-34 


Lesson  I — continued.     Wisdom 


Matter. 

ix.  23,  24.  This  wisdom  is  founded 
on  'the  fear  of  the  Lord'  (Ps.  cxi. 
10),  i.e.  the  reverent  attitude  of 
the  creature  towards  the  Creator, 
recognising  the  absolute  sovereignty 
and  the  perfect  wisdom  of  God,  and 
subordinating  oneself  to  these. 

To  such  a  temper  God  gives  a 
share  in  His  own  attribute  of 
wisdom. 

The  '  fool '  in  Scripture  is  the  man 
who  refuses  to  discern  or  recognise 
God  (Ps.  xiv.  1),  and  therefore  is 
unteachable  (Prov.  xxvii.  22). 

2.  The  source  of  wisdom. 

Solomon  as  the  typical  wise  man 
of  the  Old  Testameut  is  a  type  of 
Christ,  who  is  Himself  the  '  Wisdom' 
of  God  (Prov.  viii.  22,  30),  and  the 
Counsellor  (Isa.  ix.  6).  In  His  in- 
carnate life  Christ  received  the  ful- 
ness of  the  Holy  Spirit's  gift  of 
wisdom  (see  Isa.  xi.  ;  cf.  S.  Luke 
ii.  52  and  S.  Mark  vi.  2). 

Christians  receive  '  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,'  especially  in  Confirmation. 
The  wisdom  of  Christ  Himself  is 
given  to  them,  which  by  prayer  and 
effort  they  may  learn  to  use.  Cf. 
1  S.  John  ii.  20  and  27,  and  note 
that  'unction'  and  'anointing'  are 
ancient  names  for  Confirmation,  just 
as  '  illumination '  was  for  Baptism. 


3.  The  fruits  of  wisdom. 

Some  of  the  fruits  of  true  wisdom 
may  be  studied  in  the  life  of 
Solomon. 

(1)  Human  sympathy,  which  is 
the  foundation  of  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  is  seen  in  his  judg- 
ment between  the  two  women. 

(2)  Sympathy  with  all  the  works 
of  God  is  seen  in  the  love  with 
which  Solomon  studied  the  life  of 
animals  and  plants.     Cf.  our  Lord's 


Method. 
wisdom  in  order  that  he  might  per- 
form the  duty  which  God  had  laid 
upon  him.  Refer  to  the  question 
in  the  Catechism  beginning,  '  My 
good  child,  know  this,'  and  illus- 
trate by  Solomon's  hitmility,  which 
is  the  only  gate  to  wisdom. 


2.  Ask  who  was  the  Avisest  man, 
wiser  even  than  Solomon.  Illus- 
trate the  wisdom  of  Jesus  Christ 
by  His  teaching  the  doctors  in  the 
Temple.  Show  that  this  wisdom 
was  His  Father's  gift,  because  in  all 
things  He  pleased  His  Father,  did 
His  Father's  M'ill. 


Ask  how  we  may  receive  a  share 
in  Christ's  wisdom.  Do  not  be  con- 
tent with  the  answer,  'By  prayer,' 
but  draw  attention  to  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  the  promises 
connected  with  His  coming  at 
Pentecost. 

Show  that  the  Holy  Spirit  comes 
to  us  all,  especially  in  Confirmation. 
With  older  children  refer  to  the 
seven  gifts  and  to  the  Confirmation 
office. 

3.  Question  on  these  examples 
of  Solomon's  wisdom.  Illustrate 
practically,  as  may  be  most  suitable 
to  the  children  ;  especially  draw  out 
the  duty  of  kindness  to  animals, 
of  noticing  and  loving  the  works  of 
God  in  nature. 


WISDOM 


11 


Lesson  I — continued.     Wisdom 


Matter. 

words  about  the  lilies  of  the  field 
and  the  sparrows. 

(3)  The  love  of  God,  the  highest 
fruit  of  true  wisdom,  is  seen  in 
his  building  of  the  Temple  and  his 
prayer  at  its  dedication. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  true 
wisdom,  i.e.  wisdom  in  its  religious 
and  moral  aspects,  is  the  real  key  to 
intellectual  progress.  That  is  why 
character  really  makes  the  student 
and  the  teacher. 


Method, 


Blackboard  Sketch, 


Solomon's  Choice. 

1.  Solomon  chose  visdom. 

Wisdom  is  the  power  to  know  and  to  do  what 
is  right  in  God's  sight,  • 

2.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  giver  of  wisdom 

to  Christians — 

By  His  Holy  Spirit. 
Through  prayer. 

Sacraments. 

Confirmation. 

3.  Wisdom  will  make  us — 

(1)  Loving  to  God. 

(a)  In  His  works. 
(6)   In  His  Church. 

(2)  Kind  to  all  men. 
Kind  to  animals. 


12  1  KINGS  V.  ;   VI. 


1  KINGS  y.  ;  VI. 


a  2  Chron.  ii.  3.  \^T>  « Hiram  king  of  Tyre  sent  his  servants  unto 
Solomon  ;  for  he  had  heard  that  they  had  anointed 
him  king  in  tlie  room  of  his  father  :  for  Hiram  was 
ever  a  lover  of  David.  2.  And  Solomon  sent  to  Hiram, 
saying,  3.  Thou  knowest  how  that  David  my  father  could 
not  build  an  house  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God  for 
the  wars  which  were  about  him  on  every  side,  until  the 
Lord  put  them  under  the  soles  of  his  feet.  4.  But  now 
the  Lord  my  God  hath  given  me  rest  on  every  side,  so 
that  there  is  neither  adversary  nor  evil  occurrent.  5.  And, 
behold,  I  purpose  to  build  an  house  unto  the  name  of  the 

b  -2  Sam.  vii.  LoRD  my  God,  as  the  Lord  ^  spake  unto  David  my  father, 
saying.  Thy  son,  whom  I  will  set  upon  thy  throne  in  thy 
room,  he  shall  build  an  house  unto  my  name.  6.  Now 
therefore  command  thou  that  they  hew  me  cedar  trees  out 
of  Lebanon  ;  and  my  servants  shall  be  with  thy  servants  : 

V.  1.  Hiram  king  of  Tyre.  This  king  may  have  been  either  the  Hiram 
who  helped  David  in  his  preparations  for  the  Temple,  or  his  son.  The 
former  view  is  more  in  accordance  with  the  last  words  of  the  verse  :  the 
latter  seems  borne  out  by  2  Chron.  ii.  13,  though  that  verse  is  capable  of 
another  explanation,  '  father '  being  possibly  a  title  of  respect  applied  to 
Hiram  the  artificer,  not  to  Hiram  the  king  (cf.  also  2  Chron.  iv.  16). 

Sent  Ms  servants,  i.e.  with  congratulatory  messages,  as  is  still  the 
custom  among  royal  personages. 

3.  The  LORD  put  them  under  the  soles  of  his  feet.  An  Oriental  phrase 
descriptive  of  total  su])jection.  It  is  not  merely  metaphorical,  as  cap- 
tives or  conquered  enemies  were  actually  subjected  to  this  sort  of  humilia- 
tion. Cf.  the  similar  expression,  'making  one's  enemies  one's  footstool' 
(Ps.  ex.  1),  putting  one's  foot  *  on  the  neck  '  of  one's  enemies. 

4.  Evil  occurrent.  'Occurrent'  is  a  noun  (Lat.  ocnirsus),  lit.  'that 
which  runs  in  oue's  way ' ;  hence  our  modern  word,  in  rather  a  softened 
meaning,  'occurrence.' 

5.  Unto  the  name  of  the  LORD  my  God.  The  '  Name  '  of  God  is  all  that 
God  has  revealed  of  Himself  to  man  (see  The  Hehreiv  Monarchy,  vol.  i. 
p.  60).  Therefore,  to  build  a  Temple  unto  the  Name  of  the  Lord  implies 
the  purpose  of  commemorating,  honouring,  worshipping,  and  entering 
into  communion  with  God,  in  as  far  as  by  revelation  He  has  made  it 
possible  for  man  so  to  do. 


SOLOMON  BUILDING  THE  TEMPLE  13 

and  unto  thee  will  I  give  hire  for  thy  servants  according 

to  all  that  thou  shalt  appoint :  for  thou  knowest  that  there 

is  not  among  us  any  that  can  skill  to  hew  timber  like  unto 

the  Sidonians.     7.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Hiram  heard 

the  words  of  Solomon,  that  he  rejoiced  greatly,  and  said, 

Blessed   he  the  Lord  this  day,   which  hath   given  unto 

David  a  wise  son  over  this  great  people.     8.  And  Hiram 

sent  to  Solomon,  saying,  I  have   ^  considered  the  things  i  heard  the 

which  thou   sentest   to   me  for  :   and   I  will   do    all   thy      "  °  ' 

desire  concerning  timber  of  cedar  and  concerning  timber 

of  fir.      9.    My   servants    shall    bring  them    down   from 

Lebanon  unto  the  sea  :  and  I  will  ^  convey  them  by  sea  2  make  them 

in  floats    unto   the   place   that    thou    shalt    appoint  me,  by  sea!  ^  *^  °° 

and  will   cause   them  to  be  ^  discharged  there,  and  thou  ■'•  broken  up. 

shalt  receive  them :  and  thou  shalt  accomplish  my  desire, 

in  ''  giving  food  for  my  household.     10.  So  Hiram  gave  c  Ezra  iii.  7 ; 

Solomon  cedar  trees  and  fir  trees  according  to  all  his  desire. 

11.  And  Solomon  gave  Hiram  twenty  thousand  measures 

7.  Blessed  be  the  LORD  this  day.  Hiram  recognises  Jehovah  (the 
word  '  Lord  '  iu  large  capitals  in  our  Bibles  is  always  the  translation  of 
the  proper  name  of  God),  as  the  national  God  of  Israel.  Of.  the  words  of 
Jephthah  to  the  Ammonites  (Judges  xi.  24).  But,  according  to  2  Chron. 
ii.  12,  Hiram,  like  Melchizedek  (Gen.  xiv.),  acknowledges  Jehovah  as 
the  supreme  divinity. 

8.  Timber  of  fir.  More  probably  'cypress'  (R.V.  margin).  See 
Oxford  Helps  to  Study  of  Bible. 

9.  Unto  the  place  that  thou  shalt  appoint  me.  This  place  is  given  in 
2  Chron.  ii.  16  as  Joppa,  which  would  be  the  most  likely  place,  as  being 
practically  the  only  seaport  of  Palestine. 

Thou  Shalt  accomplish  my  desire.  The  Tyrians  were  one  of  the  great 
sea-powers  of  antiquity,  having  a  very  small  land  territory,  and  therefore, 
like  oui'selves,  largely  dependent  for  food-supply  upon  their  commerce 
with  other  nations.  The  Tyrian  workmen  were  famous  all  over  the 
known  world  for  their  skill  in  the  arts,  especially  in  dyeing,  embroidery, 
and  working  in  metals.  This  skill  is  frequently  alluded  to,  not  only  in 
the  Old  Testament,  but  in  the  classical  writers,  especially  in  Homer, 
whose  poems  were  perhaps  written  not  long  after  this  time. 

11.  And  Solomon  gave  Hiram,  etc.  The  quantity  of  corn  and  oil  as 
given  in  2  Chron.  ii.  is  much  larger  than  this  ;  and  wine  is  also  men- 
tioned. The  addition  of  wine  is  no  doubt  correct,  as  this  was  one  of  the 
characteristic  products  of  Palestine,  especially  of  the  rich  vineyards  of 
Ephraim.     See  Isa.  xxviii.  and  Amos  v.,  vi. 


14  1  KINGS  V.  ;   VI. 


of  wheat  for  food  to  his  household,  and  twenty  measures 
of  pure  oil  :  thus  gave  Solomon  to  Hiram  year  by  year. 
12.  And  the  Lord  gave  Solomon  wisdom,  as  he  promised 
him  :  and  there  was  peace  between  Hiram  and  Solomon  ; 
and  they  two  made  a  league  together.  13.  And  king 
Solomon  raised  a  levy  out  of  all  Israel ;  and  the  levy  was 
thirty  thousand  men.  14,  And  he  sent  them  to  Lebanon, 
ten  thousand  a  month  by  courses  :  a  month  they  were  in 
Lebanon,  and  two  months  at  home  :  and  Adoniram  loas 
over  the  levy.  15.  And  Solomon  had  threescore  and  ten 
thousand  that  bare  burdens,  and  fourscore  thousand  hewers 
in  the  mountains  ;  16.  Beside  the  chief  of  Solomon's 
officers  which  were  over  the  work,  three  thousand  and 
three  hundred,  which  ruled  over  the  people  that  wrought 
in  the  work.  17.  And  the  king  commanded,  and  they 
brought  great  stones,  costly  stones,  and  hewed  stones,  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  the  house.  18.  And  Solomon's 
4  Gebalites.  builders  and  Hiram's  builders  did  hew  them^  and  the  ^  stone- 
squarers :  so  they  prej^ared  timber  and  stones  to  build  the 
house. 


13.  And  king  Solomon  raised  a  levy.  This  forced  labour  was  no  doubt 
part  of  the  '  grievous  service '  and  '  heavy  yoke '  which  the  northern 
tribes  made  a  pretext  for  breaking  away  from  the  rule  of  Rehoboam 
(1  Kings  xii.).  Such  labour  was  common  under  ancient  kings  and  under 
the  feudal  system  in  medieval  Europe,  In  France  it  lasted  down  to  the 
eve  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  one  of  the  contributing  causes  of  that 
event. 

In  the  case  of  Solomon's  Temple,  however,  as  in  that  of  many  of  the 
niedia3val  churches  and  cathedrals,  the  labour  was  no  doubt  gladly  given 
by  the  more  loyal  and  religiously  disposed.  It  was  a  sacred  and  national 
work,  and  those  who  could  not  contribute  money  could  give  their 
labour. 

15.  Threescore  and  ten  thousand  that  bare  burdens,  etc.  These, 
according  to  2  Chron.  ii,  17,  were  non-Israelites,  or  resident  aliens,  no 
doubt  in  most  cases  the  descendants  of  the  original  inhabitants  of  Pales- 
tine, such  as  the  Gibeonites. 

18.  The  stone- squarers.  This  word  is  derived  from  the  Targum  or  later 
Jewish  paraphrases  of  the  Scriptures,  The  true  meaning  is  given  by  the 
Revised  Version  as  Gebalites,  or  men  of  Gebal,  a  Pha^nician  city,  who 
are  also  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  9)  as  skilled  shipwrights,  or 
'  caulkers,' 


SOLOMON  BUILDING  THE  TEMPLE  15 

VI.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  four  hundred  and 
eightieth  year  after  the  children  of  Israel  were  come  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Solomon's  reign 
over  Israel,  in  the  month  '^  Zif,  which  is  the  second  month,  ^  Ziv, 
that  he  began  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord.  2.  And 
the  house  which  king  Solomon  built  for  the  Lord,  the 
length  thereof  ivas  threescore  cubits,  and  the  breadth 
thereof  twenty  cubits,  and  the  height  thereof  thirty  cubits, 
3.  And  the  porch  before  the  temple  of  the  house,  twenty 
cubits  was  the  length  thereof,  according  to  the  breadth  of 
the  house  ;  and  ten  cubits  was  the  breadth  thereof  before 
the  house.  4.  And  for  the  house  he  made  windows  of 
^  narrow  lights.  5.  And  against  the  wall  of  the  house  he  e  of  fixed 
built  ^  chambers  round  about,   against  the  walls  of  the  /  stories. 

VI.  1.  In  the  four  hundred  and  eightieth  year.  It  is  impossible  to 
harmonise  this  date  with  the  dates  given  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Old 
Testament.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  construct  a  reliable  Old  Testa- 
ment chronology  at  all,  as  those  given  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Samaritan  versions  all  differ  considerably.  It  was  evidently  no  part  of 
the  Divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  to  give  lis  exact  dates. 
Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that  numbers  with  the  Jews  were  often 
used  as  symbols  to  express  ideas  rather  than  so  many  units,  e.g.  7  and 
12  often  imply  'perfection' ;  1000,  a  completed  period,  etc. 

The  month  Zif.  The  first  month  being  the  month  of  the  Passover, 
March-April,  corresponding  to  our  Easter-time,  the  second  would  be  the 
month  of  full  spring  or  early  summer,  hence  the  name  Zif,  which  means 
'  brightness.' 

2.  The  house  which  king  Solomon  built  for  the  LORD.  See  supplemen- 
tary note,  p.  31. 

The  length  thereof  was  threescore  cubits.  There  is  considerable  un- 
certainty as  to  the  exact  length  of  the  'cubit.'  There  were  probably  an 
earlier  and  a  later  cubit  (2  Chron.  iii.  3),  the  former  being  the  larger  of 
the  two,  the  shorter  measure  coming  into  use  during  the  Captivity.  The 
original  meaning  of  a  cubit,  the  measurement  from  the  finger-tips  to  the 
elbow,  is  apparently  alluded  to  in  Rev.  xxi.  17.  About  eighteen  inches 
may  be  reasonabl}''  assumed  as  the  length  of  the  cubit  in  the  measure- 
ments of  the  Temple. 

3.  The  porch  before  the  temple  of  the  house.  The  'temple  of  the 
house'  means  the  Holy  Place,  the  Holy  of  Holies  being  designated 
'  the  oracle '  (v.  5). 

4.  Windows  of  narrow  lights.  See  supplementary  note  and  Revised 
Version.  A  variant  translation  is  given  in  the  margin  of  the  Authorised 
Version,  'windows  broad  within  and  narrow  without,'  i.e.  'splayed'  like 
the  narrow  church  windows  of  Norman  and  Early  English  styles. 


16  1  KINGS  V.  ;   VI. 


house  round  about,  both  of  the  temple  and  of  the  oracle  : 

8  side-  and  he  made  ^  chambers  round  about :  6.  The  nethermost 
chambers. 

9  story.  ^  chamber  was  five  cubits  broad,  and  the  middle  was  six 

cubits  broad,  and  the  third  was  seven  cubits  broad :  for 

10  rebatements.  without  in  the  wall  of  the  house  he  made  ^°  narrowed  rests 

11  have  hold,      round  about,  that  the  beams  should  not  ^^  be  fastened  in 

the  walls  of  the  house.     7.  And  the  house,  when  it  was  in 

12  made  ready    building,  was  built  of  stone  ^^  made  ready  before  it  was 

at  the  quarry. 

brought  thither  :    so  that  there  was  neither  hammer  nor 

ax  710?-  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house,  while  it  was  in 

13  side-  building.     8.  The  door  for  the  middle  ^^  chamber  was  in 
chambers.  ° 

the  right  side  of  the  house  :  and  they  went  up  ^vith  wind- 

14  chambers,      jj^g  glairs  into  the  middle  ^^  chamber,  and  out  of  the  middle 

into  the  third.     9.  So  he  built  the  house,  and  finished  it ; 
and  covered  the  house  with  beams  and  boards  of  cedar. 

15  the  stories.    10.  And  then  he  built  ^^  chambers  against  all  the  house, 

five  cubits  high  :  and  they  rested  on  the  house  with  timber 
of  cedar.  11.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Solomon, 
saying,  12.  Concerning  this  house  which  thou  art  in  build- 
ing, if  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  execute  my 
judgments,  and  keep  all  my  commandments  to  walk  in 
them  ;  then  will  I  perform  my  word  with  thee,  which  I 
8  ;  Lev.'xxvi.  spake  unto  David  thy  father  :  13.  And  I  will  '^  dwell  among 
16;  Rev.' XX?.' 3.  the  children  of  Israel,   and  will   not  forsake   my  people 

0.  Narrowed  rests.  See  supplementary  note.  The  two  upper  stories 
whicli  surrounded  three  sides  of  the  Temple  rested,  not  upon  beams  fixed 
in  the  Temple  walls,  but  upon  'rebatements'  or  structural  ledges  in  the 
walls  themselves. 

7.  Stone  made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither.  See  Revised 
Version.  Motives  of  reverence  seem  to  have  dictated  this  preparation 
of  the  stones  at  a  distance  from  the  Temple  site.  Perhaps  also  the 
directions  of  the  Law  (Exod.  xx.  25  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  5),  that  no  iron  tool 
should  be  used  in  building  an  altar,  influenced  Solomon's  builders. 

12.  Concerning  this  house  which  thou  art  building.  It  should  be  noted 
what  insistence  is  laid  upon  tb-c  moral  side  of  religion.  The  l)uilding  of 
the  Temple  was  indeed  an  act  pleasing  to  God  ;  the  labour,  the  art,  and 
the  wealth  spent  upon  it  were  acceptable  to  Him,  but  only  in  proportion 
as  they  were  signs  of  the  inward  obedience  of  the  heart  and  will. 

13.  I  will  dwell    among   the    children   of    Israel.     This   is   a   typical 


THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD 


Israel.     14.  So  Solomon  l)uilt  the  house,  and  finished  it. 

15.  And  he  built  the  walls  of  the  house  within  with  boards 

of  cedar,  i*^  both  the  floor  of  the  house,  ^"^  and  the  walls  of  le  from. 
the  cieling  :  ^^  and  he  covered  them  on  the   inside  with  is  omit  and. 
wood,  and  covered  the  floor  of  the  house  with  planks  of  fir. 

16.  And   he   built  twenty  cubits    on  the  ^^  sides  of  the  i9  hinder  part, 
house,  -*^  both  the  floor  and  the  walls  with  boards  of  cedar  :  '-^o  from  the 
he  even  built  them  for  it  within,  even  for  the  oracle,  even  walls. 

for  Hhe  most  holy  jj/ace.     17.  And  the  house,  that  is,  the  e  Exod.  xxvi. 

temple  before  ^^  it,  was  forty  cubits  long.     18.  And  the  21  before' the 

cedar  of  the  house  within  ivas  carved  with  knops  and  open 

flowers  :  all  was  cedar  ;  there  was  no  stone  seen.     19.  And 

the  oracle  he  prepared  ^2  in  the  house  within,  to  set  there  -2  in  the  midst 

1  •■       /.    1  n    T       T  ^^    OQ  1      1     1  1     of  t^®  house 

the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord.    20.  ^•^And  the  oracle  within. 

in  the  forepart  was  twenty  cubits  in  length,  and  twenty  the  oracle  was 

cubits  in  breadth,  and  twenty  cubits  in  the  height  thereof :  ^  ^^^^^  °  ' 

and  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold  ;  and  so  covered  the  altar 

-^  which  was  of  cedar.     21.  So  Solomon  overlaid  the  house  --'  with  cedar. 

within  with  pure  gold  :  and  ^^  he  made  a  partition  by  the  25  he  drew 

chains  of  gold  before  the  oracle  ;  and  he  overlaid  it  with  across. 

gold.     22.  And  the  whole   house  he   overlaid  with  gold, 

until  he  had  finished  all  the  house  :  also  the  whole  altar 

that  -^was  by  the  oracle  he  overlaid  with  gold.     23.  And  2«  belonged  to. 

within  the  oracle  he  made  two  •'"cherubims  of  olive  tree,  /  Exod.  xxxvii. 

Messianic  promise,  often  repeated  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  points  to 
the  Incarnation,  the  permanent  tabernacling  of  God  in  human  flesh,  of 
which  Tabernacle  and  Temple  are  most  direct  types.     Cf.  Heb.  ix. 

16.  And  lie  built  twenty  cubits  on  the  sides  of  the  house.  This  verse 
describes  the  buildiDg  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  as  if  it  were  an  addition  to 
the  Holy  Place  ;  the  former  was  much  more  separate  than  is  generally 
imagined,  being  of  lesser  height  than  the  Holy  Place,  and  separated 
from  it  by  a  wooden  partition,  with  doors  in  it  (described  in  verses  31,  32). 
In  front  of  this  partition  were  golden  chains  (ver.  21),  and  probably  also 
a  veil  (2  Chron.  iii.  14). 

18.  Knops.  The  word  in  the  original  is  obscure,  but  apparently  means 
'gourds,'  though  not  the  usual  word.  These  'knops'  would  doubtless 
be  some  raised  ornaments  like  the  carved  bosses  in  modern  decoration. 

23.  And  within  the  oracle  he  made  two  cherubims.  In  the  commands 
given  to  Moses  concerning  the  building  of  the  Tabernacle  it  is  assumed 


nEB.  MON.  :   VOL.  II. 


B 


18  1  KINGS  V.  :  VI. 


each  ten  cubits  high.  24.  And  five  cubits  was  the  one 
wing  of  the  cherub,  and  five  cubits  the  other  wing  of  the 
cherub  :  from  the  uttermost  part  of  the  one  wing  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  other  were  ten  cubits,  25.  And 
the  other  cherub  ivas  ten  cubits  :  both  the  cherubims  were 
27  form.  of  one  measure  and  one  2"  size.     26.  The  height  of  the  one 

cherub  tvas  ten  cubits,  and  so  was  it  of  the  other  cherub. 

27.  And  he  set  the  cherubims  within  the  inner  house  : 
and  they  stretched  forth  the  wings  of  the  cherubims,  so 
that  the  wing  of  the  one  touched  the  one  wall,  and  the 
wing  of  the  other  cherub  touched  the  other  wall ;  and 
their  wings  touched  one  another  in  the  midst  of  the  house. 

28.  And  he  overlaid  the  cherubims  with  gold.  29.  And 
he  carved  all  the  walls  of  the  house  round  about  with 
carved  figures  of  cherubims  and  palm  trees  and  open 
flowers,  within  and  without.  30.  And  the  floor  of  the 
house  he  overlaid  with  gold,  within  and  without.     31.  And 

that  the  form  of  the  cherubim  is  well  known  (Exod.  xxv.).  It  is  some- 
times thought  that  they  were  represented  by  winged  bulls,  as  on  the 
Assyrian  sculptures.  But  in  Ezekiel's  visions  the  cherubim  (Ezek.  i.  and 
X.)  have  four  faces — those  of  a  man,  a  lion,  an  ox,  and  an  eagle.  With 
these  correspond  the  four  '  living  creatures '  in  Rev.  iv.  The  cherubim 
are  evidently  angelic  beings  of  extraordinary  might.  In  Ps.  xviii.,  as 
well  as  Ezek.  i.,  their  office  is  to  form  a  cliariot  for  God  ;  and  it  is  often 
thought  that  they  are  tlie  angels  of  the  great  powers  of  nature,  of  the 
thunderstorm,  and  the  whirlwind.  Their  images  within  the  Holy  of 
Holies  would  evidently  suggest  the  presence  of  God,  its  awfulness  and 
its  mysterj" ;  perliaps  also  tlie  separation  of  man  from  God,  which  was 
the  result  of  the  Fall.  (Of.  Gen.  iii.  2-4.)  It  is  not  certain  which  way  the 
faces  of  the  cherubim  were  turned.  In  2  Chron.  iii.  13  they  apparently 
faced  the  high  priest  as  he  entered  from  the  Holy  Place.  But  in  Exod. 
xxv.  20  they  face  each  other,  as  if  brooding  over  the  deep  mysteries  of 
God's  revelation  in  the  Mercy-seat  and  the  Ark  ;  this  is  perhaps  alluded  to 
in  1  S.  Peter  i.  12.  As  has  often  been  pointed  out,  the  command  to  make 
images  of  these  angelic  beings  shows  that  the  second  commandment 
forbids  idolatry  only,  and  not  the  use  of  art  in  religious  worship.  Cheru- 
bim were  also  represented  on  the  walls  (ver.  29)  and  doors  (ver.  32),  and 
were  embroidered  on  the  veil  (2  Chron.  iii.  14). 

30.  And  the  floor  of  the  house  he  overlaid  with  gold,  within  and  with- 
out, i.e.  the  floor  both  of  the  Holy  Place  and  of  the  Holy  of  Holies 
was  covered  with  gold.  Cf.  the  description  of  the  New  Jerusalem  in 
Rev.  xxi.  21. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD  19 

for  the  entering  of  the  oracle  he  made  doors  of  olive  tree  : 

the  lintel  and  side  posts  were  a  fifth   part  of  the   wall. 

32.  28  The  two  doors  also  imre  of  olive  tree  :  and  he  carved  28  go  he  made 

upon  them  carvings  of  cherubims  and  palm  trees  and  open 

flowers,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold,  and  spread  gold  upon 

the   cherubims,   and  upon  the   palm  trees.     33.  So   also 

made  he  for  the  door  of  the  temple  posts  of  olive  tree,  a 

fourth  part  of  the  loall.     34.  ^^And  the  two  doors  were  of'i^  ;  andtAvo 

fir  tree,  the  two  leaves  of  the  one  door  were  folding,  and  wood. 

the  tAvo  leaves  of  the  other  door  were  folding.     35.  And  he 

carved  thereon  cherubims  and  palm  trees  and  open  flowers  : 

and  covered  them  with  gold  fitted  upon  the  carved  work. 

36.  And  he  built  the  inner  court  with  three  rows  of  hewed 

stone,  and  a  row  of  cedar  beams.     37.  In  the  fourth  year 

was  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  laid,  in  the 

month  ^'^Zif :  38.  And  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  month  so  ziy. 

Bui,  which  is  the  eighth  month,  was  the  house  finished 

throughout  all  the  j)arts  thereof,  and  according  to  all  the 

fashion  of  it.     So  was  he  seven  years  in  building  it. 

36.  And  lie  touilt  the  inner  court,  etc.  This  '  inner  court '  nuist  have 
been  '  the  court  of  the  priests, '  standing  on  a  higher  level  than  the  court 
which  contained  the  worshippers.  The  description  is,  however,  some- 
what obscure.  The  '  three  rows  of  hewed  stone  '  and  the  '  row  of  cedar 
beams '  are  evidently  some  sort  of  partition  between  the  higher  and  lower 
courts,  but  it  is  impossible  to  say  exactly  of  what  sort,  whether  steps  or 
a  kind  of  sunken  fence. 

38.  The  month  Bui.  The  name  of  this  month  does  not  occur  elsewhere. 
Etymologically  it  denotes  a  '  rainy '  month,  and  would  correspond  to 
October  or  November. 


20 


1  KINGS  V. ;   VI. 


LESSON  II 


Solomon  building  the  Temple 


jNIatter. 

1.  True  wisdom. 

Solomon's  divinely  given  wisdom 
manifests  itself  in  his  zeal  to  build 
the  Temple.  He  put  God  first.  He 
received  the  treasure  which  his 
father  had  prepared,  as  a  sacred 
trust,  and  used  it  for  a  purpose 
which  to  a  worldly  mind  might 
have  seemed  unpractical  or  even 
extravagant.  But  he  knew  that 
religion  is  the  foundation  of  human 
society,  and  that  a  nation  can  only 
be  rightly  established  on  that  basis. 
National  unity  depends  on  unity  of 
religious  purpose.  The  worship  of 
God  is  a  higher  consideration  than 
material  progress,  success  in  war, 
or  the  acquisition  of  wealth  and 
comfort. 

2.  Conscientiousness. 

All  the  work  for  the  Temple  was 
of  the  best.  No  labour  nor  trouble 
nor  expense  was  spared.  The  most 
precious  wood  and  metal  only  were 
used.  The  beauty  of  the  Temple 
once  erected  would  be  seen  by  few- 
human  eyes :  the  high  priest  only, 
once  a  year,  would  see  the  cherubim; 
the  priests  only  in  their  daily  offer- 
ing of  incense  would  see  the  carved 
cedar  work  overlaid  with  gold  and 
the  other  inner  bea;ities  of  the 
Sanctuary.  But  '  the  palace  was 
not  for  man  but  for  the  Lord  God  ' 
(1  Chi'on.  XX ix.  1).  So  in  the  same 
spirit  the  Temple  was  built  on  the 
ancient  pattern  which  had  been 
revealed  ;  fancy  and  invention  had 
little  place  in  its  construction 
(1  Chron.  xxviii.  19). 

3.  Co-operation. 

The  Temple  was  a  national  work, 
and  all  took  part  in  its  building. 
Even    the    heathen    Tyrians    were 


Method. 

1.  Recapitulate  Solomon's  choice 
of  wisdom. 

Show  that  the  worship  and  service 
of  God  is  the  first  and  most  im- 
portant matter.  This  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  in  most 
villages  the  church  is  the  first 
object  that  strikes  the  eye  from  a 
distance.  So  in  London  the  dome 
of  S.  Paul's  is  the  most  striking 
object  in  the  city. 


2.  Make  it  clear  that  the  Temple 
was  not  for  people  to  meet  in  (the 
phrase  '  tabernacle  of  the  congrega- 
tion '  is  misleading,  it  should  be 
rendered  'tabernacle  of  meeting,' 
i.  e.  where  God  and  man  meet) ; 
hence  everything  in  the  Temple 
was  directly  for  God. 

Point  out  that  it  is  right  to  give 
for  the  service  of  God  the  richest 
and  best  that  we  can. 

Show  that  it  is  right  to  use  art  in 
the  service  of  God,  so  long  as  it  is 
for  God  and  not  for  ourselves. 

See  Lesson  xxviii.  in  vol.  i.  on 
David's  preparation  for  the  Temple. 


3.  Illustrate  by  the  Magi  bring- 
ing their  several  gifts :  Mary  of 
Bethany  anointing  the  head  of  our 
Lord. 


SOLOMON  BUILDING  THE  TEMPLE 


21 


Lesson  II — continued.     Solomon  Building  the  Temple 


Matter. 

summoned  to  bring  their  treasures 
of  nature  and  art  to  the  work.  All 
the  highest  work  of  man  should  be 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  ; 
and  all  mankind  have  something  of 
their  own  to  offer.  So  in  the  com- 
plete ideal  of  the  Church  (Rev.  xxi. 
24)  '  the  kings  of  the  earth  bring 
their  gloi'y  and  honour  into  it. ' 


Method. 

Children  should  be  taught  that 
almsgiving  is  part  of  worship,  and 
encouraged  to  offer  whatever  they 
can  to  tlie  service  of  God ;  remind 
of  offertory,  alms-box. 

The  widow's  mite  may  be  re- 
ferred to  (S.  Mark  xii.  41-44). 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Building-  of  the  Temple. 

1.  God  should  alwaj's  come^^'s^. 

2.  God  should  always  have  the  best  that  we  can 

give. 

3.  All  can  give  something  to  God — money,  work. 

'  Lord,  I  have  loved  the  habitation  of  Thy 

house  ;  and  the  place  where  Thine  honour 

dwelleth.'— Ps.  xxvi.  8. 


LESSON  III 


Solomon's  Temple 


Matter. 


1.  The  Temple. 

The  Temple  was  not  merely  a 
place  for  sacrifice  and  prayer :  it 
had  a  deep  typical  significance,  (a) 
It  showed  that  God,  although  the 
Fall  had  separated  mankind  from 
Him,  still  loved  men,  and  desired  to 
meet  them  and  dwell  among  them 
(see  Exod.  xxv.  8).  (6)  It  showed 
that  God's  purpose  was  to  unite  Him- 
self with  man  in  the  Incarnation. 
The  Tabernacle  had  been  made  after 
a  heavenly  pattern  shown  by  God  to 


Method. 

1.  Ask  for  what  purpose  the 
Temple  was  built.  Refer  to  Exod. 
xxv.  8.  Show  that  its  purpose  is 
fulfilled  for  us  when  God  and  man 
met  to  dwell  together  for  ever  at 
the  Incarnation. 

So  our  Lord  speaks  of  His  body 
as  a  temple  (S.  John  ii.  19-21  ;  cf. 
Eph.  i.  22,  23).  Our  churches,  also, 
are  not  only  places  for  worship 
and  instruction  :  they  are  built  to 
remind  us  that  God  ever  dwells 
amongst  us. 


22 


1  KINGS  V.  ;   VI. 


Lesson  III — continued.     Solomon's  Temple 


Matter, 

Moses  (Exod.  xxv.  40  and  Wisd. 
ix.  8).  So  when  the  Word  was  made 
flesh,  this  permanent  dwelling  of 
(xod  with  us  is  expressed  by  the 
word  '  tabernacle '  (S.  John  i.  14)  : 
'  dwelt '  =  tabernacled.  See  also 
Uev.  xxi.  3. 

2.  The  Holy  Place. 

This  part  of  the  Temple  is  sym- 
bolical of  the  present  world,  the 
visible  Church.  Under  the  old 
dispensation,  however,  only  the 
priests  entered  this  for  the  purpose 
of  worship  (Heb.  ix.  6).  It  was 
shut  oflt"  by  a  veil  from  the  laity. 
This  veil  was  rent  in  twain  at  the 
Crucifixion,  thus  showing  that  all 
Christians  would  be  allowed  to  take 
part  in  the  worship  of  God.  There 
is  still  a  divinely  appointed  priest- 
hood in  the  Christian  Church  ;  but 
the  baptized  and  confirmed  Christian 
has  a  real  share  in  Christian  wor- 
ship. He  eats  of  the  Lord's  table, 
and  takes  part  in  the  Christian 
sacrifice,  e.g.  by  the  Amen  at  the 
end  of  the  Consecration  Prayer. 
Cf.  Heb.  xiii.  10 ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  16. 

3.  The  Holy  of  Holies. 

The  innermost  part  of  the  Temple, 
shut  off  by  walls,  chains  of  gold, 
and  a  second  veil,  is  symbolical  of 
heaven  itself,  the  immediate  pre- 
sence of  God  (Heb.  ix.  12,  24). 
Just  as  cherubim  guarded  the 
entrance  of  Eden,  after  man  had 
been  expelled  in  mercy,  so  cheru- 
bim were  eml)roidered  on  the  veil, 
and  colossal  images  of  cherubim 
kept  watch  and  ward  over  the 
Mercy-seat  and  tlve  Ark. 

Christians  in  their  mortal  state 
cannot  as  yet  enter  into  this  part 
of  'the  true  tabernacle,'  but  the 
way  to  it  is  made  clear  (Heb.  ix.  8), 
and  Christ  in  our  flesh  has  entered 
into  it  once  for  all. 


Method. 
Much  help  may  be  gained  on  this 
suljject  from  Willis,  Worsliij)  of  the 
Old  Covenant. 


2.  Illustrate  this  by  the  nave  of 
a  church,  where  the  congregation 
usually  assemble.  Now  they  are 
inside,  not  out  in  the  courtyard  as 
in  the  Jewish  temple  before  Christ 
came. 

All  should  take  part  in  the  wor- 
ship. Speak  of  a  reverent  use  of 
the  responses  in  our  services. 


3.  Illustrate  this  by  the  choir  or 
chancel  of  our  Church,  which  is 
meant  to  be  symbolical  of  heaven. 
It  is  usually  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  a  church,  and  it  is  there 
where  God  and  man  most  closely 
meet  in  the  Holy  Communion. 

The  ancient  custom  in  England 
was  to  place  a  rood  or  figure  of  the 
Crucifixion  on  the  chancel  arch, 
to  show  that  it  is  by  the  Cross 
and  Passion  of  Christ  that  the  way 
into  the  holiest  of  all  is  now  made 
manifest. 

Cf.  Collect  for  the  Annunciation. 


SOLOMON'S  TEMPLE 


23 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Solomon's  Temple. 

1.  The  Tem'ple  =  th.e  meeting-place  of  God  and 

man. 
God  and  man  are  now  united  for  ever  in  Jesus 

Christ. 
The    Church    of    Jesus    Christ    is    the  True 

Temple. 

2.  The  Holy  Place  —  the  Church  in  this  world. 
Christians  are  inside,  Jews  are  outside, 

3.  The  Holy  of  Holies  =  the  Church  in  heaven. 
Christians  are  not  yet  there,  but  they  know 

the  way  :  and  Christ  is  there. 


Learn — '  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  : 
no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  Me.' 


24  1  KINGS  YII.  1-22  :    2  CHRON.  IV.  ;   V.  1 


1   KINGS  YII.   1-22  ;  2  CHRON.  IV.  ;  V.   1 


BUT   Sol( 
years, 


Solomon  was   building   his   own   house   thirteen 

1  For  he  built     i  }     years,  and  he  finished  all  his  house.     2.  ^  He  built 

also  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon  ;  the 
length  thereof  was  an  hundred  cubits,  and  the  breadth 
thereof  fifty  cubits,  and  the  height  thereof  thirty  cubits, 
upon  four  rows  of  cedar  pillars,  with  cedar  beams  upon  the 

2  over  the  forty  pillars.     3.  And  it  ivas  covered  with  cedar  above  ^  upon 

and  five  beams,  •   .        . 

that  were  upon  the  beams,  that  lay  on  forty  five  pillars,  fifteen  in  a  row. 

3  prospects.       4.  And  there  were  ^  windows  in  three  rows,  and  light  was 

4  square  in"       against  light  in  three   ranks.     5.  And  all  the  doors  and 
prospec  .  posts   ivcre   ■*  square,    with   the  windows  ;    and   light  was 

against  light  in  three  ranks.     6.  And  he  made  a  porch  of 
pillars  ;  the  length  thereof  ivas  fifty  cubits,  and  the  breadth 

VII.  2.  The  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon.  This  was  evidently  the 
armoury  of  Solomon's  palace  (x.  17).  Its  name  was  derived  not  only 
from  the  source  of  the  timber  with  which  it  was  built,  but  from  the 
rows  of  cedar  pillars  within,  which  suggested  the  trunks  of  trees  in  a 
forest.  It  will  be  noticed  that  while  the  height  of  this  building  was  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Temple,  its  area  was  more  than  three  times  as 
great. 

3.  And  it  was  covered  with  cedar  above  upon  the  beams.  The  word 
rendered  '  beams '  here  is  quite  a  difierent  word  from  that  in  the  previous 
verse.  It  is  the  same  word  as  that  rendered  '  side-chambers '  in  the 
description  of  the  Temple  in  chap.  vi.  The  Revised  Version  gives  in  the 
margin  'side-chambers;  Heb.  ribs.'  Probably  the  house  was  open  to 
the  roof  in  the  centre,  witli  three  stories  of  side-chambers  running  round 
(probably)  three  sides.  The  four  rows  of  pillars  would  support  these 
tiers  of  side-chambers.  Thus  the  building  would  have  a  central  hall, 
with  the  side-chambers  encircling  it.  In  the  Temple  these  chambers 
were  outside  the  walls  ;  in  this  house  they  were  irithin.  The  description 
of  the  windows  (verses  4,  5)  is  somewhat  obscure,  but  probably  it  means 
that  each  story  had  its  row  of  lattice-work  windows,  exactly  opposite  to 
those  of  the  corresponding  story  on  the  other  side. 

6.  And  he  made  a  porch  of  pillars,  etc.  This  description  is  again 
obscure.  Probablv  the  '  thick  beam '  is  the  threshold,  then  came  the 
entrance  porch  with  its  pillars,  which  led  into  the  large  building  called 
'  the  porch  of  pillars.'  This  was  not  a  '  porch  '  in  our  sense,  but  either  a 
building  whose  roof  was  supported  on  pillars,  like  a  basilica  or  modern 
church,  or  an  open  court  with  a  cloister.  In  Herod's  Temple  '  Solomon's 
Porch  '  (S.  John  x.  23)  was  a  cloister  with  a  treble  row  of  columns,  which 
ran  down  the  east  side  of  the  Temple  court. 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  TEMPLE  25 

thereof  thirty  cubits  :  and  the  porch  was  before  them  :  and 
•^the  other  pillars  and  the  thick  beam  were  before  them,  s  the  pillars 
7.  Then  he  made  ^  a  porch  for  the  throne,  where  he  might  beams, 
judge,  even  the   porch  of  judgment :    and  it  was  covered  the  throne.  ° 
with  cedar  '  from  one  side  of  the  floor  to  the  other.    8.  And  "  from  floor  lo 
his  house  where  he  dwelt  ^liad  another  court  within  the  s  ,  the  other 
porch,  which  was  of  the  like  work.      Solomon  made  also  the  p^oTch,' was 
an  house  for  Pharaoh's  daughter,  whom  he  had  taken  to  o^the  like  work. 
wife.^  like  unto  this   porch.      9.  All  these  were  of  costly- 
stones,  ^  according  to  the  measures  of  hewed  stones,  sawed  '^  even  of  hewn 
with  saws,  within  and  without,  even  from  the  foundation  ing  to  measure. 
unto  the  coping,  and  so  on  the  outside  toward  the  great 
court.     10.  And  the  foundation  was  of  costly  stones,  even 
great  stones,  stones  of  ten  cubits,  and  stones  of  eight  cubits. 
11,  And  above  u'ere  costly  stones,  ''after  the  measures  of 
hewed  stones  and  cedars.     12.  And  the  great  court  round 
about  ivas  with  three  rows  of  hewed  stones,  and  a  row  of 
cedar  beams,  "^^  both  for  the  inner  court  of  the  house  of  the  lo  like  as. 
Lord,  and  ^^for  the  porch  of  the  house.     13.  And  king  ^^  omf*  for. 
Solomon  sent  and  fetched  «  Hiram  out  of  Tyre.     14.  He  «  2  Chron.  iv. 
was  a  widow's  son  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  his  father 
was  a  man  of  Tyre,  a  worker  in  brass  :  and  he  was  filled 
with  ^  wisdom,  and  understanding,  and  cunning  to  work  all  '^  Exod.  xxxi.  3. 
works   in   brass.     And   he   came   to   king   Solomon,    and 
wrought  all  his  work.    15.  For  he  cast  two  '^  pillars  of  brass,  c  2  Kings  xxv. 
of  eighteen  cubits  high  apiece  :  and  a  line  of  twelve  cubits 

13.  And  king-  Solomon  sent  and  fetched  Hiram  out  of  Tyre.  According 
to  2  Chron.  ii.  13,  14,  King  Hiram  suggested  to  Solomon  the  employment 
of  this  artificer.  His  name  (like  that  of  the  king)  is  there  spelt  Huram  ; 
and  he  is  said  to  have  been  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  But  the  discrepancy  is 
not  a  serious  one,  as  Naphtali  and  the  northern  Dan  adjoined,  and  both 
were  close  to  Phoenicia. 

15.  For  he  cast  two  pillars  of  brass.  These  two  pillars  were  evidently 
well  known  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  1  Kings,  and  were  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  features  of  Solomon's  Temple.  They  were  carried  to 
Babylon  among  the  spoil  by  the  Chaldreans  at  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem (2  Kings  xxv.  and  Jer.  lii.).  They  seem  to  have  been  erected 
before  the  Temple  porch,  not  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  any  part  of 


26  1  KINGS  VII.  1-22  ;    2  CHRON.  IV.  ;   V.  1 

did  compass  either  of  them  about.     16,  And  he  made  two 

chapiters  of  molten  brass,  to  set   upon   the   tops  of  the 

pillars  :  the  height  of  the  one  chapiter  was  five  cubits,  and 

the  height  of  the  other  chapiter  was  five  cubits  :  17.  And 

nets  of  checker  work,  and  wreaths  of  chain  work,  for  the 

chapiters  which  were  upon  the  top  of  the  pillars  ;  seven  for 

the  one  chapiter,  and  seven  for  the  other  chapiter.    18.  And 

he  made  the  pillars,  and  two  rows  round  about  upon  the 

one  network,  to  cover  the  chapiters  that  were  u^Don  the  top, 

1-  of  the  pillars.  ^^  with  pomegranates  :  and  so  did  he  for  the  other  chapiter. 

19.  And  the  chapiters   that   were   upon   the   top   of  the 

13  And  there      pillars  were  of  lily  work  in  the  porch,  four  cubits.    20.  ^^And 

above  also  upon  the  chapiters  upon  the  two  pillars  had  jJomegranates  also 

close  by,^'etc.^^'  abovB,  over  against  the  belly  which  was  by  the  network  : 

and  the   pomegranates  tvere  two  hundred   in  rows  round 

about  upon  the  other  chapiter.     21.  And  he  set  up  the 

pillars  in  the  jjorch  of  the  temple  :  and  he  set  up  the  right 

the  masonry,  but  as  ornaments,  and  for  religious  teaching,  as  implied  in 
the  proper  names,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  given  to  them  (see  notes  on  ver.  21). 
The  height  of  the  pillars  was  twenty-three  cubits,  including  the 
'chapiters'  or  capitals;  their  circumference  twelve  cubits;  and,  as  we 
learn  from  Jer.  Hi.  21,  they  were  hollow,  the  brass  being  'four  fingers' 
thick. 

It  was  not  l^ncommon  to  erect  pillars  for  a  religious  memorial  (Gen. 
xxviii.  18  ;  Isa.  xix.  19),  and  there  were  detached  pillars  in  front  of  some 
of  the  great  heathen  temples  of  antiquity,  e.g.  that  of  Aphrodite  at  Paphos. 
The  Greek  historian  Herodotus  speaks  of  two  pillars  in  the  temple  of 
Heracles  (the  Syrian  Baal)  at  Tyre,  of  which  one  was  of  fine  gold  and 
the  other  of  emerald  ! 

17.  Nets  of  checker  work,  and  wreaths  of  chain  work.  These  expres- 
sions describe  the  ornamental  metal-work  of  the  lower,  rounded  part  of 
the  capitals.  The  '  nets  '  would  be  some  sort  of  light  interlacing  wreaths, 
and  the  '  wreaths  of  chain  work  '  would  be  festoons.  These  decorations 
were  apparently  not  cast  in  one  piece  with  the  capitals,  but  fastened 
round  them.  The  'seven  '  in  the  next  sentence  is  apparently  a  copyist's 
error.  There  was  only  one  'net'  for  each  capital,  as  in  LXX.  This 
lower  part  of  the  capitals  was  also  adorned  with  '  pomegranates '  (ver. 
20).  The  whole  of  this  decorated  part  of  the  capital  was  only  one  cubit 
in  width  ;  the  remaining  four  cubits  (ver.  19)  were  decorated  with  lilies, 
examples  of  which  have  been  found  in  ancient  architecture.  See  the  pic- 
tures of  the  temple  of  Perscpolis  in  Smith's  Dktionary  of  the  Bible 
under  'Temple.' 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  TEMPLE  27 

pillar,  and  called  the  name  thereof  Jachin  :  and  he  set  up 
the  left  pillar,  and  called  the  name  thereof  Boaz.  22.  And 
upon  the  top  of  the  pillars  was  lily  work  :  so  was  the  work 
of  the  pillars  finished. 

2  CHRON.  IV.  1.  Moreover  he  made  an  ^  altar  of  brass,  d  Exod.  xxvii. 

1,  2. 

twenty  cubits  the  length  thereof,  and  twenty  cubits  the 
breadth  thereof,  and  ten  cubits  the  height  thereof.  2.  Also 
he  made  a  ^  molten  sea  of  ten  cubits  from  brim  to  brim,  «  i  Kings  vii. 

'  23-2(5. 

round  in  compass,  and  five  cubits  the  height  thereof ;  and 
a  line  of  thirty  cubits  did  compass  it  round  about.  3.  And 
under  it  was  the  similitude  of  oxen,  which  did  compass  it 

21.  Jachin  .  .  .  Boaz.  These  names  apparently  mean  'establishment' 
and  '  strength.'  Evidently  they  signify  the  divine  support  and  strength 
of  Solomon's  work.  Various  allegorical  meanings  have  been  assigned  to 
them  by  church  writers,  e.g.  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  sharing  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  Perhaps  there  is  an  allusion  to  these  pillars  in  the 
promise  of  Rev.  iii.  12. 

2  Chrox.  IV.  1.  He  made  an  altar  of  brass.  This  is  the  altar  of  burnt- 
ofi"ering  which  stood  in  the  court,  in  front  of  the  Holy  Place.  The 
dimensions  given  here  are  much  larger  than  those  prescribed  in  Exod. 
xxxviii.  The  altar  must  have  been  served  by  means  of  a  flight  of  steps, 
as  in  Ezek.  xliii.  17. 

2.  Also  lie  made  a  molten  sea.  This  gigantic  vessel  seems  to  have 
corresponded  in  its  purpose  to  the  'laver'  of  Exod.  xxx.  Ceremonial 
washing  was  a  characteristic  of  most  ancient  religions.  In  the  Law  of 
Moses  it  had  divine  sanction,  as  a  sign  of  the  purity  required  of  all 
worshippers,  and  especially  of  those  who  minister  about  holy  things. 
The  '  laver '  or  '  sea '  would  also  be  a  type  of  Holy  Baptism.  See  Titus 
iii.  5,  'the  washing  (R.V.  margin  'laver')  of  regeneration,'  and  Heb. 
X.  22. 

Interesting  parallels  to  the  ceremonial  washings  of  Judaism  are  seen  in 
some  ancient  Christian  ceremonies,  e.g.  the  use  of  holy  water,  especially 
at  the  church  door  ;  the  '  Lavabo '  or  washing  of  the  priest's  hands  at  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist. 

It  is  uncertain  how  this  '  sea '  was  filled  with  water,  or  how  it  was 
used.  Its  height  was  such  that  either  steps  would  be  required,  as  for 
the  brazen  altar,  or  else,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  mouths  of  the  oxen 
on  which  it  rested  formed  fountains  through  which  the  water  flowed. 
The  'sea'  was  despoiled  of  its  oxen  by  Ahaz  (2  Kings  xvi.  17),  and 
afterwards  broken  in  pieces  by  the  Chaldseans  and  taken  to  Babylon 
(2  Kings  XXV.  ;  Jer.  Iii.). 

3.  And  under  it  was  the  similitude  of  oxen.  The  parallel  account  in 
1  Kings  vii.  24  has  'knops,'  i.e.  ornamental  bosses  for  'oxen,' which  is 
probabl}'  correct ;  especially  as  the  next  words  show  that  these  orna- 
ments were  not  separate,  but  were  cast  in  the  mould  upon  the  'sea.' 
But  the  whole  verse  is  obscure,  and  probably  the  text  is  corrupt. 


28  1  KINGS  VIT.  1-22  ;    2  CHRON.  IV.  ;   V.  1 

round  about :    ten  in  a   cubit,  compassing  the  sea  round 
14  The  oxen       about.     ^^  Two  TOWS  of  oxeu  ivere  cast,  when  it  was  cast. 

were  in  two 

rows,  cast  when  4.  It  stood  upon  twelve  oxen,  three  looking  toward  the 
it  was  cast.  ,      i  .  ,      ,  . 

north,  and  three  looking  toward  the  west,  and  three  looking 

toward  the  south,  and  three  looking  toward  the  east :  and 
the  sea  was  set  above  upon  them,  and  all  their  hinder  parts 
icere  inward.     5.  And  the  thickness  of  it  ivas  an  hand- 
is  like  the  brim  breadth,  and  the  brim  of  it  ^'^  like  the  work,  of  the  brim  of  a 
the  flower  of  a    cup,   with   flowers   of  lilies  ;    and  it   received   and   held 
^  ^"  three  thousand  baths.     6.  He  made  also  ten  lavers,  and  put 

five  on  the  right  hand,  and  five  on  the  left,  to  wash  in 
^<5  such  things    them  :  ^^  such  things  as  they  ofiered  for  the  burnt  ofiering 
they  washed  in  them  ;  but  the  sea  was  for  the  priests  to 
17  according  to  wash  in.    7.  And  he  made  ten  candlesticks  of  gold  ^^  accord- 

the  ordinance      .  ,     •     ,.  t  •         , 

concerning        mg  to  their  loriii,  and  set  them  m  the  temple,  five  on  the 


them. 


right  hand,  and  five  on  the   left.     8.  He  made  also  ten 
tables,  and  placed  them  in  the  temple,  five  on  the  right 


4.  It  stood  upon  twelve  oxen.  Whatever  interpretation  be  given  to 
ver.  3,  both  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  the  sea  stood  upon  twelve 
brazen  oxen,  three  facing  to  each  of  the  cardinal  points.  See  a  picture 
in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  under  '  Sea,  Brazen.' 

5.  With  flowers  of  lilies.  The  Revised  Version  gives  the  correct 
meaning  of  this,  viz.  that  the  rim  of  the  sea  was  bent  outward  like  the 
petals  of  a  lily. 

It  received  and  held  three  thousand  baths.  1  Kings  vii.  26  gives  two 
thousand.  The  capacity  of  the  '  bath '  is  variously  given  from  4|  to 
8  gallons.  As  in  the  case  of  the  'cubit,'  the  earlier  capacity  of  the 
'  bath '  was  larger  than  that  in  use  in  later  times. 

6.  He  made  also  ten  lavers.  These  lavers  are  most  elaborately  de- 
scribed in  1  Kings  vii.  27-38.  Their  bases  rested  on  wheels,  and  they 
were  adorned  with  engraved  figures  of  cherul)iin,  lions,  oxen,  and  palm- 
trees.     Each  laver  was  four  cubits  high,  and  contained  forty  *  baths.' 

7.  And  he  made  ten  candlesticks.  The  '  form  '  or  '  ordinance  '  referred 
to  is  no  doul)t  that  prescribed  to  Moses  in  Exod.  xl.  for  the  Tabernacle, 
but  no  reason  can  be  assigned  for  ten  being  made  for  Solomon's  Temple, 
except  the  greater  size  and  splendour  of  the  latter.  The  candlesticks  are 
mentioned  as  having  been  carried  away  to  Babylon  (Jer.  lii.  19) ;  in  the 
second  Temple  apparently  there  was  only  one  ;  and  one  only  is  portrayed 
on  the  Arch  of  Titus  at  Rome  in  the  relief  representing  the  spoils  of 
Jerusalem. 

8.  He  made  also  ten  tables.  1  Kings  vii.  48  speaks  of  only  one  table, 
evidently  for  the  shewbread.     Cf.  2  Chron.  xiii.  11.     It  is  possible  that 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  TEMPLE  29 

side,  and  five   on  the   left.     And   lie    made   an   hundred 

basons  of  gold.     9.  Furthermore  he  made  the  court  of  the 

priests,  and  the  great  court,  and  doors  for  the  court,  and 

overlaid  the  doors  of  them  with  brass.     10.  And  he  set  the 

sea  on  the  right  side  of  the  east  end,  over  against  the  south. 

11.  And  Huram  made  the  pots,  and  the  shovels,  and  the 

basons.     And   Huram  finished  the  work  that   he  was  to 

make  for  king  Solomon  for  the  house  of  God  ;  12.  To  wit, 

the  two  pillars,  and  the  ^^  pommels,  and  the  chapiters  ivhich  is  bowls. 

were  on  the  top  of  the  two  pillars,  and  the  two  ^^  wreaths  ^9  networks. 

to  cover  the  two  ^^^  pommels  of  the  chapiters  which  tvere  on 

the  top  of  the  pillars  ;  13.  And  four  hundred  pomegranates 

20  on  the  two  wreaths ;  two  rows  of  pomegranates  on  each  20  for  the  two 

wreath,  to  cover  the  two  ^^  pommels  of  the  chapiters  which 

were  upon  the  pillars.     14.  He  made  also  bases,  and  lavers 

made  he  upon  the  bases  ;  15.  One  sea,  and  twelve  oxen 

under  it.     16.  The   pots   also,  and   the   shovels,  and  the 

fleshhooks,  and  all  their  instruments,  did  Huram  his  father 

make  to  king  Solomon  for  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  ])right 

brass.     17.  In  the  plain  of  Jordan  did  the  king  cast  them, 

in  the  clay  ground  between   Succoth   and   ^i  Zeredathab.  -1  Zeredaii. 

18.  Thus  Solomon  made  all  these  vessels  in  great  abund- 
ance :  for  the  weight  of  the  brass  could  not  be  found  out. 

19.  And  Solomon  made  all  the  vessels  that  were  for  the 
house  of  God,  the  golden  altar  also,  and  the  tables  whereon 
the  shewbread  was  set ;  20.  Moreover  the  candlesticks  with 

their   lamps,  that   they  should   burn  -'^  after  the  manner  the  ordinaiKie. 

these  ten  tables  were  for  other  purposes,  though  1  Chron.  xxviii.  16 
speaks  of  '  gold  for  the  tables  of  shewbread '  being  prepared  by  David. 
See  also  ver.  19  below. 

8.  And  he  made  an  hundred  basons  of  gold.  These  were  probably  for 
carrying  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  and  pouring  it  against  the  altar.  Only 
thirty  golden  bowls  were  brought  back  from  Babylon  (Ezra  i.). 

12.  The  pommels,  i.e.  the  rounded  or  lower  part  of  the  capital  of  the 
pillars. 

16.  Huram  his  father.  '  Father '  is  here  evidently  a  title  of  respect,  as 
commonly  used  in  Hebrew.  Cf.  ii.  13,  where  probably  the  right  reading 
is  'even  Huram  my  father'  (R.  V.  margin). 


30  1  KINGS  VII.  1-22  ;    2  CHRON.  lY.  ;   V.  1 

before  the  oracle,  of  pure  gold ;  21.  And  the  flowers,  and 

the  lamps,  and  the  tongs,  made  he  of  gold,  and  that  perfect 

gold ;  22.  And  the  snuffers,  and  the  basons,  and  the  spoons, 

23  fire-pans.       and  the  2^  censers,  of  pure   gold :  and  the   entry  of  the 

house,  the  inner  doors  thereof  for  the  most  holy_2J'/ace,  and 

'^i  to  wit,  of      the  doors  of  the  house  ^^  of  the  temple,  were  of  gold, 
the  temple.  ^     '  "^  ^ 

2  CHRON.  V.  1.  Thus  all  the  work  that  Solomon  made 

for  the   house  of  the   Lord  was  finished  :   and   Solomon 
brought  in  all  the  things  that  David  his  father  had  dedi- 
cated ;   and  the  silver,  and  the  gold,  and  all  the  instru- 
25  in  the  trea-  ,10-  ^  o    i      ^  <»  /-^     i 

suries.  ments,  put  he  -'^  among  the  treasures  of  the  house  01  God, 


LESSON  IV 
The  Furniture  of  the  Temple 

An  instructive  lesson  might  be  given,  at  the  discretion  of  the  teacher, 
illustrated  by  drawings,  upon  the  sacred  vessels  and  furniture  of  the 
Temple,  and  their  typical  meanings. 

1.  The  Court  contained  (1)  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  which  was 
typical  of  the  one  true  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  (2)  the  sea,  a  type  of  Holy 
Baptism,  fittingly  placed  between  the  altar  and  the  porch,  for  Baptism 
takes  its  efficacy  only  from  the  Blood  of  Christ  (cf.  1  S.  John  v.  6),  and 
is  the  only  way  of  entrance  into  the  Church  ;  (.3)  the  lavers,  which  point 
to  the  necessity  of  continual  purification  in  all  that  pertains  to  Christian 
life  and  worship  (cf.  S.  John  xiii.  3-10). 

2.  The  Holy  Place  contained  (1)  the  candlesticks  or  lamp-stands,  which 
are  tj-pical  of  the  illumination  of  the  H0I3'  Spirit  in  the  Church,  and  of 
the  seven  gifts  given  to  Christians  ;  (2)  the  table  or  tables  of  shewbread, 
typical  of  the  j)erpetual  nourishment  for  the  soul  provided  in  the  Church 
by  Word  and  Sacraments ;  (3)  the  altar  of  incense,  typical  of  the  con- 
tinual worship  of  the  Church,  which  is  offered  in  union  with  the  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ,  a  '  sweet  savour '  acceptable  to  God.  Cf.  Rev.  viii.  3,  4 
(R.V.). 

'  God  still  respects  thy  sacrifice, 
Its  savour  sweet  doth  always  please ; 
The  Oflering  smokes  through  earth  and  skies, 
Difl'usiiiK  life  and  joy  and  peace  : 
To  tliese  thy  lower  courts  it  comes, 
And  fills  them  with  Divine  perfumes. ' 

Hymns  A.  and  M.,  556. 

3.  The  Holy  of  Holies  contained  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  typical  of 
the  glorified  humanity  of  Christ  in  heaven,  and  His  finished  and  accepted 
sacrifice,  which  He  is  ever  pleading  in  the  presence  of  the  Father.  The 
Ark  had  within  it  the  tables  of  the  Law,  for  God  is  essentially  righteous  : 


THE  FURNITURE  OF  THE  TEMPLE 


31 


the  moral  law,  which  is  the  basis  of  all  God's  revelation  of  Himself  to 
man,  expresses  to  man  not  merely  Divine  commands,  but  God's  eternal 
nature,  character,  and  will. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Furniture  of  the  Temple. 

The  Temple  Court— 

The  Altar   =the  Cross  of  Christ. 

The  Sea       =Holy  Baptism. 

The  La  vers  =  our  continual  need  of  forgiveness. 

The  Holy  Place— 

The  Candlesticks      =  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  Shewbread  =Holy  Communion. 

The  Altar  of  License  =  the  worship  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  in  earth 
and  heaven. 

The  Holy  of  Holies— 

The  Ark  =  Christ  our  High  Priest  in 

heaven,  worshipped  by 
cherubim  and  seraphim. 

The  tables  of  stone  =  '  Holy,  Holy,  Holy." 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE  ON  SOLOMON'S  TEMPLE 

It  has  been  generally  assumed  that  Solomon's  Temple  and  Solomon's 
palace  were  on  different  hills  of  Jerusalem,  the  former  on  the  eastern 
hill  or  Mount  Moriah,  the  latter  on  the  western  or  Mount  Zion.  Modern 
scholars,  however,  incline  to  the  belief  that  anciently  one  and  the  same 
hill  was  called  Zion  and  Moriah,  and  that  the  Temple  and  the  palace 
were  adjacent,  and  indeed  within  the  same  enclosure.  See  Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible  under  'Temple.' 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  practically  certain  that  the  Temple  stood  on 
the  platform  now  occupied  by  the  Mosque  of  Omar  or  '  Dome  of  the 
Rock.'  Probably  the  altar  of  burnt-ofifering  stood  on  the  remarkable 
rock  which  remains  in  its  natural  state  enclosed  within  the  present 
mosque,  a  limestone  rock  some  50  feet  by  60  feet.     (See  Stanley,  Sinai 


32  SOLOMON'S  TEMPLE 

and  Palestine,  chap,  iii.)  This  rock  contains  a  chasm,  through  which  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifices  may  have  flowed.  A  spring  of  water  flowed  from 
this  rock  into  the  pool  of  Siloam  :  — 

'  Siloa's  brook  that  flow'd 
Fast  bj^  the  oracle  of  God.'— Milton. 

It  was  here  that  David  must  have  offered  his  sacrifice,  which  God 
answered  by  fire  from  heaven  on  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah.  Here 
tradition  says  that  Abraham  ofl'ered  up  Isaac.  Here,  in  later  ages,  the 
workmen  of  the  Emperor  Julian  were  terrified  away  from  their  profane 
task  of  rebuilding  the  Temple,  as  an  insult  to  Christianit}",  by  fires 
which  sprang  from  the  foundations  of  the  rock. 

Solomon's  first  work  must  have  been  to  level  the  foundations  ;  some  of 
the  huge  stones  used  in  this  work  are  still  to  be  seen  in  situ.  The  court- 
yard in  which  the  Temple  stood  was  paved  with  stone  and  surrounded 
by  a  fence  of  three  layers  of  stone  and  one  of  planks  of  cedar  (1  Kings 
vii.  12). 

Within  the  courtyard  stood  the  brazen  altar,  the  sea,  and  the  lavers, 
all  to  the  east  of  the  Temple  porch.  In  front  of  the  porch,  whether 
structurally  connected  with  it  or  not,  were  the  two  great  brazen  pillars, 
Jachin  and  Boaz.  There  is  no  record  of  the  architecture  of  the  poi'ch 
itself,  but  it  may  have  had  pillars,  like  most  of  the  temples  of  antiquity. 
The  Temple  pi'oper  consisted  of  the  Holy  Place,  40  cubits  by  20  and 
30  cubits  high  ;  and  the  Holy  of  Holies,  or  'oracle,'  a  complete  cube  of 
20  cubits.  Round  the  three  sides  of  this  building  ran  side-chambers,  in 
three  stories,  apparently  without  any  communication  with  the  Temple 
proper,  but  entered  by  a  side-door  on  the  south,  the  upper  stories  having 
a  winding  staircase  or  else  a  ladder  and  trap-doors.  The  total  height  of 
these  side-buildings  was  15  cubits  ;  the  wall  of  the  Holy  Place,  rising 
15  cubits  above  them,  was  pierced  with  the  lattice-work  windows,  like 
the  clerestory  of  a  church.  It  is  unknown  whether  the  Holy  of  Holies 
bad  any  windows  at  all.  The  floor  timbers  of  these  side-chambers  were 
not  fastened  into  the  temple-walls,  but  simpl}^  rested  upon  '  rebatements  ' 
or  shelves  in  the  walls.  Hence  the  walls  of  the  Temjile  proper  must 
have  been  of  great  thickness  at  the  bottom,  narrowing  by  these  rebate- 
ments as  they  ascended.  The  roofs  of  both  the  Temple  and  the  side- 
chambers  were  probably  flat  as  in  other  Eastern  buildings.  It  is 
unknown  whether  pillars  were  used  within  the  Temple  to  support  the 
roof. 

The  Temple  was  built  of  stone,  but  covered  everywhere  within  with 
wainscotting.  The  floor  of  fir  or  cypress  was  gilded,  and  the  wainscotting 
of  the  walls  was  decorated  with  carving  and  gilding.  The  wall  separating 
the  Holy  of  Holies  is  expressly  stated  to  have  been  adorned  with  carvings 
of  cherul)im  and  palm-trees,  on  which  the  gold  was  overlaid,  by  hammer- 
ing probably.  It  is  probable  that  before  the  folding-doors  of  the  oracle 
hung  a  veil,  perhaps  connected  with  the  golden  chains  spoken  of  in 
1  Kings  vi.  21.  The  Holy  Place  would  have  a  certain  amount  of  daylight 
from  the  high  latticed  windows  ;  but  it  was  artificially  lighted  in  addition 
by  the  seventy  lamps  on  the  ten  lamp-stands,  which  perhaps  stood 
immediately  in  front  of  the  oracle.  The  general  aspect  of  the  interior 
must  have  been  at  once  severe  and  beautiful,  its  gilded  walls  and 
floor  reflecting  the  glimmering  light  of  the  lamps,  and  shining  dimly 
through  the  smoke  of  the  incense  which  was  burnt  on  the  golden  altar. 


THE  FUENITURE  OF  THE  TEMPLE 


33 


The  Holy  of  Holies  would  seem  to  have  been  unlighted,  except  by  the 
supernatural  'glory  of  the  Lord,'  which  Jewish  tradition  said  resided 
there. 


W. 


lERUB 

HOLY 

[ARK  OF  THE  Qp 
JCOVENANT 

HOLIES 

)Cherub 


Side    Chambers 


^Candlesticks 

, .Table  of 

' — 'Shew-bread 

DALTAROF       HOLY    PLACE 

Incense 


Candlesticks 


Side    Chambers  j 


T    JACHIN 

O      • 

c^         E. 
O      • 

Q-  BOAz 


ALTAR  OF 

BURNT 
OFFERING 


Scale   z. 


10 


20 


2  CuBiTS=3  Ft. 
TEMPLE — GROUND    PLAN 


$  M'2?hlsfJii!L°JI'S''"'L 


SECTION    OF   ELEVATION 


HKB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II. 


34  2  CHRON.  V.  2-14;   VI.;   VIL  1-11 


2  CHRON.  V.  2-U;  YL ;  VIL  1-11 

THEN  Solomon  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  all 
the  heads  of  the  tribes,  ^  the  chief  of  the  fathers  of 

the  fathers  .  ^         ,  ^  .  ,    . 

houses.  the  children  of  Israel,  unto  Jerusalem,  to  bring  up 

the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  out  of  the  city  of 
David,  which  is  Zion.  3.  Wherefore  all  the  men  of  Israel 
assembled  themselves  unto  the  king  in  the  feast  which 
ivas  in  the  seventh  month,  4.  And  all  the  elders  of  Israel 
came  ;  and  the  Levites  took  up  the  ark.  5.  And  they 
2  the  tent  of  brought  up  the  ark,  and  ^  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega- 
2  Tent.°  tion,  and  all  the  holy  vessels  that  were  in  the  ^  tabernacle, 

these  did  the  priests  and  the  Levites  bring  up.     6.  Also 

V.  2.  This  passage  is  almost  identical  with  the  parallel  in  1  Kings  viii., 
but  contains  some  additional  details,  and  gives  a  different  ending  to 
Solomon's  prayer. 

2.  Then  Solomon  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel,  etc.  This  is  an  in- 
teresting verse,  showing  that  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  was  not 
only  a  royal  and  personal  act,  but  a  national  one  also.  It  also  illus- 
trates a  primitive  and  natural  system  of  national  representation.  The 
'  elders  of  Israel'  were  an  institution  of  great  antiquity  (see  Exod.  iii.  16, 
and  cf.  the  word  'Senate,'  which  literally  means  a  council  of  old  men). 
Each  town  and  village  seems  to  have  had  its  governing  body  of  elders, 
which  in  later  times  became  important  in  connection  with  the  synagogue 
worship.  For  the  '  heads  of  the  tribes,'  cf.  Num.  vii. ,  and  for  the  princes 
of  the  houses,  Exod.  vi.  14,  etc.     See  also  Josh.  vii.  14. 

3.  The  seventh  month,  called  in  1  Kings  viii.  Ethanim,  but  more 
usually  Tisri — the  feast  l^eing  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

5.  The  tabernacle  of  the  congregation.  This  is  an  erroneous  and  mis- 
leading phrase,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out.  The  Revised  Version 
gives  the  correct  sense :  the  '  tabernacle  '  was  the  tent  where  God  and 
man  might  meet ;  but  no  man  save  the  priests  ever  actually  entered  it.  Up 
to  Solomon's  time  the  Mosaic  tabernacle  had  stood  at  Gibeon.  Perhaps 
afterwards  it  was  stored  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  Temple  as  a  relic  of 
the  past.  However,  it  is  no  more  heard  of,  except  in  the  curious  legend 
preserved  in  2  Mace,  ii.,  that  at  the  Captivity  the  prophet  Jeremiah  took 
both  it  and  the  ark  away  and  hid  them  in  a  cave  at  the  unknown  place 
where  Moses  was  buried. 

The  priests  and  the  Levites.  There  is  no  'and'  in  the  original. 
'Levite'  may  be  used  in  the  sense  of  (1)  a  member  of  the  tribe  of  the 
Levi ;  in  this  sense  the  priests  are  Levites  ;  (2)  a  '  Levite,'  as  distinguished 
from  a  priest,  the  priests  belonging  to  the  family  of  Aaron.  Although 
the  distinction  between  '  priests  '  and  Levites  is  clearly  made  in  the  Law 


THE  ARK  35 


king  Solomon,  and  all  the  congregation  of  Israel  that  were 
assembled  unto  him  l)efore  the  ark,  sacrificed  sheep  and 
oxen,  which  could  not  be  told  nor  numbered  for  multitude. 

7.  And  the  priests  l^rought  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of 
the  Lord  unto  his  place,  to  the  oracle  of  the  house,  into 
the  most  holy  place,  even  under  the  wings  of  the  chcrubims  : 

8.  For  the  cherubims  spread  forth  their  wings  over  the 
place  of  the  ark,  and  the  cherubims  covered  the  ark  and 

the  staves  thereof  above.    9.  '^And  they  drew  out  the  staves  "•  ^"<i  the 

staves  were  so 

of  the  ark,  that  the  ends  of  the  staves  were  seen  from  the  long  that,  etc. 

ark  before  the  oracle  ;  but  they  were  not  seen  without. 

And  there  it  is  unto  this  day.     10.  There  ivas  nothing  in 

the  ark  save  the  two  tables  which  Moses  put  therein  at 

Horeb,"  when  the  Lord  made  a  covenant  with  the  children  «  Deut.  x.  2,  5. 

of  Moses,  and  was  vindicated  by  the  destruction  of  the  rebellious  Korah 
and  his  company,  yet  in  days  before  the  Exile  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  always  clearly  maintained.  The  '  priests  '  are  sometimes  spoken  of 
as  if  they  and  the  Levites  were  practically  identical.  But  the  whole 
question  is  too  obscure  to  be  settled.  It  is  clearly  best  to  assume  that 
the  Law  of  Moses  sets  the  divinely  appointed  ideal,  whatever  variations 
from  it  may  from  time  to  time  have  been  tolerated  in  God's  patience. 
The  apparent  discrepancy  between  Kings  and  Chronicles  in  this  place  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Levites  carried  the  ark  as  far  as  the 
Temple,  the  2yriesfs  carried  it  to  its  resting-place  in  the  Holy  of  Holies. 

9.  And  they  drew  out  the  staves  of  the  ark,  etc.  See  Eevised  Version. 
The  meaning  of  this  verse  is  very  obscure.  It  seems  to  mean  that  the 
ends  of  the  staves  could  be  seen  in  the  Holy  Place,  but  they  could  not  be 
seen  from  the  porch.  Apparently,  therefore,  the  ark  was  placed  length- 
wise, with  its  longer  sides  parallel  to  the  side-walls  of  the  Temple.  The 
words,  '  and  there  it  is  unto  this  day,'  point  to  the  original  documents  from 
which  Kings  and  Chronicles  were  compiled  being  older  than  the  Captivity. 
The  words  were  retained,  with  Jewisli  conservatism,  long  after  the  original 
ark  and  the  staves  had  ceased  to  be  in  the  Holy  of  Holies. 

10.  There  was  nothing'  in  the  ark  save  the  two  tables  which  Moses  put 
therein  at  Horeb.  Heb.  ix.  4  states  that  the  ark  also  contained  Aaron's 
rod  that  budded  and  the  golden  pot  of  manna.  These  were  certainly 
laid  up  'before  the  testimony  '  (Exod.  xvi.  ;  Num.  xvii.),  i.e.  in  the  Holy 
of  Holies.  They  may,  during  the  journeyings,  have  been  kept  in  the  ark, 
but  must,  at  some  later  date,  have  been  removed.  The  symbolical  mean- 
ings of  the  furniture  and  relics  contained  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  are 
beautifully  suggested  by  Venerable  Bede  (quoted  by  Cornelius  a  Lapide). 
'  The  Holy  of  Holies  signifies  heaven,  or  the  Church  triumphant ;  there- 
fore it  contained  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  i.e.  the  company  of  the  blessed  ; 
and  the  mercy-seat  of  gold,  i.e.  the  glorified  humanity  of  Christ :  also 
the  Cherubim,  i.e.  the  holy  angels,  who  form  the  exalted  throne  of  God. 


even,  etc. 


c  1  Chron.  xv 
24. 


36  2  CHRON.  V.  2-14;  VI.  ;   VII.  1-11 

of  Israel,  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt.     11.  And  it.  came 

to  pass,  when  the  priests  were  come  out  of  the  holy  place  : 

(for  all  the  priests  that  ivere  present  were  sanctified,  and 

5  keep  their      did  not  ^  then  wait  by  course.     12.  Also  the  Levites  ivhich 

coiirsBS 

b  1  Chron.  xxv.  loere  *  the  singers,  all  of  them  ^  of  Asaph,  of  Heman,  of 
'  Jeduthun,  with  their  sons  and  their  brethren,  being  arrayed 
in  white  linen,  having  cymbals  and  psalteries  and  harps, 
stood  at  the  east  end  of  the  altar,  and  with  them  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty  ''priests  sounding  with  trumpets.)  13.  It 
came  even  to  pass,  as  the  trumpeters  and  singers  ivere  as 
one,  to  make  one  sound  to  be  heard  in  praising  and  thank- 
ing the  Lord  ;  and  when  they  lifted  up  their  voice  with 
the  trumpets  and  cymbals  and  instruments  of  musick,  and 
d  Ps.  cxxxvi.  praised  the  Lord,  saying,  For  he  is  good  ;  for  ^his  mercy 
e  Exod.  xi.  35.  enclureth  for  ever,  that  theji  ^  the  house  was  filled  with  a 
cloud,  even  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  14.  So  that  the  priests 

.  Again,  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  is  the  urn  with  the  manna,  because  in 
heaven  is  the  fulness  of  divine  sweetness,  satisfaction,  and  consolation. 
Lastly,  there  is  the  rod  of  Aaron,  which,  though  dry,  revived,  and  brought 
forth  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit,  because  in  the  resurrection  and  the  glory 
of  heaven  the  body  will  rise  again,  and  be  reunited  with  the  soul,  and 
be  glorified,  and  will  bring  forth  the  four  endowments  of  swiftness, 
lightness,  beauty  and  incorruption.' 

11.  And  did  not  then  wait  by  course.  See  Revised  Version.  The  courses 
of  priests  had  already  been  arranged  by  David  (1  Chron.  xxiv.),  but  on 
this  occasion  all  the  priests  took  part  in  the  function. 

12.  Also  the  Levites  which  were  the  singers,  etc.  The  music  of  the 
Temple  services  had  also  been  organised  by  David  (1  Chron.  xxv.),  and 
remained  one  of  the  striking  features  of  the  Jewish  worship  all  through 
the  Old  Testament  history.  It  has  furnished  the  model  also  for  Christian 
worship  in  this  respect :  not  only  the  Psalter,  but  the  white  robes  of  our 
singers,  are  a  direct  inheritance  from  the  older  Church. 

The  east  end  of  the  altar— i.e.  they  faced  the  Sanctuary,  looking  west, 
a  position  corresponding  to  turning  ito  the  east  in  a  Christian  Church. 

13.  For  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  These  words  seem  to  have  been 
one  of  the  traditional  refrains  or  responses  of  the  choral  worship  of  the 
Temple.     Cf.  their  frequent  use  in  the  Psalms. 

The  house  was  filled  with  a  cloud.  This  luminous  cloud,  which  the 
later  Jews  called  'Shcchinah,'  or  the  'residence'  of  God,  must  be  con- 
nected historically  with  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  which  accompanied 
the  Israelites  on  their  journeying.  It  filled  the  tabernacle  at  its 
consecration  (Exod.  xl.  34-38).  The  Jews  believed  that  the  Shechinah 
permanently  resided  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  until  the  Captivity,  but  was 
not  in  the  second  Temple.     Many  legends  gathered  round  the  subject. 


SOLOMON'S  PEAYEK  37 

could  not  stand  to  minister  by  reason  of  the  cloud  :  for  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of  God. 

VL  1.  Then  said  Solomon,  ^The  Lord  hath  said  that  he  /  Exod.  xx.  21 ; 

'  Lev.  XVI.  2. 

would  dwell  in  the  thick  darkness.  2.  But  I  have  built 
an  house  of  habitation  for  thee,  and  a  place  for  thy  dwell- 
ing for  ever.  3.  And  the  king  turned  his  face,  and  blessed 
the  whole  congregation  of  Israel  :  and  all  the  congregation 
of  Israel  stood.  4.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  who  hath  with  his  hands  fulfilled  that  which  he 
spake  with  his  mouth  to  my  father  David,  saying,  5.  Since 
the  day  that  I  brought  forth  my  people  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt  I  chose  no  city  among  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to 

but  it  seems  clear  that  a  miraculous  though  temporary  symbol  of  God's 
presence  with  His  people  was  iu  this  way  given.  We  should  remember 
S.  Paul's  teaching,  that  the  Christian  dispensation  (though  it  is  not 
marked  by  these  outward  signs)  is  essentially  far  more  glorious  than  the 
old  Covenant  (2  Cor.  iii.  5-18  ;  iv.  0). 

In  this  cloud  of  glory  we  may  see  a  fitting  type  of  the  Incarnation. 
Just  as  the  indwelling  fire  of  the  Divine  presence  illuminated  and  rendered 
bright  the  cloud  which  veiled  it,  so  the  Divine  nature  in  our  Lord  per- 
vades His  humanity,  shining  forth  visibly  even  on  earth  for  a  moment 
at  the  Transfiguration.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  appearance  of  a 
'  bright  cloud,'  causing  fear  to  the  disciples,  on  the  mount  of  the  Trans- 
figuration (S.  Matt.  xvii.  5).  The  Incarnation  is  a  stumbling-block  to 
the  world,  and  can  only  be  accepted  by  faith,  which  is  God's  gift ;  so 
at  the  Red  Sea  passage  the  pillar  of  cloud  produced  opposite  efiects  :  it 
caused  darkness  and  confusion  to  the  Egyptians,  but  light  all  through 
the  night  to  the  people  of  God  (Exod.  xiv.  19,  20). 

VI.  1.  The  LORD  hath  said  that  he  would  dwell  in  the  thick  darkness. 
This  statement  corresponds  to  the  general  meaning  of  several  passages 
(see  marginal  references)  rather  than  to  anyone  text.  The  'darkness' 
is  characteristic  of  the  old  Covenant.  See  Heb.  xii.,  where  it  is  con- 
trasted with  the  free  approach  to  God  which  Christians  enjoy.  The 
darkness  of  Sinai  and  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  course  continues  in 
Solomon's  Temple,  but  the  fact  of  this  '  cloud '  being  now  in  a  '  house  of 
habitation '  seemed  to  Solomon  to  make  the  Divine  presence  with  Israel 
more  of  an  abiding  certainty, 

3.  The  king  turned  his  face,  and  blessed  the  whole  congregation.  This 
'  blessing  '  was  of  course  no  intrusion  on  the  high  priest's  blessing,  but  as 
the  king  was  the  father  of  his  people,  it  is  strictly  parallel  to  the  blessing 
which  parents  naturally  give  to  their  children.  Indeed,  all  through  this 
action  of  Solomon  in  dedicating  the  Temple,  we  seem  to  have  reminis- 
cences of  the  priestly  functions  originally  belonging  to  the  head  of  a 
family,  and  which  the  appointment  of  a  special  priesthood  in  the  family 
of  Aaron  did  not  altogether  abolish.  But  cf.  2  Chron.  xxvi. ,  where 
Uzziah's  action  was  quite  on  a  different  level  from  that  of  Solomon's,  and 
was  a  clear  breach  of  the  Law  of  Moses. 


38  2  CHRON.   V.  2-14;    VI.  ;    VII.   l-ll 

build  an  house  in,  tliat  my  name  might  be  there  ;  neither 
chose  I  any  man  to  be  a  ruler  over  my  people  Israel :  6. 
But  I  have  chosen  Jerusalem,  that  my  name  might  be 
f7  Ps.  ixxviii.  there;  and  ^have  chosen  David  to  be  over  my  people 
h  2  Sam.  vii.  Israel.  7.  Now  ^it  was  in  the  heart  of  David  my  father 
to  build  an  house  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
8.  But  the  Lord  said  to  David  my  father,  Forasmuch  as 
it  was  in  thine  heart  to  build  an  house  for  my  name,  thou 
didst  well  in  that  it  was  in  thine  heart :  9.  Notwithstand- 
ing thou  shalt  not  build  the  house  ;  but  thy  son  which 
shall  come  forth  out  of  thy  loins,  he  shall  build  the  house 
for  my  name.  10,  The  Lord  therefore  hath  performed  his 
word  that  he  hath  spoken  :  for  I  am  risen  up  in  the  room 
of  David  my  father,  and  am  set  on  the  throne  of  Israel,  as 
the  Lord  promised,  and  have  built  the  house  for  the  name 
of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  11.  And  in  it  have  I  put  the 
ark,  wherein  is  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  that  he  made 
with  the  children  of  Israel.  12.  And  he  stood  before  the 
altar  of  the  Lord  in  the  presence  of  all  the  congregation  of 
Israel,  and  spread  forth  his  hands  :  13.  For  Solomon  had 
made  a  brasen  scaffold,  of  five  cubits  long,  and  five  cubits 
broad,  and  three  cubits  high,  and  had  set  it  in  the  midst 
of  the  court  :  and  upon  it  he  stood,  and  kneeled  down 
upon  his  knees  before  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and 
spread  forth  his  hands  toward  heaven.  14.  And  said,  0 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  god  like  thee  in  the  lieaven, 
i  Dent.  vii.  0.  nor  in  the  earth  ;  which  ^  keepest  covenant,  and  sheivest 
mercy  unto  thy  servants,  that  walk  before  thee  with  all 
their  hearts  :  15.  Thou  which  hast  kept  with  thy  servant 
David  my  father  that  which  thou  hast  promised  him  ;  and 
spakest  with  thy  mouth,  and  hast  fulfilled  it  with  thine 

12.  And  he  stood  before  the  altar  .  .  .  and  spread  forth  his  hands. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  universal  attitudes  of  prayer ; 
perliaps  an  unconscious  type  of  the  Crucified.  It  is  also  the  traditional 
position  of  the  Christian  priest  as  he  celebrates  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
Standing  was  the  ancient  position  for  praj'er  on  all  Sundays,  and 
throughout  Piaster-tide.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  next  verse  that  Solomon 
first  stood  and  afterwards  kneeled. 


SOLOMON'S  PEAYER  39 

hand,  as  it  is  this  day.     16.  Now  therefore,  0  Lord  God 

of  Israel,  keep  with  thy  servant   David  my  father  that 

which  thou  hast  promised  him,  saying,  There  shall  not  fail 

thee  a  man  in  my  sight  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  Israel ; 

''yet  so  that  •'thy  children  take  heed  to  their  way  to  walk  7  if  only. 

in  my  law,  as  thou  hast  walked  before  me.     17.  Now  then,  ind  cxxxiL^' 

0  Lord  God  of  Israel,  let  thy  word  be  verified,  which  thou 

hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant  David.     18.  But  will  God 

in  very  deed  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth?  behold,  '^'heaven  ^cff"vir^49^ ' 

and   the   heaven   of  heavens   cannot   contain   thee ;    how 

much   less    this   house   which   I   have   built  I      19.  Have 

respect  therefore  to  the  prayer  of  thy  servant,  and  to  his 

supplication,  0    Lord  my  God,  to  hearken  unto  the  cry 

and  the  prayer  which  thy  servant   prayeth  before   thee  : 

20.  That  thine  eyes  may  be  open  upon  this  house  day  and 

night,  upon  the   place  whereof  thou  hast  said  that  thou 

16.  Keep  with  thy  servant  David  my  father  that  which  thou  hast 
promised  him.  These  words,  which  seem  at  first  sight  to  be  only  a  figure 
of  speech,  take  a  new  meaning  in  the  light  of  our  Lord's  words  that 
'  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living.'  David  was  still  living, 
and  had  personal  relations  with  God.  His  soul  waited  in  Hades  for  the 
fulfilment  of  God's  promises,  not  only  that  referred  to  by  Solomon, 
but  the  greater  blessings  involved  in  2  Sam.  vii. 

18.  But  will  God  in  very  deed  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth.  The  great 
paradox  which  Solomon  hints  at  here  is  fulfilled,  not  in  type  (as  in  the 
Temple),  but  in  very  truth  in  the  wonder  of  the  Incarnation,  and  its 
result — the  permanent  union  of  God  and  man  in  the  Catholic  Church. 
Cf.  the  magnificent  words  of  S.  Leo  (Bishop  of  Rome,  440-461) :  '  The  Son 
of  God  therefore  enters  these  lower  parts  of  the  world,  descending  from 
His  heavenly  seat,  and  not  leaving  His  Father's  glory  :  being  born  after 
a  new  order,  a  new  nativity.  After  a  new  order,  because  while  invisible 
in  His  own  nature,  He  became  visible  in  ours,  He  Who  is  immeasurable 
willed  to  be  confined  in  earthly  habitations  :  He  Who  abides  before  all 
time,  began  in  time  to  be  ;  the  Lord  of  the  universe  took  upon  Him  the 
form  of  a  servant,  veiling  His  incomprehensible  majesty :  the  God  who 
cannot  suffer  did  not  disdain  to  be  a  man  subject  to  sufferings,  and  He 
Who  is  immortal  submitted  to  the  laws  of  death.' 

Solomon's  Prayer.     The  divisions  of  this  prayer  should  be  noted  : — 

(1)  verses  14-17.  The  promises  of  God  are  commemorated.  This 
corresponds  to  the  opening  part  of  the  Prayer 
Book  collects,  which  usually  begin  bj'  some  state- 
ment of  Divine  truth,  as  a  ground  of  hope  for  the 
prayer. 


40 


2  CHRON.   V.  2-14:    VI.:  VII.   1-11 


wouldest  put  thy  name  there  ;  to  hearken  unto  the  prayer 
which  thy  servant  prayeth  toward  this  place.  21.  Hearken 
therefore  unto  the  supplications  of  thy  servant,  and  of  thy 
people  Israel,  which  they  shall  make  toward  this  place  : 
hear  thou  from  thy  dwelling  jDlace,  even  from  heaven  ;  and 
when  thou  hearest,  forgive.  22.  If  a  man  sin  against  his 
neighbour,  and  an  oath  be  laid  upon  him  to  make  him 
swear,  ^  and  the  oath  come  before  thine  altar  in  this  house  ; 
23.  Then  hear  thou  from  heaven,  and  do,  and  judge  thy 
servants,  by  requiting  the  wicked,  by  recompensing  his  way 
upon  his  own  head  ;  and  by  justifying  the  righteous,  by 
giving  him  according  to  his  righteousness.  24.  And  if  thy 
people  Israel  be  ^put  to  the  worse  before  the  enemy,  'because 
they  have  sinned  against  thee  ;  and  shall  return  and 
confess  thy  name,  and  pray  and  make  supplication  before 
thee  in  this  house  ;  25.  Then  hear  thou  from  the  heavens, 
and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy  people  Israel,  and  bring  them 
again  unto  the  land  which  thou  gavest  to  them  and  to  their 
fathers.  26.  When  the  heaven  is  shut  up,  and  "'■there  is  no 
rain,  because  they  have  sinned  against  thee  ;  yet  if  they 


8  and  he  come 
and  swear. 


9  smitten  dowi 
I  Josh.  vii.  ; 
1  Sam.  vii. 


m  1  Kings  xvii. 


(2)  verses  18-21.  May  the  Temple  be  the  place  of  acceptable  prayer. 

(3)  ,,      22-23.  May  the  oath  taken  there  be  binding  before  God. 

(4)  ,,      24-25.  May  the  prayer  of  the  ra^igiu'sAec^  be  heard. 

(5)  ,,      26-27.  May  prayer  for  ram  be  heard. 

(6)  ,,      28-31.  May  prayer  vmder  calamity,  public  or  private,  be 

heard. 

(7)  ,,      32-33.  May  prayer  of  non-Israelites  be  heard. 

(8)  ,,      34-35.  May  the  prayer  of  the  it'arnor  be  heard. 

(9)  ,,      36-39.  May  the  prayer  of  the  ea;^7e  be  heard. 

21.  When  thou  hearest,  forg-ive.  Throughout  this  prayer  should  be 
noticed  the  conviction  of  human  sin,  of  the  universal  need  of  God's 
forgiveness,  of  the  impossibility  of  intercourse  l)etween  God  and  man 
except  on  the  basis  of  forgiveness.  These  fundamental  truths  of  religion 
it  was  the  special  function  of  Judaism  to  bring  liome  to  the  conscience  of 
mankind,  and  so  prepare  for  Christianity. 

22.  And  an  oath  be  laid  upon  him  to  make  him  swear.  This  may  refer 
either  to  such  an  oath  as  is  referred  to  in  Exod.  xxii.  10,  11,  where  a 
question  of  right  between  man  and  man  is  to  be  settled  by  a  solemn 
oath  ;  or  to  the  further  development  of  the  same  practice  in  Lev.  v.  1 
(of.  our  Lord's  answer  to  the  high  priest's  adjuration,  8.  Matt.  xxvi.  63); 
or  to  such  an  'ordeal'  as  Num.  v.  11-31. 

26.  When  the  heaven  is  shut  up,  and  there  is  no  rain.     Drought  is  a  far 


SOLOMON'S  PRAYER  41 

pray  toward  this   place,  and  confess  thy  name,  and  turn 

from  their  sin,  when  thou  dost  afflict  them  ;  27.  Then  hear 

thou  from  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy  servants,  and 

of  thy  people  Israel,  when  thou  ^^hast  taught  them  the  ^  teacliest. 

good  way,  wherein  they  should  walk  ;  and  send  rain  upon 

thy  land,  which  thou  hast  given  unto  thy  people  for  an 

inheritance,     28.  If  there  be  dearth  in  the  land,  if  there  be 

pestilence,  if  there  be  blasting,  or  mildew,  locusts,  or  cater- 

pillers  ;  if  their  enemies  besiege  them  ^^  in  the  cities  of  their  n  in  the  land 

land ;  whatsoever  ^^  sore  or  whatsoever  sickness  there  he  :  I'j  piague. 

29.  Then  what  prayer  or  what  supplication  soever  shall  be 

made  of  any  man,  or  of  all  thy  people  Israel,  when  every 

one  shall  know  his  own  sore  and  his  own  grief,  and  shall 

spread  forth  his  hands  in  this  house  :  30.  Then  hear  thou 

from  heaven  thy  dwelling  place,  and  forgive,  and  render 

unto  every  man  according  unto  all  his  ways,  whose  heart 

thou  knowest ;  (for  thou  only  knowest  the  hearts  of  the 

children  of  men  :)  31.  That  they  may  fear  thee,  to  walk  in 

thy  ways,  so  long  as  they  live  in  the  land  which  thou  gavest 

unto  our  fi^thers.     32.  Moreover  concerning  the  stranger, 

which  is  not  of  thy  people  Israel,  but  is  come  from  a  far 

more  terrible  evil  in  the  East  than  we  have  any  experience  of  in  England. 
It  means  famine,  pestilence  and  death.  So  it  is  often  denounced  as 
a  Divine  vengeance  upon  the  disobedient  (Deut.  xi.  17 ;  xxviii.  23 ; 
Zech.  xiv.  17).  See  also  the  vivid  propliecy  of  the  future  condition  of 
Palestine  (Deut.  xxix.  22-28),  which  stands  to-day  literally  fulfilled  in 
the  barrenness  of  the  Holy  Land,  through  the  failure  of  rain  and  the 
Mohammedan  occupation. 

32.  Moreover  concerning-  tlie  stranger.  This  is  one  of  the  remarkable 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which  look  forward  to  the  worship  of  the 
God  of  Israel  becoming  the  religion  of  the  whole  world.  This  ideal  was 
only  fulfilled,  of  course,  to  a  very  limited  extent  uuder  the  old  Covenant ; 
indeed,  to  the  majority  of  Jews  it  was  quite  repugnant.  Examples  of  the 
'stranger'  coming  to  the  Temple  for  religious  purposes  are  seen  in  the 
Greeks  (S.  Johu  xii. )  who  desired  'to  see  Jesus,'  and  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch  in  Acts  viii.  Both  these  examples  point  to  the  real  fulfilment  of 
Solomon's  prophetic  prayer  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  Christ.  It  should 
be  noticed  that  Solomon  anticipates  two  causes  which  will  influence  '  the 
stranger'  to  come  and  worship  the  God  of  Israel :  (1)  the  inherent  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  revelation  of  God  for  the  human  soul — 'for  Thy  great 
name's  sake ' ;  (2)  the  visible  tokens  of  God's  protection  and  i)reservation 
of  Israel— 'Thy  mighty  hand  and  Thy  stretched  out  arm.'  Cf.  Zech. 
viii.  22,  23. 


42  2  CHRON.  V.  2-14  ;    VI.  ;    VIT.   1-11 

country  for  tliy  great  name's  sake,  and  thy  mighty  hand, 
i:5  when  they  and  thy  stretched  out  arm  ;  ^^  if  they  come  and  pray  in  this 
house  ;  33.  Then  hear  thou  from  the  heavens,  even  from  thy 
dwelling  place,  and  do  according  to  all  that  the  stranger 
calleth  to  thee  for ;  that  all  people  of  the  earth  may  know 
thy  name,  and  fear  thee,  as  doth  thy  people  Israel,  and 
may  know  that  this  house  which  I  have  built  is  called  by 
thy  name.  34.  If  thy  people  go  out  to  war  against  their 
enemies  by  the  way  that  thou  shalt  send  them,  and  they 
pray  unto  thee  toward  this  city  which  thou  hast  chosen, 
and  the  house  which  I  have  l)uilt  for  thy  name  ;  35.  Then 
hear  thou  from  the  heavens  their  prayer  and  their  supplica- 
tion, and  maintain  their  cause.  36.  If  they  sin  against 
thee,  (for  there  is  no  man  which  sinneth  not,)  and  thou 
be  angry  with  them,  and  deliver  them  over  before  their 
enemies,  and  they  carry  them  away  captives  unto  a  land 
far  off  or  near  ;  37.  Yet  if  they  bethink  themselves  in  the 
land  whither  they  are  carried  captive,  and  turn  and  pray 
unto  thee  in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  saying.  We  have 
14  perversely,  sinned,  we  have  done  '^^  amiss,  and  have  dealt  wickedly  ; 
38.  If  they  return  to  thee  with  all  their  heart  and  with  all 
their  soul  in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  whither  they  have 
carried  them  captives,  and  pray  toward  their  land,  which 
thou  gavest  unto  their  fathers,  and  toward  the  city  which 
thou  hast  chosen,  and  toward  the  house  which  I  liave 
built  for  thy  name  :  39.  Then  hear  thou  from  the  heavens, 
even  from  thy  dwelling  place,  their  prayer  and  their  suppli- 

34.  By  the  way  that  thou  shalt  send  them.  No  Divine  help  is  prayed 
for  or  expected  in  an  unrighteous  war.  It  must  he  a  war  which  has  been 
undertaken  in  ol)edience  to  (ilod's  guidance.  Cf.  1  Kings  xxii.  ;  2  Chron. 
XX.  35-37 ;  and  for  a  striking  example  of  a  fulfilment  of  Solomon's 
prayer  cf.  the  discomfiture  of  Sennaclierib's  army  after  the  prayer  of 
He/ekiah  in  tlie  Temple  (2  Kings  xix.). 

35.  And  pray  toward  their  land,  etc,  .So  Daniel  (vi.  10)  prayed  three 
times  a  day  towards  tlie  Temple.  It  was  doubtless  in  answer  to  sucli 
prayers  as  his  that  God  suffered  the  Jews  to  return  from  their  Captivity 
in  Babylon.  Kzckiel,  the  other  prophet  of  the  Captivity,  has  continually 
to  warn  his  fellow-exiles  against  being  'rebellious.'  Their  need  was 
repentance,  instead  of  rebelling  against  the  Divine  judgment. 


SOLOMON'S  PRAYER  43 

cations,  and  maintain  their  cause,  and  forgive  thy  people 

which  have  sinned  against  thee.     40.  Now,  my  God,  let,  I 

beseech  thee,  thine  eyes  be  open,  and  let  thine  ears  he  attent 

unto   the  prayer  that  is  made  in  this  place.     41.  "Now  n  Ps.  cxxxii. 

therefore  arise,  0  Lord  God,  into  thy  resting  place,  thou, 

and  the  ark  of  thy  strength  :  let  thy  priests,  0  Lord  God, 

be  clothed  with  salvation,  and   let   thy  saints   rejoice   in 

goodness.     42.  0  Lord  God,  turn  not  away  the   face  of 

thine   anointed  :    remember   "  the  mercies   of  David   thy  o  isa.  Iv.  3. 

servant. 

VIL  1.  Now  when  Solomon  had  made  an  end  of  praying, 
the  fire  came  down  from  heaven,  and  consumed  the  burnt 
off'ering  and  the  sacrifices ;  and  ^the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  v  Kzek.  x.  3,  4. 
the  house.  2.  And  the  priests  could  not  enter  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  because  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had 
filled  the  Lord's  house.     3.  And  when  all  the  children  of 

41.  Now  therefore  arise,  0  LORD  God.  It  should  be  noticed  that  the 
parallel  account  in  1  Kings  viii.  gives  quite  a  different  ending  to  this 
prayer  ;  one  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  allusions  to  the  deliverance 
from  Egypt  and  the  Law  of  Moses,  is  chiefly  a  repetition  or  summary  of 
thoughts  which  have  already  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  prayer.  The 
words  in  the  text  correspond  with  Ps.  cxxxii.  8-10.  This  is  one  of  the 
'proper  Psalms'  for  Christmas  Day;  and  the  words,  'let  Thy  priests,' 
etc.,  have  passed,  in  a  slightly  altered  form,  into  the  well-known  versicle 
and  response  of  the  Church. 

42.  0  LORD  God,  turn  not  away  the  face  of  thine  anointed.  This  is 
a  difficult  expression.  Literally  it  seems  to  mean,  '  Do  not  reject  the 
prayer  of  Thy  anointed  servant,'  David,  or  Solomon,  i.e.  'do  not  cause 
him  to  turn  his  face  away  in  shame.'  But  in  its  Christian  meaning 
'  anointed  '  evidently  stands  for  Christ,  and  the  word  as  used  in  Ps.  cxxxii. 
10  would  be  a  prayer  '  in  the  name  of  Christ.' 

Remember  the  mercies  of  David  thy  servant.  This  may  mean  either 
the  mercies  promised  to  David  by  God  (cf.  Isa.  Iv.  3),  or  the  good  deeds 
of  David  (R.Y.  margin). 

VII.  1.  The  fire  came  down  from  heaven.  As  on  the  first  sacrifice  of 
Aaron  (Lev.  ix.  24),  and  on  David's  sacrifice  on  the  threshing-floor  of 
Oman  (1  Chron.  xxi.  26),  and  afterwards  on  the  sacrifice  of  Elijah 
(1  Kings  xviii.).  This  miraculous  fire  from  heaven  was  a  type  of  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  and  His  permanent 
dwelling  in  the  Christian  Church.  Cf.  the  prayer,  attributccl  to  S. 
Ambrose,  before  Holy  Communion,  'Let  there  descend  also,  0  Lord, 
that  invisible  and  incomprehensible  majesty  of  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  even  as 
of  old  He  descended  upon  the  sacrifices  of  the  fathers.' 


44  2  CHRON.  V.  2-14;   VI.  ;   VII.  1-11 

Israel  saw  how  the  fire  came  down,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  upon  the  house,  they  bowed  themselves  with  their 
faces  to  the  ground  upon  the  pavement,  and  worshipped, 
1-5  gave  thanks  and  ^''  praised  the  Lord,  saying,  For  he  is  good  ;  « for  his 
q  Ps.  cxxxvi.  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  4.  Then  the  king  and  all  the 
jjeople  offered  sacrifices  before  the  Lord.  5.  And  king 
Solomon  offered  a  sacrifice  of  twenty  and  two  thousand 
oxen,  and  an  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  sheep  :  so  the 
king  and  all  the  people  dedicated  the  house  of  God.     6. 

16  stood,  accor-  And  the  priests  ^'Mvaited  on  their  offices  ;  the  Levites  also 

ding  to  their 

offices.  with  instruments  of  musick  of  the  Lord,  which  David  the 

king  had  made  to  2)raise  the  Lord,  because  his  mercy 
endureth  for  ever,  when  David  praised  by  their  ministry  ; 
and  the  priests  sounded  trumpets  before  them,  and  all 
Israel  stood.  7.  Moreover  Solomon  hallowed  the  middle 
of  the  court  that  was  before  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  for 
there  he  offered  burnt  offerings,  and  the  fiit  of  the  peace 
offerings,  because  the  brasen  altar  which  Solomon  had  made 

17  meal.  was  not  able  to  receive  the  burnt  offerings,  and  the  ^^  meat 
^^  So.               offerings,  and  the  fat,     8.  ^^  Also  at  the  same  time  Solomon 

kept  the  feast  seven  days,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  a  very 

great  congregation,  from  the  entering  in  of  Hamath  unto 

ly  brook,  the  ^^  river  of  Egypt.     9.  And  in  the  eighth  day  the}^  made 

T),  A  sacrifice  of  twenty  and  two  thousand  oxen,  and  an  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  sheep.  These  numbers  seem  indeed  enormous,  yet 
they  are  the  same  both  in  Kings  and  Chronicles ;  and  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  largest  part  of  these  offerings  ('peace-offerings,' 
1  Kings  viii.)  was  not  burnt,  but  eaten  by  the  worshippers  (Lev,  iii.  vii,). 
Consequently  this  '  sacrifice '  of  Solomon's  may  be  regarded  as  the  royal 
banquet  given  for  a  whole  fortnight  to  all  the  nuiltitudes  who  had 
assembled  in  Jerusalem. 

7.  Moreover  Solomon  hallowed  the  middle  of  the  court.  As  the  brazen 
altar  was  not  large  enough  for  this  enormous  sacrifice,  the  whole  court  of 
the  I'emple  was  used,  prol)al)]y  by  erecting  temporary  altars. 

The  meat  oflferings.  This  form  of  burnt-offering,  elsewhere  called 
the  '  pure  offering,'  consisted  of  cakes  of  fine  flour,  Mith  oil  and  incense. 
It  is  a  type  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.     See  Mai.  i.  1 1. 

8.  From  the  entering  in  of  Hamath  unto  the  river  of  Egypt.  A  pro- 
verbial expression,   like  'from  Dan   to  Beersheba,'  meaning  the  whole 


PUBLIC  WORSHIP  45 


a  solemn  assembly  :  for  they  kept  tlie  dedication  of  the 
altar  seven  days,  and  the  feast  seven  days.  10.  And  on 
the  three  and  twentieth  day  of  the  seventh  month  he  sent 
the  people  away  into  their  tents,  glad  and  merry  in  heart 
for  the  goodness  that  the  Lord  had  shewed  unto  David, 
and  to  Solomon,  and  to  Israel  his  people.  11.  Thus 
Solomon  finished  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  king's 
house  :  and  all  that  came  into  Solomon's  heart  to  make  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  his  own  house,  he  prosper- 
ously efi'ected. 

land  from  extreme  north  to  south.  Hamath  is  a  town  of  Syria  on 
the  Orontes  ;  and  the  'river'  or  'brook'  of  Egypt  is  not  the  Nile, 
but  the  boundary  brook  between  Palestine  and  Egypt,  now  called  the 
Wady-el-arish. 

10.  Their  tents.  A  traditional  expression  derived  from  the  original 
pastoral  or  nomad  life  of  the  nation,  and  continued  when  it  was  no 
longer  applicable.  .Since  the  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  of  course,  the 
Israelites  had  lived,  not  in  tents,  but  in  houses.  Yet  cf.  such  expressions 
as  (1  Kings  xii.  16),  '  To  your  tents,  0  Israel.' 


LESSON  V 

Public  Worship 

Introduction. — This  section  will  provide  material  for  at  least  two 
lessons.  It  is  most  important  that  the  teacher  should  treat  the  subject, 
not  merely  as  a  piece  of  history,  but  as  illustrating  the  permanent  prin- 
ciples of  Avorship,  and  as  directlj^  applicable  to  the  Church  which  the 
children  know. 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  The  beauty  of  worship.  1.  Describe  the  ritual  of  the  dedi- 

Beauty  is  the  gift  of  God,  not  the  cation  of  the  Temple, 
invention  of  man.    That  God  desires         What  was  the  purpose  of  it  all  ? 
beauty  in  His  service  is  shown  by         Not  to  please  man,  but  God. 
the  fact  that  He  has  revealed  Him-         How  do  we  know  that  God  loves 

self  in  nature  as  the  God  of  beauty,  beauty  in  our  worship  ?     All  that 

and  as  delighting  in  beauty.     All  He  has  told  us — 
that  is  suggested  to  us  by  Scripture         (1)  in  Nature,  e.g.  skies,  flowers, 
as  to  the  heavenly  worship  is  also  birds  ; 

beautiful  and  dignified.      Cf.   Rev,         (2)  in    the   Bible   (cf.    S.    John's 
iv.     So  in  the  Temple,  not  only  is  vision  of  Heaven) ; 

the  place  itself  a  work  of  highest  suggests  that  our  service  of   Him 


46 


2  CHRON.  V.  2-14;   VI.;   VII.  1-11 


Lesson  V- 
Matter. 

art,  but  there  is  the  beauty  of 
order,  of  white  vestments,  of  music 
and  song.     Cf.  Ecclus.  xlv. 


2.  The  gladness  of  worship. 
One  great  feature  of  all  the  de- 
scriptions of  public  worship  in  the 
Bible  is  its  essential  joyfulness. 
See  2  Chron.  vii.  10.  The  Hebrew 
name  for  the  Psalms  is  '  Praises,' 
and  almost  every  psalm,  however 
full  of  sorrow  and  struggle,  has  in 
it  the  note  of  gladness. 

Religion,  especially  in  its  public 
duties,  is  meant  to  be  full  of  joy  ; 
for  the  goodness  of  God  should  be 
the  dominating  idea.  Puritanism 
and  all  merely  individualistic  re- 
ligion ignores  this  ;  consequently 
human  nature  revolts,  for  man  was 
made  for  joy. 

Materialism,  luxury,  covetous- 
ness,  all  that  tends  to  centre  a 
man's  thought  upon  himself,  take 
away  the  joyfulness  of  worship  and 
render  it  distasteful,  because  its 
true  meaning  is  lost. 

3.  The  awfulness  of  worship. 

At  the  dedication  of  Solomon's 
Temple  God  vouchsafed  visible 
signs  of  His  presence  ;  and  so  joy 
and  delight  in  beauty  were  sanctified 
and  solemnised.  There  is  always 
a  danger  of  our  taking  a  merely 
human  and  teathetic  pleasure  in 
the  arrangements  of  worship,  unless 
our  first  thought  is  God's  nearness. 

Although  visible  signs  are  not 
given  in  Christian  worship,  its 
glory  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
old  Covenant.  God  is  closer  to 
us  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  in  the  indwelling  Spirit. 


-continued.     Public  Worship 

Method. 

should   be  as  beautiful  as  we  can 
make  it. 

Illustrate  by  the  worship  of 
the  Christian  Church  —  vestments, 
music,  etc. 

2.  Point  out  the  gladness  of  the 
worshippers,  and  the  refrain  of 
song,  '  His  mercy  endureth  for 
ever.' 

Ask :  Why  should  xoe  be  glad  in 
attending  Church  ? 

Illustrate  by  the  joy  we  naturally 
feel  in  the  presence  of  any  one  Avho 
is  very  good  to  us  :  the  joy  of  giving 
thanks  for  good  things  given  to  us. 

Ask  :  Why  do  some  children,  and 
adults  also,  feel  no  joy  in  going  to 
Church  ? 

Tell  the  class  the  probable  reason 
is  that  they  are  thinking  of  them- 
selves, and  not  of  God  ;  of  their  own 
amusements  or  work,  and  not  of 
God's  goodness. 


(1)  Ask  what  the  cloud  signified. 
What  is  the  greater  reality  in  the 
Christian  Church?  Christ's  own 
presence  in  the  Eucharist,  and  in 
every  gathering  of  His  people,  and 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(2)  Ask  what  Solomoii  and  the 
people  did  at  the  sight  of  the  cloud 
(vii.  3). 

Inculcate — 
Outward  reverence   in  Church — 

kneeling,  silence,  guarded  looks, 

quiet  manner. 
Inward   reverence — remembering 

God's  presence  all  through  the 

service. 


PEAYER 


47 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Worship, 

1.  Our  worship  in  Church  should  be  hccmtijul. 

God  loves  beauty. 

2.  Our  worship  should  he,  joyful. 

God  is  good  to  us  always. 
God  made  us  for  happiness. 

3.  Our  worship  should  be  reverent. 

God  is  very  near  to  us. 

The  Altar  reminds  us  of  this. 


PART  II 
Prayer 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  Public  prayer.  1.  Enumerate  the  different  sorts 
Solomon's   prayer  was   made   on  of  prayer  which  Solomon  speaks  of. 

behalf  of  the  whole  congregation.  ^^^^^  ^^  g^  ^^^^^  ^^...   j     ^0 ;  Acts 

And  m  it  he  asks  that  the  lemple  ..          ^                               ' 

may   be    the    place    of    prayer    for  ^^^'     ' 

all,  and  especially  for  general  and  Illustrate  by  the  intercessions  in 

national  needs,    e.g.   rain,    deliver-  the  Church  services  :    the   Litauy, 

ance   from   calamity,    victory   over  the  prayers  and  thanksgivings  for 

enemies.                                           .  special  occasions. 

Similarly    Christ    has    promised  mu     x           i-     n  /-.i    •  j^- 

special  blessings  to  united  prayer.  ^he  type  of  all  Christian  prayer 

The  Church  is  the  means  whereby  is  Our  Father, 
a  whole  nation  may  approach  God. 
It  gives  unity  and  common  feeling 
and  strength  to  a  people. 

2.  Private  prayer.  2.  Explain  to  children  that  in  each 
In  Solomon's  prayer  it  is  antici-  part   of   the  Church   service  —  con- 

pated    that    besides    common    and  fession,  absolution,  praise,  prayer — 

public  requests,  each  individual  will  we  should  apply  what  is  said,  in 

make  privately  in  the  Temple,  and  the   name   of   all,  directly  to   our- 


48 


2  CHEON.  V.  2-14  ;   VI.  ;  VII.  1-11 


Part  II — continued.     Prayer 


Matter. 
in  connection  with  the  public  wor- 
ship, his  own  special  prayer,  and 
will  open  his  individual  grief  or 
desire  to  God  (verses  29-38).  In  this 
way  forms  of  common  prayer  may 
be  appropriated  by  each  individual. 
Particularly  in  the  ofiering  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  the  individual  wor- 
shipper will,  while  taking  part  in 
the  common  service,  present  his  own 
special  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

3.  The  assurance  of  prayer. 

Solomon  in  his  prayer  appeals 
to  God's  covenant  and  promises, 
especially  to  the  mercies  given  to 
David.  The  cloud  and  fire  were  out- 
ward signs  that  this  appeal  was  ac- 
cepted. So  in  the  Christian  Church 
the  Incarnation  (typified  by  cloud 
and  fire)  is  the  ground  of  prayer. 
We  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ.  We 
expect  the  *  sure  mercies  of  David ' 
(Acts  xiii.  34).  Especially  in  the 
Eucharist  we  ask  God  to  remember 
His  Son,  and  to  receive  our  petitions 
through  Him. 


Method. 

selves  :  this  will  give  reality  to  our 
worship. 

Show  the  value  of  attendance  at 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  not  only  for 
Communion,  but  for  presenting  our 
individual  prayers  and  praises. 

Speak  of  the  value  of  a  place  for 
prayer — churches  are  kept  open  for 
private  prayer. 


3.  Compare  Solomon's  appeal 
with  the  endings  of  our  prayers  : 
through  the  mediation  of  Christ. 
Christ  is  the  antitype  of  David. 
We  ask  God  to  remember  Him  and 
His  promises. 

Refer  to  S.  John  xvi.  23,  24,  to 
the  Prayer  of  S.  Chrysostom,  and 
perhaps  to  Rev.  viii.  3,  4,  where 
the  incense  represents  the  merits  of 
Christ,  in  union  with  which  the 
prayers  of  the  saints  are  offered. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Prayer. 

1. 

Prayer  is  public  by  all,  and  for  all. 
So  we  say  Our  Father. 

2. 

Prayer  is  also  for  ourselves. 

God     knows     and    hears    each 

f»erson 

in  Church. 

3. 

Prayer  is  heard  for  Christ's  sake. 

Learn — '  Whatsoever  ye   shall  ask  the  Father 

in  My  name,  He  will  give  it  y 

ou.' 

THE  PROMISE  TO  SOLOMON 


1   KINGS  IX.   1-24;    2  CHEON.  VIII.   12-16; 
1  KINGS  IX.  26-28;   1  KINGS  X. 

AND  it  came  to  pass,  when  Solomon  had  finished  the 
_IjL  building  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  king's 
house,  and  all  Solomon's  desire  which  he  was 
pleased  to  do,  2.  That  the  Lord  appeared  to  Solomon 
the  second  time,  as  ^*  he  had  appeared  unto  him  at  Gibeon.  «  chap.  iii.  5. 
3.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  I  have  heard  thy  prayer 
and  thy  supplication,  that  thou  hast-  made  before  me  :  I 
have  hallowed  this  house,  which  thou  hast  built,  to  put  my 
name  there  for  ever  ;  and  mine  eyes  and  mine  heart  shall 
be  there  perpetually.  4.  And  if  thou  wilt  walk  before  me, 
as  David  thy  father  walked,  in  integrity  of  heart,  and  in 
uprightness,  to  do  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded 
thee,    and   wilt   keep   my   statutes   and    my  judgments  : 

5.  Then  I  will  establish  the  throne  of  thy  kingdom  upon 

Israel  for  ever,  ^  as  I  promised  to  David  thy  father,  saying,  i,  2  Sam.  vii. 
There  shall  not  fail  thee  a  man  upon  the  throne  of  Israel. 

6.  But  if  ye  shall  at  all  turn  from  following  me,  ye  or  your 
children,  and  will  not  keep  my  commandments  and  my 
statutes  which  I  have  set  before  you,  but  go  and  serve 

other  gods,  and  worship  them:     7.    Then  '"will  I  cut  off  c  2  Kings  xvii., 
Israel  out  of  the  land  which  I  have  given  them,  and  this 

3.  To  put  my  name  there  for  ever.  See  note  on  1  Kings  v.  5.  God 
here  promises  that  the  Temple  will  be  a  permanent  witness  to  His  revela- 
tion of  Himself,  and  a  continual  means  whereby  man  may  draw  near  to 
Him  in  worship.  In  its  literal  sense  this  promise  came  to  an  end  with 
the  destruction  of  tlie  Temple  ;  but  in  its  spiritual  and  more  perfect 
meaning  it  is  fulfilled  in  the  antitype  of  the  Temple — the  Catholic 
Church. 

Mine  eyes  and  mine  heart  shall  be  there  perpetually.  A  similar 
phrase  is  used  of  the  land  of  Canaan  in  Deut.  xi.  12.  This  poetical  lan- 
guage implies,  of  course,  a  S2^erial  governance  of  God,  and  a  special  affec- 
tion towards  the  land  of  the  people  He  had  chosen.  God  indeed  governs 
and  loves  all  men,  but  in  all  ages  He  has  chosen  some  for  special  and 
peculiar  care,  not  for  their  own  sakes,  but  that  the  world  might  be  blessed 
through  them.     Cf.  S.  John  xvii.  9,  and  18-21. 

7.  Then  will  I  cut  oflF  Israel  out  of  the  land  which  I  have  given  them.. 

HEH.  MON.  :    VOL.   11.  '> 


50  1  KINGS  IX.  1-24 


d  Jer.  vii.  14.  liouse,  which  I  have  hallowed  for  my  name,  ^  will  I  cast  out 
f  J)eut.  xxviii.  of  my  sight  :  and  Israel  shall  be  ^a  proverb  and  a  byword 
among  all  people  :  8.  And  at  this  house,  which  is  high, 
every  one  that  passeth  by  it  shall  be  astonished,  and  shall 
hiss  ;  and  they  shall  say.  Why  hath  the  Lord  done  thus 
unto  this  land,  and  to  this  house  ?  9.  And  they  shall 
answer,  Because  they  forsook  the  Lord  their  God,  who 
brought  forth  their  fathers  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
have  taken  hold  upon  other  gods,  and  have  worshipped 
them,  and  served  them  :  therefore  hath  the  Lord  brought 
upon  them  all  this  evil.  10.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the 
end  of  twenty  years,  when  Solomon  had  built  the  two 
houses,  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  king's  house, 
11.  {Now  Hiram  the  king  of  Tyre  had  furnished  Solomon 
with  cedar  trees  and  fir  trees,  and  with  gold,  according  to 
all  his  desire,)  that  then  king  Solomon  gave  Hiram  twenty 
cities  in  the  land  of  Galilee.  12.  And  Hiram  came  out 
from  Tyre  to  see  the  cities  which  Solomon  had  given  him  ; 
and  they  pleased  him  not.  13.  And  he  said.  What  cities 
are  these  which  thou  hast  given  me,  my  brother  ?  And  he 
/  Josh.  xix.  27.  called  them  the  land  of -^Cabul  unto  this  day.  14.  And 
Hiram  sent  to  the  king  sixscore  talents  of  gold.     15.  And 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  how  circumstantially  these  prophecies 
have  been  fulfilled.  The  Jews  are  scattered  in  all  lands,  frequently 
persecuted  and  hated  ;  their  land  is  barren  and  desolate,  crushed  beneath 
the  Mohammedan  occupation  ;  the  sacred  site  of  the  Temple  is  occupied 
by  a  mosque  ;  all  that  is  left  of  the  Temple  to  the  Jew  is  the  '  Wailing 
Place,'  where  Friday  by  Friday  the  Jews  lament  the  ruin  of  their  place 
and  nation. 

The  first  Captivity  was  due  to  their  worshipping  'other  gods'  in  the 
literal  sense  ;  the  second,  and  longer  one,  to  their  worship  of  self.  They 
set  up  their  own  pride  and  ambitions  against  the  truth  of  C;!od  as  revealed 
in  Jesus  Christ.     Cf.  S.  John  v.  44. 

13.  And  tie  called  them  the  land  of  Cahul  unto  this  day.  Nothing  fur- 
ther is  known  alxmt  this  curious  incident  except  tliat  it  appears  from 
2  Chron.  viii.  2  that  Hiram  gave  these  cities  l)ack  to  Solomon.  I'heir 
locality  is  unknown,  except  that  the}-  were  probably  on  the  extreme 
north  of  Galilee,  and  close  to  Hiram's  territory.  The  etjunology  of  the 
name  is  uncertain  ;  most  proljably  it  means  '  wortliless. '  Tliere  was  a 
city  in  Zelnilon  that  anciently  bore  the  same  name  (Josh.  xix.  27). 

14.  Sixscore  talents  of  gold.  This  is  apparently  the  gold  already  men- 
tioned in  ver.    11.     It  was  the  gold  required  for  the  decoration  of  the 


SOLOMON'S  BUILDINGS  51 

this  is  the  reason  of  ^  the  levy  which  king  Solomon  raised  ;  o  chap.  v.  is. 
for  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  his  own  house,  and 
Millo,  and  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  Hazor,  and  Megiddo, 
and  Gezer.     16.  For  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  had  gone  up, 
and  taken  Gezer,  and  burnt  it  with  fire,  and  slain  the 
Canaanites  that  dwelt   in  tlie   city,  and   given   it  for  a 
present   unto    his    daughter,    Solomon's   wife.      17.    And 
Solomon  built  Gezer,  and  Bethhoron  the  nether,     18.  And 
Baalath,  and   ^  Tadmor   in   the   wilderness,   in   the   land,  i  Tamar. 
19.   And  all  'Hhe  cities  of  store  that  Solomon  had,  and /t  Exod.  i.  ii. 
cities  for  his  chariots,  and  cities  for  his  horsemen,  and  that 
which  Solomon  desired  ^  to  build  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  '2  to  build  for 
Lebanon,  and  in  all  the  land  of  his  dominion.     20.  And  ^'''  P^^^-'"^"^- 

Temple.     Sixty  talents  is  a  very  large  amount.     The  lowest  estimate  of 
its  value  is  £720,000. 

15.  Millo— lit.  '  the  Millo ' ;  apparently  the  name  of  some  fortress  in 
Jerusalem,  existing  before  David  took  it  from  the  Jebusites.  See  2  Sam. 
V.  9. 

Hazor,  The  ancient  stronghold  of  King  Jabin  (Judges  iv.).  No  doubt 
it  was  re -fortified  by  Solomon  as  a  guard  against  invasions  from  the 
north. 

Megiddo.  The  place  of  the  overthrow  of  Sisera  (Judges  iv.),  a  strong- 
hold which  commanded  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  great  battlefield  of 
Palestine,  and  the  road  from  Egypt  to  Syria  and  the  East  (see  2  Kings 
xxiii.  29).     See  supplementary  note  in  vol.  i.  p.  168. 

Gezer.  Perhaps  the  Gezer  mentioned  in  Josh,  x,  33  ;  but  the  place  and 
its  conquest  by  Pharaoh  are  wrapped  in  obscurity.  The  '  present '  spoken 
of  in  ver.  16  would  be  of  the  nature  of  a  dowry  to  Pharaoh's  daughter 
when  she  became  Solomon's  queen.  There  was  another  Gezer  in  Ephraim 
(Josh.  xvi.  3). 

17.  Bethlioron.  The  scene  of  Joshua's  victory  (Josh,  x.),  and  in  after- 
time  of  that  of  Judas  Maccaba?us  (1  Mace,  ill.)  in  166  B.C.  This  strong- 
hold would  be  a  protection  against  invasion  from  Philistia. 

18.  Baalath  (Josh.  xix.  44).  Probably  also  intended  as  a  protection 
against  the  Philistines. 

Tadmor  in  the  wilderness.  Tamar  is  the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  text 
(see  R.V.),  and  Avas  probably  only  changed  to  Tadmor  in  consequence  of 
2  Chron.  viii.  4.  Tamar  was  probably  in  the  south  of  Palestine  (Ezek. 
xlvii.  19,  and  xlviii.  28).  Tadmor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  ancient 
name  of  the  famous  city  of  Palmyra  in  Syria.  See  Gibbon,  Decline  and 
Fall,  chai^.  xi, 

19.  Lebanon.  It  is  suggested  b}'  the  Camhridge  Bible  that  Solomon 
may  have  built  here  among  the  mountains  some  summer  residence,  as  the 


52  2  CHRON.  VIII.  12-16 


all  the  people  that  were  left  of  the  Amorites,  Hittites, 
Perizzites,  Hivites,  and  Jebusites,  which  were  not  of  the 
children  of  Israel,     21.  Their  children  that  were  left  after 
them  in  the  land,  whom  the  children  of  Israel  also  were 
i  Josh.  XV.  03,   not  able  ^  utterly  to  destroy,  upon  those  did  Solomon  ^  levy 
3  raise^a  levy  of  a  tribute  of  bondservice   unto  this  day.     22.  But  of  the 
j  Tev.Txv"  3^9.  children  of  Israel  did  Solomon  make  ^  no  bondmen  :  but 
they  ivere  men  of  war,  and  his  servants,  and  his  princes, 
k  1  «ani.  viii.     and  his  captains,  and  ^  rulers  of  his  chariots,  and  his  horse- 
men.    23.  These  were  the  chief  of  the  officers  that  were 
over  Solomon's  work,  five  hundred  and  fifty,  which  bare 
rule  over  the  people  that  wrought  in  the  work.     24.  But 
Pharaoh's  daughter  came  up  out  of  the  city  of  David  unto 
her  house  which  Solomon  had  built  for  her  :  then  did  he 
build  Millo. 

2  CHRON.  VIII.  12.  Then  Solomon  ofi'ered  burnt  ofler- 
ings  unto  the  Lord  on  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  which  he 
*  even  as  the  had  built  before  the  porch.  13.  ^  Even  after  a  certain  rate 
daJ^requS  every  day,  offering  ^according  to  the  commandment  of 
Xum°*^xx^ui\' '  Moses,  on  the  sabbaths,  and  on  the  new  moons,  and  on 
^Tl^■    4.r     i.    ^the  solemn  feasts,  three  times  in  the  year,  even  in  the 

•>  the  set  feasts.  '  ''        ' 

m  Bxod.  xxiii.    m  fg^^g^^  gf  unleavened  bread,  and  in  the  feast  of  weeks,  and 

14  ;  Deut.  xvi.  ' 

16.  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles.     14.  And  he  appointed,  ac- 

cording to  the  order  of  David  his  Either,  the  courses  of  the 
priests  to  their  service,  and  the  Levites  to  their  charges,  to 
praise  and  minister  before  the  priests,  as  the  duty  of  every 
day  required  :  the  porters  also  by  their  courses  at  every 
?!,  1  Cluon.  gate:  for  "so  had  David  the  man  of  God  commanded, 
XXIV.,  xx\.  ^^^  j^^^  ^^^^^  dej)arted  not  from  the  commandment  of  the 
king  unto  the  priests  and  Levites  concerning  any  matter, 
or  concerning  the  treasures.  IG.  Now  all  the  work  of 
Solomon  was  prepared  unto  the  diiy  of  the  foundation  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  until  it  was  finished.  So  the 
house  of  the  Lord  was  perfected. 

language  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  is  full  of  allusions  to  the  beauty  and 
refreshing  character  of  this  district. 


THE  QUEEN  OF  SHEBA  53 

1  KINGS  IX.  26.  And  king  Solomon  made  a  navy  of 
ships  in  "  Ezion-geber,  which  is  beside  Eloth,  on  the  shore  o  Num.  xxxiii. 
of  the  Red  sea,  in  the  land  of  Edom.  27.  And  Hiram  sent 
in  the  navy  his  servants,  shipmen  that  had  knowledge  of 
the  sea,  with  the  servants  of  Solomon.  28.  And  they 
came  to  Ophir,  and  fetched  from  thence  gold,  four  hundred 
and  twenty  talents,  and  brought  it  to  king  Solomon. 

X.  1.    And   when  ^the  queen  of  Sheba   heard   of  the  2' 2  Chron.  ix. ; 

^  S.  Matt.  xii.  42; 

fame   of    Solomon   concerning   the    name   of    the    Lord,  s.  Luke  xi.  3i. 

she  came  to  prove  him  with  hard  questions.     2.  And  she 

came  to  Jerusalem  with  a  very  great  train,  with  camels 

that  bare  spices,  and  very  much  gold,  and  precious  stones  : 

and  when  she  was  come  to  Solomon,  she  communed  with 

him  of  all  that  was  in  her  heart.     3.  And  Solomon  told 

her  all  her  questions  :  there  was  not  any  thing  hid  from 

1  Kings  ix.  26.  And  king-  Solomon  made  a  navy  of  ships  in  Ezion-getier. 

This  short  account  of  Israel  becoming  a  sea-power  is  extremely  interesting, 
especially  as  2  Chron.  viii.  sliows  that  not  only  the  sailors  were  Phce- 
nicians,  but  the  ships  themselves  were  the  work  of  Phoenicians.  The 
latter  were  the  greatest  sailors  of  antiquity,  probabl}'  the  first  to  circum- 
navigate Africa  (Herodotus,  iv.  42).  Ezion-geber  and  Eloth  (or  Elath) 
are  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba.     See  supplementary  note,  p.  59. 

28.  Ophir.  The  locality  of  Ophir,  like  that  of  Tharshish,  is  one  of  the 
puzzles  of  ancient  geography.  Both  India,  Arabia,  and  Africa  have  been 
suggested.  Josephus  says  it  was  in  India.  Recent  exploration  has  again 
suggested  Africa  as  the  place,  for  most  remarkable  evidence  of  early 
mining  has  been  found  in  Rhodesia.  On  the  other  hand.  Gen.  x.  28,  29 
seems  to  point  to  Arabia,  as  Sheba  is  almost  certainl}'-  in  that  country. 

X.  1.  The  queen  of  Sheha,  called  in  the  Gospels  'Queen  of  the  South,' 
was  doubtless  from  Southern  Arabia,  though  legend  has  made  her  Queeu 
of  Ethiopia,  and  the  present  Emperor  of  Abyssinia  professes  to  trace  his 
descent  from  a  marriage  between  this  queen  and  Solomon. 

The  fame  of  Solomon  concerning  the  name  of  the  LORD.  This  does  not 
mean,  of  course,  what  the  later  Jews  fabled,  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
inefifable  name  of  Jehovah  enabled  Solomon  to  command  demons  and 
work  all  manner  of  wonders.  Rather,  it  must  mean  that  Solomon's  fame 
was  intimately  connected  with  the  revelation  of  Jehovah  to  Israel.  His 
throne  was  established  by  Jehovah,  and  his  greatest  work,  the  Temple, 
was  *for  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 

To  prove  him  with  hard  questions.  What  these  questions  were  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  They  may  have  been  religious  problems  (see 
ver.  2) ;  more  probably  they  were  riddles  and  puzzles  such  as  the  peoples 
of  antiquity,  especially  the  Orientals,  delighted  in.  One  example  of  such 
riddles  is  given  in  the  Bible  (Judges  xiv.  12). 


54  1  KINGS  X. 


the  king,  which  he  told  her  not.  4.  And  when  the  queen 
of  Sheba  had  seen  all  Solomon's  wisdom,  and  the  house 
that  he  had  built,  5.  And  the  meat  of  his  table,  and  the 
sitting  of  his  servants,  and  the  attendance  of  his  ministers, 
and  their  apparel,  and  his  cupbearers,  and  his  ascent  by 
which  he  went  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  there  was 
no  more  spirit  in  her.  6.  And  she  said  to  the  king,  It 
was  a  true  report  that  I  heard  in  mine  own  land  of  thy 
acts  and  of  thy  wisdom.  7.  Howbeit  I  believed  not  the 
words,  until  I  came,  and  mine  eyes  had  seen  it :  and, 
behold,  the  half  was  not  told  me  :  thy  wisdom  and  pros- 
perity exceedeth  the  fame  which  I  heard.  8.  Happy  are 
thy  men,  happy  are  these  thy  servants,  which  stand  con- 
tinually before  thee,  and  that  hear  thy  wisdom.  9.  Blessed 
be  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  delighted  in  thee,  to  set  thee 
on  the  throne  of  Israel :  because  the  Lord  loved  Israel  for 
ever,  therefore  made  he  thee  king,  to  do  judgment  and 
justice.  10.  And  she  gave  the  king  an  hundred  and 
twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  of  spices  very  great  store,  and 
precious  stones  :  there  came  no  more  such  al3undance  of 
spices  as  these  which  the  queen  of  Sheba  gave  to  king 
Solomon.  11.  And  the  navy  also  of  Hiram,  that  brought 
gold  from  Ophir,  brought  in  from  Ophir  great  plenty  of 
almug  trees,  and  precious  stones.  12.  And  the  king  made 
of  the  alnuig  trees  pillars  for  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
for  the  king's  house,  harps  also  and  psalteries  for  singers  : 
there  came  no  such  almug  trees,  nor  were  seen  unto  this 
day.    13.  And  king  Solomon  gave  unto  the  queen  of  Sheba 

5.  His  ascent  by  which  he  went  up  unto  the  house  of  the  LORD.     The 

margin  of  Revised  Version  has  'his  burnt  oflfering  which  he  offered  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord,'  which  is  the  actual  reading  of  the  Hebrew  ;  but 
a  very  slight  alteration  would  turn  the  word  '  burnt  offering '  into 
'ascent,'  which  is  actually  found  in  1  Chron.  xxvi.  16.  Probably 
'ascent'  is  right,  though  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  the  stair- 
case or  passage  was  which  is  thus  alluded  to. 

12.  Almug  trees.  Called  also  in  Chronicles  algum  trees.  The  meaning 
is  uncertain,  though  sandal -wood  seems  the  most  likely  suggestion.  The 
'  pillars '  spoken  of  are  called  in  2  Chron.  ix.  'terraces.'  Perhaps  they 
were  railings  or  balustrades. 


SOLOMON'S  THRONE  55 

all  her  desire,  whatsoever  she  asked,  beside  that  which 

Solomon  gave  her  of  his  royal  bounty.     So  she  turned  and 

went  to  her  own  country,  she  and  her  servants.     14.   Now 

the  weight  of  gold  that  came  to  Solomon  in  one  year  was 

six  hundred  threescore  and  six  talents  of  gold,     15.  Beside 

that  he  had  of  the  ^  merchantmen,  and  of  the  traffick  of  the  ^  chapmen. 

"  spice  merchants,  and  of  all  the  ^  kings  of  Arabia,  and  of  "  omit  spice. 

8  kings  of  the 
the  governors  of  the  country.      16,    And   king    Solomon  mingled  people 

made  two  hundred  targets  of  beaten  gold  :    six  hundred 

shekels  of  gold  went  to  one  target.     17.  And  he  made  three 

hundred  shields  of  beaten  gold  ;  three  pound  of  gold  went 

to  one  shield  :  and  the  king  put  them  in  ^  the  house  of  the  i  <^^^P-  ^^"^'-  ^'^• 

forest  of  Lebanon.     18.  Moreover  the  king  made  a  great 

throne  of  ivory,  and  overlaid  it  with  the  best  gold,    19.  The 

throne  had  six  steps,  and  the  top  of  the  throne  was  round 

behind  :  and  there  were  stays  on  either  side  on  the  place  of 

the  seat,  and  two  lions  stood  beside  the  stays.     20.  And 

twelve  lions  stood  there  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other 

upon  the  six  steps  :  there  was  not  the  like  made  in  any 

kingdom,     21.   And  all  king  Solomon's  drinking  vessels 

ivere  of  gold,  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  the  forest 

of  Lebanon  ^cere  of  pure  gold  ;  none  ivere  of  silver  :  it  was 

nothing  accounted  of  in  the  days  of  Solomon,     22,    For 

the  king  had  at  sea  a  navy  of  Tharshish  with  the  navy  of 

Hiram  :  once  in  three  years  came  the  navy  of  Tharshish, 

15.  The  merchantmen.  The  original  Hebrew  here  signifies  itinerant 
traders,  '  chapmen,'  such  as  are  commonly  found  in  the  East,  traffickers 
who  carry  their  goods  about  with  them. 

18,  A  great  throne  of  ivory,  i.e.  inlaid  or  covered  with  ivory,  like  the 
'ivory  house'  of  Ahab  (xxii,  39).  Perhaps  there  is  a  typical  con- 
nection between  this  throne  and  the  '  great  white  throne  '  of  judgment 
(Rev.  XX.  11).  The  gold  would  not,  of  course,  cover  the  ivory,  but 
formed  decorations  upon  it.  The  ancients  were  fond  of  this  combination 
of  ivory  and  gold.  The  most  famous  statues  made  by  Phidias  were  Ivor}' 
and  gold,  called  by  the  Greeks  'chryselephantine.' 

19.  The  top  of  the  throne  was  round  behind.  The  'top'  means  a 
canopy  over  the  throne. 

22.  A  navy  of  Tharshish.  It  is  uncertain,  both  where  Tharsliish  was 
(most  probably  Tartessus,  in  Spain),  and  whether  the  fleet  was  so  called 


56 


1  KINGS  X. 


bringing  gold,  and  silver,  ivory,  and  apes,  and  peacocks. 
23.  So  king  Solomon  exceeded  all  the  kings  of  the  earth 
for  riches  and  for  wisdom.  24.  And  all  the  earth  sought 
the  presence  9  to  Solomon,  to  hear  his  wisdom,  which  God  had  put  in 
his  heart.  25.  And  they  brought  every  man  his  present, 
vessels  of  silver,  and  vessels  of  gold,  and  garments,  and 
armour,  and  spices,  horses,  and  mules,  a  rate  year  by  year. 
26.  And  Solomon  gathered  together  chariots  and  horse- 
men :  and  he  had  a  thousand  and  four  hundred  chariots, 


of. 


and  twelve  thousand  horsemen,  whom  he  bestowed  in  the 
cities  for  chariots,  and  with  the  king  at  Jerusalem.  27.  And 
the  king  made  silver  to  he  in  Jerusalem  as  stones,  and 
cedars  made  he  to  he  as  the  sycomore  trees  that  are  in 

10  lowland.        the  ^^vale  for  abundance.     28.  And  Solomon  had  horses 

11  omit  'and      brought  out  of  Egypt,  i^and  linen  yarn:  the  king's  merchants 

linen  yarn' ;  •       i      i        t  •  i      i  i       • 

the  king's  nier-  received  the  linen  yarn  at  a  price.  29.  And  a  chariot 
them  in  droves,  came  up  and  went  out  of  Egypt  for  six  hundred  shekels  of 
a^price!°^^  ^'^  silver,  and  an  horse  for  an  hundred  and  fifty  :  and  so  for 
r  2Kingsvii.  6.  all  '"the  kings  of  the  Hittites,  and  for  the  kings  of  Syria, 
did  they  bring  them  out  by  their  means. 

because  it  traded  with  Tharshish,  or  because  it  consisted  of  a  kind  of 
ships  called  'ships  of  Tharshish,'  as  in  Isa.  ii.  16,  like  our  use  of  'East 
Indiaman.' 

27.  The  sycomore  trees  that  are  in  the  vale.  '  The  vale  '  is  the  Sheph- 
elah,  or  lowland,  between  the  mountains  of  Central  Palestine  and  the 
coast  (see  G.  Adam  Smith,  Historkal  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,  chap. 
X. ),  This  district  was  full  of  sycamore  trees,  whose  fruit  was  valuable 
(see  1  Chron.  xxvii.  28).  The  prophet  Amos  was  a  dresser  of  sycamore 
trees  (Amos  vii.  14). 

28.  Linen  yarn.  This,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  Revised  Version,  is  a 
mistranslation.  The  Avord  really  refers  to  the  'strings'  or  droves  of 
horses  brought  uj)  l)y  merchants  from  Egypt.  Another  rendering  makes 
it  the  name  of  a  place — Tekoa  (LXX),  Coa  (Vulgate). 

29.  By  their  means,  i.e.  Solomon's  merchants  conducted  tlie  entire 
trade  in  horses  between  Egypt  and  the  northern  kingdoms  of  Hittites 
and  Syrians. 


THE  QUEEN  OF  SHEBA 


LESSOX  VI 


The  Queen  of  Slieba 


Introduction. — This  lesson  may  be  made  an  opportunity  of  interesting 
children  in  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church.  This  is  of  great  import- 
ance ;  such  teaching  may  easily  be  brought  into  connection  with 
geography,  and  adds  that  human  interest  which  alone  can  make  geography 
live,  while  at  the  same  time  it  leads  children  to  a  wider  and  deeper  idea 
of  the  Church.  Side  by  side  with  the  imperial  ideal  in  secular  mattei's 
should  be  taught  the  true  imperialism  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


Matter. 

1.  Solomon  is  a  type  of  Christ. 
His  empire  was  founded,  not  merely 
upon  conquest  or  commerce,  but 
ujjon  God's  promises.  It  was  in- 
tended by  God  to  suggest  to  the 
Jews,  and  to  other  nations  through 
them,  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  and 
the  true  King  of  humanity,  who  in 
the  fulness  of  time  would  appear, 
whose  rule  would  be  founded  on 
truth  and  righteousness,  in  Whom 
all  men  would  find  their  ruler  and 
ideal,  and  into  Whose  service  the 
kings  of  the  earth  would  bring 
their  glorj^  and  honour  (Rev.  xxi. 
24). 

So  both  the  Psalms  which  refer 
to  Solomon  (xlv.  and  Ixxii.)  evi- 
dently point  beyond  Solomon  to  the 
perfect  ruler,  and  the  universal  and 
eternal  kingdom  of  righteousness 
and  peace. 

2.  The  Queen  of  Sheba  is  a  t}'pe 
of  the  Gentile  world.  Then,  as 
now,  the  heathen  nations  had  a 
desire  after  God.  It  was  not  so 
much  the  wealth  and  splendour  of 
Solomon  that  attracted  the  Queen, 
but  his  initidom,  which  w^as  especially 
<Tod's  gift,  and  was  a  witness  to 
God  (see  also  1  Kings  x.  5). 

So  at  this  time,  especiall}^  we 
should  remember  that  Christ  is  '  the 
King  of  the  Gentiles  and  their 
Desire.'       Many     of     tlie     ancient 


Method. 

1.  S.  Luke  i.  32,  33  ;  Rev.  xix. 
16. 

Explain  on  the  basis  of  these  two 
passages  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  King,  all  nations  belong  to  Him, 
though  many  of  them  do  not  know 
it ;  all  wealth  in  the  world  is  His. 
He  sees  all,  hears  the  prayers  of  all, 
and  will  hereafter  judge  all. 

Show  that  we  read  in  the  Bible 
about  Solomon,  not  merely  because 
he  was  a  great  king — M^e  might  read 
that  in  our  ordinary  histories — but 
because  he  reminds  us  in  these  waj^s 
of  Christ. 

Enforce  the  lesson  in  the  case  of 
the  individual.  /  belong  to  Him  ; 
/  ought  to  obey  Him  ;  my  money 
and  all  that  I  have  really  belongs  to 
Him. 


2.  Describe  the  Queen's  visit,  and 
its  purpose. 

Refer  to  S.  Matt.  xii.  42. 

Illustrate  by  tlie  Visit  of  the 
Magi  (S.  Matt,  ii.),  and  the  desire 
of  the  Greeks  to  see  Jesus  (S.  John 
xii.). 

Tell  the  children  that  there  are 
many  now  of  the  greatest  and  wisest 
of  the  heathen  who  are  eager  to  be 
taught  about  Christ,  and  to  enter 
His  kingdom. 

Contrast    their    desire  with   the 


58 


THE  QUEEN  OF  SHEBA 


Lesson  VI — continued. 

Matter. 

nations  of  the  East  are  throwing  off 
their  old  beliefs  [e.g.  Japan),  and 
are  seeking  for  a  better  wisdom, 
craving  for  the  light  of  Christ. 

3.  The  gifts  of  the  Queen  to 
Solomon,  and  of  Solomon  to  her, 
are  also  typical  and  prophetic. 
The  heathen  have  all  their  own 
special  contribution  to  make  to  the 
glory  of  Christ's  kingdom  :  national 
character,  learning,  skill,  power  of 
grasping  some  parts  of  the  Truth  in 
a  fuller  way  than  has  been  done 
before.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
Gospel  of  S.  John  will  never  be 
fully  understood  until  India  is  con- 
verted. 

On  the  other  side,  the  'royal 
bounty  of  Christ'  will  give  to  the 
heathen  nations  that,  in  each  case, 
which  they  need  to  supply  their 
deficiencies,  and  to  perfect  their 
national  greatness. 


The  Queen  of  Sheba 

Method. 

indifference  of  so  many  who  have 
been  brought  up  as  Christians. 


3.  Describe  the  interchange  of 
gifts. 

Refer  to  the  gifts  of  the  Magi. 

Describe  how  our  English  fore- 
fathers gave  their  best  to  Christ, 
e.g.  cathedrals  and  beautiful 
churches  ;  their  money  and  their 
labour. 

In  turn,  how  much  did  they  re- 
ceive from  Him  ?  A  united  nation 
(the  Church  made  the  English 
nation);  civilisation;  liberty. 

Point  out  also  how  much  the 
heathen  of  recent  times  have  been 
given  by  him.  Cruel  cannibal  tribes 
have  become  peaceful,  kind,  and 
happy. 

Suggest  hopes  for  the  future  of 
missions. 

'  Happy  are  thy  men,  happy  are 
tliese  thy  servants.' 

Cf.  Ps.  cxliv.  15. 

See  Dean  Church's  lectures  on 
'  Some  Influences  of  Christianity 
upon  National  Character. ' 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Solomon,  son  of  David,  a  type  of  Christ. 

The  Queen  oj  Sheba,  a  type  of  the  heathen  who 
desire  to  hear  the  true  wisdom. 

Gifts.  —Ours  to  Christ :   the  very  best  we  have. 
Christ's  to  us  :    'all  our  desire,'  true  happiness. 


THE  GULF  OF  ELATH  59 

SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE 

(From  Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  83,  84.) 

'  The  sea  on  which  we  descended  is  the  Gulf  of  Elath  and  Ezion-Geber  ; 
up  and  down  which  the  fleets  of  Solomon  brought  the  gold  of  Ophir  ;  the 
great  channel  of  commerce  till  it  was  diverted  hy  Alexandria  to  the  Gulf 
of  Suez.  The  two  gulfs  seem,  like  Castor  and  Pollux,  to  have  risen  and 
set  alternately.  Now  there  is  not  a  single  boat  upon  it  from  end  to  end. 
Once  a  year,  and  once  only,  boats  come  round  from  Suez  to  'Akaba  with 
provisions  for  the  Mecca  pilgrims  ;  at  all  other  times  it  is  as  desolate  as 
the  wilderness.     But  what  a  sea  !  and  M'hat  a  shore  ! 

*  From  the  dim  silvery  mountains  on  the  further  Arabian  coast,  over  the 
blue  waters  of  tlie  sea,  meltiug  into  colourless  clearness  as  they  roll  up 
the  shelly  beach, — that  beach  red  with  the  red  sand,  or  red  granite  gravel, 
that  pours  down  from  the  cliffs  above, — those  cliffs  sometimes  deep  red, 
sometimes  yellow  and  purple,  and  above  them  all  the  blue,  cloudless  sky 
of  Arabia.  .  .  .  'Akaba  is  a  wretched  village,  shrouded  in  a  palm-grove 
at  the  north  end  of  the  gulf,  gathered  round  a  fortress  built  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Mecca  pilgrimage.  .  .  .  This  is  the  whole  object  of  the 
present  existence  of  'Akaba,  which  stands  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Elath — 'the  Palm-trees,'  so  called  from  the  grove. ^  Its  situation,  how- 
ever, is  very  striking,  looking  down  the  beautiful  gulf,  with  its  jagged 
ranges  on  each  side  :  on  the  west  is  the  great  black  pass  down  which  the 
pilgrimage  descends,  and  from  which  'Akaba  ('the  Pass')  derives  its 
name  ;  on  the  noi^th  opens  the  wide  plain,  or  Desert  Valley,  wholly 
dififerent  in  character  from  anything  we  have  seen,  still  called,  as  it  Avas 
in  days  of  Moses,  '  the  'Arabah.'  Down  this  came  the  Isi-aelites  on  their 
return  from  Kadesh,  and  through  a  gap  in  the  eastern  hills  they  finally 
turned  off  to  Moab.  On  this  view  the}^  undoubtedly  looked.  It  was  a 
new  Red  Sea  for  them,  and  they  little  knew  the  glory  which  it  would 
acquire  when  it  became  the  channel  of  all  the  wealth  of  Solomon.' 

1  There  is  nothing  to  fix  the  precise  site  of  Ezion-Geber,  the  '  Giant's  Backbone.' 


60  1  KINGS  XL  ;   2  CHRON.  IX.  29 

1  KINGS  XL;  2  CHRON.  IX.  29 

a  Neh.  xiii.  2r..   T)UT  "king  Solouion  loved  many  strange  women,  to- 
J3     gether  with  the   daughter  of  Pharaoh,  women   of 
the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  Edomites,  Zidonians,  and 
Hittites  ;     2.  Of  the  nations  concerning  which  the  Lord 
said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  shall  not  go  Un  to 
1  anion".  them,   neither  shall  they  come  ^  in  unto  you  :  for  surely 

b  Exod.  xxxi\-.  they  will  ^  turn  away  your  heart  after  their  gods  :  Solomon 
3,4.  ^^■^""  clave  unto  these  in  love.  3.  And  he  had  seven  hundred 
wives,  princesses,  and  three  hundred  concubines  :  and  his 
wives  turned  away  his  heart.  4.  For  it  came  to  pass,  when 
Solomon  was  old,  that  his  wives  turned  away  his  heart 
after  other  gods  :  and  his  heart  was  not  perfect  with  the 
Lord  his  God,  as  luas  the  heart  of  David  his  father.  5. 
For  Solomon  went  after  Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the 
Zidonians,  and  after  Milcom  the  abomination  of  the  Am- 
monites.    6.  And  Solomon  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 

1.  But  king  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women.  Polygamy,  though 
contrary  to  the  primeval  ordinance  of  God,  was  tolerated  among  the 
Jews.  The  Law  of  Moses  did  not  forbid  it,  but  merely  safeguarded  the 
rights  of  a  former  wife  (Exod.  xxi.  10).  Solomon,  like  other  Oriental 
kings,  had  a  harem,  though  the  majority  of  the  women  comprising  it 
were  not  really  wives,  but  simply  members  of  the  royal  household. 
Solomon's  purpose  in  collecting  this  vast  number  of  foreign  princesses 
was  of  course  a  political  one  :  to  ensure  the  alliance  of  the  nations  to 
which  they  belonged.  But  it  was  not  only  an  offence  against  the  Law  of 
Moses  to  intermarry  with  foreigners,  but  showed  a  spirit  alien  to  that 
of  the  divinely  established  kingdom  of  God.  Solomon  wished  to  be  as 
the  other  nations  and  kings  of  his  time.  This  desire  caused  the  sin  of 
the  people  originally  in  asking  for  a  kiog  at  all  (1  Sam.  viii.  20).  Even 
David  himself  had  not  been  free  from  this  failing.  The  mother  of 
Absalom  was  a  princess  of  Geshur  (2  Sam.  iii.  8).  But  David  never 
swerved  from  his  own  loyalty  to  the  worship  of  the  (iod  of  Israel  (verses 
4,  6  below).  Solomon  did  not  cease  to  worship  Jehovah,  but  he  added  to 
that  the  worship  of  the  heathen  gods  as  well. 

5.  Ashtoretli.  The  Ph(enic-ian  Venus,  or  chief  female  deity,  as  Baal 
was  the  chief  male.  jNIore  properly  her  name  was  Ashtart,  or  Astartt^. 
She  was  connected  with  the  Assyrian  goddess  Ishtar.  See  Hastings's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 

Milcom  tlie  abomination  of  the  Ammonites.  A]>parently  the  same 
divinity  as  Molcch  in  verse  7,  also  spelt  Moloch,  the  different  forms  of 


SOLOMON'S  FOOLISHNESS  61 

Lord,  and  went  not  fully  after  the  Lord,  as  did  David 
his  father.  7.  Then  did  Solomon  build  an  high  place  for 
Chemosh,  the  abomination  of  Moab,  in  '^the  hill  that  -js  c  2  Kings  xxiii. 

.13. 

before  Jerusalem,  and  for  Molech,  the  abomination  of  the 
children  of  Amnion.  8,  And  likewise  did  he  for  all  his 
strange  wives,  which  burnt  incense  and  sacrificed  unto 
their  gods.  9.  And  the  Lord  was  angry  with  Solomon, 
because  his  heart  was  turned  from  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
which  ^had  appeared  unto  him  twice,     10.  And  had  com-  d  chaps,  iii.  5; 

ix.  2. 

manded  him  concerning  this  thing,  that  he  should  not  go  " '  ' 
after  other  gods  :  but  he  kept  not  that  which  the  Lord 
commanded.  11.  Wherefore  the  Lord  said  unto  Solomon, 
Forasmuch  as  this  is  done  of  thee,  and  thou  hast  not  kept 
my  covenant  and  my  statutes,  which  I  have  commanded 
thee,  I  will  surely  rend  the  kingdom  from  thee,  and  will 
give  it  to  thy  servant.  12.  Notwithstanding  in  thy  days 
I  will  not  do  it  for  David  thy  father's  sake  :  but  I  will 

the  word  all  being  derived  from  the  word  for  '  king '  {melech  in  Hebrew). 
His  worship  was  widely  spread,  and  was  connected  with  human  sacrifices. 
He  was  the  god  of  fire,  and  children  were  apparently  sacrificed  to  him  as 
biirnt-ofi'erings,  as  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament. 

7.  Then  did  Solomon  build  an  high  place  for  Chemosh.  The  'high 
places'  (Bamoth)  for  religious  worship  are  very  frequently  alluded  to  in 
the  Old  Testament.  The  worship  of  a  divinity  on  a  mountain  peak  is 
a  deeply-rooted  feature  in  early  religions  (see  the  description  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Balaam  and  Balak  in  Num.  xxii.-xxiv.  ;  cf.  also  Ezek.  xx. 
27-29).  Solomon  built  an  altar,  or  perhaps  a  temple,  for  Chemosh  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  Little  is  known  of  this  divinit}^  except  that  he  is 
mentioned  by  Mesha,  King  of  Moab,  in  the  inscription  on  the  famous 
'  Moabite  Stone'  (890  B.C.),  now  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris.  According  to 
Judges  xi.  24,  Chemosh  was  also  the  divinity  of  the  Ammonites.  Milton 
identifies  him  with  Baal-Peor  :— 

'  Next  Cliemos,  the  obscene  dread  of  Moab's  sons, 
From  Aroar  to  Nebo  and  the  Avild 
Of  southmost  Abarim  :  .  .  . 
Peor  liis  other  name,  when  he  enticed 
Israel  in  Sittim,  on  their  march  from  Nile 
To  do  him  wanton  rites  which  cost  them  woo. 
Yet  thence  his  lustful  orgies  he  enlarged 
Even  to  that  hill  of  scandal,  by  the  grove 
Of  Moloch  homicide,  lust  hard  by  hate, 
Till  good  Josiah  drove  them  back  to  Hell.' 

Paradise  Lost,  1.  400),  etc. 

12.  for  David  thy  father's  sake.  These  words  are  instructive,  as  show- 
ing, in  accordance  with  the  second  commandment,  that  not  only  are 
children  involved  in  the  sins  of  their  parents,  but  also  that  mercy  is 


62  1  KINGS  XL  ;   2  CHRON.  IX.  29 

rend  it  out  of  the  baud  of  thy  son.  13.  Howbeit  1  will 
e  Ps.  ixxxix.  33.  ^not  rend  away  all  tlie  kingdom  ;  hut  will  give  one  tribe  to 
thy  son  for  David  my  servant's  sake,  and  for  Jerusalem's 
sake  which  I  have  chosen.  14.  And  the  Lord  stirred  up 
an  adversary  unto  Solomon,  Hadad  the  Edomite  :  he  was 
of  the  king's  seed  in  Edom.  15.  For  it  came  to  pass,  when 
/2Sam.  viii.  14.  David  was  -^in  Edom,  and  Joab  the  captain  of  the  host  was 
gone  up  to  bury  the  slain,  after  he  had  smitten  every  male 
in  Edom  ;  16.  (For  six  months  did  Joab  remain  there 
with  all  Israel,  until  he  had  cut  off  every  male  in  Edom  :) 
17.  That  Hadad  fled,  he  and  certain  Edomites  of  his 
father's  servants  with  him,  to  go  into  Egypt ;  Hadad  being 
yet  a  little  child.  18.  And  they  arose  out  of  Midian,  and 
came  to  Paran  :  and  they  took  men  with  them  out  of 
Paran,  and  they  came  to  Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh  king  of 
Egypt  ;  which  gave  him  an  house,  and  appointed  him 
victuals,  and  gave  him  land.     19.  And  Hadad  found  great 

shown  to  the  descendants  of  the  righteous  for  his  sake.  '  The  gifts  and 
calling  of  God  are  without  repentance'  (Rom.  xi.  29).  Although  God's 
promises  are  always  conditional,  yet  a  revealed  promise  never  really 
comes  to  an  end.  It  may  be  altered  in  character,  as  the  promises  to  the 
Jewish  Church  were  expanded  and  spiritualised  in  the  Catholic  Church  ; 
but  the  promise  in  itself  reveals  a  law  of  God's  operation  :  it  is  the 
expression  of  God's  character  and  will,  and  cannot  be  abrogated. 

14.  Hadad  the  Edomite.  We  are  not  told  in  what  way  Hadad  showed 
his  hostility  to  Solomon.  But  the  fact  that  his  first  adversary  was  an 
Edomite  is  interesting,  as  Edom,  the  descendants  of  Esau,  were  the 
hereditary  enemies  of  Israel,  following  out  the  prophecy  of  Isaac  (Gen. 
xxvii.  39,  40).  The  conquests  of  David  over  Edom  are  only  briefly 
alluded  to  in  2  Sam.  viii.  13,  14,  and  1  Chron.  xviii.  12,  13.  Joab's 
smiting  '  every  male '  can  hardly  be  understood  literally.  It  must  simply 
mean  the  warriors,  or  those  who  were  actuall}^  in  rebellion. 

This  brief  fragment  of  the  history  of  Hadad  is  very  suggestive.  His 
must  liave  been  a  romantic  career  :  the  escape  from  the  invading  army  ; 
the  new  home  in  Egypt ;  the  court  favourite  giving  up  his  life  of  splen- 
dour and  comfort  to  return  to  his  own  country — these  are  only  glimpses 
of  what  must  have  been  a  fascinating  story.  But  here,  as  elsewhere. 
Holy  Scripture  subordinates  everything  to  the  main  purpose  of  the  histor5\ 
It  is  not  a  mere  record  of  ancient  times,  but  the  history  of  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

18.  And  they  arose  out  of  Midian.  Midian  is  a  name  somewhat  widely 
used,  but  it  is  difficult  to  understand  it  at  all  in  this  connection.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  word  should  be  Maon,  which  was  near  the  wilder- 
ness of  Paran  (1  Sam.  xxv.  2). 


SOLOMON'S  ADVERSARIES  63 

favour  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh,  so  that  he  gave  him  to 

wife  the  sister  of  his  own  wife,  the  sister  of  Tahpenes  the 

queen.    20.  And  the  sister  of  Tahj)enes  bare  him  Genubath 

his  son,  whom  Tahpenes  weaned  in  Pharaoh's  house  :  and 

G-enubath  was  in  Pharaoh's  household  among  the  sons  of 

Pharaoh.      21.  And   when   Hadad   heard   in   Egypt   that 

David  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  that  Joab  the  captain 

of  the  host  was  dead,   Hadad  said  to  Pharaoh,  Let  me 

depart,  that  I  may  go  to  mine  own  country.     22.  Then 

Pharaoh  said  unto  him,  But  what  hast  thou  lacked  with 

me,  that,  behold,  thou  seekest  to  go  to  thine  own  country  1 

And  he  answered.  Nothing  :  howbeit  let  me  go  in  any 

wise.     23.  And  God   stirred   him   up   another  adversary, 

Rezon  the  son  of  Eliadah,  which  fled  from  his  lord  Hada- 

dezer  king  of  Zobah  :      24.  And  he  gathered  men  unto 

him,  and  became  captain  over  a  band,  when  David  slew 

them  of  ^Zobah  :  and  they  went  to  Damascus,  and  dwelt  g  2  Sam.  viii.  3. 

therein,  and  reigned  in  Damascus.     25.  And  he  was  an 

adversary  to  Israel  all  the  days  of  Solomon,  beside  the 

mischief  that  Hadad  did  :  and  he  abhorred   Israel,  and 

reigned  over  Syria.     26.  And  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 

an  ^Ephrathite  of  Zereda,  Solomon's  servant,  whose  mother's  2  Ephraiiuite. 

name  was  Zeruah,  a  widow  woman,  even  he  lifted  up  his 

hand  against  the  king.     27.  And  this  ivas  the  cause  that 

he  lifted  up  his  hand  against  the  king  :    Solomon  built 

Millo,  and  repaired  the  l)reaches  of  the  city  of  David  his 

20.  Whom  Tahpenes  weaned  in  Pharaoh's  house.  The  weaning  of  a 
child  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  feast  (Gen.  xxi.  8).  The  queen-mother 
would  take  a  prominent  part  in  such  a  festivity.  Or  does  it  mean  that 
Genubath's  mother  was  dead,  and  Tahpenes  adopted  him  ? 

23.  Zobah,  mentioned  in  2  Sam.  viii.  as  one  of  the  conquests  of  David, 
is  a  little-known  kingdom.  It  lay  to  the  north  of  Palestine  and  Damascus, 
between  the  Orontes  and  the  Euphrates.  It  was  impossible,  evidently, 
to  retain  David's  conquests  in  Syria,  and  the  fugitive  Rezon  succeeded  in 
establishing  a  dynasty  in  Damascus  ;  after  which  time  the  Syrians  appear 
as  the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  Israel  on  the  north,  until  their  power 
fell  before  the  advance  of  Assyria. 

26.  An  Ephrathite.  The  correction  of  the  Revised  Version  is  important. 
The  tribe  of  Ephraim  was  always  the  most  prominent  in  opposition  to 
Judah. 


04  1  KINGS  XL  ;   2  CHRON.  IX.  20 

father.  28.  And  the  man  Jeroboam  ivas  a  mighty  man  of 
valour  :  and  Solomon  seeing  the  young  man  that  he  was 

;i  labour.  indiisti'ious,  he  made  him  ruler  over  all  the  ^  charge  of  the 

house  of  Joseph.  29.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  that  time 
when  Jeroboam  went  out  of  Jerusalem,  that  the  prophet 

4  Ahijali.  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  found  him  in  the  way  ;  and  '^he  had 

clad  himself  with  a  new  garment ;  and  they  two  luere  alone 
in  the  field  :  30.  And  Ahijah  caught  the  new  garment 
that  was  on  him,  and  rent  it  in  twelve  pieces  :  31.  And 
he  said  to  Jeroboam,  Take  thee  ten  pieces  :  for  thus  saith 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  Behold,  I  will  rend  the  king- 
dom out  of  the  hand  of  Solomon,  and  will  give  ten  tribes 
to  thee  :  32.  (But  he  shall  have  one  tribe  for  my  servant 
David's  sake,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake,  the  city  which  I 
have  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel :)  33.  Because 
that  they  have  forsaken  me,  and  have  worshipped  Ash- 
toreth  the  goddess  of  the  Zidonians,  Chemosh  the  god  of 
the  Moabites,  and  Milcom  the  god  of  the  children  of 
Ammon,  and  have  not  walked  in  my  ways,  to  do  that 
which  is  right  in  mine  eyes,  and  to  keep  my  statutes  and 
my  judgments,  as  did  David  his  father.     34.   Howbeit  I 

28.  He  made  him  ruler  over  all  the  charge  of  the  house  of  Joseph. 
Jeroboam  was  made  overseer  over  the  compulsory  labour  rendered  by  the 
tribe  of  Epliraim  in  Solomon's  building  operations.  This  would  enable 
him  to  sympathise  M'ith,  or  at  any  rate  play  upon,  the  resentment  felt  by 
the  Israelites  at  the  '  heavy  burden  and  grievous  yoke'  of  Solomon. 

29.  Ahijah  the  Shilonite.  This  prophet  was  a  native  of  Shiloh.  lie 
appears  again  in  connection  with  Jeroboam  (chap.  xiv. ),  but  there  to 
reprove  him  for  his  own  faithlessness  to  God.  His  writings  are  men- 
tioned (see  below)  as  one  of  the  authorities  used  by  the  compiler  of 
Chronicles  for  the  histor}'  of  Solomon. 

He  had  clad  himself  in  a  new  garment.  The  Revised  Version  makes 
it  clear  that  it  was  the  prophet's  own  garment  that  was  rent.  This 
symbolical  action,  or  acted  parable,  was  a  favourite  method  with  the 
prophets  of  conveying  a  Divine  message  in  a  vivid  manner. 

32.  But  he  shall  have  one  tribe.  The  LXX  more  accurately  gives  '  two 
tribes.'  Benjamin  is  evidently  meant  to  be  included  in  Aliijah's  prophecy 
as  remaining  faithful  to  Solomon,  for  he  speaks  of  '  ten  pieces,'  not  eleven 
and  '  ten  tribes.' 

The  fulfilment  of  both  the  curse  and  the  blessing  of  the  second  com- 
mandment should  here  be  noted. 


THE  PENALTY  OF  FOLLY  65 

will  not  take  the  whole  kingdom  out  of  his  hand  :  but  I 
will  make  him  prince  all  the  days  of  his  life  for  David  my 
servant's  sake,  whom  I  chose,  because  he  kept  my  com- 
mandments and  my  statutes  :  35.  But  I  will  take  the 
kingdom  out  of  his  son's  hand,  and  will  give  it  unto  thee, 
even  ten  tribes.  36.  And  unto  his  son  will  I  give  one  tribe, 
that  ^  David  my  servant  may  have  a  ^  light  alway  before  me  h  Ps.  cxxxii.  i7 ; 
in  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  I  have  chosen  me  to  put  my  skuup.^ 
name  there.  37.  And  I  will  take  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
reign  according  to  all  that  thy  soul  desireth,  and  shalt  be 
king  over  Israel.  38.  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  wilt  hearken 
unto  all  that  I  command  thee,  and  wilt  walk  in  my  ways, 
and  do  that  is  right  in  my  sight,  to  keep  my  statutes  and  my 
commandments,  as  David  my  servant  did  ;  that  I  will  be 
with  thee,  and  build  thee  a  sure  house,  as  I  built  for  David, 
and  will  give  Israel  unto  thee.  39.  And  I  will  for  this 
afflict  the  seed  of  David,  but  not  for  ever.  40.  Solomon 
sought  therefore  to  kill  Jeroboam.  And  Jeroboam  arose, 
and  fled  into  Egypt,  unto  Shishak  king  of  Egypt,  and  was 
in  Egypt  until  the  death  of  Solomon.  41.  And  the  rest  of 
the  acts  of  Solomon,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  his  wisdom, 
are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  acts  of  Solomon  ? 
42.  And  the  time  that  Solomon  reigned  in  Jerusalem  over 
all  Israel  ivas  forty  years.     43,  And  Solomon  slept  with 

36.  That  David  my  servant  may  have  a  light  alway  before  me  in  Jeru- 
salem (See  reff. ).  The  lamp  which  is  not  suffered  to  go  out  implies 
the  continual  existence  of  a  family  or  of  the  Church  in  the  sight  of 
God.  The  metaphor  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  continual  lamp 
burning  in  the  semi-darkness  of  Oriental  tents  or  houses,  to  which  a 
traditional  sanctity  became  attached,  as  to  the  household  fire  among 
northern  nations. 

39.  But  not  for  ever.  See  note  on  ver.  12.  The  allusion  in  this  verse 
is  plainly  Messianic.  The  tlirone  of  David  was  to  be  restored  and  estab- 
lished for  ever  in  Christ.     Cf.  8.  Luke  i.  32,  33. 

40.  Solomon  sought  therefore  to  kill  Jeroboam.  Solomon,  instead  of 
looking  at  home,  and  repenting  (which  might  have  averted  God's  judg- 
ment), tries  to  fight  against  God  by  killing  Jeroboam,  like  Herod  in  later 
days. 

Shishak  king  of  Egypt.     See  note  on  p.  72. 

HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  E 


66 


1  KINGS  XI.  ;  2  CHRON.  IX.  29 


his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David  his  father : 
and  Rehoboani  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

2  CHRON.  IX.  29.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Solo- 
mon, first  and  last,  ^  are  they  not  written  in  the  *^book  of 
Nathan  the  prophet,  and  in  the  prophecy  of  Ahijah  the 
Shilonite,  and  in  the  visions  of  -^  Iddo  the  seer  "against 
Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  1 


i  2Chron.ix.29. 
<>  history. 


j  ch.  xii.  15  ; 

xiii.  22. 

7  concerning. 


2  Chron.  tx.  29.  This  verse  is  interesting  as  showing  that  the  Holy 
Spirit's  guidance  of  the  sacred  writers  led  them  to  select  truth  from 
existing  materials  (not  necessarily  of  an  inspired  character),  and  so  com- 
pile an  inspii'ed  narrative  to  set  forth  the  Divine  purposes.  See  Liddon's 
sermon,  '  The  Inspiration  of  Selection.' 


LESSOX  VII 

Solomon's  Foolishness 

Introduction. — All  types  are  partial  and  imperfect;  they  illustrate 
some  side  or  aspect  of  the  Gospel ;  but  in  other  respects  they  may  be 
warnings  rather  than  examples.  It  is  so  with  Solomon,  as  it  was  in  a 
limited  degree  with  David.  Indeed,  it  is  the  very  imperfections  of  the 
types  which  suggested  forcibly  the  need  of  God  becoming  man,  for  God 
only  could  give  a  perfect  human  example. 


Matter. 
1.  Solomon's  fall. 

We  are  told  that  '  Solomon's 
heart  was  not  perfect. '  In  other 
words,  he  was  divided  in  liis  allegi- 
ance. He  tried  to  serve  both  God 
and  the  world.  His  idolatry  was 
due  probably  not  to  any  real  plea- 
sure that  he  himself  took  in  it,  but 

(1)  to  a  desire  to  please  his  wives  ; 

(2)  to  political  motives.  He  thought 
it  would  cement  the  alliances  he 
had  made,  and  conciliate  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  liis  tributaries,  if 
he  erected  temples  to  their  divini- 
ties. This  is  an  instance,  of  which 
there  are  many  in  history,  of  the 
failure  of  ungodly  politics. 


2.  Solomon's  punishment. 

Time-serving  and  compromise 
generally  bring  their  own  retribu- 
tion.    They  weaken  a   man's   own 


Method. 

1.  Describe  Solomon's  idolatry 
and  its  causes. 

Repeat  the  First  Commandment. 

Illustrate  with  older  children 
from  the  warnings  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  against  a  divided  heart, 
trying  to  serve  two  masters,  etc. 

Show  that  to  stay  away  from 
church,  or  to  attend  schismatic  or 
heretical  worship,  out  of  desire  to 
please  companions,  or  to  gain  any 
private  end,  is  to  fall  into  the  same 
sin  that  Solomon  fell. 

Or  it  may  also  be  pointed  out 
that  the  modern  equivalent  of 
idolatry  is  covetousness  (Col.  iii. 
5).  '  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon.' 

Illustrate  by  Ananias  and  Sapph- 
ira  (Acts  v. ). 

2.  Tlie  narrative  itself  will  illus- 
trate this  point. 

Point  out  the  expressions  in 
verses    14   and   23,   'stirred  up  an 


SOLOMON'S  FOOLISHNESS 


67 


Lesson  VII — continued. 

Matter. 

influence  and  force  of  character. 
Any  secret  falseness  to  truth  and 
conscience  (what  Plato  called  '  the 
lie  in  the  soul '),  and  Isaiah  '  a  lie  in 
the  right  hand'  (Isa.  xliv.  20),  is  sure 
to  show  itself  in  moral  deteriora- 
tion. 

The  punishments  which  fell  upon 
Solomon  are  singularly  suggestive. 
He  was  anxious,  by  worldly  means, 
to  conciliate  allies,  and  keep  his 
empire  together.  He  saw  before 
the  end  of  his  reign  the  coming 
division  of  his  people,  and  one  ad- 
versary after  another  springing  up, 
only  thwarted  for  a  time,  but  like 
so  many  finger-posts  pointing  to  the 
future  disaster. 

Whether  Solomon  actually  wrote 
the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  or  not,  it 
contains  the  teaching  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  to  the  real  issues  of  Solo- 
mon's life  ;  that  no  service  of  the 
world  and  its  pleasures  can  bring 
lasting  good  ;  it  ends  in  '  vanity '  : 
and  indeed  that  all  is  vanity  except 
'  to  fear  God  and  keep  His  com- 
mandments,' which  is  'the  whole 
duty  of  man'  (Eccl.  xii.  13). 


Solomon's  Foolishness 

Method. 
adversary,'    and    the    prophecy   of 
Ahijah,  verses  31-39. 

These  rebellions  were  permitted 
by  God  as  a  punishment.  Indeed, 
the  very  means  which  Solomon  took 
to  prevent  the  prophecy  being  ful- 
filled led  to  its  fulfilment  by  driving 
Jeroboam  into  Egypt  for  shelter. 


Blackboakd  Sketch. 


1.  Solomon'' s  foolishness. 

Worshipped  idols,  breaking  First  and  Second 
Commandment — 

(1)  To  please  his  wives  ; 

(2)  To  gain  friends. 

2.  Solomon^s  punishment. 

Instead  of  friends,  he  found  enemies  on  every 
side. 

Learn — 

'  No  man  can  serve  two  masters.' 
'Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
Him  only  shalt  thou  serve.' 


68  1  KINGS  XIL  1-24 


1  KINGS  XIL  1-24;  XIV.  21-23;  2  CHRON.  XIL  1-12,  15, 16 

i  ND  Relioboam  went  to  Sliechem  :  for  all  Israel  were 
_±\_  come  to  Shecliem  to  make  him  king.  2.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
who  was  yet  in  EgyjDt,  heard  of  it,  (for  he  was  fled  from 
the  presence  of  king  Solomon,  and  Jeroboam  dwelt  in 
Egypt ;)  3.  That  they  sent  and  called  him.  And  Jeroboam 
and  all  the  congregation  of  Israel  came,  and  sjDake  unto 
Rehoboam,  saying,  4.  Thy  father  made  our  yoke  grievous  : 
now  therefore  make  thou  the  grievous  service  of  thy  father, 
and  his  heavy  yoke  which  he  put  upon  us,  lighter,  and  we 
will  serve  thee.  5.  And  he  said  unto  them.  Depart  yet 
for  three  days,  then  come  again  to  me.  And  the  people 
departed.  6.  And  King  Rehoboam  consulted  with  the  old 
men,  that  stood  before  Solomon  his  father  while  he  yet 
lived,  and  said.  How  do  ye  advise  that  I  may  answer  this 
people?  7.  And  they  spake  unto  him,  saying.  If  thou  wilt 
be  a  servant  unto  this  people  this  day,  and  wilt  serve  them, 
and  answer  them,  and  speak  good  words  to  them,  then  they 
will  be  thy  servants  for  ever.  8.  But  he  forsook  the 
counsel  of  the  old  men,  which  they  had  given  him,  and 
consulted  with  the  young  men  that  were  grown  up  with 
him,  and  which  stood  before  him  :  9.  And  he  said  unto 
them.  What  counsel  give  ye  that  we  may  answer  this 
people,  who  have  spoken  to  me,  saying,  Make  the  yoke 
which  thy  father  did  put  uj^on  us  lighter  ?  10.  And  the 
young  men  that  were  grown  up  with  him  spake  unto  him, 

1.  And  Rehoboam  went  to  Shecliem.  Shechem,  also  spelled  iu  the 
English  Bible,  Sichcin,  is  the  modern  Nablous  between  Mounts  Ebal  and 
Gerizini.  Evidently  it  was  chosen  for  a  meeting-place  b}'  the  northern 
tribes,  from  its  historical  associations,  especiall}^  with  Joshua  (Josh, 
xxiv. ).  Although  after  the  revolt  it  was  at  first  the  cai)ital  of  Jeroboam, 
it  was  not  a  sufficiently  strong  position  ;  and  first  Tirzali  took  its  place, 
and  then  the  new  fortress  of  .Samaria  built  by  Omri.  Shechem  became 
famous  afterwards  as  the  centre  of  the  religious  Avorship  of  the  Samaritans 
in  opposition  to  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem. 


KEHOBOAM'S  SELF-WILL  69 

saying,  Thus  shalt  thou  speak  unto  this  people  that  spake 
unto  thee,  saying,  Thy  fiither  made  our  yoke  heavy,  but 
make  thou  it  lighter  unto  us  ;  thus  shalt  thou  say  unto 
them.  My  little  finger  shall  be  thicker  than  my  father's 
loins.  11.  And  now  whereas  my  father  did  lade  you  with 
a  heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to  your  yoke  :  my  father  hath 
chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you  with 
scor^Dions.  12.  So  Jeroboam  and  all  the  people  came  to 
Eehoboam  the  third  day,  as  the  king  had  appointed, 
saying.  Come  to  me  again  the  third  day.  13.  And  the 
king  answered  the  people  roughly,  and  forsook  the  old 
men's  counsel  that  they  gave  him  ;  14.  And  spake  to 
them  after  the  counsel  of  the  young  men,  saying,  My 
fother  made  your  yoke  heavy,  and  I  will  add  to  your  yoke  : 
my  father  also  chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chas- 
tise you  with  scorpions.  15.  Wherefore  the  king  heark- 
ened not  unto  the  people  ;  ^  for  the  cause  was  from  the  i  For  it  was  a 

11  -1  n  1  •  •  1-iiiT  thing  brought 

Lord,  that  he  might  perform  his  saying,  which  the  Lord  about  of  the 
spake  by  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  unto  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
Nebat.     16.  So  when  all  Israel  saw  that  the  king  heark- 

11.  I  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions.  Probably  the  whole  of  this 
expression  is  metaphorical.  It  is  doubtful  whether  free-born  Israelites 
would  ever  have  been  scourged  like  slaves,  even  at  their  forced  labour, 
though  of  course  not  impossible.  '  Scorpions  '  are  generally  understood 
to  mean  some  severer  kind  of  scourge,  perhaps  armed  with  iron  points  or 
weights  like  the  Roman  scourge.  But  it  is  not  really  known  whether 
this  was  a  current  name  for  such  a  whip  or  not.  The  general  meaning  of 
the  phrase  is  clear  enough. 

15.  The  cause  was  from  the  LORD.  See  Revised  Version.  It  is  not 
of  course  meant  by  this  that  Rehoboam  was  not  a  free  agent.  The 
immediate  cause  of  the  rebellion  was  his  own  folly,  obstinacy,  and  insol- 
ence. He  utterly  failed  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times  ;  and  doubtless 
vanity  also  played  a  large  part  in  his  action.  Too  proud  to  follow  the 
advice  of  the  old  men,  he  had  no  moral  courage  to  take  his  own  line,  but 
M^as  eager  to  be  admired  and  applauded  by  his  youthful  counsellors. 

Yet  the  reverence  of  tlie  sacred  writers  ever  sees  the  hand  of  God  in 
human  affairs.  Behind  the  folly  of  Rehoboam  and  the  disloyalty  of  the 
northern  tril:)es  was  the  Divine  justice,  employing  these  means  to  work 
its  ends,  to  punish  the  idolatry  of  Solomon,  and  to  give  a  warning  for  the 
future.  God's  counsels  are  immutable,  but  they  may  be  fulfilled  in  more 
wa3's  than  one.  A  good  man  fulfils  them  willingly  and  to  his  own  bless- 
ing ;  a  bad  man  fulfils  them  unconsciouslv  and  to  his  own  ruin. 


70  1  KINGS  XII.  1-24 


ened  not  unto  them,  the  people  answered  the  king,  saying, 
What  portion  have  we  in  David  ?  neither  have  we  inherit- 
ance in  the  son  of  Jesse  :  to  your  tents,  0  Israel  :  now  see 
to  thine  own  house,  David.  So  Israel  departed  unto  their 
tents.  17.  But  as  for  the  children  of  Israel  which  dwelt 
in  the  cities  of  Judah,  Eehoboam  reigned  o^ser  them.  18. 
o  iv.  6 ;  V.  14.  Then  king  Rehoboam  sent  "Adoram,  who  was  over  the 
2  levy.  "  tribute  ;  and  all  Israel  stoned  him  with  stones,  that  he 

died.  Therefore  king  Reholjoam  made  sjjeed  to  get  him 
up  to  his  chariot,  to  flee  to  Jerusalem.  19.  So  Israel 
rebelled  against  the  house  of  David  unto  this  day.  20.  And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  all  Isi'ael  heard  that  Jeroboam  was 
come  again,  that  they  sent  and  called  him  unto  the  con- 
gregation, and  made  him  king  over  all  Israel  :  there  was 
none  that  followed  the  house  of  David,  but  the  tribe  of 

16.  What  portion  have  -we  in  David  ?  These  words  must  have  had  au 
ominous  sound.  They  liad  been  the  crj^  of  the  rebels,  nearly  half  h 
centur}^  before,  in  the  revolt  of  Sheba  (2  Sam.  xx. ).  The  hostility 
between  the  northern  triljes,  which  centred  round  the  great  and  pros- 
perous tribe  of  Ephraim  or  Joseph,  and  the  divinely  chosen  tribe  of  Judah 
was  one  of  long  standing.  Ephraim,  as  far  as  territory,  worldly  pos- 
sessions and  strength  could  go,  would  naturally  have  been  the  leading 
tribe  ;  and  the  tribesmen  could  hardly  forget  that  Joseph  had  been  the 
favourite  child  of  their  common  father.  Extraordinary  prominence  is 
given  to  Joseph  in  the  blessings  of  Jacob  (Gen.  xlix. ),  and  still  more  in 
those  of  Moses  (Dent,  xxxiii. ). 

The  pride  of  Ephraim  flashes  out  in  their  complaint  against  Gideon 
(Judges  viii.)  ;  their  early  jealousy  of  the  family  of  David  is  seen  in  their 
long  support  of  Ishbosheth  during  the  divisions  that  followed  the  death 
of  Saul ;  an  open  rebellion  was  with  difficulty  averted  after  Absalom's 
defeat ;  and  now  at  last  a  favourable  opportunity^  and  an  apparently 
good  cause,  combined  with  the  crass  folly  of  Rehoboam,  bring  about  a 
permanent  schism,  civil  first  and  then  religious. 

The  cry  of  the  revolting  tribes  implies  their  denial  that  the  sovereigns 
of  tlie  house  of  David  were,  after  all,  anything  more  than  tribal  rulers. 
It  was  enough  for  David  'to  see  to  his  own  house.'  Of  course  this 
attitude,  however  justified  outwardly  by  the  misconduct  of  Solomon  and 
Rehoboam,  was  a  direct  defiance  of  God's  choice  of  David.  The  very 
existence  of  the  northern  kingdom  was  a  declension  from  the  Divine 
ideal,  though  God  did  not,  in  His  mercj',  leave  them  Avithout  prophets 
and  opportunities. 

17.  The  children  of  Israel  which  dwelt  in  the  cities  of  Judah.  It  is 
uncertain  whether  this  expression  means  simply  that  the  tribe  of  Judah 
remained  faithful,  or  tliat  members  of  the  northern  tribes,  who  were 
resident  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  did  not  take  part  in  the  rebellion. 


REHOBOAM'S  SELF-WILL  71 

Judali  only.  21.  And  when  Eelioboam  was  come  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  assembled  all  the  house  of  Judah,  with  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin,  an  hundred  and  fourscore  thousand  chosen 
men,  which  were  warriors,  to  fight  against  the  house  of 
Israel,  to  bring  the  kingdom  again  to  Eelioboam  the  son  of 
Solomon.  22.  But  the  word  of  God  came  unto  Shemaiah 
the  man  of  God,  saying,  23.  Speak  unto  Rehoboam,  the 
son  of  Solomon,  king  of  Judah,  and  unto  all  the  house  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  to  the  remnant  of  the  people, 
saying,  24.  Thus  saitli  the  Lord,  ye  shall  not  go  up,  nor 
fight  against  your  brethren  the  children  of  Israel :  return 
every  man  to  his  house  ;  for  this  thing  is  from  me.  They 
hearkened  therefore  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  returned 
to  depart,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

1  KINGS  XIV.  21.  And  Rehoboam  the  son  of  Solomon 
reigned  in  Judah.  Rehoboam  ivas  forty  and  one  years  old 
when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  seventeen  years  in 
Jerusalem,  the  city  which  the  Lord  did  choose  out  of  all 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  to  put  his  name  there.  And  his 
mother's  name  was  Naaniah  an  Ammonitess.  22.  And 
Judah  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  they  provoked 

22.  But  the  word  of  God  came  unto  Shemaiah.  This  is  a  remarkable 
incident  as  showing  (1)  God's  condemnation  of  civil  war  ;  (2)  the  need  of 
recognising  Divine  judgments  in  the  calamities  of  history  ;  (3)  the  extra- 
ordinary influence  of  a  prophet  who,  by  a  plain  deliverance  of  truth, 
could  alter  a  king's  purpose  and  disperse  an  army  of  180,000  men,  many 
of  whom,  doubtless,  were  quite  ready  to  gratify  their  ancient  grudges 
against  PJphraim,  and  were  eager  for  the  war.  Cf.  a  similar  incident  in 
2  Chron.  xxviii. 

1  Kings  xiv.  21.  Rehoboam  was  forty  and  one  years  old  when  he 
began  to  reign.  He  must,  therefore,  have  been  born  before  Solomon's 
accession  to  the  throne.  This  has  been  thought  by  some  inconsistent 
with  the  statement  of  2  Chron.  xiii.  7,  that  he  was  at  this  time  '  young 
and  tender-hearted' ;  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  tirenty-one  was  the 
original  reading. 

And  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah  an  Ammonitess.  It  should  be 
noted  that  (just  as  in  the  case  of  Absalom)  the  children  born  of  heathen 
wives,  in  defiance  of  the  Law,  became  the  very  means  of  the  Divine 
punishment. 

22.  And  Judah  did  evil.  The  parallel  account  in  2  Chron.  xi.,  xii. 
should  be  consulted,  Avhere  it  is  stated  that  it  was  not  till  the  third 


72  2  CHRON.  XII.  1-12,  15,  16 

h  Deut.  xxxii.  him  to  ^jealousy  with  their  sins  which  they  had  com- 
58 ;  1  Cor!  x.  22!  mitted,  above  all  that  their  fathers  had  done.  23.  For  they 
3  pillars.  also  built  them  high  places,  and  ^  images,  and  ^  groves,  on 

every  high  hill,  and  under  every  green  tree. 

2  CHRON.  XI I.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Rehoboam 
had  established  the  kingdom,  and  had  strengthened  him- 
self, he  forsook  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  all  Israel  with 
him.  2.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  the  fifth  year  of  king 
Rehoboam  Shishak  king  of  Egypt  came  up  against  Jeru- 

year  of  Rehoboam  that  this  general  lapse  of  the  nation  into  idolatry 
took  place. 

They  provoked  him  to  jealousy.  The  Divine  jealousy  spoken  of  here  and 
elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  notably  in  the  Second  Commandment, 
means  the  righteous  jealousy  of  love.  The  nearest  parallel  to  it  in 
human  things  is  in  the  love  of  husband  and  wife,  which  is  often  chosen 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Bible  to  illustrate  the  relation  of  God  to  His 
people.  Just  as  in  that  human  love,  no  rival  can  or  ought  to  be  tolerated, 
so  in  a  higher  sphere,  God  desires  to  be  loved  entirely,  not  with  half  a 
heart. 

23.  Images.  These  may  have  been  pillars  (R.V. )  or  simply  upright 
stones,  like  the  '  menhirs '  of  Celtic  religion.  These  sacred  stones  were 
tolerated  in  patriarchal  times  like  the  multiplication  of  altars  ;  but  of 
course  were  forbidden  under  the  Mosaic  Law  (Lev.  xxvi.  1). 

And  groves.  This  is  an  unfortunate  mistranslation,  wherever  it  occurs 
it  should  be  understood  to  mean  *  Asherim,'  i.e.  probabl}'  wooden  images 
of  a  goddess  called  Asherah.  It  is  uncertain  whether  there  was  actually 
a  goddess  of  this  name,  or  whether  it  is  simply  another  form  of  Ashteroth. 
Another  explanation  of  Asherim  is  that  it  refers  to  sacred  wooden  pillars, 
tree-trunks  stripped  of  their  branches,  and  perhaps  carved  into  a  rough 
representation  of  a  divinity. 

Under  every  green  tree.  There  was  always  a  tendencj'  among  Eastern 
nations  to  venerate  sacred  trees.  To  dwellers  near  deserts  a  tree  has 
rilways  a  peculiar  charm,  which  easily  becomes  superstition. 

2  Cirnox.  xii.  1 .  When  Rehoboam  had  established  the  kingdom,  and 
had  strengthened  himself.  'J^ie  preceding  chapter  gives  the  details,  of 
which  tliis  is  a  siimmary.  Rehoboam  had  'built,'  i.e.  fortified,  fifteen 
cities,  chiefly  in  the  south  and  west,  evident!}"  as  a  protection  against 
invasion,  particularly  from  Egypt.  These  cities  he  garrisoned  and  pro- 
vided witli  stores  and  Avea]^ons.  The  same  chapter  menti(;ns  the  wives 
of  Rehoboam,  of  whom  the  favourite  was  Maachah,  'the  daughter  of 
Absalom.' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  it  was  not  till  Rehoboam  had,  as  he  thought, 
strengthened  his  kingdom  against  invasion  that  )ie  forsook  the  laM'  of 
God  :  and  not  till  then  that  the  very  invasion  whjpb  hf^  li-^d  provided^ 
against  fell  upon  him. 

2.    Shishak  king  of  Egypt.      This   Pharoah's   name   also   appears   aa 


REHOBOAM'S  SELF-WILL  73 

salem,  because  they  had  transgressed  against  the  Lord, 
3.  With  twelve  hundred  chariots,  and  threescore  thousand 
horsemen  :  and  the  peojile  were  without  number  that  came 
with  him  out  of  Egypt  ;  the  Lubims,  the  Sukkiims,  and 
the  Ethiopians.  4.  And  he  took  the  fenced  cities  which 
pertained  to  Judab,  and  came  to  Jerusalem.  5.  Then  came 
Shemaiah  the  prophet  to  Rehoboam,  and  to  the  princes  of 
Judah,  that  were  gathered  together  to  Jerusalem  because 
of  Shishak,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye 
have  forsaken  me,  and  therefore  have  I  also  left  you  in  the 
hand  of  Shishak.  6.  Whereupon  the  princes  of  Israel  and 
the  king  humbled  themselves  ;  and  they  said,  ^  The  Lord  is  c  Exocl.  ix.  27. 
righteous.  7.  And  when  the  Lord  saw  that  they  humbled 
themselves,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Shemaiah,  say- 
ing, They  have  humbled ,  themselves  ;  therefore  I  will  not 
destroy  them,  but  I  will  grant  them  some  deliverance  ;  and 
my  wrath  shall  not  be  poured  out  upon  Jerusalem  by  the 
hand  of  Shishak.  8.  Nevertheless  they  shall  be  his 
servants  ;  '^  that  they  mav  know  my  service,  and  the  service  d  Deut.  xxviii. 

47.  48. 

of  the  kingdoms  of  the  countries.     9.  So  Shishak  king  of 

Sheshonk  on  Egyptian  monuments,  and  in  Greek  as  Sesonchis.  He  was 
the  first  Pharoah  of  the  twentj'-second  dynasty,  and  probably  came  to  the 
throne  about  990  B.C.  There  is  an  inscription  on  the  walls  of  the  great 
Temple  at  Karnak,  in  which  Shishak  himself  commemorates  this  invasion ; 
he  seems  to  have  overrun  Palestine  generall}',  but  n<;)t  to  have  retained 
any  permanent  conquest. 

Because  they  had  transgressed  against  the  LORD.  This  was  not  of 
course  the  reason  in  Shishak"s  miud  for  the  invasion,  but  it  was  the  real 
reason.  The  inspired  historian  shows  us  the  divine  meaning  of  history, 
— the  true  causes  of  events  and  their  real  issues  as  they  are  in  the  mind 
of  God.  Cf.  the  striking  words  of  Isaiah  about  the  King  of  Assyria 
(Isa.  X.  5-15)  in  a  similar  connection. 

.S.  The  Lubims— /.e.  '  Libyans,'— inhabitants  of  North  Africa,  border- 
ing on  Egypt. 

The  Sukkiims— an  unknown  tribe.  The  LXX  renders  it '  Troglod3'tes,' 
i.fi.  the  cave-dwellers  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Red  Sea. 

s.  That  they  may  know  my  service,  and  the  service  of  the  kingdoms 
of  the  countries.  Israel  must  he  taught  a  lesson— part  of  the  Divine 
education  to  which,  throughout  tlieii'  history,  they  were  subjected,  the 
lesson  of  the  difference  between  God's  service,  wliich  they  had  cliafed 
under  and  refused,   and   the  service  of  a  mnster  of  this  world.      The 


74 


2  CHRON.  XII.  1-12,  15,  16 


€  1  Kings 
17. 


Egypt  came  up  against  Jerusalem,  and  took  away  the 
treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the 
king's  house  ;  he  took  all  :  he  carried  away  also  ^  the  shields 
of  gold  which  Solomon  had  made.  10.  Instead  of  which 
king  Rehoboam  made  shields  of  brass,  and  committed  them 
to  the  hands  of  the  chief  of  the  guard,  that  kept  the 
entrance  of  the  king's  house.  11.  And  when  the  king 
entered  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  the  guard  came  and 
fetched  them,  and  brought  them  again  into  the  guard 
chamber.  12.  And  when  he  humbled  himself,  the  wrath 
of  the  Lord  turned  from  him,  that  he  would  not  destroy 
him  altogether  :  and  also  in  Judah  °  things  went  well.  .  .  . 
15.  Now  the  acts  of  Rehoboam,  first  and  last,  are  they  not 
written  in  the  ^  book  of  Shemaiah  the  prophet,  and  of  Iddo 
the  seer  "  concerning  genealogies  ?  And  there  'were  wars 
between  Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam  continually.  16.  And 
Rehoboam  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  Avas  buried  in  the 
city  of  David  ;  and  Abijah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 


5  there  were 
good  things 
found. 

6  histories. 

7  after  the 
manner  of 
genealogies. 


surrender  of  the  treasures  of  Temple  and  palace  was  the  bribe  with  which 
Shishak  was  bought  off  :  it  was  a  national  humiliation. 

12.  Also  in  Judah  things  went  well.  See  Revised  Version.  The  godly 
few  were  the  salvation  of  the  ^^anJ^  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  would  have 
been  spared  had  ten  righteous  been  found  there.  This  is  revealed  to  us 
in  Hol}^  Scripture  as  a  law  of  the  Divine  mercy  and  long-suffering.  The 
world  is  preserved  for  the  sake  of  the  Church  :  and  even  in  a  degenerate 
Church  the  few  righteous  are  intercessors  before  God  on  its  behalf. 

15.  Concerning  genealogies.  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  book  Avas 
so  called  not  so  much  from  its  subject,  but,  as  was  common  among  the 
Jews,  from  the  first  striking  word  in  it,  which  was  perhaps  '  genealogies. ' 


LESSON  VIII 


Rehoboam's  Self-will 


Matter. 

L  Rehoboam. 

The  characteristics  of  Rehol)oam 
seem  to  be  iceahiess,  allowing  him- 
self to  be  led  by  those  who  were 
least  fit  to  lead,  and  >ielf-vHll.  He 
refuses  to  hear  the  words  of  wisdom 
of    the    aged    counsellors,    because 


Method. 

1.  Describe  the  meeting  between 
the  malcontents  and  Rehoboam. 

Point  out  tliat  we  are  not  told 
that  Rehoboam  asked  counsel  of 
God. 

Ask  M'hy  he  took  the  worse 
advice  :  and  show  that  he  did  not 


REHOBOAM'S  SELF-WILL 


75 


Lesson  VIII — continued.     Rehoboam's  Sp:lf-will 


Mattek. 

to  follow  their  advice  would  have 
meant  a  little  humiliation.  He  pre- 
fers to  win  the  applause  of  the 
younger  men  and  take  Avhat  seemed 
a  high-handed  and  imperious  line. 

In  the  same  way  he  seems  to  have 
been  influenced  l)y  the  princes  of 
Judali  in  his  later  apostasy. 

The  results  of  Rehoboam's  self- 
will  are  evident.  He  made  himself, 
as  it  were,  the  very  instrument  of 
the  Divine  punishment.  He  lost 
most  of  his  kingdom,  and  he  brought 
on  himself  and  his  people  the 
iiumiliation  of  invasion  and  defeat 
by  Shishak,  and  the  loss  of  the 
treasures  of  Solomon. 

2.  The  People. 

The  conduct  of  the  ten  tribes 
shows  the  same  self-willed  spirit, 
the  same  laclv  of  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility which  mark  Rehoboam.  They 
not  only  desired  freedom  from 
tribute,  but  they  were  disloyal  to 
the  house  of  David,  which  involved 
disobedience  to  the  known  will  of 
God. 

The  results,  as  far  as  the  people 
were  concerned,  of  their  self-willed 
rebellion,  were  the  fatal  schism  of 
the  kingdoms,  and  the  weakening 
of  both.  The  witness  of  tlie  chosen 
nation  to  Jehovah  became  obscured 
in  the  ej^es  of  the  heathen  when 
that  nation  was  divided  against  it- 
self. So  these  events  become  a  sad 
type  of  the  divisions  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  are  not  only  contrary 
to  the  Divine  ideal  of  i;nity  (S.  John 
xvii. ),  but  must  terribly  diminish 
the  influence  of  the  Church  on  the 
world,  especially  in  the  case  of 
missions  to  tlie  heathen. 


Method. 

wish  to  do  what  was  best  for  his 
people,  but  what  would  make  him- 
self appear  grand  in  the  eyes  of  his 
companions.  There  is  an  element 
of  '  showing  off '  in  Rehoboam's 
conduct  which  will  be  easily  under- 
stood by  children. 

The  teacher  will  point  out  that 
it  is  not  what  people  think,  or  what 
we  imagine  they  think,  about  us, 
which  is  of  real  importance,  but  an 
honest,  straightforward  will  to  do 
right. 

The  lesson  of  gentleness,  and  of  a 
'soft  answer  turning  away  wrath,' 
may  also  be  drawn  from  this  picture 
of  Rehoboam. 

2.    Question   on   the   conduct   of 
the  people  under  Jeroboam's  lead. 
What  did  they  say  they  wanted? 
What  did  they  really  want  ? 
Why  was  it  wrong? 
Refer  to  God's  promises  to  David. 


This  lesson  will  naturally  lead 
to  considering  the  deadly  sins  of 
schism  in  the  Church  and  rebellion 
in  the  State. 

For  rebellion,  see  Rom.  xiii.  1-7. 

For  schism,  see  S.  John  xvii.  20- 
23  ;  1  Cor.  i.  10  ;  iii.  3-5. 

The  petition  in  the  Litany  should 
be  quoted  ;  and  the  children  en- 
couraged to  pray  for  the  reunion  of 
Christians.  It  should  be  pointed 
out  that  self-will  is  usually  the  cause 
of  divisions  in  religion. 


3.  Justice  and  mercy. 

God's  justice  is  vindicated  in  the 
refusal  to  allow  any  attempt  at 
vengeance  on  the  revolting  tribes, 


3.  Describe  the  repentance  of  the 
people.  Show  that  tiieir  confession, 
'  The  Lord  is  righteous,'  is  the  exact 


EEHOBOAM'S  SELF-WILL 


Lesson  yill^continued.     Rehoboam's  Self-will 


Matter. 

and  in  the  permission  to  Shishak  to 
humiliate  still  further  Rehoboam 
and  his  people. 

But  repentance  is  never  unheard. 
When  people  humble  themselves 
and  confess  '  the  Lord  is  righteous, ' 
the  judgment  is  stayed.  At  the 
same  time  they  do  not  go  eutirelj'- 
unpunished.  Forgiveness  does  not 
necessarily  entail  the  removal  of  the 
temporal  punishment  of  sin.  Cf. 
Ps.  xcix.  8,  'Thou  heardest  them, 
O  Lord  our  God ;  thou  forgavest 
them,  0  God,  and  punishedst  their 
own  inventions.' 


Method. 

contrary  of  the  sin  of  self-will. 
Self-will  says,  '  /  am  righteous,  my 
own  way  is  right,  and  I  mean  to 
have  it.' 

Illustrate  by  Pharaoh. 

An  important  lesson  lies  in  the 
fact  that  punishment  may  be  given 
for  the  good  of  the  offender,  to  warn 
him  and  others  against  further  sin, 
even  if  he  has  been  forgiven. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Self-will. 

1 .  Rehoboam — self-ivilled. 

wanted  his  own  way. 
vain. 

wanted  to  be  admired  by  foolish 
companions. 

2.  The  people — equally  self-willed. 

refused  to  obey  their  lawful  king. 

rebellion  in  the  State")  , 

-deadly  sins, 
schism  ill  the  Church  I 

3.  Self-will  says,  'I  am  right.' 
Repentance  says,  'God  is  right.' 

4.  God  is  both  just  and  merciful. 

He  punished  both  king  and  people  for  their 
sin,  but  showed  mere}'  when  they  repented. 


SCHISM  77 


1  KINGS  XIL  25-33 ;  XIII.  ;  XIV.  1-20 

THEN  Jeroboam  built  "  Shechem  in  ^  mount  Ephraim,  a  Judges  ix.  46. 
^  Uhe  hill 

and  dwelt  therein  ;  and  went  out  from  thence,  and  country  of. ' 

built  ''Penuel.    26.  And  Jeroboam  said  in  his  heart,  &  Judges  viii.i 7. 

Now  shall  the  kingdom  return  to  the  house  of  David  : 

27.  If  this  people  go  up  to  do  sacrifice  in  the  house  of  the 

Lord  at  Jerusalem,  then  shall  the  heart  of  this  jDCople 

turn  again  unto  their  lord,  even  unto  Eehoboam  king  of 

Judah,  and  they  shall  kill  me,  and  go  again  to  Rehoboam 

king  of  Judah.     28.  Whereupon  the  king  took  counsel, 

and  made  two  calves  of  gold,  and  said  unto  them,  It  is  too 

much  for  you  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  :  <'  behold  thy  gods,  0  «  Exod.  xxxii.  4. 

Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

29.  And  he  set  the  one  in  Beth-el,  and  the  other  put  he  in 

25.  Penuel.  Jeroboam  not  only  fortifies  Shechem  (see  note  on  ver.  1), 
but  also  a  stronghold  on  the  east  side  of  Jordan,  Penuel,  the  scene  of 
Jacob's  wrestling  (Gen.  xxxii),  and  one  of  the  places  that  refused  help  to 
Gideon  in  his  pursuit  of  the  Midianites  (Judges  viii.  8).  The  site  is 
uncertain.  '  Penuel  was  probably  a  prominent  ridge  near  the  Jabbok  ; 
not  necessarily  to  the  south  of  this,  and  above  Succoth  "  (G.  A.  Smith's 
Hist.  Geog.,  pp.  585-86). 

28.  Two  calves  of  gold.  In  this  case,  no  doubt,  just  as  in  the  parallel 
idolatry  of  Israel  at  tSinai,  there  was  some  traditional  reason  for  the 
choice  of  a  calf  as  a  symbol  of  Jehovah.  Some  have  thought  the  '  cherub  ' 
was  originally  a  winged  bull,  under  which  form  Israel  in  pre-historic  days 
had  perhaps  worsliipped  Jehovah.  Others  have  supposed  that  the  calf  was 
a  reminiscence  of  the  bull-worship  of  Egypt,  though  this  theory  now  is 
generally  given  up.  It  may  be  simply  that,  among  a  pastoral  people,  the 
bull,  being  naturally  a  type  of  strength  and  of  increase,  was  adopted  as  a 
symbol  of  the  national  divinity.  But  so  long  as  such  degraded  ideas  of 
the  godhead  held  sway,  it  was  impossible  for  a  true  and  spiritual  religion 
to  be  learned  ;  hence  all  representations  of  Jehovah  are  forbidden  in  the 
Second  Commandment,  and  the  sacred  writers  uniformly  represent  this 
piece  of  state-craft,  which  made  religion  the  tool  of  politics,  and  pandered 
to  the  old  instincts  of  idolatry,  as  the  turning-point  for  evil  in  the 
existence  of  the  ten  tribes.  It  was  thus  that  Jeroboam  '  made  Israel  to 
sin.'  Cf.  the  allusions  to  the  calf-worship  in  Amos  iv.  4;  vii.  10,  13; 
and  in  Hosea  (more  clearly)  viii.  5,  6;  x.  5  (where  Beth-aven,  'house  of 
vanity,'  is  a  contemptuous  variation  for  Bethel,  '  house  of  God'). 

29.  And  he  set  the  one  in  Beth-el,  and  the  other  put  he  in  Dan.  These 
two  places  mark  the  limits  east  and  north  of  Jeroljtoam's  kingdom, 
like  Dan  and  Beersheba  in  the  days  of  the  undivided  kingdom.  Bethel 
had  of  course  religious  associations  dating  from  Jacob's  time  (cf.  1  Sam. 


1   KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;    XIII.  ;    XIV.    1-20 


Dan.     30.  And  this  thing  became  a  sin  :   for  the  peoi^le 
went  to  ivorship  before  the  one,  even  unto  Dan.     31.  And 

2  from  among  he  made  an  house  of  high  places,  and  made  priests  -  of  the 
e  peop  e.  ^^^^^g^  ^£  ^Y\q  people,  which  were  not  of  the  sons  of  Levi. 
32.  And  Jeroboam  ordained  a  feast  in  the  eighth  month, 
on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  like  unto  the  feast  that 
is  in  Judah,  and  he  offered  upon  the  altar.  So  did  he  in 
Beth-el,  sacrificing  unto  the  calves  that  he  had  made  :  and 

d  Amos  vii.  12  he  placed  in  ^'Beth-el  the  priests  of  the  high  places  which 
he  had  made.  33.  So  he  offered  upon  the  altar  which  he 
had  made  in  Beth-el  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  eighth  month, 
even  in  the  month  which  he  had  devised  of  his  own  heart ; 
and  ordained  a  feast  unto  the  children  of  Israel :  and  he 
offered  upon  the  altar,  and  burnt  incense. 

XIII.  1.  And,  behold,  there  came  a  man  of  God  out  of 

X.  3),  and  would  form  a  natural  rival  to  Jerusalem.  Why  Dan,  i.e.  Laish, 
was  selected  is  not  so  clear,  unless  the  ancient  idolatry  of  Micah  and 
'the  children  of  Dan'  (Judges  xviii.  30,  31)  had  lasted  on,  and  given  a 
superstitious  glamour  to  the  place. 

30.  The  people  went  to  worship  before  the  one,  even  unto  Dan.  Not 
an  easy  verse  to  understand,  unless  (as  suggested  by  Cambridge  Bible) 
it  means  that  the  extent  of  the  idolatry  of  the  people  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  they  not  merely  went  to  the  old  shrine  of  Bethel,  but  even 
to  the  far-off  Dan. 

31 .  And  made  priests  of  the  lowest  of  the  people.  This  phrase  is  some- 
what softened  in  the  Revised  Version,  but,  in  any  case,  Jeroboam's  action 
was  in  flat  defiance  of  the  Law  of  God.  A  parallel  action  in  modern 
times  would  be  the  setting  up  of  a  Christian  ministry  without  episcopal 
ordination.  Under  both  old  and  new  Covenants,  God  is  not  the  God  '  of 
confusion  but  of  peace,'  there  is  a  due  '  order'  to  be  observed,  which  man 
may  not  alter  '  after  his  own  heart.'  ^ 

32.  Like  unto  the  feast  that  is  in  Judah,  i.e.  the  feast  of  Tabernacles, 
which  was  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month. 

XIII.  1.  And,  hehold,  there  came  a  man  of  God  out  of  Judah.  The  mission 
of  this  unnamed  prophet  is  remarkably  like  that  of  Amos  in  the  days  of 
Jeroboam  ii. ,  a  century  and  a  half  later  (see  Amos  vii.).  The  northern 
kingdom,  in  God's  mercy,  became  especially  the  field  of  the  activity  of 
prophets;  both  of  those  from  Judah  who  came  across  the  frontier  to  deliver 
their  message  and  then  retired,  and  those  who  were  native  to  Israel,  like 
Elijah  and  Elisha.  It  was  not  till  every  appeal  had  been  rejected,  that 
the  ten  tribes  were  suffered  by  God  to  be  carried  into  captivity  (2  Kings 

1  According  to  2  Chron.  xi.  13,  14,  most  of  the  priests  and  Levites  belonging  to  the 
northern  kingdom,  refusing  to  have  anything  to  do  with  Jeroboam's  new  religion,  took 
refuge  with  Rehoboam.    Hence  Jeroboam  was  compelled  to  find  successors  to  them. 


THE  PROPHET'S  MESSAGE  79 

Judah  by  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Beth-el :  and  Jero- 
boam stood  by  the  altar  to  burn  incense.  2.  And  he  cried 
against  the  altar  in  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  said,  0 
altar,  altar,  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold,  a  child  shall  be 
born  unto  the  house  of  David,  ^  Josiah  by  name  ;  and  upon  e  2  Kings  xxiii. 
thee  shall  he  offer  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  burn 
incense  upon  thee,  and  men's  bones  shall  be  burnt  upon 
thee.  3.  And  he  gave  a  sign  the  same  day,  saying.  This  is 
the  sign  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;  Behold,  the  altar 
shall  be  rent,  and  the  ashes  that  are  upon  it  shall  be  poured 
out.  4.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  king  Jeroboam  heard 
the  saying  of  the  man  of  God,  which  had  cried  against  the 
altar  in  Beth-el,  that  he  put  forth  his  hand  from  the  altar, 
saying,  Lay  hold  on  him.  And  his  hand,  which  he  put 
forth  against  him,  dried  up,  so  that  he  could  not  pull  it  in 
again  to  him.  5.  The  altar  also  was  rent,  and  the  ashes 
poured  out  from  the  altar,  according  to  the  sign  which  the 
man  of  God  had  given  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  6.  And 
the  king  answered  and  said  unto  the  man  of  God,  Intreat 

now  the  face  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  -^pray  for  me,  that  /Exod.  viii.  S; 

-      .       '  ^      -^  '  Num.  xxi.  7 ; 

my  hand  may  be  restored  me  again.    And  the  man  of  God  be-  Acts  viii.  24 ; 

1       1      -r  1    1      T  •      ,    1        1  ;         T  1  •  .      S.  James  v.  16. 

sought  the  Lord,  and  the  kmg  s  hand  was  restored  him  again 

and  became  as  it  was  before.    7.  And  the  king  said  unto  the 

man  of  God,  Come  home  with  me,  and  refresh  thyself,  and 

xvii.   13-18).     On  the  subject  of  'prophets,'  and  the  prophetical  order, 
see  vol.  i.  p.  23. 

1.  By  the  word  of  the  LORD.  This  is  the  regular  expression  for  the 
inspiration  of  a  prophet,  who  declared  authoritatively  a  Divine  message. 
The  prophet  usually  prefaced  his  message  by  the  words,  '  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,'  as  in  ver.  2. 

2.  Josiah  by  name.  This  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  predictive 
prophecy.  The  words  of  the  prophet  were  exactly  fulfilled  some  three 
hundred  and  thirty  years  later  (2  Kings  xxiii.  15,  IG). 

7.  And  the  king  said  unto  the  man  of  God,  Come  home  with  me.  The 
king's  invitation  was  no  sign  of  repentance,  as  is  shown  by  his  subse- 
quent idolatry  (ver.  33).  He  was  either  frightened  for  the  moment  by 
this  exhibition  of  miraculous  power,  and  desired  to  propitiate  the 
prophet;  or  else  he  was  alarmed  for  the  effect  it  might  have  on  the 
people,  and  wished  to  show  that,  after  all,  he  and  the  prophet  were  on 
good  terms. 


80  1  KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;    XIII.  ;    XIV.  1-20 

g  2  Kings  v.  15.  I  will  give  thee  ^a  reward.  8.  And  the  man  of  God  said 
h  Num.  xxii.  IS.  unto  the  king,  If  thou  wilt  give  me  ^  half  thine  house,  I  will 
not  go  in  with  thee,  neither  will  I  eat  bread  nor  drink  water 
in  this  place  :  9.  For  so  was  it  charged  me  by  the  word 
i  1  Cor.  V.  11.  of  the  Lord,  saying,  '•  Eat  no  bread,  nor  drink  water,  nor 
turn  again  by  the  same  way  that  thou  camest.  10.  So  he 
went  another  way,  and  returned  not  by  the  way  that  he 
came  to  Beth-el.  11.  Now  there  dwelt  an  old  prophet  in 
Beth-el ;  and  his  sons  came  and  told  him  all  the  works 
that  the  man  of  God  had  done  that  day  in  Beth-el  :  the 
words  which  he  had  sj^oken  unto  the  king,  them  they  told 
also  to  their  ftither.  12.  And  their  father  said  unto  them. 
What  way  went  he  1  For  his  sons  had  seen  what  way  the 
man  of  God  went,  which  came  from  Judah.  13.  And  he 
said  unto  his  sons,  Saddle  me  the  ass.  So  they  saddled 
him  the  ass  :  and  he  rode  thereon,  14.  And  went  after 
the  man  of  God,  and  found  him  sitting  under  an  oak  :  and 
he  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  the  man  of  God  that  camest 
from  Judah  ?  And  he  said,  I  am.  15.  Then  he  said  unto 
him,  Come  home  wdth  me,  and  eat  bread.  16.  And  he 
said,  I  may  not  return  with  thee,  nor  go  in  with  thee  : 
neither  will  I  eat  bread  nor  drink  water  with  thee  in  this 
place  :  17.  For  it  was  said  to  me  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  Thou  shalt  eat  no  bread  nor  drink  water  there,  nor 
turn  again  to  go  by  the  way  that  thou  camest.  18.  He  said 
unto  him,  I  am  a  prophet  also  as  thou  art ;  and  an  angel 

9.  For  so  was  it  charged  me  by  the  word  of  the  LORD.  The  prophet 
was  bidden  to  have  no  intercourse  of  any  description  with  those  to  whom 
he  was  sent.  He  was  the  messenger  of  God's  wrath,  and  the  solemnity 
of  his  mission  must  not  be  toned  down  by  joining  in  meals  or  conversation 
with  the  idolaters. 

11.  Now  there  dwelt  an  old  prophet  in  Beth-el.  This  man  must  have 
been  one  of  the  class  of  i)rofessional  prophets.  He  was  a  prophet  of 
Jehovah,  but  had  profaned  his  office  ap})arently  by  acquiescing  in  the 
idolatry  of  Jeroboam.  His  object  in  h'ing  and  bringing  the  prophet 
from  Judali  to  his  house  was  probably  to  keep  himself  from  being  dis- 
credited. He  was  anxious  to  appear  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  a 
l)rophet  of  such  remarkable  powers.  See  a  striking  sermon  on  this 
subject  by  Liddon,  Old  Testament  Sermom^. 


DISOBEDIENCE  81 


spake  unto  me  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  saying,  Bring  him 
back  with  thee  into  thine  house,  that  he  may  eat  bread  and 
drink  water.  But  he  lied  unto  him.  19.  So  he  went 
back  with  him,  and  did  eat  bread  in  his  house,  and  drank 
water.  20.  And  it  came  to  jmss,  as  they  sat  at  the  table, 
that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  the  prophet  that 
brought  him  back  :  21.  And  he  cried  unto  the  man  of 
God  that  came  from  Judah,  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Forasmuch  as  thou  hast  disobeyed  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
and  hast  not  kept  the  commandment  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  commanded  thee,  22.  But  camest  back,  and  hast 
eaten  bread  and  drunk  water  in  the  place,  of  the  which 
the  LORD  did  say  to  thee,  Eat  no  bread,  and  drink  no 
water;  thy  carcase  shall  not  come  unto  the  sepulchre  of  thy 
fathers.  23.  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  he  had  eaten  bread, 
and  after  he  had  drunk,  that  he  saddled  for  him  the  ass,  to 
wit,  for  the  prophet  whom  he  had  brought  back.  24.  And 
when  he  was  gone,  a  lion  met  him  by  the  way,  and  slew 
him  :  and  his  carcase  was  cast  in  the  way,  and  the  ass 
stood  by  it,  the  lion  also  stood  by  the  carcase.  25.  And, 
behold,  men  passed  by,  and  saw  the  carcase  cast  in  the 
way,  and  the  lion  standing  by  the  carcase  :  and  they  came 
and  told  it  in  the  city  where  the  old  prophet  dwelt. 
26.  And  when  the  prophet  that  brought  him  back  from 
the  Avay  heard  thereof,  he  said,  It  is  the  man  of  God,  who 
was  disobedient  unto  the  ^  word  of  the  Lord  :  therefore  ^  mouth, 
the  Lord  hath  delivered  him  unto  the  lion,  which  hath 
torn  him,  and  slain  him,  according  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  which  he  spake  unto  him.  27.  And  he  spake  to 
his  sons,  saying.  Saddle  me  the  ass.  And  they  saddled 
him.  28.  And  he  went  and  found  his  carcase  cast  in  the 
way,  and  the  ass  and  the  lion  standing  by  the  carcase  :  the 

20.  The  word  of  the  LORD  came  unto  the  prophet  that  broug-ht  him 
hack.  Ill  spite  of  himself,  the  old  prophet  is  compelled  to  prophesy 
truly.  God  may  speak,  if  He  wills,  even  by  the  mouth  of  a  bad  man. 
So  Baalam,  wishing  to  please  Balak  by  cursing  Israel,  was  compelled  by 
the  overmastering  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  'to  bless  them  altogether.' 
HKB.  Moy.  ;   VOL.  II.  F 


82  1  KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;   XIII.  ;   XIV.  1-20 

lion  had  not  eaten  the  carcase,  nor  torn  the  ass.  29.  And 
the  projDhet  took  up  the  carcase  of  the  man  of  God,  and 
laid  it  ujDon  the  ass,  and  brought  it  back  :  and  the  old 
prophet  came  to  the  city,  to  mourn  and  to  bury  him. 
30.  And  he  laid  his  carcase  in  his  own  grave  ;  and  they 

j  Jer.  xxii.  18.  mourned  over  him,  saying,  •^Alas,  my  brother!  31.  And 
it  came  to  pass,  after  he  had  buried  him,  that  he  spake 
to  his  sons,  saying,  When  I  am  dead,  then  bury  me  in  the 

k  2  Kings  xxiii.  sej^ulchre  wherein  the  man  of  God  is  buried  ;  ^lay  my  bones 
beside  his  bones  :  32.  For  the  saying  which  he  criedby 
the  word  of  the  Lord  against  the  altar  in  Beth-el,  and 
against  all  the  houses  of  the  high  places  which  are  in  the 
cities  of  Samaria,  shall  surely  come  to  pass.  33.  After 
this  thing  Jeroboam  returned  not  from  his  evil  way,  but 
made  again  of  the  lowest  of  the  people  priests  of  the  high 
places :  whosoever  would,  he  consecrated  him,  and  he 
became  one  of  the  priests  of  the  high  places.  34.  And 
this  thing  became  sin  unto  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  even  to 
cut  it  ojBf,  and  to  destroy  it  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

XIV.  1.  At  that  time  Abijah  the  son  of  Jeroboam  fell 
sick.  2.  And  Jeroboam  said  to  his  wife.  Arise,  I  pray 
thee,  and  disguise  thyself,  that  thou  be  not  known  to  be 
the  wife  of  Jeroboam  ;  and  get  thee  to  Shiloh  :  behold, 

I  ch.  xi.  31.        theie  is  Ahijah  the  prophet,  ^  which  told  me  that  I  should 

he  king  over  this   people.      3.  And  take  with  thee  ten 

28.  The  lion  had  not  eaten  the  carcase  nor  torn  the  ass.  This  remark- 
able fact  showed  that  the  lion  was  the  direct  instrument  of  Divine 
judgment.  The  fate  which  had  befallen  the  disobedient  could  not  be 
put  down  to  'accident,'  or  'nature,'  or  'coincidence,'  or  any  other  of 
the  empty  conceptions  by  which  men  cheat  themselves  into  refusing  to 
recognise  the  liand  of  God. 

33.  Whosoever  would,  he  consecrated  him.  The  Hebrew  for  'conse- 
crated' literally  means  'filled  his  hand,'  and  probably  refers  to  the 
ceremony  of  placing  pai't  of  the  sacrificial  offerings  in  the  hand  of  the 
candidate  for  priesthood.  See  king  Abijah's  comment  on  Jeroboam's 
'consecration'  in  2  Chron.  xiii.  9. 

XIV.  3.  And  take  with  thee  ten  loaves,  and  cracknels.  The  present  was 
not  such  as  a  queen  would  have  presented  to  a  prophet  (see  the  king 
of  Syria's  present  for  Elisha,  2  Kings  v.  5).  It  was  of  the  humblest 
character,   such  as  would  be  offered   by  a  poor  country  woman.     The 


DISOBEDIENCE  83: 


loaves,  and  cracknels,  and  a  cruse  of  honey,  and  go  to 
him  :  he  shall  tell  thee  what  shall  become  of  the  child. 

4.  And  Jeroboam's  wife  did  so,  and  arose,  and  went  to 
Shiloh,  and  came  to  the  house  of  Ahijah.  But  Ahijah 
could  not  see  ;  for  his  eyes  were  set  by  reason  of  his  age. 

5.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Ahijah,  Behold,  the  wife  of 
Jeroboam  cometh  to  ask  a  thing  of  thee  for  her  son  ;  for 
he  is  sick  :  thus  and  thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  her  :  for  it 
shall  be,  when  she  cometh  in,  that  she  shall  feign  herself  to 
he  another  woman.  6.  And  it  was  so,  when  Ahijah  heard 
the  sound  of  her  feet,  as  she  came  in  at  the  door,  that  he 
said.  Come  in,  thou  wife  of  Jeroboam  ;  why  feignest  thou 
thyself  to  be  another  ?  for  I  am  sent  to  thee  with  heavy 
tidings.  7.  Go,  tell  Jeroboam,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  Forasmuch  as  I  exalted  thee  from  among  the 
people,  and  made  thee  prince  over  my  people  Israel,  8. 
And  rent  the  kingdom  away  from  the  house  of  David,  and 
gave  it  thee  :  and  yet  thou  hast  not  been  as  my  servant 
David,  who  kept  my  commandments,  and  who  followed  me 
with  all  his  heart,  to  do  that  only  which  was  right  in  mine 
eyes  ;  9.  But  hast  done  evil  above  all  that  were  before 
thee  :  for  thou  hast  gone  and  made  thee  other  gods,  and 
molten  images,  to  provoke  me  to  anger,  and  hast  cast  me 
behind  thy  back  :  10.  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  bring  evil 
upon  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  and  will  cut  off  from  Jero- 
boam ^hini  that  pisseth  against  the  wall,  and  him  that  is  ■*  every  man 

/■  ^        _      _  '  child,  him  tliat 

shut  up  and  left  in  Israel,  and  ^  will  take  away  the  remnant  is  shut  up  aiid 

^  '  "^  him  that  is  k-ft 

of  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  as  a  man  ^  taketh  away  dung,  at  large. 

till  it  be  all  gone.     11.  Him  that  dieth  of  Jeroboam  in  the  sweep  away  "the 

llOllSG 

city  shall  the  dogs  eat ;  and  him  that  dieth  in  the  field  6  sweepeth, 

word  rendered  '  cracknel '  is  of  uncertain  meaning.     The  Talmud  says 
that  they  were  small  cakes  about  lialf  the  size  of  an  egg. 

10.  Him  that  is  shut  up  and  left  in  Israel.  8ee  Revised  Version.  Tliis 
was  apparently  a  proverbial  expression,  meaning  'people  of  every  sort,' 
bond  and  free  alike. 

11.  Him  that  dieth  of  Jeroboam,  i.e.  all  of  the  familv  or  household  of 
Jeroboam  who  die  shall  remain  unburied  ;  the  last  possible  indignity  in 
the  eyes  of  a  Jew,  especially  as  it  involved  becoming  the  food  of  unclean 
beasts,  dogs,  and  vultures.     See  Jer.  xxii.  19. 


84  1  KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;    XIII.  ;    XIV.  1-20 

shall  the  fowls  of  the  air  eat :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 

12.  Arise  thou  therefore,  get  thee  to  thine  own  house  : 
and  when  thy  feet  enter  into  the  city,  the  child  shall  die. 

13.  And  all  Israel  shall  mourn  for  him,  and  bury  him  :  for 
he  only  of  Jerol3oam  shall  come  to  the  grave,  because 
in  him  there  is  found  some  good  thing  toward  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel  in  the  house  of  Jeroboam.  14.  Moreover 
the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up  a  king  over  Israel,  who  shall 
cut  off  the  house  of  Jeroboam  that  day  :  but  what  ?  even 

m  s.  Matt. xi. 7.  now.     15.  For  the  Lord  shall  smite  Israel,  "'as  a  reed  is 

shaken  in  the  water,  and  he  shall  root  up  Israel  out  of 

this  good  land,  which  he  gave  to  their  fathers,  and  shall 

?i  2  Kings  XV.     scatter  them  "bevond  the  river,  because  they  have  made 

29.  .  5  ^ 

7Asiierim.         their ''groves,  provoking  the  Lord  to  anger.     16.  And  he 

shall  give  Israel  up  because  of  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,  who 

did  sin,  and  who  made  Israel  to  sin.     17.  And  Jeroboam's 

wife  arose,  and  departed,  and  came  to  Tirzah  :  and  when 

13.  He  only  of  Jeroboam  shall  come  to  the  grave.  We  are  not  told  the 
age  of  Jeroboam's  son,  nor  in  what  his  piety  consisted.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  he  had  encouraged  the  people  to  continue  to  go  to  worship 
at  Jerusalem  ;  but,  at  any  rate,  his  earl}^  death  was  not  only  nor  chiefly 
a  judgment  upon  his  father,  but  was  an  act  of  mercy  to  himself.  It  may 
help  us  to  understand  something  of  the  mystery  of  early  and  apparently 
premature  deaths.     Cf.  what  is  said  of  Josiah,  2  Kings  xxii.  19,  20. 

'The  good  die  first, 
And  they  whose  hearts  are  dry  as  summer  dust 
Burn  to  the  sockets.' 

"WoRDSWOKTH,  ExcxLvsion,  i. 

14.  Moreover  the  LORD  shall  raise  him  up  a  king  over  Israel.  This 
king  was  Baaslia  (1  Kings  xv.  27-30),  who  exactly  fulfilled  this  prQphec3^ 
He  was  the  instrument  of  Divine  vengeance,  though  himself  an  evil  king. 
(See  chap.  xvi.  1-7.) 

But  what?  even  now.  Evidently  this  phrase  was  meant  to  express 
vividly  that  tlie  events  predicted  were  close  at  hand.  It  may  be  seen 
from  Ezek.  xii.  21-22  that  people  often  disregarded  a  prophet's  warning 
by  persuading  themselves  that  his  prediction  w^oulcl  not  be  fulfilled  for 
a  long  time. 

15.  The  river — i.e.  the  Euplirates. 

17.  Tirzah.  A  fortress,  once  a  royal  city  of  the  Canaanites  (Josh.  xii. 
24)  celebrated  for  its  beauty  (Cant.  vi.  4),  and,  perhaps,  for  that  reason 
chosen  b}'  Jeroboam  as  a  royal  residence.  Its  site  is  uncertain,  probably 
near  Shechem  :  '  In  the  territory  of  Ephraim,  the  fertile  plains,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  wooded  hills,  which  have  been  often  noticed  as  its  charac- 


DISOBEDIENCE 


85 


she  came  to  the  threshold  of  the  door,  the  child  died  ; 

18.  And  they  buried  him  ;  and  all  Israel  mourned  for  him, 

according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  the 

hand  of  his  servant  Ahijah  the   prophet.     19.  And  the 

rest  of  the  acts  of  Jeroboam,  ''how  he  warred,  and  how  o  2  ciuon.  xiii. 

he  reigned,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the 

chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel.     20.  And  the  days  which 

Jeroboam  reigned  were  two  and  twenty  years  :  and  he  slept 

with  his  fathers,  and  Nadab  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

teristic  ornaments,  at  once  gave  an  opening  to  the  formation  of  parks 
and  pleasure-grounds  similar  to  those  which  were  the  "Paradises"  of 
Assyrian  and  Persian  monarchs '  (Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp. 
243-44). 

20.  And  he  slept  with  his  fathers.  Jeroboam's  death  would  seem  from 
2  Chron.  xiii.  20  to  have  been  sudden,  and  regarded  as  a  Divine  judg- 
ment. 


LESSON  IX 

Disobedience 

Part  I. — Disobedience  of  the  Wicked. 


Matter. 

1.  A  disobedient  king. 

Jeroboam,  though  a  usurper,  had 
received  his  throne  by  divine  per- 
mission, and  in  accordance  M'ith 
prophecy.  He  knew  that  God's 
displeasure  had  brought  this  dis- 
aster upon  the  family  of  David. 
Yet,  although  he  did  not,  like 
Solomon,  adopt  the  worship  of 
foreign  idols,  he  nevertheless  broke 
the  most  solenni  requirements  of 
the  Law,  by  making  graven  images 
to  represent  Jehovah.  It  was,  in 
any  case,  a  deliberate  step  back- 
wards ;  it  was  going  1)ack  to  an 
earlier  and  corrupt  form  of  worship. 
Besides  the  withdrawal  of  tlie  people 
from  the  central  sanctuary  at  Jeru- 
salem was  also  a  retrograde  step  ; 
for  one  worship  with  one  centre 
was  the  Divine  ideal. 

Jeroboam's  excuses  for  this  act 
of    disobedience  were  worldly  and 


Method. 

1.  Recapitulate  from  previous 
lesson  the  duty  of  obedience  to 
rulers,  referring  to  Catechism, 

Ask  whether  a  king  has  to  obey 
any  one. 

Show  how  Jeroboam  disobeyed 
the  Divine  command. 

Point  out  that  we  must  never  ask 
first  what  is  the  safest  or  most  pru- 
dent course  to  adopt,  but  what  is 
the  right  one.  Has  God  given  any 
commandment  ? 


86 


1  KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;   XIII.  ;   XIV.  1- 


20 


Lesson  IX— continued.     Disobedience 


Matter. 
political.     He  could  not  trust  God 
who  had  given  him  his  throne,  to 
keep  it  for  him. 

2.   One  sin  leads  to  another. 

;■-  'A  ruler  cannot  help  being  respon- 
sible for  what  is  intrusted  to  him.  So 
Jeroboam  stands  out  in  Jewish  his- 
tor}^  emphatically,  as  the  one  who 
made  Israel  to  sin.  The  northern 
kingdom  never  recovered  from  the 
moral  etfect  of  Jeroboam's  act. 

It  should  be  noted  also  how  Jero- 
boam having  once  taken  this  false 
step  feels  himself,  as  it  were,  com- 
pelled to  go  on  with  it.  He  disre- 
.gards  all  warnings  ;  the  words  of 
the  prophet,  God's  stroke,  and 
even  God's  mercy  alike  are  ignored. 

3.  The  results  of  sin. 

Jeroboam  lost  his  kingdom,  or 
rather  it  was  lost  for  his  family,  by 
the  very  means  which  he  took  to 
preserve  it.  The  idolatry  which  he 
meant  to  be  a  bond  of  strength  to 
his  people  Avas  the  cause  of  their 
downfall.  God  looks  at  so  called 
'political  expediency'  with  other 
eyes  than  man  does. 


Method. 


2.  Illustrate  from  narrative — 

(a)  How  Jeroboam,  having  once 
begun,  went  on  sinning. 

The  first  step  is  always  the  most 
fatal. 

{b)  How  he  could  not  help  making 
other  people  sin  as  well  as  himself. 

See  what  our  Lord  says  about 
this  (S.  Matt,  xviii.  6). 

With  older  classes  dwell  on  re- 
sponsihility  for  others. 


3.  Show  how  the  same  prophet 
who  had  been  commissioned  to  tell 
Jeroboam  that  he  Avould  be  king,  is 
now  bidden  to  tell  him  that  his  chil- 
dren would  lose  the  kingdom. 

God's  gifts  can  only  be  kept  by 
obedience. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


3 

Learn 


Disobedience  of  the  Wicked. 

Jeroboam — a  disobedient  king — in  trying  to 
keep  his  kingdom  he  disobeyed  God,  who 
gave  it. 

Sin  leads  to  sin.  The  golden  calves  (dis- 
obedience to  Second  Commandment)  led  to 
disobedience  to  prophet  and  to  making 
other  people  sin. 

Sin  brings  its  own  punishment. 


— '  What  is  a  man  profited  if  he  gain  the 
Avhole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ? ' 


DISOBEDIENCE 


87 


Lesson  IX — continued.     Disobedience 


Part  II.— The  Disobedience  of  the  Good. 


Matter. 

1.  The  prophet's  mission. 

There  is  something  very  reniai'k- 
able  about  the  mission  of  this 
projDhet.  No  name  is  given — that 
is  of  no  importance.  What  is  im- 
portant is  that  he  came  '  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord,'  i.e.  under 
Divine  inspiration. 

He  was  not  told  what  particular 
circumstances  he  would  meet  with, 
what  special  temptations  might 
attack  him.  He  was  given  two 
things — 

(1)  A  plain  command  to  face  the 
king  and  tell  him  the  truth  from 
God. 

(2)  A  plain  command  to  accept 
no  refreshment  nor  hospitality. 
Having  delivered  his  message  he 
was  to  disappear,  not  even  going 
home  by  the  way  he  had  come. 

All  this  was  to  emj)hasise  the 
fact  that  the  message  and  not  the 
messenger  \vas  the  most  important 
thing. 

2.  The  prophet's  temptations. 

He  had  to  face  the  sudden  wrath 
of  the  king  as  well,  doubtless,  as 
the  derision  of  the  courtiers.  He 
confronted  this  in  the  courage  of 
faith — faith  which  could  win  from 
God  the  double  miracle,  the  wither- 
ing and  the  healing  of  the  king's 
hand. 

He  had  to  face  the  opposite 
danger  of  a  sudden  popularity. 
The  king  offers  him  reward  and 
the  honour  of  entertainment  at  the 
palace. 

Resisting  this,  he  had  of  course 
to  endure  hunger  and  weariness 
and  probal)ly  some  reaction  of 
spirits  after  the  strain  of  his  con- 
test with  the  king. 


Method. 

1.  Remind  of  Jeroboam's  sin. 
God  in  His  mercy  sends  a  prophet 
to  warn  him. 

Describe  the  scene — the  miracles. 
But  what  we  have  to  think  about 
to-day  is  the  prophet  himself. 

What  had  God  told  him  to  do? 

Why  was  he  forbidden  to  eat  and 
drink  at  Bethel,  or  to  go  home  the 
same  way  ? 

To  show  that  it  was  the  word  of 
God  and  not  of  man  ;  the  prophet 
was  to  be  a  voice  speaking  for  God, 
and  nothing  else.  He  was  not  to 
talk  about  his  message  afterwards, 
nor  what  he  had  done,  nor  was  he 
to  make  friends  with  those  who 
were  doing  what  God  had  for- 
bidden. 


2.  Describe  the  temptations 
which  beset  the  prophet,  and  tested 
his  loyalty  to  his  mission. 

(1)  In    the    king's    presence    at 

Bethel. 

(2)  In  loneliness,  as  he  went  back. 
Because  we    have   mastered   one 

temptation   or   two,    we   must   not 
think  that  the  struggle  is  over. 

Illustrate  by  the  different  temp- 
tations of  our  Lord.  Even  after  the 
third,  Satan  only  departed  from  him 
'for  a  season'  (S.  Luke  iv.  13). 


88 


1  KINGS  XII.  25-33  ;    XIII.  ;   XIV.  1-20 


Lessox  IX — continued.     Disobedience 


Matter. 

The  final  teinptcation  is  the  lie 
told  him  by  the  old  prophet  who, 
for  some  motive  of  his  own,  pro- 
bably to  cover  his  own  lack  of 
courage  to  warn  Jeroboam,  was 
eager  to  have  him  for  a  guest. 

3.  The  prophet's  disobedience. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  say  lohy 
the  prophet,  after  surmounting  so 
many  temptations,  yielded  to  this 
one.  Possibly  physical  reasons  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  it.  He 
may  have  been 'sitting  under  an  oak,' 
tired  out  and  hungry.  Or  perhaps 
he  was  flattered  by  the  attentions 
shown  him  by  an  older  prophet-  It 
is  often  more  difficult  to  withstand 
a  temptation  which  comes  from 
one's  own  class  or  order,  than  those 
which  are  suggested  from  quarters 
which  have  no  attraction  or  with 
which  we  are  not  familiar.  A  man's 
foes,  in  this  sense  also,  are  often 
those  '  of  his  own  household.' 

One  thing  is  certain  that  his 
commission  had  been  so  clearly 
addressed  to  his  own  conscience, 
that  had  he  been  true  to  conscience, 
he  would  not  have  listened  to  the 
old  prophet's  suggestion. 

See  Christian  Year  ;  poem  for  8th 
Sunday  after  Trinity, 


Method. 


3.  It  is,  of  course,  very  difficult 
to  explain  the  conduct  of  the  old 
prophet ;  both  his  falsehood,  and 
his  speaking  the  truth  under  Divine 
compulsion. 

It  will  be  best  to  point  out — 

(1)  Perseverance   to   the    end    is 

what  God  requires. 

(2)  The  need  of  absolute  loyalty 

to  any  command  which  we 
knoiv  comes  from  God,  even 
though  our  own  friends  or 
equals  trj-  to  persuade  us 
otherwise. 

(3)  If  time  alloAv,  the  terrible  con- 

sequence of  lying.     The  old 
prophet  was  the  cause  of  the 
death  of  '  the  man  of  God.' 
See  what  our  Lord  says  of  lying 
(S.  John  viii.  44). 

Picture  the  unavailing  regrets  of 
the  old  prophet. 


DISOBEDIENCE 


89 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Disobedience  of  the  Good. 

The  man  of  God,  or  ijroplut,  from  Juclah. 

1.  Commanded  by  God — 

(1)  To  warn  the  idolatrous  king. 

(2)  Not  to  eat  or  drink  at  Bethel. 

2.  Temptations  resisted — 

(1)  The  king's  anger. 

(2)  The  king's  offer  of  reward  and  refresh- 

ment. 

{^)  Temptation  yielded  to — 

The  old  prophet  deceives  liim  with  a  lie  ; 
persuades  him  to  disobey  God's  com- 
mand. 

Lesson — The  importance  of  obeying  God  rather 

than  pleasing  men,  or  pleasing  one's  self. 

'  He  that  shall  endure  unto  the  end,  the  same 

shall  be  saved.' 


90  2  CHRON.  XIII.  ;  XIV.  ;  XY.  ;  XVI. 


2  CHRON.  XIII. ;  XIY. ;  XV. ;  XVI. 

"lyrOW  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  king-  Jeroboam  began 
11  Abijah  to  reign  over  Judah.  2.  He  reigned  three 
years  in  Jerusalem.  His  mother's  name  also  was 
Michaiah  the  daughter  of  Uriel  of  Gibeah.  And  there  was 
war  between  Abijah  and  Jeroboam.  3.  And  Abijah  set 
the  battle  in  array  with  an  army  of  valiant  men  of  war, 
even  four  hundred  thousand  chosen  men  :  Jeroboam  also 
set  the  battle  in  array  against  him  with  eight  hundred 
thousand  chosen  men,  beiiig  mighty  men  of  valour.  4.  And 
Abijah   stood  up  upon  mount   "Zemaraim,   which  is  ^  in 


a  Josh,  xviii. 
22. 


1  in  the  hill       mount  Ephraim,  and  said,  Hear  me,  thou  Jeroboam,  and 
country  of. 

all  Israel ;  5.  Ought  ye  not  to  know  that  the  Lord  God  of 

Israel  gave  the  kingdom  over  Israel  to  David  for  ever,  even 

to   him  and   to  his  sons  by  a  covenant  of  salt  ?     6.  Yet 

XIII.  1,  Abijah.  Called  in  I  Kings  xv,  Abijam.  The  account  in  Kings 
of  this  monarch  appears  at  first  sight  inconsistent  with  that  in  Chronicles. 
The  earlier  writer  states  that  '  he  walked  in  all  the  sins  of  his  father 
which  he  had  done  before  him.'  But  it  should  be  noted  that  the  chroni- 
cler abstains  from  any  general  judgment  about  Abijah,  e.g.  he  does  not 
say  that  '  he  did  that  which  was  good  and  right,'  as  is  stated  in  the  case 
of  Asa  (chap.  xiv.  2).  It  would  be  quite  consistent  that  a  man  who, 
speaking  generally,  followed  the  religious  laxness  of  Rehoboam  and 
Solomon  should  yet,  at  a  great  crisis,  make  an  appeal  on  belialf  of  the 
national  religion  like  that  attril:)uted  to  Abijah.  Nor  is  it  out  of  harmony 
with  the  Divine  dealings  that  the  people  who  followed  him,  and  'relied 
on  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,'  should  be  rewarded  with  victory.  Cf. 
the  similar  case  of  Rehoboam  and  the  princes  of  Israel  in  chap.  xii. 

2.  His  mother's  name  also  was  Michaiali.  More  probal:)ly  Maachah,  as 
in  chap.  xi.  20,  and  in  1  Kings  xv.  2.  There  is  also  some  inconsistency 
as  to  the  name  of  Abijah's  grandfather.  But  in  the  absence  of  full  know- 
ledge the  question  cannot  be  decided.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
Maachah  was  the  daughter  of  Uriel,  and  the  grand-daughter  of  Absalom, 
of  which  name  Abishalom  is  merely  another  form. 

3.  Four  hundred  thousand  chosen  men.  These  numbers,  if  correct, 
nnist  refer  to  the  whole  ligliting  strength  of  the  two  kingdoms,  and  not 
to  the  actual  armies  in  one  battle.  It  should  be  noticed  that  the 
numbers  correspond  roughly  to  the  results  of  the  census  taken  by  David 
(2  Sam.  xxiv.  9). 

5.  A  covenant  of  salt,  i.c  a  covenant  binding  by  a  solemn  religious 
sanction.     There  is  a  close  connection  between  the  ritual  of  a  covenant 


CONFIDENCE,  TRUE  AND  FALSE  91 

Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  the  servant  of  Solomon  the  son 

of  David,  is  risen  up,  and  hath  rebelled  against  his  lord. 

7.  And  there  ^are  gathered  unto  him  ^vain  men,  the  chil-  -  were. 

h  Judges  ix,  4. 
dren  of  Belial,  and  have  strengthened  themselves  against 

Kehoboam  the  son  of  Solomon,  when  Rehoboam  was  young 

and  tenderhearted,  and  could  not  withstand  them.     8.  And 

now  ye  think  to  withstand  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  in  the 

hand  of  the  sons  of  David  ;  and  ye  be  a  great  multitude, 

and  there  are  with  you  golden  calves,  which  Jeroboam  made 

you  for  gods.     9.  Have  ye  not  cast  out  the  priests  of  the 

Lord,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  the  Levites,  and  have  made 

you  priests  after  the  manner  of  the  nations  of  other  lands  ? 

so  that  whosoever  cometh  to  consecrate   himself  with  a 

young  bullock  and  seven  rams,  the  same  may  be  a  priest  of 

them  that  are  no  gods.     1 0.  But  as  for  us,  the  Lord  is  our 

God,  and  we  have  not  forsaken  him  ;  and  the  priests,  which 

minister  unto  the  Lord,  are  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  the 

Levites  ivait  upon  their  business  :  11.  And  they  burn  unto 

the  Lord  every  morning  and  every  evening  burnt  sacrifices 

and  sweet  incense  :  the  shewbread  also  set  they  in  order 

upon  the  pure  table  ;  and  the  candlestick  of  gold  with  the 

lamps  thereof,  to  burn  every  evening  :    for  we   keep  the 

charge  of  the  Lord  our  God ;  but  ye  have  forsaken  him. 

12. ;  And,  behold,  God  himself  is  with  us  ^for  our  captain,  ^  at  our  head, 

and  his  priests  with  *  sounding   trumpets,  to   cry  alarm  o/^i^j^!^^^^™^^*^ 

against  you.     0  children  of  Israel,  fight  ye  not  against  the 

Lord  God  of  your  fathers  ;  for  ye  shall  not  prosper.     13. 

But    Jeroboam   caused    an   ambushment   to   come   about 

behind  them  :  so  they  were  before  Judah,  and  the  anibush- 

and  a  sacrifice — a  covenant  was  ratified  bj^  a  sacrifice  (see  Gen.  xv.); 
indeed,  the  underlying  idea  in  both  is  similar,  viz.  the  friendship  between 
two  parties  cemented  bj'  a  meal  taken  in  common.  Hence  '  a  covenant 
of  salt'  would  mean,  in  the  first  place,  a  covenant  in  which  each  party 
had  partaken  of  the  same  salt.  And  this  may  have  been  the  original 
reason  why  sacrifices  were  always  "salted  with  salt.'  Cf.  Lev.  ii.  13,  and 
S.  Mark  ix.  49. 

7.  The  children  of  Belial.  Belial  is  not  really  a  proper  name,  though 
so  understood  in  later  times.  The  phrase  simply  means  '  children  of 
wortlilessness,'  and  so  'worthless  persons.' 


92  2  CHRON.  Xin.  ;  XIV.  ;  XV.  ;  XVI. 

luent  was  behind  them.  14.  And  when  Judah  looked  back, 
behold,  the  battle  ivas  before  and  behind :  and  they  cried 
unto  the  Lord,  and  the  priests  sounded  with  the  trumpets. 
15.  Then  the  men  of  Judah  gave  a  shout :  and  as  the  men 
of  Judah  shouted,  it  came  to  pass,  that  God  smote  Jero- 
boam and  all  Israel  before  Abijah  and  Judah.  16.  And 
the  children  of  Israel  fled  before  Judah  :  and  God  delivered 
them  into  their  hand.  17.  And  Abijah  and  his  people 
slew  them  with  a  great  slaughter  :  so  there  fell  down  slain 
of  Israel  five  hundred  thousand  chosen  men.  18.  Thus  the 
children  of  Israel  were  l)rought  under  at  that  time,  and  the 
children  of  Judah  prevailed,  because  they  relied  upon  the 
Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  19.  And  Abijah  pursued  after 
Jeroboau),  and  took  cities  from  him,  Beth-el  with  the 
towns  thereof,  and  Jeshanah  with  the  towns  thereof,  and 
Epliron.  5  Ephrain  with  the  toAvns  thereof.     20.  Neither  did  Jero- 

boam recover  strength  again  in  the  days  of  Abijah  :  and 
the  Lord  struck  him,  and  he  died.  21.  But  Abijah  waxed 
-  mighty,  and  married  fourteen  wives,  and  begat  twenty  and 
two  sons,  and  sixteen  daughters.  22.  And  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Abijah,  and  his  ways,  and  his  sayings,  are  written 
c  chap,  xii!'  is!   in  the  *''  story  of  the  proi^het  '^  Iddo. 

16.  And  the  ctiildren  of  Israel  fled  before  Judali.  It  is  quite  likely  that 
the  appeal  of  Abijcah  may  have  caused  some  searchiiigs  of  heart  and 
wavering  among  the  children  of  Israel ;  the  idolatry  was  too  recently 
established  for  them  to  have  altogether  acquiesced  in  going  no  longer  to 
Jerusalem  ;  although  a  larger  arni^^  they  lied  before  the  religious  courage 
and  unity  of  Jiulah. 

17.  Five  hundred  thousand  chosen  men.  This  is  clearly  impossible. 
Either,  as  often,  the  copyist  has  made  a  mistake  in  the  number  ('five 
tliousand  '  has  been  suggested)  ;  or  else  it  is  a  statement  in  round  numbers 
of  those  who  fell  during  the  whole  war. 

19.  Beth-el  must  have  l^ecn  recovered  soon  afterwards,  for  it  appears 
again  as  the  centre  of  the  calf -worship. 

Jeshanah  is  unknown. 

Ephrain,  or  Kphron,  is  perhaps  the  Ephraim  of  S.  John  xi.  54. 

22.  The  story.  The  Hebrew  word  is  '  midrash,'  a  word  which  became 
familiar  after  the  Captivity  as  the  name  of  the  different  commentaries  of 
the  Jewish  doctors  upon  tlie  Law  of  Moses. 


CONFIDENCE,  TRUE  AND  FALSE  93 

XIV.  1.  So  Abijali  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  they  buried 
him  in  the  city  of  David  :  and  Asa  his  son  reigned  in  his 
stead.  In  his  days  the  land  was  quiet  ten  years,  2.  And 
Asa  did  that  which  was  good  and  right  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  his  God  :  3.  For  he  took  away  the  altars  of  the  strange 
gods,  and  the  high  places,  and  brake  down  the  '  images,  7  pillars. 
and  cut  down  the  ^  groves.  4.  And  commanded  Judah  to  s  Asherim. 
seek  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and  to  do  the  law  and 
the  commandment.  5.  Also  he  took  away  out  of  all  the 
cities  of  Judah  the  high  places  and  the  ^  images  :  and  the  9  sun-images. 
kingdom  was  quiet  before  him.  6.  And  he  built  fenced 
cities  in  Judah  :  for  the  laud  had  rest,  and  he  had  no  war 
in  those  years  ;  because  the  Lord  had  given  him  rest. 
7.  Therefore  he  said  unto  Judah,  Let  us  build  these  cities, 
and  make  about  them  walls,  and  towers,  gates,  and  bars, 
ivhile  the  land  is  yet  before  us  ;  because  we  have  sought 
the  Lord  our  God,  we  have  sought  him,  and  he  hath  given 
US  rest  on  every  side.  So  they  built  and  prospered.  8.  And 
Asa  had  an  army  of  men  that  bare  targets  and  spears,  out 
of  Judah  three  hundred  thousand  ;  and  out  of  Benjamin, 
that  bare  shields  and  drew  bows,  two  hundred  and  four- 
score thousand  :  all  these  ivere  mighty  men  of  valour.  9. 
And  there  came  out  against  them  Zerah  the  Ethioj^ian  with 
an  host  of  a  thousand  thousand,  and  three  hundred  chariots  ; 
and  came  unto  '^  Mareshah.  10.  Then  Asa  went  out  against  d  Josh.  xv.  44. 
him,  and  they  set  the   battle   in   array  in   the  valley   of 

XIV.  5.  The  images.  These  '  sun-images  '  (R.  Y. )  may  have  been  obelisks 
in  honour  of  the  sun-god,  or  merely  hearths,  on  which  a  sacred  fire  was 
kept  alight  in  honour  of  some  god,  like  the  fire  sacred  to  Vesta  at 
Rome. 

8.  Targets  and  spears  ai-e  apparently  the  equipment  of  the  heavy  armed 
infantry  of  the  line,  like  the  '  hoplites '  of  the  ancient  Greeks  ;  while 
shields  and  bows  would  be  proper  to  lighter  troops.  The  men  of  Ecajamiu 
(Judges  XX.  IG)  were  famous  for  their  skill  in  the  use  of  the  sling.  Moun- 
tainous country,  of  course,  favours  this  style  of  warfare. 

9.  Zerah  the  Ethiopian.  It  is  uncertain -irho  this  invader  was.  Some 
suppose  him  to  have  heen  an  Egyptian,  Aviih  which  supposition  the  pres- 
ence of  chariots  in  the  army  agrees  ;  others,  an  Arabian,  as  Cash  was  the 
ancestor  of  certain  Arabian  tribes  (Gen.  x.  7),  and  the  word  rendered 
*  Ethiopian  '  is  really  '  Cushite.' 


94  2  CHRON.  XIII.  ;  XIV.  ;  XV.  ;  XVI. 

Zephathah   at    Mareshah.     11.  And   Asa  cried   unto   the 

ill  there  is  none  LoRD  his  God,  and  said,  Lord,  ^°  it  is  nothing  ^Yith  thee  to 

beside  thee  to  •  i        i  i         i 

help  between      help,  'rhether   With   many,    or  with   them   that  have   no 

the  mighty  and  /-<     i       r  i.  ^i 

him  that  hath    power     help  US,  O  LoRD  our  God  ;  tor  we  rest  on  thee, 

leng  1.       ^^^^  j^  ^j^^^  name  we  go  against  this  multitude.     0  Lord, 

thou  art  our  God  ;  let  not  man  prevail  against  thee.     12. 

So  the  Lord  smote  the  Ethiopians  before  Asa,  and  before 

Judah  ;  and  the  Ethiopians  fled.     13.  And  Asa  and  the 

11  and  there  fell  people  that  were  with  him  pursued  them  unto  Gerar:  ^^  and 

pians  so  many    the   Ethiopians   were    overthrown,   that  they   could  not 

^  '  recover  themselves  ;    for  they  were  destroyed   before  the 

Lord,  and  before  his  host ;  and  they  carried  away  very 

much  spoil.    14.  And  they  smote  all  the  cities  round  about 

e  Gen.  xxxv.  5.  Gerar  ;  for  '^  the  fear  of  the  Lord  came  upon  them :  and 

they  spoiled  all  the  cities  ;  for  there  Avas  exceeding  much 

spoil  in  them.     15.  They  smote  also  the  tents  of  cattle,  and 

carried  away  sheep  and  camels  in  abundance,  and  returned 

to  Jerusalem. 

/Nura.xxiv.  2;      XV.  1.  And -^ the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  Azariah  the 

chap.  xx'.  14,'     son  of  Oded  :  2.  And  he  went  out  to  meet  Asa,  and  said 

xxiv   20 

unto  him.  Hear  ye  me,  Asa,  and  all  Judah  and  Benjamin  ; 
g  s.  James  iv.  ^  The  LoRD  is  with  you,  while  ye  be  with  him  ;  and  ''  if  ye 
h  s.  Matt.  vii.    Seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of  you  ;  but  if  ye  forsake  him, 

he  will  forsake  you.  3.  Now  for  a  long  season  Israel  hath 
Mai.  ii.  7.     '      been  without  the  true  God,  and  without '  a  teaching  priest, 

15.  The  tents  of  cattle.  This  is  au  obscure  expression,  and  perhaps 
the  proper  reading  would  be  the  name  of  some  tribe. 

XV.  1.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  Azariah.  This  is  one  of  the 
many  interesting  passages  iii  the  Old  Testament  where  the  personal 
action  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost  is  spoken  of.  He  '  spake  by  the  prophets  ' 
on  various  occasions  and  in  various  waj^s  (of.  Heb.  i.  1)  ;  but  His  full 
inspiration,  and  permanent  indwelling  were  reserved  for  the  times  of 
Christ.  He  now  dwells  with  and  speaks  in  the  Church  permanently, 
giving  each  member  of  the  Church  guidance  and  strength  according  to 
his  needs  ;  besides  guiding  the  Church  as  a  whole  into  '  all  the  truth.' 

3.  Now  for  a  long  season,  Apparenth^  verses  3-6  are  parenthetical 
and  the  words  of  tlio  writer  himself,  intended  to  show  the  need  for  such 
an  exliortation  as  that  of  Azariali.  The  prophet's  actual  words  are  re- 
sumed in  vcr.  7. 

Without  a  teaching  priest.     The  Old  Testament  ideal  of  the  priesthood 


CONFIDENCE,  TRUE  AND  FALSE  95 

and  without  law.     4.  But  when  they  in  their  trouble  did 

turn  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  sought  him,  he  was 

found  of  them.     5.  And  in  those  times  there  was  no  peace 

to  him  that  went  out,  nor  to  him  that  came  in,  but  great 

vexations  ivere  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  countries. 

6.  ^2  And  nation  was  destroyed  of  nation,  and  city  of  city  :  ^-  ^^^  ^l^^y  . 
•^  '  ./  ./   ^  were  broken  in 

for  God  did  vex  them  with  all  adversity.     7.  Be  ye  strong  pieces,  nation 

against  nation, 
therefore,  and  let  not  your  hands  be  weak:  for  your  work  and  city  against 

shall  be  rewarded.     8.  And  when  Asa  heard  these  words, 

and  the  prophecy  of  Oded  the  prophet,  he  took  courage, 

and  put  away  the  abominable  idols  out  of  all  the  land  of 

Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  out  of  the  cities  which  he  had 

taken  from  mount  Ephraim,  and  renewed  the  altar  of  the 

Lord,  that  was  before  the  porch  of  the  Lord.     9.  And  he 

gathered  all  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  ^^  the  strangers  with  ^^  them  that 
^  J  J  o  sojourned. 

them  out  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  out  of  Simeon  : 

for  they  fell  to  him  out  of  Israel  in  abundance,  when  they 

saw  that  the  Lord  his  God  tvas  with  him.     10.  So  they 

gathered  themselves  together  at  Jerusalem  in   the  third 

month,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa.     11.  And 

they  oflered  unto  the   Lord  the  same  time,  of  the  spoil 

which  they  had  brought,  seven  hundred  oxen  and  seven 

thousand  sheep.     12.  And  •'they  entered  into  a  covenants  2Kingsxxiii 

.  Neh.  X. 

to  seek  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  with  all  their  heart 

and  with  all  their  soul ;  13.  ^"That  whosoever  would  not  seek  k  Exod.  xxii. 

the  Lord  God  of  Israel  should  be  put  to  death,  whether  e-i'i. 

was  that  it  sliould  be  an  institution  for  teaching,  giving  moral  instruc- 
tion, and  explaining  the  Law  to  suit  different  needs,  and  not  merely 
engaged  in  sacrifice  and  worship.  See  the  blessing  of  Levi,  Deut.  xxxiii., 
and  the  marginal  references. 

7.  Be  ye  strong  therefore.  It  is  important  to  notice  how  frequently  in 
the  Bible  this  exhortation  is  given.  God's  call  and  His  effectual  grace 
demand  human  resj^onse.  Our  most  earnest  and  bravest  efforts  are  needed 
to  co-operate  with  God's  help.  '  The  fearful '  rank  with  the  worst 
sinners,  and  are  cast  out  of  the  heavenly  city  (Rev.  xxi.  8). 

8.  Oded  the  prophet.  There  is  evidently  here  some  mistake  in  the 
text,  as  the  prophets  name  was  Azariah.  Some  copyist  no  doubt  missed 
out  the  name,  and  his  error,  with  Jewish  conservatism,  was  repeated 
until  it  became  impossible  to  correct  it. 


96 


CHEON.  XIII.  ;  XIV.  ;  XV.  :  XVI. 


small  or  great,  whether  man  or  woman.  14.  And  they  sware 
unto  the  Lord  with  a  loud  voice,  and  with  shouting,  and 
with  trumpets,  and  with  cornets.  15.  And  all  Judah  rejoiced 
at  the  oath  :  for  they  had  sworn  with  all  their  heart,  and 
sought  him  with  their  whole  desire  ;  and  he  was  found  of 
them  :  and  the  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about.  16.  And 
also  concerning  Maachah  the  mother  of  Asa  the  king,  he 
removed  her  from  being  queen,  because  she  had  made  ^^  an 
idol  in  a  grove  ;  and  Asa  cut  down  her  idol,  and  ^^  stamped 
it,  and  burnt  it  at  the  brook  Kidron.  17.  But  the  high 
places  were  not  taken  away  out  of  Israel :  nevertheless  the 
heart  of  Asa  was  perfect  all  his  days.  18.  And  he  brought 
into  the  house  of  God  the  things  that  his  father  had  dedi- 
cated, and  that  he  himself  had  dedicated,  silver,  and  gold, 
and  vessels.  19.  And  there  was  no  77iore  war  unto  the  five 
and  thirtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa. 

XVI.  1.  In  the  six  and  thirtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa 
Baasha  king  of  Israel  came  up  against  Judah,  and  built 
Kamah,  to  the  intent  that  he  might  let  none  go  out  or  come 
in  to  Asa  king  of  Judah.     2.  Then  Asa  brouoht  out  silver 


14  an  abomin- 
able image  for 
an  Asherah. 

15  made  dust 
of  it. 


16.  He  removed  her  from  being  queen,  i.e.  from  the  position  of  '  queen- 
mother '  (R.V.  margin),  which  was  a  very  honourable  one  among  Oriental 
nations, 

1 7.  But  the  high  places  were  not  taken  away  out  of  Israel.  This  expres- 
sion appears  inconsistent  with  xiv.  3,  but  very  likely  it  refers  to  some- 
thing different.  Asa  may  have  taken  away  those  high  places  where 
worship  was  offered  to  other  gods,  but  left  those  where  Jehovah  was  wor- 
shipped. These  latter  were,  of  course,  unauthorised,  and  were  superseded 
by  the  Temple,  yet  they  long  retained  the  affections  of  the  people. 

The  heart  of  Asa  was  perfect.  This  does  not  mean  that  Asa  was  morally 
perfect,  but  that  he  gave  an  undivided  loyalty,  as  David  had  done,  and 
Solomon  had  not  done,  to  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel. 

XVI.  1.  In  the  six  and  thirtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa.  Here  again 
there  must  be  some  corruption  in  the  text ;  for,  according  to  1  Kings  xvi., 
Elah,  and  not  Baasha,  would  be  reigning  at  this  time.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  writer's  meaning  was  that  this  attack  from  Baasha  took 
place  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  after  the  division  of  the  kingdoms,  which 
would  be  the  sixteenth  year  of  Asa's  reigu. 

Ramah.  There  are  eight  different  places  which  may  correspond  to 
the  ancient  llamah  (Stanley's  Sinai  and  Paleatine,  pp.  224-25).  'It  is, 
without  exception,  the  most  complicated  and  disputed  problem  of  sacred 
topography.'     Most  probably  it  is  the  modern  er-Ram,  a  commanding 


CONFIDENCE,  TRUE  AND  FALSE  97 

and  gold  out  of  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  and 
of  the  king's  house,  and  sent  to  Ben-hadad  king  of  Syria, 
that  dwelt  at  Damascus,  saying,  3.  There  is  a  league 
between  me  and  thee,  as  there  was  between  my  father  and 
thy  father :  behold,  I  have  sent  thee  silver  and  gold  ;  go, 
break  thy  league  with  Baasha  king  of  Israel,  that  he  may 
dejxirt  from  me.  4.  And  Ben-hadad  hearkened  unto  king 
Asa,  and  sent  the  captains  of  his  armies  against  the  cities 
of  Israel  ;  and  they  smote  Ijon,  and  Dan,  and  Abel-maim, 
and  all  the  store  cities  of  Naphtali.  5.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  Baasha  heard  it,  that  he  left  off  building  of 
Ramah,  and  let  his  work  cease.  6.  Then  Asa  the  king 
took  all  Judah  ;  and  they  carried  away  the  stones  of 
Ramah,  and  the  timber  thereof,  wherewith  Baasha  was 
building  ;  and  he  built  therewith  Geba  and  Mizpah.  7. 
And  at  that  time  '  Hanani  the  seer  came  to  Asa  king  of  l  i  Kings  xvi.  i. 
Judah,  and  said  unto  him, '"  Because  thou  hast  relied  on  the  m  isa.  xxxi.  i. 
king  of  Syria,  and  not  relied  on  the  Lord  thy  God,  there- 
fore is  the  host  of  the  king  of  Syria  escaped  out  of  thine 
hand.  8.  Were  not "  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Lubims  a  huge  n  chap.  xiv.  9. 
host,  with  very  many  chariots  and  horsemen  ?  yet,  because 

hill  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Beth-el,  about  two  hours'  journey 
north  of  Jerusalem — a  spot  where  a  hostile  fortress  would  be  a  constant 
menace  and  trouble  to  the  southern  kingdom. 

4.  And  all  the  store  cities  of  Naphtali.  In  1  Kings  xv.  20,  '  All  Cinneroth, 
with  all  the  land  of  Naphtali,'  i.e.  the  region  of  northern  Galilee,  to  the 
west  and  north  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.     Cf.  Isa.  ix.  1. 

6.  He  built  therewith  Geba  and  Mizpah.  These  are  on  the  northern 
frontier  of  Benjamin  ;  the  building  of  the  two  fortresses  was  a  retaliation 
upon  Baasha  in  his  own  kind. 

7.  Because  thou  hast  relied  on  the  king-  of  Syria.  This  reproof  of 
Hanani's  is  in  keeping  with  those  constantly  given  in  later  history  by  the 
prophets,  e.g.  by  Isaiah  respecting  Egypt  (xxx.  xxxi.),  and  by  Hosea  in 
the  case  of  both  Egypt  and  Assyria  (vii.  11  ;  xiv.  3).  Even  from  a  worldly 
point  of  view,  it  was  bad  policy  to  invite  the  intervention  of  a  stronger 
and  unscrupulous  neighbour.  But  the  point  which  the  inspired  prophets 
emphasise  is  that  the  kingdom  of  David  is  different  from  the  kingdom  of 
the  heathen.  It  rests  on  the  promises  of  Almighty  God.  His  protection 
is  sufficient,  and  He  will  work  out  His  own  purposes  if  men  will  trust 
Him.  To  invite  the  help  of  a  heathen  power  was  practically  an  act  of 
disbelief  in  God. 

HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  G 


98 


2  CHROX.   XIII.  ;   XIV.  ;    XV.  ;   XVI. 


o  Job.  xxxiv. 
21  ;  Prov.  XV. 
3 ;  Ps.  cxxxix, 
7-12. 


p  Jer.  XX.  2. 


thou  didst  rely  on  the  Lord,  he  delivered  them  into  thine 
hand.  9.  For  "  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  run  to  and  fro  through- 
out the  whole  earth,  to  shew  himself  strong  in  the  behalf 
of  them  whose  heart  is  perfect  toward  him.  Herein  thou 
hast  done  foolishly :  therefore  from  henceforth  thou  shalt 
have  wars.  10.  Then  Asa  was  wroth  with  the  seer,  and 
^  put  him  in  a  prison  house  ;  for  h  e  was  in  a  rage  with  him 
because  of  this  thing.  And  Asa  oppressed  some  of  the 
people  the  same  time.  11.  And,  behold,  the  acts  of  Asa, 
first  and  last,  lo,  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  and  Israel.  12.  And  Asa  in  the  thirty  and  ninth 
year  of  his  reign  was  diseased  in  his  feet,  until  his  disease 
was  exceeding  great :  yet  in  his  disease  he  sought  «  not  to 
the  Lord,  but  to  the  physicians.  13.  And  Asa  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  died  in  the  one  and  fortieth  year  of  his 
reign.  14.  And  they  buried  him  in  his  own  sepulchres, 
which  he  had  made  for  himself  in  the  city  of  David,  and 
laid  him  in  the  bed  which  was  filled  with  '"  sweet  odours  and 
divers  kinds  of  spices  prepared  by  the  apothecaries'  art ; 
and  ®they  made  a  very  great  burning  for  him. 


q  Jer.  xvii.  5. 


r  S.  John  xix. 
39,  40. 


s  Jer.  xxxiv. 


10.  A  prison  house.  Literally  'a  house  of  stocks,'  some  place  of  close 
and  torturing  coutinenient,  such  as  Jeremiah  was  placed  in  by  Pashur 
(XX.  2). 

12,  He  sought  not  to  the  LORD,  hut  to  the  physicians.  This  is  not 
meant  as  a  condeiiiuation  of  physicians,  for  their  art  is  a  gift  of  God. 
But  Asa  displayed  the  same  spirit  as  he  had  formerly  done  in  relying 
on  Syria  ratlier  than  on  God.  Tlie  use  of  medicine  without  prayer  may 
be  efficacious,  but  it  cannot  be  a  real  blessing.  The  nine  ungrateful  lepers 
of  S.  Luke  xvii.  received  no  blessing,  though  outwardly  they  were 
healed.  In  the  case  of  Asa,  God's  disapproval  was  visibly  shown  by  the 
inability  of  the  physicians  to  save  him. 

14.  And  they  made  a  very  great  burning  for  him.  It  was  the  custom 
of  the  ancient  Jews  not  only  to  lay  the  dead  to  rest  in  fine  linen  with 
aromatic  spices,  but  also  to  burn  some  of  these  spices  as  a  token  of  respect 
to  the  dead,  a  custom  somewhat  analogous  to  the  burning  of  incense 
in  the  worship  of  God.  The  amount  of  such  *  burning '  would  vary 
according  to  the  position  and  popularity  of  the  dead.  It  was  never  the 
custom  of  the  Jews  to  l)urn  the  dead.  Even  in  Amos  vi.  10,  '  he  that 
burnetii  him,'  probably  refers  to  the  chief  mourner,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
burn  the  spices. 


CONFIDENCE,  TEUE  AND  FALSE 


99 


LESSOX  X 


Confidence,  True  and  False 


Matter. 

1.  Abijah's  confidence. 

Abijali  was  not  an  ideal  charactei' 
(see  account  of  him  in  1  Kings  xv. ) ; 
nevertheless,  at  a  great  crisis,  he 
shows  religious  insight  into  the  true 
grounds  of  confidence.  Although 
his  fighting  strength  is  only  half 
that  of  Jeroboam,  he  boldly  faces 
his  enemies,  and  tells  them  on  what 
he  really  relies. 

(1)  The  promises  of  God  to  David. 
He  recognises  himself  as  the  true 
sovereign,  the  heir  of  the  promises, 
who  could  still  claim  rightly  the 
allegiance  of  all  Israel. 

(2)  The  maintenance  of  true  re- 
ligion. Abijah  is  conscious  of 
loyalty  to  the  Divine  ordinances. 
He  can  point  to  a  legitimate  priest- 
hood, and  the  due  observance  of  the 
daily  sacrifices  and  the  service  of 
the  Temple. 

(3)  The  presence  of  God  with  his 
people — '  God  Himself  is  with  us 
for  our  captain.'  This  conscious- 
ness had  been  the  strength  of  all 
the  saints  :  by  it  Moses  was  strong 
to  endure  the  journey  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  Joshua  to  conquer  Cauaan, 
and  in  aftertime  Isaiah  triumphantly 
prophesied  of  Immanuel,  '  God  with 
us,'  as  the  strength  of  Israel  against 
every  enemy. 

2.  Asa's  confidence. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  his  reign 
Asa  shows  the  same  true  confidence. 
When  he  seemed  on  the  point  of 
being  overwhelmed  by  the  hosts  of 
Ethiopian  invaders,  he  prays  Avith 
full  trust  in  God  Who  can  help 
'  those  who  have  no  strength '  :  he 
trusts  in  Him  as  'our  God,'  who 
will  not  suffer  mere  force  to  prevail. 


Method. 

1.  Show  on  a  map  the  compara- 
tive insignificance  of  the  kingdom 
of  Judah  beside  that  of  Israel. 
The  northern  kingdom  was  more 
prosperous  —  Jeroboam  had  more 
soldiers,  and  probably  much  more 
wealth. 

Yet  Abijah  is  not  afraid.  Why  ? 
He  trusts  in  God's  promise.  Refer 
to  2  Sam.  vii.  He  knows  that  he 
and  his  people  are  careful  to  wor- 
ship God  in  the  way  that  He  had 
appointed. 

Contrast  the  Temple  with  the 
shrines  of  Beth-el  and  Dan  ;  the 
priests — the  sons  of  Aaron — with 
the  sham  priests  of  Jeroboam. 

Most  important  of  all,  Abijah 
trusts  in  the  living  God,  who  is 
ivith  him.  Explain  that  this  is 
a  type  of  the  confidence  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  we  know 
can  never  fail,  because  God  is  with 
us  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
both  God  and  man,  and  so  called 
'  Immanuel '  (Isa.  vii.  ;  S.  Matt,  ii.) ; 
and  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  Who  is  to 
abide  with  the  Church  for  ever. 

Refer  to  our  Lord's  parting  pro- 
mise (S.  Matt,  xxviii.  20). 


2.  Describe  the  onslaught  of  the 
Ethiopians,  and  Asa's  prayer. 

Speak   of  prayer  as   always  the 
strength    of    God's     people    when 
attacked  by  enemies. 
Refer  to — 

Pss.  xxvii.  3;  cxviii.  10-12. 
Heb.  xi.  34. 


100 


2  CHRON.  XIII.  ;   XIV.  ;   XV.  ;   XVI. 


Lesson  X — continued.     Confidence,  Tiiue  and  False 
Matter.  Method. 


»So  again  in  answer  to  the  prophecy 
of  Azariah,  he  shows  the  same  spirit 
of  reliance  npon  God.  He  '  took 
courage,'  and  bravely  carried  out  a 
religious  reformation,  even  when  it 
touched  his  own  family,  destroying 
the  idols,  and  leading  his  people  to 
enter  into  a  covenant  '  to  seek  the 
Lord  God  of  their  fathers.' 


Refer  to  the  words  of  Azariah 
(xv.  2),  and  show  that  God's  pre- 
sence with  us  depends  on  our 
willingness  to  obey  Him. 

Illustrate  from  Asa's  reformation. 


3.  Asa's  false  confidence. 

Prosperity  seems  to  have  had  an 
evil  effect  upon  Asa.  The  latter 
years  of  his  life  show  a  singular 
contrast  with  his  early  faith.  When 
threatened  by  the  hostile  fortress 
of  Baasha,  he  turns  to  trust  (1)  in 
the  power  of  money — ^sacrificing 
even  the  treasures  of  the  Temple ; 
(2)  in  the  arm  of  man — seeking 
the  alliance  of  a  dangerous  heathen 
neighbour,  whom  policy  even  should 
have  kept  at  a  distance. 

The  holy  writer  notes  the  same 
spirit  of  reliance  in  man  even  in 
Asa's  conduct  in  his  last  illness. 
He  trusted  in  human  skill  rather 
than  in  God.  He  who  had  prayed 
before  the  battle  with  Zerah,  for- 
gets to  pray  when  disease  is  upon 
him.  '  He  sought  not  to  the  Lord, 
but  to  the  physicians.' 


3.  Point  out  the  folly  of  trusting 
in  money.  Asa  could  buy  the  help 
of  Ben-hadad  ;  but  there  was  some- 
thing much  greater  that  no  money 
could  bu}^ — the  favour  and  help  of 
God ;  these  he  lost — '  Therefore  from 
henceforth  thou  shalt  have  wars.' 


Explain  that  though  the  skill  of 
physicians  is  from  God,  and  we 
ought  to  obey  their  instructions, 
yet  all  healing  really  comes  from 
God  (cf.  1  Cor.  xii.  9).  Along  Avith 
all  medicine  we  should  use  sprayer. 

Asa's  sin  was  not  that  he  sought 
to  the  physicians,  but  that  he  put 
them  in  the  place  of  God. 


CONFIDENCE,  TRUE  AND  FALSE 


101 


Blackboard  Ski:tch. 


Confidence,  True  and  False. 

1.  True  confidence  in  face  of  danger  shown  by — 

(1)  Ahijah,  who  trusted  in — 

[a)  God's  promises, 

[h)   Obedience  to  God's  Law, 

(c)   God's  presence  with  His  people. 

(2)  Asa,  who  before  his  battle,  prayed  ; 

after  his  victory,  tried  to  do  God's 
will  better  than  before. 

2.  False  confidence  seen  in — 

Asa,  in  his  old  age,  who  trusted  in — 

(1)  Money, 

(2)  The  strength  of  man, 

(3)  The  skill  of  man. 

All  these  things  may  be  good  ;  but  their  good- 
ness comes  from  God  alone. 

Learn—'  Our  help  is  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  ; 
Who  hath  made  heaven  and  earth.' 


102  1  KINGS  XV.  25-34  :  XVI. 


1  KINGS  XV.  25-34;   XVI. 

AND  Nadab  the  son  of  Jeroboam  began  to  reign  over 
Israel  in  the  second  year  of  Asa  king  of  Jndah, 
and  reigned  over  Israel  two  years.  26.  And  he 
did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in  the  way 
of  his  father,  and  in  his  sin  where Avith  he  made  Israel  to 
sin.  27.  And  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah,  of  the  house  of 
Issachar,  conspired  against  him  ;  and  Baasha  smote  him  at 
a  Josh.  xix.       "  Gibbethon,  which  belonged  to  the  Philistines  ;  for  Nadab 

44  •  xxi.  23 

and  all  Israel  laid  siege  to  Gibbethon.     28.  Even  in  the 

third  year  of  Asa  king  of  Jndah  did  Baasha  slay  him,  and 

1  As  soon  as  he  reigned  in  his  stead.     29.  And  it  came  to  pass,  ^  when  he 
was  kino'. 

reigned,  that  he  smote  all  the  house  of  Jeroboam  ;  he  left 

not  to  Jeroboam  any  that  breathed,  until  he  had  destroyed 
h  chap.  xiv.  10.  him,  according  unto  ^  the  saying  of  the  Lord,  which  he 
spake  by  his  servant  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  :  30.  Because 
of  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  which  he  sinned,  and  which  he 
made  Israel  sin,  by  his  provocation  wherewith  he  pro- 
voked the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  anger.  31.  Now  the 
rest  of  the  acts  of  Nadab,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not 
written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ? 
32.  And  there  was  war  between  Asa  and  Baasha  king  of 
Israel  all  their  days.  33.  In  the  third  year  of  Asa  king  of 
Judah  began  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah  to  reign  over  all 
Israel  in  Tirzah,  twenty  and  four  years.  34.  And  he  did 
evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in  the  way  of 
Jeroboam,  and  in  his  sin  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to  sin. 

26.  Walked  in  tlie  way  of  his  father,  i.e.  he  continued,  as  did  all 
subsequent  kings  of  the  northern  kingdom,  in  the  idolatrous  worship  of 
Jehovah  under  the  form  of  the  golden  calves.  No  real  reformation  was 
possible  while  this  continued.  The  sacred  historian  points  it  out  as  the 
real  centre  of  the  national  sin,  although  the  worship  of  Baal  for  a  time 
was  more  prominent  and  flagrant. 

27.  Gibbethon,  a  Lcvitical  city  of  tlie  tribe  of  Dan,  which  apparently 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  neighlwuring  I'hili.stines. 


THE  RESULTS  OF  DISOBEDIENCE  103 

XVI.  1.  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  ^  Jehu  the  c  2  Chron.  xix. 
son  of  Hanani  against  Baasha,  saying,   2.  Forasmuch  as  I  " '  '    * 
exalted  thee  out  of  the  dust,  and  made  thee  prince  over 
my  people   Israel ;  and  thou  hast  walked  in  the  way  of 
Jeroboam,  and  hast  made  my  people  Israel  to  sin,  to  pro- 
voke me  to  anger  with  their  sins  ;  3.  Behold,  ^  I  will  take  -  l  will  utterly 
away  the  posterity  of  Baasha,   and  the  posterity  of  his  Baasha  and  his 

llOLlSG 

house  ;  and  will  make  thy  house  like  the  house  of  Jero- 
boam the  son  of  Nebat.  4.  Him  that  dieth  of  Baasha  in 
the  city  shall  the  dogs  eat  ;  and  him  that  dieth  of  his  in 
the  fields  shall  the  fowls  of  the  air  eat.  5.  Now  the  rest 
of  the  acts  of  Baasha,  and  what  he  did,  and  his  might, 
are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  ?  6.  So  Baasha  slept  with  his  fathers,  and 
was  buried  in  Tirzah  :  and  Elah  his  son  reigned  in  his 
stead.  7.  And  also  by  the  hand  of  the  prophet  Jehu  the 
son  of  Hanani  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  against  Baasha, 

and  ao-ainst  his  house,  ^  even  for  all  the  evil  that  he  did  in  ^  both  because 

®  .of. 

the  sight  of  the  Lord,  *  in  provoking  him  to  anger  with  4  to  provoke 

the  work  of  his  hands,  in  being  like  the  house  of  Jero- 
boam ;  and  because  he  ^  killed  him.     8.  In  the  twenty  and  -5  smote, 
sixth  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  began  Elah  the  son  of 

XVI.  2.  I  exalted  thee  out  of  tlie  dust.  Baasha's  coming  to  the  throne 
of  Israel  was  divinely  ordered  for  the  punishment  of  the  house  of 
Jeroboam.  Prol)ably,  like  Jeroboam  himself,  he  had  received  some 
intimation  to  this  effect  from  a  prophet.  Had  he  realised  what  that 
Divine  calling  really  meant,  and  striven  to  purify  Israel,  his  kingdom 
would  have  continued.  As  it  is,  he  is  warned  of  the  judgment  of  God  in 
the  identical  terms  in  which  Jeroboam  had  been  denounced  (xiv.  10). 

7.  In  provoking  him  to  anger  with  the  work  of  his  hands.  The  fact 
that  we  are  the  work  of  God's  hands  is  always  alleged  in  Scripture  as  a 
ground  of  hope  in  God's  mercy.  See  the  pathetic  appeals  of  Job  (x.  8 ; 
xiv.  15),  and  compare  Isaiah  Ivii.  16  and  Wisdom  ix.  24-26.  Therefore 
that  God  should  be  angry  with  the  work  of  His  hands  implies  special  and 
deliberate  provocation. 

And  because  he  killed  him.  The  reference  must  be,  of  course,  to  the 
son  of  Jeroboam,  Nadab  ;  and  the  meaning  is  either  that  Baasha  showed 
unnecessary  cruelty  in  executing  the  divine  judgments,  or  else  that  his 
usurping  of  the  throne  was  counted  as  a  sin,  seeing  that  he  had  not 
justified  it  by  destroying  the  idolatries  of  those  whose  place  he  had 
taken. 


104  1  KINGS  XV.  25-34  ;  XVI. 

Baasha  to  reign  over  Israel  in  Tirzah,  two  years.     9.  And 

his  servant  Zimri,  captain  of  half  his  chariots,  conspired 

against  him,  as  he  was  in  Tirzah,  drinking  himself  drunk 

in  the  house  of  Arza  steward  of  his  house  in  Tirzah.     10. 

d  2  Kings  ix.      And  '^  Zimri  went  in  and  smote  him,  and  killed  him,  in  the 
31.  '  ' 

twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  and  reigned 

in  his  stead.     11.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  began  to 

reign,  as  soon  as  he  sat  on  his  throne,  that  he  slew  all  the 

6  he  left  him     house  of  Baasha  :  ^  he  left  him  not  one  that  j)isseth  against 
man  child.         a  wall,  neither  of  his  kinsfolks,  nor  of  his  friends.    12.  Thus 

did  Zimri  destroy  all  the  house  of  Baasha,  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  against  Baasha  by  Jehu 
the  prophet,  13.  For  all  the  sins  of  Baasha,  and  the  sins 
of  Elah  his  son,  by  which  they  sinned,  and  by  which  they 
made  Israel  to  sin,  in  provoking  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 
to  anger  with  their  vanities,  14.  Now  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Elah,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in 
the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  15.  In 
the  twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  did 
Zimri  reign  seven  days  in  Tirzah.  And  the  people  ivere 
encamped  against  Gibbethon,  which  heloiujed  to  the  Philis- 
tines. 16.  And  the  people  that  were  encamped  heard 
say,  Zimri  hath  conspired,  and  hath  also  slain  the  king  : 
wherefore  all  Israel  made  Omri,  the  captain  of  the  host, 
king  over  Israel  that  day  in  the  camp.  17.  And  Omri 
went  up  from  Gibbethon,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  and 
they  besieged  Tirzah.    18.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Zimri 

7  castle.  saw  that  the  city  was  taken,  that  he  went  into  the  "  palace 

of  the  king's  house,  and  burnt  the  king's  house  over  him 

13.  With  their  vanities,  i.e.  with  their  idols,  whicli  are  expressively 
called  '  vain  '  or  '  empty  ' — things  with  no  reality  or  wortli  iu  them.  Cf. 
S.  Paul's  words,  1  Cor.  viii.  4  :  'An  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world' — i.e. 
there  is  no  real  existence  corresponding  to  the  carved  representation. 

16.  All  Israel  made  Omri,  the  captain  of  the  host,  king.  It  is  very 
characteristic  of  a  disordered  state  that  the  appointment  of  rulers  sliould 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  army.  tSucli  was  frequently  the  case  in  the 
weaker  days  of  tlie  Roman  empire  ;  and  in  England  the  same  liappened 
after  the  martyrdom  of  King  Charles  i. 


THE  EESULTS  OF  DISOBEDIENCE  105 

with  fire,  and  died,  19.  For  his  sins  which  he  sinned  in 
doing  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  in  walking  in  the  way 
of  Jeroboam,  and  in  his  sin  which  he  did,  to  make  Israel 
to  sin.  20.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Zimri,  and  his 
treason  that  he  Avrought,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book 
of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  21.  Then  were  the 
people  of  Israel  divided  into  two  parts  :  half  of  the  people 
followed  Tibni  the  son  of  Ginath,  to  make  him  king  ; 
and  half  followed  Omri.  22.  But  the  people  that  followed 
Omri  prevailed  against  the  people  that  followed  Tibni  the 
son  of  Ginath  :  so  Tibni  died,  and  Omri  reigned.  23.  In 
the  thirty  and  first  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  began  Omri 
to  reign  over  Israel,  twelve  years  :  six  years  reigned  he  in 
Tirzah.  24.  And  he  bought  the  hill  Samaria  of  Shemer 
for  two  talents  of  silver,  and  built  on  the  hill,  and  called 
the  name  of  the  city  which  he  built,  after  the  name  of 
Shemer,  owner  of  the  hill,  Samaria.    25.  But "  Omri  wrought  e  Micah  vi.  16. 

19.  For  his  sins  which  he  sinned.  Zimri,  although  he  reigned  only 
seven  days,  had  evidently  shown  the  same  spirit  as  his  predecessors. 
Probably  he  had  begun  his  reign  by  sacrificing  to  the  golden  calves. 

22.  So  Tibni  died,  and  Omri  reigned.  This  epigrammatic  sentence 
expresses  exactly  the  nature  of  civil  strife  in  ancient  days.  Defeat  meant 
inevitable  death.  Each  rival  was  fighting  for  himself,  not  for  principle 
or  for  the  good  of  the  state,  and  it  was  the  natural  course  of  the  victor  to 
blot  out  the  vanquished. 

24.  Two  talents  of  silver,  about  £800.  A  talent  of  silver  was  three 
thousand  shekels. 

Samaria,  spelt  in  Hebrew  '  Shomeron.'  This  place  became  much  more 
famous  as  a  capital  than  either  Shechem  or  Tirzah.  There  is  an  interest- 
ing account  of  Samaria  and  its  later  history  in  G.  A.  Smith's  Historical 
Geographi/  of  the  Holy  Land,  pp.  346-350.  It  became  the  capital  of 
Herod  under  the  new  name  of  Sebaste  ;  and  was  restored  by  the  Cru- 
saders, who  built  a  cathedral  there — now  in  ruins.  'Although  the 
mountains  surround  and  overlook  it  on  three  sides,  Samaria  commands  a 
great  view  to  the  west.  The  broad  vale  is  visible  for  eight  miles,  then  a 
low  range  of  hills,  and  over  them  the  sea.  It  is  a  position  out  of  the  way 
of  most  of  the  kiugdom,  of  which  the  centre  of  gravity  lay  upon  the 
eastern  slope  ;  but  it  was  wisely  chosen  by  a  dynasty  whose  strength 
was  alliance  with  Phcenicia.  The  coast  is  but  twenty-three  miles  aAvay — 
the  sea  is  in  sight.  In  her  palace  in  Samaria  Jezebel  can  have  felt  neither 
far  from  her  home  nor  from  the  symbols  of  her  ancestral  faith.  There 
flashed  the  path  of  her  father's  galleys,  and  there  each  night  her  people's 


106  1    KINGS  XV.   25-34  ;   XVI. 

evil  in  tlie  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  did  worse  than  all  that 
were  before  him.  26.  For  he  walked  in  all  the  way  of  Jero- 
boam the  son  of  Nebat,  and  in  his  sin  wherewith  he  made 
Israel  to  sin,  to  provoke  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  anger 
with  their  vanities.  27.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Omri 
which  he  did,  and  his  might  that  he  showed,  are  they  not 
written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel? 
28.  So  Omri  slept  with  his  fothers,  and  was  buried  in 
Samaria  :  and  Ahab  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  29. 
And  in  the  thirty  and  eighth  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah 
began  Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  to  reign  over  Israel  :  and 
Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  reigned  over  Israel  in  Samaria 
twenty  and  two  years.  30.  And  Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  did 
evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  above  all  that  were  before  him. 
31.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  if  it  had  been  a  light  thing  for 
him  to  walk  in  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
that  he  took  to  wife  Jezebel  the  daughter  of  Ethbaal  king 
of  the  Zidonians,  and  went  and  served  Baal,  and  wor- 
shipped him.  32.  And  he  reared  up  an  altar  for  Baal  in 
the  house  of  Baal,  which  he  had  built  in  Samaria.  33. 
8  the  Asherah.  And  Ahab  made  ^a  grove;  and  Ahab  did  more  to  pro- 
voke the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  auger  than  all  the  kings  of 
Israel  that  were  before  him.  34.  In  his  days  did  Hiel  the 
Beth-elite  build  Jericho  :  he  laid  the  foundation  thereof 

god  sank  to  his  rest  in  the  same  glory,  betAvixt  sky  and  sea,  which  they 
were  worshipping  in  Tyre'  {I.e.  p.  346). 

3L  Jezebel  the  daughter  of  Ethbaal.  This  marriage  marks  a  turning- 
point  for  evil  in  the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom  ;  and  indirectly 
also  in  Judah,  for  Athaliah  was  Jezebel's  daughter.  Ethljaal,  as 
his  name  implies  ('man  of  Baal'),  was  specially  connected  with  the 
religion  of  Baal,  and  tradition  says  that  he  had  also  been  priest  of 
Astarte  ])efore  he  usurped  the  throne.  Jezebel's  endeavour  was  not 
like  that  of  the  wives  of  Solomon,  merely  to  establish  the  worship  of 
Baal  side  by  side  with  that  of  Jehovah,  but  to  oust  the  latter  altogetlier. 
Jezebel,  so  vividly  described  in  the  subsequent  chapter,  was  one  of  the 
remarkalJe  women  of  ancient  liistory.  She  com])ined  wickedness  and 
sensuality  with  great  strength  of  character  and  self-will.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  she  came  of  the  same  race  as  Dido,  founder  of  Carthage, 
and  was  most  probably  her  contemporary. 

34.  In  his  days  did  Hiel  the  Beth-elite  build  Jericho.     It  is  significant 


THE  EESULTS  OF  DISOBEDIENCE  107 

^in  Abiram  his  firstborn,  and  set  up  the  gates  thereof  '■'in  a  with  the  loss 

his  youngest  son  Segub,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord, 

■^  which  he  spake  by  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun.  /  josh.  vi.  20. 

that  he  who  showed  this  disregard  of  a  Divine  pi'ohibition  should  come 
from  the  city  which  was  most  prominent  for  its  idolatry.  The  curse 
was  literally  fulfilled,  though  how  precisely  wc  are  not  told.  Probably 
all  Hiel's  children  died  between  the  refounding  of  Jericho  and  its  com- 
pletion. Kiel's  act  was  pi'ofane  and  sacrilegious,  and  his  sin  was 
visited  on  his  children  ;  just  as  it  has  always  been  believed  in  England 
that  the  sacrilege  of  those  families  who  in  the  sixteenth  century  stole  the 
abbey  lands  and  tithes  from  the  service  of  God  has  been  visited  on  their 
descendants.  It  is  clear  that,  whether  the  book  of  Joshua  was  in  exist- 
ence in  its  present  shape  or  not  at  the  time  of  writing  this  history,  the 
facts  it  records  were  well  known. 


LESSON  XI 
The  Results  of  Disobedience 

Introductiox. — This  melancholy  record  of  the  short  and  evil  reigns  of 
the  successors  of  Jeroboam  is  hardly  suitable  for  a  detailed  lesson.  At 
the  same  time  its  chief  points  illustrate  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
and  the  certainty  that  a  man's  sin  never  stops  with  himself,  but 
produces  evil  fruit  in  the  lives  of  others  far  beyond  his  own  control. 
It  might  also  be  pointed  out  to  older  children  that  there  are  always 
tM'o  sides  to  history,  one  being  the  record  of  events  as  man  sees  them 
and  writes  them  down,  tlie  other  the  record  which  God  is  writing  in 
His  book.  The  Bible  history,  being  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  shows 
us  something  of  this  inner  meaning — what  are  the  really  important 
events  in  God's  sight,  and  what  events  are  really  Divine  rewards  or 
punishments.     Cf.  2  Chron.  xvi.  9. 

This  section  might  be  summarised  as  follows  : — 

1.  Nadab,  son  of  Jeroboam,  two  years'  reign.  In  accordance  with  the 
prophecy  of  Ahijah  (xiv.  14)  both  he  and  all  the  posterity  of  Jeroboam 
are  destroj'ed  by  the  usurper  Baasha. 

2.  Baasha,  unable  to  read  the  Divine  lesson,  persists  in  the  idolatry  of 
Jeroboam.  The  same  curse  is  pronounced,  therefore,  upon  him  by  another 
prophet,  Jehu. 

3.  Elah,  son  of  Baasha,  after  a  reign  of  two  years,  destroyed  by  another 
usurper,  Zimri.  Elah  added  sin  to  sin.  It  was  while  he  was  '  drinking 
himself  drunk  '  that  the  prophesied  blow  fell  upon  him. 

4.  Zimri,  after  a  reign  of  one  M'eek  only,  in  which,  however,  he  had 
shown  no  intention  of  departing  from  the  sin  of  Jeroboam,  is  burnt  to 
death  by  his  own  hand  in  his  palace. 


108 


1  KINGS  XV.  25-34  ;  XVI. 


o.  Omri,  a  powerful  king  as  the  Avorld  counted  him  (cf.  xvi.  27,  '  his 
might  that  he  showed  '),  is  written  down  in  the  book  of  God  simply  as 
an  evil-doer  and  a  follower  in  the  steps  of  Jeroboam. 

6.  Ahab,  with  his  long,  powerful,  and  magnificent  reign,  as  it  probablj'^ 
appeared  to  his  contemporaries  (see  xxii.  39),  is  written  down  by  God  as 
the  author  of  a  worse  sin — the  inti'oduction  of  the  worship  of  Baal,  in 
addition  to  the  golden  calves. 

The  general  disregard  of  God's  will  is  shown  also  in  such  an  event  as 
the  rebuilding  of  Jericho  by  Hiel. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


In  the  eyes  of  man  all 

Nadab 

r 

different  ;  some  success- 

Baasha 

In  the  eyes  of  God  all 

ful,    others    not ;    some 

Elah 
Zimri 

alike;    they    'did   that 

w^eak,  others  powerful, 

which  w^as   evil   in   the 

warriors,     builders      of 

Omri 

sight  of  the  Lord.' 

cities  and  palaces. 

Ahab 

^ 

A 


GOD'S  PROVIDENCE  109 


1   KINGS  XVII. 

ND  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  who  was  of  the  ^  inhabitants  ^  sojourners. 
of  Gilead,  said  unto  Ahab,  As  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel  liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  "  there  shall  not  «  S.  James  v. 
be  dew  nor  rain  these  years,  but  according  to  my  word.  25.' 

1.  Elijah  the  Tishbite.  There  is  no  more  remarkable  figure  in  the 
Old  Testament  than  Elijah.  No  explanation  is  given  of  his  call,  no 
account  of  his  previous  life.  He  appears  with  the  suddenness  of  a 
thunderbolt  on  the  field  of  history :  superhuman  in  grandeur  and 
moral  force,  and  yet  pathetically  human  in  temper  and  character. 
All  that  we  know  of  him  is  the  series  of  dramatic  episodes  which  form 
the  latter  part  of  1  Kings,  ending  even  more  strangely  than  they  began 
in  his  miraculous  translation  into  heaven.  His  reappearance  was  fore- 
told in  prophecy,  and  expected  by  the  Jews.  S.  John  the  Baptist  was 
his  typical  successor,  but  both  the  words  of  Christ  and  the  general  belief 
of  the  early  Church  point  to  an  actual  coming  of  Elijah  again  before  the 
Second  Advent.  Though  neither  by  word  nor  writing  is  he  recorded  to 
have  prophesied  of  the  Messiah,  a  still  greater  honour  was  reserved  for 
him.  His  glorified  form  appeared  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  along 
with  that  of  Moses,  to  bear  witness  to  the  Son  of  God.  See  note  on 
2  Kings  ii.  11. 

Tishbite.  The  meaning  of  this  is  uncertain,  as  no  place  called  Tishbi 
is  known.  Some  suppose  it  to  have  been  in  Gilead,  tlie  region  beyond 
Jordan.  But  if  the  rendering  of  the  Revised  Version  is  correct,  Elijah 
must  have  been  'sojourning'  in  Gilead  at  some  distance  from  his  native 
home.  Many  scholars,  however,  suppose  that  the  word  simply  means 
'stranger,'  and  that  the  whole  phrase  should  be  rendered,  'Elijah  the 
stranger,  one  of  the  strangers  of  Gilead.' 

As  the  LORD  God  of  Israel  liveth.  This  was  the  most  solemn  form 
of  oath,  and  could  only  mean  in  this  case  that  God  had  revealed  to  the 
prophet,  with  absolute  clearness  and  certainty,  the  future  drought. 
S.  James  speaks  of  Elijah  having  'prayed'  for  this  Divine  judgment, 
and  Avithout  doubt  tlie  answer  to  his  prayer  had  been  shown  to  him  by 
inspiration. 

Before  whom  I  stand.  This  was  a  regular  phrase  for  the  special  service 
of  God  which  a  prophet  performed.  He  '  stood  before  God '  as  His 
mouthpiece  and  minister,  to  declare  His  will.  So  we  read  that  Jonah 
attempted  'to  flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,'  i.e.  from  standing 
before  Him  as  a  prophet.     He  tried  to  retire  from  his  prophetical  office. 

There  shall  not  be  dew  nor  rain  these  years,  but  according-  to  my 
word.  Drought  in  any  country  is  a  great  affiiction,  but  in  Eastern  lands 
it  means  almost  absolute  starvation,  so  utterly  dependent  is  the  soil 
upon  the  regularly  recurring  seasons  of  rainfall.  The  rain  of  Palestine 
is  always  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  as  peculiarly  a  gift  of  God 
(Deut.  xi.  11,  14);  and  its  withdrawal  as  an  unmistakable  Divine  judgment 
{ibid.  17,  and  Amos  iv.  7).     This  drought,  which  lasted  three  years  and 


no  1  KINGS  XVII. 


2.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him,  saying,  3. 
Get  thee  hence,  and  turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself  hj 
the  brook  Cherith,  that  is  before  Jordan.  4.  And  it  shall 
be,  that  thou  shalt  drink  of  the  brook  ;  and  I  have  com- 
manded the  ravens  to  feed  thee  there.  5.  So  he  went  and 
did  according  unto  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  for  he  m  ent 
and  dwelt  by  the  brook  Cherith,  that  is  before  Jordan. 
6.  And  the  ravens  brought  him  bread  and  flesh  in  the 
morning,  and  bread  and  flesh  in  the  evening ;  and  he 
drank  of  the  brook.  7.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  a  while, 
that  the  brook  dried  up,  because  there  had  been  no  rain  in 
the  land.  8.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him, 
saying,  9.  Arise,  get  thee  to  Zarephath,  which  belongcth 
to  Zidon,  and  dwell  there  :  behold  I  have  commanded  a 
widow  woman  there  to  sustain  thee.  10.  So  he  arose  and 
S.  Luke  iv.'20.    went  to  ^  Zarephath.     And  when  he  came  to  the  gate  of  the 

a  half  (S.  Luke  iv.  25,  and  S.  James  v.  17),  was  a  punishment  intended  to 
call  Israel  to  repentance  at  this  moment  of  national  apostasy.  Elijah  was 
its  instrument  both  of  visitation  and  withdrawal,  not,  of  course,  by  his 
own  power,  but  as  the  minister  of  God  (of.  Rev.  xi.  6). 

3.  The  brook  Cherith.  This  place,  whose  name  means  'separation,' 
is  unknown,  but  there  are  man^^  such  hidden  gullies  running  into  the 
Jordan,  where  in  winter  there  is  a  mountain  torrent,  which  in  summer  is 
dry.     These  ravines  are  full  of  caves,  and  form  natural  hiding-places. 

4.  I  have  commanded  the  ravens  to  feed  thee  there.  The  extra- 
ordinar}^  character  of  this  miracle  has  led  some  to  imagine  that  the  word 
'ravens'  has  been  misunderstood,  that  it  is  really  the  name  of  some 
Arabian  tribe.  But  this  is  very  improl)able  in  itself.  Readers  of  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints  will  remember  the  extraordinary  influence  that 
great  holiness  of  life  has  often  had  upon  the  lower  creation.  The  saint 
literally  has  often  seemed  to  be  'at  peace  with  the  beasts  of  the  field' 
(Job  V.  23,  cf.  Isa.  xi.  G-10).  S.  Jerome  was  accompanied  by  a  tame 
lion  ;  S.  Hugh  of  Lincoln  by  a  swan  ;  it  is  beautifully  recorded  of  the 
death  of  S.  Columba  that  'a  faithful  horse  came  up  to  him,  and  placed 
his  head  in  his  lap,  and  wept  like  a  man.'  S.  Francis  of  Assisi  was  par- 
ticularly noted  for  his  love  of  animals  and  his  extraordinary  influence 
over  them. 

9.  Zarephath,  which  belongeth  to  Zidon.  See  the  comment  on  this 
incident  in  S.  Luke  iv.  It  seems  that  this,  like  the  feeding  by  the 
ravens,  was  part  of  God's  education  of  Elijah,  that  he  might  learn  never 
to  despair  of  the  power  of  (Jod.  The  unclean  birds  first  sustained  him, 
and  then  a  miserably  poor  widow  belonging  to  a  nation  of  idolaters. 
Both  these  events  lead  up  to  the  teaching  of  chap.  xix.  18. 


GOD'S  PROVIDENCE  111 

city,  behold,  the  widow  woman  ivas  there   gathering  of 

sticks  :  and  he  called  to  her,  and  said.  Fetch  me,  I  pray 

thee,  a  little  water  in  a  vessel,  that  I  may  drink.     11.  And 

as  she  was  going  to  fetch  it,  he  called  to  her,  and  said, 

Bring  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  morsel  of  bread  in  thine  hand. 

12.  And  she  said.  As  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  I  have  not 

a  cake,  but  a  handful  of  meal  in  a  barrel,  and  a  little  oil 

in  a  cruse  :  and,  behold,  I  am  gathering  two  sticks,  that 

I  may  go  in  and  dress  it  for  me  and  my  son,  that  we  may 

eat  it,  and  die.     13.  And  Elijah  said  unto  her.  Fear  not  ;  go 

and  do  as  thou  hast  said  :  but  make  me  thereof  a  little  cake 

first,  and  bring  it  unto  me,  and  after  make  for  thee  and  for 

thy  son.     14.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  The 

barrel  of  meal  shall  not  waste,  neither  shall  the  cruse  of 

oil  fail,  until  the  day  that  the  Lord  sendeth  rain  upon  the 

earth.     15.  And  she  went  and  did  according  to  the  saying 

of  Elijah  :  and  she,  and  he,  and  her  house,  did  eat  mamj 

days.     16.  And  the  barrel  of  meal  wasted  not,  neither  did 

the  cruse  of  oil  fail,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord, 

which  he  spake  by  Elijah.     17.  And  it  came  to  pass  after 

these  things,  that  the  son  of  the  woman,  the  mistress  of 

the  house,  fell  sick  ;  and  his  sickness  was  so  sore,  that 

there  was  no  breath  left  in  him.     18.  And  she  said  unto 

Elijah,  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee,  0  thou  man  of  God  ? 

art  thou  come  unto  me  to  call  my  sin  to  remembrance,  and 

to  slay  my  son  ?     19.  And  he  said  unto  her,  Give  me  thy 

son.     And  he  took  him  out  of  her  bosom,  and  carried  him 

up  into  a  loft,  where  he  abode,  and  laid  him  upon  his  own 

bed.     20.  And  he  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  0  Lord 

my  God,  hast   thou   also   brought  evil   upon  the  widow 

with  whom  I  sojourn,  by  slaying  her  son  ?     21.  And  he 

18.  Art  thou  come  unto  me  to  call  my  sin  to  remembrance  ?  There  is 
no  need  to  suppose  that  any  particular  sin  is  referred  to,  any  more  than 
in  the  similar  case  of  8.  Peter  (S.  Luke  v.).  This  calamity  awakens  in 
the  woman's  conscience  a  nearer  sense  of  God's  presence,  and  of  man's 
unholiness  in  His  sight.  She  associates  this  with  the  presence  of  the 
man  of  God.  The  incident  recalls  curiously  the  attitude  of  the  Gadarenes 
towards  our  Lord  (S.  Matt.  viii.  34). 


112  1  KINGS  XVII. 


o2Kiugsiv.      "^Stretched  himself  upon  the  child  three  times,  and  cried 

34   35. 

unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  0  Lord  my  God,  I  pray  thee,  let 
this  child's  soul  come  into  him  again.  22.  And  the  Lord 
heard  the  voice  of  Elijah  ;  and  the  soul  of  the  child  came 
into  him  again,  and  he  revived.  23.  And  Elijah  took  the 
child,  and  brought  him  down  out  of  the  chamber  into  the 
d  Heb.  xi,  35.  house,  and  '^  delivered  him  unto  his  mother  :  and  Elijah 
said.  See,  thy  son  liveth.  24.  And  the  woman  said  to 
Elijah,  Now  by  this  I  know  that  thou  art  a  man  of  God, 
and  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  in  thy  mouth  is  truth. 

22.  And  the  LORD  heard  the  voice  of  Elijah.  This  is  the  first  miracle 
of  raising  the  dead  recorded  in  Holy  Scripture.  It  is  important  to  notice 
that  it  was  in  direct  answer  to  fervent  prayer.  Jewish  tradition  says 
that  the  child  thus  raised  became  afterwards  the  prophet  Jonah. 


LESSON  XII 

God's  Providence 

Introduction. — The  general  aim  suggested  in  this  lesson  is  to  show 
the  loving  care  and  providence  of  God  in  all  tliat  pertains  to  His  gracious 
purposes  ;  and  especially  to  point  oixt  that  "when  men  obey  God  (in  con- 
trast with  the  disobedience  of  the  previous  lesson),  all  things  necessary 
are  given  them — '  all  things  work  together  for  good  '  for  them. 

^Matter.  Method. 

1.  God's  providence  for  Elijah.  1.  This  picture  of   Elijah's   pre- 

Klijah,  like  S.  John  Baptist,  was  servation  may  be  vividlv  described, 

a  man  absolutely  devoted  to  God.  ^^^  ^^^^^^  j^.^  ^^  impress  children. 

He   hved  a  lire  separate  ironi  the  i,    ,i              ri.-i.       ^  j.i    ±. 

world,  dwelling  mostly  in  seclusion ;  ^''^  ^^  ^^^eful  to  point  out  that 

a  life  of  poverty,  having  nothing  of  this  miraculous  food  was  given  him 

his    own,    and    dependent    entirely  because — 

upon  (jod  for  his  food  and  for  all  that  (1)  He   was   doing    the    work    of 

he  required,  in  order  that  he  might  Qoil. 

fulfil  the  work  to  which  (Jod  called  ,o'\  xr                      i     t      ^         -4^1       j. 

,  .           riM  •             I                    va'      li.  (-)  He     was     obedient    without 

him.       This    work    was   a    dinicult  ^      .      ,          ,                       -,      c  ^^    ■, 

and  unpopular  one;  it  inv(,lved  pro-  q^iestionnig  the  command  of  God, 

nouncing  Divine  judgmentsand  con-  although  on  both  occasions  it  must 

stant  persecution  in  (consequence.  have  seemed  impossible. 

Yet,  though  an  exile  and  outcast,  Refer  to  S.  Matt.  vi.  2o-34,  and 

God  provided  for  Imn,  and  from  tlie  ^^  ^^^  petition  in  the  Lord's  Prayer, 

most  unlikely  (luartcrs —  ,^.            ,,  .     ■,               ,    ,     ,         -, , 

(1)  Hiding    in    a    rocky    ravine,  ^^^^  us  this  day  our  daily  bread' ; 


GOD'S  PEOVIDENCE 


113 


Lesson  XII — continued.     God's  Providence 


Matter. 

away  from  the  sight  of  men,  he 
had  water  given  him  from  the 
brook  Clierith  amidst  the  universal 
drought ;  and  food  provided  by 
the  ravens,  who,  though  without 
reason,  were  God's  creatures,  and 
worked  God's  purposes, 

(2)  When  these  sources  failed,  he 
receives  support  from — 

{a)  A  Gentile,  a  Zidonian  widow, 
who  was  outside  the  chosen  race 
and  covenant,  and  probably  an 
idolatress. 

{h)  A  store  which  was  already 
exhausted,  and,  humanly  speaking, 
useless.  Each  day  enough  was 
miraculously  supplied  for  the  needs 
of  the  day. 

2.  God's  reward  for  those  who  help 
His  servants. 

The  widow  by  her  obedience  to 
the  word  of  God's  prophet,  in  answer 
to  her  faith  and  charity,  receives  a 
threefold  blessing — 

(a)  The  deliverance  of  herself  and 
her  son  from  starvation  ; 

(6)  The  raising  of  her  son  to  life  ; 

(c)  The  knowledge  of  the  true 
God,  and  of  His  almighty  power. 


Method. 

and  point  out  that  before  we  can 
pray  that,  we  have  to  say,  '  Thy 
will  be  done, ' 


2.  Describe  the  faith  of  the 
widow,  who  had  only  enough  for 
one  last  meal,  and  yet  is  told  first 
to  make  a  cake  for  the  prophet, 
and  obeys. 

Refer  to  our  Lord's  words,  *  It  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive' 
(Acts  XX.  35),  and  to  the  picture  of 
the  last  judgment  (S.  Matt.  xxv. ), 
and  to  S.  Matt.  x.  40-42,  in  which 
passage  our  Lord  probably  alludes 
to  this  incident. 

Show  the  three  separate  bless- 
ings which  the  widow  received. 
Cf.  S.  Mark  xii.  41-44  ;  Heb.  xi.  35. 

Point  out  the  duty,  not  only  of 
charity  in  general,  but  of  specially 
helping  all  those  who  are  doing 
the  woi'k  of  God,  e.g.  the  cleigy, 
missionaries. 


HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.   II. 


114 


1  KINGS  XVII. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


God's  Providence. 

Mijah,  a  p-ophet^  doing  a  ivork  for  God. 

1.  God  provides  for  his  needs — 

(a)  The  birds  feed  him  ; 
(6)  A  poor  widow,  who  has  nothing  but  one 
meal  left,  gives  him  all  that  she  has. 

2.  God  rewards  those  who  help  His  servants. 

The  widow  receives — 

(1)  Food; 

(2)  Her  son  restored  to  life  ; 

(3)  Knowledge  of  the  true  God. 

'  They  who  seek  the  Lord  shall  want  no  manner 
of  thing  that  is  good  '  (Ps.  xxxiv.  10). 


COUEAGE  FOR  GOD  115 


1  KINGS  XVIIL 

AND  it  came  to  pass  after  many  days,  that  the  word  of 
the  Lord  came  to  Elijah  in  the  third  year,  saying, 
Go,  shew  thyself  imto  Ahab  ;  and  I  will  send  rain 
upon  the  earth.  2.  And  Elijah  went  to  shew  himself  unto 
Ahab.  And  there  was  a  sore  famine  in  Samaria.  3.  And 
Ahab  called  Obadiah,  which  ivas  ^  the  governor  of  his  i  over  the 
house.  (Now  Obadiah  feared  the  Lord  greatly  :  4.  For 
it  was  so,  when  Jezebel  cut  off  the  prophets  of  the  Lord, 
that  Obadiah  took  an  hundred  proj)hets,  and  hid  them  by 
lifty  in  a  cave,  and  fed  them  with  bread  and  water.)  5.  And 
Ahab  said  unto  Obadiah,  Go  into  the  land,  unto  all  foun- 
tains of  water,  and  unto  all  brooks  :  peradventure  we  may 
find  grass  to  save  the  horses  and  mules  alive,  that  we  lose 
not  all  the  beasts.  6.  So  they  divided  the  land  between 
them  to  pass  throughout  it :  Ahab  went  one  way  by  him- 
self, and  Obadiah  went  another  way  by  himself.  7.  And 
as  Obadiah  was  in  the  way,  behold,  Elijah  met  him :  and 

he  knew  him,  and  fell  on  his  face,  and  said,  '^  Art  thou  that  ^  isitthou,  my 

lord  Elijah? 
my  lord  Elijah  ?       8.  And  he  answered  him,  I  am :  go, 

tell  thy  lord.  Behold,  Elijah  is  here,     9.  And  he  said.  What 

have  I  sinned,  that  thou  wouldest  deliver  thy  servant  into 

the  hand  of  Ahab,  to  slay  me  ?     10.  As   the    Lord  thy 

God  liveth,  there   is  no  nation  or   kingdom,  whither  my 

lord  hath  not  sent  to  seek  thee  :  and  when  they  said.  He  is 

1.  In  the  third  year.  This  may  be  reckoned  either  from  Elijah's  first 
appearance  before  Ahab,  or  from  the  last  event  recorded — the  raising 
of  the  widow's  son.     The  whole  drought  lasted  three  years  and  a  half. 

3.  Obadiah  has  sometimes  been  identified  M'ith  the  prophet  of  that 
name,  but  as  that  prophet's  book  seems  to  refer  to  the  sack  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Chaldfeans,  he  Mas  probably  later,  and  a  contemporary 
of  Jeremiah. 

4.  When  Jezebel  cut  off  the  prophets  of  the  LORD.  No  account  is  given 
of  this  massacre,  though  it  is  again  alluded  to  in  chap.  xix.  It  shows  the 
determined  eftbrt  of  Jezebel  and  her  party  to  extirpate  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  altogether.  These  '  prophets '  formed  a  distinct  class,  called 
also  'sons  of  the  prophets,'  who,  though  not  necessarily  priests,  were 
usually  in  close  connection  with  the  sanctuary. 


116 


1  KINGS  XVII r. 


a  -2  Kings  ii.  16 
Ezek.  iii.  12  ; 
Acts  viii.  39. 


not  there  ;  he  took  an  oath  of  the  kingdom  and  nation,  that 
they  found  thee  not.  11.  And  now  thou  sayest,  Go,  tell 
thy  lord,  Behold,  Elijah  is  here.  12.  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  as  soon  as  1  am  gone  from  thee,  that  "  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  shall  carry  thee  whither  I  know  not ;  and  so  when 
I  come  and  tell  Ahab,  and  he  cannot  find  thee,  he  shall 
slay  me  :  but  I  thy  servant  fear  the  Lord  from  my  youth. 
13.  Was  it  not  told  my  lord  what  I  did  when  Jezebel  slew 
the  prophets  of  the  Lord,  how  I  hid  an  hundred  men  of 
the  Lord's  prophets  by  fifty  in  a  cave,  and  fed  them  with 
bread  and  water  ?  14.  And  now  thou  sayest,  Go,  tell  thy 
lord,  Behold,  Elijah  is  here  :  and  he  shall  slay  me.  15.  And 
Elijah  said,  As  the  Lord  of  hosts  liveth,  before  whom  I 
stand,  I  will  surely  shew  myself  unto  him  to  day.  16.  So 
Obadiah  went  to  meet  Ahab,  and  told  him :  and  Ahab 
went  to  meet  Elijah.  17.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab 
saw  Elijah,  that  Ahab  said  unto  him,  ^  Art  thou  he  that 
troubleth  Israel  ?  18.  And  he  answered,  I  have  not 
troubled  Israel ;  but  thou,  and  thy  father's  house,  in  that 
ye  have  forsaken  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  thou 
hast  followed  Baalim.  19.  Now  therefore  send,  arid  gather 
to  me  all  Israel  unto  mount  Carmel,  and  the  prophets  of 


3  Is  it  thou, 
tliou  troubler 
of  Israel? 


lo.  I  will  surely  sliew  myself  unto  him  to  day.  The  holy  courage  of 
Elijah,  in  obedience  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  is  strikingl}^  shown.  He 
has  just  been  reminded  that  not  only  had  his  fellow-prophets  been  slain, 
but  lie  himself  Mas  regarded  as  the  prime  offender,  and  had  been  searched 
for  in  all  the  surrounding  nations.  So  in  later  daj's  S.  Athanasius,  the 
defender  of  the  Catholic  Faith,  was  hunted  for  by  the  Roman  emperor 
and  the  Avians. 

17.  Art  thou  he  that  trouhleth  Israel  ?  The  spirit  of  Ahab's  question 
lives  on.  Those  who  make  a  firm  stand  for  religious  principles,  who 
refuse  to  count  things  indilferent  which  are  not  indifferent,  will  always 
be  accused  of  stirring  up  strife  and  being  enemies  of  peace.  Even  our 
blessed  Lord  Himself  was  accused  of  'stirring  up'  and  perverting  the 
people.  Peace  is  a  good  tiling,  Init  Truth  is  a  higher  good  ;  and  loyalty 
to  Truth  is  our  first  and  supreme  duty. 

18.  Thou  hast  followed  Baalim.  More  literally  'the  Baahm,'  for  Baal 
was  a  general  name,  and  there  were  many  special  forms  or  supposed 
manifestations  of  Baal ;  sometimes  named  from  places,  like  Baal  Peor  ;  or 
from  some  event,  like  Baal-berith — '  Baal  of  the  covenant.' 

19.  Mount  Carmel.    This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  physical  features 


COURAGE  FOE  GOD  117 

Baal  four  liimdretl  and  fifty,  and  the  prophets  ^  of  the  groves  ^  of  the  Asii- 

four  hundred,  which  eat  at  Jezebel's  table.     20.   So  Ahab 

sent   unto  all   the   children  of  Israel,    and   gathered   the 

IDrophets   together   unto  mount  Carmel.     21.  And   Elijah 

came  unto  all  the  people,  and   said,  ^  How  long   halt  ye  ^  S.  Matt.  vi. 

between  two  opinions  ?  if  the  Lord  he  God,  follow  him  : 

but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him.     And  the  people  answered 

of  Palestine,  and  has  been  vividly  described  by  many  travellers  (see 
Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  352-57 ;  G.  A.  Smith,  Historical 
Geoijraphy,  and  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible).  It  is  not  so  much 
a  mountain  as  a  long  ridge  of  some  eighteen  miles,  terminating  in  a 
striking  promontory  overlooking  the  sea,  now  crowned  by  the  Carmelite 
monastery.  The  modern  name  of  Carmel  is  'Mar  Elyas,'  'Lord  Elijah,' 
and  the  tradition  of  the  spot  where  Elijah's  sacrifice  M'as  offered  has  been 
preserved  in  the  name  '  El-maharrakah,'  '  the  saci'ifice  ' — a  spot  on  the 
highest  ground  of  the  ridge  (some  1700  feet  above  the  sea),  and  near  its 
eastern  extremity.  The  natural  features  of  Carmel  are  implied  in  its 
name,  which  signifies  'a  park.'  It  is  quite  unlike  the  bare  and  rocky 
heights  of  Palestine  generally,  and  is  beautifully  Avooded,  and  rich  in 
flowers,  while  a  multitude  of  caves  in  the  limestone  rock  form  natural 
hiding-places.     See  Amos  i.  2,  ix.  3  ;  and  Isa.  xxxiii.  9. 

There  must  have  been  an  altar  to  Jehovah  here  before  Elijah's  time 
(see  ver.  30),  and  the  place  has  always  retained  a  mysterious  sanctity  in 
the  minds  of  the  heathen.  The  view  from  the  scene  of  the  sacrifice  must 
have  been  most  suggestive  and  awe-inspiring.  '  The  awful  debate, 
whether  Jehovah  or  Baal  was  supreme  lord  of  the  elements,  was  fought 
out  for  a  full  day  in  face  of  one  of  the  most  sublime  prospects  of  earth 
and  sea  and  heaven.  Before  him  who  stands  on  Carmel  nature  rises  in  a 
series  of  great  stages  from  sea  to  Alp  :  the  Mediterranean,  the  long  coast 
to  north  and  south,  with  its  hot  sands  and  palms,  Esdraelon  covered 
with  wheat.  Tabor  and  the  lower  hills  of  Galilee  with  their  oaks,  then 
over  the  barer  peaks  of  Upper  Galilee,  and  the  haze  that  is  about  them, 
the  clear  snow  of  Hermon,  hanging  like  a  lonely  cloud  in  the  sky.  It 
was  in  face  of  that  miniature  universe  that  the  Deity,  who  was  Character, 
was  vindicated  as  Lord  against  the  deitj^  "who  was  not'  (G.  A.  Smith, 
pp.  340,  341).  It  must  have  added  much  also  to  the  solemnity  of  the 
scene  to  remember  that  on  the  plain  beneath  had  l)een  fought  the  great 
battles  of  Gideon  and  Barak,  and  that  there  tlie  disobedient  Saul  had 
fallen  before  the  armies  of  the  aliens. 

19.  The  prophets  of  the  groves  four  hundred.  Tliese  were  the  '  prophets  ' 
of  the  female  deity  who  was  worshipped  side  by  side  with  Baal.  Tlyit 
the  idol  prophets  '  fed  at  Jezebel's  table  '  shows  the  fanatical  fervour  with 
which  the  queen  supported  these  false  and  degrading  worships. 

21.  How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions?  The  word  translated 
'halt'  means  to  limp,  and  is  the  same  as  that  translated  'leap"  in  ver. 
26.  It  describes  very  expressively  the  uncertain  attitude  of  Israel  in 
religion,  not  wholly  relinquishing  the  ancestral  and  national  Avorship  of 
Jehovah,  and  yet  following  the  lead  of  the  queen  in  the  Avorship  of  Baal. 


118  1  KINGS  XVIII. 


him  not  a  word.  22.  Then  said  Elijah  unto  the  people,  I, 
even  1  only,  remain  a  prophet  of  the  Lord  ;  but  Baal's 
prophets  are  four  hundred  and  fifty  men.  23.  Let  them 
therefore  give  us  two  bullocks  ;  and  let  them  choose  one 
bullock  for  themselves,  and  cut  it  in  pieces,  and  lay  it  on 
wood,  and  put  no  fire  under  :  and  I  will  dress  the  other 
bullock,  and  lay  it  on  wood,  and  put  no  fire  under  :  24.  And 

•5  god.  call  ye  on  the  name  of  your  ^  gods,  and  I  will  call  on  the 

c  1  Chron.  xxi.  name  of  the  Lord  :  and  the  God  that  ^  answereth  by  fire, 
let  him  be  God.  And  all  the  people  answered  and  said,  It 
is  well  spoken.  25.  And  Elijah  said  unto  the  prophets  of 
Baal,  Choose  you  one  bullock  for  yourselves,  and  dress  it 
first ;  for  ye  are  many  ;  and  call  on  the  name  of  your  gods, 
but  put  no  fire  under.  26.  And  they  took  the  bullock 
which  was  f^iven  them,  and  they  dressed  it,  and  called  on 

d  s.  Matt.  vi.  tlie  name  of  Baal  '■^  from  morning  even  until  noon,  saying, 
0  Baal,  hear  us.     But    there  was  no  voice,  nor  any  that 

6  leaped  about,  answered.  And  they  ^  leaped  upon  the  altar  which  was 
made.  27.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  noon,  that  Elijah 
mocked  them,  and  said,  Cry  aloud  :  for  he  is  a  god  ;  either 


7  musing.  he  is  "talking,  or  he  is  ^pursuing,  or  he  is  in  a  journey,  or 

s  "'0116  n,sidG« 

peradventure  he  sleepeth,  and  must  be  awaked.     28.  And 
they  cried  aloud,  and  cut  themselves  after  their  manner  with 

They  were  trying  to  serve  two  masters,  or  walk  two  ways  at  once,  like 
Banyan's  'Mr.  Facing-both-ways.' 

26.  And  they  leaped  upon  the  altar.  Alore  probably  this  means  that 
they  executed  a  wild,  irregular  dance  (described  as  'limping,'  see 
previous  note)  round  the  altar  ;  something  like  the  '  dancing  dervishes  ' 
of  the  modern  p]ast. 

27.  And  It  came  to  pass  at  noon,  that  Elijah  mocked  them.  If,  as  is 
probable,  liaal  was,  in  the  popular  mind,  identified  with  the  sun-god 
(some  images  (jf  JJaal  represented  him  with  ra3's  of  light  round  his  head), 
Elijah's  mockery  would  come  with  deadly  force  at  noon-tide,  the  moment 
of  the  sun's  greatest  power.  Moreover,  the  miracle  asked  for  would 
have  been  the  natural  one  for  the  sun-god  with  his  fiery  rays  to  have 
performed. 

Was  it  also  because  of  this  that  to  Elijah  alone  among  the  prophets 
was  given  power  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven?  It  was  Jehovah,  and 
not  Baal,  who  was  supreme  in  what  superstition  thought  to  be  Baal's  own 
special  dominion.  It  was  Jehovah,  and  not  the  sun-god,  who  had  power 
over  nature. 


COURAGE  FOR  GOD  119 

knives  and  ^  lancets,  till  the  blood  gushed  out  upon  them.  »  lances. 

29.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  midday  was  past,  and  they 

prophesied  until  the  time  of  the  offering  of  the  evening 

10  sacrifice,  that  there  was  neither  voice,  nor  any  to  answer,  lo  oblation. 

nor  any  that  regarded.     30.  And  Elijah  said  unto  all  the 

people.  Come  near  unto  me.     And  all  the  people  came  near 

unto  him.     And   he  repaired  the  altar  of  the  Lord  that 

was   broken  down.     31.  And  Elijah  took  twelve  ^  stones,  e  Exod.  xx.  25. 

according   to   the   number   of  the   tribes   of  the   sons  of 

Jacob,  unto  whom  -^the  word  of  the  Lord  came,  saying,  /  Gen.  xxxii. 
'  '       -^     ^'  28 ;  XXXV.  10. 

Israel  shall  be  thy  name  :    32.  And  with  the   stones  he 

built  an  altar  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  :  and  he  made  a 

trench  about   the  altar,   as   great  as  would  contain  two 

measures  of  seed.     33.  And  he  put  the  wood  in  order,  and 

cut  the  bullock  in  pieces,  and  laid  him  on  the  wood,  and 

said.  Fill  four  barrels  with  water,  and  pour  it  on  the  burnt 

sacrifice,  and  on  the  wood.     34.  And  he  said.  Do  it  the 

second  time.     And  they  did  it  the  second  time.     And  he 

29.  The  evening'  sacrifice.  The  word  used  signifies  the  '  pure  offering ' 
or  '  minchah,'  which  was  composed  of  cakes  of  fine  flour,  mingled  with  oil, 
offered  with  incense,  in  addition  to  the  lamb  of  the  daily  burnt-offering. 

30.  And  he  repaired,  the  altar  of  the  LORD.  This  altar  must  have  been 
one  of  the  patriarchal  altars  to  Jehovah  which  were  scattered  up  and  down 
the  Holy  Land.  Before  the  institution  of  a  central  sanctuary  such  places 
of  sacrifice  were  permitted,  and  instruction  is  given  in  the  Law  concern- 
ing them  (Exod.  xx.  25  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  5,  6). 

It  may  seem  strange,  however,  that  Elijah  should  have  restored  one  of 
these  ancient  altars,  after  the  central  sanctuary  had  been  built  at  Jeru- 
salem. But  the  whole  circumstances  were  abnormal.  It  would  have 
been  impossible  to  gather  the  people  to  the  capital  of  another  kingdom. 
Moreover,  Elijah's  great  work  was  more  fundamental  than  that  of  pro- 
moting the  central  worship.  He  had  to  attack  and  drive  out  an  absolutely 
foreign  worship,  to  vindicate  the  First  Commandment.  So  we  never  find 
him  attacking  either  the  high  places  or  the  calves,  but  simply  Baal- 
worship. 

31.  AndElijahtook  twelve  stones.  The  number  is  significant.  Although 
the  kingdoms  were  divided,  Israel  was  still  one  in  God's  sight,  being  the 
chosen  nation  of  the  covenant ;  so  twelve  stones  are  taken  to  represent 
the  twelve  trilics. 

33.  Fill  four  barrels  with  water.  Modern  discovery  has  shown  the 
truthfulness  of  this  narrative.  It  used  to  be  asked  by  unbelievers  how 
so  much  water  could  be  procured  at  such  a  time  of  drought.  It  might 
indeed  have  been  brought  from  the  sea,  which  was  near  at  hand.     But 


120  1  KINGS  XVIII. 


said,  Do  it  the  third  time.  And  they  did  it  the  third 
time.  35.  And  the  water  ran  round  about  the  altar  ;  and 
he  filled  the  trench  also  with  water.  36.  And  it  came  to 
pass  at  the  time  of  the  ofl'ering  of  the  evening  sacrifice,  that 

g  Exod.  iii.  G.  Elijah  the  proj^het  came  near,  and  said,  ^  Lord  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  of  Israel,  let  it  be  known  this  day 
that  thou  art  God  in  Israel,  and  that  I  am  thy  servant,  and 
that  I  have  done  all  these  things  at  thy  word.     37.  Hear 

11  that  thou,  me,  0  Lord,  hear  me,  that  this  people  may  know  ^^  that  thou 
art  the  Lord  God,  and  that  thou  hast  turned  their  heart 


Lord,  art  God. 


h  Lev.  ix.  24 ;    back  again.     38.  Then  ^  the  fire  of  the  Lord  fell,  and  con- 

1  Ch^on!  xxi. '    sumed  the  burnt  sacrifice,  and  the  wood,  and  the  stones, 

vii.'  1.    ^^°""      '^^^  th®  dust,  and  licked  up  the  water  that  ivas   in  the 

trench.     39.  And  Avhen  all  the  people  saw  it,  they  fell  on 

their  faces  :  and  they  said.  The  Lord,  he  is  the  God  ;  the 

Lord,  he  is  the  God.     40.  And  Elijah  said  unto  them, 

i  2  Kings  x.  25.  '  Take  the  prophets  of  Baal ;  let  not  one  of  them  escape. 

And  they  took  them  :  and  Elijah  brought  them  down  to 

j  Deut.  xviii.      the  brook  Kishon,  and  •^slew  them  there.     41.  And  Elijah 

said  unto  Ahab,  Get  thee  up,  eat  and  drink  ;  for  there  is  a 

sound  of  abundance  of  rain.     42.  So  Ahab  went  up  to  eat 

and  to  drink.     And  Elijah  went  up  to  the  top  of  Oarmel  ; 
k  S.  James  v.  i  •         i  ^   i  i  •     ,- 

17,  IS.  and  ''"he  cast  hmisen  down  upon  the  earth,  and  put  his  lace 

close  to  the  place  of  Elijah's  sacrifice  is  a  spring  of  fresh  water,  which  is 
said  never  to  run  dry  in  any  season.  '  Carniel  is  the  first  of  Israel's  hills 
to  meet  the  rains,  and  they  give  him  of  their  best'  (G.  A.  Smith). 

38.  Then  the  fire  of  the  LORD  fell.  This  fire  may  have  actually  de- 
scended as  a  thunderl:)olt ;  Init  it  was  none  the  less  miraculous,  and  a 
direct  answer  to  Elijah's  prayer.  Miracles  are  not  perversions  of  the  laws 
of  nature,  but  God'.s  readjustment  of  His  own  laws  for  His  own  purpose, 
to  instruct,  or  warn,  or  punish  man,  or  to  fulfil  His  promises. 

40.  The  brook  Kishon.  There  is  a  knoll  on  the  descent  from  Carmel  to 
the  ravine  of  the  Kishon,  which  still  bears  the  name  'hill  of  the  priests.' 
It  could  hardly  have  ])een  without  purpose  that  the  same  torrent  which 
had  swept  awa}'  the  Hying  hosts  of  Siscni  (Judges  v.  21)  was  now  chosen 
for  the  Divine  judgment  ujjon  the  idolatrous  priests,  who  were  worse 
enemies  of  Israel  than  tlie  eliaiioteers  of  the  Canaanites  in  olden  days. 

42.  And  he  cast  himself  down  upon  the  earth.  The  propliet,  by  his 
very  attitude,  sliovvs  tl'.e  intensity  and  jjcrsistence  of  his  prayer  that  the 
rain  might  be  sent.  He  was  not  daunted  by  six  disappointments,  but 
won  the  answer  to  his  prayer  by  faith. 


COUEAGE  FOR  GOD  121 

between  his  knees,  43.  And  said  to  his  servant,  Go  up 

now,  look  toward  the  sea.     And  he  went  up,  and  looked, 

and  said.  There  is  nothing.     And  he  said.  Go  again  seven 

times.     44.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  seventh  time,  that 

he  said.  Behold,  there  ariseth  a  little  cloud  out  of  the  sea, 

^^like  a  man's  hand.     And  he  said,  Go  ujd,  say  unto  Ahab,  ^^  as  small  as  a 
_,  17-  11-  man's  hand. 

Prepare  thy  chariot,  and  get  thee  down,  that  the  ram  stop 

thee  not.   45.  And  it  came  to  pass  ^^  in  the  mean  while,  that  ^-^  ^^  a  little 

while. 
the  heaven  was  black  with  clouds  and  wind,  and  there  was 

a  great  rain.     And  Ahab  rode,  and  went  to  Jezreel.    46. 

And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  on  Elijah  ;  and  he  girded 

up   his   loins,  and  ran  before  Ahab   to    the    entrance    of 

Jezreel. 

44.  Behold,  there  ariseth  a  little  cloud  out  of  the  sea.  This  was,  and 
is  still,  a  well-known  precursor  of  a  storm  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean. 
Ancient  writers  have  seen  in  this  cloud  a  type  of  the  Incarnation.  In 
answer  to  the  fervent  and  age-long  prayer  and  desire  of  the  saints  of 
the  old  covenant,  came  in  God's  time,  in  the  sunset  of  the  pagan 
world,  the  humble,  almost  unnoticed,  Event  which  has  changed  all 
the  history  of  man. 

And  lie  said,  Go  up,  say  unto  Aliab.  Nothing  is  more  remarkable 
throughout  this  M'onderful  scene  than  the  complete  dominance  for  the 
time  of  Elijah  over  Ahab.  The  man  who  had  been  pursued  to  the  death 
by  the  king  gives  orders  (cf.  verses  19,  40,  41)  which  the  king  meekly 
obeys.  Such  is  the  moral  force  of  a  Divine  mission,  even  when  he  who 
is  charged  with  it  stands,  like  Elijah,  alone,  unarmed,  and,  humanly 
speaking,  pow^erless. 

46.  And  the  hand  of  the  LORD  was  on  Elijah.  The  strength  of  the 
Divine  inspiration  not  only  gave  moral  strength  to  Elijah,  but  super- 
natural bodily  vigour.  He  ran  sixteen  miles  in  front  of  Ahab's  chariot, 
perhaps  a  mark  of  respect  to  him  who  was  king,  although  an  idolater. 


122 


1  KINGS  XVIII. 


LESSON  XIII 


Courage  for  God 


Matter. 


Method. 

1.  The  picture  of  a  brave  man — 
one  against  king,  850  false  prophets, 
the  whole  nation — not  afraid  to 
speak  the  truth,  and  to  risk  his 
own  life  for  the  honour  of  God. 

Describe  the  contesting  sides  :  the 
king  and  false  prophets  in  splendid 
robes,  glittering  with  gold  and 
colours,  exultant,  quite  sure  of 
themselves ;  Elijah  in  the  mean 
mantle  of  undressed  skin,  with 
nothing  to  attract  or  overawe. 

Which  side  would  yo\x  rather 
have  been  with  ?     Why  ? 

Speak  of  the  glory  of  loyalty,  of 
faithfulness  to  God,  and  the  Truth. 

Cf.  Milton's  lines  on  the  Arch- 
angel Abdiel  {Paradise  Lost,  v.  ) : — 

'  Faithful  found 
Among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he : 
Among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 
Unshaken,  uuseduced,  unterrified, 
His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love,  his  zeal.' 


1.  Elijah's  courag-e. 

The  heroic  courage  of  Elijah  is 
perhaps  the  most  striking  feature 
in  the  whole  of  this  most  dramatic 
story. 

Strong  in  the  sense  of  his  Divine 
mission  he  comes  forth  from  his 
place  of  refuge,  and  confronts  the 
unscrupulous  king  who  had  searched 
far  and  wide  in  order  to  take  his 
life. 

In  the  king's  presence  he  is  not 
afraid  to  tell  him  to  his  face  who 
was  the  real  'troubler  of  Israel,' 
and  why. 

And  in  the  whole  range  of  history 
there  is  no  more  splendid  example 
of  moral  force  triumphing  over 
mere  numbers  than  Elijah's  con- 
fronting alone,  not  only  the  king 
and  the  850  idolatrous  prophets, 
the  favourites  of  the  court,  but  the 
representatives  of  the  whole  king- 
dom. 

The  solitary  figure  in  the  garb  of 
the  desert  stands  opposite  to  the 
whole  magnificence  and  power  of 
king  and  nation,  and  utters  his 
splendid  challenge.  He  is  willing 
to  put  the  whole  controversy  be- 
tween Jehovah  and  Baal,  between 
the  God  of  holiness  and  the  God  of 
self-indulgence  and  self-will,  to  one 
decisive  test.  If  this  test  had 
failed,  and  doubtless  its  success 
was  an  answer  to  the  prophet's 
faith  and  prayer,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  liis  own  life  Avould  instantly 
have  paid  the  ff)rfeit. 

2.  The  secret  of  courage.  2.  Point  out  that  there  are  dif- 

Men  are  not  able  to  stand  alone  ferent  kinds  of  cowrar/e.  There  is  the 

at  such  moments  as  these,  however  courage  of  strength,  anger,  natural 

good  their  cause,  unless  they  liave  .  .°     ,,  .    .    ,.7,,                  ,         ,, 

long  prepared  beforehand,     tlic  life  ^P^"^^  =  ^^''^  '«  1^^^^^  "^^^'^  ^^^^^  *^^^ 

of  solitude  and  prayer  had  taught  courage  of  the  wdd  beasts. 


COURAGE  FOR  GOD 


123 


Lesson  XIII — continued.     Courage  for  God 


Matter. 

Elijah  the  true  value  of  things. 
He  had  learned  more  of  God  than 
other  men,  and  in  the  strength  of 
this  vision  of  the  Unseen,  and  of 
the  call  of  God  to  himself,  he  stood 
firm,  where  other  men  would  have 
been  dazzled  or  frightened. 

It  was  by  the  word  of  the  Lord 
(ver.  1)  that  he  came  forth  to  meet 
Ahab,  and  in  the  great  controversy, 
it  is  the  knowledge  that  all  he  has 
done  has  been  at  God's  word  (ver. 
36)  which  sustains  him. 

Af urther  characteristic  of  Elijah's 
courage  was  the  forgetfulness  of  self. 
There  is  no  vestige  of  vainglory,  or 
desire  for  a  personal  triumph.  He 
praj's  to  be  heard  (ver.  37)  for  the 
sake  of  the  people,  that  their  eyes 
may  be  open  to  know  the  ti'uth  and 
their  hearts  set  free  to  obey  it. 

3.  The  result  of  Elijah's  courage  is 
one  of  the  startling  interventions  of 
God  on  the  stage  of  human  history, 
and  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
proofs  of  what  one  man,  who  is 
faithful,  can  do  for  God.  There 
was  a  complete  revulsion  of  popular 
feeling.  Baal  was  exposed,  Jehovah 
vindicated,  the  false  prophets  slain, 
the  king  himself  could  offer  no  re- 
sistance. And  in  answer  again  to 
the  prophet's  prayer,  the  coming 
of  the  rain  was  a  gracious  sign  of 
the  turning  away  of  the  wrath  of 
God. 

So  in  Christian  history,  men 
learned  to  speak  of  ' Athanasius 
contra  mundum.''  One  holy  man, 
in  the  strength  of  prayer  and  per- 
sonal love  of  the  Saviour,  humanly 
speaking,  saved  the  Catholic  Faith  ; 
vindicating  the  true  Godhead  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  leaving  a  mark 
upon  the  Church  which  can  never 
be  effaced. 


Method. 

The  highest  courage,  that  which 
makes  heroes,  is  the  courage  which 
does  not  rest  on  self^  but  on  God 
and  a  good  cause. 

So  great  heroes  and  patriots  in 
history  have  been  brave  for  the 
sake  of  country,  those  they  loved, 
justice,  truth. 

The  courage  of  Elijah  was  inspired 
by  love  of  God  (see  allusions  to 
God's  word  to  him,  verses  1,  36) 
and  lore  of  man  ;  he  desired  to  free 
his  countrymen  from  a  false  and 
degrading  superstition. 

And  because  his  courage  does  not 
rest  on  self,  before  he  offers  his 
sacrifice,  he  prays  (verses  36-37). 


3.  The  fire  from  heaven  may  have 
been  lightning,  but  it  was  sent  (1) 
by  the  will  of  God,  (2)  in  answer  to 
Elijah's  prayer.  All  the  powers  of 
Nature  belong  to  God,  and  He  can 
use  them  as  He  wills. 

Describe  results  of  this  burnt- 
sacrifice — 

(1)  The    people   do   not   worship 

Elijah  but  God,  which  was 
what  he  desired  ; 

(2)  The    deceivers    are    put    to 

death  ; 

(3)  The  long  drought  is  euded^ 

again    in    answer   to    the 
prophet's  prayer. 


124 


1  KINGS  XVIII. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Courage  for  God. 
1.  Elijah,  a  truly  brave  man. 

He  stood  alone  for  God  against — 
the  king, 
the  850  false  prophets, 


the  nation. 


2.  Why  was  he  brave  ? 

He  was  doing  the  will  of  God. 
He  was  not  contending  for  himself,  but  for 
God's  honour,  and  the  good  of  the  people. 
His  strength  was  in  prayer. 

3.  The  answer  to  prayer  : — 

Fire  from  heaven ; 
Conversion  of  the  people  ; 
Destruction  of  false  prophets  ; 
Rain. 


THE  HIDDEN  WAYS  OF  GOD  125 


1  KINGS  XIX. 

AND  Ahab  told  Jezebel  all  that  Elijah  had  done,  and 
withal  how  he  had  slain  all  the  prophets  with  the 
sword.  2.  Then  Jezebel  sent  a  messenger  unto 
Elijah,  saying,  So  let  the  gods  do  to  me,  and  more  also,  if 
I  make  not  thy  life  as  the  life  of  one  of  them  by  to  morrow 
about  this  time.  3.  And  when  he  saw  that^  he  arose,  and 
went  for  his  life,  and  came  to  Beer-sheba,  which  hclongeth 
to  Judah,  and  left  his  servant  there.  4.  But  he  himself 
went  a  day's  journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  came  and  sat 
down  under  a  ^juniper  tree  :  and  he  requested  for  himself  i  Marg.  broom. 

2.  Then  Jezebel  sent  a  messenger  unto  Elijah.  There  is  a  significant 
difference  between  tlie  character  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel.  The  former 
was  one  of  those  who  'had  not  wholly  quenched  his  power,'  he  still 
retained  '  a  little  grain  of  conscience.'  He  Avas  impressed  by  the  work  of 
Elijah,  which  he  had  felt  himself  powerless  to  stop,  and  there  was  a  hope 
of  his  repentance  (cf.  xxi.  27).  But  there  are  no  hints  of  repentance  in 
Jezebel ;  she  had  absolutely  hardened  her  heart  against  truth  and  con- 
science, and  Elijah's  victory  only  makes  her  more  bitter.  The  parallel 
between  these  two  and  Shakespeare's  creations  of  Macbeth  and  Lady 
Macbeth  is  very  striking. 

3.  Beer-sheba,  which  belongeth  to  Judah.  Beer-sheba  is  in  the  territory 
of  Simeon,  and  one  of  the  southernmost  places  in  Palestine.  Although 
Simeon  nominally  was  reckoned  with  the  tribes  of  the  northern  kingdom, 
it  had  long  ago  lost  its  tribal  character,  in  accordance  with  the  curse  of 
Jacob  (Gen.  xlix.  7),  and  this  part,  at  any  rate,  now  belonged  to  the  kings 
of  Judah,  and  so  was  out  of  the  reach  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel  for  the 
moment. 

4.  And  he  requested  for  himself  that  he  might  die.  The  despondency 
which  now  caine  upon  Elijah  is  very  true  to  human  nature.  The  strongest 
characters  often,  as  it  were,  have  to  pay  the  penaltj^  for  moments  of  extra- 
ordinary exaltation  by  a  physical  reaction  into  deep  depression  of  mind 
and  body.  Such  a  weapon  Satan  employed,  even  against  our  blessed 
Lord  Himself,  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  but  was  overcome  by  the 
obedience  which  was  strong  to  say,  'Not  My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done.' 
Elijah  seems  to  have  thought  that  his  labours,  and  even  the  great  miracles 
he  had  worked,  were  failures  ;  that  they  could  produce  no  lasting  effect 
in  view  of  the  unconquerable  malice  of  Jezebel.  He  was  looking  for  the 
moment  at  the  hiiman  side  of  events  only,  and  forgetting  the  Divine  back- 
ground. A  similar  desijondency  may  have  prompted  the  question  asked 
by  Elijah's  successor,  John  the  Bai»tist  (8.  Matt.  xi.  2,  3). 

There  is  a  remarkable  sermon  by  Dr.  Liddon,  in  Old  Testament  Sermons, 
on  '  Elijah  at  Horeb,'  which  should  be  consulted  by  the  teacher. 


126  1  KINGS  XIX. 


a  Jonah  iv.  3, 8.  "  that  lie  might  die  ;  and  said,  It  is  enough  ;  now,  0  Lord, 
take  away  my  life  ;  for  I  am  not  better  than  my  fathers. 
5.  And  as  he  lay  and  slept  under  a  juniper  tree,  behold, 
then  an  angel  touched  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Arise  and 
eat.  6.  And  he  looked,  and,  behold,  there  icas  a  cake  baken 
on  the  coals,  and  a  cruse  of  water  at  his  head.  And  he  did 
eat  and  drink,  and  laid  him  down  again.  7.  And  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  came  again  the  second  time,  and  touched  him, 
and  said.  Arise  and  eat  ;  because  the  journey  is  too  great 
for  thee.     8.  And  he  arose,  and  did  eat   and  drink,  and 

h  Exod.  xxxiv.   went  in  the  strength  of  that  meat  ^  forty  days  and  forty 

^8 '    D6ut   i\   *^ 

IS;  s.  Matt.'iv!  nights  unto  Horeb  the  mount  of  God.  9.  And  he  came 
thither  unto  a  cave,  and  lodged  there ;  and,  behold,  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  and  he  said  unto  him.  What 

c  Rom.  xi.  3.      doest  thou  here,  Elijah  ?     10.  And  he  said,  ^  I  have  been 

d  Num.  XXV.  11,  very  jealous  for  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  :  ^  for  the  children 
of  Israel  have  forsaken  thy  covenant,  thrown  down  thine 
altars,  and  slain  thy  prophets  with  the  sword  ;  and  I,  even 
I  only,  am  left ;  and  they  seek  my  life,  to  take  it  away. 

e  Exori.  xxiv.      11.  And  he  said.  Go  forth,  and  stand  upon  ^  the    mount 

12 

before  the  Lord.     And,  behold,  the  Lord  passed  by,  and 

8.  And  went  in  tlie  strength  of  that  meat  forty  days  and  forty  nights. 
The  parallels  of  Moses  and  our  Lord  will  at  once  occur.  In  this  super- 
natural food  in  the  wilderness  the  Church  has  always  loved  to  see  a 
distinct  t^^pe  of  the  Holy  Communion. 

Horeb  the  mount  of  God.  Elijah  is  led  to  the  most  sacred  spot  in  the 
history  of  Old  Testament  revelation — the  mount  where  the  La\v  had 
been  given  by  God  amid  fire  and  darkness  and  terror — the  same  Law  which 
he  had  been  vindicating  on  Mount  Carmel.  Here  he  is  to  be  taught 
deeper  lessons  as  to  the  nature  of  God  and  the  waj's  of  God.  The  cave 
spoken  of  in  the  next  verse  was  probably  the  very  spot  where  God 
had  revealed  His  Name  and  the  skirts  of  His  glory  to  Moses  (Exod. 
xxxiii. -xxxiv.). 

11.  And,  behold,  the  LORD  passed  by.  This  is  the  same  expression  that 
is  used  of  the  manifestation  of  God  to  Moses,  and  implies,  not,  of  course, 
a  literal  '  passing  by,'  for  God  is  everywhere,  but  a  special  revelation  of 
God.  These  terrible  disturbances  of  nature,  the  wind,  the  earthquake, 
and  the  fire,  were  perhaps  tlie  way  in  which  Elijah  had  expected  God  to 
reveal  Himself  in  judgment  on  Israel.  But  now  he  is  shown  tliat  God's 
ways  are  otlierwise.  The  Lord  Mas  nc)t  in  these  things.  Eather,  the 
])ivine  oi)erations  are  carried  on  secretly  and  inwardly  by  the  invisible 
influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  dealing  with  the  conscience  of  man.     It  was 


THE  HIDDEN  WAYS  OF  GOD  127 

a  great  and  strong  wind  rent  the  mountains,  and  brake  in 
pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lord  ;  but  the  Lord  ivas  not 
in  the  wind  :  and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake  ;  but  the 
Lord  ivas  not  in  the  earthquake  :  12.  And  after  the  earth- 
quake a  fire  ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire  :  and  after 
the  fire  a  still  small  voice.  13.  And  it  was  so,  when  Elijah 
heard  it,  that  -^he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle,  and  /  isa.  vi.  2. 
went  out,  and  stood  in  the  entering  in  of  the  cave.  And, 
behold,  there  came  a  voice  unto  him,  and  said.  What  doest 
thou  here,  Elijah  ?  14.  And  he  said,  I  have  been  very- 
jealous  for  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  :  because  the  children 
of  Israel  have  forsaken  thy  covenant,  thrown  down  thine 
altars,  and  slain  thy  prophets  with  the  sword  ;  and  I,  even 
I  only,  am  left ;  and  they  seek  my  life,  to  take  it  away. 
15.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  Go,  return  on  thy  way 
to  the  wilderness  of  Damascus  :  and  when  thou  comest, 
anoint  Hazael  to  be  king  over  Syria  :  16.  And  Jehu  the 
son  of  Nimshi  shalt  thou  «'  anoint  to  be  king  over  Israel  :  g  2  Kings  ix. 
and  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat  of  Abel-meholah  shalt  thou 
anoint  to  be  prophet  in  thy  room.  17.  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass,  that  him  that  escapeth  the  sword  of  Hazael  shall 

this  which  was  symbolised  by  the  'still  small  voice'  (Heb.   'a  sound  of 
gentle  stillness'),  in  which  Elijah  at  last  recognises  the  Divine  presence. 

15.  Go,  return  on  tliy  way.  God's  purposes  are  invincible,  and  in  His 
own  time  He  ever  provides  the  human  instruments  for  carr^'ing  them  out, 
often  in  the  most  unlikely  quarters,  and  in  spite  of  human  despondency 
and  ignorance.  The  commands  given  to  Elijah  were  at  once  humbling 
and  encouraging.  Instead  of  expecting  anj^  great  manifestation  of  God 
during  his  own  lifetime,  he  is  to  appoint  new  agents  to  carry  on  his  work  : 
these  will  do  the  things  that  come  next  to  be  done.  And  in  the  twice 
repeated  question,  '  What  doest  thou  here  ? '  it  would  seem  to  be  suggested 
that  Elijah  might  have  been  better  employed  in  seeking  some  such  duties 
near  at  hand  than  even  in  his  pilgrimage  to  Horeb. 

Anoint  Hazael  to  be  king  over  Syria.  Of  the  three,  we  are  only  told 
definitely  that  one  was  anointed,  viz.  Jehu.  Elisha  vep>y  probably  was 
anointed,  as  prophets  frequently  were.  Hazael  may  have  been,  but  the 
only  record  of  any  actual  communication  between  him  and  the  prophets 
of  Israel  is  his  interview  with  Elisha  (2  Kings  viii.  8-14).  But  the  com- 
mand to  anoint  need  not  mean  more  than  to  mark  out  in  the  prophet's 
mind,  or  publicly  to  signify  as  '  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  who  were  the  three 
divinely  appointed  ministers  of  judgment  upon  Israel. 


128  1  KINGS  XIX. 


Jehu  slay  :  and  him  that  escapeth  from  the  sword  of  Jehu 

2  Yet  will  I       shall  Elisha  slay.     18.  ^  Yet  I  haA^e  left  me  seven  thousand 
leave  me. 

in  Israel,  all  the  knees  which  have  not  bowed  unto  Baal, 

h  Hos.  xiii.  2.  and  every  mouth  which  hath  not  '^  kissed  him.  19.  So  he 
departed  thence,  and  found  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat,  who 
was  plowing  with  twelve  yoke  of  oxen  before  him,  and  he 
with  the  twelfth  :  and  Elijah  passed  by  him,  and  cast  his 
mantle  upon  him.     20.  And  he  left  the  oxen,  and  ran  after 

i  S.  Luke  ix.  Elijah,  and  said,  ^  Let  me,  I  pray  thee,  kiss  my  father  and 
my  mother,  and  then  I  will  follow  thee.  And  he  said 
unto  him.  Go  back  again  :  for  what  have  I  done  to  thee  ? 
21.  And  he  returned  back  from  him,  and  took  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  slew  them,  and  boiled  their  flesh  with  the  instru- 

17.  And  Mm  that  escapeth  from  the  sword  of  Jehu  shall  Elisha  slay. 
This  prophecy  is  probably  meant  to  be  understood  figui-atively.  Elisha 
was  a  minister  of  Divine  judgment,  but  there  is  no  record  nor  like- 
lihood that  he  executed  this  with  the  sword  literally,  like  Hazael  and 
Jehu.  God's  word  is  often  spoken  of  as  a  sword  ;  cf.  Hosea  vi.  5,  '  There- 
fore have  I  hewed  them  by  the  prophets  :  I  have  slain  them  by  the 
words  of  my  mouth  ' ;  and  S.  Matt.  x.  84  ;  Eph.  vi.  17. 

18.  Yet  I  have  left  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel.  The  trutli  whicli  is  so 
strikingly  expressed  in  these  words  is  one  that  runs  through  revelation. 
At  all  times  there  is  a  '  remnant,'  as  Isaiah  called  it  (x.  20-23 ;  cf.  Rom. 
xi.  5).  Although  outwardly  the  Church  may  seem  apostate,  there  is  a 
core  within  which  is  faithful  and  holy,  seen  by  God,  even  though  un- 
known to  men.  So  in  Israel,  at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
although  the  nation  as  a  whole  were  faithless,  and  blinded  by  worldliness, 
yet  such  as  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  the  apostles  were  ready  to  recog- 
nise the  Christ.  So  doubtless  it  will  be  also  at  the  Second  Advent : 
'  Iniquity  willaljuund,'  but  '  the  elect '  w  ill  be  prepared  for  the  Great  Day. 

19.  And  cast  his  mantle  upon  him.  The  mantle  of  Elijah  was  doubtless 
a  rough  garment  of  hair,  such  as  afterwards  (or  perhaps  even  before  this 
time)  became  a  mark  of  the  prophetic  calling.  It  is  alluded  to  as  such 
in  Zech.  xiii.  4.  The  casting  of  this  upon  Elisha  was,  of  course,  a  sym- 
l)olical  action,  marking  him  out  as  a  future  prophet. 

20.  Go  hack  again  :  for  what  have  I  done  to  thee  ?  It  is  perfectly  clear 
from  the  context  that  these  words  do  not  signify  any  attempt  to  minimise 
the  solemnity  of  Elijah's  calling  of  Elisha.  And  it  is  e(]ually  clear  that 
I'^Iisha  did  not  hesitate  to  follow  at  once  the  Divine  call,  and  make  an 
entire  break  with  his  past  life.  We  must  therefore  understand  them  as 
meaning  that  Elisha  may  well  ask  to  go  and  bid  his  parents  farewell,  for 
what  Elijah  had  done  to  him  will  mean  an  entire  separation  from  them. 

21.  And  took  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  slew  them.  Each  action  of  Elisha 
shows  his  thorough  acceptance  of  his  call.    He  gives  up  his  worldly  occupa- 


THE  HIDDEN  WAYS  OF  GOD 


129 


ments  of  the  oxen,  and  gave  unto  the  jDeople,  and  they  did 
eat.  Then  he  arose,  and  went  after  Elijah,  and  ministered 
unto  him. 

tion,  he  makes  the  oxen  and  the  plough  the  instruments  of  a  solemn 
farewell  feast,  probably  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice,  for  the  word  rendered 
'slew'  means  'sacrificed'  (cf.  2  Sam.  xxiv.  22).  Like  the  apostles,  he 
was  ready  to  forsake  all  and  follow.  The  Church  has  chosen  this  incident 
for  the  First  Lesson  at  Mattins  on  S.  Matthew's  Day. 


LESSON  XI V 
The  Hidden  Ways  of  God 


Matter. 

1.  Hidden  consolations. 

Elijah,  after  the  intense  exalta- 
tion of  soul  which  had  carried  him 
through  the  great  scene  of  Carmel, 
seems  to  fall  suddenly  and  strangely 
into  terror  and  depression.  He  re- 
cognises that  the  triumph  is  not  so 
complete  as  at  first  appeared ;  the 
mainspring  of  the  idolatrous  move- 
ment is  still  untouched.  Jezebel  is 
unconverted. 

The  prophet  flees  into  the  wil- 
derness, perhaps  first  with  the  in- 
tention of  seeking  communion  with 
God  at  the  great  historic  spot  of 
the  giving  of  the  Lav/  ;  but,  sitting 
down  under  one  of  the  scanty  trees 
of  the  desert,  he  prays  for  death. 
His  life-work  is,  bethinks,  a  failure; 
he  has  wrought  no  deliverance  in 
the  earth  (cf.  Isa.  xxvi.  18  ;  xlix.  4). 

He  is  comforted  mysteriously  by 
the  sympathy  of  the  angel  who 
touches  him  in  his  dream,  and  by 
the  miraculous  meals  which  give 
him  new  strength  for  the  journey  to 
Sinai. 

2.  Hidden  strength. 

The  wind  and  the  earthquake  and 
the  fire,  terrible  disturbances  of 
Nature,  might  seem  \\e\\  to  har- 
monise with  Elijah's  eager,  tumul- 
tuous spirit ;  and,  also,  the}'  would 
sugg-est  those  mighty  interferences 
of  God  which  he  hoped  would  visibly 

HEB.  MOX.  :  VOL.  II. 


Method. 

1.  Refer  to  previous  lesson,  and 
show  that  Elijah  must  have  thought 
that  every  one  would  turn  and  serve 
God  after  the  miracle  on  Carmel.  So 
when  the  queen  threatens  to  kill 
him,  he  loses  heart  for  the  time. 

Describe  the  journey  through  the 
wilderness  ;  the  angel's  visits  were 
a  proof  that  he  was  not  really  alone ; 
and  the  food  God  provided  him  must 
have  convinced  him  of  God's  love 
and  care. 

Show  how  this  food  is  a  type  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  which  is  some- 
times called  'angels'  food,'  like  the 
manna  (cf.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  24,  25),  and 
gives  strength  to  Christians  to  go 
through  this  life  safely  until  they 
reach  the  presence  of  God. 


2.  What  would  Elijah  expect  on 
Mount  Sinai  ?  Refer  to  the  giving 
of  the  Law.  He  ma\'  have  expected 
that  God  would  speak  to  him,  as  He 
did  to  Moses,  with  a  terrible  voice 
like  a  trumpet  amidst  fire  and  whirl- 
wind and  darkness. 

These    things    did    happen,    but 


130 


1  KINGS  XIX. 


Le.ssox  XIV— continued.     The  Hidden  Ways  of  God 


Matter. 

convince  and  terrify  the  unbelievers. 
And  yet  the  Lord  was  in  none  of 
these  ;  in  none  of  them  did  the 
Divine  voice  speak  inwardlj?-  to  him 
or  bring  him  inspiration.  Rather 
in  the  'still  small  voice,'  whisper- 
ing in  the  silence  of  Nature,  did  he 
recognise  the  presence  of  God. 

It  was  a  sign  to  him  that  God's 
ordinary  ways  of  working  His  pur- 
pose are  hidden,  and  unnoticed  by 
the  world  ;  and  also  a  prophecy  of 
the  times  of  Christ :  — 

'The  ragini;  fire,  the  roaring  wind 

Thy  boundless  power  display, 
But  in  the  gentler  breeze  we  find 
Thy  Spirit's  viewless  way.' 

3.  Hidden  calls. 

The  three  commissions  given  by 
the  voice  of  God,  only  one  of  which 
was  immediately  fulfilled,  were 
signs  to  Elijah  that  God  has  many 
messengers,  and  many  ways  of  ful- 
filling His  purpose.  Elijah  was  not 
to  see  in  any  case  what  the  actual 
work  of  these  three  would  be  ;  but 
he  is  only  assured  that  each  will 
supplement  the  work  of  the  others, 
and  each  will  in  his  sphere  perform 
that  which  the  prophet  had  despaired 
of.  Justice  will  ultimately  be  meted 
out,  God's  will  must  be  done,  but  in 
other  ways  than  any  he  had  thought 
of  or  desired. 

4.  Hidden  saints. 

The  Church  is  never  really  so 
corrupt  as  it  seems.  Elijah  thought 
that  he  was  the  only  one  left  who 
was  faithful  to  God,  that  Israel  had 
entirely  apostatised  ;  yet  unknown 
to  him,  and  hidden  from  tlie  world, 
there  was  still  the  perfect  number 
of  God's  elect  who  would  never 
falter  in  their  loyalty. 

These  made  no  display  in  the 
world,  they  did  not  work  miracles, 
nor  carry  on  any  open  warfare  with 
Ahab  and  Jc/.ebel  ;  but  in  God's 
sight  they  were  the  true  Israel,  the 


Method. 
God  was  not  in  them.  God  did  not 
wish  to  speak  in  this  way  ;  nor  does 
He  as  a  rule  do  so.  God  usually 
speaks  to  men  quietly,  in  secret, 
whispering  to  the  heart  and  con- 
science by  His  Holy  Spirit. 

Elijah  perhaps  expected  fire  from 
heaven  to  burn  up  Jezebel  and  all 
idolaters,  but  God  teaches  him  by 
this  '  still  small  voice '  that  He 
loves  to  persuade  sinners  rather 
than  terrify  or  destroy  them. 

Cf.  S.  Luke  ix.  54-56. 

3.  Elijah  may  have  thought  (see 
verses  10  and  14)  that  he  was  the 
only  one  who  worked  for  God,  and 
that  if  he  were  to  be  killed  there 
would  be  no  one  left  to  take  his 
place. 

God  shows  him  three  men  who 
would  in  different  ways  and  inde- 
pendently of  each  other  carry  on 
His  work. 

Illustrate  by — 

Moses  and  Joshua  ; 
The   apostles,    and   their    suc- 
cessors the  clergy. 

4.  Picture  Elijah's  surprise  at 
being  told  that  so  far  from  himself 
being  the  only  true  believer  in  Cod, 
there  were  7000  others  in  Israel. 

So  it  is  always — men  often  see 
only  the  bad  side  ;  God  sees  the 
hidden  saints,  hears  their  prayers, 
spares  the  world  for  their  sakes. 

So  God  would  have  spared  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  had  ten  righteous 
been  there  (Gen.  xviii.). 

Eefer  to  clause  in  Creed — '  the 
holy  Catholic  Church  ' — sometimes 
men  think  tlie  Church  is  not  at  all 
holy,   and  that  God    has  left  her. 


THE  HIDDEN  WAYS  OF  GOD 


131 


Lesson  XIV — continued. 

Matter. 

wholesome  living  core,  though  all  the 
outside  seemed  rotten  ;  their  quiet 
faithfuhiess,  their  constant  interces- 
sion, were  of  more  lasting  worth  than 
a  crusade  against  idolatry,  or  a  call- 
ing down  of  fire  from  heaven. 


Ihe  Hidden  Ways  of  God 

Method. 

But  there  are  always  the  faithful 
there,  wliom  God  sees  and  knows 
quite  clearly. 

How  important  to  be  among  the 
faithful  in  God's  sight,  even  though 
men  know  nothing  about  one  ! 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Hidden  Ways  of  God. 

1.  Elijah,  in  fear,  sad,  lonely. 

God  comforts  him  by  an  angel ; 

by  miraculous  food. 
So  we  have   (juardian   angels  and    the   Holy 
Communion. 

2.  Elijah  expects  God  to  do  great  miracles. 

God  speaks  to  him  in  a  '  still  small  voice. ' 
So  the  Holy  Spirit  speaks  to  us. 

3.  Elijah  thinks  his  work  is  a  failure. 

God  shows  him  whom  to  appoint  as  succes- 
sors— Hazael,  Jehu,  Elisha. 
So  we  have  the  clergy,  who  carry  on  the  work 
of  God. 

4.  Elijah  thinks  he  is  the  only  faithful  one  left. 

God  tells  him  there  are  7000  more. 
So  we  have  the  hidden  saints  of  the  Church. 


132  1  KINGS  XX. 


1  KINGS   XX. 

A  ND  Ben-liadad  the  king  of  Syria  gathered  all  his  host 
_±\_  together  :  and  there  ivere  thii'ty  and  two  kings  with 
him,  and  horses,  and  chariots  :  and  he  went  up  and 
besieged  Samaria,  and  warred  against  it.  2.  And  he  sent 
messengers  to  Ahab  king  of  Israel  into  the  city,  and  said 
unto  him,  Thus  saith  Ben-hadad,  3.  Thy  silver  and  thy 
gold  is  mine  ;  thy  wives  also  and  thy  children,  even  the 
goodliest,  are  mine.  4.  And  the  king  of  Israel  answered 
and  said.  My  lord,  0  king,  according  to  thy  saying,  I  am 
thine,  and  all  that  I  have.  5.  And  the  messengers  came 
again,  and  said.  Thus  speaketh  Ben-hadad,  saying,  Although 
I  have  sent  unto  thee,  saying.  Thou  shalt  deliver  me  thy 
silver,  and  thy  gold,  and  thy  wives,  and  thy  children  ; 
6.  Yet  I  will  send  my  servants  unto  thee  to  morrow  about 
this  time,  and  they  shall  search  thine  house,  and  the  houses 
of  thy  servants  ;  and  it  shall  be,  that  whatsoever  is  plea- 
sant in  thine  eyes,  they  shall  put  it  in  their  hand,  and  take 
it  away.  7.  Then  the  king  of  Israel  called  all  the  elders 
of  the  land,  and  said,  Mark,  I  pray  you,  and  see  how  this 
man  seeketh  mischief :  for  he  sent  unto  me  for  my  wives, 
and  for  my  children,  and  for  my  silver,  and  for  my  gold  ; 
and  I  denied  him  not.  8.  And  all  the  elders  and  all  the 
people  said  unto  him,  Hearken  not  itnto  him,  nor  consent. 
9.  Wherefore  he  said  unto  the  messengers  of  Ben-hadad, 

1.  And  Ben-hadad  the  king  of  Syria.  It  is  not  certain  which  par- 
ticular Jicn-hadad  this  was,  as  there  were  several  of  the  name.  He  may 
have  V>een  the  Ben-hadad  of  cliap.  xv.  18.  S3a'ia  was  at  present  the  most 
dangerous  neighbour  of  Israel. 

6.  Yet  I  will  send  my  servants.  Ahab  had  already  made  a  general 
ofifer  of  suljuiission  to  Ben-hadad  (ver.  5).^  But  the  latter,  not  content 
with  this,  now  announces  his  intention  to  humiliate  him  still  further  (1) 
by  actually  taking  the  king's  possessions  ;  (2)  by  ransacking  the  houses  of 
his  nobles  and  subjects  generally. 

1  This  would  probably  have  meant  merely  the  jiaying  of  some  indemnity  or  tribute, 
such  as  Rehoboam  was  compelled  to  pay  to  Shishak. 


BATTLE  1 3 


Tell  my  lord  the  king,  All  that  thou  didst  send  for  to  thy 

servant  at  the  first  I  will  do  :  but  this  thing  I  may  not  do. 

And   the   messengers   departed,   and   brought   him    word 

again.     10.  And  Ben-hadad  sent  unto  him,  and  said,  The 

gods  do  so  unto  me,  and  more  also,  if  the  dust  of  Samaria 

shall  suffice  for  handfuls  for  all  the  people  that  follow  me. 

11.  And  the  king  of  Israel  answered  and  said,  Tell  him, 

Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his  ^  harness  boast  himself  as  ^  armour. 

he  that  putteth  it  oflF.     12.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when 

Ben-hadad  heard  this  message,  as  he  was  drinking,  he  and 

the  kings  in  the  pavilions,  that  he  said  unto  his  servants. 

Set  yourselves  in  array.     And  they  set  themselves  in  array 

against  the  city.     13.  And,  behold,  there  came  a  prophet 

unto  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 

Hast  thou  seen  all  this  great  multitude  ?   behold,  I  will 

deliver  it  into  thine  hand  this  day  ;  and  thou  shalt  know 

that  I  am  the  Lord.     14.    And  Ahab  said.  By  whom  ? 

And  he  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  l^ven  by  the  young 

men  of  the  princes  of  the  provinces.     Then  he  said,  Who 

shall  2 order  the  battle?     And  he  answered.  Thou.     15.  2  begin. 

Then  he  ^  numbered  the  young  men  of  the  princes  of  the  ^  mustered. 

provinces,  and  they  were  two  hundred  and  thirty  two  : 

and  after  them  he  numbered  all  the  people,  even  all  the 

children  of  Israel,  being  seven  thousand.     16.  And  they 

10.  If  the  dust  of  Samaria  shall  suffice  for  handfuls.  This  Oriental 
hyperbole  may  be  interpreted  in  more  than  one  way.  The  first  and 
obvious  meaning  is  that  Ben-hadad  will  bring  an  overwhelming  host 
against  Ahab.  But  the  reference  to  handfuls  of  dust  may  imply  either 
that  Samaria  will  be  actually  taken  away  like  rubbish  for  a  dust-heap, 
or  that  the  besiegers  would  be  so  numerous  that  they  would  not  be  able 
to  find  enough  earth  to  make  ramparts  against  Samaria. 

12.  Set  yourselves  in  array.  As  will  be  seen  by  the  italics,  there  is 
onh'  one  word,  an  imperative,  in  the  Hebrew.  This  may  mean,  as  the 
margin  suggests,  '  Place  the  siege-engines  in  position  to  begin  the 
attack.' 

14.  Even  by  the  young-  men  of  the  princes  of  the  provinces.  These 
were  apparentl}'  the  servants  or  squii^es  of  the  chief  men  of  Israel.  They 
were  chosen,  no  doubt,  to  show  that  the  victory  would  be  supernatural. 
Their  youth  and  inexperience  would  unfit  them  naturally'  for  leaders 


134  1  KINGS  XX. 


went  out  at  noon.  But  Ben-hadad  was  drinking  himself 
drunk  in  the  paviUons,  he  and  the  kings,  the  thirty  and 
two  kings  that  helped  him.  17.  And  the  young  men  of 
the  princes  of  the  provinces  went  out  first ;  and  Ben-hadad 
sent  out,  and  they  told  him,  saying.  There  are  men  come 
out  of  Samaria.  18.  And  he  said,  Whether  they  be  come 
out  for  peace,  take  them  alive  ;  or  whether  they  be  come 
out  for  war,  take  them  alive.  19.  So  these  young  men  of 
the  princes  of  the  provinces  came  out  of  the  city,  and  the 
army  which  followed  them,  20.  And  they  slew  every  one 
his  man  :  and  the  Syrians  fled  ;  and  Israel  pursued  them  : 
and  Ben-hadad  the  king  of  Syria  escaped  on  an  horse  with 
the  horsemen.  21.  And  the  king  of  Israel  went  out,  and 
smote  the  horses  and  chariots,  and  slew  the  Syrians  with  a 
great  slaughter.  22.  And  the  prophet  came  to  the  king  of 
Israel,   and   said   unto   him.  Go,  strengthen  thyself,  and 

a  2  Sam.  xi.  1.  mark,  and  see  what  thou  doest :  for  «  at  the  return  of  the 
year  the  king  of  Syria  will  come  up  against  thee.     23.  And 

4  Their  god  is  a  the  servants  of  the  king  of  Syria  said  unto  him,  ''Their  gods 

god.  o  J  }  o 

are  gods  of  the  hills  ;  therefore  they  were  stronger  than  we  ; 
but  let  us  fight  against  them  in  the  plain,  and  surely  we 
shall  be  stronger  than  they.  24.  And  do  this  thing.  Take 
the  kings  away,  every  man  out  of  his  place,  and  jjut 
captains  in  their  rooms  :  25.  And  number  thee  an  army, 
like  the  army  that  thou  bast  lost,  horse  for  horse,  and 

2,3.  Their  gods  are  gods  of  the  hills.  See  Revised  Version.  The 
Syrians,  in  the  usual  manner  of  the  heathen  nations  of  old,  look  upon  all 
gods  as  e(jually  real,  but  of  powers  limited  by  nationality  or  locality.  A 
contest  between  two  nations  was  considered  a  trial  of  strength  between 
one  national  god  and  another.  Cf.  the  cry  of  the  Philistines  (1  Sam. 
iv.  8)  and  the  heathenish  conduct  of  Ahaz  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  23).  It  was 
even  customary  before  a  siege  for  the  besiegers  to  invoke  the  gods  of  the 
city  to  change  sides,  and  offer  them  brilies  to  do  so.  In  the  case  of  the 
Syrians,  they  imagined  that  their  own  gods  were  powerless  among  the 
mountains,  but  would  l)e  victorious  on  a  battlefield  which  resembled 
their  own  level  countr}'. 

24.  Take  the  kings  away.  Treachery  and  dissension  were  probably 
suspected  as  the  causes  oi  the  rout  of  the  Syrian  arni}^  in  the  previous 
campaign.  As  a  matter  of  history,  many  of  the  huge  Oriental  armies, 
which  were  made  up  of  various  nationalities,  fell  to  pieces  through  these 
causes  before  comparatively  small  but  united  bodies  of  men,  e.g.  the 
Persians  at  Marathon  before  the  charge  of  the  Greeks. 


VICTORY  135 


chariot  for  chariot :  and  we  will  fight  against  them  in  the 
jDlain,  and  surely  we  shall  be  stronger  than  they.  And  he 
hearkened  unto  their  voice,  and  did  so.  26.  And  it  came 
to  pass  at  the  return  of  the  year,  that  Ben-hadad  num- 
bered the  Syrians,  and  went  up  to  ^  Aphek  to  fight  against  hj  Kings  xlii. 
Israel.  27.  And  the  children  of  Israel  were  numbered, 
and  ^  were  all  present,  and  went  against  them  :  and  the  °  were  vic- 
children  of  Israel  pitched  before  them  like  two  little  flocks 
of  kids  ;  but  the  Syrians  filled  the  country.  28.  And 
there  came  a  man  of  God,  and  spake  unto  the  king  of 
Israel,  and  said.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Because  the  Syrians 
have  said.  The  Lord  is  God  of  the  hills,  but  he  is  not  God 
of  the  valleys,  therefore  will  I  deliver  all  this  great  multi- 
tude into  thine  hand,  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord.  29.  And  they  iDitched  one  over  against  the  other 
seven  days.  And  so  it  was,  that  in  the  seventh  day  the 
battle  was  joined  :  and  the  children  of  Israel  slew  of  the 
Syrians  an  hundred  thousand  footmen  in  one  day.  30. 
But  the  rest  fled  to  Aphek,  into  the  city  ;  and  there  a  wall 
fell  upon  twenty  and  seven  thousand  of  the  men  that  were 
left.  And  Ben-hadad  fled,  and  came  into  the  city,  into  an 
inner  chamber.  31.  And  his  servants  said  unto  him, 
Behold  now,  we  have  heard  that  the  kings  of  the  house  of 
Israel  are  merciful  kings  :  let  us,  I  pray  thee,  put  sackcloth 
on  our  loins,  and  ropes  upon  our  heads,  and  go  out  to  the 
king  of  Israel  :  peradventure  he  will  save  thy  life.  32. 
So  they  girded  sackcloth  on  their  loins,  and  ijut  ropes  on 
their  heads,  and  came  to  the  king  of  Israel,  and  said.  Thy 
servant  Ben-hadad  saith,  I  pray  thee,  let  me  live.  And 
he  said,  Is  he  yet  alive  ?  he  is  my  brother.     33.  Now  the 

26.  Aphek.  There  were  several  places  of  this  name,  but  this  was 
probably  the  one  in  the  plain  of  Jezreel. 

28.  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  LORD.  In  contrast  with  the  heathen 
coaception  of  divinities  (see  note  on  23),  limited  in  power  by  nation 
or  place,  Jehovah,  in  accordance  with  the  revelation  of  His  name,  will 
again  show  Himself  the  one  and  only  God,  almighty  over  all  the  earth, 
unlimited  and  uncontrolled. 

32.  He  is  my  brother.  Ahab  uses  the  complimentary  phrase  of  one 
king  to  another.     Yet  what  might  under  some  circumstances  have  been 


136  1  KINGS  XX 


6  observed  diii-  men  ^  did  diligently  observe  whether  amj  thing  ivould  come 
hasted  to  catch  from  him,  and  did  hastily  catch  it  ;  and  they  said,  Thy 
his  mind.  brother  Ben-hadad,       Then  he    said,  Go   ye,  bring  him. 

Then  Ben-hadad  came  forth  to  him  ;  and  he  caused  him 
.  to  come   ujD  into  the  chariot.     34.  And  Ben-hadad  said 

unto  him.  The  cities,  which  my  father  took  from  thy  father, 
I  will  restore  ;  and  thou  shalt  make  streets  for  thee  in 
Damascus,  as  my  father  made  in  Samaria.  Then  said 
Ahah,  I  will  send  thee  away  with  this  covenant.  So  he 
made  a  covenant  with  him,  and  sent  him  away.  35.  And 
a  certain  man  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said  unto  his 

7  fellow.  7  neighbour  in  the  word  of  the  Lord,  Smite  me,  I  pray 

thee.  And  the  man  refused  to  smite  him.  36.  Then  said 
he  unto  him.  Because  thou  hast  not  obeyed  the  voice  of 
the  Lord,  behold,  as  soon  as  thou  art  departed  from  me,  a 
lion  shall  slay  thee.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  departed  from 
c  chap.  xiii.  24.  him,  a  ^  lion  found  him,  and  slew  him.  37.  Then  he  found 
another  man,  and  said.  Smite  me,  I  pray  thee.  And  the 
man  smote  him,  so  that  in  smiting  he  wounded  him.     38. 

8  with  his  So  the  prophet  departed,  and  waited  for  the  king  by  the 

his  eyes.  way,   and  disguised  himself  ^  with  ashes  ujDon  his  face. 

laudable  clemency  towards  the  vanquished,  was  not  fitting  in  one  Avho 
was  really  fighting  the  war  of  the  Lord  against  the  heathen,  and  who 
had  received  such  a  signal  mark  of  God's  interjjosition. 

Ben-hadad  himself  does  not  show  well  during  this  narrative.  An  over- 
bearing, blustering  drunkard,  he  is  also  a  coward  (verses  20  and  30).  To 
let  him  go  in  peace  was  an  offence  against  humanity  as  Avell  as  against 
God. 

34.  Thou  Shalt  make  streets  for  thee  in  Damascus.  This  apparently 
means  that  facilities  would  be  granted  to  Israelites  to  trade  in  Damascus. 
A  certain  quarter  would  be  assigned  to  them  for  shops  or  'bazaars.' 

35.  In  the  word  of  the  LORD,  i.e.  under  the  influence  of  prophetic 
inspiration,  which  it  is  assumed  would  l)e  recognisable  by  a  brother- 
prophet  (see  R.V. ),  and  therefore  oiight  to  have  been  obeyed,  however 
strange  the  command  might  seem.  The  'sons  of  the  prophets'  means 
the  class  or  order  of  professional  prophets  who  seem  often  to  have  lived 
in  communities. 

Smite  me,  I  pray  thee.  This  extraordinary  request  can  only  be  under- 
stood by  remembering  the  prominence  of  symbolical  action  in  the 
messages  of  the  prophets.  To  give  colour  and  vividness  to  his  parable, 
the  prophet  not  only  disguises  himself,  Imt  deliberately  seeks  to  be 
wounded  as  if  he  had  really  come  out  of  battle. 


JUDGMENT  137 


39.  And  as  the  king  passed  by,  ''he  cried  unto  the  king  :  d  2  Sam.  xii.  i.; 

xiv.  4. 

and  he  said,  Thy  servant  went  out  into  the  midst  of  the 

battle  ;  and,  behold,  a  man  turned  aside,  and  brought  a 

man  unto  me,  and  said.  Keep  this  man  :  if  by  any  means 

he  be  missing,  then  shall  thy  life  be  for  his  life,  or  else 

thou  shalt  pay  a  talent  of  silver.     40.  And  as  thy  servant 

was  busy  here  and  there,  he  was  gone.     And  the  king  of 

Israel  said  unto  him.  So  shall  thy  judgment  he  ;  thyself 

hast  decided  it.     41.  And  he  hasted,  and  took  '^the  ashes  9  the  head- 

,.„  ,,-.  „-r         ,,.  11  .       band  from  his 

away  from  his  fiice  ;  and  the  king  of  Israel  discerned  him  eyes. 

that  he  was  of  the  prophets.     42.  And  he  said  unto  him, 

Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Because  thou  hast  let  go  out  of  thy 

hand  a  man  whom  I  ^^  appointed  to  Uitter  destruction,  J^^^gJ^I^Jij, 

therefore  thy  life  shall  go  for  his  life,  and  thy  people  for 

his  people.     43.  And  the  king  of  Israel  went  to  his  house 

heavy  and  displeased,  and  came  to  Samaria. 

40.  So  shall  thy  judgment  be  ;  thyself  hast  decided  it,  i.e.  by  your  very 
statement,  you  show  that  you  are  liable  to  the  forfeit  agreed  upon  ;  you 
let  the  prisoner  go,  and  you  must  pay  the  penalty. 

42.  Thus  saith  the  LORD.  These  words  introduce  the  prophet's 
message  as  authoritative,  Divinely  inspired.  We  must  not  judge  it  by 
the  standard  of  the  Nev/  Testament.  Ahab,  like  Saul,  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  striking  an  effective  blow  at  a  heathen  powbr  ;  and  this  would 
have  been  in  accordance  with  the  Divine  method  of  educating  Israel. 
The  nation  had  to  learn  that  alliances  with  foreign  powers  and  oppor- 
tunities of  trade,  such  as  Ahab  obtained  from  Ben-hadad,  were  of  less 
importance  than  the  maintenance  of  the  national  life  and  religion  of 
Israel. 

Thy  life  shall  go  for  his  life.  This  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the 
disastrous  battle  at  Ramoth-Gilead  against  the  Sj'rians,  described  in 
chap.  xxii. 

LESSON  X  V 

Victory 

Introduction. — This  chapter  portrays  most  vividly  a  remarkable 
piece  of  history,  and  if  it  be  used  as  a  lesson,  the  presentation  of  the 
facts  will  naturally  form  tlie  cliief  part  of  it. 

1.  The  Syrians  will  naturally  be  described,  and  the  position  of  Damascus 
shown  on  the  map.  The  teacher  will  point  out  the  overbearing  and 
covetous  spirit  of  Ben-hadad,  his  trust  in  his  own  strength  and  the 
multitude  of   his  army.      The   heathen   conception  of   gods  with  local 


138 


1  KINGS  XX. 


limitations  (ver.  23)  will  be  noticed,  and  contrasted  with  the  true  nature 
of  God,  His  omnipresence  and  omnipotence. 

2.  The  two  remarkable  victories  of  the  Israelites  will  be  described ; 
the  comparative  smallness  of  their  force  (ver.  27),  the  prophecies  that 
went  before  each  battle  (verses  13,  28).  It  will  be  pointed  out  that  God 
gave  these  victories  as  a  proof  that  human  strength  and  self-confidence 
alone  can  do  nothing,  that  He  Himself  is  the  real  arbiter  and  disposer  of 
all  event?.  The  victories  were  not  granted  for  any  goodness  in  Ahab, 
but  that  he  and  his  people  might  know  that  Jehovah  was  what  His 
name  implied.     '  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.' 

3.  Without  going  deeply  into  the  question  of  the  disguised  prophet's 
message,  it  might  be  pointed  out  that  though  the  merciful  are  blessed, 
yet  there  are  times  when  punishment  is  demanded  ;  and  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  sham  mercy,  which  is  only  weakness,  sentiment,  or  self- 
seeking.  Ahab  was  certainly  not  a  merciful  king  ;  and  his  sparing  Ben- 
hadad  was  probably  due  to  his  vanity  being  flattered  by  the  way  in  which 
the  ambassadors  approached  him,  or  to  the  desire  for  some  commercial 
treaty  or  alliance  with  Syria. 

Ahab  was  '  heavy  and  displeased '  when  he  heard  the  prophet's  message  ; 
but  we  do  not  read  that  he  had  made  any  effort  to  seek  Divine  guidance 
before,  even  when  he  had  so  clearly  seen  that  the  victories  were  given 
by  God. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Victory. 

The  Syrians  thought  victory  depended  on 
number  of  soldiers,  or  fighting  in  a  favour- 
able place. 

Ahab  thought  victory  had  been  given  him 
to  do  what  he  liked  with. 

but, 

God  alone  is  the  giver  of  victor3^ 

God's  gifts  should  be  used,  not  \vasted. 


COVETOUSNESS  139 


1  KINGS  XXL;  XXII.  1-40 

AND  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things,  that  Naboth  the 
it  Jezreelite  had  a  vineyard,  which  was  in  Jezreel, 
hard  by  the  pahice  of  Ahal)  king  of  Samaria.  2. 
And  Ahab  sjDake  unto  Naboth,  saying,  "  Give  me  thy  vine-  «  Ezek.  xivi.  is. 
yard,  that  I  may  have  it  for  a  garden  of  herbs,  because  it 
-^5  near  unto  my  house  :  and  I  will  give  thee  for  it  a  better 
vineyard  than  it ;  or,  if  it  seem  good  to  thee,  I  will  give 
thee  the  worth  of  it  in  money.  3.  And  Naboth  said  to 
Ahab,  The  Lord  forbid  it  me,  that  I  should  give  the 
inheritance  of  my  fiithers  unto  thee.  4.  And  Ahab  came 
into  his  house  heavy  and  displeased  because  of  the  word 
which  Naboth  the  Jezreelite  had  spoken  to  him  :  for  he 
had  said,  I  will  not  give  thee  the  inheritance  of  my  fathers. 
And  he  laid  him  down  upon  his  bed,  and  turned  away  his 
face,  and  would  eat  no  bread,  5.  But  Jezebel  his  wife 
came  to  him,  and  said  unto  him.  Why  is  thy  spirit  so  sad, 
that  thou  eatest  no  bread?  6.  And  he  said  unto  her, 
Because  I  spake  unto  Naboth  the  Jezreelite,  and  said  unto 
him.  Give  me  thy  vineyard  for  money  ;  or  else,  if  it  please 
thee,  I  will  give  thee  another  vineyard  for  it :  and  he 
answered,  I  will  not  give  thee  my  vineyard.  7.  And 
Jezebel  his  wife  said  unto  him.  Dost  thou  now  govern  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  ?  arise,  and  eat  bread,  and  let  thine 
heart  be  merry  :  I  will  give  thee  the  vineyard  of  Naboth 
the  Jezreelite.     8.   So  she  wrote  letters  in  Aliab's  name, 

3.  The  LORD  forbid  it  me,  that  I  should  give  the  inheritance  of  my 
fathers  unto  thee.  Naboth,  as  his  use  of  the  name  Jehovah  shows,  must 
have  been  one  of  the  worshippers  of  the  true  God,  and  this  fact  illustrates 
his  refusal  to  comply  with  the  king's  demand.  The  possessions  of  an 
Israelite  were  sacred,  because  the  God  of  his  fathers  had  given  them  to 
him.  The  Law  of  Moses  emphasised  this,  not  only  by  forbidding  the 
land  to  go  out  of  a  tribe,  in  the  case  of  failure  of  the  male  line  (Num. 
xxxvi.  7,  8  ;  cf.  Ruth  iv. ),  but  also  by  not  allowing  land  to  be  sold  in 
perpetuity,  except  within  a  walled  town  (Lev.  xxv.). 

8.  So  she  wrote  letters  in  Ahab's  name,  etc.     The  unscrupulous  wicked- 


140  1  KINGS  XXI.  :   XXII.  1-40 

and  sealed  them  with  his  seal,  and  sent  the  letters  unto  the 
elders  and  to  the  nobles  that  ivere  in  his  city,  dwelling 
with  Naboth.  9.  And  she  wrote  in  the  letters,  saying, 
Proclaim  a  fast,  and  set  Naboth  on  high  among  the  people  : 
b  Deut.  xvii.  6.  10,  And  set  ''  two  men,  sons  of  Belial,  before  him,  to  bear 
c  Exod.  xxii.  28 ;  witness  against  him,  saying,  '^thou  didst  ^blaspheme  God 
1  curse ;  'vm'rg''  and  the  king.  And  then  carry  him  out,  and  stone  him, 
that  he  may  die.  11.  And  the  men  of  the  city,  even  the 
elders  and  the  nobles  who  were  the  inhabitants  in  his  city, 
did  as  Jezebel  had  sent  unto  them,  and  as  it  ivas  written 
in  the  letters  which  she  had  sent  unto  them.  12.  They 
proclaimed  a  fast,  and  set  Naboth  on  high  among  the 
people.  13.  And  there  came  in  two  men,  children  of 
Belial,  and  sat  before  him  :  and  the  men  of  Belial  wit- 
nessed against  him,  even  against  Naboth,  in  the  presence 

ness  of  Jezebel  seems  to  reach  its  height  in  this  awful  piece  of  treachery 
and  cruelty.  It  is,  unhappily,  not  without  paiallels  among  Oriental 
nations,  nor  even  in  our  own.  Thomas  Cromwell,  the  wicked  minister 
of  Henry  viii. ,  seems  to  have  followed  much  the  same  policy  in  getting 
rid  of  the  abbots  and  ecclesiastics,  wlio,  like  Naboth,  were  not  willing 
that  the  inheritance  of  the  Church  should  be  surrendered  to  the  covetous- 
ness  and  lusts  of  the  king.  Cromwell's  note- book  contains  memoranda 
such  as  these  :  '  Item,  to  see  that  the  evidence  be  well  sorted. '  '  Item, 
the  abbot  of  Reading  to  be  sent  down  to  be  tried  and  executed  at 
Beading  ! ' 

It  is  comparatively  easy  to  understand  such  conduct  in  those  who  are 
worshippers  of  gods  whose  qualities  are  non-moral  or  immoral,  like  those 
attributed  to  Baal  and  the  otlier  heatlien  divinities.  Ultimately  a  man's 
character  is  shaped  by  his  belief.  The  light  of  natural  reason  and  con- 
science in  Jezebel  had  been  extinguished  by  her  false  and  degraded 
religion.  Her  conduct  might  seem  impossible  in  Christian  times.  But 
corrnptio  optimi  pe.-isima.  Wilful  disobedience  to  the  known  law  of  God 
ever  brings  its  own  retribution  in  the  blunting  of  conscience.  Cf.  Hosea 
iv.  11. 

9.  Proclaim  a  fast,  and  set  Naboth  on  high  among-  the  people.  A  fast, 
or  day  of  general  liuniiliation,  is  to  be  proclaimed,  evidently  to  create 
the  impression  that  some  great  crime  has  been  committed.  At  the  same 
time  the  fast  u  ould  have  the  effect  of  taking  the  people  from  their  work, 
and  bringing  them  together,  so  that  the  execution  of  Naboth  might  seem 
to  be  an  act  approved  by  them  all.  Naboth,  as  befitted,  apparently,  his 
wealth,  is  to  be  [)laced  in  a  prominent  position. 

The  combination  of  malice  with  hypocrisy,  the  religious  colour  of  the 
false  accusation,  and  the  care  to  have  the  proper  number  of  witnesses, 
suggest  remarkably  the  condemnation  of  our  blessed  Lord  by  the  chief 
priests  on  the  charge  of  blasphemy  (S.  Matt.  xxvi.  57-66). 


THE  CURSE  ON  AHAB  141 

of  the  people,  saying,  Naboth  did  ^blaspheme  God  and  the 
king.  Then  they  carried  him  forth  out  of  the  city,  and 
stoned  him  with  stones,  that  he  died.  14.  Then  they  sent  to 
Jezebel,  saying,  Naboth  is  stoned,  and  is  dead.  15.  And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  Jezebel  heard  that  Naboth  was 
stoned,  and  was  dead,  that  Jezebel  said  to  Ahab,  Arise, 
take  possession  of  the  vineyard  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite, 
which  he  refused  to  give  thee  for  money  :  for  Naboth  is 
not  alive,  but  dead.  16.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab 
heard  that  Naboth  was  dead,  that  Ahab  rose  up  to  go 
down  to  the  vineyard  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite,  to  take 
possession  of  it.  17.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Elijah  the  Tishbite,  saying,  18.  Arise,  go  down  to  meet 
Ahab  king  of  Israel,  which  is  in  Samaria  :  behold  he  is 
in  the  vineyard  of  Naboth,  whither  he  is  gone  dow^n  to 
possess  it.  19.  And  thou  shalt  sjDeak  unto  him,  saying, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Hast  thou  killed,  and  also  taken 
possession  ?  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  him,  saying.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  In  the  place  where  dogs  licked  the  blood  of 
Naboth  shall  dogs  lick  thy  blood,  even  thine.  20.  And 
Ahab  said  to  Elijah,  Hast  thou  found  me,  0  mine  enemy  ? 
And  he  answered,  I  have  found  thee  :  because  thou  hast 
'^sold  thyself  to  work   evil   in   the    sight    of  the   Lord.  it.       "' 

18.  Arise,  go  down  to  meet  Ahab.  Very  probably  Elijah,  after  leaving 
Abel-Meholah,  liad  gone  up  again  to  Carmel,  whence  he  could  speedily 
descend  to  the  plain  of  Jezreel.  Ahab  no  doubt  '  went  down'  from  his 
palace  in  Samaria. 

19.  In  ttie  place  where  dogs  licked  tlie  blood  of  Naboth  shall  dogs  lick 
thy  blood.  The  horror  of  this  curse  would  be  even  greater  in  the  ears  of 
a  Jew  than  in  ours.  The  dogs  of  the  East  are  wild  scavengers,  not 
domesticated  like  ours.  Moreover  they  were  ritually  'unclean.'  For  a 
dead  body  to  be  so  dishonourtd  Mould  seem  the  worse  possible  indignity. 
Tradition  says  that  a  similar  judgment  fell  upon  the  dead  body  of 
Henry  viii.  as  it  lay  within  the  ruined  M-alls  of  Sion  nunner\-. 

The  literal  fulhlment  of  the  curse  fell  upon  Ahab's  son  Jehoram  (2  Kings 
ix.  2o-2G).  Although  Ahab  himself  was  dishonoured  in  his  death  (1  Kings 
xxii.  38),  the  full  penalt}^  of  his  sin  was  diverted  from  him  for  the  sake  of 
his  repentance  (ver.  29  l)elow). 

20.  Thou  hast  sold  thyself  to  work  evil.  This  striking  phrase,  here  and 
in  ver.  2.5,  implies  that  AhaVj  had  of  his  own  will  given  up  the  moral  rule 
of  himself.  He  had  sold  himself,  not  indeed  like  Judas  for  money,  but 
for  covetousness  and  pleasure.     Cf.  our  Lord's  words,  S.  Matt.  xvi.  26. 


142  1  KINGS  XXI.  ;    XXII.  1-40 

t'2Kingsix.       21.    '^Behold,    I    will    bring    evil    upon    thee,    and    will 

2  utterly  sweep  -  take  away  thy  posterity,  and  will  cut  off  from  Ahab 

3 ^^^eveiyman    ^ every  man  child,  and  him  that  is  shut   up  and  left  in 

SiusThut  u^^  Israel,     22.  And  will  make  thine  house  like  the  house  of 

'Stat'llrge^in'  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  like  the  house  of  Baasha 

Israel.  ^]^g  gQjj  Qf  Ahijah,  for  the  j^rovocation  wherewith  thou  hast 

provoked  me  to  anger,  and  made  Israel  to  sin.     23.  And 

/  -2  Kings  ix.3(i.  of  Jezebel  also  spake  the  Lord,  saying,  -^The  dogs  shall  eat 

•1  rampart.  Jezebel  by  the  ^  wall  of  Jezreel.     24.  Him  that  dieth  of 

Ahab  in  the  city  the  dogs  shall  eat  ;  and  him  that  dieth 

in  the  field  shall  the  fowls  of  the  air  eat.     25.  But  there 

was  none  like  unto  Ahab,  which  did  sell  himself  to  work 

wickedness  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  whom  Jezebel  his  wife 

stirred  up.     26.  And  he  did  very  abominably  in  following 

g  Gen.  xv.  10 ;    idols,  according  to  all  things  as  -"  did  the  Amorites,  whom 

the  Lord  cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel.     27.  And 

it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab  heard  those  words,  that  he 

rent  his  clothes,  and  put  sackcloth  upon  his  flesh,  and 

fasted,  and  lay  in  sackcloth,  and  went  softly.     28^  And 

the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  saying, 

29.  Seest  thou  how  Ahab  humbleth  himself  before  me  ? 

because  he  humbleth  himself  before  me,  I  will  not  bring 

h  2  Kings  ix.  25.  the  evil  in  his  days  :  '*  but  in  his  son's  days  will  I  bring  the 

evil  upon  his  house. 

XXII.  1.  And  they  continued  three  years  without  war 

between  Syria  and  Israel.     2,  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the 

i  2  Chron.  xviii.  third  year,  that  ^' Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah  came  down 

to  the  king  of  Israel.      3.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said 

27.  Went  softly.  Perhaps  this  means  '  bare-foot,' but  more  likely  it 
expresses  a  humble  and  quiet  movement,  as  of  a  mourjier,  in  contrast 
with  the  usual  state  of  a  king's  progress. 

29.  I  will  not  bring  the  evil  in  his  days.  Both  the  judgments  and  the 
promises  of  God  on  this  side  the  grave  are  usually  represented  in  Holy 
Scripture  (however  categorically  they  are  expressed)  as  conditional. 
Repentance  may  avert  the  one,  disobedience  forfeit  the  other. 

XXII.  2.  Jehoshapliat  the  king-  of  Judah  came  down  to  the  king  of  Israel. 
This  visit  was  no  doubt  owing  to  the  fact  that  Jehoshaphat's  son  Jehoram 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS  143 

unto  his  servants,  Know  ye  that  ^  Ramoth  in  Gilead  is  j  Deut.  iv.  43, 

oar's,  and  we  he  still,  and  take  it  not  out  of  the  hand  of 

the  king  of  Syria  ?     4.  And  he  said  unto  Jehoshaphat, 

Wilt  thou  go  with  me  to  battle  to  Ranioth-gilead  ?     And 

Jehoshaphat  said  to  the  king  of  Israel,  I  am  as  thou  art, 

my  people  as  thy  people,  my  horses  as  thy  horses.    5.  And 

Jehoshaphat  said  unto  the  king  of  Israel,  Enquire,  I  pray 

thee,  at  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  day.     6.  Then  the  king 

of  Israel  gathered  the  prophets  together,  about  four  hundred 

men,  and  said  unto  them,  Shall  I  go  against  Ramoth-gilead 

to  battle,  or  shall  I  forbear  ?     And  they  said.  Go  up  ;  for 

the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of  the  king.     7. 

And  Jehoshaphat  said.  Is  there  not  here  a  projDhet  of  the 

Lord  besides,  that  we  might  enquire  of  him  ?     8.  And  the 

king  of  Israel  said  unto  Jehoshaphat,  Theo-e  is  yet  one  man, 

Micaiah  the  son  of  Inilah,  by  whom  we  may  enquire  of  the 

Lord  :   but  I  hate  him  ;  for  he  doth  not  prophesy  good 

concerning  me,  but  evil.     And  Jehoshaphat  said.  Let  not 

had  married  Athaliah.  the  daughter  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel  (2  Kings  viii. 
18,  and  2  Chron.  xviii.  1).  According  to  the  Chronicler's  account,  this 
visit  of  Jehoshaphat  was  an  occasion  of  great  splendour  and  feasting. 
Such  a  reception  may  have  made  it  more  difficult  for  him  to  refuse  to  join 
Ahab  in  his  campaign. 

3.  Ramotli  in  Gilead.  One  of  the  strong  places  of  the  country  east  of 
Jordan,  a  city  of  refuge,  probably  the  most  northerly  of  them,  but  the 
site  is  uncertain.  Probably  it  was  one  of  the  cities  which  Ben-hadad  had 
promised  to  restore  (xx.  34),  but  had  not  done  so. 

5.  Enquire,  I  pray  thee,  at  the  word  of  the  LORD  to-day.  Jehoshaphat 
was  a  religious  king,  but  he  had  put  himself  in  a  false  position  by  his 
alliance  with  Ahab.  He  cannot,  however,  stifle  conscience,  and  is  eager 
to  have  the  guidance  of  Jehovah.  Evidently  lie  desires  a  favourable 
answer.  He  sees  through  the  false  prophets  (ver.  7)  ;  and  yet,  when 
the  answer  of  God  is  unmistakably  adverse,  he  goes  against  it. 

6.  Then  the  king-  of  Israel  gathered  the  prophets  together.  It  is  evident 
from  this  narrative  that  the  worship  of  Jehovah  must  to  some  extent 
have  been  revived  or  tolerated,  after  the  great  duel  on  Mount  Carmel. 
Indeed,  Ahab  and  Jezebel  would  hardlj'^  have  dared  to  go  against  the 
popular  voice.  There  is  no  mention  here  of  prophets  of  Baal.  But  it 
is  quite  evident  that  the  king  and  queen  had  taken  means  to  nullify,  as 
far  as  possible,  this  reformation.  These  so-called  prophets  of  Jehovah 
are  clearly  time-servers  in  the  pay  of  the  court.  Xo  doul)t  they  were 
attached  to  the  worship  of  the  golden  calves,  and  prostituted  their  sacred 


144  1  KINGS  XXI.  ;    XXIL  1-40 

the  king  say  so.  '  9.  Then  the  king  of  Israel  called  an 
officer,  and  said,  Hasten  hither  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah. 
10.  And  the  king  of  Israel  and  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of 
Jiidah  sat  each  on  his  throne,  having  put  on  their  robes,  in 
5  an  open  place.  5  a  void  place  in  the  entrance  of  the  gate  of  Samaria  ; 
and  all  the  prophets  prophesied  before  them.  11.  And 
Zedekiah  the  son  of  Chenaanah  made  him  horns  of  iron  : 
and  he  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  With  these  shalt  thou 
push  the  Syrians,  until  thou  have  consumed  them.  12. 
And  all  the  prophets  prophesied  so,  saying.  Go  up  to 
Kamoth-gilead,  and  prosper :  for  the  Lord  shall  deliver  it 
into  the  king's  hand.  13.  And  the  messenger  that  was 
gone  to  call  Micaiah  spake  unto  him,  saying.  Behold  now, 
the  words  of  the  prophets  declare  good  unto  the  king  with 
one  mouth  :  let  thy  word,  I  pray  thee,  be  like  the  word  of 
one  of  them,  and  speak  that  lohich  is  good.  14.  And 
Micaiah  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  what  the  Lord  saith 
unto  me,  that  will  I  speak.  15.  So  he  came  to  the  king. 
And  the  king  said  unto  him,  Micaiah,  shall  we  go  against 
Eamoth-gilead  to  battle,  or  shall  we  forbear  ?  And  he 
answered  him.  Go,  and  prosper  :  for  the  Lord  shall  deliver 
it  into  the  hand  of  the  king.  16  And  the  king  said  unto 
him,  How  many  times  shall  I  adjure  thee  that  thou  tell 
me  nothing  but  that  ivhich  is  true  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord?  17.  And  he  said,  I  saw  all  Israel  scattered  upon 
the  hills,  ^  as  sheep  that  have  not  a  shepherd  :  and  the 
Lord  said,  These  have  no  master  :  let  them  return  every 
man  to  his  house  in  peace.     18.  And  the  king  of  Israel 

office  to  the  pleasure  of  Ahab.  On  this  occasion  they  overdid  their  part, 
and  were  not  trusted  by  Jehoshaphat. 

11.  And  Zedekiah  tlie  son  of  Chenaanah  made  him  horns  of  iron.  This 
was  one  of  the  symbolical  actions  frequently  used  by  the  prophets,  true 
and  false  alike,  to  give  point  and  emphasis  to  their  words.  (Cf.  p.  136.) 
It  has  been  suggested  that  Zedekiah's  act  was  a  reniiniscence  of  the  bless- 
ing of  Moses  upon  the  tribe  of  Joseph  (Deut.  xxxiii.  17). 

15.  And  he  answered  him,  Go,  and  prosper.  Evidently  the  very  tone 
of  Micaialrs  voice  showed  that  his  words  were  satirical.  But  when  put 
on  his  oath  by  the  king  (ver.  16)  he  relates  the  true  '  vision'  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  had  shown  him. 


Ic  S.  Matt. 
30. 


THE  LYING  SPIEIT  145 

said  unto  Jelioshaphat,  Did  I  not  tell  thee  that  he  would 

prophesy  no  good  concerning  me,  but  evil  ?     19.  And  he 

said,  Hear  thou  therefore  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  ^  I  saw  l  isa.  yi.  i ; 

the  Lord  sitting  on  his  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven 

standing  by  him  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left.     20. 

And  the  Lord  said.  Who  shall  ^persuade  Ahab,  that  he  ^  entice. 

may  go  up  and  fall  at  Kamoth-gilead  1     And  one  said  on 

this  manner,  and  another  said  on  that  manner.     21.  And 

there  came  forth  a  spirit   and  stood  before  the  Lord,  and 

said,  I  will  ^  j^ersuade  him.     22.  And  the  Lord  said  unto 

him,  Wherewith  ?     And  he  said,  I  will  go  forth,  and  I  will 

be  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets.     And  he 

said,  Thou  shalt  ^  persuade  him,  and  prevail  also  :    '"  go  m  Job  xii.  16. 

forth,  and  do  so.      23.  Now  therefore,  behold,  the  Lord 

hath  jDut  a  lying   spirit   in  the  mouth  of  all  these  thy 

prophets,  and  the  Lord  hath  spoken  evil  concerning  thee. 

24.  But  Zedekiah  the  son  of  Chenaanah  went  near,  and 

smote  Micaiah  on  the  cheek,  and  said.  Which  way  went 

the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  from  me  to  speak  unto  thee  ?     25. 

And  Micaiah  said,   Behold,  thou  sbalt  see  in  that  day,  -^_ 

"  when  thou  shalt  go  into  an  inner  chamber  to  hide  thyself,  n  chap.  xx.  30. 

19.  I  saw  the  LORD  sitting  on  Ms  throne.  Eternal  truth  respecting 
the  moral  dealings  of  God  with  man  is  here  set  out  in  a  vivid  form,  the 
form  T\hich  in  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  was  most  fitted  for  those  who  were 
immediately  concerned.  The  vision  was  truly  seen  by  the  prophet,  and 
it  was  truly  shown  him  by  God,  and  yet  it  ma}'  be  regarded  as  a  ^:'a?'aWe, 
rather  than  an  actual  description  of  what  is  taking  place  in  the  councils 
of  heaven.  The  truth  which  the  parable  teaches  is  plainly  that  God  is 
allowing  Ahab  and  his  prophets  to  be  deceived,  and  this  (with  its  conse- 
quences of  defeat  at  Ramoth-Gilead)  is  a  piinishment.  These  men  had 
profanely  sought  guidance  from  God  when  they  did  not  wish  in  their 
hearts  to  do  God's  will  at  all.  So  God  suffers  them  to  be  blinded.  He 
answers  them  'according  to  the  multitude  of  their  idols'  (Ezek.  xiv.). 
He  makes  their  heart  fat  and  their  ears  heavy,  and  shuts  their  eyes  (Isa. 
vi.  10).  This  terrible  warning  of  the  results  of  tampering  with  conscience 
is  very  clearly  given  in  many  parts  of  the  Bible.  The  '  spirit '  which  put 
a  lie  in  the  mouth  of  the  prophets  was  not  necessarily  an  evil  spirit.  He 
may  be  regarded  as  a  Divine  messenger  of  judgment,  acting  in  the  moral 
sphere,  instead  of  the  physical.  The  destroying  angel  smote  the  bodies 
of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Assyrians.  Here  he  smites  men's  souls.  Cf. 
2Thess.  iT.  10-12. 

25.  Behold,  thou  shalt  see  in  that  day.     We  are  not  told  how  this  pre- 

HEB.  MON.  :  VOL.  IL  K 


146  1  KINGS  XXI.;   XXII.  1-40 

26.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said,  Take  Micaiah,  and  carry 

him  back  imto  Anion  the  governor  of  the  city,  and  to 

Joash  the  king's  son  ;     27.  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  king, 

Put  this  fellow  in  the  prison,  and  feed  him  with  bread  of 

affliction  and  with  water  of  affliction,  until  I  come  in  peace. 

28.  And  Micaiah  said,  If  thou  return  at  all  in  peace,  the 

7  Hear,  ye         LoRD  hath  not  spoken  by  me.     And  he  said,  ^  Hearken,  0 
peoples,  all  of  r<      j  i       i  •  i>  t         i         j 

you,  see  Micah    people,  every  one  of  you.     29.  bo  the  kmg  oi  Israel  and 


Jehoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah  went  up  to  Ramoth-gilead. 
30.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  Jehoshaphat,  I  will 
disguise  myself,  and  enter  into  the  battle  ;  but  put  thou 
on  thy  robes.  And  the  king  of  Israel  disguised  himself, 
and  went  into  the  battle.     31.  But  the  king  of  Syria  com- 

0  chap.  XX.  1,  manded  ''  his  thirty  and  two  captains  that  had  rule  over 
his  chariots,  saying,  Fight  neither  with  small  nor  great, 
save  only  with  the  king  of  Israel.  32.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  the  captains  of  the  chariots  saw  Jehoshaphat, 
that  they  said,  Surely  it  is  the  king  of  Israel,  And  they 
turned  aside  to  fight  against  him  :  and  Jehoshaphat  cried 
out.  33.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  captains  of  the 
chariots  perceived  that  it  was  not  the  king  of  Israel,  that 
they  turned  back  from  pursuing  him.     34.  And  a  certain 

simplicity.  ^     man  drew  a  bow  ^at  a  venture,  and  smote  the  king  of 

diction  was  fulfilled.  Zedekiah  and  his  fellow-prophets  would  be  dis- 
credited when  the  news  came  of  the  defeat  of  Israel.  Possibly  they  were 
then  in  danger  of  their  lives  as  false  prophets,  and  sought  out  hiding- 
places.  This  is  one  of  the  many  passages  which  illustrate  the  truthful- 
ness of  the  Bible  record.  A  writer  who  was  inventing  would  certainly 
have  written  an  account  of  the  fulfilment  of  Micaiah's  words. 

30.  I  will  disguise  myself.  Belief  would  have  made  Ahab  give  up  his 
expedition  ;  sui)erstition  makes  him  imagine  that  in  some  way  he  can 
avert  the  disaster  l)y  disguising  himself.  Trust  in  omens  generally 
accompanies  unbelief  of  heart.  When  men  drive  out  true  religion,  it  is 
avenged  by  its  counterfeit,  superstition. 

32.  And  Jehosliapliat  cried  out.  The  parallel  account  in  2  Chron.  xviii. 
31  shows  that  Jehoshaphat's  cry  was  really  a  prayer  for  help  to  God, 
which  was  answered. 

34.  And  a  certain  man  drew  a  bow  at  a  venture.  There  is  considerable 
doubt  as  to  how  this  expression  should  be  understood.  It  f)robably  means 
that  the  archer  took  good  aim  at  Ahab,  but  did  not  know,  owing  to  the 


THE  DEATH  OF  AHAB  147 

Israel  ^  between  the  joints  of  the  harness  :  wherefore  he  9  Marg.  be- 

said  unto  the  driver  of  his  chariot,  Turn  thine  hand,  and  armour  and  the 

carry  me  out  of  the  host ;  for  I  am  ^"^  wounded.     35.  And  lo  sore 

the  battle  increased  that  day  :  and  the  king  was  stayed  up  ^^  °^"  ^  " 

in  his  chariot  against  the  Syrians,  and  died  at  even  :  and 

the  blood  ran  out  of  the  wound  into  the  ^^  midst  of  the  n  bottom. 

chariot.     36.  And  there  went  a  ^-  proclamation  throughout  12  cry. 

the  host  about  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  saying,  Every 

man  to  his  city,  and  every  man  to  his  own  country.    37.  So 

the  king  died,  and  was  brought  to  Samaria  ;  and  they 

buried  the  king  in  Samaria.     38.  And  ^^  one  washed  the  13  they. 

chariot  in  the  pool  of  Samaria  ;  and  the  dogs  licked  up  his 

blood  ;  1*  and  they  washed  his  armour,  according  unto  the  i^  (now  the 

word  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake.     39.  Now  the  rest  of  themselves 

the  acts  of  Ahab,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  ^'the  ivory  house  ^  Amos  iii.  15. 

which  he  made,  and  all  the  cities  that  he  built,  are  they 

not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 

Israel  ?     40.  So  Ahab  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  Ahaziah 

his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

king's  disguise,  at  whom  he  was   aiming.     Jewish   tradition  says   that 
Naaman  was  the  archer. 

35.  The  king  was  stayed  up  in  Ms  chariot  against  the  Syrians.  In  the 
vain  hope  of  rallying  his  army,  Ahab  is  not  actually  removed  from  the 
field,  but  is  supported  in  his  chariot  all  day,  perhaps  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  press  of  battle.  There  is  something  very  tragic  in  this 
picture  of  the  dying  king,  slowly  bleeding  to  death,  being  held  up  by  his 
squires  until  evening.  Who  knows  whether  the  time  was  not  given  him 
for  repentance,  and  whether  in  God's  mercy  he  did  not  avail  himself 
of  it? 

38.  The  pool  of  Samaria.  Probably  some  reservoir  outside  the  walls 
of  the  city,  such  as  are  very  necessary  in  Eastern  towns  to  provide  a 
supply  of  water  during  the  long  rainless  seasons. 

And  they  washed  his  armour.  The  correction  of  the  Revised  Version 
is  difficult  to  understand,  but  it  has  been  suggested  that  these  'harlots' 
were  the  priestesses  of  Kaal  and  Ashtaroth,  who  lived  immoral  lives  as 
part  of  their  service  to  the  idols. 

39.  The  ivory  house  which  he  made — i.e.  a  palace  whose  walls  were 
adorned  by  being  inlaid  with  ivory.  This  verse  shoMS  what  was  no 
doubt  the  world's  estimate  of  Ahab  as  a  great  and  splendid  king,  a  builder, 
and  a  patron  of  art.  It  serves  to  throw  into  more  solemn  relief  the  Divine 
estimate  of  his  works  and  character. 


148 


1  KINGS  XXI.  :   XXII.  1-40 


LESSON  X  VI 


Imperfect 


Matter. 


1 .  Sin  and  judgment. 

Hitherto  the  idolatry  of  Ahab 
has  been  chiefly  dwelt  on  by  the 
sacred  writer ;  but  it  is  remark- 
able that  the  final  judgment  ^vo- 
nounced  b}^  Elijah  upon  his  house 
is  the  result  of  a  breach  of  the 
second  table  of  Commandments. 
Ahab's  crowning  sin  begins  in 
coveting,  and  ends  in  murder.  Yet 
doubtless  the  two  classes  of  sin 
wei*e  connected.  The  moral  weak- 
ness which  had  led  him  to  prefer 
the  lax,  though  outwardly  splendid, 
worship  of  Baal,  and  to  oppose  no 
obstacle  to  the  imperious  idolatry 
of  Jezebel,  now  shows  itself  in  his 
relations  with  his  subjects.  He 
wants  his  own  way  and  pleasure, 
cannot  bear  to  be  thwarted,  and 
though  Jezebel  was  actually  the 
designer  and  worker  of  the  horrible 
plot  against  Naboth,  Ahab  as  king 
was,  of  course,  really  i^esponsible. 

Failure  in  love  of  God  shows  it- 
self in  lack  of  love  to  man.  Charity 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  both  in 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament, 
and  just  as  Ahab  and  Jezebel  stand 
finally  judged  for  a  sin  against  a 
brother-man,  so  charity  is  shown 
l)y  our  Lord  to  be  the  standaixl 
at   the  Last  Jiidgment   (S.    Matt. 

XXV.). 

2.  Ahab's  repentance. 

Ahab  seems  to  have  been  really 
impressed  for  the  time  by  the  words 
of  Elijah,  and  to  have  recognised 
something  of  the  awfulness  of  his 
crime.  He  assumed  the  outward 
signs  of  penitence  and  mourning  ; 
and  to  some  extent  he  must  have 
been  sincere,  for  the  judgment  of 
God  was  modified  in  consequence. 

That  Ahab's  repentance,  however, 
did  not  change  his  character  is  seen 
clearly  in  his  consultation  of  the 
prophets  before  the  battle  of  Ra- 
moth-Gilead.     It  is  quite  clear  that 


Repentance 

Method. 
1.   Point  out  the  sequence  of  sin 
in  Ahab — 

(1)  Coveting,  what  he  did  not 
really  need,  and  what  Naboth  had 
no  right  to  give  him. 

(2)  Anger,  sulking  (ver.  4). 

(3)  Murder,  for  though  he  did  not 
himself  order  Naboth's  death,  he 
was  quite  willing  for  Jezebel  to  use 
any  shameful  means  to  bring  it 
about ;  and  he  took  pleasure  in  the 
result. 

Ask  what  Ahab's  previous  sins 
had  been  ?  Show  that  there  is  one 
common  feature  of  self-will.  He 
had  never  learned  to  rule  himself. 

Show  that  sins  against  charity  are 
the  blackest  of  all  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  that  we  shall  be  judged 
individually  at  the  Last  Day  by  our 
conduct  towards  our  fellow-men. 

Ask  the  children  what  happiness 
Naboth's  vineyard  brought  Ahab 
when  he  had  got  it.  See  verses  16, 
27. 


2.  Describe  Ahab's  repentance. 
It  was  not  altogether  false.  See 
God's  promise,  ver.  29. 

What  is  true  repentance  ? 
Sorrow. 
Confession. 
Steadfast  purpose  to  do  better. 

The  last  is  the  decisive  matter, 
and  it  was  here  that  Ahab  failed. 

Illustrate  by  the  false  repentance 
of  Pharaoh  and  Saul.  Each  of  these 
said,  'I  have  sinned,' but  the  mo- 
ment the  opportunity  for  wrong- 
doing returned  they  took  advantage 
of  it. 


IMPERFECT  REPENTANCE 


149 


Lesson  XVI — continued.    Imperfect  Repentakce. 


Matter. 
he  had  made  up  his  own  mind,  that 
he  desired  only  to  hear  such  time- 
serving prophecies  as  would  fall  in 
with  his  own  purpose.  He  adjures 
Micaiah  to  tell  him  the  truth,  and 
yet  when  he  hears  it,  it  only  makes 
him  angr3%  and  he  treats  the  prophet 
with  contempt  and  cruelty. 

The  prophet's  vision  of  '  the  lying 
spirit '  is  deeply  significant.  Those 
who  will  not  hear  the  truth  are 
permitted  by  God  to  be  deceived, 
or  to  deceive  themselves.  The  same 
fate  fell  upon  Ahab  as  upon  the 
Jewish  people,  as  a  whole,  in 
later  times.  'Ye  would  not,'  says 
our  Blessed  Lord  of  them  (S.  Matt, 
xxiii.  37).  '  Behold  your  house  is 
left  unto  you  desolate'  [ih.  38). 

3.  Retribution. 

Ahab  preserves  something  of  his 
double  character  to  the  end.  Not 
afraid  to  disobey  the  Divine  mes- 
sage, which  his  conscience  told  him 
was  a  true  one,  he  yet  fears  to  go 
into  battle  without  a  disguise. 

The  end  is  tragic  enough.  The 
armies  of  Israel,  which  twice  before 
had  routed  the  hosts  of  Syria,  are 
now  scattered  in  flight.  The  king, 
wounded  mortalh^  by  what  seemed 
a  chance  arrow,  as  men  count 
chances,  meets  the  end  which  was 
predestined,  and  bequeaths  to  his 
son  a  weakened  and  discredited 
kingdom. 

What  a  contrast  between  the 
miserable  death  of  Ahab — 

'  In  the  lost  battle, 

Boine  down  by  the  flying, 
Where  mingles  war's  rattle 
With  groans  of  the  dying,'— 

and  the  might  and  magnificence  of 
his  reign,  which  the  historian  dis- 
misses in  a  single  verse  ! 

N.B. — This  lesson  may  be  found  too  long.  It  might  easily  be  divided 
at  the  end  of  chap.  xxi.  The  second  part  would  then  begin  with  the 
question,  AVhat  is  true  repentance  ? 


Method. 

How  do  we  know  that  Ahab's 
repentance  was  not  thorough  ? 

When  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  go  to  war  with  the  Syrians,  he 
wanted  the  prophets  of  God  to  tell 
him,  not  the  truth  whether  his 
design  was  God's  will  or  not,  but 
something  pleasant. 

He  hated  Micaiah  because  he  pro- 
phesied evil,  and  though  he  knew 
Micaiah 's  words  were  true,  he  pun- 
ished him  by  sending  him  to  a  cruel 
prison. 

[Micaiah's  vision  is  difficult  to 
explain,  and  should  only  be  attemp- 
ted with  elder  children.  The  im- 
portant point  is  just  this,  Ahab  did 
not  leant  to  know  the  truth,  and  so 
God,  as  a  punishment,  allowed  the 
prophets  to  tell  him  lies.] 

3.  Why  did  Ahab  disguise  him- 
self? 

Why  was  he  frightened  of  being 
killed  in  this  battle  ? 

Show  that  we  need  not  fear 
danger  which  may  occur  in  the 
course  of  diity.  It  is  only  the  danger 
which  meets  us  when  we  are  on 
some  course  which  we  cannot  ask 
God  to  bless  which  is  really  to  be 
feared. 

Describe  the  man  drawing  his 
bow,  and  shooting  at  he  knew  not 
whom.  Point  out  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  'chance.'  Illustrate 
by  S.  Matt.  x.  29,  30. 


150 


1  KINGS  XXr.  ;   XXII.  1-40 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Imperfect  Repentance. 

1.  The  great  sin  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel. 

Coveting  Naboth's  vineyard  leads  to — 
Anger  ; 
False  -witness ; 

Murder.  ' 

The  vineyard  only  brought  sorrow  and  a 
curse  when  Ahab  got  it. 

2.  Ahab's  repentance — 

Partly  sincere  ; 

For  God  accepted  it. 
But  it  was  lacking  in  desire  of  amendment. 

Ahab  did  not  want  to  hear  the  truth,  but 
hated  Micaiah  the  prophet  when  he  spoke 
the  truth. 

3.  Ahab's  punishment — 

God  allowed  him  to  be  deceived ; 
He  was  slain  in  battle  ; 
His  people  were  defeated. 


Learn- 


True  Repentance 


Ml)  Sorrow  ; 
'  (2)  Confession. 
I   (3)  Amendment. 


BAAL-ZEBUB  151 


1  KINGS  XXII.  51-53;  2  KINGS  I. 

A  HAZIAH  the  son  of  Ahab  began  to  reign  over  Israel 

Jx      in  Samaria  the  seventeenth   year  c^  Jehoshaphat 

king  of  Jiidah,  and  reigned  two  years  over  Israel. 

52.  And  he  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in 

the  way  of  his  father,  and  in  the  way  of  his  mother,  and  in 

the  way  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel 

to  sin  :    53.  For  he  served  Baal,  and  worshipped  him,  and 

provoked  to  anger  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  according  to  all 

that  his  father  had  done. 

2  KINGS  I.  1.  Then  Moab  rebelled  against  Israel  after 

the  death  of  Ahab.     2.  And  Ahaziah  fell  doAvn  through  a 

lattice  in  his  upper  chamber  that  2vas  in  Samaria,  and  was 

sick  :   and  he  sent  messengers,  and  said  unto  them,  Go, 

enquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  whether  I  shall 

recover  of  this  disease.     3.  But  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said 

to  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  Arise,  go  up  to  meet  the  messengers 

of  the  king  of  Samaria,  and  say  unto  them,   ^  Is  it  not  ^  is  it  because 
^       .  .  there  is  no  God 

because  there  is  not  a  God  in  Israel  that  ye  go  to  enquire  in  Israel? 

of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  ?     4.  Now  therefore  thus 

2  Kings  i.  1.  Then  Moab  rebelled  against  Israel.  Moab  had  been 
subjugated  by  David  (2  Sam.  viii.  2,  cf.  Ps.  Ix.  8).  The  Moabite  stone 
{see  vol.  i.  p.  79)  speaks  of  Omri  oppressing  Moab.  The  great  defeat  of 
Israel  and  the  death  of  Ahab  evidently  provided  a  suitable  opportunity 
for  a  revolt  of  Moab. 

2.  A  lattice  in  Ms  upper  chamber.  There  was,  of  course,  no  glass  in 
ancient  windows.  They  were  protected  by  shutters  or  by  lattice-work. 
The  king  was  probably  leaning  against  this  lattice,  which  gave  May,  and 
he  fell  to  the  ground. 

Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron.  This  was  one  of  the  many  Baals  who 
were  named  after  some  special  property  or  circumstance  connected  with 
them  (see  p.  1 IG).  This  was  the  '  Baal  of  flies,'  apparentl}^  because  he  was 
supposed  to  protect  his  worshippers  from  flies,  which  are  a  terrible  plague 
in  hot  Eastern  countries.  Both  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  had  a  similar 
divinity.  Why  Ahaziah  sent  to  this  particular  Baal  is  unknown.  The 
shrine  may  have  been  famous  as  an  '  oracle. '  Ekron  was  a  Philistine 
city,  a  considerable  distance  south  of  Samaria.  Baal-zebu])  reappears 
in  the  Xew  Testament  as  a  current  name  among  the  Jews  (Avith  altered 
vowels)  for  '  the  chief  of  the  devils.' 


152  1  KfXGS  XXII.  51-53;    2  KIXGS  I. 

saith  the  Lord,  Thou  shalt  not  come  down  from  that  bed 
on  which  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die.  And 
Elijah  departed.  5.  And  when  the  messengers  turned 
back  unto  him,  he  said  unto  them.  Why  are  ye  now  turned 
back  ?  6.  And  they  said  unto  him.  There  came  a  man  up 
to  meet  us,  and  said.  Go,  turn  again  unto  the  king  that 
sent  you,  and  say  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  ^  Is  it  not 
because  there  is  not  a  God  in  Israel  that  thou  sendest  to 
enquire  of  Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  ?  therefore  thou 
shalt  not  come  down  from  that  bed  on  which  thou  art  gone 
up,  but  shalt  surely  die.  7.  And  he  said  unto  them,  What 
manner  of  man  wis  he  which  came  up  to  meet  you,  and 
told  you  these  words  ?     8.  And  they  answered  him,  He 

2  Marg.  a  man    ivas  ^  an  hairy  man,  and  girt  with  a  girdle  of  leather  about 
o/hair.         '^    his  loins.    And  he  said,  It  is  Elijah  the  Tishbite.     9.  Then 

the  king  sent  unto  him  a  cajitain  of  fifty  with  his  fifty. 
And  he  went  up  to  him  :  and,  behold,  he  sat  on  the  top 

3  the.  of  ^  an  hill.     And  he  spake  unto  him.  Thou  man  of  God, 

the  king  hath  said.  Come  down.  10.  And  Elijah  answered 
and  said  to  the  captain  of  fifty,  If  I  be  a  man  of  God,  then 
let  fire  come  down  from  heaven,  and  consume  thee  and  thy 
fifty.  And  there  came  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  con- 
sumed him  and  his  fifty.  11.  Again  also  he  sent  unto  him 
another  captain  of  fifty  with  his  fifty.  And  he  answered 
and  said  unto  him,  0  man  of  God,  thus  hath  the  king  said, 
Come  down  quickly.  12.  And  Elijah  answered  and  said 
unto  them.  If  I  ie  a  man  of  God,  let  fire  come  down  from 

8.  He  was  an  hairy  man.  Probably  this  means,  as  the  margin  of  the 
Revised  Version  suggests,  not  that  Elijah  was  like  Esau  (the  word  used 
of  the  latter  being  different,  Gen.  xxvii.  11),  but  that  he  wore,  like  his 
great  successor,  John  the  Baptist,  a  garment  of  rough  hair  (see  p.  128). 

10.  If  I  be  a  man  of  God,  then  let  fire  come  down  from  heaven.  Again, 
as  on  Mount  Carmcl,  the  claim  of  ]<]lijah  to  be  prophet  of  the  one  true 
God  is  vindicated  by  fire  from  heaven,  a  flash  of  liglitiiing,  doubtless,  but 
miraculous  in  its  occasion.  Our  Lord's  words  (S.  Luke  ix.  ~A)  are  not, 
of  course,  any  condemnation  of  Elijali,  but  a  warning  to  His  disciples 
that  the  method  and  spirit  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  must  be  diflferent 
from  those  of  the  preparatory  dispensation,  in  which  men  were  taught 
by  temporal  judgments.  The  same  truth  seems  to  be  hinted  at  in  the 
Theophany  to  J]lijah  on  Horeb  (see  p.  12G). 


FIRE  FROM  HEAVEN  153 

heaven,  and  consume  thee  and  thy  tifty.  And  the  tire  of 
God  came  down  from  heaven  and  consumed  him  and  his 
fifty.  13.  And  he  sent  again  a  captain  of  the  third  fifty 
with  his  fifty.  And  the  third  captain  of  fifty  went  up, 
and  came  and  fell  on  his  knees  before  Elijah,  and  besought 
him,  and  said  unto  him,  0  man  of  God,  I  pray  thee,  let 
my  life,  and  the  life  of  these  fifty  thy  servants,  be  precious 
in  thy  sight.  14.  Behold,  there  came  fire  down  from 
heaven,  and  burnt  up  the  two  captains  of  the  former  fifties 
with  their  fifties  :  therefore  let  my  life  now  be  precious  in 
thy  sight.  15.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto 
Elijah,  Go  down  with  him  :  be  not  afraid  of  him.  And 
he  arose,  and  went  down  with  him  unto  the  king.  16. 
And  he  said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Forasmuch 
as  thou  hast  sent  messengers  to  enquire  of  Baal-zebub  the 
god  of  Ekron,  ^  is  it  not  because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel  to 
enquire  of  his  word  ?  therefore  thou  shalt  not  come  down  ofi" 
that  bed  on  which  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die. 
17.  So  he  died  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  which 
Elijah  had  spoken.  And  Jehoram  reigned  in  his  stead  in 
the  second  year  of  Jehoram  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  king  of 
Judah  ;  because  he  had  no  son.  18.  Now  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Ahaziah  which  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 
book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ? 

17.  And  Jehoram  reigned  in  his  stead.  This  Jehoram  was  the  brother 
of  Ahaziah.  There  is  an  apparently  hopeless  obsciu'ity  in  the  chronology 
at  this  point,  due  either  to  corruptions  in  the  text  or  to  the  absence  of 
the  historical  key.  The  discrepancy  between  this  verse  and  ili.  1  is 
usually  explained  by  supposing  that  Jehoram  of  Judah  reigned  along 
with  his  father  Jehoshaphat  as  'Prorex,'  i.e.  deputy  king,  see  margin  of 
Authorised  Version,  but  there  is  no  evidence  for  this. 


154 


1  KINGS  XXII.  51-53  :   2  KINGS  I. 


LESSON  XVII 


Fire  from  Heaven 


Matter. 

1.  The  Fire  of  Correction. 

The  fire  which  Elijah  called  down 
from  heaven  was  characteristic  of 
the  old  Covenant,  in  which  men 
were  taught  by  tem^Doral  punish- 
ments. This  fire  may  have  been 
lightning,  but  it  was  sent  mir- 
aculously in  vindication  of  the 
messenger  of  God.  The  king  had 
despised  his  warning,  and  thought 
that  the  truth  could  be  put  down 
by  force  of  arms.  Both  he  and  his 
soldiers  were  taught  a  sharp  lesson. 

But  even  under  the  old  Covenant, 
chastisement  is  ever  mingled  with 
mercy.  The  reverence  for  the  pro- 
phetic office  shown  by  the  third 
captain  brings  its  reward.  God  re- 
sists the  proud,  but  gives  grace  to 
the  humble. 

2.  The  Fire  of  Love. 

Our  Lord  expressly  declared  that 
the  spirit  of  the  new  Covenant  is  to 
be  diff"erent  from  that  of  the  old 
(S.  Luke  ix.  54). 

Fire  did  indeed  come  down  from 
heaven,  but  it  was  the  fire  of  the 
living,  illuminating,  quickening 
Spirit  of  God.  Temporal  chastise- 
ments, for  the  most  part,  give  place 
to  the  secret  influence  of  the  Spirit, 
to  Whose  inspirations  men  may 
yield  themselves,  or  Whom  they 
may  resist. 

3.  The  Fire  of  Judgment. 

It  must  never  l^e  forgotten,  how- 
ever, that  God's  name  and  character 
are  the  same  under  l)oth  Covenants. 
He  is  still  a  consuming  fire  (Heb. 
xii.  29.  See  Deut.  iv.  24).  So  the 
coming  of  Christ  was  inevitably  a 
sending  of  fire  upon  the  earth 
(S.  Luke  xii.  40).  And  the  fire  of 
judgment  under  the  dispensation  of 
the  Spirit  is  really  more  terrible. 


Method. 

1.  Explain  why  this  punishment 
was  sent — 

The  king  was  angry  because  Elijah 
had  told  him  the  truth. 

Both  the  king  and  his  soldiers 
thought  they  were  stronger  than 
God. 

God  taught  them  in  a  way  w^hich 
all  could  understand. 

The  punishment  was  an  act  of 
mercy  to  others  in  Israel,  being  a 


Point  out  the  reward  of  humility 
in  the  case  of  the  third  captain. 


2.  Explain  our  Lord's  words, 
with  reference  to  the  fiery  tongues 
of  Pentecost. 

Xow  God  teaches  men  in  a  dififer- 
ent  way.  He  gives  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  speak  inwardly  to  the  conscience. 
It  is  much  worse  to  resist  the  Holy 
Spirit  than  it  was  to  resist  a 
prophet,  though  the  sin  is  not 
punished  by  death  in  this  world. 


3.  Make  it  clear  that  God  is  the 
same  from  the  beginning  of  the 
I>ible  to  the  end.  He  teaches  men 
in  different  ways  at  diff'erent  times, 
but  He  does  not  change. 

There  is  still^^re,  the  fire  of  God's 
anger,  and  this  will  in  the  end 
destroy  all  those  who  resist  God. 


FIRE  FROM  HEAVEN 


155 


Lesson  XVIl^continued.     Fire  from  Heaven 


Matter. 

though    unseen    as   yet,    than    the 
temporal  judgments  of  old  time. 

It  is  this  fire  which  will  test  even 
the  works  of  the  faithful,  and  will 
burn  up  all  that  is  not  Christ's 
(1  Cor.  iii.  13-15).  Aiid  the  same 
fire  will  in  the  end  consume  all  the 
hosts  of  evil,  Rev.  xx.  9. 


While  the  methods  and  spirit  of 
God's  ministers  are  to  be  different 
under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  God 
Himself  is  unchanged.  The  rejec- 
tion of  the  message  of  love  will  bring 
a  more  lasting  vengeance  than  the 
rejection  of  the  prophet's  words. 
See  Heb.  x.  26,  27. 


Method. 


It  is  very  important  that  the 
teacher  should  not  draw  a  hard  and 
fast  line  between  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  New.  It  was  this 
error  which  led  the  Gnostics  to 
imagine  that  the  God  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  a  different  Person 
from  the  God  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

The  fear  of  God  is  plainly  taught 
as  a  duty  in  the  New  Testament ; 
and  while  children  should  not  be 
terrified,  they  ought  to  be  taught 
both  sides  of  the  truth  as  they  are 
able  to  bear  it. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Fire  from  Heaven. 

1.  The  Fire  of  God's  Correction — 

destroyed  those  who  despised  God's  prophet ; 
spared  those  who  were  humble. 

2.  The  Fire  of  Love. 

The  Holy  Spirit  came  like  tongues  of  fire, 
to  save  men's  lives,  not  to  destro}^  their 
bodies. 

3.  The  Fire  of  Judgment. 

God  is  always  the  same. 

Those  who  will  not  obey  His  Holy  Spirit 

will   be   destroyed   by   fire   at   the   Last 

Day. 

'  From  hardness  of  heart,  and  contempt  of 

Thy  word  and  commandment. 

Good  Lord  deliver  us.' 


15B  2  KINGS  II.  ;    III. 


2  KIXGS  XL  ;   III. 


a  Gen.  v.  24.  J^  ND  it  came  to  pass,  when  "  the  Lord  would  take  up 
Elijah  into  heaven  by  a  whirlwind,  that  Elijah 
went  with  Elisha  from  Gilgal,  2.  And  Elijah  said 
unto  Elisha,  Tarry  here,  I  pray  thee  ;  for  the  Lord  hath 
sent  me  to  Beth-el.  And  Elisha  said  unto  him,  As  the 
b  Ruthi.  15,  IG  LoRD  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  ^  I  will  not  leave  thee.  • 
c  1  Kings  XX.  So  they  went  down  to  Beth-el.  3.  And  '^  the  sons  of  the 
prophets  that  tvcre  at  Beth-el  came  forth  to  Elisha,  and 
said  unto  him,  Knowest  thou  that  the  Lord  will  take  away 
thy  master  from  th}^  head  to  day  ?  And  he  said.  Yea,  I 
know  it ;  hold  ye  your  peace.  4.  And  Elijah  said  unto 
him,  Elisha,  tarry  here,  I  pray  thee  ;  for  the  Lord  hath 
sent  me  to  Jericho.  And  he  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and 
as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee.  So  they  came  to 
Jericho.  5.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that  urre  at 
Jericho  came  to  Elisha,  and  said  unto  him,  Knowest  thou 
that  the  Lord  will  take  away  thy  master  from  thy  head 
to  day  ?  And  he  answered.  Yea,  I  know  it ;  hold  ye  your 
peace.  6.  And  Elijah  said  unto  him.  Tarry,  I  i3ray  thee, 
here  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Jordan.     And  he  said, 

1.  Elijah  went  with  Elisha  from  Gilgal.  Elijah  hitherto  has  only  been 
described  as  frequenting  the  plain  of  Jezreel  and  Mount  Carmel.  At 
the  close  of  his  life  he  would  seem  to  have  visited  the  communities  of 
the  '  sons  of  the  prophets'  at  Bethel  and  other  places  in  the  south  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  This  Gilgal  is  apparently  not  the  place  memorable  as 
the  first  halting-place  after  Joshua's  passage  of  the  Jordan  (Josh.  iv. ), 
but  another  Gilgal  in  the  hill  country  higher  than  Bethel,  which  accounts 
for  the  '  went  down  '  in  ver.  2. 

3.  Knowest  thou  that  the  LORD  will  take  away  thy  master  from  thy 
head  to  da.y  ?  It  may  be  gathered  from  tliis  repeated  question  (1)  that 
Elisha  was  already  recognised  as  standing  in  a  close  relationship  to  Elijah, 
perhaps  even  as  liis  successor  ;  (2)  that  God  had  revealed  to  the  different 
companies  of  prophets  the  approaching  departure  of  Elijah.  There  is  a 
remarkable  parallel  in  the  warnings  of  the  Christian  prophets  in  Acts  xx., 
xxi.  to  S.  Paul  on  his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem.  Elisha's  persistence  in 
following  was  evidently  a  proof  of  his  faith,  and  of  his  fitness  for  '  the 
mantle  of  Elijah.' 

6.  The  LORD  hath  sent  me  to  Jordan.     Elijah  is  bidden  by  the  Divine 


THE  ASCENSION  OF  ELIJAH  157 

A  s  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave 

thee.     And  they  two  went  on.     7.  And  fifty  men  of  the 

sons  of  the  prophets  went,  and  stood  to  view  ^  afor  off :  and  ^  over  against 

they  two  stood  by  Jordan.     8.  And  Elijah  took  his  mantle, 

and  wrapped  it  together,  and  smote  the  waters,  and  they 

were  divided  hither  and  thither,  so  that  they  two  went 

over  on  dry  ground.     9.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they 

were  gone  over,  that  Elijah  said  unto  Elisha,  Ask  what  I 

shall  do  for  thee,  before  I  be  taken  away  from  thee.     And 

Elisha  said,  I  pray  thee,  let  a  double  portion  of  thy  spirit 

be  upon  me.     10.  And  he  said,  Thou  hast  asked  a  hard 

thing  :  nevertheless,  if  thou  see  me  when  I  am  taken  from 

thee,  it  shall  be  so  unto  thee  ;  but  if  not,  it  shall  not  be  so. 

11.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  still  went  on,  and  talked, 

that,  behold,  there  appeared  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of 

fire,  and  parted  them  both  asunder  ;  and  Elijah  went  up 

by  a  wdiirlwind  into  heaven.     12.  And  Elisha  saw  it,  and 

voice  to  return  to  his  own  country,  Gilead,  the  land  beyond  Jordan.  It 
was  in  this  region  that  Moses  had  died,  and  had  been  mysteriously  buried 
by  tlie  hand  of  God. 

8.  They  were  divided  hither  and  thither.  The  passing  of  the  Jordan 
drysliod  w^ould  inevitably  recall  the  memory  of  tlie  first  entry  into  Canaan, 
and  also  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea.  The  same  Divine  purpose  which 
had  sliown  itself  in  tlie  miracles  of  the  Exodus  was  still  living  and 
working. 

9.  And  Elisha  said,  I  pray  thee,  let  a  douhle  portion  of  thy  spirit  he 
upon  me.  This  does  not  mean  that  Elisha  asked  to  be  twice  as  great  a 
prophet  as  his  master,  but  that  he  desired  the  portion  of  a  first-born  son 
(Dent.  xxi.  17).  In  his  love  and  devotion  to  his  master  he  craved  to  have 
this  special  gift  beyond  other  prophets.  Doubtless,  too,  he  longed  to 
carry  on  his  master's  work,  as  his  direct  successor. 

10.  Thou  hast  asked  a  hard  thing-.  It  was  not  for  Elijah  to  bestow 
this,  he  left  it  in  the  hands  of  God.  Here  again,  doubtless,  Elisha's  faith 
is  to  be  tested.  If  he  has  the  Divine  gift  of  beholding  the  realities  of  the 
spiritual  world,  which,  it  is  implied,  were  not  visible  to  the  ordinary  eye, 
then  he  will  be  able  to  receive  the  spiritual  gifts  and  office  which  he 
asks  for. 

11.  There  appeared  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of  fire.  This  was  not  a 
chariot  to  convey  Elijah  to  heaven,  as  is  commonl}'  supposed  ;  the  writer 
says  nothing  of  that.  It  was  the  angelic  chariot  of  God,  fl^'ing  upon  the 
cherubim,  which  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  (Ps.  xviii.),  and  w^hieh  Ezekiel 
saw  by  the  river  Chebar. 

And  Elijah  went  up  by  a  whirlwind  into  heaven.     Elijah  was  swept 


158  2  KINGS  11.  ;    III. 


2  chariots.  he  cried,  ]\Iy  father,  my  father,  the  -  chariot  of  Israel,  and 
the  iiorsemen  thereof.  And  he  saw  him  no  more  :  and  he 
took  hokl  of  his  own  clothes,  and  rent  them  in  two  pieces. 

13.  He  took  up  also  the  mantle  of  Elijah  that  fell  from 
him,  and  went  back,  and  stood  by  the  bank  of  Jordan  ; 

14.  And  he  took  the  mantle  of  Elijah  that  fell  from  him, 
and  smote  the  waters,  and  said,  Where  is  the  Lord  God  of 
Elijah  ?  and  when  he  also  had  smitten  the  waters,  they 
parted  hither  and  thither  :  and  Elisha  went  over.  15.  And 
when  the  sons  of  the  prophets  which  were  Uo  view  at 
Jericho  saw  him,  they  said,  The  spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest 

away  from  the  sight  of  Elisha  by  this  whirlwind,  which  doubtless  sym- 
bolised the  overmastering  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  (cf.  Ezek.  i.  4). 
That  such  a  thing  might  be  was  evidently  believed  by  the  spiritvially 
minded  Obadiah  (1  Kings  xviii.  12) ;  and  another  example  of  it  is  seen  in 
Acts  viii.  39.  It  is  in  vain  for  us  to  pry  into  this  great  mystery  of  the 
translation  of  Elijah.  It  was  a  clear  revelation  indeed  that  man  is 
immortal,  that  his  true  home  is  in  that  spiritual  world  which  is  nearer 
than  we  think  (vi.  17).  Yet  although  Elijah's  translation  was  apparently 
a  bodily  one,  we  are  hardly  justified  in  saying  that  he  was  taken  to  heaven 
without  dying.  Like  Enoch,  indeed,  he  must  have  passed  from  one 
existence  to  another  in  a  manner  different  from  the  common  lot.  He 
appeared  '  in  glory '  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  And  yet  it  can 
hardly  be  that  his  body  was  glorified  before  our  Lord's  Resurrection,  as 
Christ  is  '  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept.'  The  whole  matter  is  veiled 
in  mystery.  It  has  at  times  been  believed  in  the  Church  that  Elijah  will 
appear  on  earth  again  in  his  body  in  the  last  times  before  the  Second 
Advent  and  suffer  mart^^rdom.  '  Elias  was  lifted  up  into  the  lower 
heavens  in  order  that  he  might  be  led  into  some  secret  region  of  the  earth, 
and  there  live  in  great  repose  of  flesh  and  spirit,  until  he  return  at  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  pay  the  debt  of  dying'  (S.  Gregory).  This  is,  of 
course,  a  speculative  question  only.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  Elijah's 
translation  is  the  most  remarkable  type  in  the  Old  Testament  of  our 
Lord's  Ascension.  Hence  our  Church  reads  the  account  of  it  for  the  First 
Lesson  at  Evensong  on  Ascension  Day. 

12.  The  chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof.  Chariots  and 
horsemen  in  the  eyes  of  the  ancients  constituted  the  greatest  strength  and 
glory  of  an  army.  Humanly  speaking,  Elijah  was  the  mainstay  of  Israel, 
and  it  seems  to  his  disciple  that  liis  departure  was  an  irreparable  loss. 
The  same  words  are  used  of  P]lisha  himself  l)y  the  king  of  Israel 
(xiii.  14). 

14.  Where  is  the  LORD  God  of  Elijah  ?  This  is,  of  course,  not  a  ques- 
tion expressing  doubt,  but  a  solemn  invocation,  an  appeal  for  the  double 
portion  of  the  Spirit,  which  the  fact  that  he  had  seen  Elijah  taken  from 
him  led  him  to  expect  with  confidence. 

15.  The  spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest  on  Elisha.     The  miracle  which  they 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  ELISHA  159 

on  Elisha.  And  they  came  to  meet  him,  and  bowed  them- 
selves to  the  ground  before  him.  16.  And  they  said  unto 
him,  Behold  now,  there  be  with  thy  servants  fifty  strong 
men  ;  let  them  go,  we  pray  thee,  and  seek  thy  master  : 
lest  peradventure  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  hath  taken  him 
up,  and  cast  him  upon  some  mountain,  or  into  some  valley. 
And  he  said,  Ye  shall  not  send.  17.  And  when  they  urged 
him  till  he  was  ashamed,  he  said,  Send.  They  sent  there- 
fore fifty  men  ;  and  they  sought  three  days,  but  found  him 
not.  18.  And  when  they  came  again  to  him,  (for  he 
tarried  at  Jericho,)  he  said  unto  them,  Did  I  not  say  unto 
you.  Go  not  ?  19.  And  the  men  of  the  city  said  unto 
Elisha,  Behold,  I  pray  thee,  the  situation  of  this  city  is 
pleasant,  as  my  lord  seeth  :  but  the  water  is  naught,  and  s  the  land 
2  the  ground  barren.  20.  And  he  said,  Bring  me  a  new 
cruse,  and  put  salt  therein.  And  they  brought  it  to  him. 
21.  And  he  went  forth  unto  the  spring  of  the  waters,  and 
cast  the  salt  in  there,  and  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  '^I  d  Exod.  xv.  25. 
have  healed  these  waters  ;  there  shall  not  be  from  thence 

had  just  seen  performed  a  second  time  showed  them  beyond  all  question 
that  Elisha  was  the  divinely  appointed  successor  of  Elijah. 

16.  Let  them  go,  we  pray  thee,  and  seek  thy  master.  It  is  clear  from 
the  context  that  it  was  only  the  dead  body  of  Elijah  which  they  hoped  to 
find  for  burial.  Tliej^  recognised  clearly  that  the  prophet  had  left  this 
world,  or  they  would  scarcely  have  saluted  Elisha  as  they  did.  Elisha, 
however,  seems  clearly  to  have  understood  that  Elijah's  body,  as  Mell  as 
his  soul,  had  been  rapt  awa}'  by  the  whirlwind,  and  could  never  be  found. 
He  only  allowed  the  search  to  be  made  because  of  the  persistence  (ver. 
17)  of  the  request ;  yet  the  fact  that  so  thorough  a  search  was  made,  and 
by  so  many,  adds  strong  evidence  to  the  historic  truth  of  Elijah's  dis- 
appearance. 

19.  The  situation  of  this  city  is  pleasant.  See  the  striking  description 
of  Jericho  in  Stanley,  pp.  305-310,  and  G.  A.  Smith,  pp.  266-268.  The 
latter  says  of  the  city,  'Jericho  w^as  the  gateway  of  a  province,  the 
emporium  of  a  large  trade,  the  mistress  of  a  great  palm  forest,  woods  of 
balsam,  and  very  rich  gardens.  To  earliest  Israel  she  -was  the  City  of 
Palms  ;  to  the  latest  Jewish  historian  "  a  divine  region,"  "the  fattest  of 
Judiea. " ' 

The  water  is  naught,  and  the  ground  barren.  '  Xaught '  is  the  Old 
English  word  for  '  worthless '  ;  here  it  clearly  means  unwholesome, 
perhaps  impregnated  with  some  chemical  which  was  harmful  to  life,  and 
prevented  fruit  being  brought  to  maturity.     See  Revised  Version. 

21.  Thus  saith  the  LORD,  I  have  healed  these  waters.     This  is  the  first 


160  2  KINGS  II.  ;   III. 


miscarrj-iiig.  any  more  death  or  ^  barren  land.  22,  So  the  waters  were 
healed  unto  this  day,  according  to  the  saying  of  Elisha 
which  he  spake.  23.  And  he  went  up  from  thence  unto 
Beth-el  :  and  as  he  w^as  going  up  by  the  way,  there  came 
forth  little  children  out  of  the  city,  and  mocked  him,  and 
said  unto  him.  Go  up,  thou  bald  head  ;  go  up,  thou  bald 
head.  24.  And  he  turned  back,  and  looked  on  them,  and 
cursed  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  there  came 
forth  two  she  bears  out  of  the  Avood,  and  tare  forty  and 
two  children  of  them.  25.  And  he  went  from  thence  to 
mount  Carmel,  and  from  thence  he  returned  to  Samaria. 

III.  1.  Now  Jehoram  the  son  of  Ahab  began  to  reign 
over  Israel  in  Samaria  the  eighteenth  year  of  Jehoshaphat 
king  of  Judah,  and  reigned  twelve  years.  2.  And  he 
wrought  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  but  not  like  his 


pillar. 


of  Baal  that  his  father   had   made.     3.  Nevertheless   he 
cleaved  unto  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  which 


of  those  miracles  of  healing  which  are  so  characteristic  of  Elisha,  and  are 
the  most  remarkable  types  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the  miracles  of  Our 
Lord.  .Such  miracles  are  sujigestive  of  the  Incarnation,  the  redemption 
of  the  material  world  from  the  curse,  and  the  pledge  of  the  '  new  heavens 
and  the  new  earth.' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  memory  of  Elisha's  healing  the  water  is  still 
preserved  at  Jericho,  where  the  lai'ger  of  the  two  springs  is  called  'the 
well  of  Elisha.'  '  From  these  springs  trickle  clear  rills  through  glades  of 
tangled  forest-shrub  which,  Init  for  their  rank  luxuriance  and  Oriental 
vegetation,  almost  recall  the  scenery  of  England  '  (Stanley). 

23.  There  came  fortli  little  children  out  of  the  city,  and  mocked  him. 
By  '  little  children '  may  certainly  be  understood  young  people  in  general. 
Solomon  at  his  accession  calls  himself  '  a  little  child. '  Such  phrases  in 
ancient  writers  were  used  with  much  more  latitude  of  meaning  than  with 
us.  These  '  children  '  were  probably  influenced  either  by  the  degrading 
worship  of  the  golden  calves  at  Bethel,  or  b}^  the  Baal-worship.  Their 
mockery  could  not  have  been  mere  thoughtlessness,  but  was  a  direct 
insult  to  the  majesty  of  Jehovah. 

"24.  And  cursed  them  in  the  name  of  the  LORD.  This  w  as  not  a  curse 
proceeding  from  personal  indignation,  but  a  Divine  judgment  pronounced 
by  the  prophet's  mouth,  as  the  awful  effect  of  it  showed.  Such  a  miracle 
of  judgment  like  the  calling  of  fire  from  heaven  belongs  indeed  to  the  older 
dispensation  ;  and  yet  it  should  be  remembered  (which  is  often  forgotten) 
that  Christ's  ministers  have  committed  to  them  not  only  the  power  of 
absolution,  but  of  '  retaining '  a  wilful  sinner's  guilt. 


ELISHA  161 


made  Israel  to  sin  ;  he  departed  not  therefrom.     4.  And 

Mesha  king  of  Moab  was  a  "  sheepmaster,  and  rendered  «  isa.  xvi.  i. 

unto  the  king  of  Israel  ^an  hundred  thousand  lambs,  and  ^  the  wool  of 

an  hundred  thousand  rams,  with  the  wool.     5.  But  it  came 

to  pass,  when  Ahab  was  dead,  that  the  king  of  Moab 

rebelled  against  the  king  of  Israel.     6.  And  king  Jehoram 

went  out  of  Samaria  the  same  time,  and  "  numbered  all  ^  mustered. 

Israel.     7.  And  he  went  and  sent  to  Jehoshaphat  the  king 

of  Judah,  saying,  The  king  of  Moab  hath  rebelled  against 

me  :  wilt  thou  go  with  me  against  Moab  to  battle  ?     And 

he  said,  I  will  go  up  :  -^I  am  as  thou  art,  my  people  as  thy  / 1  Kings  xxii. 

people,  and  my  horses  as  thy  horses.      8.  And  he  said. 

Which  way  shall  we  go  up  ?     And  he  answered,  The  way 

through  the  wilderness  of  Edom.     9.  So  the  king  of  Israel 

went,  and  the  king  of  Judah,  and  the  king  of  Edom  :  and 

they  ^  fetched  a  compass  of  seven  days'  journey  :  and  there  s  made  a  cir- 

was  no  water  for  the  host,  and  for  the  cattle  that  followed 

them,     10.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said,  Alas  !  that  the 

Lord  hath  called  these   three   kings  together,  to  deliver 

them  into  the  hand  of  Moab  I     11.  But  s' Jehoshaphat  said,  g  i  Kings  xxii.  7. 

Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the  Lord,  that  we  may 

enquire  of  the  Lord  by  him  1     And  one  of  the  king  of 

Israel's  servants  answered  and  said.  Here  is  Elisha  the  son 

of  Shaphat,  which  poured  water  on  the  hands  of  Elijah. 

III.  4.  And  Mesha  king  of  Moab  was  a  sheepmaster.  The  whole  of  the 
territory  east  of  Jordan,  consisting  chiefly  of  high  plateaus  and  'downs,' 
is  eminently  suited  for  pasture.  The  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  Man- 
asseh  selected  it  for  their  settlement  on  that  account.  The  land  still 
retains  this  character.  '  And  still  the  countless  herds  and  flocks  may  be 
seen,  droves  of  cattle  moving  on  like  troops  of  soldiers,  descending  at 
sunset  to  drink  of  the  springs '  (Stanle}-).  The  correction  of  the  Revised 
Version  shows  that  the  Moabite  tribute  to  Israel  consisted  of  fleeces  only, 
not  of  '  sheep  '  with  the  wool. 

9.  The  king  of  Edom.  It  seems  from  1  Kings  xxii.  47  that  at  this  time 
Edom  was  subject  to  Judah,  and  that  this  king  of  Edom  was  a  '  deputy  ' 
of  Jehoshaphat. 

11.  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat,  which  poured  water  on  the  hands  of 
Elijah.  This  expression  refers  literally  to  one  of  the  services  which  in 
the  East  a  servant  or  younger  member  of  the  family  performs  for  the 
elders  or  the  guests  before  and  after  meals.  A  still  more  humble  service 
was  that  performed  by  our  Lord  in  washing  His  disciples'  feet. 
HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  L 


162  2  KINGS  II.  ;    III. 


12.  And  Jehoshaphat  said,  The  word  of  the  Lord  is  with 
him.  So  the  king  of  Israel  and  Jeho.shaphat  and  the  king 
of  Edom  went  down  to  him.  13.  And  Elisha  said  unto 
h  Judges  X.  14.  the  king  of  Israel,  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  ''  get  thee 
to  the  prophets  of  thy  father,  and  to  the  prophets  of  thy 
mother.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  him.  Nay  :  for 
the  Lord  hath  called  these  three  kings  together,  to  deliver 
them  into  the  hand  of  Moab.  14.  And  Elisha  said,  As  the 
Lord  of  hosts  liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  surely,  were  it 
not  that  I  regard  the  presence  of  Jehoshaphat  the  king  of 
Judah,  I  would  not  look  toward  thee,  nor  see  thee.  15. 
But  now  bring  me  a  minstrel.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when 
the  minstrel  played,  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
him.  16.  And  he  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Make  this 
valley  full  of  ditches.  17.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye 
shall  not  see  wind,  neither  shall  ye  see  rain  ;  yet  that  valley 
shall  be  filled  with  water,  that  ye  may  drink,  both  ye,  and 
your  cattle,  and  your  beasts.     18.  And  this  is  but  a  light 

13.  Nay,  for  the  LORD  hath  called  these  three  kings  together.  Jehoram 
here  evidently  repudiates  the  suggestion  of  Elisha  that  he  was  still  at 
heart  a  worshipper  of  Baal.  Although  he  had  not  touched  the  calf- 
worship,  he  had  put  away  'the  pillar'  of  Baal,  and  both  here  and  in 
ver.  10  he  attributes  the  expedition  against  Moab  to  the  guidance  of 
Jehovah. 

14.  Were  it  not  that  I  regard  the  presence  of  Jehoshaphat.  Although 
.Jehoram  was  not  a  Baal-worshipper,  yet  as  the  successor  and  imitator  of 
Jeroboam  in  his  idolatry,  he  had  really,  like  all  the  kings  of  Israel,  for- 
feited any  covenanted  claim  to  God's  guidance  and  help.  But  here,  as  so 
often  in  the  Bible,  God  shows  His  mercy  in  accepting  the  prayers  and 
faith  of  the  saint  on  behalf  of  his  brethren.  Jehoshaphat,  in  spite  of 
his  mistakes,  was  a  righteous  king,  and  faithful  to  Jehovah.  For  his 
sake,  the  prophet  is  permitted  to  give  assistance. 

15.  But  now  bring  me  a  minstrel.  The  inspiration  of  the  prophets 
must  always  be  a  mystery  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  God  spoke  through  them 
in  accordance  with  their  own  individual  character  and  disposition.  It 
may  have  been  that  ]<]lislia  was  a  man  peculiarly  sensitive  to  music,  and 
under  its  subtle  inHuence,  he  was  placed  in  a  frame  of  mind  capable  of 
receiving  the  Divine  voice.  The  influence  of  music  may  be  morally  good 
or  bad  according  to  the  individual  hearer  ;  but  it  may  certainly  be  one 
of  the  means  b}'  which  communications  too  delicate  to  be  expressed  in 
words  visit  the  soul  from  some  other  world  than  this.  Music  seems  to 
have  been  cultivated  by  the  prophets  for  religious  purposes.  See  1  Sam. 
X.  5,  6. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MOAB  163 

thing  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  will  deliver  the  Moabites 

also  into  your  hand.     19.  And  ye  shall  smite  every  fenced 

city,  and  every  choice  city,  and  shall  fell  every  good  tree, 

and  stop  all  wells  of  water,  and  mar  every  good  piece  of 

land  with  stones.     20.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning, 

^when  the  meat  offering  was  offered,  that,  behold,  there  ^  about  the 

time  of  offering 
came  water  by  the  way  of  Edom,  and  the  country  was  filled  the  oblation. 

with  water.     21.  And  when  all  the  Moabites  heard  that 

the  kings  were  come  up  to  fight  against  them,  they  gathered 

all  that  were  able  to  put  on  armour,  and  upward,  and  stood 

in  the  border.     22.  And  they  rose  up  early  in  the  morning, 

and  the  sun  shone  upon  the  water,  and  the  Moabites  saw 

the  water  ^^on  the  other  side  as  red  as  blood  :     23.  And  ^^  over  against 

them. 
they  said.  This  is  blood  :  the  kings  are  surely  slain,  and 

they  have  smitten  one  another  :  now  therefore,  Moab,  to 

the  spoil.     24,  And  when  they  came  to  the  camp  of  Israel, 

the  Israelites  rose  up  and  smote  the  Moabites,  so  that  they 

fled   before   them  :    but  they  went  forward    smiting  the 

Moabites,  even  in  their  country.     25.  And  they  beat  down 

the  cities,  and  on  every  good  piece  of  land  cast  every  man 

his  stone,  and  filled  it ;  and  they  stopped  all  the  wells  of 

water,  and  felled  all  the  good  trees  :  only  in  *  Kir-haraseth  ^  isa.xvi.  7,  ii. 

left  they  the  stones   thereof ;  howbeit  the    slingers  went 

about  it,  and  smote  it.     26.  And  when  the  king  of  Moab 

saw  that  the  battle  was  too  sore  for  him,  he  took  with  him 

20.  Behold,  there  came  water  by  the  way  of  Edom.  This  was  probably 
not  a  miraculous  supply  of  water,  but  the  result  of  some  storm  at  a 
distance  from  the  camp.  Tlie  rain  flooded  the  lower  ground  and  was 
retained  in  the  trenches  which  had  been  dug  at  the  prophet's  bidding. 

23.  And  they  said,  This  is  blood.  The  Moabites  did  not  know  that  this 
rain  had  taken  place  ;  and  they  were  deceived  either  by  the  red  of  the 
sunrise,  or  perhaps  Ijy  the  fact  that  the  torrent-water  may  have  been 
coloured  by  the  redness  of  the  soil  washed  down  with  it.  Edom  means 
'red.' 

25.  Kir-haraseth.  This  was  apparently  one  of  the  very  few  strong- 
holds of  Moab  ;  and  the  only  way  by  which  the  allied  armies  could  attack 
it  was  by  the  slingers,  who  would  correspond  to  the  sliarpshooters  of 
modern  warfare.  These  made  it  impossible  for  the  defenders  to  man  the 
walls,  and  the  city  would  have  been  taken  and  destroyed  but  for  the 
events  recorded  in  the  next  verses. 


164  -2  KINGS  II.  ;    III. 


seven  hundred  men  that  drew  swords,  to  break  through 

even  unto  the  king  of  Edom  :  but  they  could  not.     27. 

Then  he  took  his  eldest  son  that  should  have  reigned  in 
j  Amos  ii.  1.  his  stead,  and  •'offered  him  for  a  burnt  offering  upon  the 
11  wrath.  wall.    And  there  was  a  great  ^^  indignation  against  Israel : 

and  they  departed  from  him,  and  returned  to  their  own 

land. 

27.  Then  lie  took  his  eldest  son— and  offered  him  for  a  burnt  offering-. 

An  awful  sacrifice  of  this  kind  was  not  uncommon  among  ancient  nations 
in  times  of  great  extremity.  Agamemnon  is  said  to  have  offered  up 
his  daughter  Ipliigeneia  at  Aulis,  when  the  Grecian  fleet  was  weather- 
bound. So  here  the  king  of  Moab  makes  a  final  offering  to  his  god 
Chemosh  in  order  to  win  the  victor3\  (The  incident  referred  to  by  Amos 
ii.  1  seems  to  be  something  different. ) 

And  there  was  great  indignation  against  Israel.  The  meaning  of  this 
is  much  disputed.  It  would  naturally  mean  that  God  shewed  His  in- 
dignation against  Israel,  but  this  does  not  seem  in  accordance  with  the 
context.  Other  suggestions  are  that  general  indignation  was  felt  against 
Israel  by  their  allies  at  having  brought  about,  by  their  invasion  of  5loab, 
such  a  horrible  act ;  or  that  there  was  such  indignation  among  the 
besiegers  that  they  raised  the  siege,  perhaps  influenced  by  superstitious 
terrors. 

LESSOX  XVIII 

The  Ascension  of  Elijah 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  Elijah  taken  to  heaven.  1.     Describe     the    ascension    of 

Death  is  not  the  end  of  man.  Elijah  ;  refer  to  Enoch,  Gen.  v.  24. 
™'l„^/l®'!.^.l7^iivfAT.^'!^L^^^^^^  Ask   whether    Elijah    was    ever 

seen  again.      Refer  to  the  Gospel 


the  nations  of  antiquity  arrived  by 
one  path  or  another,  was  not  at 
first  very  prominent  in  the  religion  accounts  of  the  Transfiguration, 
of  Israel.  It  was  not  directly  re- 
vealed perhaps  till  Daniel's  time 
(Dan.  xii.  2). 

Yet   from   the    earliest  ages  the         Elijah's   ascension    would    make 
belief     undoubtedly     existed,    and     men  think  it  possible  that  there  is 
from     time    to     time     God     gave     ^  life  after  this  life  ;  and  a  better 
proof  of  it,  sometimes  indirectly  in     ^-^     ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^  g^^^ 
words,   of  which  the  full  meaning         -,^  ,  .,-.,. 

was  not  grasped  at  the  time  (see         ^^^   "^^^  ^'■«^'"   ^^'^  *«  ^'^   t^'"*^- 
S.  Matt.   xxii.  32) ;    sometimes  by     Why  ?     Christ  has  ascended, 
examples,  of  which  by  far  the  most         Cf.  S.  John  xiv.  2 ;  xx.  17. 
notable  is  that  of  Elijah.     He  was 
visibly   taken    away   from    human 
sight ;  his  body  disappeared. 


THE  ASCENSION  OF  ELIJAH 


165 


Lesson  XVIII — continued.     The  Ascension  of  Elijah 


Matter. 

Some  of  tlie  questions  raised  by 
this  event  are  inexplicable  at  pre- 
sent ;  but  it  certainly  is  a  proof  of 
two  things  : 

(a)  Man  is  immortal ; 

(6)  Man's  true  place  hereafter  is 
with  God. 

It  is  au  ancient  belief  that  the 
creation  of  man  was  intended  to 
fill  the  places  forfeited  b}' the  fallen 
angels.  Whether  that  is  so  or  not, 
the  ascension  of  Elijah  points  the 
way  prophetically  to  the  ascension 
of  man,  which  is  fulfilled  implicitly 
in  the  ascension  of  Christ,  the 
second  Adam,  the  true  head  and 
King  of  humanity,  in  Whom  all 
things  will  be  '  gathered  together 
in  one'  (Eph.  i.  10) — 

'  He  has  raised  our  human  nature  on  the 

clouds  to  God's  riglit  hand  ; 
There  we  sit  in  heavenly'  places,  there  with 

Him  in  glory  stand  : 
Jesus  reigns,  adored  by  angels  ;  man  v/itli 

God  is  on  the  throne, 
Mighty  Lord,  in  Tliine  Ascension,  we  by 

faith  behold  our  own.' 

2.  The  Spirit  rests  on  Elisha. 

The  succession  of  those  commis- 
sioned by  God  to  do  His  work  on 
the  earth  cannot  be  broken.  God, 
indeed,  'fulfils  Himself  in  many 
ways,'  but  the  torch  of  Divine 
truth  and  grace  can  never  be  ex- 
tinguished ;  it  is  passed  through  the 
ages  from  hand  to  hand. 

But  the  resting  of  the  Spirit 
upon  Elisha  is  most  significant  as 
one  of  the  types  of  the  Apostolic 
ministry.  (For  other  types  see 
Num.  xi.  16,  etc.,  and  Deut.  xxxiv. 
9.)  So  our  Lord  after  His  resur- 
rection breathed  the  Holy  Ghost 
upon  His  Apostles,  as  if  by  a  new 
act  of  creation,  and  said  to  them, 
'  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even 
so  send  I  you  '  (S.  John  xx.  '22-3). 
And  after  His  ascension  He  sent 
visibly  the  Holy  Spirit  to  rest  upon 


Method. 


2.  Kef  er  back  to  calling  of  Elisha. 
So,  too,  Christ  called  men  to  follow 
Him.     Give  examples. 

And  to  those  of  His  disciples  who 
were  faithful  He  gave  His  own 
Spirit. 

Refer  to  S.  John  xx.  ;  Acts  i. 

What  use  did  Elisha  make  of  the 
Spirit  he  had  received?  He  did 
the  same  works  as  Elijah,  and  even 
in  some  ways  greater  ones. 

See  what  our  Lord  promised  His 
disciples  (S.  John  xiv.  12). 

How  has  this  been  fulfilled  ? 

The  conversion  of  the  world  to 
the  Faith,  which  is  still  going  on. 

Forgiveness  given  to  man  in  Holy 
Baptism,  and  in  Absolution. 


IGG 


KINGS  II.  ;    III. 


Lesson  XV Ill—continued.     The  Ascension  of  Elijah 


Matter. 

the  whole  Church.  And  just  as 
Elisha,  humanly  speaking,  by  his 
faith  and  loyalty  in  following  his 
master  won  the  blessing,  so  our 
Lord  promised  the  kingdom  to  His 
Apostles  because  they  had  con- 
tinued with  Him  in  His  temptations 
(S.  Luke  xxii.  28-30). 

The  commission  given  to  Elisha 
was  vindicated  by  miracles  ;  and  so 
again  the  Spirit  Whom  the  Apostles 
received  was  shown  not  only  by  the 
'  many  signs  and  wonders '  wrought 
by  them,  but  by  the  permanent 
exercise  of  a  supernatural  office 
and  authority  which  they  in  turn 
handed  on  to  their  successors. 

The  miracles  of  Elisha  in  this 
respect  again  are  typical  of  laws  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  part- 
ing of  the  waters  of  Jordan,  which 
would  recall  the  passage  of  the 
Israelites  from  slavery  to  a  new 
life,  is  a  symbol  of  the  Sacrament 
of  Holy  Baptism.  The  healing  of 
the  unwholesome  water  suggests  to 
us  the  reconsecration  of  human  life 
in  the  Church.  Marriage  is  raised 
from  the  natural  to  the  super- 
natural order ;  even  every  Chris- 
tian meal  becomes  in  a  sense  a 
'Eucharist.'  And  the  cursing  of 
the  blasphemers  reminds  us  that 
with  greater  gifts  there  is  greater 
peril  in  disregarding  them. 

See  the  examples  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  and  Simon  Magus  in  the 
Acts  ;  and  S.  Paul's  excommunica- 
tion of  Hymena'us  and  Alexander 
(I  Tim.  i.  20).  Christ  gave  His 
Apostles  power  to  '  retain  '  as  well 
as  to  'remit'  sins;  and  the  bless- 
ings of  Holy  Church  must  not  make 
us  forget  the  awful  sanctions  at- 
tached to  her  ban.  '  Binding  and 
loosing'  alike  are  ratified  in  heaven. 


Method. 

The  gifts  of  the  Spirit  in  Confir- 
mation. 

The  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  Holy  Communion. 


Show  that  these  gifts  are  con- 
tinuous. The  Apostles  handed  on 
their  gifts  of  the  Spirit  to  the 
Bishops  of  the  Church. 

If  we  receive  so  great  a  blessing 
through  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  how 
terrible  it  must  be  to  neglect  it,  or 
even  mock  at  it. 

With  elder  children,  if  time 
allows,  refer  to  penance  and  ex- 
communication, with  reference  to 
Commination  Service. 


THE  ASCENSION  OF  ELIJAH 


167 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Ascension  of  Elijah. 

Type. 

Antitype. 

Elijah,   . 

Jesus  Christ. 

Elisha,  . 

The  Apostles  and  their  suc- 

cessors the   bishops  and 

clergy. 

Elijah's  mantle,     . 

The  breathing  of  the  Holy 

Spirit. 

The  tongues  of  fire. 

Miracles, 

Miracles  of  the  Apostles  ; 

Sacraments  of  the  Church. 

Dividing  Jordan, 

Holy  Baptism. 

''Whosesoever  sins    ye    re- 

Healing the  Water, 

mit    they    are    remitted 

Cursing    the    bias-  - 

unto    them,    and   wliose- 

phemers,     . 

sover  sins  ye  retain  they 

V     are  retained.' 

168  1  KINGS  XXII.  41-43  :  2  CHRON.  XVII.  2-10 


1  KINGS  XXIL  41-43;  2  CHRON.  XVII.  2-19;  XIX. 
XX.   1-28,  34-37 


a  2  Chron.  xx.       AND  "  Jeliosliaphat  the  son  of  Asa  began  to  reign  over 

it      Jnclali  in  the  fourth  year  of  Ahab  king  of  Israel. 

42.  Jehoshaphat  was  thirty  and  five  years  old  when 

he  began  to  reign  ;  and  he  reigned  twenty  and  five  years 

in  Jerusalem.     And  his  mother's  name  ivas  Azubah  the 

h  2  Chron.  x^^i.  daughter  of  Shilhi.  43.  And  ''  he  walked  in  all  the  ways 
of  Asa  his  father  ;  he  turned  not  aside  from  it,  doing  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  :  nevertheless  the 

c  2  Kings  xii.  3.  high  places  were  not  taken  away  ;  '^for  the  people  offered 
and  burnt  incense  yet  in  the  high  places, 

2  CHRON.  XVII.  2.  And  he  placed  forces  in  all  the  fenced 
cities  of  Judah,  and  set  garrisons  in  the  land  of  Judah,  and  in 

d  2  Chron.  xv.  the  cities  of  Ephraim,  '^  which  Asa  his  father  had  taken.  3. 
And  the  Lord  was  with  Jehoshaphat,  because  he  walked 
in  the  first  ways  of  his  ftither  David,  and  sought  not  unto 

1  the  Baalim.  1  Baalim  ;  4.  But  sought  to  the  LORD  God  of  his  father,  and 
walked  in  his  commandments,  and  not  after  the  doings  of 
Israel.  5.  Therefore  the  Lord  stablished  the  kingdom  in  his 
hand  ;  and  all  Judah  brought  to  Jehoshaphat  presents  ;  and 
he  had  riches  and  honour  in  abundance.  6.  And  his  heart 
was  lifted  up  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord  :  moreover  he  took 

XXII.  41.  Jehostiaphat  has  been  alread}^  mentioned  by  anticipation  in 
the  account  of  Ahab's  fatal  attack  on  Ranioth-Gilead.  The  account  of 
him  in  Kings  is  very  meagre  ;  but  a  much  fuller  record  is  preserved  in 
Chronicles. 

2  Chron.  xvii.  3.  The  first  ways  of  Ms  father  David.  Probably  the 
name  'David '  is  a  copyist's  error,  and  sliould  be  omitted  as  in  LXX.  The 
reference  seems  to  be  to  Asa,  who  fell  away  in  his  later  years  from  his 
earlj'  piety  (xiv.,  xv.,  xvi.). 

6.  And  his  heart  was  lifted  up.  Usually  this  phrase  is  used  in  a  bad 
sense,  of  pride  and  self-cxaitation.  Here  apparently  it  means  the  lifting 
up  of  the  heart  with  high  aims  and  large  enthusiasms.  Jehoshaphat's 
divinely-given  prosperity- led  him  to  reformation  of  national  religion,  and 
the  instruction  of  his  people. 


JEHOSHAPHAT'S  TEACHERS  169 

away  the  high  places  and  ^  groves  out  of  Jiidah.     7.  Also  ^  theAsherim. 

in  the  third  year  of  his  reign  ■^  he  sent  to  his  princes,  even  s  he  sent  his 

to  Ben-hail,  and  to  Obadiah,   and  to  Zechariah,   and  to 

Nethaneel,    and   to    Michaiah,   to   teach   in   the  cities  of 

Judah.     8.  And  with  them  he  sent  Levites,  even  Shemaiah, 

and  Nethaniah,   and  Zebadiah,  and  Asahel,   and  Shemi- 

ramoth,    and    Jehonathan,    and   Adonijah,    and    Tobijah, 

and    Tob-adonijah,    Levites ;    and    with    them    Elishama 

and   Jehoram,    priests.      9.  And    they  taught   in   Judah, 

and  had  the  book  of  the  law  of  the   Lord  with  them, 

and   went    about    throughout    all    the    cities    of    Judah, 

and    ^taught    the    people.      10.    And    -'"the    fear   of    the  e  2  Chron.  x\\ 

Lord  fell  upon  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  lands  that  ivere  f  Gen.  xxxv.  5. 

round   about  Judah,   so  that   they  made  no  war  against 

Jehoshaphat.     11.  Also  some  of  the  Philistines  brought 

Jehoshaphat  presents,  and  tribute  silver;  and  the  Arabians 

brought  him  flocks,  seven  thousand  and  seven  hundred 

rams,  and  seven  thousand  and  seven  hundred  he  goats. 

12.  And  Jehoshaphat  waxed  great  exceedingly  ;  and  he 

built  in  Judah  castles,  and  cities  of  store.     13.  And  he 

had  much  business  in  the  cities  of  Judah  :  and  the  men  of 

war,  mighty  men  of  valour,  tvere  in  Jerusalem.     14.  And 

these  are  the  numl^ers  of  them  according  to  the  house  of 

their  fathers  :  Of  Judah,  the  captains  of  thousands  ;  Adnali 

^  the  chief,  and  with  him  mighty  men  of  valour  three  hun-  4  the  captain. 

dred   thousand.      15.  And   next    to   him   ivas  Jehohanan 

the  captain,  and  with  him   two   hundred   and  fourscore 

thousand.     16.  And    next  him  was  Amasiah  the  son  of 

Zichri,  who  willingly  offered  himself  unto  the  Lord  ;  and 

9.  And  they  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  the  book  of  the  law  of  the  LORD 
with  them.  This  remarkable  act  of  Jehoshaphat's  should  be  carefully 
noted.  It  shows  (1)  that  the  Law  of  Moses  was  in  existence  in  writing 
at  this  time,  which  has  sometimes  been  questioned  ;  (2)  that  it  was  com- 
paratively little  known  among  the  people  at  large,  whose  religion  was 
no  doubt  traditional,  with  much  of  the  older  and  corrupt  customs  ;  e.g. 
the  worshipping  in  '  high  places,'  still  embodied  in  it. 

10.  The  fear  of  the  LORD.  This  is  a  Hebrew  expression,  meaning  a 
great  supernatural  fear.  It  does  not  imply  that  the  surrounding  nations 
arlopted  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  but  they  Avcre  possessed  by  a  fear  and 
reverence  for  Jehoshaphat  in  which  the  hand  of  God  was  recognised. 


170 


•2  CHRON.  XVII.  2-19:  XIX. 


g  1  Kings  xvi. 
1,  7;  2  Chron. 
xvi.  7;  XX.  34. 


with  him  two  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of  valour. 
17,  And  of  Benjamin  ;  Eliada  a  mighty  man  of  valour, 
and  with  him  armed  men  with  bow  and  shield  two  hun- 
dred thousand.  18.  And  next  him  was  Jehozabad,  and  with 
him  an  hundred  and  fourscore  thousand  ready  prepared  for 
the  war.  19.  These  waited  on  the  king,  beside  those  whom 
the  king  put  in  the  fenced  cities  throughout  all  Judah.  .  .  . 
XIX.  1.  And  JehoshajDhat  the  king  of  Judah  returned 
to  his  house  in  jDeace  to  Jerusalem.  2.  And  ^  Jehu  the  son 
of  Hanani  the  seer  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  said  to 
king  Jehoshaphat,  Shouldest  thou  help  the  ungodly,  and 
love  them  that  hate  the  Lord  ?  therefore  is  wrath  upon 
thee  from  before  the  Lord,  3.  Nevertheless  there  are 
good  things  found  in  thee,  in  that  thou  hast  taken  away 
the  ^  groves  out  of  the  land,  and  hast  prepared  thine  heart 
to  seek  God.  4.  And  Jehoshaphat  dwelt  at  Jerusalem  : 
and  he  went  out  again  through  the  i^eojDle  from  Beer-sheba 
to  mount  Ephraim,  and  brought  them  back  unto  the  Lord 
God  of  their  fathers.  5.  And  he  set  judges  in  the  land 
throughout  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  city  by  city, 
6.  And  said  to  the  judges.  Take  heed  what  ye  do  :  for  ye 
judge  not  for  man,  but  for  the  Lord,  ''who  is  with  you  in 
the  judgment.  7.  Wherefore  now  let  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  be  upon  you  ;  take  heed  and  do  it  :  for  Hhere  is  no 
iniquity  with  the  Lord  our  God,  nor  respect  of  persons, 


5  Asheroth. 


h  Ps.  Ixxxii.  1. 


i  Dent.  x.  17  ; 
Acts  X.  34  ; 
1  S.  Peter  i.  17, 


XIX.  1.  Returned  to  his  house  in  peace.  This  refers  to  the  alliance 
with  Ahab  and  the  unsuccessful  attack  on  liamoth  Gilead,  described  in 
1  Kings  xxii.  and  '2  C'liron.  xviii. 

5.  And  he  set  judges  in  the  land.  This  action,  as  well  as  the  missionary 
work  of  ver.  4,  was  no  doubt  performed  by  Jehoshaphat  as  a  fruit  of 
repentance,  after  the  rebuke  administered  by  the  prophet  Jehu.  Un- 
just judgment  was,  and  is  still,  one  of  the  most  common  and  dreaded 
evils  of  Oriental  society.  Jehoshaphat  aimed  (1)  at  purifying  the  ordi- 
nary and  traditional  methods  of  administering  justice  in  the  different 
cities  of  his  kingdom  ;  (2)  at  establishing  a  court  of  appeal  in  the  capital 
(ver.  8)  ;  (3)  at  emphasising  in  the  spirit  of  the  Law  of  Moses  the  judicial 
functions  of  the  priesthood.     Cf.  Dcut.  xvii.  9;  xix.  17. 

There  is  an  interesting  historical  parallel  to  the  judicial  reforms  of 
Jelioshaphat  in  those  of  our  own  Henry  it.,  who,  by  the  Assize  of  Claren- 
don, 1 166,  gave  directions  for  the  king's  judges  to  go  on  circuit,  and  in  1178 
established  the  court  of  the  King's  Bench  to  hear  appeals  from  the  assizes. 


JEHOSHAPHAT'S  JUDGES  171 

nor  taking  of  gifts.  8.  Moreover  in  Jerusalem  did 
Jehoshaphat  set  of  the  Levites,  and  of  the  priests,  and  of 
^  the  chief  of  the  fathers  of  Israel,  for  the  judgment  of  the  ^  the  heads  of 

.  the  fathers' 

Lord,  and  for  controversies,  when  they  returned  to  Jeru-  houses  in  Israel, 
salem.     9.  And  he  charged  them,  saying,  Thus  shall  ye  do 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,   faithfully,   and  with  a  perfect 
heart.     10.  And  what  ^  cause  soever  shall  come  to  you  of  7  controversy, 
your  brethren  that  dwell  in  their  cities,  ^  between  blood  j  Deut.  xvii.  8. 
and  blood,  between  law  and  commandment,  statutes  and 
judgments,  ye  shall  even  warn  them  that  they  trespass  nob 
against  the  Lord,  and  so  wrath  come  upon  you,  and  upon 
your  brethren  :  this  do,  and  ye  shall  not  trespass.     11. 
And,  behold,  Amariah  the  chief  priest  is  over  you  in  all 
matters  of  the  Lord  ;  and  Zebadiah  the  son  of  Ishmael, 
the  ruler  of  the  house  of  Judah,  for  all  the  king's  matters  : 
also  the  Levites  shall  he  officers  before  you.     Deal  courage- 
ously, and  the  Lord  shall  be  with  the  good. 

XX.  1.  It  came  to  pass  after  this  also,  that  the  children 
of  Moab,  and  the  children  of  Amnion,  and  with  them  ^  other  s  some  of  the 
beside  the  Ammonites,  came  against  Jehoshaphat  to  battle,  marg.  Meun'im. 
2.  Then  there  came  some  that  told  Jehoshaphat,  saying. 
There  cometli  a  great  multitude  against  thee  from  beyond 
the    sea   ^  on   this   side    Syria  ;    and,   behold,    they   he   in  o  from  Syria. 
''•■  Hazazon-tamar,  which  is  En-gedi.     3.  And  Jehoshaphat  fc  Gen.  xiv.  7. 
feared,  and  set  himself  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  ^  ijroclaimed  a  i  Ezra  viii.  21; 
fast  throughout  all  Judah.     4.  And  Judah  gathered  them- 
selves together,  to  ask  lielp  of  the  Lord  :  even  out  of  all 
the  cities  of  Judah  they  came  to  seek  the  Lord.     5.  And 

10.  Between  blood  and  blood — i.e.  the  controversies  in  Mhich  it  was 
doubtful  whether  homicide  should  be  punished  by  the  death  of  the  guilty 
or  not.  Particular  attention  is  given  in  the  Law  (of.  Exod.  xxi.  ;  Num. 
XXXV. )  to  these  problems,  with  the  purpose  of  checking  private  vengeance 
and  blood-feuds. 

XX.  1.  Other  beside  tbe  Ammonites.  See  Revised  Version  :  the 
Meunim  are  probably  the  same  as  the  Maonites  of  Judges  x.  12,  and  the 
Mehunim  of  2  Chron.  xxvi.  7,  an  Arabian  tribe. 

2.  From  beyond  the  sea — i.e.  the  Dead  Sea,  on  whose  western  shore  is 
the  remarkaV)le  oasis  of  En-gedi,  one  of  the  hiding-places  of  David.  See 
G.  A.  Smith's  Hid.  Gccj.,  pp.  269-71. 


17-2  2  CHRON.   XX.  1-28,  34-17 

Jehoshaphat    stood    in    the    congregation    of   Judali   and 

Jerusalem,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  before  the  new  court, 

6.  And  said,  0  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  art  not  thou  God 

m  Dan.  iv.         in  heaven  ?  '"■  and  rulest  7iot  thou  over  all  the  kingdoms  of 

the  heathen  ?  and  in  thine  hand  is  there  not  power  and 

might,   so  that  none  is  able  to  withstand  thee  ?    7.  Art 

not  thou  our  God,  ivJio  didst  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of 

this  land  before  thy  people  Israel,  and  gavest  it  to  the  seed 

n  isa.  xli.  8 ;     of  "  Abraham  thy  friend  for  ever  ?     8.  And  they  dwelt 
S.  James  ii.  23.  "^  "^ 

therein,  and  have  built  thee  a  sanctuary  therein  for  thy 

0  1  Kings viii.;  name,  saying,     9.  "If,  when  evil  cometh  upon  us,  as  the 

2  Chron.  vi.  'Jo?  5  i  5 

sword,  judgment,  or  jDestilence,  or  famine,  we  stand  before 
this  house,  and  in  thy  jDresence,  (for  thy  name  is  in  this 
house,)  and  cry  unto  thee  in  our  affliction,  then  thou  wilt 
hear  and  helj).  10.  And  now,  behold,  the  children  of 
r  Deut.  ii. :       Ammon  and  Moab  and  mount  Seir,  p  whom  thou  wouldest 

Num.  XX. 

not  let  Israel  invade,  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  but  they  turned  from  them,  and  destroyed  them 
not ;  11.  Behold,  I  say,  how  they  reward  us,  to  come  to 
cast  us  out  of  thy  possession,  which  thou  hast  given  us  to 
inherit,  12.  0  our  God,  wilt  thou  not  judge  them?  for 
we  have  no  might  against  this  great  company  that  cometh 
against  us  ;  neither  knoAV  we  what  to  do  :  but  our  eyes  are 
upon  thee,  13.  And  all  Judah  stood  before  the  Lord, 
with   their   little   ones,    their   wives,    and   their  children. 

5.  The  new  court.  The  meaning  of  this  is  uncertain.  It  may  have 
been  simply  '  the  great  court '  (iv.  9)  or  outer  court ;  or  perhaps  the  same 
place  where  Solomon  stood  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  (vi,  13). 

7 .  And  gavest  It  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  thy  friend  for  ever.  This  is 
the  first  place  in  the  liible  Avherc  this  beautiful  expression  is  used  of 
Abraham  (see  reff. ).  'For  ever'  may,  of  course,  be  conditional,  as 
other  promises  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  it  lias  generally  been  believed 
that  the  promise  is  onl}'  in  a])eyance,  and  that  in  the  end  the  '  seed  of 
Abraham  "  will  return  to  the  Promised  Land  after  their  long  exile.  There 
has  been  in  recent  years  a  very  remarkaljle  returning  of  the  Jews  to 
Palestine. 

10.  Mount  Seir.  The  possession  of  the  Edomites  ;  not  mentioned  by 
name  in  ver.  1,  but  no  doubt  combining  Muth  their  kinsmen  the  Moabites, 
and  their  neighbours  the  Arabians,  to  gratify  their  ancient  spite  against 
Israel, 


JEHOSHAPHAT'S  VICTORY  173 

14.  Theu  upon  Jahaziel  the  son  of  Zechariah,  the  son  of 

Benaiah,  the  son  of  Jeiel,  the  son  of  Mattaniah,  a  Levite 

of  the  sons  of  Asaph,  «  came  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  in  the  |  cwfxv'V- 

midst  of  the  congregation  ;     15.  And  he  said,  Hearken  ye,  ^-'^^^■-  -^^ 

all  Judah,  and  ye  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  thou  king 

Jehoshaphat,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  you,  Be  not  afraid 

nor  dismayed  by  reason  of  this  great  multitude  ;  ^  for  the  r  Exod.  xiv. ; 

Deut.  i. ; 
battle  is  not  your's,  but  God's.      16.  To  morrow  go  ye  2  ciuon.  xxxii. 

down  against  them  :  behold  they  come  up  by  the  ^^  cliff  of  ^o  ascent. 
Ziz  ;  and  ye  shall  find  them  at  the  end  of  the  ^^  brook,  n  valley. 
before  the  wilderness  of  Jeruel.     17.  Ye  shall  not  need  to 
fight  in  this  battle  :  set  yourselves,  stand  ye  still,  and  see 
the  salvation  of  the  Lord  with  you,  0  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem :    fear  not,  nor  be    dismayed ;    to   morrow  go    out 
against  them  :  for  the  Lord  ivill  be  with  you.     18.  And 
Jehoshaphat  bowed  his  head  with  his  face  to  the  ground  : 
and  all  Judah  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  fell  before 
the  Lord,  worshipping  the  Lord.     19.  And  the  Levites, 
of  the  children  of  the  Kohathites,  and  of  the  children  of 
the  12  Korhites,  stood  up  to  praise  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  ^'  Korahites. 
with  a  loud  voice  on  high.     20.  And  they  rose  early  in  the 
morning,  and  went  forth  into  the  wilderness  of  Tekoa :  and 
as  they  went  forth,  Jehoshaphat  stood  and  said.  Hear  me, 
0  Judah,  and  ye  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  ;  Believe  in  the 
Lord  your  God,  so  shall  ye  be  established  ^ ;  believe  his  s  is.  vii.  o. 
prophets,    so    shall   ye   prosper.     21.  And  when   he   had 
consulted  with  the  people,  he  appointed  singers  unto  the 
Lord,  and  that  should  praise  the  beauty  of  holiness,  as 

16.  They  come  up  by  the  cliflf  of  Ziz.  This  cliff,  or  rather  '  ascent,'  is 
probably  a  pass  which  does  not  follow  the  direct  road  from  En-gedi,  but 
runs  through  the  wilderness  of  Tekoa.  '  It  is  not  a  difficult  route  for  an 
army — certainly  less  steep  than  any  other  part  of  the  approach  to  the 
central  plateau  from  the  desert '  (G.  A.  Smith). 

18.  And  Jehoshaphat  bowed  his  head.  The  reverent  acceptance  of  the 
Divine  word  by  both  king  and  people  should  be  noticed.  It  was  charac- 
teristic of  true  faith,  of  a  right  attitude  towards  God.  Compare  the 
similar  spirit  in  which  David  received  the  great  promise  in  2  Sam.  vii., 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin  its  fulfilment  in  S.  Luke  i.  38. 

21.  The  beauty  of  holiness— r. e.  the  beauty  or  dignity  of  the  holiness 


174  2  CHRON.  XX.  1-28,  34-37 

they  went  out  before  the  army,  and  to  say,  Praise  the 
t  Ps.  cxxxvi.  Lord  :  *  for  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  22.  And  when 
13  liers  in  wait,  they  began  to  sing  and  to  praise,  the  Lord  set  ^^  ambush- 

ments  against  the  children  of  Amnion,  Moab,  and  mount 

u  Judges vii. 22;  Seir,  which  were  come  ag;ainst  Jndah  :  and"  they  were 
1  Sam.  xiv.  20.  .  . 

smitten.  23.  For  the  children  of  Amnion  and  Moab 
stood  up  against  the  inhabitants  of  mount  Seir,  utterly  to 
slay  and  destroy  them  :  and  when  they  had  made  an  end 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Seir,  every  one  helped  to  destroy 
another.  24.  And  when  Judah  came  toward  the  watch 
tower  in  the  wilderness,  they  looked  unto  the  multitude, 
and,  behold,  they  were  dead  bodies  fallen  to  the  earth, 
and  none  escaped.  25.  And  when  Jehoshaphat  and 
his  people  came  to  take  away  the  sj)oil  of  them,  they 
found  among  them  in  abundance  both  riches  with  the  dead 
bodies,  and  precious  jewels,  which  they  stripped  off  for 
themselves,  more  than  they  could  carry  away  :  and  they 
were  three  days  in  gathering  of  the  spoil,  it  was  so  much. 
26.  And  on  the  fourth  day  they  assembled  themselves  in 
the  valley  of  Berachah  ;  for  there  they  blessed  the  Lord  : 

of  God.  Holiness  is  the  characteristic  revelation  of  God  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. The  praise  of  these  singers  set  forth  the  beauty  of  what  God 
had  revealed  of  Himself  to  His  people.  The  margin  of  Revised  Version 
has  'in  the  beauty  of  holiness,'  which  would  refer  to  the  beauty  and 
splendour  of  an  ordered  religious  service,  to  the  worshippers  rather  than 
to  the  object  of  their  worship.  But  the  first  interpretation  is  probably 
right. 

22.  The  LORD  set  ambushments.  We  are  not  told  any  details  about 
these  '  ambushments.'  It  is  sufficient  for  the  holy  writer  that  the  hand 
of  God  was  visibly  recognised  in  what  took  place.  '  Truly  in  that  tangle 
of  low  hills  and  narrow  water-courses  enough  men  might  hide  to  surprise 
and  overcome  a  large  arm}'.  The  Bedouin  camps  are  unseen  till  you  are 
just  upon  them,  and  the  bare  banks  of  a  gully,  up  the  torrent-bed  of 
which  a  caravan  is  painfully  making  its  way,  may  be  dotted  in  two 
minutes  with  armed  men.  It  was  prol^ably  some  desert  tribes  which 
thus  overcame  Jehoshaphat's  enemies  before  he  arrived '  (G.  A.  Smith's 
But.  (?eo(/.,pp.  272-3). 

26.  The  valley  of  Berachah.  Tlie  place  is  unknown,  though  alluded  to 
in  Joel  iii.  2.  (The  ravine  of  the  Kidron  by  Jerusalem  is  now  called  '  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat,'  but  that  name  is  of  Mohammedan  origin.)  Joel 
speaks  of  this  valley  as  the  scene  of  future  Judgment,  no  doubt  because 
this  discomfiture  of  the  heathen  hosts  through  the  prayers  of  the  people 


JEHOSHAPHAT  A  TYPE  OF  CHRIST  175 

therefore  the  name  of  the  same  pkxce  was  called,  The 
valley  of  Berachah,  unto  this  day.  27.  Then  they  re- 
turned, every  man  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  Jehosha- 
phat  in  the  forefront  of  them,  to  go  again  to  Jerusalem  with 
joy  ;  for  the  Lord  had  made  them  to  rejoice  over  their 
enemies.  28.  And  they  came  to  Jerusalem  with  psaltries 
and  harps  and  trumpets  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord.  .  .  . 
34.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoshaphat,  first  and 
last,  behold  they  are  written  in  the  ^^  book  of  Jehu  the  ^-^  iiistory. 

son  of  Hanani,  ^^  who  is  mentioned  in  the  book  of  the  ^^  which  is 

inserted. 
kings  of  Israel.     35.  And  **  after  this  did  Jehoshaphat  king  v  i  Kings  xxii. 

48   49. 

of  Judah  join  himself  with  Ahaziah  king  of  Israel,  who 
did  very  wickedly  :  36.  And  he  joined  himself  with  him 
to  make  ships  to  go  to  Tarshish  :  and  they  made  the  ships 
in  Ezion-gaber,  37.  Then  Eliezer  the  son  of  Dodavah  of 
Mareshah  prophesied  against  Jehoshaj)hat,  saying.  Because 
thou  hast  joined  thyself  with  Ahaziah,  the  Lord  hath 
broken  thy  works.  And  the  ships  were  broken,  that  they 
were  not  able  to  go  to  Tarshish. 

of  God  is  a  type  of  the  final  conflict  at  the  end  of  the  world.     Cf.  Rev. 
xvi.  14 ;  XX.  9. 

36.  And  he  joined  himself  with  him  to  make  ships  to  go  to  Tarshish, 
It  is  ditficult  to  reconcile,  through  lack  of  full  information,  this  account 
with  the  parallel  in  1  Kings  xxii.,  where  Jehosliaphat  is  said  to  have 
refused  the  offer  of  sailors  from  Aliaziah.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
Jehoshaphat  accepted  help  in  building  his  shijjs,  for  which  he  was  de- 
nounced by  Eliezer  (ver.  37),  but  refused  after  they  had  been  wreclvcd  at 
Ezion-gaber  to  have  any  further  assistance  in  the  shape  of  sailor^'^. 


LESSOX  XIX 

Jehoshaphat  a  Type  of  Christ 

Matter.  Method. 

1.   The  king's  goodness.  1.    After  describing   briefly   the 

Jehoshaphat,    in     spite     of     the  righteous  acts  of  Jehoshaphat,  draw 

weakness    shown    in     his    alliance  attention  (1)  to  S.  Luke  i.   32,  33, 

with  Ahab,  and  his  failure  to  take  x  ■  ■,     -,           .i              ?>      t  n\    -^4. 

,.      '    ,       ,,      I  •   1    ,o,^„^    ;^  M-hich  shows  the  roya/Zy  of  Christ ; 

away  altogether  the  high  places,  is  j      j                    ' 


176 


JEHOSHAPHAT  A  TYPE  OF  CHKIST 


Lesson  XIX — continued.     Jeiioshaphat  a  Type  of  CHfiiST 


Matter. 

plainly  set  before  us  in  Scripture 
as  an  example  of  a  righteous  ruler, 
and  liis  rule  as  a  type  of  the  king- 
dom of  our  Lord, 

The  following  points  should  be 
brought  out :  — 

a.  His  efforts  to  teach  the  people 
the  Law  of  God  by  sending  out 
princes  and  Levites.  This  may 
suggest  the  great  commission  given 
by  Christ  to  His  Apostles  (S.  Matt, 
xxviii.  19,  20). 

h.  His  reforms  in  the  administra- 
tion of  justice;  (Jehoshaphat  = 
'  Jehovah  is  judge')  witli  which  may 
be  compared  our  Lord's  gift  of 
judicial  authority  to  His  Church 
(S.  Matt.  xvi.  19;  xviii.  17,  18). 
See  S.  Paul's  comments,  1  Cor.  vi. 
A  Christian  king  has  indeed  a 
special  Divine  authority  to  adminis- 
ter justice,  but  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  law  of  Christ  is  the 
ultimate  standard. 

c.  His  personal  example  of  piety, 
seen  in  his  prayer  and  his  faith. 
Thus  again,  our  Lord  has  not  only 
given  commissions  to  His  Church, 
and  to  all  those  who  rule  for  Him, 
but  He  Himself  in  His  human  life 
has  set  the  perfect  pattern  of  prayer 
and  faith.  All  that  the  Church 
commands  is  what  Christ  Himself 
ordained  either  by  word  or  act. 

2.  The  king's  victory. 

This  remarkable  .  victory  of 
Jehosliaphat,  won  in  answer  to 
prayer,  is  clearly  set  before  us  (see 
Joel  iii.  2,  12)  as  a  type  of  the  final 
victory  of  our  Lord  Jesiis  Christ 
over  all  the  enemies  of  His  Church, 
who  at  the  end  of  the  world  will 
combine  in  one  grand  effort  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Church. 

The  enemies  of  Jehoshaphat  were 
not  altogether  heathen  ;  Ammon 
and  Moab  were  both  related  to 
Israel.  From  this  it  may  be  con- 
jectured that  the  final  attacks   of 


Method. 
(2)  to  S.  Matt,  xxviii.  17,  18,  where 
He  assumes  His  throne  and  gives 
commands  to  His  princes  and  His 
priests,  i.e.  to  His  Apostles  and 
successors. 

Illustrate   from   a,   h,   and    c,   as 
time  permits. 


2.  After  describing  the  great 
victory,  refer  to  Rev.  xix.  11. 

Show  that  the  Church  is  the 
army  of  Christ :  each  baptized  per- 
son is  enrolled  under  His  banner. 

The  enemies  of  the  Church  are — 

(1)  Those  who  tempt  to  sin,  or 
who  live  in  sin,  though  they  bear 
the  name  of  Christ.  See  Phil.  iii. 
IS,  19. 

(2)  Those  who  endeavour  to  over- 
throw the  Catholic  Faith,  who  sug- 
gest doubts  about  the  Bible  or 
Christian  doctrine.  See  1  S.  John 
11-    'w 


JEHOSHAPHAT  A  TYPE  OF  CHRIST 


177 


Lesson  XlX—continued.     Jehoshaphat  a  Type  of  Christ 


Matter. 

Antichrist  will  be  directed  against 
the  Faith,  and  will  be  not  alto- 
gether from  without.  There  will 
be  '  false  Christs  '  and  '  false  pro- 
phets.' Those  Mho  should  have 
been  the  friends  of  Christ  will  turn 
to  be  His  enemies. 

On  this  deep  and  mysterious  sub- 
ject Rev.  xvi.-xx.  should  be  read. 
Ps.  XX.  may  be  interpreted  as  the 
psalm  of  the  King  going  out  to 
battle  ;  Ps.  xxi.  as  His  thanksgiv- 
ing after  the  final  victory. 

3.  The  king's  thanksgiving. 

The  faith  and  prayer  which  had 
led  to  the  victory  are  rightly  com- 
pleted by  thanksgiving,  a  thanks- 
giving so  full  of  heartfelt  jo}^  that 
it  left  its  name  on  the  place  of  a4c- 
tory,  'Berachah,'  'Blessing.' 

Almost  all  the  types  and  prophe- 
cies of  Christ's  Passion  end  in 
thanksgiving,  or  the  promise  of 
thanksgiving.  See  conclusion  of 
Isa.  liii.  and  Psalms  xxii.  and  Ixix. 
Hence,  rightly,  the  great  Service 
which  is  based  upon  Christ's  Death 
and  Resurrection  is  called  '  Eucha- 
rist'— 'Thanksgiving.'  And  this 
earthly  thanksgiving  of  the  Church 
looks  forward  to  the  eternal  tlianks- 
giving  of  Heaven  (Rev.  xv.  2-4;  xix. 
1-9). 


Method. 

All  will  ultimately  be  overthrown 

1)3^  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ  in 

answer  to  the  prayers  of  His  Church. 

2  Thess.  ii.  8. 

Rev.  XX.  9. 

[The  teacher  must,  of  course,  use 
discretion,  and  consider  the  age  and 
capacity  of  children  in  speaking  of 
these  mysterious  events,  which  are 
still  partly  in  the  future.] 


3.  Refer  to  word  '  Eucharist ' ; 
ask  its  meaning  ;  explain  that  it  is 
a  '  thanksgiving '  for  victory,  which 
we  offer  in  the  Church. 

Speak  of  the  final  thanksgiving 
in  Heaven,  which  will  never  end. 
Illustrate  by  one  of  the  passages  in 
the  Revelation  referred  to. 


HEB.  MOX.  :    VOL.  II. 


M 


178 


JEHOSHAPHAT  A  TYPE  OF  CHRIST 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Jehoshapliat  a 

Type  of  Christ. 

Jehoshaphat. 

Jesus  Christ. 

1.   His  goodness  (imper- 

1.  Perfect  Goodness— 

fect)— 

(1)  Sent  princes  and 

(1)  Sent     out     His 

Levites  to  teach 

Apostles       and 

the  Law, 

Priests  to  teach 

the  Gospel. 

(2)  Administered  jus- 

(2) Gave    authority 

tice. 

to  His  Church. 

(3)  Set  an  example  of 

(3)  Our  perfect  pat- 

praj-er. 

tern  in  prayer. 

2,   His  victory — 

2.   Christ's  victory — 

Over   Amnion   and 

Over  all  sin,  and 

Moab,      won      by 

unbelief,  and  all 

prayer  and  faith. 

the     power     of 

Satan — 

(1)  In  His  Resurrec- 

tion . 

(2)  In    His    Second 

Conung. 

3.  His  thanksgiving— 

3.  Christ's  Thanksgiv- 

ing— 

(1)  In  Valley  of  Bless- 

(1) The      Eucharist 

ing. 

on  earth. 

(2)  At  Jerusalem. 

(2)  The  eternal  song 

of  Heaven. 

THE  ALLELUIA  VICTORY  179 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE. 

A  remarkable  parallel  iu  our  own  history  to  Jelioshaphat's  miraculous 
victory  is  to  be  seen  in  the  '  Alleluia  Victory  '  of  the  British  Christians, 
led  by  two  bishops,  S.  Germanus  and  S.  Lupus,  over  the  heathen  invaders. 
'  A  combination  of  Picts  and  Saxons  menaced  the  British  :  German  and 
Lupus  encouraged  them  to  resistance,  joined  them  in  their  march,  and 
in  the  Lent  of  430  induced  the  majority,  who  were  still  heathens — the 
British  clergy  having  made  no  impression  upon  them — to  accept  daily 
instructions,  and  to  ask  for  baptism.  On  Easter  Eve  the  baptisms  were 
administered,  the  great  festival  was  celebrated  in  a  "  church  "  formed  out 
of  boughs  of  trees  :  the  British  "  host"  then  advanced,  the  greater  part 
of  it  fresh  "  from  the  laver,"  "and  under  the  generalship  of  the  sometime 
duke  of  Armorica,"  who  showed  his  ability  in  the  disposal  of  his  inferior 
forces.  He  drew  them  up,  as  if  in  ambush,  under  the  rocks  of  a  narrow 
glen,  Avhich  he  had  ascertained  to  lie  full  in  the  path  of  the  enemy.  As 
the  first  ranks  of  the  heathen  drew  near,  expecting  an  easy  triumph, 
German  bade  the  Britons  repeat  after  him  the  one  sacred,  joyous  word 
Avhich  they  had  so  lately  uttered  in  their  Paschal  solemnities.  Three 
times  he  and  Lupus  intoned  it,  "Alleluia,  Alleluia,  Alleluia!"  Their 
followers,  with  one  voice,  .made  the  sound  echo  through  the  valley  :  it 
rang  from  cliff  to  cliff,  it  struck  the  invaders  with  panic — they  fled  as  if 
the  very  skies  were  crashing  over  them,  and  many  leapt  headlong  into 
the  river,  which  intercepted  their  retreat.  The  Britons,  successful  with- 
out "striking  a  blow,"'  exulted  in  a  "victory  won  bj"  faith,  and  clear  of 
bloodshed."  The  scene  of  this  flight  is  laid  by  Welsh  tradition  at  Maes- 
Garmon,  "German's  Field,"  a  mile  from  Mold,  in  Flintshire'  (Bright, 
Early  English  Church  History,  pp.  18-19). 


180  2  KINGS  IV. 


2  KINGS  IV. 

IVTOW  there  cried  a  certain  woman  of  the  wires  of  the 
J^M  sons  of  the  prophets  unto  Elisha,  saying,  Thy 
servant  my  husband  is  dead  ;  and  thou  knowest 
that  thy  servant  did  fear  the  Lord  :  and  the  creditor  is 
come  to  take  unto  him  my  two  sons  to  be  bondmen.  2. 
And  Elisha  said  unto  her,  What  shall  I  do  for  thee  ?  tell 
me,  what  hast  thou  in  the  house  ?  And  she  said,  Thine 
handmaid  hath  not  any  thing  in  the  house,  save  a  pot  of 
oil.  3.  Then  he  said.  Go,  borrow  thee  vessels  abroad  of 
all  thy  neighbours,  even  empty  vessels  ;  borrow  not  a  few. 

4.  And  when  thou  art  come  in,  thou  slialt  shut  the  door 
upon  thee  and  upon  thy  sons,  and  shalt  pour  out  into  all 
those  vessels,  and  thou  shalt  set  aside  that  which  is  full. 

5.  So  she  went  from  him,  and  shut  the  door  upon  her  and 
upon  her  sons,  who  brought  the  vessels  to  her ;  and  she 
poured  out.  6.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  vessels 
were  full,  that  she  said  unto  her  son.  Bring  me  yet  a  vessel. 
And  he  said  unto  her,  There  is  not  a  vessel  more.  And 
the  oil  stayed.  7.  Then  she  came  and  told  the  man  of 
God.     And  he  said.  Go,  sell  the  oil,  and  pay  thy  debt,  and 

IV.  1.  The  creditor  is  come  to  take  unto  Mm  my  two  sons  to  be  bond- 
men. This  was  permitted  by  the  Law  of  Moses  (Lev.  xxv.  39-41).  But 
certain  alleviations  were  also  laid  down  in  the  Law.  An  Israelite  might 
not  be  made  a  bondservant  for  life  ;  he  could  be  redeemed  at  any  time, 
and  in  any  case  he  must  be  set  free  at  the  year  of  jubilee. 

;i  Borrow  not  a  few.  It  should  be  noted  that  here,  just  as  in  the 
miracles  of  our  Lord,  the  faith  of  the  recipient  is  put  to  the  test. 
Humanly  speaking,  it  would  seem  an  absurdity  to  borrow  many  vessels, 
when  she  had  nothing  to  put  in  them  ;  l^ut  the  faith  of  the  dead  husband, 
who  '  did  fear  the  Lord,'  lived  on  in  the  wife,  and  so  without  hesitation 
she  obeys  the  strange  command,  and  her  faith  receives  its  reward. 

4.  Thou  shalt  shut  the  door  upon  thee.  Again,  as  in  our  Lord's 
miracles,  publicity  is  avoided.  The  miracle  is  an  act  of  mere}',  and  a 
reward  of  faith  ;  it  is  not  for  displa}',  nor  for  convincing  unbelievers.  So 
our  Lord  led  the  blind  man  out  of  the  town  (S.  Mark  viii.  23),  and  in 
other  cases  commanded  those  who  were  healed  to  say  nothing  to  any 
man. 


THE  SHUNAMMITE  181 

live  thou  and  thy  children  of  the  rest.     8.  And  it  fell  on 

a  day,  that  Elisha  passed  to  «  Shiinem,  where  ivas  a  great  «  J^^^i'-  xix.  18. 

woman  ;  and  she  constrained  him  to  eat  bread.     And  so 

it  was,  that  as  oft  as  he  passed  by,  he  turned  in  thither  to 

eat  bread.     9.  And   she  said   unto  her   husband,  Behold 

now,  I  perceive  that  this  is  an  holy  man  of  God,  which 

passeth   by   us   continually.      10.    Let   us   make   a   little 

chamber,  I  pray  thee,  on  the  wall ;  and  let  us  set  for  him 

there  a  bed,  and  a  table,  and  a  stool,  and  a  candlestick  : 

and  it  shall  be,  when  he  cometh  to  us,  that  he  shall  turn 

in  thither.     11.  And  it  fell  on  a  day,  that  he  came  thither, 

and  he  turned  into  the  chamber,  and  lay  there.     12.  And 

he  said  to  Gehazi  his  servant.  Call  this  Shunammite.     And 

when  he  had  called  her,  she  stood  before  him.     13.  And 

he  said  unto  him.  Say  now  unto  her,  Behold,  thou  hast 

been  careful  for  us  with  all  this  care  ;  what  is  to  be  done 

7.  Live  thou  and  thy  children  of  the  rest.  The  liberality  of  God's  gifts 
should  be  noticed.  More  was  given  than  was  needed  to  pay  the  debt. 
So  the  wine  made  at  Cana  of  Galilee  was  more  than  was  actually  required 
for  the  feast ;  and  after  the  multitudes  were  fed  there  were  baskets  of 
fragments  gathered.  The  spiritual  significance  of  this  should  not  be 
missed,  especially  as  the  oil  is  a  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  God 
does  not  give  'by  measure'  (S.  John  iii.  34,  R.V.).  It  should  also  be 
noted  that  the  widow's  oil  in  this  case  was  the  oil  used  for  anointing  the 
body,  and  this  still  further  brings  out  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the 
miracle. 

8.  Shunem.  This  place,  Avhere  the  Philistines  encamped  before  the 
battle  of  Gilboa,  was  near  Jezreel,  and  would  be  in  the  road  to  Carmel. 
It  was  the  home  of  Abishag  (1  Kings  i.). 

She  constrained  him  to  eat  bread.  That  is,  she  prevailed  on  him  to 
accept  hospitality,  as  Lydia  did  Paul  and  Silas  (Acts  xvi.  15).  Elisha's 
journeys  to  and  fro  would  probably  be  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the 
different  communities  of  '  the  sons  of  the  prophets.' 

10.  A  little  chamber.  Probably  in  a  loft,  or  on  the  roof,  and  approached 
by  an  outside  staircase,  as  is  common  in  Eastern  houses,  so  that  Elisha 
might  enjoy  complete  privacy.  Of.  the  priest's  rooms,  often  built  above 
the  porch  of  a  church  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

13.  Thou  hast  been  careful  for  us  with  all  this  care.  The  words  used 
in  the  original  signify  not  onl}^  liousehold  diligence,  but  reverence,  such 
as  would  be  paid  by  devout  worshippers  to  a  'holy  man  of  God.'  This 
reverence  comes  out  in  all  the  relations  between  the  Shunammite  lady 
and  the  prophet  (cf.  verses  15,  37). 


182  2  KINGS  IV 


for  thee  ?  wouldest  thou  be  spoken  for  to  the  king,  or  to 
the  captain  of  the  host  ?  And  she  answered,  I  dwell 
among  mine  own  people.  14,  And  he  said,  What  then  is 
to  be  done  for  her  ?  And  Gehazi  answered.  Verily  she 
hath  no  child,  and  her  husband  is  old.  15.  And  he  said, 
Call  her.  And  when  he  had  called  her,  she  stood  in  the 
1  when  the  time  door.     16.  And  he  said.  About  this  season,  ^  according  to 

cometli  round.  .  n  -,-  ^     j,   i 

b  Gen.  xviii.  10,  the  time  01  liie,  °  thou  slialt  embrace  a  son.     And  she  said, 

14 

Nay,  my  lord,  thou  man  of  God,  do  not  lie  unto  thine 
handmaid.  17.  And  the  woman  conceived,  and  bare  a 
son  at  that  season  that  Elisha  had  said  unto  her,  according 
to  the  time  of  life.  18.  And  when  the  child  was  grown,  it 
fell  on  a  day,  that  he  went  out  to  his  father  to  the  reapers. 
19.  And  he  said  unto  his  father,  My  head,  my  head.  And 
he  said  to  a  lad.  Carry  him  to  his  mother.  20.  And  when 
he  had  taken  him,  and  brought  him  to  his  mother,  he  sat 
on  her  knees  till  noon,  and  then  died.  21.  And  she  went 
up,  and  laid  him  on  the  bed  of  the  man  of  God,  and  shut 

13.  Wouldest  thou  be  spoken  for  to  the  king-,  or  to  the  captain  of  the 
host.  Elisha  at  this  time  was  evidently  a  person  of  intluence  at  the  court, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was  an  opponent  of  the  court  religion.  Pro- 
bably the  recent  miraculous  deliverance  b}'  his  word  of  the  allied  armies 
ill  the  campaign  against  the  Moabites  (chap,  iii.)  had  gained  him  respect 
with  Jehoram,  and  also  with  the  '  captain  of  the  host ' — probably  the 
most  powerful  official  next  to  the  king. 

I  dwell  among  mine  own  people.  There  is  a  cpiiet  dignity  and  reserve 
about  this  reply  which  is  characteristic  of  the  speaker.  Throughout  the 
chapter  the  Shunammite  appears  as  a  woman,  not  merely  of  wealth  and 
position,  but  of  character.  She  is  hospitable  without  ostentation,  rever- 
ent, dignified,  a  woman  of  energetic  action  ratiier  than  of  many  words. 
Her  answer  to  the  prophet  implied  not  only  that  she  had  no  needs,  but 
also  no  desire  of  gain  or  worldly  advancement,  a  great  contrast  to  the 
prophet's  own  servant,  Gehazi.  What  she  did  desire  she  hid  deep  in  her 
heart,  and  another  liad  to  speak  it  for  her.  See  a  striking  chapter  on 
this  subject  in  Shorthouse's  Sir  Percival. 

21.  And  she  went  up,  and  laid  him  on  the  bed  of  the  man  of  God. 
Here  again  the  character  of  the  Sliunammite  is  displayed.  She  does  not 
give  way  to  tlie  usual  lamentations  and  wailings  of  the  East,  but  acts  at 
the  impulse  of  faith.  The  child  had  been  given  b\'  (lod,  at  the  word  of 
His  prophet,  and  now,  though  he  has  died  of  sunstroke,  it  is  still  to  (^od 
and  His  prophet  that  she  calmly  looks  and  hastes  as  her  one  hope.  It  is 
a  natural  tendency  to  suppose  that  the  holiness  of  God's  saints  extends 
in  some  way  to  the  material  objects  connected  with  them,  and  such  an 


THE  SHUNAMMITE  183 


the  door  upon  him,  and  went  out.     22.  And  she  called  unto 

her  husband,  and  said,  Send  me,  I  pray  thee,  one  of  the 

2  young  men,  and  one  of  the  asses,  that  I  may  run  to  the  ^  servants. 

man  of  God,  and  come  again.     23.  And  he  said.  Wherefore 

wilt  thou  go  to  him  to  day  ?  it  is  neither  new  moon,  nor 

sabbath.     And  she  said.  It  shall  he  well.     24.  Then  she 

saddled  an  ass,  and   said  to  her   servant,  Drive,  and  go 

forward  ;  slack  not  thij  riding  for  me,  except  I  bid  thee. 

25.  So  she  went  and  came  unto  the  man  of  God  to  mount 

Carmel.     And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  man  of  God  saw 

her  afar  off,  that  he  said  to  Gehazi  his  servant,  Behold, 

yonder  is  that  Shunammite  :  26.  Eun  now,  I  j^ray  thee,  to 

meet  her,  and  say  unto  her  Is  it  well  with  thee  ?  is  it  well 

with  thy  husband  ?  is  it  well  with  the  child  ?     And  she 

answered.  It  is  well.     27.  And  when  she  came  to  the  man 

of  God  to  the-  hill,  she  caught  him  by  the  feet  :  but  Gehazi 

came  near  to  thrust  her  away.     And  the  man  of  God  said. 

Let  her  alone  ;  for  her  soul  is  vexed  within  her  :  and  the 

Lord  hath  hid  it  from  me,  and  hath  not  told  me.    28.  Then 

she  said.  Did  I  desire  a  son  of  my  lord  ?  did  I  not  say.  Do 

not  deceive  me  ?     29.  Then  he  said  to  Gehazi,  Gird  up  thy 

,    «.  •      ,  1  •         1        T  1  ,1  c  Exod.  vii.  19 ; 

loms,  and  ''  take  my  staff  m  thme  hand,  and  go  thy  way  :  xiv.  16. 

idea  certainly  has  Scriptural  support.  The  Shunammite  places  her  dead 
boy  on  the  prophet's  bed.  Cures  were  wrought  by  the  shadow  of  S.  Peter 
and  by  handkerchiefs  brought  from  the  body  of  S.  Paul  (Acts  v.  15; 
xix.  12),  and  many  believe  they  have  been  wrought  at  times  by  the  relics 
of  the  Saints. 

23.  It  is  neither  new  moon,  nor  sabbath.  It  seems  clear  from  these 
words  that  it  was  customary  on  days  of  religious  obligation  for  the 
Shunammite  to  visit  the  prophet ;  so  we  may  conclude  that  he,  and  pro- 
bably other  prophets,  during  the  corruption  and  idolatry  of  the  priest- 
hood, offered  sacrifices  and  performed  religious  services,  which  were 
attended  by  the  devout  in  Israel  who  had  not  acquiesced  in  calf -worship 
or  Baal-worship. 

26.  And  she  answered,  It  is  well — lit.  'peace.'  We  may  suppose 
either  that  she  answers  in  this  way,  because  she  cannot  speak  to  anyone 
but  the  prophet  himself  of  her  great  sorrow  ;  or  (which  seems  more 
worthy)  that  this  is  the  word  of  faith,  she  looks  deeper  than  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  question.  It  is  Avell  with  the  child,  for  he  is  in  God's 
hands.     Cf.  the  words  of  Job  i.  21. 


184  2  KINGS  ly 


if  thou  meet  any  man,  salute  him  not ;  and  if  any  salute 
thee,  answer  him  not  again  :  and  lay  my  staff  upon  the 
face  of  the  child.  30.  And  the  mother  of  the  child  said, 
As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave 
thee.  And  he  arose,  and  followed  her.  31.  And  Gehazi 
passed  on  before  them,  and  laid  the  staff  upon  the  face  of 
the  child  ;  but  there  ivas  neither  voice,  nor  hearing.    Where- 

d  S.  John  xi.  fore  he  went  again  to  meet  him,  and  told  him,  saying,  ^  The 
child  is  not  awaked.  32.  And  when  Elisha  was  come  into 
the  house,  behold,  the  child  was  dead,  and  laid  upon  his 
bed.     33.  He  went  in  therefore,  and  shut  the  door  upon 

c  1  Kings  xvii.  them  twain,  '^  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord.  34.  And  he  went 
up,  and  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his  mouth  upon  his 
mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  his  eyes,  and  his  hands  upon  his 
hands  :  and  he  stretched  himself  upon  the  child  ;  and  the 
flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm.  35.  Then  he  returned,  and 
walked  in  the  hmise  to  and  fro  ;  and  went  up,  and  stretched 

29.  If  thou  meet  any  man,  salute  Mm  not.  A  similar  command  was 
given  by  our  Lord  to  the  seventy  (S.  Luke  x.  4).  The  business  on  which 
the  messenger  was  sent  was  too  solemn  to  allow  of  delay,  even  of  ordi- 
nary human  intercourse.  Some  hav^e  thought  also  that  the  prophet 
knowing  the  ambitious  character  of  his  servant,  wished  him  to  refrain 
from  any  talking  or  boasting  about  the  work  on  which  he  had  been  sent. 

31.  The  child  is  not  awaked.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  this  incident 
of  the  sending  of  Gehazi  and  its  failure.  The  latter  may  have  been  due 
to  the  lack  of  true  faith  on  Gehazi's  part.  Or  there  may  be,  as  the  older 
writers  have  thought,  a  hidden  spiritual  meaning.  The  rod  represents 
the  Law,  or  the  old  covenant,  which  had  no  saving  efficacy.  It  needed 
the  actual  presence  in  the  world  of  Christ  Himself  (of  Whom  Elisha  is 
such  a  remarkable  type)  before  human  nature  dead  in  sin  could  be  re- 
stored to  life. 

34.  And  put  his  mouth  upon  his  moutli,  etc.  The  restoration  of  the 
dead  child  to  life  by  the  contact  of  the  prophet's  body  is  a  significant 
type  of  the  Incarnation.  Christ  has  restored  our  nature  by  Himself 
entering  into  union  Avith  it.     Cf. — 

'  O  wisest  love  !  that  flesh  and  blood 
Winch  did  in  Adam  fail, 
Sliould  strive  afresli  against  the  foe, 
Should  strive  and  should  prevail : 

'And  that  a  higher  gift  than  grace 
Should  flesh  and  blood  refine, 
God's  presence  and  His  very  Self 
And  essence  all-divine.' 

Jlymns  A.  and  M.  172. 


ELISHA'S  MIRACLES  185 

himself  upon  him  :  and  the  child  sneezed  seven  times,  and 
the  child  opened  his  eyes.  36.  And  he  called  Gehazi,  and 
said,  Call  this  Shunammite.  So  he  called  her.  And  when 
she  was  come  in  unto  him,  he  said.  Take  up  thy  son.  37. 
Then  she  went  in,  and  fell  at  his  feet,  and  bowed  herself  to 
the  ground,  and  ■'took  up  her  son,  and  went  out.  38.  And  /  Heb.  xi.  35. 
Elisha  came  again  to  Gilgal  :  and  there  was  a  dearth  in  the 
land  ;  and  the  sons  of  the  prophets  were  sitting  before  him  : 
and  he  said  unto  his  servant,  Set  on  the  great  pot,  and 
seethe  pottage  for  the  sons  of  the  prophets.  39.  And  one 
went  out  into  the  field  to  gather  herbs,  and  found  a  wild 
vine,  and  gathered  thereof  wild  gourds  his  lap  full,  and 
came  and  shred  them  into  the  pot  of  pottage  :  for  they 
knew  them  not.  40.  So  they  poured  out  for  the  men  to 
eat.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  were  eating  of  the  pot- 
tage, that  they  cried  out,  and  said,  0  tho^l  man  of  God, 
there  is  death  in  the  pot.  And  they  could  not  eat  thereof. 
41.  But  he  said.  Then  bring  meal.  And  he  cast  it  into  the 
pot ;  and  he  said,  Pour  out  for  the  people,  that  they  may 

38.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  were  sitting-  before  him.  We  see 
here  an  interesting  picture  of  the  simple  lives  of  these  communities 
of  prophets,  who  seem  to  have  resembled  the  early  Christian  monks. 
They  live  in  the  luimblest  manner,  of  what  thej^  gather  themselves  :  a 
plain  pottage  of  wild  herbs  is  their  fare  in  this  tin:ie  of  dearth.  They 
sit  around  their  master  and  listen  to  his  religious  instructions.  So  the 
monks  of  Egypt  in  later  days  would  sit  at  the  feet  of  some  father  of  the 
desert  and  receive  the  rules  which  he  gave  them  for  living  the  Christian 
life. 

39.  And  found  a  wild  vine,  and  gathered  thereof  wild  gourds.  There 
seems  little  doubt  tliat  this  plant  was  the  colocynth,  wiiich  is  said  to  be 
easily  mistaken  for  the  edible  'globe  cucumber.'  It  has  leaves  and 
tendrils  like  a  vine  (see  the  picture  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary) ;  its 
fruit  is  the  size  and  colour  of  an  orange,  and  it  grows  still  on  the  sands 
by  the  Dead  Sea,  and  is  stated  to  have  been  found  at  Gilgal  and  Engedi. 
Its  taste  is  horribly  bitter,  and  while  not  actually  poisonous,  would 
cause  sickness  and  loathing. 

41.  But  he  said,  Then  taring-  meal.  Just  as  previously  he  had  healed 
the  waters  of  Jericho  by  casting  in  salt,  so  he  removes  the  taint  of  the 
pottage  by  putting  in  something  wholesome  and  pure.  xVgain,  there  is  a 
type  of  the  Incarnation — the  bitter  taint  in  human  nature,  which  came 
from  the  P'all,  is  removed  by  the  entrance  into  tlie  M''orld  of  the  Virgin- 
born,  '  the  Bread  of  God.' 


186  2  KINGS  IV. 


eat.  And  there  was  no  harm  in  the  pot.  42.  And  there 
came  a  man  from  Baal-shalisha,  and  brought  the  man  of 
God  bread  of  the  firstfruits,  twenty  loaves  of  barley,  and 

3  fresh.  2  full  ears  of  corn  ^in  the  husk  thereof.     And  he  said,  Give 

4  in  his  sack. 

5  servant.  unto  the  people,  that  they  may  eat.     43.  And  his  ^  servitor 

said,  What,  should  I  set  this  before  an  hundred  men? 

He  said  again.  Give  the  people,  that  they  may  eat :  for 

g  s.  Matt,  xiv.;  thus  saith  the  Lord,  They  shall  eat,  and  shall  leave  thereof. 

XV.  ;  S,  Mark  o  • 

vi. ;  viii. ;  44.  So  he  set  it  before  them,  and  ^"they  did  eat,  and  left 

s!  John  v'i.'       thereof,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

42.  Baal-shalisha.  The  place  is  unknown,  though  no  doubt  it  was  in 
'  the  land  of  Shalisha  '  (1  Sam.  ix.  4),  which  bordered  on  the  hill  country 
of  p]phraim. 

Bread  of  the  firstfruits.  The  phrase  suggests  a  religious  offering, 
though  it  is  not  certain  whether  it  was  simply  an  offering  to  the  prophet 
as  a  holy  person  ;  or  whether  it  was  the  offering  of  the  sanctuary  (Lev, 
xxiii.  10,  etc. )  presented  to  Elisha  in  default  of  a  true  priesthood  and 
sanctuary. 

Twenty  loaves  of  barley.  The  invariable  manner  of  baking  bread  was 
in  small  round  cakes,  three  of  which  were  apparently  a  meal  for  one 
person,  8.  Luke  xi.  5.  Twenty  loaves  of  our  English  baking  might  be 
enough  for  a  hundred  persons  in  a  time  of  scarcity ;  but  these  twenty 
cakes  were  carried  by  one  man,  and  apparently  in  his  wallet  (see  R.V. ). 
To  set  them  before  so  large  a  company  was  evidently  an  absurdity 
(V.  43), 

Full  ears  of  corn.  These  were  ears  of  green  corn  (see  R.V. )  which 
were  usually  roasted  or  fried. 

44.  They  did  eat,  and  left  thereof.  Here  again  is  a  remarkable  antici- 
pation, though  to  a  limited  degree,  of  the  great  miracles  of  our  Lord. 
This  was  a  miracle  of  mercy,  and  also  suggested  the  truth,  more  fully 
brought  out  in  our  Lord's  great  discourse  in  the  synagogue  of  Caper- 
naum (8.  John  vi.)  that  God  is  able  to  supply  human  need  not  only  by 
material  food,  but  by  '  the  bread  that  endureth  unto  everlasting  life.' 


ELISHA  A  TYPE  OF  CHRIST 


187 


LESSON  XX 


Elisha  a  Type  of  Christ 


Introduction. — The  parallel  between  Elisha  and  our  Lord  is  remark- 
able, especially  when  we  consider  the  parallel  between  Elijah  and 
S.  John  the  Baptist.  The  whole  life  and  the  works  of  Elisha  seem 
designed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  prepare  men  for  the  coming  of  Christ, 
and  to  help  men  to  understand  Christ  better  when  He  did  come.  It  is 
significant  that  even  the  name  Elisha  is  closely  akin  in  meaning  to  that 
of  Jesus.  It  means  'God  is  Saviour,' while  Jesus  means  'Jehovah  is 
Saviour. ' 


Matter. 

1.  Elisha's  manner  of  life. 

Elisha  did  not  live  in  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  deserts  like  his  master, 
but  lived  for  the  most  part  before 
the  eyes  of  men,  moving  from  place 
to  place,  teaching,  and  instructing 
the  different  associations  of  pro- 
phets. He  was  intimate  with  the 
wealthy,  as  well  as  the  poor,  and 
was  no  stranger  even  at  the  royal 
court. 

His  acceptance  of  the  hospitality 
of  tlie  Sliunammite  woman  is  sug- 
gestive of  tlie  willingness  of  our 
Lord  to  be  present  at  feasts,  to 
accept  the  entertainment  of  friends, 
to  be  ministered  to  by  the  holy 
women  w'ho  followed  Him. 

At  the  same  time  the  kindness  of 
the  Shunammite,  and  the  reward 
she  received,  illustrate  the  virtue 
of  hospitality,  which  is  a  Christian 
duty  (Heb.  xiii.  2),  and  especially 
the  call  to  entertain  and  assist  the 
ministers  of  Christ  in  their  work. 
See  Rom.  xvi.  2 ;  Acts  xvi.  15 ; 
2  Tim.  i.  16-18. 

2.  Elisha's  miracles. 

(1)  Multiplication  of  food.  Two 
remarkable  examples  are  given : 
the  widow's  oil,  which  seems  to 
suggest  the  miracle  of  Cana,  and 
the  barley  loaves  and  ears  of  corn, 


Method. 

1 .  Illustrate  by  selected  incidents 
from  our  Lord's  life  and  ministry. 

The  feasts  in  the  houses  of  Levi 
(S.  Luke  V.  29),  and  Zacchteus  (S. 
Luke  xix.  5).     Cf.  S.  Matt.-xi.  19. 

The  entertainment  in  the  house 
of  Martha  and  Mary  at  Bethany 
(S.  John  xii.). 

See  also  S.  Mark  xv.  40,  41,  and 
S.  Luke  viii.  1-3. 

Point  out  the  Christian  duty  of 
hospitality.  Refer  to  S.  Matthew^ 
XXV.  35,  36. 


2.   S.  Johnii.  1-11. 

(1)  The  feeding  of  the  five  thou- 
sand, recorded  by  all  the  four 
evangelists  (the  only  miracle  so 
recorded). 


188 


2  KINGS  IV. 


Lesson  X^— continued.     Elisha  a  Type  of  Christ 


Matter. 

which  is  a  shadow  of  the  greater 
miracles  of  feeding  the  multitude. 
In  all  these  cases  we  are  to  note 
the  tender  care  for  the  bodily  needs 
of  men  which  is  one  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Gospel. 

(2)  The  healing  of  what  by  nature 
is  deadly.  The  purifying  of  the 
waters  of  Jericho  has  already  been 
noted.  In  the  healing  of  the 
poisoned  pottage,  we  have  a  type 
of  the  works  of  our  Lord  in  curing 
disease,  and  though  no  exactly 
parallel  miracle  of  His  is  recorded, 
an  illustration  is  found  in  the 
promises  to  the  Ax^ostles  (S.  Mark 
xvi.  18). 


(3)  The  raising  of  the  dead.  The 
raising  of  the  Shunammite's  son  is 
tlie  most  remarkable  miracle  of  the 
kind  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  its 
details  are  singular]}^  suggestive. 

The  faith  and  resignation  of  the 
mother ;  the  inability  of  the  pro- 
phet's servant  to  do  the  miracle  ; 
the  bodily  contact  between  the 
prophet  and  the  child  ;  the  gradual 
performance  of  the  miracle  (see 
S.  Mark  viii.  22-26)  are  all  remark- 
ably like  incidents  of  the  Gospel 
miracles. 

The  works  of  Christ,  though 
unique  in  their  greatness,  were  all 
on  a  line,  as  it  were,  with  the  par- 
tial revelations  of  God's  power 
and  love  in  the  Old  Testameiit ;  and 
faith  will  see  in  the  earlier  miracles 
a  corroboration  of  those  of  the  In- 
carnation. 


Method. 

The  feeding  of  the  four  thousand 
recorded  by  S.  Matthew  and  S. 
Mark. 


(2)  All  things  were  created  good 
by  God.  But  what  is  evil  or  poison- 
ous or  destructive  in  the  world  is, 
if  not  directly  the  result  of  sin,  a 
reminder  of  sin  and  of  the  imper- 
fection of  our  present  state. 

Show  that  our  Lord's  miracles  of 
healing  disease  are  parallel  to 
Elisha's  miracles,  though  much 
greater. 

Refer  to  Acts  xxviii.  1-6. 

(3)  S.  Matthew  ix.  18-26.  . 
S.  Luke  vii.  11-17. 

S.  John  xi. 

Acts  ix.  36-41 ;  xx.  9-12. 


ELISHA  A  TYPE  OF  CHRIST 


189 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Elisha  a 

Type  of  Christ. 

Elisha 

Jesus 

('God  is  Saviour') 

('Jehovah  is  Saviour') 

Entertained   by   the 

Entertained  by  Levi, 

Shunammite. 

Zaccheus,  Martha, 

and  Mary. 

Multiplied   the 

Turned     water     into 

M'idow's    oil, 

wine  ;  fed  the  mul- 

and the  food. 

titudes  with  a  few 

loaves     and    little 

fishes. 

Healed  the  poison- 

Cured diseases. 

ous  food. 

Raised  the  Shuuam- 

Raised  to  life  Jairus' 

mite's  son  to  life. 

daughter ;    the 

widow's  son ;  Lazarus. 

Will  raise  us  at  the 

Last  Da}'. 

190  2  KINGS  Y. 


2  KINGS  V. 


a  s.  Luke  iv.  27.  HVyOW  «  Naaman,  captain  of  the  host  of  the  king  of 

1  1       Syria,   was    a    great    man   with   his    master,    and 

honourable,  because  by  him  the  Lord  had  given 

1  victory,  1  deliverance  unto   Syria  :   he  was  also  a  mighty  man  in 

valour,  but  he  was  a  leper.  2.  And  the  Syrians  had  gone 
out  by  companies,  and  had  brought  away  captive  out 
of  the  land  of  Israel  a  little  maid  ;  and  she  waited  on 
Naaman's  wife.  3.  And  she  said  unto  her  mistress,  Would 
God  my  lord  ivere  with  the  prophet  that  is  in  Samaria  ! 
for  he  would  recover  him  of  his  leprosy.  4.  And  one  went 
in,  and  told  his  lord,  saying,  Thus  and  thus  said  the  maid 
that  is  of  the  land  of  Israel.  5.  And  the  king  of  Syria 
said,  Go  to,  go,  and  I  will  send  a  letter  unto  the  king  of 
Israel.  And  he  departed,  and  took  with  him  ten  talents 
of  silver,  and  six  thousand  ineces  of  gold,  and  ten  changes 

V.  1.  Because  by  him  the  LORD  had  given  deliverance  unto  Syria.  The 
Syrians  themselves  M'ould  doubtless  have  ascribed  their  victories  to  the 
help  of  their  own  false  gods ;  but  the  sacred  writer  knows  that  '  the 
Lord'  (Jehovah)  is  the  God  of  the  Avhole  earth,  and  that  all  victories 
are  given  or  permitted  by  Him,  even  such  a  victory  as  the  Syrians  had 
won  over  Ahab  and  Jehoshaphat  (1  Kings  xxii.)  which  was  of  course  a 
Divine  judgment. 

But  he  was  a  leper.  Naaman's  leprosy  could  not  have  been  of  the 
most  severe  kind,  or  at  any  rate  have  reached  an  advanced  stage  ;  for 
it  does  not  seem  to  have  interfered  with  his  position  at  court  (ver.  18.). 
The  strict  isolation  of  the  leper  which  was  commanded  by  the  Law  of 
Moses  was  not  observed  in  Syria ;  and,  indeed,  this  isolation  Avas  not  merely 
for  sanitary  reasons,  for  leprosy  is  not  a  particularl}^  contagious  disease, 
but  for  religious  and  typical  ones.  Leprosy  is  the  special  t^'pe  of  sin  in 
the  Bible,  and  the  ceremonies  connected  with  its  purification  are  intended 
to  suggest  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  and  the  ministry  of  forgiveness  in 
His  Church  (Lev.  xiv.). 

5.  Go  to,  go.  The  Hebrew  word  here  is  a  different  one  from  that 
similarly  translated  in  other  places  ;  and  means  simply  '  go  at  once.' 

The  king  of  Israel — probably  Jehoram,  the  son  of  Ahab,  afterwards 
killed  by  Jehu. 

Ten  talents  of  silver,  and  six  thousand  pieces  of  gold.  TJiere  was  no 
coined  money  in  Israel  at  this  date  ;  and  the  precious  metals  were  simply 
used  by  weight.     According  to  tlie  values  of  later  history  (estimating 


NAAMAN  AND  ELISHA  191 

of  raiment.     6.  And  he  brought  the  letter  to  the  king  of 

Israel,  saying,  Now  when  this  letter  is  come  unto  thee, 

behold,  I  have  therewith  sent  Naaman  my  servant  to  thee, 

that  thou  mayest  recover  him  of  his  leprosy.     7.  And  it 

came  to  pass,  when  the  king  of  Israel  had  read  the  letter, 

that  he  rent  his  clothes,  and  said.  Am  I  God,  to  kill  and  to 

make  alive,  that  this  man  doth  send  unto  me  to  recover 

a  man  of  his  leprosy  ?   wherefore   consider,  I   j^ray  you, 

and  see  how  he  seeketh  a  quarrel  against  me.     8.  And 

it  was  so,  when  Elisha  the  man  of  God  had  heard  that 

the  king  of  Israel  had  rent  his  clothes,  that  he  sent  to  the 

king,  saying.  Wherefore  hast  thou  rent  thy  clothes  ?  let 

him  come  now  to  me,  and  he  shall  know  that  there  is  a 

projDhet  in  Israel.     9.  So  Naaman  came  with  his  horses 

and  with  his  ^  chariot,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  house  -  chariots. 

of  Elisha.     10.  And  Elisha  sent  a  messenger  unto  him, 

saying,  Go  and  wash  in  Jordan  seven  times,  and  thy  flesh 

shall  come  again  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  clean.    11.  But 

Naaman  was  wroth,  and  went  away,  and  said,  Behold,  I 

thought,  He  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  and  stand  and 

call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  ^  strike  his  hand  s  wave. 

over  the  place,  and  recover  the  leper.     12.  Are  not  Abana 

and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the  waters 

of  Israel  ?  may  I  not  wash  in  them,  and  be  clean  ?     So  he 

each  piece  of  gold  as  a  'shekel  of  gold'),  the  total  value  of  the  gold  and 
silver  taken  bj'  Naaman  would  be  about  £15,750. 

1(1.  And  Elisha  sent  a  messenger  unto  him.  It  was  through  no  want 
of  courtesy,  nor  from  any  desire  to  humiliate  Naaman  that  Elisha  would 
not  meet  him  personally.  Rather  the  prophet's  desire  was  to  avoid  any 
display  of  miraculous  gifts.  He  wished  it  to  be  seen  that  cures  w^ere  not 
wrought  hj  him  personally,  but  by  God  through  him.  At  the  same  time 
it  was  a  test  of  Naaman's  faith,  which  is  always  a  condition  in  the 
performance  of  '  mighty  works.' 

11.  Behold,  I  thought,  He  will  surely  come  out  to  me.  Naaman's  idea 
of  a  prophet  was  no  doubt  derived  from  what  he  had  seen  in  his  own 
country.  The  heathen  prophets  were  not  far  removed  from  magicians. 
The}'  would  have  made  a  great  display  over  so  eminent  an  inquirer  as 
Naaman,  and  have  performed  incantations,  with  much  outward  ritual, 
waving  of  hands,  etc.,  such  as  Naaman  expected  from  Elisha. 

1-2.  Are  not  Abana  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all 
the  waters  of  Israel  ?     Damascus  owes  its  beauty  and  singular  fertility  to 


192  2  KINGS  V 


turned  and  went  away  in  a  rage.  13.  And  his  servants 
came  near,  and  spake  unto  him,  and  said,  My  father,  if 
the  i^roj^het  had  bid  thee  do  some  great  thing,  wouldest 
thou  not  have  done  it  ?  how  much  rather  then,  when  he 
saith  to  thee,  Wash,  and  be  clean  ?  14.  Then  went  he 
down,  and  dipped  himself  seven  times  in  the  Jordan, 
according  to  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God  :  and  his  flesh 
came  again  like  unto  the  flesh  of  a  little  child,  and  he  was 
clean.  15.  And  he  returned  to  the  man  of  God,  he  and  all 
his  company,  and  came,  and  stood  before  him  :  and  he  said, 
Behold,  no.w  I  know  that  ilierc  is  no  God  in  all  the  earth, 

4  present.  but  in  Israel :  now  therefore,  I  jmiy  thee,  take  a  ^blessing 

of  thy  servant.  16.  But  he  said,  As  the  Lord  liveth, 
before  whom  I  stand,  I  will  receive  none.  And  he  urged 
him  to  take  it ;  but  he  refused.     17.  And  Naaman  said, 

5  If  not,  yet  I  5  ghall  there  not  then,  I  pray  thee,  be  given  to  thy  servant 
pray  thee,  let  j      i      j  j  &  J 

there  be  given,  two  mules'  burden  of  earth  ?  for  thy  servant  will  henceforth 

ofi'er  neither  burnt  offering  nor  sacrifice  unto  other  gods, 

but  unto  the  Lord.     18.  In  this  thing  the  Lord  pardon 

thy  servant,  that  when  my  master  goeth  into  the  house  of 
h  chap.  vii.  2,  -,  ■       ■, 

17.  Kimmon  to  worship  there,  and  ''  he  leaneth  on  my  hand,  and 

the  river  Abana,  now  called  'Barada,'  one  of  the  Greek  names  for  which 
was  '  Chrysorrhoas,'  'golden  streams.'  The  Pharpar,  now  'Awaj,'is  a 
smaller  river  at  some  distance  from  the  city. 

The  muddy  flow  of  the  Jordan  would  contrast  unfavourably,  from  a 
merely  human  point  of  vieAv,  Avith  these  rivers.  Damascus  is  so  beauti- 
ful, that  legend  tells  how  Mahomet  refused  to  enter  it,  because  man  can 
have,  as  he  said,  but  one  paradise,  and  the  true  one  is  above. 

16.  I  will  receive  none.  The  refusal  of  Elisha  to  accept  a  present 
stands  again  in  striking  contrast  to  the  usual  behaviour  of  heathen 
priests  and  soothsayers,  who  were  greedy  of  gaiu,  and  exacted  large  sums 
from  those  who  came  to  inquire  of  them.  In  this  respect,  Bahiam,  though 
a  prophet  of  Jehovah,  was  on  the  level  of  the  heathen.  Even  the  prophet's 
servant  cannot  understand  such  disinterested  conduct. 

17.  Two  mules'  burden  of  earth.  Naaman  still  thinks  of  Jehovah  as 
being  peculiarly  the  national  God  of  Israel.  He  thinks  Him,  however, 
more  jjowerful  than  his  own  Syrian  gods  ;  and  proposes,  as  it  were,  to 
carry  the  presence  of  Jcliovah  along  with  the  soil  of  Palestine  into  his 
own  land  and  there  worship  Him,  as  if  in  Palestine. 

18.  Rimmon— lit.  '  the  most  high,'  the  name  of  the  national  god  of  the 
Syrians  of  Damascus ;  seen  also  in  such  proper  names  as  Tab-Rimmon 
(1  Kings  XV.  18). 


GEHAZI  193 


I  bow  myself  in  the  house  of  Kimmon  :  when  I  bow  down 
myself  in  the  house  of  Eimmon,  the  Lord  pardon  thy 
servant  in  this  thing.  19.  And  he  said  unto  him,  Go  in 
peace.  So  he  departed  from  him  a  little  way.  20.  But 
Gehazi,  the  servant  of  Elisha  the  man  of  God,  said,  Behold, 
my  master  hath  spared  Naaman  this  Syrian,  in  not  re- 
ceiving at  his  hands  that  which  he  brought :  but,  as  the 
Lord  liveth,  I  will  run  after  him,  and  take  somewhat  of 
him.  21.  So  Gehazi  followed  after  Naaman.  And  when 
Naaman  saw  him  running  after  him,  he  lighted  down  from 
the  chariot  to  meet  him,  and  said.  Is  all  well  ?  22.  And  he 
said.  All  is  well.  My  master  hath  sent  me,  saying.  Behold, 
even  now  there  be  come  to  me  from  ^  mount  Ephraim  e  the  hill 
two  young  men  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  :  give  them,  I 
pray  thee,  a  talent  of  silver,  and  two  changes  of  garments. 
23.  And  Naaman  said.  Be  content,  take  two  talents.  And 
he  urged  him,  and  bound  two  talents  of  silver  in  two  bags, 
with  two  changes  of  garments,  and  laid  them  upon  two  of 
his  servants ;  and  they  bare  them  before  him.    24.  And  when 

18.  The  LORD  pardon  thy  servant  in  this  thing.  Naaman  naturally  does 
not  wish  to  offend  his  royal  master  by  refusing  to  accompany  him  to  the 
temple  of  Rimmon.  Such  a  compromise  would,  of  course,  be  sinful  in  a 
Christian,  but  as  yet  the  kingdom  of  heaven  had  not  been  opened  '  to  all 
believers,'  and  the  prophet  had  no  Divine  commission  for  the  conversion 
of  Naaman  or  the  Sj^rians.  He  therefore  bids  him  'go  in  peace,' 
without  definitely  giving  judgment  on  the  matter.  It  was  sufficient 
for  the  present  that  Naaman  had  been  taught  a  great  lesson,  the 
superiority  of  the  God  of  Israel  over  all  other  so-called  gods. 

20.  As  the  LORD  liveth,  I  will  run  after  him.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
same  solemn  oath  by  which  the  prophet  had  confirmed  his  refusal  to  take 
a  present  is  used  by  his  servant  to  strengthen  himself  in  his  deceit.  The 
worst  sin  is  that  which  is  a  perversion  of  what  is  holy.  It  was  the  sin 
of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  of  our  Lord's  time. 

22.  My  master  hath  sent  me,  saying.  Gehazi's  lie  was  cleverly  in- 
vented. He  knew  that  it  would  not  do  to  say  that  Elisha  had  changed 
his  mind,  and  now  desired  a  present  for  himself.  He  pretends  that  it  is 
required  by  the  prophet  for  the  sake  of  others,  for  charity,  to  meet  an 
unexpected  need. 

23.  Be  content,  take  two  talents.  This  phrase  has,  of  course,  the 
opposite  shade  of  meaning  to  its  ordinary  use  with  us.  *  Be  content ' 
means,  not  'be  satisfied,'  but  'do  not  refuse  to  take  double  wliat  you 
ask.' 

HEB.  MON.  :   VOL.  II.  N 


194  -2  KINGS  V. 


he  came  to  the  "  tower,  he  took  them  from  their  hand,  and 
bestowed  them  in  the  house  :  and  he  let  the  men  go,  and 
they  departed.  25.  But  he  went  in,  and  stood  before  his 
master.  And  Elisha  said  unto  him.  Whence  comest  thou, 
Gehazi  ?  And  he  said,  Thy  servant  went  no  whither. 
26.  And  he  said  unto  him,  Went  not  mine  heart  with  thee, 
when  the  man  turned  again  from  his  chariot  to  meet  thee  ? 

c  1  Cor.  vii.  29-  '^  Is  it  Sh  time  to  receive  money,  and  to  receive  garments,  and 
oliveyards,  and  vineyards,  and  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  men- 

i  1  Tim.  vi.  10.  Servants,  and  maidservants?  27.  '^The  leprosy  therefore  of 
Naaman  shall  cleave  unto  thee,  and  unto  thy  seed  for 


31 


e  Exod.  iv.  6 ;    ever.     And  he  went  out  from  his  presence  a  leper  ^  as  white 

Num.  xii.  10. 

as  snow. 

26.  Is  it  a  time  to  receive  money  ?  etc.  The  prophet  enumerates  the 
things  which  Gehazi  had  doubtless  thought  of  purchasing  with  his  gains. 
Gehazi,  although  in  close  attendance  on  God's  prophet,  had,  like  Judas 
Iscariot,  utterly  failed  to  understand  the  purpose  of  the  prophet's  mission, 
being  blinded  with  covetousness.  It  was  a  time  of  false  religion  and 
moral  corruption,  of  danger  from  Syria  without,  and  the  sins  of  the  house 
of  Ahab  within  ;  a  time  which  called  not  for  gathering  money  and  living 
in  ease,  but  for  holy  poverty  and  purity  of  life,  as  a  witness  to  God  in  an 
evil  age. 

27.  The  leprosy  therefore  of  Naaman  shall  cleave  unto  thee.  In  mercy 
God,  by  the  mouth  of  His  prophet,  inflicts  a  temporal  punishment  upon 
the  sinner,  which  may  have  the  effect  of  bringing  him  to  repentance,  and 
be  a  warning  to  others  in  days  to  come. 

This  punishment  is  a  type  of  the  '  retaining  '  of  sins  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  a  power  which  our  Lord  committed  to  His  apostles  equally  with 
that  of  forgiving  them. 


LESSON  XXI 

Naaman — The  Leper  cleansed 

Matter.  Metuod. 

1.  Naaman's  leprosy.  1.  Explain    leprosy :     a    disease 

Leprosy  was  the  great  blot  upon  which  eats  away  the  flesh,  as  rust 

a  life  which  in  other  respects  was  corrodes  iron ;   incurable,  horrible, 

honourable    and     successful ;     and  and  ultimately  causing  death, 

although    Syrian    custom   did    not  Describe  Naaman's  position.    The 

apparently  exclude  the  leper  from  ^      .     ,     .      .^               K  ,               ,     , 

ordinary   society    occupations,    the  typical  significance  of  leprosy  had 

disease  was  evidently  recognised  as  better  be  reserved  for  tlie  last  pomt 

a  terrible  evil.  in  the  lesson. 


NAAMAN— THE  LEPER  CLEANSED 


195 


Lesson  XXI — continued.     Naaman — The  Leper  cleansed 


Matter. 
The  Law  of  Moses  singled  leprosy 
out  of  all  diseases  as  being  especially 
a  type  of  sin.  Although  not  neces- 
sarily contagious,  it  involved  separa- 
tion from  the  congregation  of  Israel, 
the  leper  had  to  remain  '  without 
the  camp,'  thus  symbolising  the 
holiness  which  befits  the  presence 
of  God  and  the  sin  which  excludes 
from  it. 

2,  The  cleansing  of  Naaman. 
We  should  especially  note  — 

(1)  How  different  was  the  cleans- 
ing to  anything  which  Naaman's 
pride,  or  traditions,  or  natural 
reason  expected. 

(2)  It  was  entirely  free,  without 
payment,  an  act  of  grace. 

(3)  God  alone  was  the  giver  of  it ; 
the  prophet  purposely  abstains  from 
any  personal  intervention,  beyond 
giving  God's  message,  lest  the  cure 
should  be  attributed  to  his  own 
sanctity,  or  to  the  power  of  any 
supernatural  or  magical  knowledge 
he  possessed. 

(4)  It  was  accomplished  by  the 
use  of  external  means,  as  a  test  of 
faith  and  obedience,  and  yet  means 
of  the  simplest  character  against 
which  natural  pride  revolted,  lest 
any  virtue  should  be  attributed  to 
the  means  in  themselves. 

3.  Christ  and  the  leper. 

Elisha  stands  out  as  the  most 
remarkable  type  of  Christ  in  this 
action,  though  only  a  type  or 
shadow,  for  Elisha  cured  Naaman 
only  as  an  instrument,  a  voice  by 
whom  God  spoke ;  Christ  healed 
the  lepers  by  His  own  power  as 
God,  symbolised  by  His  touching 
the  leper  (S.  Matt.  viii.  3,  etc. ). 

The  cleansing  of  the  leper  was  a 
type  of  the  forgiveness  of  human 
sin,  and  the  cleansing  of  human 
nature  which  was  accomplished  by 
the  Incarnation. 

This  forgiveness  and  cleansing  is 


Method. 


2.  Bring  out  the  different  points 
of  the  cure,  and  show  that  the 
underlying  meaning  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances was  that  God  alone,  by 
His  own  free  gift,  was  Naaman's 
healer. 

Naaman  is  led  to  recognise  this 
(ver.  17). 

Contrast,  if  time  permits,  with 
Gehazi's  selfishness  and  covetous- 
ness.  [Or  a  separate  lesson  might 
easily  be  constructed  on  Gehazi, 
bringing  out  his  covetousness  and 
consequent  blinding  of  self  to  God 
and  God's  requirements  (ver.  26), 
his  falsehood  and  his  punishment.] 


3.  Show  that  leprosy  is  a  type  of 
sin,  which  is  the  only  thing  that 
really  spoils  life,  and  unless  for- 
given and  cured,  must  lead  to 
eternal  loss. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  not  only 
cleansed  the  leper,  but  He  forgave 
sins,  and  commanded  His  apostles 
to  do  the  same  (.S.  John  xx.  23). 

In  the  Church,  God  forgives  sins 
for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  and  gives 
men  grace  to  be  pure  from  sin. 
But   He   gives    these    blessings   in 


196 


2  KINGS  V. 


Lesson  XXI — continued.     Naaman — The  Leper  cleansed 


Matter. 
communicated  to  man  by  the  Sacra- 
ments. Holy  Baptism  is  the  most 
remarkable  antitype  of  Naaman's 
washing  in  Jordan.  The  outward 
signs  of  Baptism  —  the  matter, 
water ;  and  the  form,  the  name  of 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  are 
only  means.  They  have  no  super- 
natural virtue  in  themselves  ;  but 
by  them  God  truly  works,  in  answer 
to  obedience,  which  is  the  test  of 
faith.  Obedience  brings  the  child 
to  Baptism,  and  God  gives  him 
thereby  what  he  could  not  have  by 
nature. 

Natural  pride  and  natural  reason 
may  rebel  at  the  simplicity  of  the 
means,  but  the  blessing  cannot  be 
had  without  the  means,  because 
God  has  so  ordained. 


Method. 
particular    ways,   which    are   very 
simple,  and  must  be  used  by  us  in 
obedience  and  faith,  even  if  we  can- 
not altogether  understand  them. 
Sins  are  forgiven  in — 
Holy  Baptism, 
Absolution. 
Grace  to  be  pure  from  sin  is  given 
in — 

Holy  Baptism, 
Holy  Communion. 
God's  priests  are  ministers  of 
these  things  to  us,  as  Elisha  was 
of  God's  gift  to  Naaman.  The 
Sacraments  are  always  given  in  the 
Church  without  charge. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Naaman— The  Leper  cleansed. 

Naaman, 

a  type 

of  mankind. 

Leprosy, 

5> 

sin. 

Elisha,    . 

JJ 

Christ     and     His 
ministers. 

Washing  in  Jordan, 

,, 

Holy  Baptism. 

Cleansing, 

" 

forgiveness, 
grace. 

Naaman's     unwill- 

ingness, 

" 

natural  pride. 

Naaman's  obedience 

5                 )} 

the  faith  and  obedi- 
ence which   God 
requires. 

K 


ELISHA'S  MIRACLES  197 


2  KINGS  VI. ;  VII.  ;  VIII.  1-6 

ND  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said  unto  Elisha,  Behold 

now,  "  the  place  where  we  dwell  ^  with  thee  is  too  a  isa.  xiix.  20. 
strait  for  us.  2.  Let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,  unto 
Jordan,  and  take  thence  every  man  a  beam,  and  let  us  make 
us  a  place  there,  where  we  may  dwell.  And  he  answered, 
Go  ye.  3.  And  one  said.  Be  content,  I  pray  thee,  and  go 
with  thy  servants.  And  he  answered,  I  will  go.  4.  So 
he  went  with  them.  And  when  they  came  to  Jordan,  they 
cut  down  wood.  5.  But  as  one  was  felling  a  beam,  the  ax 
head  fell  into  the  water  :  and  he  cried,  and  said,  Alas, 
master  !  for  it  was  borrowed.  6.  And  the  man  of  God 
said.  Where  fell  it  ?     And  he  shewed  him  the  place.     And  ^  Exod.  xv.  25. 

-  and  made  the 

he  cut  down  a  stick,  ^  and  cast  it  in  thither  ;  and  -  the  iron  iron  to  swim. 

1.  Beliold  now,  the  place  where  we  dwell  with  thee  is  too  strait  for 
us.  Tlie  place  spoken  of  would  probabl}^  be  Jericho  or  Gilgal ;  it  was 
evidently  near  Jordan.  Elisha  himself  did  not  live  permanently  there. 
See  Revised  Version.  The  sons  of  the  prophets  dwell  there  '  before '  him — 
i.e.  under  his  oversight.  It  was  a  proof  that  the  labours  of  Elijah  and 
Elisha  were  bearing  fruit  when  the  communities  of  the  prophets  of  the 
true  God  were  increasing  in  number. 

The  same  expression  occurs  in  Isa.  xlix.  20  as  a  prophecy  of  the  future 
increase  of  the  Church,  and  its  opening  to  the  Gentiles.  The  passage  is 
read  for  one  of  the  lessons  on  the  Epiphany. 

2.  Let  us  make  a  place  there.  The  prophets  meditate  an  entire  removal, 
and  the  building  of  a  new  community-house  on  the  banks  of  Jordan, 
with  the  wood  with  which  these  banks  are  thickly  timbered.  The  whole 
incident  is  similar  to  what  is  recorded  of  the  beginning  of  many  of  the 
mediaeval  abbeys  :  a  company  of  brethren  make  a  venture  of  faith,  choose 
out  a  place  for  habitation,  and  with  their  own  hands  cut  down  timber 
and  erect  a  building,  having  to  camp  out  and  endure  privations  before 
they  can  have  even  a  roof  over  their  heads. 

6.  And  lie  cut  down  a  stick,  and  cast  it  in  thither.  The  miracle,  like  so 
many  in  the  Bible,  is  worked  by  some  material  means,  of  no  virtue  in 
themselves,  but  chosen  by  God  for  that  purpose,  and  so  typical  of  the 
Sacraments.  This  miracle  would  be  a  mark  of  Divine  approval  upon 
the  work  in  which  they  were  engaged,  and  also  upon  the  honesty  of  the 
workman,  whose  first  thought  was  that  the  axe  did  not  belong  to  him. 

The  Christian  Fathers  have  seen  here  in  Elisha  a  type  of  Christ,  who 
by  the  wood  of  His  Cross  has  raised  again  the  hardened  hearts  of  men 
out  of  the  passions  and  worldliness  in  which  they  were  submerged  by  the 
Fall. 


198 


2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VII.  ;  VIII.  1-6 


Now. 


•1  comiiif 


did  swim.  7.  Therefore  said  he,  Take  it  up  to  thee. 
And  he  put  out  his  hand,  and  took  it.  8.  ^Then  the  king 
of  Syria  warred  against  Israel,  and  took  counsel  with 
his  servants,  saying.  In  such  and  such  a  place  shall  be 
my  camp.  9.  And  the  man  of  God  sent  unto  the  king 
of  Israel,  saying.  Beware  that  thou  pass  not  such  a 
place;  for  thither  the  Syrians  are  *  come  down.  10.  And 
the  king  of  Israel  sent  to  the  place  which  the  man  of  God 
told  him  and  warned  him  of,  and  saved  himself  there,  not 
once  nor  twice.  11.  Therefore  the  heart  of  the  king  of 
Syria  was  sore  troubled  for  this  thing ;  and  he  called  his 
servants,  and  said  unto  them,  "Will  ye  not  shew  me  which 
of  us  is  for  the  king  of  Israel  ?  12.  And  one  of  his  servants 
said,  None,  my  lord,  0  king  :  but  Elisha,  the  prophet  that 
is  in  Israel,  telleth  the  king  of  Israel  the  words  that  thou 
speakest  in  thy  bedchamber.  13.  And  he  said,  Go  and 
spy  where  he  is,  that  I  may  send  and  fetch  him.  And  it 
was  told  him,  saying.  Behold,  he  is  in  ^Dothan.  14.  There- 
fore sent  he  thither  horses,  and  chariots,  and  a  great  host  : 
and  they  came  by  night,  and  compassed  the  city  about. 
15.  And  when  the  servant  of  the  man  of  God  was  risen 
early,  and  gone  forth,  behold,  an  host  compassed  the  city 
both  with  horses  and  chariots.  And  his  servant  said  unto 
him,  Alas,  my  master  !  how  shall  we  do  ?  16.  And  he 
f?  1  s.  John  iv.  answered.  Fear  not:  for  *^  they  that  he  with  us  are  more 
than  they  that  be  with  them.  17.  And  Elisha  prayed,  and 
said.  Lord,  I  pray  thee,  open  his  eyes,  that  he  may  see. 
And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  ;  and  he 

8.  Then  the  king  of  Syria  warred  against  Israel.     No  hint  of  time  is 
given,  nor  of  tlie  name  of  the  Syrian  king.     Josephus  calls  him  Adad, 


c  Geii.  XXXV 
17. 


kil 
probably  the  Bcn-hadad  mentioned  below.     Syria  was  the  constant  enemy 
of  Israel,  always  seeking  for  an  opportunity  of  an  inroad,  like  the  Scots 
upon  the  Phiglish  in  tlie  Middle  Ages. 

13.  Dothan.  A  fortified  town,  situated  to  the  north  of  Samaria. 
'  Commanding  the  passes  and  plains  are  a  series  of  promontories  and 
isolated  knolls  ;  some  of  these  were  Samaria's  northern  fortresses.  The 
Book  of  Judith  mentions  three,  of  which  the  farthest  south  was  Geba, 
another  Dothan,  both  still  so  called,  and  a  third  Bethulia'  (G.  A.  Smith, 
Hist.  Geofj.). 

17.  And  the  LORD  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man.     This  incident  is 


ANGEL  GUAEDIANS  199 

saw:  and,  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  '-horses  and  c  chap.  ii.  ii. 
chariots  of  tire  round  about  Elisha.     18.  And  when  they 
came  down  to  him,  Elisha  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  said, 
Smite  this  j)eople,  I  pray  thee,  with  blindness.     And  he 
smote  them  with  blindness  according  to  the  word  of  Elisha. 

19.  And  Elisha  said  unto  them.  This  is  not  the  way, 
neither  is  this  the  city  :  follow  me,  and  I  will  bring  you  to 
the   man  whom  ye  seek.     But   he   led  them  to  Samaria. 

20.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  were  come  into 
Samaria,  that  Elisha  said.  Lord,  open  the  eyes  of  these 
7)ien,  that  they  may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  their  eyes, 
and  they  saw  ;  and,  behold,  they  were  in  the  midst  of 
Samaria.     21.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  Elisha, 

when  he  saw  them,  -^My  father,  shall  I  smite  themi  shall/  chap.  xiii. 

14. 

I  smite  them  1  22.  And  he  answered,  Thou  shalt  not 
smite  th&in  :  wouldest  thou  smite  those  whom  thou  hast 
taken  captive  with  thy  sword  and  with  thy  bow  1  set  bread 

an  extremely  instructive  one.  It  illustrates  the  truth  of  angelic  guar- 
dianship which  is  so  often  taught  by  Scripture  (cf .  Pss.  xxxiv.  7  ;  xci. 
11,  12  ;  and  S.  Matt.  xxvi.  53).  It  also  vividly  suggests  the  truth  that  the 
spiritual  world  is  so  close  to  us,  that  we  only  need  our  eyes  opened  to  see 
what  is  really  there,  as  an  objective  reality  (cf.  Heb.  xii.  22,  23).  The 
'horses  of  fire'  here,  as  in  chap.  ii.  11,  are  probably  to  be  understood  as 
cherubim,  angelic  beings  who  appear  in  several  places  of  Scripture  under 
the  form  of  animals,  a  form  assumed  for  symbolic  purposes.  Here,  doubt- 
less, the  form  implies  speed,  strength,  readiness  for  battle,  eagerness 
to  help  man  in  his  warfare. 

18.  And  wlien  they  came  down  to  him.  Apparently  Elisha  and  his 
servant  left  the  city,  and  shewed  themselves  to  the  83'rian  host,  who 
then  came  down  from  the  heights  on  which  they  had  encamped  to  appre- 
hend the  prophet. 

And  he  smote  them  with  blindness.  There  are  several  parallels  to  this 
miracle  in  Scripture  (Gen.  xix.  11  ;  Acts  xiii.  11).  We  need  not  suppose 
that  the  Syrian  soldiers  were  rendered  physically  blind,  but  that  their 
vision  was  in  some  way  obscured  or  deceived  temporarily,  no  doubt  by 
some  interposition  of  the  angelic  host,  which  was  so  near. 

22.  Thou  Shalt  not  smite  them.  Though  the  law  of  Moses  (Deut.  xx. 
13)  commanded  the  putting  to  death  of  the  males  when  a  besieged  city 
had  been  taken,  it  is  evident  from  the  prophet's  question  that  the  whole- 
sale massacre  of  prisoners  of  war  was  contrary  to  the  usual  practice, 
unless  a  Divine  command  had  been  given  to  that  eftect.  Much  more, 
then,  ought  those  to  be  sjiared  who  had  not  been  taken  by  human  hand. 
The  mercy  shown  on  this  occasion  had  a  good  effect,  as  is  seen  from 
ver.  23. 


200  2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VII.  ;  VIII.  1-6 

and  water  before  them,  that  they  may  eat  and  drink,  and 
go  to  their  master.  23.  And  he  prepared  great  provision 
for  them  :  and  when  they  had  eaten  and  drunk,  he  sent 
them  away,  and  they  went  to  their  master.  So  the  bands 
of  Syria  came  no  more  into  the  land  of  Israel.  24.  And  it 
came  to  pass  after  this,  that  Ben-hadad  king  of  Syria 
gathered  all  his  host,  and  went  up,  and  besieged  Samaria. 
25.  And  there  was  a  great  famine  in  Samaria  :  and,  behold, 
they  besieged  it,  until  an  ass's  head  was  sold  for  fourscore 
jiieces  of  silver,  and  the  fourth  part  of  a  cab  of  dove's  dung 
for  five  iiieces  of  silver.  26.  And  as  the  king  of  Israel  was 
passing  by  upon  the  wall,  there  cried  a  woman  unto  him, 
saying,  Help,  my  lord,  0  king.  27.  And  he  said.  If  the 
Lord  do  not  help  thee,  whence  shall  I  help  thee  ?  out  of 
the  barnfloor,  or  out  of  the  winepress  ?  28.  And  the  king 
said  unto  her.  What  aileth  thee  ?  And  she  answered.  This 
woman  said  unto  me.  Give  thy  son,  that  we  may  eat  him 
to  day,  and  we  will  eat  my  son  to  morrow.  29.  So  we 
boiled  my  son,  and  did  eat  him  :  and  I  said  unto  her  on 
the  next  day.  Give  thy  son,  that  we  may  eat  him  :  and  she 
hath  hid  her  son.  30.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king 
heard  the  words  of  the  Avoman,  that  he  rent  his  clothes  ; 

24.  Ben-hadad  king  of  Syria  gathered  all  Ms  host  .  .  .  and  besieged 
Samaria.  The  miraculous  discomfiture  of  the  Syrians  just  recorded 
produced  for  some  time,  how  long  we  are  not  told,  a  cessation  of  the 
irregular  raids  of  the  Syrians.  But  now,  as  in  1  Kings  xx.,  the  king  of 
Syria  makes  a  determined  attempt  to  subjugate  the  northern  kingdom 
by  taking  Samaria,  its  capital. 

25.  An  ass's  head  was  sold  for  fourscore  pieces  of  silver,  etc.  The  ass 
was  an  unclean  animal,  and  would  only  be  eaten  at  all  under  great  stress 
of  necessity  ;  the  head  would  not  be  an  inviting  part  of  it,  and  yet  the 
price  of  it  was  nearly  three  times  the  ordinary  price  of  a  slave. 

The  cab  is  a  measure  lauuientioned  elsewhere,  but  it  is  said  to  have 
been  the  eighteenth  part  of  an  '  ephah,'  and  to  have  contained  about  three 
pints. 

Dove's  dung,  in  all  probability,  must  be  understood  to  refer  to  some 
cheap  sort  of  grain. 

27.  Out  of  the  barnfloor,  or  out  of  the  winepress.  Said  ironically. 
There  was  nothing  left  either  of  food  or  luxuries. 

30.  He  rent  his  clothes.  That  the  king  should  be  appealed  to  for 
justice  in  such  a  horrible  matter  illustrates  vividly  the  awful  privations 


THE  UNBELIEVING  KING  201 

and  he  passed  by  upon  the  wall,  and  the  people  looked, 

and,  behold,  he  had  sackcloth  within  upon  his  flesh.     31. 

Then  he  said,  God  do  so  and  more  also  to  me,  if  the  head 

of  Elisha  the  son  of  Shaphat  shall  stand  on  him  this  day. 

32.  But  Elisha  sat  in  his  house,  and  the  elders  sat  with 

him  ;  and  the  king  sent  a  man  from  before  him  :  but  ere 

the  messenger  came  to  him,  he  said  to  the  elders.  See  ye 

how  this  son  of  a  murderer  hath  sent  to  take  away  mine 

head?  look,  when  the  messenger  cometh,  shut  the  door, 

and  ^  hold  him  fast  at  the  door  :  is  not  the  sound  of  his  ^  hold  the  door 

master's  feet  behind  him  ?     33.  And  while  he  yet  talked  hVm. 

with  them,  behold,  the  messenger  came  down  unto  him  : 

and  he  said,  Behold,  this  evil  is  of  the  Lord  ;  ^  what  should  «  wiiy. 

I  wait  for  the  Lord  any  longer  1 

VII.  1.  Then  Elisha  said,  Hear  ye  the  w^ord  of  the  Lord  ; 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  To  morrow  about  this  time  shall  a 

to  which  the  besieged  had  been  reduced.  It  was  a  matter  too  dreadful 
to  reply  to,  and  the  king  could  only  express  his  horror  by  the  symbolical 
action  of  rending  his  clothes.  This  disclosed  the  fact  that  he  Avas  himself 
conscious  that  the  siege  was  a  Divine  judgment,  and  had  assumed  the 
outward  mark  of  repentance  with  the  idea  of  appeasing  God's  anger, 
although  the  words  of  ver.  31  show  that  his  repentance  was  not  true. 

31.  God  do  so  and  more  also  to  me.  The  king,  instead  of  recognising 
Elisha  as  the  servant  of  God,  whose  name  he  blasphemously  invokes, 
seems  to  regard  him  only  as  a  worker  of  miracles  who,  for  some  reason 
of  his  own,  will  not  interfere  to  bring  the  siege  to  an  eiid.  In  his  childish 
rage  against  him,  he  purposes  to  put  him  to  death  at  once. 

32.  This  son  of  a  murderer,  i.e.  of  Ahab. 

Is  not  the  sound  of  his  master's  feet  behind  him.  These  words  are 
obscure  :  perhaps  they  mean  that  the  king  has  already  relented  of  his 
threat,  and  is  following  the  messenger  himself,  as  seems  implied  in  the 
next  verse,  and  also  in  chap.  vii.  17. 

33.  What  should  I  wait  for  the  LORD  any  longer.  These  are  apparently 
the  king's  words,  the  expression  of  despair.  He  is  ready  '  to  curse  God 
and  die.' 

VII.  1.  Thus  saith  the  LORD.  In  solemn  contrast  with  both  the  king's 
idea  that  Elisha  himself  might  miraculously  remove  the  siege,  and  the 
king's  despair  of  God,  Elisha  announces,  in  the  usual  prophetic  style 
('Thus  saith,'  etc.),  an  interposition  which  all  must  recognise  as  pro- 
ceeding directly  from  God's  hand.  The  prophet  had  received  super- 
natural knowledge  of  what  was  happening  among  the  besiegers,  like 
Isaiah  in  the  case  of  Sennacherib.     The  plenty  which  he  foretells  A\ould 


202  2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VIL  ;  VIII.  1-6 

measure  of  fine  flour  he  sold  for  a  shekel,  and  two  measures 

7  the  captain.     Qf  "barley  for  a  shekel,  in  the  gate  of  Samaria.     2.  Then  ''  a 

lord  on  whose  hand  the  king  leaned  answered  the  man  of 
God,  and  said,  Behold,  if  the  Lord  would  make  windows 
in  heaven,  might  this  thing  be?  And  he  said.  Behold, 
thou  shalt  see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  shalt  not  eat  thereof. 
g^  Lev.  xiii.  46 ;  3.  And  there  were  four  leprous  men  ^  at  the  entering  in  of 
the  gate  ;  and  they  said  one  to  another.  Why  sit  we  here 
until  we  die  ?  4.  If  we  say.  We  will  enter  into  the  city, 
then  the  famine  is  in  the  city,  and  we  shall  die  there  :  and 
if  we  sit  still  here,  we  die  also.  Now  therefore  come,  and 
let  us  fall  unto  the  host  of  the  Syrians  :  if  they  save  us 
alive,  we  shall  live  ;  and  if  they  kill  us,  we  shall  but  die. 
5.  And  they  rose  up  in  the  twilight,  to  go  unto  the  camp 

8  outermost,      of  the  Syrians  :  and  when  they  were  come  to  the  ^  utter- 

most part  of  the  camp  of  Syria,  behold,  there  was  no  man 
there.  6.  For  the  Lord  bad  made  the  host  of  the  Syrians 
to  hear  a  noise  of  chariots,  and  a  noise  of  horses,  even  the 
noise  of  a  great  host :  and  they  said  one  to  another,  Lo, 
the  king  of  Israel  hath  hired  against  us  the  kings  of  the 

indeed  seem  impossible,  for  where  was  it  to  come  from  ?     So  the  captain 
contemptuously  asks  whether  it  is  going  to  rain  food  from  heaven. 

4.  Let  us  fall  unto  the  host  of  the  Syrians.  '  To  fall  to,'  or  '  fall  away 
to,'  signifies  to  desert.  So  it  was  said  to  Jeremiah,  '  Thou  fallcst  away 
to  the  Chaldeans  (Jer.  xxxvii.  13). 

6.  For  the  LORD  had  made  the  host  of  the  Syrians  to  hear  a  noise  of 
chariots,  etc.  jNIysterious  panics  of  this  kind  have  fallen  upon  armies  in 
all  ages.  They  are  inexplicable  as  a  rule  ;  but  here  m^c  are  plainly  told 
that  the  delusion  which  fell  upon  the  Syrians  was  a  Divine  interposition. 
Stragglers  from  the  retreating  host,  or  camp-followers,  may  have  brought 
the  story  to  Samaria  of  what  '  they  said  one  to  another.' 

The  kings  of  the  Hittites.  This  little  known  people,  mentioned 
incidentally  throughout  the  early  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  from 
Al)raham's  time  onward,  were  not  only  one  of  the  dispossessed  nations 
of  Canaan,  but  were  evidently  still  powerful  enough  to  be  a  source  of 
terror.  Tlicir  original  territory  is  described  in  Josh.  i.  4  as  extending 
from  Lebanon  to  the  Euphrates.  Their  chief  towns  were  Kadesh  on  the 
Orontes,  and  Carchemish  on  tlic  Euplirates.  They  belonged  to  the  same 
race  as  the  Tartars,  and  were,  like  them,  famous  for  cavalry.  Pictures 
of  Hittites  have  l)cen  discovered  on  Egyptian  and  Oriental  monuments  ; 
they  are  of  tlie  Monghol  type,  and  are  represented  as  wearing  pig-tails, 
like  the  Tartars  and  the  Chinese. 


PANIC  OF  THE  SYRIANS  203 

Hittites,  and  the  kings  of  the  Egyptians,  to  come  upon  us. 

7.  Wherefore  they  arose  and  fled  in  the  twilight,  and  left 

their  tents,  and  their  horses,  and  their  asses,  even  the  camp 

as  it  was,  and  fled  for  their  life.     8.  And  when  these  lepers 

came  to  the  uttermost  part  of  the  camp,  they  went  into 

one  tent,  and  did  eat  and  drink,  and  carried  thence  silver, 

and  gold,  and  raiment,  and  went  and  hid  it  ;  and  came 

again,  and  entered  into  another  tent,  and  carried  thence 

also,  and   went   and    hid   it     9.  Then  they  said   one   to 

another,  We  do  not  well :  this  day  is  a  day  of  good  tidings, 

and  we  hold  our  peace  :  if  we  tarry  till  the  morning  light, 

some  '•'  mischief  will  come  upon  us  :  now  therefore  come,  ^  punishment 

will  overtake 
that  we  may  go  and  tell  the  king's  household.     10.  So  they  ns. 

came  and  called  unto  the   porter  of   the  city  :   and  they 

told  them,  saying.  We  came  to  the  camp  of  the  Syrians, 

and,  behold,  there  was  no  man  there,  neither  voice  of  man, 

but  horses  tied,  and  asses  tied,  and  the  tents  as  they  ivere. 

11.  And  he  called  the  porters;  and  they  told  it  to  the 

king's  house  within.     12.  And  the  king  arose  in  the  night, 

and  said  unto  his  servants,  I  will  now  shew  you  what  the 

Syrians  have  done  to  us.     Tliey  know  that  we  he  hungry  ; 

therefore  are  they  gone  out  of  the  camp  to  hide  themselves 

in  the  field,  saying.  When  they  come  out  of  the  city,  we 

shall  catch  them  alive,  and  get  into  the  city,     13.  And 

one  of  his  servants  answered  and  said,  Let  some  take,  I 

pray  thee,  five  of  the  horses  that  remain,  which  are  left  in 

the  city,  (behold,  they  are  as  all  the  multitude  of  Israel 

that  are  left  in  it :  behold,  I  say,  they  are  even  as  all  the 

6.  The  kings  of  the  Egyptians.  This  may  be  a  popular  and  inexact 
expression  ;  properly  speaking,  there  was  only  one  king  or  Pharaoh 
of  Egypt  ;  but  as  Egypt  was  divided  into  districts  or  nomes,  the  heads 
of  these  may  popularly  have  been  styled  '  kings.' 

10.  Horses  tied,  and  asses  tied.  This  is  an  additional  touch  in  the 
description,  which  shows  how  sudden  and  demoralising  the  panic  must 
have  been.  The  Syrians  had  actually  fled  on  foot  without  waiting  to 
untether  their  horses  or  baggage-asses. 

13.  Behold,  they  are  as  all  the  multitude  of  Israel  that  are  left  in  it. 
These  somewhat  ol)SCurc  words  were  evidently  meant  as  an  encourage- 
ment to  send  out  and   investigate  the  cami^  of  the  Syrians.     Nothing 


204  2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VII.  ;  VIII.  1-6 

multitude  of  the  Israelites  that  are  consumed  :)  and  let  us 
10  two  chariots  send  and  see.  14.  They  took  therefore  ^^  two  chariot  horses ; 
and  the  king  sent  after  the  host  of  the  Syrians,  saying,  Go 
and  see.  15.  And  they  went  after  them  unto  Jordan  :  and, 
lo,  all  the  way  ivas  full  of  garments  and  vessels,  which  the 
Syrians  had  cast  away  in  their  haste.  And  the  messengers 
returned,  and  told  the  king.  16.  And  the  people  went  out, 
and  spoiled  the  tents  of  the  Syrians.  So  a  measure  of  fine 
flour  was  sold  for  a  shekel,  and  two  measures  of  barley  for 
a  shekel,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord.  17.  And  the 
king  appointed  the  lord  on  whose  hand  he  leaned  to  have 
the  charge  of  the  gate  :  and  the  people  trode  upon  him  in 
the  gate,  and  he  died,  as  the  man  of  God  had  said,  who 
spake  when  the  king  came  down  to  him.  18.  And  it  came 
to  pass  as  the  man  of  God  had  spoken  to  the  king,  saying, 
Two  measures  of  barley  for  a  shekel,  and  a  measure  of  fine 
flour  for  a  shekel,  shall  be  to  morrow  about  this  time  in  the 
gate  of  Samaria  :  19.  And  that  lord  answered  the  man  of 
God,  and  said.  Now,  behold,  if  the  Lord  should  make 
window^s  in  heaven,  might  such  a  thing  be  ?  And  he  said. 
Behold,  thou  shalt  see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  shalt  not  eat 
thereof.  20.  And  so  it  fell  out  unto  him  :  for  the  people 
trode  upon  him  in  the  gate,  and  he  died. 
i.a.fsToS'^''  ^^^^*  ^-  "Then  spake  Elisha  unto  the  woman,  '^ whose 
h  chap.  iv.  son  he  had  restored  to  life,  saying.  Arise,  and  go  thou 
and  thine  household,  and  sojourn  wheresoever  thou  canst 

worse  could  happen  to  the  Israelites  than  had  already  happened.  They 
were  already  'consumed.'  If  the  two  chariots  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Syrians,  their  drivers  could  but  die,  which  would  certainly  be  their  fate 
if  the  siege  continued  longer. 

15.  And  they  went  after  them  unto  Jordan.  This  would  hardly  have 
been  the  usual  way  to  return  to  Syria,  but  tliey  may  have  imagined 
that  the  Hittites  were  coming  upon  them  from  the  north.  Perliaps 
they  hardly  thought  at  all,  but  rushed  helter-skelter  downhill  towards 
the  ravine  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  many  hiding-places  of  the  country  on 
the  east  of  it. 

VIII.  1.  Then  spake  Elislia,  etc.  See  Revised  Version.  This  event  must 
have  taken  place  some  time  before.  The  famine  spoken  of  may  be  the 
same  as  that  mentioned  in  chap.  iv.  38.    The  incident  is  perhaps  recorded 


THE  SHUNAMMITE  205 

sojourn  :  for  the  Lord  hath  called  for  a  famine ;  and  it  shall 
also  come  upon  the  land  seven  years.  2.  And  the  woman 
arose,  and  did  after  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God  :  and  she 
went  with  her  household,  and  sojourned  in  the  land  of  the 
Philistines  seven  years.  3.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the 
seven  years'  end,  that  the  woman  returned  out  of  the  land 
of  the  Philistines  :  and  she  went  forth  to  cry  unto  the  king 
for  her  house  and  for  her  land.  4.  And  the  king  talked 
with  Gehazi  the  servant  of  the  man  of  God,  saying.  Tell 
me,  I  pray  thee,  all  the  great  things  that  Elisha  hath  done. 
5.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  was  telling  the  king  how  he 
had  restored  a  dead  body  to  life,  that,  behold,  the  woman, 
whose  son  he  had  restored  to  life,  cried  to  the  king  for  her 
house  and  for  her  land.  And  Gehazi  said.  My  lord,  0 
king,  this  is  the  woman,  and  this  is  her  son,  whom  Elisha 
restored  to  life.  6.  And  when  the  king  asked  the  woman, 
she  told  him.  So  the  king  appointed  unto  her  a  certain 
officer,  saying,  Eestore  all  that  was  her's,  and  all  the  fruits 
of  the  field  since  the  day  that  she  left  the  land,  even  until 
now. 

here,  because  the  king's  desire  to  hear  of  the  miracles  of  Elisha  (ver.  4) 
may  have  been  quickened  by  the  wonderful  deliverance  from  Syria  which 
has  just  been  described. 

The  Shunammite  had  apparently  lost  her  husband,  and  for  that  reason 
Elisha  had  recommended  her  to  leave  her  possessions,  M'hich  seem  now 
to  have  come  into  the  hands  of  the  king  himself  (ver.  6). 

4.  Gehazi  the  servant  of  the  man  of  God.  It  is  not  known  whether 
this  was  before  or  after  Naaman's  visit.  If  the  latter,  it  is  in  keeping 
with  Gehazi's  character  that  he  should  have  brought  himself  into  pro- 
minence before  the  king,  and  perhaps  made  capital  out  of  his  leprosy  by 
telling  the  tale  of  Elisha's  great  works. 


206 


2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VII.  ;  VIII.  1-6 


LESSON  XXII 


Faith  and  Unbelief 


Matter. 


Method. 


1.  Faith  is  trust  in  God,  in  His 
power  and  wisdom,  rather  than  in 
anything  visible  or  human.  Elisha 
is  a  great  example  of  faith,  in  his 
miracles,  his  prayers,  and  his  pre- 
dictions. 

(a)  The  miracle  of  making  the 
iron  axe-head  to  swim  was  doubt- 
less an  answer  to  Elisha's  faith. 
He  believed  that  all  material  thingn 
are  under  the  direct  control  of  God ; 
that  it  is  the  will  of  God  which  is 
the  cause  of  all  so-called  '  laws  of 
nature,'  and  that  a  further  exercise 
of  God's  will  can  modify  or  suspend 
these  laws. 

(To  a  limited  degree  even  human 
will  can  modify  natural  law,  e.g. 
to  catch  a  falling  body  and  hold  it 
up  is  to  check  the  free  exercise  of 
the  'law  of  gravitation.') 

(6)  P]lisha  also  had  faith  to  be- 
lieve that  God  has  power  over 
ma7i,  man's  strength,  man's  strata- 
gems, man's  armies.  He  prayed, 
and  the  vision,  which  was  clear 
to  hira,  of  the  armies  of  angels 
defending  him  against  the  Syrians, 
became  clear  also  to  his  servant. 
Again  he  prayed,  and  the  wrath  of 
men  was  miraculously  checked  by 
the  blindness  which  God  brought 
upon  them.  On  the  one  hand,  God 
opened  the  eyes  of  men  to  see 
supernatural  truth  ;  on  the  other, 
He  blinded  them  so  that  they  could 
not  even  see  natural  objects. 

(c)  Elisha  had  faith  also  to  recog- 
nise God  as  the  supreme  ruler  of  all 
events.  He  was  able  to  foretell  the 
raising  of  the  siege  and  the  sudden 
plenty,  because  he  had  entire  trust 
in  God. 


(a)  In  speaking  of  the  miracle  of 
the  iron  swimming  (or  indeed  of 
any  miracle),  it  will  be  well  to  ask, 
'  Why  does  iron  ordinarily  sink  ? ' 
and  lead  the  answers  up  to  the 
necessary  conclusion,  '  It  is  because 
God  so  created  and  so  willed  it.' 

God  can  alter  or  suspend  His  own 
laws,  if  He  wills  to  do  so,  just  as 
much  as  He  can  make  these  laws  in 
the  first  case.  Sometimes  God  for 
His  own  purpose,  and  for  the  good 
of  man,  does  so  act,  and  we  call  it 
a  miracle  or  a  '  sign.' 

{h)  and  (c)  The  narrative  of  the 
Syrian  discomfitures  is  so  interest- 
ing and  vivid  that  it  should  be 
made  the  principal  part  of  the 
lesson. 

The  contrast  oi  faith  and  unheliej 
will  flow  out  of  the  narrative,  and 
should  be  reserved  for  the  conclu- 


FAITH  AND  UNBELIEF 


207 


Lesson  XXII — continued.    Faith  and  Unbelief 


Matter. 

Such  faith  combined  with  prayer, 
which  is  the  voice  and  exercise  of 
faith,  is  laid  down  by  our  Lokd 
as  the  condition  of  'mighty  works.' 
See  S.  Matt.  xvii.  19-21  ;  xxi.  2L 

2.  Unbelief. 

In  contrast  with  the  faith  of 
Elisha,   and  His   disciples  (see  vi. 

3,  7),   there   are   two  examples   of 
worldly  unbelief : 

(a)  The  king,  who  does  not  in  his 
heart  trust  God,  nor  believe  Him 
to  be  the  ruler  of  events.  He  is 
inclined  to  think  that  Elisha  for 
his  own  ends  is  refusing  to  do  a 
miracle  ;  and  he  profanely  announ- 
ces his  intention  of  not  waiting  for 
the  Lord  any  longer. 

(6)  The  unnamed  'lord,'  who, 
judging  by  ordinary  human  stan- 
dards of  possibility,  scoffs  at  the 
prophet's  message,  and  learns  when 
it  is  too  late  that  '  the  foolishness 
of  God  is  wiser  than  men.' 


Method. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Faith. 

Elisha  worked  miracles, 

foretold  the  future, 
by  Faith  and  Prayer. 

He  trusted  God,   knowing  that  God  has 
power  over 

Nature — the  iron  axe-head, 

man — the  armies  of  Syria, 

all  events — the  siege  of  Samaria. 

Unbelief. 

The  king  of  Israel. 
The  lord. 


208 


2  KINGS  VI.  ;  VII.  ;  VIII.    1-6 


LESSON  XXIII 
Angel- Guardians 

1.  The  weakness  of  man.  Point  out  the  two  examples  of  miraculous 
deliverance  from  hostile  armies  in  2  Kings  vi.  and  vii.  In  each  case 
deliverance  seemed  hopeless.  The  defenceless  prophet  was  compassed 
round  by  horses  and  chariots.  The  beleaguered  city  was  reduced  to  such 
straits  that  nothing  but  death  by  starvation  or  surrender  seemed  pos- 
sible. But  in  each  case  '  the  battle  was  not  to  the  strong '  :  the  armies 
which  seemed  almighty  were  more  powerless  than  those  whom  they  were 
attacking.  One  host  was  struck  with  blindness  and  rendered  helpless  : 
the  other  seized  by  irrational  panic. 

2.  The  armies  of  God.  Draw  attention  to  the  words  of  Elisha's  prayer 
(vi.  17).  The  hosts  of  angels,  mighty  for  battle,  were  really  present  all 
the  time,  though  unseen.  It  needed  only  the  gift  of  spiritual  vision 
from  God  to  see,  not  a  mere  vision,  but  an  objective  reality.  Probably 
also  the  noise  which  the  Lord  made  the  host  of  the  Syrians  to  hear 
(vii,  6)  was  the  passing  of  angel  armies.  Cf.  2  Sam.  v.  24  and  S.  Matt, 
xxvi.  53. 

3.  Guardian  angels.  Though  the  angels  are  invisible  to  the  natural  eye, 
faith  should  learn  to  see  them  and  believe  in  them.  It  seems  from 
S.  Matt,  xviii.  10  that  each  individual  has  a  guardian  angel.  There  are 
also  angels  of  nations  (Dan.  x.  and  xii.),  and  the  Incarnation  has 
brought  the  angels  into  closer  and  more  permanent  union  with  the 
Church.     See  S.  John  i.  51 ;  Heb.  i.  14  ;  xii.  22.     See  also  Rev.  xix.  14. 

On  this  subject  most  suggestive  help  will  be  found  in  Latham's  A  Ser- 
vice of  Angels  and  Newman's  Parochial  Sermons,  ii.  29  and  iv.  13. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


1.  Man  has  no  power  except  by  God's  per- 

mission. 

2.  The  angels  are  the  armies  of  God. 

They  defended  Elisha  1  .         xi     o     • 

\  from  the  Syrians. 
Israel  J 

3.  Guardian  angels  defend 

every  Christian, 
the  Catholic  Church, 


ELISHA  AND  HAZAEL 


2  KINGS  VIII.  7-15;  2  CHEON.  XXL;  XXII.  6; 
2  KINGS  IX. 

AND  Elisha  came  to  Damascus  ;  and  Ben-hadad  the 
_  king  of  Syria  was  sick ;  and  it  was  told  him, 
saying,  The  man  of  God^  is  come  hither.  8.  And 
the  king  said  unto  «  Hazael,  Take  a  present  in  thine  hand,  «  i  Kings  xix. 
and  go,  meet  the  man  of  God,  ^  and  encjuire  of  the  Lord  h  2  Kings  i.  2. 
by  him,  saying.  Shall  I  recover  of  this  disease  ?  9.  So 
Hazael  went  to  meet  him,  and  took  a  present  with  him, 
even  of  every  good  thing  of  Damascus,  forty  camels' 
burden,  and  came  and  stood  before  him,  and  said,  Thy 
son  Ben-hadad  king  of  Syria  hath  sent  me  to  thee,  saying, 
Shall  I  recover  of  this  disease  ?  10.  And  Elisha  said  unto 
him,  Go,  say  unto  him,  ^  Thou  may  est  certainly  recover  ;  ^  Thou  shalt 
howbeit  the  Lord  hath  shewed  me  that  he  shall  surely 
die.     11.  And  he  settled  his  countenance  stedfastly^  until 


urely  recover. 
add  upon 


he  was  ashamed  :  and  Hhe  man  of  God  wept.     12.  And  4l'  ^^^^^^'^• 

7.  And  Elisha  came  to  Damascus.  This  event  was  evidently  the 
fulfilment  of  the  commission  given  to  Elijah  at  Horeb  to  'anoint  Hazael 
king  over  Syria  (1  Kings  xix.).  It  is  remarkable  to  notice  that,  as  far  as 
we  know  (1)  Elijah  acted  only  through  his  successor  Elisha;  (2)  the 
'  anointing '  was  metaphorical  only. 

8.  Enquire  of  the  LORD  by  him..  Ben-hadad,  like  most  of  the  heathen 
of  old  time,  believed  that  there  were  '  gods  many  and  lords  many.'  Pro- 
bably he  thought  of  Jehovah  as  the  national  god  of  Israel,  Mho  in  some 
respects  was  stronger  than  his  own  god,  Rimmon.  He  may  have  been 
led  to  this  conclusion  (1)  by  his  own  discomfiture  before  Samaria ;  (2)  by 
the  healing  of  Naaman's  leprosy.  The  '  present '  was  no  doubt  offered 
with  the  idea  that  Elisha  had  such  influence  with  Jehovah,  that  if 
sufficiently  bribed,  he  could  obtain  from  Him  the  cure  of  the  king; 
a  thoroughly  heathen  concejjtion  of  a  '  man  of  God.' 

10.  Thou  mayest  certainly  recover.  This  is  the  reading  of  a  marginal 
correction  in  the  Hebrew  text :  the  actual  text  reads,  '  Thou  shalt  not 
recover,'  which  the  Revised  Version  puts  in  the  margin.  Probably  the 
meaning  is  either,  '  The  disease  will  not  be  fatal  (though  something  else 
will),'  or — ironically — 'Give  him  the  answer  which  you  are  certain  to 
give  him,  whatever  I  say  '  (for  a  courtier  %vould  not  be  likely  to  bring 
back  an  unfavourable  answer). 

11.  And  he  settled  his  countenance  stedfastly.  This  is  a  very 
dramatic  description,  and  must  have  come  originally  from  a  witness  of  the 

HEB.  MOX.   :    VOL.   II.  O 


210 


2  KINGS  VIII.  7-15 


Hazael  said,  Why  weepeth  my  lord?  And  he  answered, 
Because  I  know  ''the  evil  that  thou  wilt  do  unto  the 
children  of  Israel :  their  strong  holds  wilt  thou  set  on 
fire,  and  their  young  men  wilt  thou  slay  with  the  sword, 
and  wilt  dash  their  children,  and  rip  up  their  women  with 
child.  13.  And  Hazael  said,  ^  But  what,  is  thy  servant  a 
dog,  that  he  should  do  this  great  thing  ?  And  Elisha 
answered,  The  Lord  hath  shewed  me  that  thou  shall  be 
king  over  Syria.  14.  So  he  departed  from  Elisha,  and 
came  to  his  master  ;  who  said  to  him,  What  said  Elisha 
to  thee  ?  And  he  answered,  He  told  me  that  thou  shouldest 
surely  recover.  15.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow, 
that  he  took  ^  a  thick  cloth,  and  dipped  it  in  water,  and 
spread  it  on  his  face,  so  that  he  died  :  and  Hazael  reigned 
in  his  stead. 

2  CHRON.  XXI.  1.  Now  Jehoshaphat  slept  with  his 
fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of 
David.  And  Jehoram  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  2. 
And  he  had  brethren  the  sons  of  Jehoshaphat,  Azariah, 
and  Jehiel,  and  Zechariah,  and  Azariah,  and  Michael,  and 
Shephatiah  :  all  these  were  the  sons  of  Jehoshaphat  king 
of  Israel.     3.  And  their  father  gave  them  great  gifts  of 


d  chap.  X.  32  ; 
xii,  17:  xiii. 


'■>  But  ■what  is 
thy  servant, 
which  is  but  a 
dog, that  he 
shouhl  do  this 
great  thing? 


4  tlie  coverlet. 


interview.  After  giving  the  ironical  answer,  as  above,  the  proijhet  tixes 
his  gaze  upon  Hazael,  evidently  reading  him  through  and  through,  until 
Hazael  is  filled  with  confusion.  Then  the  picture  of  the  future,  which 
the  prophet  has  seen  in  the  man  before  him,  moves  him  to  tears.  The 
prophet  cannot  but  see  and  speak  as  God  has  told  him,  but  he  weeps  for 
his  people  and  the  Divine  judgment  which  is  coming  upon  them. 

13.  But  what,  is  thy  servant  a  dog.  The  Revised  Version  entirely 
alters  the  meaning  of  Hazael's  words.  He  does  not  express  any  horror 
at  what  is  told  him,  but  covers  his  confusion  at  finding  his  secret  designs 
unmasked  by  putting  on  an  appearance  of  humility  in  a  truly  Oriental 
manner,  'How  can  I,  the  meanest  of  men,  ever  bring  about  such  calami- 
ties as  these?' 

2  CuKON.  XXI.  The  history  here  rctuins  to  the  southern  kingdom  of 
Judali :  the  passage  from  2  Chron.  which  folloAvs  fills  up  the  space  be- 
tween the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  and  the  destruction  of  the  kings  of  both 
kingdoms  by  Jehu  in  2  Kings  ix. 

2.  Azariah.  The  name  occurs  twice,  and  probably  there  is  some  mistake 
in  the  text. 


JEHORAM  2U 


silver,  and  of  gold,  and  of  precious  things,  with  fenced 

cities  in  Judali  :  but  the  kingdom  gave  he  to  Jehoram  ; 

because  he  ivas  the  firstborn.     4.  Now  when  Jehoram  was 

risen  up  to  the  kingdom  of  his  father,  he  strengthened 

himself,  and  slew  all  his  brethren  with  the  sword,  and 

divers  also  of  the  princes  of  Israel.     5.  Jehoram  ivas  thirty 

and  two  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned 

eight  years  in  Jerusalem.     6.  And  he  walked  in  the  way 

of  the  kings  of  Israel,  like  as  did  the  house  of  Ahab  :  for 

he  had  the  daughter  of  Ahab  to  wife  :  and  he  wrought 

that  ivhich  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.     7.  Howbeit 

the  Lord  would  not  destroy  the  house  of  David,  because 

of  ^  the  covenant  that  he  had  made  with  David,  and  as  he  e  2  Sam.  vii. ; 

Ps.  cxxxii.  11. 
promised  to  give  a  *"  light  to  him  and  to  his  sons  for  ever.  5  j.^,,     . 

8.    In  his  days  the  Edomites   revolted  from  under   the 

dominion  of  Judah,  and  made  themselves  a  king.    9.  Then 

Jehoram  ^  went  forth  with  his  princes,  and  all  his  chariots  ^  passed  over. 

with   him :    and   he   rose   uj)   by   night,   and   smote   the 

Edomites  which  compassed  him  in,  and  the  captains  of 

the  chariots.     10.  So  -^the  Edomites  revolted  from  under  f  Gen.  xxvii. 

40. 

the  hand  of  Judah  unto  this  day.  The  same  time  also 
did  Libnah  revolt  from  under  his  hand  ;  because  he  had 
forsaken  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers.  11.  Moreover  he 
made  high  places  in  the  mountains  of  Judah,  and  caused 

4.  And  slew  all  his  brethren  with  the  sword.  Horrible  crimes  of  this 
sort  were  not  infrequent  with  Oriental  kings.  They  were  partly  due  to 
the  evils  of  polygamy,  and  also  to  the  lack  of  a  settled  constitution. 
Nev^ertheless,  we  see  the  punishment  which  followed  in  Jehoram's  case 
(verses  13,  18). 

9.  Then  Jehoram  went  forth  with  his  princes.  The  account  of  this  is 
a  little  clearer  in  2  Kings  viii.  It  seems  that  Jehoram  invaded  the 
Edomite  country,  but  'passed  over,'  i.e.  separated  himself  from  the  main 
body  of  his  army,  and  so  was  hemmed  in  by  the  Edomites,  and  had  to 
cut  his  way  out.  Meanwhile  the  main  body  of  his  own  army  took  flight 
and  scattered.  Instead  of  'with  his  princes,' 2  Kings  reads  'to  Zair,' 
which  may  be  a  mistake  for  '  Seir,'  the  hill-country  of  Edom. 

10.  The  same  time  also  did  Libnah  revolt.  This  is  a  very  obscure  event. 
Libnah  was  a  fortified  town  in  the  lowlands,  near  the  coast ;  but  whether 
its  revolt  was  due  to  an  Edomite  population,  or  to  some  aspirant  to  the 
throne,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 


212  2  CHRON.  XXI. 


7  go  a  whoring,  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to  '  commit  fornication,  and 

compelled  Judah  thereto.  12.  And  there  came  a  writing 
to  him  from  Elijah  the  prophet,  saying,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  of  David  thy  father,  Because  thou  hast  not 
walked  in  the  ways  of  Jehoshaphat  thy  father,  nor  in  the 
ways  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  13.  But  hast  walked  in  the 
way  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  hast  made  Judah  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to  go  a  whoring,  like  to  the 
whoredoms  of  the  house  of  Ahab,  and  also  hast  slain  thy 
brethren  of  thy  father's  house,  which  were  better  than 
thyself:  14.  Behold,  with  a  great  plague  will  the  Lord 
smite  thy  people,  and  thy  children,  and  thy  wives,  and  all 
thy  goods  :  15.  And  thou  shalt  have  great  sickness  by  dis- 
ease of  thy  bowels,  until  thy  boAvels  fall  out  by  reason  of 

8  yoar  after       the  sickness  ^  day  by  day  :    16.  Moreover  the  Lord  stirred 

up  against  Jehoram  the  spirit  of  the  Philistines,  and  of  the 

9  beside  the       Arabians,  that  were  ^near  the  Ethiopians  :     17.  And  thev 
Cushites.  .  -^    -.   i  -,    n      i       •  • 

came  up  nito  Judah,  and  brake  into  it,  and  carried  away 

all  the  substance  that  was  found  in  the  king's  house,  and 
his  sons  also,  and  his  wives  ;  so  that  there  was  never  a  son 
left  him,  save  Jehoahaz,  the  youngest  of  his  sons.  18. 
And  after  all  this  the  Lord  smote  him  in  his  bowels  with 
an  incurable  disease.  19.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  in 
process  of  time,  alter  the  end  of  two  years,  his  bowels  fell 

12.  And  there  came  a  writing  to  him  from  Elijah  the  prophet.  This  is 
a  very  remarkable  incident,  for  it  is  the  only  place  in  Avhich  Elijah  is 
mentioned  in  Chronicles,  and  the  only  occasion  on  which  he  is  said  to 
have  v)ritten  anything,  or  to  have  had  any  dealings  witli  the  southern 
kingdom.  The  chronology  is  so  uncertain  that  it  cannot  be  laid  down 
as  certain  whether  Elijah  at  this  time  was  living  on  earth  or  not.  That 
he  was  still  so  living  is  maintained  in  Milligan's  '  Elijah '  {Men  of  the 
Bible,  pp.  178,  179),  in  which  case  there  would  be  nothing  incredible  in 
his  addressing  a  communication  to  Jehoram. 

If  Elijah  had  left  the  world  at  this  time,  we  can  only  suppose  that  he 
left  some  prophecy  Ijehiiul  him  relating  to  Jehoram,  which  was  now  put 
into  writing  and  sent  to  tlie  king  by  another  prophet. 

17.  Jehoahaz,  the  youngest  of  his  sons.  This  name  appears  in  the  next 
chapter  as  Ahaziah.  Tlie  two  names  are  exactly  the  same  in  derivation, 
but  in  one  case  the  Divine  name  (Jab)  is  a  prefix,  in  the  other  an  affix. 
Cf.  the  two  names  Dorothea  and  Theodora,  both  of  which  mean  'gift  of 
God.' 


AHAZIAH  213 


out  by  reason  of  his  sickness  :  so  he  died  of  sore  diseases. 

And  his  people  made  no  burning  for  him,  ^like  the  burning  cj  chap.  xvi.  14. 

of  his  fathers.     20.  Thirty  and  two  years  old  was  he  when 

he  began  to  reign,  and    he    reigned    in  Jerusalem  eight 

years,  and  departed  without  being  desired.    Howbeit  they 

buried  him  in  the  city  of  David,  but  not  in  the  sepulchres 

of  the  kings. 

XXII.  1.  And  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  made 
Ahaziah  his  youngest  son  king  in  his  stead :  for  the  band  of 
men  that  came  with  the  Arabians  to  the  camp  had  slain 
all  the  eldest,  8o  Ahaziah  the  son  of  Jehoram  king  of 
Judah  reigned.  2.  Forty  and  two  years  old  was  Ahaziah 
when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  one  year  in  Jeru- 
salem. His  mother's  name  also  was  Athaliah  the  daughter 
of  Omri.  3.  He  also  walked  in  the  ways  of  the  house  of 
Ahab  :  for  his  mother  was  his  counsellor  to  do  wickedly. 
4.  Wherefore  he  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  like  the 
house  of  Ahab  :  for  they  were  his  counsellors  after  the 
death  of  his  father  to  his  destruction,  5.  He  walked  also 
after  their  counsel,  and  went  with  Jehoram  the  son  of 
Ahab  king  of  Israel  to  war  against  Hazael  king  of  Syria 
at  Ramoth-gilead  :  and  the  Syrians  ^^  smote  Joram.  6,  ^"  wounded. 
And  he  returned  to  be  healed  in  Jezreel  because  of  the 
wounds  which  were  given  him  at  Ramah,  when  he  fought 
with  Hazael  king  of  Syria.  And  Azariah  the  son  of 
Jehoram  king  of  Judah  went  down  to  see  Jehoram  the 
son  of  Ahab  at  Jezreel,  because  he  was  sick. 

2  KINGS  IX,  1,  And  Elisha  the  prophet  called  one  of 
the  "  children  of  the  prophets,  and  said  unto  him,  Gird  up  "  sons, 
thy  loins,  and  take  this  ^^box  of  oil  in  thine  hand,  and  go  ^-  vial, 
to  Ramoth-gilead  :    2,  And  when  thou  comest  thither,  look 

19,  And  his  people  made  no  burning  for  him.     See  note  on  p.  98, 

20,  And  departed  without  being  desired.  As  wc  should  say,  '  without 
being  regretted  '  ;  or  the  pluvase  may  apply  to  his  life  rather  than  his 
death,  '  He  went  through  his  life  without  being  beloved.' 

2  Kings  ix,  1.  Go  to  Ramoth-gilead.  King  Joram  had  left  his  army 
here,  while  he  himself  retired  to  Jezreel,  his  country  residence,  for  the 


214  2  KINGS  IX. 


out  there  Jehu  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Nimshi, 

and  go  in,  and  make  him  arise  up  from  among  his  brethren, 

and  carry  him  to  an  inner  chamber ;     3.  Then  take  the 

box  of  oil,  and  jwur  it  on  his  head,  and  say,  Thus  saith 

h  1  Kings  xix.    the  LoRD,  ^  I  have  anointed  thee  kincj  over  Israel,  Then 
16.  '  »  ? 

open  the  door,  and  flee,  and  tarry  not.     4,  So  the  young 

man,  even  the  young  man  the  prophet,  went  to  Eamoth- 

gilead.     5.  And  when  he  came,  behold,  the  captains  of  the 

host  were  sitting ;  and  he  said,  I  have  an  errand  to  thee, 

0  captain.     And  Jehu  said,  Unto  which  of  all  us  ?     And 

he  said,  To  thee,  0  captain.     6.  And  he  arose,  and  went 

into  the  house  ;  and  he  poured  the  oil  on  his  head,  and 

said  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  I  have 

anointed  thee  king  over  the  people  of  the  Lord,  even  over 

Israel.     7.  And  thou  shalt  smite  the  house  of  Ahab  thy 

master,  that  I  may  avenge  the  blood  of  my  servants  the 

prophets,  and  the  blood  of  all  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  at 

the  hand  of  Jezebel.     8.    For  the  whole  house  of  Ahab 

i  1  Kings  xxi.    i  shall  perish  :    and   I   will   cut   off  from  Ahab   i3  -^  -h-  ^ 

21. 

13  every  man     and  him  that  is  shut  up  1^  and  left  in  Israel  :     9.  And 

14  and  him  that  I  will  make  the  house  of  Ahab  like  the  house  of 
j  1  Kings  xiv. '  ^  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  like  the  house  of 
\  1  Kin"-s  xvi.  ^  Baasha  the  son  of  Ahijah  :  10.  ^  And  the  dogs  shall 
V{  Kin"-s  xxi  ^^^  Jezebel  in  the  portion  of  Jezreel,  and  there  shall 
22-  he  none  to  bury  her.     And  he  opened  the  door,  and  fled. 

healing  of  his  wound.  The  departure  of  the  king  would  probably  have 
rendered  the  army  discontented,  and  provided  a  favourable  moment  for 
Jehu's  revolt.  The  prophet  recognises  in  this  the  time  for  fulfilling  the 
command  given  by  Cod  to  Elijah.  Jehu  is  to  be  anointed  (no  other  of 
the  kings  of  the  northern  kingdom  is  said  to  have  been  anointed)  as  a 
minister  of  vengeance  on  the  house  of  Ahab.  This  j)unishment  had  been 
foretold  by  Elijah,  but  postponed  for  the  sake  of  Ahab's  repentance  (1 
Kings  xxi.). 

10.  The  dogs  shall  eat  Jezebel  in  the  portion  of  Jezreel.  Almost  a 
quotation  from  the  long-remembered  words  of  Elijah  (1  Kings  xxi.  23). 
It  was  the  most  disgraceful  fate  that  could  befall  any  one,  for  his  carcass 
to  be  eaten  by  the  unclean  dogs  that  act  as  scavengers  of  Oriental  cities. 
The  word  'portion'  is  in  1  Kings  xxi.  'rampart,'  and  probably  means 
some  piece  of  ground  adjacent  to  the  city  walls,  where  rubbish  was 
thrown,  like  the  valley  of  Hinnom  at  Jerusalem. 


JEHU  215 


11.  Then  Jehu  came  forth  to  the  servants  of  his  lord  :  and 

one  said  unto  him,  Is  all  well  ?  wherefore  came  this  mad 

fellow  to  thee  1     And  he  said  unto  them,  Ye  know  the 

man,  ^^and  his  communication.       12.  And  thev  said,  It  is  ^^'  and  whatiiis 

•^  talk  was. 

false  ;  tell  us  now.     And  he  said,  Thus  and  thus  spake  he 

to  me,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  anointed  thee 
king  over  Israel.  13.  Then  they  hasted,  and  took  every 
man  his  garment,  and  put  it  under  him  on  the  top  of  the 
stairs,  and  blew  with  trumpets,  saying,  Jehu  is  king.  14. 
So  Jehu  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Nimshi  con- 
spired against  Joram.  (Now  Joram  had  kept  Eamoth- 
gilead,  he  and  all  Israel,  because  of  Hazael  king  of  Syria. 
15.  But  king  Joram  was  returned  to  be  healed  in  Jezreel 
of  the  wounds  which  the  Syrians  had  given  him,  when  he 
fought  with  Hazael  king  of  Syria.)  And  Jehu  said.  If  it 
be  your  minds,  then  let  none  go  forth  nor  escape  out  of 
the  city  to  go  to  tell  it  in  Jezreel.  16.  So  Jehu  rode  in  a 
chariot,  and  went  to  Jezreel ;  for  Joram  lay  there.  And 
Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  was  come  down  to  see  Joram.  17. 
And  there  stood  a  watchman  on  the  tower  in  Jezreel,  and 
he  spied  the  company  of  Jehu  as  he  came,  and  said,  I  see 
a  company.  And  Joram  said,  Take  an  horseman,  and 
send  to  meet  them,  and  let  him  say.  Is  it  peace  ?  18.  So 
there  went  one  on  horseback  to  meet  him,  and  said.  Thus 
saith  the  king.  Is  it  peace  ?  And  Jehu  said.  What  hast  thou 
to  do  with  peace  ?  turn  thee  behind  me.     And  the  watcli- 

11.  Ye  know  the  man  and  his  communication.  This  does  not  mean 
that  Jehu  suspects  his  fellow-captains  of  being  in  league  with  the  prophet, 
but  that,  as  they  have  called  him  'a  mad  fellow,'  so  naturally  his  com- 
munication must  be  the  ravings  of  a  madman.  It  is  an  attempt  to  laugh 
away  the  matter  for  the  moment,  probabh'  that  he  might  have  time  to 
mature  his  plans. 

13.  Then  they  hasted,  and  took  every  man  his  garment.  The  words  of 
a  prophet  were  evidently  held  in  respect,  even  though  they  had  called 
him  '  a  mad  fellow  ' ;  and  his  message  no  doubt  fitted  well  with  the 
circumstances  and  the  general  wishes.  By  a  sudden  inspiration  they 
proceed  at  once  to  extemporise  a  throne,  by  piling  their  robes  on  the  top 
of  the  staircase,  which  would  probably  be  outside  the  building,  leading 
up  to  the  roof.  By  this  prominent  seat,  and  the  blare  of  trumpets, 
Jehu  is  announced  to  the  army  as  king. 


216  2  KINGS  IX. 


man  told,  saying,  The  messenger  came  to  them,  but  he 
Cometh  not  again.  19.  Then  he  sent  out  a  second  on  horse- 
back, which  came  to  them,  and  said,  Thus  saith  the  king, 
Is  it  j)eace  ?  And  Jehu  answered.  What  hast  thou  to  do 
with  peace  ?  turn  thee  behind  me.  20.  And  the  watch- 
man told,  saying.  He  came  even  unto  them,  and  cometh 
not  again  :  and  the  driving  is  like  the  driving  of  Jehu  the 
son  of  Nimshi ;  for  he  driveth  furiously.  21.  And  Joram 
said,  Make  ready.  And  his  chariot  was  made  ready.  And 
Joram  king  of  Israel  and  Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  went  out, 
16  to  meet  each  in  his  chariot,  and  they  went  out  ^^  against  Jehu,  and 
met  him  in  the  portion  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite.  22,  And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  Joram  saw  Jehu,  that  he  said,  Is  it 
peace,  Jehu  ?  And  he  answered,  What  peace,  so  long  as 
the  whoredoms  of  thy  mother  Jezebel  and  her  witchcrafts 
are  so  many  ?  23.  And  Joram  turned  his  hands,  and  fled, 
and  said  to  Ahaziah,  There  is  treachery,  0  Ahaziah.  24. 
And  Jehu  drew  a  bow  with  his  full  strength,  and  smote 
Jehoram  between  his  arms,  and  the  arrow  went  out  at  his 
heart,  and  he  sank  down  in  his  chariot,  25.  Then  said 
Jehu  to  Bidkar  his  captain.  Take  up,  and  cast  him  in  the 
portion  of  the  field  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite  :  for  remem- 
ber how  that,  when  I  and  thou  rode  too-ether  after  Ahab 


Jehu. 


19.        «■  -  ■  •   j^^g  father,  '"  the  Lord  laid  this   burden  upon  him  ;     20, 

20.  The  driving-  is  like  the  driving  of  Jehu.  This  expression,  which 
has  become  proveibial,  seems  to  point  to  the  character  of  Jehu,  which  is 
well  exemplified  in  this  present  narrative.  The  whole  plot  was  swift, 
conceived  in  a  moment,  and  carried  out  with  headstrong  passion  ;  Jehu's 
violent  personality  sweeps  all  before  him,  the  messengers  of  Joram 
meekly  take  their  places  behind  him  at  his  word. 

22.  Whoredoms — in  the  usual  prophetic  sense  of  '  idolatries.'  Idolatry 
was  regarded  as  an  act  of  unfaithfulness  to  God,  analogous  to  unfaithful- 
ness between  husband  and  wife. 

Witchcrafts,  Heathen  idolatries  arc  usually  accompanied  by  spells, 
incantations,  and  other  forbidden  methods  of  communication  with  powers 
of  evil  or  spirits  of  the  dead. 

25.  The  LORD  laid  this  burden  upon  him.  '  Burden  '  here  is  almost 
equivalent  to  'curse';  it  is  one  of  the  words  used  by  the  propliets  to 
express  a  divine  sentence  of  judgment  laid  upon  an  individual  or  nation. 
Cf.  the  different  'burdens'  in  Isaiah  xiii.-xxiii. 


JEZEBEL  217 


Surely  I  have  seen  yesterday  the  blood  of  Naboth,  and 

the  blood  of  his  sons,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  I  will  requite 

thee  in  this  plat,  saith  the  Lord.    Now  therefore  take  and 

cast  him  into  the  plat  of  ground,  according  to  the  word  of 

the  Lord,     27.  But  when  Ahaziah  the  king  of  Judah  saw 

this,  he  fled  by  the  way  of  the  garden  house.     And  Jehu 

followed  after  him,  and  said,  Smite  him  also  in  the  chariot. 

And  they  did  so  at  the  going  up  to  Gur,  which  is  by 

Ibleani.     And  he  fled  to  Megiddo,  and  died  there.     28. 

And  his  servants  carried  him  in  a  chariot  to  Jerusalem, 

and  buried  him  in  his  sepulchre  with  his  fathers  in  the 

city  of  David.    29.  And  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Joram  the 

son  of  Ahab  began  Ahaziah  to  reign  over  Judah.    30.  And 

when  Jehu  was  come  to  Jezreel,  Jezebel  heard  of  it ;  and 

she  painted  her  i"  face,  and  tired  her  head,  and  looked  out  ^'^  eyes  (Ezek. 

^   .  '  ,  '  xxiii.  40). 

at  a  window.     31.  And  as  Jehu  entered  in  at  the  gate,  she 

27.  He  fled  by  the  way  of  the  garden  house.  This  may  have  been 
simply  some  house  among  the  royal  gardens  at  Jezreel,  or  it  may  be  a 
proper  name,  Beth-gan,  some  place  on  the  way  to  Samaria. 

Smite  him  also  in  the  chariot.  This  was  not  arbitrary  bloodshed,  but 
a  carrying  out  of  the  judgment  on  the  family  of  Ahab,  as  Ahaziah's 
mother  was  Athaliah,  the  daughter  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel. 

And  he  fled  to  Megiddo,  and  died  there.  The  account  in  2  Chron.  xxii. 
does  not  quite  tally  with  this  ;  it  is  stated  there  that  Ahaziah  hid  in 
Samaria,  and  thence  was  brought  to  Jehu  and  slain.  Perhaps  the  LXX 
gives  some  key  to  the  discrepancy,  for  it  inserts  a  statement  that  Ahaziah 
went  to  Samaria  to  be  cured  of  his  wound.  He  may  have  been  wounded 
in  his  flight,  and  then  hunted  from  one  hiding  place  to  another,  and  finally 
killed  by  Jehu,  or  by  his  orders,  at  Megiddo,  a  place  on  the  south  of  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon. 

30.  She  painted  her  face,  and  tired  her  head.  The  painting  of  the  eyes 
was,  and  is  still,  a  regular  method  of  feminine  adornment  in  the  East ; 
antimony  was  generally  used  for  the  purpose.  Some  of  the  paint  was 
actually  inserted  in  the  eye,  and  black  lines  were  drawn  round  the  e}^, 
giving  it  both  an  enlarged  and  elongated  appearance.  Both  the  paint- 
pots  and  the  tool  used  for  the  purpose  have  been  discovered  in  ancient 
tombs.  It  M'as  not  common,  however,  in  Israel,  and  was  not  considered 
a  reputable  thing  to  do.  But  it  was  a  regular  practice  with  the  Arabs, 
Egyptians,  and  Chaldeans.  One  of  Job's  daughters  derived  her  name 
apparently  from  this.  Keren-happuch= '  horn  for  paint.'  Jezebel 
adorned  herself  in  this  way,  and  'tired  her  head,'  probably  with  a 
diadem,  as  a  final  piece  of  bravado.     She  intended  to  die  a  queen. 


218  2  KINGS  IX. 


18  Is  it  peace,  said,  ^^  Had  Zimri  peace,  who  slew  his  master?  32.  And 
thoi;  master's  he  lifted  up  his  foce  to  the  window,  and  said,  Who  is  on 
my  side  ?  who  ?  And  there  looked  out  to  him  two  or  three 
eunuchs.  33.  And  he  said.  Throw  her  down.  So  they 
threw  her  down  :  and  some  of  her  blood  was  sprinkled  on 
the  wall,  and  on  the  horses  :  and  he  trod  her  under  foot. 
34.  And  when  he  was  come  in,  he  did  eat  and  drink,  and 
said.  Go,  see  now  this  cursed  ivoman,  and  bury  her  :  for 
1  Kings  xvi.  "  she  is  a  king's  daughter.  35.  And  they  went  to  bury 
her  :  but  they  found  no  more  of  her  than  the  skull,  and 
the  feet,  and  the  palms  of  her  hands.  36.  Wherefore  they 
came  again,  and  told  him.  And  he  said,  This  is  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  his  servant  Elijah  the 
Tishbite,  saying.  In  the  portion  of  Jezreel  shall  dogs  eat 
the  flesh  of  Jezebel :  37.  And  the  carcase  of  Jezebel  shall 
be  as  dung  upon  the  face  of  the  field  in  the  portion  of 
Jezreel ;  so  that  they  shall  not  say,  This  is  Jezebel. 


31 


31.  Had  Zimri  peace?  See  the  Revised  Version  and  the  reference  in 
1  Kings  xvi.  Zimri  only  enjoyed  his  usurped  kingdom  for  seven  days, 
and  burned  himself  to  death  in  his  palace  when  besieged  by  Omri. 

37.  So  that  they  shall  not  say,  This  is  Jezebel.  No  monument  or 
memorial  was  to  be  erected  to  preserve  the  memory  of  her  greatness,  or 
even  of  her  crimes.  She  would  probably  have  wished  to  be  remembered 
for  her  wickedness  ;  but  even  that  perverted  renown  is  denied  her.  Her 
end  was  '  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.' 


LESSON  XXIV 
Elisha,  Hazael,  and  Jehu 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  The  fulfilment  of  God's  command         1.  Refer  to  Lesson  xiv. 
to  Elijah.  Show   why  the    appointment   of 

Probably  some  twenty  years  be-     Hazael  and  Jehu  had  been  delayed. 

upon 


fore,  Elnah  had  been  commissioned  rt    i^       •     i.-  -x 

,      At!     i        •   ^5^1  Gods     lustice     ever     waits 
by  God  to  '  anoint    three  avengers  *" 

(1   Kings  xix.).     The  first,  Elisha,  "^ercy. 

had  been  called    at  once  ;  but  the         It  is  a  question  which  the  teacher 

'anointing'  of  the  other  two  had  should  consider  carefully,  how  far 

been  postponed  by  God  because  of  ^he  details  of  these  chapters  of  ven- 

AJj'^b's   repentance    (1    Kings   xxi.  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^   ^^  ^^.^^  ^^^^^.^  ^j^.^. 

29).     Now  the  full  time  has  come,  ^ 

for  Ahab's  S(m  Ahaziah  '  walked  in  dren. 

the  ways  of  the  house  of  Ahab.' 


ELISHA,  HAZAEL,  AND  JEHU 


219 


Lesson  XXIV —continued. 
Matter. 


Elisha  does  not  'anoint,'  but 
simply  marks  out  prophetically 
Hazael  as  a  destined  minister  of 
vengeance.  The  prophet  is  com- 
pelled to  see  what  he  would  fain 
not  have  seen,  to  utter  predictions 
which  caused  him  intense  sorrow. 
The  tears  of  Elisha  over  the  coming 
sufferings  of  his  people  at  the  hand 
of  Hazael  are  a  type  of  the  tears 
which  our  Lord  shed  over  Jeru- 
salem, when  He  foretold  its  terrible 
destruction  by  the  Romans. 

Elisha  does,  by  his  deputy,  'an- 
oint '  Jehu  (the  only  king  of  the 
northern  kingdom  who  is  said  to 
have  been  anointed).  Beyond  this 
the  prophet  seems  to  have  taken  no 
part  in  Jehu's  rebellion,  or  his  ven- 
geance on  the  house  of  Ahab. 

2.  Divine  vengeance. 

The  sacred  history  gives  us  the 
inner  meaning  of  the  political  his- 
tory. To  the  ordinary  observer, 
Hazael's  inroads  were  merely  the 
savage  and  lawless  acts  of  a  tyrant 
who  had  come  to  the  throne  by 
treachery  and  murder,  and  who, 
perhaps  for  the  sake  of  keeping  his 
throne,  engaged  in  the  plundering 
and  harrying  of  weaker  neighbours. 
Jehu  again  would  appear  to  be  a 
successful  usurper,  who  chose  a 
favourable  moment  for  an  attack  on 
a  weak  and  unpopular  sovereign, 
and  carried  out  his  attempt  in  a 
swift  and  merciless  manner. 

And  yet  both  these,  the  former 
unconsciousl}',  the  latter  with  very 
imperfect  motive,  were  the  instru- 
ments of  a  Power  higher  than 
themselves.  They  were  executing 
God's  wrath  upon  a  kingdom  and 
a  line  of  rulers  who  had  failed, 
morally  and  religiously,  of  the 
standard  to  which  conscience  and 
prophecj''  bore  witness. 

To  this  extent  the  Holy  Spirit 
bids  us  see  the  hand  of  (lod  in  the 
acts  of  Hazael  and  Jehu.  But  we 
are  not  called  upon  to  approve  the 


Elisha,  Hazael,  and  Jehu 

Method. 
The  call  of  Jehu,  and  his  fierce 
driving  to  the  palace,  will  naturally 
be  described,  but  his  murderous 
acts  here  and  in  the  next  lesson 
should  be  touched  upon  lightly, 
and  chief  prominence  be  given  to 
the  truth  that  God,  when  His 
mercy  is  disregarded,  does  punish 
the  wicked  even  in  this  world. 


2.  This  truth  is  difficult  for 
children.  Indeed  it  is  often  a  diffi- 
culty to  the  uninstructed  that  such 
actions  as  those  of  Hazael  and  Jehu 
are  described  as  being  done  by 
God's  will. 

Such  a  difficulty  can  only  be 
answered  by  insisting  upon  two 
parallel  and  inseparable  truths. 

(1)  The  essential  righteousness  of 
God.  He  can  never  be  the  author 
of  evil,  or  approve  evil. 

(2)  The  sovereignty  of  God  Who, 
while  allowing  man  to  exercise  free- 
will, makes  every  human  action 
serve  His  own  righteous  purpose. 
Otherwise  God  would  not  be  Al- 
might}-,  and  evil  would  triumph 
over  Him. 

So  children  might  be  told  that 
God  allows  one  evil  man  to  punish 
another  ;  yet  delights  only  in  good, 
and  in  the  actions  of  the  good. 

In  this  particular  instance  refer- 
ence might  be  made  to  Hosea  i.  4, 
where  God  promises  to  avenge  the 


220 


2  KINGS  IX. 


Lesson  XXIV — continued. 

Matter. 
acts  themselves.  They  were  cruel, 
and  often  evil ;  but  God  makes 
all  things,  even  the  acts  of  the 
wicked,  to  co-operate  in  fulfilling 
His  own  purposes,  which  can  never 
fail. 

Even  those  who  crucified  our 
Lord  were  working  out  a  Divine 
purpose,  which  would  doubtless 
have  been  accomplished  in  some 
other  way,  had  sin  not  entered  the 
world. 

8.  The  end  of  Jezebel. 

A  visible  proof  of  the  judgment 
of  God  upon  one  who  had  abused  a 
high  position  and  natural  force  of 
character.  It  is  a  terrible  picture 
of  obstinate  persistence  in  wicked- 
ness and  of  the  ultimate  powerless- 
ness  of  evil  before  the  power  and 
righteousness  of  God.  She  who 
had  wielded  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  and  had  trampled  on  all  the 
laws  of  God  and  man,  is  at  the  mercy 
of  a  few  palace  servants,  and  is 
trampled  beneath  the  conqueror's 
horses  :  she  who  had  aimed  at  least 
to  die  as  a  queen  is  left  without 
any  memorial,  devoured  by  dogs. 


Elisha,  Hazael,  and  Jehu 

Method. 
blood  of  Jezreel  upon  the  house  of 
Jehu. 


3,  Refer  to  Jezebel's  cruelty  to 
Nabothandtheprophetsof  the  Lord, 
and  to  her  absolute  impenitence. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Elisha,  a  Holy  Prophet. 

Hazael,  a  Heathen  Usurper. 

Jehu,  a  Fierce  Soldier. 

All  were  made  by  God  to  execute  His  purpose - 

Elisha  by  declaring  God's  word  ; 

Hazael  by  punishing  Israel ; 

Jehu  by  killing  Ahaziah,  Jehoram,  Jezebel, 
because  they  refused  to  hear  God's  word 
and  to  repent. 


JEHU  221 


2  KINGS  X. 

AND  Ahab  had  seventy  sons  in  Samaria.  And  Jehu 
.  wrote  letters,  and  sent  to  Samaria,  unto  the  rulers 
of  Jezreel,  to  the  elders,  and  to  them  that  brought 
up  Ahab's  children,  saying,  2.  Now  as  soon  as  this  letter 
Cometh  to  you,  seeing  your  master's  sons  are  with  you,  and 
there  are  with  you  chariots  and  horses,  a  fenced  city  also, 
and  armour  ;  3.  Look  even  out  the  best  and  meetest  of 
your  master's  sons,  and  set  him  on  his  father's  throne,  and 
fight  for  your  master's  house.  4.  But  they  were  exceed- 
ingly afraid,  and  said,  Behold,  two  kings  stood  not  before 
him  :  how  then  shall  we  stand  ?  5.  And  he  that  ivas  over 
the  house,  and  he  that  was  over  the  city,  the  elders  also,  and 
the  bringers  up  of  the  children,  sent  to  Jehu,  saying,  We 
are  thy  servants,  and  will  do  all  that  thou  shalt  bid  us  ; 
we  will  not  make  any  king  :  do  thou  that  which  is  good  in 
thine  eyes.  6.  Then  he  wrote  a  letter  the  second  time  to 
them,  saying.  If  ye  he  mine,  and  if  ye  will  hearken  unto 
my  voice,  take  ye  the  heads  of  the  men  your  master's  sons, 
and  come  to  me  to  Jezreel  by  to  morrow  this  time.  Now 
the  king's  sons,  being  seventy  persons,  were  with  the  great 
men  of  the  city,  which  brought  them  up.  7.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  when  the  letter  came  to  them,  that  they  took  the 

1.  The  rulers  of  Jezreel.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  what  the  chief 
men  of  Jezreel  had  to  do  with  Samaria  ;  and  it  has  been  suggested  that 
the  word  is  a  copyist's  mistake  for  'Israel.' 

6.  Ttien  he  wrote  a  letter  the  second  time.  Jehu's  action  is  exceedingly 
crafty.  The  success  of  his  usurpation  was  by  no  means  sure,  especially 
as  there  were  so  many  possible  candidates  to  the  throne,  and  the  capital, 
Samaria,  a  fortified  city,  was  not  j'et  in  his  hands.  Instead  of  attacking 
Samaria  directh",  he  succeeds  in  frightening  the  chief  men  into  surrender- 
ing their  trust  and  removing  the  rivals  out  of  the  way,  and  so  involving 
themselves  in  his  rebellion  that  retreat  would  be  impossible.  They 
were  not  prepared  to  take  so  decided  a  step  as  choosing  one  of  Ahab's 
sons  as  king,  and  in  revolutions  particularly  'those  who  hesitate  are 
lost.'  They  had  no  alternative  but  to  say,  'We  are  thy  servants' 
(ver.  5). 


222  2  KINGS  X. 


king's  sons,  and  slew  seventy  ijersons,  and  put  their  heads 
in  baskets,  and  sent  him  them  to  Jezreel.  8.  And  there 
came  a  messenger,  and  told  him,  saying,  They  have  brought 
the  heads  of  the  king's  sons.  And  he  said,  Lay  ye  them 
in  two  heaps  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gate  until  the  morn- 
ing. 9.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  morning,  that  he  went 
out,  and  stood,  and  said  to  all  the  peojile,  Ye  he  righteous  : 
behold,  I  conspired  against  my  master,  and  slew  him  :  but 
who  slew  all  these  ?  10.  Know  now  that  there  shall  fall 
unto  the  earth  nothing  of  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  the 
Lord  spake  concerning  the  house  of  Ahab  :  for  the  Lord 
hath  done  that  which  he  spake  by  his  servant  Elijah.  11. 
So  Jehu  slew  all  that  remained  of  the  house  of  Ahab  in 

1  familiar  Jezreel,  and  all  his  great  men,  and  his  ^  kinsfolks,  and  his 

friends.  .  -^    ■,       -,    n     i  •  •    •  .ii 

priests,  untd  he  left  him  none  remaining.  12.  And  he 
arose  and  departed,  and  came  to  Samaria.  Aiid  as  he  was 
at  the  shearing  house  in  the  way,  13.  Jehu  met  with  the 
brethren  of  Ahaziah  king  of  Judah,  and  said,  Who  are  ye  ? 
And  they  answered,  We  are  the  brethren  of  Ahaziah  ;  and 
we  go  down  to  salute  the  children  of  the  king  and  the 

9.  Ye  be  righteous,  etc.  Jehu  thus  makes  his  appeal  ad  populum.  He 
evidently  wishes  to  show  (1)  that  his  action  had  been  backed  up,  and 
indeed  exceeded,  by  the  action  of  the  chief  men  of  the  capital ;  (2)  that 
the  destruction  of  the  entire  family  of  Ahab  was  a  matter  of  God's  decree, 
which  miist  happen.  He  begins,  therefore,  by  complimenting  the  people 
— they  are  'righteous,'  they  have  the  poM-er  of  giving  a  right  judgment 
in  the  matter  ;  they  can  judge  whether  his  usurpation  is  not  both  in 
accordance  with  the  general  feeling  and  with  God's  justice. 

11.  So  Jehu  slew  all  that  remained  of  the  house  of  Ahab  in  Jezreel. 

This  verse  seems  to  include  not  only  a  general  slaughter  of  the  adherents 
of  Ahab  in  Jezreel,  but  all  the  subsequent  massacres  of  priests,  etc. ,  as 
recorded  in  the  rest  of  the  chapter. 

12.  The  shearing-  house.  Some  building  by  the  highway,  where  the 
flocks  were  accustoincd  to  be  gathered  before  they  were  shorn.  It  would 
probably  form  a  suitable  halting  place  for  a  company  of  travellers,  having 
a  reservoir  of  water,  the  'pit'  of  ver.  14. 

13.  We  go  down  to  salute  the  children  of  the  king  and  the  children 
of  the  queen.  The  'queen'  is  evidently  'Jezebel,'  the  queen-motlier. 
Jehu  must  have  acted  with  great  swiftness.  This  m^is  apparently  only 
tlie  day  after  the  murder  of  Joram  and  Jezebel,  and  the  '  brethren  of 


JEHU  AND  JEHONADAB  223 

children  of  the  queen.  14.  And  he  said,  Take  them  alive. 
And  they  took  them  alive,  and  slew  them  at  the  pit  of  the 
shearing  house,  even  two  and  forty  men  ;  neither  left  he 
any  of  them.  15.  And  wlien  he  was  departed  thence,  he 
lighted  on  Jehonadab  the  son  of  Recliab  coming  to  meet 
him  :  and  he  saluted  him,  and  said  to  him,  Is  thine  heart 
right,  as  my  heart  is  with  thy  heart  ?  And  Jehonadab 
answered,  It  is.  If  it  be,  give  me  thine  hand.  And  he 
gave  him  his  hand  ;  and  he  took  him  up  to  him  into  the 
chariot.  16.  And  he  said,  Come  with  me,  and  see  my  zeal 
for  the  Lord.  So  they  made  him  ride  in  his  chariot.  17. 
And  when  he  came  to  Samaria,  he  slew  all  that  remained 
unto  Ahab  in  Samaria,  till  he  had  destroyed  him,  according 
to  the  saying  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  to  Elijah.  18. 
And  Jehu  gathered  all  the  people  together,  and  said  unto 

Aliaziah  '  had  heard  nothing  of  what  had  happened.  As  these  '  brethren  ' 
were  in  a  sense  related  to  the  house  of  Ahab,  through  Athaliah,  Jehu 
apparently  considered  that  his  mission  of  vengeance  must  include  them 
also. 

15.  Jehonadab  the  son  of  Rechab.  The  founder  of  the  family  mentioned 
in  the  remarkable  passage,  Jeremiah  xxxv.,  the  Rechabites  who  neither 
had  'vineyard,  nor  field,  nor  seed,'  and  who  drank  no  wine.  Jehonadab 
belonged  to  the  Kenites  (1  Chron.  ii.  55),  the  pastoral  people  of  Sinai, 
from  whom  Moses  had  taken  his  wife,  and  who  lived  in  Palestine  in 
friendship  with  the  Israelites  (see  Judges  i.  16  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  6).  Appar- 
ently the  intention  of  Jehonadab  in  laying  such  a  singular  charge  upon 
his  descendants  was  to  preserve  their  pastoral  and  nomadic  character, 
and  to  prevent  them  being  absorbed  into  the  settled  city-life  of  the 
Israelites.  They  are  not  commended  by  Jeremiah  for  their  actiial 
observances,  but  for  their  faithfulness  to  the  commands  of  their  ancestor. 

Jehonadab  was  evidently  a  person  of  great  influence  and  a  worshipper 
of  Jehovah,  and  as  such  Jehu  was  anxious  to  have  him  openly  on  his 
side.  There  is  a  striking  description  of  this  meeting  between  '  the 
warrior  and  the  ascetic'  in  Stanley's  History  of  the  Jewish  Church. 

Is  thine  heart  right,  as  my  heart  is  with  thy  heart  ?  Are  you  loyal 
to  Jehovah  and  to  me  the  messenger  of  His  vengeance,  even  as  I  am 
well  disposed  towards  you  ? 

If  it  be,  give  me  thine  hand.  The  words  of  Jehu  in  answer  to 
Jehonadab's,  'It  is.' 

17.  All  that  remained  unto  Ahab.  The  sons  of  Ahab  were  ah-eady 
slain,  so  this  must  mean  those  who  were  in  any  way  connected  with 
Ahab's  family,  or  likely  to  oppose  Jehu. 


224  2  KINGS  X. 


them,  Ahab  served  Baal  a  little  ;  but  Jehu  shall  serve  him 
much.     19.  Now  therefore  call  unto  me  all  the  prophets  of 

2  worshippers.    Baal,  all  his  2  servants,  and  all  his  priests  ;  let  none  be 

wanting  :  for  I  have  a  great  sacrifice  to  do  to  Baal ;  who- 
soever shall  be  wanting,  he  shall  not  live.  But  Jehu  did 
it  in  subtilty,  to  the  intent  that  he  might  destroy  the 

3  Sanctify.         worshippers  of  Baal.     20.  And  Jehu  said,  ^  Proclaim  a 

solemn  assembly  for  Baal.  And  they  proclaimed  it.  21. 
And  Jehu  sent  through  all  Israel :  and  all  the  worshippers 
of  Baal  came,  so  that  there  was  not  a  man  left  that  came 
not.  And  they  came  into  the  house  of  Baal ;  and  the 
house  of  Baal  was  full  from  one  end  to  another.  22.  And 
he  said  unto  him  that  loas  over  the  vestry.  Bring  forth 
vestments  for  all  the  worshippers  of  Baal.  And  he  brought 
them  forth  vestments.  23.  And  Jehu  went,  and  Jehonadab 
the  son  of  Eechab,  into  the  house  of  Baal,  and  said  unto 
the  worshippers  of  Baal,  Search,  and  look  that  there  be 
here  with  you  none  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  but  the 

18.  Jeliu  shall  serve  Mm  much.  Apparently  Jehu  had  hitherto  repre- 
sented his  usurpation  as  a  protest  against  the  cruelty  of  Ahab,  especiallj' 
to  Naboth,  rather  than  against  the  Baal-worship,  It  was  not  known 
publicly  what  line  he  would  take  with  regard  to  religion.  Hence  the 
Baal-worshippers  were  eager  to  take  advantage  of  his  apparent  desire  to 
honour  Baal.  Cf.  the  nonconformist  emissaries  to  Charles  ii.  at  the 
Hague. 

20.  Proclaim  a  solemn  assembly.  The  words  used  were  those  appro- 
priate to  a  solemn  gathering  of  all  Israel  for  religious  purposes,  like,  for 
example,  the  gathering  for  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple.  Jehu's 
action  looked  like  a  grand  installation  of  Baal  as  the  new  national  God 
of  Israel. 

21.  The  house  of  Baal.  Evidently  an  opposition  temple  had  been 
erected  by  Jezebel,  which  must  have  rivalled  the  Temple  of  Jehovah  in 
size,  and  probably  in  splendour. 

22.  Vestments  for  all  the  worshippers  of  Baal.  It  is  not  known  what 
sort  of  vestments  these  were,  but  probabl}^  they  were  of  Tyrian  work- 
manship. That  they  were  given  to  all  the  worshippers,  however,  shoM's 
that  there  was  nothing  peculiarly  sacerdotal  about  them.  They  were 
doubtless  intended  to  add  to  the  festivity  of  the  occasion.  Oriental 
sovereigns  collected  great  stores  of  'changes  of  raiment,'  and  there  was 
in  this  case  an  officer  specially  in  charge  of  the  royal  wardrobe.  And  it 
is  evident  from  the  parable  of  the  marriage  feast  (S.  Matt,  xxii.)  that 
kings  on  great  occasions  distribute  festal  garments. 


DESTEUCTION  OF  BAAL  225 

worshippers  of  Baal  only.  24.  And  when  they  went  in  to 
offer  sacrifices  and  burnt  offerings,  Jehu  appointed  four- 
score men  without,  and  said,  If  any  of  the  men  whom  I 
liave  brought  into  your  hands  escape,  he  that  letteth  him  go, 
his  life  shall  be  for  the  life  of  him.  25.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  as  soon  as  he  had  made  an  end  of  oflfering  the  burnt 
oflFering,  that  Jehu  said  to  the  guard  and  to  the  captains. 
Go  in,  and  slay  them ;  let  none  come  forth.  And  they 
smote  them  with  the  edge  of  the  sword  ;  and  the  guard 
and  the  captains  cast  them  out,  and  went  to  the  city  of  the 
house  of  Baal.  26.  And  they  brought  forth  the  *  images  4  pinars. 
out  of  the  house  of  Baal,  and  burned  them.  27.  And  they 
brake  down  the  image  of  Baal,  and  brake  down  the  house 
of  Baal,  and  made  it  a  draught  house  imto  this  day.  28. 
Thus  Jehu  destroyed  Baal  out  of  Israel.  29.  Howbeit 
from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made 
Israel  to  sin,  Jehu  departed  not  from  after  them,  to  vrit, 
the  golden  calves  that  were  in  Beth-el,  and  that  ivere  in 
Dan.  30.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jehu,  Because  thou 
hast  done  well  in  executing  that  which  is  right  in  mine 
eyes,  and  hast  done  unto  the  house  of  Ahab  according  to 
all  that  ivas  in  mine  heart,  thy  °  children  of  the  fourth  5  sons. 
generation  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  Israel.  31.  But  Jehu 
took  no  heed  to  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 
with  all  his  heart  :  for  he  departed  not  from  the  sins  of 
Jeroboam,  which  made  Israel  to  sin.     32.  In  those  days 

25.  The  city  of  the  house  of  Baal.  As  the  whole  incident  here  evi- 
dently takes  place  iu  Samaria,  the  'city 'spoken  of  can  only  mean  the 
enclosure,  with  its  different  courts  and  buildings,  within  which  stood  the 
actual  '  house  of  Baal. ' 

27.  A  draught  house.  A  place  for  the  reception  of  filth  and  refuse, 
31.  But  Jehu  took  no  heed  to  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 
with  all  his  heart.  Jehu's  'zeal  for  the  Lord'  went  only  as  far  as  his 
own  tastes,  or  political  exi)ediency,  allowed.  The  calf- worship  was  now 
rooted  in  the  affectious  of  the  people  as  a  whole.  It  was  the  symbol  of 
their  independence  of  Jerusalem.  Probably  Baal  worship  was  disliked 
by  many  of  them  simply  as  being  a  foreign  introduction,  not  in  the  least 
because  it  was  contrary  to  God's  law.  Hence  while  that  was  destroyed, 
the  national  and  established  idolatry  was  left  alone. 

See  a  sermon  by  Liddon  on  '  The  Zeal  of  Jehu '  in  Sermons  on  the  Old 
HEE.  MON.  :   VOL.  II.  P 


226  2  KINGS  X. 


the  Lord  began  to  cut  Israel  short :  and  Hazael  smote 
them  in  all  the  coasts  of  Israel ;  33.  From  Jordan  east- 
ward, all  the  land  of  Gilead,  the  Gadites,  and  the  Keu- 
benites,  and  the  Manassites,  from  Aroer,  which  is  by  the 
river  Arnon,  even  Gilead  and  Bashan.  34.  Now  the  rest  of 
the  acts  of  Jehu,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  all  his  might,  are 
they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  ?  35.  And  Jehu  slept  with  his  fathers  :  and  they 
buried  him  in  Samaria.  And  Jehoahaz  his  son  reigned  in 
his  stead.  36.  And  the  time  that  Jehu  reigned  over  Israel 
in  Samaria  was  twenty  and  eight  years. 

Testament.     The  striking  lines  by  Newman  in  the  Lyra  Ajjostolica  on 
'  The  Zeal  of  Jehu  '  should  be  noticed — 

'  Thou  to  wax  fierce 

In  the  cause  of  the  Lord, 
To  threat  and  to  pierce 

With  the  heavenly  sword  ; 
Anger  and  Zeal 

And  the  joy  of  the  brave 
Who  bade  thee  feel, 

Sin's  slave. 

The  Altar's  pure  flame 

Consumes  as  it  soars  ; 
Faith  meetly  may  blame, 

For  it  serves  and  adores. 
Thou  warrest  and  smitest ! 

Yet  Christ  must  atone 
For  a  soul  that  thou  slightest— 

Thine  own.' 

32.  Hazael  smote  them-  in  all  the  coasts  of  Israel — i.e.  on  all  the 
*  borders '  of  their  territory.  Hazael,  from  the  description  that  follows, 
seems  to  have  overrun  all  the  country  east  of  Jordan. 

34.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehu,  etc.  The  events  of  the  twenty- 
eight  years  of  Jehu's  reign  are  almost  unrecorded  in  Scripture.  With 
him,  as  with  Ahab  (1  Kings  xxii.  39),  the  'might'  and  greatness  which 
would  find  place  in  a  secular  chronicle  were  omitted  in  the  sacred  narra- 
tive. Only  those  events  which  show  Divine  purpose  and  Divine  retribu- 
tion are  recorded. 


JEIIU 


22< 


LESSON  XXV 
Jehu 

1.  Jehu  professed  great  '  zeal  for  the  Lord,'  but  his  zeal  seems  only 
half-hearted.  He  did  not  really  love  God  or  His  service.  He  was  ready 
to  destroy  Baal-worship,  but  he  did  not  find  it  expedient  from  a  worldly 
point  of  view  to  attempt  any  further  reformation  of  religion,  He  con- 
tinued in  that  course  of  idolatry  and  alienation  from  the  true  worship  of 
Jehovah  which  was  in  the  end  to  prove  the  ruin  of  the  northern  kingdom, 

2.  God's  approval  is  expressed  for  Jehu's  punishment  of  the  house  of 
Ahab  ;  but  nothing  is  said  about  the  massacre  of  the  Baal-worshippers. 
It  certainly  seems  that  the  extirpation  of  Baal  was  conducted  with 
unnecessary  treachery  and  bloodshed.  Indeed  the  whole  of  Jehu's  con- 
duct seems  actuated  by  a  headstrong  and  self-seeking  spirit.  Just  as  he 
failed  in  whole-hearted  love  of  God,  there  is  little  trace  of  any  devotion 
to  the  good  of  his  people.  Failure  in  the  love  of  God  was  combined  with 
lack  of  the  love  of  man.     Refer  to  the  two  '  great  Commandments.' 

3.  The  silence  of  Scripture  concerning  the  reign  of  Jehu  is  significant, 
and  should  be  explained  by  the  teacher.  In  God's  book  of  remembrance, 
human  actions  are  estimated  by  a  different  standard  than  that  of  con- 
temporary opinion.  Little  actions  done  in  a  very  short  time  may  be  of 
more  value  for  good  or  evil  in  God's  sight  than  the  events  of  many  years. 
This  is  the  secret  of  the  '  selected  '  history  of  the  Bible. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Jehu. 

Jehu  destroyed  Baal-w^orship,  but  not 

the 

golden  calves. 

He  did  not  love  God  with  all  his  heart, 

and 

so  w^as  himself  guilty  of 

idolatry, 

cruelty. 

A  great  and  successful  king  in  the  eyes  of 

men,  but  not  in  the  sight  of  God. 

228  2  CHEON.  XXII.  10-12  :  XXIII.  ;  XXIV. 


2  CHRON.  XXII.   10-12;  XXIIL ;  XXIV. 


B 


UT  when  Athaliali  the  mother  of  Ahaziah  saw  that 
her  son  was  dead,  she  arose  and  destroyed  all  the 
seed  royal  of  the  house  of  Judah.  11.  But  Jehosha- 
beath,  the  daughter  of  the  king,  took  Joash  the  son  of 
Ahaziah,  and  stole  him  from  among  the  king's  sons  that 
were  slain,  and  put  him  and  his  nurse  in  a  bedchamber. 
So  Jehoshabeath,  the  daughter  of  king  Jehoram,  the  wife 
of  Jehoiada  the  priest,  (for  she  was  the  sister  of  Ahaziah,) 
hid  him  from  Athaliah,  so  that  she  slew  him  not.  1 2.  And 
he  was  with  them  hid  in  the  house  of  God  six  years  :  and 
Athaliah  reigned  over  the  land. 

XXIII.  1.  And  in  the  seventh  year  Jehoiada  strength- 
ened himself,  and  took  the  cajDtains  of  hundreds,  Azariah 
the  son  of  Jejoham,  and  Ishmael  the  son  of  Jehohanan, 
and  Azariah  the  son  of  Obed,  and  Maaseiah  the  son  of 
Adaiah,  and  Elishaphat  the  son  of  Zichri,  into  covenant 
with  him.  2.  And  they  went  about  in  Judah,  and  gathered 
the  Levites  out  of  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  the  chief  of 
the  fathers  of  Israel,  and  they  came  to  Jerusalem.  3.  And 
all  the  congregation  made  a  covenant  with  the  king  in  the 
house  of  God.     And  he  said  unto  them,  Behold,  the  king's 

a  2  Sam.  vii.      SOU  shall  reign,  "  as  the  Lord  hath  said  of  the  sons  of  David. 

25.     ^^°""  '^'     4.  This  is  the  thing  that  ye  shall  do  ;  ^A  third  part  of  you 

10.  All  the  seed  royal  of  the  house  of  Judah.  None  of  Ahaziah's 
children  could  have  Taeen  more  than  infants ;  he  was  only  twenty- 
three  when  lie  died  at  the  hands  of  Jehu.  Athaliah  was  the  daughter  of 
Ahab  and  Jezebel.  No  doubt  as  queen-mother  she  was  next  in  power  to 
her  son,  and  would  easily  usurp  the  kingdom  on  his  death. 

11.  Jehoshabeath.  Called  in  Kings  'Jehosheba';  two  forms  of  the 
same  name,  which  is  compounded  of  the  sacred  name  and  the  M'ord  *  oath ' 
(as  in  Beer-sheba,  '  well  of  the  oath  ').  She  was  the  daughter  of  Jehoram 
or  Joram,  and  therefore  the  aunt  of  Joash. 

XXIII.  2.  And  gathered  the  Levites.  Chronicles  here  adds  to  the  account 
in  Kings  the  fact  that  it  was  the  Levites  who  carried  out  the  insurrec- 
tion. The  Chronicler  is  careful  always  to  narrate  any  details  which  bear 
on  the  Temple  or  its  ministers. 


JEHOIADA  229 


entering  on  the  sabbath,  of  the  priests  and  of  the  Levites, 
shall  be  porters  of  the  doors  ;  5.  And  a  third  part  shall  be 
at  the  king's  house  ;  and  a  third  part  at  the  gate  of  the 
foundation  :  and  all  the  people  shall  be  in  the  courts  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord.  6.  But  let  none  come  into  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  save  the  priests,  and  they  that  minister  of  the 
Levites  ;  they  shall  go  in,  for  they  are  holy  :  but  all  the 
l^eople  shall  keep  the  watch  of  the  Lord.  7.  And  the 
Levites  shall  compass  the  king  round  about,  every  man 
with  his  weapons  in  his  hand  ;  and  whosoever  else  cometh 
into  the  house,  he  shall  be  put  to  death  :  but  be  ye  with 
the  king  when  he  cometh  in,  and  when  he  goeth  out. 
8.  So  the  Levites  and  all  Judah  did  according  to  all  things 
that  Jehoiada  the  priest  had  commanded,  and  took  every 
man  his  men  that  were  to  come  in  on  the  sabbath,  with 
them  that  were  to  go  out  on  the  sabbath  :  for  Jehoiada  the 
priest  dismissed  not  ^  the  courses.     9.  Moreover  Jehoiada  c  i  Chrou. 

^  XXV. 

the  priest  delivered  to  the  captains  of  hundreds  spears,  and 
bucklers,  and  shields,  that  had  been  king  David's,  which 
ivere  in  the  house  of  God.     10.  And  he  set  all  the  people. 


XXIV. 


5.  A  third  part  shall  be  at  the  king's  house — i.e.  at  the  gates  leading 
from  Athaliah's  palace  to  the  Temple. 

A  third  part  at  the  gate  of  the  foundation.  Called  in  Kings  '  the  gate 
of  Sur,'  an  unknown  gate,  unless  it  is  the  same  as  the  'horse-gate'  of 
ver.  15,  which  the  alteration  of  a  single  letter  would  make  it. 

G.  But  all  the  people  shall  keep  the  watch  of  the  LORD — i.e.  shall 
observe  a  religious  watch  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Temple,  as  they  would 
at  the  time  of  a  sacred  function.     Cf.  S.  Luke  i,  21. 

8.  For  Jehoiada  the  priest  dismissed  not  the  courses.  The  priests  and 
Levites  were  divided  into  courses.  One  course  came  on  duty  on  the 
Sabbath  as  another  went  off,  but  Jehoiada  arranged  that  the  latter 
should  remain  so  as  to  have  a  guard  of  double  strength  round  the  king. 

9.  Spears,  and  bucklers,  and  shields,  that  had  been  king  David's. 
These  were  probably  trophies  and  spoils  of  war  which  David  liad 
dedicated  in  the  Temple.  It  has  l)een  well  pointed  out  that  tlie  Levites 
would  not  naturally  be  bearing  arms,  and  therefore  would  need  to  be 
armed  in  this  way:  this  is  an  'undesigned  coincidence,'  showing  the 
accuracy  of  the  Chronicler's  account.  It  is  important,  liecause  the  account 
in  Kings  does  not  mention  the  fact  that  these  guards  were  Levites, 
although  the  arming  of  them  is  described  (2  Kings  xi.  10). 


230  2  CHRON.  XXIL  10-12  ;  XXIII.  ;  XXIV. 

every  man  having  his  weapon  in  his  hand,  from  the  right 
side  of  the  temple  to  the  left  side  of  the  temple,  along  by 
the  altar  and  the  temple,  by  the  king  round  about.  11. 
Then  they  brought  out  the  king's  son,  and  put  upon  him 
rf  Deut.  xvii.  the  crown,  and  '^gave  him  the  testimony,  and  made  him 
king.  And  Jehoiada  and  his  sons  anointed  him,  and  said, 
God  save  the  king.  12.  Now  when  Athaliah  heard  the 
noise  of  the  people  running  and  praising  the  king,  she  came 
to  the  people  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  13.  And  she 
looked,  and,  behold,  the  king  stood  at  his  pillar  at  the 
entering  in,  and  the  princes  and  the  trumpets  by  the  king  : 
and  all  the  people  of  the  land  rejoiced,  and  sounded  with 

1  the  singers      trumpets,  ^  also  the  singers  with  instruments  of  musick,  and 

also  played  on  °  ' 

instruments  of  such  as  taught  to  sing  praise.     Then  Athaliah  rent  her 

music  and  led 

the  singing  of    clothes,  and    said.  Treason,  Treason.     14.  Then  Jehoiada 

pr<iis6. 

the  priest  brought  out  the  captains  of  hundreds  that  were 

2  between  the    set  over  the  host,  and  said  unto  them,  Have  her  forth  ^  of 

ranks. 

the  ranges  :   and   whoso  followeth  her,  let  him  be  slain 
with  the  sword.     For  the  priest  said.  Slay  her  not  in  the 

10.  Along  by  the  altar  and  the  temple.  The  place  of  coronation  was 
evidently  in  front  of  the  Temple  porch,  between  it  and  the  brazen  altar  ; 
the  armed  guards  standing  on  each  side,  and  protecting  the  whole 
space. 

1 1 .  And  put  upon  him  the  crown,  and  gave  him  the  testimony.  Various 
explanations  have  been  given  of  '  the  testimony,'  chiefly  with  the  purpose 
of  avoiding  the  plain  conclusion  that  it  was  a  written  copy  of  the  Law  of 
Moses,  in  accordance  with  Deut.  xvii.  18.  Among  such  explanations  are 
that  it  means  '  bracelets,'  or  a  written  'charter'  of  rights  conceded  by 
the  king  to  his  subjects.  There  seems  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  Law, 
or  some  part  of  it,  is  meant.  '  Testimony '  is  the  word  applied  to  the  Tables 
of  the  Law  wliich  were  placed  in  the  Ark  by  God's  command  (Exod. 
XXV.  16).     Cf.  also  I's.  cxix.  passim. 

13.  The  king  stood  at  his  pillar.  Kings  adds  'as  the  custom  was.' 
One  of  the  great  pillais,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  or  some  pillar  erected  for 
the  occasion  of  a  coronation.     Some  think  that  a  platform  is  meant. 

14.  Have  her  forth  of  the  ranges.  The  corrections  of  the  Revised 
Versioii  make  tliis  passage  clear.  Athaliali  was  to  be  allowed  to  go  un- 
molested between  the  lines  of  armed  Levites,  and  not  to  be  killed  within 
the  sacred  enclosure.  Instead  of  fleeing  to  '  the  horns  of  the  altar,'  as 
she  might  possibly  have  done  for  sanctuary,  she  endeavoured  to  return 
to  the  palace  by  another  gate  ;  but,  as  soon  as  she  arrived  there,  she 
was  slain. 


JOASH  231 


house  of  the  Lord.  15.  So  they  ^  laid  hands  on  her  :  and  ^  made  way  for 
when  she  was  come  to  the  entering  of  ^the  horse  gate  by  e  Neh.  iii.  28. 
the  king's  house,  they  slew  her  there.  16.  And  Jehoiada 
made  a  covenant  between  him,  and  between  all  the  people, 
and  between  the  king,  that  they  should  be  the  Lord's 
people.  17.  Then  all  the  people  w-ent  to  the  house  of  Baal, 
and  brake  it  down,  and  brake  his  altars  and  his  images  in 
pieces,  and  slew  Mattan  the  priest  of  Baal  before  the  altars. 
18.  Also  Jehoiada  appointed  the  offices  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  by  the  hand  of  the  priests  the  Levites,  /whom/i.c^ron.  xxiii. 
David  had  distributed  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  to  offer 
the  burnt  oifferings  of  the  Lord,  as  it  is  written  in  the  law 
of  Moses,  with  rejoicing  and  with  singing,  as  it  was 
ordained  by  David.  19.  And  he  set  -^  the  porters  at  the  gr  l  Chron.  xxvi . 
gates  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  that  none  which  was  un- 
clean in  any  thing  should  enter  in.  20.  And  he  took  the 
captains  of  hundreds,  and  the  nobles,  and  the  governors  of 
the  people,  and  all  the  people  of  the  land,  and  brought 
down  the  king  from  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  they  came 
through  the  high  gate  into  the  king's  house,  and  set  the 
king  upon  the  throne  of  the  kingdom.  21.  And  all  the 
people  of  the  land  rejoiced  :  and  the  city  was  quiet,  after 
that  they  had  slain  Athaliah  with  the  sword. 

XXIV.  1.  Joash  was  seven  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign,  and  he  reigned  forty  years  in  Jerusalem.  His 
mother's  name  also  was  Zil)iah  of  Beer-sheba.  2.  And 
Joash  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord 
all  the  days  of  Jehoiada  the  priest.  3.  And  Jehoiada  took 
for  him  two  wives  ;  and  he  begat  sons  and  daughters.  4. 
And  it  came  to  j)ass  after  this,  that  Joash  was  minded  to 
repair  the  house  of  the  Lord.     5.  And  he  gathered  together 

17.  The  liouse  of  Baal.  At  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  at  Samaria,  a  temple 
of  Baal  had  been  erected,  doubtless  under  Tyrian  influences,  which 
came  into  Judah  through  Athaliah,  as  they  had  come  into  Israel  through 
her  mother  Jezebel. 

20.  The  nobles.  In  Kings  for  this  is  substituted  'the  Carites'  (R.V.) ; 
i.e.  the  Cherethites,  the  royal  bodyguard. 


232  2  CHRON.  XXII.  10-12  ;  XXIII.  ;  XXIV. 

the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  said  to  them,  Go  out  unto 
the  cities  of  Judah,  and  gather  of  all  Israel  money  to  repair 
the  house  of  your  God  from  year  to  year,  and  see  that  ye 
hasten  the  matter.  Howbeit  the  Levites  hastened  it  not, 
6.  And  the  king  called  for  Jehoiada  the  chief,  and  said 
unto  him,  Why  hast  thou  not  required  of  the  Levites  to 
4  the  tax  of       bring  in  out  of  Judah  and  out  of  Jerusalem  ^  the  ^  collection 


h  Exod.  XXX.  according  to  the  commandment  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  the 
xvii.  24. '  "  Lord,  and  of  the  congregation  of  Israel,  for  ^the  tabernacle  of 
the  testimony,  witness  ?  7.  For  the  sons  of  Athaliah,  that  wicked  woman, 
had  broken  up  the  house  of  God  ;  and  also  all  the  dedicated 
things  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  did  they  bestow  upon  Baalim. 
8.  And  at  the  king's  commandment  they  made  a  chest,  and 
set  it  without  at  the  gate  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.     9.  And 

XXIV.  6.  The  collection,  according  to  the  commandment  of  Moses.  This 
refers  primarily  to  the  tax  of  half  a  shekel  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
sanctuary  which  Moses  ordered  to  be  paid  by  every  male  Israelite  of 
twenty  years  and  upwards,  and  which  continued  to  be  paid  in  our  Lord's 
time  (see  marg.  ref.).  Besides  this  tax,  the  people  offered  free-will 
offerings. 

The  tabernacle  of  witness.  '  Witness '  is  the  same  word  as  '  testimony,' 
and  refers  to  the  tables  of  the  Law,  enshrined  in  the  most  sacred  part 
of  the  Tabernacle.  The  Law  was  God's  '  witness '  to  Israel,  both  as  to 
His  own  holiness  and  the  holiness  He  required  from  them. 

7.  The  sons  of  Athaliah.  We  are  not  told  of  any  other  sons  except 
Ahaziah.  Perhaps  the  phrase  means  the  adherents  of  Athaliah.  Cf. 
*  sons  of  the  prophets,'  '  sons  of  Belial,'  etc. 

8.  And  at  the  king's  commandment  they  made  a  chest.  This  was  a 
new  arrangement  ordered  by  the  king,  as  the  previous  attempt  to  collect 
money  in  the  different  cities  of  Judah  (ver.  5)  had  been  unsuccessful. 
From  the  narrative  in  2  Kings  xii.  it  seems  that  the  priests  and  Levites 
had  been  directed  only  to  ask  for  gifts  from  their  own  acquaintances. 
Three  possible  sources  of  money  are  mentioned  there  :  (1)  gifts  offered  to 
provide  things  actually  required  for  the  Temple  ;  (2)  money  taken  from 
those  who  had  laid  themselves  under  any  vow  (cf.  Acts  xxi.  24) ;  (3)  free- 
will offerings  generally.  But  now  the  money  is  to  be  collected  at  Jeru- 
salem from  all  who  come  to  worship.  I'robably  the  failure  of  this  first 
collection  was  caused  by  the  general  lack  of  interest  in  the  Temple, 
owing  to  the  apostasy  of  the  previous  reigns.  The  king  and  Jehoiada 
then  endeavour  successfully  to  awaken  an  enthusiasm  for  the  Temple  at 
the  Temple  itself.  Those  who  thus  contributed  to  the  one  central  fund 
would  also  be  more  certain  that  their  money  was  really  devoted  to  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  given  ;  an  important  consideration  in  the  East, 
where  peculation  was,  and  is,  extremely  common. 


RESTOKATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  233 

they  made  a  proclamation  through  Judah  and  Jerusalem, 
to  bring  in  to  the  Lord  the  collection  that  Moses  the 
servant  of  God  laid  upon  Israel  in  the  wilderness.  10.  And 
all  the  princes  and  all  the  people  rejoiced,  and  brought  in, 
and  cast  into  the  chest,  until  they  had  made  an  end.  1 1 . 
Now  it  came  to  pass,  that  at  what  time  the  chest  was 
brought  unto  the  king's  office  by  the  hand  of  the  Leyites, 
and  when  they  saw  that  there  was  much  money,  the  king's 
scribe  and  the  high  priest's  officer  came  and  emptied  the 
chest,  and  took  it,  and  carried  it  to  his  place  again.  Thus 
they  did  day  by  day,  and  gathered  money  in  abundance. 
12.  And  the  king  and  Jehoiada  gave  it  to  such  as  did  the 
work  of  the  service  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  hired 
masons  and  carpenters  to  repair  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
also  such  as  wrought  iron  and  brass  to  mend  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  13.  So  the  workmen  wrought,  and  the  work 
was  perfected  by  them,  and  they  set  the  house  of  God  in 
his  state,  and  strengthened  it.  14.  And  when  they  had 
finished  it,  they  brought  the  rest  of  the  money  before  the 
king  and  Jehoiada,  whereof  were  made  vessels  for  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  even  vessels  to  minister,  and  to  offer 
withal,  and  spoons,  and  vessels  of  gold  and  silver.  And 
they  offered  burnt  offerings  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  con- 
tinually all  the  days  of  Jehoiada.  15.  But  Jehoiada  waxed 
old,  and  was  full  of  days  when  he  died  ;  an  hundred  and 
thirty  years  old  was  he  when  he  died.  16.  And  they 
buried  him  in  the  city  of  David  among  the  kings,  because 
he  had  done  good  in  Israel,  both  toward  God,  and  toward 
his  house.  17.  Now  after  the  death  of  Jehoiada  came  the 
princes  of  Judah,  and  made  ol)eisance  to  the  king.     Then 

14.  The  rest  of  the  money  .  .  .  whereof  were  made  vessels  for  the  house 
of  the  LORD.  There  is  an  apparent  inconsistency  between  this  verse  and 
2  Kings  xii.  13,  wliere  we  are  told  that  with  this  money  were  not  made 
various  specified  articles  of  gold  and  silver.  But  either  the  vessels 
referred  to  in  Kings  are  not  the  same  as  those  in  Chronicles  ;  or  else 
the  Chronicler  is  giving  further  information  of  what  was  done  after  the 
fabric  of  the  Temple  had  been  restored. 

17.   The  princes  of  Judah.     Evidently  the  strict  Jehovah -worship  of 


234 


2  CHRON.  XXII.  10-12  ;  XXIII.  ;  XXIV. 


i  S.  Matthew 
xxiii.  35  ; 
S.  Luke  xi,  51 


the  king  hearkened  unto  them.  18.  And  they  left  the 
6  the  Asherim.  hoiise  of  the  LoRD  God  of  their  fathers,  and  served  ^  groves 
and  idols  :  and  wrath  came  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem  for 
this  their  trespass.  19.  Yet  he  sent  prophets  to  them,  to 
bring  them  again  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  they  testified  against 
them  :  but  they  would  not  give  ear.  20.  And  the  Spirit 
of  God  came  upon  ^  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest, 
which  stood  above  the  people,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus 
saith  God,  Why  transgress  ye  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord,  that  ye  cannot  prosper  ?  because  ye  have  forsaken 
the  Lord,  he  hath  also  forsaken  you.  21.  And  they  con- 
spired against  him,  and  stoned  him  with  stones  at  the 
commandment  of  the  king  in  the  court  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord.  22.  Thus  Joash  the  king  remembered  not  the  kind- 
ness which  Jehoiada  his  father  had  done  to  him,  but  slew 
his  son.  And  when  he  died,  he  said,  ^  the  Lord  look  upon 
it,  and  require  it     23.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of 

Jehoiada  had  not  been  in  accordance  with  the  tastes  of  the  nobles.  These 
did  not  apparently  desire  to  restore  the  Baal  worship,  but  rather  the  older 
corruptions  of  nature-worship,  and  the  primitive  superstitions  of  the 
land,  M-hicli  died  hard.  The  '  obeisance  '  of  the  princes  of  Judah  to  the 
king  was  evidently  meant  to  prepare  the  way  to  gaining  an  evil  intiuence 
over  him. 

20.  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada.  This  prophet's  martyrdom  is 
referred  to  by  our  Lord  (see  marg.  ref. )  as  the  final  act  of  opposition 
to  the  Divine  message.  Of  course  many  prophets  were  put  to  death 
after  Zechariah's  time,  e.g.  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  ;  but  in  the  Jewish 
arrangement  of  the  Scriptures,  (1)  Law,  (2)  Prophets,  (3)  Holy  Writings, 
Chronicles  comes  in  the  third  and  last  division,  and  it  is  from  that  point 
of  view  that  our  Lord  speaks. 

In  .S.  Matthew's  account,  Zechariah  is  called  '  the  son  of  Barachiah  '  : 
either  Zechariah  was  tlie  grandson  of  Jehoiada,  Barachiah  being  his 
father  (grandsons  are  often  called  'sons'  in  the  Bible),  or  it  is  a  mistake 
of  an  early  copyist  who  confused  this  Zechariah  witli  the  later  Zechariah, 
A\'huse  book  is  in  the  canon  of  Scripture.  See  note  on  S.  Matt,  xxiii.  35, 
in  volume  on  S.  Matthew,  by  Canon  Newbolt,  in  this  series.  It  should 
1)6  noticed  that  our  Lord's  description  of  Zechariah's  martyrdom  adds 
additional  details  ('between  the  temple  and  tlie  altar')  to  those  given  by 


j  Gen.  ix.  5. 


the  Cin-onicler. 

22.  The  LORD  look  upon  it,  and  require  it.  I'his  pra^'er  for  the 
righteous  vengeance  of  God  is  more  characteristic  of  the  Old  Testament 
than  the  New  (cf.  the  last  words  of  S.  Stephen),  though  it  must  ever  be 
remem])ered  that  the  character  of  God  is  the  same  in  both  Testaments. 
The  Old  Testament  is  not  without  allusion  to  His  lore,  nor  the  New  to 


RETRIBUTION  235 


the  year,  that  the  host  of  Syria  came  up  against  him  :  and 

they  came  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  destroyed  all  the 

princes  of  the  people  from  among  the  people,  and  sent  all 

the  spoil  of  them  unto  the  king  of  Damascus.     24.  For  the 

army  of  the  Syrians  came  with  a  small  company  of  men, 

and  ^the  Lord  delivered  a  very  great  host  into  their  hand,  g-.^'^i^^.j^^J^j:  ^^" 

because  they  had  forsaken  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  17. 

So  they  executed  judgment  against  Joash,     25.  And  when 

they  were  departed  from  him,  (for  they  left  him  in  great 

diseases,)  his  own  servants  conspired  against  him  for  the 

blood  of  the  sons  of  Jehoiada  the  priest,  and  slew  him  on 

his  bed,  and  he  died  :  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of 

David,  but  they  buried  him  not  in  the  sepulchres  of  the 

kings.     26.  And  these  are  they  that  conspired  against  him  ; 

Zabad  the  son  of  Shimeath  an  Ammonitess,  and  Jehozabad 

the  son  of  Shimrith  a  Moabitess.     27.  Now  concerning  his 

„  7  Marg.  uttered 

sons,  and  the  greatness  of  the  burdens  '  laid  upon  him,  and  against  him. 

His  justice.  The  name  '  Zechariah,'  curiously  enough,  means  '  The  Lord 
remembers. ' 

'  After  ages  declared  that  the  blood  of  Zechariah  continually  bubbled 
up  from  the  part  of  the  pavement  on  which  he  fell.  When  the  Baby- 
lonian general,  Nebuzaradan,  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  entered  the 
Temple  court,  he  was  struck  by  the  phenomenon,  and  inquired  into  the 
cause.  The  Temple  servants  strove  to  persuade  him  that  the  blood  was 
that  of  victims  recently  offered  :  but  when  he  confuted  them  by  himself 
slaying  sacrificial  animals,  whose  blood  did  not  bubble,  they  confessed 
the  truth.  The  blood  was  that  of  a  prophet,  priest,  and  judge,  %yho  had 
foretold  all  the  calamities  which  Jerusalem  had  just  suffered  at  his  hands 
and  at  those  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  who  for  his  plain-speaking  had 
been  done  to  death  by  his  own  countrymen  upon  the  spot.  On  hearing 
this,  the  Babylonian'^  general,  bent  on  propitiating  the  martyr,  slew  on 
the  place,  by  thousands,  all  the  rab])is,  the  school-children,  and  the 
young  priests  on  Avhom  he  could  lay  his  hands — Init  still  the  blood  bubbled 
on.  Then  he  cried,  "0  Zechariali,  Zechariah,  thou  hast  destroyed  the 
best  of  thy  people  :  would  thou  have  me  destroy  all  ? " — and  the  blood 
was  quiet'and  ceased  to  bubble'  (Rawlinson,  in  Kiiigs  of  Israel  and 
Jndah,  '  Men  of  tlie  Bible  "  Series). 

23.  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  year.  So  short  a  time 
intervened  between  Zechariah's  death  and  the  lieginning  of  Divine 
retribution.  Kings  tells  us  that  this  host  of  Syrians  was  under  the 
command  of  Hazael,  and  that  Joash  had  to  buy  them  off  with  the 
treasures  of  the  Temple. 

27.  The  greatness  of  the  burdens  laid  upon  him.  See  Revised  Version 
and  the  note  on  2  Kings  ix.  25,  p.  21G. 


236 


2  OHBON.  XXII.   10-12  ;  XXIIT.  ;  XXIV. 


8  rebuilding,      the  ^  repairinu'  of  the  house  of  God,  behold,  they  are  written 

9  commentary.  Iq  the  ^  stoiy  of  the  book  of  the  kings.     And  Amaziah  his 

son  reigned  in  his  stead. 


LESSON  XXVI 


Joash 


Matter. 


Method. 


1.  The  preservation  of  the  line  of 
David. 

The  hand  of  God  is  plainly  to  be 
recognised  in  the  hiding  of  Joash  by 
Jehoshabeath.  Humanly  speaking, 
it  seemed  that  the  promise  of  God 
to  David  had  failed,  that  the  evil 
influence  of  the  alliance  with  Ahab 
had  triumphed ;  Athaliah  reigned 
in  Judah,  and  Baal  had  ousted 
Jehovah.  But  here,  as  often  in 
history,  the  influence  of  a  woman 
turns  the  course  of  events.  It  was 
not  the  will  of  God  that  the  royal 
line  should  cease,  and  behind  the 
human  instruments  we  must  ac- 
knowledge His  guiding  hand. 

2.  A  religious  coronation. 

The  restoration  of  the  line  of 
David  to  the  throne  was  a  reli- 
gious act ;  the  high  priest  was  the 
prime  mover  in  it ;  the  Levites 
carried  it  out  by  his  instructions, 
consequently  every  eff"ort  was  made 
to  emphasise  the  religious  character 
of  the  kingship.  The  high  priest  and 
his  sons  anointed  Joash  and  crowned 
him  ;  the  roll  of  the  Law  was  given 
him  as  the  charter  of  his  kingdom, 
and  to  show  his  responsibility 
for  maintaining  the  Law  :  the  king 
and  his  people,  at  the  direction 
of  the  priestliocjd,  entered  into  a 
solemn  covenant  to  abjure  idolatry 
and  foreign  worships,  ami  to  be  the 
people  of  Jehovah. 

Tlie  ceremonies  of  this  c(^ronation 
dou})tless  helped  to  suggest  the 
ritual  with  which  Christian  nations 
afterwards  crowned  their  kings ; 
ritual  which  was  intended  to  show 


1.  Refer  to  the  promise  to  David 
(2  Sam.  vii.  ;  xxiii.  5). 

Show  that  Joash  is  one  of  the 
links  in  the  genealogy  of  our  Lord, 
though  omitted  by  S.  Matthew 
from  the  royal  line  (perhaps  only 
for  the  sake  of  maintaining  the 
number  of  fourteen  generations,  the 
number  fourteen  having  probably 
some  mystical  meaning). 

Describe  the  child  brought  up  in 
secret  in  the  Temple  ;  the  true  king 
waiting  God's  time,  though  men 
doubtless  thought  the  line  of  David 
extinct,  and  the  kingdom  given  over 
to  wickedness. 

2.  Describe  the  coronation  of 
Joash,  explaining  why  he  was 
crowned  by  the  high  priest,  and 
the  importance  of  'the  testimon3%' 
Compare  with  the  coronation  of 
English  kings. 

Refer  to  1  Sam.  xvi.  13 ;  1  Kings 
i.  39-40. 


JOASH 


23V 


Lesson  XXVl—contimied.     Jo  ash 


Matter. 
that  the  king's  autliority  and  grace 
come  from  above ;  and  that,  while 
he  has  no  authority  to  take  upon 
himself  priestly  functions,  his  office 
is  a  religious  one,  and  he  stands  in 
a  special  relation  to  the  Church,  as 
champion  and  guardian. 

Only  in  England  now  is  the  ancient 
form  of  coronation  fully  preserved, 
for  the  Czar  of  Russia  puts  the 
crown  on  his  own  head. 

Particularly  significant  in  the 
English  rites  of  coronation  are  the 
investiture  with  the  ring,  when  the 
Archbishop  says,  '  Receive  this 
ring,  the  ensign  of  kingly  dignity 
and  of  defence  of  the  Catholic 
Faith ' ;  and  the  delivery  of  the 
Bible,  with  the  words,  '  We  pre- 
sent you  with  this  Book,  the  most 
valuable  thing  that  this  world 
affords.  Here  is  Wisdom  :  this  is 
the  Royal  Law ;  these  are  the 
lively  Oracles  of  God.' 

3.  A  religious  reign. 

Joash  was  brought  up  in  the 
Temple ;  his  first  childish  im- 
pressions would  be  those  of  re- 
ligion. The  high  priest  was  both 
his  companion  and  adviser.  Natur- 
ally his  thoughts  turn  to  what  is 
the  highest  work  of  a  king,  the 
maintenance  of  the  national  reli- 
gion. Joash  shows  a  personal 
eagerness  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Temple.  He  even  rebukes  the 
Levites  for  their  slackness,  and 
himself  suggests  the  best  method  of 
collecting  money.  The  zeal  of  the 
king  infects  the  people.  Contri- 
butions are  joyfully  made,  more 
than  enough,  and  those  through 
whose  hands  the  money  passed  were 
so  honest  (an  unusual  thing  in  the 
East)  that  no  account  was  needed 
(2  Kings  xii.  15). 

4.  Religious  failure. 

As  long  as  the  close  alliance 
between  the  king  and  a  faithful 
priesthood  remained.  Joash 's  reign 


Method. 


3.  Remind  of  David's  desire  to 
build  the  Temple,  and  of  Solomon's 
zeal  and  generosity  in  building  it. 

Show  that  such  love  of  the  House 
of  God  is  specially  fitting  for  a 
king.  Many  of  the  cathedrals  and 
religious  buildings  of  England  owe 
much  to  kings,  e.g.  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  our  kings  are  crowned, 
was  first  built  by  a  holy  king,  S. 
Edward. 

Speak  of  the  duty  of  contributing 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  Church, 
and  point  out  how  the  alms-boxes 
in  our  churches  were  doubtless 
suggested  by  the  box  first  provided 
by  Joash. 

Remind  of  S.  Mark  xii.  41-44. 

4.  Joash  was  probably  still  young 
when  he  fell  away,  perhaps  at  an 
age  when  there  is  great  danger 
always  of  disdaining  religious  ad- 


238 


2  CHEON.  XXII.  10-12  ;  XXIII.  ;  XXIV. 


Lesson  XXYI— continued.     Joash 


Matter. 

was  both  religious  aud  j^rosperous. 
The  death  of  Jehoiada  threw  the 
king  upon  secular  advisers,  who 
still  clung  in  their  hearts  to  the 
ancient  idolatries  and  nature- wor- 
ship. The  close  of  the  reign  is 
marked  by  a  disregard  of  pro- 
phets, the  martyrdom  of  Zechariah, 
national  reverses,  and  internal  con- 
spiracy, in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
bids  us  see  the  hand  of  Divine 
retribution. 

The  shadow  of  the  Messianic  king 
which  we  see  in  the  early  piety  of 
Joash,  and  his  alliance  with  the 
priesthood,  is  blurred  and  dissi- 
pated by  human  weakness,  vanitj'', 
and  self-will. 


Method. 

visers,  and  of  making  friends  with 
the  world. 

He  was  too  proud  to  transfer  his 
obedience  to  Jehoiada  to  his  son. 
But  it  is  the  office,  not  the  person, 
of  which  we  ought  to  think. 

A  change  of  clergy  ought  not  to 
make  any  difference  to  our  obedience 
to  their  words.  Children  leaving 
home  for  the  first  time  specially 
need  to  remember  this. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Joash. 

1.  Saved  from  death,  and  hidden  in  the  Temple. 
God  remembers  His  promise  to  David. 

2.  Crowned  by  the  high  priest  Jehoiada. 
Anointing  reminds  of  gi/ts  of  God. 
Gro}cn  reminds  of  authority  from  God. 

The  testimony  (the  Bible)  reminds  of  responsi- 
hiVdy  to  God. 

3.  Prospered  so  long  as  guided  by  Jehoiada. 
Repaired  the  Temple. 

4.  Failed  when  he  forgot  the  lessons  of  Jehoiada. 
Killed  Jehoiada's  son,  Zechariah. 
Worshipped  idols. 

Defeated  by  his  enemies. 
Murdered  by  his  own  servants. 

'  Fear  the  Lord  and  honour  the  priest ' 
(Ecclus.  vii.  31). 


THE  DEATH  OF  ELISHA  239 


2  KINGS  XIIL 

IN  the  three  and  twentieth  year  of  Joash  the  son  of 
Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  Jehoahaz  the  son  of  Jehu 
began  to  reign  over  Israel  in  Samaria,  and  reigned 
seventeen  years.  2.  And  he  did  that  which  ivas  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  followed  the  sins  of  Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Nebat,  which  made  Israel  to  sin  ;  he  departed 
not  therefrom.  3.  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 
against  Israel,  and  he  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of 
**  Hazael  king  of  Syria,  and  into  the  hand  of  Ben-hadad  a  chap.  viii.  12. 
the  son  of  Hazael,  ^all  their  days.  4.  And  Jehoahaz  ^  continually, 
besought  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  hearkened  unto  him  ; 
for  he  saw  the  oppression  of  Israel,  because  the  king  of 
Syria  oppressed  them.  5.  (And  the  Lord  gave  Israel  ^  a  ?*  chap.  xiv.  26, 
saviour,  so  that  they  went  out  from  under  the  hand  of 
the  Syrians  :  and  the  children  of  Israel  dwelt  in  their 
tents,  as  beforetime.  6.  Nevertheless  they  departed  not 
from  the  sins  of  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  who  made  Israel 
sin,  but  walked  therein  :  and  there  remained  the  ^  grove  2  Asherah. 
also  in  Samaria.)  7.  Neither  did  he  leave  of  the  people 
to  Jehoahaz  but  fifty  horsemen,  and  ten  chariots,  and  ten 
thousand  footmen  ;  for  the  king  of  Syria  had  destroyed 

4.  And  Jehoahaz  besought  the  LORD.  Jehoahaz,  though  he  continued 
the  sin  of  the  calf-worship,  seems  to  have  been  more  religious  than 
most  of  his  predecessors.  This  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  a  king's 
prayer  for  his  people,  and  its  fulfilment  (cf.  1  Kings  viii.  44,  45),  thougli 
apparently  the  effect  did  not  come  to  any  great  extent  till  the  next  reign. 

5.  And  the  LORD  gave  Israel  a  saviour.  This  refers  probably  to  Jero- 
boam II.  (xiv.  27).  But  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Syria  about  this 
time  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  Syria  was  now  herself  beginning  to 
be  pressed  hard  by  the  power  which  afterwards  crushed  both  Syria  and 
Israel — the  empire  of  Assyria. 

And  the  children  of  Israel  dwelt  in  their  tents.  The  use  of  the  word 
'  tents '  long  outlasted  the  nomadic  period  of  Israel's  existence,  when  it 
was  appropriate,  and  continued  to  be  used  when  they  dwelt  in  cities. 
Here  the  phrase  simply  means  that  they  dwelt  in  their  homes  undis- 
turbed bv  invaders. 


240  2  KINGS  XIII. 


3  ill.  them,  and  had  made  them  like   the  dust  "^by  threshiucj, 

8.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoahaz,  and  all  that  he 
did,  and  his  might,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of 
the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel?  9.  And  Jehoahaz 
slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  they  buried  him  in  Samaria  : 
and  Joash  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  10.  In  the  thirty 
and  seventh  year  of  Joash  king  of  Judah  began  Jehoash 
the  son  of  Jehoahaz  to  reign  over  Israel  in  Samaria,  and 
reigned  sixteen  years.  11.  And  he  did  that  which  tvas 
evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  he  departed  not  from  all 
the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel 
sin  :  but  he  walked  therein.     12.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts 

c  ciiap.  xiv.  s.  of  Joash,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  his  might  ''wherewith  he 
fought    against   Amaziah   king   of  Judah,   are   they  not 

(I  2  Chron,  xxv.  written  ^  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Israel  ?  13.  And  Joash  slept  with  his  fathers ;  and 
Jeroboam  sat  upon  his  throne  :  and  Joash  was  buried 
in  Samaria  with  the  kings  of  Israel.  14.  Now  Elisha 
was  fallen  sick  of  his  sickness  whereof  he  died.  And 
Joash  the  king  of  Israel  came  down  unto  him,  and 
wept  over  his  face,  and  said,  0  my  father,  my  father,  the 
chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof.  15.  And 
Elisha  said  unto  him,  Take  bow  and  arrows.  And  he 
took  unto  him  bow  and  arrows.  16.  And  he  said  to  the 
king  of  Israel,  Put  thine  hand  upon  the  bow.  And  he 
put  his  hand  U2)on  it  :  and  Elisha  put  his  hands  upon  the 
king's  hands.  17.  And  he  said,  Open  the  window  east- 
ward.    And  he  opened  it.    Then  Elisha  said,  Shoot.     And 

7.  Had  made  them  like  tlie  dust  by  threshing.  Threshing  was  done  by 
oxen  that  trampled  out  the  corn  from  the  husk,  Israel  was  'trodden 
under  foot,'  and  reduced  to  a  condition  like  the  dust  and  chaff  that 
covered  the  threshing-floor. 

12.  His  might  wherewith  he  fought  against  Amaziah  king  of  Judah. 
This  is  described  a  little  later,  both  in  Kings  and  Chronicles,  in  the 
account  of  the  reign  of  Amaziah. 

17.  Open  the  window  eastward — i.e.  towards  the  country  across  Jordan, 
which  was  most  sul)ject  to  the  raids  of  the  Syrians.  The  shooting  of  this 
arrow  was  a  symbolical  act  of  defiance,  such  as  was  used  among  other 
ancient  peoples,  as  a  declaration  of  war.     The  shooting  was  Elisha's  own 


THE  Death  of  elisha  241 

he  shot.     And  he  said,  ^The  arrow  of  the  Lord's  deliver-  -i  The  Lord's 

.11-  p  n      ■         n         1         arrow  of  vic- 

ance,  and  the  arrow  oi  deliverance  irom  iSyria  :  lor  thou  tory,  even  the 
slialt  smite  the  Syrians  in  <^  Aphek,  till  thou  have  consumed  tory  over  Syria. 
them.    18.  And  he  said,  Take  the  arrows.    And  he  took  thein.  20!  ^^^^^  ^^' 
And  he  said  unto  the  king  of  Israel,  Smite  upon  the  ground. 
And  he  smote  thrice,  and  stayed.    19.  And  the  man  of  God 
was  wroth  with  him,  and  said,  Thou  shouldest  have  smitten 
live  or  six  times  ;  then  hadst  thou  smitten  Syria  till  thou 
hadst  consumed  it  :  whereas  now  thou  shalt  smite  Syria 
but  thrice.     20.  And  Elisha  died,  and  they  buried  him. 
And  the  bands  of  the  Moabites  invaded  the  land  at  the 
coming  in  of  the  year,     21.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they 
were  burying  a  man,  that,  behold,  they  spied  a  band  of 
men  ;  and  they  cast  the  man  into  the  sepulchre  of  Elisha  : 
and  when  the  man  was  let  down,  and  -^touched  the  bones  /  Ecclxis. xiviii. 
of  Elisha,  he  revived,  and  stood  up  on  his  feet.     22.  But     ' 

act,  for  he  put  his  hands  upon  the  king's  hands.  It  was  an  acted  pro- 
phecy of  victory, 

19,  Thou  shouldest  have  smitten  five  or  six  times.  To  understand  this, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  prophecy  largely  made  use  of  symbolical 
actions.  It  would  be  quite  obvious  to  the  king  that  Elisha's  bidding  to 
smite  with  the  arrows  upon  the  ground  was  of  this  solemn  character.  The 
prophet  sees  in  the  half-hearted  manner  in  which  Joash  performs  the 
act  an  illustration  of  the  king's  own  disposition,  and  a  type  of  what  would 
happen  in  the  contest  with  Syria, 

'  20,  The  bands  of  the  Moabites.  The  territory  of  the  Moabites  was 
much  to  the  south  of  Israel,  being  east  of  the  Dead  Sea.  No  doubt, 
however,  the  Syrian  raids  on  the  east  of  Jordan  had  left  the  whole  of  that 
district  the  prey  of  marauders,  even  coming  from  a  considerable  distance. 

21,  And  when  the  man  was  let  down,  and  touched  the  bones  of  Elisha, 
he  revived.  This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  miracles  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Elisha  all  through  his  life,  and  even  after  his  death,  was  a  type 
of  Christ.  The  revival  of  the  corpse  through  touching  his  bones  was 
prophetical  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  which  will  be  the  result  of 
God  uniting  Himself  with  man  in  Christ.  (Cf,  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
xxvi.  19.)  It  was,  of  course,  through  no  supernatural  virtue  in  the  bones 
themselves  that  the  miracle  was  wrought ;  it  was  the  power  of  God 
which  worked  through  material  means.  Yet  we  must  remember  that  in 
the  case  of  Elisha  (and  the  same  would  apply  to  miracles  said  to  have 
been  performed  by  the  relics  of  Christian  saints)  it  is  sanctity  of  life, 
which,  by  God's  grace,  seems  to  constitute  the  proper  medium  by  which 
God's  gifts  are  conveyed  to  man.  It  is  not  because  men  are  holy  that 
they  do  miracles,  but  God  sets  His  approval  upon  their  holiness  by  doing 
miracles  by  their  means. 

HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.   II.  Q 


242  2  KINGS  XIII. 


Hazael  king  of  Syria  oppressed  Israel  all  the  days  of 
Jehoahaz.  23.  And  the  Lord  was  gracious  unto  them, 
and  had  compassion  on  them,  and  had  respect  unto  them, 
because  of  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
and  would  not  destroy  them,  neither  cast  he  them  from 
his  presence  as  yet.  24.  So  Hazael  king  of  Syria  died  ; 
and  Ben-hadad  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  25.  And 
Jehoash  the  son  of  Jehoahaz  took  again  out  of  the  hand 
of  Ben-hadad  the  son  of  Hazael  the  cities,  which  he 
had  taken  out  of  the  hand  of  Jehoahaz  his  father  by  war. 
Three  times  did  Joash  beat  him,  and  recoA^ered  the  cities 
of  Israel. 

23.  And  had  respect  unto  them — i.e.  God,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
man,  did  not  forget  His  people,  but  took  notice  of  their  afflictions.  So  He 
is  said  to  have  '  seen '  and  '  taken  knowledge '  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt 
(Exod.  ii.). 

Neither  cast  he  them  from  his  presence  as  yet.  God  did  not,  as  yet, 
allow  them  to  lose  their  existence  in  His  sight  as  a  nation.  At  the 
time,  however,  when  the  Books  of  Kings  were  written,  the  ten  tribes  were 
scattered,  and  had  lost  their  national  independence,  their  country,  even 
their  very  existence,  though,  of  course,  members  of  the  ten  tribes  still 
existed  as  separate  units,  and  many  found  their  way  back  to  Palestine. 


LESSON  XXVII 

The  Death  of  Elisha 

Part  I 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  The  true  Giver  of  victory.  1.  Describe  the  visit  of  Joash  to 

Though   an   evil   king  (vcr.    11),  the  dying  prophet,  and  explain  the 

Joash  shows  reverence  for  Elisha  i^^^^^^  .  ^j^^  ^^^^-^^  ^f  j^^^^^j  ,  ^^c. 
honours  hmi  on  his  death-bed,  and 


attributes  to  his  holy  influence  any 


The  king  was  ri<jht  in  what  he 


strength  which   his   kingdom   pos-  said,  for  holiness  is  stronger  than 

sessed.  armies. 

In  a  sense  the  king  was  right  in         Yet  the  king  M^as  wronq,  for  the 

this.      EHsha  had  been  '  the  chariot  strength  of  both  the  nation  and  the 
or  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof.  1^.1  n     •     n    j 

He  had  not  only  },een  the  means  of  P^'^Pl^f.l^y  ^'^f^ly  ^^  God. 
discomfiting   the   Syrians,   but   his         Explain  in  this  sense  the  shooting 

influence  had  kept  alive  something  of   the  arrow  and   the  words  that 

of  true  religion  among  the  schools  accompanied  it. 
of  the  prophets  and  the  worship- 


THE  DEATH  OF  ELISHA 


243 


Lesson  XXVII — continued.     The  Death  of  Elisha 


Matter. 
pers   of   Jehovah.      He   had   made 
Israel  respected  among  neighbour- 
ing nations. 

And  3^et  the  last  actions  of  the 
prophet  seem  intended  to  impress 
on  the  king  the  truth  that  God  is 
really  the  only  strength  of  a  nation, 
that  all  victory  comes  from  Him. 
The  arrow  shot  forth  from  the  pro- 
phet's death-chamber  is  '  the  arrow 
of  the  Lord's  victory.'  Men  pass, 
but  God  remains. 

2.  Man's  co-operation  with  God. 

It  was  the  will  of  God  to  give 
victory  over  .Sj'ria.  Yet  here  as 
everywhere  He  required  the  willing 
co-operation  of  man.  The  king 
*  smote  thrice  and  stayed,'  an  in- 
voluntary revelation  of  his  charac- 
ter and  a  parable  of  the  future.  He 
sorrowed  over  the  death  of  Elisha, 
but  he  could  not  enter  into  the 
prophet's  spirit.  His  trust  in  God's 
victory  was  not  strong  enough 
to  make  him  do  his  part.  So  he 
failed  fully  to  use  the  help  of  God. 
The  hero  of  faith  is  he  who  trusts 
God  wholly  and  therefore  does  him- 
self everything  that  he  can  do. 

See  Pusey's  sermon  on  *  The 
Losses  of  the  Saved.' 


Method. 


2.  The  striking  of  the  arrows  on 
the  ground  was  a  sign  of  God's  help 
in  beating  down  the  Syrians.  But 
the  king  stopped  before  he  was  told 
to  do  so,  through  sloth  or  unbelief. 

God  did  help  him,  but  would  have 
helped  him  much  more  if  he  himself 
had  been  more  energetic. 

God  is  willing  to  help  us,  but  we 
must  work  ourselves. 

Apply  to  victory  over  temptation, 
improvement  of  talents,  use  of  time. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


2. 


Elisha's  Death. 

The  true  Giver  of  victory  is  God. 

Elisha  is  dying.      '  The  chariot  of  Israel  and 

the  horsemen  thereof.' 
But  the  arrow  of  the  Lord's  victory  is  shot. 

Men  die,  but  God's  help  never  dies. 

Man  must  tcorh  loith  God. 

Joash  was  half-hearted.     He  stopped  when 

he  ought  to  have  gone  on. 
The  Lord's  victory  was  incomplete. 


244 


2  KINGS  XIII. 


Lesson  XXVII — continued.     The  Death  of  Elisha 


Part  II — Elisha  in  Death  a  Tijpe  of  Christ 

Matter.  Method. 

1.  Describe  the  miracle.  Ask 
M'hat  there  was  in  the  bones  of 
Elisha  that  could  make  a  dead  man 
live. 

Show  that  the  power  to  give  life 
rests  with  God  alone.  He  could  give 
it  through  Elisha  dead  just  as  easily 
as  through  Elisha  living  (2  Kings 
iv.). 

Refer  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
cleansing  of  Naaman,  and  the  de- 
livery from  the  Syrian  armies. 

Cf.  Acts  iii.  12. 


1.  The  dead  raised  to  life. 
This   miracle   is   strictly  in   line 

with  the  previous  miracles  and 
prophecies  of  Elisha.  Throughout, 
power  comes  from  God  ;  the  prophet 
]s  the  instrument.  This  truth 
would  be  clearly  seen  when  a 
miracle  was  wrought  even  after 
the  prophet's  death.  There  would 
be  no  power  in  a  dead  man's  body 
to  restore  life  ;  the  idea  is  a  contra- 
diction. Moreover,  the  dead  body 
was  to  the  Jew  unclean  ;  the  living 
Avho  touched  it  was  defiled. 

The  heathen  idea  of  a  prophet 
was  a  wonder-worker,  one  who  by 
his  own  sanctity  or  supernatural 
knowledge  could  compel  nature  to 
obedience  or  control  future  events. 
The  Divine  education  given  to 
Israel  was  to  teach  the  reference  of 
all  things  to  the  will  and  power  of 
one  God. 

2.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

The  prophets  could  only  point 
to  God,  and  act  as  His  instruments. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  truly 
God  ;  and  He  said,  '  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life.'  By  His  own 
Divine  power  He  Himself  not  merely 
came  back  from  the  dead,  but  arose 
from  the  dead,  never  to  die  again. 
He  by  His  own  resurrection  gave 
to  man  the  power  of  rising  again. 
And  this  can  only  be  a  resurrection 
to  life  eternal  by  union  with  Christ 
(of  which  the  contact  with  Elisha's 
l)ones  was  a  type).  Baptism  is  our 
first  union  with  Christ,  and  there- 
fore it  is  spoken  of  as  a  new  birth, 
a  resurrection.  Similarly,  the  eating 
of  Christ's  flesh  and  drinking  His 
blood  is  a  condition  of  being  raised 
up  at  the  last  day  (S.  John  vi.  54). 

Therefore  the  early  fathers  called 
the  Eucharist  '  the  food  of  immor- 
tality.' 


2.  'I  look  for  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead.'     Why? 

Because  Christ,  who  is  God,  and 
has  power  of  life  and  death,  raised 
Himself,  and  has  promised  to  raise 
us. 

Explain  the  ditFerence  between  a 
mere  restoration  to  earthly  life  and 
resurrection  to  life  eternal. 

Trace  the  analogy  between  the 
contact  with  Elisha's  bones  and  our 
union  with  Christ. 

Refer  to  gifts  of  Baptism,  '  a 
member  of  Christ,'  and  to  teaching 
of  S.  John  vi.  and  Rom.  viii.  11. 

Illustrate  by  words  of  administra- 
tion in  Holy  Communion  Service, 
'  Preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto 
everlasting  life. ' 


THE  DEATH  OF  ELISHA 


245 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Type. 

Reality. 

God      .     .     . 

.     .     The  Lord  Jesus  Who 

is  true  God 

by  Elisha's  bones 

.    by  His  Resurrection 

restored  dead  man 

will  raise  the  faithful  dead 

to  earthly  life     . 

.     .         to  endless  life 

by  touch     .     . 

.     .  by  union  with  Himself 

through 

Holy  Baptism, 

Holy  Communion. 

246  2  CHRON.  XXV. 


2  CHRON.  XXV. 

A IMAZIAH  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  lie  began 

jLL     to  reign,  and  he  reigned  twenty  and  nine  years  in 

Jerusalem.    And  his  mother's  name  was  Jehoaddan 

of  Jerusalem.     2.  And  he  did  that  which  ivas  right  in  the 

sight  of  the  Lord,  but  not  with  a  perfect  heart.     3.  Now 

it  came  to  pass,  when  the  kingdom  was  established  to  him, 

that  he  slew  his  servants   that  had  killed  the  king  his 

father.     4.  But  he  slew  not  their  children,  but  did  as  it  is 

a  Deut.  xxiv.     written  ^  in  the  law  in  the  book  of  Moses,  where  the  Lord 
10.  .  ' 

commanded,   saying,   The   fathers   shall    not   die   for  the 

^  Ezek.  xviii.  children,  neither  shall  the  children  die  for  the  fiithers,  ^  but 
every  man  shall  die  for  his  own  sin.  5.  Moreover  Aniaziah 
gathered  Judah  together,  and  made  them  caj^tains  over 
thousands,  and  captains  over  hundreds,  according  to  the 
houses  of  their  fathers,  throughout  all  Judah  and  Benjamin : 
and  he  numbered  them  from  twenty  years  old  and  above, 

c  cliap.  xiv.  8.  and  found  them  '^  three  hundred  thousand  choice  men,  able 
to  go  forth  to  war,  that  could  handle  sjjear  and  shield. 
6.  He  hired  also  an  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of 
valour  out  of  Israel  for  an  hundred  talents  of  silver.  7. 
But  there  came  a  man  of  God  to  him,  saying,  0  king,  let 
not  the  army  of  Israel  go  with  thee  ;  for  the  Lord  is  not 
with  Israel,  to  wit,  with  all  the  children  of  Ephraim.     8. 

2.  But  not  witli  a  perfect  heart.  The  parallel  iu  2  Kings  xiv.  has,  *  not 
like  David  his  father.'  This  is  further  explained  in  Chronicles  by  the  act 
which  is  not  recorded  in  Kings  (see  ver.  14).  David  never  worshipped 
any  God  but  Jehovah. 

6.  He  hired  also  an  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of  valour  out 
of  Israel.  This  remarkable  incident  is  not  recorded  in  Kings.  The 
Chronicler  is  fond  of  round  numbers,  and  possibly  the  mercenaries  were 
not  so  numerous  as  stated,  l)ut  it  shows  that  the  northern  kingdom 
must  have  been  in  a  strangely  disorganised  state  (no  doubt  owing  to 
the  long  war  with  Syria)  if  so  many  '  soldiers  of  fortune '  were  at  large 
and  could  be  hired  by  another  power. 

7.  For  the  LORD  is  not  with  Israel.  The  established  idolatry  of  Israel 
(called  in  popular  language  '  Ephraim,'  after  the  name  of  the  largest  tribe) 


AMAZIAH  247 


But  if  thou  wilt  go,  ^  do  it,  be  strong  for  the  battle  :  God  i  do  valiantly. 

shall  make  thee  fall  before  the  enemy  :  for  <^  God  hath  power  d  chap.  xx.  6. 

to  helf),  and  to  cast  down.     9.  And  Amaziah  said  to  the 

man  of  God,  But  what  shall  we  do  for  the  hundred  talents 

which  I  have  given  to  the  ^  army  of  Israel  ?    And  the  man  2  troop. 

of  God  answered,  The  Lord  is  able  to  give  thee  much 

more  than  this.     10.  Then  Amaziah  separated  them,   to 

wit,  the  army  that  was  come  to  him  out  of  Ephraim,  to  go 

home  again  :    wherefore  their  anger  was  greatly  kindled 

against  Judah,  and  they  returned  home  in  great  anger. 

II.  And  Amaziah  ^ strengthened  himself,  and  led  forth  his  ^  took  courage. 

people,  and  went  to  ^  the  valley  of  salt,  and  smote  of  the  e  Josh.  xy.  62 ; 

children  of  Seir  ten  thousand.    12.  And  other  ten  thousand  1  chron.  xviii.' 

12 
left  alive  did  the  children  of  Judah  carry  away  captive,  and 

brought  them  unto  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  cast  them 

down   from  the    top    of  *  the  rock,   that  they  all   were  ^  ^^"'"ff-  Seia. 

broken  in  pieces.     13.  But  the  soldiers  of  the  army  which 

Amaziah  sent  back,  that  they  should  not  go  with  him  to 

was  now  rapidly  leading  towards  the  final  doom,  which  took  place  a 
century  later.  It  was  important  that,  if  possible,  Judah  and  the  throne 
of  David  should  be  kept  from  the  contamination  of  their  neighbours. 
The  prophecies  of  Hosea  and  Amos  belong  to  this  period  or  a  little  later, 
and  illustrate  vividly  the  condition,  religious  and  social,  of  the  northern 
kingdom.     See  Hos.  xi.  12. 

8.  But  if  thou  wilt  go,  do  it.  See  Revised  Version.  The  words  are 
used  b}^  the  prophet  ironically. 

10.  Wherefore  their  anger  was  greatly  kindled  against  Judah.  They 
had  received  their  money  (ver,  9),  but  apparently  they  were  indignant 
at  the  insult  put  upon  them,  as  they  deemed  it. 

11.  And  went  to  the  valley  of  salt — at  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea  ;  there 
Abishai,  the  brother  of  Joab,  had  defeated  the  Edomites  in  David's  time 
(see  refi". ). 

The  children  of  Seir — i.e.  the  Edomites,  had  revolted  in  the  reign  of 
Jehoram  (xxi.  8,  9).  Amaziali's  attack  on  them  was  intended  to  punish 
tliem  and  bring  them  back  to  their  dependence.  The  treatment  of  the 
captives  described  in  the  next  verse  shows  tlie  comparatively  low  state  of 
civilisation  or  even  humanity  among  the  Israelites.  It  M'as  certainly 
revolting  to  the  conscience  of  the  prophets  (cf.  Amosi.,  ii.),  but  tliat  it 
should  have  taken  place  ought  to  prevent  any  surprise  being  felt  at  the 
evident  gap  wliich  exists  between  the  precepts  of  the  Law  of  Moses  and 
the  actual  practice  of  the  people.  The  narrative  in  Kings  adds  that 
Amaziah  took  Sela  (or  Petra)  the  Edomite  rock- capital  and  changed  its 
name  to  Joktheel,  i.e.  'the  subdued  of  God.' 


248  2  CHRON.  XXV. 


battle,  fell  upon  the  cities  of  Jiidah,  from  Samaria  even 
unto  Beth-horon,  and  smote  three  thousand  of  them,  and 
took  much  spoil.  14.  Now  it  came  to  pass,  after  that 
Amaziah  was  come  from  the  slaughter  of  the  Edomites, 
/  chap,  xxviii.  that  he  brought  the  gods  of  the  children  of  Seir,  and  -^set 
them  up  to  be  his  gods,  and  bowed  down  himself  before 
them,  and  burned  incense  unto  them.  15.  Wherefore  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Amaziah,  and  he 
sent  unto  him  a  prophet,  which  said  unto  him.  Why  hast 
thou  sought  after  the  gods  of  the  people,  which  could  not 
deliver  their  own  people  out  of  thine  hand  ?  16.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  as  he  talked  with  him,  that  the  Icing  said 

5  Have  we  made  unto  him,  •''  Art  thou  made  of  the  king's  counsel  ?  forbear  ; 

why  shouldest  thou  be  smitten  ?  Then  the  prophet  for- 
bare,  and  said,  I  know  that  God  hath  determined  to  destroy 
thee,  because  thou  hast  done  this,  and  hast  not  hearkened 
unto  my  counsel.  17.  Then  Amaziah  king  of  Judah  took 
advice,  and  sent  to  Joash,  the  son  of  Jehoahaz,  the  son  of 
Jehu,  king  of  Israel,  saying.  Come,  let  us  see  one  another 
in  the  face.     18.  And  Joash  king  of  Israel  sent  to  Ama- 

6  Marg.  thorn,    ziali  king   of  Judah,   saying,    The   ^  thistle   that   loas  in 

Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  that  was  in  Lebanon,  saying. 
Give  thy  daughter  to  my  son  to  wife  :  and  there  passed  l)y 

13.  From  Samaria  even  unto  Betli-lioron.  Samaria  was,  of  course, 
outside  the  territory  of  Judah,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
copyists  have  made  a  mistake,  and  that  the  original  name  was  not 
Samaria,  but  Zamaraim,  or  Ephrain. 

14.  He  brought  the  gods  of  the  children  of  Seir.  This  act  was  quite  in 
accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  ancient  heathen  nations.  As  each 
nation  was  supposed  to  have  its  national  god,  who  was  supreme  in  his 
own  territory,  it  was  the  aim  of  a  would-be  conqueror  to  win  over  his 
enemy's  gods  to  his  own  side ;  and  to  transfer  them  to  his  own  capital 
would  be  a  visible  sign  of  the  incorporation  of  the  conquered  nation  with 
the  victorious  one.     The  chief  Edomite  god  was  called  Koze  (Josephus). 

17.  Come,  let  us  see  one  another  in  the  face.  This  may  have  been 
meant  as  a  direct  challenge  to  battle,  or  only  an  invitation  to  a  confer- 
ence about  some  matter  in  dispute.  If  the  latter,  the  Chronicler  uses  the 
phrase  in  a  double  sense,  satirically  in  ver.  20. 

18.  The  thistle  that  was  in  Lebanon,  etc.  This  contemptuous  parable 
(Judah  being  tlie  thistle,  and  Israel  the  cedar)  should  be  compared  with 
Jotham's  parable  of  the  trees  choosing  a  king  (Judges  ix.  7-15). 


AMAZIAH  249 


a  wild  beast  that  was  in  Lebanon,  and  trode  down  the 

thistle.      19.   Thou    sayest,   Lo,    thou    hast    smitten    the 

Edomites  ;  and  thine  heart  lifteth  thee  up  to  boast :  abide 

now  at  home  :  why  should  est  thou  ^  meddle  to  thine  hurt,  '  Marg.  pro- 
voke calamity. 
that  thou  shouldest  fall,  even  thou,  and  Judah  with  thee  ? 

20.  But  Amaziah  would  not  hear  ;  for  it  came  of  God,  that 

he  might  deliver  them   into  the  hand  of  their  enemies, 

because  they  sought  after  the  gods  of  Edom.    21.  So  Joash 

the  king  of  Israel  went  up  ;  and  they  saw  one  another  in 

the  face,  both  he  and  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  at  Beth- 

shemesh,  which  belongeth  to  Judah.     22.  And  Judah  was 

put  to  the  worse  before  Israel,  and  they  fled  every  man  to 

his  tent.     23.  And  Joash  the  king  of  Israel  took  Amaziah 

king  of  Judah,  the  son  of  Joash,  the  son  of  Jehoahaz,  at 

Beth-shemesh,  and  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  brake 

down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  from  ^  the  gate  of  Ephraim  to  g  Neh.  viii.  16. 

the  corner  gate,  four  hundred  cubits.     24.  And  he  took  all 

the  gold  and  the  silver,  and  all  the  vessels  that  were  found 

in  the  house  of  God  with  '^  Obed-edom,  and  the  treasures  'i-  i  Chron. 

xxvi.  15. 

of  the  king's  house,  the  hostages  also,  and  returned  to 
Samaria.  25.  And  Amaziah  the  son  of  Joash  king  of 
Judah  lived  after  the  death  of  Joash  son  of  Jehoahaz  king 
of  Israel  fifteen  years.  26.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Amaziah,  first  and  last,  behold,  are  they  not  written  in  the 
book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel?  27.  Noav  after 
the  time  that  Amaziah  did  turn  away  from  following  the 
Lord  they  made  a  conspiracy  against  him  in  Jerusalem  ; 
and  he  fled  to  Lachish  :  but  they  sent  to  Lachish  after 
him,  and  slew  him  there.  28.  And  they  brought  him 
upon  horses,  and  buried  him  with  his  fathers  in  the  city 
of  Judah. 


20.  It  came  of  God.  God  did  not  actually  lead  Amaziah  on  to  his 
defeat,  but  sufi'ered  him  to  go  on  in  his  own  headstrong  purpose.  He  had 
wilfully  disobeyed  God's  law  and  God's  prophet,  and  so  he  lost  God's 
guidance  and  protection.     See  note  on  1  Sam.  ii.  25  (vol.  i.). 

28.  And  they  broug-ht  him  upon  horses.  Lachish,  a  strong  city  on  the 
south-west  border  of  Judah — means  literally  '  horse-toAvn '  (cf.  Micah  i.  L3) ; 
though  the  horses  spoken  of  hero  may  have  been  either  those  on  whicli 
the  king  himself  had  escaped,  or  those  of  his  pursuers. 


250 


2  CHRON.  XXV 


LESSON  XX  VIII 


Amaziah 


Matter. 


1.  Trust  in  the  power  of  man. 

The  special  feature  of  Amaziah's 
reign  is  his  vain  confidence,  in  spite 
of  warnings,  in  other  things  than 
God.  To  secure  the  services  of 
such  a  large  body  of  Israelite  war- 
riors was  a  tempting  thing ;  but 
alliances  with  Israel  had  already 
produced  evil  fruit  in  the  reign  of 
Jehoshaphat.  "  It  was  a  striking 
lesson  to  Amaziah  to  be  told  that 
he  would  be  stronger  without  the 
'  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of 
valour '  from  Israel ;  more  than 
that,  his  money  would  be  well  lost 
if  he  gave  up  all  that  he  seemed  to 
have  bought  with  it.  The  supreme 
lesson  for  the  king,  whose  throne 
depended  on  the  promises  of  God, 
was  that  God  must  be  all  in  all.  God 
was  the  one  source  of  strength,  and 
money  could  not  buy  true  strength. 
The  money  itself  was  God's  gift. 
God  could  give  more  than  all  that 
was  lost  by  sending  away  the 
Israelite  warriors. 

2.  Trust  in  false  gods. 
Amaziah's  action  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  his  age. 
Here  again  he  is  bidden  to  learn  a 
supernatural  lesson.  There  is  no 
God  but  one  ;  the  superstition  which 
bade  him  propitiate  and  keep  on  his 
side  the  gods  of  a  defeated  nation 
was  folly.  It  was  not  the  gods 
of  Seir  which  had  delivered  their 
worshippers  into  liis  hands.  Such 
gods  could  neither  help  nor  refuse 
to  help.  All  power  came  from 
Jehovah,  and  with  Him  on  one's 
side,  there  was  no  fear  of  the  gods 
of  the  heatlien. 

3.  Trust  in  self. 

The     same     spirit    which    made 
Amaziah   threaten  and    reject  the 


Method. 

1.  ^^'ithout  using  the  word  'ma- 
terialism,' the  teacher  should  bear 
in  mind  that  there  is  a  special 
danger  in  our  own  times  of  thinking 
that  money  is  practically  all  power- 
ful :  also  of  imagining  that  the 
race  is  always  to  the  swift,  and  the 
battle  to  the  strong.  When  men 
leave  out  God  in  their  calculation 
of  the  elements  of  success,  they 
commit  the  blunder  that  Amaziah 
was  in  danger  of,  and  sometimes 
have  a  sad  awakening. 

Cf.  Jer.  ix.  23-24. 

Illustratethis  incident  by  Gideon's 
army  (Judges  vii.  2,  etc. ). 


2.  The  first  article  of  the  faith  is 
belief  in  one  God.  From  this  the 
Divine  education  of  Israel  took  its 
beginning,  ef.  the  First  Command- 
ment. 

Though  the  actual  sin  of  Amaziah 
is  no  longer  possible,  the  same 
danger  remains,  of  allowing  worldly 
policy  or  superstition  to  set  up  rival 
gods.  God  is  a  'jealous  God,'  i.e. 
He  cannot  tolerate  a  rival.  His 
supreme  claim  must  come  before 
everything  else. 

Cf.  S.  Matt.  vi.  24. 


3.  Show  that  running  into  danger, 
whether  moral  or  physical,  unneces- 
sarily, is  'tempting  dod.' 


AMAZIAH 


251 


Lesson  XXVIII— continued.     Amaziah 


Matter. 

prophet  who  warned  him  against 
contemporary  superstition,  made 
him  challenge  Israel  needlessly,  and 
deafened  his  ears  to  the  parable  of 
Joash,  which,  if  contemptuously 
expressed,  was  certainly  true,  and 
perhaps  kindly  meant.  Amaziah 
evidently  attributed  his  victory  over 
the  Edomites  to  his  own  strength. 
The  holy  writer  attributes  his 
blind  presumption  to  the  hand  of 
God,  Who  was  allowing  him  to  be 
punished  by  his  own  sin. 

The  challenge  he  had  sent  to 
Joash  was  really  a  tempting  of 
God. 


Method. 
We  are  warned  against  this  daily 
in  the  Venite ;  we  pray  against  it 
in  the  third  collect  at  Morning 
Prayer  and  in  the  clause  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  'Lead  us  not  into 
temptation.' 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Amaziali. 

Vain  confidence — 

in  multitude  of  men, 
in  the  power  of  money  ; 
in  false  gods  ; 
in  himself. 

The  result — Presumption,  tempting  God. 

The  end — Defeat, 
Disgrace, 
Death. 

Learn — '  God  hath  power  to  help  and  to 
cast  down'  (ver.  9). 


252  2  CHKON.  XXVI. 


2  CHEON.  XXVI. 


mHEN  all  the  people 


)f  Judah  took  Uzziah,  who  was 
X  sixteen  years  old,  and.  made  him  king  in  the  room  of 
his  father  Amaziah.  2.  He  built  Eloth,  and  restored 
it  to  Judah,  after  that  the  king  slept  with  his  fathers. 
3.  Sixteen  years  old  was  Uzziah  when  he  began  to  reign, 
and  he  reigned  fifty  and  two  years  in  Jerusalem.  His 
1  Jechiiiah.  mother's  name  also  was  ^  Jecoliah  of  Jerusalem.  4.  And 
he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
according  to  all  that  his  father  Amaziah  did.  5.  And  he 
sought  God  in  the  days  of  Zechariah,  who  had  understand- 
ing in  the  visions  of  God  :  and  as  long  as  he  sought  the 
Lord,  God  made  him  to  prosper.  6.  And  he  went  forth 
and  warred  against  the  Philistines,  and  brake  down  the 
wall  of  Gath,  and  the  wall  of  Jabneh,  and  the  wall  of 

L  Uzziah,  called  in  Kings  usually  Azariah,  but  Uzziah  in  2  Kings  xv. 
13,  32,  34,  and  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets.  The  two  names  are  very 
similar  in  Hebrew,  and  the  meaning  is  nearly  the  same,  Azariah  meaning 
'helped  by  Jehovah,'  and  Uzziah  'might  of  Jehovah.'  This  was  the 
longest  reign  in  the  whole  history  of  the  monarchy  except  that  of  Man- 
asseh,  and  one  of  the  most  prosperous  ;  indeed,  the  one  which  most  nearly 
resembled  that  of  Solomon. 

2.  He  built  Eloth.  The  same  as  Elath  ;  the  port  of  Solomon,  on  the  gulf 
of  Akaba  (see  notes  on  pp.  53  and  59).  Since  the  time  of  Jehoshaphat,  and 
the  disaster  which  had  happened  to  his  fleet  (1  Kings  xxii.),  no  attempt 
apparently  had  been  made  to  restore  the  sea  power  and  commerce  of 
Solomon. 

After  that  the  king  slept  with  his  fathers.  This  must  mean  after  the 
murder  of  Amaziah,  recorded  in  the  previous  chapter.  It  is  supposed 
that  Uzziali  must  have  been  regent  or  joint  ruler  with  his  father,  before 
the  latter's  deatli,  perhaps  while  he  was  hiding  at  Lacliish. 

5.  Zechariah.  Nothing  is  known  of  this  prophet ;  it  -was  a  common 
name.  Possibly  he  may  have  been  the  author  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
Book  of  Zechariah,  which  is  often  supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of 
some  earlier  prophet  than  the  Zechariah  of  the  Return,  who  wrote  chaps, 
i.-viii.  But  the  allusion  to  Uzziah  in  Zech.  xiv.  5,  seems  to  imply  that 
his  reign  Avas  over. 

6.  Brake  down  the  wall  of  Gath.  Gath  had  already  suffered  under  a 
Syrian  invasion  (2  Kings  xii.  17).  It  was  the  first  to  disappear  of  the  five 
great  cities  of  the  Philistines  (see  Zech.  ix.  5,  6). 

Jabneh  is  the  later  Jamnia,  famous  in  Jewish  history,  after  the  destruc- 


UZZIAH  253 


Ashdod,  and  built  cities  about  Ashdod,  and  among  the 
Philistines.  7.  And  God  helped  him  against  the  Philis- 
tines, and  against  the  Arabians  that  dwelt  in  Gur-baal,  and 
the  ^Mehunims.  8.  And  the  Ammonites  gave  gifts  to  -  Meunim. 
Uzziah  :  and  his  name  spread  abroad  even  to  the  entering 
in  of  Egypt ;  for  he  strengthened  himself  exceedingly. 
9.  Moreover  Uzziah  built  towers  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
corner  gate,  and  at  the  valley  gate,  and  at  the  turning  of 
the  wall,  and  fortified  them.     10.  Also  he  built  towers  in 

the  desert,  and  ^  digged  many  wells,  for  he  had  much  cattle,  "  '^ewed  out 

'^^  -J  '  '  many  cisterns. 

both  in  the  low  country,  and  in  the  plains  :  husbandmen 

also,  and  vine  dressers  in  the  mountains,  and  in  "*  Carmel :  ^  the  fruitful 

'  '  fields. 

for  he  loved  husbandry.     11.  Moreover  Uzziah  had  an  host 

of  fighting  men,  that  Avent  out  to  war  by  bands,  according 

tion  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  for  its  Rabbinical  schools.  There  a 
synod  was  held  (100  a.d.)  which  is  said  to  have  settled  the  authoritative 
Hebrew  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Ashdod  is  the  Azotus  of  the  New  Testament  (Acts  viii.  40). 

8.  His  name  spread  abroad  even  to  the  entering  in  of  Egypt.  Thus 
Uzziah  revived  to  some  extent  the  empire  of  Solomon,  as  he  was  acknow- 
ledged as  overlord  by  the  different  tribes  between  Judah  and  the  border 
of  Egypt,  as  well  as  by  the  Philistines  on  the  sea  coast,  and  the  Ammon- 
ites on  the  east  of  Jordan. 

9.  Moreover  Uzziah  built  towers  in  Jerusalem.  '  He  strengthened  the 
defences  of  Jerusalem  by  building  towers  at  its  three  weakest  points — 
'  the  corner  gate,'  a  gate  probably  at  the  north-western  angle  of  the  city, 
where  the  north  wall  abutted  on  the  valley  of  Hinnoni  ;  '  the  valley  gate,' 
midway  in  the  western  wall,  corresponding  to  the  modern  gate  of  Jafi"a  ; 
and  the  '  turning  of  the  wall,'  a  weak  place  in  the  defences  of  the  eastern 
city  (Nell.  iii.  19),  perhaps  the  southern  point  of  the  valley  of  the  Tyro- 
pwon'  (Rawlinson,  from  Ewald). 

10.  Also  lie  built  towers  in  the  desert.  These  towers  would  be  for 
defence  and  protection  of  the  flocks  in  the  event  of  a  sudden  raid,  like 
the  ancient  'peel-towers'  in  the  border  country  between  England  and 
Scotland.  The  '  desert '  means,  not  a  barren  place,  but  a  region  of  pasture- 
land  without  villages  or  towns. 

And  digged  many  wells.  See  Revised  Version.  These  cisterns  were 
for  the  storage  of  rain  water,  essential  for  the  watering  of  flocks  during 
the  seasons  of  drought. 

In  the  low  country,  and  in  the  plains.  The  '  low  country '  is  the  Shc- 
phelah,  the  low  hills  that  lie  between  the  plain  of  the  Philistine  country 
and  the  higher  and  more  central  mountains  of  Palestine.  '  The  plains  ' 
means  the  high  plateaus  on  the  east  of  Jordan. 


254  2  CHRON.  XXVI. 


to  the  number  of  their  ticcoimt  by  the  hand  of  Jeiel  the 

scribe  and  Maaseiah  the  ruler,  under  the  hand  of  Hananiah, 

5  the  heads  of    one  of  the  kinsi^'s  captains.     12.  The  whole  number  of  ^the 
fathers'  hou.ses.  «    ,  .   ,  n       -, 

chief  of  the  fathers  of  the  mighty  men  of  valour  were  two 

thousand  and  six  hundred.     13.  And  under  their  hand  was 

<■>  a  trained         G  .^q  army  three  hundred  thousand  and  seven  thousand  and 
army.  '' 

five  hundred,  that  made  war  with  mighty  power,  to  help 

the   king   against  the  enemy.     14.  And  Uzziah  prepared 
for  them  throughout  all  the  host  shields,  and  spears,  and 
7  coats  of  mail,  helmets,  and  ^  habergeons,  and  bows,  and  ^  slings  to  cast 
siin-,'ing.  stones.     15.  And  he  made  in  Jerusalem  engines,  invented 

9  battlements,  by  cunning  men,  to  be  on  the  towers  and  upon  the  ^  bul- 
warks, to  shoot  arrows  and  great  stones  withal.  And  his 
name  spread  far  abroad  ;  for  he  was  marvellously  helped, 
till  he  was  strong.     16.  But  when  he  was  strong,  his  heart 

1"  so  that  he      ^yj^g   lifted   up  ^^  to  his  destruction  :   for   he  transgressed 
did  corruptly.  ^  '^ 

against  the  Lord  his  God,  and  went  into  the  temple  of  the 
Lord  to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar  of  incense.  17.  And 
Azariah  the  priest  went  in  after  him,  and  with  him  four- 

14.  Slings  to  cast  stones.  See  Revised  Version.  A  supply  of  ammuni- 
tion for  the  slinger.s  was  laid  up  in  store  of  carefully  selected  stones, 
round  and  smooth,  and  of  suitable  size.     (Cf.  I  Sam.  xvii.  40.) 

_  15.  Engines,  invented  by  cunning  men.  These  would  no  doubt  be 
similar  to  the  halHsUE  and  catapultiv  used  in  siege  operations  by  the 
ancient  Romans,  which  were  believed  to  have  been  invented  in  Syria. 
The  former  engine  cast  huge  stones,  and  the  latter  arrows.  Both  were 
worked  by  means  of  some  powerful  spring,  which,  when  released,  hurled 
the  projectile  at  the  enemy.  In  1  Mace.  vi.  51,  both  are  alluded  to, 
'instruments  for  casting  fire  and  stones,  and  pieces  to  cast  darts.' 

IG.  And  went  into  the  temple  of  the  LORD  to  burn  incense.  Not  only 
was  the  offerini^  of  incense  an  exclusively  sacerdotal  function,  but  the 
very  entrance  into  the  Holy  Place  was  forbidden  to  any  but  priests. 
Holy  kings  like  David  and  Solomon  had  indeed  taken  a  prominent  part 
in  the  worship  of  God  (though  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  actually  ofllered 
sacrifices  themselves),  but  they  had  never  intruded  into  the  sanctuary, 
nor  so  presumed  on  their  royal  office  as  to  usurp  that  of  the  priesthood. 
The  sin  oi  Uzziah  has  been  repeated  all  down  the  ages  in  the  various 
attempts  of  the  secular  power  to  override  the  ordinances  of  the  Church, 
to  alter  her  laws,  or  circumscribe  her  liberty  of  teaching  and  worship. 
The  courage  of  Azariah  and  his  fellow-priests  has  not  always  been  imi- 
tated by  the  rulers  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  law  of  God,  however, 
is  t<^o  sacred  to  surrender,  even  if  a  king  or  the  popular  voice  demand  it. 


UZZIAH  255 


score  priests  of  the  Lord,  that  were  valiant  men  :  18.  And 
they  withstood  Uzziah  the  king,  and  said  unto  him,  It 
appertaineth  not  unto  thee,  Uzziah,  to  burn  incense  unto 
the  Lord,  but  to  the  priests  the  sons  of  Aaron,  that  are 
consecrated  to  burn  incense  :  go  out  of  the  sanctuary  ;  for 
thou  hast  trespassed  ;  neither  shall  it  he  for  thine  honour 
from  the  Lord  God.  19.  Then  Uzziah  was  wroth,  and  had 
a  censer  in  his  hand  to  burn  incense  :  and  while  he  was 
wroth  with  the  priests,  the  leprosy  even  rose  up  in  his 
forehead  before  the  priests  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  from 
beside  the  incense  altar.  20.  And  Azariah  the  chief  j)riest, 
and  all  the  priests,  looked  upon  him,  and,  behold,  he  loas 
leprous  in  his  forehead,  and  they  thrust  him  out  from 
thence  ;  yea,  himself  hasted  also  to  go  out,  because  the 
Lord  had  smitten  him.  21.  And  Uzziah  the  king  was  a 
leper  unto  the  day  of  his  death,  and  dwelt  in  a  several 
house,  being  a  leper  ;  for  he  was  cut  off  from  the  house  of 
the  Lord  :  and  Jotham  his  son  was  over  the  king's  house, 
judging  the  people  of  the  land.  22.  Now  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Uzziah,  first  and  last,  did  Isaiah  the  prophet,  the 
son  of  Amoz,  write.  23.  So  Uzziah  slept  with  his  fathers, 
and  they  buried  him  with  his  fathers  in  the  field  of  the 
burial  which  belonged  to  the  kings ;  for  they  said,  He  is 
a  leper  :  and  Jotham  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

21.  And  dwelt  in  a  several  hovise—i.e.  in  a  house  separated  from  his 
fellow-meu  (R.V.  mar;/,  lazar-house).  The  king,  who  had  presumed  in 
his  pride  to  enter  the  Holy  Place,  is  debarred  even  from  entrance  into 
the  Temple  precincts. 

22.  Isaiah  the  prophet,  the  son  of  Amoz.  This  first  mention  of  the 
greatest  of  the  writing  prophets  should  be  noticed.  Isaiah  received  his 
prophetic  call  for  a  special  mission  in  the  last  year  of  Uzziah's  reign  (see 
Isa.  vi.  1).  This  was  probably  in  the  year  740  B.C.,  and,  according  to 
Jewish  tradition,  he  outlived  Hezekiah  (697  B.C.),  and  was  put  to  death 
by  Manasseh.  The  best  account  of  Isaiah  is  to  be  found  in  Driver's 
Isaiah,  in  '  Men  of  the  Bible  '  .Series. 

23.  For  they  said,  He  is  a  leper.  These  words  imply  that  the  separation 
of  the  leper-king  during  his  life  was  maintained  in  his  burial.  He  was 
buried  in  the  royal  cemetery,  and  apparently  in  a  separate  tomb. 


256 


2  CHRON.  XXVI. 


LESSON  XXIX 


Uzziah 


Mattek. 

1.  What  a  king  can  do. 

The  reign  of  Uzziah  approaches 
nearest  iu  glory  and  prosperity  to 
that  of  Solomon.  He  restored  to 
some  extent  the  sea-power  of  Judah 
by  building  Eloth.  Besides  being 
a  patron  of  sailors,  he  was  a  warrior, 
and  broke  the  power  of  the  Philis- 
tines. 

He  was  a  builder  and  a  patron  of 
husbandry,  improving  the  resources 
and  the  defences  of  his  countr}^  re- 
organising the  army,  and  fortifying 
Jerusalem  with  the  most  elaborate 
methods  then  known. 

All  these  works  were  done  under 
God's  approval  and  guidance,  being 
advised  by  the  prophet  Zechariah. 

2.  What  a  king  cannot  do. 

Lifted  up  with  pride  at  his  suc- 
cesses, Uzziah  tried  to  do  what 
no  king  apparently  had  ever  done 
before  him,  exercise  the  'priestly 
office,  in  one  of  its  most  peculiar 
functions,  offering  incense  within 
the  Holy  Place.  The  priesthood, 
just  as  much  as  the  kingship,  had 
its  special  covenant  with  God,  and 
rested  upon  a  Divine  gift  and  Divine 
promises  (Num.  xvi.  40,  xviii.  7, 
XXV.  13;  Deut.  xxxiii.  8-11).  Only 
in  the  Messiah  could  the  kingly 
and  priestly  offices  be  cf)ni]jined 
(Zech.  vi.  13).  Death,  or  at  least 
separation  from  the  commonwealth 
of  Israel,  would  be  the  ordinary 
penalty  for  sacrilege.  As  the  king 
could  not  be  punished  by  man,  the 
hand  of  God  intervened,  and  by  the 
infliction  of  leprosy  separated  Uz- 
ziah from  the  common  worship  ;  he 
was  '  cut  off  from  the  house  of  the 
Lord,' 


Method. 

1.  Describe  the  different  works 
of  Uzziah,  comparing  them  with 
those  of  Solomon. 

Show  that  these  are  still  the 
proper  M^orks  of  kings  and  rulers, 
for  M'hich  they  specially  need  the 
gifts  of  God's  grace  and  the  prayers 
of  His  Church. 

Cf.  the  second  collect  for  the 
King  in  the  Communion  Service, 
that  '  He  may  ever  study  to  pre- 
serve Thy  people  committed  to  his 
charge  in  wealth'  {i.e.  prosperity), 
'peace,  and  godliness.' 

2.  Describe  the  sin  of  Uzziah, 
and  explain  carefully  the  sepai'ation 
of  the  functions  of  kings  and  priests 
in  the  Old  Testament. 

It  is  most  important  to  explain 
in  connection  with  this,  the  distinc- 
tion between  secular  and  spiritual 
authority  in  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Christian  ministry  does  not 
depend  on  natural  birth  as  did  that 
of  the  Levites  and  the  sons  of  Aaron ; 
but  on  Ordination — 

See  S.  Matt,  xxviii.  19-20  ; 

S.  John  XX.  21-23  ; 

Acts  vi.  3-6  ; 

xiii.  1-4  ; 

xiv.  23; 

1  Tim.  iii ; 

iv.  14; 

2  Tim.  i.  6. 


UZZIAH 


25^ 


Lesson  XXIX — continued.     Uzziah 


Matter. 

This  same  separation  of  offices 
continues  by  God's  ordinance  under 
the  new  Covenant.  It  is  essential 
for  the  maintenance  of  God's  honour, 
otherwise  spiritual  things  would 
become  confused  with  the  things  of 
this  world. 

The  priesthood  does  not  now 
depend  upon  natural  descent,  but 
on  supernatural.  Not  the  children 
of  a  particular  family,  but  those 
who  are  called  in  the  Church  to 
receive  the  special  laying  on  of 
hands  and  the  special  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  we  call  Ordina- 
tion, have  alone  the  right  to  perform 
those  spiritual  offices  which  are  the 
antitypes  and  realities  correspond- 
ing to  the  types  and  shadows  of  Old 
Testament  worship. 

Thus  no  secular  authority,  neither 
Monarch  nor  Parliament,  has  any 
right  to  interfere  with  the  doctrine 
or  worship  of  the  Church.  The 
definition  of  doctrine  was  commit- 
ted by  Christ  to  His  apostles  in  the 
words  giving  them  authority  '  to 
bind  and  to  loose,'  and  of  this  power 
the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church 
are  alone  the  inheritors. 

Similarly  the  power  of  admini- 
stering Sacraments,  especially  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  of  teaching  in 
the  Church,  belongs  only  to  the 
priesthood,  i.e.  to  bishops  and  to 
priests  authorised  b}'  a  bishop,  with 
the  sin',de  exception  of  Baptism, 
which,  on  account  of  its  universal 
necessity,  may,  on  emergency,  be 
administered  liy  a  layman  or  lay- 
woman. 

But  all  that  pertains  to  the  due 
performance  of  the  distinctive  wor- 
ship of  the  Christian  Church,  of 
which  the  incense  in  tlie  Jewish 
Church  was  a  tj'pe,  belongs  exclus- 
ively to  the  ordained. 

See  the  Preface  to  the  Ordinal, 
and  also  Articles  xxiii.  and  xxxvii. 

HEB.  MOX.  :    VOL.  II. 


Method. 

Ordination  confers  authority — 
To  teach. 

To    administer     the     Sacra- 
ments. 

With  older  children  explain  also 
that  neither  King  nor  Parliament 
can  alter  the  Creed  nor  the  Sacra- 
ments, nor  can  they  either  make  or 
unmake  a  minister  of  the  Church. 

Warn  against  the  vulgar  error 
that  '  establishment '  gives  any 
spiritual  authority  to  the  State  or 
State  officers. 

Illustrate  by  the  fact  that  when 
Henry  viii.  desired  the  title  *  Sup- 
reme Head  of  the  Church,'  the 
bishops  added  the  reservation,  '  as 
far  as  is  permitted  hy  the  law  of 
Christ: 

Point  out  that  Christ  is  the  true 
and  only  Head  of  the  Church,  and 
that  the  Sovereign  now  no  longer 
claims  that  profane  title,  but  simply 
that  of  'Supreme  Governor.' 


258 


2  CHRON.  XXVI. 


Lesson  XXIX- 


itimied.     Uzziah 


Matter. 

In  the  Church  of  England  the 
Sovereign  is  recognised  as  '  Supreme 
(Tovernor '  (not  as  '  Supreme  Head '). 
He  is  finally  responsible  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  for 
ensuring  that  the  clergy  do  their 
duty,  but '  we  give  not  to  our  Princes 
the  ministering  either  of  God's 
Word  or  of  the  Sacraments '  (Art. 
xxxvii.). 


Method. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Uzziah. 
An  example  of — 

(1)  What   a   king   can    do — maintain   wealth, 

peace,  godliness. 

(2)  What  a  king  cannot  do,  viz. — the  work  of 

a  priest. 


Jeivish  Chu7xh. 


Priests, 


Sons  of  Aaron  only, 


Christian  Church. 
Bishops. 
Priests. 
-Deacons. 


Entered  Holy  Place, 
offered  incense,  which 
even  kings  could  not 
do,        .... 


r  Appointed  by  Ordina- 
l     tion  only. 

Have  authority  from 
Christ— 
To  teach, 
To  administer  Sa- 
craments ; 
which    kings    have 
not. 


JEROBOAM  II.  259 


2    KINGS    XIV.    23-29;    XV.    8-31;    2    CHRON.    XXVII.  ; 

2  KINGS  XVI.   1-5;   2  CHRON.   XXVIII.    8-15; 

2  KINGS  XVI.  6-20;  ISAIAH  VII.  1-U 

IN  the  fifteenth  year  of  Amaziah  the  son  of  Joash  king  of 
Jiidah  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Israel  began 
to  reign  in  Samaria,  and  reigned  forty  and  one  years. 
24.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  : 
he  departed  not  from  all  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin.     25.  He  restored  the  coast 
of  Israel  from  the  entering  of  Hamath  imto  "the  sea  of  the  a  Deut.  iii.  17. 
plain,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of  his  servant  ^  Jonah,  the  son  h  Jonah  i.  i ; 
of  Amittai,  the  prophet,  which  was  of  ''Gath-hepher.     26.  40/  ^   ■^"'     ' 
For  the  Lord  saw  the  affliction  of  Israel,  that  it  was  very  '^  "^°'^^^'  ''''^"  ^^' 
bitter  :  for  there  ivas  not  any  shut  up,  nor  any  left,  nor 
any  hefper  for  Israel.     27.  And  the  Lord  said  not  that  he 

23.  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Joash.  This  was  one  of  the  most  powerful 
sovereigns  of  the  northern  kingdom  ;  his  conquests  are  described  in  the 
subsequent  verses.  But  although  he  was  allowed  by  God  to  deliver  Israel 
for  a  time  from  foreign  oppression,  to  give  them  respite  for  repentance, 
his  own  attitude  towards  God  was  no  better  than  that  of  his  predecessors. 
The  book  of  Amos  should  be  read  in  this  connection,  which  gives  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  condition  of  Israel  under  Jeroboam  11. — its  outward  pros- 
perity and  self-complacency,  and  its  inward  corruption.  See  especially 
Amos  vii.,  where  the  prophet's  encounter  with  the  priest  of  the  idol- 
sanctuary  at  Bethel  is  described.  Hosea  also  prophesied  during  the 
reign  of  the  same  king. 

25.  From  the  entering  of  Hamath  unto  the  sea  of  the  plain.  A  general 
expression,  signifying  that  Jeroboam  restored  the  ancient  possessions  of 
Israel  east  of  Jordan.  Hamath  was  a  city  bordering  on  Syria,  and  one 
of  the  possessions  of  David  and  Solomon;  and  so  the  'entering  in  of 
Hamath'  means  the  point  where  "ne  entered  tlie  old  territory  of  Israel. 
The  'sea  of  the  Arabah  '  (R.V. )  means  the  Dead  Sea,  the  termination  of 
the  Arabah  or  ravine  of  the  Jordan. 

Jonah,  the  son  of  Amittai.  This  must  be  the  same  as  the  prophet 
whose  mission  to  Nineveh  is  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Jonah.  He  is 
mentioned  here  alone  in  the  historical  books.  Gath-hepher  was  near 
Nazareth,  and  Jonah  was  thus  a  prophet  of  Galilee,  although  the  Phari- 
sees of  our.  Lord's  time  ignored  this  in  their  scorn  of  the  Galiheans 
(S.  John  vii.  52). 


260  2  KINGS  XV.  8-31 


would  blot  out  the  name  of  Israel  from  under  heaven  :  but 
he  saved  them  by  the  hand  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Joash. 
28.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jeroboam,  and  all  that  he 
did,  and  his  might,  how  he  warred,  and  how  he  recovered 
Damascus,  and  Hamath,  which  belonged  to  Judah,  for 
Israel,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  29.  And  Jeroboam  slept  with  his 
fathers,  even  with  the  kings  of  Israel ;  and  Zachariah  his 
son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

XV.  8-31.  In  the  thirty  and  eighth  year  of  Azariah 
1  Zechariah.  king  of  Judah  did  ^  Zachariah  the  son  of  Jeroboam  reign 
over  Israel  in  Samaria  six  months.  9.  And  he  did  that 
which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  as  his  fathers  had 
done  :  he  departed  not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son 
of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin.  10.  And  Shallum  the 
son  of  Jabesh  conspired  against  him,  and  smote  him  before 
the  people,  and  slew  him,  and  reigned  in  his  stead.  11. 
And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  ^  Zachariah,  behold,  they  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel. 
12.  This  was  the  word  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake  unto 
d  chap.  X.  30.  Jehu,  saying,  ^Thy  sons  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  Israel 
unto  the  fourth  generation.  And  so  it  came  to  pass.  13. 
Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh  began  to  reign  in  the  nine  and 
thirtieth  year  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah  ;  and  he  reigned  a 
full  month  in  Samaria.  14.  For  Menahem  the  son  of 
Gadi  went  up  from  Tirzah,  and  came  to  Samaria,  and 
smote  Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh  in  Samaria,  and  slew  him, 
and  reigned  in  his  stead.     15.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 

•27.  The  LORD  said  not  that  he  would  blot  out  the  name  of  Israel  from 
under  heaven.  This  implies  that  the  Lord  did  afterwards  do  this  ;  but 
as  yet  there  was  a  time  left  for  Israel  to  repent. 

XV.  S.  Azariah,  i.e.  Uzziah,  see  note  on  p.  252. 

10.  Shallum  the  son  of  Jabesh  conspired  against  him,  and  smote  him 
before  the  people.  Zachariah  was  the  fourth  generation  which  had  been 
promised  to  Jeliu,  and  with  him  the  line  of  Jehu  comes  to  an  end 
(ver.  12).  This  destruction  had  been  strikingly  foretold  by  the  prophet 
Amos  (vii.  9).  'Before  the  people'  apparently  means  that  Shallum's 
rebellion  was  quite  an  open  one,  and  had  popular  support. 


MEN  AHEM  261 


Shallum,  and  liis  conspiracy  which  he  made,  behold,  they 
are  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Israel.  16.  Then  Menahem  smote  Tiphsah,  and  all  that 
ivere  therein,  and  the  coasts  thereof  from  Tirzah  :  because 
they  opened  not  to  him,  therefore  he  smote  it ;  and  all  the 
women  therein  that  were  with  child  he  ripped  up.  17.  In 
the  nine  and  thirtieth  year  of  Azariah  king  of  Judah  began 
Menahem  the  son  of  Gadi  to  reign  over  Israel,  and  reigned 
ten  years  in  Samaria.  1 8.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  dej)arted  not  all  his  days 
from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made 
Israel  to  sin.  19.  And  Pul  the  king  of  Assyria  came 
against  the  land :  and  Menahem  gave  Pul  a  thousand 
talents  of  silver,  that  his  hand  might  be  with  him  to  con- 
firm the  kingdom  in  his  hand.  20.  And  Menahem  exacted 
the  money  of  Israel,  even  of  all  the  mighty  men  of  wealth, 
of  each  man  fifty  shekels  of  silver,  to  give  to  the  king  of 
Assyria.  So  the  king  of  Assyria  turned  back,  and  stayed 
not  there  in  the  land.  21.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Menahem,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

16.  Tiphsali.  Probably  some  unknown  place  near  Tirzah.  The  only 
other  mention  of  a  Tiphsah  in  the  Bible  is  in  1  Kings  iv.  24,  where  it  means 
Thapsacus  on  the  Euphrates.  But  this  can  hardly  be  the  place  that 
Menahem  '  smote. ' 

19.  Pul  the  king  of  Assyria.  Tliis  is  apparently  the  same  person  as 
Tiglath-pileser  ii.  It  is  interesting  to  note  this  first  appearance  of 
Assyria,  which  now  takes  the  place  of  Syria,  as  the  threatening  power  on 
the  eastern  frontier.  Hosea  specially  warns  Israel  against  alliances  with 
Assyria  (see  v.  13  ;  vii.  11  ;  viii.  9  ;  xi.  5  ;  xiv.  3),  and  predicts,  what 
actually  came  to  pass,  the  ultimate  destruction  of  the  northern  kingdom 
by  those  wliom  they  were  eager  to  make  allies. 

A  thousand  talents  of  silver.  This  is  equivalent  at  least  to  nearly 
half  a  million  of  our  money,  an  enormous  sum  to  pay  as  tribute  to  the 
Assyrian  for  his  alliance  and  protection.  That  it  was  paid  shows  both 
the  wealth  and  the  lack  of  national  spirit  in  the  northern  kingdom, 
and  illustrates  the  pictures  drawn  by  the  contemporar}'  prophets  Hosea 
and  Amos.  While  Amos  speaks  of  the  ivory  palaces,  the  vineyards,  and 
the  revellings  of  the  rich,  Hosea  compares  Israel  to  a  '  silly  dove  without 
understanding"  (vii.  11)  fluttering  aimlessly  between  Egypt  and  Assyria. 
Lack  of  confidence  in  God  had  produced  a  lack  of  confidence  in  self. 

20.  Fifty  shekels  of  silver — i.e.  the  sixtieth  part  of  a  talent  :  hence 
there  were  60,000  rich  men  on  whom  this  tax  was  levied. 


262 


2  KINGS  XV.  8-31 


2  castle. 

3  and  with 
him  were  fifty 
men  of  the 
Gileadites. 


book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  ?  22.  And  Mena- 
hem  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  Pekahiah  his  son  reigned 
in  his  stead.  23.  In  the  fiftieth  year  of  Azariah  king  of 
Judah  Pekahiah  the  son  of  IMenahem  began  to  reign  over 
Israel  in  Samaria,  and  reigned  two  years.  24.  And  he  did 
that  which  iras  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  :  he  departed 
not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made 
Israel  to  sin.  25.  But  Pekah  the  son  of  Eemaliah,  a 
captain  of  his,  conspired  against  him,  and  smote  him  in 
Samaria,  in  the  ^  palace  of  the  king's  house,  Argob  and 
Arieh,  ^  and  with  him  fifty  men  of  the  Gileadites  :  and 
he  killed  him,  and  reigned  in  his  room.  26.  And  the  rest 
of  the  acts  of  Pekahiah,  and  all  that  he  did,  behold,  they 
are  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Israel.  27.  In  the  two  and  fiftieth  year  of  Azariah  king 
of  Judah  Pekah  the  son  of  Eemaliah  began  to  reign  over 
Israel  in  Samaria,  and  reigned  twenty  years.  28.  And 
he  did  that  which  vris  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Loed  :  he 
dej)arted  not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat, 
who  made  Israel  to  sin.  29.  In  the  days  of  Pekah  king 
of  Israel  came  Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria,  and  took 
Ijon,  and  Abel-beth-maachah,  and  Janoah,  and  Kedesh, 
and  Hazor,  and  Gilead,  and  Galilee,  all  the  land  of  Naph- 
tali,  and  carried  them  captive  to  Assyria.     30.  And  Hosea 

25.  Argob  and  Arieh — probably  the  only  two  of  the  king's  court  who 
remained  faithful  to  him  ;  thu  '  fifty  men  of  tlie  Gileadites'  mentioned  in 
this  verse  were  the  followers  of  Pekah,  not  the  guard  of  Pekahiah,  as  the 
punctuation  of  the  Autliorised  Version  seems  to  suggest. 

27.  Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah.  A  powerful  and  warlike  king  who 
distinguished  himself  by  his  attack  on  the  southern  kingdom,  in  com- 
pany with  Pvezin  of  Syria  (xvi,  5  and  Isa.  vii,).  Although  this  invasion 
was  ultimatel}'  unsuccessful,  Pekah  inflicted  great  loss  on  Ahaz.  See 
2  Chron.  xxviii. 

29.  Galilee,  all  the  land  of  Naphtali.  With  the  exception  of  Gilead, 
all  the  places  mentioned  here,  as  far  as  known,  are  in  the  territory  of 
Naphtali,  wliich  would  be  the  first  district  to  succumb  to  an  invader 
from  the  north.  Kedesh  was  one  of  the  cities  of  refuge  ;  Hazor,  the 
capital  of  Jabin,  was  afterwards  one  of  the  frontier  strongholds  of 
Solomon  (I  Kings  ix.  15).  Galilee,  afterwards  the  name  of  the  whole 
district  north  of  Samaria,  M'as  at  this  time  limited  in  its  application  to  the 
country  round  Kedesh.     It  is  to  this  disaster  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali 


J 


JOTHAM  263 


the  son  of  Elali  made  a  conspiracy  against  Pekah  the  son 

of  Eemaliah,  and  *^  smote  him,  and  slew  him,  and  reisned  in  e  Hos.  x.  3,  7, 

15. 

his  stead,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Jotham  the  son  of 
Uzziah.  31.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Pekah,  and  all 
that  he  did,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the 
chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel. 

2  CHRON.  XXVII.  1.  Jotham  was  twenty  and  five  years 
old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  sixteen  years 
in  Jerusalem.  His  mother's  name  also  ivas  Jerushah,  the 
daughter  of  Zadok.  2.  And  he  did  that  ivhich  ivas  right 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  father 
Uzziah  did  :  howbeit  he  entered  not  into  the  temple  of  the 
Lord.  And  the  people  did  yet  corruptly.  3.  He  built 
the  high  gate  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  on  the  wall  of 
Ophel  he  built  much.     4.  Moreover  he  built  cities  in  the 

*  mountains  of  Judah,  and  in  the  forests  he  built  castles  '^  hill-country 

of. 
and  towers.  5.  He  fought  also  with  the  king  of  the  Am- 
monites, and  prevailed  against  them.  And  the  children  of 
Ammon  gave  him  the  same  year  an  hundred  talents  of 
silver,  and  ten  thousand  measures  of  wheat,  and  ten  thou- 
sand of  barley.  So  much  did  the  children  of  Ammon  pay 
unto  him,  both  the  second  year,  and  the  third.  6.  So 
Jotham  became  mighty,  because  he  ^prepared  his  ways  5  ordered. 
before  the  Lord  his  God.  7.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Jotham,  and  all  his  wars,  and  his  ways,  lo,  they  are  written 
in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah.  8.  He  was  five 
and  twenty  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  reigned 

that  Isaiah  alludes  in  the  famous  opening  of  chap.  ix.  These  sufferings 
of  Israel  at  the  hand  of  their  enemies  will  find,  he  says,  their  true  and 
final  relief  in  the  birth  of  Messiah. 

2  Chrox.  xxvir.  2.  And  the  people  did  yet  corruptly — i.e.  the  people 
sacrificed  in  '  the  high  places ' ;  carrying  on  the  corrupt  and  irregular 
Jehovah-worship  of  their  fathers. 

8.  The  wall  of  Ophel.  The  southern  slope  of  the  Temple  hill  going 
down  to  the  vallej-  of  Hinnom.  Manasseh  also  fortified  this  part  of  the 
cit}'. 

5.  He  fought  also  with  the  king-  of  the  Ammonites — following  up  the 
conquests  of  Uzziah  (xxvi.  8). 


264  2  CHRON.  XXVIII.  8-15 

sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem.  9.  And  Jotham  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David  :  and 
Ahaz  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

2  KINGS  XVI.  1-5.  In  the  seventeenth  year  of  Pekah 
the  son  of  Remaliah  Ahaz  the  son  of  Jotham  king  of  Judah 
began  to  reign.  2.  Twenty  years  old  ivas  Ahaz  when  he 
began  to  reign,  and  reigned  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem, 
and  did  not  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord 
his  God,  like  David  his  father.  3.  But  he  walked  in  the 
/  Lev.  xviii.  21.  way  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  yea,  and  •''made  his  son  to  j)ass 
through  the  fire,  according  to  the  abominations  of  the 
heathen,  whom  the  Lord  cast  out  from  before  the  children 
of  Israel.  4.  And  he  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the 
high  places,  and  on  the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree. 
5.  Then  Rezin  king  of  Syria  and  Pekah  son  of  Remaliah 
king  of  Israel  came  up  to  Jerusalem  to  war  :  and  they 
besieged  Ahaz,  but  could  not  overcome  hwi. 

2  CHRON.  XXVIII.  8-15.  And  the  children  of  Israel 
carried  away  captive  of  their  brethren  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, women,  sons,  and  daughters,  and  took  also  away 
much  spoil  from  them,  and  brought  the  spoil  to  Samaria. 
9.  But  a  prophet  of  the  Lord  was  there,  whose  name  was 
Oded  :  and  he  went  out  before  the  host  that  came  to 
Samaria,  and  said  unto  them,  Behold,  because  the  Lord 

2  Kings  xvi.  3.  Yea,  and  made  his  son  to  pass  througli  the  fire.  This 
cruel  and  unnatural  worship  of  the  Ammonite  god  Moloch  is  repeatedly 
mentioned  with  horror  in  Holy  Scripture.  Little  is  definitely  known 
about  this  sacrifice  of  children,  but  it  is  clear  that  they  were  actually 
burnt,  though  perhai)s  not  burnt  alive.  Milton's  description  embodie*^5 
the  traditional  idea  of  the  Moloch-worship,  that  the  children  were  placed 
on  the  red-iiot  arms  of  the  idol,  and  their  cries  drowned  with  savage 
music — 

'First,  Moloch,  horrid  kiiij,',  Ix'smearcd  with  blood 

Of  huiiiiui  sacridce,  and  jKirents'  tears  ; 

Though,  for  the  noise  of  drums  and  timbrels  loud, 

Their  children's  cries  unheard  that  passed  through  fire 

To  his  grim  idol.' 

5.  Rezin  king  of  Syria.  Syria  was  now  tributary  to  Assyria.  Perhaps 
Rezin's  idea  of  alliance  with  Israel  and  invasion  of  Judah  was  to  free 
himself  again  from  the  Assyrian  yoke.  His  ^attacks  on  Jerusalem  had 
begun  in  the  previous  reign  (xv.  37). 


THE  CAPTIVES  OF  JUDAH  265 

God   of  your   fathers   was   wroth   with   Judah,   he   hath 
delivered  them  into  your  hand,  and  ye  have  shxin  them 
in  a  rage  that  reacheth  up  unto  heaven.     10.  And  now  ye 
purjDose  to  keep  under  the  children  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem 
for  bondmen  and  bondwomen  unto  you  :  hit  are  there  not 
with  you,  even  with  you,  sins  against  the  Lord  your  God  ? 
11.  Now  hear  me  therefore,  and  deliver  the  captives  again, 
which  ye  have  taken  captive  of  your  brethren  :  for  the 
fierce  wrath  of  the  Lord  is  upon  you.     12.  Then  certain 
of  the  heads  of  the  children  of  Ej^hraim,  Azariah  the  son 
of    Johanan,    Berechiah    the    son    of    Meshillemoth,    and 
Jehizkiah   the   son   of  Shallum,    and  Amasa   the   son   of 
Hadlai,  stood  up  against  them  that  came  from  the  war, 
13.  And  said  unto  them.  Ye  shall  not  bring  in  the  captives 
hither:  ^for  whereas  we  have  offended  against  the  Lord  e  for  ye  purpose 
already^  ye  intend  to  add  more  to  our  sins  and  to  our  bring  upon  us  a 
trespass  :    for  our  trespass    is  great,    and   there    is   fierce  the'^  LoRDt^^to 
wrath   against   Israel.      14.  So   the   armed   men  left  the  ^j*^;^,,  unto' our 
captives  and  the  spoil  before  the  princes  and  all  the  con- 
gregation.    15.  And  the  men  which  "were  ^ expressed  by  7  have  been. 
name  rose  up,  and  took  the  captives,  and  with  the  spoil 
clothed  all  that  were   naked   among   them,   and   arrayed 
them,  and  shod  them,  and  ''  gave  them  to  eat  and  to  drink,  h  2  Kings  vi.  22. 
and   anointed   them,  and  carried  all  the  feeble  of  them 

2  Chron.  XXVIII.  9.  A  rage  that  reacheth  up  unto  heaven — i.e.  a  rage 
which  is  so  excessive  that  it  has,  as  it  were,  forced  itself  upon  the  notice 
of  God  Himself.     Cf.— 

'  O,  my  offence  is  rank  ;  it  smells  to  lieaven  ; 
It  hath  the  primal  eldest  curse  upon't, 
A  brother's  murder.' 

Hamlet,  iii.  3. 

13.  Ye  shall  not  bring  in  the  captives  hither.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  instances  in  the  Bible  of  a  national  repentance.  Its  results 
were  short-lived,  but  it  showed  there  was  still  both  a  consciousness  of 
sin  and  some  human  sympathy  among  the  people  of  the  northern  kingdom, 
as  well  as  a  feeling  that  the  reducing  of  the  captives  to  slavery  was  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  of  the  Law  of  Moses. 

It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  it  is  the  Chronicler  only  who  mentions  this 
incident,  although  it  is  sometimes  said  that  he  is  hostile  to  the  northern 
kingdom,  and  usuall}'  represents  it  in  the  worst  light. 


26G  2  KINGS  XVI.  6-20 


i  Deut.  xxxiv,    upon  asses,  and  brought  them  to  Jericho,  Hhe  city  of  jjahu 
trees,  to  their  brethren  :  then  they  returned  to  Samaria. 
2  KINGS  XVI.  6-20.  At  that  time  Rezin  king  of  Syria 

j  chap.  xiv.  22.  recovered -^  Elath  to  Syria,  and  drave  the  Jews  from  Elath: 
and  the  Syrians  came  to  Elath,  and  dwelt  there  unto  this 
day.  7.  So  Ahaz  sent  messengers  to  Tiglath-pileser  king 
of  Assyria,  saying,  I  am  thy  servant  and  thy  son  :  come 
up,  and  save  me  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria,  and 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Israel,  which  rise  up  against 
me.  8.  And  Ahaz  took  the  silver  and  gold  that  was  found 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  treasures  of  the  king-'s 
house,  and  sent  it  for  a  present  to  the  king  of  Assyria. 
9.  And  the  king  of  Assyria  hearkened  unto  him  :  for  the 
king  of  Assyria  went  up  against  Damascus,  and  took  it, 

k  Amos  i.  5 ;  and  ^  carried  the  people  of  it  captive  to  Kir,  and  slew 
Eezin.  10.  And  king  Ahaz  went  to  Damascus  to  meet 
Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria,  and  saw  an  altar  that  ivas 

I  Isa.  viii.  2.  at  Damascus  :  and  king  Ahaz  sent  to  '  Urijah  the  priest 
the  fashion  of  the  altar,  and  the  pattern  of  it,  according  to 
all  the  workmanship  thereof.  11.  And  Urijah  the  priest 
built  an  altar  according  to  all  that  King  Ahaz  had  sent 
from  Damascus  :  so  Urijah  the  priest  made  it  against  king 
Ahaz  came  from  Damascus.     12.  And  when  the  king  was 

2  Kings  xvi.  7.  So  Ahaz  sent  messengers  to  Tiglath-pileser.  Ahaz, 
according  to  2  Chron.  xxviii.,  Avas  also  beset  by  old  etieniies  on  the  south 
and  west — the  Edomites  and  the  Philistines.  This  alliance  with  Assyria 
was  denounced  by  Lsaiah,  and  as  he  foresaw  resulted  in  Judah  itself  being 
soon  after  attacked  by  Assyria.     Cf .  Isa.  viii.  7,  8. 

9.  The  king  of  Assyria  went  up  against  Damascus.  Tiiis  is  tlie  end  of 
the  once  formidable  power  of  Syria.  The  captivity  of  Sj'ria  took  place 
in  the  year  732,  and  left  the  northern  kingdom  face  to  face  with  Assyria. 

10.  An  altar  that  was  at  Damascus.  This  was  evidently  a  larger  and 
more  magnificeut  altar  even  tlian  Solomon's  brazen  altar  (see  ver.  15). 
It  must  have  l)een  an  altar  to  tlie  SA'rian  god  Rimmon,  though  it  appears 
from  this  account  that  tlie  copy  made  of  it  Avas  used  for  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  According  to  Chronicles,  Ahaz  had,  previously  to  this,  'sacri- 
ficed unto  the  gods  of  Damascus  which  smote  him,'  in  the  hope  of  gaining 
them  over  to  his  side.  This  new  altar  is  not  mentioned  in  Chronicles, 
and  the  sin  of  making  it  lay  not  in  any  idolatry  connected  with  it,  but 
in  the  contempt  shown  for  the  ancient  style  of  worship  which  had  been 
revealed  by  God  Himself. 


AHAZ  AND  URIJAH  267 

come  from  Damascus,  the  king  saw  the  altar  :  and  the 
king  ^  aiDproachecl  to  the  altar,  and  offered  thereon.     1 3.  «  drew  near 
And  he  burnt  his  burnt  offering  and  his  '-^meat  offering,  and  9  meal  offering. 
poured  his  drink  offering,  and  sprinkled  the  blood  of  his 
peace  offerings,  upon  the  altar.     14.  And  he  brought  also 
the  brasen  altar,  which  luas  before  the  Lord,  from  the  fore- 
front of  the  house,  from  between  ^'^  the  altar  and  the  house  ^"  ^ii«- 
of  the  Lord,  and  put  it  on  the  north  side  of  ^'^the  altar. 
15.  And  king  Ahaz  commanded  Urijah  the  priest,  saying. 
Upon  the  great  altar  burn  '"  the  morning  burnt  offering  ''"_,  ^,^°'^'  ^^'^• 
and  the  evening  meat  offering,  and  the  king's  burnt  sacrifice, 
and  his  meat  offering,  with  the  burnt  offering  of  all  the 
people  of  the  land,  and  their  meat  offering,  and  their  drink 
offerings  ;  and  sprinkle  upon  it  all  the  blood  of  the  burnt 
offering,  and  all  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  :  and  the  Ijrasen 
altar  shall  be  for  me  to  enquire  hy.     16.  Thus  did  Urijah 
the  priest,  according  to  all  that  king  Ahaz  commanded. 
17.  And  king  Ahaz  cut  off  the  borders  of  "the  bases,  and  n  i  Kings  vii. 
removed  the  laver  from  off  them  ;  and  took  down  "  the  sea 
from  off  the  brasen  oxen  that  ivere  under  it,  and  put  it  upon 
a  pavement  of  stones.     18.  And  the  ^^  covert  for  the  sabbath  ii  covered  way. 
that  they  had  built  in  the  house,  and  the  king's  entry  with- 
out, turned  he  from  the  house  of  the  Lord  ^'^  for  the  king  12  because  of. 
of  Assyria.     19.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Ahaz  which  he 

15.  The  brazen  altar  shall  be  for  me  to  enquire  by.  There  is  some 
doubt  as  to  the  exact  meaning  of  this  phrase.  It  might  mean  either  that 
Ahaz  intended  to  use  the  old  altar  for  purposes  of  divination  ;  or  else 
that  he  had  not  yet  decided  what  to  do  with  it.  The  latter  meaning  is 
perhaps  the  more  likely. 

18.  The  covert  for  the  sabbath,  evidently  some  covered  way  or  cloister 
for  the  convenience  of  the  worshippers  or  of  the  king  himself  on  the 
Sabbath. 

The  king's  entry  is  also  unknown,  unless  it  be  the  same  as  the  '  ascent ' 
mentioned  in  2  Chron.  ix.  4. 

The  king-  of  Assyria.  It  is  cpiite  uncertain  what  changes  were  made 
l\v  Ahaz,  or  Avhat  the  king  of  Assyria  had  to  do  with  them.  The 
favourite  supposition  seems  to  be  that  Ahaz  dismantled  various  parts  of 
the  Temple  of  their  decorations,  either  to  raise  tribute  for  the  king  of 
Assyria  or  to  keep  them  from  being  annexed  by  him,  or  perhaps  in  order 
to  approximate  the  Temple  arrangements  to  some  foreign  idolatry. 

19.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Ahaz.    Ahaz  is  held  up  by  the  Chronicler 


168  ISAIAH  VII.  1-14 


did,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of 
the  kings  of  Jiidah  ?  20.  And  Ahaz  slept  with  his  fathers, 
and  was  buried  with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of  David  :  and 
Hezekiah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

ISAIAH  VII.  1-14.  And  it  came  to  jDass  in  the  days  of 
Ahaz  the  son  of  Jotham,  the  son  of  Uzziah,  king  of  Judah, 
that  Rezin  the  king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah  the  son  of 
Eemaliah,  king  .of  Israel,  went  up  toward  Jerusalem  to  war 
against  it,  but  could  not  prevail  against  it.  2.  And  it 
was  told  the  house  of  David,  saying,  Syria  is  confederate 
with  Ephraim.  And  his  heart  was  moved,  and  the  heart 
of  his  people,  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  with  the 
wind.  3.  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  Isaiah,  Go  forth  now 
o^chap.  viii.  3,  to  meet  Ahaz,  thou,  and  -'  Shear-jashub  thy  son,  at  the  end 
of  the  conduit  of  the  upjDer  pool  in  the  highway  of  the 
fuller's  field  ;     4.  And  say  unto  him.  Take  heed,  and  be 


18, 


as  an  example  of  one  whom  trouble  drove  further  from  God  instead  of 
leading  him  to  repentance  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  22).  He  was  evidentl}'  a 
prey  to  superstitions,  and  offered  worship  to  every  sort  of  divinity  mIioui 
he  thought  likely  to  help  him.  He  is  said  to  have  '  made  him  altars  in 
every  corner  of  Jerusalem,'  and  high  places  'in  every  several  city  of 
Judah.' 

Isaiah  vii.  This  chapter  is  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of 
the  monarchy,  and  throws  light  upon  the  Divine  purpose  which  under- 
lies that  history,  and  wliich  made  both  the  idolatry  of  Ahaz,  the  terrors 
of  his  people,  and  the  desire  of  foreign  alliances  in  a  unique  sense  dis- 
pleasing to  God. 

3.  Shear-jashub.  This  name  liad  evidently  been  given  by  Isaiah  to  his 
son  for  a  prophetic  purpose.  It  means  '  a  remnant  shall  return,'  and 
thus  expresses  one  of  the  leading  ideas  in  the  prophetic  work  of  Isaiah 
(cf.  vi.  13),  viz.,  that  only  a  small  minority  of  the  chosen  nation  would 
retain  faith  and  so  survive  calamity,  but  that  this  minority  would  never 
fail.      It  would  be  as  it  Mere  '  the  soul  of  the  Church.' 

The  conduit  of  the  upper  pool.  Many  conjectures  have  been  made  as 
to  where  and  what  this  was.  It  was  near  the  wall,  for  there  Kabshakeh 
delivered  his  message  in  Hezekiah's  time.  It  seems  from  Isa.  xxii.  9 
that  Ahaz  had  given  greater  attention  t(j  the  storage  of  water  in  case  of 
siege  than  he  had  given  to  what  was  more  important,  national  riglit- 
eousness  and  faith  in  God's  j)romise.  Hence  there  would  be  a  si»ecial 
appropriateness  in  Isaiah  meeting  him  beside  the  conduit  of  one  of  liis 
reservoirs. 


AHAZ  AND  ISAIAH  269 

quiet ;  fear  not,  neither  be  fainthearted  for  the  two  tails 
of  these  smoking  hrebrands,  for  the  fierce  anger  of  Rezin 
13  with  Syria,  and  of  the  son  of  Remaliah,  5.  Because  Syria,  is  and. 
Ephraim,  and  the  son  of  Remaliah,  have  taken  evil  counsel 
against  thee,  saying,  6.  Let  us  go  up  against  Judah,  and 
vex  it,  and  let  us  raake  a  breach  therein  for  us,  and  set  a 
king  in  the  midst  of  it,  even  the  son  of  Tabeal :  7.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God,  It  shall  not  stand,  neither  shall  it 
come  to  pass.  8.  For  the  head  of  Syria  is  Damascus,  and 
the  head  of  Damascus  is  Rezin  ;  and  within  threescore 
and  five  years  shall  Ephraim  be  broken,  that  it  be  not  a 
people.  9.  And  the  head  of  Ephraim  is  Samaria,  and  the 
head  of  Samaria  is  Remaliah's  son.  If  ye  will  not  believe, 
surely  ye  shall  not  be  established.  10.  ISIoreover  the 
Lord  spake  again  unto  Ahaz,  saying,  11.  Ask  thee  a  sign 
of  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  ask  it  either  in  the  depth,  or  in  the 

4.  The  two  tails  of  these  smoking  firebra,nds.  A  contemptuous  phrase, 
implying  that  the  '  two  firebrands '  were  nearly  extinguished  ;  this  attack 
on  Jerusalem  was  the  last  smoke,  as  it  were,  of  the  burnt-out  brands. 

6.  The  son  of  Taheal.  Nothing  is  known  of  this  person.  He  was  pro- 
babl}'  a  vSyrian,  and  was  intended  b}^  the  invaders  to  be  a  puppet-king  of 
Judah,  who  Avould  be  subservient  to  themselves. 

8.  For  the  head  of  Syria  is  Damascus.  This,  as  well  as  the  similar 
phrases  in  verses  8  and  9,  seems  to  mean  that  these  kingdoms  which  seem 
so  terrible  are  only  governed  by  7ne?i,  whereas  Judah's  real  king  is  the 
Lord  of  Hosts. 

Within  threescore  and  five  years  shall  Ephraim  be  broken.  It  is  difii- 
cuh  to  know  to  w  hat  this  refers.  Ephraim  was  carried  into  captivity  by 
Assyria  some  twelve  or  fifteen  years  after  this  date.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  sixty-five  years  extend  to  the  recolonisation  of  Samaria 
by  Esar-haddon. 

9.  If  ye  will  not  believe,  surely  ye  shall  not  be  established.  '  The 
words  mark  an  ep(>ch  in  the  histor}'  of  revelation  ;  never  before  probably 
had  the  distinctively  religious  principle  of  faith  been  so  plainly  exhibited 
as  the  touchstone  of  character  and  destiny  '  {Cambridge  Bible). 

11.  Ask  thee  a  sign  of  the  LORD  thy  God.  God  here  offers  through  His 
prophet  what  Christ  afterwards  refused  to  perform  for  the  Jews,  a  'sign,' 
that  is  some  notable  miracle,  either  on  earth  or  in  the  sky,  no  limits  of 
possibilit}'  being  assigned.  Ahaz  showed  as  much  unbelief  in  refusing 
to  take  God  at  His  word  at  such  a  crisis  as  the  Jews  showed  in  the  opposite 
way  of  refusing  to  believe  without  'signs.'  Moreover,  he  cloaked  his 
unbelief  under  a  pretence  of  reverence.     He  did  not  wish  to  *  tempt  the 


70  ISAIAH  VII.  1-14 


height  above.     12.  But  Ahaz  said,  I  will  not  ask,  neither 

will  I  tempt  the  Lord.     13.  And  he  said,  Hear  ye  now,  0 

house  of  David  ;  Is  it  a  small  thing  for  you  to  weary  men, 

but  will  ye  weary  my  God  also  ?     14.  Therefore  the  Lord 

s  ^Lufe^f  31^^ '  hi'^self  shall  give  you  a  sign  ;  Behold,  ^  a  virgin  shall  con- 

q  chap.  viii.  8,    ceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name  « Immanuel. 
10.  ' 

Lord,'  to  press  matters  to  such  a  definite  issue.     But  he  '  tempted'  God 
much  more  by  refusing  what  God  Himself  offered. 

14.  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive.  This  prophecy  is  definitely  stated 
by  S.  Matthew  (i.  22,  2.3)  to  refer  to  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  And  so  it  has  been  unanimously  understood  iu  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Even  the  Jews  interpreted  it  of  the  Messiah,  until  Chris- 
tianity compelled  their  unbelief  to  discover  some  other  explanation  of  it. 

The  only  difficulty  in  the  passage  is  to  decide  (which  is  impossible) 
whether  Isaiah  had  in  his  mind  any  preliminary  fulfilment,  such  as  the 
birth  of  a  son  to  Ahaz  or  to  himself.  It  has  been  thought  that  some  such 
meaning  is  required  by  the  prediction  in  ver.  16  that  the  destruction  of 
Syria  and  Ephraim  will  come  during  the  early  years  of  this  child's  life. 
The  excursus  at  the  end  of  chap.  vii.  in  the  Cambridge  Bible  may  be  con- 
sulted, where  the  conclusion  is  that  Isaiah  definitely  meant  the  personal 
Messiah,  whom  at  this  moment  God  revealed  to  him. 

The  unbelief  of  Ahaz  caused  the  sign  which  was  given  to  him  to  be 
something  which  only  faith  could  grasp  ;  not  anything  in  his  own  tin)e 
or  circumstances,  but  an  event  which  time  would  disclose.  Cf.  S.  Matthew 
xii.  39,  40,  where  the  'sign'  given  to  unbelief  was  something  in  the  far- 
distant  past :  here  it  is  in  the  far-distant  future. 

The  birth  of  Christ  was  the  sign  which  would  for  ever  vindicate  to 
those  who  believed,  that  which  Ahaz  doubted,  the  certainty  of  the  Divine 
promises  to  Israel. 

And  shall  call  Ms  name  Immanuel.  It  is  the  Virgin  herself  who  gives 
the  name,  as  in  8.  Luke  i.  31,  and  probably  in  S.  Matthew  i.  25.  She 
being  His  only  earthly  parent  would  liave  the  first  right  to  name  her 
Son.  Immanuel  = 'with  us  is  God,'  another  characteristic  doctrine  of 
Isaiah's.  God's  people  and  the  house  of  David  cannot  fail,  whatever 
enemies  come  against  them,  for  the  presence  of  God  Himself  is  in 
the  midst  of  them.  And  this  will  be  finally  made  manifest  in  the 
Incarnation. 


AHAZ  AND  ISAIAH 


271 


LESSON  XXX 
Ahaz  and  Isaiah 


Matter. 

1.  A  king  without  faith. 

Ahaz  was  by  no  meaus  without 
religion  as  it  was  understood  by 
the  contemporary  heathen  world. 
Rather  he  adopted  all  the  religi- 
ous practices  of  the  surrounding 
nations,  including  degrading  idola- 
try, nature-worship,  and  cruel 
superstitions. 

But  he  seems  deliberately  to  have 
abandoned  all  that  the  throne  of 
David  was  bound  to  maintain,  the 
exclusive  right  of  Jehovah  to  obe- 
dience and  worship.  Without 
abandoning  belief  in  Jehovah,  he 
evidently  considered  him  as  merely 
a  tribal  god,  inferior  probably  to 
the  gods  of  the  stronger  nations 
around.  By  the  help  of  an  apostate 
priest  he  adopted  the  Assyrian 
mode  of  worship,  partly  perhaps  in 
compliment  to  his  new  ally,  and 
partly  because  he  thought  the 
Divinely  ordained  worsliip  of  the 
Temple  out  of  date  ;  it  required, 
he  thought,  to  be  modified  or  supple- 
mented by  ideas  drawn  from  other 
quarters. 

Consequently  we  find  him  with- 
out faith  in  the  Divine  promises  to 
the  house  of  David,  terrided  bj-  the 
attack  of  Israel  and  Syria,  and 
ready  to  seek  for  alliance  with  a 
heathen  power,  and,  under  a  show 
of  humility,  refusing  to  accept  a 
sign  of  Jehovah's  power  which  the 
prophet  bade  him  ask  for. 

2.  The  sign  to  the  faithful. 

The  prophet  Isaiah  stands  forth 
at  the  crisis  as  the  champion  of  the 
Divine  promises.  Jehovah,  '  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,'  is  the  only  true 
strength  of  the  nation.  Trust  in 
Him,  obedience  to  His  law  will 
bring  Israel  safely  through  all  that 


Method. 
1.     'I   am    the   Lord   thy  God.' 
Show   that   disbelief    in    this,    the 
foundation   truth    of    religion,   lay 
at  the  root  of  Ahaz's  sins — 

(1)  His  disregard  of  the  first  two 

commandments. 

(2)  His  vain  superstitions  (when 

men  lose  faith  in  the  one 
true  God  they  generally 
take  refuge  in  false  religions 
and  superstitions ;  e.g.  in 
modern  days  'spiritualism,' 
'  fortune-telling, '  etc. ,  etc. ). 

(3)  His  fear,  and  disbelief  in  the 

promise  of  God  to  David. 
Refer  to  2  Sam.  vii,  10-16. 

(4)  His  foolish  alliance  with    a 

cruel  and  unscrupulous 
heathen  power. 


2.  The  prophet  Isaiah  gave  a 
sign,  i.e.  announced  a  coming  event 
which  would  prove  the  truth  of 
what  God  had  promised. 

It  was  a  sign  without  meaning  to 
Ahaz,  because  he  did  not  wish  to 
learn  ;  but  a  sign  which  was  under- 


272 


AHAZ  AXD  ISAIAH 


Lesson  XXX—contimied.     Ahaz  and  Isaiah 


Matter. 
threatens.  The  doom  of  the  enemies 
of  Jerusalem  is  already  close  at 
hand.  When  the  king  practically 
refuses  to  listen,  the  prophet  gives 
his  great  'sign,'  which  though  un- 
explained at  the  time,  would  be- 
come in  the  future  ages  the  great 
evidence  of  the  faithfulness  of  God. 
At  the  api)ointed  time  One  would 
be  born  of  a  Virgin,  who  in  His 
own  Person  would  vindicate  the 
promises  made  to  David,  for  He 
would  be  Himself  Immanuel,  '  God 
with  us.' 

Ahaz  had  disbelieved  that  God 
was  with  His  people,  and  had  taken 
refuge  with  the  false  gods  of  the 
heatlien.  The  faithful  remnant 
would  in  the  end  see  that  God  was 
true,  they  would  see  the  eternal 
kingdom  of  David  established,  and 
of  this  the  Virgin -birth  would  be 
the  sign. 


Method. 

stood  by  the  faithful,  and  which  the 
Church  understands. 

The  Virgin  was  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  born  some  seven  hundred 
years  after.  The  son  was  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  was  the  true  Son 
of  David  foretold  in  2  Sam.  vii., 
and  also  Son  of  God  ;  and  therefore 
called  Immanuel. 
Refer  to— 

Gen.  iii.  15. 

S.  Matt.  i.  18-25. 

S.  Luke  i.  30-33,  54-55,  69-70. 

Gal.  iv.  4. 

Rev.  xii. 

Hymns  A .  and  M.  409. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Ahaz  and  Isaiah. 

1.  A  king  without  faith. 

Disbelieved  in  God, 

,,  in  God's  promises  ; 

Therefore  idolatrous, 

,,  terrified  of  enemies, 

,,  trusted  in  the  heathen 

instead  of  God. 

2.  TJie  siijn  to  the  faithful ,  given  by  Isaiah. 

A  proof  that  God  keeps  His  promise. 

The  Virgin,   .     .      .     .    S.  Mary. 

The  Son  of  the  Virgin,    Jesus  Christ, 
Son  of  David, 
Son  of  God, 
Immanuel  = 
'  God  with  us. 


THE  CAPTIVITY  OF  ISRAEL  273 


2  KINGS  XVII. 

IN  the  twelfth  year  of  Ahaz  king  of  Judah  began  Hoshea 
the  son  of  Elah  to  reign  in  Samaria  over  Israel  nine 
years.  2.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,  but  not  as  the  kings  of  Israel  that  were 
before  him.  3.  Against  him  came  up  «Shalmaneser  king  of  a  Hosea  x.  14. 
Assyria :  and  Hoshea  became  his  servant,  and  gave  him 
j)resents.  4.  And  the  king  of  Assyria  found  conspiracy  in 
Hoshea  :  for  he  had  sent  messengers  to  So  king  of  Egypt, 
and  brought  no  present  to  the  king  of  Assyria,  as  he  had 
done  year  by  year  :  therefore  the  king  of  Assyria  shut  him 
up,  and  bound  him  in  prison.  5.  Then  the  king  of  Assyria 
came  up  throughout  all  the  land,  and  went  up  to  Samaria, 
and  besieged  it  three  years.  6.  In  the  ninth  year  of  Hoshea 
^the  king  of  Assyria  took  Samaria,  and  '^carried  Israel  aw^ay  b  Hosea  xiii.  16, 
into  Assyria,  and  placed  them  in  Halah  and  in  Habor  by  9-i2tLev^xxvi. 
the  river  of  Gozan,  and  in  the  cities  of  the  Medes.     7.  For  ^'''^-  ''''-^''^"• 

3.  Shalmaneser — The  successor  of  Tiglath-Pileser  ;  reigned  727-722  B.C. 

4.  He  had  sent  messengers  to  So  king  of  Egypt.  This  Pharaoh  appears 
under  dififerent  names  in  secular  history.  He  is  probably  the  same  as 
Sabaco,  or  Shebetek,  a  king  of  the  25th  dynast}^ 

The  futile  fascination  of  an  alliance  w  ith  Egypt  is  a  remarkable  feature 
of  the  historj^  of  Israel.  Both  in  the  northern  and  southern  kingdoms  the 
prophets  warn  against  it.  See  the  remarkable  description  of  Egypt  in 
Isaiah  xxx.  1-7.  In  this  case  the  only  result  apparently  of  the  overtures 
to  Egypt  Avas  to  rouse  the  suspicions  of  Assyria,  and  hasten  the  overthrow 
of  Hoshea. 

G.  The  king  of  Assyria  took  Samaria.  This  was  in  the  year  722,  and 
A\'as  accomplished  b}-  Sargon,  the  successor  of  Shalmaneser. 

Placed  them  in  Halah  and  in  Habor.  This  district  is  north  Mesopo- 
tamia, north-east  of  Palestine,  a  distance  of  400  or  500  miles.  'Habor' 
is  probabl}'  the  nKjderu  river  Khabour.  From  this  place  of  exile  the  ten 
tribes  never,  as  a  body,  returned. 

The  features  of  the  district  are  thus  described  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of 
the  Bible  :  '  In  early  spring  a  tender  and  luxuriant  herbage  covers  the 
whole  plain,  w-hile  tlowers  of  the  most  brilliant  hues  spring  up  in  rapid 
succession,  imparting  their  colour  to  the  landscape,  M-liich  changes  from 
daj'  to  day.  As  the  summer  draws  on,  the  verdure  recedes  towards  the 
streams  and  mountains.     Vast  tracts  of  arid  plain,  j'ellow,  parched,  and 

HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  S 


74 


2  KINGS  XVII. 


d  Lev.  xviii. 
Deut.  xviii. 


1  pillars  and 
Asherim. 


SO  it  was,  that  the  children  of  Israel  had  sinned  against  the 
Lord  their  God,  which  had  brought  them  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  from  nnder  the  hand  of  Pharaoh  king  of 
Egypt,  and  had  feared  other  gods,  8.  And  walked  in  ^the 
statutes  of  the  heathen,  whom  the  Lord  cast  out  from 
before  the  children  of  Israel,  and  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
which  they  had  made.  9.  And  the  children  of  Israel  did 
secretly  those  things  that  ivere  not  right  against  the  Lord 
their  God,  and  they  built  them  high  places  in  all  their 
cities,  from  the  tower  of  the  watchmen  to  the  fenced  city. 
10.  And  they  set  them  up  ^  images  and  groves  in  every 
high  hill,  and  under  every  green  tree  :  11.  And  there  they 
burnt  incense  in  all  the  high  places,  as  did  the  heathen 
whom  the  Lord  carried  away  before  them  ;  and  wrought 
wicked  things  to  provoke  the  Lord  to  anger  :  12.  For  they 
served  idols,  whereof  the  Lord  had  said  unto  them.  Ye 
shall  not  do  this  thing.  13.  Yet  the  Lord  testified  against 
Israel,  and  against  Judah,  by  all  the  prophets,  and  by  all 
the  seers,  saying.  Turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways,  and  keep 
my  commandments  and  my  statutes,  according  to  all  the 
law  which  I  commanded  your  fathers,  and  which  I  sent  to 
you  by  my  servants  the  prophets.  14.  Notwithstanding 
they  would  not  hoar,  but  hardened  their  necks,  like  to  the 
neck  of  their  fathers,  that  did  not  believe  in  the  Lord  their 

sapless,  fill  the  intermediate  space,  which  ultimately  becomes  a  bare  and 
uninhabitable  desert.' 

8.  Walked  in  the  statutes  of  the  heathen.  The  larger  part  of  this 
summary  of  the  sins  of  tlie  ten  tribes  is  devoted  to  their  adoption  of  the 
superstitions  and  sacred  places  of  the  Canaanites.  The  revelation  of  God 
at  Sinai  had  not  taken  such  hold  on  the  conscience  of  Israel  as  to  enable 
them  to  resist  these  fascinations  of  an  older  civilisation.  Indeed,  the 
relics  of  Canaanite  worship  were  much  more  in  accordance  with  their  own 
tastes  than  the  purer  religion  which  had  been  taught  them  through  Moses. 
A  further  declension  is  described  in  ver.  16 — the  making  of  the  golden 
calves,  and  the  deliberate  adoption  of  foreign  worships  from  Phcenicia 
and  Assyria. 

9.  From  the  tower  of  the  watchmen  to  the  fenced  city — i.e.  in  the  wil- 
derness and  the  cities  alike.  '  The  toAver  of  the  watchman  '  was  the  isolated 
tower,  for  defence  or  shelter,  which  would  be  built  in  the  pastoral  regions 
at  a  distance  from  the  towns. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  CAPTIVITY  275 

God.     15.  And  they  rejected  his  statutes,  and  ''his  covenant  c  Exod.  xxiv. 
that  he  made  with  their  fathers,  and  his  testimonies  which  x'xix'.  25. 
he  testified  against  them  ;  and  they  followed  vanity,  and 
hecame  vain,  and  went  after  the  heathen  that  were  round 
about  them,  concerning  whom  -^tlie  Lord  had  charged  them,  /  Dent.  xii.  30, 
that  they  should  not  do  like  them.     16.  And  they  left  all     " 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord  their  God,  and  made  them, 
molten  images,  even  two  calves,  and  made  ^  a  grove,  and  2  an  Asherah. 
worshipped  all  ^the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  Baal.     17.  g  Deut.  iv.  19. 
And  ^they  caused  their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  pass  hLev.  xviii.  21. 
through  the  fire,  and  used  *  divination  and  enchantments,  i  Deut.  xviii. 
and  sold  themselves  to  do  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  to  ^'^' 
provoke  him  to  anger.     18.  Therefore  the  Lord  was  very 
angry  with  Israel,  and   removed  them  out  of  his  sight : 
there  was  none  left  but  the  tribe  of  Judah  only.     19.  Also 
Judah  kept  not  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  their  God, 
but  walked   in  the   statutes  of  Israel  which  they  made. 
20.  And  the   Lord  rejected  all  the   seed  of  Israel,  and 
afilicted  them,  and  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  spoilers, 
until  he  had  cast  them  out  of  his  sight.     21.  For  he  rent 
Israel  from  the  house  of  David  ;  and  they  made  Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Nebat  king  :  and  Jeroboam  drave  Israel  from 
following  the  Lord,  and  made  them  sin  a  great  sin.     22. 
For  the  children  of  Israel  walked  in  all  the  sins  of  Jero- 
boam which  he  did  ;  they  departed  not  from  them  ;  23. 
Until  the  Lord  removed  Israel  out  of  his  sight,  as  he  had 
said  by  all  his  servants  the  prophets.     So  was  Israel  carried 
away  out  of  their  own  land  to  Assyria  unto  this  day.     24. 
-'And  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men  from  Babylon,  and  j  Ezra  iv.  2-10.' 

15.  His  covenant  that  he  made  with  their  fathers— ^■.e.  the  covenant  at 
Sinai,  when  the  Law  was  given  ;  Israel  disregarded  both  the  two  great 
bi-anehes  of  revelation,  the  permanent  Law  and  the  successive  prophets. 

24.  And  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men.  This  account  of  the  re- 
peopling  of  Samaria  is  interesting,  as  it  sliows  the  origin  of  the  later 
*  Samaritans,'  and  suggests  the  reasons  wh^-  they  Mere  not  allowed  to 
take  part  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  (Ezra  iv. ),  and  Mhy  the  later 
Jews  had  no  dealings  with  them  (S.  John  iv.  9).  Though  there  is  no 
break  in  the  narrative,  these  new  settlers  were  not  introduced  for  some 
years,  and  apparently  not  by  Shalmaneser,  but  his  grandson  Esar-haddon. 


27r,  2  KINGS  XVII. 


from  Cuthali,  and  from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from 
Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them  in  the  cities  of  Samaria 
instead  of  the  chiklren  of  Israel  :  and  they  possessed 
Samaria,  and  dwelt  in  the  cities  thereof.  25.  And  so  it 
was  at  the  beginning  of  their  dwelling  there,  that  they 
feared  not  the  Lord  :  therefore  the  Lord  sent  lions  among 
them,  which  slew  some  of  them.  26.  Wherefore  they  spake 
to  the  king  of  Assyria,  saying.  The  nations  which  thou 
hast  removed,  and  placed  in  the  cities  of  Samaria,  know 
not  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land  :  therefore  he  hath 
sent  lions  among  them,  and,  behold,  they  slay  them,  because 
they  know  not  the  manner  of  the  God  of  the  land.  27. 
Then  the  king  of  Assyria  commanded,  saying.  Carry  thither 
one  of  the  priests  whom  ye  brought  from  thence  ;  and  let 
them  go  and  dwell  there,  and  let  him  teach  tljem  the 
manner  of  the  God  of  the  land.  28.  Then  one  of  the  priests 
whom  they  had  carried  away  from  Samaria  came  and  dAvelt 
in  Beth-el,  and  taught  them  how  they  should  fear  the  Lord. 
29.  Howbeit  every  nation  made  gods  of  their  own,  and  put 
them  in  the  houses  of  the  high  places  which  the  Samaritans 
had  made,  every  nation  in  their  cities  wherein  they  dwelt. 

25.  They  feared  not  the  LORD.  Here  and  elsewhere  in  the  chapter 
this  phrase  does  not  imph^  any  particular  religious  devotion  or  the  lack 
of  it,  but  simply  an  ignorance  of  Jehovah-worship.  The  newcomers 
evidentl}'  regarded  Jehovah  as  the  local  god  of  tlieir  new  home  ;  but  they 
liad  no  knowledge  of  the  particular  rites  by  which  He  was  to  be  wor- 
shipped, nor  at  first  any  particular  desire  to  know.  And  it  is  evident 
that  their  '  fear '  of  Jehovah  did  not  at  any  time  go  further  than  a  mere 
external  worship  with  the  idea  of  propitiating  His  wrath.    - 

28.  Taught  them  how  they  should  fear  the  LORD.  It  is  impossible  to 
say  to  M'hat  extent  this  priest  taught  the  Samaritans.  There  is  no  allusion 
to  'calf-worship'  at  Bethel  in  later  history,  though  we  should  naturally 
imagine  that  a  priest  settling  at  Bethel  would  restore  the  old  idolatry. 
At  any  rate,  no  teaching  of  a  ver}^  severe  or  exclusive  character  could 
have  been  given,  as  the  next  verses  show  that  each  nation  among  the 
settlers  introduced  their  own  gods  side  by  side  with  Jehovah. 

The  later  Samaritans  (who  exist  to  this  day),  were  not  idolaters,  but 
recognised  the  Books  of  Moses,  of  which  they"^ possessed  an  independent 
text,  had  a  high  priest  of  their  own,  and  practised  a  worship  similar  to 
that  of  Israel.  An  opposition  temple  was  founded  on  Mount  Gerizim  by 
Manasseh,  who  was  expelled  from  Jerusalem  hy  Nehemiah  in  409  B.C. 


THE  NEW  SETTLEES  277 

30.  And  the  men  of  Babylon  made  Succoth-benoth,  and 
the  men  of  Cuth  made  Nergal,  and  the  men  of  Hamath 
made  Ashima,  31.  And  the  Avites  made  Nibhaz  and 
Tartak,  and  the  Sepharvites  burnt  their  children  in  fire  to 
Adrammelech  and  Anammelech,  the  gods  of  Sepharvaim. 

32.  So  they' feared  the  Lord,  and  made  unto  themselves  ^  of  *  from  among 

r>     1       1  •   1      1  1-1  •    themselves. 

the  lowest  ot  them  priests  oi  the  high  piaces,  which  sacri- 
ficed for  them  in  the  houses  of  the  high  places.  33.  They 
feared   the  Lord,  and   served   their   own  gods,  after  the 

manner  of  the  nations  *whom  they  carried  away  from  thence.  ■*  from  among 

TT  1  •      1  1  T        r  1       /•  whom  they  had 

34.  Unto  this  day  they  do  after  the  former  manners  :  they  been  carried 

fear  not  the  Lord,  neither  do  they  after  their  statutes,  or 

after  their  ordinances,  or  after  the  law  and  commandment 

which  the  Lord  commanded  the  children  of  Jacob,  whom 

he  named  Israel ;   35.  With  whom  the  Lord  had  made  a 

covenant,  and  charged  them,  saying,  ^  Ye  shall  not  fear  k  Judges  vi.  lo. 

other  gods,  nor  bow  yourselves  to  them,  nor  serve  them,  nor 

sacrifice  to  them  :  36.  But  the  Lord,  who  brought  you  up 

out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with  great  power  and  a  stretched 

out  arm,  him  shall  ye  fear,  and  him  shall  ye  worship,  and 

to  him  shall  ye  do  sacrifice.     37.  And  the  statutes,  and  the 

ordinances,  and  the  law,  and  the  commandment,  which  he 

wrote  for  you,  '  ye  shall  observe  to  do  for  evermore  :  and  i  Deut.  v.  32. 

ye  shall  not  fear  other  gods.     38.  And  the  covenant  that 

30.  Succoth-benoth.  Probably  a  female  divinity  ;  the  wife  of 
Merodach. 

Nergal.  A  well-known  Assyrian  god  ;  probably  lion-headed,  and  the 
divinity  of  war. 

AsMma.  Unknown ;  but,  according  to  JcAvisli  tradition,  worshipped 
under  the  form  of  a  goat. 

31.  Nibhaz.     Also  unknown  ;  perhaps  dog-headed. 

Tartak.     According  to  Jewish  tradition,  an  ass-headed  divinity. 

Adrammelecli  and  Anammelecli.  The  male  and  female  divinities  of 
Smi-wor.sliip.  Sepharvaim  was  a  city  noted  for  this  form  of  idolatry.  It 
is  Sippara  on  the  Euphrates. 

35.  Ye  shall  not  fear  other  gods.  This  passage  is  not  a  quotation  from 
the  Law,  but  a  suinnuiry  of  its  teaching  in  the  words  of  the  writer,  very 
much  in  the  style  of  Deuteronomy. 


278 


2  KINGS  XVII. 


m  Deut.  iv.  23.  I  have  made  with  you  "'  ye  shall  not  forget ;  neither  shall 
ye  fear  other  gods.  39.  But  the  Lord  your  God  ye  shall 
fear  ;  and  lie  shall  deliver  you  out  of  the  hand  of  all  your 
enemies.  40.  Howbeit  they  did  not  hearken,  but  they  did 
after  their  former  manner.  41.  So  these  nations  feared 
the  Lord,  and  served  their  graven  images,  both  their  chil- 
dren, and  their  children's  children  :  as  did  their  fathers,  so 
do  they  unto  this  day. 

41.  So  do  they  unto  this  day.  This,  like  other  statements  of  the  same 
kind,  was  ap}>arently  copied  exactly  from  the  earlier  documents  which 
the  compiler  of  Kings  made  use  of.  The  actual  compilation,  as  we  have 
it  now,  was  probably  made  just  about  tlie  time  of  the  return  of  Judah 
from  Babylon.  But  by  this  time  the  Samaritans  must  have  ceased  to 
be  idolaters. 


LESSON  XXXI 
The  Captivity  of  Israel 


Part  I 


Matter. 


1.  The  patience  of  God. 

The  history  of  the  tun  northern 
tribes,  which  hero  comes  to  an  end, 
is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  God's 
patience.  In  spite  of  the  continued 
idolatr}'  and  obstinacy  of  the  north- 
ern kingdom,  it  was  the  constant 
field  of  the  activity  of  p7'ophets, 
e.g.  Ahijah,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Jonah, 
and  many  others  who  are  imnamed. 
Two  others  also  have  left  written 
books  addressed  to  the  northern 
tribes — Amos,  who  was  a  prophet 
from  Judah,  sent  by  God  to  l)ear 
witness  at  Bethel  itself,  and  Hosea, 
who  spent  apparently  a  long  life 
warning  his  fellow-countrymen  in 
vain. 

Ahijah  (1  Kings  xiv.  15),  Amos 
(v.  27),  Hosea  (ix.  3,  etc.),  all 
distinctly  warned  of  the  coming 
Captivity,  unless  it  were  averted  by 
national  repentance. 


Method. 

1.  This  may  profitably  be  made 
a  lesson  of  recapitulation. 

Recall  circumstances  of  the  schism 
of  the  ten  tribes. 

Summarise  the  work  of  the  ;9ro- 
jyhets,  and  the  sins  against  which 
they  contended. 

Show  that  the  ten  tribes  had  the 
ligJtt  of  l)oth  the  Law  (Hosea  viii. 
12)  and  the  prophets  :  warnings  of 
what  their  sin  Avould  lead  to,  and 
time — 250  years — for  repentance. 
All  these  were  proofs  of  God's  mercy 
and  patience. 

Illustrate  by  Gen.  xv.  16  ;  S.  Luke 
xiii.  6-9. 


THE  CAPTIVITY  OF  ISRAEL 


279 


Lesson  XXXI — contimied.     The  Captivity  of  Israel 


Matter. 

The  national  sinswhichultimately 
brought  ruin  were  chiefly  : — 

( 1 )  Self --willed  alienation  from  the 
authorised  worship  in  Jerusalem. 

(2)  The  worship  of  the  golden 
calves  (Hosea  viii.  5,  6,  etc. ). 

(3)  Worship  of  false  gods,  Baalim, 
Asherim,  the  heavenly  bodies,  etc. 
(see  Hosea  iv.  12,  13;  viii.  11,  14, 
etc. ). 

(4)  Violence,  bloodshed,  and  fail- 
ure of  justice  (Hosea  iv.  1,  2,  etc.). 

(5)  Drunkenness  and  self-com- 
placent luxur}'  (Amos  vi.,  etc.). 

(6)  Disobedience  to  prophets. 
The  wrath   of   God   Avas   clearly 

manifested  in  decay  and  corruption 
of  the  national  life,  and  powerless- 
ness  in  the  face  of  SA'ria,  and  after- 
wards Assyria. 

2.  The  end  of  patience. 

The  end  of  the  national  existence 
of  the  ten  tribes  came  with  the  fall 
of  Samaria,  which  followed  soon 
upon  that  of  Damascus,  as  Isaiah  had 
foretold  ( vii. ).  And  though  isolated 
members  of  the  ten  tribes  formed 
part  after  wards  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
these  tribes,  as  a  whole,  never  re- 
turned from  Captivity.  They  had 
separated  themselves  from  the 
throne  of  David  and  the  true  priest- 
hood, to  which  the  promises  were 
given  ;  and  having  rejected  God's 
offers  of  mercy  by  His  prophets, 
their  judgment,  when  it  came,  was 
final. 


Method. 


2.  Describe  the  circumstances  of 
the  Captivity,  and  the  place  to 
which  the  ten  tribes  were  carried. 

Point  out  that  God's  mercy  and 
long-suffering  are  always  repre- 
sented in  the  Bible  as  not  lasting 
for  ever.  The  teacher  may  take  the 
opportunity  of  warning  against  the 
false  conception  of  God's  mercy  as 
an  easy  sort  of  good-nature.  Cf. 
Ps.  1.  21. 

God's  mercy  is  actuated  by  joitr- 
j)ose,  and  when  men,  by  obstinate 
refusal  to  repent,  render  that  pur- 
pose vain,  it  must  be  worked  out  in 
another  way,  for  God  is  Almighty — 
i.e.  by  judgment. 


280 


2  KINGS  XVII. 


Lesson  XXXI— continued.     The  Captivity  of  Israel 
Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Captivity  of  Israel. 

1.  Israel  or  Ephraim,  the  ten  northern  tribes; 

capital  Samaria. 
Forsook  the  rightful  king. 

,,       ,,     true  priesthood. 
Worshipped  golden  calves  and  other  idols. 
Disobeyed  God's  Law. 
Refused  to  hear  God's  prophets. 

2.  God^s  patience. 

He     gave    them    many    prophets — Ahijah, 

Elijah,  Elisha,  Amos,  Hosea. 
He  gave  them  a  long  time  for  repentance. 

3.  The  end  of  patience. 

Those  who  will  not  have  God's  mercy  must 

find  His  judgment. 
The    ten    tribes   were    carried    captive    to 

Assyria. 
Never  returned. 

'  From  hardness  of  heart  and  contempt  of  Thy 

Word  and  Commandment,  good  Lord 

deliver  us.' 


Part  II — The  Samaritans 


Matter. 


L  The  new  settlers  in  Palestine. 

Nothing  could  show  more  clearly 
the  hopelessness  of  the  Captivity  of 
the  northern  kingdom  than  this 
introduction  of  new  heathen  settlers 
into  the  land  which  God  had  given 
by  covenant,  and  which  Joshua  had 


Method. 

1.  Describe  the  settling  of  the 
Samaritans.  What  a  warning  it 
ought  to  have  been  to  their  neigh- 
bours in  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 

Explain  their  false  ideas  of  God. 
Yet   they    had    some   desire   to  b<; 


THE  SAMAKITANS 


281 


Lesson  XXXl—conti7iued.     The  Captivity  of  Israel 


Matter. 

apportioned.  It  was  a  visible  proof 
that  C4od  had  given  their  heritage 
to  others. 

These  people  '  feared  not  the 
Lord' — i.e.  they  had  never  known 
nor  had  the  opportunity  of  wor- 
shipping the  one  true  God,  and  their 
ideas  respecting  Jehovah  were  no 
higher  than  the  usual  heathen  view ; 
that  gods  had  certain  local  habita- 
tions, and  that  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  propitiate  '  the  god  of  the 
land '  to  escape  calamity  through 
his  resentment. 

2.  The  missionary  priest. 

Here  is  a  striking  example  of  the 
way  in  which  men's  sins  outlive 
them,  and  bring  evil  fruit  in  other 
generations.  Jeroboam  and  his  suc- 
cessors had  forsaken  the  true  priest- 
hood, and  made  a  priesthood  of  their 
own,  which  would  naturally  be  sub- 
servient to  the  royal  wishes. 

This  priest,  sent  by  the  king  of 
Assyria  to  teach  the  new  settlers 
'  the  manner  of  the  god  of  the  land,' 
would  not  be  able  to  tell  them  more 
than  he  himself  had  received.  No 
strict  nor  holy  conception  of  Jehovah 
and  His  worship  could  have  been 
taught  the  Samaritans,  as  we  see 
clearly  from  what  follows. 

8.  Half-hearted  worship. 

The  Samaritans  dishonoured  Je- 
hovah by  simply  placing  His  worship 
on  the  same  level  as  that  of  their 
own  false  divinities.  He  became  to 
them  simply  one  more  god  to  be 
propitiated,  as  He  might  do  them 
harm  otherwise. 

So  the  later  Samaritans,  though 
they  gave  up  idolatry,  and  wished 
to  take  part  in  the  rebuilding  of 
the  Temple,  always  worshipped  in 
an  imperfect  manner,  ignoring  the 
prophetical  books  as  well  as  the 
Psalms,  and  thus  our  Lord  said  of 


Method. 

taught.  So  have  many  of  the 
heathen  of  our  own  day. 

Teach  the  importance  of  prayer 
for  the  heathen  and  for  mission- 
aries. 

S.  Matt.  ix.  37,  38. 

S.  John  iv.  35. 


2.  Remind  of  Jeroboam's  sin,  and 
his  schismatical  worship  and  priests. 

This  priest  did  not,  and  could 
not,  teach  the  whole  truth,  not  even 
the  Fii^st  Commandment. 

We  should  pray  for  missionaries, 
that  they  may  teach  the  ivhole 
Catholic  Faith  ;  and  for  the  heathen, 
that  they  may  have  grace  to  give 
up  entirely  their  old,  evil  life  and 
superstitions. 

Illustrate  by  words  of  S.  Remi- 
gius  to  Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks, 
at  his  baptism  :  '  Bow  thy  head, 
burn  what  thou  hast  adored,  and 
adore  what  thou  hast  burned. ' 


3.  S.  Matt.  vi.  24. 
Acts  xiv.  15. 
1  Cor.  viii,  5,  6. 
1  Thess.  i.  9,  10. 
Trace,  if  time  permits,  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  the  Samaritans. 
See  S.  John  iv.  39-42. 
Acts  i.  8. 

viii.  5-25. 


282 


2  KINGS  XVII. 


Lesson  XXXI — continued.     The  Captivity  of  Israel 

them,  '  Yc  worship  ve  know  not 
what'  (S.  John  iv.  22).  They  did 
not  understand  the  full  revelation 
of  God. 

Yet  they  were  among  the  first  to 
receive  the  Gospel.  The  Jews,  who 
hnew   much  more,   yet   understood 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Samaritans. 

Assj-rians  who  occupied  the  lands  of  the  ten 
tribes. 

Did  not  know  Jehovah  as  the  only  God. 

The  Israelite  priest  had  no  true  authority, 
and  could  not  teach  them  perfectly. 

They   worshipped    Jehovah    together    with 
their  own  idols. 

Hated  by  the  Jews, 

yet 
Cared  for  by  God  ;  preached  to  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  and  His  apostles. 


I 


HEZEKIAH  THE  EESTOREE  OF  EELIGION  283 


2  KINGS  XVIII.  1-8;    2  CHRON.  XXIX.  3-36; 
XXX.  1-27;    XXXI.   1. 

"VyOW  it  came  to  pass  in  the  third  year  of  Hoshea  son 

_LA|     of  Elah  king  of  Israel,  that  Hezekiah  the  son  of  Ahaz 

king  of  Judah  began  to  reign,  2.  Twenty  and  five  years 

old  was  he  when  he  began  to  reign  ;  and  he  reigned  twenty 

and  nine  years  in  Jerusalem.     His  mother's  name  also  was 

"Abi,  the  daughter  of  Zachariah.      3.  And  he  did  ^/la^  «  2Chron.  xxix 

which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all 

that  David  his  father  did.    4.  He  removed  the  high  places, 

and  brake  the  ^  images,  and  cut  down  ^  the  groves,  and  i  R^^^P\ 

»     '  f^  '  2  the  Asherah. 

brake  in  pieces  ^the  brasen  serpent  that  Moses  had  made  ;  ^  Num.  xxi. 

for  unto  those  days  the  children  of  Israel  did  burn  incense 

to  it  :  and  he  called  it  Nehushtan.     5.   He  trusted  in  the 

Lord  God  of  Israel ;  so  that  after  him  was  none  like  him 

among  all  the  kings  of  Judah,  nor  any  that  were  before 

him,     6.  For  he  clave  to  the  Lord,  and  departed  not  from 

following  him,   but  kept  his    commandments,   which  the 

Lord  commanded  Moses.      7.    And  the  Lord  was  with 

him  ;  and  he  prospered  whithersoever  he  went  forth  :  and 

he  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  served  him 

2  Kings  xviii.  2.  Abi,  in  Chronicles  Abijah. 

4.  And  he  called  it  Nehushtan.  The  sacred  writer  neither  praises  nor 
blames  Hezekiah  for  this  action.  Most  probably  the  expression  means 
that  Nehushtan,  'piece  of  brass,'  was  the  name  under  which  the  serpent 
was  worshipped  (R.V.  ma7rj.  'it  was  called').  The  common  explana- 
tion is  that  this  name  was  given  by  Hezekiah  in  contempt. 

The  incident  is  extremely  interesting,  as  furnishing  a  parallel  to  the 
narrative  in  Numbers,  and  showing  the  tendency  in  Israel  to  superstitious 
worship  of  anything  which  had  been  associated  with  Divine  revelation. 
The  ancient  danger  was  to  materialise  the  spiritual  ;  the  modern  one  is 
rather,  in  the  attempt  to  spiritualise  religion,  to  evacuate  it  altogether  of 
meaning  ;  the  ancients  degraded  religion  into  superstition,  the  moderns 
degrade  it  into  sentimentalism. 

7.  He  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Assyria.  Hezekiah  repudiated  the 
alliance  with  Assyria  that  Ahaz  had  entered  into.  It  was  a  dangerous 
step,  and  led  shortly  to  the  great  invasion  of  Sennacherib. 


284  2  CHRON.  XXIX.  3-36 

not.  8.  He  smote  the  Philistines,  even  unto  Gaza,  and 
the  borders  thereof,  from  the  tower  of  the  watchmen  to 
the  fenced  city. 

2  CHRON.  XXIX.  3.  He  in  the  first  j^ear  of  his  reign,  in 
the  first  month,  oi3ened  the  doors  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  rejDaired  them.     4.  And  he  brought  in  the  priests  and 

3  the  broad       the  Levites,  and  gathered  them  to2;ether  into  ^  the  east 

place  on  the  . 

east.  street.      5.   And  said  unto   them.   Hear  me,   ye  Levites, 

c  Ezra  vi.  20.  '^  sanctify  now  yourselves,  and  sanctify  the  house  of  the 
Lord  God  of  your  fathers,  and  carry  forth  the  filthiness 
out  of  the  holy  j^Zace.  6.  For  our  fathers  have  trespassed, 
and  done  that  which  ivas  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  our 
God,  and  have  forsaken  him,  and  have  turned  away  their 

d  Ezek.  viii.  16.  faces  from  the  habitation  of  the  Lord,  and  <^  turned  their 
backs.  7.  Also  they  have  shut  up  the  doors  of  the  porch, 
and  put  out  the  lamps,  and  have  not  burned  incense  nor 
ofiered  burnt  off'erings  in  the  holy  place  unto  the  God  of 
Israel.     8.  Wherefore  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  was  upon 

4  to  be  tossed    Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  he  hath  delivered  them  ^to 
to  and  fro. 

5  [Marg^.jtobe  trouble,  to  astonishment,  and  'Uo  hissing,  as  ye  see  with 
Cf.  isa.  "xxviii.    your  eyes.    9.  For,  lo,  our  fathers  have  fiiUen  by  the  sword, 

in ;  Micah  vi.  ,  i  i         i  ^  i 

10.  and  our  sons  and  our  daughters  and  our  wives  are  in  cap- 

tivity for  this.     10.  Now  it  is  in  mine  heart  to  make  a 

2  Chron.  XXIX.  3.  He  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  in  the  first  month. 
It  is  significant  of  the  character  and  earnestness  of  Hezekiah  that  iiis 
first  act  is  to  restore  religion.  He  must  have  resolved  this  in  secret 
during  the  reign  of  his  father.  We  know  not  what  good  influences  had 
been  at  work  in  his  case  ;  but  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  Isaiah's  was 
among  the  chief,  and  also  that  of  his  contemporary  Micah.  (Cf.  Micah 
iii.  12,  and  Jer.  xxvi.  18,  19). 

5.  The  filthiness — i.e.  the  various  idol  abominations  with  which  Ahaz 
had  defiled  the  ]jure  religion  of  Jehovah. 

6.  And  turned  their  "backs.  Perhaps  an  allusion  to  sun-worship  (cf. 
Kzck.  viii.  l(i),  which  involved  turning  the  face  away  from  the  Temple, 
which  liad  its  most  holy  part  at  the  west  ejid. 

8.  To  hissing.  A  phrase  from  Micah  vi.  16,  implying  the  expression 
of  astonishment  and  contempt  by  surrounding  nations  when  they  saw  the 
calamities  of  Isiael. 

9.  Our  sons  and  our  daughters  and  our  wives  are  in  captivity  for  this. 
The  allusion  is  apparently  to  the  results  of  the  invasion  by  Syria  and 
Ephraim  in  the  previous  reign.     See  chap,  xxviii. 


THE  CLEANSING  OF  THE  TEMPLE  28 

covenant  with  the   Lord   God  of   Israel,  that  his  fierce 
wrath  may  turn  away  from  us.     11.  My  sons,  be  not  now 
negligent  :  *^for  the  Lord  hath  chosen  you  to  stand  before  e  Num.  iii.  6; 
him,  to  serve  him,  and  that  ye  should  minister  unto  him, 
and  burn  incense.     12.  Then  the  Levites  arose,  IMahath 
the  son  of  Amasai,  and  Joel  the  son  of  Azariah,  of  the 
sons  of  the  ■''Kohathites  :  and  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  Kish  /Num.  iii.  17. 
the  son  of  Abdi,  and  Azariah  the  son  of  Jehalelel  :  and  of 
the  Gershonites  ;  Joah  the  son  of  Zimmah,  and  Eden  tlie 
son  of  Joah  :     13.  And  of  the  sons  of  Elizaphan  ;  Shimri, 
and  Jeiel  ;    and  of  the  sons  of   Asaph  ;    Zechariah,  and 
Mattaniah  :     14.  And  of  the  sons  of  Heman  ;  Jehiel,  and 
Shimei  :   and  of  the  sons  of  Jeduthun  ;    Shemaiah,   and 
Uzziel.     15.  And  they  gathered  their  brethren,  and  sanc- 
tified themselves,  and  came,  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  the  king,  by  the  words  of  the  Lord,  to  cleanse 
the  house  of  the  Lord.     16.  And  the  priests  went  '^  into  e,  witliin  tiie     - 
the  inner  part  of  the  house   of  the  Lord,  to  cleanse  it,  ^°^^^' 
and «' brought  out  all  the  uncleanness  that  they  found  in  the  g  i  Mace.  iv. 
temple  of  the  Lord  into  the  court  of  the  house  of  the    "' 
Lord.     And  the  Levites  took  it,  to    carry -i^  out  abroad 
into  the  brook  Kidron.     17.  Now  they  began  on  the  first 
day  of  the  first  month  to  sanctify,  and  on  the  eighth  day 
of  the  month  came  they  to  the  porch  of  the  Lord  :  so  they 
sanctified  the  house  of  the  Lord  in  eight  days  ;  and  in  the 
sixteenth  day  of  the  first  month  they  made  an  end.     18. 
Then  they  went  in  to  Hezekiah  the  king,  and  said,  We 
have  cleansed  all  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  altar  of 
burnt  off'ering,  with  all  the  vessels  thereof,  and  the  shew- 
bread  table,  with  all  the  vessels  thereof.     19.  Moreover  all 
the  vessels,  which  king  Ahaz  in  his  reign  did  cast  away  in 

12.  The  Levites  arose.  This  was  a  representative  gathering  ;  no  doubt 
the  names  are  those  of  the  heads  of  families.  There  are  two  from  each 
of  the  three  great  branches  of  Levites,  the  Kohathites,  the  Merarites, 
and  the  (4ershonites  ;  two  from  the  family  of  Elizaphan,  which  was 
evidently  of  special  distinction  among  the  Koliathites  (1  Chron.  xv.  8), 
and  two  from  each  of  the  three  families  or  guilds  of  Temple  musicians, 
the  sons  of  Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jeduthun.  See  the  titles  in  the  third 
book  of  the  Psalms. 


286  2  CHROK  XXIX.  3-36 

7  set  up.  his  transgression,  have  we  "  prepared  and  sanctified,  and, 

behold,  they  are  before  the  altar  of  the  Lord.  20,  Then 
Hezekiah  the  king  rose  early,  and  gathered  the  rulers  of 
the  city,  and  went  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord.  21.  And 
they  brought  seven  bullocks,  and  seven  rams,  and  seven 

7i  Lev.  iv.  14.  lambs,  and  seven  he  goats,  for  ^  a  sin  offering  for  the  king- 
dom, and  for  the  sanctuary,  and  for  Judah.  And  he  com- 
manded the  priests  the  sons  of  Aaron  to  ofi'er  them  on  the 
altar  of  the  Lord.     22.  So  they  killed  the  bullocks,  and 

i  Lev.  viii.  *  the  priests  received  the  blood,  and  sprinkled  it  on  the 
altar  :  likewise,  when  they  had  killed  the  rams,  they 
sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  altar  :  they  killed  also  the 
lambs,  and  they  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  altar.  23. 
And  they  brought  forth  the  he  goats  for  the  sin  offering 

j  Lev.  iv.  15.  before  the  king  and  the  congregation  ;  and  ^  they  laid  their 
hands  upon  them  :     24.  And  the  priests  killed  them,  and 

8  a  sin-offering,  they  made  ^reconciliation  with  their  blood  upon  the  altar, 

to  make  an  atonement  for  all  Israel  :  for  the  king  com- 
manded that  the  burnt  ofi'ering  and  the  sin  offering  should 
be  made  for  all  Israel.  25.  And  he  set  the  Levites  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  with  cymbals,  with  psalteries,  and  with 
5;^xxv.'^r.'^'''"*  harps,  *^  according  to  the  commandment  of  David,  and  of 

2L  And  they  broug-lit  seven  bullocks,  etc.  This  sin-offering  is  on  the 
lines  prescribed  in  Lev.  iv.,  but  of  a  more  elaborate  character,  befitting 
the  solemn  occasion.  All  the  different  sorts  of  sacrificial  animals  are 
used,  and  of  each  the  sacred  number  of  seven.  The  offering  had  a  three- 
fold application  :  it  was  for  '  the  kingdom,'  i.e.  for  the  royal  family,  which 
had  been  disgraced  by  Ahaz  ;  for  '  the  sanctuary,'  which  he  had  profaned 
V)y  his  idolatrous  additions  ;  for  'Judah' — that  is,  the  whole  nation,  Avhich 
had  been  involved  in  the  sin  of  the  king. 

23.  Laid  their  hands  upon  them.  This  ritual  act,  which  formed  part 
of  every  sin-oftering,  and  also,  in  a  more  solenui  manner,  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Day  of  Atonement,  signified  the  transference  of  sin  to  the 
victim,  and  was  symbolical  of  Him  who  was  afterwards  to  be  revealed, 
'to  bear  the  sin  of  many,'  and  Whom  S.  Paul  speaks  of  as  our  'sin- 
offering '  (2  Cor.  v.  21). 

The  burnt-oflfering-.  Apparently  a  different  offering  from  the  sin- 
offering  which  lias  just  ])een  described.  Tlie  burnt-offering,  Mhich  was  a 
daily  service,  was  of  a  more  joyous  character  than  the  sin-offering,  and 
in  the  later  Temple  was  always  accompanied  by  music,  which  began  as 
soon  as  the  drink-offering  had  been  poured  out  (Num.  xv.). 


KESTORATION  OF  WORSHIP  287 

Gad  the  king's  seer,  and  Nathan  the  prophet :  for  so  was 

the  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  his  prophets.     26.  And 

the  Levites  stood  with  '  the  instruments  of  David,  and  the  ^  -^"^os  vi.  5. 

priests  with  the  trumpets.    27.  And  Hezekiah  commanded 

to  oflfer  the  burnt  oflfering  upon  the  altar.     And  when  the 

burnt  oflFering  began,  the  song  of  the  Lord  began  also  with 

the  trumpets,  and  with  the  instruments  ordai7ied  by  David 

king  of  Israel.     28.  And  all  the  congregation  worshipped, 

and  the  singers  sang,  and  the  trumpeters  sounded  :  and 

all  this  continued  until  the  burnt  offering  was  finished. 

29.  And  when  they  had  made  an  end  of  offering,  the  king 

and  all  that  were  present  with  him  bowed  themselves,  and 

worshipped.     30.    Moreover  Hezekiah  the  king  and  the 

princes  commanded  the  Levites  to  sing  ^  j)raise  unto  the  9  praises. 

Lord  with  the  words  of  David,  and  of  Asaph  the  seer. 

And  they  sang  praises  with  gladness,  and  they  bowed 

their  heads  and  worshipped.    31.  Then  Hezekiah  answered 

and  said.  Now  ye  have  consecrated  yourselves  unto  the 

Lord,  come  near  and  bring  sacrifices  and  thank  offerings 

into   the  house    of    the   Lord.      And  the    congregation 

brought  in  sacrifices  and  thank  ofi'erings  ;  and  as  many  as 

were    of  a   ^^free   heart   burnt   offerings.      32.    And   the  lo  willing. 

number  of   the  burnt    ofi'erings,  which  the  congregation 

brought,   was   threescore   and   ten   bullocks,   an   hundred 

rams,  and  two  hundred  lambs  :  all  these  -were  for  a  burnt 

ofi'ering  to  the  Lord.     33.    And  the  consecrated  things 

were  six  hundred  oxen  and  three  thousand  sheep.    34.  But 

the  priests  were  too  few,  so  that  they  could  not  flay  all  the 

30.  To  sing  praise  unto  the  LORD.  The  word  is  plural,  'praises'; 
the  same  word  which  is  used  in  Hebrew  for  the  Book  of  Psalms.  Evi- 
dently collections  of  psalms  of  David  and  of  Asaph  were  already-  in  exist- 
ence for  Temple  use,  and  are,  without  reasonable  doul)t,  embodied  in  our 
present  Psalter. 

3L  And  as  many  as  were  of  a  free  heart  burnt  offerings.  Apparently 
it  was  a  mark  of  greater  devotion  to  bring  a  burnt-offering  tlian  a  thank- 
offering.  The  latter  was  chiefly  devoted  to  a  feast  for  the  worshippers, 
the  former  was  entirely  consumed. 

3.3.  The  consecrated  things.     In  this  case  the  '  thank-off'erings.' 


288  2  CHRON.  XXX.   1-2^ 


burnt  offerings  :  wherefore  their  brethren  the  Levites  did 
help  them,  till  the  work  was  ended,  and  until  the  other 
priests  had  sanctified  themselves  :  for  the  Levites  tvere- 
more  upright  in  heart  to  sanctify  themselves  than  the 
priests.     35.  And  also  the  burnt  ofierings  ivere  in  abun- 

m  Lev.  iii.  dance,  with  "^the  fat  of  the  peace  oflFerings,  and  "the  drink 
offerings,  for  every  burnt  offering.  So  the  service  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  was  set  in  order.     36.  And  Hezekiah 

11  because  of     rejoiced,  and  all  the  people,  ^^  that  God  had  prepared  the 

had'pT^ared"'  People  :  for  the  thing  was  done  suddenly. 

for  the  people.  ^XX.  L  And  Hezekiah  sent  to  all  Israel  and 
Judah,  and  wrote  letters  also  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
that  they  should  come  to  the  house  of  the  Loud  at  Jeru- 
salem, to  keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord  God  of  IsraeL 
2.  For  the  king  had  taken  counsel,  and  his  princes,  and 
all  the  congregation  in  Jerusalem,  to  keep  the  passover  in 
the  second  month.  3.  For  they  could  not  keep  it  at  that 
time,  because  the   priests  had   not  sanctified  themselves 

1^  in  sufficient  sufficiently,^^  neither  had  the  people  gathered  themselves 
together  to  Jerusalem.  4.  And  the  thing  pleased  the  king 
and  all  the  congregation.  5.  So  they  established  a  decree 
to  make  proclamation  throughout  all  Israel,  from  Beer- 
sheba  even  to  Dan,  that  they  should  come  to  keep  the 
passover  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  at  Jerusalem  :  for 

13  in  great  they  had  not  done  it  ^^  of  a  long  time  in  such  sort  as  it  was 
written.     6,  So  the  posts  went  with  the  letters  from  the 

XXX.  1.  And  wrote  letters  also  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh.  The 
northern  kingdom  is  here  meant  by  '  Ephraim  and  Manasseh '  (verses  10, 
11).  It  was  now  within  a  few  years  of  its  fall  (described  already). 
Hezekiah's  action  is  remarkable,  as  it  was  a  last  attempt  to  undo  the 
work  of  Jeroboam,  and  once  more  to  unite  the  twelve  tribes  in  the 
national  religion.  That  he  was  allowed  to  send  such  messages  shows 
that  the  northern  kingdom  was  already  much  weakened  since  the  time  of 
Ahaz  (see  ver.  0). 

3.  At  that  time — i.e.  in  the  first  month,  Nisan  or  Abib.  The  Law 
allowed  the  second  month  under  exceptional  circumstances  (Num.  ix. 
10,  11). 

6.  The  posts.  Such  messages  were  carried  in  ancient  times  by  profes- 
sional 'runners.'  In  the  Persian  empire  there  was  a  regular  system  of 
royal  posts.     See  Esther  iii.  13-15. 


HEZEKIAH'S  APPEAL  FOP  UNITY  289 

king  and  his  princes  throughout  all  Israel  and  Judah,  and 
according  to  the  commandment  of  the  king,  saying,  Ye 
children  of  Israel,  turn  again  unto  the  Lord  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel,  and  he  will  return  to  the 
remnant  of  you  that  are  escaped  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
kings  of  Assyria.  7.  And  be  not  ye  like  your  fathers,  and 
like  your  brethren,  which  tresi3assed  against  the  Lord  God 
of  their  fathers,  who  therefore  gave  them  up  to  desolation, 
as  ye  see.  8.  Now  be  ye  not  stiffnecked,  as  your  fathers 
ivere,  but  yield  yourselves  unto  the  Lord,  and  enter  into 
his  sanctuary,  which  he  hath  sanctified  for  ever  :  and  serve 
the  Lord  your  God,  that  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath  may 
turn  away  from  you.  9.  For  if  ye  turn  again  unto  the 
Lord,  your  brethren  and  your  children  shall  find  com- 
passion before  them  that  lead  them  captive,  so  that  they 
shall  come  again  into  this  land  :  for  the  Lord  your  God  is 
gracious  and  merciful,  and  will  not  turn  away  his  face  from 
you,  if  ye  return  unto  him.  10.  So  the  posts  passed  from 
city  to  city  through  the  country  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
even  unto  Zebulun  :  but  they  laughed  them  to  scorn,  and 
mocked  them.  IL  Nevertheless  divers  of  Asher  and 
Manasseh  and  of  Zebulun  humbled  themselves,  and  came 
to  Jerusalem.  12.  Also  in  Judah  the  hand  of  God  was  to 
give  them  one  heart  to  do  the  commandment  of  the  king 
and  of  the  j^rinces,  by  the  word  of  the  Lord.  13.  And 
there  assembled  at  Jerusalem  much  people  to  keep  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  second  month,  a  very 
great  congregation.  14.  And  they  arose  and  took  away 
the  altars  that  were  in  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  altars  for 
incense  took  they  away,  and  cast  them  into  the  brook 
Kidron.  15.  Then  they  killed  the  passover  on  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  second  month  :  and  the  priests  and  the 
Levites   were   ashamed,    and    sanctified    themselves,    and 

14.  The  altars  that  were  in  Jerusalem — i.e.  the  altars  to  different 
heathen  gods,  Avliieh  had  been  erected  by  Ahaz  '  in  every  corner  of  Jeru- 
salem '  (xxviii.  24). 

15.  Were  ashamed — i.e.  of  their  previous  slackness  in  the  work  of 
reformation,  also  of  their  complicity  in  the  idolatry  of  Ahaz. 

,     HEB.  MON.  :   VOL.  II.  T 


290 


2  CHRON.  XXX.  1-2- 


brouoht  in  the  burnt  offerinus  into  the  house  of  the  Lord. 


I'l  order. 


0  Exod.  xii. 
43-49. 


15  that  were 
well  skilled  in 
the  service  of 
the  Lord. 


IG.  And  they  stood  in  their  place  after  their  ^^  manner, 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses  the  man  of  God  :  the  priests 
sprinkled  the  blood,  which  they  received  of  the  hand  of  the 
Levites.  17.  For  there  were  many  in  the  congregation 
that  were  not  sanctified  :  therefore  the  Levites  had  the 
charge  of  the  killing  of  the  passovers  for  every  one  that 
was  not  clean,  to  sanctify  them  unto  the  Lord.  18.  For  a 
multitude  of  the  people,  even  many  of  Ephraim,  and 
Manasseh,  Issachar,  and  Zebulun,  had  not  cleansed  them- 
selves, yet  did  they  eat  the  passover  otherwise  than  "  it  was 
written.  But  Hezekiah  prayed  for  them,  saying,  The 
good  Lord  pardon  every  one  19.  TJiat  prepareth  his 
heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers,  though  he 
he  not  cleansed  according  to  the  purification  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. 20.  And  the  Lord  hearkened  to  Hezekiah,  and 
healed  the  people.  21.  And  the  children  of  Israel  that 
were  present  at  Jerusalem  kept  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  seven  days  with  great  gladness  :  and  the  Levites 
and  the  priests  praised  the  Lord  day  by  day,  singing  with 
loud  instruments  unto  the  Lord.  22.  And  Hezekiah 
spake  comfortably  unto  all  the  Levites  ^'^  that  taught  the 
good  knowledge  of  the  Lord  :  and  they  did  eat  throagh- 
out  the   feast    seven   days,  ofiering   peace    offerings,  and 


18.  Otherwise  than  it  was  written.  There  does  not  a^ppear  to  have 
been  any  special  regulations  as  to  purification  before  the  Passover,  but 
as  it  was  the  most  solemn  feast  of  the  year,  the  general  laws  which 
regulated  ceremonial  uncleanness  would  all  be  strictly  applied,  e.r/.  the 
touching  of  a  dead  l)ody,  or  any  other  '  unclean '  thing.  Cf.  Lev.  vii. 
20,  21  ;  xxii.  o.  It  is  also  probable  that  tliere  were  pre-Mosaic  rules  of 
purification  which  came  down  from  antiquity,  and  were  well  known.  Cf. 
Exod.  xix.  10. 

The  good  LORD  pardon  every  one.  This  prayer  is  important,  as  it 
points  to  ttie  existence  of  a  spiritual  conception  of  religion,  such  as  was 
taught  by  the  prophets.  Ceremonial  regulations  were  good  ;  but  even 
they  were  subordinate  to  the  inward  spirit  of  devotion,  the  good  will  of 
the  worshipper.  H(izekiah's  words  would  be  a  suitable  prayer  for  Chris- 
tian use  after  a  service  in  church. 

20.  And  healed  the  people.  God  did  not  allow  any  disease  to  break 
out  among  them  which  miglit  otherwise  have  been  the  punishment  of  a 
disregard  of  the  due  ceremonial. 


HEZEKIAH'S  PASSOVER  291 

making  confession  to  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers.     23. 

And  the  whole  ^^  assembly  took  counsel  to  keep  p  other  J*>  congrega- 
tion. 
seven  days  :   and  they  kept  other  seven  days  with  glad-  p  i  Kings  viii. 

ness.  24.  For  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  did  give  to  the 
congregation  a  thousand  bullocks  and  seven  thousand 
sheep  ;  and  the  princes  gave  to  the  congregation  a  thou- 
sand bullocks  and  ten  thousand  sheep  :  and  a  great  number 
of  priests  sanctified  themselves.  25.  And  all  the  congre- 
gation of  Judah,  with  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  all 
the  congregation  that  came  out  of  Israel,  and  the  strangers 
that  came  out  of  the  land  of  Israel,  and  that  dwelt  in 
Judah,  rejoiced.  26.  So  there  was  great  joy  in  Jerusalem  : 
for  since  the  time  of  Solomon  the  son  of  David  king  of 
Israel  there  ivas  not  the  like  in  Jerusalem.  27.  Then  the 
priests  the  Levites  arose  and  blessed  the  people  :  and  their 
voice  was  heard,  and  their  prayer  came  uj)  to  '^  his  holy  ^  ps.  ixviii.  5. 
dwelling  place,  even  unto  heaven. 

XXXI.  1.  Now  when  all  this  was  finished,  all  Israel 
that  were  present  went  out  to  the  cities  of  Judah,  and 
brake  the  ^^  images  in  pieces,  and  cut  down  the  ^'^  groves,  J^  pilars. 
and  threw  down  the  high  places  and  the  altars  out  of  all 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  in  Ephraim  also  and  Manasseh,  until 
they  had  utterly  destroyed  them  all.  Then  all  the  children 
of  Israel  returned,  every  man  to  his  possession,  into  their 
own  cities. 

22.  Making  confession.     Giving  thanks  in  a  solemn  manner. 

25.  The  strangers.  The  non-Israelites,  who  were  allowed  to  keep  the 
Passover.     The  LXX  readers  the  word  '  proselytes.' 

XXXI.  1.  In  Ephraim  also  and  Manasseh.  Either  this  refers  to  the  time 
after  the  fall  of  the  northern  kingdom,  or  it  must  be  understood  in  some 
limited  sense  ;  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for  them  to  have  destroyed 
high  places  and  altars  in  the  more  populous  parts  of  the  rival  kingdom.!/* 

The  rest  of  Chapter  xxxi.  describes  Hezekiah's  appointment  of  the 
courses  of  priests  and  Levites,  of  the  tithes  and  offerings,  and  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  revenue  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  priesthood. 


292 


HEZEKIAH  THE  EESTORER  OF  RELIGION 


LESSON  XXXII 

Hezekiah  the  Restorer  of  Religion 

Introduction. — As  Uzziah  was  an  example  of  a  presumptuous  king,  who 
intruded  into  the  office  of  the  priesthood,  so  Hezekiah  is  an  example  of 
the  right  attitude  of  a  king  towards  religion.  He  is  the  prime  mover  in 
a  great  national  restoration  of  religion  ;  he  exhorts  priests  and  Levites  to 
their  duty ;  he  destroys  what  was  corrupt,  and  restores  what  God  had 
commanded  ;  he  takes  the  most  eager  interest  in  the  reconciliation  of  the 
people  with  God  ;  he  encourages  and  intercedes.  If  Uzziah  resembled 
Solomon  in  secular  matters,  Hezekiah  is  the  nearest  approach  to  David 
in  zeal  for  religion.  The  lesson  should  bring  out  the  nobility  and  the 
hopefulness  of  Hezekiah's  work,  and  also  its  typical  character,  as  illus- 
trated in  the  work  of  Christ. 


Matter. 

1.  The  cleansing  of  the  Temple. 

As  the  Temple  was  the  centre  of 
national  religion,  and  the  visible 
sign  of  God's  presence,  Hezekiah 
naturally  begins  his  work  by  puri- 
fying the  Temple  from  the  idolatry 
and  neglect  of  the  previous  reign. 
So  our  Lord  began  His  public 
ministry  by  driving  out  the  buyers 
and  sellers  (S.  John  ii. ).  And  it 
should  be  noticed  that  Hezekiah 
endeavours  to  inspire  the  priest- 
hood with  zeal  and  a  sense  of  their 
duty.  He  does  not  usurp  their 
functions,  but  uses  his  influence  to 
see  that  these  are  rightly  per- 
formed. 


Method. 

L  Describe  the  condition  of  the 
House  of  God  as  Hezekiah  found  it — 
filth}^  from  neglect,  and  polluted 
with  idol-worship.  Show  that  the 
king's  work  was  a  type  of  that  of 
our  Lord. 

Many  of  our  own  churches  were 
in  an  analogous  state  a  few  years 
ago — neglected,  dirty,  shut  from 
week  to  week ;  and  the  national 
idolatry,  the  worship  of  mammon, 
was  seen  in  the  rented  pews,  and 
the  reservation  of  the  best  seats  for 
the  rich. 


2.  The  renewal  of  sacrifice. 

Now  that  the  Temple  has  been 
purified,  the  proper  acts  of  worship 
are  restored,  and  their  order  is  sig- 
nificant— 

(1)  Sin- offerings.  An  act  of  re- 
pentance must  come  first ;  such 
atonement  as  man  can  offer  for  the 
neglect  and  profanity  of  the  past 
must  be  made. 


2.  Explain  the  meaning  of  the 
three  kinds  of  sacrifice,  which  are 
all  included  in  our  Lord's  'full, 
perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice, 
oblation,  and  satisfaction.' 

His  sacrifice  of  Himself  was — 

(1)  The  atonement  for  sin. 

(2)  The  consecration  of  humanity 

to  God. 


HEZEKIAH  THE  RESTOREE  OF  RELIGION 


293 


Lesson  XKXII— continued.    Hezekiah  the  Restorer  of  Religion 


Matter. 

(2)  Burnt -offerings.  These  repre- 
sent the  positive  side  of  repentance, 
the  willing  self-oblation  of  man  to 
God.  The  burnt-oft'ering  was  wholly 
consumed  on  the  altar,  as  a  sign 
that  repentance  must  lead  to  entire 
consecration  of  life ;  and  tlie  ivil- 
linyness  of  this  is  symbolised  by 
the  joyful  accompaniment  of  music 
(vei'ses  25-30). 

3.  Thank-offering.^.  These,  of 
which  the  distinguishing  feature 
was  the  sacrificial  banc^uet,  of  which 
all  partook,  sj'mbolised  the  union 
and  fellowship  between  God  and 
man,  and  also  between  man  and  his 
fellow-man.  Repentance  and  self- 
oblation  lead  to  i^eace  and  love. 

3.  The  solemn  Passover. 

The  fundamental  duties  of  religion 
lead  to  the  highest  act  of  national 
worship,  the  Passover,  which  was 
pre-eminently  the  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant between  God  and  the  nation. 

Hezekiah's  love  of  God  impels 
him  to  show  love  to  God's  people, 
though  estranged  and  separated. 
He  lovingly  invites  the  scattered 
remnants  of  the  ten  tribes  to  return, 
not  to  himself  as  their  rightful  king 
(^\•hich  he  was),  but  to  God  and 
His  sanctuary  (xxx.  8).  And  he 
further  shows  his  love  and  large- 
heartedness  by  his  intercession  for 
those  who  were  willing  to  seek  the 
Lord,  but  had  not  been  able  to 
cleanse  themselves  ceremonially. 

4.  The  cleansing  of  the  land. 
Hezekiah  is  eager  that  these  re- 
ligious acts  should  not  be  merely  a 
momentary  or  sentimental  revival. 
Every  effort  is  made  to  make  a  per- 
manent  reformation  by  destroying 
all  the  old  occasions  to  idolatry. 


Method. 

(3)  The  reconciliation  and  peace 
of  God  and  man. 

So  repentance,  faith,  charity,  are 
the  necessary  preparation  for  Holy 
Communion. 


3.  The  antitype  of  the  Passover 
in  the  Christian  Church  is  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  the  corporate  and 
thankful  renewal  of  our  covenant 
Avith  God. 

With  Hezekiah's  invitation,  cf. 
the  parables  of  the  Great  Supper 
(S.  Luke  xiv. ),  and  the  Marriage 
Feast  (S.  Matt.  xxii.). 


Cf.  S.  Matt.  xii.  43-45,  and  the 
requirement  that  those  who  come 
to  the  Holy  Communion  should  be 
'  steadfastly  purposing  to  lead  a 
new  life. ' 

See  also  1  S.  John  v.  21. 


294 


HEZEKIAH  AND  CHRIST 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Hezekiah. 

Christ. 

Bade  the  priests  cleanse 

Himself  twice  cleansed 

the  Temple. 

the  Temple. 

Offered  sacrifices — 

Offered  Himself  in  Sac- 

1. Sin-oflferings. 

rifice   for   our    sins, 

2.  Burnt-offerings. 

and   to    re-unite    us 

3.  Thank-offerings. 

to  God. 

Kept    a    solemn   Pass- 

Instituted   the     Holy 

over. 

Communion. 

Invited  all  Israelites  to 

Invites  all  to   partake 

keep  it. 

of  it. 

Cleansed  the  land  from 

Requires  from  us  true 

idolatry. 

repentance. 

i 


THE  GREAT  ATTACK  ON  JERUSALEM  295 


2  KINGS  XVIII.  13-37 

lyyOW  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  king  Hezekiah  did 
JLl  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  come  up  against  all 
the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  took  them,  14. 
And  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  sent  to  the  king  of  Assyria 
to  Lachish,  saying,  I  have  offended  ;  return  from  me  :  that 
which  thou  puttest  on  me  will  I  bear.  And  the  king  of 
Assyria  appointed  unto  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  three 
hundred  talents  of  silver  and  thirty  talents  of  gold.  15. 
And  Hezekiah  gave  him  all  the  silver  that  was  found  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  treasures  of  the  king's 
house.  16.  At  that  time  did  Hezekiah  cut  off  the  gold 
from  the  doors  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
pillars  which  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  had  overlaid,  and 
gave  it  to  the  king  of  Assyria.  17,  And  the  king  of 
Assyria  sent  Tartan  and  Rabsaris  and  Rab-shakeh  from 

13.  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria.  vSennacherib  succeeded  his  father, 
Sargon,  in  705,  and  before  this  invasion  of  Judah  he  had  practically 
overrun  all  the  countries,  including  Phcenicia,  which  stood  between 
Assyria  and  Egypt.  Judah  was  now  left  isolated,  and  he  prepares  to 
punish  it  for  its  revolt  (ver.  7).  This  was  in  the  year  701,  the  greatest 
historical  crisis  of  the  kingdom,  the  moment  (except  the  Babylonian 
captivity)  when  its  prospects  seemed  darkest,  and  when  the  promises  of 
God  to  the  line  of  David  had  the  severest  test  laid  upon  them.  Humanly 
speaking,  Jerusalem  lay  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  Assyria  ;  and  the 
discomfiture  of  the  Assyrians,  as  predicted  by  Isaiah,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  events  in  the  history  of  the  world, 

14.  Lachish.  This  frontier  city  would  command  the  approach  from 
Egypt,  so  that  no  help  for  Hezekiah  could  be  expected  from  that  quarter. 

I  have  oflFended.  Hezekiah  confesses  that  he  has  done  wrong  in  break- 
ing the  alliance  with  Assyria.  Probably  his  words  should  be  regarded 
not  only  as  a  diplomatic  confession  of  Aveakness,  but  as  a  confession  that 
to  repudiate  a  solemn  pledge  to  Assyria  without  a  cause  was  a  wrong  act 
and  deserved  punishment.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Babylon 
was  brought  about  by  a  similar  act  on  the  part  of  Zedekiah  (2  Kings 
xxiv.  20), 

The  passage,  2  Chron.  xxxii,  2-8,  should  here  be  consulted,  which 
describes  the  warlike  preparations  of  Hezekiah,  and  his  exhortation  to 
his  people  to  a  holy  con.fidence  in  God, 

17.  And  the  king-  of  Assyria  sent  Tartan  and  Rabsaris  and  Rab-shakeh- 
These  are  apparently  not  proper  names,  but  the  titles  of  Assyrian  otiicials- 


a  Isa.  vii.  3, 


296  2  KINGS  XVIII.  IS-S" 


Lachisli  to  king  Hezekiali  with  a  great  host  against  Jeru- 
salem. And  they  went  up  and  came  to  Jerusalem.  And 
when  they  were  come  up,  they  came  and  stood  by  "  the 
conduit  of  the  upper  pool,  which  is  in  the  highway  of  the 
fuller's  field.  18.  And  when  they  had  called  to  the  king, 
there  came  out  to  them  Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  which 
was  over  the  household,  and  Shebna  the  scribe,  and  Joah 
the  son  of  Asaph  the  recorder.  19.  And  Kab-shakeh  said 
unto  them.  Speak  ye  now  to  Hezekiah,  Thus  saith  the 
great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria,  What  confidence  is  this 
wherein  thou  trustest  ?  20.  Thou  sayest,  (but  they  are 
hut  vain  words,)  I  have  counsel  and  strength  for  the  war. 
Now  on  whom  dost  thou  trust,  that  thou  rebellest  against 
me  ?  21.  Now,  behold,  thou  trustest  upon  the  staft'  of  this 
bruised  reed,  everi  upon  Egypt,  on  which  if  a  man  lean,  it 
will  go  into  his  hand,  and  pierce  it :  so  is  Pharoah  king  of 
Egypt  unto  all  that  trust  on  him.  22.  But  if  ye  say  unto 
me.  We  trust  in  the  Lord  our  God  :  is  not  that  he,  whose 
high  places  and  whose  altars  Hezekiah  hath  taken  away, 


They  were  apparently  'the  commander-in-chief,'  'the  chief  of  the 
emuiehs'  or  '  chaniljerlain,' and  'the  eliief  cup-l>earer.'  Rab  is  a  prefix 
meaning  '  liead '  or  'great,'  of.  'Rabbi,'  'great  teacher.'  Sennacherib 
seems  to  have  behaved  with  treachery  (cf.  Isa.  xxxiii.  1).  After  receiving 
the  tribute,  which  Hezekiah  had  collected,  doubtless  with  much  sorroAV 
to  himself  (verses  15,  16),  he  decides  nevertheless  to  attack  Jerusalem 
and  carry  its  people  into  captivity.  This  is  also  borne  out  b}'  the  history 
of  Josei:)hus. 

18.  Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah.  This  man  had  succeeded  to  the  office 
of  She])na,  who  was  now  only  the  'scribe.'  He  is  spoken  of  highly  by 
Isaiah  (xxii.  15-2")).  He  was  evidently  a  patriot,  one  Mho  trusted  in  the 
promises  of  (Jod  rather  than  in  alliance  with  Egypt. 

21.  The  staff  of  this  bruised  reed.  Rab-shakeh,  though  witli  different 
motives,  re-echoes  the  warning  given  by  the  prophets  against  trust  in 
Egypt-  Egypt  is,  he  says,  like  a  broken  reed,  which  will  only  hurt  the 
hand  of  him  who  leans  upon  it.  The  same  figure  is  used  by  Ezekiel  at  a 
later  date  (xxix.  0,  7). 

22.  Is  not  that  he,  whose  high  places  and  whose  altars  Hezekiah  hath 
taken  away.  I\al>-shakeli  heiv  plays  upon  the  feeling,  whicli  lie  was 
probably  aware  of,  in  tlie  breasts  of  niau3'  (^f  the  people  of  Judah — the 
feehng  of  resentment  at  Hezekiah's  religious  reforms.  Ilie  splendour 
and  variety,  and  the  low  moral  standard  of  the  worship  at  the  high  places, 
was  sure  to  be  regretted;  and  Rab-shakeli  cunningly  uses  tJiis  as  an 
argument  that  Jehovah  would   no  longer  helji  those  who  had  revolu- 


RAB-SHAKEH  297 


jind  hath  said  to  Judah  and  Jerusalein,  Ye  shall  worship 
before  this  altar  in  Jerusalem  ?  23.  Now  therefore,  I  pray 
thee,  give  j)ledges  to  my  lord  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  I 
will  deliver  thee  two  thousand  horses,  if  thou  be  able  on 
thy  part  to  set  riders  upon  them.  24.  How  then  wilt  thou 
turn  away  the  face  of  one  captain  of  the  least  of  my  master's 
servants,  and  put  thy  trust  on  Egypt  for  chariots  and  for 
horsemen  ?  25.  Am  I  now  come  up  without  the  Lord 
against  this  place  to  destroy  it  ?  The  Lord  said  to  me. 
Go  up  against  this  land,  and  destroy  it.  26.  Then  said 
Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  and  Shebna,  and  Joah,  unto 
Rab-shakeh,  Speak,  I  pray  thee,  to  thy  servants  in  the 
Syrian  language  ;  for  we  understand  it  :  and  talk  not  with 

tionised  His  worship,  and  apparently  reduced  it  to  so  small  a  matter  as 
the  worship  at  one  altar  only  in  Jerusalem.  Of  course  the  true  answer 
to  Rab-shakeh's  insinuation  was  that  Hezekiah  had  actually  fulfilled 
Jehovah's  own  commandment  by  limiting  His  worship  to  one  central 
sanctuary.     Cf.  Deut.  xii,,  especiall}' verses  13,  14. 

23.  Now  therefore,  I  pray  thee,  give  pledges  to  my  lord.  This  verse 
and  the  next  one  are  a  little  ditticult.  They  are  probably  meant  to 
emphasise  the  powerlessness  of  Hezekiah.  The  margin  of  the  Revised 
Version  reads,  'Make  a  wager  with.'  Rab-shakeh  seems  to  be  offering, 
sarcastically,  to  wager  two  thousand  horses  against  the  possibility  of 
Hezekiah  finding  two  thousand  men  who  can  ride  them.  What  is  the 
use,  he  then  proceeds  to  argue,  of  rejecting  the  proposals  of  any  of  the 
servants  of  the  king  of  Assyria,  who  are  all  well  provided  with  cavalry, 
and  of  looking  to  Egypt  for  help? 

25.  Am  I  now  come  up  without  the  LORD  ?  Rab-shakeh's  speech  is  a 
masterpiece  of  special  pleading ;  but  he  reserves  his  best  stroke  for  the 
end.  He  represents  himself  as  actually  sent  by  Jehovah,  as  an  instru- 
ment of  judgment.  Jehovah  has,  he  insinuates,  changed  sides  and  taken 
part  against  His  own  people.  And  the  fact  that  already  '  all  the  fenced 
cities  of  Judah'  (ver.  13)  had  been  taken,  miglit  seem  to  support  his 
assertion. 

26.  Speak,  I  pray  thee,  to  thy  servants  in  the  Syrian  language.  This 
request  that  further  parley  might  be  conducted  in  'Aramaean,'  i.e.  in  the 
language  of  Mesopotamia,  in  order  that  the  defenders  and  onlookers 
on  the  cit}'  walls  might  not  understand  it,  was  a  very  weak  move.  It 
showed  Rab-shakeh  at  once  that  Hezekiah's  officers  were  not  sure  of 
their  men.  Some  among  them  were  probably  disaft'ected.  He  at  once 
addresses  himself  in  unmistakable  language  to  the  common  people  on 
the  wall,  warning  them  that  they  will  be  the  chief  sufferers  if  Hezekiah 
holds  out.  They  will  not  only  be  defeated  ultimately,  but  they  will 
have  to  undergo  the  horrors  of  a  siege,  Mhich  he  hints  at  in  the  coarsest 
language.      The   Chronicler   paraphrases   Rab-shakeh's   argument  thus : 


KINGS  XVIII.  13-3- 


b  Isa.  X.  10, 11.  US  in  the  Jew.s'  language  in  the  ears  of  the  people  that  are 
on  the  wall.  27.  But  Ral^-shakeh  said  unto  them,  Hath 
my  master  sent  me  to  thy  master,  and  to  thee,  to  speak 
these  words?  hath  he  not  sent  me  to  the  men  which  sit  on 
the  wall,  that  they  may  eat  their  own  dung,  and  drink  their 
own  piss  with  you  ?  23.  Then  Eab-shakeh  stood  and  cried 
with  a  loud  voice  in  the  Jews'  language,  and  spake,  saying, 
Hear  the  word  of  the  great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria  : 

29.  Thus  saith  the  king,  Let  not  Hezekiah  deceive  you  : 
for  he  shall  not  be  able  to  deliver  you  out  of  his  hand  : 

30.  Neither  let  Hezekiah  make   you  trust  in  the  Lord, 

saying,  The  Lord  will  surely  deliver  us,  and  this  city  shall 

not  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria.     31. 

Hearken  not   to    Hezekiah  :    for   thus   saith   the   king  of 

1  make  your      Assyria,  ^  Make  an  a(jreement  with  me  by  a  present,  and 
peace  with  me.  ,   ,  ,  ,,  ,  „ ,  . 

come  out  to  me,  and  then  eat  je  every  man  ot  his  own  vine, 

and  every  one  of  his  fig  tree,  and  drink  ye  every  one  the 

waters  of  his  cistern  :    32.  Until  I  come  and  take  you  away 

to  a  land  like  your  own  land,  a  land  of  corn  and  wine,  a 

land  of  bread  and  vineyards,  a  land  of  oil  olive  and  of 

honey,  that  ye  may  live,  and  not  die  :   and  hearken  not 

unto  Hezekiah,  when  he  persuadeth  you,  saying.  The  Lord 

b  Isa.  X.  10, 11.  will  deliver  us.     33.  ''  Hath  any  of  the  gods  of  the  nations 

delivered  at  all  his  land  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of 

'Doth  not   Hezekiah  persuade  j^ou  to  give  over  yourselves  to  die  by 
famine  and  by  thirst  ? ' 

32,  Until  I  come  and  take  you  away.  Rab-shakeh  probably  spoiled 
tlie  effect  of  his  speech  l>y  saying  too  much  al)out  tlie  future.  To  a 
people  so  intensely  national  as  the  Jews,  even  the  most  attractive 
promise  of  another  land  like  their  own  land  would  not  lead  to  surrender, 
but  rather,  as  it  always  did  on  other  occasions,  to  the  most  desperate 
and  obstinate  resistance.  Captivity  and  exile  were  evils  that  could  not 
be  compensated  for  by  'corn  and  wine,  bread  and  vineyards,  oil  olive 
and  honey.'  The  obedience  of  the  people  to  the  king's  command  in 
ver.  36  shows  that  Rab-shakeh's  speech  had,  after  all,  failed  of  its 
object. 

33.  Hath  any  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  delivered  at  all  his  land  ? 
Rab-shakeh  .shows  in  these  words  that  he  had  no  higlier  conception  of 
Jehovah  than  a  mere  national  god.  He  places  Him  absolutely  on  the 
same  level  as  the  heathen  gods  of  the  cities  whicli  had  already  fallen  to 


THE  GREAT  ATTACK  ON  JERUSALEM 


299 


Assyria?  34.  Where  are  the  gods  of  Hamath,  and  of 
Arpad  1  where  are  the  gods  of  Sepharvaim,  Hena,  and  Ivah  1 
have  they  delivered  Samaria  out  of  mine  hand  ?  35.  Who 
are  they  among  all  the  gods  of  the  countries,  that  have 
delivered  their  country  out  of  mine  hand,  that  the  Lord 
should  deliver  Jerusalem  out  of  mine  hand  ?  36.  But  the 
people  held  their  peace,  and  answered  him  not  a  word  : 
for  the  king's  commandment  was,  saying.  Answer  him  not. 
37.  Then  came  Eliakim  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  which  was  over 
the  household,  and  Shebna  the  scribe,  and  Joah  the  son  of 
Asaph  the  recorder,  to  Hezekiah  with  their  clothes  rent, 
and  told  him  the  words  of  Rab-shakeh. 

Assyria  ;  of  these,  only  Hamath  and  Sepharvaim  can  be  identified.  The 
Chronicler  exactly  explains  the  idea  of  Rab-shakeh  :  '  And  they  spake 
against  the  God  of  Jerusalem,  as  against  the  gods  of  the  people  of  the 
earth,  which  were  the  work  of  the  hands  of  man.' 


LESSON  XXXIII 
The  Great  Attack  on  Jerusalem 


Matter. 

L  Jerusalem. 

The  great  attack  of  the  Assyrians 
on  Jerusalem  is  one  of  the  most 
important  events  in  the  history  of 
God's  people.  Jerusalem  was  left 
isolated  by  the  capture  of  '  all  the 
fenced  cities  of  Judah,'  apparently 
at  the  mercy  of  Sennachei-ib.  The 
Assyrians  were  certain  of  their 
prey  :  and  Rab-shakeh's  embassage 
was  meant  to  save  the  trouble  of 
reducing  the  cit}^  by  a  blockade. 

The  Divine  purpose  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world  was  bound  up 
with  the  national  existence  of  the 
Jews ;  and  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
was  the  last  stronghold.  It  is  a 
type  for  all  time  of  the  Church  of 
God ;  and  it  stands  out  as  such 
with  peculiar  vividness  in  this 
crisis  of  mortal  danger.  It  had  no 
allies,  no  forces  or  resources  which 
could,  humanly  speaking,  have  a 
chance   against   the    overwhelming 


Method. 

L  After  describing  the  advance 
of  Assyria,  and  tlie  defenceless 
state  of  Jerusalem,  the  important 
point  of  the  lesson  will  be  to  show 
that  Jerusalem  was  not  merely  the 
capital  of  Judea  but  the  city  which 
God  had  given  and  where  the 
Temple  by  His  direction  had  been 
built,  and  M-hich  was  meant  to 
suggest  and  be  a  type  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Illustrate  by  the  use  of  '  Jeru- 
salem '  in  the  New  Testament  (Gal. 
iv.  26  ;  Heb.  xii.  22  ;  Rev.  iii.  12, 
and  xxi.  2,  10). 

The  Catholic  Church  rests  firm 
on  the  promise  of  Jesus  Christ 
(S.  Matt.  xvi.  18).  Its  strength  does 
not  come  from  alliance  with  the 
State,  nor  from  money  or  anything 


300 


•2  KINGS  XVIII.  13-37 


Lesson  XXXIII — continued.     The  Great  Attack  on  Jerusalem 


Matter. 

power  of  the  great  heathen  empire 
which  had  already  brought  to 
an  end  Sj'ria  and  Israel,  What 
strength  Jerusalem  had  to  depend 
on  was  not  of  this  world  ;  it  was 
hidden  and  incomprehensible  to  the 
foes.  Jerusalem  was  built  on  some- 
thing stronger  and  more  lasting 
than  the  impregnable  heights  of  its 
natural  position  :  it  rested  on  the 
promises  and  purposes  of  Almighty 
God,  the  Ruler  of  the  ^hole  world. 

2.  Rab-shakeh, 

Is  a  type  of  the  '  prince  of  this 
world.'  His  coarse  bluster,  his  con- 
temptuous, cynical  attitude  towards 
Jerusalem  and  its  defenders,  his 
appeal  to  'common  sense,' and  the 
apparent  witness  of  'facts,'  these 
are  characteristic  of  the  world's 
attitude  towards  the  Church  of 
God. 

'  What  confidence  is  this  wherein 
thou  trustest?' — apparently  a  con- 
scientious question.  He  cannot 
understand  any  possible  hope  of 
ultimate  resistance. 

Is  it  Egypt  ?  Such  assistance  will 
fail  when  most  needed,  will  be  a 
liindrance  rather  than  a  support. 

Is  it  the  help  of  Jehovah?  Rab- 
shakeh's  ideas  of  Divine  assistance 
are  those  of  the  heathen  world  of 
his  time.  He  thinks  merely  of  a 
national  divinity,  an  idol,  or  super- 
natural being,  who  would  engage 
in  a  trial  of  sti'ength  with  other 
divinities  and  might  be  beaten  by 
them.  The  chief  hope  in  the 
assistance  of  such  a  god  would  be 
to  multiply  altars  and  olTeiings, 
and  so  far  from  doing  that,  Heze- 
kiah  had  limited  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  to  one  altar  in  Jerusalem. 

Is  it  Hezekiah  himself?  A  mere 
enthusiast  at  the  most,  a  petty  king 
who  could  not  defend  his  own  cities, 
and  had  already  confessed  himself 
unable  to  stand  against  Assyria  1 


Method. 
in  this  world  ;   yet  the  Church  is 
the  strongest  thing  in  the  world. 

Illustrate  this  by  the  passing 
away  of  all  the  great  empires  of 
the  world,  and  the  stability  and 
continuance  of  the  Church.  See 
Dan.  ii.  44. 


2.  After  describing  Rab-shakeh 
and  his  arguments,  point  out 
that  the  Church  is  always  being 
attacked,  insulted,  misunderstood 
by  the  powers  of  this  world. 

Refer  to  Baptismal  Service  — 
'  Christ's  faithful  soldier  and  ser- 
vant.' In  proportion  as  any  one 
tries  to  be  this,  there  is  sure  to  be 
some  Rab-shakeh  who  will  try 
to  persuade  him  of  the  foll}^  of 
serving  Christ,  of  trusting  in  Him, 
of  resisting  worldly  temptations. 

With  elder  scholars  the  teacher 
might  speak  of  the  attacks  on  belief, 
on  Catholic  doctrine,  Mdiich  are 
current  in  the  world,  as  well  as  of 
the  temptations  which  the  indi- 
vidual Christian  must  expect  to 
meet. 


THE  GEEAT  ATTACK  ON  JERUSALEM 


301 


Lesson  XXXIII — continued.     The  Great  Attack  on  Jerusalem 


Matter, 

3.  The  Church's  attitude. 

Silence  is  best.  No  arguments 
could  convince  such  an  opponent. 
No  reasons  could  appeal  to  him. 
And  with  silence  is  combined  ^eni- 
tence.  The  officers  of  Hezekiah  go 
to  the  king  with  their  clothes  rent. 
The  action  was  significant ;  it  Avas 
not  only  an  expression  of  grief,  but 
of  indignation  at  the  insults  offered 
to  Jehovah,  and  an  act  of  repara- 
tion, A  warfare  of  words  would 
not  only  have  been  impolitic  and 
undignified,  it  would  have  lowered 
the  adherents  of  Jehovah  to  the 
level  of  their  enemies, 

Cf,  Isa,  XXX,  15, 


Method, 

3.  Warn  against  trying  to  argue 
with  those  who  desire  to  attack 
and  not  to  be  convinced. 

Silence  is  often  the  Christian's 
most  effective  weapon.  Illustrate 
by  the  silence  of  our  Lord  in  His 
Passion  before  His  accusers  and  His 
judges. 

At  the  same  time,  when  the 
Church,  or  the  Bible,  or  our  own 
faith  is  attacked,  we  should  be 
careful  to  express  sorrow  in  secret 
to  God  for  the  way  in  which  He  is 
dishonoured  by  men ;  e.g.  always 
say  a  prayer  in  secret  for  those  who 
speak  against  Him,  even  if  we  can- 
not answer  them  openly.  Attacks 
which  we  cannot  answer  we  must 
leave  to  God  Himself  to  overthrow. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  great  attack  on  Jerusalem, 

1,  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  God,  surrounded  by 

the  Assyrians  ;  no  human  help, 
A  type  of  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  real 
strength  is  hidden  and  cannot  be  seen  by 
the  M'orld, 

2,  Bah-shakeh,    boastful,    certain   of    his    own 

strength;  tries  to  persuade  the  Jews  that 
neither  friends  nor  king  nor  God  can  help 
them. 
A  type  of  Satan,  the  prince  of  this  world, 
and  of  the  enemies  of  God's  Church, 

3,  The  best  iceapons — 

Silence, 
Repentance, 

Learn — '  In  quietness  and  confidence  shall 
be  your  strength,' 


302  2  KINGS  XIX. 


2  KINGS  XIX. 

AND  it  came  to  j^ass,  when  king  Hezekiah  heard  it,  that 
iV  he  rent  his  clothes,  and  covered  himself  ysiih  sack- 
cloth, and  went  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.  2. 
And  he  sent  Eliakim,  w  hich  ivas  over  the  household,  and 
Shehna  the  scribe,  and  the  elders  of  the  jDriests,  covered 
with  sackcloth,  to  Isaiah  the  prophet  the  son  of  Amoz. 
3.  And  they  said  unto  him,  Thus  saith  Hezekiah,  This  day 
is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  rebuke,  and  blasphemy  :  for  the 
children  are  come  to  the  birth,  and  there  is  not  strength  to 
bring  forth.  4.  It  may  be  the  Lord  thy  God  will  hear  all 
the  words  of  Kab-shakeh,  whom  the  king  of  Assyria  his 
master  hath  sent  "'  to  reproach  the  living  God  ;  and  will 


a  1  Sam.  xvii, 
26. 


1.  V/lien  king-  Hezekiali  heard  it,  etc.  It  is  a  crisis  of  this  sort  which 
tries  character  and  depth  of  religion.  Hezekiah  does  three  things,  all 
significant:  (1)  he  puts  on  the  garb  of  penitence,  instinctively  feeling 
that  he  must  humble  himself  before  God,  confessing  that  there  is  no  power 
of  any  avail  except  God  ;  (2)  he  goes  into  the  Temple,  i.e.  into  the  porch, 
to  seek  God  himself  in  prayer  ;  (3)  he  sends  to  God's  representative,  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  to  ask  his  prayers  and  counsel. 

2.  Isaiali  the  prophet.  This  is  the  first  mention  of  Isaiah  in  the  Books 
of  Kings,  though  he  had  prophesied  from  the  last  year  of  Uzziah,  and  is 
mentioned  as  the  historian  of  Uzziah's-  reign  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  22).  No 
douljt  this  account  of  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  comes  from  the  pen  of 
Isaiah  originally.  The  whole  passage  occurs  also  as  chaps,  xxxvi.-xxxvii. 
of  the  Book  of  Isaiah. 

For  many  years  Isaiah  had  foreseen  with  increasing  clearness  the  coming 
of  the  Assyrians,  and  had  in  several  different  wa3's  foretold  their  dis- 
comfiture. See  Isa.  v.  26-30,  vii.  17-25,  viii.  5-10,  x.  5-34,  xxix.  1-8, 
XXX.  27-33,  xxxi.  4-9,  xxxiii.  A  study  of  these  passages  will  be  found 
most  useful. 

3.  The  children  are  come  to  the  birth.  This  metaphor  may  implj'  no 
more  than  failure  of  natural  pov»^er,  and  helplessness,  or  it  may  have  a 
deeper  meaning.  The  nation  of  Israel  was  in  travail  with  tlie  Divine 
purposes.  It  seemed  for  the  moment  that  the  heathen  had  prevailed,  and 
these  purposes  would  never  come  to  birth,  and  that  Christ  would  not  be 
born. 

4.  To  reproach  the  living-  God.  It  is  characteristic  of  all  the  highest 
religious  thought  of  the  Old  Testament  that  the  honour  of  God  is  the  first 
consideration.  God  is  the  'living  God,'  not  like  the  dead  idols  and  life- 
less conceptions  of  the  heathen  ;  and  for  His  own  sake  He  will  not  permit 
His  glory  to  be  tarnished.  Cf.  Ezek.  xx.,  where  this  idea  is  developed  at 
length. 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE  303 

rejjrove  the  words  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  heard  : 

wherefore  lift  up  tliy  prayer  for  ^  the  remnant  that  are  left.  '^  isa.  i.  9. 

5.  So  the  servants  of  king  Hezekiah  came  to  Isaiah.     6. 

And   Isaiah   said  unto  them,  Thus   shall  ye  say  to  your 

master,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Be  not  afraid  of  the  words 

which  thou  hast  heard,  with  which  the    servants  of   the 

kino-  of  Assyria  have  blasphemed  me.     7.  Behold,  ^  I  will  ^  i  will  put  a 

spirit  in  him. 
send  a  blast  upon  him,  and  he  shall  hear  a  rumour,  and 

shall  return  to  his  own  land  ;  and  I  will  cause  him  to  fall 

by  the  sword  in  his  own  land.     8.  So  Rab-shakeh  returned, 

and  found  the  king  of  Assyria  warring  against  *^  Libnah  :  <^  Josh.  x.  29. 

for   he    had   heard  that   he  was   departed   from   Lachish. 

9.  And  when  he  heard  say  of  Tirhakah  king  of  Ethiopia, 

Behold,  he    is    come  out  to  fight   against  thee  :    he    sent 

messengers  again  unto  Hezekiah,  saying,  10.  Thus  shall  ye 

speak  to  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah,  saying,  Let  not  thy  God 

in  whom  thou    trustest    deceive   thee,  saying,   Jerusalem 

shall  not  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria. 

11.  Behold,  thou   hast  heard  what  the   kings  of  Assyria 

have  done  to  all  lands,  by  destroying  them  utterly  :  and 

shalt  thou  be  delivered  ?     12.  Have  the  gods  of  the  nations 

7.  Behold,  I  will  send  a  blast  upon  him.  The  correction  of  the  Revised 
Version  is  significant.  It  helps  us  to  understand  how  prayer  may  be 
effective.  The  hidden  forces  and  impulses  which  control  human  action 
are  in  the  hand  of  God.  God  can  '  put  a  spirit '  in  a  man  which  will 
cause  him  to  change  his  purpose.  Thus  prayer  may  alter  the  whole 
course  of  history,  and  no  doubt  has  often  done  so.  In  this  case  the 
'  spirit '  put  in  the  Assyrians  was  one  of  terror  or  apprehension  of 
disaster. 

9.  Tirhakah  king  of  Ethiopia.  The  advance  of  this  king  was  probably 
the  disquieting  '  rumour '  which  Sennacherib  was  to  hear,  and  Avhich 
rendered  him  more  anxious  to  get  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  b}-  threats. 
Tirhakah  is  probably  Taracus,  the  last  Pharaoh  of  the  twenty-fifth 
(Ethiopian)  dynasty,  though  whether  he  was  aotually  king  of  Eg^'pt  at 
this  time  is  uncertain. 

10.  Let  not  thy  God  in  whom  thou  trustest  deceive  thee.  The  blas- 
phemy of  the  Assyrians  reaches  now  a  further  height.  Ralj-shakeh  had 
warned  the  defenders  of  Jerusalem  against  being  deceived  by  Hezekiah  ; 
but  now  it  is  God  Himself  they  are  warned  against !  Perhaps  Sennacherib 
had  heard  of  the  influence  of  Isaiah  with  the  king. 


304  2  KINGS  XIX. 


delivered  them  which  my  fathers  have  destroyed  ;  as  Gozan, 
and  Haran,  and  Eezeph,  and  the  children  of  Eden  which 
ivere  in  Thelasar  ?  13.  Where  is  the  king  of  Hamath,  and 
the  king  of  Arpad,  and  the  king  of  the  city  of  Sepharvaim, 
of  Hena,  and  Ivah  ?  14.  And  Hezekiah  received  the  letter 
of  the  hand  of  the  messengers,  and  read  it  :  and  Hezekiah 
went  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  spread  it  before 
the  Lord.     15.  And  Hezekiah  prayed   before  the   Lord, 

2  sittest  upon,  and  said,  0  Lord  God  of  Israel,  which  ^dwellest  between 
d  Exod.  XXV.     d  the  cherubims,  thou  art  the  God,  even  thou  alone,  of  all 

22.  J  5  5 

the  kingdoms  of  the  earth;  thou  hast  made  heaven  and 
earth.  16.  Lord,  bow  down  thine  ear,  and  hear  :  open, 
Lord,  thine  eyes,  and  see  :  and   hear  the  words  of  Sen- 

3  wherewith  he  nacherib,  ^  which  hath  sent  him  to  reproach  the  living  God. 
17.  Of  a  truth,  L(jrd,  the  kings  of  Assyria  have  destroyed 
the  nations  and  their  lands,  18.  And  have  cast  their  gods 
into  the  fire  :  for  they  were  no  gods,  but  the  work  of  men's 
hands,  wood  and  stone  :  therefore  they  have  destroyed 
them.  19.  Now  therefore,  0  Lord  our  God,  I  beseech 
thee,  save  thou  us  out  of  his  hand,  that  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  may  know  that  thou  art  the  Lord  God,  even 
thou  only.  20.  Then  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz  sent  to 
Hezekiah,  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  That 
which  thou  hast  prayed  to  me  against  Sennacherib  king  of 


hath  sent  him. 


12.  Gozan,  and  Haran,  and  Rezeph,  etc.  All  these  places  are  probably 
in  Mesopotamia,  the  district  lyiug  between  Palestine  and  the  Assyrian 
capital  Nineveh.  Haran  is  the  place  where  Abraham  dwelt  for  a  time, 
the  same  as  the  later  Carrha;,  where  the  Roman  triumvir  Crassus  was 
defeated  by  the  Parthians.  '  The  children  of  Eden  '  are  unknown,  though 
no  doubt  the  '  Eden '  referred  to  is  the  same  district  as  that  which  is 
meant  in  Gen.  ii.  8  as  the  original  seat  of  the  human  race.  '  Eden'  is  the 
name  of  the  wliole  district,  not  of  course  to  be  confused  with  'the  garden 
of  Eden.' 

1.").  Thou  art  tlie  God,  even  thou  alone.  The  most  remarkable  charac- 
teristics of  Hezekiah's  prayer  (in  wliich  we  may  see  perhaps  the  influence 
of  Isaiah's  teaching)  are:  (1)  The  belief  that  Jehovah  is  the  universal 
Creator  and  the  one  God  of  the  whole  world,  far  different  to  any  local 
or  national  god  ;  (2)  That  God's  great  acts  for  Israel  will  be  a  witness 
to  the  world,  and  a  means  of  drawing  the  nations  to  a  purer  worship 
(see  ver.  19). 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE  305 

Assyria  I  have  heard.     21.  This  is  the  word  that  the  Lord 

hath  spoken  concerning  him  ;  The  virgin  the  daughter  of 

Zion  hath  despised  thee,  and  laughed  thee  to  scorn  ;  the 

daughter  of  Jerusalem  hath  shaken  her  head  at  thee.     22. 

Whom  hast  thou  reproached  and  blasphemed  ?  and  against 

whom  hast  thou  exalted  thy  voice,  and  lifted  up  thine  eyes 

on  high  1  even  against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.     23.  By  thy 

messengers  thou  hast  reproached  the  Lord,  and  hast  said, 

With  the  multitude  of  my  chariots  I  am  come  ujd  to  the 

heitdit  of  the  mountains,  to  ^  the  sides  of  Lebanon,  and  will  *  innermost 

•=  '  '  parts, 

cut  dowm  the  tall  cedar  trees  thereof,  aiid  the  choice  fir 

5  his  furthest 
trees  thereof:  and  I  will  enter  into  the -^lodgings  of  his  lodging-places. 

21.  Tliis  is  the  word  that  the  LORD  hath  spoken.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  prophecies  in  the  Bible,  both  for  its  vigour  and  sub- 
lime assurance  of  faith,  and  also  for  its  rapid  and  literal  fulfilment 
where  all  human  probability  pointed  the  other  way,  and  where  by 
no  possibility  could  the  prophet  have  learned  by  any  human  means  what 
would  happen. 

The  prophecy  is  divided  into  two  parts,  verses  21-28  a  dramatic  address 
to  the  king  of  Assj^ria,  and  verses  29-34  a  direct  address  to  Hezekiah  and 
his  people. 

The  virgin,  the  daughter  of  Zion.  Cities  are  usually  personified  as 
women  in  Scripture  :  Jerusalem  is  called  the  daughter  of  Zion,  because 
the  fortress  of  Zion,  the  site  of  palace  and  Temple,  is  the  head  and  mother, 
as  it  were,  of  the  city,  and  she  is  called  'virgin,'  as  having  never  been 
conquered  since  David's  time.  '  The  daughter  of  Jerusalem '  is  a 
poetical  parallel  to  '  the  daughter  of  Zion.'  There  is  probably  no  clear 
distinction  to  be  drawn  between  the  two,  unless  it  be  that  tlie  first  is  the 
cit\',  and  the  second  the  people  of  the  city. 

22.  The  Holy  One  of  Israel.  This  is  a  favourite  phrase  of  Isaiah's.  The 
God  of  Israel  is  pre-eminently  'holy'  in  both  senses  of  the  word  :  (1)  as 
exalted  far  above  all  that  is  merely  of  this  world  ;  (2)  as  supremely  pure 
ami  righteous.  In  both  respects  Jehovah  stands  on  an  absolutely  different 
plane  to  the  gods  of  the  heathen. 

23.  And  hast  said.  These  words  introduce  a  boastful  speech,  which  is 
put  dramatically  in  the  mouth  of  the  king  of  Assyria.  The  answer  of 
(iod  to  this  boast  begins  with  ver.  25,  which  in  reading  aloud  should  be 
marked  by  a  pause  and  a  change  of  voice.  The  Assyrian  is  represented 
as  boasting  of  the  irresistible  advance  of  his  chariots,  the  devastation 
which  he  causes  by  cutting  down  forests  and  parks  (ver.  23),  and  his 
success  in  siege  operations  (ver.  24). 

The  sides  of  Lebanon — i.e.  the  innermost  recesses  of  Lebanon,  a  region 
famed  for  its  extraordinary  variety  and  beauty,  especially  for  its  mag- 
nificent cedars.     See  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  413,  414  h. 
HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  U 


306  2  KINGS  XIX. 


*^  liis  fruitful  borders,  and  into  the  forest  of  ^  his  Carmel.  24.  I  have 
digged  and  drunk  strange  waters,  and  with  the  sole  of  my 

7  will  I  dry  up.  feet  "  have  I  dried  up  all  the  rivers  ^  of  besieged  places. 

8  of  Egypt.  ^  "^        ! 

25.  Hast  thou  not  heard  long  ago  how  I  have  done  it,  and 

e  Isa.  X.  5.  ^^  ancient  times  that  I  have  formed  it  ?  ^  now  have  I  brought 
it  to  pass,  that  thou  shouldest  be  to  lay  waste  fenced  cities 
into  ruinous  heaps.  26.  Therefore  their  inhabitants  were 
of  small  power,  they  were  dismayed  and  confounded  ;  they 
were  as  the  grass  of  the  field,  and  as  the  green  herb,  as  the 
grass  on  the  house  tops,  and  as  corn  blasted  before  it  be 

9  sitting  down,  grown  up.     27.  But  I  know  thy  '-^  abode,  and  thy  going  out, 

and  thy  coming  in,  and  thy  rage  against  me.     28.  Because 

10  arrogance,      thy  rage  against  me  and  thy  ^'Humult  is  come  up  into  mine 

ears,  therefore  I  will  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my 
bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by 
which  thou  camest.  29.  And  this  shall  he  a  sign  unto 
thee,  Ye  shall  eat  this  year  such  things  as  grow  of  them- 

23.  The  forest  of  Ms  Carmel.  See  Revised  Version.  The  allusion  is 
ap])arently  to  the  famous  grove  of  cedars  of  Lebanon,  called  by  Ezekiel 
'  the  garden  of  God'  (xxxi.) — a  remarkable  chapter,  wliere  the  Assyrian 
is  himself  compared  to  one  of  these  cedars. 

24.  I  have  digged  and  drunk  strange  waters.  Sennacherib  boasts  that 
in  his  campaigns  he  has,  b\'  digging,  provided  his  armies  M'ith  si;pplies  of 
water  unknown  before.  Consequenth'  it  is  in  vain  for  Hezekiah  to 
provide  water  supjAies  for  Jerusalem,  or  to  try  to  cut  off  the  water  from 
his  besiegers.     See  2  Chron.  xxxii.  3,  4. 

I  dried  up  all  the  rivers  of  besieged  places.  See  the  important  correc- 
tions of  the  Revised  Version.  Sennacherib  will  (metaphoricall}^)  dry  up 
the  waters  of  the  Nile,  and  march  his  army  through  it. 

25.  Hast  thou  not  heard  ?  God  indignantly  addresses  the  Assyrian, 
Is  he  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  (1)  that  all  these  things  are  the  creation 
c»f  God,  and  (2)  tliat  without  God's  permission  none  of  the  conquests 
wliich  he  lioasts  of  would  have  been  possible? 

26.  Therefore, — because  God  has  permitted  it,  not  because  the  Assyrian 
willed  it. 

2S.  I  will  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose.  God  will  punish  the  Assyrian 
after  he  luis  done  the  work  of  vengeance  which  God  has  permitted  him 
to  do,  by  taming  him  like  a  wild  Ix-ast  is  tamed,  with  a  ring  in  his  nose 
and  a  bit  in  his  teeth. 

29.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  thee.  Here  Hezekiah  himself  is 
addressed.  Tlie  sign  of  the  permanent  deliverance  of  the  land  from  the 
Assyrian  will  l^e  that,  though  it  has  been  thrown  out  of  cultivation,  there 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE  307 

selves,  and  in  the  second  year  that  which  springeth  of  the 
same  ;  and  in  the  third  year  sow  ye,  and  reap,  and  plant 
vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruits  thereof.     30.  And  the  rem- 
nant that  is  escajDed  of  the  house  of  Judah  shall  yet  again 
take  root  downward,  and  bear  fruit  upward.     31.  For  out 
of  Jerusalem  shall  go  forth  a  remnant,  and  ^^  they  that  escape  ^  and  out  of 
out  of  mount  Zion  :  •''the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  do  they  that  shall 
this.     32.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning  the  /^isu.\x.  7. 
king  of  Assyria,  He  shall  not  come  ^^  into  this  city,  nor  ^^  unto, 
shoot  an  arrow  there,  nor  come  before  it  with  shield,  nor 
cast  a  bank  against  it.     33.  By  the  way  that  he  came,  by 
the  same  shall  he  return,  and  shall  not  come  into  this  city, 
saith  the  Lord.     34.   For  I  will  defend  this  city,  to  save 
it,  for  mine  own  sake,  and  for  my  servant  David's  sake. 
35.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  night,  that  ^the  angel  of  the  g^  Ecclus.  xlviii. 
Lord  went  out,  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians 
an  hundred  fourscore  and  five  thousand  :  and  when  ^^  they  ^^  men. 

will  be  enough  that  grows  of  itself  to  feed  the  people  for  two  years,  and 
the  third  year  will  be  a  new  beginning  of  settled  agricultural  life. 
Perhaps  the  second  year  spoken  of  was  the  Sabbatical  year. 

30.  And  the  remnant  that  is  escaped,  etc.  The  renewed  growth  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  after  the  devastation  of  the  Assyrians  suggests  a 
similar  resurrection  for  the  'remnant,'  the  few  who  have  escaped.  They 
too  shall  again  take  root  and  be  fruitful. 

32.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  LORD,  etc.  The  prophecy  ends  with  the 
most  definite  and  categorical  assertion  that  the  threatened  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem will  never  take  place.  The  arrows,  the  great  shields  under  which 
the  besiegers  approached  the  wall,  and  the  bank  or  mound  raised  to 
command  the  walls,  are  all  portrayed  on  Assyrian  monuments. 

35.  The  angel  of  the  LORD  went  out.  It  is  generally  assumed  that  a 
pestilence,  or  some  poisonous  scirocco,  Mas  the  instrument  by  which  this 
host  was  destroyed.  But  behind  the  material  means,  faith  descried  the 
angel  of  the  Lord,  the  personal  minister  of  the  vengeance  of  God. 

When  they  arose  early.  This  of  course  implies  that  all  the  Assyrian 
host  did  not  perish,  e.g.  Sennacherib  himself.  With  this  destruction  of 
the  Assyrians  should  be  compared  the  earlier  prophecies  of  Isaiah, 
especially  chap.  xxxi.  8,  '  Then  shall  the  Assyrian  fall  Avith  the  sword, 
not  of  man';  also  Ps.  Ixxvi.  (called  in  LXX  'the  song  against  the 
Assyrian').  The  noble  poem  of  Byron  on  this  event  is  well  known. 
Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  side-light  on  the  event  is  supplied  by  the 
curious  Eg3'ptian  tradition  preserved  by  the  Greek  historian  Herodotus 
(ii.  141),  in  which,  though  the  destruction  of  Sennaclierib  is  ascribed 
to  the  Egyptians,  it  is  still  represented  as  being  the  answer  to  prayer, 
and  an  interposition  of  God.     See  Supplementary  Note,  p.  31L 


308 


2  KINGS  XIX. 


arose  early  in  the  morning,  behold,  they  icere  all  dead 
corjDses.  36.  So  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  departed, 
and  went  and  returned,  and  dwelt  at  Nineveh.     37.  And 

h  Nahum  i.  u.  it  came  to  pass,  ^  as  he  was  worshipping  in  the  house  of 
Nisroch  his  god,  that  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer  his  sons 
smote  him  with  the  sword  :   and  they  escaped  into  the 

1^  Aiarat.  land  of  "  Armenia.     And  Esar-haddon  his  son  reigned  in 

his  stead. 

37.  Nisroch  his  god.  This  divinity  is  otherwise  unknown.  It  has  been 
thought  to  be  the  eagle-headed  god  portraj^ed  on  Assyrian  monuments. 
The  murder  of  Sennacherib  took  place  in  681. 


LESSON  XXXIV 
The  Great  Deliverance 


Matter. 

1.  Prayer. 

For  a  moment  the  rumour  of  the 
Ethiopian  attack  diverted  the 
Assyrians  from  Jerusalem.  But 
the  insolent  letter  of  Sennacherib 
himself  showed  that  it  was  only  a 
temporary  respite.  Sennacherib 
was  convinced  of  his  own  over- 
mastering power,  and  did  not  intend 
to  leave  Jerusalem  unconquered. 

The  attitude  of  Hezekiah  is  very 
different  to  that  of  Ahaz.  He 
throws  himself  and  his  people  on 
God  alone.  His  prayer  is  based 
upcm  the  belief  (foreign  to  the  mind 
of  the  Assyrians)  that  his  God  is 
God  of  all  nations  and  ruler  of  all 
events  ;  and  the  spirit  of  his  prayer 
is  zeal  for  God's  honour,  i.e.  it  is 
full  of  the  love  of  God.  He  dcsir-es 
first  of  all  that  God's  name  should 
not  be  blasphemed  ;  and  the  deliver- 
ance which  he  asks  for  is  not  merely 
for  himself  and  his  people,  but  for 
the  sake  of  the  world,  that  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  may  learn 
the  truth  about  Jehovah. 

Hezekiah  shows  a  true  sense  of 
the  mission  of  Israel  in  the  world  ; 
their  preservation  is  not  for  their 
own  sakes  but  for   the   honour  of 


Method. 

1.  Describe  the  events  which  led 
up  to  Hezekiah's  prayer. 

Point  out  its  humility ;  the  king 
rent  his  clothes  and  put  on  sack- 
cloth ;  its  trust  in  revelation,  it  was 
offered  in  the  Temple,  and  is  ad- 
dressed to  God,  who  dwelt '  between 
the  Cherubim,'  i.e.  to  God  who  had 
promised  His  presence  and  His  help 
to  His  people. 

Analyse  the  prayer,  and  compare 
it  with  the  Lord's  Prayer.  It  puts 
first  God's  honour  ;  it  prays  for  the 
hallowing  of  God's  name  and  the 
coming  of  God's  kingdom  ;  and  for 
personal  deliverance  only  in  sub- 
ordination to  these  thiugs. 

Point  out  that  all  the  mercies  of 
God  are  given  (1)  that  the  receiver 
may  glorify  God,  (2)  that  they  may 
be  used  for  the  good  of  man. 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE 


309 


Lesson  XXXIV — continued.     The  Great  Deliverance 


Matter. 

God,  and  the  religious  education  of 
tlie  heathen  world. 

2.  Prophecy. 

The  reply  of  the  prophet  Isaiah 
is  the  Divine  answer  to  the  inter- 
cessions of  himself  and  the  king. 
It  is  the  vindication  of  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  the  face  of  the 
puzzles  and  perplexities  which  the 
arrogant  domination  of  the  As- 
syrians must  have  awakened.  His- 
tory is  not  what  it  seems  to  the 
ordinary  onlooker.  Behind  all  the 
rage  and  cruelty  and  ambition  of 
Assj-ria  is  the  unchanging  purpose 
of  a  holy  God.  The  Assyrian  can 
do  nothing  but  what  he  is  permitted 
to  do.  All  his  power  is  in  the  hands 
of  God  ;  and  he  will  be  compelled  to 
recognise  it.  There  is  a  limit  which 
he  will  not  be  allowed  to  pass.  Both 
he  and  those  whom  he  was  seeking 
to  subjugate  in  his  lust  of  conquest 
will  know  that  there  is  a  power  and 
a  purpose  in  the  world  greater  than 
man. 

Isaiah's  prophecy  is  both  ^jre- 
dictive  and  interpretative.  It  not 
only  foretells  in  the  most  cate- 
gorical manner  future"  events,  but 
it  helps  men  to  see  the  reasons  of 
events  from  the  Divine  point  of 
view.  Prophecy  is  the  key  to 
history. 

3.  The  hand  of  God. 

The  Assyrian  destruction  was 
complete,  final,  and  yet  unforeseen 
by  all  except  Isaiah  and  those  who 
believed  his  word.  It  was  not  the 
only  time  in  history  when  an  un- 
foreseen disaster  has  turned  the 
whole  course  of  events  against  all 
human  probal)ility.  But  in  this 
case  God  vouchsafed  to  explain  to 
man  His  own  action.  A  miracle  is 
not  merely  an  extraordinary  event, 
but  a  revelation  of  the  supreme  will 
of  God  working  behind  all  natural 
laws. 


Method. 


2.  Explain  that  Isaiah's  prophecy 
was  the  word  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  (see  Nicene  Creed)  in  answer 
to  the  pi'ayer  and  faith  of  the 
Church. 

Show  (1)  how  it  foretold  the 
future,  (2)  how  it  helps  us  to  under- 
stand things  which  seem  strange 
in  the  world,  bad  men  apparently 
having  their  own  way  unpunished, 
the  innocent  suflering. 

No  evil  can  ever  proceed  further 
than  God  permits  it.  God  may 
allow  evil  men  to  do  evil  for  hidden 
reasons  of  His  own,  but  He  never 
allows  them  to  go  beyond  His  own 
purpose ;  and  God's  purpose  is 
always  good,  though  we  cannot 
always  see  at  the  time  the  reason. 

God  rules  the  actions  of  men  as 
He  rules  nature,  though  in  a  differ- 
ent way. 

Refer  to  story  of  Knut  and  the 
advancing  tide. 

Cf.  Isa.  X.  5-15 ;  Job  xxxviii. 
8-11;  S.  Johnxix.  11. 

3.  Describe  the  overthrow  of  the 
Assyrians.  All  their  confidence, 
their  splendour,  the  banners  and 
the  weapons  of  war  M^ere  over- 
thrown and  made  useless  in  a  single 
night  b}'  the  hand  of  God. 

Cf.  the  destroying  of  the  Egyp- 
tian firstborn  and  of  Pharaoh's 
hosts  ;  the  destruction  of  the  Span- 
ish Armada. 

Cf.  Psalms  Ixxv. -Ixxvi. ,  which  refer 
to  this  destruction  of  the  Assyrian. 

Byron's  great  poem  may  also  be 
quoted. 


310 


2  KINGS  XIX. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


The  Great  Deliverance. 


Prayer.  Hezekiah  prayed 
with  humility 
in  the  Temple 

remembering  God's  promises. 
He  prayed  first  for  the  honour  of  God,  and 

then  for  himself  and  people. 
Cf.  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

Prophecy.      Isaiah's   words,   inspired   by   the 
Holy  Ghost, 
foretold  the  deliverance  ; 
explained  that  Gods  purpose  is  almighty 
and  no  evil  can  happen  without  God's 
permission. 

The   hand   of  Ood.       The    Assyrian    army    is 
destroyed  in  one  night  by  the  Angel  of 
God. 
'At   Thy  rebuke,    O   God   of    Jacob,    both 
chariot  and  horse  arc  fallen.' 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE  311 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE  {Herodotus,  ii.  141) 

'  They  say  that  Sanacharibos,  king  of  the  Arabians  and  Assyrians,  led 
a  great  army  against  Egypt.  Now  the  warriors  of  Egypt  refused  to  give 
help  against  him.  The  priest  {i.e.  Sethos,  priest  of  Vulcan,  who  occupied 
the  throne  of  Egypt)  being  in  distress  went  into  the  shrine  and  bewailed 
before  the  image  of  the  god  the  sufferings  of  which  he  was  in  danger. 
And  while  he  was  thus  bewailing,  sleep  came  upon  him,  and  in  a  dream 
he  seemed  to  see  the  god  standing  by  him,  and  encouraging  him,  telling 
him  that  he  would  suffer  no  reverse  by  attacking  the  Arabian  army  ;  for 
"  I  myself,"  he  said,  "  will  send  thee  avengers."  The  priest,  trusting  in 
these  dreams,  took  wath  him  all  the  Egyptians  who  were  willing  to  follow, 
and  encamped  in  Pelusium  ;  for  there  are  the  entrances  into  Egypt.  And 
none  of  the  warriors  accompanied  him,  but  only  peddlers  and  mechanics 
and  common  rabble.  But  when  they  arrived  there,  swarms  of  field-mice 
fell  upon  the  enemy  and  ate  in  pieces  their  quivers  and  bows  and  the 
straps  of  their  shields,  so  that  on  the  morrow  they  fled  unprotected  by 
armour,  and  many  of  them  were  slain.  And  at  the  present  time  a  stone 
statue  of  this  king  stands  in  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  holding  in  his  hand  a 
mouse,  with  this  inscription,  "Let  him  who  looks  at  me  reverence  the 
gods."  ' 

In  connection  with  this  legend  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  a  mouse 
was  anciently  symbolical  of  pestilence.  It  is  possible  that  the  legend 
grew  out  of  the  existence  of  the  statue,  the  mouse  being  misunderstood, 
and  interpreted  literally.  It  is  also  probable  that  if  this  disaster  to 
Sennacherib's  army  took  place  on  the  Egyptian  frontiers,  the  Egyp- 
tians themselves  fell  upon  the  survivors  and  increased  the  rout. 


312  2  KINGS  XX. 


I 


2  KINGS  XX. 

"N  those  days  was  Hezekiah  sick  unto  death.  And  the 
prophet  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amos  came  to  him,  and  said 
unto  him,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Set  thine  house  in 
order  ;  for  thou  shalt  die,  and  not  live.  2,  Then  he  turned 
his  face  to  the  wall,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  saying, 
3.  I  beseech  thee,  0  Lord,  remember  now  how  I  have 
walked  before  thee  in  truth  and  with  a  perfect  heart,  and 
have  done  that  ■which  is  good  in  thy  sight.  And  Hezekiah 
wept  sore.     4.  And  it  came  to  j)ass,  afore  Isaiah  was  gone 

1  the  middle      out  into  ^  the  middle  court,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 

partof  the  city. 

to  him,   saying,     5.    Turn  again,  and  tell  Hezekiah  the 

captain  of  my  people.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of 

David  thy  father,  I  have  heard  thy  prayer,  I  have  seen 

thy  tears  :  behold,  I  will  heal  thee  :  on  the  third  day  thou 

shalt  go  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord.     6.  And  I  will 

add  unto  thy  days  fifteen  years  ;  and  I  will  deliver  thee 

and  this  city  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria  ;  and 

1.  In  those  days— apparently  just  after  the  Assyrian  invasion,  as 
seems  to  be  implied  in  ver.  fi.  Probabh-  Hezekiah's  ilhiess  was  due  to 
the  anxiety  caused  by  the  crisis  through  which  his  kingdom  had  just 
passed. 

Thou  Bhalt  die,  and  not  live.  This  is  a  striking  example  of  the  fact 
which  is  so  often  taught  in  Scripture,  that  God's  judgments  are  often 
reversible  by  repentance  and  prayer.  Thej'^  may  be  expressed  in  the 
most  absolute  language,  as  in  this  case,  and  yet  be  modified  or  altered 
b}-  the  mercy  of  God. 

2.  And  prayed  unto  the   LORD.      Contrast  the  behaviour  of    Asa, 

2  Chron.  xvi.  12.  Hezekiah's  prayer  (ver.  3)  is  indeed  more  in  the  style 
of  the  Old  Testament  than  the  New.  The  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
taught  a  deeper  humility  and  a  higher  ideal  of  sanctity.  Nevertheless 
we  must  remember  that  it  is  possible  for  such  words  as  Hezekiah  uses  to 
be  said  with  perfect  sincerity  and  in  a  spirit  altogether  different  from 
that  of  the  Pharisee  (S.  Luke  xviii.  11,  12).  Hezekiah  Avas  conscious  of 
his  own  lore  of  God,  and  his  endeavours  to  serve  Him.  The  Pharisee 
showed  no  love,  his  prayer  M'as  the  boasting  of  self-satisfaction. 

6.  I  will  add  unto  thy  days  fifteen  years.  This  period  added  to  the 
fourteen  years  previous  to  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  would  make  up 
the  twenty-nine  years  of  Hezekiah's  reign. 


GOD'S  LESSONS  TO  HEZEKIAH  313 

I  will  defend  this  city  for  mine  own   sake,  and  for  my 

servant  David's  sake.     7.  And  Isaiah  said,  Take  a  ^  lumj)  '-^  cake. 

of  figs.     And  they  took  and  laid  it  on  the  boil,  and  he 

recovered.      8.    And    Heeekiah   said   unto   Isaiah,  What 

shall  be  the  sign  that  the  Lord  will  heal  me,  and  that  I 

shall  go  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  the  third  day  ? 

9.  And  Isaiah  said,  This  sign  shalt  thou  have  of  the  Lord, 

that  the  Lord  will  do  the  thing  that  he  hath  spoken  : 

shall  the  shadow  go  forward  ten  ^  degrees,  or  go  back  ten  ^  steps. 

^  degrees  ?      10.    And  Hezekiah  answered,   It  is  a  light 

thing  for  the  shadow  to  go  down  ten  ^  degrees  :  nay,  but 

let  the  shadow  return  backward  ten  ^degrees.     11.  And 

Isaiah  the  prophet  cried  unto  the  Lord  :  and  «  he  brought  «  Josh.  x.  12-13; 

^      ^  .        .  *       Ecch;s.  xlviii. 

the  shadow  ten  ^  degrees  backward,  by  which  it  had  gone  23. 

down  in  the  dial  of  Ahaz.     12.  At  that  time  Berodach- 

baladan,  the  son  of  Baladan,  king  of  Baliylon,  sent  letters 

7.  Take  a  lump  of  figs.  Cakes  of  compressed  figs  are  a  common  article 
of  food  in  the  Easb.  It  is  also  said  that  the  use  of  a  plaster  of  iigs  acts 
favourably  upon  boils  and  carbuncles,  bringing  them  to  a  head.  But  in 
this  case  the  cure  was  miraculous,  and  it  Avas  shown  to  be  so  by  the  use 
of  the  very  simplest  natural  means  when  the  patient  was  apparently 
past  the  use  of  remedies  (ver.  ]). 

11.  The  dial  of  Ahaz.  Apparently  from  the  use  of  the  word  'steps' 
(see  R.Y. )  this  so-called  dial  was  not  what  we  commonly  understand  by 
a  sun-dial,  but  some  device  whereby  the  shadow  of  an  obelisk  fell  upon 
a  tier  of  steps.  These  steps  would  be  properly  graduated,  and  so  the 
incidence  of  the  shadow  would  tell  the  time.  Ahaz,  no  doubt,  had 
introduced  this  scientific  instrument  from  the  East  among  his  other 
foreign  importations.  Sun-dials  and  the  division  of  time  into  hours  are 
said  to  have  been  invented  by  the  Babylonians  (Hdt.  ii.  109). 

How  this  great  miracle  was  accomplished  it  is  beyond  our  power  to 
discover.  There  is  no  need,  of  course,  to  assume  any  actual  change  in 
the  movement  of  the  earth,  any  more  than  in  the  case  of  Joshua's  bid- 
ding the  sun  and  moon  to  stand  still.  It  was  the  shadow  only  that 
returned,  not  the  sun.  Probably  some  extraordinary  refraction  is  suffi- 
cient in  each  case  to  account  for  the  miracle,  though  in  each  case  it  was 
a  distinct  interposition  of  God. 

The  song  of  thanksgiving  which  Hezekiah  used  for  his  recovery  is 
given  by  Isaiah  xxxviii.  9-20,  and  should  be  read. 

12.  Berodach-baladan,  king  of  Babylon.  Isaiah  gives  the  first  part  of 
this  name  as  Merodach,  wliich  is  no  doubt  correct,  as  Merodach  was  the 
name  of  one  of  the  principal  gods  of  Babylon.  This  visit  of  the  king  of 
Babylon  is  most  significant.  It  is  practically  the  first  appearance  of 
Babylon  in  the  sacred  history,  and  suggests  the  approaching  greatness  of 


314  2  KINGS  XX. 


and  a  present  unto  Hezekiah  :  for  he  had  heard  that 
Hezekiah  had  been  sick.  13.  And  Hezekiah  hearkened 
unto  them,  and  shewed  them  all  the  house  of  his  precious 
things,  the  silver,  and  the  gold,  and  the  spices,  and  the 
■*  oil.  precious  ^  ointment,  and  all  the  house  of  his  armour,  and  all 

that  was  found  in  his  treasures  :  there  was  nothing  in  his 
house,  nor  in  all  his  dominion,  that  Hezekiah  shewed  them 
not.  14.  Then  came  Isaiah  the  prophet  unto  king  Heze- 
kiah, and  said  unto  him,  What  said  these  men  ?  and  from 
whence  came  they  unto  thee  ?  And  Hezekiah  said.  They 
are  come  from  a  far  country,  even  from  Babylon.  15.  And 
he  said,  What  have  they  seen  in  thine  house  ?  And 
Hezekiah  answered,  All  the  things  that  are  in  mine  house 
have  they  seen  :  there  is  nothing  among  my  treasures  that 
I  have  not  shewed  them.  16.  And  Isaiah  said  unto 
Hezekiah,  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  17.  Behold,  the 
days  come,  that  all  that  is  in  thine  house,  and  that  which 
thy  fathers  have  laid  up  in  store  unto  this  day,  shall  be 
carried  into  Babylon  :  nothing  shall  be  left,  saith  the  Lord. 

that  power  which  in  the  course  of  the  century  was  to  overthrow  the 
Assyrians. 

Without  doubt  this  complimentary  visit  had  a  political  motive,  and 
was  part  of  a  scheme  to  secure  allies  for  Babylon  in  its  rise  against 
Assyria.  The  Chronicler  seems  to  imply  that  the  Babylonians  were  also 
attracted  by  the  news  of  the  miracle  of  the  sun-dial  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  31). 

13.  And  Hezekiali  hearkened  unto  them.  Hezekiah  seems  to  have  been 
carried  away  for  the  moment  by  vanit}"^ ;  and,  being  flattered  by  the 
Babylonian  visit,  to  have  made  a  vain  display  of  his  treasures  and 
armour.  It  was  a  temptation  which  God  permitted,  and  lie  fell  before  it. 
See  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31. 

16.  Hear  the  word  of  the  LORD.  This  is  a  remarkable  prediction  of 
what  came  to  pass  rather  more  than  a  century  later.  Isaiah  foresees 
as  clearly  the  Babyhwiiau  captivity  as  he  had  the  discomtitiue  of  the 
Assyrians.  We  are  not  of  course  to  suppose  that  Hezekiah's  fault  v  as 
the  cause  of  that  captivity.  But  this  moment  is  chosen  bj'  God  to  give 
the  warning  through  His  prophet.  It  was  a  humiliation  for  Hezekiah, 
in  the  hour  of  his  glory,  to  be  told  of  the  coming  disaster  which  lay 
absolutely  in  God's  power  to  inflict. 

In  the  book  of  Isaiah  this  narrative  occupies  a  significant  position  at 
the  end  of  chap,  xxxix.,  the  great  turning-point  of  the  book.  It  stands 
there,  as  has  well  been  said,  like  a  finger-post  pointing  to  Babylon.  And 
all  the  subsequent  chapters,  whether  this  Isaiah  or  a  later  one  wrote 
them,  assume  the  Jews  to  have  been  carried  to  Babylon,  foretell  their 
return,  and  the  coming  of  Christ  as  true  Prophet  and  Priest. 


GOD'S  LESSONS  TO  HEZEKIAH 


315 


18.  And  of  thy  sons  that  shall  issue  from  thee,  which  thou 
shalt  beget,  shall  they  take  away  ;  and  they  shall  be 
eunuchs  in  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Babylon.  19.  Then 
said  Hezekiah  unto  Isaiah,  Good  is  the  word  of  the  Lord 
which  thou  hast  spoken.  And  he  said,  Is  it  not  good,  if 
peace  and  truth  be  in  my  days  ?  20.  And  the  rest  of  the 
acts  of  Hezekiah,  and  all  his  might,  and  how  he  made  a 
pool,  and  a  conduit,  and  brought  water  into  the  city,  are 
they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  ?  21.  And  Hezekiah  slept  with  his  fathers  :  and 
Manasseh  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

19.  Then  said  Hezekiah.  The  king's  reply  sho\vs  a  humble  spirit.  He 
accepts,  like  Job,  the  coming  disaster,  and  expresses  his  hope  that 
during  his  own  reign  at  least  God  will  allow  him  to  enjoy  '  peace  and 
truth.' 


LESSON  XXXV 
God's  Lessons  to  Hezekiah 


Matter. 

1.  The  lesson  of  sickness. 

The  wonderful  deliverance  of 
Jerusalem  from  the  Assyrians  was 
followed  by  years  of  peace  (cf.  Isa. 
xxxiii.  13-24).  The  rest  that  is  re- 
corded of  Hezekiah  seems  to  point 
to  the  enforcement  in  a  more  per- 
sonal manner  of  the  great  lesson 
which  God  had  been  teaching  His 
Church  and  the  world.  Hezekiah 
himself  has  to  learn  more  fully  that 
power  belongs  to  God  alone,  that 
no  successes  are  any  cause  for  per- 
sonal congratulation,  that  what 
God  has  given  He  may  equally  take 
away. 

In  the  midst  of  peace  and  triumph 
a  mortal  illness  seizes  the  king,  and 
he  is  M'arned  to  prepare  for  death. 
Again  in  answer  to  prayer,  the 
stroke  is  arrested,  but  the  king  is 
shown  that  his  recovery  just  as 
much  as  his  illness  came  from  God's 
hand.     The  simplest  remedy  is  per- 


Method. 

1.  This  lesson  should  be  mainly 
descriptive,  but  the  teacher  should 
point  out  : — 

(1)  The  evident  parallel  between 
Hezekiah's  sickness  and  recovery 
and  the  Divine  intervention  when 
the  Assyrians  threatened  Jeru- 
salem ;  prayer  and  prophecy  play  a 
prominent  part  in  each  event,  and 
the  lesson  in  both  is  the  same. 

(2)  No  disease  happens  without 
God's  permission,  and  the  issue  of 
it  is  in  His  hand  ;  prayer  should 
accompany  all  medical  treatment. 

Cf.  the  Office  for  the  Visitation  of 
the  Sick,  especially  the  words  of 
the  first  exhortation,  'Know  this, 
that  Almighty  God  is  the  Lord  of 
life  and  death"^  and  of  all  things  to 
them  pertaining,  as  youth,  strength, 
health,  age,  weakness,  and  sick- 
ness,' etc. 

Illustrate  by  the  postponement  of 
the    Coronation    of    Edward    vii., 


316 


2  KINGS  XX. 


Lesson  XXXV — continued.     God's  Lessons  to  Hezekiah 


Matter. 

mitted  to  cure  a  disease  which  no 
court  physician  could  heal.  And  a 
miracle  which  could  only  proceed 
from  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God, 
is  added  as  a  sign  that  God  is  Lord 
of  all  that  happens  to  man. 

2.  The  rebuke  of  vanity. 
Hezekiah  seems,  in  the  peace  and 

prosperity-  of  the  latter  part  of  his 
reign,  to  have  given  way  for  a 
moment  to  vanity.  He  was  flat- 
tered b)'-  the  embassage  from  Baby- 
1  )nia,  and  he  makes  a  display  of 
his  possessions  in  a  way  which  was 
perhaps  very  natural,  but  yet  un- 
seemly for  one  who  had  received 
such  extraordinary  mercies  from  the 
hand  of  God.  These  mercies  should 
liave  deepened  humility.  More- 
over, it  was  just  because  Hezekiah 
was  a  righteous  man  at  heart  that  he 
was  counted  worthy  to  receive  re- 
buke and  further  teaching  from  God. 
(See  S.  John  xv.  2  ;  Heb.  xii.  7.) 

He  receives  an  inspired  message 
from  Isaiah  (which  must  have 
needed  true  faith  to  receive),  that 
in  spite  of  all  the  marvellous  de- 
liverance which  God  has  just 
given,  a  captivity  is  yet  to  come  ; 
the  royal  treasures  will  be  carried 
to  Babylon,  the  country  before 
whose  envoy  he  had  just  been 
making  his  vain  display  ;  and  the 
ro3^al  seed  will  be  servants  in  a 
heathen  court. 

3.  Hezekia.li's  resig-nation. 

The  king  receives  this  rebuke, 
which  migl)t  have  seemed  the  very 
contradiction  of  all  that  God  had 
done  for  the  nation,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  sonship.  He  receives  it 
as  Abraham  did  the  command  to 
sacrifice  tlie  heir  of  the  promises, 
and  as  Job  did  the  tidings  of 
calami tj'.  The  word  of  the  Lord  is 
'  good. ' 


Method. 

and  the  praj'ers  made  bj^  Church 
and  nation  for  him,  which  God 
answered. 


2.  The  teacher  should  explain 
that  it  was  not  to  punish  Hezekiah's 
vain  display  that  the  Jews  were  to 
be  carried  captive  to  Babylon.  He 
is  told  M'hat  will  happen  in  the 
future  (owing  to  the  sins  of  others) 
as  a  rebuke  to  his  pride.  And  this 
rebuke  is  an  act  of  love.  Hezekiah 
was  a  good  man,  but  God  would 
make  him  better  still. 


3.  Illustrate  Hezekiah's  resigna- 
tion by  the  example  of  Job,  by  the 
petition,  'Thy  will  be  done,'  and 
by  Rom.  xii.  2. 


GOD'S  LESSONS  TO  HEZEKIAH 


317 


Lesson  XXXV — continued.    God's  Lessons  to  Hezekiah 
Matter.  Method. 


All  that  the  king  asks  for  is  that 
in  his  own  day,  the  fragment  of  time 
in  which  he  has  responsibility,  there 
may  be  -peace  and  truth  ;  security 
from  both  outward  and  inward 
enemies.  The  future  he  is  willing 
to  leave  in  God's  hands. 


Cf.  our  Lord's  warnings  against 
over-anxiety  for  the  future  (S. 
Matt.  vi.  25-34). 


Blackboakd  Sketch. 


God's  Lessons  to  Hezekiah. 

1.  Sickness,  mortal, 

but  cured  in  answer  to  prayer. 
Life  and  death  are  in  the  hands  of  God. 
God  alone  can  really  heal  disease. 

2.  Rebuke  to  Vanity. 

Hezekiah   showed    his   treasures   to    men 

from  Babylon. 
God  tells  him  that  all  his  wealth  will  be 

carried  to  Babylon. 
All  riches  come  from  God  alone. 

3.  Hezekiah's  answer. 

He  accepts  the  will  of  God. 
He  prays  for  peace  and  truth  in  his  own 
lifetime. 

'  God  spake  once,  and  twice  also  have  I  heard  the 
same,  that  power  belongeth  unto  God.' 


318 


2  KINGS  XXI.  1-16;    2  CHRON.  XXXIII.  11-25 


2  KINGS  XXI.   1-16  ;   2  CHRON.  XXXIII.  11-25 


1  an  Aslierah. 


a  1  Kings  viii. 
20. 


'■^  practised 
augury. 


I)  Ezek.  viii.  3-5, 


MANASSEH  was  twelve  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign,  and  reigned  fifty  and  five  years  in  Jerusalem. 
And  his  mother's  name  was  Hephzi-bah.  2.  And 
he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
after  the  abominations  of  the  heathen,  whom  the  Lord 
cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel.  3.  For  he  built  up 
again  the  high  places  which  Hezekiah  his  father  had 
destroyed  ;  and  he  reared  up  altars  for  Baal,  and  made  ^  a 
grove,  as  did  Ahab  king  of  Israel  ;  and  worshipped  all 
the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  them.  4.  And  he  built 
altars  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  of  which  the  Lord  said, 
"in  Jerusalem  will  I  put  my  name,  5.  And  he  built 
altars  for  all  the  host  of  heaven  in  the  two  courts  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord.  6.  And  he  made  his  son  pass  through 
the  fire,  and  ^  observed  times,  and  used  enchantments,  and 
dealt  with  familiar  spirits  and  wizards  :  he  wrought  much 
wickedness  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  to  provoke  him  to 
anser.     7.  ''And  he  set  a  graven  image  of  the  srove  that 


1,  Reigned  fifty  and  five  years.  This  is  the  longest  reign  in  the  sacred 
history  ;  and  was  the  turning-point  in  the  history  of  Judah  for  evil ;  for 
it  was  a  deliberate  return  to  the  abominations  of  Ahaz,  in  the  face  of  all 
that  Hezekiah  had  done,  and  the  deliverance  whicli  God  had  given  from 
the  Assyrian.  Not  even  Manasseh's  late  repentance  could  undo  the  evil 
he  had  done,  nor  could  the  righteous  reign  of  his  successor  Josiah  av^ert 
the  captivity. 

6.  And  lie  made  Ms  son  pass  through  the  fire.  See  note  on  p.  264.  The 
Chronicler  tells  us  where  this  abominable  sacrifice  was  offered,  '  the  valley 
of  the  son  of  Hinnoni,"  the  valley  also  called  Tophet,  on  the  south  of 
Jerusalem  ;  afterwards  used  by  the  Jews  as  a  place  for  burning  refuse, 
from  which  its  name  '  Gehenna '  came  to  be  applied  to  the  place  of  eternal 
torment. 

Dealt  with  familiar  spirits.  More  literally  *  those  that  had  familiar 
spirit.s,'  i.e.  those  who  in  reality  or  pretence  delivered  oracles  by  the  help 
of  evil  spirits,  which  were  supposed  to  dwell  within  the  wizard  or  witch, 
or,  at  an}'  rate,  to  be  at  his  or  her  beck  and  call.  The  'mediums'  of 
spiritualism  are  exactly  parallel.  Cf.  1  Sam.  xxviii.  and  the  reff,  in 
Isaiah, 


MANASSEH  319 


he  had  made  in  the  house,  <■  of  Avhich  the  Lord  said  to  c  2  Sam.  vii. 
David,  and  to  Solomon  his  son.  In  this  house,  and  in 
Jerusalem,  which  I  have  chosen  out  of  all  tribes  of  Israel, 
will  I  put  my  name  for  ever  :  8.  Neither  will  I  make  the 
feet  of  Israel  ^  move  any  more  out  of  the  land  which  I  ^  wander. 
gave  their  fathers  ;  only  if  they  will  observe  to  do  accord- 
ing to  all  that  I  have  commanded  them,  and  according  to 
all  the  law  that  my  servant  Moses  commanded  them. 
9.  But  they  hearkened  not :  and  Manasseh  seduced  them 
to  do  more  evil  than  did  the  nations  whom  the  Lord 
destroyed  before  the  children  of  Israel.  10.  And  the 
Lord  spake  by  his  servants  the  prophets,  saying,  11.  Be- 
cause Manasseh  king  of  Judah  hath  done  these  abomina- 
tions, and  hath  done  wickedly  above  all  that  the  Amorites 
did,  which  ivere  before  him,  and  hath  made  Judah  also  to 
sin  with  his  idols  :  12.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  Behold,  I  a7n  bringing  such  evil  upon  Jeru- 
salem and  Judah,  that  whosoever  heareth  of  it,  ''both  his  d  1  Sam  iii.  11. 
ears  shall  tingle.  13.  And  I  will  stretch  over  Jerusalem 
the  line  of  Samaria,  and  the  plummet  of  the  house  of 
Ahab  :  and  I  will  wipe  Jerusalem  as  a  man  wipeth  a  dish, 
wiping  it,  and  turning  it  upside  down.  14.  And  I  will 
forsake  the  remnant  of  mine  inheritance,  and  deliver  them 
into  the  hand  of  their  enemies  ;  and  they  shall  become  a 
prey  and  a  spoil  to  all  their  enemies  ;  15.  Because  they 
have  done  that  which  ivas  evil  in  my  sight,  and  have  pro- 
voked me  to  anger,  since  the  day  their  fathers  came  forth 

11.  Above  all  that  the  Amorites  did.  The  Amorites  are  mentioned 
here  as  in  (len.  xv.  16  as  a  collective  name  for  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan, 
who  were  destroyed  )jy  God  before  the  Israelites  under  Joshua  as  a 
punishment  for  their  sins,  especially  their  abominable  superstitions.  See 
Deut.  xviii.  9-14. 

13.  The  line  of  Samaria,  and  the  plummet  of  the  house  of  Ahah.  The 
line  and  the  plummet  are  the  symbols  of  the  builder's  art.  Here  they 
are  used  with  terrible  irony  to  denote  the  very  opposite  of  building — 
utter  destruction  such  as  alread}^  had  befallen  Samaria,  and  before  that 
time  the  family  of  Ahab.  Cf.  Isa.  xxxiv.  11,  'the  line  of  confusion'  (the 
opposite  of  '  order ')  '  and  the  plummet  of  emptiness.' 


320 


2  KINGS  XXI.  1-16;    2  CHRON.  XXXIII.  11-25 


■i  in  chains, 


out  of  EgyiDt,  even  unto  this  day.  16.  Moreover  Manasseh 
e  chap.  xxiv.  4.  e  q}^q^  innocent  blood  very  much,  till  he  had  filled  Jeru- 
salem from  one  end  to  another  ;  beside  his  sin  wherewith 
he  made  Judah  to  sin,  in  doing  that  which  was  evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord. 

2  CHRON.  XXXIII.  11.  Wherefore  the  Lord 
brought  upon  them  the  captains  of  the  host  of  the  king 
of  Assyria,  which  took  Manasseh  ^  among  the  thorns,  and 
bound  him  with  fetters,  and  carried  him  to  Babylon.  12. 
And  when  he  was  affliction,  he  besought  the  Lord  his 
God,  and  humbled  himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his 
fathers,  13.  And  prayed  unto  him  :  and  he  was  intreated 
of  him,  and  heard  his  supplication,  and  brought  him  again 
to  Jerusalem  into  his  kingdom.  Then  Manasseh  knew 
that  the  Lord  he  was  God.  14.  Now  after  this  he  built  a 
wall  without  the  city  of  David,  on  the  west  side  of -^Gihon,  in 
the  valley,  even  to  the  entering  in  at  ^  the  fish  gate,  and  com- 
passed about  ^  Ophel,  and  raised  it  up  a  very  great  height, 
and  put  captains  of  war  in  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah. 
15.  And  he  took  away  the  strange  gods,  and  the  idol  out 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  altars  that  he  had 
built  in  the  mount  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
Jerusalem,  and  cast  them  out  of  the  city.     16.  And  he 


/  1  Kings  i.  33, 
g  Zeph.  i.  10. 
h  chap,  xxvii. 


16.  Moreover  Manasseli  shed  innocent  blood.  Probably  this  Avas  an 
attempt  to  exterminate  those  who  protested  against  the  king's  idolatries. 
Tradition  says  that  the  prophets  were  the  special  victims  of  Manasseh's 
cruelty,  and  among  them  the  aged  Isaiah,  who  was  sawn  asunder  by  the 
king's  orders.     Cf .  Heb.  xi.  37. 

2  Chron.  XXXIII.  11.  Among  the  thorns.  This  obscure  expression  pro- 
bably refers  to  the  indignities  that  the  Assyrians  put  upon  their  captives, 
leading  them  al)Out  with  hooks  in  their  noses,  as  portrayed  on  the  monu- 
ments.    Other  versions  simply  render  the  phrase  'alive.' 

And  carried  him  to  Babylon.  Esar-haddon,  the  successor  of  Sen- 
nacherib, made  Babylon  a  royal  residence  in  addition  to  Nineveh.  This 
captivity  of  Manasseh  is  not  mentioned  at  all  in  Kings.  Probably  it 
took  place  in  the  later  years  of  his  reign,  and  may  have  been  omitted  by 
the  earlier  historian  as  not  bearing  upon  the  general  character  of 
Manasseh's  reign  and  its  effect.  Perhaps,  too,  the  Chronicler  may  have 
seen  in  it  a  type  of  the  subsequent  captivity  of  the  whole  nation,  and 
their  repentance,  in  Babylon. 


AMON  321 


repaired   the   altar    of   the  Lord  and    sacrificed  i  thereon 

I)eace  offerings  and  thank  ofi'erings,  and  commanded  Judah 

to  serve  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.     17.  Nevertheless  the 

people  did  sacrifice  still  in  the  high  places,  yet  unto  the 

Lord  their  God  only.     18.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 

Manasseh,  and  his  prayer  unto  his  God,  and  the  words 

of  the  seers  that  spake  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 

God  of  Israel,  behold,  they  are  tvritten  ^  in  the  book  of  the  s  among  the 

kings  of  Israel.     19.  His  prayer  also,  and  hovj  God  was  ' 

intreated  of  him,  and  all  his  sins,  and  his  trespass,  and  the 

places  wherein  he  built  high  places,  and  set  up  ^  groves  ^  Asherim. 

and  graven  images,  before  he  was  humbled  :  behold,  they 

are  written   ''among   the   saying-s  of  the   seers.      20.  So ''' l"  the  history 

.  ^      .  of  Hozai  [Marg. 

Manasseh  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  seers]. 
his  own  house  :  and  Amon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead, 
21,  Amon  was  two  and  twenty  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign,  and  reigned  two  years  in  Jerusalem.  22.  But  he 
did  that  which  ivas  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  as  did 
Manasseh  his  father  :  for  Amon  sacrificed  unto  all  the 
carved  images  which  Manasseh  his  father  had  made,  and 
served  them  ;  23.  And  humbled  not  himself  l^efore  the 
Lord,  as  Manasseh  his  father  had  humbled  himself ;  but 

18,  Behold,  they  are  written.  In  this  and  in  the  following  verse  the 
Chronicler  refers  to  two  sources  of  information  which  were  evidently 
existing  in  his  time,  but  which  now  have  perished.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  '  seers '  is  a  proper  name  (see  R,  V. ).  No  such  writer  is  mentioned 
elsewhere. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  a  later  production  in  the  Apocrypha,  '  The 
Praj'er  of  Manasses,'  which,  though  not  considered  authentic,  is  never- 
theless a  very  beautiful  composition,  breathing  a  spirit  of  deepest 
penitence. 

20,  They  buried  him  in  his  own  house.  This  is  further  explained  in 
Kings,  in  the  case  both  of  Manasseh  and  Amon,  by  saying  that  this 
private  burial-place  was  'in  the  garden  of  L^zza,'  This  seems  to  have 
been  used  as  the  royal  burial-place  from  this  time  instead  of  *  the  tombs 
of  the  kings,' 

22,  As  did  Manasseh  his  father,  i.e.  before  his  repentance.  Evidently 
Amon  did  not  learn  any  lesson  from  this,  but  proceeded  to  restore 
idolati-y.  How  extensive  was  this  restoration,  even  in  so  .short  a  reign, 
can  be  seen  from  the  catalogue  of  idols  and  altars  destroyed  by  Josiah. 
In  what  state  Amon  left  the  kingdom  can  Ije  seen  from  the  prophet 
HEB.  MOX.  :    VOL.  II.  X 


322 


2  KINGS  XX.  1-16  ;   2  CHRON.  XXXIII.  11-25 


Anion  trespassed  more  and  more.     24.  And  his  servants 

conspired  against  him,   and  sleM^  him  in  his  own  house. 

25.  But  the  peojDle  of  the  land  slew  all  them  that  had 

conspired  against  king  Anion  ;  and  the  peojDle  of  the  land 

made  Josiah  his  son  king  in  his  stead. 

Zephaniah,  whose  book  should  here  be  read,  and  from  the  early  chapters 
of  Jeremiah.  Anion  is  not,  however,  said  to  have  shed  '  innocent  blood,' 
and  his  murder  was  evidently  not  a  popular  act  (see  ver.  25). 


LESSON  XXX  VI 
Manasseh 


Matter. 


1.  Disobedience. 

Manasseh's  religious  policy  seems 
to  have  been  a  deliberate  reversal 
of  what  his  father  had  done.  Doubt- 
less the  latter  had  not  carried  with 
him  the  hearts  of  the  majority  of 
the  people,  who  still  secretly 
cherished  the  old  idolatries  and 
superstitions.  They  were  quite 
ready  to  welcome  a  change  from 
the  severer  ideals  of  Hezekiah  and 
Isaiah. 

But  there  was  a  minority  whose 
hearts  were  faithful,  and  their 
opposition  was  crushed  by  persecu- 
tion. This  was  the  peculiar  horror 
of  the  reign  of  Manasseh.  He  '  shed 
innocent  blood.'  When  the  true 
ideal  of  national  worship  had  once 
been  clearly  manifested  in  Heze- 
kiah, to  turn  deliberately  from  it 
was  not  only  a  greater  sin  than 
before,  but  it  led  to  other  and  worse 
sins. 

2.  The  end  of  God's  patience. 

Tlie  deliberate  apostasy  of  Manas- 
seh and  his  people  brought  about 
what  the  Assyrians  could  not  do. 
No  harm  can  happen  to  the  Church 
(jf  God  in  any  age  except  from 
loithin. 

The  same  penalty  which  had 
fallen  upon  tlie  Amorites  and  upon 
the  ten  tribes  when  their  iniquity 
was  full,  must  now  fall  upon 
Judah    and  Jerusalem,  though,  in 


Method. 

1.  Contrast  Manasseh's  conduct 
with  that  of  his  father  Hezekiah. 
Besides  being  a  repetition  of  the 
past  sins  of  kings  like  Ahaz,  it  was 
a  breach  of  the  Fifth  Command- 
ment. He  had  had  the  light  of  a 
good  example  from  a  holy  parent, 
and  turned  away  from  it. 

Show  that  a  deliberate  sin  never 
ends  in  itself ;  it  usually  leads  to 
others.  Mannaseh's  idolatry  leads 
to  bloodshed. 

So  Henry  viii. ,  whose  laM^  was  his 
own  self-indulgence,  -who  stripped 
the  Church  of  her  possessions  under 
the  hypocritical  mask  of  religion, 
could  not  stop  there,  but  shed 
righteous  blood — the  Carthusians, 
Sir  Thomas  More,  Bishop  Fisher, 
and  many  more. 

2.  It  is  possible  to  provoke  God 
by  deliberate  sin,  so  that  His 
patience  is  exhausted. 

Illustrate  by — 

The  murmurings  of  the  Israelites 

in  the  wilderness  (N\im.  xiv.). 

The   sins   of   the   heathen    (Gen. 

XV.  IG  ;  1  Sam.  xv. ). 
See  also  S.  Luke  xiii.  6-9  ; 
Bom.  ii.  8-9  ; 
Rev.  vi.  15-17. 


MANASSEH 


323 


Lesson  XXXVI — coniinued.     Manasseh 


Matter. 
the  case  of  the  latter,  God  for 
the  honour  of  His  Name,  for  the 
maintenance  of  His  promises  and 
purposes,  suffered  their  captivity 
to  be  only  temporary,  remedial, 
and  not  retributive  only. 
3.  Manasseh's  repentance. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able things  in  the  history  of  the 
kings  of  Judah.  The  lessons  of  the 
past  had  not  been  wholly  lost  on 
the  son  of  Hezekiah.  He  recog- 
nised in  this  preliminary  punish- 
ment Avhich  fell  on  him  the  hand  of 
the  God  whom  he  despised.  He 
had  grace  to  repent,  and,  when  re- 
stored to  his  kingdom,  to  show  that 
his  repentance  was  real  by  trying 
to  abolish  the  idolatries  for  which 
he  had  been  largely  responsible. 
His  repentance  availed  for  himself 
personally,  and  brought  a  tem- 
porary respite  for  his  people.  Yet 
it  could  not  do  away  either  the  sins 
of  Judah  or  the  penalty  which  God's 
justice  had  determined  to  inflict. 


Method. 


3.  Describe  Manasseh  carried  in 
chains  to  Babylon,  remen)bering  in 
his  prison  the  example  of  Hezekiah, 
his  own  misuse  of  his  position,  the 
sins  he  had  committed  himself  and 
caused  others  to  commit. 

Describe  his  repentance,  prayer, 
and  forgiveness. 

But  be  careful  to  point  out  that 
his  repentance  could  not  undo  the 
past,  nor  remove  the  results  of  his 
sin  from  his  nation. 

Illustrate  by  the  repentance  of 
Ahab. 

Cf.  S.  Matt,  xviii.  6,  7. 

Repentance  may  deliver  from 
eternal  death,  but  it  cannot  take 
away  the  necessity  of  punishment. 

See  Ps.  xcix.  8. 
Jer.  xlvi.  28. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Manasseh. 
His  disobedience 

to  God, 

to  the  example  of  Hezekiah. 
Restored  idolatry  ;  dishonoured  the  Temple  ; 
shed  innocent  blood. 
The  end  of  God's  patience. 

When  men  deliberately  go  on  in  sin  and  dis- 
obedience, there  comes  a  time  when  God 
must  punish  them. 
Manasseh 's  repentance. 

He  was  carried  in  chains  to  Babylon. 
There  he  repented  and  Mas  forgiven. 
But  he  could  not  undo  all  the  evil  he  had 
done. 
Punishment  must  come,  though  long  delayed. 


324  2  KINGS  XXII. 


2  KINGS  XXII.  ;  XXIII.  1-28 ;  2  CHRON.  XXXY.  20-27 

JOSIAH  was  eight  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign, 
and  he  reigned  thirty  and  one  years  in  Jerusalem. 
And  his  mother's  name  was  Jedidah,  the  daughter  of 
a  Josh.  XV.  30.  Adaiah  of  "  Boscath.  2.  And  he  did  that  which  ivas  right 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in  all  the  way  of 
David  his  father,  and  turned  not  aside  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left.  3.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  king  Josiah,  that  the  king  sent  Shaphan  the  son  of 
Azaliah,  the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  scribe,  to  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  saying,  4.  Go  up  to  Hilkiah  the  high  priest, 
that  he  may  sum  the  silver  which  is  brought  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  which  the  keepers  of  the  door  have 
gathered  of  the  people  :  5.  And  let  them  deliver  it  into 
the  hand  of  the  doers  of  the  work,  that  have  the  over- 
sight of  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  let  them  give  it  to 

2  Kings  xxii.  1.  Josiah.  This  is,  in  some  respects,  the  most  interesting 
reign  of  Jewish  history.  The  king's  j'outhfiil  devotion  to  the  true  religion, 
his  consistent  reformations  whidi  came  too  late  to  save  his  people,  and 
his  premature  and  tragic  end,  combine  to  make  a  striking  historical 
figure,  which  has  been  compared  (most  inappropriately)  to  our  own 
Edward  vi.,  but  with  much  greater  fitness  to  S.  Oswald.  (See  a  remark- 
able sermon  by  the  late  Bishop  Lightfoot,  in  Leaders  of  the  Northern 
Church. ) 

The  later  Jewish  estimate  of  Josiah  is  expressed  by  the  son  of  Sirach. 
'  The  memorial  of  Josiah  is  like  the  composition  of  incense  prepared  by 
the  work  of  tlie  apothecary  :  it  shall  be  sweet  as  honej^  in  every  mouth, 
and  as  music  at  a  banquet  of  wine,'  etc.  (Ecclus.  xlix.  1). 

3.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  king  Josiah.  The  Chronicler  gives  two 
other  previous  events  of  the  reign,  viz.,  that  in  the  eiglith  j-ear,  Josiah 
'began  to  seek  after  the  God  of  David  his  father'  (probably  through  the 
influence  of  the  prophet  Zephaniah),  and  in  the  twelfth  year  he  loegan 
his  work  of  the  destruction  of  idolatry.  It  should  be  noticed  also  that 
Jeremiah  began  to  prophecy  in  the  tl)irteenth  year  of  Josiah. 

It  is  evident,  from  the  wording  of  ver.  4,  that  the  restoration  of  the 
Temple  had  been  in  the  king's  mind  for  some  time  previously.  Some  of 
tliis  money,  we  learn  from  the  Chronicler's  account,  had  been  contributed 
by  '  Manasseli  and  Ephraim,'  i.e.  by  those  Israelites  who  had  been  left 
behind  by  the  Assyrians  in  the  northern  kingdom,  and  had  been  led  by 
adversity  to  seek  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  again. 


THE  FINDING  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  THE  LAW         325 

the  doers  of  the  work  which  is  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
to  repair  the  breaches  of  the  house,  6.  Unto  carpenters, 
and  builders,  and  masons,  and  to  buy  timber  and  hewn 
stone  to  repair  the  house.  7.  Howbeit  there  was  no 
reckoning  made  with  them  of  the  money  that  was  de- 
livered into  their  hand,  because  they  dealt  faithfully. 
8.  And  Hilkiah  the  high  priest  said  unto  Shaphan  the 
scribe,  I  have  found  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  And  Hilkiah  gave  the  book  to  Shaphan,  and 
he  read  it.  9.  And  Shaphan  the  scribe  came  to  the  king, 
and  brought  the  king  word  again,  and  said.  Thy  servants 
have  gathered  the  money  that  was  found  in  the  house,  and 
have  delivered  it  into  the  hand  of  them  that  do  the  work, 
that  have  the  oversight  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  10.  And 
Shaphan  the  scribe  shewed  the  king,  saying,  Hilkiah  the 
priest  hath  delivered  me  a  book.  And  Shaphan  read  it 
before  the  king,  -11.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king 
had  heard  the  words  of  the  book  of  the  law,  that  he  rent 

8.  I  have  found  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of  the  LORD.  This 
was  a  remarkable  and  important  event,  as  it  led  directly  to  the  more 
thorough  reformation  which  Josiah  now  set  on  foot.  We  are  not  to 
suppose  that  this  '  book  of  the  law '  was  the  Pentateuch  in  the  exact 
form  that  we  now  possess  it.  It  is  uncertain  at  what  date  the  different 
documents  which  form  the  first  five  or  six  books  of  the  Bible  were  put 
together  in  their  present  shape  ;  probably  not  till  after  the  Captivity, 
by  the  exertions  of  Ezra  aud  Nehemiah.  It  was,  no  doubt,  some 
striking  portion  of  the  Pentateuch  which  Avas  found  by  Hilkiah.  The 
many  side- chambers  of  the  Temple  would  supply  hiding-places  where 
the  roll,  either  from  neglect  or  fear  of  its  destruction,  might  have  been 
deposited,  and  then  forgotten.  It  is  generally  assumed  that  this  roll 
contained  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  which  forms  a  complete  whole  in 
itself,  and  which  is  expressly  stated  to  have  ])een  written  by  Moses 
himself  (Deut.  xxxi.  24).  It  is  cpiite  conceivable  that  the  roll  was  the 
original  written  by  Moses  some  eight  hundred  years  before.  Our 
oldest  MSS.  of  the  New  Testament  are  nearly  twice  that  age.  The 
warnings  and  curses  found  in  this  roll,  which  so  moved  the  fear  of  the 
king,  would  tally  very  well  with  those  in  Deut.  xxviii.,  though  there 
is  a  very  similar  passage  in  Lev.  xxvi.  Whatever  the  roll  exactly  was, 
Hilkiah  evidently  recognises  it,  and  expresses  no  great  surprise.  There 
is  no  reasonable  doubt  that  Isaiah  and  Micah  were  well  acquainted  with 
Deuteronomy  (Isaiah  l)cgins  his  prophecy  (i.  2)  with  what  is  ai)parently  a 
quotation  from  it).  We  may  therefore  assume  that  the  neglect  of  the 
book  had  coincided  with  the  profanation  of  the  Temple  during  the  long 
reign  of  Manasseh. 


326  2  KINGS  XXII. 


his  clothes.  12.  And  the  king  commanded  Hilkiah  the 
priest,  and  Ahikam  the  son  of  Shaphan,  and  Achbor  the 
son  of  Michaiah,  and  Shaphan  the  scribe,  and  Asahiah  a 
servant  of  the  king's,  saying,  13.  Go  ye,  enquire  of  the 
Lord  fot  me,  and  for  the  people,  and  for  all  Judah,  con- 
cerning the  words  of  this  book  that  is  found  :  for  great  is 
the  wrath  of  the  Lord  that  is  kindled  against  us,  because 
our  fathers  have  not  hearkened  unto  the  words  of  this 
book,  to  do  according  unto  all  that  which  is  written  con- 
cerning us.  14.  So  Hilkiah  the  priest,  and  Ahikam,  and 
Achbor,  and  Shaphan,  and  Asahiah,  went  unto  Huldah 
the  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Shallum  the  son  of  Tikvah,  the 
son  of  Harhas,  keeper  of  the  wardrobe  ;  (now  she  dwelt  in 
1  in  the  second  Jerusalem  ^  in  the  college  ;)  and  they  communed  with  her. 
15.  And  she  said  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel,  Tell  the  man  that  sent  you  to  me,  16.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  place,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  thereof,  even  all  the  words  of  the  book 
which  the  king  of  Judah  hath  read  :  17.  Because  they 
have  forsaken  me,  and  have  burned  incense  unto  other 
gods,  that  they  might  provoke  me  to  anger  with  all  the 

11.  He  rent  Ms  clothes.  Contrast  this  with  the  profane  and  con- 
temptuous way  in  which  Josiah's  son  treated  the  warnings  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (Jer.  xxxvi.  28,  24).  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  one  of  those 
who  besought  Jehoiakim  not  to  burn  the  roll  was  Gemariah,  the  son  of 
that  Shaphan,  who  read  'the  book  of  the  law'  to  Josiah  (ver.  10). 

14.  Huldah  the  prophetess.  Unknown  except  from  this  passage,  and 
the  only  true  proplietess  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  except  Miriam 
and  Deljorali.  Isaiah's  wife  is  called  the  prophetess,  but  apparently  only 
as  being  the  wife  of  a  prophet  ;  and  there  is  a  false  prophetess,  Noadiah, 
mentioned  by  Nehemiah  as  one  of  his  adversaries  (vi.  14).  Huldah  Avas 
evidently  at  this  time  the  reco.unised  exponent  of  the  will  of  God  by 
prophecy.  Jeremiah  had  already  connnenced  his  ministry  at  Anathoth, 
but  his  prominence  in  Jerusalem  belongs  to  a  later  period. 

Keeper  of  the  wardrobe.  Probably  the  Levite  who  had  charge  of  the 
vestments  of  the  priests. 

The  college.  See  Revised  Version.  Some  outlying  part  of  the  city 
which  cannot  now  be  identified. 

16.  All  the  words  of  the  book.  The  Chronicler  says,  'all  the  curses,' 
which  would  be  applical^le  to  Deuteronomy. 


JOSIAH'S  COVENANT  327 

works  of  their  hands  ;  therefore  my  wrath  shall  be  kindled 
against  this  place,  and  shall  not  be  quenched.  18.  But  to 
the  king-  of  Judah  which  sent  you  to  enquire  of  the  Lord, 
thus  shall  ye  say  to  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel,  As  touching  the  words  which  thou  hast  heard  ;  19. 
Because  thine  heart  was  tender,  and  thou  hast  humbled 
thyself  before  the  Lord,  when  thou  heardest  what  I  spake 
against  this  place,  and  against  the  inhabitants  thereof 
that  they  should  become  a  desolation  and  a  curse,  and  hast 
rent  thy  clothes,  and  wept  before  me  ;  I  also  have  heard 
thee,  saith  the  Lord.  20.  Behold  therefore,  I  will  gather 
thee  unto  thy  fathers,  and  thou  shalt  be  gathered  into  thy 
grave  in  peace  ;  and  thine  eyes  shall  not  see  all  the  evil 
which  I  will  bring  upon  this  place.  And  they  brought 
the  king  word  again. 

XXIII.  1.  And  the  king  sent,  and  they  gathered  unto 
him  all  the  elders  of  Judah  and  of  Jerusalem.  2.  And  the 
king  went  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  men 
of  Judah  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  with  him, 
and  the  priests,  and  the  prophets,  and  all  the  people,  both 
small  and  great :  and  he  read  in  their  ears  all  the  words  of 
the  book  of  the  covenant  which  was  found  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  3.  And  ^  the  king  stood  by  a  pillar,  and  made  a  fc  2Chron.xxiii. 
covenant  before  the  Lord,  to  walk  after  the  Lord,  and  to 
keep  his  commandments  and  his  testimonies  and  his 
statutes  with  all  their  heart  and  all  their  soul,  to  ^  perform  '^  confirni. 
the  words  of  this  covenant  that  were  written  in  this  book. 
And  all  the  people  stood  to  the  covenant.  4.  And  the 
king  commanded  Hilkiah  the  high  priest,  and  the  priests 
of  the  second  order,  and  the  keepers  of  the  door,  to  bring 
forth  out  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord  all  the  vessels  that 
were  made  for  Baal,  and  for  ^  the  grove,  and  for  all  the  =*  the  Asherah. 
host  of  heaven  :  and  he  burned  them  without  Jerusalem 
in  the  fields  of  Kidron,  and  carried  the  ashes  of  them  unto 

20.  Thou  Shalt  be  gathered  into  thy  grave  in  peace.  Though  Josiah 
fell  in  battle,  and  in  the  liour  of  defeat,  even  that  was  a  peaceable  ending 
compared  with  the  exile  and  dishonoured  deaths  of  his  successors. 


328  2  KINGS  XXIII.  1-28 


Beth-el.  5.  And  he  put  down  the  idohitrous  priests, 
whom  the  kings  of  Judah  had  ordained  to  hurn  incense  in 
tlie  hi.uh  places  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  in  the  places 
round  about  Jerusalem  ;  them  also  that  burned  incense 
unto  Baal,  to  the  sun,  and  to  the  moon,  and  to  the  planets, 

^  Ashcraii.  and  to  all  the  host  of  heaven.  6.  And  he  brought  out  ^  the 
grove  from  the  house  of  the  Lord,  without  Jerusalem, 
unto  the  brook  Kidron,  and  burned  it  at  the  brook  Kidron, 
and  stamped  it  small   to  powder,  and  cast  the   powder 

5  the  graves  of  thereof  upon  ^  the  graves  of  the  children  of  the  people. 

tlie  common' 

people  in.  7.  And  he  brake  down  the  houses  of  the  sodomites,  that 

were  by  the  house  of  the  Lord,  where  the  women  wove 

hangings  for  ^  the  grove.     8.  And  he  brought  all  the  priests 

out  of  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  defiled  the  high  places  where 

the  priests  had  burned  incense,  from  Geba  to  Beer-sheba, 

and  brake  down  the  high  places  of  the  gates  that  were  in 

the  entering  in  of  the  gate  of  Joshua  the  governor  of  the 

city,  which  ivere  on  a  man's  left  hand  at  the  gate  of  the 

city.     9.  Nevertheless  the  priests  of  the  high  places  came 

not  up  to  the  altar  of  the  Lord  in  Jerusalem,  but  they  did 

eat  of  the  unleavened  bread  among  their  brethren.     10. 

And  he  defiled  TojDheth,  wdiich  is  in  the  vallc}^  of  the 

children  of  Hinnom,  that  no  man  might  make  his  son  or 

XXIII.  5.  The  idolatrous  priests.  These  are  alluded  to  by  Zephaniah 
(i.  4),  and  by  Hosea  (x.  5),  as  the  priests  of  the  calf-worship.  The 
name  is  Chemarim,  a  word  that  onl}^  occurs  in  these  three  places.  The 
Avord  seems  to  imply  '  l^lack-robed.' 

7.  Hangings  for  the  grove.  Apparently  '  tabernacles '  were  erected  for 
these  idolatrous  emblems  (of.  Ezek.  xvi.  16),  This  may  have  been  in 
imitation  of  the  Mosaic  tabernacle,  or  perhaps  a  sanctuary  of  this  sort 
was  of  pre-historic  origin,  and  God,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  allowed 
Moses  to  adopt  a  custom  which  was  alread_y  familiar  to  the  Israelites. 

8.  The  high  places  of  the  gates.  'High  places'  evidently  gained  a 
wid(T  meaning  than  the  original  one  of  an  altar  erected  on  some  natural 
eminence.  Here  the  allusion  evidently  is  to  some  unauthorised  altar 
erected  in  the  open  places  by  the  gates  of  the  city,  a  place  of  resort  and 
of  the  administration  of  justice. 

0.  The  priests  of  the  high  places.  These  were  priests  of  Jehovah,  and 
permitted  to  live  still  on  the  usual  offerings  made  for  the  support  of  the 
priesthood,  but  as  their  ministrations  had  ))een  contrary  to  the  Law,  they 
were  not  allowed  to  minister  at  the  altar  for  the  future. 


JOSIAH'S  EEFOEMATION  329 

his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Molech.     11.  And 

he  took  away  the  horses  that  the  kings  of  Judah  had  given 

to  the  sun,  at  the  entering  in  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

by  the  chamber  of  Nathan-melech  the  chamberlain,  which 

ivas  in  the  "suburbs,  and  burned  the  chariots  of  the  sun  e precincts. 

with  lire.     12.  And  the  altars  that  were  on  the  top  of  the 

upper  chamber  of  Ahaz,  which  the  kings  of  Judah  had 

made,  and  the  altars  which  Manasseh  had  made  in  the 

two  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  did  the  king  beat 

down,  and  brake  them  down  from  thence,  and  cast  the  dust 

of  them  into  the  brook  Kidron.     13,  And  the  high  places 

that  ivere  before  Jerusalem,  which  were  on  the  right  hand 

of  the  mount  of  corruption,  '^  which  Solomon  the  king  of  c  i  Kings  xi. 

Israel    had    builded    for    Ashtoreth   the    abomination    of 

the  Zidonians,  and  for  Chemosh  the  abomination  of  the 

Moabites,  and  for  Milcom  the  abomination  of  the  children 

of  Amnion,  did  the   king  defile.     14.  And   he   brake   in 

pieces  the  •"  images,  and  cut  down  ^  the  groves,  and  filled  '<  pillars, 

8  Aslierim. 

their  places  with  the  bones  of  men.     15.  Moreover  the 
altar  that  was  at  Beth-el,  and  the  high  place  which  Jero- 

11.  The  horses  that  the  kings  of  Judah  had  given  to  the  sun.  Sun- 
worship  was  one  of  the  most  widely-spread  cults  of  the  ancient  world. 
The  sun's  daily  course  was  poetically  and  symbolical!}^  represented  by  a 
chariot,  not  only  in  the  East  but  in  Greek  and  Roman  literature,  from 
whence  it  has  become  one  of  our  most  familiar  and  harmless  similes. 
Apparently  sacred  horses  had  been  provided  to  draw  a  real  chariot, 
carrying  no  doubt  the  idol  representing  the  sun-god,  in  solemn  pro- 
cession. 

The  suburbs.  Probably  some  residence  of  the  official  mentioned,  which 
adjoined  the  temple. 

13.  The  mount  of  corruption.  That  district  of  the  Mount  ol  Olives 
where  .Solomon's  buildings,  the  beginnings  of  idolatry  in  Judah,  were 
still  standing.  Milton  several  times  alludes  to  this  place  under  various 
names;  'that  opprobrious  hill,'  'that  hill  of  scandal,"  'the  offensive 
mountain.' 

U.  Filled  their  places  with  the  bones  of  men.  Thus  making  them 
ceremonially  unclean,  so  that  religious  worship  could  never  again  be 
offered  on  the  spot. 

15.  Moreover  the  altar  that  was  at  Beth-el,  This  is  a  most  remarkable 
and  circumstantial  account  of  the  fulfilment  of  tlie  prophecy  of  the  name- 
less prophet  of  1  Kings  xiii.  Apparently  the  altar  was  still  used,  in 
accordance  with   the  evil    traditions   handed  down   to  the   Samaritans, 


330 


2  KINGS  XXIII.  1-28 


9  Asherah 


boam  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin,  had  made, 
both  that  altar  and  the  high  place  he  brake  down,  and 
burned  the  high  place,  and  stamped  it  small  to  powder, 
and  burned  the  "  grove.  16.  And  as  Josiah  turned  himself, 
he  spied  the  sepulchres  that  were  there  in  the  mount,  and 
sent,  and  took  the  bones  out  of  the  sepulchres,  and  burned 
them  upon  the  altar,  and  polluted  it,  according  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord  which  the  man  of  God  proclaimed,  who  pro- 
claimed these  words.  17.  Then  he  said,  What  ^^  title  is 
that  that  I  see  ?  And  the  men  of  the  city  told  him,  It  is 
the  sepulchre  of  <^  the  man  of  God,  which  came  from  Judah, 
and  proclaimed  these  things  that  thou  hast  done  against 
the  altar  of  Beth-el.  18.  And  he  said.  Let  him  alone  ;  let 
no  man  move  his  bones.  So  they  let  his  bones  alone,  with 
the  bones  of  the  prophet  that  came  out  of  Samaria.  19. 
And  all  the  houses  also  of  the  high  places  that  were  in  the 


10  nionunient. 


d  1  Kings  xiii. 
30,  31. 


provoke  the  LORD  to  anger,  Josiah  took  away,  and  did  to 
them  according  to  all  the  acts  that  he  had  done  in  Beth-el. 
20.  And  he  slew  all  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  ivere 
there  upon  the  altars,  and  burned  men's  bones  upon  them, 
and  returned  to  Jerusalem.  21.  And  the  king  commanded 
all  the  people,  saying,  Keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord 
your  God,  as  it  is  written  in  the  book  of  this  covenant. 
22.  Surely  there  was  not  holden  such  a  passover  from  the 

though   the    original    golden    calves    had    been    carried    away   by   the 
Assyrians,  being  valuable.     (See  Hosea  x.  6.) 

21.  Keep  the  passover.  The  longer  account  of  this  passover  given  by 
the  Chronicler  should  be  consulted.  It  was  evidently  the  king's  intention 
not  to  liavc  a  ne(jafire  reformation  only  (such  as  a  good  deal  of  what 
passed  for  '  reformation  '  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  century  really  was) 
but  a  positive  one  also,  restoring  the  true  worship  of  Jehovah  according 
to  the  Law. 

22.  Surely  there  was  not  holden  such  a  passover.  A  similar  remark  is 
made  by  the  Chronicler,  although  he  had  previously  recorded  the  great 
passover  of  Hez;ekiah,  wliich  is  not  mentioned  in  Kings.  By  it  is  meant 
that  no  passover  ever  held  was  so  remarkable  as  this,  or  so  exactly  in 
accordance  with  the  Law.  It  will  be  remembered  that  even  Hezekiah's 
passover  was  somewhat  irregular,  being  kept  in  the  second  month 
instead  of  the  first,  and  in  some  cases  without  the  proper  purifications. 


JOSIAH'S  PASSOVER  331 

days  of  the  judges  that  judged  Israel,  uor  in  all  the  days  of 
the  kings  of  Israel,  nor  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ;  23.  But 
in  the  eighteenth  year  of  king  Josiah,  ivhereiii  this  pass- 
over  was  liolden  to  the  Lord  in  Jerusalem.  24.  Moreover 
the  workers  with  ftiniiliar  spirits,  and  tlie  wizards,  and  the 
1^  images,  and  the  idols,  and  all  the  abominations  that  were  lUheteraphim. 
spied  in  the  land  of  Judali  and  in  Jerusalem,  did  Josiah  put 
away,  that  he  might  ^-perform  the  words  of  the  law  which  12 confirm. 
were  written  in  the  book  that  Hilkiah  the  priest  found  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord.  25.  And  like  unto  him  was  there 
no  king  before  him,  that  turned  to  the  Lord  with  all  his 
heart,  and  with  all  his  soul,  and  with  all  his  might,  accord- 
ing to  all  the  law  of  Moses  ;  neither  after  him  arose  there 
any  like  him.  26.  Notwithstanding  the  Lord  turned  not 
from  the  fierceness  of  his  great  wrath,  wherewith  his  anger 
Avas  kindled  against  Judah,  because  of  all  the  provocations 
that  Manasseh  had  provoked  him  withal.  27.  And  the 
Lord  said,  I  will  remove  Judah  also  out  of  my  sight,  as  I 
have  removed  Israel,  and  will  cast  off  this  city  of  Jerusalem 
which  I  have  chosen,  and  the  house  of  which  I  said.  My 
name  shall  be  there.  28.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Josiah,  and  all  that  he  did,  are  they  not  written  in  the 
book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ? 

2  CHRON.   XXXV.   20.    After   all    this,   when  Josiah 
had  prepared  the  temple,  *^  Necho  king  of  Egypt  came  up  21)"  30.  '^  ' 

24.  The  images.  See  Revised  Version.  These  '  teraphim  '  were  among 
the  most  ancient  relics  of  the  pre-historic  worship  of  Israel,  and  were 
clung  to  secretly  for  many  ages  after  a  purer  worship  had  been  estab- 
lished. They  were  apparently  little  images  of  household  gods,  perhaps 
of  ancestors,  which  stood  by  the  hearth,  and  were  even  carried  about  on 
the  person.  Cf.  Gen.  xxxi.  10;  1  Sam.  xix.  13,  1(3.  They  were  used  for 
purposes  of  divination  as  well  as  worship.  Somewhat  similar  perhaps 
were  the  images  of  idols  which  were  found  on  the  bodies  of  the  Jews 
slain  in  the  army  of  Judas  Maccabreus  (2  Mace,  xii,  40-45),  a  sin  for  which 
he  piously  atoned  by  prayers  and  sacrifices  offered  for  the  souls  of  the 
slain, 

2  Chron,  XXXV,  20,  Necho  king  of  Egypt.  This  was  Neco  11,,  who 
reigned  611-595  b,c.  This  expedition  to  Carchemish  (610  b.c.)  was 
against  the  Assyrians  (2  Kings  xxiii.  29),  who  were  now  being  hard 
pressed  by  the  Babylonians,  who  captured  Nineveh  three  years  later. 
The  interference  of  the  Egyptians  in  Eastern  affairs  was  brought  to  an 


332  2  CHRON.  XXXV.  20-27 

to  fight  against  Charchemisli  by  Euphrates  :  and  Josiah 
went  out  against  him.  21.  But  he  sent  ambassadors  to 
him,  saying,  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee,  thou  king  of 
Judah  ?  I  come  not  against  thee  this  day,  but  against  the 
house  wherewith  I  have  war  :  for  God  commanded  me  to 
make  haste  :  forbear  thee  from  meddling  wifh  God,  who  is 
wdth  me,  that  he  destroy  thee  not.  22.  Nevertheless  Josiah 
would  not  turn  his  face  from  him,  but  disguised  himself, 
that  he  might  fight  with  him,  and  hearkened  not  unto  the 
words  of  Necho  from  the  mouth  of  God,  and  came  to  fight 
/Judges  V.  n>.  in -^ the  valley  of  Megiddo.  23.  And  the  archers  shot  at  king 
Josiah  ;  and  the  king  said  to  his  servants,  Have  me  away  ; 
for  I  am  sore  wounded.  24.  His  servants  therefore  took 
him  out  of  that  chariot,  and  put  him  in  the  second  chariot 
that  he  had  ;  and  they  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  he 
died,  and  was  buried  in  one  of  the  sepulchres  of  his  fathers. 
And  all  Judah  and  Jerusalem  mourned  for  Josiah.     25. 

end  in  605  by  the  victory  of  Nebuchadnezzar  over  Neco,  which  brought 
the  whole  country  west  of  the  Euphrates  into  the  power  of  the  new 
empire  of  Babylon.  It  seems  probable  that  on  this  occasion  the  Egyp- 
tians did  not  come  by  the  ordinary  coast  road  through  Palestine,  but 
by  sea  and  landed  in  the  north. 

21.  For  God  commanded  me  to  make  haste.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
Pharaoh  does  not  use  the  proper  naine  'Jehovah,'  as  Rab-shakch  had 
done,  but  a  general  word,  which  would  include  the  objects  of  his  own 
worsliip.  Although  a  heathen,  his  words  were  a  Divine  warning 
(ver.  22). 

22.  The  valley  of  Megiddo.  The  most  remarkable  battlefield  in  history 
(see  Ileh-eio  Monarchy,  vol.  i.  p.  168).  Perhaps,  with  allusion  to  this 
defeat  of  Josiah,  Armageddon,  'the  hill  of  Megiddo,'  is  the  name  given 
in  Rev.  xvi.  16  to  the  scene  of  the  final  world-conflict  between  God's 
people  and  the  powers  of  evil. 

24.  The  second  chariot  that  he  had.  Perhaps  a  more  commodious  one, 
or  more  suited  U)v  travelling. 

And  all  Judah  and  Jerusalem  mourned  for  Josiah.  This  mourning  was 
of  so  remarkable  a  character  that  the  prophet  Zechariah  gives  it  as  a 
type  of  tlie  final  repentance  of  Israel,  when  they  look  on  Him  '  whom  they 
have  pierced'  (Zech.  xii.  10-14). 

Something  of  an  historical  parallel  may  be  seen  in  the  lamentations 
still  preserved  (see  Milman,  Latin  Clwintianitij,  iii.  347)  over  the  young 
and  noble-minded  Emperor  Otto  til,  who  was  poiscmed  at  Rome, 
1002  A.I).,  and  whose  body  was  carried  home  to  Aachen,  across  the  Alps, 
by  his  sorrowing  followers.     '  No  one  else  so  forgot  the  present  to  live  in 


JOSIAH 


333 


And  Jeremiah  lamented  for  Josiah  :  and  all  ^  the  sincrincf  a  S.  Matt.  ix. 
men  and  the  singing  women  spake  of  Josiah  in  their 
lamentations  to  this  day,  and  made  them  an  ordinance  in 
Israel :  and,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  lamentations. 
26.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Josiah,  and  his  goodness, 
according  to  that  which  was  written  in  the  law  of  the 
Lord,  27.  And  his  deeds,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Jiidah. 

the  light  of  the  ancient  order  ;  no  other  soul  was  so  possessed  by  that 
fervid  mysticism  and  that  reverence  for  the  glories  of  the  past,  whereon 
rested  the  idea  of  the  mediieval  empire '  (Bryce). 

25.  Behold,  they  are  written  in  the  lamentations.  The  reference  is 
not,  apparently,  to  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  which  is  concerned 
entirely  with  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Captivity,  but  to  some  lost 
collection  of  national  dirges. 


LESSON  XXXVII 
Josiah 


Matter. 

1.    Josiah's    reverence    for     God's 
Word. 

See  note  on  ver.  8  for  the  mean- 
ing of  the  'book  of  the  Law,'  which 
Hilkiah  found  in  the  Temple.  The 
Jews,  like  ourselves,  inherited  not 
only  a  traditional  religion,  and  a 
manner  of  worship,  but  also  a 
loritten  revelation  from  God.  It 
came  to  them  through  human  hands, 
through  the  medium  of  human  per- 
sonalities, but  was  in  its  essence 
the  Word  of  God,  having  an  autho- 
rit}'  different  from  and  higher  than 
all  other  books,  however  good.  It 
is  difficult  to  state  with  any  degree 
of  certainty  what  amount  of  the 
Jewish  Law  was  actually  in  writing 
at  this  or  any  of  the  earlier  moments 
of  Jewish  history.  But  it  is  quite 
certain  that  some  suchAvritings  had 
been  in  existence  since  the  time  of 
Moses,  that  righteous  rulers  had 
modelled  their  conduct  on  them, 
that    Manasseh   and    his    apostate 


Method. 

1.  The  details  of  the  finding  of  the 
book  of  the  Law  will  be  interesting 
to  children  ;  the  description  should 
be  followed  b}'  recapitulation  of  the 
history  of  the  Law. 

See  Dent.  xxxi.  24-29  ; 
Josh.  i.  8  ; 
2  Kings  xi.  12. 

The  teacher  should  then  contrast 
the  limited  character  of  the  Law  as 
it  existed  in  Josiah's  time  with 
Holy  Scripture  as  the  Catholic 
Church  has  received  it. 

For  the  reverence  which  slum  Id 
be  given  to  the  Bible  cf.  our  Lord's 
own  use  of  it — e.g.  in  the  Tempta- 
tion, in  confuting  the  Pharisees, 
and  such  passages  as — 

2  Tim.  iii.  14-17. 
2S.  Peter  i.  10-21. 

A  further  and  most  important 
lesson  is  suggested  by  Josiah's  en- 
quiry of  the  prophetess.  Scripture 
needs  an  interpreter,  and  God  along 
with   the   Bible   has   given   us  the 


334 


JOSIAH 


Lesson  XXXVII — continued.     Josiah 


Matter. 

priests  had  disregarded  and  forgot- 
ten them,  perhaps  tried  to  destroy 
the  copies.  Josiah  shows  a  true 
reverence  for  the  book  when  it  is 
found,  listens  to  its  words  with 
penitence,  and  then  (which  is  impor- 
tant to  notice)  he  turns  to  the 
prophetess,  the  living  voice  of  the 
church,  for  their  further  explanation. 
Josiah  is  thus  a  t^'pical  example  of 
the  right  attitude  towards  Holy 
Scripture. 

2.  Josiah's  obedience. 

The  reformation  of  national  re- 
ligion which  Josiah  undertook  after 
the  Law  had  been  read  publicly, 
was  the  most  thorough  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  kingdom,  and  is  given 
with  remarkable  fulness  of  detail. 
It  extended  even  to  the  territory 
once  occupied  by  the  northern 
kingdom,  the  altar  at  Beth-el  being 
destroyed  infulfilmentof  the  ancient 
prophecy. 

Josiah's  obedience  to  the  Law  is 
the  more  remarkable  because  he  had 
already  learned  from  the  prophetess 
that,  from  a  national  point  of  view, 
it  would  be  of  no  avail  to  avert  the 
judgments  of  (iod.  It  was  there- 
fore carried  out  for  the  pure  love  of 
God,  and  as  an  act  of  penitence  for 
the  past.  Josiah  desired  to  do  all 
that  was  possible,  even  though  it 
could  bring  no  material  advantage, 
and  this  is  doubtless  the  reason  why 
he  receives  (xxiii.  25)  the  highest 
praise  bestowed  on  any  king  of 
Judali. 

3.  Josiah's  end. 

The  circumstances  of  Josiah's 
death  are  pathetic,  and  also  difficult 
to  understand.  It  is  certainly 
stated  to  have  been  an  act  of  pre- 
sumption on  his  part  to  provoke  a 
battle  with  Necho.  The  warning  of 
the  latter,  unknown  to  himself, 
came  'from  tlie  mouth  of  God'; 
and  yet  Josiah's  early  death  was  an 


Method. 

Church.  Without  the  interpreta- 
tion given  by  the  Church  we  are 
sure  to  misunderstand  or  pervert 
the  Bible. 

See  Acts  viii.  31  and  34. 
2  S.  Peter  iii.  16. 


2.  The  fulfilment  of  prophecj'  in 
Josiah's  reformation  should  be 
pointed  out. 

From  the  disinterestedness  of 
Josiah's  work  the  important  lesson 
should  be  drawn  that  we  should 
always  aim  at  the  highest  possible, 
even  if  no  earthly  good  will  come 
to  us  from  it.  Josiah  had  his 
reward  in  another  world,  though 
no  measures  of  reform  could  avert 
God's  judgment  in  this  world. 

To  do  good  and  receive  no 
earthly  reward,  or  even  to  sufifer 
for  doing  good,  is  pointed  out  to  us 
in  Scripture  as  the  worthiest  course 
possible. 

SeeS.  Matt.  v.  10-12; 
1  S.  Peter  ii.  19,  20; 
iii.  14-17. 


3.  Sec  Wisdom  iii.  1-9. 
iv.  7-16'. 

The  Life  of  S.  Oswald,  as  sug- 
gested in  the  notes,  would  form  an 
interesting  illustration  to  this  les- 
son. His  zeal  for  the  conversion  of 
his  people,  his  missionary  journeys 
with  S.  Aidan,  acting  himself  as 
interpreter,  his  early  and  appar- 
ently premature  death  at  the  hands 


JOSIAIi 


335 


Lesson  XXXVII — continued.     Josiah 


Matter. 
act  of  Divine  mercy,  he  was  '  taken 
away  from  the  evil  to  come.'  And 
it  was  a  fulfilment  of  prophecy. 
An  end  like  his  on  the  field  of  battle, 
and  an  honourable  burial  in  the 
sepulchres  of  the  kings,  was  an  end 
of  'peace,'  compared  with  the 
deaths  of  his  successors,  in  exile  and 
disgrace. 

Only  God  can  know  the  work 
which  His  servants  really  accom- 
plish, not  only  during  their  life- 
time, but  afterwards.  No  death  is 
really  premature  in  God's  eyes,  nor 
any  work  for  God  ever  lost. 


Method. 
of  the  heathen,  are  all  remarkable 
parallels.  And  in  the  case  of  both 
it  may  certainly  be  believed  that 
their  work  bore  much  fruit  after 
their  death.  Though  Josiah's  im- 
mediate successors  were  so  evil,  his 
example  would  be  remembered  when 
the  sufferings  of  the  Captivity  had 
taught  the  Jews  their  lesson  of 
obedience  to  the  law  of  God. 

Oswald's  work  seemed  cut  short 
by  his  death  ;  but  it  was  one  of  the 
most  important  factors  in  the  ulti- 
mate conversion  of  England. 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Josiali. 

The  best  of  all  the  kings. 
Reverence  for  God's  Wotrl. 

When  the  book  of  the  Law  was  found,  he 
heard  it  with  faith  and  penitence.  He 
sought  the  guidance  of  the  prophetess 
Huldah  to  understand  it. 

The  Church  helps  us  to  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  Bible. 

Obedience. 

What  he  found  written  in  the  book  of  the 
Law  he  tried  to  do  with  his  whole  heart, 
and  make  his  people  do,  through  pure  love 
of  God. 

His  early  death 

Seemed  sad  to  men,  but  his  work  on  eartli 
was  done  ;  it  would  bear  fruit  afterwards. 
His  reward  was  in  heaven  with  God. 


336  2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  1-21 


2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  1-21 

THEN  the  people  of  the  land  took  Jehoahaz  the  son  of 
Josiah,  and  made  him  king  in  his  father's  stead  in 
Jerusalem.    2.  Jehoahaz  ivas  twenty  and  three  years 
old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  three  months 

1  deposed  him.  in  Jerusalem.     3.  And  the  king  of  Egypt  ^  put  him  down 

2  amerced.         at  Jerusalem,  and  ^  condemned  the   land  in  an  hundred 

talents  of  silver  and  a  talent  of  gold.  4.  And  the  king  of 
Egypt  made  Eliakim  his  brother  king  over  Judah  and 
Jerusalem,  and  turned  his  name  to  Jehoiakim.  And 
Necho  took  Jehoahaz  his  brother,  and  carried  him  to 
Egypt.  5.  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  wdien 
he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  eleven  years  in  Jeru- 
salem :  and  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  his  God.  G.  Against  him  came  up  Nebuchadnezzar 
king  of  Babylon,  and  bound  him  in  fetters,  to  carry  him 

1.  Jehoahaz.  From  the  fact  that  this  was  a  younger  son  of  Josiah,  it 
would  seem  proliable  that  he  was  elected  by  tlie  people,  in  preference  to 
Eliakim,  as  being  a  patriot  and  au  opponent  of  Egj'pt.  Jehoahaz  is  also 
called  Shallum. 

On  this  and  the  three  following  kings  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  should  be 
referred  to,  especially  chap,  xxii.,  which  is  a  lament  for  the  three  kings, 
Jehoahaz,  Jehoiakim,  and  Jehoiachin.  Of  the  first  Jeremiah  speaks  with 
tender  pity  as  the  exile  who  '  shall  return  no  more,  nor  see  his  native 
country. ' 

4.  And  turned  his  name  to  Jehoiakim.  These  changes  of  names  were 
apparently  intended  as  a  sign  of  the  subjection  of  the  kings  of  Judah  to 
those  who  had  changed  them.  Jehoiakim  is  the  same  as  Eliakim,  with 
the  substitution  of  tlie  sacred  name  '  Jah  '  for  '  El '  (god). 

And  he  did  that  which  was  evil.  See  Jer.  xxii.,  where  Jehoiakim  is 
described  as  a  l)uildcr  of  magnificent  palaces  by  fraud  and  injustice,  as 
one  given  to  covetousncss,  and  a  shedder  of  'innocent  blood.'  See  also 
Jer.  xxvi.  and  xxxvi.  for  his  treatment  of  the  prophets. 

Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon.  The  first  mention  of  the  famous 
Babylonian  monaich,  wlio  came  to  the  throne  in  604,  immediately  after 
the  battle  of  Carchemisli.  The  account  in  Kings  gives  more  exact  details. 
Jehoiakim  was  apparently  not  actually  taken  to  Babylon,  but  released 
on  conditions  of  vassalage,  which  he  kept  for  three  j-ears  and  then  broke. 
Nebuchadnezzar  also  carried  aMay  captives  and  hostages  to  Babylon, 
among  whom  was  the  prophet  Daniel. 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR  33V 

to  Babylon.     7.  "  Nebuchadnezzar  also  carried  of  the  vessels  a  Dan.  i.  i,  2, 

3.11(1  V     2 

of  the  house  of  the  Lord  to  Babylon,  and  put  them  in  his 
temple  at  Babylon.  8.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of 
Jehoiakim,  and  his  abominations  which  he  did,  and  that 
which  was  found  in  him,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  :  and  Jehoiachin 
his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  9.  Jehoiachin  ivas  eight 
years  old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  three 
months  and  ten  days  in  Jerusalem  :  and  he  did  that  which 
ivas  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  10.  And  v/hen  the  year 
was  expired,  king  Nebuchadnezzar  sent,  and  brought  him 
to  Babylon,  with  the  goodly  vessels  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  made  Zedekiah  his   brother  king  over  Judah 

8.  Now  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoiakim.  There  is  something  mys- 
terious about  the  end  of  Jehoiakim.  The  Chronicler  does  not  mention  it 
at  all,  and  Kings  says  nothing  about  the  manner  of  it.  Probably  he  fell 
in  the  invasion  of  his  laud  by  the  roving  bands  of  Chaldees,  Syrians, 
Moabites,  and  Ammonites  mentioned  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  2  ;  and  his  death 
may  have  been  accompanied  by  some  special  indignity.  Jeremiah  twice 
prophesies  for  him  a  violent  and  dishonoured  death,  and  the  absence  of 
mourning,  even  of  burial  (xxii.  18,  19,  and  xxxvi.  30). 

9.  Jehoiachin.  Also  called  Jeconiah  and  Coniah.  Kings  gives  his  age 
at  accession  as  eighteen,  which  is  probably  right. 

10.  King  Nebuchadnezzar  sent,  and  brought  him  to  Babylon.  This  is 
an  important  event,  as  we  see  more  clearly  from  Kings.  It  was  the  first 
Babylonian  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  first  beginning  of  tlie  Captivity. 
Besides  the  king,  all  the  princijial  people  of  Jerusalem  were  carried 
captive,  seven  thousand  warriors,  and  a  thousand  craftsmen  and  smiths. 
The  whole  number  of  captives  was  ten  thousand,  the  flower  of  the  land. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  that  '  none  remained,  save  the  poorest  sort  of  the  people 
of  the  land.' 

The  prophet  Jeremiah  regards  these  captives  as  the  true  nation  of 
Israel.  They  are,  in  comparison  with  those  that  remain  in  Jerusalem, 
as  very  good  figs  compared  with  very  bad  ones  (Jer.  xxiv.).  To  them 
the  jirophet  addressed  a  letter  (Jer.  xxix.),  bidding  them  not  be  misled  by 
false  prophets,  but  settle  down  in  Babylon,  and  wait  hopefully  for  the 
promises  of  God. 

Among  these  captives  was  the  great  prophet  Ezekicl,  whose  prophetic 
work  was  performed  in  Babylon,  beginning  in  the  fifth  year  of  this  Cap- 
tivity (Ezek.  i.  3),  when  he  had  his  glorious  vision  of  God,  with  which 
his  book  opens.  He  too  exhorts  his  fellow-exiles  not  to  be  '  rebellious,' 
but  accept  the  Divine  chastisement. 

Zedekiah  his  brother.  Not  apparently  his  brother,  but  his  father's 
brother  (1  Chron.  iii.  15,  16).  His  original  name  was  Mattaniah,  changed 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  that  by  which  he  is  usually  known. 

HEB.  MON.  :    VOL.  II.  Y 


338  2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  1-21 

and  Jerusalem.  11.  Zedekiah  ivas  one  and  twenty  years 
old  when  he  began  to  reign,  and  reigned  eleven  years  in 
Jerusalem.  12.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  humbled  not  himself  before 
Jeremiah  the  prophet  sj^eahing  from  the  month  of  the 
Lord.  13.  And  he  also  rebelled  against  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who  had  made  him  swear  by  God  :  but  he  stiffened 
his  neck,  and  hardened  his  heart  from  turning  unto  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel.  14.  Moreover  all  the  chief  of  the 
priests,  and  the  people,  transgressed  very  much  after  all 
the  abominations  of  the  heathen  ;  and  polluted  the  house 
of  the  Lord  which  he  had  hallowed  in  Jerusalem.  15. 
And  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  sent  to  them  by  his 
messengers,  rising  up  betimes,  and  sending ;  because  he 
had  compassion  on  his  people,  and  on  his  dwelling-]3lace  : 
h  Jer.  V.  12, 13    16.  ^  But  they  mocked  the  messengers  of  God,  and  despised 

S.  Matt.  xxi.  ^  ,  .  *=  .   '  ^ 

33,  etc.  his  words,  and  ^  misused  his  pro^Dhets,  until  the  wrath  of 

^  scoffed  at.  .         ,  .  i        -n     7 

the  Lord  arose  against  his  people,  till  there  was  no  remedy. 

17.  Therefore    he   brought   upon   them   the   king  of  the 

c  Ezek.  ix.        Chaldees,  '^  who  slew  their  young  men  with  the  sword  in  the 

1 2.  And  humbled  not  himself  before  Jeremiah  the  prophet.  The  picture 
of  Zedekiah  as  given  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  is  that  of  one  who,  while 
he  retains  some  respect  for  the  propliet,  is  yet  so  weak  and  so  much  under 
the  influence  of  his  nobles  that  he  dare  not  follow  the  prophet's  advice, 
indeed  dare  not  consult  him  without  covering  his  action  with  a  falsehood 
(.Jer.  xxxviii. ).  The  point,  apparently,  of  the  word  '  humbled  '  is  that 
Jeremiah's  advice  to  the  king  was  to  surrender  to  the  Chaldreans.  God's 
punishment,  the  prophet  knew,  must  come,  and  to  strive  against  it  now 
was  merely  pride  and  rebellion.     See  Jer.  xxxiv.,  xxxvii.,  xxxviii. 

13.  Who  had  made  him  swear  by  God.  This  was  the  final  sin  of  Zede- 
kiah, that  he  broke  his  solemn  oath  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  v/hicli  placed 
him  in  the  wrong,  and  gave  the  semblance  of  justice  to  tlie  cruel  treat- 
ment whicli  he  received.  He  was  apparently  misled  by  false  prophets, 
and  the  usual  false  hopes  of  alliances  with  Egypt  and  other  nations. 

14.  And  polluted  the  house  of  the  LORD.  See  the  vivid  picture  in 
Ezekiel  viii.  of  the  idolatrous  worships  which  went  on  in  the  Temple, 
even  in  the  time  between  the  first  Captivity  and  the  second. 

15.  Rising-  up  betimes,  and  sending.  A  favourite  phrase  of  Jeremiah's, 
expressing  in  human  language  the  earnestness  of  the  Divine  warnings. 

17.  The  Chaldees.  A  general  name  for  the  Babylonian  empire,  though 
originally  it  had  a  narrower  sense,  meaning  a  people  who  dwelt  to  the 
south  of  Babylon,  on  the  sea. 


THE  SACK  OF  JERUSALEM  339 

house  of  their  sanctuary,  and  had   no  compassion  upon 

young  man  or  maiden,  old  man,  or  him  that  stooped  for 

age  :  he  gave   them  all  into  his  hand.     18.  And  all  the 

vessels  of  the   house  of  God,  great   and   small,  and  the 

treasures   of  the   house  of  the   Lord,  and  the  treasures 

of  the   king,   and  of  his   princes  ;   all   these   he    brought 

to  Babylon.     19.  And  they  burnt  the  house  of  God,  and 

brake  down  the  wall   of  Jerusalem,  and   burnt   all   the 

palaces  thereof  with  fire,  and   destroyed   all  the  goodly 

vessels  thereof.     20.  And  them  that  had  escaped  from  the 

sword   carried  he   away  to   Babylon ;  where   they   were 

servants  to  him  and  his  sons  until  the  reign  of  the  kingdom 

of  Persia  :  21.  ''To  fulfil  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  i3  ;  xxix.  io. 

of  Jeremiah,  until  the  land  had  enjoyed  ^her  sabbaths:  35. 

See  Jer.  xxxix.  for  the  description  of  the  entry  of  the  Chalda'ans  into 
Jerusalem,  under  'the  captain  of  the  guard,'  Nebuzar-adan.  Also  see 
Ezek.  xxxiii.  21,  etc.,  for  the  announcement  to  the  captives  who  were 
already  in  Babylonia  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

18.  And  all  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God.  These  are  described  in 
detail  in  2  Kings  xxv. ,  especially  the  two  brazen  pillars,  Jachin  and  Boaz, 
which  Solomon  had  made. 

20.  And  them  that  had  escaped  from  the  sword  carried  he  away  to 
Babylon.  Zedekiah  tried  to  escape  when  the  city  was  taken,  but  was 
overtaken  near  Jericho :  he  was  brought  before  Nebuchadnezzar  for 
judgment  at  Riblah,  on  the  Oroutes  :  his  sons  were  slain  before  his  ej'es  : 
his  own  eyes  were  then  put  out  (cf.  Ezek.  xii.  13),  and  he  was  carried  in 
brazen  fetters  to  Babylon,  where  he  was  kept  in  prison  to  the  day  of  his 
death  (2  Kings  xxv.  and  Jer.  lii.).  He  was  the  last  of  the  house  of  David 
to  reign  as  king  in  Jerusalem,  in  accordance  with  the  jjrophecies  of  Jere- 
miah (xxii.  30)  and  Ezekiel  (xxi.  25-27).  This  latter  prophecy  is  very 
remarkable:  the  mitre  and  the  crown  are  to  be  removed  'until  he 
come  whose  right  it  is.'  The  last  words,  in  Hebrew,  are  intended  evi- 
dently to  suggest  the  'Shiloh'  of  Gen.  xlix.  10,  and  are  a  plain  allusion 
to  the  Messiah. 

The  captives  taken  to  Babylon  were  chiefly,  no  doubt,  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem;  we  are  told  (2  Kings  xxv.  12)  that  the  'captains  of  the 
guard  left  of  the  poor  of  the  land  to  be  vinedressers  and  husbandmen.' 
How  little  tlie  spiritual  lessons  of  this  Divine  chastisement  had  been 
learnt  as  yet  is  shown  in  the  conduct  of  the  remnant  left  behind,  as 
described  *^in  Jer.  xl.-xliii.  They  first  murder  (iedaliah,  the  Jewish 
governor  whom  the  Babylonians  had  set  over  them,  and  then,  in  dis- 
regard of  Jeremiah,  take  refuge  in  Egypt,  taking  the  ijropliet  with  them, 
and,  according  to  tradition,  there  putting  him  also  to  death. 

21.  Until  the  land  had  enjoyed  her  sabbaths.     The  Divine  ordinance  of 


340 


2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  1-21 


for  as  long  as  she  lay  desolate  she  kept  sabbath,  to  fultil 
threescore  and  ten  years. 

the  sabbatical  year,  when  the  land  must  lie  fallow,  had  been  disobeyed. 
This  law  was  doubtless  intended,  like  the  Sabbath  itself,  to  be  a  forcible 
reminder  to  the  Jews  that  the  land  was  not  their  own,  but  God's,  and 
that  '  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  alone.' 

The  Captivity  actually  lasted  just  over  sixty  j'ears,  598  to  538,  counting 
from  the  first  Captivity,  that  of  Jehoiachin.  The  sacred  writer  implies 
that  it  lasted  long  enough  to  give  the  land  the  rest  which  it  had  been 
deprived  of.  Round  numbers  are  usually  employed  in  prophecy  as  in 
poetry. 


LESSON  XXX  VIII 


The  Captivity 


Matter. 

1.  Tlie  last  kings  of  Judah. 

Two  of  these,  Jehoahaz  and  Je- 
hoiachin, reigned  only  three  months 
each,  and  fell  victims  to  the  two 
powers  which  were  now  striving  for 
the  mastery  in  Western  Asia, 
Egypt,  and  Babylon.  Of  the  other 
two,  Jehoiakini  repeated  the  sins 
of  his  predecessors,  forgetting 
God,  living  luxuriously,  oppressing 
the  poor,  and  resenting  the  appeals 
of  the  prophets.  Zedekiah,  in  the 
pages  of  Jeremiah,  presents  a 
miserable  spectacle  of  cowardice  at 
home,  and  foolish  presumption  and 
treachery  abroad,  which  brought 
upon  him  the  full  measure  of  the 
wrath  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

The  line  of  David  had  fallen 
hopelessly  away  from  the  Divine 
ideal  ;  and  though  it  was  never  to 
fail  entirely  until  the  true  Son  of 
David  came,  Shiloh,  'he  whose  right 
it  is'  (Ezek.  xxi.  25-27),  yet  no  son 
of  David  ever  again  sat  on  the  tem- 
poral throne  of  Jerusalem  (Jer. 
xxii.  30). 


Method. 

1.  For  more  details  about  the 
last  kings  of  Judah  see  Jer.  xxii. 
13-19  (Jehoiakini),  and  also  Jer. 
xxvi.  and  xxxvi.  for  the  way  in 
which  Jehoiakini  and  his  courtiers 
treated  the  warnings  of  the 
prophet. 

For  Zedekiah  see  Jer.  xxxii.  1-5, 
xxxvii.-xxxviii. 


For  the  failure  of  the  kingship 
see  1  Sam,  xii.  25  ;  Deut.  xvii.  14- 
20. 

For  the  continuance  of  the  line 
of  David,  though  no  longer  reigning, 
see  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  15;  S.  Matt.  i. 
12-lG;  S.  Lukei.  26-33. 


THE  CAPTIVITY 


341 


Lesson  XXXVIII — continued.     Tiik  Captivity 


Matter. 

2.  The  Captivity. 

Not  onl}'  the  kings,  but  the 
priests  and  chief  men  of  Judah,  the 
leaders  of  public  opinion,  all  proved 
themselves  unworthy  of  the  high 
calling  which  God  had  given  them. 
They  not  only  preferred  the  religions 
of  the  heathen  to  the  pure  and 
spiritual  religion  of  Jehovah  and 
His  holy  law,  but  they  obstinately 
resisted  the  repeated  calls  of  God 
by  His  prophets,  especially  by  the 
great  prophet  Jeremiah.  That  fate, 
which  God  had  miraculously  de- 
livered them  from  in  the  days  of 
Hezekiah,  now  fell  on  them  through 
their  own  fault. 

The  first  Captivity  in  the  reign 
of  -Jehoiachin  was  not  sufficient 
warning  ;  they  still  clung  in  their 
pride,  not  to  the  promises  of  God, 
but  to  the  idea  of  their  own  privi- 
lege (see  Jer.  vii.  4).  The  second 
Captivity  followed,  which  destroyed 
city  and  Temple  and  kingship. 

They  now  had  to  learn  in  sorrow 
and  exile  the  real  meaning  of  their 
calling  as  the  people  of  God. 


Method. 

2.  Distinguish  the  two  Captivi- 
ties, the  first  in  the  reign  of  Je- 
hoiachin  being  the  more  important, 
as  from  that  the  duration  of  the 
Captivity  is  to  be  reckoned. 

For  the  conduct  of  the  first  exiles 
in  Babylon,  and  their  rebelliousness 
and  refusal  to  accept  the  Divine 
judgment,  the  Book  of  Ezekiel 
should  be  consulted,  especially 
chaps,  ii.,  iii.,  xii.,  xiv.,  xviii.,  xx., 
xxiv. 

For  the  details  of  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  and  its  capture  see  the 
parallel  and  fuller  account  in 
2  Kings,  and  also  Jer.  xxxix.  and 
Ezek.  xxxiii.  21-33. 

Refer  to  the  original  l)uilding  of 
the  Temple  by  vSolomon,  its  beauties 
and  its  treasures  ;  also  to  the  sub- 
sequent fortifying  of  the  city  by 
kings  like  Uzziah. 

All  swept  away,  not  merely  to 
punish  but  to  teach  men  the  lesson 
that  true  strength  and  true  wealth 
are  to  be  found  only  in  doing  the 
will  of  (iod. 

For  the  feelings  of  the  exiles  see 
Ps.  cxxxvii.,  and  the  predictions  of 
exile  in  Deut.  xxviii. 


342 


2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  1-21 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Tlie  Captivity. 


The  last  kings  of  Judah — 

Jehoahaz — carried  captive  to  Egypt. 
Jehoialcim — despised  the  word  of  God   and 

J  eremiah  the  prophet. 
Jehoiachhi — carried   captive,  with   many  of 
his    people,    to    Babylon    in 
598. 
=  the  Jirst  Ca2Jtivity. 
ZedeJciah — broke    his    oath    to    Nebuchad- 
nezzar ;    carried   to   Babylon 
with   rest   of    the   people   in 
587. 
=  the  second  Captivity. 
The  Captivity  was — 

(1)  K  punishment  for  disobedience. 

(2)  A  time  for  rejnntance. 


HOPE  ;343 


2  KINGS  XXy.  27-30;  2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  22-23 

AND  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seven  and  thirtieth  year  of 
JlX  the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  king  of  Judah,  in  the 
twelfth  month,  on  the  seven  and  twentieth  day  of 
the  month,  that  Evil-merodach  king  of  Bal)ylon  in  the  year 
that  he  began  to  reign  did  lift  np  the  head  of  Jehoiachin 
king  of  Jndah  out  of  prison  ;  28.  And  he  spake  kindly 
to  him,  and  set  his  throne  above  the  throne  of  the  kings 
that  were  with  him  in  Babylon  ;  29.  ^  And  changed  his  i  he. 
prison  garments  :  and  he  did  eat  bread  continually  before 
him  all  the  days  of  his  life.  30.  And  his  allowance  ivas  a 
continual  allowance  given  him  of  the  king,  ^  a  daily  rate  2  every  day  a 
for  every  day  all  the  days  of  his  life. 

2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  22.    Now  in  the  first    year   of 
Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  "that  the  word  of  the  Lord  spoken  a  Jer.  xxv.  12, 
by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  might  be  accomplished,  the  xxxiii.  io,  n. 
Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  that     ' 

2  Kings  xxv.  27.  And  it  came  to  pass,  etc.  The  date  is  very  carefully 
given  for  this  change  of  the  royal  policy  towards  the  captive  king.  The 
Captivity  had  begun  with  the  exile  of  Jehoiachin,  and  in  this  change  is 
the  first  hope  of  the  Return.  There  is  no  mention  made  of  the  unhappy 
Zedekiah — 

'  One  bound  with  chains  of  brass, 
A  king-,  ;i  crownless,  childless,  eyeless  ghost.' 

Probably  he  had  died  in  his  dungeon  before  this  time.  We  do  not  know 
what  was  the  cause  of  the  kindness  shown  to  Jehoiachin,  it  was  evidently 
part  of  the  set  policy  of  Evil-merodach,  as  it  took  place  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign.  It  may  have  been  due  to  the  influence  of  Daniel,  who  would 
by  this  time  be  eminent  at  the  court.  Jehoiachin  was  the  grandfather 
of  Zerubbabel,  and  the  ancestor  of  our  Lord  (S.  Matt.  i.  12-16). 

Evil-merodacli.  The  son  and  successor  of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  he  was 
murdered  after  two  years'  reign  by  his  brother-in-law,  who  usurped  the 
throne. 

29.  He  did  eat  bread  continually  before  him.  The  regular  description 
of  one  who  was  specially  privileged  by  a  permanent  seat  at  the  royal 
table.  Instead  of  a  prisoner,  Jehoiachin  becomes  now  almost  an  honoured 
guest,  and  takes  precedence  of  all  the  other  captive  kings  at  the  Baby- 
lonian court. 

2  CiiRON.  xxxvi.  22.    Cyrus  king  of  Persia.     Babylon  was  taken  by 


344        2  KINGS  XXV.  27-30 ;  2  CHRON.  XXXVI.  22-23 

he  made  a  proclamation  throughout  all  his  kingdom,  and 

jmt  it  also  in  writing,  saying,    23.  Thus  saith  Cyrus  king  of 

Persia,  All  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  hath  the  Lord  God 

of  heaven  given  me  ;  and  he  hath  charged  me  to  build  him 

3  whosoever  an  house  in  Jerusalem,  which  is  in  Judah.  ^  Who  is  there 
there  is  among 

you  of  all  his     among  you  of  all  his  people  ?     The  Lord  his  God  be  with 

people,  the  j  i   ^  i  • 

Lord,  etc.         him,  and  let  him  go  up. 

Cyrus  in  538,  its  fall  having  been  foretold  by  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and 
Ezekiel,  as  that  of  Nineveh  had  been  by  Nahum.  Cyrus  is  mentioned 
as  the  deliverer  of  the  Jews  bj^  God's  appointment  in  Isaiah  xliv.  28  and 
xlv.  Whatever  was  the  actual  religion  which  Cyrus  professed,  it  is 
clearly  stated  in  Scriptures  that  he  recognised  the  God  of  Israel  as  iden- 
tical with  the  Supreme  God  who  had  given  him  his  conquests  and  empire ; 
and  also  that  the  proclamation  was  inspired  by  God. 

23.  Let  him  go  up.  This  proclamation  is  a  fragment,  the  whole  being 
given  at  the  commencement  of  the  book  Ezra,  which  is  thus  closely  linked 
on  to  Chronicles,  and  is  perhaps  by  the  same  baud.  Like  the  opening 
chapter  of  Acts  which  repeats  in  a  fuller  form  the  narrative  of  the 
Ascension  which  closes  S.  Luke's  Gospel,  so  here  we  have  an  ending 
which  is  really  a  new  beginning.  The  Jews  are  men  of  the  future.  The 
command  to  rebuild  the  Temple  looks  directly  on  towards  the  Messiah. 
See  Dan.  ix.  25. 


LESSON  XXXIX 

Hope 

Matter.  Method. 

Signs  of  God's  mercy.  1.  Refer  to  Jeremiah's  prophecies 

The  alleviation  ^of  the  captivity     of  the  Return  (see  marg.  reff.),  also 

to  Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  valley  of 


of  .Jehoiachin,  in  561,  was  the  first 

sit'n  that  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah      ,      ,  ,  ... 

and  Ezekiel  would  be  fulfilled,  dry  bones  (xxxvii.). 
Jeremiah  had  foretold  the  duration 
of  the  Captivity  :  both  he  and 
Isaiah  had  spoken  in  glowing 
language  of  the  joy  of  the  Return. 
Ezekiel  had  prophesied  the  resur- 
rection of  the  nation,  as  it  were, 
from  the  dead.  Yet  to  the  ordi- 
nary observer,  especially  remember- 
ing the  captivity  of  the  ten  northern 
tribes,  the  outlook  must  have  seemed 
hopeless. 


HOPE 


345 


Lesson  XXXIX — continued.     Hope 


Matter. 

Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
again  had  to  elapse  before  the  great 
decree  of  C3'rus  permitting  the  Re- 
turn. Little  is  knoAvn  of  the  general 
condition  of  the  exiles  during  this 
period.  But  it  is  certain  that  the 
lessons  of  Divine  chastening  were 
being  learned  ;  repentance  was  at 
work,  and  especially  a  horror  of 
idolatry  was  conceived  which  was 
never  afterwards  forgotten. 

2.  Why? 

God  chose  the  nation  of  Israel  to 
be  His  people,  and  the  line  of  David 
to  be  their  kings,  not  for  their  own 
sakes,  but  for  the  accomplishment 
of  His  gracious  purpose  for  the 
world.  He  revealed  Himself  to 
Israel,  that  by  them  His  name 
might  be  known  over  all  the  world. 
Israel  was  to  be  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth  in  its  preparatory 
stage,  leading  on  to  the  Catholic 
Church.  The  line  of  David  was  to 
prepare  men  for  the  true  Ruler  and 
King  of  Humanity,  Jesus  Christ. 

Both  nation  and  kings  failed 
miserably  to  answer  to  their  Divine 
calling.  Yet  God,  for  the  honour  of 
His  name,  would  not  suffer  His  pur- 
pose to  be  thwarted  by  their  sin. 
He  led  Israel  through  the  bitter 
experience  of  the  exile,  that  by 
repentance  they  might  find  mercy, 
and  so  from  them  might  still  spring 
the  faithful  ones,  who  formed  the 
beginnings  of  the  Catholic  Cliurch, 
and  from  the  line  of  David  might 
still  arise  the  Woman,  the  Virgin, 
foretold  throughout  Scripture,  and 
the  Seed  of  the  woman,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God, 
who  as  Prophet,  Priest  and  King  of 
Humanity  would  perfectly  fulfil  all 
God's  purpose  for  man. 


Method. 
The  conquest  of  Babylon  by  CjTus 
the  Persian   had   been   foretold  in 
prophecy. 

Isa.  xxi.  ;  xli.  2,  3  ; 

xliv.  28  ;  xlv. 
Jer.  1.  ;  li. 


2.  Explain  that  it  was  really  for 
our   sakes    that   God    allowed   the 
Jews  to  return  from  Babylon.     His 
promises     must    be    fulfilled,    and 
Christ  must  be  born  of  the  Virgin 
of  the  house  of  David  in  Bethlehem. 
Refer  to  Gen.  iii.  lo  ; 
xii.  3  ; 
xlix.  10  ; 
2  Sam.  vii.  16  ; 
xxiii.  5  ; 
(See  vol.  i.  pp.  284-288.) 
Refer  to  Isa.  vii.  14  ; 
Jer.  xxxi.  22  ; 
Micah  V.  2,  3  ; 
Haggai  ii.  23  ; 
S.  Matt,  i.-ii.  ; 
S.  Luke  i.  ; 
Rev.  xii. 
The  Jews   never  again  fell   into 
idolatry  after  the  Captivity.     The 
nation,^  however,  failed  to  recognise 
Christ  M-hen  He  came  ;  they  were 
rejected,  and  their  city  destroyed. 
Nevertheless    God's    purpose    was 
accomplished  in  those  wlio  accepted 
His  Son,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
S.  Joseph,  the  disciples,  and  in  the 
Catholic   Church.      The   Jews    are 
now  in  a  longer  captivity,  scattered 
over  the  world.     But  (iod  still  has 
a  purpose  for  them  (Rom.  ix.-xi.). 


346 


HOPE 


Blackboard  Sketch. 


Hope. 

Signs  of  GocVs  mercy. 

Kindness  shown  to  Jehoiachin. 
Cyrus  allows  the  Jews  to  return. 

Why? 

For  our  sakes. 

God  had  promised  the  birth  of 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son, 

as  Son  of  David, 

to  be  Kiug  of  all  men 

in  the  Catholic  Church. 

'  I  have  waited  for  Thy  salvation,  0  Lord.' 

Gen.  xlix.  18. 


INDEX 


AiiiJAH,  90-101. 

Abraham,  172. 

Adoram,  70. 

Adrammelech,  277. 

Ahab,  106-150. 

Ahaz,  264-272. 

Ahaziah  of  Judah,  213-217. 

of  Israel,  151. 

Ahijah,  64,  66,  69. 
Alleluia  Victory,  179. 
Alliances,  97. 
Almug  trees,  54. 
Altar,  brazen,  27. 

of  Damascus,  266. 

Amariah,  171. 

Amaziah,  246-251. 

Ambushments,  174. 

Amon,  321-322. 

Ammonites,  263. 

Amorites,  319. 

Amos,  247,  259. 

Angel-guardians,  199,  208. 

Angel  of  the  Lord,  307. 

Animals,  kindness  to,  10,  11. 

Anointing,  214. 

Aphek,  135. 

Apostles,  166. 

Arabah,  59,  259. 

Ark,  5,  35. 

Asa,  93-100. 

Ascension  of  Elijah,  156,  167. 

Ascent,  54. 

Ashdod,  253. 

Asherim,  72. 

Ashima,  277. 

Ashtoreth,  60. 

Assyria,  239,  261. 

Athaliah,  228-231. 

Athanasius,  S.,  116,  123. 

Authority,  spiritual,  257. 

Azariah  (the  priest),  254. 


Azariah  (the  prophet),  94. 

See  '  Uzziah.' 

Azubah,  168. 
Azzah,  7. 

Baal,  118. 

temple  of,  224,  231. 

Baalath,  51. 

Baalim,  116. 
I  Baal-Shalisha,  186. 
!  Baal-zebub,  151. 
I  Baasha,  96,  102,  103,  107. 

Babylon,  314,  320. 
'  Balaam,  61,  81. 

Baptism,  195,  244. 
i  Baptismal  service,  300. 
I  Basons,  24. 

Beams,  24. 

Bears,  160. 

Beauty  of  holiness,  173,  174. 
I  Beer-sheba,  125. 
I  Belial,  91. 
I sons  of,  140. 

Ben-hadad,  132,  209. 

Berachah,  174,  177. 

Berodach-baladan,  313. 

Beth-el,  77,  92,  156,  329. 

Beth-horon,  51. 

Bible,  333-335. 

Bidkar,  216. 

Blindness,  199. 

Blood-feuds,  171. 

Boaz,  27. 

Book  of  the  Law,  169,  325. 

Bow,  146,  240. 

Bui,  19. 

Burning  for  the  dead,  98. 

Burnt-offering,  286,  29.3. 


Cab,  200. 
Cabul,  50. 


347 


348  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 


Calves,  golden,  77,  225,  276. 

Candlesticks,  28. 

Capitals,  26. 

Captain  of  the  host,  182. 

Captives,  humanity  to,  265. 

Captivity,  273-279, 337, 339-341, 345. 

Carmel,  116,  306. 

Cedar,  9. 

Chamber,  181. 

Chambers  (side),  15,  32,  33. 

Chariots,  157,  158,  240. 

Charity,  148. 

Chemarim,  328. 

Chemosh,  61. 

Cherethites,  231. 

Cherith,  110. 

Cherubim,  17. 

Chest,  232. 

Children,  160. 

Christ,  types  and  prophecies  of,  9, 

17,  57/65,  176,  178,  187,  188-189, 

195,  219,  270,  294,  345. 
Chronology,  xi,  15. 
Church,    types   and   prophecies   of, 

22,  23,  41,  176,  299,  345. 
Cloud,  121. 
Collection,  232. 
Colocynth,  185. 
Coniah.     See  Jehoiaehin. 
Conduit,  268. 
Confirmation,  10, 
Consecrate,  82. 
Coronation,  236,  237. 
Courage,  122-123. 
Court,  19. 

Covenant,  90,  95,  327. 
Cracknels,  82. 
Creditor.  180. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  140. 
Cross,  type  of,  197. 
Cubit,  15. 
Curse,  141. 
Cyrus,  343. 

Damascus,  136,  191,  266. 
Dan,  78. 
Daniel,  336. 
Daughter  of  Zion,  305. 
David,  5,  39,  43. 
Dead,  raising  of,  112,  184,  241. 
Dedication,  .34. 
Deliverance,  308-310. 
Deuteronom}^  325. 


Dial,  313. 
Dogs,  141,  214. 
Dothan,  198. 
Dove's  dung,  200. 
Dreams,  3. 
Drought,  115. 

East  of  Jordan,  161. 

wisdom  of,  8. 

Ecclesiastes,  67. 

Eden,  62. 

Edom,  161,  211,  248. 

Egypt,  2,  3,  8,  296. 

Egyptians,  kings  of,  203. 

Ekron,  151. 

Elah,  103,  107. 

Elath,  53,  59,  252,  266. 

Eliakim,  296. 

Eliezer,  175. 

Elijah,  109-157. 

Elijah's  letter,  212. 

Elisha,  128,  156-241. 

Engines,  254. 

Enoch,  158. 

Ephraim,  70. 

Ephrain,  92. 

Ethan,  8. 

Ethbaal,  106. 

Eucharist,  types  of,   48,    129,    177. 

244,  293. 
Evil-merodach,  343. 
Ezekiel,  337. 
Ezion-geber,  53,  59,  175. 

Faith,  206,  269. 

Faithfulness,  122,  128. 

Familiar  spirits,  318. 

Fast,  140. 

Figs,  313. 

Fire  from  heaven,  43,  120,  152,  154, 

1.55. 
First-born,  portion  of,  157. 

(Ialilee,  262. 

Gath,  252. 

Geba,  97. 

Cebalitcs,  14. 

Gehazi,  181-185,  193,  205. 

Genealogies,  74. 

Gezer,  51. 

Gibbethon,  182. 

Gibeon,  3. 

Gilgal,  156,  185. 


INDEX 


349 


Gold,  18. 

Gourds,  wild,  185. 
Groves.     /S'ee  '  Asherim.' 

Habor,  237. 

Hadad,  62. 

Halah,  273. 

Halt,  117. 

Hamath,  259. 

Hanani,  97. 

Haraii,  304. 

Hazael,  127,  209,  22G,  239,  242. 

Hazazou-Tamar,  171. 

Hazor,  51. 

Hemau,  8. 

Henry  ii.,  170. 

VIII.,  140,  322. 

Herodotus,  307-311. 

Hezekiah,  283-317. 

Hidden  waj's  of  God,  129. 

Hiel,  100. 

High  places,  3,  61,  96. 

Hilkiah,  325. 

Hiram,  the  artificer,  25,  29. 

the  king,  12,  50. 

History,  divine  and  human,  107. 

Hittites,  56,  202. 

Holiness,  182. 

Holv  of  Holies,  17,  22. 

-'  Place,  22. 

Spirit,  165,  181. 

Hope,  344. 
Horeb,  126,  129. 
Horses,  7,  56,  203. 
Hosea,  247,  261. 
Hoshea,  273. 
Hospitality,  187. 
Huldah,  326. 
Human  sacrifice,  164. 
Huram.     See  '  Hiram. ' 

Iddo,  66,  74. 
Idolatry,  66,  274. 
Images,  331. 
Immanuel,  270. 

Incarnation,  types  of,  9,  17,  37,  39, 
160,  184,  185.     See  also  '  Christ.' 
Incense,  254. 
Indignation,  164. 
Iron,  197. 
Irony,  209. 

Isaiah,  255,  263,  268-272,  302-317. 
Ivory  house,  147. 


Jabneh,  252. 

Jachin,  27. 

Jealousy,  72, 

Jahaziel,  173. 

Jeconiah.     See  Jehoiachin. 

Jehoahaz  of  Israel,  239. 

of  Judah,  336. 

Jehoash.     See  Joash  of  Israel. 

Jehoiachin,  337,  343. 

Jehoiakim,  336,  337. 

Jehoiada,  228-333. 

Jehonadab,  223. 

Jehoram,  153,  160,  211. 

Jehoshabeath,  228. 

Jehoshaphat,  142-178. 

Jehu,  127,  213-227. 

son  of  Hanani,  170,  175. 

Jeremiah,  337-344. 

Jericlio,  106,  107,  159. 

Jeroboam  i.,  63-65,  68-86. 

II.,  239,  259,  260. 

Jerusalem,  299. 

Jezebel,  106,  125,  139-142,217,218. 

Joash  of  Israel,  240-242,  248,  249. 

of  Judah,  228-238. 

John  the  Baptist,  187. 

Jonah,  259. 

Joram,  215,  216. 

Jordan,  156,  157,  191,  192,  197. 

Josiah,  79,  324-335. 

Jotham,  263,  264. 
i  Judges,  170. 
!  Judgment,  154,  155. 

i  KiK-HARASETH,  163. 

Kishon,  120. 
Knops,  17. 

Lachish,  249,  295. 
:  Lamp,  65. 
I  Lattice,  151. 
:  Lavers,  28. 
!  Law  of  Moses,  246,  325. 

Lel>anon,  51,  305. 

Lebanon,  house  of  forest  of,  24. 

Leprosy,  190,  194,  255. 
j  Lepers,  202. 
I  Levites,  34,  228,  284. 
I  Levy,  14. 
I  Libnah,  24. 

Linen  yarn,  56. 
,  Lions,  276. 

Loaves,  186. 


350        THE  HISTOKY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 


Lubims,  73. 
Lydia,  181. 
Lying,  80. 

Maachah,  90. 
Magi,  57,  58. 
Mahomet,  192. 
Manasseh,  318-323. 
Mantle,  128. 
Materialism,  250. 
Mattaii,  231. 
Megiddo,  51,  217,  332. 
Menahem,  2G0-262. 
Mercenaries,  246. 
Mesha,  161. 
Meunim,  171. 
Micaiah,  144-146. 
Midian,  62. 
Midrash,  92. 
Milcom,  60. 
Millo,  51. 
Minstrel,  162. 
Missionary  work,  57. 
Mizpah,  97. 
Moab,  151,  241. 
Moabite  stone,  61. 
Moloch,  264,  318. 
Money,  190. 
Monks,  185. 
Moriah,  3. 
Music,  162. 

Naamaii,  71. 
Naaman,  190-196. 
Naboth,  139-141. 
Nadab,  102,  107. 
Nahum,  344. 
Name  of  God,  12. 
Natlian,  66. 
Navy,  53,  175. 
Nebuchadnezzar,  336-339. 
Necho,  331,  332. 
Nehushtan,  283. 
Nergal,  277. 
New  moon,  183. 
Numbers,  meaning  of,  15. 


Gbadiah,  115 
Oded,  95. 
Oil,  180,  181. 
Omri,  104-108. 
Ophir,  53. 
Ordination,  267. 


158. 


Oswald,  S.,  334,  335. 
Otto  III.,  332,  333. 

Painting,  217. 

Panic,  202. 

Parable,  137,  248. 

Passover,  288,  330. 

Pekah,  262,  263. 

Pekahiah,  262. 

Philistines,  169. 

Pha>nicians,  53. 

Physicians,  98. 

Pillars,  25,  72,  230. 

Polygamy,  60. 

Porch,  24. 

Posts,  288. 

Pottage,  185. 

Prayer,  47,  112,  120,  184,  303,  308. 

attitude  in,  38. 

Priests,  34. 

Priesthood,  94,  257. 

Prophecy,  309. 

Prophet  from  Judah,  78,  87,  330. 

Prophets,  79,  115,  136. 

false,  143. 

heathen,  191. 

unnamed,  246,  247. 

of  Israel,  278. 

Providence,  112-114. 
Psalms,  287. 
Pul,  261. 

Queen  of  Siieba,  53. 
Questions,  53. 

Rabsaris,  295. 
Rab-shakeh,  295-300. 
Rain,  40,  121. 
Ramah,  96. 

Ramoth-gilead,  143,  146,  213. 
Ravens,  110. 
Rebatements,  16. 
Rebellion,  75. 
Rechabites,  223. 
Rehoboam,  68-76. 
Repentance,  76,  142,  323. 
Resurrection,  241,  244. 
Retribution,  149. 
Rezin,  264. 
Riddles,  53. 
Rimmon,  192,  193. 

Sabbath,  183,  339. 


INDEX 


351 


Sacrilege,  256,  258, 
Saints,  110. 
Samaria,  105. 

pool  of,  147. 

sieges  of,  200,  273. 

Samaritans,  275-278,  280-282. 
Sargon,  273. 

Schism,  75. 

Scorpions,  69. 

Sea,  molten,  27. 

Seir,  172,  247. 

Sela,  217. 

Sennacherib,  295. 

Sepharvaim,  277. 

Shallum,  260.     See  also  Jehoahaz  of 

Juclah. 
Shalmaneser,  273. 
Shaphan,  326-327. 
Shearing-house,  222. 
Shear-jashub,  268. 
Sheba,  53. 
Shechem,  68,  77. 
Shechinah,  36,  37. 
Shemaiah,  71,  74. 
Shephelah,  253. 
Shunammite,  181-185,  205. 
Shunem,  181. 
Shiloh,  339. 
Ships,  55,  175. 
Shishak,  65,  72-74. 
Sickness,  315. 
Sign,  269-272. 
Siloam,  32. 
Singers,  173. 
Sin-offering,  286,  292. 
Sins  of  Israel,  279. 
Slingers,  163. 
Slings,  254. 
So,  273. 
Solomon,  1-67. 

his  empire,  6. 

his  trade,  56. 

type  of  Christ,  57. 

his  writings,  8,  9. 

Spirit,  lying,  145. 
Stone-squarers,  14. 
Store-cities,  97. 
Succoth-benoth,  277. 
Sukkiiras,  73. 
Sun-images,  93. 
Sun-worship,  329. 
Superstition,  146. 
Sycamores,  oQ. 


Syria,  190. 

Syrian  language,  297. 

Sj'ro-Israelitish  invasion,  264-270. 

Tabeal,  son  of,  269. 
Tabernacle,  34,  232. 
Tabernacles,  feast  of,  78. 
Tables  of  siiewbread,  28. 
Tadmor,  51. 
Tahpenes,  63. 
Talent,  50,  105. 
Targets,  93. 
Targum,  14. 
Tartak,  277. 
Tartan,  295. 
Tax,  232. 
Temple,  12-45. 
Tempting  God,  250. 
Thank-offering,  287,  293. 
Tharshish,  55,  175. 
Throne,  55. 
Testimony,  230. 
Tibni,  105. 
Tiglath-pileser,  266. 
Tiphsah,  7. 
Tirhakah,  303. 

Unbelief,  207. 
Urijah,  267. 
Uzziah,  252-258. 

Valley  or  Jehoshaphat,  174. 

of  salt,  247.     See  also  '  Bera- 

chali. ' 

Vanity,  316. 
Vanities,  104. 
Vengeance,  219. 
Vestments,  224. 
Victory,  137,  138,  242,  243. 

of  Church,  176. 

Vine,  wild,  185. 
Vineyard,  139. 
Virgin,  270,  345. 

Washing,  27. 
AVater,  healing  of,  159. 
Well  of  Elisha,  160. 
Whoredoms,  216. 
Widow's  oil,  180. 
Windows,  15. 
Wisdom,  8-11. 
Worship,  45-47. 

Zachariah,  260. 


352 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HEBREW  MONARCHY 


Zarephath,  110. 

Zeal,  226. 

Zechariah  (king).     See  Zachariah. 

(prophet),  2o2. 

son  of  Jehoiada,  234,  235 

Zedekiah,  337-389,  343. 


Zedekiah,  son  of  Chenaanah,  144 

Zerah,  93. 

Zirari,  104,  105,  107,  218. 

Zion,  3. 

Ziv,  15. 

Zobah,  63. 


> 


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