Hebrew history, from the death of Moses to the close of the Scripture narrative

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HEBREW HISTORY,

FROM

THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THE CLOSE OF THE
SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE.

By EEV. HENKY COWLES, D. D.

"Hast thon marked fhe old way ■which wicked men have trodden who were cut
down out of time ? "—Job xxii : 15, 16.
"Light is sown for the righteous."— Ps. xcvii : 11.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETOIST &, CO.,

549 AKD 551 Broabway.

1875.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S74,

By REV. HENRY COWLES, D.D.

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

PREFACE

This volume aims to present the entire Sacred History of the
Hebrew people from the death of Moses to the close of the Old
Testament. Its special objects are— to trace the hand of God
in this history, and to suggest the advancing revelations made
of his character and moral government ; to develop the leading
human characters, and the significance of the great historic
events; to explain difficult passages; to bring out the connec-
tions between sacred and profane history, in order both to illus-
trate and to confirm the records of Scripture ; to place the
History of the Old Testament by the side of its Psalmody and
its Prophecy, in order to infuse into the History somewhat of its
own living soul, and to give to the poetry more of its bodily
form and earthly relationships, and to Prophecy its due illustra-
tion and impression. The author's aim and hope have been,
not to supersede the reading of these historical books entire, but
rather to stimulate and aid such reading by setting forth inci-
dentally the exquisite beauty of its narratives, the interest of
its historic events, and its great wealth of most precious truth —

every way worthy of an Author truly divine All history is

(iii)

IV PREFACE.

useful in so far as it mates truthful revelations of man's doings

and of God's agencies in and above them ; how, then, does it

behoove us to honor and to study this one unparalleled history

in which the relations of God to men and of men to God are

traced with God's own unerring finger I How rich are we in

having one model history of which we know that God himself

is the Author I

HENRY COWLES.

Oeeklix, Ohio, October, 1874.

CONTENTS

3j*:c

THE HEBREWS IN CANAAN.

CHAPTEK I.

Introduction to the book of Josliua,

PAGE

1

CHAPTEK II.

Conquest of Canaan, 10

Crossin,£f the Jordan, 13

Memorial stones, 15

Fall of Jericho, 18

Achan and Ai, 20

Ebal and Gerizim, 26

The two great decisive battles, 29

The sun and moon stand still, 30

The victory over the kings of the North, 35

CHAPTER III.

Allotment of Canaan, 37

Caleb and his inheritance, 37

Cities of refuge, 40

The altar of witness, 41

Joshua's last words, 42

CHAPTEE IV.

The book of Judges, 48

Eglon of Moab and Ehud, 50

Deborah and Barak, 51

Scenert in the life of Gideon 65

Jephthah and his vow, 70

The story of Samson, 76

Micah, the religious idolater, 80

The nameless Levite; Gibeali of Benjamin, .... 85
The period of the Judges ; Great declension, . . . .88

Chronology of the book of Judges, 91

The story of Ruth, 92

(v)

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE V.

Introduction to the Looks of Samuel, 95

Samuel and his mother, 97

Samuel a prophet ; Eli and his sons, 102

The ark in captivity, 107

Samuel as judge, 109

The order of prophets, Ill

The schools of the prophets, 114

CHAPTEE VI.

Saul, and the rise of the monarchy, 123

The kingdom renewed to Saul, 120

Samuel's last words to the people, 128

Saul and Jonathan, 130

Saul and Amalek, 133

CHAPTER VII.

The History of David, 136

The evil spirit in Saul, .138

David and Goliath, 141

David and Saul, 146

Saul and the witch at Endor, 160

David and Ziklag, 163

Death of Saul, 165

David's elegy upon Saul and Jonathan, 166

Saul's character, 168

CHAPTER VIII.

Introduction to Chronicles, 171

David as king, 175

His steps to the throne, 175

The ark located in Jerusalem, 179

Public worship reorganized with sacred song, .... 182

The great Messianic promise, 187

David's wars, 193

David's great sins, 196

David's domestic calamities, 199

The sin of numbering the people, 205

David's work for the temple, 209

Arrangements for the succession, 214

David's last words and character, 216

Relations of the Hebrews to other nations, .... 220

CHAPTER IX.

Introduction to the books of Kings, 223

Solomon, 227

Solomon's dream and choice, . . . . . • . 228

CONTENTS. Vll

PAGB

Solomon's wisdom and writings, 231

His building and consecration of the temple, . . . 235

His foreign relations, 239

His apostasy from God, 241

His repentance ; The evidence in the case, . . . ^ 242

Eeligious influence of Solomon's reign, 244

Contact of sacred history with profane, 249

CHAPTER X.

The Eevolt,

Jeroboam,

Tlie agency of prophets in Israel,
Jeroboam ; Abijam ; Baasha, .
Ahab and Elijah the Tishbite, .
Elijah, Ahab, and the rain,

Elijah in Horeb,

Review of Elijah in Carmel and Horeb,

History of Ahab,

Ahab, Jezebel, and Naboth,

Ahab, Jehoshaphat, and Ramoth-Gilead, .

King Ahaziah and Elijah,

Elijah's translation,

King Jehoram, second son of Ahab,

Mesha ; The Moabite stone,

The Prophet Elisha, ....

Naaman, the Syrian,

Elisha; Samaria besieged and delivered,
Jehu ; His work and dynasty,
Jeroboam XL and the prophets,
Menahem ; Pekah ; Pul of Assyria, .
End of the Kingdom of Israel.
Connections of sacred history with profane.
Review of the Northern Kingdom,

252
255
257
261
264
266
273
275
279
283
285
290
291
293
296
297
300
303
308
312
313
314
316
320

CHAPTER XL

History of the Kingdom of Judah, 322

Rehoboam; Shishak, 322

Asa ; Zerah the Ethiopian, 325

His reformation, 327

Jehoshaphat ; His deliverance and reformation, . . . 328

Jehoram; Ahaziah; Athaliah, 333

Jehoiada and Joash, 336

Amaziah; Uzziah; Jotham, 339

Ahaz, 342

Hezekiah ; His reformation, 346

Manasseh ; Amon, 355

Josiah ; His reformation, 358

The sons of Josiah, 362

The Captivity, 364

Sacred history confirmed by profane, 369

Vlll

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XII.

The Age of the Eestoration,

Its antecedents,

History of the restored people ; Book of Ezra,
Decree of Cyrus ; Genealogical record,
Foundations of the temple laid,

Samaritan opposition,

Temple finished,

Ezra arrives; His commission, . . . .
Intermarriages with idolaters.

Scenes of prayer, . .

Steps toward reform,

Character of Ezra,

Book of Nehemiah,

Nehemiah's story,

Arrives at Jerusalem,

Rebuilding of the city walls; Opposition,
A chapter on the poor and the rich.
Opposition to the wall-building, . . . .
Great meeting for Scripture reading,
Great feast of tabernacles, .....
National concert of prayer, ....

The Psalms of this period,

Events of Nehemiah's second sojourn in Judah,
Eeview of Ezra and Nehemiah, ....
Origin of the Samaritan community,
Esther — book of, etc.; Author anddate, .

The story of Esther,

The feast of Purim,

371

372
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
389
391
393
394
395
397
398
399
401
403
404
410

CHAPTEE XIII.

Eevelation progressive throughout Hebrew history— in what

particulars, " . , .410

Appendix — Chronological Tables,

419

T

^-'"^'^m.

HEBREW HISTORY,

THE HEBREWS IN CANAAN.

It is proposed in this volume, First; to treat of the can-
onical authority and authorship of these historical books ;

Secondly; to consider the events and characters

here presented, as matters of history^ designed to throw
light upon the character and Avays of God, and upon
the heart and life of man. Thirdly ; to explain diffi-
cult passages, giving due attention to those facts and
events against which objections have been raised.

CHAPTER I.

Introduction to the Book of Joshua.

On what grounds is this hook included in the Canon of
Scripture ?

These grounds may be arranged under four heads as
follows :

I. The concurrent testimony of all Hebrew history ;

II. The intrinsic demand for such a book as this in the
Canon ;

HI. The provision made nationally for a continuous
Hebrew history ;

IV. The indorsement of Christ and his apostles.

I. In speaking of the concurrent testimony of Hebrew
history, I call attention,

1. To ihefact ; 2. To the value of the fact as testi-
mony to the point in hand.

1. The fact is sustained

(1.) By repeated references to this book in subsequent

(1)

Z INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA.

books of the Canon, both of the Old Testament and of the

New. The book of Judges links itself to this book of

Joshua in its first verse : " Now after the death of
Joshua, it came to pass," etc. Also by the fact that
two passages are quoted with little variation from
Joshua and incorporated into the history of the Judges,
viz., Josh. 15 : 13-19 into Judges 1 : 10-15 ; and Josh.

24 : 28-30 into Judges 2 : 6-9. Again we have a

striking reference to Josh. 6: 26 (the malediction pro-
nounced by Joshua on the man who should attempt to
rebuild Jericho), in 1 Kings 16 : 34. The shape of this
reference is : " According to the word of the Lord which
he spake by Joshua, the son of Nun." This not only
indorses the book of Joshua as part of the well-known
collection of Hebrew historical records, but these words

of Joshua as inspired of God. In the Psalms of

Israel we find repeated references to the great historic
facts of the conquest and settlement of Canaan, as may
be seen in Ps. 44 : 1-3, and 78 : 54, 55, and 105 : 42-45,
and 135: 10-12, and 136: 17-22. The specially his-
toric prayer of Nehemiah (9 : 22-25) groups the great
events of the book of Joshua with those of the books of
INFoses preceding and with the later books that follow.
The sublime strains of Habakkuk (3 : 3-15) are but the
echo of the historic events of this book of Joshua, presup-
posing, therefore, the existence of this book. In the

New Testament we find references to this book in the his-
toric speech of Stephen (Acts 7 : 45), and in that of Paul
(Acts 13: 19). Two other references appear in the
Epistle to the Hebrews (4 : 8, and 11 : 30, 31). It is un-
fortunate that twice in the New Testament the name
of Joshua is given "Jesus," viz., in Acts 7 : 45 and Heb.
4: 8.

(2.) The book of Joshua stands in its place in all the
ancient translations made of the Old Testament Canon,
e. ff., The Scptuagint and the Chaldee Targums. This
is the strongest sort of historic testimon3^

(3.) Its claim is supported by the unvarying testi-
mony of all known Jewish writers, especially of
Josephus and of the great lights of Jewish learning in
the ages since the Christian era.

Here let it be carefully noted : — It is historically cer-
tain, apart from scripture testimony, that the Hebrew
peoj^jle in the infancy of their nation were in Egypt.

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA. 3

It is historically certain that Canaan was their home
and country for many centuries anterior to the Chris-
tian era. How came they there? What history of the
conquest of Canaan and of the location of Israel there
has the world ever had except what is here in this
book of Joshua ? The fact that somehow they came
into possession of this country — that at some time they
did locate themselves there — is beyond question.
Hence there is the strongest presumption that this
book is a true history, and has always been a part of
the sacred historic records of Israel.*

2. We next consider the value of this historic testi-
mony.

It must be admitted that the early traditions of some
of the oldest nations are fabulous. Why may not this
book of Joshua be fabulous also ?

I answer : It lies on the face of every page of this book

*It is in place to adduce collateral testimonies from profane his-
tory and monuments to corroborate the historic verity of this book
of Joshua.

It is well known that the ancient Canaanites and Phenicians were
a maritime people, traversing the great Mediterranean with their
ships and commerce, and at a very early period planting colonies in
North-Avestern Africa. It is also clear from the narrative in this
book of Joshua, and is probable from the nature of the case that the
invasion of Canaan by Joshua smote those nations with panic, and,
consequently, that some at least would naturally flee the country by
water, following the well-known track of their commerce to the shores
of Africa. In accordance with these probabilities, there comes down
to us through three apparently independent witnesses the statement
tliat in Numidia there stood one or more pillars with substantially
this inscription : "We are they who fled from the face of Joshua the

Robber, the son of Nun." The three witnesses are Moses of Chorone,

the Armenian historian; Procopius, the Secretary of Belisarius, who
went to Africa with that distinguished general; and Suidas, the
lexicographer, of the tenth Christian century. The inscriptions are
given with slight variations by these three witnesses, the words of
Moses being these : " When he (Joshua) was destroying the Canaan-
ites, some fled to Agra and sought Tharsis in ships. This appears
from an inscription carved on pillars in Africa Avhich is extant even
in our own time, and is of this purport: "We, the chiefs of the
Canaanites, fleeing from Joshua the Robber, have come hither to

dwell." The words as first quoted above are from Procopius.

Suidas, on the word Canaan, remarks : *' And there are up to the
present time such slabs in Numidia, containing the following in-
scription • — "We are Canaanites, whom Joshua the Robber drove

out." The account in full is given by George Rawlinson in his

Bampton Lectures of 1859, pages 86, 87, 300, 301.

4 IXTHODUCTION TO JOSHUA.

that it ivas icritten in the interests of the true God. Its aim
Avas to make revelations of God's character and waj'S.
It was written by one who feared God and was conse-
crated to his service. That he wrote under a deep sense
of being near to God — near to the God of infinite truth-
fuhiess, purity, sincerity — is everj^-where apparent.

Here my argument is that the highest guaranty for
the truthfulness of an historical book is the truthful
spirit of its author. If there is truth anywhere among
men, we must look for it where the influence of the God
of truth is felt most strongly on the soul. If it be said
that the Hebrew nation sometimes apostatized from the
true God to idols, the answer is, Yes; — but the books of
the Old Testamentnever apostatized from God; never drifted
into the current of the national apostacy ; never failed
to protest most solemnly and at every peril against such
apostacy. If the facts were otherwise ; if the writers of
these books had gone into apostacy from God, this argu-
ment, I admit, would lose its force. The devil is notori-
ously the father of lies. It would not be safe to assume
that any book or any part of a book written in his in-
terest is true.

II. There was an intrinsic demand for such a book as this
in the sacred Canon. It was an indispensable link of con-
nection between the Pentateuch and all subsequent
Hebrew history. Whole pages of promise had been given
to the patriarchs, pledging to their posterit}^ the land
of Canaan for their country and inheritance. Was there
not, tlierefore, a demand for some record of the fulfill-
ment? Was it not vital that all the future genera-
tions of Israel should know how this fulfillment was
brought about? Did not all those future generations
need the moral power of these great facts of their
nation's history? Did not the Lord know they would
need it? If it be true that the Lord opened the Jordan
waters at high flood for their passage on dry ground ;
if it be true that the walls of the first city they came to
fell before the blast of ram's horns and the presence of
the ark of the covenant ; if it be true that God discom-
fited host after host of Canaan's best armed thousands
with storm and hail ; is it not to be presumed that God
would secure an authentic, reliable account of these
great facts for the moral instruction of the future thou-
sands of Israel, and indeed of the whole world? — But

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA. 5

there is no other record competing with this. It is, there-
fore, this, or none.

Yet further; let it be said Avith emphasis: this argu-
ment will not appear in its full force until Ave consider
the intrinsic demand for a history of these great events,
not only trutliful historically, but inspired of God — in-
spired in the sense of being brought out under divine
direction, comprising what the Lord deemed it impor-
tant to place on these historic records for the moral in-
struction of all coming generations. If the Lord planted
Israel in Canaan by his oAvn special providence, in ful-
fillment of his own long-standing promise, it admits of
no rational question that he took care to have a reliable
record of the fact under his OAvn indorsement. If God
Avas in Israel ; if they Avere his chosen people; if he Avas
using them for the purpose of revealing himself to our
world — then it is simply impossible that those great
deeds clone by him for the very purpose of revealing
himself, should be left to sink into oblivion unrecorded —
impossible that they should fail of such a record as
Avould ansAver the ends of God in a Avritten revelation.
That is to say ; if the book of Joshua is historically true,
it can not be less than inspired of God. If his hand
was in those events, his hand Avas also in the record
Avhich has brought them doAvn through all the ages to
our hand.

It may aid toAvard a better conception of the force of
these arguments if Ave put it as a supposition — That the
entire books of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel Avere never
Avritten — that this section of HebrcAV history Avere left
a dead blank, and Ave Avere launched from the death of
Moses flush into the reign of David. At the point
Avhen Moses disappears from the history, the people
Avere manifestly on the borders of the promised land ;
every thing seemed ripe for crossing the Jordan and
taking possession. But the next record we have gives
us the nation apparently long time planted in Canaan ;
a monarchical government in running order, and a
young man of very marked qualities, admirable training,
and high promise, ready to ascend the throne. What
sort of Rip Van Winkle sleep has been upon the HebrcAv
people, or at least upon their historians, during all this
period? What account can be given for this mysteri-
ous silence of HebreAV history? Hoav has it happened

6 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA.

(we ask it reverently) that the Lord permitted such a
blank in the historic records of his own glorious achieve-
ments? Counted numerically or estimated in military
science by the •weight of their battalions, Israel was
weak and Canaan mighty. How was this immense
disparity overcome ? Why did not the Lord tell all the
world hoxo he fulfilled his word to the old patriarchs and
how he made his chosen people mighty through God to
the casting down of the strongly walled cities of old
Canaan ?

III. With forethoughtful wisdom, God made pro-
vision in the Hebrew constitution for a continuous
Hebrew history and for its preservation. The tribe of
Levi and the family of Aaron were the learned class of
the nation. Exempted largely from engrossing, ex-
haustive toil, it was one of their official duties to care
for the religious instruction of the people. It was made
both their interest and their duty to guard the archives
of the nation ; to keep the books of Moses and the later
historical books as they were prepared. That the origi-
nal plan assigned to them also the function of national
historian is perhaps possible, but it is not definitely
indicated. If such were the plan it was soon modified.
Whether because of negligence on their part, or because
their Levitical duties were all they could perform well,
or because some special qualifications were naturally
requisite for this service, it came to pass that ver}^
early after Moses the Lord raised up a series of 2^^'02^hets
to write the history each of his own times. The sacred
books show plainly that Samuel, Nathan, Gad, and other
men of this class, became national historians. Their
succession and their services were by far the more reli-
able from the fact that God himself filled their ranks ;
that they did not hold office by hereditary riglit or by
any public appointment from men, but directly and
immediately from God himself. What better guaranty
than tliis can be rationally demanded?

The historic testimony, to show that a scries of proph-
ets became the historians of their nation, is of this
sort :

1. Throughout the two books of the Kings, the writer
closes his narrative of each king by referring the reader
for any further information to the books of the chron-
icles of the kings of Israel or of Judah. With scarcely

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA. 7

the slightest variation in his method, if it be a king
of Judah, he refers you to the chronicles of the kings
of Judah ; if of Israel, to the chronicles of their kings.
The case of Solomon being very prominent, he writes
thus (1 Kings 11 : 41) : " The rest of the acts of Solo-
mon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not
written in the book of the acts of Solomon?" — showing
apparently that his history was to be found in a special
volume bearing his name.

In the two books of Chronicles the references to his-
toric authorities for " the rest of the acts " of its several
kings are less uniform, but for this reason more valu-
able. Of David we read thus (1 Chron. 29 : 29, 30) :
" Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold,
they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in
the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of
Gad the seer ; With all his reign and his might, and
the times that went over him and over Israel, and over
all the kingdoms of the countries" — which certainly
indicates a very full history, not of Israel only and of
David, but of outside powers. Here are three historians
of David and his times — Samuel, Nathan, Gad. Solo-
mon also had the honor of three distinct historians (2
Chron. 9 : 29) — Nathan, Abijah the Shilonite, and Idclo
the seer. For further particulars of Kehoboam, the
writer refers to " Shemaiah the prophet and to Iddo the
seer concerning genealogies^^ — this important function

falling within their province (2 Chron. 12 : 15)

Closing his sketch of Jehoshaphat, he says (2 Chron. 20 :
34) — "The rest of his acts are written in the book of
Jehu, son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of
the Kings of Israel " — a fact which is verified in 1 Kings

16 : 1, 7. Again, we have several references to " the

book of the kings of Judah and Israel." — Moreover,
"the rest of the acts of Uzziah," (the writer says)
"Isaiah the prophet did write" (2 Chron. 26: 12) ; also,
" the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his goodness, be-
hold, they are written in the vision [prophec}^] of

Isaiah the prophet " — as we may see in Isa. 36-39.

This twofold reference to Isaiah suggests two points
worthy of notice, viz., that these prophet-historians
wrote largely as eye-witnesses of matters falling under
their personal knowledge, and that in this one case we
have in our hand the very authorities to which he

8 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA.

refers us for further information. In the other cases
(excepting what Samuel wrote of David), the historic
authorities are no longer extant.

Comprehensively the facts on the subject of historic

references to other authorities in writing are : (1.)

They include every case in which the w^riters of either
the books of Kings or of Chronicles record the death of

a Hebrew king, whether of Israel or of Judah. (2.)

They give us the names of at least eight such prophet-
historians, and manifestly refer to works written by
many others. (3.) So far as appears, these prophet-
historians of the acts of those kings wrote out and
placed in the public archives the events of their own
times, from which the writers of the books of Kings
and Chronicles drew if they had occasion, and to which
they referred their early readers for further informa-
tion. The authorities referred to were extant when
our canonical histories were written. (4.) Compar-
ing the historic sketches Avhich have come down to us
in the canonical books with those to which they re-
ferred but which are now lost, it is surely legitimate
to infer that if the latter were written by men known
as inspired prophets, yet more surely were the former,
viz. the books preserved through all the future genera-
tions of Israel in their sacred canon.

IV. The proof that "Joshua" belongs in the canon
of the Old Testament is properly completed by the in-
dorsement of Christ and his apostles. They furnish
this indorsement in two ways :

(a.) They indorse the entire Old Testament canon
under its Avell-known names; "the Scriptures," "the
Holy Scriptures," "the Law, the Prophets, and the
Psalms," etc. Sec Luke 24 : 44, and 16 : 20, and John 5 :
39, 46, 47, and Acts 28 : 23, and 1 Tim. 3 1 16, and 2 Pet.
1: 21.

(b.) They indorse the several books by quotations
from them or by allusions to them as a portion of the
sacred canon. The historic events of Joshua are defi-
nitely referred to by Stephen (Acts 7 : 4, 5) ; by Paul
(Acts 13 : 19) ; and by the writer to the Hebrews (4 : 8,
and 11 : 30, 31.)

I see no call for further argument beyond what will
be found in these two closing suggestions ; viz., (1.)
That the points above made are the best evidence that

I^'TRODUCTION TO JOSHUA. 9

is in the nature of the case possible — the very sort of
evidence which might be expected for books really in-
spired, and all that ought to be expected ; and (2) that

these proofs stand unimpeached. From reliable sources
of testimony no counter voice has ever been heard.

There remains the less important question of the orig-
inal author of this book.

Here I make two main points.

1. There is strong internal evidence that the original
writer was contemporary with the events. In a few
passages he writes in the first person, definitely in-
cluding himself among the actors. " Until we were
passed over " (5 : 1). " The land which the Lord swore
that he would give us " (5:6). Note also what he writes
of Rahab : " She dwelleth in Israel even unto this day "
(6: 25), showing that the record was written while

Rahab yet lived. Many passages give us the definite

words of conversation had or directions given, as might
be expected in a narrative made at the time and on the
spot. The geographical allotments of Canaan among
the tribes were matters of contemporary record — wisely,
if not even necessarily. The narrative itself notes the
fact : " The men went and passed through the land and
described it by cities into seven parts in a book " (18 :
9). These are points of strong internal proof of a
record made very near the time of the events.

2. That Joshua was himself the writer, or at least
that it was done under his eye and at his instance, is

eminently probable, on these grounds : (a.) Trained

under Moses — his first and most prominent servant,
associate, assistant, and after the death of Moses, his
successor, it is almost certain that he was competent to
write this history — and that he did. (b.) It is ex-
plicitly said that he wrote out one transaction (24:
26): "And Joshua wrote these w'ords in the book of
the law%" etc. Against these points of strong prob-
able evidence, there is so far as I know no counter
evidence whatever.

CHAPTER II.

C0^' QUEST OF CANAAN.

We have rcaclied another of the great crisis periods
of Hebrew histor}^, at once critical and momentous,
eventful and inspiring. How critical it was, we shall
better appreciate if we recall to mind the failure to
reach Canaan when they came out of Egypt though
they came forth " with a high hand; " or the yet more
disastrous failure when they moved upon Canaan from
Kadesh-Barnea ; or if we remember how long they had
been marching and countermarching and camping
through the great Arabian desert in wanderings that
seemed so fruitless and disheartening, in which there
had been so much of hope deferred and of wearisome
waiting for an end long sought in vain. It was critical^
moreover, in view of the great military power of the old
nations of Canaan, or the very unmilitary antecedents
of Israel. Naturally, the issues were to be moment-
ous and eventful; for they were destined to make or
unmake a great nation. They must issue in the rising
and triumph of God's earthly kingdom, or in its dis-
honor, and in at least the long postponement of its
success. Promises and covenants pledging Canaan to
this people which God had been waiting through long
generations to fulfill were either on the eve of their
fulfillment or of another postponement of unknown
duration. It is in human nature to feel a keen sensi-
bility over the pending of issues so momentous and

eventful. Yet the hour was inspiring in just so far

as there was evidence that God's hand was there ^nd
that he was about to inaugurate a great era of victory
for Israel.

Fitly the history opens (Josh. 1.) by revealing God's
agency in the movement — his great command from his
lofty throne, bidding the people " go forward." Coupled
with tliis, the history discloses the moral state of the
people — the tone and temper of both the leader and the

led in this eventful hour. First of all the Lord

spake to Joshua, transferring to him the leadership of
Israel which Moses laid down at his death, and bidding
(10)

CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 11

him arise and go over Jordan — "thou and all this peo-
ple." As if to inspire complete assurance of success,
he said to him — " Not a man shall be able to stand be-
fore thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses,
so will I be with thee ; I will not fail thee nor forsake
thee; be strong and of a good courage, for unto this
people thou shalt divide Canaan for their inheritance."
It was every thing toward success that the soul of their
leader should be mighty in God and sure of victory;

hence these words. Forthwith orders go forth

through his subordinate officers to all the people to be
in readiness within three days to pass over Jordan.
Was not that an hour of most thrilling interest to the
thousands of Israel? Is their wilderness life at last to
end? Are they so soon to plant their weary feet on
the goodly soil of Canaan ? Joshua has a special word
for the warriors of the two-and-a-half tribes already
located in their national home on the east of Jordan.
It was in the bond that their men of war, leaving their
families in their eastern homes, should go over before
their brethren, unincumbered, harnessed for battle.
The record sets forth their prompt response to this call.
We are ready/ We wait for marching orders. "Only
the Lord thy God be with thee as he was with Moses.

Be strong and of a good courage." In these words we

have the temper, the morale, of this army of conquest.
The faith of God strong in their souls; their hearts
on obedience to God ; their eye on victory !

Here we may fitly arrest the historic narrative for
the moment to revise this group of fads and gather up their
moral lessons, as thus :

1. God is never afraid of exigencies for his people, how-
ever severe the strain they may occasion. Indeed exi-
gencies are a part of his ordained scheme for their
earthly discipline.

2. God never fails to be equal to any emergency into
which he may bring his people.

3. It comes of his wisdom, kindness, and love that he
prepares his people before hand to bear the great labor
he proposes to put upon them. During full forty years
of wilderness life under Moses he had been preparing
this generation for the conquest of Canaan. Noticeably
he began with them in their childhood.

4. It is every thing to his people, that their own God

12 CONQUEST OF CANAAN.

should exhort them to " be strong and of good courage "
(vs. 6, 7, 9). How ought such words to inspire their
souls and tone up their faith to perfect assurance !

5. With God on their side, what have his people ever
to fear? What can they not achieve against any foe,
in the face of any obstacles, however weak they may be
in themselves apart from God's strength given them in
their need?

6. Though the scenes before them were in the highest
degree exciting, yet God expected them to be cool, con-
siderate, studiously careful to keep the book of his law
in their mouth and in their heart, meditating thereon
day and night (v. 8) ; for when God comes so very near
to his people for their help, it behooves them to walk
softly and solemnly before him, holding their mind to
most implicit obedience to his revealed will, ever wake-
ful to learn what this will of God as to their duty may be.

Next, we have (Josh. 2) the mission of the two spies sent
by Joshua " to view the land, even Jericho." Apparently
this was a military movement, wise and forethoughtful;
for a strongl}^ walled city of the enemj^, eight miles from
the point of crossing the Jordan, might sharply contest
the passage. If the men of Canaan had the heart to
defend their country against this invasion, would they
not muster at the fords of Jordan with their best forces?
Yet this mission of the spies was not merely a thing of
military policy, it was j^et more a movement of God.
His hand was in it. It served to show that this time —
far otherwise than on the former mission of spies — the
panic is all on the other side. Who guided these two
spies to the harlot Rahab's house, the history saith not;
but plainly God's hand was in tliis also. From her
they learned that the men of Jericho had heard of the
fall of Sihon and Og of Bashan ; had heard also of God's
great judgments on Egypt and of his marvelous pres-
ence with Israel through all her wilderness wanderings,
and that their hearts melted witli fear and dread till
there remained no more spirit or courage in any man
of them as against Israel, for they saw that the mighty
God was with them.

Of the former history of this woman of Jericho we
know nothing beyond what is told in that one sadly
significant word " the harlot Rahab." But on this record
she appears a woman of thoughtful, vigorous, independ-

CROSSING THE JORDAN. 13

ent mind, who understood well the public feeling in
her city and throughout Canaan ; who had formed her
own conclusions as to the great question of the times,
and was more than ready in the face of some present
peril to cast in her lot with Israel on the side of Israel's
God. So she took the Hebrew spies to her house ; skill-
fully protected them through their then present perils,
and sent them to their people in safety. We notice
that in stipulating for the rescue of herself and house-
hold when the city should fall, she enumerated " father
and mother, brethren and sisters, and all that they have,"
but made no allusion to husband, and none to children.
AVe are thankful that she had so many family ties, and
a nobler nature than is wont to appear amid such sur-
roundings— the best we could expect in a penitent
" harlot." Plans for her rescue ere the city should fall
were wisely laid. From her house on the town-wall a
pendent scarlet thread guided the spies to their pro-
tector, where by agreement her household were con-
vened in readiness; and they were put in safety before
the city fell. This history leaves her with the state-
ment (6: 25), "Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and
her father's house and all that she had, and she dwelleth
in Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers
whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." To the gene-
alogical table of Matthew (chap. 1) we are indebted for
the further fact that she became the wife of Salmon,
the mother of Boaz, the grandmother of Jesse, and in
the fourth generation the maternal ancestor of David.
There was grand material in her, which, sanctified by
her faith, made her truly a mother in Israel.

The Crossing of the Jordan.

The time in the year for crossing the Jordan was fixed
forethoughtfully in the early spring. True, Jordan was
then at high flood ; the melting of the snows of Lebanon
caused Jordan to flow all his banks;* but this made

"■•• The usual width of the Jordan at this point may be one hundred
feet; its depth eight or ten. When the Israelites passed it, its width
is supposed to have been twelve hundred feet. The waters set back
to Zaretan and Adam, near Beth-shean, thirty-five or forty miles dis-
tant." (See Coleman's Historical Text Book and Atlas of Biblical
Geography, p. 83.)

14 CROSSING THE JORDAN.

the miracle the more signal, and the prestige of God's
present hand became the greater and to the Canaanites
the more appalling. The tenth day of the first month
was the eventful one— four da3's before their feast of
the Passover, and among the first days of the barley
harvest.

The preceding night they encamped on the river
bank. The grand scene of crossing the Jordan bed puts
the ark of the covenant in the foreground. The priests
bearing the ark came into the water's edge, dipping
their feet in the Jordan ; then the waters stood as if a
dam were suddenly dropped across the entire river-bed;
the waters from above set back, piling themselves higher
and higher through all that momentous day ; while the
waters below that crossing line flowed on and away,
leaving the river-bed dry. The priests held their posi-
tion supporting the ark of God till the hosts of Israel had
gone over, and then brought up the rear. When night-
fall came over Israel they were in the long-promised
land. They had crossed the Jordan. They had seen its
waters mounting up higher and higher on their right
all the day ; but the glorious ark of God stood like a
breast-work of the Almighty, and not a rill, not a drop,
could force itself down upon their crossing host till the
last man had passed over and till the feet of the priests
who bore the ark were high on the Canaan side. Then
the hosts of Israel were not only in Canaan, but were
there with one more fresh testimony that their God was
with them. Eventful days were before them; scenes
of war and blood were in prospect ; but the men of faith
throughout all the camp of Israel sang their evening
song with glad heart and rested on their arms feeling
that it was enough for them that their God was there ;
had brought them into his own land of promise, and
would carry the work of its conquest through in his own
time and way.

AVe are in no danger of overestimating either the in-
trinsic interest or the moral significance of this grand
event. Let us remember how many slow moving gen-
erations of the children of Abraham had held Canaan
in distant prospect and in more or less confident hope.
Now they are there — and there, by what stupendous
agencies — through what astounding scenes! How they
must have looked up to that solid wall of waters piling

MEMORIAL STONES. 15

itself high and more high during all that memorable
day in which full three millions of men, women, and chil-
dren w^ere crossing over into Canaan ! What child even
of that crossing host could ever forget the scene ? How
must the people have been impressed with a sense of
the power of their own God — that God Avho had given
them a symbol of his presence in the ark of his
covenant !

Observe that this crossing was " right over against
Jericho " — as if intentionally located almost under the
very ejQ of that first strongly walled city of Canaan.
But they had not the least reason to fear the armed
men or the strong walls of Jericho. The fear was now
on the other side. When his people have faith and
walk humbly before him, God has reserved power
enough to bring out in their behalf, so that they often
need only stand still and see the salvation of God.
This was the beginning of God's glorious deeds for his
people toward the possession of Canaan — the first, but
not the last.

Memorial Stones.

Such an event was w^orthy of commemoration. It ought
never to be forgotten. Stones have often served the
dying generations of men for a memorial. A pile of them,
even though they hold no written letters, may hold a
tradition of their significance age after age. The num-
ber twelve was suggestive of the number of their tribes ;
therefore, twelve stones were placed together for a

memorial. It should be noticed that this memorial

was duplicated. There w^ere two such memorial piles ;
one on the east of Jordan, and one on the west ; the former
on the spot where the feet of the priests first touched
the waters — that is, at high water mark on the east
side of the river, and at the point of their crossing.
As these stones were at hand and needed no transporta-
tion, it is said (4 : 9) that Joshua set them up.
Obviously they would serve a threefold purpose ; to
indicate high water mark ; also the place of crossing ;
and to provide a memorial which the tribes on the.

east of Jordan might consider as theirs. The second

memorial pile cost more labor. Twelve men, one from
each tribe, were selected and ordered to pass over

16 CIRCUMCISION, THE PASSOVER.

before the ark, and take each a stone from the midst
of the river channel, and bear it to the place of their first
encampment, viz., Gilgal, about five miles from the
Jordan, on the rising bluff which overlooks the Jordan
vale and river. This memorial pile was readily acces-
sible to the tribes on the west of Jordan, and from the
manner of its construction would hold within itself
traditionary memories likely to endure from age
to age among the Hebrews of Canaan. Gilgal con-
tinued for several years to be the head-quarters and
fortified camp of Joshua and his host. This memorial
pile stood for ages to suggest to the youth of Canaan
the inquiry, What mean these stones ? and to afford
to Hebrew fathers the opportunity of repeating and

so perj^etuating the ancient story. So let all the

great works of God be held forever in the hearts of his
people. It is wholesome to fathers to repeat the story,
wholesome to children to hear it and jDlace it deep in
their memories, till they in their turn become fathers
and tell it to their children.

The historian (chap. 5) records two facts, manifestly
correlated to each other. First, that the tidings of
this wonderful passage over the dry bed of the Jordan
flashed over the hills and valleys of Canaan, bearing
terror and dismay to all hearts. Alas, said they, who
can stand before this mighty God of Israel! "Their
hearts melted, neither was there spirit in them any

more, because of the children of Israel" (5 : 1). The

second fact is that Joshua proceeded to the most un-
military act of circumcising all his men of war — indeed
all the children of Israel.* With apparently not the
least fear lest the Canaanites should muster their

* The sense of the passage (5 : 9) has been earnestly debated. " The
Lord said to Joshua, this day have I rolled away the reproach of
Egypt from off you: Wherefore the name of the place was called

Gilgal (the rolling place) unto this day." The best view assumes

that Egypt had reproached Israel with their failure to reach Canaan
during the long wanderings of forty years in the wilderness, and
that God was then to roll off this reproach by visibly taking the peo-
ple again into covenant relation with himself, indicated by this cir-
cumcision, and so Avould give them Canaan. That circumcision had
.been omitted in the wilderness, especially after the unbelief in the
matter of the spies, implied that God's covenant with his people was
temporarily inoperative because of that unbelief. At Gilgal the
Lord was returning to them in his great mercy.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORd's HOST. 17

forces and fall suddenly upon them — with a deep feel-
ing obviously that his first concern was to be right
before God, and to have all his soldiers and people right
in heart and true to every precept of their God, he sus-
pended all military movements ; gave his enemies
time to recover from their panic ; halted his army not
only for some days of circumcision but for the feast of
the Passover seven days — all as if religion was indefinitely
more than military strategy — as it truly was !

Let us note that this Passover, far beyond any
other yet, was suggestive of the scenes of the orig-
inal institution of it forty years before — on that
most eventful night of doom to Egypt, but of joy-
ful redemption to Israel. The redemption begun there
in Egypt was consummated, in a measure, here in
Canaan. This crossing of the Jordan must have sug-
gested the crossing of the Red Sea by their fathers,
three days after the first Passover night. That
earlier crossing put the Ked Sea between them
and Egyptian bondage : this latter crossing put
the Jordan between them and their wilderness life.
The most precious thought of all would be that God
was equally in both — his uplifted right arm was made
glorious for their redemption, both there and here. It
must have been inspiring to all devout souls to celebrate
the majesty and loving-kindness of their fathers' God.

Among the new experiences of their Canaan life was
a supplj^of bread from the corn (not as in our English
" the old corn," but the corn) of the land. The manna
ceased as suddenly as it began. Forty j^ears (less one
and a half months) it had been the nation's bread,
fresh each morning (save the Sabbath) from God's
lower heavens. The period of its fall measured their
wilderness life. This being past the manna ceased.

Another event of striking significance stands in the
history at this point. While Joshua was near by
Jericho, apparently alone, taking a military survey of
the city and its approaches, suddenly raising his eye,
he saw a man over against him with a drawn sword in
his hand. True to the instincts of his military spirit,
and with apparently no sensation of fear, Joshua ad-
vances near him and puts the main question — demand-
ing the countersign — for us? or against us? Friend art

thou ; or foe ? As promptly the answer comes :

2

18 FALL OF JERICHO.

^'Nay, but as Captain of the Lord's host am I now
come." Instantly Joshua recognized in this Personage
his divine commander-in-chief; and prostrating him-
self in worship, asks — "What saith m}^ Lord unto his
servant?" The Captain of the Lord's host made this
his first reply: "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place Avhereon thou standest is holy; and Joshua
did so." His further rejily appears in chap. 6: 2-5.

This suggests to our minds the scene with Moses

at the burning bush ; much more surely must it have

made the same suggestion to Joshua. It would seem

to have been the main purpose of this manifestation to
give Joshua a sensible and vivid impression of his su-
perior officer. To the day of his death let him never
be tempted to think of himself as at the head of the
armies of Israel. Let him never forget the presence,
the look, the voice, the words of his supreme command-
ing officer, the real "Captain of the Lord's host."
Critics have raised the question, Who was this Person-
age? Was he human, angelic, or divine? But one

answer it seems to me can be given : Divine ; the same
who spake to Moses at the bush ; the same whose
record and description appears in Ex. 23 : 20-23 ; " Be-
hold, I send an angel before thee ; beware of him and
obey his voice ; provoke him not, for he will not par-
don your transgressions ; for my name is in him.^^

Jericho Falls.

According to the principles of military tactics this
strongly walled city ought to have commanded the
passage of the Jordan. It failed to make the least
demonstration in that direction. Yet Joshua found tlie
city standing in its strength, too near his encampment
at Gilgal (which lay between Jericho and the Jordan),
and too important in every respect to be passed. What
shall be done with it?

The problem must come to issue. What of these
strongly walled cities of Canaan ? Is this undisciplined
and half-armed host of Israel equal to their subjuga-
tion? With none of the powerful enginery produced
by military science for the assault of strongly walled
cities; with no battering rams, no catapults, and far
indeed from having field artillery and Rodman guns —

FALL OF JERICHO. 19

what can they do before the walled cities of Canaan?
We shall see.

Here also, as in the crossing of the Jordan, the ark
of the covenant appears in the foreground. Seven
priests surround it with rams' horns. Its place is as-
signed between the battalions that precede and those
that follow and bring up the rear. The whole armed
host of Israel is put in motion — one half to precede and
the other to follow the sacred ark and its attendant
priests. The first day they march around the city
once, the priests blowing their rams' horns, but every
human tongue silent ; and return to their camp for the
night. Five more days they encompass the city daily in
the same marching order — all silent save the horn-blow-
ing. What did the men of Jericho think of this new

and strange type of tactics? Had they ever seen a
walled city invested after this sort ? Even if they felt
somewhat uneasy the first day and the second, did not
their fears begin to subside and the whole movement
begin to appear farcical and ridiculous before the event-
ful seventh day opened upon them? Be this as it may,
the seventh day came. Up betimes in the morning
under fresh orders, moving at double-quick, they en-
compass the city seven times— every rams' horn blow-
ing, but all human voices silent till the word of com-
mand resounds through their marching hosts, shout!
Then the welkin rang with the shouts of victors in
battle !

All suddenly the entire wall of the city is flat upon
the ground. Wheeling toward the city from every
point, armed men rush over the fallen walls; with
sword and fire they lay the city utterly desolate. All
its silver and gold, all its vessels of brass and of iron,
are consecrated to the Lord and come into his treasury ;
all else was doomed to destruction. Jericho is no more !
Its fall gave new impulse to the panic which shook the
stoutest hearts among the men of Canaan. They could
not but see that a new power was among them and that
their city-walls were of no particular account before this
strange people. AVe may imagine how anxiously they
are saying — Who can stand before this unknown enemy
and their more wonderful and wonder-working God ? —
It may be noted that throughout the subsequent history
of the conquest of Canaan, the siege of walled towns is

20 FALL OF JERICHO.

scarcely noticed. This first nicaster-stroke of divine
policy seems to have made city-walls, gates, and bars
practically useless.

Some may raise the question (more curious than
wise)— ^What could be the use of all that marching and
horn-blowing? Why was not one day's investing as
good as seven ? And why a seven-fold encompassing
on the seventh day?

To these questions it might suffice to answer in gen-
eral, that the Lord has his own thoughts in regard to
the preliminary service or doing which shall precede a
miracle. Very possibly we should fail to fathom all
those thoughts if we should attempt it. The requiring
of some human activity in connection with God's mir-
acles has been the rule — " Go, Naaman, and wash thou
in Jordan seven times and thou shalt be clean " — of thy
leprosy (2 Kings 5 : 10). To spit on the ground — to
make clay of the spittle, and rub it upon the eyes of the
man born blind and then to bid him " Go, wash in the
pool of Siloam " — preceded his restoration to sight ; — but
not at all as natural remedial agencies. Those ante-
cedents stood to the miracle in moral relations only.
We may suppose, not unreasonably, that God proposes
in these preliminaries a certain trial of human faith.
In this case the Lord was doubtless quite willing that
the men of Jericho should have their attention
thoroughly aroused to these transactions before the
fatal hour. In general, it is a thing of wise economy
not to perform a miracle until every thing has been
done to give it a telling moral power. Let there be no
waste of force even though the power that works mir-
acles be (as to the arm of the Almighty) so infinitely
abundant that we might suppose it cheap. The laws
of the human mind being what they are, divine wisdom
will suggest a close economy in the putting forth of
miraculous powers lest they lose their due impression.

Achan.

The seventh chapter discloses a scene of trouble.
Suddenly the progress of Israel's victorious arms is
blocked; their prestige of victory is dimmed; their
bright prospects are clouded over. The feeling in the
most sagacious minds is scarcely less than consterna-

ACHAN AND AI. 21

tion. What has haiDpened? The warriors of Israel

are smitten and flying before the men of Ai.* Joshua
falls on his face in agony. This is so unlike his antic-
ipations! He had felt sure that God was with him
and with his army; but this appears quite otherwise.
He cries to the Lord for help. Nay more; he thinks
this a matter of most serious moment. We read:
"Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his
face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he
and all the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their
heads. And Joshua said, Alas ! O Lord God ! where-
fore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to
deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us ?
O Lord, what shall we say when Israel turneth their
backs before their enemies?" To which he adds, quite
in the spirit of those great pra3^ers of Moses for Israel ;
" For the Canaanites will hear of it, and will environ
us round, and cut off our name from the earth, and ichat
wilt thou do for thy great namef^^ Instantly the Lord
replies : " Get thee up ; wherefore liest thou thus upon
thy face ? Israel hath sinned ; they have transgressed my
covenant; they have taken of the accursed thing; have
stolen and dissembled, and have put it even among
their own stuff. Therefore it is that Israel could not
stand before their enemies; neither will I be with you
any more except ye destroy the accursed thing from
among you.'' (vs. 6-12.) To make the strongest possible
impression upon all minds, both of the enormity of this
sin, of the purity of their own holy Lord God, and of
his all-searching eye before which no sin however con-
cealed from men can be hidden, the whole people are
brought up standing before him, and by the sacred lot
first, from all the tribes Judah is taken ; then onward
by families, by households, and lastly man by man,
until at length the guilty offender stood out before the
assembled hosts of Israel — Achan, by name ; the sinner
who had brought this great trouble upon Israel. To
him Joshua said: "My son, give glory to the Lord God
of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me
now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me." Achan

* The site of Ai has been ideijtified by Dr. Robinson, twelve miles
north-west from Jericho ; ten miles north-east from Jerusalem ; three
miles south-east from Bethel. The valley of Achor was a short dis-
tance south of ancient Jericho. (Coleman, p. 84.)

22 ACHAN.

confesses : " Indeed, I have sinned aojainst the Lord God
of Israel, and thus have I done : When I saw among
the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hun-
dred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shek-
els weight, then I coveted them, and took them, and
behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my

tent, and the silver under it." The stolen goods are

soon found and brought out before all the people ; Achan
and all his were brought down into the valley of Achor
[^trouble] and there stoned with stones and burned with
iire after being stoned. A great heap of stones was
raised over him — a memorial of his awful doom.
" So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger.''
(7:26).

The reader will notice some striking points of anal-
ogy between this case of Achan at the opening of the
Canaan dispensation, and the case of Ananias and Sap-
phira at the opening of the Christian age. Covetous-
ness, the love of money, was the root-sin in each case.
The demand for fearful judgment and vigorous retribu-
tion in the outset to head off a great temptation and to
protect the people of God in scenes of fearful peril, con-
stitute yet other points of obvious analogy. There are
times and seasons when justice of the sterner type
toward individual offenders is the only real mercy to
the masses.

It may seem to some readers that this punishment
was excessively severe, and that the occasion scarcely
justified such manifestations of God's displeasure. In
reply to such views I suggest that it behooves us to
approach such a question with reverent reserve, and to
beware of any rash thought or word derogatory to the
Most High, not because it is intrinsically improper to
exercise the sense of justice and right which God him-
self has given us, but because we are very liable to take
limited, imperfect, very inadequate, or even distorted
views of the case. Let us never assume that God's
views are short-sighted or his judgments morally per-
verse ! In both these directions, men may err, and do ;
but God, never !

In regard to the case of Achan, it is within our lim-
ited vision to see if we will that the Hebrew people
were in most critical circumstances. They were just
entering upon a scene of great and searching tempta-

AC HAN. 23

tion. The people and cities of Canaan were rich ; the
Israelites were poor. Canaan had the resources of a
somewhat high civilization ; gold, silver, vessels of hrass
and of iron; goodly Babylonish garments — all dazzling
before the eyes of a people forty years in a barren wil-
derness, and antecedently four hundred years afflicted
in Egypt. Now, suppose the Lord had given them free
license to plunder, to steal and hide, and appropriate all
they could lay hands on ! This movement for the con-
quest of Canaan would have become a savage, plundering,
marauding expedition, not a whit above the demoral-
izing wars of all barbarous tribes upon nations largely
in advance of themselves in wealth and luxury. Could
the God of Israel become a party to such a war of plun-
der? Would it be to his honor to fulfill his promise of
Canaan to the godly patriarchs in such sort as this?
Would such avarice, and theft, and selfishness have im-
proved the morals and the piety of the children of
Israel ? Would such license to his people have inured

to the honor of Israel's God? And yet further; these

fascinating spoils— these glittering prizes of gold and
silver and these ornaments of the cultured Canaanites—
were linked in on every hand with idolatry. Art and
wealth, in Canaan as in every other heathen nation,
lent their power to augment the attractions toward
idol-worship. If God would shut this flood-gate of idol-
atrous influence sharply down, he could not have done
less than he did in the case of Achan — make the first
offender a fearful example of severe and terrible, but
just and righteous, punishment.

But these considerations, though in point and of
great force to show the aggravation of Achan's sin, yet
fall far short of the whole truth. The strongest points
of the case appear in the special features as given in
the history. God lent his miraculous power for the de-
struction of Jericho on the special stipulation (" cove-
nant " he calls it in 7 : 11) that the city should be
devoted— it and all therein to the Lord; the sense of
this devotement being that whatever was appropriate
should go into the treasury of the Lord, and all else
be given up to absolute destruction. The Hebrew word
(cherem or hherem), translated either "devoted" or "ac-
cursed," is used continually in this record (6 : 17, 18,
and 7 : 1, 11). Moreover it was most explicitly stipu-

24 ACHAN.

lated that all the silver and gold and vessels of brass
and iron were consecrated wholly unto the Lord (6:
19) ; " they shall come into the treasury of the Lord."
Joshua and the people so understood it, and acted accord-
ingly, for the history is definite : " They burnt the city
with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver and
the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put

into the treasury of the house of the Lord" (6: 24).

Yet further ; the utmost pains were taken to have this
matter well understood beforehand. The preliminary
precautions ran — " And ye in any wise keep yourselves
from the accursed thing lest ye make yourselves accursed
when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp

of Israel a curse, and trouble it " (6 : 18). The sin of

Achan had, therefore, these points of highest criminal-
ity. (a.) It was a "presumptuous sin," against

known and most explicit prohibition, and in con-
temptuous defiance of God's authority : (b.) It was

sacrilege — stealing from God ; taking property that was
devoted to God by special stipulation. By all right-
thinking men in every age, this sin has been accounted
as of the highest enormity. To this it may be added
that all the wealth of Jericho and the city itself fell
into the hand of Israel by special miracle, wrought of
God under these express stipulations. (c.) God be-
ing their Supreme King, the sin of Achan had the
crowning element of being high treason.

Contemplating the moral applications of this case,
the question may arise : What bearing has it upon the
responsibilities of associated bodies of men for the sins

of individual members of the association? Some

bearing, all must admit — at least a bearing in some
cases and under some circumstances. The principle
which underlies this case certainly may apply in
other cases. But obviously much will depend upon the
power of the associated body (suppose it to be a local
church) to detect and prove the offense. In the case
of Achan the Lord interposed to detect the crime and
single out the criminal ; and in ways which we can not
expect him to repeat. Yet his providences are various
and not infrequently put their finger upon the Achan
in no doubtful way.. Or the offense may be in its
nature so public as to remove all doubt.

Next arises the question of power to deal effectively

ACHAN. 25

with the offense. When offenses and scandals occur in
a local church, light as to duty is sometimes sought by
laying the case alongside of this case of Achan. In
this comparison there may be danger in assuming that
the same sort of treatment is appropriate in these
church cases as in that case in ancient Israel. It is
not well to forget that the first and chief responsibility
of a church to its erring members is to bring them to
repentance— to proceed in the spirit of love and not of
sternness (much less of vindictiveness), and with ten-
derness, and tears, and prayers, labor for their return to
Christ and righteousness. The highest glory of church
discipline is to save, not to root out; to purify the
body, not by amputation of its members, but by resto-
ration to soundness and life. Resort to expulsion should
be regarded as a somewhat humiliating (certainly a
sad) confession by the church of the impotence of her

spiritual forces. The case of Achan stood in such

relations to Israel, to her national work and to her
national exposure to idolatry, that nothing short of
extreme severity could be rationalh^ thought of. It
can not be well to draw inferences from such a case to
church discipline in our times without carefully consid-
ering the wide difference between that case and these.

And yet we have lessons to learn from the case of

Achan. As every individual Christian is taught in
God's Word to say — " If I regard iniquity in my heart
the Lord will not hear my prayer," so every church
must learn to say — If we tolerate flagrant scandalous
sins in our communion, how can we hope that God will
hear our church prayers and bless our associated labors?
If we place ourselves in such relations to God that he
can not bless us without publicly indorsing the scan-
dalous lives that (in a supposed case) go unrebuked
among us, what ought we to expect from him other

than his frown ? The two great moral lessons taught

for all time by this case of Achan are (a.) That

God is holy, of purer eye than to behold iniquity save

with abhorrence ; and (b.) That men, associated,

may become responsible to a certain extent for the sins
of their individual members, so that the innocent must
needs suffer with and for the guilty, until they meet
their social responsibilities and use their social power
in solemn fidelity against scandalous sin in their body.

26 FALL OF AI.

The Fall of Ai before Israel.

After the repulse before Ai and the trouble that came
of Achan, Joshua and his army needed some word of
encouragement. God gave it. Their confident assur-
ance of victor}^ had received a painful shock. It was
vital to their work that it be toned up again. The
Canaanites had now for the time the prestige of vic-
tory, and would therefore be formidable in battle. No
great commander ever appreciated better than Joshua
how greatly success in war depends on the spirit — the
courage, the real expectation— of both the officers and
the fighting men. Consequently he advanced upon Ai
with the greatest caution. He said to himself — I must
have victory here at any cost. Chap. 8 informs us of
his well-laid stratagem and of its complete success — till
Ai lay in ashes — an heap of desolation forever.

Ebal and Gerizim.

This done, we note another brief pause in his mili-
tary operations to give due attention to certain
religious duties, enjoined through Moses shortly before
his death (see Deut. 11: 29, 30, and 27: lylS), viz.,
the erection of an altar on Mt. Ebal; the setting up of
great plastered stones, the writing of the law upon
them, and the solemn public proclamation of the bless-
ings and curses from these specified mountains, Ebal
and Gerizim,'^' in the presence and with the response of
all the people. (See Deut. 27 and 28.

This was now done, also a copy of the law of Moses (sup-
poseably as repeated in abbreviated form Deut. 12-26^
was written on plastered stones as Moses had prescribea.
Much as the laws of war might demand that he follow up
this last victory with telling blows, swift and fast fall-
ing, Joshua well knew that religious duties were every
thing to his right standing with God, not to say also to
the intelligent, well-grounded assurance of his army.
It was not, therefore, lost time or lost opportunity for

■-•• Geographically these summits were near Shechem, twenty to
twenty-five miles north from Ai. They rise 800 feet above the valley
between them, this valley being about one-third of a mile in width,
and from two to three miles in length.

EBAL AND GERIZIM. 27

them to pause for a fresh renewal of their covenant
before the Lord.*

Recurring to the transaction itself, we have a
grand theme for the imagination to paint. Think of
600,000 adult men, besides women and children, mar-
shaled in equal divisions on two opposing mountains,
800 feet high and one-third of a mile from one sum-
mit to the other; the ark surrounded by the priests

*It has been doubted by able critics whether the passage (8 : 30-35)
— of the scenes at Mt. Ebal and Gerizim — is in its chronological place
immediately after Ai and before the deception of the Gibeonites.
This question not being of very great importance, let it suffice to say
briefly: — That the objections to this chronological location of the
scene are mainly — that at this stage Joshua had not penetrated into
Canaan so far ; that in Chap. 9 : 6, and 10 : 6, 7, 15, 43, we find him
still in camp at Gilgal ; that the distance from Gilgal to Shechem
(twenty-five to thirty miles) is too great to admit the probability that
Joshua and all his people traversed it, going and so soon returning,
for the mere purpose of performing this religious service at that
designated place; not to say that, not having at that time subjugated
either the powerful Southern Kings or the Northern, it would have

been in a military point of view unsafe. Moreover, in the version-

of the Seventy there is some diversity in the location of this passage,
some of the manuscripts placing it between vs. 2 and 3 of chap. 9.

In favor of retaining the order of our text and of locating the
scene at Ebal and Gerizim chronologically as here, may be urged —
(1.) That the compilation of the materials of this book should be
presumed to be correct, unless very important reasons appear to the

contrary. (2.) That the divine command through Moses (Deut.

11: 29, and 27: 2, 4, 12) required this service on Mts. Ebal and
Gerizim very soon (not to say immediately) after their arrival in
Canaan. " When the Lord hath brought thee into the land," etc.,
thou shalt put the blessing upon Mt. Gerizim, etc. "And it shall be
on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan, thou shalt set up great
stones, plaster them with plaster, and write upon them all the words
of this law." *' It shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, ye shall
set up these stones in Mt, Ebal," etc. Doubtless Joshua and the peo-
ple were in the mood of prompt obedience to this word of the Lord
through Moses, and therefore could not (as some critics suppose) have
delayed to perform it until after the great battles recorded in Chaps.
10 and 11. The command was definite to do this after going over
Jordan, not after they had subdued the Canaanities. In the order of
reason and religion it came before the subjugation of Canaan, not

after. (3.) The objection on the score of safety in a military point

of view is of no account, because the fall of Ai had given fresh force
to the panic of the armies of Canaan, and because God never failed
to shield his people from sudden assault while they were engaged in
special and required religious solemnities. For these reasons,
although this view as well as the other has its difficulties, I prefer
to retain the chronological order as in our version.

28 EBAL AND GERIZIM.

and Levites in the intermediate valley; the solemn
rehearsal of the blessings and the curses in tones loud
and clear, in the hearing of the gathered thousands;
and then the thundering " Amen," resounding from
both mountain summits : — What could have been
more impressive ! How must this scene have fixed the
attention, especially of the young, and solemnly deep-
ened the conviction — This law is our law ; these bless-
ings are to be our reward, and these curses our doom, ac-
cording as we obey or disobey this law of our own holy
Lord God ! Whatever power of impression upon the
human mind is possible through the senses — the eye,
the ear, and the personal utterance of awe-inspiring
words — is all present here in its intensest form. Truly
here are scenes for every eye to see ; sounds for every
ear to hear; scope for the fullest utterance of every
human voice. Here is every thing to bring out a
volume of common sympathy, rolling deep and strong,
sustained throughout the entire transaction — the whole
to be remembered through all future years as the great

religious meeting of their lives. Are there any lessons

in the philosophy of religious impression for us to
learn from this national assemblage of the ten thou-
sands of Israel on these lofty mountain summits for
the solemn announcement of the blessings and curses
of their law ?

The crafty policy of the Gibeonites^ (chap. 9) affords
strong proof that fear had fallen upon the inhabitants
of Canaan. The crossing of the Jordan and the fall of
Jericho and of Ai had brought a new power to their
very doors. The men of Gibeon chose submission
rather than resistance. By stratagem they obtained a
treaty with Joshua and his princes, under which they

served in the most laborious occupations for ages. It

is noticeable in this case that " the congregation " of
Israel— the common people — dissented strongly from the
action of their princes in sparing the Gibeonites. How
much their views were influenced by their indignation
against such duplicity, and how much by a close con-
struction of the divine behest for extirpating the

* Gibeon, "a great city as one of the royal cities" (10: 2), was
situated on a high eminence six miles north of Jex'usalem. Three
other cities, lying near, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearira
(9 : 17), acted with Gibeon, in alliance or subjection.

THE BATTLE AT GIBEON. 29

devoted nations of Canaan, does not appear. The
princes, however, recognized the obligation of their
oath, and the Lord manifestl}^ approved their action —
which seems to show that the Canaanites might have
been spared upon their submission, or (probably) if
they had voluntarily surrendered the country to Israel
and removed themselves beyond its bounds. Their
destruction came, therefore, of their assault upon Israel

— as the history proceeds to show. It may be noted

that the servile condition of the Gibeonites would go
far to make their influence toward idolatry harmless.
Only in the most menial status could it have been
safe to spare them to live among the people of Israel —
active idolaters.

The Tico Great Decisive Battles.

Canaan was virtually subdued before the arms of
Joshua in two great decisive battles ; the first against
five confederate, kings of Southern Palestine (chap. 10);
the second, against a similar but larger confederation
of the petty kingdoms of Northern Palestine (chap. 11),
The first was precipitated by the action of Gibeon which
those southern kings regarded as treachery against the
common interests of their country. At the instance,
therefore, of the king of Jerusalem, four other kings,
viz., of Hebron, of Jarmuth, of Lachish, and of Eglon,
combined in an assault upon Gibeon. The Gibeonites
sent at once to Joshua for help. The Lord said to
Joshua : " Fear them not ; for I have delivered them
into thy hand ; there shall not a man of them stand
before thee." (10: 8). B}^ a forced march of a whole
night, Joshua was soon there, probably surprising his
enemies and thus completely discomfiting them with
great slaughter. The statement is :

" And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with
a great slauo^hter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that
goeth lip to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Mak-
kedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and
were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great
stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died : they
were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children
of Israel slew with the sword. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the
day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of
Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon

30 THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL.

Gibeon ; and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still,
and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon
their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher ? So the sun
stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a
whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that
the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for
Israel." (10: 10-U.)

Joshua's military character being studied on its
human side, his forte as a general would lie in creating
a panic and then making the utmost possible use of it.
In this case his rapid march of a whole moonlit night
brought him upon his enemy yet (we may suppose) in
their morning slumbers, all unprepared for battle. Then
the panic becoming a route, he chased them up the ascent
to the upper Beth-horon ; then down the descent to the
lower Beth-horon, along which descent the Lord met
them with a most terrific hail-storm, crashing among
their broken ranks with that awful enginery of heaven,
slaying more with his hail-stones than all whom
Joshua slew with the sword. When just out from
Gibeon, Joshua saw that the tide of victory had turned
against his enemy, already routed and fleeing. With
the instinct of a great commander he felt that his time
had come to annihilate that host. Now, thought he,
let this victory be made complete ; O for a day long
enough to finish them utterly ! Then and there, moved
by a divine impulse, he cried aloud " in the sight of
all Israel — Sun, stand thou still over Gibeon, and thou
Moon, in the valley of Ajalon ! And the sun stood still,
and the moon stayed until the people had avenged them-
selves upon their enemies."

The geographical localities named concur with the
facts stated to show that it was during the morning
hours of the day, and not toward the evening hours, that
the sun and moon were arrested in their course by this
miracle. The direction of this flight and pursuit was
westward. Joshua had passed the highlands on which
Gibeon stood, so that Gibeon lay eastward from his
point; while the valley of Ajalon was still some dis-
tance in the west. The sun had risen above Gibeon,
perhaps nearly half way to his meridian, so that it stood
still '' in the midst of heaven, i. e. coming near the middle
of its diurnal circuit in the heavens ; while the moon,
somewhat past the full, hung over the valley of Ajalon.

THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL. 31

The narrative represents that the sun and moon " hasted
not to go down about a whole day.''^

No miracle recorded in the Scriptures has been as-
sailed more violently or discredited more generally than

this. The forms of assault are chiefly these two : (1)

To attribute the appearance of miracle in the statement

to the embellishments of poetry : and (2.) To reject

the whole as scientifically impossible, and therefore in-
credible.

The former class of critics make large account of the
incidental allusion to the "book of Jasher," and also of
the poetic parallelism which appears in the words—
" Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon ; and thou Moon, in
the valley of Ajalon." The "book of Jasher " is claimed
to be a poetic legend in which this overwhelming defeat
and route of the five kings of Canaan — work and glory
enough for two days — is represented as filling out two
days of time— as if the sun and moon waited in mid-
heaven for this stupendous work to be well and
thoroughly done !

The proper answer to this construction of the passage
is that, as an interpretation of language^ it utterly fails in
the vital point — that of giving the. sense. The w^ords of
our record declare that, in the sight of all Israel, Joshua
cried aloud, commanding the sun and moon to stand
still; that thereupon the sun and moon did stand still
for about one w^hole day ; that this day was unlike any
other before or since, in this vital respect — that the
Lord hearkened to the voice of a man and granted his
prayer — to the result of this great miracle. This is
W'hat the words standing here must mean. That these
words of command assume somewhat the form of the
usual poetic parallelism does not modify their legiti-
mate meaning one particle. The loftiness of the
thought, the grandeur of the conception, demanded
from any Hebrew mind this style of expression. ^ A
prosaic style would be so unnatural as to raise legiti-
mate doub'^t of its genuineness. That this great event

should be recorded in the book of the upright ["Jasher "]
is not the least disparagement to its veracity. Such an
event ought to be recorded in any and every hook of
Jasher. All the records of those times made by upright
men, or made for the reading of upright men in all
future ages, should include this great transaction.

82 THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL.

Some very able and excellent critics — men who ac-
cept the true doctrine of miracles and find them else-
where in the Bible, yet hold that in this case the day
was not really prolonged as to time. In their view
Joshua's prayer was answered in its spirit, not in its
letter; i. e. only by making his victory complete before
the usual darkness of night came on. In support of
this view they urge that this case is not referred to
elsewhere in scripture as a miracle ; that all Joshua
could desire in his prayer was the complete discomfiture
of his enemy — in spirit, this : 0 let not the day close
till my enemies are perfectly routed 1 and that this
prayer was granted by smiting them with hail-stones
from heaven, and by giving Joshua's men almost super-
human endurance and energy in battle. Especially
they maintain that the entire passage (vs. 12-14, and
perhaps also v. 15) is quoted from the book of Jasher,
of which we learn from 2 Sam. 1 : 18, that it was writ-
ten in the boldest style of ancient Hebrew poetry.
Regarding it thus as a quotation, these critics make
large allowance for bold poetic diction, as Deborah
sung — "The stars in their courses fought against
Sisera " (Judg. 5 : 20) ; while some raise the question
whether this book of Jasher was inspired and its rep-
resentations altogether truthful, and also whether the
compiler of the book of Joshua must be held to indorse
them.

Repl3dng briefly to these points in order; it must be
conceded that this miracle is not clearly referred to else-
where in scripture.* This argument from silence can
have, however, but very limited force. It may be quite
impossible to explain the reason of this silence, yet
there may have been reasons other than the absence of
all miracle here.

As to the form of Joshua's praj^er, the record is en-
tirely definite. It states that Joshua praved — not
thus : O give me a perfect victory ! Let my soldiers do
the work of two days in this one ! — but precisely this :
"Joshua spake to the Lord in the sight of all Israel
(and of course in the hearing of many) : " Sun, stand

* It is plainly referred to in the Apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus
(46: 4); "Did not the snn go back by his means, and was not one
day as long as two?" This shows the current opinion of the Jews
at that date.

THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL. 33

thou still upon Gibeon, and thou Moon, in the valley of
Ajalon ! " Then the narrative proceeds to say — not
merely that the Lord answered his prayer in its spirit,
yet not in its letter; not merely that the Lord gave
him a finished victory, routing and almost annihilating
his enemies ; but this : " And the sun stood still, and
the moon stayed until the people had avenged them-
selves upon their enemies." Then follows a reference
to the "book of Jasher" as corroborating this wonderful
fact, after which we have the statement, not in poetic
parallelism or diction, but in the plainest sort of prose :
" So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and
hasted not to go down about a whole day." Nor does
the passage end with this, but again reaffirms the vital
fact : " And there was no day like that before it or after
it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man " —
a statement w^hich can not mean that God never before
or after this day answered the prayer of man, but which
must mean that never, before or after, had God heard
man's prayer in this way — to the result of such a miracle.

Hence I am compelled to dissent from even such

critics as Hengstenberg, and quite decline to resolve this
miracle into poetic embellishment, or pass it over to
the doubtful or denied inspiration of the "book of
Jasher."

To those who reject this miracle as scientifically im-
possible, and therefore incredible, the proper answer
is, that the author of nature is the Lord of nature, and has
never perpetrated the folly, not to say the impossibility,
of tying his own hands by any system which vacates
his absolute control of the universe he has made. If it
be said that the disturbance in the planetary system by
such an arrest of the earth's revolution on its axis is
too great to be thought of as admissible, the answer is :
He who is able to arrest the earth's revolution twelve
hours, is also able to prevent any disastrous disturbance
from such arrest. It is not incumbent on us to show
how this supposed disturbance was prevented; nor even
to show how the Lord applied his divine power to stop
the sun in the heavens; i. e. to stay the revolution of
the earth on its axis. The question hoio is simply an
impertinence. We might as well discredit the creation
of light because we can not answer the question how
God could " speak and it was done."

34 THE BATTLE OF GIBEON.

Fundamentally, this objection to miracle must as-
sume one or the other of these two alternative posi-
tions.

(1.) That there is no God — no being who has power to
stop the sun in the heavens for twelve hours; or,

(2.) That God, having created the universe, put it
under the control of laws, which laws he either lacks
the power to deviate from, or having this power, has

bound himself never to use it. The last alternative is

more generally adopted than either of the others. The
proper answer to it is : Where is the proof? Who knows
that God has bound himself never to interpose and sus-
pend for the occasion the normal laws of nature ? Let
it be granted that he will never do this without good
reason; yet who knows that there never has been and
never will be a good reason ? Who is able rationally to
deny that for this once the Lord might listen to the
voice of a man, and prolong the fighting day twelve
hours for the purpose of breaking down the military
power of Canaan, and giving the land of his promise to
his believing people? Who knows that during the
progress of those great events which make up the won-
derful record of inspiration — which go to make the Bible —
which were intended for great witnessing facts, giving
to the ages of human history the proofs of God's present
wonder-working hand — there would not arise occasions
for real miracle — for a manifestation of God's hand of
such sort and sustained by such proofs as no then living

witness could gainsay or resist? If the objector says,

with Hume : At all events the proof of miracle must
always be unsatisfactory and (rationally considered)
insufficient, because it is more probable that history
should lie than that God should work a miracle, the
answer is a flat denial. It is not more probable that all
history — the strongest and best historical testimony —
should lie than that God should under any circumstan-
ces work a miracle. For, under some supposable cir-
cumstances miracles are not only credible but are even
probable — to be expected. A written revelation from
God being a moral necessity for man, and God being a
kind Father to his moral ofispring, it is far more than
probable that God would make one; and in order to
make it available, authoritative, to intelligent beings,
would give a miracle to indorse it. Therefore it would

THE BATTLE OF HAZOR. OO

be marvelously strange if God did not resort to miracle
to substantiate his written revelation and to manifest
himself to a moral world like this.

We return to our history. Night-fall came at last
and closed the pursuit. The men of Joshua's host who
had marched all night from Gilgal to Gibeon, and then
fought, not twelve hours only, but perhaps twenty, must
have had almost miraculous powers of endurance —
attributable, doubtless, to that inspiration of soul which
makes small account of the weakness of human flesh

and blood. One little incident of this day reveals the

spirit of their commander. The five confederate kings
fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. The
fact is reported to Joshua. Instantly he gives orders : —
Wall them in and set a guard to keep them ; and stay
ye not, but pursue after your enemies and smite the
hindmost of them; let none escape to enter into their
fenced cities. We can look after the five kings when

our other work is done. So they did, and when that

double-day's work was done, the army returned and
made their first camp at this Makkedah. In due time
those kings were brought out and laid prostrate before
Joshua and his men. Perhaps to heighten the courage
of his captains or to counteract their fear of kings in
arms — stalwart, gigantic men they may have been — he
said to them, "Come near and put your feet on the
necks of these kings." Done; and then Joshua said;
" Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of a good
courage; for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies

against whom ye fight." (vs. 24, 25). These kings

having been disposed of, Joshua followed up this great
victory by passing rapidly in his victorious march from
one royal city to another, capturing in their order Mak-
kedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, and
Debir — thus subjugating all Southern Palestine. " All
these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time ;
because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel." Thus
tersely the historian ascribes these victories to God.

The Victory over the Kings of Northern Palestine (Josh. 11).

This history is given with very little detail. Hazor,
quite near the northern limit of Palestine, and on the
southern extremity of the Anti-Libanus range, being

36 THE BATTLE OF HAZOR.

the strongest of those cities and kingdoms, took the lead,
its king inviting into this confederation all the king-
doms of Northern Palestine as far south as the lati-
tude of Jerusalem ; also those adjacent on the north-west
and the north-east. Mustered for war, they were a great
host — " much people, even as the sand that is upon the
sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very
many (11: 4).* They encamped near the waters of
Merom (the modern El Huleh), a basin of water near
the sources of the river Jordan, and really an expansion
of that river. Joshua, in his camp at Gilgal, is waiting
for marching orders from the "Captain of the Lord's
host." In due time they came : " Be not afraid of them ;
for to-morrow about this time will I deliver them up
all slain before Israel." So short a time signified another
forced march, doubtless by night, up the line of the Jor-
dan valley. The record has it : " So Joshua came and all
Israel with him against them by the waters of Merom
suddenly, and they fell upon them:^^ — Another of those
rapid movements according to the military policy of
Joshua — dashing upon his enemy after a forced march,
smiting and slaughtering before they are aware that he
has even broken camp at Gilgal. Thus he demoralized
that vast host with panic, and then chased and cut
them dow^n with fearful slaughter. In this battle his
enemy fled in various directions — some to the north-
west, whom he chased even unto great Zidon ; others
up the " valley of Mizpeh" eastward along the lake and
marsh of Huleh beyond which some might pass up the
valley lying between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, while
others might bear away " eastward by Baneas toward

Damascus " (Coleman p. 87). To hough and so to

disable their horses and to burn their chariots in the
fire was at once the command of the Lord and the

dictate of the soundest policy. This great battle

having broken his enemy into fragments, it only re-
mained to follow it with the capture of his cities and
the slaughter of all his resisting forces. This was a work
of time, since we read ; " Joshua made war a long time
with all those kings" (11 : 18). Not a city made peace

*■ Josephus reckons their number at 300,000 foot, 10,000 horse, and
20,000 chariots. It is safe to assume that these figures are too great,
yet that the host was immense, relatively to the number under
Joshua.

ALLOTMENT OF CANAAN; — CALEB. 37

with Israel save Gibeon. It was of the Lord that the
rest were persistently hardened in their opposition,
fighting to the bitter end and to their own terrible
destruction. Thus Joshua took the whole land as the
Lord had promised to Moses and to the earlier patriarchs,
and then gave it to the tribes of Israel for their inherit-
ance.

CHAPTER IIL

Allotment of Canaan.

The ensuing chapters give further particulars of the
conquest, and then of the distribution of the conquered
country. In chap. 12 the historian gives a list of the
cities and kings subdued, both those on the east of Jor-
dan and those on the west. In chap. 13 is a brief
sketch of the sections (" very much ") yet remaining to
be possessed (vs. 2-6) ; and next we find the distribu-
tion of territory east of Jordan to the two and a half
tribes previously located there.

Caleb and his inheritance.

In chap. 14 : 6-15 the writer gives a special account
of Caleb, the associate of Joshua in the minority report
when twelve spies were sent up into Canaan from
Kadesh-barnea. (See Num. 13 and 14.) At this time,
eighty-five years old, still hale as at forty, still strong
in the faith of Israel's God, he asks for the special in-
heritance which Moses had promised him — which
promise Joshua with good heart gratefully fulfills.*

The reader will notice that Caleb makes a strong
point of his hale and vigorous old age. To see this in
its full force we need to ask — Where were the ten spies

-The dates given in this brief personal history of Caleb avail to
show that this transaction was seven years after the crossing
of the Jordan. Caleb being forty years of age at the mission of the
spies from Kadesh-barnea and eightj-^-five now, the difference (forty-
five) allows thirty-eight years for the remaining wilderness sojourn-
ing, and seven for residence in Canaan. These seven years meas-
ure the duration thus far of the wars of the conquest.

38 CALEB AND HIS INHERITANCE.

who, forty-five years before, brought in the majority re-
port, so full of unbelief, so faithless as to the God of the
patriarchal promises? Where were the thousands of
that unbelieving generation ? Alas ! not a man of them
lived to see the goodly land of Canaan; not one sur-
vived through the remaining thirty-eight years of wan-
dering in the wilderness. But here is Caleb, not only
living, but as vigorous as ever— as hardy and robust for
war, as fresh for enduring the rougher tasks of human
strength as when in his full maturity at forty. His
testimony stands here, therefore, to prove that piety is
wholesome, not to the soul onl}^, but to the body ; not
for the culture of noble character only, but for the less
yet not insignificant good of health, vigor, and years.

If the fearful mortality among the unbelieving

multitude at and after Kadesh-barnea gave occasion to
the plaintive strains of Moses in Ps. 90, the total con-
trast between their case and that of Caleb and Joshua
might no less naturally have suggested the contrasted
strains of Ps. 91. Look into the case of those two men ;
hear the inspiring words of personal testimony which
Caleb gives here, and learn to sing — "He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty. . . . He shall deliver thee
from the noisome pestilence : he shall cover thee with
his feathers, and under his wangs shalt thou trust."
" Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor
for the arrow that flieth by day: A thousand shall
fall at thy side, but it shall not come nigh thee." . . .
" With long life will I satisfy him and show him my

salvation." It need not be maintained that all good

men and good women will be healthful and strong
down to the advanced age of Caleb the son of
Jephunneh ; and yet there is no lack of testimony that
godliness has the better " promise of the life that now
is." Virtue is alwaj^s more wholesome for health and
long life than vice; temperance than excess; a loving,
trustful spirit, than a soul made bitter by hate and
unrestful by its hostile attitude toward him who con-
trols all things in both this world and the next. It

is pleasant to think of the cheery tone and trustful
spirit in these words of the venerable Caleb. There
were few to enjoy better than he the entrance into
Canaan and the victories that gave them possession of

ALLOTMENT OF CANAAN. 39

that goodly land. He had occasion to remember the
noble testimony he bore for God at Kadesh-barnea ; he
could not fail to see that God remembered it too. The
earthly rewards of his faith and obedience were mag-
nificent, yet not really greater than God is wont to give
for like faith and obedience in all ages ; albeit there
may have been in his case an unusual measure of those
rewards given in " the life that now is."

Chap. 15 locates the tribe of Judah, enumerating
the cities given them, 112 in number, with their
villages, showing that this portion of Canaan was

densely peopled. Chaps. 16 and 17 similarly give

the location of Joseph, i. e. of Ephraim and of the half
tribe of Manasseh — this territory, like that of Judah,
stretching quite across Palestine from the Jordan to the
Mediterranean.

The next important event is the fixing of the relig-
ious center at Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim*
(chap. 18) — a much more central location than Gil gal.
Thenceforward for many generations this was the home
of the tabernacle, and practically the capital city of
Israel.

The Location of the Tribes Completed.

Seven tribes were yet without location.f Arrange-
ments were therefore made for the survey of all the yet
unappropriated territory. Three men from each tribe
constituted the surveying party. Instead of mapping
out the country by its natural boundaries (rivers or
mountain ranges) or by lines of latitude and longitude,
they described it by cities and their adjacent villages.
The whole was thus divided into seven parts, and these

*The precise location of ancient Shiloh has been ascertained be-
yond reasonable question by Dr. Robinson, after having been long
unknown. See his Researches, vol. 3, pp. 85-89. It lies a little off
and eastward of the great road from Jerusalem to Shechem, about
twenty-four miles north from the former, and twelve miles south of
the latter city, quite central to Palestine, west of the Jordan.

tLevi not being counted in the allotment of territory— to this
tribe being assigned only cities and their suburbs, and these scat-
tered among all the tribes, Joseph counted two, viz., Ephraim and
Manasseh. Two and a half tribes were already provided on the
east of Jordan, and two and a half on the west, viz., Judah, Ephraim,
and the other half of Manasseh. Hence only seven remained; viz.,
Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan

40 CITIES OF REFUGE.

parts assigned to the seven tribes by lot. As Judah
and Ephraim were found to have a disproportionate
share, Benjamin's allotment was taken from theirs, and
also the allotment for Simeon was cut from the S. W.

portion of Judah. The allotment of the remaining

tribes is given in chap. 19. A good map of the Pales-
tine of that age will give the reader the best view of
their location. That of Coleman (Historical Text Book
and Atlas), frequently referred to in these pages, may
be safely recommended as made with care and on the
best and latest authorities.

The ultimate location of all the tribes in their own
cities and territory was an event of profound signifi-
cance, worthy to be long remembered. A great people,
four hundred years oppressed in Egypt, forty years
wandering homeless in the deserts of Arabia, full seven
years up to this date in the conquest of Canaan, and
therefore unsettled — in a state of war, living in camp :
but now they fold up their tents and make their per-
manent homes in cities already built; in houses con-
structed, not to say, furnished ready to their hand.
Around them are lands under tillage, fruit trees in
bearing condition, every thing prepared for living with
all the comforts of oriental life. Indeed so great are
their resources for comfort and abundance that now
their dangers lie morally in this very line — the tempta-
tion to self-indulgence, to sensuality, and to most guilty

forgetfulness of their great Benefactor. But God has

fulfilled his great promises made long ages ago to Abra-
ham and renewed to his godly descendants. He has now
given them a land flowing with milk and honey — the
glory of all lands. Will they live worthily of their
mercies — worthily of their covenant relations as ser-
vants of their own Jehovah? Will they remember his
mercies and honor him with grateful hearts and conse-
crated lives?

Cities of Refuge.

Chap. 20 recites the Mosaic law in respect to cities of
refuge, and names them as assigned by Joshua, viz.,
those on the west of Jordan ! Kedesh in Naphtali,
Shechem in Mt. Ephraim, and Hebron in Judah: — with
three on the east of Jordan, viz., Bezer from the tribe
of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the'tribe of Gad,

THE ALTAR OF WITNE&S. 41

and Golan in Bashan from Manasseh. All these were
from cities given to the Levites.*

Chap. 21 names the cities assi^^ned to the Levites,
forty-eight with their suburbs. The priests had all
their cities in the territory given originally to Judah,
and consequently were located conveniently for their
ultimate service at Jerusalem.

Let it be noted that this chap., 21, closes pertinently
with the statement that by this conquest and division
of Canaan, God had thoroughly fulfilled all that he had
promised to Abraham and the patriarchs in regard to
the gift of Canaan to him and to his posterity. " The
Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he had sworn
to give unto their fathers, and they possessed it and
dwelt therein." The Lord gave them rest round about
and victory over all their enemies. " There failed not
aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to
the house of Israel ; all came to pass." (21 : 43-45). The
main purpose of the whole book of Joshua is to record
this fulfillment of a long series of promises. It was
quite in place, therefore, that at the close of these nume-
rous details this comprehensive statement should have
a place.

The Altar of Witness.

Chap. 22 recites the public services connected with
the dismission of the men of war from the two and a
half tribes after the conquest of Canaan was mainly
finished; and coupled with this, the slight, or rather
the transient, misunderstanding between the western
and the eastern brethren, growing out of the erection by
the latter of an altar of witness near the Jordan crossing
which their western brethren assumed to be designed
for sacrifice. The eastern wing, it at length appeared,
had none but the best intentions. The jealousy of their
western brethren moreover sprang from none but a good
heart. Of course there was great wisdom in their send-
ing an embassy of inquiry and investigation, and great
joy when they learned the real purpose and meaning
of this altar. The facts are of value historically as
evincing a most excellent spirit in both the eastern

* The Mosaic law in regard to these cities of refuge, its occasion,
spirit, and purposed operation are fully presented in my Pentateuch,
pp. 282. 288, and therefore need not be repeated here.
3

42 JOSHUA^S LAST WORDS.

brethren and the western ; and are also useful suggest-
ively as indicating how a bad and painful misunder-
standing maybe amicably disposed of, to the joy of both
parties.

This case may, at first view, seem to indicate a second-
ary class of altars already in established usage, viz., for
purposes of memorial witness. But if such had been
the case, there would be far less justification for the
jealousy and alarm of the western brethren when they
heard of this altar. The presumption is strong that
they knew of no such usage, and therefore could see no

explanation of this act of their eastern brethren.

Observe also that the record here states that this altar
of witness was built "after the pattern (v. 28) of the
altar of the Lord which our fathers made." It does not,
therefore, indicate any secondary usage of altars, other
than for sacrifice. It was an extraordinary, not an
ordinary or customary institution, and was gotten up
purely for memorial purposes, to testify along the course
of future generations that they, equally with their
brethren on the west of Jordan, had rights in the great
altar of burnt-ofiering at the holy tabernacle. It was
the result of a fear in their minds lest at some future
period their rights in the hol}^ place on the west of Jor-
dan might be ignored and their children repelled.

JoshucCs last icords.

Chapters 23 and 24 transmit two discourses of Joshua
to the assembled jDcople of Israel, both of which meet-
ings and addresses must have been near the close of his
life. It is not perhaps certain, though probable, that
there were two different meetings rather than two
addresses at the same meeting, since that of chapter 23
is made specific by its note of time, viz. : "A long time
after that the Lord had given rest to Israel and Joshua
had waxed old." (23 : 1) ; while that of chapter 24 is
made definite by a note of its place : " Joshua gathered all
the tribes of Israel to Shechem " (24 : 1), In both cases
the call embraced " all Israel," with their " elders, heads,
judges, and officers." The general purpose of each meet-
ing was the same ; yet the things said by Joshua in
each were quite different. In the second meeting, the
national covenant was solemnly renewed at Shechem

Joshua's last words. 43

(24 : 25). In the first meeting Joshua reminded the

people of all the Lord had wrought for them in Canaan,
subduing their enemies and giving them the land so
long before promised to their fathers. Upon the basis
of these great facts he exhorted the people to courage
and faith in whatever conflicts of arms might be yet
before them ; but especially implored them to stand in-
vincibly against idolatry and cleave to the Lord their
God alone, assuring them that as God had faithfully
fulfilled all his promises of good to the nation while
obedient, so would he as faithfully fulfill his threaten-

ings of evil if they apostatized to idols. In the second

meeting and address Joshua takes a larger range of his-
toric review, sketching the history of Abraham even
from his native home on the other side of the great
Euphrates (" the flood," as our translators render the
Hebrew word " the river ") ; then continuing his sketch
through Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, the Exodus, Balak,
the wars of Canaan, and finally the possession of lands
put under cultivation by other laborers and cities built
by other hands. All this history is presented for the
purpose of enforcing his final appeal ; " Now, therefore,
fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth,
and put away the gods which j^our fathers served on the
other side of the Euphrates." The strong point of this
historic allusion seems to be of this sort ; the Lord called
Abraham out from Ur to remove him and his posterity
from the social temptations existing there to idolatrj^
Now, do not frustrate his main purpose by plunging
yourselves again into forms of idolatry no less vile than

those. Then, giving a new and sharp turn to his

appeal, he says : " If it seem evil unto you to serve the
Lord;" if it be a hardship and ye on the whole prefer
to be like the heathen around you, " then choose ye
this day whom ye will serve ; " be whole-hearted one
way or the other; "As for me and my house, we will

serve the Lord." The people answer with apparent

earnestness and decision, certainly with excellent logic :
"God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve
other gods." It is this very Jehovah who has brought
us out from Egypt; borne us through the wilderness;
shielded and blessed us by miracle, and given us Canaan :
" therefore we will serve the Lord, for he is our God."—
To put the case yet more strongly, Joshua takes still a

44

new turn and in very remarkable words says : " Ye can
not serve the Lord, for he is a holy God ; he is a jealous
God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your
sins. If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods,
then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you
after that he hath done you good."

It is important to us to use our plain common sense
in construing these words of Joshua. It can not reason-
ably be supposed that he meant to say : " It is entirely
impossible for you to serve a God so holy and so jealous,
to his satisfaction, and you may as well desist from the
attempt in despair at the outset. If this had been his
meaning, why did he not live up to his own doctrine ?
With what reason could he say—" As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord?" No, his meaning is
rather this : God will have your whole hearty or nothing.
It is not pleasant to him to be insulted by having
other gods thrust up before his face in preference to
himself. It can be of no use for you to profess to serve
him or even to make a small and faint beginning, and
then turn back to serve idols. Interpreting Joshua's
words in view of his own drift of thought, i. e. com-
paring V. 19, " Ye can not serve God," with v. 20 ; " If
ye forsake the Lord, he will consume you," we get his
meaning : ye must serve God if at all tdih persistent and
persevering steadfastness ; for if ye turn back to serve idols,
all your former service of God goes for nothing and can
not save you from his consuming judgments. Ye can
not serve God so/ Such service can never avail you at
all ! Ye might serve idol gods to their satisfaction in
this way — but never the Great Jehovah ! He takes no

such offerings ! With apparent sincerity the people

respond: "Nay, but we will serve the Lord." "Ye

are witnesses in this matter," replies Joshua. " Now
put away the strange gods that are among you" — which
suggests but too plainly the reason why Joshua is so
thorough and searching in this exhortation against
idolatry. Even then idol gods were secretly held and
worshiped by some of the people. A special and most
solemn covenant is therefore ratified in Shechem — all
the people pledging themselves to cast away their
idol gods, and give their hearts entirely to the God of
their national covenant.

Next wo read : " Joshua wrote these words in the

Joshua's last words. 45

book of the law of God." What " booh " is this ? What
and how much did it contain? Something more than
the decalogue ; more even than the decalogue with the
addition of " the statutes and judgments." To be the
appropriate place for this record, it must have been
historical as well as prec€2:)tive — the book which contained
whatever God had said and done of which a permanent
record was kept ; which brings us to this result ; that
this phrase, " The book of the law of God," included
the Pentateuch and whatever subsequent matter, like
the account of this proceeding, it was important to put
on permanent record for the use of future generations.

Again, studying the usage of this phrase, " The

book of the law of God," we first meet the fact that the
phrases, " The book of the law," and " The book of the
law of Moses" are in very frequent use to indicate the
Pentateuch (e. g. Deut. 28 : 61, and 29 : 21, and 30 : 10,
and 31 : 26 ; and Josh. 1 : 8, and 8 : 31 ; and 2 Kings 14 :
6). The phrase as here (Josh. 24: 26), "The book of
the law of God," occurs rarely, yet manifestly stands
related to those cited above, only substituting " law of
God " for " law of Moses " — a substitution Avhich indi-
cates, (a) that it is inspired ; — (b) that it is a continua-
tion of the Pentateuch, being a " law " in the same
sense, yet not the law of Moses, but only a continuation
of it.

Joshua made another memorial of this transaction —
a great stone set up under an oak near the sanctuar}^
of the Lord. This usage — a memorial stone — appears
as far back as Jacob in Bethel; and also in Joshua's
history at the crossing of the Jordan. With remarka-
ble vividness of imagination, Joshua says; "This stone
shall be a witness, for it hath heard all the words of the
Lord which he spake unto us ; it shall be, therefore, a
witness unto you, lest ye deny 3'our God " (v. 27).

The book of Joshua then closes with the statement
of his age and death — of course annexed by some later

hand. V. 31 states that Israel served the Lord, not

only during the life of Joshua, but of all the elders
that survived him, and had seen those great works of
the Lord that he had done for Israel. This is gratify-
ing proof that a rich and wholesome moral influence
came in from those great manifestations of power and
of faithful loving-kindness in the fulfillment of long

46 Joshua's last words.

standing promise. The best generation, niorall}^, in
the entire history of Israel is this which served under
Joshua, amid miracles, wars, and the grand fulfillments
of God's ancient promises.

Of Josliua it is pleasant to note that his character as
presented in sacred history is faultless. Morally he ap-
pears under all circumstances true-hearted and inflexi-
bly firm in steadfast obedience to his God. Like the

other great men whom God has raised up for some
special work, Joshua was made for his. Undeniably he
was one of the world's greatest generals. Against an
enemy long skilled in war, and abounding in the best
appliances of the military science of the age, he de-
veloped out of the most crude material an army
really invincible — an army that may be said never to
have lost a battle. Joshua seems under God to have
inspired them with his own dauntless heroism and
lofty faith. Make whatever discount we may for the
occasional presence of miraculous manifestations, it is
quite plain from the history that Joshua's men per-
formed prodigies of valor, and evinced a celerity of
movement, a terrific fury of onset, and an amount of
physical endurance which are almost incredible. The
presence of miracle did not supersede the demand for
the very highest qualities of the true soldier and of the
great commander. Everywhere in his military life,
Joshua evinces the finest qualities of the general.*

* Before we lay aside the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, let us
note the masterly movement, in a military point of view, by which

this conquest was achieved. Comparing the two supposable points

of invasion ; that from the south, say in a direct line from Egypt, or
coming up from Kadesh-barnea (Num. 14: 40-45), with the approach
from the east across tiie .Jordan near Jericho, the latter had an im-
mense advantage in several most vital points. (1.) It flanked the

enemy and struck them in their most vulnerable point; (2.) It

cut their forces in two, placing Joshua's army between the old Amor-
ites and Canaanites on the south and the great Hittite nations on the

north; (3.) It gave Joshua the facility of making his forced

marches immediately preceding his two great battles, along natural
llioroughfares of travel, viz., that from Jericho westward to Joppa,
and that northward up the valley of the Jordan, instead of crossing
the great mountain ranges of Judah, as he must have done had he
entered the country from Kadesh, and instead of encountering a cor-
don of immensely strong cities, as he must have done advancing from
3^gyP^- It should be borne in mind that Southern and South-western
Canaan was full of the strongest walled cities (Lachish, Gaza, etc.),
all constructed to withstand an enemy approaching /row the EgijjHian
side. The early history of Egypt shows that their military cxpedi-

JOSHUA. 47

In his last address to his people the reader will
notice the same striking decision of character and
thorough independence of thought and will which we
have seen in all his military life. To the people he
said, " If ye see fit to serve other gods, make your choice,
As for iiiG and my house, we will serve the Lord.^^ My
house will go where I lead. My decision is made, and
can never be reversed ; ive serve the Lord J

It is sad to think that the last days of so good a man
were shaded by the painful apprehension that the people
whom he had led to victory and conquest, and had
planted in this glorious land of promise, already gave
but too plain indications of relapsing into idolatry.
AVas it that " fullness of bread " and rest from toil were
begetting effeminacy ; or was it due to the social attrac-
tions of idol-worship from a somewhat cultured people,
suffered to dwell among them? Be the cause what it
may, the fact is apparent. Joshua, it would seem, both
saw and foresaw that idol-worship was and was to be the
giant sin of Israel. How then could he die in peace
without bearing his most emphatic testimony against
this sin? No wonder he accumulated the utmost force
of appeal, of historic testimony, of earnest presentation,
of solemn covenant, and of impressive memorial, to stem
this anticipated and already apparent tendency to idols.
Venerable man ! How closely did he follow in the foot-
steps of Moses ! How grandly did he fill the sphere God
had assigned him ! Now so near heaven, about to close
a life so eventful, it is sad that his anticipations of the
future of his people should be so shaded — but blessed to
think that amid these painful apprehensions, he yet
did his duty so fearlessly, so wisely, so well.

tions were almost universally toward the north-east, against or

through Canaan. If we add to all these natural advantages of his

point of approach, the fact that crossing the Jordan miraculously at
high flood and taking Jericho by miracle, must have astounded his
enemies and smitten their souls into the weakness of panic and
terror, we can not fail to see that God's hand was present to make
this conquest easy. For war, as seen on its merely human side, and
as military force is measured of men, Israel was Aveak; Canaan was
powerful. Yet with God on their side, Israel was mighty, and Canaan,
against them, virtually powerless. Israel's hosts had been trained in
their wilderness life only to foot marches ; scarcely at all to the shock
of arms in battle ; none to the subjugation of walled cities or the con-
struction of fortifications. Curiously they made the best possible use
of their celerity and endurance in forced marches and carried both
of their great battles largely by means of this power.

48 GENERAL SCOPE OF JUDGES.

CHAPTER IV.

The Booh of Judges.

As to the author of this book, it can scarcely be
necessary to add to what has been said already in the
introduction to Joshua. A history of Israel was pro-
vided for — to be made up either by learned priests, or
by a succession of prophets. Some contemporary rec-
ord of the leading events of this book may very prob-
ably have been put in writing before the age of Sam-
uel, and he may have put it in its present form. The
demands of faith in this book as a part of the in-
spired oracles are satisfactorily met by the existing

evidence, (1.) That a history of the great events

in Israel was secured under God's special arrangements

(as above) ; (2.) That this growing book of the law

of God, when complete, was fully indorsed by Christ
and his inspired apostles as the oracles of God.

The General Scope of this book is obvious, and, more-
over, is brought out very fully in chap. 2, especially
in vs. 11-23. Relapses into idolatry incurred the dis-
pleasure of God ; this w^as manifested in strengthening
their enemies against them and bringing Israel under
severe oppressions. Then the people cried to God for
help, and he raised up Judges who delivered them
from their oppressors. In most cases these men judged
Israel in peace and prosperity during their remaining
life. Over and over we have these alternations : sin ;
punishment; repentance, and prayer for help; help
coming through special instruments raised up of God.

The careful reader will notice that chap. 1 resumes
and continues the history from the death of Joshua.
" Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass " etc.

(1 : 1). What the tribes did, and what they did not

accomplish in the w^ay of driving out the Canaanites
in their respective localities is mainly the theme of

the first chapter. It has been already noticed above

(p. 2) that the passage (Judg. 1 : 11-15) appears sub-
stantially in Josh. 14 : 15-19. Also the passage (Judg.
2 : G-10) appears with some variations in Josh. 24 : 28-

CONDITION OF THE OLD CANAANITES. 49

31. These references in the latter book to the earlier
are entirely natural in an author whose purpo&e is to
resume and continue the history onward.

The history of the book of Judges can not be
thoroughly understood unless the reader take into ac-
count the condition of the old Canaanite population,
and also the religious state of the Israelites. Let it

then be borne in mind; (1.) That Canaan, though

conquered, was only partially subdued. Their armies
had been defeated in battle, pursued, scattered, broken,
and most of their strong cities captured and more or
less thoroughly destroyed ; yet still they remained in
very considerable force in the countiy, holding some
of their strong points of defense. Especially along
the western border of Canaan, " the lords of the Phil-
istines, the Canaanites, the Zidonians, the Hivites of
Mt. Lebanon" (3: 3) remained in great strength. It
is one thing to gain a great battle, and quite another

to exterminate an entire population. (2.) It was of

the Lord to leave some of their old enemies on the soil
of Canaan in strength. This point is distinctly made
in the history. " These are the nations which the
Lord left " (3 : 1). " I will not henceforth drive out
any from before them of the nations which Joshua

left when he died" (2: 21). (3.) The reason for this

policy on the part of God is given plainly ; viz., the
people transgressed their covenant ; relapsed into idol-
atry; needed to be scourged and chastened to bring
them back ; and, therefore, God suffered these tribes of
Philistia and Canaan to remain in sufficient strength
to prove Israel, and try them, and scourge them back
from their apostacies. This is the reason which the
Lord himself assigns (2: 19-23, and 3 : 1-4).

Hence this "book of Judges" is little else than an
alternation from prosperity to adversity, corresponding
to the moral alternations of the people from obedience
and penitence for their sin to transgression and apos-
tacy. Forgetting their own God; falling under the
social influences of their idolatrous neighbors ; drawn
by intermarriages into dangerously intimate relations,
and so into idol-worship, they incurred the wrath of
God, and he brought them into political bondage to
some adjacent hostile power.

Chap. 3 records two distinct scenes of apostacy,

50 EGLON OF MOAB AND EHUD.

oppression, and deliverance. (a.) "God sold them

into the hands of Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopo-
tamia— Syria of the rivers (Euphrates and Tigris).
Eight years under his yoke brought the nation to
penitence and prayer. Then the Lord raised up
Othniel, a nephew or younger brother of Caleb, for
their deliverer. Expressively it is said that "the
Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged
Israel and went out to war, and the Lord delivered
this Syrian king into his hands." No special incidents
of this deliverance are on record, save that after his
victory the land had rest under his administration
forty years — to his death.

(b.) The people, having relapsed again into idol-
worship, the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab
against Israel. He drew to his alliance Ammon and
Amalek, and smote Israel, and " possessed the city of
palm-trees."* This servitude to- Moab continued
eighteen years. Then the people cried to God for help;
and he raised up Ehud of the tribe of Benjamin. Of
his deliverance of his country from Moab's king and
oppressions, some striking incidents are told ; e. g., that
he prepared a double-edged dagger of a cubit's length ;
concealed it under his loose oriental tunic upon his right
thigh — an unusual and therefore unnoticed position;
that he was sent with others to bear the national
^present to king Eglon, then residing in Israel at or
near Jericho as in his own conquered country; that
having delivered the present and set out upon his
return, he suddenly dismissed his attendants, and went
back to the king, saying — ^" I have a secret errand unto
thee, 0 king." Eglon — his thought being apparently
on some royal gift and not upon daggers — ordered his
attendants out and received Ehud to his private sum-
mer chamber. Ehud came near, saying, "I have a
message from God unto thee." The king arose from
his seat : Ehud buried his dagger in the king's bowels
— blade and haft — and fled tliat chamber, locking the
door behind him, and made good his escape. Before
the king's death was known he had distanced his pur-
suers ; and then lost no time in rallying an army from

*Tlii3 "city of palm trees," mentioned under this name Judg. 1:
]G, is definitely said (Deut. 34: 3, and 2 Chron. 28:15) to be
Jericho.

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 51

Israel and seizing the fords of Jordan. In the issue he
cut to pieces the army of Moab — ten thousand men —
thoroughly broke their yoke, and gave his country rest
eighty years.

In this narrative the Hebrew reader would notice
that the word translated "errand " [" a secret errand "],
and " message " [" a message from God," etc.] is the
same, being the usual Hebrew term for word^ but hav-
ing in some cases the sense of thing, a matter. A pri-
vate word for thee; a word from God to thee — would

well express his meaning. The word translated

"quarries" (vs. 19, 26) is probably the name of a
place — Pesalim, and was near Gilgal, and of course not
far from Jericho, the city of palm-trees, where Eglon
fell.

In Judg. 3 : 7, we read : " They served Baalim and
the groves^^ — as if the groves were an object of their
worship as well as Baal. The Hebrew word is Asherah,
probably equivalent to Ashtoreth or Astarte — a well-
knovv^n Phenician goddess, often associated with Baal
as the corresponding female and male gods of the
Phenician system of idols. As Baal bore some relation
to the sun, so did Asherah [Ashtoreth] to the moon, or,
as some suppose, to Venus. Her usual image was an
upright wooden pillar, or often the upright trunk of a
tree — its head and branches removed. This circum-
stance may have led to the translation " groves," which,
however, lacks authority. This worship was horribly
obscene and debasing.

Deborah and Barak.

The next apostacy began probably some years after
the death of Ehud, since we can scarcely suppose he
lived to judge Israel full eighty years after the deliv-
erance from Moab. The next great oppressor, permit-
ted of God to scourge the nation, was Jabin, king of
Canaan, reigning in Hazor, that strong northern city
which led the combination of Northern Palestine
against Joshua (Josh. 11). The city was again strong,
its king having at command nine hundred chariots of
iron. Twenty years he mightily oppressed Israel.

This time deliverance came through a woman, De-
borah the prophetess, who was judging Israel, dwelling

52 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

under a palm-tree which bore her name, between
Ramah, the home at a later day of Samuel, and Bethel,
the spot made sacred by Jacob's early visions of God.
Moved by the Spirit of the Lord to heroic daring, she
sent for Barak of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said, " Hath
not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying. Go and
draw toward Mt. Tabor, and take with thee ten thou-
sand men out of Naphtali and Zebulun ? Then I will
draw out to the river Kishon Jabin's chief captain
Sisera, and all his host, and I will deliver him into

thy hand." Barak promptly answered, " If thou wdlt

go with me, I go; otherwise, I go not." Deborah re-
plied, "I go; but it shall not be so much to thine
honor; for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a
woman" — a prediction which seems to have had a
double fulfillment, for a woman (Deborah) was virtu-
ally the head of the armies of Israel, and another
woman (Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite) took the
life of Sisera and no small share of the glory of this

deliverance. Barak gathered his ten thousand men

on Mt. Tabor. Sisera came to join battle with him
in the great plain of Esdraelon [Jezreel], hang at the
foot of Tabor, through which flows the Kishon.*

Adjacent to the locality of this battle lived Heber
the Kenite, a descendant of Hobab, who was brother-in-
law to Moses— his family, holding a somewhat neutral
position between the great contending powers, Israel
and Canaan. The battle was joined in the great valley
of Jezreel ; the host of Sisera broke ; he leaped from his
chariot and fled on foot through some by-way doubtless,
and turned in, weary, to the tent of Jael. She met
him with inviting words ; laid him to rest in her tent,
and covered him with a mantle. Thirsty and hungry,
he asked and obtained water and milk; drank and
then slept. Whether it came of Jael's faith in Israel's

* This remarkable plain, in form, roughly put, a triangle; the base,
its east line about fifteen miles long; its north side, formed by the
hills of Galilee, about twelve miles long, and its south side, skirted
by the Samaria range, about eighteen miles. Through its apex on
the west flows out the Kishon draining its waters into the Mediterra-
nean. This plain has proved to be one of the most celebrated bat-
tle-fields of all history. Here, after Barak, fought Gideon and the
Midianites ; here Saul fell before the Philistines ; Josiah before the
Egyptians under Necho; here, in later times, fought Vespasian, the
Crusaders, and Buonaparte.

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 63

God, or of her historic memories of Moses and of Israel,
or of her recent sympathy with a long and sorely op-
pressed people — which, or all combined— we may not
be able to say; but some heaven-born impulse moved
her soul to the heroic deed. Armed with a workman's
hammer and a tent-spike, she stole up softly and smote
this tent-pin deep into his temples, and fastened it
through his head into the ground — to his death.

Barak, in hot pursuit, came up ere long, and Jael

called him in to show him the man he was seeking —
Sisera dead ; the nail through his head to tell the story
of his fall! So God subdued Jabin that day before
Israel.

Deborah embalmed this story in sacred song. Her
emotions of joy, gratitude, and praise were too strong to
be suppressed — too rich to find fit utterance otherwise
than through poetry and music. Why should not such
a woman's heart indite poetry and pour itself forth in
holy song ? So we have in this fifth chapter of the book
of Judges — one of the oldest songs known to the literature
of the world — a beautiful specimen of Hebrew poetry,
and of its felicitous adaptation to music, praise, and
thanksgiving.

This song opens (v. 2) with the briefest reference to
the great theme of praise ; calls triumphantly (v. 3)
on all kings and princes to give ear to her song ; sets
forth in lofty poetic conceptions the coming of Jehovah
from the south, in earthquake, tempest, and storm for
their help (vs. 4, 5) ; then falls back to give histori-
cally the state of the country prior to this great victory
(vs. 6, 7) ; refers to the giant sins which brought on
these foreign wars (v. 8) ; calls on men of every grade,
rulers and people, to join in her song (vs. 9-11) ; then
summons herself and Barak to their tribute of praise
(v. 12). Again she resumes the history of this great
event — how she called the people to battle (v. 13) ; how
one tribe after another responded or did not respond to
this call (vs. 15-18) ; how the kings of Canaan came
and fought, but took no spoil (v. 19), because God and
his stars in the heavens and all the forces of nature
fought for Israel (vs. 20-22). God's angel bids them
curse Meroz who would not come to the help of the Lord
(v. 23) ; but blesses Jael the Kenite — whose exploits the
Bong spreads out in ample detail (vs. 25-27), not omit-

54 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

ting a home picture of the scenes in Sisera's houshold
and the kindling expectations there which were never
realized ! (vs. 28-30) ; closing with the prayer that all
God's enemies may perish in like manner; and his
loving friends be as the sun going forth in his might
(V. 31).

1. Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day,
saying,

2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people
willingly oflered themselves.

In the phrase translated here, *' for the avenging of
Israel," critics have held diverse views, mostly adverse to
our English version. The best lexicographers (Gesenius,
Fuerst, and Robinson) give it — " for the leading on of the
leaders in Israel," corresponding to the next clause —
" And for the hearty volunteer service of the people."
The first theme of her song is that both rulers and people
led off so freely and so nobly in this uprising for freedom.
The test word — the noun rendered "avenging" — occurs
elsewhere only in Deut. 32 : 42, and there in the sense
of ruler.

3. Hear, 0 ye kings; give ear, 0 ye princes; I, even I, will sing
unto the Lord; I will Q\ng prnise to the Lord God of Israel.

Are these kings and princes those of Israel or of
Canaan? Doubtless of Canaan. This summons to them
comes of her full heart, of her dauntless spirit, and of
her piety. She would show them the might of Israel's
God, and invite them to solemn consideration.

4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out
of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
the clouds also dropped water.

5. The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from
before the Lord God of Israel.

So God came in glorious majesty. This poetic con-
ception of the coming of God for the help of his people
(technically called a " theo2)hany ") is by no means un-
common in the lofty strains of Hebrew poetry. Exam-
ples may be seen in Deut. 33 : 2, and Ps. 18 : 7-14, and

GS : 7-9, and Hab. 3. In point of interpretation the

only question is whether it describes historically God
coming on Sinai at the giving of the law, or conceives
poetically of God as having his abode in that wilderness
where his personal manifestations were so striking, but
as coming up from that quarter in tempest and storm

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 55

for the help of his people against the Canaanites as he
came forth of old on Sinai. The latter construction is
preferable. The song (vs. 20, 21) indicates a terrific
storm — the stars of heaven (perhaps thought of as ruling
the elements) fighting against Sisera, and the old river
Kishon, suddenly swollen by the torrents of rain, sweep-
ing away their foes, the living and the dead, in masses

piled. "The heavens dropped" — rather let their

waters drop ; poured them forth — oceans of water. In

the phrase "the mountains melted," modern critics
universally favor another root for the Hebrew verb, with
the sense, tremble, shake with mighty convulsions.

6. In the days of Sbamgar tlie son of Anath, in the days of Jael,
the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through
by-ways.

7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until
that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

Shamgar (Judges 3 : 31) and Jael seem to have judged
Israel next before Deborah. The phrase " in the days
of" implies that they were public and prominent men,
and forbids us to suppose that this Jael was the heroine

of our song. The public highways were unoccupied,

no one daring to travel there. Life was so insecure,
men feared to go from place to place except through

unknown tortuous by-ways. In v. 7, the word "m-

hahitants^'' has no Hebrew equivalent, and the word trans-
lated " villages " should be rulers. The rulers — the
magistrates of the country who should have protected
life and enforced law, were inactive — practically power-
less. The protecting power of law was suspended, vir-
tually dead, until Deborah arose, a true " mother in
Israel," to shield property and life— to restore law and
order.

8. They chose new gods ; then u-as war in the gates : was there a
shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

The sense of the first clause is controverted, the better
opinions being with our version, referring the phrase to
idolatry, as the sin which brought foreign w^ars upon
them even to their gates. These wars found them
almost utterly unarmed — a fact which made this great
victory the more striking and the more glorious to God.
The resistless enthusiasm of Israel's warriors supplied
the place of shield and spear

66 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

9. My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered them-
selves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.

" My heart is toward " — might without violence be
taken to express her gratitude. Yet since this verse
closes with the words, " Bless ye the Lord," and the
next two verses are in the same strain, it seems better
to give the words this turn : My heart goes out to the
governors of Israel, exhorting them to unite with me
in blessing and praising our great Jehovah.

10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and
walk by the way.

11. They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places
of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the
Lord, evefi the righteous acts toicard the inhabitants of his villages in
Israel: then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates.

" Speak," i. e., in praise to God ; give utterance aloud

to your joyful thanksgivings. "Ye that ride on

white asses ; " men holding office and honored with this

distinction. "Ye that sit in judgment," should

rather be, ye that recline on splendid carpets, luxurious

tapestries. The Hebrew words demand this sense.

" Walk by the way." These are the people in the
humbler walks of life who travel on foot, having no

means of riding. In v. 11, the poet has in mind the

joyful scenes of dividing the spoil at the great water-
ing places where the returning victors halted to rest.
She calls on them to suspend that division of spoil for
a song of praise to rehearse the glorious things God
had wrought, and then go in peace to their homes. Our
English version fails in several points to give the sense
of the original. Better thus (following Dr. E. Robin-
son) : " At the voice of those who divide the spoil by the
watering troughs. There shall they celebrate the vic-
tories of Jehovah, the victories of his princes in Israel.
Then shall the people of the Lord descend to their
gates." Or the more precise sense of the Hebrew trans-
lated " at the voice " may be, more than — high above — the
shouts of joy over the dividing of the spoil, let their
songs of praise to God ascend, etc. ; or iwssibly — Because
of those shouts of joy, etc. We meet with a historic
scene of revelry over spoils in 1 Sam. oO : 16, and poetic
illustrations from such scenes in Isa. 9 : 3.

12. Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise,
Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 57

Deborah will not fall behind in this outpouring of
grateful song. In lofty self-excitation she calls upon

herself and Barak to lead off in this celebration.

" Lead thy captivity captive " — means, Lead thy cap-
tives away into captivity.

13. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the
nobles among the people: the Lord made me have dominion over the
mighty.

The English translation of v. 13 is very defective;
(a) In (apparently) following some other than the re-
ceived and best supported text : (b) In omitting the
verb, " I said, which " manifestly should be supplied, as
it often needs to be in Hebrew poetry at the com-
mencement (as here) of a new strain. The verbs of the
verse (in our English) "made him have dominion;"
" made me have dominion," most obviously signify — go
down (imperative), i. e., into the battle. The poetess
throws herself back to the point where she summoned
the men of Israel from all the adjacent hills of Pales-
tine to come down into this great valley of Esdraelon
to the battle, and invokes the Lord Jehovah to come
with them. I would translate (with Robbins, Bib.
Sacra, July, 1855, p. 608). — " Then I said, Descend ye
residue, to the aid of the nobles of the people, descend

for me, Jehovah, against the mighty. " Ye residue,"

means all ye surviving people who have escaped death
during the desolating wars and oppressions then re-
cent. The nobles of the people are ready, in advance of
the rank and file of the army. The latter are, there-
fore, specially exhorted to come on ! Nothing could be
more appropriate than this call upon Jehovah also to
come down in her behalf among these heroes for their
help.

14. Out of Ephraim loas there a root of them against Amalek ; after
thee, Benjamin, among thy people ; out of Machir came down gov-
ernors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.

15. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar,
and also Barak : he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divi-
sions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.

16. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings
of the flocks ? For the divisions of Reuben there were great search-
ings of heart.

Here with a few rapid touches she indicates the
various responses given to her call by these several

58 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

tribes. '' Out of Ephraim " [came those] " whose root "
— home, dwelling-place — was on Mt. Amalek. (See
Judg. 12 : 15 for this locality.) ''After thee was Ben-
jamin among thy people." " From Machir " (repre-
senting Manasseh) "came down leaders ; out of Zebulun.
those who bear the ruler's scepter. The princes of
Issachar were with Deborah ; Issachar w^as the support
of Barak ; they rushed down into the valley at his
feet." The song is with the history (4 : 10, 14) in the
fact that the main force, especially the rank and file,

were from Issachar and Zebulun. What is said of

Reuben is, to say the least, doubtful praise. The latter
part of V. 15 opens this subject : the verse should have
begun at that point. The English translation is by
no means felicitous. Reuben on the east of Jordan was
a well watered country, of the finest pasturage, and
covered with its flocks and herds. Instead of read-
ing, " For the divisions of Reuben," read — " Alongside
or at the streams of Reuben " (where they were leading
and feeding their flocks) " there were great resolves of
heart" — [nothing more!] Hear the expostulations of
the poetess : " Why didst thou sit down " [at thine
ease] "to listen to the bleatings of thy flocks?" Was
that the right thing for men — loyal-hearted men — to
do when summoned to arms for their country and for

their country's God ? Then with a touch of sarcasm

she repeats with only slight variation, and that a play
upon the former word; "At the streams of Reuben
there were great searchings in thought." They pon-
dered over this matter full long, and talked great reso-
lutions— but all came to nothing ! Their country in
her peril gat no help from Reuben !

17. Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in
ships ? Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his breaches.

Gilead, the mountainous region east of Jordan, held
by the two and a half tribes, seems here to represent
Gad, and perhaps the half of Manasseh — Reuben hav-
ing already received special consideration. Gilead
abode [at his ease], all quiet as if with no care for his
imperiled brethren on the west and north. Dan and
Asher, lying upon the shore of the great sea — why did
they sit down at their ease by their ships and around
their harbors? Just far enough removed from the

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 59

scenes of this great battle to be (probably) safe them-
selves, why should they be so selhsh as to sit stolidly
down, and leave their brethren to imperil their lives to
the death on the field of blood ?

18. Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded theii- lives
unto the death in the high places of the field.

Zebulun and Naphtali were the people who made no
account of their lives on the heights of the battle-field.
Literally, they " scorned their lives ; " accounted life a
matter of no special consequence, compared with the
salvation of their country.

19. The kings came and fought ; then fought the kings of Canaan
in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.

In this one verse with briefest words the song puts
before us the mighty conflict of arms. " Kings came

and foughtJ^ The precise battle-ground — designated

here as " Taanach " — has been identified in modern
times, near the " waters of Megiddo," i. e., the river
Kishon, which drains the great plain of Esdraelon into

the Mediterranean. What was the result of the

battle ? This : they took no spoil. We see below (vs. 29,
30) that this was the chief end thought of and sought
— at least by the women of these warriors. But they
got none. This sufficiently signifies that they lost the
battle.

20. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought
against Sisera.

21. The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the
river Kishon. 0 my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

22. Then were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of the prancings,
the prancings of their mighty ones.

Why this vast army and their hundreds of war
chariots made no better fight is told here. God was
against them. Great powers "fought from heaven." The
Hebrew verb being impersonal — " There was fighting
from heaven " — we are left to supply the person — which

could be none other than the mighty God. " The stars

in their courses fought " — should probably be taken to
mean that all the agencies of the lower heavens —
tempest, storm, lightning — were in this battle, God's
angels of death, to whelm in ruin those hosts of Canaan.-''

* Describing this battle Josephus (Book V. chap, v.) says — "When
they were come to a close fight, there came down from heaven a

60 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

As the men of Canaan worshiped the heavenly
bodies, it was an astounding, terrible retribution that
those stars and the elements of the lower heaven should

join Israel in this battle against them. It seems

that Barak and these powers of heaven drove the men
of Canaan with fearful rout into the deep ravine
through which the Kishon drains this great plain.
The river, swollen to flood by the mighty rain storm,

drowned many of the living and swept off the dead.

*' That ancient river," called " ancient," not because it
was older than other rivers, but either because it (po-
etically) "covered itself with glory," and embalmed
its name in history to be ever remembered ; or, in a dif-
ferent sense of the original word — river of battles, or of
combatants — those who meet you in front as opponents.
The primary sense of the root is to be in front or be-
fore ; and is applied to tinu in the sense of ancient, or
to an opponent.

The poetess thinks now of the fall of her mighty
foes, and accosts herself: "0 my soul, thou hast trod-
den dov>^n the mighty" — i. <?., the strength of mighty

men. The rapid flight of the mounted warriors is

prominent in her poetic conception of this battle.
Thus V. 22 : " Then did the horses' hoofs smite the
ground through the haste — the haste of their valiant
riders." The original word suggests horses leaping,
prancing, sweeping round in circles as when under

training. To speak of flying horsemen as brave,

valiant ("mighty ones"), may be slightly sarcastic.
Brave men they were, were they? But how they fled!

These touches complete her sketch of the battle

scene.

23. Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly
the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

great storm, with a vast quantity of rain and hail, and the wind
blew the rain in the face of the Canaanites, and so darkened their
eyes that their arrows and slings were of no advantage to them ; nor
would the coldness of the air permit the soldiers to use their swords;
while this storm did not so much incommode the Israelites, because
it came in their backs. They also took such courage, upon the ap-
prehension that God was assisting them, that they fell upon the very
midst of their enemies and slew a great number of them, so that
some of them fell by the Israelites, some fell by their own horses
which were put into disorder, and not a few were killed by their own
chariots."

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 61

Meroz, a village or city unknown to fame or history
save through this dishonorable mention, seems to have
lain near the scene of this battle, or, perhaps, of this
retreat, where her warriors might have done ready
and effective service if they had come forth to the help
of the Lord, i. e ., of the Lord's army. With their own
warriors, is the sense required by the Hebrew, rather
than against the mighty hosts of Canaan.

This command to curse Meroz, she is inspired to
declare, comes from "the angel of the Lord." How
made known to her, we are left with no means of cer-
tain knowledge. It is supposable that she had an im-
pressive consciousness that God moved her in this entire
uprising against Jabin and his allies; and thus God's
angel was present to her soul as the captain of the
Lord's host (Josh. 5 : 13-15), inspiring both her call
to Israel's warriors, her rebuke of the tribes that made
no response, and her malediction upon those who like
Meroz had the finest of opportunities for most effective
help, but would not come.

24. Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite
be ; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

25. He asked water, and she gave him milk ; she brought forth but-
ter in a lordly dish.

26. She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the work-
men's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote
off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his tem-
ples.

27. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he
bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

The transition of thought from Meroz to Jael — from
those who would not come to the Lord's help, to her who
would, and who so nobly did, is both natural and full
of force. Let her be honored among women, yea above

all women who dwell in tents. The reader will

note hoAf the poetess dwells on each prominent fact
with impressive reiteration, as if she could not hold
these points before her mind's eye too long. You see
all the transaction ; how she puts forth one hand to the
tent-pin ; another, her right hand, to the workmen's
hammer; how then she smote with her might and
sent it crashing quite through his head; it passed
through his temples. Our translators slightly missed
the sense in supposing that she beheaded her victim.
Neither the words of the song as here, nor those of the

62 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

history (4 : 21) mean that. Rather she drove the nail
quite through his head and fastened him to the ground.
Four Hebrew verbs in succession depict this scene, the
last three nearly synonymous in this sense of piercing
through, crashing along, transfixing. Then we have
the struggle of the dying man till all is over! How
true to the genius of graphic poetry !

28. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through
the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming ? why tarry the
wheels of his chariot ?

29. Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to
herself,

30. Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to
every man a damsel or two ; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey
of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both
sides, meet for the necks of ihem thai take the spoil ?

Why the mother of Sisera, rather than his wife or
sister? Is this historic fact, or poetic imagination?
Probably fact, because fiction would be very unlikely
to say mother. If fact, it indicates a contemporary
writer, intimately familiar with the minutest circum-
stances of the case. Why does his chariot shame us

[Hebrew] as to its coming ? ^. e., delay so long as to

shame our exj^ectation ? Her lady attendants are

represented as shrewdly [" wise "] forecasting the cause
of this delay and relieving her anxiety. The army of
Sisera are of course victorious, and are delayed only to
divide the great spoil. Noticeably in this enumeration
of spoil, female captives stand first in order and highest
in value ; then ornament, dress, decoration, and nothing
else ! A woman's conception of woman's estimate ! —

true enough, if not to nature, at least to fact! This

is only one among many points in this song which in-
dicate a woman's pen and conception. A military his-
torian (say Caesar) would have shown us the position
of the contending hosts and given the science of the
battle; but in this song of thirty verses, not more than
three (19-21) are given to the battle proper. On the other
hand, Deborah's part in this whole movement — a part
entirely appropriate to a " mother in Israel " — stands in
the foreground throughout. Her Christian soul in-
dites the thanksgiving, and never loses sight long of the
mighty hand of God in their deliverance. She tells us
of her efforts to call out the brave men of every tribe ;
in what cases she succeeded and in what she failed ; how

DEBORAH AND BARAK. 63

her womanly, noble heart honored the former and up-
braided the latter ; and, not least, how she sympathized
with the spirit, so kindred to her own, which was in
Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite. If the genius of any
song were ever true to its author, bearing internal evi-
dence of being the production of its author and not of
another, this song may claim such evidence of being
genuine.

31. So let all thine enemies perish, 0 Lord : but let them that love
him he as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land
had rest forty years.

She does not take time to tell us how Sisera's mother
and her wise ladies met their disappointment and saw
their pretty fancies vanish in one short moment ; but
she suggests that it reminds her of the way in which
all God's enemies perish and all their thoughts and
plans against him come to abortion. Nay more, her
heart is in the result of this; her sympathies are in-
tensely deep and strong, and withal are thoroughly /o?*
God and against his enemies. With what terseness and
force does she put it ! So let all thine enemies perish,
O Lord ; whenever, anywhere in the lapse of the ages,
they take up arms against Thee, or how strong soever
they may be in chariots and in horsemen — let them go
down quick to such a doom as this ! But let all who
love God and put themselves with heart and hand upon
his side, be as the rising sun sweeping up the eastern

heavens in his might and glory ! Could any thing be

more beautiful, nay, rather, more sublimely grand in
poetic conception than this?

But some one may say (more than one has said), that
such joy over scenes of human carnage is at least un-
womanly if not inhuman and unchristian, and will
ask — as if the very question carried their argument —
Is this loving one's enemies? Is this blessing those
who curse us, and doing good to those who persecute us,
and praying for our murderers ?

A full answer must include several points, mainly
reducible to these three :

1. The utterance of her heart said to God, ^Hhine ene-
mies," not mine. Not mine merely; not mine (as in
her thought) mainly ; in fact not mine with sufficient
prominence to come into notice at all. She never even
alluded to them as her own personal enemies. More-

64 DEBORAH AND BARAK.

over, "by contrast and implication they are those who
do not love God. Her prayer is that all who love God
may be as the rising sun in his glory.

2. Nothing said here forbids that she may have felt
sincere compassion for those dying Canaanites con-
sidered as sentient and suffering, although she prayed
and labored for their overthrow as God's enemies. This
discrimination is certainly not unknown to Christian
experience, however remote it may be fi-om the con-
ception of those who criticise and condemn this prayer
of Deborah.

3. It is sufficient to reply comprehensively, once for
all, that the sympathies of this prayer and of this
woman Deborah were with God — with God most thor-
oughly, ^most intensely, and (so far as appears) were
nothing other or else. She loved God's honor, God's
people, God's cause on earth; she gave to it her best
wisdom, her great social power, her noble heroism, her
highest womanly powers of piety, poetry, song, and
praise. What more or other than this can be reasonably
demanded of a great and noble woman? She adjusted
herself precisely to the circumstances in which God
placed her. She lived, not in our age, but in her own —
when God's people stood against their enemies by dint,
not of patient suffering, but of heroic fighting, imperil-
ling their lives on the high places of the bloody fields
of real war. It is quite idle for us to hint that it would
have been more Christian for Deborah and her people
to have suffered even to martyrdom rather than take
the life of their enemies. It is somewhat out of place
for us to review the policy of the God of Israel and sug-
gest that it would have been a better example and a
better spirit if he had forbidden his people to take the
life of their and his enemies. No ; it rather becomes us
to withhold our criticism upon the ways of God, and
admit that he may have had the best of reasons for the
policy under which he disciplined and ruled Israel in
those ages.

As to Deborah, it must suffice for her vindication
that she put herself in full sympathy with God, and
met the circumstances and conditions of her time with
the truest Christian heroism. If she had lived in
Judea with Christ and his disciples, or in Rome with
Peter and Paul, she would (with the same spirit) have

GIDEON. 65

suffered, like Jesus and like the martj^red apostles,
even to death, praying withal for her A^ery murderers.
The former — the life she actually lived— was neither
more nor less than adjusting herself to the demands of
full sympathy with God under her actual circum-
stances. The latter — the life of apostles and martyrs
— was nothing more or higher than this. Under any
and all conceivable circumstances, there can be no
higher, no nobler, virtue for mortals than to be in per-
fect sympathy with God. Falling sweetly, bravely,
wholly into his will ; doing or suffering all that obedi-
ence to that will demands, is man's highest virtue and
truest glory. To do this is not piety and virtue in the
age of Paul, but malignity and sin in the age of De-
borah. To assume that it is would imply a radical
change in the moral character of God, taking place be-
tween the times respectively of Deborah and of Paul.

Scenes in the Life of Gideon.

The recorded history of Gideon fills three chapters
(6-8), and illustrates one great central lesson. It also
presents certain subordinate points, deserving brief

notice. The central lesson is that the Lord saves

according to his wisdom, by man}^ or by few; it being
all the same with him, inasmuch as "the excellency
of the power " is altogether of God and never of man.

This lesson stands in somewhat special adaptation to
the character of Gideon. When the Lord first proposed
to Gideon to send him against the Midianites, he re-
plied, "AVherewith shall / save Israel? Behold, my
family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
father's house " (6 : 15). Here it was pertinent for the
Lord to answer, " I will be with thee," and that is
always enough. The God of Israel is mighty to save,
whether by few or by many. He can save by the
smallest man in the small half-tribe of Manasseh. And
the Lord shaped the circumstances of this case to bear
toward the illustration of this great lesson.

Some of the antecedents deserve notice. Israel had
fallen again into idolatry after Deborah had passed
away, and the Lord brought them under subjection to
Midian seven years. The men of Midian and Amalek
came up from the populous east, like "grasshoppers
4

66 GIDEON.

for multitude," and like the locusts also in their rav-
ages, devouring the harvests of the land and leaving
the people to famish with hunger. Want brought them
to reflection and to prayer. They cried to God for help.
First he sent to them "a prophet" (6: 7-10), to remind
them of his past mercies and of their recent sins. The
reader will notice that this is the first recorded instance,
since Moses, of a prophet raised up and sent of God.

His name is not given. God introduced himself

specially to Gideon by means of an angel; yet this
angel is repeatedly called "the Lord" (6: 14, 15, 16, 23,
24), Gideon seems to have understood that this call
meant business, and was to him a summons to action.
Consequently he felt that he must become well assured
that the call came truly from God. We may note with
pleasure that this was the only doubtful point in his
mind ; for he seems never to question God's power if
only it be truly God. " If now I have found grace in
thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with
me" (6: 17). Perhaps it was not quite settled in his
mind whether this personage were angelic or divine.
Wishing to do him all honor whichever he might be —
moved, it may be, by the impulses of oriental hospital-
ity, he besought the stranger to remain in that place
till he could prepare his offering, which consisting of a
kid ready for the table and unleavened cakes, was of a
sort to be eaten as food, or consumed otherwise, at the
option of his visitor. The angel directed him to place
his provisions (or offering) "upon this rock." Gideon
did so; and the angel, having touched the flesh and
cakes with his staff, fire came forth from the rock and
consumed them. Then Gideon knew him to be an angel
of the Lord, and cried out : " Alas for me ! for I have
seen an angel of the Lord face to face." The Lord gave
him an answer of peace, and Gideon built an altar of
the memorial sort, giving it a name significant of this
great fact : Jehovah — peace. Thus Gideon is becoming
acquainted with God and prepared for more intimate
personal relations.

In the next stage of these events the Lord directed
him to tear down the altar of Baal and cut down the
tall wooden pillar (not " grove ") in Ileb. Asherah, oth-
erwise called Astarte — both of which seem to have been
the property of his father. The men of the city (prob-

GIDEON. 67

ably Canaan ites) appear to have worshiped here, for
they were offended and indignant. Further, the Lord
commanded Gideon to take his father's young bullock -^
and offer him as a sacrifice on this altar Avith the wood
of this idol image. This bold act evinced the spirit of
Gideon and put him right on the record before the peo-
ple as being in sympathy with the true God, and against
all idolatry. It legitimately prepared the way for
Israel's deliverance from Midian b}' his hand.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon
Gideon; he blew the war-trumpet, calling forth the
people to battle against Midian. The men of Abi-
ezer, his own tribal family, first gathered after him.
He sent messengers to other tribes, and soon had an
army of 32,000 men. Yet still Gideon's mind is not at
rest toward God as to his promised help, but craves
some unmistakable sign. He proposes to put a fleece
of wool on the open, unsheltered threshing-floor over
night, and suggests that the sign be — dew on the fleece
only; none on the earth about it. Done; yet still
Gideon begs the Lord to make it more decisive by one
other test — dew on all the ground about it, and none on
the fleece. This also the Lord granted; and Gideon
seems to have been quite satisfied. Perhaps it was for
the sake of his followers as well as for his own that he
sought these manifold and manifest proofs of God's
present hand. We must admire the patience and for-
bearance of God in consenting to put himself thus on
trial and in meeting so kindly what had at least some-
what the aspect of unbelief.

The small army of Gideon (32,000 men) were now in
camp quite near the almost countless hosts of Midian.
The Lord came to Gideon to say — Your men are too
many, "lest Israel vaunt themselves against me" as
having gained their victory by their own numbers and
valor, and without God. Send home all who are fearful
and faint-hearted.f 22,000 went home ; 10,000 remained.
Again the Lord came to say — There are still too many.
They must be sifted again. By the Lord's direction
Gideon marched his men down to a stream of water.
The test turned on the manner in which the men drank.

*It is not quite clear, from the original, -whetlier the command in-
cluded two bullocks or only one.

tThis was in accord with the Hebrew war-law; Deut. 20: 9,

68 GIDEON.

One class dropped upon their knees and drank from the
stream ; another class dipped up water in the palm of
the hand and then lapped it. Whether this latter mode
of drinking from a stream indicated more power of en-
durance or less — more martial zeal or less — we are left
to form our own opinion. The number of this latter
class was 300. The Lord said, These are the men for
the victory over Midian ; send home the other class —

9,700 strong. To assure Gideon's faith yet the more,

the Lord sends him down to the border of the camp of
Midian to listen. There he hears a man of Midian re-
port his dream to his fellow, who interprets it of the
sword of Gideon into whose hand God had delivered
Midian and all their host (7: 13, 14). This is to
Gideon an inspiration. He a(;cepts it as the voice of
God, and strikes for victory. Arming his 300 men with
trumpets and dark lanterns (a lamp concealed in a
pitcher), he puts his men in a circle investing the
whole camp, with orders to follow his example. When
all had reached their position, Gideon blew his trumpet
and shouted : " The sword of the Lord and of Gideon ; "
then broke his pitcher and let his lamp blaze out. In-
stantly three hundred trumpets and three hundred
voices are in chorus, and three hundred lamps are
gleaming on ever}^ side of the camp of Midian. It was
the beginning of the middle watch, i. c, toward mid-
night. The panic was complete. " All the host ran
and cried and fled." The Lord set every man's sword
against his fellow, with no discrimination of friend or
foe. Doubtless the darkness in dead of night conduced
to this mutual slaughter. Of course the men of Israel
rallied for the pursuit, and seized the fords of the Jor-
dan. "There fell on that day 120,000 men that drew
sword " (8 : 10;. Midian was subdued, and Israel was
again free.

Incidentally the historian records the extreme and
petty jealousy of the Ephraimites because they were
not called out among the first. Gideon (of the tribe of
Manasseh) answered them adroitly by magnifying their
exploits— an offering to their vanity. " What have I
done now in comparison of yoa?" Perhaps this was
the wisdom of the serpent. It proved perfectly success-
ful, acting like a charm on the human nature of the
Ephraimites. (See 8 : 1-3).

GIDEON. 69

The closing incident of this history brings out another
sad proof of the amazing, not to say unaccountable, pro-
pensity of the Israelites to idol-worship. The pillage of
the fallen or routed Midianites brought great quantities
of gold into their possession. For reasons (if there
were any) not apparent, Gideon while nobly refusing to
take the scepter offered him by the people, did request
each of them to "give him the golden ear-rings of his
prey " — i. e., the share falling to each in the division of
the spoil. Gideon (it is said) made of this gold " an
ephod, and set it up in his city, and all Israel went
thither a whoring after it; which thing became a snare
unto Gideon and to his house " (8 : 27). This word
"ephod" usually indicates the outer robe of the priests.
Some have supposed that here it must mean a golden
image regarded as an idol. Others, that it rather im-
plied the accompaniments of a system of idolatry. The
former view is favored by the great quantity of the gold ;
by the fact stated of its being ^^ set up,^^ and by the idol-
atry which ensued. It certainly became the occasion of
a sad relapse after this great deliverance, and involves

Gideon's character in both weakness and sin. The

phrase — " go a whoring " — conceives of Israel as under
covenant with God, analogous to the marriage covenant,
so that idolatry in them was the sin of adultery and
whoredom toward God. This figure of speech, as it was
intensely expressive, became very common, almost the
standard illustration of this giant national sin.

Judg. 9 is a digression from the general current of
Hebrew history to give a series of local incidents in
which Abimelech, son of Gideon by his concubine, is
the central actor and Shechem the principal locality.
The historic incidents are numerous and need not be
given in detail here. I refer to it as developing the
true idea of history — viz., to illustrate great principles in
GocVs government of men, moral and providential. The
principle in this case is definitely stated in the conclu-
sion of the story, in the words — " Thus God rendered
the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his
father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the
evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their
heads : and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son
of Jerubbaal." (Judg. 9 : b(j, 57).

This rendering of men's wickedness upon their own

70 JEPHTHAH.

head, which is simply a righteous retribution, is one
of the great laws of God's administration over men,
whether as communities, nations, or individuals. For
the illustration of this great law, the chapter before us
is on record. We find the same law written everj^where
in the events of human life. How wonderfully does it
make up the warp and woof of human history ! Oh, would
men but open their eyes to see and read it, and their
hearts to receive its admonitory lessons !

Resuming the thread of events, the historian (chap.
lOj alludes in passing to the judgeship of Tola and of
Jair, and then proceeds to describe more at length the
great defection of Israel into idolatry, in which, it would
seem (10: 6) that they introduced the idol-gods of all
the contiguous heathen nations — the gods of Syria,
Zidon, Moab, Amnion, and Philistia. Their scourging
in this case came from the Philistines and Ammonites,
the tribes east of Jordan suffering first and most severely,
and Gilead under Jephthah taking the lead in the re-
sistance. The history sets forth God's expostulation
with his recreant people. "Did not my uplifted arm
save you from Egyptian bondage and deliver you of old
from the very same enemies under whom ye are now
groaning — the Ammonites and the Philistines? Yet ye
have forsaken me, and served other gods ; wherefore I
will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods
whom ye have chosen ; let them deliver you in the time

of your tribulation." We can not say less than that

this rebuke Avas terribly truthful and just; but alas
for Israel if the Lord had given them only simple and

stern justice 1 The reply of the people as given here

was the best possible for guilt}^ sinners to make : " We
have sinned; do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good
unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day."

Moreover, they not only offered this very suitable
]M'ayer with the humblest submission to whatever
chastisements the Lord might inflict, but they put
away their strange gods and served the Lord. Then
(as we read) " his soul was grieved for the misery of
Israel." His pity and compassion were moved. Re-
sentment, revenge — there was none in his heart. The

way was fast being prepared for their deliverance.

Jrphfhah became God's instrument for this result. An
illegitimate son, cast out from the family by his half-

JEPHTHAH AND HIS VOW. 71

brothers, he fled to Tob where "vain men" (so-called)
gathered themselves under him as their head, follow-
ing a life of plunder and adventure — a kind of life not
unknown to the Arab freebooters of the same country
to this day. The fact is mainly important in this his-
tory as having given him the training of a fearless,
hardy, capable military leader, with, however, only very
meager advantages for religious knowledge and cul-
ture. When the men of Gilead looked round for a
man equal to this service of leadership in war, their

eye rested on this Jephthah. We may note that

Jephthah, remembering how his brethren of Gilead
rudely and cruelly cast him out of the family, stipu-
lated in this case that if the Lord delivered Israel
from the oppressions of Amnion by his hand, they
should make him their head— manifesting in this a
spirit that does not compare favorably with that of

Gideon (8: 22, 23). Remarkably, in this uprising

against the oppressions of Ammon, negotiations pre-
ceded war. The history recites the arguments as put
by Jephthah, and answered by the men of Ammon
(11 : 12-28). This effort having utterly failed, the
Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah (v. 29), and
he passed round among his people, rallying them to
arms, and then marched down upon Ammon. At this
point Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said —
"If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of
Ammon into mine hand, then it shall be that whatso-
ever Cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet
me when I return in peace from the children of Am-
nion shall surely be the Lord's, and [perhaps or'] I will

offer it up for a burnt-offering." Jephthah gained a

great victory, subdued Ammon, and redeemed his peo-
ple from their oppressions. The sequel of his remark-
able vow is fully given in vs. 34-40 — in substance
thus: Heturning in peace to his house, he was met
first by his only chikl — a daughter, rushing forth to
greet him with timbrels and dances as at once a father
and a conqueror — the savior of his country. The
father's heart is dead to this joy, overwhelmed with
anguish because of his vow. " Alas, my daughter" (he
cried), "thou hast brought me very low; thou art of
them that trouble me ; " no trouble has ever befallen
me like this, for I have opened my mouth to the

72 JEPHTHAH AND HIS VOW.

Lord, and I can not go back." It is probable though

not, perhaps, entirely certain that at this stage the
daughter fully understood the vow. The agony of the
father was fearfully significant, yet she bears herself
nobly. " Father," said she, " if thou hast vowed to the
Lord, go on and perform it, since the Lord has given
thee such victory over thine enemies." She asks but
one favor — two months' delay, that she may go out to
the retirement of her native mountains, and there with
her companions "bewail her virginit3^" This was
granted. Then she returned ; and the record has it —
her father "did to her according to his vow, and she
knew no man." It is not said definitely lohat he did
with her. This remains somewhat an open question —
with, however, a strong preponderance of critical opin-
ion and also of evidence favoring the view that he
made her a burnt-offering, taking her life and burning
her dead body entire upon the altar. Finally, it be-
came a custom for the daughters of Israel to gather
four daj^s each year " to lament the daughter of Jeph-
thah." The margin reads, not "lament," but talk withy
on the supposition that her doom was not death, but
perpetual virginity. The Hebrew word, little used,
signifies to celebrate with praises, to give forth the
voice ; but apparently not as in conversation, but rather
as in song and praise.

Turning our thought now to the main question,
WJiat was done to JephthaKs daughter? we must answer
in the first place, she was in some way devoted to God.
Tliis is obvious, and indeed unquestionable. The only
]K)ssible point of doubt lies in the way and manner of
this devotement. The alternatives here are these
three : (1.) Death as a burnt-offering ; — -(2.) Abso-
lute consecration to God — the term, "burnt-offering"
being on this supposition used figurativel}^, and so not
implying consumption upon the literal altar, but com-
plete and unreserved devotement to God's service. So
Paul (Rom. 12 : 1) exhorts that " ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice :" or (3.) Perpetual virginity.

In making our choice between these three alterna-

ti ves, we should be governed (a.) By the current

usage of the language, especially the words of the vow.

(b.) By the force of the facts given in the narrative.

(c.) By the usages of Jephthah's time and by the

JEPHTHAH AND HIS VOW. 73

notions and ideas, superstitious or religious, which he
may be reasonably supposed to have hekl.

The usage of the language comes legitimately first.
Men must be assumed to say what they mean — to speak
in order to be understood, and, therefore, to use their
words in the customary sense of those words among the

people at the time. Now, interpreting Jephthah's

vow by the use of words in the Mosaic law, we are com-
pelled to think of an animal laid whole upon the altar

and there consumed. The force of the attendant

facts narrated here bears in the same direction. The
agony of the father when his daugther rushed out to
meet him; the heroism of the daughter; and the an-
nual commemoration of this event four days in each
year — all look strongly toward this excessively sad, ag-
onizing result. But over against these considera-
tions there are others, worthy of notice, which favor a
different conclusion. Perhaps we can not assume that
Jephthah knew much about the Mosaic ritual law. If
he had, he would have seen that a rash vow like this
should have been repented of, and not performed in
its letter. If he had he could not have thought it
pleasing or due to God to murder his daughter. — Then
further, we may ask — What could he have been think-
ing of as likely to come forth first from his house to
meet him on his return? He knew there was but one
child there — his only daughter — more likely, therefore,
to be this ^^ivhatsoever^'' than any other living being.
There was only the smallest probability that this an-
imal would be a lamb, a bullock, or a kid — ^. e., of the
class permitted for burnt-offerings. As to domestic
animals, dogs, pets of nameless kind — we know quite

too little to make even a conjecture. Jephthah used

the masculine gender; literally thus : "It shall be that
the outcomer (masculine) which shall come forth

from the door of my house shall be for the Lord,

and I will offer him (masculine) as a burnt-offering."

I infer from this that he certainly did not think of his
daughter as likely to be this forthcoming person or
animal. His surprise and agony when he saw her

coming bear to the same point. 1 am aware it may be

replied to this that rash vows do not imply much fore-
thought; that the great mistake, not to say sin, of
Jephthah lay in the fact that he did not think; that

74 JEPHTHAH AND HIS VOW.

he opened his mouth under the pressure of intense
emotion, pressed by the momentous crisis, and feeling
that something must be done to propitiate the favor
and gain the blessing of God; and that under these
emotions he spake most unadvisably and with no
proper consideration.

In interpreting this transaction, it is our weakness
that we know so little of Jephthah — of his early educa-
tion, of his religious or superstitious ideas, and of the
current notions and usages of the people on the east
of Jordan. What were their notions about vows?
What about human sacrifices? What about devote-
ment to God in ways other than by burning entire on
the altar ? If we had light on all these points ; espe-
cially if we had proofs of a usage in which young men
or young women either, were devoted to God by a life
of seclusion from society, celibac}^, perpetual virginity
— we should have some foothold for the opinion that
this vow issued in such a result. But in the absence
of proof or indication as to this we can not rest in this
opinion. It is much more probable that Jephthah
sympathized with notions respecting human sacrifices
which are known to have been prevalent in Syria and
in Moab. For the latter, see 2 Kings 3: 26, 27. As to
the former, Porphyry (cited by Eusebius, Prep. Evan.
IV : 16) says — " In all great emergencies of war, of
famine, or drought, the Phenicians used to designate by
vote one of their nearest and dearest as a sacrifice to
Saturn, and their descendants, the Carthaginians, sacri-
ficed tlieir finest children to the same god." This
usage of the Syrians is the more probably the origin or
suggestive occasion of Jephthah's vow, from the fact
that according to this record (Judg. 10: 6) "Israel
served the gods of Syria, and of Zidon, and of Moab."

The prominence given to her "virginity" as the
paramount evil in her case somewhat favors the opinion
that her doom was not death. It was this that she and
her female companions bewailed upon the mountains ;
this that appears in the record as the consequence of
her father's performing his vow (vs. 37, 38, 39) ; " She
knew no man."

The construction placed second (above) in the list
of possi))le alternatives, which would make Jephthah's
words figurative, and his meaning only that he would

JEPIITHAH AND HIS VOW. 75

fully consecrate to the Lord in the spiritual sense
whatever should first come forth from his house, lies
open to these two objections : — (a) It is too early to
look for a figurative use of the burnt-offering. Usages
like this take time to work themselves so perfectly into
the public mind that they naturally become figures of

speech for corrOvSponding ideas in the spiritual world.

(b) There is the greatest reason to fear that spiritual
ideas were not sufficiently developed in the mind of
Jephthah to justify such a construction of his words as
we may reasonably give to the words of Paul. Jephthah
and Paul were not on the same plane of religious
thought and culture. We may wish they were, and
may feel that it would be an immense relief to us to
think of Jephthah as only consecrating his beloved and
noble daughter to most sacred service for the living
God. But with this sense to his word, why should he
be so stricken with grief in the thought of performing
his vow ?

That Jephthah was in the main a good man — so good
that the Lord could use him for the deliverance of his
people, is obvious. Was his record as to this vow given
here to show that God can use very imperfect and
erring men, provided they are honest? or to show how
crude and semi-heathenish were the current notions of
that age and country, and how little the true spirit of
the Mosaic code had leavened society? On these and
similar questions we seem to lack the data we so much
need for decisive opinions.

The little fragment of history with which Jephthah's
record closes (chap. 12) shows him rather rash than
prudent and conciliating, putting him in sharp con-
trast with Gideon under similar circumstances. Those
jealous Ephraimites come to light again, complaining
indignantly that they were not summoned first to the
war and to the glory of this victory. They must have
crossed the Jordan in great force to demand reparation
or to take vengeance for this assumed tribal insult.
In the issue they attacked the men of Gilead, who
smote and drove them back ; took the fords of the Jor-
dan ; tested the Ephraimite by his provincial pronun-
ciation of "Shibboleth;" and put to the sword 42,000
men— a terrible punishment upon a very ridiculous
jealousy and a very rash, unjustifiable assault. We

76 SAMSON AND MANOAH.

get here a dark view of social and national life in
Israel.

Jephthah's judgeship was of six years onl}^, and was
apparently limited to the region east of the Jordan. At
least there is no indication of its extending to the
western tribes.

This chapter (12) closes with the briefest notice of
Ibzan as Judge, from Bethlehem in Judah ; of Elon,
Judge from Zebulun ; and of Abdon of Ephraim.

The Story of Samson,

Of the four chapters (13-16) which tell the story of
Samson, the first records the antecedents of his birth.
His mother, long childless, had a vision of an angel, of
whom, reporting the case to her husband, she said : "A
man of God came unto me, and his countenance was
like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible."
It was one of those manifestations of the Holy One in
which the personage is called interchangeably " the
Lord" or "God;" and "the angel of the Lord" — such
as appears in the historv of Abraham (Gen. 22 : 11-14) ;
of Jacob (Gen. 32 : 24-30) ; of Moses (Ex. 23 ; 20-23) ;
and of Gideon (Judg. 6: 11-24). This personage, being
questioned as to his name (13 : 17, 18) declined to give
it, "seeing it is Pele " (Heb.), meaning wonderful (not
as in the English text " secret ") — the very name which
appears in the list of names given to the glorious
Messiah by Isaiah (9 : 6) : " For unto us a child is born;
unto us a son is given; and the government shall be
upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Won-
derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting

Father, the Prince of Peace." Following the example

of Gideon in a similar case, Manoah begged the priv-
ilege of entertaining his guest with a kid and a meat-
offering, but received from him the suggestion that his
guest was divine, not human; and the appropriate hos-
pitality would be a sacrifice suitable for God, and not
food for the eating of man.

When he had placed his offering to the Lord upon a
rock, the angel "wrought wonderfull}^ " (according to
the import of his name) ; for when the flame arose from
the burning flesh on the altar, the angel ascended in
that flame — and the vision was no more! He

SAMSON AND MANOAH. 77

had previously made his communication, first to the
mother, last to the father of the child Samson, whose
birth he came to herald, and whose training he came to
prescribe. He would have this child a Nazarite to God
from the womb to his grave under the solemn vow to
drink neither wine nor strong drink, and that no razor
should ever pass over his head. The mother also was
to maintain a like abstinence from strong drink and
from all unclean food. The case of the Nazarite was
provided for in the Institutes of Moses, the record of it
standing in Num. 6 : 1-21. This vow might run for a
limited time or for life — the case of Samson and also of
Samuel being of the latter class. Paul (as in Acts 18 :

18) was a case of the former sort. By this vow the

subject was brought into peculiar relations to God. In
the present case the supernatural strength of Samson
and his special fitness for his mission as a scourge upon
the Philistines and a Redeemer and Judge for Israel
turned upon his faithful observance of his vow. We
may notice the connection between being filled with
the Spirit and not filled with wine, as in Eph. 5 : 18.

An interesting point of this brief history is the

very appropriate solicitude of the father of Manoah to
see the angel for himself and learn from his own lips
what they should do to the child that should be born.
" Now let thy words come to pass " (said he). " How shall
we order the child, and what shall we do unto him?" — bet-
ter ; what shall be his doing, i. e., what shall he do? (13 : 8,
12, 13.) And the angel repeated the points previously
given to the mother (vs. 4, 5, 7). So all legitimate conse-
cration of offspring to God under his proposed covenant
carries with it the obligation to train them from birth for
the service and work which God has for them to do. Let
parental solicitude concentrate itself upon this point
with never-ceasing interest and care ! Is it not a
solemn, momentous, and royal thing to train sons and
daughters for the use of the Great King of heaven ?

In several points the case of Samson resembles that
of Samuel ; e. g., the long barren, prayerful mother ; her
abstinence from wine and strong drink ; the Nazarite
vow for her son involving his consecration to God all
the days of his life (1 Sam. 1 : 28). Some have thought
that Samson and Samuel were contemporary ; but this
view seems to lack authority.

78 SAMSON AND MANOAH.

Passing the antecedents of Samson's birth, we come

to his life, exploits, and personal character. It can

scarcely be necessary on these pages to report or even
condense the very full account of his adventures.*

The story is told plainly ; every child reads and loves
to read it. I propose only to call my readers' attention
to a few points which seem worthy of remark.

1. Samson only began to deliver Israel from the Phi-
listines, as the angel promised (13 : 5) : " He shall begin
to deliver Israel," etc. He never entirely broke their
yoke, but left much of this work unfinished. No com-
plete deliverance was effected short of the age of
David.

2. Remarkably he achieved all he did by the power
of his single arm. It was done by courage and muscu-
lar force. " With the jaw-bone of an ass heaps upon
heaps" — so a thousand men lie dead before his un-
wearied arm ; or when waylaid in the house, he is up
at midnight and walks off with the doors of the city
gates and the two posts; and for a final exploit he put
his hands severally upon the two great central pillars
on which Dagon's temple rested, and while three thou-
sand men and women were on the roof, exulting and
shouting over their blind prisoner, he lifted his soul in
one prayer for help ; then bowed himself with his re-
turned strength and fell with thousands of his enemies,
slaying more at his death than through all his previ-
ous life. Unlike the Judges before him, he planned no
stratagem ; created no panic among his foes ; never set
them upon mutual slaughter; never rallied the war-
riors of Israel's tribes to his standard, and apparently
never had their help at all. Indeed it was with some
difficulty that he persuaded his brethren of Judah to
keep their own hands off from himself. They seem to
have utterly succumbed to the Philistines and de-
manded of him the same submission.

On the point of the divine purpose in this peculiar
type of manifested power, we may, perhaps, in the
absence of revealed suggestion, indulge ourselves in

*The only point of special difficulty in this narrative is in the
translation "foxes" (15: 4) where the animal is without doubt the
Jackal — a gregarious animal caught and harnessed for such a serv-
ice without difficulty. The fox as we know him is both too cunning
and too alert for such harnessing and service.

SAMSON. 79

some conjecture. The Lord manifestly sought variety
in his methods of revealing his power to save. In the
case of Gideon he " chose the weak things of the world
to confound the mighty " — a few men, only a very few,
to rout and destroy an almost countless host. Over
against that case he puts this, of one man's physical
might. This was equivalent to saying before all Israel
and all Philistia — AVhat if the Lord should raise up an

army of ten thousand Samsons? Yet further, may

we not conjecture that this power given to Samson was
specially adapted to Philistia, where the giant race of
champion warriors was not yet extinct, and whose pride
in her Goliath comes to view presently in David's his-
tory? The case of Samson witnessed before those lords
of the Philistines that the Great God of Israel could
raise up champions against whom no Goliath from
their ranks could hope to stand.

3. It is a striking fact that Samson came into contact
with the Philistines in the line of social life, through
amatory relations to their women. It is intimated that
while his father and mother protested strongly against
his choice of such women — as we might expect faithful
Hebrew parents would — yet " they knew not that it was
of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Phil-
istines " (14 : 3, 4). Probably we shall be obliged to
leave this divine purpose among his inscrutable ways,
for these connections seem to have tempted Samson
above what he was able to bear, and in the result
brought dishonor, not to say disaster, upon Israel

through his manifold infirmities. In Samson we

note a strange blending of courage and physical
strength with a weakness toward women. Was it
partly for the sake of the moral lessons enforced by such
an example that these painful facts were permitted to
occur and the record of them to appear in the sacred
history? We read it with a painfully quickened sense
of the weakness of some of the strongest men. More-
over, it does undoubtedly throw light upon the dangers
continually incident to the close social contact of Israel
with the Canaanites remaining in the land. Those
families of ancient Canaan had art, culture, beauty;
and when these qualities were found by the men and
women of Israel, associated with an attractive sensuous
idol-worship, we can readily see how subtle and perilous

80 MICAH, THE RELIGIOUS IDOLATER.

the temptation became. There is no definite proof that
Samson was weak toward idolatry; but being so weak
toward idol-worshiping women, he might liave been
fearfully tempted in that direction.

4. Yet, on the whole, I see not how we can denv to
Samson a place among the heroes of fjiith. The writer
to the Hebrews (chap.'ll : 32) finds a niche for his name
in that glorious temple. The record here reveals him

a man of prayer and of power with God. While,

therefore, we are sad and humiliated for our human
nature in the view of such moral weakness, it may, per-
haps, be a legitimate consolation that God can forgive
such human weakness, and put away even such great
sin, and still employ to his praise men who are very
imperfect, provided, always, that they are sincere and
true hearted.

Micah, the religious idolater.

In the order of the chaptets in "Judges" we come
next to a very remarkable story (chapters 17 and 18) of
a man named Micah, of Mt. JEphraim. It is a story
rather of domestic, private life, than of national affairs,
but is exceeding interesting and valuable for the light
it throws upon the inner religious history of the people
(or at least some of the people) of Israel at this age, show-
ing how they mixed together religious and heathen
ideas of God, and sought to improve upon the great law
of Jehovah — no idols or images of God of any sort — by
introducing both graven and molten images. This man
Micah had " An house of gods," a temple on his own
private account, with the accompaniments of the
"ephod" — the insignia of the priest ; the teraphim —
household images of worship; and, moreover, he set
apart one of his sons for his priest.* In process of time
a wandering Levite, out of employment, passing that
w\ay, he hired him into his service as priest for the very
humble compensation of ten shekels of silver and one
suit of clothes per annum, and his board. This change
quite improved his religious establishment and raised
his hopes of God's favor to an assured confidence : " Now
(said he) I know that the Lord will do me good, seeing
I have a Levite for my priest " (17 : 13).

* It is worth noticing that the Hebrew phrase for " consecrate "
(17 : 5) is filled the hand, in the sense of giving one full occupation
and making this his special business.

MICAH, THE RELIGIOUS IDOLATER. 81

This arrangement, so very satisfactory to Micah, was
quite broken up by a series of accidents, narrated chap.
18. Five men of the tribe of Dan deputed to go north
and search out a new home for a portion of their tribe,
turned into the house of Micah on Mt. Ephriam to
enjoy his hospitality, and chanced to recognize his
Levite priest as an old acquaintance. They drew
from him the terms of his contract with Micah and
improved their opportunity to ask counsel of God
through him as to the success of their mission. With
his very favorable answer they went on their way,
inwardly purposing, we must suppose, to call again.

Having found a fertile region in the extreme north

of Palestine, held by a people quite unprepared to
defend themselves, and withal consciously secure and
off their guard, they reported to their people their suc-
cess. Forthwith an armed force of six hundred men
are on their march to this new home of the Danites.
They make it in their way to pass the house of Micah.
The five spies suggest to them how fine a lot of plun-
der lay here at their mercy — all this household of
gods and the Levite priest besides. The latter was
readily persuaded to break his contract with Micah
for the sake of becoming the high priest of this tribe
of Dan; and seems to have had no particular scruples
against taking his images, ephod, and teraphim — the
implements necessary for his service — with no thought
of asking Micah's consent or offering compensation.
It was the old doctrine of " Might against Right," and
suggests that the religion of these men was not embar-
rassed with ideas about rights of property, claims of jus-
tice, or bonds of social compact. Micah is stripped of
both his priest and his gods ; expostulates to no purpose,
and is compelled to succumb before superior brute force.
His expostulation is in pitiful tone, revealing a bro-
ken-hearted man : " Ye have taken away my gods which
I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away ; and what
have I more? And now what mean ye to say unto me,
What aileth thee?" But no heart was moved to pity

by this sad wail. It is plain that his religious hopes

have perished. He no longer " knows that the Lord
will do him good." " Alas," he cries, " what have I
more ? " He must have been a very sincere idolater.

82 MICAH, THE RELIGIOUS IDOLATER.

If sincerity insures salvation, he should have had
nothing to fear.

These are the outlines of the story. There are sev-
eral points which should have more particular atten-
tion.

The mother of Micah had by some means accumu-
lated quite an amount of silver — eleven hundred
shekels.* Suddenly it is missing. She seems to have
lacked the grace necessary to accept this dispensation
submissively, the remark of her son being this — "About
which thou cwsedst.'f Whether this cursing awakened
the son's superstitious fear or aroused what little con-
science he may have had, the result was that he said to
her: "Behold, the silver is with me; I took it." The
overjoyed mother gives him her devout benediction ;
"Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son." Very religious
is she now — in her words ! May we suppose that her
case w^as in the mind of the Apostle James when he
said (3 : 10) : " Out of the same mouth proceedeth bless-
ing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not

so to be." Perhaps it was a relief to them both to

give two hundred of these silver shekels toward a set
of silver gods. It may have helped the son to atone for
his theft, and the mother for her cursing. It is quite
in harmony with human nature, under the darkness of
sin, to comfort itself in this sort of atonement for con-
scious misdeeds. It w^as presently arranged between
them to make this disposition of so much of this silver;
and the famil}^ became thereupon very religious!

Now, we very naturally ask whether this was a sample
or an exceptional family in Israel. May we take it to
represent the morality and the religion of the masses,

or was this case rather special and unique ? If it

represented Israel somewhat justly, their case readily
accounts for those frequent and fearful relapses into
idolatry which give character to this whole book of

* On the authority of Webster, the shekel is equal to a half ounce
avoirdupois, 022C. The weight would thus be 38| pounds, and the
value $087.50.

t It is supposable that this "cursing" should be taken in the sense
of adjuring, and not of passionate imprecation. The former would
be according to the law of Moses — a rule, however, for the magis-
trate— perhaps not for the private citizen. It is to be feared that the
Bpirit of the mother favors the sense assumed in my exposition.

MICAH, THE EELIGIOUS IDOLATER. 83

Judges. Yet we may certainly hope that this was
rather the darker side of the national character. We
may note that both this case of Micah, and that of the
nameless Levite who went for his concubine to Beth-
lehem-judah (recorded chap. 19), originated on Mt.
Ephraim. Now, although Joshua was of that tribe, and
although his bones lay on that very Mt. Ephraim (Josh.
24 : 30), yet the men of Ephraim have not by any means
a worthy record in this book of Judges. The reader will
remember how they appear in the history of both Gideon
and Jephthah — very proud, very jealous, and far less
ready to be foremost in toil and peril for their country
than to be first in the glory of victories achieved by
others' valor. In estimating their tribal character it
may be considered that they were populous, numeri-
cally strong, and very proud of it ; were centrally located
in Western Palestine, with the first religious capital
(Shiloh) in the bosom of their tribe (since Josh. 18 : 1) ;
but they never distinguished themselves for either
patriotism or piety. No Judge arose from that tribe to
redeem Israel in her seasons of political servitude, unless
Abdon may possibly be an exception. He was buried

in the land of Ephraim (12 : 15). In the hill country

of Judah were fairer religious homes, and nobler men,
if we may judge by the records of Boaz, Jesse, and
David. On the whole, we may hope that the average
religious life of Israel was above the examples furnished
from Mt. Ephraim in these closing chapters of the
Judges.

Let us not fail to notice very definitely that this pic-
ture of domestic life on INlt. Ephraim witnesses to a
radical apostasy from the fundamental principles of the
divine law in these several respects :

(1.) First and most vital of all — in the making of
images with which to worship God. It is, perhaps, not
quite certain that Micah purposely ignored the true
God, and intentionally offered his worship to these
images as being themselves gods; for he may have
thought to worship the God of Israel uith the help of
these images. But we must note that he cried out :
" Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more f^'
— as if there was no God left to him after these
silver images were taken away. This case shows, at
least, that the distinction between worshiping God by

84 MICAH, THE RELIGIOUS IDOLATER.

means of images, and worshiping images as them-
selves gods, was but dimly defined in his mind, if at
all — a distinction of only the smallest practical ac-
count. The divine law attempted no distinction be-
tween these supposably different forms of idolatry ; and
this case sufficiently indorses the wisdom of God's law
in this particular.

(2.) The divine law explicitly forbade the ofTering of
sacrificial worship, with the ceremonials of their reli-
gion, elsewhere than at the one place which God might
choose. In the case before us, this precept was utterly
disregarded.

(3.) The law also debarred from the priesthood all
men save the descendants of Aaron. But this Micah
first put into his family priesthood one of his own sons,
and then a Levite, not of the family of Aaron. Thus
recklessly, if not even defiantly, was the divine law in
these very vital points overruled and set aside.

This picture of the inner life of Israel is darkly
shaded by the facts recorded respecting the men of Dan.
An armed banditti, six hundred strong, marching
through the land of Israel, amenable to no authority ;
subject to no law save that of might ; stealing whatever
they chose to steal; threatening the owner's life to
silence his complaint: — veril}^, such a case gives signif-
icance to the historian's frequent remark: "In those
days there was no king in Israel."

One further remark is suggested by this fragment
of history: — It is scarcely supposable that the three
great national festivals and the Great Day of Atonement
were fully observed by the nation and practically ac-
counted by the masses as their own religious system —
the media of their own personal approach to God and
communion with him. At best the Mosaic system could
have had only a feeble influence and a very limited
observance. With the developments of the book of
Judges fully in our mind we can understand why David,
of spirit so devout and with views of the national char-
acter and national want so broad and discriminating,
should, on coming to the throne, feel the necessity of
making a religious capital powerful and imposing as
a home for the ark of the covenant, and of investing
the entire Mosaic worship with the richest attractions
of ceremonial and song. There was, doubtless, a most

THE NAMELESS LEVITE I GIBEAH OF BENJAMIN. 85

imperative need for that re-enforcement to the power of
the religious institutions of Moses.

The name of this Levite who became priest to the
tribe of Dan is given (18: 30)-" Jonathan the son of
Gershom, the son of Manasseh." Some have supposed
that he was a grandson of Moses — their ground for this
supposition being that the eldest son of Moses bore the
name of Gershom (Ex. 2 : 22, and 18 : 3) ; and that in
our Hebrew text, this word " Manasseh " is written with
the letter (n) suspended above the line, indicating a
doubt of its authority. Without this (n), the conso-
nants of the word will be those of the name Moses.

Evidence of this sort seems to me quite unreliable.
Gershom was a familv name in the tribe of Levi. (See
1 Chron. 6: 1, 16, and\also Ezra 8 ; 2.)

This suspended (n) in "Manasseh" very naturally
classes itself with Rabbinic conceits. This theory of a
grandson of Moses may possibly be true, but not prob-
ably. We may be allowed to hope that no grandson of
Moses had ftillen so low as this.

The incidents recorded Judges 19-21, disclose a gloomy-
state of morals in Giheah of Benjamin. The case impli-
cated the whole tribe inasmuch as they defended the
guilty perpetrators of this horrible crime with their
entire military force and to the bitter end.

A Levite sojourning on Mt. Ephraim had taken a
concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She had proved
false to him and had returned to her father. He visited
her there to bring her home ; was welcomed warmly and
detained long in the customary convivialities. On his
journey home night found them at Gibeah of Benjamin,
hospitably entertained by a temporary resident who
came from his own Mt. Ephraim. Some of the men of
Gibeah, " sons of Belial," cognizant of the presence of
traveling strangers in the old man's house, gathered
about it to renew the shameful, horrible crime of the
men of Sodom. The expostulations of the host were of
no avail. The traveler's concubine was abused by them
till the morning, and then found dead with her hands
upon the threshold. Her lord bore the dead body sadly
to his home ; and then, to place this terrible outrage in
its true light before the tribes of Israel, he cut her body
and bones'into twelve parts, and sent them forth among
all the tribes. The public indignation was irrepressible.

86 DATE OF THE EVENTS IN JUDGES 17-21.

The people came together en masse; heard the Levite's
story of this outrage; sought counsel of the Lord; first
demanded in vain the surrender of the guilty ; and then,
they by divine counsel attacked Gibeah with arms.
It is not altogether clear why the issues of battle on the
first two days were adverse to the warriors of Israel, re-
sulting, according to the figures here, in the slaughter
of 40,000 men. But on the third day the men of Ben-
jamin were cut to pieces. 25,000 men fell, and only 600
escaped. The cities of Benjamin were also fearfully
devastated, and the population of the tribe cut down to
these 600 surviving men.

The narrative records the grief of the whole nation
over this fearful scene of destruction — sad that one tribe
in Israel should be brought so near to utter extinction.
A national feeling that the integrity of the twelve tribes
must be maintained, coupled with compassion for these
surviving 600, led to conciliation and to special arrange-
ments to provide them wives ;^ and thus this sad
scene of horrors — shameless lust, persistence in defend-
ing the guilty, bloody war, and almost the extinction
of one tribe from Israel, came to its close. On the one
side of this picture we have a fearfully low and debased
condition of social life ; but on the other, the uprising
of virtuous indignation, resulting in fearful retribution
upon the guilty city and tribe, and a moral lesson, not
soon or easily forgotten.

There remain two subordinate questions pertaining to
these two cases — that of Micah and that of the Levite
and his concubine — viz., the date of the events, and the
date of this record made of them. The casual reader is
liable to the mistake of assuming that their place in
the book of Judges indicates their relative date as being
subsequent to all its other events. In fact the place
assigned them in this book gives no clew whatever to
their date. They are a sort of appendix to the book,
disconnected from the thread of its national history. All
the other historic incidents were national in their char-
acter— successive chapters of national history. But

-•=^ The historj^ of Saul (1 Sam. 11, and 81 : 11-13) will bring to light
a specially kind feeling between Gibeah of Benjamin and Jabesh-
Gilead — a feeling naturally strengthened by the circumstance that
400 of the 600 mothers of the resuscitated tribe were of the spared
daughters of Jabesh-Gilead.

DATE OF THE EVENTS IN JUDGES 17-21. 87

these five concluding chapters are not primarily na-
tional, but rather are fragments of family history.

It is generally held that their chronological place is
quite early in the book of Judges, perhaps even before
the Judgeship of Othniel (3 : 9-11;. It is every Avay
probable that this migration of a part of the tribe of
Dan to the extreme north of Palestine occurred soon
after the allotment of the tribes, their original territory
being found too limited. One of the encampments of
the 600 near Kirjath-jearim (18: 12) gave the place the
name, Mahaneh-Dan (the camp of Dan) — a name which
appears subsequently in the history of Samson (13 : 25).
Samson was, therefore, certainly later than this march
and encampment of the 600.

Again, in the second of these narratives (20 : 28) we
are told that Phineas, the son of Eleazer, the son of
Aaron, stood before the ark as high priest in those days.
But this Phineas was in the vigor of his manhood
(apparently) in the scenes recorded Num. 25, i. c, before
the death of Moses. His father's death is noticed in
close connection with the death of Joshua (Josh. 24 : 33),
showing that he came into the high priesthood at least
as early as Joshua's death. The transactions of these
last three chapters of Judges must, therefore, be located
in time very early among the events of this book.

As bearing upon the date of the reco7'd, the remark
four times made in these five chapters, " In those days
there was no king in Israel " (17 : 6, and 18 : 1, and 19 : 1,
and 22 : 25), implies that the historian contrasts those
days of no king with his own in which there was a

king. The statements made (18 : 30, 31) to the effect

that Jonathan and his descendants held the priesthood
for the tribe of Dan " till the day of the captivity of the
land," and that Micah's graven image stood among them
all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh, imply
that the writer's knowledge comes down to the dates
of those respective events — the transfer of the taber-
nacle from Shiloh to Jerusalem in the reign of David,
and " the captivity of the land." What "captivity" is
here referred to may be somewhat uncertain, though

probably it is that of the ten tribes (B. C. 722).

Moreover it is quite possible that these two verses are
an appendix to this story by some later hand — a sort
of foot note by some compiler, long after the body of the

88 THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES ; GREAT DECLENSION.

story was written. Finally, it may be considered

probable that the book of Judges was written by Samuel,
excepting these two verses (18: 30, 31) which may have
been added by some subsequent compiler.

The facts stated in these two verses are of more im-
portance to us than the date of their writing. The
facts are sadly significant of the feeble influence of the
Mosaic system out on the northern confines of the land
— that this special priesthood for the tribe of Dan, en-
tirely distinct from that of Aaron, should have been
sustained there through so many ages, and that this
idol-image should have maintained its place down at

least to the reign of David. Let us note, however,

that this fact, though sad, is abundantly corroborated
by subsequent historic allusions. Isaiah (9 : 1, 2) speaks
of the outlying regions of Zebulun and Naphtali as
having long lain in dishonor, oppression, and spiritual
darkness, until Jesus came among them, revealing a
truly blessed light. (See my notes on the pas^ge).
The received English version translates it very imper-
fectly. The current feeling in the time of Christ

runs in the same strain: "Can any good thing come
out of Galilee? " " Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet."
The Galilee of the gospel age included the territor}^ of
this northern Dan, and also of Zebulun and Naphtali.
The Jews of Jerusalem had for ages looked upon that
as a heathen countr)^, early and long apostate from the
religion of their fathers.

Reviewing briefly the great religious declension of
Israel during the period covered by the book of Judges,
we may profitably turn our thought,

I. To the evidences of such declension :

II. To the causes which contributed to produce it :

III. To the agencies introduced by the Lord in his
providence to counteract it.

I. The fact of great declension is entirely obvious
throughout this book. We have seen proofs of it in the
sketches of family history in chaps. 17-21. We saw
them through all the previous chapters in the perpetu-
ally recurring relapses into idolatry after the death of
each prominent Judge, and after the deliverance wrought
under his hand. The fact is fully implied in the state-
ment (Josh. 24 : 31) that " Israel served the Lord all the
days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that out-

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES; GREAT DECLENSION. 89

lived Joshua, and who had known all the works of the
Lord that he had done for Israel " — but (so it is implied)
no longer with like steadfastness. Then followed a series

of sore declensions. This great relapse was foretold

by Moses in his song (Deut. 32). And finally, it was
manifestly anticipated, and with earnest endeavor re-
sisted and forefended by Joshua in his last words to the
assembled people. He seems even then to have seen
the causes working, and the indications of weakening
moral stamina to withstand pernicious influences al-
ready apparent.

II. Among its causes we may name,

1. The example and social influence of the cultured,
wealthy, and powerful Canaanites left in the land, or
residing close upon its confines. Something may, per-
haps, be due to the inexperience of the people in regard
to the prodigious evils of idolatry. We marvel that
they should not have accepted God's law as the ex-
pression of his wisdom and love, without the aid of
bitter experience. But such is frail, sinning man.

2. " Fullness of bread ; " the growth and development
of self-indulgence — perhaps we may say, comparative
luxury. The change from being poorly fed throughout
their servitude in Egypt ; from manna and water forty
years in the wilderness, with only an occasional taste
of animal flesh, to this copious supply amid the wealth
of Canaan, would press upon their frail human nature
in one of its weakest points. We place this among the
causes of their declension with the more confidence be-
cause it was foreseen and declared by Moses in his
prophetic song (Deut. 32 : 13-18) ; in the words, " Jeshu-
run waxed fat and kicked ; thou art waxed fat ; thou
art grown thick ; thou art covered with fatness. Then he
forsook God ivho Tnade hi7n, and lightly esteemed the Rock
of his salvation," etc.

3. Ephraim, the central tribe territorially, the head
tribe numerically, and the location of the religious
capital during the entire period of the Judges, indeed
down to David, had, as we have seen, a bad record, and,
therefore, constituted an uncongenial locality for the
great religious center. It is inevitable that such influ-
ences should contribute largely toward national declen-
sion and make a change of place for the religious capital
a real necessity.

• 5

90 THE GREAT DECLENSION.

4. It is quite apparent that both politically and re-
ligiously the mutual relation of the tribes to each other
was far too loose for the best results. While the tribal
feeling was strong — we may even say, clannish — the
national feeling was feeble, and greatly needed more
concentration. All through the period of the Judges,
it was only under some powerful impulses that the
whole national force could be brought to bear against
any foreign enemy. The histories of Deborah and
Barak, of Gideon, and of Jephthah, are full of facts
bearing to this point. It is scarcely supposable that
during the long period of the Judges, the tribes went
up en masse three times a year to any great religious
center to strengthen at once their national piety and
their national patriotism at the shrine of the same
national God.

III. Of the agencies brought forward in God's provi-
dence to counteract this declension and fortify the
nation against it, we may note,

1. The stern discipline of suffering. This book is
mainly a record of the successive visitations by which
" the Lord sold them into the hand of cruel enemies,"
who mightily oppressed them and put them to great
hardship and suffering. Then, when they were brought
to repentance and to earnest cries to God for help, he
raised up for them some deliverer. The next relapse
made necessary the same process of discipline, repent-
ance, prayer, and help, designed to impress the same

great moral lessons. At the extreme point of their

calamity, the ark of God was taken away into captivity
[Heb.] seven months among the Philistines (1 Sam. 6 :
1) and twenty years in Kirjath-jearim (1 Sam. 7 : 2).
The two sons of the aged and pious but weak High
Priest, Eli, were slain in one day, and with the loss of
the ark " the glory was indeed departed from Israel."
To rally the nation from this extreme point of de-
pression, the Lord brought out Samuel, and through
him developed into fullness and strength the prophetic
order — an event which will demand more jmrticular
attention in the sequel.

Finally, the Lord suffered the form of government to
be so far modified as to become monarchial. He granted
the request of the people for a king, securing thus a
much greater degree of consolidation and making pro-

CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 91

vision for a more vigorous nationality, both political and
religions. At length the Lord raised up David, a king
" after his own heart," and through him withstood more
successfully the temptations to idolatry under which
Israel suffered so fearfully during the period of the
Judges. These agencies for the better development of
the nation, religiously, as well as politically, will be the
special theme throughout the two books of Samuel.

Chronology oj the Booh of Judges.

The vexed questions of sacred chronology have been
somewhat fully discussed in my volume on the Penta-
teuch— the chronology of the period of the Judges on
page 60. This question is resumed here chiefly to
refer to the extreme diversity of views held by critics,
of which a conspicuous example appears in the Speak-
er's Commentary, pp. 118-121. Here the entire period
of the Judges bet^veen the death of Joshua and the
judgeship of Samuel is brought within 140 to 160
years. This is done by ruling out the authority of the
historian in 1 Kings 6: 1, which makes this period 339
vears; and of Paul (Acts 13: 20), who declares it to
be about 450 years ; of Jephthah (Judges 12 : 26), which
assigns 300 years between the death of Moses and that
day ; and, substantially, of the oft-repeated statements
"wathin this book of the periods of " rest " from oppres-
sion, viz., of 40 years thrice said (Judg. 3 : 11, and 5 :
31, and 8 : 28), and of 80 years (3 : 30), which alone
amount to 200. These figures having been set aside,
the author accepts as the only reliable authority, the
various genealogies which appear in the Scriptures
stretching over this period, e. g., of David, of Zadok, of
Abiathar, etc. In making these only his data, the au-
thor seems to overlook two important facts, viz., (1.)
That the period of one generation. ^. <?., the age of the
fiither at the birth of his son in the given line, is by
no means a fixed quantity; and (2.) That in the
Hebrew genealogical lists it is undeniable that some
names are occasionally omitted, as in the tables of
Matt. 1 : 2, and of Luke 3, and as I think must be ad-
mitted, between Levi and Moses. (See my Pentateuch,
pp. 63, 64.) It is, therefore, by no means obvious that
we reach the best results by rejecting those general

92 CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES.

comprehensive statements which appear in the histor-
ian of 1 Kings, in Paul, in Jephthah, and in the Book
of Judges generally, and h}^ relying exclusively upon
the authority of genealogical lists which make no
allusion whatever to chronology.

Doubtless we must all accept the conclusion that
no absolutely certain data exist for a complete chro-
nology of the Book of Judges.

The Story of Ruth.

This story, in four chapters, is legitimately a sequel to
the book of Judges, since it belongs to the same period —
" in the days when the Judges ruled" (Ruth 1 : 1), and,
like the story of Micah and that of the nameless Levite
on Mt. Ephraim, gives us, not so much national as pri-
vate life. Unlike the two last named, it opens to view
neither idol-worship, nor horrible vices, nor desolating
wars; but presents the quiet scenes of home, savored
wuth sincere and humble piety. Such Hebrew life it is
grateful to the heart to contemplate. Let us lend to it
a few moments' quiet consideration.

A family of Bethlehem, consisting of the father
Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and two sons, Mahlon
and Chilion, were driven by stress of famine to seek
bread in the country of Moab. For some reason not
given, their stay there was protracted through ten
years. During this time the two sons married each a
daughter of Moab — Orpah and Ruth. But these ten
years brought to this family, not marriages only, but
funerals. The father died, and his two sons were laid
in early graves. Three human hearts were widowed
and desolate. Sore was the burden of grief and respon-
sibility upon the heart of Naomi. The narrative appre-
ciates this : " The woman was left of her two sons and
of her husband " (1 : 5). No wonder her thoughts turn
toward the land of her fathers' sepulchers and the people

who worshiped the God of her trust. But what shall

she say to her widowed daughters-in-law ? They have
been kind to her and to her dead ; but what more can
she do for them? They are childless ; and for this sore
trial she has no relief to offer. She therefore proposes
to them to return each to her own father's house, and
start again in Moab life as the ways of Providence may

THE STORY OF RUTH. 93

open it before them. In their first reply they are at

one in protesting that they can not leave their mother-
in-law, but must go with her to her Bethlehem home.
When she responded, putting the case yet more strongly,
Orpah gave her mother the parting kiss, but Ruth clave
unto her. Naomi probed the depth of her love yet once
more : " Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her
people and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-
law " (1 : 15). These last words serve to bring out the
noble and truly religious heart of Ruth : " Entreat me
not to leave thee." Her words are very strong : Do
not assail — do not strike me [Hebrew] with such painful
words. " Do not ask me to return from following after
thee, for where thou goest, I will go; and where thou
lodgest, I will lodge : thy people shall be my people, and
thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there
will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also
if aught but death part thee and me." She meant this
for a final, decisive answer. It was. No words could
have made it stronger. The solemn oath, "God do so to
me and more also," left nothing stronger to be said.
Her heart is with her mother; and what is yet more,
is with her mother's people and with her nTOther's God.
Her sister may go back to her people, and if she chooses
to her people's gods ; but for herself she can do no such
thing. Her heart is with the God of Israel, and she
hails the day that shall transfer her home and her
church relations (so to speak) to the country and the
people who had given her that godly mother. The re-
ligion and the God of Israel had met the great wants of
her soul — daughter of Moab though she was — and she
rejoices to make them in every sense her own. Godly
souls, Jewish and Christian, through all the ages, have
welcomed this Moabite daughter to the fellowship of the
saints and to the household of God, grateful to accept
her case as a precious harbinger of the day when " they
shall come from the East and from the West, from the
North and from the South, and sit down in the kingdom
of God."

In the sequel, we have a lovely picture of home-
scenes and of common life in Bethlehem among the
laboring classes. It was the beginning of barley-har-
vest when the welcome news ran to and fro among the
friends of her youth — Naomi, the widow of our Elim-

94 THE STORY OF RUTH.

elech, is again among us from the land of Moab, and
with her one of the daughters of Moab, cleaving to her
in her widowhood with true and daughterly fidelity.
Forthwith tliis young woman is out with the maidens
of Bethlehem, gleaning after the reapers, the ordering of
a forethoughtful providence assigning to her a place in
the field of a certain man Boaz, here introduced to us
in the story as a young man of their kindred. Though
not the nearest blood-relative to the deceased Elimelech,
yet he seems to have been the second — only one stand-
ing in nearer relationship. Elimelech left some real
estate which, by Hebrew law, it was the right of Naomi
and her daughter to redeem by the aid of any relative
or friend. With this redeemed estate was associated,
by usage, the hand of Ruth in sacred marriage, that no
family might become extinct in Israel. We need not
be surprised that, in the simplicity of those early ages
of the race, the hearts of mothers and daughters, of
fathers and of sons, all alike beat strongly with the
love of offspring, nor that they honored the family
relation and the sacred institution of marriage, and felt
an interest, of which none were ashamed, in perpetuat-
ing the fanlily line, that no household might fail of
posterity. The strength of this feeling, the joy felt in
happy and virtuous marriages of the young, and espe-
cially the gratification when a widowed, desolate house-
hold, on the verge of extinction, became re-established
in the divine order, stand forth with great, and let us
say, very interesting prominence throughout the sequel
of this story. Yet we can not pass this case with-
out suggesting that the method, proposed by Naomi and
carried out by Ruth, of introducing herself to Boaz,
and, in a sort, claiming her rights under the Mosaic law,
is not to be recommended for any other age or people.

We shall note, perhaps with some surprise, that

an excellent and virtuous mother made this proposal,
and that Boaz seems to have nothing less than the
fullest confidence in the virtuous purity of Ruth.
While it behooves us to exercise a free and large charity
toward the recognized usages of an age so early in the
progress of civilization, we may hope that the intrinsic
impropriety of this usage made it ver}^ short-lived. No

trace of it appears in subsequent Hebrew history.

With this single exception every feature in this picture

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, 95

of home life in Israel is full of sweet and charming
simplicity and fragrant with the aroma of moral purity.

In the result Boaz became the husband of Ruth,

and through this union the father of Obed, from whom
next in the line of descent were Jesse and David. Thus
Ruth, of the daughters of Moab, and Rahab, of the
doomed nations of Canaan, came by virtue of their
faith in Israel's God into the nationality of Israel, and
also into the particular family line of the ancestry of
the nation's Messiah.

Of the author and date of this book, nothing can be
known with certainty. It is probable, yet not certain,
that the genealogical table at the close (4 : 17-22) is
part of the original book. If so, it must have been
Avritten after David came into some prominence. On
the concurrent testimony of all the ancient authorities
it is part of the Jewish Canon of books written and
compiled by their prophets. We must rest it on their
authority, indorsed subsequently by Christ and his
apostles.

CHAPTER V.

Introduction to the two Books of Samuel.

On the concurrent testimony of all the legitimate
authorities, the two books of Samuel were originally
one. Every reader will notice that what is now called
the second book continues the history of Saul's death
and of David in the same strain, with not the least
indication of another author, or of a different purpose
in the construction of the history. There is no appear-
ance of transition at this point from one author to
another. It need not be assumed that the entire two
books of Samuel w^ere written by one man ; but only
that there is no indication of change of author between
the last chapter of the first book and the first of the
second book.

On the whole question of authorship of the Hebrew
historical books (Samuel ; Kings ; Chronicles), the fol-
lowing points are important :

96 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL.

1. With Samuel commenced a regular succession
of prophets — the order being sustained by continued
accessions to their number so that their functions were
kept up from generation to generation down to the age
of Malachi. This point will be discussed more at
length below.

2. One among several functions of the prophetic order
was that of committing to writing the important events
of their national history. They were the annalists of
the Hebrew people. (See more of this under the head
of the " Order of Hebrew prophets.")

3. That Samuel wrote the first part of the first book
of Samuel — probably so much as could have been writ-
ten by him before his death — is rendered highly proba-
ble, almost certain, by the following considerations :

(a.) That the author of Chronicles (1 Chron. 29 : 29)
tell us that " the acts of David, first and last, were writ-
ten in the book of Samuel the seer, in the book of
Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the
seer," etc.

(b.) That, inaugurating a system of historic annal-
ism, and making it one of the functions of the pro-
phetic order, it is altogether reasonable to suppose that
he would give it the force of his own example, and,
indeed, would introduce and inaugurate it SiDccially by
means of his personal example.

(c.) To this we may add the concurrent testimony
of all Hebrew tradition.

It is, therefore, more than probable that Samuel
wrote, not only the first chapters of 1 Samuel, but also
the books of Judges and of Ruth.

4. The three following considerations render it more
than probable that Gad and Nathan continued the
history known as the books of Samuel from the point
where Samuel closed ; viz. :

(a.) The testimony of the author of Chronicles (as
above) that Samuel, Gad, and Nathan wrote the acts

of David. (b.) The fact that they stood in specially

intimate relations to David ; Samuel having anointed
him and received him as his guest and friend at his
prophet-college and home in Ramah (1 Sam. 19 : 18) ;
Gad being more than once called "David's seer;"
and Nathan haying been sent of God to reprove him
for his great sin, and being specially prominent in

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL. 97

the efforts necessary to secure the succession to Sol-
omon. Such intimacy coincides with the other evi-
dence to indicate these prophets as the successive
authors of the history in the books of Samuel — the

two latter completing what the first began. (c.) It

is every way probable that both Gad and Nathan
commenced their prophetic training under Samuel,
and thus became first acquainted with David through
this aged prophet-father. Not improbably Gad was
sent from Samuel to David while in Moab (as in
1 Sam. 22: 5).

5. The books of Samuel differ decidedly from the
books of Kings and Chronicles in this one point, viz.,
that they contain no references to other documents
in the national archives for more full information ;
while such references occur constantly throughout the
books of Kings and Chronicles. Consequently the
work of the author in the case of Kings and Chron-
icles was largely that of compiler from other docu-
ments previously written. On the other hand the books
of Samuel have no such references, but seem to have
been written by men personally cognizant of the facts
they record. The business of historic annalism was
then in the forming stage of its development. This
is as we ought to expect on the assumption that Sam-
uel himself set the example and inaugurated the prac-
tice— having however, such illustrious exami:>les as
Moses and probably Joshua before him. The special
work of Samuel was to inaugurate the system and
provide the requisite agencies for its permanence.

In striking confirmation of these views is the inter-
nal evidence in the early chapters of 1 Samuel that its
author was an eye-witness — personally cognizant of the
important facts he narrates. Who but Samuel could
give the story of his first call to the prophetic work
as we have it 1 Sam. 3? So also of his reported ad-
dresses to the people, chaps. 7, and 8, and 12.

The First Book of Samuel.

The prominent individual characters in this book
are Samuel and his mother; Eli, the high priest, and
his sons ; Saul, the first king of Israel, and David the
second. The important historical facts are those which

98 SAMUEL AND HIS MOTHER.

pertain to the national worship at the tabernacle in
Shiloh; the conflicts with their Philistine enemies; the
captivity and fortunes of the ark of the covenant ; the
rise and development of the prophetic order in and by
means of Samuel; the establishment of the kingdom
under Saul ; his reign and death ; and the scenes of
David's early peril, discipline, and growth toward the
greatness and goodness of Israel's best king.

Noticeably we have here an unquestionable allusion
to an annual festival to the Lord at the religious cap-
ital, Shiloh — the first well defined allusion since Joshua
kept the Passover in Gilgal (Josh. 5 : 10, 11). "A feast
of the Lord in Shiloh j^early " is referred to (Judges 21 :
19-21) as a scene of virgin dances. It may, perhaps,
have been the feast of tabernacles — how true to its
original purpose it is difficult to say. But here we
have the record of a man of Ramathaim-zophim,^
Elkanah by name, who " went up out of his city year-
ly " (it is not said three times a year) ^' to worship and
to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh." There
were, therefore, some pious families who remembered
the requirements of the law of God through Moses.
The frequent and fearful relapses of the tribes into
idolatry had not utterly extinguished the national wor-
ship yearly at the tabernacle.

In the scenes of this chapter and the next, Hannah,
one of the two wives of Elkanah, is the central person-
age. For years the living grief of her heart had been
barrenness. She had the love of her husband, but the
proud scorn of this second wife of her husband who had
cliildren. This woman, Peninnah, is spoken of (1 : 6) as
" her adversary," provoking her with sore temptations
to fretfulness. These griefs of Hannah's heart are

*" The locality of Elkanah's home and of Samuel's is assigned vari-
ously. Were they the same? Was Elkanah '' o/ 3It. Fphraim^' in
the sense of living there then, or merely of having previously lived
there? Is this "Ephrath" (as in other passages) the same as Beth-
lehem in Judah? There is a well known Ramah six miles north of
Jerusalem. Was this the locality of their " house " (1 : 19) ? Or, as
Dr. Robinson concludes, was their home at Sobah, four or five miles
west of Jerusalem? These questions have scarcely sufficient im-
portance to justify more extended discussion here. See Biblical Be-
Bearches in Palestine, vol. II: 40, 141, 331, and 334; and Bib. Sacra.
1843, p. 50G; and Smith's Bible Dictionary, Ramah (2) and Rama-
thaim-zophim ; and Coleman, 105.

SAMUEL AND HIS MOTHER. 99

brought before us to show why she cast her burden so
earnestly upon the Lord, and how it came to pass that
Samuel was a child of many and mighty prayers before
he was born. Indeed, he was specially consecrated to
God, a Nazarite from the womb, before his birth, and
the fact embalmed in his very name Samuel^ one asked
of God — a gift sought in prayer, and therefore fitly lent

back to the Lord for his whole life's service. If in her

grief, and vows, and prayers for a son whom she might
consecrate to God, Hannah fails to gain the sympathy
of her sex in our age by reason of current notions as
to maternity, let it bear, not to her dishonor, but to
theirs. Her heart was too noble to think it a disgrace
to be a mother. She was too true to her divine mission
to repel the responsibilities, the care, or even the pains
of maternit}^ The highest ambition of her soul was
to be the mother of a son whom she might give to the
Lord and train for any service the Lord might please to
assign. No ambition in the heart of woman can be

purer or nobler. To such a woman God gave the

child Samuel. Her record as a praying mother is price-
less for our common humanity. It can not be said too
emphatically that hers was the true idea of woman's
mission. The names of only a few women stand em-
balmed for all time on the pages of God's ancient word.
Almost without exception, those few names are there,
exalted to that high honor because they were true
mothers.

The Lord remembered Hannah with the gift of a
son ; and she gratefully remembered her vow. In pur-
suance of it, she retained him at her bosom so long as
his infancy required, and then brought him to the altar
of God at Shiloh with the customary sacrifice, and there
consecrated him to the Lord, to be taken back no more.
Her words to Eli on this occasion were few but expres-
sive : " O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, I am the woman
that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this
child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my peti-
tion which I asked of him : therefore also have I lent
him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent

to the Lord." If we ask how this praying mother

felt at this hour; if we are curious to hear how she
herself expresses the gratitude and exultation of her
soul when the Lord so signally heard her prayer and

100 SAMUEL AND HIS MOTHER.

accepted her offering, we may be gratified. Her prayer-
ful song is here before us in ten full verses (1 Sam. 2 :
1-10). The first words strike the key-note : " My heart
rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the
Lord ; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, be-
cause I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy
as Jehovah : for there is none beside thee : neither is
there any rock like our God." With frequent reiter-
ation she tells us that God shapes and reverses human
destiny, lifting up the lowly, casting down the proud —
for she can not forget how the Lord had remembered
her low estate; had heard her prayer, and put this
grateful song into her mouth. Ere she closes, her song
rises to the grandest generalizations. "The pillars of
the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world
upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and
the wicked shall be silent in darkness. The adversa-
ries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of
heaven shall he thunder upon them; the Lord shall
judge the ends of the earth ; and he shall give strength

to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed."

This anticipation of a "king" over God's chosen peo-
ple, and this first use of the term Messiah ["his
Anointed"], are distinctly prophetic of the changes in
the national form of government then near at hand,
and of these human kings of David's line as fore-
shadowing the Lord's Great Anointed.

Samuel is left at the sacred tabernacle to be under
the care of the priests during his early childhood, em-
ployed in such ministries about the house of God as his
maturing powers were adapted to perform. We are
told that year by year his mother made and brought up
for him "a little coat" — an outer tunic, worn by those
who ministered before the Lord. Thus she refreshed her
spirit with the evidences, growing year by year, that
the Lord had accepted her gift, and was training
her Samuel — rather, his own Samuel — for yet higher
services.

" The Lord had need of him." Samuel represents,
not himself alone, but the prophetic order. This new
and vastly important religious agency had its rise as an
institution, in him. There had been individual proph-
ets before Samuel, but no established order, no sus-
tained succession, no definite, constant service ; and no

SAMUEL AND HIS MOTHER. 101

organized agencies to train men for it. With Samuel,
this new order took its rise.

It is pertinent here to note that the history inter-
weaves the youth and developmewts of Samuel with
startling proofs of the astounding degeneracy of the
priesthood — as if to indicate the moral necessity for in-
troducing new and more reliable spiritual agencies.

Eli seems to have been in some points true to his re-
sponsibilities—a man of some right impulses, but alas,
sadly, pitifully weak in the training and control of
his two sons. Hophni and Phinehas, then in active
service in the priesthood, are said and shown to be
" sons of Belial " (2 : 12), guilty of outrageous sacrilege
in appropriating to themselves the offerings brought
by pious Israelites according to Mosaic law, taking
what they chose in defiance of the laws of sacrifice.
The Mosaic law specified the parts of the several offer-
ings (sin, trespass, and peace-offerings) which belonged
to the priests. (See Lev. 6 : 26, 29, and 7 : 6-10, 28-34,
and Num. 18 : 8-14, 18), But the law gave no permis-
sion to thrust a three-tined fork into the seething flesh,
to take out the choice pieces for the priest, nor did
it permit him to make his first grab into the unsod-
den flesh before the cooking process commenced. By
this double gouge, skillfully manipulated, the priest
secured for himself the choicest and probably the
greatest part of all the animal offerings. His threat
to take what he would hy force indicates a spirit reck-
less at once of God and of man, of piety and of com-
mon decency. The Lord through his prophet ex-
presses his sense of this insult in the words trans-
lated : '' Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifices and at my
offerings which I have commanded?" — the true sense
of the Hebrew being rather — Wherefore do ye trample
under foot — tread upon, as if with supreme contempt ?

To this horrible sacrilege — so flagrant and scandalous
that men abhorred the offering of the Lord and were
repelled from his sanctuary — they added shameless
adultery with the women who assembled at the door of
the tabernacle — making God's own house their brothel !

No wonder that the Lord rebuked Eli — not so much

his sons who were hopelessly doomed to a swift and fear-
ful death, as the aged father for his unpardonable dere-
liction in both parental and official duty toward those

102 SAMUEL, ELI AND HIS SONS.

sons. This rebuke was duplicated — the first sent by a
man of God, not named in the record (2 : 27-36) ; the
second, by the child Samuel (3: 11-14). In the first
rebuke the salient points are— Did I not give to thy
tribe and family the high honors and emoluments of the
priesthood? Wherefore, then, hast thou honored thy
sons above me in allowing them to commit sacrilege at
my altar? Why in the person of thy sons hast thou
trampled under foot the sacrifices designed for God's
honor in his earthly dwelling? I have said that thy
house should stand before me in the priesthood forever ;
but now " the Lord saith — Be it far from me ; " I can
endure these insults no longer. '' Them that honor me
I will honor ; and they that despise me shall be lightly

esteemed." The judgments threatened were, that his

posterity should be cut off in youth, none ever attaining
to old age ; that their life should be only a consuming
grief; that when joy should come to Israel, it should
bring no joy to his posterity ; * and that the sign and
pledge of these crushing calamities should be that his
two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, should both die in one
day. God would raise up a faithful priest and make for
him a sure house, while the posterity of Eli, doomed to
abject poverty, should beg the humblest pittance and

most menial service for a bare subsistence.- The

reader may notice that, according to the very common
law of divine judgments, this followed closely in the
line of the sin punished, so as to be a perpetual reminder
of that sin. The sin was (in part) sacrilegiously clutch-
ing from God's sacrifices at his very altar all they could
get their hand on. The judgment was that they should
beg around the same altar for the most menial service
and for the merest pittance of bread.

Samuel Becomes a Prophet.

The second prediction of judgment on Eli and his

"•• "Thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation in all the wealth
which God shall give Israel" — has been construed variously, e. (/.

(1.) Thou shalt see a home-enemy^ an adversary of the house or

home — in all that may be well for Israel, i. e., in all her prosperity.
(2.) Thou shalt see straitness of habitation — straitncss, narrow-
ness of place, in all Israel's prosperity (Gesenius); (3.) Thou

shalt look with a distressed look upon all the prosperity of Israel
(Fuerst). All these constructions concur substantially in the gen-
eral sense given above.

SAMUEL BECOMES A PROPHET. 103

sons was sent through the lips of " the child Samuel.''
The inspired record gives a simple and beautiful ac-
count of the way in which the Lord first made himself
known to young Samuel. "The word of the Lord was
rare (Eng. version ' precious ') in those days ; there was
no open vision " — the word for " open " having usually
the sense of spread abroad before the public. Possibly
the idea may be — no vision which clearly made known

God's thoughts and words. Samuel was sleeping in

an apartment near to that of the aged Eli, and was sud-
denly awaked by a voice calling his name. He ran to
Eli to answer this call. Eli said — " I did not call thee ;
lie down again." The third time Eli saw that this call
was the voice of God to the child, and, therefore, in-
structed Samuel to answer, " Speak, Lord, for thy serv-
ant heareth." The Lord did speak: — "Behold, I will
do a thing at which both the ears of every one that
heareth it shall tingle." I am about to fulfill against
Eli all I have said concerning his house, " beginning
and finishing." I have told him that I will judge his
house forever for the iniquity of which he was cogni-
zant— that when his sons were bringing a curse upon
themselves, he restrained them not. The translation
" made themselves vile " (v. 13), comes short of the full
sense of the Hebrew, which means, not merely that
they were bringing dishonor upon themselves, but
curses. They were drawing down upon their guilty
heads the very thunderbolts of heaven. Their father
should have known this ; yet he " restrained them not."
The fatal mistake of this too indulgent father was that
his methods of discipline lacked adaptation — were far
behind and below the point of depravity which the
sons had reached ; had a tone of very tender and gentle
expostulation, "Why do ye so?" which might have
been well for young sinners of quick and vigorous con-
science, but never for old and hardened offenders.
Their case demanded of him the most stern and vigor-
ous punishment ; such restraint as they could not but
feel. Because the father's hand failed to restrain them,
God took their case into his own hand, and not only
launched those curses upon the sons, but doomed the
posterity of Eli to virtual exclusion from the priest-
hood. " I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the

104 JUDGMENTS ON ELl's HOUSE.

iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacri-
fice nor offering forever."

The secret is now in the bosom of Samuel ; shall he
divulge it to Eli? It is one of the sore trials of the
prophet's mission ; '' he feared to show Eli the vision."
But Eli would know. Consciously guilty, his con-
science was more than half a prophet of doom. He
adjured Samuel most solemnly to tell him every word —
and he did. Here a shade of light falls on this picture,
otherwise all dark ; — Eli's answer breathes submission
to the terrible decision of Jehovah. '• It is the Lord ;
let him do what seemeth to him good."

The word of the Lord has now gone forth ; events
hasten, therefore, to their fearful consummation. The
Philistines came forth in strength for battle. Israel
w^^s smitten ; four thousand men fell on the field. The
elders of Israel ask, Wherefore is this ? What shall W' e
do? They remember how the presence of the ark of
God rolled back the waters of Jordan and brought down
the walls of Jericho ; so they said. The ark shall go
forth with us to the battle. God will surely appear to
defend his own ark of the covenant, and to give us vic-
tory. So they sent to Shiloh and brought forth the ark.
With it came the two sons of Eli. The feeling of the
army was shown when the ark came into the camj) :
" All Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth

rang again." Now they were sure of victory. The

Philistines heard the shouting, and learned with no
little solicitude that the ark of the Lord had been
brought into the camp of Israel. Ah, they had heard
of the wonders wrought by the God of Israel in Egypt
and in the wilderness : — but the second thought was
that of resolute courage and a more desperate conflict.
"Quit you like men, and fight." They did fight; and
Israel was terribly smitten; thirty thousand footmen
fell ; the ark of God was taken, and, as the Lord had
said, Hophni and Phinehas were both slain in one day.
A man of Benjamin ran the same day to Shiloh with
the tidings. Eli, ninety-eight years of age, was sitting
on a seat by the wayside watching, " for his heart trem-
bled for the ark of God." At the tidings the men of the
city sent up their wail of woe, which Eli heard, and
anxiously inquired—" What meaneth the noise of this
tumult ? " The messenger rehearsed the sad tale, one

MORAL LESSONS IN THESE EVENTS. 105

calamity after another : Israel fled ; a great slaughter
of the people ; thy two sons dead ; the ark of God taken!
The old man bore it all till the last words — the ark
taken, and then fell backward from his seat, and
heavy as he was, his neck brake and he died. The
wife of Phinehas was near the point of child-birth ; the
tidings brought upon her the pains of travail; she
lived to name her new-born child Ichabod — Where is
the glory ? and then gave up her life, for she said :
" The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of
God was taken," and her father and her husband were

with the dead. Thus the judgments on Eli's house

began on that fearful day and hastened toward their
consummation.

The events of this fourth chapter have moral bear-
ings in two directions, viz., (1) As illustrating the
judgments of God in time on great sinners ; and (2)
As showing the utter worthlessness of the mere forms
and externals of religion to shield sinners from God's
retributions. 1. Here was a case of flagrant wicked-
ness. The head and front of the offense was in the
priesthood. But the people were largely implicated.
Such sacrilege and such abominations of lust in the
very house of God could not go on year after year with-
out involving fearful guilt on the part of the people
at large. Not the priesthood only, but the very nation
had made itself loathsome before God; and, conse-
quently, terrible judgments from the Lord must needs
wdtness to his hatred of sin and to his justice in its
punishment ; and were moreover demanded as the last
hopeful means for the moral reformation of so many as
w^ere not yet hopelessly hardened. Hence came this
one day of accumulated horrors. A lost battle ; Israel
panic-smitten and fleeing ; 30,000 of her dead strown on
the field of battle ; the two sons of Eli, acting priests,
slain in one day ; the ark of God in the hands of un-
circumcised Philistines ; the aged Eli and the wife of
Phinehas dead — the dying mother giving the key-note to
the sad wail of that day : " The glory is departed from
Israel ! " Thus it behooved tlie God of Israel to testify
that he is of purer eye than to behold iniquity; that
he can never wink at such flagrant abominations, and,
least of all, in those who minister at his altar.

2. The last remark suggests the second great moral les-

106 MORAL LESSONS IN THESE EVENTS.

son of these events ; viz., the utter worthlessness of the
mere forms and externals of religion to shield sinners
from God's retributions. There can never be a finer
opportunity than this to test the value of the mere
forms and rituals of religion as means of saving a sin-
ning people from the deserved judgments of God. If
any ritualities, or sacraments, or religious symbols ever
carried with them the divine presence, this ark of the
covenant did so, for it was God's resting-place and visi-
ble abode. If the mere presence of any thing sacred to
God can save men in their sins and despite of their sins,
men might surely expect that the ark of God's covenant
would carry victory with it, and that God would not
allow his name to " go to protest " before idolaters. If
there be any saving power in the mere ritualities and
sacraments of our holy religion, here was a splendid
opportunity to test and display it. Let it be supposed
that God had made his ark the talisman of victory on
this eventful day ; that he had said—" I can not afford
to dishonor my name before the uncircumcised hosts of
Philistia w^hen the very ark of my presence is borne
to the fight by my priests in their holy garments. Bad
as my people are, I must have respect to these symbols
of my presence, and shield my professed worshipers."
Had the Lord said this, the genius of ritualism would
have been baptized in glory! No event since the world
began has ever borne such a testimony to its value and
its power as a victory given to the sacred ark on that
day would have borne. All down through the ages men
would have reverted to this palpable testimony of fact
as proof that God does spare and bless even the wicked
when they hide themselves beneath the wing of his
cherubim, though it be done in the outivard only ; when
they put the sacred ark between their guilty souls and
the arrows of God's retributive justice. Oh, how would
men, conscious of damning sin upon their souls, have
hastened to the holy sacraments of the altar and sought
to hide under sacred vestments and the hallowed em-
blems of God's presence ! How would souls quivering
on the verge of hell have cried out for the priests of God
that they might but touch the hem of their garments,
receive the holy water from their sacred hands, and take
the symbols of Christ's death to their dying lips with
the refreshing assurance that God will honor such sym-

THE ARK IN CAPTIVITY. 107

bols of his love as these, and /or tJieir sake blot out human

guilt and save a dying sinner from perdition ! But

alas ! such a testimony to the power of the mere forms
of religion has never yet been given from heaven ! The
events of this chapter stand solid against all such vain
hopes.

The Arh in Captivity,

The thread of the history (1 Sam. 5 and 6) follows
the ark to the land and the cities of the Philistines.
First, they of Ashdod have it in charge. Whether as
being the only appropriate place for it they could
think of, or forinsult to the conquered symbol of Israel's
humbled God, " they brought it into the temple of their
Dagon and set it by Dagon." This Dagon (it is well
that we remind ourselves) was a fish-god, with human
head, breast, and arms, and all the rest fishy ; i. e., the
lower half of the trunk, and the lower limbs were sup-
plied from the headless fish. Whether in their science
of idols, this fish idea were in honor of their fisheries as
a source of their wealth, or a symbol of fecundity, has
been disputed, and we may aftbrd to let it remain dis-
puted, for all science of idolatry is only human folly.

In the present case, the ark of God and this Dagon

were brought face to face to spend the night together.
When they of Ashdod arose early in the morning and
hastened to their temple, lo, Dagon had fallen upon his
face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. Most

significant ! " They took Dagon and set him in his

place." Perhaps they were not quite sure of the signif-
icance of this fall; so they put up their god to another
"round" (as the pugilists would say) — one more trial
in combat. When they arose early the next morning,
behold, Dagon was not only fallen on his face to the
ground before the ark, but his head and both palms of
his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the
fishy part remained to him. By one of the curious and
unaccountable freaks of superstition, the priests and
worshipers of Dagon commemorated this significant and
to them disgraceful fall and dismemberment of their
god by never stepping on the threshold of their temple.
The writer remarks that this usage was in force to his
day.

108 THE ARK IN CAPTIVITY.

Not the god Das-on only, but the men of Aslidod were
smitten sorely. The record is : " The hand of the Lord
was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed
them and smote them with emerods." This scourge
was so severe that they said, We can not have this ark
of God among us. So they called a council of Philis-
tine lords, and it was agreed to try it in Gath. "They
carried the ark to Gath,"and there the hand of the Lord
was against the city with a very great destruction, and
he smote the men of the city, both small and great,

and they had emerods in tlieir secret parts." There

seems to have been some form of pestilence fatal to
life, expressed under the word " destruction ; " and also
another great affliction, under the name " emerods."
This name is unfortunately blind to many English
readers because the word is mostly obsolete, being a
corruption of the medical term "hemorrhoids" — the
painful disease currently known as "the pilesJ^

The cities of the Philistines were by this time
thoroughly alarmed. Not one would consent to have
the ark in its keeping. Another council was sum-
moned; the priests and diviners were called in, and it
was concluded to send the ark back to Israel, not empty
(said these diviners), but with a trespass-offering. Ee-
markably this trespass-offering is described as "five
golden emerods and five golden mice " — the number of
each corresponding to the five principalities of Philis-
tia, for the one plague was common to them all. More-
over, it is clear that these golden emerods and mice
were representations in form of the plagues under
which they suffered so terribly, and that their purpose
was to " give glory to the God of Israel " — a very ex-
plicit acknowledgment of his supremacy, and of their
own defeat and suffering before him. By these tokens
of their suffering they said, to their own shame — " We
can not stand before these manifestations of Jehovah's
presence and power." Urging the adoption of this
method of joint confession and restitution, they said—.
"Wherefore, then, do ye harden j^our heart as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart ? When
he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not
let the people go, and they departed ? " Be not ye stiff-
nocked, after that ancient and fatal example of Egypt
and her king ; but yield promptly, humbly, gracefully;

THE ARK SENT BACK. 109

and acknowledge that ye can in no wise stand before
Jehovah and his fiery judgments!

As if to make it more sure whether these judgments
were fortuitous, or came from the hand of Israel's God,
they said — Make a new cart; harness to it two young
heifers with young calves, never in yoke before ; shut
up the calves at home ; then start them. If they take
the way to Israel's cities, and go on despite of their
instincts toward their young confined at home, then
may ye know that God is with his ark, and that these

sore afflictions are from his hand. The experiment

was decisive. The young cows moved off by the route
to Israel, lowing for their calves as they went, and
halted not till they brought up at Bethshemesh, a city
of Israel. Thus ended these scenes of seven months'
captivity of the ark among the Philistines.

It will readily recur to every reader that the fortunes
of the ark in its captivity among the Philistines suffice
to solve the problem whether God were able to take
care of his own ark of the covenant without the aid of
his chosen people. For the ark went forth into that
captivity alone. Not a man of all its appointed guard-
ians stood by to protect it. No cordon of armed Levites,
zealous for God, often firm of hand and brave of heart
for battle, remained for its body-guard. The Lord alone
stood by for its defense, and the history shows with
what result. Plainly the Lord labored under no lack
of resources to shield his ark from insult, to scourge its
Philistine enemies, and make them but too glad to send
it back. These showings of Jehovah's power might,
we must suppose, have been w^holesome and admonitory
to the men of Philistia, had their minds been in any
wise open to conviction of the truth as to the God of
Israel.

Samuel as Judge.

The history of Samuel as Judge of Israel is brought
chiefly wdthin 1 Sam. 7. The ark, moving back from
the Philistine land by stages, tarried twenty years in
Kirjath-jearim.* It is not surprising that pious hearts

••■This was one of the cities of the Gibeonites, on the S. W. border
of the tei-ritory of Benjamin, six or seven miles N. W. from Jerusa-
lem and eight or ten N. E. from Bethshemesh. Its ancient site is now
recognized in the modern Kuriet El Enab, determined satisfactorily
by Dr. Robinson.

110 SAMUEL AS JUDGE.

in Israel mourned its absence, nor that those who valued
it only as embodying the ritualities and forms of their
worship should feel unrestful. It is said, "All the
house of Israel lamented after the Lord " (7 : 2). At
this point Samuel comes to view. With the pertinence
of blended good sense and piet}^, he said to all Israel,
" It ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then
put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among
you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve
him only ; and he will deliver you out of the hand of
the Philistines " (7 : 3). " Then the children of Israel
did put away Baal and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord
only." It was the moment to strike for a national ref-
ormation, and Samuel was too wise to let it slip. So
he issued his proclamation: "Gather all Israel to
Mizpeh and I will pray for you unto the Lord." They
came ; " they drew water and poured it out before the
Lord (perhaps in symbol of broken hearts and flowing
tears) ; and they fasted on that day, and said there, We
have sinned against Jehovah." After this penitential
scene, it is said that " Samuel judged the children of

Israel in Mizpeh." The Philistines heard of this

great convocation of Israel, and probably suspecting
that it contemplated some general uprising against
themselves, they came up for battle. The Israelites
feared to face them, and therefore cried unto Samuel:
" Cease not to pray to the Lord our God for us, that he
will save us out of the hand of the Philistines." Sam-
uel took a sucking lamb for a. whole burnt-ofiering and
cried to the Lord for Israel. The Lord heard. While
the sacrifice was still in progress the Philistines drew
near, and the Lord thundered with a great thunder that
day upon the Philistines and discomfited them, and
they were smitten before Israel. The men of Israel
took heart, rallied, and smote their enemy until they
came under Beth-car. Samuel set up a memorial stone
and called it " Eben-ezer " — stone of help, saying —
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." The precious
associations of that memorial stone still abide with
God's people. The experiences of this eventful day
must have been exoeedingly wholesome, religiously as
well as politically. They brought before the nation a
present and most precious testimony that God hears
prayer, and that piety toward God was the salvation

THE ORDER OF PROPHETS. Ill

of their country. How plainly they must have seen
that if penitent toward God, they might depend upon
his heing on their side as toward their enemies, and
that the prayers of even one good man might bring the
agencies of heaven to their help and paralyze the power
of even Philistia's hosts. These were indeed moment-
ous lessons.

The events of that day turned the tide of political
prestige and power against Philistia for at least the re-
maining years of Samuel's administration. The cities
which they had taken from Israel were recovered, and
Israel had rest from their hostilities. Samuel then
judged Israel peacefully, administering justice by a
circuit court arrangement, in which his seats of justice
were Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpeh, and Ramah — his family
residence being at the last-named place. " There he built

an altar unto the Lord." Samuel had no successor in

this one respect — filling at once the functions of prophet
and of Judge.

A man of rare qualities, of heart ever true to God
and to the work for which God raised him up, his name
was a tower of strength to Israel, and his life an era in
her history. By him the Lord interposed to stem the
current of religious and political declension which
seems to have been setting in with accumulating force,
during at least the latter part of the period of the
Judges. From the scanty records that have come down
to us it seems manifest that Samuel rose quite above
any of the Judges that intervened between himself
and Joshua, in the steadfast earnestness of his piety ; in
his prominent influence upon the religious life of the
nation, and especially in those functions which per-
tained to the prophetic office. His name is naturally
identified with the rise of the prophetic order — a new
power which the Lord inaugurated in his person for the
religious instruction of his people.

The Order oj Prophets.

It is in place here to consider an event of very grave
importance in the religious history of God's people, viz.,
the rise and development of the order of prophets.

It is conceded that this order properly began with
Samuel. Let us consider briefly the following points :

112 THE ORDER OF PROPHETS.

1. The meaning of the term prophet^ and the functions of
the office. Our English word denotes primarily one
who foretells future events. The most common He-
brew term (nabi) has a broader signification, viz., one
who speaks for God, who is in communication with
God, and who receives from him and bears to men his
messages. These messages might or might not bring
revelations of future events. It was after God had
called to Samuel in his sleep and revealed to him the
doom of Eli and his house, and after the declaration —
" The Lord was with him and did let none of his words
fall to the ground," that we read : " All Israel from Dan
to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a

prophet of the Lord " (1 Sam. 3 : 19, 20). Important

to the sense of this term " prophet " are Ex. 7 : 1, and
4 : 16 : "I have made thee (Moses) a god to Pharaoh ;
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet''^ — elsewhere
expressed — " thy mouth (' spokesman ') unto the peo-
ple." Thus the prophet spake in God's behalf to the

people, or as the case might be, to their king. Note

also that during the age of Samuel, the customary
designation was changed from "seer" to "prophet" (1
Sam. 9 : 9). The precise shade of difference between
these terms is not clearly indicated. Perhaps the name
" seer " (which English word very correctly translates
the Hebrew) might imply that his chief function was to
fore'sce ; and that during Samuel's age the broader sense
above referred to became more prevalent.

A very common designation of the prophet is " man
of God," as may be seen 1 Sam. 2 : 27, and 9 : 6, 7, 8,
10, and 1 Kings 12 : 22, and 13: 1, 5, 6, 11.

Of the functions of their office — their professional
work — we may say, comprehensively, it was moral in-
struction^ especially as sent directly from God to men.
Their peculiar work was quite distinct from that of
the priest who had special charge of the rites of
worship— indeed, of the entire system of religious
service as prescribed through Moses. Over against
this, the prophets dealt with simple truth. They
were teachers raised up of God. They gave religious
counsel and sympathy to God's people in their domes-
tic life, as we may inter from Elisha's relations to the
woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4 : 8-37). They gave
moral support and special counsel to good kings. Gad

THE ORDER OF PROPHETS. 113

is twice spoken of as "David's seer" (2 Sam. 24: 11),
by whom the Lord spake in the matter of numbering
the people and the ensuing pestilence; also in 2 Chron.
29 : 25, on the subject of sacred psalmody. Nathan
appears as his reprover for his one great sin (2 Sam.
12). Isaiah was a bosom friend of Hezekiah (Isa. 37 :
21, and 38: 1-8); Jeremiah, of Josiah (2 Chron. 35:

25). To wicked kings they bore God's messages

of rebuke and Avarning, of which we have examples
in Elijah and Ahab (1 Kings 17: 1, and 18: 17, 18);
in Micaiah as toward Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings
22 : 7-28) ; in Ahijah and Jeroboam (1 Kings 14). The
desolation that came over the heart of King Saul when
he found no answer from the Lord, either by dreams,
by the Urim, or through God's prophets, avails to
show that the prophets were a recognized medium of
communicJition from God to man, and we may per-
haps say, especially to the kings of Israel. In their
theocratic relations to God they must have often felt
the need of such a medium between themselves and
the nation's Supreme King.

They were annalists of the nation, writing out more
or less fully the history of the kings, both of Judah
and of Israel. The names of not less than eight ^^ ap-
pear as having performed this service. See cases in
1 Chron. 29: 29, 30, where as historians of David we
have the names of Samuel the seer, Nathan the
prophet, and Gad the seer : also 2 Chron. 9 : 29, where
the biographers of Solomon are named — Nathan, Ahijah,
and Iddo, all prophets.

It scarcely need be said that in later times they not
only proclaimed their messages more or less in public,
but committed them to writing, and thus left to all
future ages those sacred and priceless messages sent of
God to men through their tongue and pen.

Nor let us omit to note their useful and prominent
labors upon the psalmody of Israel. In this service
David himself appears as a prophet. With him and
after him arose an indefinite number who contributed
religious songs for the service of worship in the great
congregation. To this order of Hebrew prophets,
therefore, is the world indebted for the written word of

■•■ Viz., Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Ahijah, Iddo, Shemaiah, Jehu the
Bon of Hanani, and Isaiah.
6

114 SCnOOLS OF THE PROPHETS.

God as we have it in nearly the entire Old Testament.
Moses, one of the most eminent of prophets, lived before
the order of prophets took definite form ; of Job and of
the books of Solomon, it is not in place here to speak
particularly. The other books come clearly under the
statement as above made.

2. The requisite training — Schools of the prophets. Such
services demanded special qualifications, both natural
and acquired. Nothing can be more obvious than
the necessity of a special training for the proper
performance of their varied and exceedingly responsi-
ble duties. Therefore, we naturally look for some traces
of this special culture and training; and we find them
from Samuel and onward. The earliest appear in the
life of Samuel ; the most full and decisive, in the his-
tory of Elijah and Elisha. The important passages are
1 Sam. 10: 5-13, and 19: 20-24, and 1 Kings* 18: 4, and
20: 35, and 2 Kings 2 : 3-7, 15-18, and 4 : 38-44, and 5 :
22, and 6 : 1-7, and 9 : 1-16.

In these passages from 1 Samuel his history brings to
view a considerable number of young prophet-pupils,
called "a company" (1 Sam. 10: 10), but the sense of
this Hebrew word is rather that of ba7id, a body of men
closely affiliated. In 1 Sam. 19 : 20, another Hebrew
word for company occurs, found here only, but by gen-
eral consent of critics meaning a troop or affiliated body

of man. Noticeably it is said that " Samuel stood as

appointed over them," their recognized head and
leader, that is to say, their professor, their prophet-
father.

Two other points come to view in this second passage
from Samuel respecting this group of prophet-pupils
and their religious father. One relates to the word
" Naioth," taken by our English translators as the
name of a place. But the current of recent opinion sets
strongly toward the sense — the college buildings in
Ramah — the group of dwellings in Ramah. (See
Fuerst's Lexicon, and the Speaker's Commentary.)
The reader may notice that four times in close succes-
sion we have in our English version, " Naioth in
Ramah," while in v. 18, it is equally plain that Naioth
and Ramah can not be difierent cities, but the one must
somehow be included in the other. The Hebrew word
" naioth " means habitations, dwellings — a noun in tho

SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS. 115

feminine plural. No traces of a place bearinp; this geo-
graphical name have ever come to light. We have,
therefore, a reasonable certainty that the word here
means the buildings fitted up for Samuel's college of
prophet-pupils. That these schools of the prophets had
sp.ecial buildings for their accommodation is not only
inferrible from the necessities of the case, but is touch-
ingly indicated (2 Kings 6: 1-7) where we read that
" the sons of the prophets " came to Elisha to say that
their accommodations for students' rooms were too
strait, and proposing to go to Jordan and its timbered
bottoms, and take thence every man his beam [pole],
and fit up more such humble accommodations for their
shelter. He said, " go ; " but they quietly suggest that
he go with them ; and like a true and faithful father-
prophet, he went. It was fortunate that he did ; for so
he was on hand to bring the iron ax-head to the sur-
face when by accident it had sprung from its helve and
fallen into the Jordan. The cry — " Alas, master, for it
was begged" — brought Elisha's miracle-working power
at once to their aid. They were too poor to buy their
axes. This man had to beg his — ask it as the Hebrew
signifies — yet never in the sense of borrow. It is the
word used in the history (Ex. 3 : 22, and 11 : 2) of the
Israelites asking jewels and goods of the Egyptians—
which was by no means "borrowing." All in all, this
is a very pleasant inside view of college life in those
ancient schools of the prophets — antedating by a few
thousand years the experiences of some prophet-schools
of our age which have struggled upward from the
humblest beginnings amid many privations, and not a
little morally wholesome manual toil, and occasionally
some cheering tokens of a helping power frorn above.
We will, therefore, recognize in our English ver-
sion—"Naioth in Ramah "—really the college dwellings
in Ramah — as the earliest scriptural notice of the exist-
ence of a Theological College.

3. Miisic and the spirit of pi'ophesying. While yet these
two passages from 1 Samuel (that oif chap. 10 and this
from chap. 19) are before us, let another incident be
noted. We first see a company of prophets coming
down from the "high place "'(10 : 5, 6) where nrobably
they had been engaged in worship. Moving to the
music of psaltery, tabret, pipe and harp, the prophetic

116 MUSIC AND THE SPIRIT OF PROPHESYING.

afflatus falls upon them ; they prophesy ; and the scene
becomes so inspiring, the S3'mpathies of men so moved
go forth with such power upon other souls, that even
Saul catches the inspiration and he prophesies!
More extraordinary still is the second narrative (chap.
19 : 18-24), for here Saul, like his namesake in the
gospel history, comes "breathing out threatening and
slaughter " against the youthful and innocent David.
First, his "messengers," his armed "posse" — the
king's royal executioners — men doubtless of iron nerVe
and of fearless brute courage — come within the range
of this prophetic afflatus. We read — " When they saw
the company of prophets prophesying and Samuel
standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was
upon the messengers, and they also prophesied." This
is reported to Saul, and, with mingled astonishment
and mortification, he resolves to try again, and there^
fore sends other messengers the second and the third
time — with only the same result. Then what can he
do but go himself? He goes, and lo, even Saul also
prophesies ! Now, were these results purely miracu-
lous, and quite independent of known pS3^chological
law? Or was there blended with this prophetic affla-
tus a joint operation of the power of music and of the
law of mutual sympathy by which mind acts powerfully
upon mind? To admit some power of the latter sort by
no means precludes the divine hand. God's Spirit (then
as now and ever) may have worked in harmony with
the laws of mind — since God constructed the human
mind to be moved by his own manifested presence and
revealed truth in connection with music and the law of
sympathy. It is clear that a very close relation existed
between music, especially instrumental music, and that
mental and spiritual exaltation, coupled with earnest,
impassioned utterances which are expressed by the word
"prophesy." It would seem that the utterances made
under this spirit of prophecy might or might not be
predictions of future events. In some cases they were,
and in other cases apparently were not. The remark-
able relation of music to this prophetic state is strongly
suggested in the passage from Samuel which we have
been considering. It was while they were coming down
from the high place with the music of instruments that
the young prophets prophesied and that Saul caught

MUSIC AND THE SPIRIT OF PROPHESYING. 117

the inspiration. The same connection appears in strong
light in 1 Chron. 25 : 1-3, 6, in which the sons of Asaph,
tieman, and Jeduthun are said " to prophesy with harps,
with psalteries, and with cymbals;" "who prophesied
according to the order of the king; " " who prophesied
wath a harp, to give thanks and to praise the Lord : "
"all these were under the hands of their father for song
in the house of the Lord with cymbals, psalteries, and
harps for the service of the house of God," etc. This
stated service of song for thanksgiving and praise was

expressed by the term " prophesy." For yet another

illustration of the presence of music in the loftiest songs
of praise, see the exercises when David brought the ark
into his royal city (1 Chron. 13 : 8, and 2 Sam. 6 : 5) :
"David and all Israel played before God with all their
might, and with singing, and with harps, and with
psalteries " etc.

4. The localities of these schools of the prophets. —
In the history of Samuel we find them at Gibeah
and at Ramah ; Gibeah, the home of Saul, and Ramah,
of Samuel. The mention of Gibeah in the English
version is obscured by translating it as a common,
not a proper noun — once (1 Sam. 10. 5) "the hill of
God," instead of Gibeah of God — the name of God
being attached probably on account of its being con-
secrated as a place of worship ; and in another case
(v. 10) simply "the hill" instead of Gibeah. That

this place was Saul's city appears from v. 11. To

the school (college) in Ramah Ave have seen references
in 1 Sam. 19 : 18-24.

Under Elisha we find these schools at Gilgal (2
Kings 2 : 1, and 4 : 38-44) ; at Bethel (2 Kings 2 : 3) ;
at Jericho (2 Kings 2 : 5, 15, 16) ; and perhaps on Mt.
Ephraim, since Gehazi (2 Kings 5 : 22) said (truly or
otherwise) that two young men, sons of the prophets,
had come to him from that place.

5. Number of students. — We read of one hundred at
Gilgal (2 Kings 4 : 43) ; of fifty at Jericho in the ac-
count of the ascension of Elijah (2 Kings 2 : 16).
During the reign of Ahab, Obadiah shielded from the
vengeance of Jezebel one hundred prophets in two
companies of fifty each, feeding them with bread and
water in a cave. It is merely probable (not certain)
that these men were taken in a body, and, therefore,

118 SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS.

may have been residing together in their prophet-
college. So many God providentially rescued from
Jezebel for future service.

6. The question naturally arises, How were these
schools of the pro2')hets supported ? Their prophet-ftithers —
how did they get their bread, and shelter, and clothing?
And the young men ; how were they fed (the first ne-
cessity), and how sheltered and clad?

In the outset we may dismiss all thought of palatial
buildings, amply endowed professorships, and charity
funds for the support of students. [I make this re-
mark with not the least purpose of disparaging the
more costly appliances of modern times for similar
services.] There is no hint that the wealth which
came into David's hands from the spoiling of his van-
quished enemies, or the yet more abundant riches of
Solomon, went into this channel of benevolence. The
temple and the vastly expensive ritualities of the Mo-
saic worship drew from these sources largely ; but we
read of no buildings, endowments, or other charitable
aid for the schools of the prophets, coming from the
treasures of either David or Solomon. Less expended
on the temple and its sacrifices, and more upon these
ministries that bore more directly upon the truly relig-
ious life, would certainly seem to us a wiser distribu-
tion. But it pleased God, so far as we may judge from
his direction, whether through his providences or
through his prophets, to expend immensely upon the
former, and very sparingly, if at all, upon the latter.
It may fitly be considered, however, that the reigns of
David and Solomon were the golden age of the Mosaic
system; and, therefore, this system naturally attracted
most of the religious thought and effort of the times.
The schools of the prophets are not even noticed dur-
ing those otherwise memorable reigns.

Returning to our theme, the few notices we find (e.
(J.) in the history of Elisha, touching the questions of
finance, subsistence, and the comforts of life generally,
bf.'token poverty of resources, an average straitness,
with occasionally pinching want, sometimes relieved
by miracle. It may be questionable how far we are
authorized to draw general conclusions from special
cases of distress in a country subject like theirs to
dearth and consequent famine. These cases, however,

SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS. 119

(sucli as that in 2 Kings 4 : 38-44) show that they had
no invested funds to fall back upon — no fixed sources
of supply, good for bridging over a season of dearth.
The temporary relief brought by the man from Baal-
shalisha — some '' bread of the first-fruits ; twenty loaves
of barley," etc. — suggest how these schools were some-
times relieved from pinching want; albeit even this
seemed very insignificant to set before one hundred
very hungry men. But Elisha's miracle-working power
had been drawn upon before to augment little into
much; and it availed here.

We have already seen (in 2 Kings 6.: 1-7) that the
" rooms " at one of these colleges (probably the one at
Jericho, that being near the Jordan) were very limited,
and that the young men took axes — one of them had to
beg his — and went to the Jordan valley for poles to put
up what must have been at best a very rude structure
to live in. We have also a very touching case of want
brought to the knowledge of Elisha by the widow of
one of these students. She cried out to him : " 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 Kings 4 : 1-6). Here was a prophet-student with

a young family. It is not said that hardships hastened
his death — but he died — died young, and leaving his
estate in debt. The last resort for the collection of
debts in those days — a terribly cruel and heartless one
— was to take the debtor, or his wife, or his children, for
slaves. The widowed mother's heart felt the bitterness
of this aflSiction. Very properly she brought her case
before Elisha. Her provision-stores were reduced to one
pot of oil — manifestly a small one; but according to
the promise of Elisha, and under the miraculous hand
of God, the oil-can kept pouring out oil till all the ves-
sels she had faith to borrow were full, and then stayed.
So she paid her debts, kept her sons, and lived— grate-
fully, we must think — on the rest. Let us note also

that this was a home scene, adapted for the best home
influences. " When thou art come in, thou shalt shut
the door upon thyself and thy sons, and shalt pour out
into all those vessels," etc. — none present save thyself,
thy sons — and God ; and the door shut. Eyes that are
mainly curious, and tongues that are only chatty, might

120 SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS.

well be spared. God would have those dear boys re-
member that flowing oil to the end of their days. Let
us hope that they did, and also the great and kind

giver ! The life-history of Elisha is remarkably filled

with supernatural incidents. Plainly a double portion
of the spirit of Elijah did rest on him, as was promised
(2 Kings 2 : 9, 10).

7. The question naturally arises : From what class in
the community were these prophet-students drawn ?
And by ivhat influences, and by whose agency, were they
brought into these training schools?

On the point first named we have no general state-
ments— nothing beyond a few special cases. Elisha
was called from the plow (1 Kings 19 : 19-21), and from
a field where twelve yokes of oxen were plowing — im-
plying a farmer of some means. Amos (7 : 14, 15)
speaks of having been "a herdsman," "a gatherer of
sycamore fruit," and also a " shepherd," up to the time
when the Lord called him to go and prophesy unto
his people Israel. Jeremiah was descended from the
priests in Anathoth, and seems to have been (as the
phrase is) " respectably connected " with some of the
first and best families of Judah, and apparently on in-
timate terms with Josiah the king. [See introduction
to my commentary on Jeremiah, pp. 9, 10.] Ezekiel,
too, was in his family line a priest (Ezek. 1 : 3). Isaiah,
whatever his ]mrentage, became a special friend and

counselor of the good Ilezekiah. Beyond these few

special cases I am not aware that anything certain can
be known.

On the question — How and by what agencies were
these young men brought into these schools — the rec-
ord is not by any means full; yet there are some facts
bearing on the point. Samuel's case is given in ample
detail. The voice of the Lord fell on his ear — the
inner rather than the outer ear probably — for no one
other than himself seems to have heard it. Elijah
called Elisha (as we have seen), yet plainly God's voice
also was felt to be in the call. Elijah's agency was
quite like that of his Lord, long after, in calling the two
sons of Zebedee and Matthew the publican. Several
of the prophets who have left us their writings have
left in them some allusion to their special call to the
prophetic work, e. g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Jonah.

SCHOOLS OF THE PR0PHET3. 121

The numerous cases in which God assigned to these
prophets some special service by means of a special
call, strongly support the opinion that we must allow
a large place to the immediate call of God impressed
upon their souls, to bring them into these schools of
the prophets, and to prepare them thus for any future
work tiie Lord might have for them to do. Yet this
view of the case will not rule out the personal agency
of Samuel and of Elisha in drawing young men under
their instruction. They may have been guided of the
Lord specially in their selection., or they may have made
large use of their own judgment and knowledge of men.
Any prophet-father (in that age or in this) who walks
with God, and seeks divine guidance in a matter of
such responsibility, need not fear that God will with-
hold it. This is one department of that wisdom which
if a man consciously lacks, let him ask of God who
" gives liberally, upbraiding not " (James 1 : 5).

8. If the further question be raised as to their college
duties, their course of study, text-books, methods
of study and training — it is easy to say that the
Hebrew scriptures, so far as then extant, must have
been chiefly their text-books. Fortunately for us, the
writings of the prophets evince such familiarity with
the previously written scriptures as can leave no doubt

on this point. As has been already suggested, some

place must be assigned for culture in music and for
exercises in sacred song. Skill in music never comes
without culture and somewhat extended practice, of
which in their case we have some testimony on record
(c. g., 1 Chron. 25 : 7) ; " The number of them " [the
families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun] "with their
brethren that were instructed in the songs of the Lord,
even all that were cunning" [skilled], " was two hun-
dred and eighty-eight." Out of these families arose
several men whose culture and training, of the sort
given in the schools of the prophets, were such that
they became authors of a considerable number of the
Psalms that have come down to us in the Psalter.

Moreover, the fathers who presided in these schools
were men of large experience in the prophetic life.
Samuel's history is full of instructive and thrilling
events. So was that of Elisha. God was near to those
holy men, often manifesting his special presence and

122 SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS.

his miraculous gifts. From time to time some special
service would devolve by the call of God uj^on some of
these sons of the prophets— a case in point appearing
in 2 Kings 9, where Elisha sent one of them to
anoint Jehu.

The fiict that some of them became the annalists and
historians of the nation involves the study of their
nation's past history to some extent, and certainly a
careful study of recent and present history. Those who
became writers of prophetical books most obviously
must have had some training and culture preparatory
to this work of authorship, not only to gain the manual
skill of writing (chirography), but practice in compo-
sition, and the power to express thought and to relate
facts with clearness, beauty, and force. Such qualities
they certainly had; and their possession, then as now,
presupposes culture and training.

How long their course of study and training was we
have no data whatever for deciding beyond what we
know of the average time requisite in all ages to acquire
such an education as those prophets manifestly had.

It is not unreasonable to suppose that every man

graduated when God called him away into some field of
active service.

The circumstances in the age of Elijah and Elisha
which manifestly called for and developed a very large
increase in the number of these schools and of their
pupils, we shall study to better advantage when the
history of those times shall come fully before us. We
now return to the age of Samuel to resume at that point
the thread of Hebrew history.

SAUL AND THE MONARCHY. 123

CHAPTER YI.

Saul and the rise of the Monarchy,

Old age had come upon Samuel ; his two sons, pro-
moted to civil responsibilities, had not borne their
honors nor their responsibilities well. It is said of them
briefly that they "did not walk in the ways of their
father," but " took bribes and perverted judgment." The
people were dissatisfied, and not unnaturally thought
that any change would be improvement. The elders,
acting as usual for the whole people, came together and
said to Samuel, " Now make us a king to judge us, that
we may be like all the nations " (8:5). Subsequently
they gave their reasons more in full (vs. 19, 20) ; " That

our king may go out before us and fight our battles."

Other nations on every side — the Philistines, the Hit-
tites, Syria, Ammon, Modb, and Edom — seemed to them
prosperous and strong under their kings. So, overlook-
ing the fact that the Lord was their King, or, at least,
making far too little account of it, they thought to rival
their neighbors to better purpose if they too had a king.
It is not altogether strange that the experience of sev-
eral hundred years under the judges and without any
judge should have made this political reasoning seem
to them plausible. Their mistake had its roots in their
leaving God out of the account and in overlooking their
peculiar relations to him as their Sovereign, Redeemer,
and Father.

Samuel was not pleased with their request, and there-
fore turned to the Lord in prayer. The Lord also was
displeased with the sjnrit of the people. Their motives
were by no means grateful to his mind; yet, appar-
ently, he was not averse to this proposed change in the
form of the national government. There were some
good reasons for the change. The tribes of Israel,
whether considered politically or religiously, needed
more consolidation. Their national experience, from
Joshua to Samuel, bore this testimony. In the midst
of so many powerful enemies, the most eftective union
would give them none too much strength. And it had

124 SAUL AND THE MONARCHY.

become manliest that the Mosaic religious sj^stem
needed for its best results a great national capital which
might become the religious as well as the political cen-
ter of the whole people. As already suggested, the
experience of several hundred years, since Joshua, had
been impressing this lesson (we must presume) on the
sagacious minds among the elders of Israel. Yet,
according to the record, the more worldly consideration
of being like the nations round about them lay in the
foreground of their thought and of their petition.

It is well to notice the sagacity (whether in its ori-
gin human or divine) with which Samuel first met
their request. Ye ask (he said to the people) for a
king? But have ye well considered what a king would
cost you? Roj^alty is an expensive luxury. Your king
must have his court, his retinue of servants, a costly
table, and the most sumptuous surroundings. Have ye
duly considered that more government implies less

personal liberty for the individual? So Samuel told

them how the king would take for his use their noblest
sons and fairest daughters ; their best fields and most
desirable possessions — until they would cry out under
his extortions and find no response from the Lord to
their cry. Yet still they persisted in their demand for
a king; and the Lord yielded.

In chap. 9 : 17, the word chosen for the sense of reign
over this people has normally the meaning restrain — a
thought which the Lord takes pains to impress upon
the people.

The manner in which Saul — the Lord's choice for
their first king — was brought before Samuel appears in
1 Sam. 9; while in chap. 10 we see him brought into
contact with the young prophets of Samuel's school,
and ultimately before the whole people assembled at
Mizpeh.

Saul — of the small tribe of Benjamin — a tribe made
smaller by the fearful scenes narrated Judges 20 and 21
— was of tall, commanding person, and, as he first
appears in the history, of rather prepossessing modesty.
Sent from home with a single servant in pursuit of his
father's lost asses, they traveled till their provisions
were spent and till they came into the vicinity of Sam-
uel's residence, "Zuph " (v. 5), which we must identify
with llamathaim-zophim, the place of SamueFs na-

SAUL AND THE MONARCHY. 125

tivity. Here, remarkably, it comes to light that Saul's
servant knows more of Samuel than Saul himself — not
the only case in which servants have known more of
God and of godly men than their masters. The little
Hebrew maid-servant in Naaman's slave-quarters helped
him to a similar knowledge of Elisha, and consequently
to a cure from his terrible leprosy. Saul's servant said :
Just by us here in this city lives a man of God who
can doubtless tell us about our asses. Saul replied : We
have nothing for a present, and how can we call on
him without ? But the servant is equal to this emer-
gency: a quarter shekel in his pocket will suffice.
They found Samuel, and it came out that the Lord's
hand had been shaping this whole movement. He
had whispered it in Samuel's ear the day before that
the king elect was coming, and that he must Hrst en-
tertain him at the religious festival then pending, and
afterward in a private way anoint him king. Then in
chap. 10 we read what signs Samuel gave him to assure
him that this anointing was certainly from God; how
well he kept his secret; how he returned to his own
city Gibeah — a place mostly concealed from the English
reader by the mistranslation which gives it "the hill"
instead of Gibeah in both vs. 5 and 10, and only in v.

26 the true translation, "Gibeah." Of his contact

with the prophesying band of young prophets enough
has been said in connection with the schools of the
prophets.

Shortly the people are convened at Mizpeh, and by
means of the sacred lot the tribe of Benjamin first, and
ultimately Saul himself is brought out as the divinely
chosen king for Israel. For himself he knew before-
hand what the issue would be. Shrinking from the
responsibility, or overcome by modest diffidence, he hid
himself among the baggage (10 : 22) brought together
by the assembled thousands of Israel. It was only the
all-seeing eye of God that disclosed his hiding-place.
When his noble form appeared the people greeted him
with the shout, then heard for the first time among the

tribes — " God save the king." Here again, and more

fully than before (1 Sam. 8: 11-18), Samuel told the
people " the manner of the kingdom," and " wrote it in
a book and laid it up before the Lord" (v. 25). " The
manner of the king " as explained to the people on the

126 THE KINGDOM RENEWED TO SAUL.

former occasion gave them one side of the case — the
license he would take to make exactions upon them of all
best things for his royal state ; but here " the manner of
the kingdom^^ seems rather to mean the royal charter or
constitution according to which he was to administer
the government under Jehovah their Supreme King.
Inasmuch as the Lord had anticipated this very result —
the demand and necessity for a king — and had provided
for it in the civil code given through Moses (see Deut.
17 : 14-20), it can scarcely be doubted that this chapter
of restrictions and regulations was precisely the royal
charter which Samuel rehearsed on this occasion to the
people and wrote it in the book (so the Hebrew), and
placed it in the national archives. Among other things
it provided that the king should have a copy of " this
law " for his special use, that he might consult it daily
in person and guide his administration by it through
all his life.

After this ratification the people dispersed to their
homes, a few only whose hearts the Lord had touched
going with their new king to his home. The bad men
(sons of Belial) stood aloof and withheld both their con-
fidence and their gifts. The historian suggests that
Saul took this very quietly — as said in our version, "he
held his peace" (in Hebrew), acted as one deaf, who
heard not their derisive words. It was wise in him to
leave the issue with the Lord.

In form the people now have a king; yet there was
need of other influences to place him high in public
confidence and to give him the royal state of the mon-
arch of Israel. Events soon occurred which hastened
on these results, as we see in chap. 11.

The kingdom renewed and Saul put really at the head of the
nation. (1 Sam. 11.)

Ammon on the east of the Jordan was a kingdom
of considerable military power. Its king, Nahash,
marched upon the two and a half tribes on his side of
the Jordan and laid siege to Jabesh-Gilead— a city which,
as appears in Judges 21, for some reason sustained inti-
mate relations with Gibeah of Benjamin the home of
Saul.* The forces of Nahash seemed to the men of

* How these intimate relations commenced does not appear. The
men of Jabcsh did not — probably would not— join in the war of the

THE KINGDOM RENEWED TO SAUL. 127

Jabesh resistless. They, therefore, proposed a treaty
under which they expected only some relation of servi-
tude. The terms made by Nahash were that he should
" thrust out [in Hebrew bore out] every man's right eye,
and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel." This was
not only mercilessly cruel out purposely disgraceful.
Ammon retained for ages this pre-eminent character of
barbarous cruelty — as we may see in Amos 1 : 13-15,
where God annihilated the nation at last because of
their heartless violation of the dictates of common hu-
manity. The men of Jabesh were in deep trouble.

They asked seven days, ostensibly for consideration —
really for an effort to secure help from their brethren
across the Jordan. Their messengers came naturally
(providentially too) to Gibeah, not it would seem
because king Saul was there, for "they told their
tidings in the ears of all the people," and Saul seems
to have heard the story casually (as any other man of
Gibeah might) when he came in from after his herd in
the field. But the tidings fired up his soul ; " the spirit
of the Lord came upon him ; " he hewed his yoke of
oxen into pieces and sent them by the hand of his own
messengers over all Israel, summoning the men of war
to his army headquarters in Bezek.

The method of this summons followed somewhat the
one adopted in the scenes narrated Judges 19 : 29, 30.
The fear of the Lord fell on the people, and 330,000 men
rushed to the rendezvous ready for war. In the result
the army of Nahash was thoroughly routed — indeed so
utterly that no two men were left together. Jabesh-
Gilead was saved; and, not least, Saul was brought be-
fore the people as their hero, their king, owned of God,
and competent to lead their armies on to glorious vic-
tory. It was the moment for renewing the kingdom to
Saul ; so Samuel leads the whole army to Gilgal where
they performed the services of a solemn inauguration ;
sacrificed their peace-offerings before the Lord and re-
joiced with great joy. Saul was now king of Israel
indeed, with all the prestige for a successful reign that
any monarch could desire.

tribes upon Benjamin. Consequently they suffered under a like
fearful devastation of judgment (.Judges 21 : 10, 11), and in the result
400 of their virgin daughters became mothers of the future Benja-
mites — a fact which sufficiently accounts for the close relationship
indicated here between Jabesh and Gibeah.

128 SAMUEL AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL.

Let US note some additional particulars. Jabesh

Gilead was nearly twenty miles south of the Lake of
Tiberias, and less than half that distance east of the
Jordan. Bezek is supposed to have been near Beth-
shean, and over against Jabesh -Gilead (the Jordan
valley lying between), and distant probably fifteen or
twenty miles. A rapid night march brought them
near Jabesh-Gilead at the morning watch. There
dividing his army into three companies, Saul seems to
have surrounded and surprised his enemy.

The clemency with which Saul met the demand of
the people for the slaughter of those sons of Belial who
said, *' Saul shall not reign," was every way admirable.
We put it among the best features of Saul's character
and reign.

SamueVs Last Words to the Peoijle.

In chap. 12 a moral exhortation by Samuel follows
the political ratification or renewal of the kingdom to

Saul — at once timely and pertinent. In v. 2, the

reason for alluding to his sons as being there with the
people is not altogether apparent. Was it a hint that
they had been passed by in the choice of Saul for king,
or a suggestion that if the people had any more public
service for them they were on hand; or if there was a
demand for investigation into their official conduct,

they w'ere present? V. 3 is a tacit allusion to the

charge of bribery brought against his sons — as if he
would say: Whoever else is guilty, I take you to
record that I am not. I wash my hands before the
nation. If my sons are guilty, it is not that they

have followed my example or my counsel. In v. 6,

the Heb. word for " advanced " has commonly the sense
made — meaning here, he made them what they became ;
gave them their high distinction as his servants.

In the brief and rapid sketch (vs. 9-11) of their
nation's history from Joshua to that time, it can not be
assumed that Samuel touched the great characters dur-
ing the period of the Judges in their chronological
order. The order in the Book of Judges differs from

this, and is more likely to be correct. In v. 11,

Jerubbaal is another name for Gideon. With great
probability " Bedan " is an orthographic error for Barak
— the last two Hebrew letters being easily mistaken for

129

each other. The invasion under Sisera was certainly
before his mind (v. 9), so that the deliverance achieved
by Barak could scarcely be omitted. Moreover, Barak's
name follows Gideon's in Heb. 11 : 32, which almost

quotes these words of Samuel. In v. 14, the Hebrew,

closely translated, would read : " If ye will fear the
Lord and serve him and hearken to his voice, and not
rebel against the mouth [words] of the Lord, and if
both you and your kin^? who reigns over you will be
after the Lord your God" — then all well! — these three
last words being forcibly understood and implied.

The moral impression of this great thunder and rain
in time of wheat harvest would be exceedingly height-
ened by the fact that in that climate neither is known
during those weeks. Jerome, whose home was there,
says : " I have never seen rain in Judea in the end of
June or in July." The people saw that God was dis-
pleased with their request for a king and became sen-
sible of their sin in that request. With the greatest
confidence in Samuel's prayers they beg his continued
intercession on their behalf — a responsibility which
Samuel could not throw off. Note that Samuel's hope
in God rests, not on the merit or even the penitence of
the people, but on the Lord's regard for his own great
name ; for he had committed himself to mercy toward
his people. This moral lesson is too precious to be
overlooked.

These are Samuel's last words spoken publicly before
the people. His record as a thoroughly godly man — a
true and representative prophet, raised up of God to sus-
tain the religious life of the nation — deserves our care-
ful attention. The point that most impresses us is
that in his person mortal man stands so very near
to God. We see him continually made the vehicle
of communication from God to men. Over against
this, ' he bears up words of prayer and of confession
from men to God. The people recognize his wonder-
ful power with God in prayer and put all confidence
in his success before the throne. The time had then
fully come in the history of the nation when there
was need of such a medium of words from God to men,
and also from men back to God. Such men are a
great moral power in whatever age they appear. In
some vital respects they may appear in any age —

130

known as living near to God, as taught of him, and
as mighty in prayer. Samuel is a model man of this
class, well worthy to be made a study and an example.

SauVs History.

The events of 1 Sam. 13 are involved in no small chron-
ological perplexity. Saul seems to have been young
when made king ; but here is his son Jonathan in
command of one third of his standing army, and
evincing manly vigor, courage, and decision. Saul
must have been reigning at this point more than three
years. Yet the English version of v. 1 seems to affirm
that the events of this chapter occurred during or

immediately after the third year of Saul's reign. V.

1 presents several other critical difficulties. The Sep-
tuagint omits it altogether, apparently in despair
of making any thing out of it. The Hebrew for the
first clause — "Saul reigned one year" — according to
universal and therefore decisive Hebrew usage, must
refer, not to the duration of his reign, but to his age

lohen he began to reign. Saul was the son of years

in [at the point of beginning] his reigning. The nu-
meral for either twenty or thirty has probably dropped
out, the sense intended being — Saul was twenty and
one 3^ears of age (or thirty and one) when he began to
reign. A similar omission is probable in the second
clause : " And when he had reigned [perhaps] twenty
and two years over Israel," these events that follow

took place. That the Hebrew text has some errors,

and more especially in numerals, ought to be frankly
and fearlessly admitted. They affect no important doc-
trine or duty, and should not mar our confidence in
the integrity of the Scriptures in all vital points as a

revelation of God's character and of human duty.

Another instance of numerical error must, I think, be as-,
sumed in v. 5, where the number of chariots is entirelv
out of proportion. 30,000 should probably be 300—300
chariots to 6,000 horsemen being nearly the usual ratio.

Saul's standing army stood at 3,000 men, two parts
being under his immediate command; one part with
Jonathan his son. The Philistines had a garrison in
Geba (the modern Jeba), close upon the northern bor-
der of Benjamin and looking out northward upon the

JONATHAN. 131

great ravine [the Wady Suweinit], on the opposite side
of which stood Michmash, crowning the summit of the
opposing mountain ridge. All suddenly Jonathan fell
upon this garrison, smote and dislodged them. It startled
the Philistines as would a clap of thunder from a clear
sky, and the people of all Philistia seem to have rushed
to arms to maintain their supremacy and to avenge
themselves for this defeat. Vs. 19-22 show that the
Philistines had managed to monopolize and control the
skill of making and mending iron weapons, whether for
agriculture or for war, so that Israel in this emergency

had scarcely sword or spear in all their army. In

this crisis their men were spiritless (all save Jonathan),
melting away in panic before the hosts of Philistia.
Saul was in deep solicitude ; it was his crisis of moral
trial. Samuel had told him to tarry seven days^ till
himself should come, when he would offer the requisite
sacrifices, and seek help from their God. Saul waited
till the morning of the seventh day; then, impatient
of Samuel's delay, and lacking the repose of real trust
in God, he ordered the sacrifice to proceed. Scarcely
had he finished when Samuel came up; rebuked his
disregard of the divine directions and his lack of
faith in God ; frankly told him he had done foolishly ;
had forfeited his position as the accepted king of
God's people, and must be, sooner or later, superseded
by one who would obey his divine Sovereign im-
plicitly and trust him with all his heart. Thus Saul
was weighed in the balances of this searching test and
found wanting. Obedience less than implicit and abso-
lute is no real obedience at all. Saul made shipwreck
on the point of this vital distinction. From this time
onward his career was downward and rapid. ^ It was
not possible that God could be manifestly on his side —
evermore with him to make all his ways prosperous.

Jonathan.

1 Sam. 14 : 1-46 records thrilling scenes. Jonathan
and his armor-bearer, single-handed, under the inspira-
tion of sublime faith in God, are seen moving upon the
hosts of the Philistines, panic-smiting their vast mul-
titude, turning the whole tide of war, and ultimately
drivino; the Philistines back to their cities. This

132 JONATHAN.

great victory was marred by the mistake, not to say
the folly, of King Saul in imprecating a fatal curse
upon any man wlio should touch a morsel of food
during the entire day. Jonathan, who was off before
this military order Was issued, and who began his
day's fighting with the morning light, became faint for
want of food ; helped himself to wild honey that lay in
his path, and found " his eyes enlightened " (vs. 27-29) —
the dimness of vision consequent upon faintness was re-
lieved. But notwithstanding these lesser abatements
from the benign results of the day, the victory was
glorious— the honor being due, however, under God,
not to Saul, but to Jonathan. That the people in-
terposed resolutely to resist Saul's purpose and save
Jonathan from death under Saul's rash curse is proof
that his power was not altogether absolute, also that
the people were in heart enthusiastically with Jona-
than. The day taken in whole must have been not

a little humiliating to the king. Jonathan's record
shines with the splendor of sublime heroism, and of
genuine faith in God — all the more so, because when
the whole army, and even Saul, were trembling with
fear, many deserting their nation's standard, and
secreting themselves wherever they could, he rose
high above ^very fear, and accounting that the Lord
was mighty to save by many or by few, plunged in
among the armed hosts of Philistia, and laid a full
score of warriors low in the first assault, and thus
sent panic through that host till they melted away
before him, and turned their mad, wild hand upon each
other. Thus began that day of glorious victory for
Israel.

This spirit of heroism, resting upon his faith in God,
is quite like what we see in David when he came first
into the camp of Israel where Goliath was challenging
them to send out some champion for single combat. No
wonder two souls so kindred in spirit as David and
Jonathan should love each other with love worth}^ of
being embalmed in the sweetest strains of David's im-
mortal song, as in 2 Sam. 1 : 17-27.

The closing verses (47-52) of this cliap. 14, give a
l)rief resume of Saul's family history, with some notices
of his wars.

SAUL AND AMALEK. 133

Saul and Amaleh,

Chap. 15 reveals yet more fully the fatal lack in the
character of Saul, and is a natural sequel to the develop-
ments which appear in chap. 13. The test in this in-
stance was a special commission to destroy Amalek — a
commission perfectly explicit in its terms, and therefore
one that could not be misunderstood. It called for an
utter destruction — one that should spare nothing, man
or beast, alive. Saul assumed the responsibility of
making exceptions in the case of their King Agag, and
of the best of the sheep, lambs, oxen, and fatlings. His
reasons named were — not any want of military force,
nor any considerations of compassion. Why he spared
their king is not apparent, unless it were to grace his
triumph. As to the cattle the record states that Saul
and the peojde concurred in sparing them (v. 9) ; but
Saul thrice over (viz., vs. 15, 21, 24), distinctly, yet
probably not truthfully, laid the responsibility upon
the people. The reason assigned was that they might
offer them to the Lord in sacrifice— probably as being
in their view a matter of economy — to save their own.

This new development of disobedience ("rebellion"
the Lord calls it, v. 23) brought matters to issue between
the Lord and Saul. The divine word came to Samuel ;
" It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king,
for he is turned back from following me, and hath not
performed my commandments" (v. 11.) This touched
the pity and compassion of Samuel's heart. " It grieved
Samuel" (we read), "and he cried unto the Lord all
night." But the Lord's decision could not (honorably)
be reversed. So Samuel himself, in reply to Saul's en-
treaties, was forced to declare ; " The Strength of Israel
will not lie nor repent ; for he is not a man that he
should repent " (v. 29). The Hebrew word for " strength "
is not elsewhere applied to God, but according to its cur-
rent usage should contemplate, not merely his power, but
his ineffable glory, and especially the eternity of his
being, and hence the permanence of every glorious
quality of his character.

In this transaction the expostulations and reasonings
of Samuel with Saul are pregnant with moral force for
all ages. "Ye think" (he would say) "to please the
Lord by sparing the flocks and herds of Amalek and

134 SAUL AND AMALEK.

then offering them to the Lord in sacrifice." No mis-
take could be greater or more fatal. " Hath the Lord
as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in
obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of
rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and
stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." God asks
the homage of the heart— the pure and perfect submis-
sion of the human will. No substitute for this can pos-
sibly be accepted.

Neither apology nor confession on the part of Saul
could avail to change the divine purpose. Saul had
shown himself untrue to his Supreme Sovereign and
utterly unfit to be king over the Lord's people. It, there-
fore, only remained for Samuel to rebuke his sin sharply,
to testify to him that the Lord had that day rent the
kingdom of Israel (in purpose) from him and given it to
a neighbor better than he ; and then to tear himself sadly
yet firmly away from Saul and leave him to his wretched

doom. Yet as if to administer one last rebuke to Saul

by giving him an example of what he should have done,
he commands — " Bring ye hither to me Agag the king
of Amalek." "Agag " (we read) " came to him deli-
cately"— the sense of which Hebrew word may perhaps
be ivith joy, assuming that his peril of death was past.
Yet Fuerst gives the word the sense — in chains. The
Septuagint has it "trembling." The first named sense,
[^. e., with joy] seems most probable, because in harmony

with what follows. Then the aged Samuel, rising to

the stern demands of God's fearful retributions, pro-
claims— " As thy sword has made women childless, so
shall thy mother be childless among women," — and
then "hewed the guilty king in pieces before the
Lord " — the final clause " before the Lord " signifying that
God was solemnly present to that scene, and that it was
done in faithful "though stern fulfillment of God's com-
mand. It was the moment for God's eternal justice to
be vindicated. There was no element in Saul's charac-
ter equal to such an emergency ; there was none in
Samuel's that could shrink from fulfilling God's high
behest. The contrast is a lesson in moral sublimity.

Does the divine mandate for the extermination of
Amalek seem to any reader unreasonably severe and
unworthy of God ? Let it be borne in mind that Amalek

SAUL AND AMALEK. 135

stands before the world on the scripture record as fore-
most among the savage nations of those early times in
her cruelty and in her ruthless violation of common
humanity. Israel had scarcely crossed the Red Sea
when Amalek fell savagely on the rear of his marching
hosts, assaulting the infirm and weary, the aged, the
mothers with babes. There, first, Israel was brought
into conflict of arms with her causeless enemies. (See
Ex. 17: 8-16). This is the scene which the Lord here
speaks of remembering still. Let the reader note also
the record (Deut. 25 : 17-19) which recites the outrage
perpetrated on Israel by Amalek (as above), and adds —
'' When the Lord hath given thee rest in Canaan, thou
shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under

heaven ; thou shalt not forget it." Some fresh assault

from Amalek seems to be referred to in this immediate
connection (1 Sam. 14: 48) in the general reference to
this onslaught upon Amalek : " And he (Saul) gathered
an host and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel
out of the hands of them that spoiled them." It seems to be
implied here that Amalek had quite recently fallen
upon Israel for plunder and spoil, taking advantage
probably of some period of special exposure in conse-
quence of their "vvars with the Philistines. The reader
will note also that Samuel prefaces the execution of
Agag with words indicating precisely the idea of right-
eous retribution : " As thy sword hath made mothers
childless, so shall thy mother be childless among
women." It is one of the sublime prerogatives of the
God of nations to hold men to righteousness and to
deter them from outrageous inhumanity. There will
be cases that must be made terrible examples of the
punishment which such sinners deserve. It is simply
inevitable that if nations as such are to be governed
at all by the Great God of nations, they must have their
punishment in the present world. It must be left to the
option of divine wisdom to determine the /o?'??i of this
punishment — whether by a deluge of waters ; by the vol-
cano or earthquake ; by pestilence or famine ; or by the
sword of war. The justice of such retribution is the same
by whatever means it be executed. And if it please
God to commission Israel to execute his retribution on
Amalek, who shall question the wisdom of his pleasure ?
It may impress Israel with a fresh sense of God's right-

136 HISTORY OF DAVID.

ecus rule over the nations and of the wisdom of having
the fear of God ever before them. The assumption —
sometimes so hastily and thoughtlessly made — that
real benevolence never can restrain sin by means of
inflicted suffering, may sometimes seem plausible, but
is sadly short-sighted, not to say puerile. It has never
measured the mischiefs of unrestrained sin in the moral
universe ; has taken no account of the true interests of
moral beings, or of the value of holiness; and does not
even attempt to estimate the responsibilities of the
Great Father of all to restrain and punish the free
moral wickedness of his creatures.

CHAPTER VII.

The History of David.

From this point (1 Sam. 16) onward, the historic
thread runs on the life of David, not of Saul. David is
the primary character, Saul only the secondary. What-
ever is said of Saul is here because of its relations to
David ; what is said of David is here for its own sake,
to give us a full and connected view of his experiences
during the interval between his being anointed and his

being ultimately inaugurated as king of Israel. After

Saul has been publicly disowned of God the historian
seems more than willing to let him drop out of his nar-
rative, except as the history of David necessarily brings
him to view. Around David the chief interest of the
sacred story naturally gathers.

Opening this chapter 16, we are reminded again (v. 1)
of the deep and honest grief felt by Samuel over the
sad fall of Israel's first king. It was sad that the
first king should make such a failure — that one of so
much early promise should break down so utterly, and
that, too, on the very first principle of true piety — im-
plicit obedience to God.

In choosing the next king, the Lord looked for a man
— not after the heart of Israel, but after kis own heart.
Consequently his choice was determined, not by the
outer, but by the inner man; not by lofty stature and

HISTORY OF DAVID. 137

commanding presence, but by the far nobler qualities
of a true, trustful, loving heart. He sends Samuel to a
humble family of Bethlehem-Judah under instructions
to take with him his horn of oil, and let his mind be
guided by the word of the Lord given him on the* spot.

The reader will notice Samuel's solicitude lest Saul

should hear of it, and under excited jealousy take the
prophet's life. God's method of avoiding this danger
throws light on a nice question of casuistry — viz.,
whether it is right to conceal a part of the truth from
those whose known character and purpose make it cer-
tain that they would use this knowledge for evil. In
this case Saul had no claim to know what God was
doing in regard to the anointing of David. It was cer-
tain that the knowledge, if he had it, would fire up his
selfish jealousy to mad furj^ and involve him in awful
sin. It was, therefore, right and kind toward him to
withhold from him this knowledge. The proposed
method of concealing it involved no falsehood; it
merely withheld part of the truth, and this from one
who had no claim to know it, and who could not safely
be trusted with this knowledge. The sacrifice was not
a sham, but was an honest transaction, demanded by the
solemnities of the occasion. That the elders of Beth-
lehem " trembled " (v. 4) at Samuel's coming shows that
the people were by no means at ease under the admin-
istration of Saul. Society was unrestful — as under some
terrible despotism where no man can know that his
head is safe upon his shoulders. A king who is con-
sciously unfit to reign and painfully sensible that both
God and man must know it too, is of all men most
miserable. Such was the case of this degenerate king.
In V. 7 we see that, as hinted above, Israel's second
king was to be chosen on the ground of qualities pleas-
ing to God, and not of those that were popular with
men. In the case of the first king the people had a
man to their notion — of tall and commanding j^resence,
who in tliese points might compare with the champion
monarchs of the nations round about them. In the
case of David the Lord sought and found a man whose
chief qualities were that he knew and loved the Lord,
and that his heart was true and trustful toward the God
of Israel. Samuel very naturally assumed that the
first-born would be the man, and the more so for his
7

138 THE EVIL SPIRIT IN SAUL.

lofty stature and imposing mien. But the Lord soon
set him right, coupling this correction with the state-
ment of the grand principle : " The Lord seeth not as
man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appear-
ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." Somewhat
broader still was the doctrine taught by our Lord (Luke
16: 15) : "God knoweth your hearts; for that which is
highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God."

Youngest of Jesse's eight sons came forth at last
the youthful David, whom his father evidently thought
quite ineligible, and therefore had not even called
him in from his shepherd duties to be present on this
occasion. The brief notice of his " personnel " makes
no allusion to his stature. He was " ruddy " in com-
plexion (red-haired like Esau, some of the critics
think) but beautiful; of pleasing countenance. The
aged prophet anointed him, and the Spirit of God in-
dorsed this anointing by coming upon him from that
day forward. This second and spiritual anointing
gave him special qualifications for his new and com-
ing responsibilities, in accordance with which the Apos-
tle John wrote : " Ye have received an unction from
the Holy One, and ye know all things ;"..." The
same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is
truth" (1 John 2: 20, 27).

Tlie Evil Spirit in Saul.

Here a striking fact appears in the case of Saul
(v. 14), viz., that not only did the Spirit of the Lord
depart from him, but an evil spirit from the Lord
troubled him — " troubled " in the sense of the distor-
tion of the normal activities of his mind — an abnor-
mal state of his faculties— due to the terrible power
of jealousy and to the mastery of evil influences
over his soul. Psychologically considered, here are
really three questions : (a.) AVhat exactly was this

mental state — this terrible condition of the soul?

(b.) Was any spiritual agency from without himself
concerned in its production, and if so, what? — — (c.)
In what sense was this evil spirit ^'from the LorclT^

(a.) One vital fact in Saul's case is that he was apos-
tate from God, and, therefore, inevitably wretched. He

THE EVIL SPIRIT IN SAUL. 139

had been too near to God, and knew too much of him
to be at rest in a state of apostasy. Consciously unfit to
reign ; knowing but too well that God had forsaken
him; cast off from all hope in God, and haunted with
"a certain fearful looking-for of judgment," how could
he be otherwise than melancholy, anxious, miserable?

(b.) The next fact pertaining to the state of such a

mind is that it presents a most congenial field for
Satan's agency. He loves to torment such souls, and
never misses his opportunity. His suggestions are
naturally seconded and not even feebly resisted by the
normal action of a human soul lost to God and sur-
rendered to the power of evil. (c.) It only remains

to say that there is need of no other agency from God
than the permissive.^ Satan never needs to be sent on
such a mission ; it is only requisite that the Lord suffer
him to go. Such permission is one feature in that
awful retribution which God must send upon apostate
souls. They having chosen sin and rebellion rather
than obedience, and, consequently, evil rather than
good, God leaves them to their own guilty choice, to
"eat the fruit of their own way, and to be filled with
their own devices." What can be said against his
wisdom or his love in leaving sinners to their own
chosen ways? What reason can be given why he
should not thus leave them ? How can sin be more
effectually forestalled and resisted in a moral universe
than by sometimes giving it scope to develop its full
and fearful power to sink human souls under an unut-
terable desolation ?

Next in this history (1 Sam. 16: 15-23) we meet the
remarkable fact that music (especially that of the
Hebrew harp) appears as the antidote to the agency of
this " evil spirit." The record shows two things, viz.,
that in that age music was currently understood and
believed to have this power; and that in Saul's case
it proved effective.

"'■• If permissive agency on the part of God be all the case requires,
then it is unphilosophical to assume any thing more. The known
character of God foi'bids us to go beyond this — unless the case
demands it — as it does not. Moreover, Hebrew usage fully justifies
this construction of the passage. Things done under God's permis-
sive agency are usually said to be done by God. See the case of hard-
ening Pharaoh's heart, and also God's agency in the sin of
Joseph's brethren.

140 THE EVIL SPIRIT IN SAUL.

This fact is one of too much interest and value to be
passed without a few moments' attention. Let us in-
quire if there be any other known facts or laws of
mind which may either illustrate or confirm this.

The ancient harp of the Hebrews we may not be
able to reproduce with sufficient certainty to analyze
its powers as compared with other instruments or with
the human voice. But it is safe to assume that it was
constructed for use in religious worship, and, therefore,

doubtless, had adaptations to sacred song. Next, let

us note that its musical power was manifestly congenial
to the presence and activities of the Holy Spirit — that
Spirit under which prophets prophesied, and worshiped,
and praised. This we have seen in our studies upon

the music of the schools of the prophets. From this

fact we naturally j^ass to the conclusion that what was
so sweetly in harmony with the Spirit of God must be
out of all harmony with the spirit of the devil. The
music and the songs that tune men's hearts to praise
and to worship, and to love, must be intensely repel-
lent to the spirit of hate, of discord, of cursing — of all

evil. Note also the well known fact that some forms

of insanity yield (at least temporarily) to the power of
soft, gentle music. It strangely charms such souls to
rest, as if the spirit of their insanity could not resist
its uncongenial influence. It is also well known that
the violent (semi-satanic) passions of jealousy, anger,
revenge, become at once conscious of the antagonistic
force of music. He must be (one might almost say) more
demoniac than the demons who can steel his sensibili-
ties altogether against its power.

The case of Saul will be mostly relieved of mystery
if studied in the light of his antecedents. Apostate
from God; then forsaken by God; burdened with ofilcial
responsibilities which he could neither bear nor throw
off; consciously unfit to reign, and, worse j^et, con-
sciously guilty, as well as weak, why should not
he be melancholy, troubled, wretched? If music can
divert his thought from himself for even the moment,
it will refresh him; if it can soothe the dreadful dis-
quiet of his soul even transiently, he will breathe
more freely. If we accept the supposition that Satan's
hellish impulses were present in the case, then the
music of the harp— so like heaven, so unlike hell — •

DAVID AND GOLIATH. 141

may have made him but too glad to withdraw, and
bide his time to return under more congenial sur-
roundings.

It should be noted that this reference to the evil
spirit upon Saul appears here to account for David's
coming to court. He was brought there to relieve Saul
in his paroxysms of melancholic insanity.

David (as appears here, v. 18) had other fine and
promising qualities besides his skill in music — a
mighty, valiant man, a man of war, of knowledge and
skill in words (so the Hebrew) ; of agreeable person,
and, as was well understood, a man who walked with God,
and whose ways the Lord made to prosper. Hence,
even Saul was favorably impressed, and, as the record
2)uts it — " loved him greatly."

It has been thought by some critics, that this para-
graph (1 Sam. 16: 14-23) belongs in the order of time
ofier the scenes between David and Goliath (chap. 17),
and especially so because Saul seemed not to recognize
David when he saw him go forth to meet that Philis-
tine (17: 55). It is certain that David came to that
battle-field, not from Saul's court, but from his father's
house. Hence if his introduction at Saul's court pre-
ceded the slaying of Goliath, he returned home again.
This may have been the case. As to Saul's failure to
recognize David it should be noticed that the point of
his inquiry was — not. Who zs this young man, but, Who
is \v\^ father? Amid the cares of a kingdom in time of
war, he may have forgotten that this young man, for
a time his musician and armor-bearer, was the son of

Jesse of Bethlehem. After the scenes with Goliath

Saul would let him go home no more to his father's
house (18 : 2).

David and Goliath. (1 Sam. 17.)

Our study of this scene may fitly embrace two quite
distinct inquiries : — (a.) Into its external history and

circumstances; (b.) Into its sublime significance as

related to the character of David and tlie great con-
flict of arms beween Israel and lier national enemies.

(a.) The geographical locality of this scene has
been very satisfactorily identified by Dr. Robinson.
(See his Researches, vol. ii, 349, 350). Sbocho (or

142 DAVID AND GOLIATH.

Socoh) is found in the modern Shuweikeh, near the
western border of Judah, nine Roman miles from
Eleutheropolis, on the great road from Gaza to Jeru-
salem. The valley of Elah is here, the mountain
ridges confronting each other and the valley between
into which Goliath descended on forty successive days
(v. 16) to challenge the army of Israel to send forth
some champion to meet him and decide by single com-
bat which nation should be master and which servant
to the other. Goliath is spoken of *as a " champion "
— the Hebrew word signifying a man between ; on-e who
holds a middle position between two hostile armies.
He and his opponent wield their respective destinies.
Goliath's personnel and armor are fully described —
his height about nine feet ; the weight of his coat of
mail five thousand shekels of brass (proximately, one
hundred and sixty pounds avoirdupois). One of the
survivors of the old Anakim race, clad with defensive
armor so ponderous, complete, and strong that it might
be expected to shield him perfectly from the missiles
of ancient warfare; and with offensive weapons deemed
sufficient to annihilate any ordinary antagonist — his
confidence of victory in single combat was unbounded.
All Philistia felt safe in committing their nation's
destiny to his single arm as against any warrior
whom the Israelites might bring out against him.
His words of defiance coupled with his manifest
power appalled the men of Israel : " They were dis-
mayed and greatly afraid." The repetition of this
challenge for forty days had not abated their fears,
nor did they seem to approach any nearer to a final
issue on the basis of this challenge.

At this critical juncture a new sort of hero appeared
on the Hebrew side. The youthful shepherd of Beth-
lehem, sent by his father Jesse with army supplies for
his three older brethren in Saul's army, happened there
just at the moment when this Goliath strode down the
hill for his morning challenge. His ear caught the
taunting tones and words ; his quick eye noted the panic
which shook the Hebrew lines, and his soul was stirred
within him. He soon learned the pending issues— the
call for some hero to dare the single-handed fight in
behalf of Israel; and he felt — what no one else had
seemed to feel— the insult ofiered to Israel's God, and

DAVID AND GOLIATH. 143

the inspirations of sublime confidence that their own
Jehovah would surely /ivenge his own honor and wipe
out this reproach, if'^only some one would go forth in
his name to this conflict. He remembered how he had
slain a lion and a bear, and he saw in that success a
pledge that his God would give him an easy victory
over this uncircumcised Philistine who had defied at
once the God of Israel and the armed hosts of his people.
He, therefore, modestly signified his readiness for this
single combat; was brought before Saul and again de-
clared himself ready. At Saul's suggestion he put on
Saul's armor, but soon laid it aside as untried, lest it
should trammel" rather than protect or aid him. Eeally
his views of the pending issue would not allow him to
think of matching one coat of mail against another.
His expectation of God's interposing arm did not lead
that way. If w^e might allow ourselves to speculate
upon his thought and plan for this fight, we should
assume that his own good sense was at one with the
impulses of God's inspiration within him to this
point, that he must depend under God upon his tried
weapons — the sling and stone — and that if these
weapons seemed weak and insignificant, all the more
would men see that " the excellency of the power was
not of man but of God." David's sling had been with
him in many a day of shepherd life ; he knew how to
put a smooth stone from the brook straight and swift
to its mark. And however thoroughly shielded by his
helmet and coat of mail Goliath might be, he could not
fight without eyes nor see without exposing them some-
w^hat to such a missile as a small smooth stone. How
much space adjacent to the eye was exposed does not
appear; not much was needful for David's mark. So
the thing was done. The giant strode down into the
valley, and looking about " saw the youthful David and
disdained him," for he was but a youth, ruddy and fair —
more fit, Goliath doubtless thought, to grace an assembly
room than a field of battle. He manifestly felt himself
insulted. Perhaps out of respect to his offended dignity,
he may have raised the question whether he ought not
to retire indignantly from the field. "Am I a dog,"
said he, "that thou comest to me with staves? And
the Philistine cursed David by his gods." Proudly,
champion-like, he tells what he can and will do.

144 DAVID AND GOLIATH.

" Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of
the air and to the beasts of the field." David's reply-
reveals the source of his courage : " Thou comest to me
with sword, and spear, and shield : I come to thee in the
name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel
^rhom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into my hands; I will smite thee and take thy
head from thee, and I will give, not thy carcass only, but
the carcasses of the Philistine host to the fowls of the
air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this
assembl}^ (these gathered hosts crowning these mount-
ain summits to witness) shall know that the Lord
saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the

Lord's, and he will give j^ou into our hands." Verily

David had ideas and had words — grand ideas and fitting
words — as well as courage of soul and a trusty sling.
So when Goliath approached to meet David, David, too,
hasted and ran toward the opposing army to meet his
foe. One stone from his bag filled his sling ; he hurled
it and smote the Philistine in his forehead, where it
sunk deep and he fell upon his face to the earth. The
deed is done ! It only remained to run to his fallen foe,
draw the dying champion's sword and take off with it
his head. The Philistine armv, smitten with terror,
betake themselves to flight. The men of Israel and
Judah arose, gave one shout — the shout of a host — and
then pursued the fleeing enemy even to their cities.
Such in brief were the external points of that thrilling
transaction.

(b.) pf its significance, what shall we say? Here

were new elements, a new spirit and new achievements,
little known ere this in the wars of Saul ; nowhere
apparent indeed except in the somewhat analogous
case of Jonathan and his armor-bearer, as we saw in 1
Sam. 14. If we study David to purpose we shall see
that the secret of his courage, his coolness, his heroism,
and his power, lay in the fact that God was with him.
He had a sense of a present God, of a. sort unknown to
Saul — little known it would seem to the men of his
army. In Christian phrase he had faith, and this faith
took on in war-scenes the form of placid trust, cool
courage, the inspiration of heroism. He knew that
God had a care for his own glory, and he saw that the

DAVID AND GOLIATH. 145

hour had come for its manifestations hefore Israel and
before all the nations. Therefore, he could not doubt
the issue of this conflict. He went out to it with no
trepidation of doubt or fear. His eye was never more
clear nor his right arm more true. Moreover these in-
spirations of faith were not new and heretofore unknown
in his experience. Had this been the case, nothing less
than miracle could have kept his nerves steady and
his soul above perilous perturbation. We must, there-
fore, assume that this faith had become the quiet habit
of his mind. Out on the hills of Bethlehem, caring for
his flock by day or by night, he had walked with God.
He had known the God of his fathers before he ever
saw Samuel the prophet; but after that scene of the
anointing, how often were his thoughts thrown forward
upon that held of untried responsibilities, and soothed
to rest only as he committed his unknown ways to the
over-ruling care of the Great Father! Those days or
months or years which intervened between his first
meeting with Samuel and this meeting with Goliath
were full of discipline and exercise to his faith in
Israel's God. It is pleasant to think how often he had
lifted his soul to God in humble prayer to order his
unknown future and to give him the training requisite
for his prospective responsibilities. Out of such com-
munion with God in prayer, there is wont to come
forth at length such easy achievements as these on this
great day of Jehovah's triumphs through the hand of
the youthful but prayerful David.

The scenes of this day had their significance also to
the whole nation of Israel, and especially to the army
of Saul, before whose eyes they transpired. Probably
very few of them saw in David their future king ; few
were aware that their great prophet had poured the
anointing oil on his head. Even Eliab who saw it done
seems strangely far from having laid it in any sort to
his heart. Yet . there, before their eyes, was this
astounding spectacle. In the very ears of some of them
rang out those cheery, most inspiring words of faith in
Israel's God — "That all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel ; and all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear; for
the battle is the Lord's." What a testimony was that
fall of the Philistine giant before the sling of the youth

L46 HISTORY OF DAVID.

ful David ! How forcible the inference that, with God
on their side, they were miglity against the mightiest
of their foes ! It is scarcely to be expected that Saul,
hardened as he was, w^ould take in these moral lessons ;
but we may hope that many a soldier in those ranks
saw the moral teaching of this wonderful transaction
and felt the force of its grand lessons respecting the
God of his fathers. It is pleasant to think how many
thousand times along the lapse of the ages since that
day, the significance'of its scenes has lifted up hearts
ready to sink, and fired with sublime inspiration souls
otherwise feeble and overborne with burdens and re-
sponsibilities. Reading this chapter of God's working
through weak human instruments, " the feeble have be-
come as David, and the house of David as God — as the
angel of the Lord before them " (Zech. 12 : 8).

We ought not to close this chapter without the pass-
ing remark that David came out from this brilliant vic-
tory (apparently) neither inflated with vanity, nor
excited with unhallowed ambition, nor impaired in his
simple-hearted modesty of unconscious greatness. He
did not strike for the throne, nor drop the least hint
that he thought his hour had come. It does not appear
that he even 2^^nned one Psalm to celebrate this great event.
There were other events along his life-path, some sad,
some joyful, which brought inspiration to his poetic
soul, and which he embalmed in song; but we find
no special allusion in his Psalms to this conflict with
Goliath. Was it that he intuitively felt the delicacy
of his relations to Saul, and therefore could scarcely
allow himself to whisper a word of those deeds which
the Lord wrought by his hand? The fact of his
silence is before us; we need ask no better proof that
God was with him ; no higher mark of true greatness.

IVie history of David continued : other results of his slaying
Goliath. (1 Sam. 18.)

As one result, David became too valuable in the
house of Saul to be spared any more for shepherd-life

in Bethlehem (v. 2). As might have been expected,

a very warm friendship sprung up between Jonathan
and David. Ali, with what e3^es did Jonathan look
upon the youthful David giving utterance to his lofty

HISTORY OF DAVID. 147

inspirations of faith and going forth to easy victory
over proud Goliath ! However those scenes may have
impressed other minds in Saul's court and camp, there
was one man who felt through all his soul the quick-
ening of kindred sympathies and the mighty attractions
of a kindred spirit. " When David had made an end
of speaking unto Saul it came to pass that the soul
of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul" (v. 1). A cov-
enant of mutual friendship was but a faint expres-
sion of their love. Jonathan, the heir-apparent to
the throne, the man who next after Saul might be ex-
pected, under the impulses of depraved human nature,
to be unrestful with jealousy — this Jonathan can not
do too much for his new friend, David. He stripped
himself of his outer robe and gave it to David, and of
his military equipage, even to his sword, and bow, and
girdle. We shall see yet more of this friendship in
the sequel.

It was of the people, not of David, to celebrate this
great victory. When Israel's warriors returned laden
with spoils and aflame with the glory of victory, "the
women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and
dancing to meet king Saul with tabrets, with joy, and
with instruments of music 1 " Saul felt somewhat the
impulses of this general joy, and all might have passed
off well in his heart but for one word which came to
his ear from their song. "Saul hath slain his thou-
sands and David his ten thousands." Alas ! this was a
poisoned arrow to his heart. It touched him in a most
sensitive point, and he seems never to have forgotten
or forgiven it. Saul was very wroth, and the saying
displeased him, and he said : " They have ascribed unto
David ten thousands and to me only thousands ; and

what can he have more but the kingdom?" Ah,

what can be done for him who is consciously unworthy
of the first praises and yet can not endure to miss them?
Whence can help come to a spirit smitten with such

grief? The historian must needs give a j^lace to

these troubles in the heart of Saul, for they are the
clew to his future policy toward David.

From that day forward Saul thought he saw in David
a dangerous rival, if not immediately for his kingdom,
yet at least for the love and confidence of his people.

148 DAVID AND SAUL.

" Saul eyed David from that day" — in the double sense
of close watchfulness and of bitter jealousy. Brooding
the livelong night over this higher praise given to
David, in the morning the evil spirit was upon him
again (v. 10), and, strange to say, " he prophesied in
the midst of the house" — to which words it is hard
in this case to give any other sense than that of pour-
ing out the impulses of his excited, half-maddened soul
— his utterances taking their character from the spirit
which indited them, and evincing this character by
the deeds they prompted him to do. David was called
in to soothe Saul's mania with his harp ; but w^th
small success if we may judge from Saul's hurling his
javelin to smite him. " David avoided out of his pres-
ence," i. e.j turned himself (Heb.) suddenly so that the

shaft missed him, twice. Saul's next policy w^as to

put David into the thickest perils of war in hope that
he might fall by the hand of the Philistines. Vain
hope! for the Lord was with David to shield him from
the deadly arrow. This policy served only to bring
him the more fully and favorably before the people,
and to inspire anew their love and confidence as to
David. Thus every movement Saul made aggravated
his trouble. " When he saw that David behaved him-
self very wisely he was afraid of him" (v. 15). The
historian makes Saul's fear of David very prominent,
naming it even the third time in this one chapter (vs.
12, 15, 29). " Fear" is altogether the right word, yet it
was not fear that David would take or even plot
against his life, but that he would inevitably have the
hearts of the people ; would eclipse the honor of him-
self as king, and ultimatel}' become king by virtue of
his greatly superior merit. The bitter self-conscious-
ness of being forsaken of God and unworthy to reign,
and a sense of David's superior worth to which lie
could not blind his eyes, conspired to make him the
most wretched of men.

Saul plighted his eldest daughter to David to induce
him to expose his life in forays upon the Philistines;
then violated his pledge ; then, hoping to succeed the
second time, gave him Michal — but only to fail again
in compassing David's death. All these events brought
David the more fully before the people, and brought
fresh trouble upon the jealous heart of Saul. In v.

DAVID AND SAUL. 14.9

30 we read : " 'Bhe princes of the Philistines went
forth," i. e., to war Avith Saul ; and " it came to pass
ivhen they went forth," i. e., whenever — as often as —
they went forth, it served to set forth David's superior
tact and wisdom, and to place him before the people as
one worthy to be their king.

Chap. 19 presents Saul, not only plotting and person-
ally attempting to take David's life, but commanding
his servants and even his son Jonathan to kill him.
Jonathan nobly expostulates with his father, and at
first with apparent success. But Saul waxed worse and
worse, so that Jonathan's subsequent expostulations
proved unavailing (1 Sam. 20 : 30-34). After this first
success Saul seems to have been quiet, till a new occa-
sion of jealousy arose ; " war again " (v. 8) ; David went
out and fought, and slew the Philistines with great
slaughter, and they fled. Then the evil spirit of jeal-
ousy came again upon Saul ; David played before him ;
Saul again hurled his javelin to kill him; with no
better success than before. David not only evaded the

shaft, but escaped from the house. Next we learn

that David was not safe from Saul even in his own
house, for Saul sent men there to watch the house by
night and slay him in the morning. By the artful
policy of his wife Michal he eluded these men and
made his escape to Samuel in Ramah.

Plere we may begin to find definite points of coinci-
dence between this history of David, written probably
by Samuel or by Gad (David's seer), and his own
Psalms. Ps. 59 is definitely located at this point in
his history — " When Saul sent and they watched the
house to kill him." Here, then, we may raise the ques-
tion— What were the thoughts of his heart under these
stern and sore afflictions ? Did he look upward to God
for help ? Did he prove the priceless comfort of prayer

in human emergencies? He himself gives the

answer. "Deliver me from mine enemies, 0 my God;

defend me from them that rise up against me."

Greatly to his comfort, he is conscious of innocence as
toward Saul. '' They lie in wait for my life, not for my

transgression, nor for my sin, 0 Lord." He thinks of

them as going round the house by night and comjoares
them to the oriental dog ; but of himself he says, " I
will sing of thy power ; I will sing aloud of thy mercy

150 DAVID AND SAUL.

in the morning." Sweetly, calmly, his soul abode in

peaceful trust toward his Great Deliverer. When

we follow David from one scene of vengeful persecution
to another, and our hearts are stirred to deepest sym-
pathy for him, let it be a precious consolation to us, as
it was to him, that he never sank under those burdens ;
that he was not left to bear them alone ; that, looking
upward, his eye always rested on One whose heart was
quick to sympathize and whose uplifted arm was
mighty to save.

Next he is with Samuel at the prophet-college in
Ramah, and tells him all that Saul had done to him.
It was here that messengers sent by Saul to take David's
life — hard, bloody men — three companies in succession,
were seized with the spirit of prophesying as they saw
and heard the sons of the prophets prophesying, and
quite forgot their bloody errand. At last Saul camo
himself, only to fall under the same mysterious (or per-
haps we should say) sympathetic influence, and he too
prophesied, and his purposes of murder Avere for the
time quenched.

David's flight to Samuel at Ramah suggests how
naturally he sought sympathy and help from the spe-
cially religious communities and men in Israel. It is not
certain tliat they had met before, since the anointing at
Bethlehem. David had a long story to rehearse, of fierce
persecution from Saul ; of constant plotting against his
life ; of hair-breadth escapes ; of faith and trust in God ;
sorely tried, yet never altogether sinking. What Samuel
said to him after hearing his story is not on record, j^et
is not hard to suppose. Some words of patriarchal
sympathy; some fresh inspiration toward abiding ftiith
in God ; some new assurance of coming forth at last with
God's peaceful blessing and the throne of Israel — such
help from the aged Samuel must have made this meet-
ing memorable through many otherwise desolate and
weary days of David's perilous flight before Saul and
his bloody " messengers."

Next we see David fleeing from Ramah and in deep
consultation with Jonathan touching his own personal
safety, and the designs of Saul upon his life. Jona-
than's friendship for David was true and most self-sacri-
ficing, as may be seen wherever he comes to view. The
feast of the new moon would naturally bring Saul's

DAVID AND SAUL. 151

family together — David included: will it bo safe for
David to come ? Jonathan will sound his father and see,
and then inform his friend. In the event he found
Saul bitter and desperate, not to say infuriated with
madness, so that he even attempted Jonathan's life as

he had repeatedly the life of David. There is no

longer peace or safety for David in Saul's house. He
lied next to Nob, then the location of the tabernacle
and its services, and the residence of a large number of
priests.* David reached the city with but few at-
tendants ; came before Ahimelech the priest alone and
hungry, and asked for bread. There being none on
hand save the show-bread which had been removed
that its place might be supplied with fresh baked
loaves, David asked and obtained this — a case to which
our Lord alludes (Matt, 12 : 3, 4), to illustrate the prin-
ciple that exigencies sometimes justify the neglect of

usages merely ceremonial and ritual. This transient

stay at Nob brought disaster upon the priests resident
there, and fresh sorrow to David. Their friendly aid to
him in the gift of bread and of Goliath's sword, being
reported to Saul by Doeg, brought down on them his
cruel vengeance through the bloody hand of this
treacherous Edomite. Doeg also charged Ahimelech
with asking counsel of the Lord for David, but this the
priest denied (v. 15), and it must be put to the account
of misapprehension or of slander. David's Psalm on
this occasion (Ps. 52) charges Doeg with unmitigated

deceit and falsehood (vs. 2-4). Saul's vengeance was

most unreasonable and cruel, showing what a mastery
his madness of jealousy against David had gained over all
the better elements of his character. The impressions
made upon David by this transaction he has given, at
least, in part, in Ps. 52, in which the bloody and lying
spirit of Doeg stands in the foreground. It is quite re-
markable that this Psalm refrains from the least ap-
parent allusion to Saul. Was this silence due to his
delicate relations to his sovereign ? As he would not
lift up his hand against the Lord's anointed, so
also did he withhold tongue and pen from the least
utterance that might be to Saul's detriment? The

■•'•Nob was situated very near Jerusalem. No trace of its site hns
been found, but it must have been within sight of Jerusalem, on the
northorn slope of the Mt. of Olives. Sec Isa. 10: 32.

152 DAVID AND SAUL.

fact is at least a marvelous instance of self-control, and
i:)robably we should say of profound sagacity.

Next David fled his country and sought refuge with
Achish king of Gath (1 8am. 21 : 10-15). To his aston-
ishment and alarm he found that he was but too well
known there as the greatest of Israel's warriors against
the Philistines. Even the words of that song of
triumph — "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David
his ten thousands" — fell on his ear, and "he was sore
afraid of Achish king of Gath." In this emergency he
feigned insanity. As the Hebrew expressively puts it,
" He changed his good sense " — seemed to have lost it —
acted as one who had. He scribbled on the doors and
let his slaver run down his beard, so that the king
rebuked his servants for suffering such a man about
the palace, and David escaped the pending danger.

Two precious Psalms have come down to us, disclosing
the thoughts and experiences of David amid these try-
ing scenes; viz., Ps. 34 and 5Q, (See my Notes on these
Psalms). If the question be raised, What did David
think of the policy of feigning insanity as a means of
personal safety before Achish ? — perhaps the utmost wc
can say is that he does not recommend it, nor is any
word dropped which necessarily implies that he con-
demned it. Ps. 34 glows with thanksgiving and trust ;
exhorts to well-doing and against " speaking guile "
(v. 13) ; and certainly does not distinctly assume that
his own methods of self-protection were against his con-
science, or inconsistent with entire trust in God.

Escaped from Achish, David sought refuge tempora-
rily in the mountain fastnesses of Judah, making the
caveof Adullam (a few miles south-east from Bethlehem),
his retreat. Some of his heart-experiences during these
days of exile and isolation appear in Ps. 57, the head-
ing of which refers to his fleeing from Saul and finding
his home in the cave. A lofty tone of exultation in
God is the key-note of this Psalm — in striking contrast
with the gloom and desolation of his external surround-
ings. " Be thou exalted, O God, above tlie heavens,
and let thy glory be above all the earth." " My heart
is fixed, O God, m}^ heart is fixed; I will sing and give
praise. Awake, all ye noblest powers ; awake, psaltery
and harp; I will awake early. I will praise thee, O
Lord, among the nations," etc. Would it not have been

DAVID AND SAUL. 153

at once strange and inspiring to hear this fugitive exile
praising God with the sweet tones of psaltery and harp
in those deep glens and among the dark, damp caverns
of Judah's mountains? But there is no place on this
earth where the presence and consolations of God can
not waken joy in the souls that love and trust him.
Verily this is the grandest moral sublimity — to rise
above the depressing influence of the darkest surround-
ings and triumph in God only ! It reminds us of Hab-
akkuk, amid prospective scenes of famine and dire cap-
tivity, singing, " Though the fig-tree do not blossom . .
. . . yet will I rejoice in the Lord;" and of Paul and
Silas — their flesh still raw from the scourge — with prob-
able death before them in the morning, yet singing
praises to God from the depths of their dungeon. So
the story of David in the cave of Adullam and among
the fastnesses of Judah's mountains is only half told
without the help of his Ps. 57. To see the whole of a
man, we need to see both his external surroundings and
the uprising of his heart to God above all their depres-
s-ion and gloom.

In this period of David's history we may locate also
Psalms 55 and 58 — the former opening to view the
great deep of his heart-trials, yet not less, his per-
petual resort to God in prayer for help, and his placid
trust, evinced in sweetly casting his burden on the
Lord. In the latter, his soul is keenly sensitive to the
sharp injustice under which he suffers from men in
power, whom he warns solemnly of their responsibility
to the righteous Judge of all. These Psalms give us
yet more of that inside view of character which so finely
supplements and interprets the external facts of David's
history.

This chapter 22, shows us the classes of men whocom-
posed David's band — adventurers and personal friends;
viz., every one that was in distress, or in debt, or dis-
contented, literally, hitter of soul ;— such gathered about
him and followed him as their captain, making his for-
tunes their own. His father's family are now with him
and other personal friends; others doubtless who had
become alienated from Saul; some because they had
faith in David as the " coming man " of the kingdom ;
and some who, being in bad case, assumed that any
change must improve their condition : such were tho

154 DAVID AND SAUL.

classes who made up this somewhat motley band. It

must have been specially trying to David that there
were not more among them who sympathized with his
faith and patience under his call to the kingdom and
his long waiting till God's hand should pave his way to
the throne.

At this juncture David disappeared for a while from
the eye of Saul, having made his way, perhaps, unob-
served, into the land of Moab. The fact that his grand-
mother Ruth was of that land, coupled with the hostile
attitude of Saul toward Moab (1 Sam. 14 : 47) may have
secured for him a favorable reception there. His special
request to the king was that his aged father and
mother might find a refuge there until the present
crisis in his fortunes should be past. This seems to
have been readily granted. David and his men also
found a stronghold in that country where they made
their camp, until called back to the land of Judah by a
special message sent him through the prophet Gad
(v. 5). It is supposable that Gad was sent by Samuel,
direct from the school of the prophets at Ramah, and
that, having fulfilled this mission, he returned to his col-
lege. Gad appears in David's subsequent history as

" David's Seer " in God's messages to David, because of
his numbering the people (2 Sam. 24: 11-19); as his
adviser (together wdth Nathan) in organizing the
temple worship (2 Chron. 29 : 25) ; and as his historian,
coupled in this service with Samuel and with Nathan
(1 Chron. 29: 29).

David's return to Judah brought him again within
the knowledge of Saul whose cabinet meeting on the
occasion is on record (vs. 6-11). His servants, mem-
bers of his royal cabinet, seem to have been mostly
Benjamites. Hence the style of his appeal : If David,
of Judah's tribe, comes to the throne, will ye, Ben-
jamites, stand any chance at all to keep the fat offices
ye hold under me ? Then, as if he were indeed a much
abused man, he says — " That all of you have conspired
against me, and there is none that showeth me that
my son (.Jonathan) hath made a league with the son
of Jesse ; and there is none of you that is sorry for me
or showeth me that my son hath stirred up my servant
against me to lie in wait as at this day (v. 8) ? " Un-
easy lies the head that wears a crown ; " fear and jeal-

DAVID AND SAUL. 155

ousy had upset the balance of his mind, and put dis-
eased, distorted fancies in the place of realities. Miser-
able man! He is now in a mood for bloody vengeance

upon somebody! Just here Doeg the Edomite is on
hand to put fuel to the fire of Saul's rage, charging
Ahimelech and the priests at Nob with conspiracy
against Saul. Saul summons them all before him, and
— too infuriated to listen with the least candor to their
defense — commands and witnesses their causeless mur-
der— eighty-five priests in one day; and only one —
Abiathar — fortunately not with them at the hour of
slaughter — escaped. From him David learned the
sad tale. Thenceforward Abiathar the priest became
David's companion in tribulation, and his fast friend,
till the rebellion of Adonijah.

In 1 Sam. 23, we have new scenes in this great
drama. Keilah, a walled town, its site no longer
traceable, but associated (Josh. 15 : 44) with Achzib
and Mareshah, and not many miles south and east
from Gath ; also the *' wilderness of Ziph," in the
vicinity of Hebron ; were the geographical localities.
The " wilderness of Ziph " suggests the contemporary
Ps. 54, of which the heading is — "A Psalm of David
when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not
David hide himself with us?" The history shows
that the men of Ziph came to Saul with this message
twice. See 1 Sam. 23 : 19, and 26 : 1. Constant prayer
for help and precious trust that God will help, are
the theme of this sweet song. Outwardly every view
before the eye of David was dark and frowning; but
looking upward — lo, God was there — a very present
help in every hour of need.

That the men of Keilah, suffering from plundering
bands of Philistines, should have sought help from
David rather than from Saul indicates his standing be-
fore the people and the service rendered to the country
by his band of armed men. It astonishes us that Keilah,
saved by David, is so ungrateful as to consent to sur-
render him to the power of Saul. The fact gives us
a new sense of the trials incident to this period of
David's history. He owed his safety to the forwarn-
ings of danger which he obtained from the Lord, at
one time through the prophet Gad; at other times
through the priests with the linen ephod. In the

15G DAVID AND SAUL.

wilderness of Ziph Saul's host came so near to David
that Jonathan made it convenient to have a personal
interview with him, in which they entered again into
solemn mutual covenant (vs. 16-18). Jonathan ere
this had learned in some way that the Lord had des-
ignated David for the throne of Israel. It was his
fond hope that himself might be second in authority
under him. For some reason the Lord was not in this
plan, and it failed.

Tidings that the Philistines had invaded the land
recalled Saul and his army from this pursuit of David,
and once more relieved him from impending peril.

These providental escapes from Saul are thought by
many critics to have been the occasion of Ps. ol. See
my Notes on this Psalm. While the allusions in this
Psalm are so general that it may apply to far other cir-
cumstances than those of David, yet its application to
these scenes of his history is natural and eas}^, and
gives us a precious view of the fullness and strength
of his trust in Israel's God. It is refreshing to read the
Psalm in connection with these terribly trying scenes
of David's life. Oh, the blessedness of having such a
God for one's unfailing Friend, and such a faith in his
loving and evermore protecting providence!

The special incident in chap. 24, is another march of
Saul into the hill country of Judah with three thousand
men in pursuit of David. Engedi, David's rock-fortress,
overhangs the Dead Sea, about midway from end to end
on its western shore. It is a point exceedingly diliicult
of access, and admirably chosen for David's purposes of
concealment and safety. Here, through one of those
divine providences which the Lord knows so well how
to order, Saul turns aside for private purposes, alone,
into the very cave in which David and his men lay
secreted, and thus threw himself unwittingly into the
hands of the man he was seeking to kill. David
advanced and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe. Then,
calling Saul's attention to the fact he made him see
that he was truly his friend, and could not be induced
by any consideration to take his life. For the moment,
Saul's heart was touched by this magnanimity, and
seems to have been grateful for the sparing of his life.
Could it be possible that this David was indeed inno-
cent, and that the charges brought against him were

DAVID AND SAUL. 157

vilely Hlanderous and false ? Saul, apparently aware

that David would one day be king, improved this
opportunity for a covenant binding David to spare his
family when he should be among the dead. Then
Saul went home ; but he did not invite David to resume
his old place at his court ; nor did David see any other
path of safety for himself save with his warriors again
in the strongholds of the hill country of Judah.

In connection with the scenes of this chapter 24, and
with the analogous scenes of chap. 26, it were well to
read Ps. 35 — a noble Psalm, showing that David's lofty
magnanimity in twice sparing the life of Saul inter-
linked itself with his piety toward God. The deepest
sentiments of his soul held that " vengeance belongeth
to the Lord," and that the highest human wisdom
leaves it there for God to repay in his own time. He,
therefore, said — let me never attempt to pluck from the
Almighty hand this sublime prerogative ! Trying, in-
deed, it is to be cruelly slandered — trying to have one's
life hunted and imperiled for no fault ; but God knows
it all, and will right the wrongs of his waiting children

according to his infinite wisdom and love. See my

Notes on Ps. 35.

Chap. 25 records (v. 1) the death of the prophet
Samuel, and then recites the experiences of David
with Nabal, a rich but crusty shepherd of Mt. Carmel,
in south-eastern Judah. This contact resulted in
developing Nabal's churlishness and folly, and, also the
excellent good sense and wisdom of Abigail his wife,
terminating ultimately in Nabal's death, and the mar-
riage of David and Abigail. It is supposable — not cer-
tain— that this man Nabal suggested to David his
Psalms 14 and 53, in both of which he draws the pic-
ture of the Hebrew ^''nahaV^ — the fool. See my Notes
on Ps. 14. This man Nabal was wicked and mean
enough to inspire in a soul noble as David's the utter-
ances which appear in these kindred Psalms. The his-
tory shows that David's abhorrence of Nabal's character
was keen and strong. Not unnaturally his subsequent
reflections upon it led him to these generalizations
upon human de2:)ravity.

In chap. 26, we find a series of events bearing a
striking analogy with those recorded in chap. 24 — alike
in these points: that Saul is brought most completely

158 DAVID AND SAUL.

into the power of David; that David's servants sug-
gest and advise the taking of Saul's life, but he mag-
nanimously refuses and will not harm a hair of his
head ; that he takes a tangible proof of these facts ; that
when the facts are brought before Saul, he is deeply
affected, and even more fully than before, confesses his
folly and sin toward David. These scenes, however, are
unlike in too many points to admit the supposition
that the basis of fact was only one and the same. The
geographical localities are unlike ; the first at Engedi —
the second in the wilderness of Ziph: in the first Saul
was alone; in the second he lay with his chief warriors
about him : in the first he was not asleep — in the
second he was : in the first, David's attendants are not
named, but in the second, Abishai was wdth him : in
the first, the thing taken away to certify to the fact
was a part of the skirt of Saul's robe— in the second,
Saul's spear and a cruse of water from his bolster : and,
to mention no more, the reported conversations between
David and Saul, though alike in general drift were
quite unlike in the particulars.* It is also noticeable
that in the last case Saul not only said, "I have
sinned," but added — " Return, my son David, for I will
no more do thee harm, because my soul [life] was pre-
cious in thine eyes this day; behold, I have played the
fool and erred exceedingly" (v. 21). But David had
known Saul too well to put confidence in him, or trust
himself one day in his hands. Indeed the next chap-
ter opens with words from David more despondent
than we have elsewhere met with; "David said in his
lieart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul."
Consequently, this chapter 27, narrates his second flight
to Achish king of Gath, to find refuge again among the
Philistines. Sadly for David this course subjected him
to the moral strain of an ever present temptation to

*In David's speech (v. 19) we read — "If the Lord have stirred
thee up against me, let him accept an offering." But how

could David speak thus of the Lord? The answer is, in the same

sense in which the evil spirit upon Saul is said to have come from
the Lord — i. e., by a simply permissive agency, and this at once re-
tributive in view of Saul's great sin, and in harmony with the natural
laws under which human depravity works in the case of hardened,
desperate sinners. David's meaning, therefore, is — If thou hast pro-
voked the Lord to give thee up to such madness of passion, repent
and conciliate him with sacrifice and oflFering,

DAVID AND SAUL. 159

deception— as we shall see. He. and his 600 took

their families and effects, and, therefore, naturally-
sought a city somewhat secluded for their residence.
They were assigned to Ziklag, which had belonged to
Judah; then to Simeon; then fell into Philistine hands;

but from this time onward was a city of Judah.

The passage (v. 6) ; '' Wherefore Ziklag pertaineth
unto the kings of Judah to this day," was manifestly
written after Judah had kings of its own, commencing
with Kehoboam; and before the captivity when their
control ceased. But these words were probably intro-
duced by some compiler, and are not from the original
author of this book.

We notice (on v. 7) that David's stay in the country
(the fields, not cities) of the Philistines was one year
and four months — the first note of duration we have
met with between David's anointing and Saul's death.

Why did David and his men invade the Geshurites
and Amalekites (vs. 8-12) ? Perhaps in self-defense ;
perhaps for subsistence, and because they were the
national enemies of Israel. These tribes were on
friendly terms with the Philistines, so that David finds
it expedient to mislead Achish when he inquired upon

whom he had been making an inroad. In v. 11 we

may omit the word ^'tidings,^^ for which we have no
equivalent in Hebrew, and read — David saved neither
man nor woman alive to bring them to Gath, i. e., as
captives ; lest they should tell too much, or their nation-
ality be known. So Achish retained all confidence in
David and was quite ready to take him and his band
into the pending invasion of Israel — a fact which
made the condition of David intensly critical. Shall
he break friendship with Achish, or shall he go with
him and fight against Saul and Israel? Unless God
interpose to help in this dilemma, who can ?

Chap. 27 opens with preparations among the Philis-
tine lords for vigorous war upon Israel. Achish thinks
highly of David as a warrior, and assures him that he
and his men must go. David's reply is skillfully in-
definite : " Surely thou shalt see what thy servant can
do " (v. 2). Achish is so much pleased that he would

fain make David and his band his own body-guard.

In the sequel (chap. 29) the lords object so decidedly
and so reasonably against David's going with them that

160 SAUL AND THE WITCH AT ENDOR.

he is dismissed, greatly to his relief no doubt, and for-
tunately, since it relieved him from the temptation to
perpetual duplicity toward Achish.

At this point the history of this military expedition
is suspended for the purpose of narrating the experi-
ences of King Saul (28 : 3-25).

The hosts of Philistia are much further north than
usual — Shunem, the site of their camp, being within
the tribal limits of Issachar, on the west point of Little
Hermon, nearly four miles north from Jezreel. Saul
mustered his army on the mountains of Gilboa which
skirt the eastern portion of the great plain of Esdraelon
— fifty miles north by east from Jerusalem. "Three
miles north of them is the parallel chain of Little Her-
mon. These two heights mark the position of the two
armies; Saul and his men on the western heights of
Gilboa; the Philistines on those of Hermon. Endor is
beyond Hermon on the northern slope. Saul, not with-
out risk and toil, passes by night across the valley and
over Hermon beyond the camp of the Philistines to con-
sult the sorceress at Endor." ^

The historian again reminds us that Samuel was
dead (v. 3), and states that Saul had exterminated from
the land those who had familiar spirits and the wizards.
When he saw the immense and formidable hosts of the
Philistines, "he w^as afraid, and his heart trembled"
(v. 5). In his distress he sought counsel and help from
the Lord, but found no answer, neither by dreams, nor
by the Urim (the linen Ephod of the priest) nor by
prophets — all these usual methods of obtaining answers
from God failing him utterly.

In this emergency Saul determined to consult some
woman " who had a familiar spirit," i. e., who had some
supposed spirit so under her control as to come at her cally
even as the servants of a family come at the call of
their master. The original Hebrew word is used for a
bottle^ the analogy being apparently this — that as a bot-
tle supposes something contained within it, so the body
of the sorceress is supposed to have some personal pres-
ence and force within, other than human. This anal-
ogy suggests ventriloquism as the art by which the
sorceress practiced upon the credulity and superstition
of the people ; the pretense being that this other (ap-

* Coleman's Text Book and Atlas, p. 115.

SAUL AND THE WITCH AT ENDOR. 161

parent) voice is that of the spirit. Saul said : Find

me a woman ; implyins: that this art was specially prac-
ticed by their sex. The narrative assumes that this
sorceress of Endor pretended to call up the spirits of
the dead — this power or skill being commonly styled
'' necromancy." By the art of ventriloquism sounds
were produced Avhich seemed to come up from the under
world — out of caves or of deep recesses. Thus, natu-
rally, necromancy and ventriloquism were twin arts,
operated together, the one by means of the other.

The leading facts of this narrative (vs. 11-19) are
clearly stated and easily understood. I take the most
obvious sense to be the true one, and must believe,
therefore, that the sorceress called for Samuel, and that
Samuel in fact came and talked with Saul, uttering
words most true and terribly appalling. Saul said (in
substance) : I have called thee up in this way because
I could get no answer from God. I was in an agony of
fear before the Philistines, and I felt that I must see

thee. Samuel replied : Why call me up from the

state of the dead, seeing the Lord has departed from
thee and become thine enemy? What have I ever
done for thee — what can I ever do for thee, save to
bring to thee the words of God ? But now God has no
more words for thee except these dreadful words of
doom — that to-morrow thou and thy sons must go into
the world of the dead ; thy army be cut to pieces ; thy
camp seized and plundered, and thy kingdom subdued
before the Philistine army. The Lord has taken the
kingdom utterly from thee and from thy house, and

given it to thy neighbor, even to David. So much

seems to be clearly affirmed, in words that will bear
no other significance.

The more vital question yet remains. W^as this suc-
cess in evoking the dead from the under world ordinary
or extraordinary? Was it an average illustration of
the powers of sorcery as practiced in those ages, or was
it an entirely exceptional case, permitted by God's
special providence for rebuke and awful warning to
Saul — rebuke for the sin of forsaking God and then
seeking help in his distress otherwise than b}" repent-
ance and by returning legitimately to the Lord ; ^' and

*In this connection let note be taken of the comments on this
transaction which appears in 1 Chron. 10: 13, 14: "So Saul died for
8

162 SAUL AND THE WITCH AT EXDOR.

warning that should ring the death-knell of his doom
before the final blow should fall ? I answer most decid-
edly, the latter. Nothing can be inferred from this
narrative in regard to the real powers of the sorceress
of Endor. Her astonishment when she saw Samuel
proves that this was entirely a new experience to her,
all unknown before. She shrieked with amazement
and fear. She said : " I saw God (elohim) ascending
out of the earth." Her choice of the word ^^ elohim^' in-
dicates mingled astonishment, surprise, and fear. She
could think at the moment of notiiing less than God —
the awful God ! Saul inquired — What is his form, his
appearance, understanding her to speak not of many
gods but of one ; and she in reply gave an answer by
which Saul recognized the person of Samuel.

As to the magic arts of this sorceress the original words
used and the facts of the narrative prove only this :
not that she ever on any other occasion called up the
dead; not that she obtained audible reponses from the
spirits of the dead, or knowledge in any way from such
spirits ; but only that she pretended to do these things,
and made use of ventriloquism and perhai:)S other kin-
dred arts to make people believe that she possessed and
used these powers.*

One other question may perha])s arise, viz., In what
sense could Samuel say to Saul — " To-morrow shalt thou

and thy sons be with me?" (v. 19.) 1 can only

answer: The case does not require us to press the words
])e3'ond the sense of being in the state of the dead. There
was no occasion then and there to indicate whether his
condition in that state would be happy or miserable.
Nor can we infer from this passage either that the
Hebrews of that age did, or that they did not, know
and believe in one place and state of existence for the
righteous and another for the wicked. For aught that
appears here they may or they ma.y not have thought

liis transgression wliich he committed against the Lord, even against
tlie word of the Lord, whicii he kept not, and also for asking counsel
of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not
of the Lord : therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto

David the son of Jesse." This shows that one of the fatal sins of

Saul was this resort to familiar spirits, instead of humbling himself
before the Lord and seeking help from him only.

* See more on this subject of magic arts in my rentatucch, pp. 270-
279, and in my "Isaiah" pp. GG-G'J.

DAVID AND ZIKLAG. 1G3

of one place and state exclusively for the righteous and
another for the wicked dead. Samuel stopped short of
any teaching on this subject. It was enough for his
purpose then to apprise Saul that he and his sons
must die on the morrow and pass into the state of the

dead. Samuel, however, did say enough to show that

in his belief and certain knowledge, there could be
neither fellowship nor sympathy in either this or any
other world between such a spirit as that of Saul and
his own.

Resuming the thread of the history, as in 1 Sam. 30,
■\ve note that the absence of David and his warriors
from Ziklag for three days, accompanying the Philis-
tines so long in their preparation and in the outset of
their march upon Northern Palestine, exposed their
wives, children, and cattle to capture by a band of
Amalekites. Noticeably they sought spoil, not blood;
and while they took away every living thing and burnt

the city, " they slew none great or small." * The

return of David and his party to this scene of smoking
ruins and utter desolation — wives, children, cattle, no
longer there — was a moment of overwhelming trial.
David's men seemed half maddened with grief. Surely,
thought the}^, somebody must be to blame for this; it
must be David. So "the people spake of stoning him,
because the soul of all the people was grieved, every
man for his sons and for his daughters " (v. 6).

How sublimely David rose above the depression, the
distractions, the sadness of these surroundings is finely
put in these words : " But David encouraged himself in the
Lord his God^ Ah, he had no other friend who stood
by him in this emergency; and fortunately he could
endure wdthout any other. It sufficed him that the
infinite God stood by him, never more near and true ;
his manifested love never more consoling; his strong
arm never more sustaining ! Very rarely docs David's
historian turn from his narration of David's outer life
to speak of his inner life — the sources of his hope, and
courage, and strength ; but this case is an exception.
We are thankful for it. We are glad to know that in
this hour of sorest earthly trial David looked upward ;

^ The sparing of all human life suggests that like (he Ishmaelites
and Midianites of old (Gen. 37: 27, 28), they were slave-traders and
thought of marketing their slaves in Egypt.

1G4 DAVID AND ZIKLAG.

and lo, God was near. He, too, had wives and perhaps
little ones, and knew as little of their fortunes as his
soldiers knew of the case of their wives and children.
In his personal trials he might as reasonably look for
their sympathy as they for his, and might as reasonably
blame them as they him ; but in the strength of his
faith and piety, he rose above all these manifold, dis-
tracting trials and ^^ encouraged himself in the Lord his
Gody Let us be thankful for one such example of en-
durance and of victory through the strength of the
Mighty One of Jacob.

David calls for Abiathar and the ephod, and through
it inquires — "Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I
overtake them ? " The answer brought the first exter-
nal ray of light and hope : — " Yes, j^ursue ; " " thou shalt
surely overtake," and, better yet, "shalt without fail,

recover all." Did not they give chase with warm

heart, and make good time ?

The pillaging Amalekites seem to have had most of
thre5 days the start, but moved off slowly, incumbered
with booty and slow traveling captives. When far
enough away to feel safe, they gave themselves up
to eating, drinking, dancing, and wild exultations
over their spoil. While thus occupied David and
the four hundred whose strength held out through
this hot and long pursuit, fell furiously upon them
and made one long day of terrible slaughter, recover-
ing meantime all their stolen wives, children, and
cattle, and in addition taking the other spoil which
tlie marauding party had stolen and their own ani-
mals— an immense booty. It was at once a case

of David's forethoughtfulness and of God's nicely ad-
justing providence, that David, precisely at this
juncture, having come into possession of such an
amount of spoil, distributed it so liberally among the
cities of Judah. It was the very time of all times
to call their attention to him as the great warrior of
the age; as their own tribal chieftain, and their
devoted friend. Whether at the moment of this
decision to dispose of his spoil in this way he had
already heard of Saul's death, does not appear; but
the Lord knew it, and his providences were competent
to " time things," so that the presents were in season
to pave the way for David to become king of Judah.

DEATH OF SAQL. 165

One other circumstance occurring: in this scene

throws light on David's character. Two hundred of
his six hundred warriors became too faint and weary
to go further than the brook Besor (vs. 9, 10), and
were left there in charge of their baggage. When
the four hundred returned victorious to this company,
David came near and saluted them, inquiring kindly
for their welfare. The men of Belial who had, as
they thought, done the severest marching and all the
fighting, said — Give none of the spoil to those two
hundred men; only restore to them their own wives
and children. Not so, said David ; they must share
equally with the rest. The Lord has given us the
victory and all this spoil ; in gratitude to him let us
not deal severely but generously with our brethren.
So this became a statute and ordinance for Israel;
those who guard the stuff share equally with those
"who go into the battle.

Death of Saul.

With chap. 31, we close the first book of Samuel and
the record of Saul's life. In this great battle, Israel
fled before the Philistines, and many fell slain on Ml.
Gilboa. Saul and his sons and his armor-bearer were
among the slain. In 1 Sam. 31 : 5 it is said that Saul,
having been severely W'Ounded, put an end to his own
life by falling upon his own sword. The account in

1 Chron. 10: 3-6 re-indorses this statement. But in

2 Sam. 1 : 6-10 a certain Amalekite appears coming
to David and saying, perhaps truly, yet it may have been
falsely — "At Saul's request I slew him, and then took
his crowai and bracelets, and have brought them to
David my lord." — This man of Amalek no doubt
expected from David a liberal reward, but met, in-
stead, his own death. The circumstance served to
show that David was a sincere mourner over the
death of Saul. The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead,
remembering Saul's early kindness, sent their valiant
men to recover his body and the bodies of his fallen
sons and give them an honorable burial. They well
deserved this honorable mention of their gratitude
and valor.

IGG David's elegy upon the slain.

David's Elegy upon the Slain.

The song of lamentation or elegy, composed by David
upon occasion of the death of Saul and Jonathan (2
Sam. 1 : 17-27) has been admired in all a<res for
its touching pathos and exquisite beauty. We can
not afford to pass it without the respectful attention
ever due to tender grief and sympathetic sorrow over
the fiiUen dead.

" David lamented with this lamentation." He not
only composed this elegy, but sung it; not only sung
it himself, but gave command that it be taught to the
sons and daughters of " Judah " — of Judah specially
because they were of his own tribe ; because then and
for the ensuing seven years he was king of Judah
only; and because his magnanimous soul discarded
all tribal jealousies, and would have the men of Judah

mourn for Saul no less than the men of Benjamin.

" He bade them teach Judah " — not " the use of the
bow," which would be utterly foreign from the sense ;
but "the 6ou'," ^. e., the boiv-song — this very song in
which "the bow of Jonathan" (v. 22) holds a suffi-
ciently prominent position to supply a distinctive
name for this song. The Hebrews were accustomed
to designate their songs by some such catch-words, of
which we have instances apparently in the Psalms.

As we might expect, this beautiful poetic elegy

found its congenial place in the "Book of Jasher" — a
rejiository, as we have seen, of fugitive poems pro-
duced from time to time among the Hebrew people.
See Josh. 10: 13.

Num. 21 : 14-18 seems to indicate the same or a simi-
lar collection under the title — " The book of the wars
of the Lord."

The poem opens with v. 19. " The beauty of Israel "
— her warrior king and his noble sons — "are slain upon
the high phaces of Israel" [Mount Gilboa]. The key-
note of the song is in the refrain — " How are the mighty
fallen!" repeated in vs. 25, 27. Such is our sense of
death when brave and mighty men sink in one brief

moment beneath his power. " Tell it not in Gath" —

for David had spent years in Gath, and knew but too
well how its sons and daughters would catch up these
tidings, and hasten to their idol temples with jubilant

167

songs of triumph. He knew how the streets of Askelon
would re-echo with rejoicings; and this thought was

bitter to his soul. "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let no

dew or rain fall on you," henceforth forever! Let
there be no fields, rich with products for sacrificial
offerings. Let everlasting blight mar your former
glory ! It would be painfully incongruous to see those
hill-tops smiling again in verdure and beauty after
having been the theater of scenes so mournful. To the
sad heart of mourners it seems some relief to imprecate
desolation on the localities which have become asso-
ciated with the death of the loved and the brave. All
this is touchingly true to nature. These imprecations
were felt to be the more appropriate, because on those
heights the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away
as if of one who had never been anointed king of Israel.
Yet let it not be hastily assumed that Saul and Jona-
than were not brave and successful warriors. The bow
of Jonathan never turned back from before the mighty ;
the sword of Saul never returned from battle without
being laden with trophies of the slain. Moreover, Saul
and Jonathan were not only valiant in war; "they
were lovely and pleasant in their lives." Of Jona-
than's amiable and noble spirit, David never could say
too much. He had profound reason to appreciate him,
and he was of a nature too appreciative, too noble and
magnanimous, not to reciprocate such love. As to
Saul, David cherished a profound regard for him as
his anointed sovereign, and, no doubt, saw much (in
some aspects of his character) that he could both esteem
and love; but Saul's manifestations were strangely
mixed; and David leaves us a little in doubt how
much of this touching elegy of Saul and Jonathan
was indebted to Jonathan rather than to Saul for its
tenderness and pathos, and its unsurpassed appreciation
of amiable qualities. What this elegy would have
been if Saul only had been its subject, we are not in a
condition to judge.

In V. 24, Saul stands out in his distinctive personality
as king of Israel. The daughters of the land might
fitly bewail the death of their king, remembering how
he had ministered to their adornment — the ruling pas-
sion in the oriental woman's heart being recognized
here as in the song of Deborah (Judge 5 : 30). But

168 SAUI.'S CHARACTER.

when the poet's thought turns to Jonathan (vs. 25, 26),
his tones tremble with most touching pathos: — "I am
distressed for thee, my brotlier Jonathan; very pleasant
hast thou been to me ; thy love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women." Thus the loving heart of
David bewails what seemed to him the untimely death
of his dearest friend. All his fond hopes that Jonathan
miglit survive his father, and stand beside himself in
the honors or the cares of Israel's throne, are dashed
suddenly and forever. The joys of a friendship so deeji,
so self-sacrificing, so noble, and so pure — ah, how have
they passed away, to return no more !

SauVs Character.

The whole of Saul's recorded life having now passed
before us, it is pertinent at this point to review his
character.

Physically, of commanding dignified person, he no
doubt seemed to the people of Israel demanding a king,
to fill their ideal admirably. Men who looked on the
outward appearance, not on the heart, would reason-
ably ask nothing more. He reigned long enough
to show that qualities lying deeper than the out-
ward appearance were requisite for a wise and pros-
perous king on the throne of Israel. Unfortunately
these physical qualities drew to him more or less
homage and flattery, and so ministered to his pride and
to his great fall.

Psychologically, Saul was dangerously impulsive in
spirit, of strong emotions and terribly excitable temper.
It was due to these qualities that he so readily felt the
sympathetic influence of the music and the songs of
those prophet-bands at Gibeah (1 Sam. 10 ; 10), and
again at Ramah (1 Sam. 19: 22-26). But especially
must we attribute to these qualities of his mind (in
part at least) those fearful outbursts of jealousy and
passion under which once and again he hurled his jav-
elin at David, and also at his own noble son Jonathan.
The narrative would justify us in ascribing these
ebullitions of mad passion in part to an "evil spirit"
that came upon him ; yet not in any such sense as
would rule out the normal working of his own impulses,
and the natural development of his own mental qualities.

169

Saul's insanity was not of a sort which vacated his own
moral responsibility. His real character shines out in
all those words and deeds of violent passion. We must
not attribute them to any foreign spirit in any such sense
or degree as would remove them from the control of his
own will or from the realm of his responsible activities.
The fatal defect in Saul was the want of true piety.
Morally, his character lacked bottom. His will was
not jaelded implicitly and absolutely to the will of God.
It was never the first law of his soul to obey God in
every thing with no possible exception. In this point
he was in utter contrast with David, whose whole soul
went forth in the words : *' 0 God, my heart is fixed.'^
"I delight to do thy will, 0 God." If Saul had been
true to God he would have obeyed the great test-com-
mand to exterminate Amalek, and never could have
suffered himself to modify the divine directions. If his
heart had been wholly right with God, he never would
have apostatized and thus have made it a moral neces-
sity for God to forsake him. The great moral lesson
which Saul's history leaves for the instruction of man-
kind is, therefore, precisely this: That without true
piety, the finest qualities of character and the highest
position in society will fail utterly to make a true and
noble man. If Saul's heart had been true to God he
would have been one of the grandest specimens of hu-
manity. But, lacking this true obedience to God, ho
made his life an utter failure, and his character a
moral wreck. In his case the noblest physical and
mental qualities are proved to be utterly weak to resist
the temptations to pride, jealousy, passion, and mad-
ness, unless they are put under the keeping of grace
divine and the soul be brought into harmony with the

will of God. Such help from God toward self-control

and toward the formation of a noble character, Saul
never sought. He was never a man of prayer. David
was. In this one vital and fundamental respect they
stand before us in total contrast with each other. True,
Saul sought after the Lord in his great distress when
overwhelmed with fear ; but never in other circumstances.
Consequently, it was all strange business to him. He
had not made himself familiar with the way to the
mercy-seat. His soul could not turn naturally to his
God as to a well known and long tried friend. Oh, how

170 BRIEF REVIEW OF DAVID.

did he feel the need of such a friend in that dreadful
night when he threaded his desoLate and perilous way,
past the pickets of the Philistine host, to find the witch
of Endor— only to learn there the more surely that God
had utterly forsaken him ; that terrible defeat, slaughter,
and death lay but a few hours before !

Brief Review of David.

The first well-defined stage of David's public life
closes with the death of Saul. Before we leave it to
pass on, let us note his own review of it as it appears
in his Ps. 18, and, with only slight variations, in 2 Sam.
22. This Psalm was written at a later period and con-
templates his deliverance from other enemies as well
as from Saul ; but as is plainly indicated in the head-
ing of Ps. 18, it looked toward Saul pre-eminently.

This Psalm is sublimely full of God. " I will love thee,
O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my
fortress ; my God in whom I will trust ; "--such is its
lofty strain. His salvation from all his enemies is
from God alone. How grandly he accumulates epithets
and symbols to set forth the interposing power of his
Great Deliverer ! How sublimely did his God appear
for his help in every hour of his need! Conscious of
personal innocence and integrity as to the great issue
between himself and Saul, he had but to trust in the
Holy One of Israel, and deliverance came at length!

INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES. 171

CHAPTER VIII.

About to enter upon a new chapter of David's history
— David as king — it is in place to refer to our sources of
historical information, viz., 2 Sam. 2-24 to 1 Kings
2: 11; and co-ordinately with this, 1 Chron. 11-29
chapters — the former (2 Sam. and Kings) more full in
matters pertaining to his political and military life ; to
his great sins and to his domestic trials; the latter (1
Chron. 11-29) more full on the points of his religious
activities; his re-organization of the tabernacle worship,
and his immense preparations for the temple. The
course of David's history must be suspended here for a
moment to introduce the reader to these very valuable
books— viz., of Chronicles.

Author and Date of the Books of Chronicles.

Compared with Samuel and Kings, the Chronicles are
a collateral history, going over to some extent the same
ground. It is quite obvious that they were compiled
from the same original sources, viz., the annals of the
Hebrew people, written at or near the time of the
events, and by a succession of prophets of whom some at
least were Levites. From Moses onward, provision was
made for a permanent record of all important events, to
be kept in the national archives of the Hebrew people.
To these original documents we find the compilers of
these historical books continually refer for more full
particulars.

The important questions as to these historical books

are — When were they compiled, and by ivhonif Neither

date nor author are given in the books themselves, nor
indeed in any records that have come down to us. We
are left, therefore, to approximate the true answer to
these questions as best we may by the study of the
books themselves, comparing the adaptation of the
points they make to the known case of the people in
their subsequent history. For it is safe to assume that
the books were compiled to answer a purpose. It can
not be doubted that the books of Samuel and of Kings
were compiled at an earlier date, and were, therefore, in

172 INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES.

the hands of him who compiled the Chronicles and of
his contemplated first readers for whose use he made
this compilation. He made up these books because in
his view something of this sort was specially needed in

his day. We may therefore inquire : — Is any period

of Hebrew history known to us in which the specialties
of these books of Chronicles — the points in which they
differ from the books of Samuel and of Kings — would be
particularly pertinent and applicable? If so, then,
with high probability, that was the period when these
books were compiled.

In my view the times of the restoration — the age of
Ezra and of Nehemiah — were such a period. If we study
that age carefully as we have it in the historic books of
those men, and then look thoroughly through the books
of Chronicles, we shall be struck with the admirable
adaptation of these books to those times. The points
of history selected and the points omitted will combine
to show a remarkable adjustment to the moral wants

and demands of the restored people. Thus in the

times of Ezra and Nehemiah there was very great
moral power in the Hehreio genealogies. Perhaps it was
never before or since greater than then. It was vital to
revive and to endear the memory of the fathers and
patriarchs of the chosen people. The returned exiles
had need of heroic endurance, to which nothing could
minister more directly than a sense of their nationality
■ — the power of the great names and noble spirit of the
founders of Israel. It was, moreover, of some import-
ance to weed out the adventurers — the men of mixed

or unknown parentage. Thus we see that both Ezra

(chap. 2) and Nehemiah (chap. 7) gave special atten-
tion to enrolhnent, pedigree, nationality. Hence, the
adaptation of the genealogical cliaptcrs i Chron. 1-9.

Next, observe that Saul's history had few moral
lessons of special value for the returned exiles. So lie
is dismissed with one short chapter (10)— that of his

death. Of David's history, all those portions that

precede the death of Saul are entirely omitted. His
wars are touched briefly, those against Syria, Zobah,
Moab, Ammon, and Edom coming under notice mainly
to account for the immense spoils which they poured
into David's hand and which he consecrated to the
building of the great temple. Under the head of

INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES. 173

matters omitted, nothing is more striking than the
omission of the whole history of the ten tribes after the
revolt under Jeroboam, except so far as they come into
such contact with Judah as compelled some allusion to
their history. This omission strikes out the history of
Elijah and Elisha.

In the line of matters not omitted but embraced, we
have a very full account of David's religious work for
the nation — bringing back the ark ; re-organizing the
ritual worship; classifying the labors of priest and
Levite ; organizing the new department of sacred song ;
and making immense preparations for building the
temple. All these w^ere points of most vital interest
to the men of the restoration. Precisely this was the
sort of work which God was laying to their hand.
They had just such an organization to effect ; they had
the great temple to rebuild. It was worth the whole
labor and cost of writing these books of Chronicles, to
bring down and utilize the example and the labors of
David and his associates. Further, the gifts of the peo-
ple toward the temple-building— so spontaneous, so lib-
eral, so enthusiastic (1 Chron. 28 and 29) — were of price-
less moral value to the returned exiles. So also it was in
place to tell them very particularly of the great work
of Solomon in its erection, and of his wonderful con-
secration of the finished temple by prayer, and sacri-
fice, and song.

In selecting points of Jewish history, from the revolt
to the captivity, the compiler dwelt with special mi-
nuteness on the great religious reformations wrought in
the reigns of Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. The
wicked kings are passed with less detail — yet we may
be thankful that having presented the great sins of Ma-
nasseh, he gave us (as the book of Kings does not) an
account of his confession and repentance. Those great
reformations were full of instruction, and of inspiring

impulse to the men of Ezra's time. If we were to

examine in yet more detail the points omitted and
not omitted, in these books, compared with the corre-
sponding history in 2 Samuel and Kings, the compari-
son would be found to bear in the same direction,
showing yet more clearly that the compiler of the
Chronicles aimed to adapt his work to such a people
as the returned exiles, and to such a state of things as

174 INTRODUCTION TO CHRONICLES.

then existed. There can, therefore, be no reasonable
doubt that the books were compiled then and for an
exigency then pending and pressing.

Equally clear is it that Ezra was the man to do this
work, or at least to see that it was done and to supervise
it. He was " a ready scribe in the law of Moses ; " he
"had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord,
and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judg-
ments " (Ezra 7 : 6-10). His soul breathes itself forth in
Ps. 119 : 97 : " O how love I thy law ; it is my meditation
all the day." His spirit, therefore; his familiarity
with the Hebrew Scriptures; his prominence as the
religious instructor of the returned exiles, and his
absorbing interest in this work, all conspire to desig-
nate him as the compiler of these books. It may fitly

be added that Jewish tradition attributes to him the
great work of revising the Hebrew Scriptures then
extant — a work to which the compilation of Chronicles
bears no little analogy.

It remains to refer in a word to certain points of in-
ternal evidence which indicate with high probability
the date of compilation of the books of Chronicles; —
viz., (a.) Its genealogical records seem to come down
to the captivity ; e. g., 1 Chron. 5 : 22 : " They dwelt in
their stead until the captivity ; " — 1 Chron. 6 : 15 :
" Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord carried
away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchad-
nezzar ; " — and 9 : 1 : "So all Israel were reckoned by
genealogies. Behold, they were written in the books of
Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babjdon

for their transgression." (b.) Of perhaps j^et more

decisive bearing toward the same conclusion is the fact
that at its close — (viz., 2 Chron. 36: 20-23) the history
actually shades off into the history of Ezra itself, giving
us (as the history of 2 Kings does not) the duration of
the exile — viz., "till the reign of the kingdom of
Persia;" i. c, until Babylon fell into their hands, and
their empire was located centrally in Babylon itself —
closing with the edict of Cyrus for the restoration of
the Jews — a paragraph, which, as it ends this book of
Chronicles, so does it also begin the book of Ezra — a
method of connection which we liave already noticed
where the book of Judges resumes and continues the
history of the book of Joshua.

DAVID AS KING. 175

David as King.

Since the hour -when, by the hand of the prophet
Samuel, the Lord designated David as prospective king
of Israel, and poured on his head the consecrating oil (1
Sam. 16), the thread of the historic narrative has run
along the line of his life. We have had Saul only
because of his relations to David. Saul being now
dead, we shall see David in new relations.

Comprehensively, the future history of David will
embrace these leading events.

I. The steps to the throne, first of Judah ; ultimately
of all Israel.

II. Jerusalem wrested from the Jebusites; built up
and made his capital.

III. The ark located at Jerusalem ; a special taber-
nacle prepared fur it, and this city made the great re-
ligious center.

IV. The tabernacle worship full}^ reorganized, with
the important accompaniment of sacred song.

V. The great promise made to David that his pos-
terity should fill the throne of Israel indefinitely, in-
cluding and terminating in the great Messiah.

VI. David's wars; the subjugation of the Philistines,
of Zobah, Syria, Moab, Amnion, and Edom.

VII. His great sins in the matter of Bathsheba and
Uriah.

VIII. His domestic calamities consequent upon these
sins, involving the history of Amnon and of Absalom.

IX. His sin of numbering the people — which re-
sulted in fixing the site of the temple.

X. David's work of preparation for the temple.

XI. Arrangements for the succession ; conspiracy
of Adonijah; Solomon.

XII. David's last words and character.
Following the order of topics above indicated, we

note,

I. The steps to the throne, first of Judah; idtimately of
all Israel. Tidings of Saul's death reached David at
Ziklag where he lay with his trusty six hundred.
This death put a new face upon his circumstances ;
opened to hina new possibilities; and naturally raised
in his mind the inquiry — What is to be done next?
Shall he make any movement looking toward his elc-

176

vation to the throne ? Judah was his own tribe ; his
few adherents were chiefly of that tribe : his sympa-
thies hiy there and his hopes also ; therefore, true
to the impulses of his religious character and life,
he brings before the Lord this first great question —
Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? The
Lord answered, Go : and to his next question — To
which ? The Lord replied, To Hebron. This city
had been conquered by Caleb and made his inheritance
(Josh. 14 : 12-15) ; was centrally located for the tribe
of Judah ; was a strong city and in friendly relations
to David ; was hallowed, moreover, with interesting
associations as the burial-place of Abraham and Sarah
(Gen. 25: 9, 10, and 23: 19, 20); and if Caleb's posterity
inherited the spirit of their father it must have had
in it some excellent material. It was twenty miles
south of Jerusalem. Thither the men of Judah came
and there they anointed David to be their king.

David would naturally expect efforts to secure the
succession to the line of Saul; and hence saw the
wisdom of carefully conciliating the good-will of the
nation by manifestations of sympathy and kindness
toward Saul's family and friends. Out of his wisdom,
therefore, and probably out of his heart as well, he
sent messengers to express his sympathy and good-
will to the men of Jabesh-Gilead for the honor they
paid to the remains of their king.^ For similar reasons
at a later period he rewarded the assassins of Ishbo-
sheth, Saul's son and successor, by ordering their im-
mediate execution (2 Sam. 4 : 12).

Abner, Saul's captain-general, had placed Ishbosheth
on the throne made vacant by Saul's death. First, he
took him across the Jordan to Mahanaim and put him
over all Gilead; f subsequently (perhaps in the order
narrated in 2 Sam. 2 : 9), " over Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim,

Benjamin, and all Israel." The historian narrates (2

Sam. 2 : 12-32) the scenes of a battle fought, at Gibeon,
between Joab, commanding David's men, and Abner, at

* The Hebrew word (2 Sam. 2 : 6) signifies, not "requite," but (o
manifest kindness and sympathy.

t The reasons for selecting Gilead and the trans-Jordanic tribes as
the starting point may probably be found in the special sympathy
felt for Saul in Jabesh-Gilead and in the reasons for it as suggested
above in remarks on 1 Sam. 11 and 31.

DAVID S STEPS TO THE THRONE. 177

the head of the warriors of Ishbosheth — the salient
points of which were first, a bloody conflict between
twelve chosen warriors from each armj^, in which every
man seems to have fallen; and next a general fight in
which Asahel, brother of Joab and Abishai was slain by
Abner,* the battle ultimately closing with the fitting
appeal of Abner to Joab — " Shall the sword devour for-
ever? Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in
the latter end? How long shall it be ere thou bid the
people return from following their brethren?" Thus
better counsels prevailed; the mutual slaughter of
brethren ceased — the counted dead numbering of
David's men twent}^, but of Abner's men three hundred
and sixty. This is the only battle on record between
the parties contending for the succession to the throne
of Israel. David wisely adopted the policy of concilia-
tion and "masterly inactivity," waiting, as he had
trained himself to wait during the life of Saul, for the
slow movements of God's providence to seat him in his

own time on the throne over the whole people. In

the sequel of this struggle, Ishbosheth gave offense to
his captain, Abner, whereupon the latter, in retaliation
or from better motives (2 Sam. 3 : 17, 18), laid his plans
to bring all the tribes over to David. Ere they were
fully carried out he was foully assassinated by Joab in
revenge for the death of his brother Asahel. David
promptly did his utmost to protest against this murder,
to avert the displeasure of the people, and to conciliate
their good-will.

Chap. 4 records the assassination of Ishbosheth by
men who manifestly thought to please David, but who
met his pronounced displeasure and their own exem-
plary death. This brought matters to a crisis. The
head men of the opposition to David were in their
graves; his prudence had won the good-will of the
nation. It only remained to convene the representa-
tives of all the tribes and place him triumphantly on
the throne of Israel. They came to David at Hebron ;
" there David made a league with them before the Lord,"
analogous to the written charter under which Saul

* The Hebrew — " smote him under the fifth rib " means, and should
be read — in the abdomen — through the bowels. The same emenda-
tion of our English version is called for in 2 Sam. 3 : 27, and 4 : 6, and
20 : 10.

178 JERUSALEM MADE HIS CAPITAL.

"took the kingdom" (1 Sam. 10: 25), and "they
anointed David king over Israel" (2 Sam. 5: 30).
David was thirty years old when made king over
Judah ; reigned seven and a half years over that tribe
only, and tliirty years over all Israel.

The author of 1 Chronicles gives in chaps. 11 and 12
a very particular account of the valiant men who had
previously attached themselves to David, some at least
of whom came to him at Ziklag before the death of
Saul (1 Chron. 12: 1); men who had wrought signal
exploits of heroism and power and were thoroughly
prepared to lead the armies of Israel. This passage
records, statistically, the large accessions to David's host
that came in from the several tribes, among whom
special mention is made of the Gadites (1 Cliron. 12:
8-18). The figures in several cases seem very large.
The small number relatively from Judah is surprising,
not to say, incredible ;— of Judah, only 6,800, while the
very small tribe of Simeon counts up 7,100; the half
tribe of Manasseh, 18,000; Ephraim, 20,800; Zebulon,
50,000; Dan, a tribe signally diminutive and almost
unknown, 28,600; but, strangest of all, from the two
and a half tribes east of Jordan, 120,000. The numbers
from the powerful tribe of Judah sink into insignifi-
cance when placed by the side of other and much less
populous tribes. We seem compelled to suspend judg-
ment on the point of the accuracy of these numbers.

II. The kingdom being secured to David, his first
work is to locate, build, and fortify his capital. For
this purpose Jerusalem is wrested from the Jebusites. There
were good reasons for the choice of this site. Hebron,
though central for the tribe of Judah, was very remote
from the center of Israel. The capital of the nation
should be further north. Jerusalem fell within the
original limits of Benjamin, so that the choice of this
location might conciliate the good-will of the tribe
which had furnished Saul for the first king. Moreover,
the beauty of its site and its great natural strength (for
war) were points by no means insignificant. David's
eye was quick to note these attractions. Jerusalem
must become his great city.-^^ Probably some at least of

* Its site is thirty-two miles from the Mediterranean; eighteen
(Coleman aays twenty-four) from the Jordan ; twenty miles north
of Hebron ; thirty-six miles south from Samaria.

THE ARK LOCATED IN JERUSALEM. 179

the immense hosts (put at 280,000 men) who gathered
for his coronation remained to assist in the subjugation

of this stronghoUI of the Jebusites. The references

to " the blind and the Lame " (in 2 Sam. 5 : 6, 8) are not
very clear in our accepted version. In v. 6 we may
translate: "The Jebusites spake to David, saying:
Thou shalt not come in hither, for the blind and the
lame shall keep thee off (^. e., prevent thy coming in).
So great was their confidence in the natural strength
of their citadel that they believed the blind and
lame of their number were adequate for its defense.
Subsequently these words passed into a proverb : Be-
cause of the blind and the lame, he shall not enter the
house ; or as given by Perowne : " The blind and the

lame are there ; let him enter if he can." The allu-

Bion to the blind and the lame as " the hated of David's
soul," indicates how deeply this taunt had stirred his

sensibilities. According to 1 Chron. 11 : 6, Joab was

the first to master the ascent and thus secure the honor
of being David's chief captain. Xlie reference to " the
gutter" (2 Sam. 5: 8) suggests that the ascent was
made through some water-worn passage, which very

possibly had been overlooked by the Jebusites. The

citadel once mastered, David proceeded to enlarge the
area of this lofty summit and to strengthen its fortifica-
tions. Thus Jerusalem was the city of David, born to

greatness in the first year of liis reign over all Israel.
In the result it came to be more richly embalmed in
sacred song and hallowed with more sweet associations
and blessed memories than any other city brought be-,
fore us in the holy Scriptures; indeed, we might say,
above any other city known to history.

III. The next great event of David's reign was the
location of the ark in his royal city. (See 2 Sam. 6, and
1 Chron. 13, and 15, and 16.) The narrative is most full
in 1 Chron., especially as to the provision made for
sacred song on this memorable occasion. Indeed, we
find here the very song of praise which "David de-
livered into the hand of Asaph and his brethren on
that day" — a song which re-appears in the Psalter, part
of it (viz., 1 Chron. 17: 8-22) in Ps. 105: 1-15, and vs.
23-33 in Ps. 96: the concluding verses in Ps. 106: 1, 47,
etc. The occasion was one of thrilling interest and
lofty enthusiasm, David being manifestly the leading

ISO THE ARK LOCATED IN JERUSALEM.

spirit. His heart was thoroughly in it. He began
with "consulting the captains of thousands and hun-
dreds and every leader " (1 Chron. 13 : 1) ; proposed to
send abroad over all the land to call a real mass meeting,
but especially all the priests and Levites. The measure
was "right in the eyes of all the people," and they
marched forth to bring up the ark of God from Kirjath-

jearim.* One only circumstance occurred to mar

the joy of this occasion — the death of Uzza who put
forth his hand to the ark when "the oxen shook it."t
The sin of Uzza was rashness and irreverence for things
sacred; and the divine purpose in this fearful death was
manifestly to impress the sacredness of this special sym-
bol of Jehovah's presence among his people. It should
be remembered that the transportation of the ark by
means of a cart and oxen was all irregular — the law
having specially provided that it should be borne only

by human hands— those of consecrated Levites. This

blow stunned and perplexed David. Afraid to go on,
he halted the procession and placed the ark in charge
of Obed-edom. During its stay of three months there,
the Lord signally blessed that house — a fact which re-
assured David and encouraged him to a second and suc-
cessful attempt to locate it in his royal city in a special
tent which he had provided for it. Perhaps this success
was the more joyous for the previous failure. The ark —
borne this time by Levites — was brought in with shout-
ing and sound of trumpet, David, girded with a linen
ephod, "dancing before the Lord with all his might."
His wife Michal, Saul's daughter, was not in sympath}^,
but as she saw him through her lattice, "despised him
in her heart." On his return "to bless his household,"
she taunted him with the insinuation that his exposure
of person was vulgar and undignified if not even im-
modest. David's noble reply was — I did it in honor of
Israel's God who chose me before thy father and before
all his house to appoint me ruler over all Israel; and if
this be vile and base, I glory in being yet more so in

*■ See notes above on 1 Sam. 7.

t So the passage stands in 2 Sam. 6: C; but the translators of 1
Chron, 13: 9, render the same Hebrew word "stumbled." Gesenius
gives the word the sense, kicked; Fuerst, "threw down." The at-
tractions of the threshing-floor may have been the occasion of their
lurching.

THE ARK LOCATED IN JERUSALEM. 181

honor of my God. Michal was barren thereafter to her
death ; and David showed himself to be the " man after
God's own heart."

In this connection no one should fail to read Ps. 24
and 15, both having the same key-note; "Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Who shall stand in
his holy place ? " Since the Great and Holy Lord God
has deigned to make this holy hill his visible abode,
who, of all living men, shall have the honor of dwelling

here so very near to God? Each of these Psalms

gives essentially the same answer — the man of genuine
integrity, of clean hands, and of pure heart ; he shall

receive blessing from the Lord. The closing verses

of Ps. 24 give us obviously the very words chanted b}^
the vast choir when the curtains [^' gates "] were lifted
and the ark passed in to its inner sanctuary, the sym-
bol of "the King of Glory" — "the Lord strong and
mighty; the Lord mighty in battle." (See Notes on
these Psalms).

It is in place here to call the reader's attention to
the fact that David prepared a special tabernacle for
the ark. The original tabernacle, built under the
hand of Moses, and borne through all their wilderness
journeyings was at this time on the high place of Gibeon,
and remained there at least till into the reign of
Solomon. The books of Chronicles are definite on this
point (e. g., 2 Chron. 1 : 3, 4) ; " Solomon and all the
congregation with him went to the high place that
was at Gibeon, for there was the tabernacle of the con-
gregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord
had made in the wilderness. But the ark of God had
David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place
which David had prepared for it, for he had pitched
a tent for it at Jerusalem." The same facts are certi-
fied to in 1 Chron. 21 : 29, and are implied in 1 Chron.
16: 39. No reason is given for leaving the taber-
nacle at Gibeon, subjecting the nation to the evils of
having two holy places instead of one; but we may
suppose the delicate relations of David to the tribe of
Benjamin and to the friends of Saul were prominent
among them. It may have been a concession made in
the interests of peace and of tribal good feeling, of
such sort as no prophet of God was ever sent to
rebuke.

182 PUBLIC WORSHIP RE-ORGANIZED, WITH SACRED SONG.

ly. The tabernacle tcorship rc-organizcdj with the very
important accompaniment of sacred song. The develop-
ment of this subject is found almost exclusively in the
books of Chronicles. The history of David as in 2
Samuel makes only the slightest allusion to it. In

1 Chronicles the important passages are chaps. 6, and

9 : 10-34, and 15 and 16, and 23-26.- In 2 Chonicles

much light may be found in the history of the great
reformations — that under Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17) ;
that under Hezekiah (chaps. 29-31), and that under
Josiah (chaps. 34 and 35.)

Whoever shall study carefully the passages referred
to in 1 Chron., will see that David was a great organizer.
He knew the worth of system and how to secure it.
The vital points in his system were — (a.) A complete
classification of the things to be done ; (b.) The assign-
ment of these several departments of work to special
classes, made responsible for doing each their own busi-
ness. (c.) In at least several of these departments

there was a further subdivision of the employees into
twenty-four "courses," acting as relays, ^. e., taking up
the work in succession. But how long each party
served is not explicity stated.

Here, it should be said that David did not work out
this system altogether alone. The narrative intimates
that he had the counsel of Samuel, and also of the
prophets Nathan and Gad. See 1 Chron. 9 : 22, and

2 Chron. 29 : 25.

In general the work to be done and the assignment
of their duties respectively to the priests and to the
Levites followed the law of Moses. David had very
little occasion to modify the service of the priests.
Then, as before, by the Mosiac law, they bore the high-
est responsibilities in the Mosaic ritual; ministered
nearest the sanctuary; led in the offering of sacrifice
and incense, and in the services of the great da}^ of
atonement. As expressed here (1 Chron. 23 : 13) :
" Aaron was separated that he should sanctify the
most holy things, he and his sons forever, to burn
incense before the Lord, to minister unto him and
to bless in his name forever," (See also 1 Chron. 6:

49). The great improvement in the organization

effected by David related to the Levites. He made
their former duties more definite ; divided them into

PUBLIC WORSHIP RE-ORGANIZED, WITH SACRED SONG. 183

classes, assigning to each its service ; and he very
considerably enlarged the field of their labors. They
were relieved of their original task of carriers — bearers
of the tabernacle and all its utensils ; and therefore
could take on other services in place of those. (1 Chron.
23 : 25, 26). They were still employed as before to
wait on the priests and perform multitudinous serv-
ices in purifying, cleansing, removing filth, etc.; also
in preparing the shew-bread and the materials for
meat offerings, etc., as we see in 1 Chron. 23 : 28-32.
They were also employed as porters, having charge
of the gates; as scribes and recorders; and, not least,
as treasurers — an important function after the large
accession of consecrated wealth which came in from

the spoils of war. See 1 Chron. 26: 20-28. The

directions in which their service was greatly enlarged
were chiefly these three : the service of instruction ;
the service of civil officers and judges ; and the service of
song. Very distinct reference to their service as teach-
ers among the people appears in the history of the
reformation under Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17 : 9) ; also
under Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30 : 22) ; and under Josiah
(2 Chron. 35 : 3). Very probably this branch of their
duties was a growth, advancing from the time of

David onward. Much the same may be said of their

functions as civil judges, this service, like that of
public instruction, resulting from the fact that they
were by profession devoted largely to the study of
the Hebrew law. AVe read (1 Chron. 26: 29) that
David assigned ^' Chenaiah and his sons for the
outward business over Israel, for officers and judges."
Jehoshaphat made them prominent in the capacity of
judges (2 Chron. 19 : 8-11).

But by far the most important change made by
David in the service of the Levites lay in tlie direc-
tion of sacred song. So far as appears this was chiefly
if not entirely a new service — a new appendage to the
religious worship at the tabernacle. The provisions
made for it were at once systematic and ample.
Heman, Asaph, and Jeduthun (or Ethan) and their
families were specially set apart to lead in this service.
The arrangements for music were prominent in the
removal of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to
Jerusalem, and seem to have continued from that point

184 PUBLIC WORSHIP REORGANIZED, WITH SACRED SONG.

onward. We read : " These are they whom David set
over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after
that the ark had rest. And they ministered before the
dwelling-place of the tabernacle of the congregation
with singing until Solomon had built the house of the
Lord in Jerusalem ; and then they waited on their office
according to their order" (1 Chron. 6: 31, 32). On
occasion of removing the ark David spake to the chief
of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be singers
with instruments of music, psalteries, and harps, and
cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice with joy. So
the Levites appointed Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, and
others " to sound with cymbals of brass : " " so all Israel
brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with
shouting and with sound of the cornet, and with
trumpet, and with cymbals, making a noise with

psalteries and harps" (1 Chron. 15: 16, 17, 19, 28).

On this whole subject the passage (1 Chron. 25 : 1-7) is
classic, showing that those men were not mere perform-
ers— professional yet heartless singers and players on
instruments; but they poured their souls forth in
sacred song; ^^ prophesied " the phrase is — "prophesied
with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord."
Due training in music was not neglected, for we read
that they were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even
all that were skillful — in number, 288. It is notice-
able that this service of song was not merely occasional
(as seems to have been the case before David) but was
constant, for after locating the ark in its sacred tent,
they " left there before the ark, Asaph and his brethren,
to minister before the ark continually as every day's work

required" (1 Chron. 16: 37). Another allusion (1

Chron. 23 : 30) speaks of the office of these Levite
singers "to stand every morning to thank and praise

the Lord, and likewise at even." In the standard

passages in 1 Chronicles which describe David's reor-
ganization of the tabernacle worship and the introduc-
tion of music, we are not informed definitely at what
stage in the course of sacrificial worship music and
song were introduced — whether they preceded the oll'er-
ing of sacrifice, followed, or accompanied simultane-
ously. But in the historical account of the great pass-
over under Hezekiah, the desired information apjDcars
in full. Having put the Levite choir in position with

PUBLIC WORSHIP REORGANIZED, WITH SACRED SONG. 185

the orchestra also (instruments) "Hezekiah commanded
to proceed with the burnt-offering ; and, when the hurnt-
offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the
trumpets and with the instruments ordained by David
king of Israel. And all the congregation worshiped,
and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; and
all this continued until the burnt-offering was finished. And
when they had made an end of offering, the king and
all that were present with him bowed themselves and
worshiped" (2 Chron. 29; 25-30). Thus sacred song
strictly accompanied the service of the burnt-offering till
it was ended ; after which, all, king and people, rever-
ently bowed themselves and worshiped.

We are not informed whether the reading of the law
formed a part of these services of worship ; nor, if so,
how large a part and where introduced. It is highly
probable that portions of the law were read in connec-
tion with some at least of these seasons of tabernacle
worship, the considerations in support of this view
being these : That the Lord through Moses prescribed
the reading of the law entire on the feast of taber-
nacles ; that the Levites were expected to go round
among the people and teach them out of the law —
much more, therefore, should we expect the law to be
read in the great worshiping congregation at the taber-
nacle; and, finally, that after the captivity the fact
comes to light unmistakably that Ezra the scribe and
his associates " read in the book of the law of God dis-
tinctly and gave the sense, and caused them to under-
stand the reading" (Neh. 8: 1-8). It is not hinted
that this reading of the law was an innovation — a prac-
tice unknown before, but it is implied that the exposi-
tion— the giving of the sense — was new, the necessity
for it being that the people, long resident in Chaldea,
had become unfjimiliar with the original Hebrew and
needed some aid in the way of translation into their

Chaldee dialect. Moreover, the subject-matter of the

Hebrew psalmody, as it appears in the Psalms they
sung, is so imbedded in the earlier Hebrew Scriptures
— tlie Pentateuch and the subsequent historical books —
that there must have been some reading of those ante-
cedent scriptures to revive in the minds of the people
the themes of those hallowed songs.

In this whole matter of sacred song as related to the

186 PUBLIC WORSHIP REOPvGANIZED, WITH SACRED SONG.

tabernacle worship, David bore a leading part. He not
only played the harp himself with such skill as gave
him a national reputation, but he invented other in-
struments of music, to which fact we find allusions in
1 Chron. 23 : 5, and Amos 6:5. " Four thousand praised
the Lord with the instruments which I made, said

David, to praise therewith." It follows almost of

course that he composed music — as he certainly wrote
in part and at first in large part, the Psalms that were
sung. The first book of the Psalter (Ps. 1-41) is on good
ground ascribed exclusively to David. Is is also notice-
able that several Psalms which immediately follow Ps.
21 — the location of the ark on Mt. Zion — were mani-
festly composed shortly after that event — upon the spur
of that most inspiring occasion, and obviously in order
to provide at once a sufficient variety of songs to meet
the wants of a standing perpetual service.

Whether the music of that age would be pronounced
^'classic" in our own, we have absolutely no means of
deciding. It is hopelessly lost, nor have we any power
to reproduce with certainty even one of their numerous
musical instruments. Yet of this we may be certain,
it was music. It had in it some of the harmony of sweet
sounds; it had the power to lift up human souls to a
true devotional enthusiasm. It bore on high the out-
goings of devout thanksgiving, praise, and adoration ;
it stirred pious souls to their depths of love and grate-
ful trust; and, best of all, was well pleasing to God.

Of the poetry of those songs, we fortunately have ample
means of judging. If the music was worthy of the poet-
ry— equal to it in beauty and in power, we can afford
to wish it had come down to our age in all its glory.
That it made the tabernacle worship attractive, inspir-
ing, impressive — a most effective means of reviving
true piety in Israel, there can be no manner of doubt.
Such hallowed songs, embod3dng and impressing such
lofty sentiments, bringing God so near to men and lift-
ing men so near to God ; and all this backed up by the
earnest example and the noble enthusiasm of a king
whom to know was to esteem and to honor — these in-
fkiences and impulses must have wrought a great reviv-
ing in the piety of the Hebrew people. It is refreshing
to contempUite such an advance in the agencies for the
religious life, and to think of the fruits borne to the

THE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE. 187

peace and piety of Israel and to the honor of Israel's
&od.

V. The promise made to David that his posterity should fill
the throne of Israel indefinitely — including and terminating in
the Great Messiah. The passages referred to are 2 Sam.
7, and 1 Chron. 17, which with slight variations are es-
sentially parallel. The precise date during his reign

is not given. The allusions to other events before and
after (2 Sam. 7 : 1, and 8 : 1) show that David's own
palace was already built ; that the ark had been pre-
viously brought into Jerusalem, and located in its tent
there ; and that some of David's wars preceded, while
some followed. This was a period of rest from war.

The scope of the passage is on this wise. David sat
in his house in meditation. His thought turned on
the magnificence of his own palace in contrast with the
very humble dwelling-place of Jehovah, God of Israel —
a house of cedars against a tent of curtains. It struck
him as being the very reverse of what it should be ;
for certainly God should have a temple of unequaled
splendor, and David, the humble, unostentatious dwell-
ing-place. The purpose sprang up at once in his heart :
I will build a temple worthy of God for his earthly abode.

He made this suggestion to the prophet Nathan.

It seems to have struck his mind very favorably. Go
on, said he, do all that is in thine heart ; for surely the
Lord is with thee ; this good thought must have come

from him, and he will bless thee in the work. But in

the visions of the following night the Lord gave Nathan
the special message for David which embosoms the
prophecy of this passage. Go and say to him — The
building of my temple is not assigned to thee. Never
since I brought Israel from Egypt have I spoken a word
to any of her tribes or princes, as to building a
temple for my abode. I took thee from thy shepherd
life ; have borne thee on victoriously, and placed thee
securely on the throne of Israel, yet, with never a word
to thee expressing command or even desire that thou
shouldest build me an house. But when thou shalt
sleep with thy fathers, thy son shall build me an house,
and I will establish his kingdom forever. My mercy
shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul ; but
thine house, thy kingdom, and thy throne shall l)e
established forever.

188 TPIE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE.

We now reach the great and vital question of this
passage: Is the Messiah here? Docs this promise reach
beyond the merely human kings of David's line — say
beyond Zedekiah, under whom the kingdom of Judah
fell before the Chaldean power ? If it does, it includes
Jesus the Messiah ; if it does not, then there is no Mes-
siah here.

That this promise to David does include the Messiah,
and, indeed, does look very specially to him, is amply
supported by the following considerations :

1. The impression it made on David's mind — so deep
and almost overpowering — indicates that he took, not
the narrow, limited view of its significance, but the
very broadest view.

2. The great emphasis laid upon the point of time
bears most conclusively in the same direction. This is
by no means a merely incidental and subordinate point,
but is, of all, the most prominent; — that, under David's
Greater Son, his throne and his kingdom should " be
established forever^ This cardinal point is affirmed four
times, as if to call special attention to it as the main
feature of this promise. It was this point, especially,
which made so deep an impression upon David: "Thou
hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to
come." For this, especialh^, he prays: "Let it please
thee to bless the house of thy servant that it may con-
tinue before thee forever.'" No adequate sense of these

Avords can be cramped into the period between David
and Zedekiah. Their proper significance bears us far
on beyond the fall of the last lineal earthly king in
David's line.

3. Looking for a moment into New Testament au-
thority we note the testimony ot Peter, given under the
vspecial inspiration of the great day of Pentecost (Acts
2 : 80) : " David, being a prophet, and knowing that
God had sworn with an oath unto him that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne," etc. There seems to be no room
to doubt that Peter refers to this passage in 2 Sam. 7,
for there is no other promise of God to David on record
to which he can refer. Peter inferred (very justly) that
the promise of an eternal throne to one who was a
descendant of David must assume and imply his resur-
rection^ and an immortal life bcj^ond. So David, under

THE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE. 189

the spirit of prophecy, understood it, and, consequently,
foretold the resurrection of Christ in Pb. 16: 9-11.

Hence Peter's inspired interpretation of this passage
makes it a very special and undeniable prophecy of
Christ.

4. The way is now open to say that this is a ger-
minal or seed prophecy — a standard prediction which
leads the thought of numerous subsequent prophecies,
and which furnishes largely the current phraseology —
the symbols and terms in which later prophecies of

the Messiah were clothed. Both the meaning and

the force of this general statement will be better appre-
ciated if it be made somewhat definite by analysis. I
therefore suggest that it may be studied in these three
points : (a.) The Messiah was subsequently pre-
sented very generally as a King — a king after the type
of David, with a kingdom analogous to his.

(b.) Also as a successor to David, on his throne.

(c.) Also as bearing in prophecy the name, David.
The latter point is the more conclusive because he
was never known by this name during his incarnation.
Among many names given him, this is never one.
It appears in prophecy only, and, therefore, has the
more unquestionable allusion to this great germinal
prophecy.

The Messianic Psalms, especially those written by
David himself, must be high authority on this point,
since they reveal his own conceptions of the promised
Messiah. If he saw the Messiah here, his prophetic
Psalms should see him in the same general character
and from the same stand-point ; and, vice versa, if
these prophetic Psalms give us a Messiah who is king
on the throne of David, then they interpret for us
this leading promise, and prove its reference to Christ.
Remarkably these Psalms do everywhere repre-
sent the Messiah as King (e. g. Ps. 2) : " The kings of
the earth set themselves against Jehovah and against
his anointed" [King]; "Yet have I set my King upon
my holy hill of Zion" [of course a successor of
David]. " I will give thee the nations for thine in-
heritance" — making him king of all the earth. In

Ps. 110 (from David) the leading conception is that of
a king : " Sit thou at my right hand until I make
thine enemies thy footstool;" yet here he is also "a

190 THE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE.

priest forever after the order of Melcliisedek " who
was both kinj^ and priest.— Of great though second-
ary value to this point are Ps. 45, written by the sons
of Korah, and Ps. 72, by Solomon ; the former speak-
ing of "the things I have made touching the King^^ —
whom " God hath blessed forever ^^ i. e., with a throne
established forever. The latter presents throughout a
King who reigns in justice and righteousness, with a
dominion universal as to extent and eternal in dura-
tion,

AV^hoever will carefully compare these four Psalms
with the passage 2 Sam. 7, can be at no loss to trace in
them the development of the great germinal idea of
this antecedent promise. In these Psalms the Messiah
is precisely a King, God's own anointed. With the ex-
ception of the single reference to Melchisedek (Ps.
110,) the Messiah is a king only — no other aspect of
his character is brought to view at all. True, David
wrote other Psalms in which he prophetically sees a
suffering Messiah — to which, however, there is no
occasion here to refer. They by no means conflict
with his predictions of the Messiah as King. David
himself was a tried and afflicted sufferer before he
reached his throne — and so became a more complete
type of his greater Son.

The Messiah, as seen by the prophet Isaiah, is in sev-
eral visions a King, and, what is more, a King on the
throne of David (e. g., 9: 6, 7) ; " For unto us a child is
born ; unto us a son is given (born in David's line) ;
the government sliall be upon his shoulders;" "his
name shall be the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of
his government and peace there shall be no end" (the
very point made so emphatic in 2 Sam. 7) — "upon the
throne o^ David and upon his kingdom to order it and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from hence-
forth even forever." " Establish " — the very word coming
from 2 Sam. 7. The strain of this passage, moreover, is

an epitome of Ps. 72. Isa. 11 : 1-10, follows a similar

line of thought. One who is a root-shoot from Jesse ;
i. c, a son and successor of David, reigns with perfect
righteousness and glorious prosperity, and the nations
bow joyfully to his scepter to the result of their own

purity and blessedness. In Isa. 55 : 3 the plirase " the

sure mercies of David," looks toward this very passage

THE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE. 191

(2 Sam. 7) as embodying and embosoming in itself the
fullness of Messianic promise — the great idea of divine
mercy to a lost world.

It can scarcely be necessary to follow this argument
through the Messianic prophecies of the other prophets.
I might cite from Jeremiah (23: 5) : "I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth" etc., or from Ezekiel 34: 23, 24, and 36: 24, 25,
and Hos. 3 : 5, where the Messiah appears under the
very name David; or from the visions of Daniel {e. g.,
2 : 44) in which the idea of a kingdom underlies his
entire symbolism ; " The God of heaven shall set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed," etc. ; or from
Zech. 9 : 9, 10 : " Shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem ; behold,
thy King cometh to thee ; he is just and having salva-
tion; lowly, and riding upon an ass; he shall speak
peace to the nations, and his dominion shall be from

sea to sea," etc. But ^ye ought not to overlook the

sublime strains of those latest prophets who, standing
in the presence of the infant Jesus, foresaw his future
triumphs and gave their interpretation of these earliest
promises made to David. The angel Gabriel brought
down these words prophetic of Jesus: "The Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and
he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and ever,
and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1 : 32,
33) — the whole costume — every figure and allusion,
coming from our passage (2 Sam. 7), and from later pro-
phecies which run in the same strain. So Zacharias,
filled with the Holy Ghost: "Blessed be the Lord God
of Israel for having raised up an horn of Salvation " (a
powerful Savior) for us in the house of his servant
David, under whom we shall be saved from our enemies,"
etc. — he being a real king over his people.

Let us close with the testimony of Paul, from whose
sermon at Antioch (Acts 13 : 22, 23), we may read — " I
have found David the Son of Jesse, a man after mine
own heart j of this man's seed hath God according to his
promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus " — the promise

referred to being none other than this in 2 Sam. 7.

These citations and allusions will suffice for specimens
of the prophecies which follow the general line of
thought in our passage, and show that inspired proph-

\

192 THE GREAT MESSIANIC PROMISE.

ets, both of the Old Testament and of the New, saw
in it the promised Messiah and borrowed from it more
or less fully the figures and concej)tions under which
most commonly they thought and spoke of him.

It is no objection to the reference of this prophecy in
part to the Messiah that it also refers in part to Solomon.
Solomon stood in the nearer future ; Jesus, in the more
remote : Solomon the first in this line of succession from
David; Jesus, the last. Of Solomon it is said (2 Sam.
7 : 13) " He shall build a house for my name." To him
specially does this apply: "If he commit iniquity, I
will chasten him with the rod of men and with the
stripes of the children of men," i. e.^ with chastisement
such in general character as fathers administer to their
wayward sons for their moral good. Some readers are
in danger of overlooking the antithesis here between
Solomon and Saul. From the former God would not
take away his mercy ; from the latter he did : the former
he would chasten as a father the son in whom he de-
lighted and whom it is the purpose of his heart to save ;
the latter God abandoned to his deserved doom with no
corrective discipline, for whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth. Hence, Saul was lost ; but Solomon, thouqjh
at one time sadly apostate, was brought back by God's
good chastisement and saved. David's heart might well
have comfort in these promises concerning Solomon;
far more in the greater promises in regard to his far
greater Son in whom only could the promise of a throne
and kingdom established forever find their fulfilment.

We have frequently found the history of David as
given in the historical books supplemented by the
Psalms written under the first impressions of those his-
toric events. In the case before us, (this first great
promise in 2 Sam. 7, and 1 Chron. 17), it is very obvious
that David's prophetic Psalms (e. g., Ps. 2 and 110) were
an outgrowth and fuller development of the germinal
idea given him here. But, not to dwell more at length
on these prophetic Psalms, let us note especially the
remarkable coincidence in spirit and sentiment be-
tween the David whom we see here (2 Sam. 7: 18, 19),
saying: "Who am I, 0 Lord God, and what is mine
house that thou hast brought me hitherto?" — and the
David whom we hear in Ps. 8, saying : " What is man
that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that

193

thou visitest him? for thou hast made him only a little
lower than God (so the Heb.), and hast crowned him
with glor}^ and honor." Paraphrasing the former pas-
sage, we might put it : Who am I, and what is my
house that thou hast brought us to this high honor of
being the ancestors of the Great Messiah, holding a
throne that is to be perpetuated through indefinite ages
— to become the joy of the whole earth and to reveal

forevermore the good-will of God to men? In like

manner, paraphrasing the latter, we might give it :
What is man, frail, weak man, that thou shouldest be
so lovingly mindful of him and shouldest visit him so,
coming down to dwell incarnate with him in the per-
son of thine only Son, and shouldest make man only
so little less than God by thus lifting him into wonder-
fully mysterious alliance with divinity; and then
shouldest crown him with glory and honor by making
Jesus, that great divine man, born of woman, abso-
lutely Lord of all/ In this construction of Ps. 8, we

find a line of thought and state of feeling remarkably
similar to that which was awakened by this first great

promise. As to the soundness of this construction of

Ps. 8, see my notes upon it, p. 37.

VI. The next point in David's history is his ivars of
defense and of conquest. The battle in which Saul fell
left Israel prostrate; the Philistines entirely in the
ascendant. So long as David reigned over Judah only,
they seem to have made no new aggressions ; but when
they heard of his inauguration over all Israel, they
feared the loss of their supremacy. They had known
David as warrior and commander, and thought it best
to strike before he could consolidate his emi:)ire. So
they gathered for war; "came and spread themselves
in the valley of Rephaim " — the great plain which
stretches toward the south-west from Jerusalem. From
this position they could menace both Jerusalem and
also Bethlehem and the strongholds of Judah. By the
counsel of the Lord David went forth and smote them,
sweeping them as the mighty waters breach their dam
and sweep the land with desolation. So hasty was
their flight, they even left their god-images. David
and his men burned them— fit retribution for the sac-
rilege of the Philistines against the ark of God. Soon
they rallied and came up again, taking the same mill-

194

tary position in the valley of Rephaim. In reply to
David's inquiry for direction, the Lord said : Go not out
to attack them in front, but "fetch a compass behind
them and come upon them over against the mulberry
trees." Wait then till thou shalt hear the sound as of
one moving in the toj^s of those trees ; then strike, for
this is the Lord going forth before thee to smite the
host of the Philistines. Done ; the Lord was there
indeed, and victory was complete. David drove them
from Geba (near Gibeah of Benjamin) to Gazer — ^. e.,
through the pass of Bethhoron into their own country

and almost to the Mediterranean. The point of

special interest here is that God made his coming and
presence audible — " the sound of a going in the tops of
the trees," and made this their signal for the assault
upon the Philistines. So the Lord is sometimes pleased
to make his spiritual presence manifest to the joy of
his waiting people, indicating in modes which need not
be mistaken that their time for assault upon the pow-
ers of darkness has fully come.

These wars which repelled the incursions of the
Philistines, and broke the prestige of their power are
probabljr recorded in their chronological place — soon
after David became king over Israel and before he
brought up the ark to Jerusalem ; also before the great
promise made to him in 2 Sam. 7. Other wars against
the Philistines followed these events (2 Sam. 8 : ij.

At this point we may probably locate Ps. 9. (See my
Notes upon this Psalm.) It meets the circumstances
of David, after some great victories, yet while other
enemies arc still in force. " Thou hast rebuked the
heathen;" "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail; let
the heathen be judged in thy sight." In David's thought
all his victories were of God through the might of his
arm. All his hopes for the future rested on the Lord
alone. Why, then, should he not exultingly sing
Jehovah's praises for his help, and pour out his praj^er
for blessings needed yet and evermore ?

The great wars of David with powers other tlian tlie
Philistines, viz., the great kingdoms on the north, east,
and south-east of Israel, are recorded only in the most
general terms (2 Sam 8 and 10, and 12: 2(>-31 ; also in
1 Chron. 18-20). Moab and Edom were brought into
the relation of vassals — " became David's servants and

David's wars. * 195

brought gifts." Ammon, more abusive and cruel, hired
a strong force of Syrians and made a formidable stand
against Israel — only to be overwhelmed, and its great
city, Rabbah, ultimately stormed and pillaged, Zobah,
then a strong military power, lay between Damascus
and the Euphrates, and was subdued by the arms of
David. By these conquests David extended the bor-
ders of his subject territory even to the Euphrates — the
extreme boundary given in the original promise to

Abraham (Gen. 15: 18). Another important result

of these wars was the accumulation of an immense
spoil — gold, silver, brass, in royal abundance. The
officers of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, are said to have
borne shields of gold. Toi, king of Hamath, a friend,
brought David as presents, " vessels of silver, of gold,
and of brass." Thus from these two sources— the spoils
of conquest, and the presents of friendly or tributary
powers — David enriched his treasury immensely, and
dedicated it to the Lord, chiefly for future use in the
erection and adornment of the temple.

As usual, the spirit of these great wars of David ap-
pears, not in the history only (e. g., 1 Chron. 19 : 13), but
in the Psalms, which bear traces of having been com-
]30sed and sung in this connection. Such with high
j)robability are Ps. 20, and 21, and 68. (See my Notes
on these Psalms.) Bearing in mind that these foreign
powers were strong and formidable beyond any others
known to David's history, we shall see the fitness of
Ps. 20 — one continuous strain of prayer for the help of
God, and of unfaltering trust in his name. Ps. 21
comes in as the song of grateful thanksgiving for vic-
tory, making this definite point of identification :
" Thou settest a crown of pure gold upon his [our king's]
head " (Ps. 21 : 3). The historic fact appears (1 Chron.
20 : 2) : " David took the crown of their king from off
his head and found it to weigh a talent of gold ; and
there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon

David's head." Ps. 68 is entirely adapted for the

occasion of the last recorded war of conquest — that in
which Ammon and its strong city, Rabbah, fell before
the arms of David. Its key-note rings with exultant,
overflowing praises to the Mighty One of Israel.

VII. David^s c/reat sins in the matter of Bathsheha and
Uriah. Chronologicall}^, these events fall within the

196

period of David's last great war— that against Ammon
and Kabbah.

This one sin of David's known life is recognized by
the sacred historian (1 Kings 15 : 5) as so far surpass-
ing all his other sins in enormity that it might be
said he did that which was right in all else, "turning
not aside from the things commanded of God, save only
in the matter of Uriah the Hittite."

This great sin had in it almost every possible element
of aggravation. It was flagrant adultery, for David
already had, not one wife only, but many; and Bath-
sheba had a husband — one of the noblest of men, whose
record as a brave, patriotic, self-denying warrior, is pre-
eminently spotless and grand. David's sin included,
not adultery alone, but murder — the deliberate murder
of this heroic and self-sacrificing man, Uriah the
Hittite. One sin naturally leads on to more sinning.
Thus David sought first and desperately to cover his
iniquity. Could he not bring Uriah, the husband, home
to his own house and bed? He orders him sent back
from the field of war; converses with him as if no
dreadful guilt lay heavy on his soul; and then dis-
misses him to his home. "There followed him a mess
of meat from the king." Surely (thought David) he
will carry that home to his wife. No; the warrior slept
with David's servants at the palace gate, ready for the
stern duties of the soldier's life. But David can not
iitYord to be baffled, and, therefore, summons Uriah to his
presence again and urges him to go to his home, but with
the result only of bringing out more strongly the heroic
spirit of the true warrior. " My Lord Joab and the serv-
ants of my king camp in the open fields; " my country
calls me to like sacrifices; and so long as she does, no

home attractions can be heeded. Then it occurs to

David that this heroic spirit may be overcome by wine.
He, therefore, tempted him to eat and drink, " and
made him drunk." Even then he failed of his purpose.
In tlie next stage David rushed to the horrid pur-
pose to take Uriah's life — for how could he meet the
disclosure of his guilty connection with Uriah's wife,
especially since Uriah himself is a man so noble, of a

nature so pure and lofty? Did he let Joab into this

guilty secret? He found him in this case a ready in-
strument for his purpose — viz., to put Uriah into the

197

hottest of the fight, and then retire the supporting
column, and let him fall in hattle. This letter of in-
structions to Joab, he sent by the hand of Uriah with
no fear that he would break the seal and come at the
awful secret. And he knew Uriah too well to fear that
he would retreat before the foe even if all others did.
Thus David slew Uriah by the sword of the warriors of
Ammon.

Some of the points of peculiar aggravation in this
double sin of David are presented tersely and with tell-
ing force in the supposed case by which the prophet
Nathan introduces his rebuke of his king. The poor
man's one lamb — his household pet; nursed in his
bosom; fed at his table; to him as a daughter — this
lamb is torn away by his rich neighbor who had lambs
enough and to spare — the heartless tyrant ! The case
kindled David's indignation ; but, oh, how did the ap-
plication of it — " Thou art the man,^^ pierce his soul with
daggers of self-condemnation ! He felt every word as a
burning arrow. Conviction brought forth confession,
penitent grief, and imploring cries for mercy.

Now let it be distinctly noted : these sins not only
had their aggravating circumstances, but the inspired
pen records them. Not one is withheld. Not only is the
crime charged upon David, but its points of special
enormity are thoroughly unfolded. There is no attempt
to suppress a single fact bearing upon the aggravation
and guilt of these sins. Moreover, there is no con-
cealment or suppression of the fact that these great sins
were utterly displeasing to God. He did, indeed, for-
give the royal penitent ; but he took care that these
dreadful sins should be rebuked over and over again;
brought up to David's sad remembrance; brought out
in sunlight before the nation and before the world.
First, the babe is smitten, and after seven days of linger-
ing life and prolonged suffering— David meanwhile on
the ground, weeping, fasting, praying — the child dies.
Then came those dreadful scenes of lust and murder
among his own sons and daughters — Tamar ravished;
the guilty Amnon, David's first born, murdered by his
brother Absalom : — how terribly suggestive of his own
example before these very children! How hot with
scorching rebuke ! What griefs harrowed his sensitive
spirit W'hen it became known to him and to all Israel

198 David's great sins.

that Absalom had outraged his father's bed I Then he
drove that father from his pahice, city, and throne!
Bitterest of all, Absalom dies in his sins ! David could
bear the vilest indignities; the basest ingratitude
toward himself; the foulest treason ; the sadness of en-
forced exile; but oh I when the tidings came that Absa-
lom was dead — his own guilty son dead — gone — lost,
amid the horrors of unpardoned sin — alas, this filled his
cup of woe ! Did he not then recall his own sin in the
matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite ? Alas !
how does God bring the sins of men to their remem-
brance, and make them feel in the depth of their souls
that it is a fearful thing to sin !

Another line of thought and feeling is fitly awakened
by these scenes in the life of David. We can not think
of him as if he w^ere one of the fallen angels — a junior
brother of Satan or of Moloch. He was one of our own
ftillen race, a brother to our very selves. If he had pas-
sions tempting him into awful sin, so have we. If he
could so far forget his manhood, his piety, his obligations
to his Infinite Benefactor, his relations to the noble war-
riors in the field and to their virtuous wives at home,
as to fall into these most grievous sins, so, alas, may we.
This fearful record lies against our own fallen nature.
If we, personally, have been kept from sins so great
and aggravated, let us rather honor the grace that has
saved than plume ourselves on the assumption of better

self-control and purer virtue. We have, then, a real

though sad interest in the most tragic and painful
scenes of human sinning. It were well if this interest
shall move us to such a study of David's case as will be
morally wholesome. It stands on the scripture record
for the sake of its great moral lessons.

We have followed the thread of the narrative, noting
the circumstances of these sins and the suggestive provi-
dences with which the Lord followed them through most

of the remaining years of David's life. Besides these

records, we have two Psalms bearing very directly upon
the cxyjeriences of this sinning man. Ps. 51 reveals
David's heart at the point where tlie friendly, faithful
liand of Nathan held up before him the aggravation of
his sin, and gave him God's view of it. We hear him
crying out for mercy in the bitterness of his pangs. He
seems to lose sight of every thing else but God. His

David's great sins. 199

sins are seen as if committed against God only. Oh,
can he ever be forgiven? And if forgiven, can he hope
to be so washed and cleansed and lifted above tempta-
tion's power that he shall never fall again ? These

are the words of his prayer. Never were fitter words
poured forth from a penitent soul. It is refreshing to
think how often they have come to the thought and to
the lips of other smitten, consciously guilty souls, and
have helped to bear up to God the broken-hearted sighs
and struggling prayers of men longing for pardon and
salvation. There is yet another Psalm which mani-
festly pertains to David's experience in this great sin,
viz., Ps. 32. It seems to have been written a little later
than Ps. 51, and yet to record in part his earlier ex-
perience. It is well to consider that an interval of some
time — some weeks or months at least — occurred between
David's sin and his repentance. What of his state of
mind then? Was all well within? Did the light of
the Lord shine sweetly on his soul? Was he resting

calmly on the everlasting promises? This Ps. 32

has some words bearing to these points : " When I kept
silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the
day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon
me ; my moisture was turned into the drought of sum-
mer." Ah, what sadness of woe ! What a withering

of all the juices of the soul's life I W^hat a living death !

So it was, lon^ as the sinner kept silence. No relief

came until he acknowledged his sin unto God and con-
fessed all his transgressions. Then there came the first
gleam of hope and joy: — "Thou forgavest the iniquity

of my sin." This is the key-note of the Psalm : Oh,

the blessedness of the sense of pardon ! Oh, the rest,
the peace, the strange transition from the agony of the
unrepentant soul to the repose, the mellowness, the very
tears of joy which come with a sense of being indeed

forgiven! It is precious to have David's testimony

to these experiences of his once sinning and then peni-
tent heart. It came of God's good providence and of his
guiding Spirit that these great sins of tlie good king of
Israel should be utilized to some such fruits of instruc-
tion for the ages that were to come after.

\'III. DavkVs domestic calamities, subsecjuent to his great
sins. These have been alluded to briefly above. A
somewhat more detailed account should be presented.

200

The record is found in 2 Samuel 13-20. The books
of Chronicles omit these j^ortions of David's his-
tory.

In these events Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom, children
of David, are prominent. Amnon was his first-born (2
Sam. 3: 2). Absalom and Tamar were not on the
mother's side of Hebrew parentage, their mother
Maachah being a daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur
(2 Sam. 3 : 3). This petty kingdom lay on the N. E.

border of Palestine in the vicinity of Bashan. Such

a marriage was condemned by both the letter and the
spirit of the Hebrew law. In the present case it was
prolific only of evil to David and to his house. What
inducements — whether political or personal — led him
into this marriage connection do not appear in the
record. Both Absalom and Tamar are spoken of as
beautiful in person. As to Absalom, no other good
qualities, if he had any, come to light. He brought
sorrow and little else into the household and to the
heart of his father.

Amnon appears badly; with no redeeming features
in his character. That his love of Tamar turned so
suddenly and so meanly to hate — what shall we say
of it less than to call it unutterable vileness ! But
let all Avhom it may concern take notice that ungov-
erned lust will naturally dislodge and expel from
human souls ajl that is noble, and ^leave scope only
for what is ineffably base and mean. This hatred
in Amnon's soul suggests that worst law of sinning
natures, which in a sort compels the sinner to hate
whom he harms, and to hate most those he has most
cruelly wronged. If any element of human sinning
is more Satanic than this, we may be thankful that
the resraints upon sin in our world suffice commonly

to keep it under. If any body mourned the death

of Amnon greatly, the record omits it. It was more
sad that there should be such a son in the family of
David than that he should come to an end so untimely
by fraternal hands. Incidentally these events were
among the fruits of polygamy — the children of envious
and rival mothers having the same father were not
wont to waste much love upon each other.

Absalom, vain of his personal attractions and lost
to all proper regard for his aged father, set his eye

David's domestic calamities. 201

upon the throne, and did not shrink from striking
for it, though at the cost of his father's blood. The
history (2 Sam. 15 : 1-G) recites the arts of the arch
conspirator and demagogue — an imposing, magnificent
retinue; a very comphiisant and winning address;
becoming every body's most special friend ; supremely
desirous to subserve every man's particular interests

"So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.'^

Moreover, he was young and handsome, and did not
scruple to suggest that the king was getting too old to
fill the throne to the best purpose. Would not a young
man do much better ?

In V. 7, " after forty years," should be — after four
years ; or (as Maurer) after forty days ; ^^ for so long,
Absalom had been pushing this enterprise, ingratia-
ting himself into the good graces of the men of Israel;
making special friends in every city of the land, who
when the opportune moment should at length arrive,
and the trump of rebellion should sound, would be
ready to swell the cry — "Absalom reigneth in Hebron"

(v. 10). To blind the eyes of his father, he becomes

very religious, begging leave of absence to go to
Hebron to pay a vow made during his three years'
stay in Geshur (13: 38) — put in his own words thus:
" If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jeru-
salem, then I will serve the Lord." At Hebron a
great feast was provided and special friends invited,
his purpose being to make this the head-center of the
conspiracy. Under the impulses of feasting and wine,
all disguises were to be dropped oft', and the cry,
" Absalom reigneth,^'' was to ring out over all the land.
Ahithophel, the life-long counselor and supposed
friend of David was invited. It is reasonably certain
that in this case Absalom knew his man. It has
been conjectured that this shrewd counselor whose
wisdom had given him a national reputation (16: 23)
and whose lapse to the party of Absalom touched the
heart of David most keenly (15 : 31), had become dis-
affected toward David because of his relations to Bath-

"••■ The nature of the case forbids the period of /or/y years. Jose-
phus, and also the Syriac and Arabic versions, have it four years.
Two ancient manuscripts have it, not " years," but days — in which
case it may date from Absalom's kind reception home by his father.

202

sheba who seems to have been his grand-daughter *
Thus that great sin was still working out its fruits of
retributive ill.

From this stage of the proceedings, the historian
turns our thought to David (15 : 13 and onward). The
whole country is rising to hail Absalom king, and to
swell the hosts of his armed followers. Perils thicken
fearfully about David's path. Expecting an immediate
assault upon Jerusalem, and reluctant, it would seem,
to expose this city and its sanctuary to siege or storm,
David proposes flight, and straightway makes his
escape eastward, over Mt. Olivet and across the Jordan,
taking his stand finally at Mahanaim. Naturally, he
deems it vital to keep himself fully posted as to the
plans and movements of Absalom, and not beneath his
attention to throw some influence if possible, into those
plans. He knew full well that Ahithophel would coun-
sel wisely for Absalom : Could he in any way counteract
his counsels ? He will try. So he sends back Hushai,
a real friend, to match his sagacity against that of
Ahithophel. It proved an over-match. Ahithophel,
chagrined by the rejection of his advice, and j^robably
foreseeing the failure of Absalom's entire scheme, put
an end to his own life. Whether remorse for his
treachery were another Judas element in his doom is
not said. In answer (perhaps) to David's prayer (15 :
31) God's hand was against Ahithophel as well as
against Absalom. Ahithophel, doubtless, gave the best
advice for Absalom's success. If it had been followed,
David could scarcely have escaped. But Hushai knew
Absalom's weak point — vanity and passion for a grand
display. Therefore, adjusting his scheme accordingly,
he at once pleased Absalom and ruined him.

The narrative of David's flight from his royal city
(2 Sam. 15 : 13, to the end of chap. 17) will awaken
tender sympathy for the aged king, exiled from his
home, his city, and his throne by a heartless, ambitious,
wicked son. With what noble self-forgetfulness and in-
terest in others' welfare rather than his own, does he
debate with Ittai the Gittite (15 : 19-22) the question
of his going, or returning. Shall the ark of God be

* For, according to 2 Sam, 11 : 3 Bathslieha's father bore the name
Eliam ; and by 2 Sam, 23 : 34, Eliam was the son of Ahithophel tho
Gilonite.

David's domestic calamities. 203

taken with him in this flight? Nay; let it remain;
" if the Lord be pleased to bring me back, well ; if other-
wise, let him do as seemeth good to him." See the

noble king ascending Mt. Olivet, not as ever before, but
weeping, with head covered, feet bare, and many a sad
thought of the throne of his kingdom, and the house of
his God, and the dear memories of the past ; — and with
thoughts yet more sad of those great sins which his
righteous God must needs call to his remembrance.
With the things visible and outward, there were many
among his people to sympathize. Hence we read
(v. 30); "All the people with him covered every man
his head, and went up weeping as they went;" and
also, when they crossed the Kidron, "all the country
wept with a loud voice " (v. 23). But those deeper
griefs that come of the sad memories of sinning — alas,
they are for the sufferer's heart to bear alone. That
these were the most bitter ingredients in David's cup
may be readily seen. For, the fortitude of the soldier's
heart was almost second nature to David. He was not
at all the man to pale before scenes of martial conflict
or the agonies of wounds and death. But here are far
other ingredients of grief and woe. Note how he
receives the cursings of Shimei : " So let him curse,
because the Lord hath said unto him, curse David.
Who then shall sa}^, Wherefore hast thou done so?"
(16 : 10). David saw in this cursing, and, indeed, in
this whole conspiracy, the Lord's rebuke of his own
great sins. He could bear any and every trial involved
in it save this one — the frown of his own holy Lord God !
We see yet more of David's heart in those Psalms (42
and 43) which obviously relate to this period of his his-
tory. These Psalms and this history are at one in the
points of enforced exile from the place of hallowed wor-
ship ; of the location of their respective events — viz., in
the land beyond the Jordan — that of "the Hermonites; "
and of crossing that river where " deep called unto deep
at the noise of its water-courses," suggesting in sad
symbol, the waves of deep sorrow that dashed over his
soul ; and, not least, of the almost insupportable sense of
depression and discouragement against which his soul
is perpetually struggling and which it tasks the utmost
energ}^ of his will to witlistand : "Why art thou cast
down Oh, my soul? Hope thou in God, fui I shall yet

204 David's domestic calamities.

have cause to praise him for the help of his coun-
tenance" and the joy of his salvation.

That David had sorrow and trial in this war which
Joab and the warriors of Joab's cast of character could
by no means appreciate is obvious in his military orders
to spare the life of Absalom, and in his agony of grief
under the tidings of his death. Ah, it was unutterably
sad to be driven into war against a beloved though way-
ward son — a son as to whom the father is so painfully
conscious that his own example has not been faultless —
a son whom God is using as his own instrument of re-
buke and chastisement for those terrible sins which
David can never forget, and which, while he lives, God
will never let him quite forget !

The death of Absalom was not only tragic as related
to the agony it brought upon the heart of the father,
but it was suggestive and even retributive as related to
his personal vanity and proud ambition. The mule on
which he was riding we may suppose to have been the
royal animal — "the king's mule" (1 Kings 1 : 33, 38)
which he had seized as one of the perquisites of the
throne. His hair Avas of so much importance in his
eyes as to have the honor of a special mention in his
liistory. (2 Sam. 14 : 26). Whether his horsemanship
was unequal to its task, or whether the shock of battle
unnerved him or his beast, so it happened that his furi-
ous riding brought his disshevelled locks into contact
with the pendant boughs of a terebinth tree and held
him fast while the beast dashed away and left him in
mid-air suspended. Joab was only true to his own in-
stincts and principles when he sprang to the occasion
for smiting down this rebellion by hurling three jave-
lins through the heart of Absalom. Little thought or
cared he for the grief of the father when in his view the
life of the nation was at stake.

The battle was fought on ground known as "the wood
of Ephraim ; " but manifestly on the east and not the
west side of the Jordan. Why it bore this name does

not appear. It proved a perfectly decisive battle.

The generalship and discipline were chiefly on one
side; while the weight of numbers was on the other.
Absalom and his hastily mustered, undisciplined horde
were no match against the old warrior Joab and his
trained heroes of countless battles.

David's sin of numbering the people. 205

A period of not many days sufficed to restore David
to his royal city and to his former throne. The uprising
of Sheba, a Benjaminite, (20 : 1-22) was but a ripple on
the general surface of that quiet into which the king-
dom settled down after the death of Absalom. The

same Shimei who was first to curse David when he was
fleeing in sadness from his city hastens to be among the
first to meet him with apologies and confessions on his
return toward his vacant throne (19 : 16-23). The
spirit manifested by Shimei and Sheba indicated that
there was yet some jealous, tribal feeling in Benjamin
that could not forgive David for supplanting the family
of their hero, the first king of Israel. The points
charged by Shimei (16 : 8), were utter slanders — such
slanders as testify to the spirit that begets them, and
not to any facts of the sort assumed.

Let us not go past these scenes of David's trial with
Absalom without special reference to yet other Psalms
from David's pen, expressive of his experiences under
these trials. Such are Psalms 61, 63, 64, and 6o. Sev-
eral distinct points of coincidence in circumstances as
well as special adaptation render it nearly certain that
these Psalms were written under the fresh impression
of those scenes. Instead of recurring to those proofs or
to the spirit of those Psalms as illustrating the heart of
David, I must refer the reader to my Notes on those
Psalms.

IX. The sin of David in numbering the jjeoj^le, which in
its result fixed the site of Solomon's temple. A narra-
tive of these scenes appears in both 2 Sam. 24, and 1

Chron. 21. In Samuel we read: "And again (the

former case being recorded 2 Sam. 21 : 1-14) the anger
of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved
David against them to say. Go, number Israel and
^ Judah." In Chronicles (somewhat differently) — " and
Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to

number Israel." The same Hebrew word rendered

"moved" in Samuel is rendered "provoked" in Chroni-
cles. The agent is said in Samuel to be the Lord, but in
Chronicles, Satan, or, as some suppose, not the prince of
evil spirits — the well known individual Satan, but,
taking it as a common, not a proper, noun (it being
without the article), an adversary — some adversary,
undefined. The Speaker's Commentary accepts this

absence of the article as proof of reference to some other
than Satan. Bertliean and others make the word refer
to the prince of evil spirits — which is more probable.

A group of questions is here sprung upon us ; e. g.

(a.) Wherein lay this sin of numbering the people?

(b.) ^\llat tempted David to order this numbering, and

who was his tempter? (c.) Was the anger of the

Lord previously kindled against Israel for some other
cause, and if so, for what ?

(a.) Did it necessarily become a sin to attempt to
number the people because God had virtually promised
Abraham that they should be innumerable ? (Gen. 13 :

16, and 15 : 5). Perhaps not necessarily^ yet there

might arise from that fact a temptation to try it in-
quisitively. The passage (Ex. 30: 12) should be

noticed : " When thou takest the sum of the children of
Israel after their number, then shall they give every
man a ransom for his soul unto the Ijord, when thou
numberest them ; that there he no plague among them when
thoic numberest them.''^ This " ransom " was the half
shekel (a poll-tax), "offered unto the Lord to make an
atonement for your souls" (Ex. 30: 15, 16). That is,
numbering the people was admissible if done for good
cause — this assessment of the half shekel being such
cause. Moreover, the charge of this tax upon every*
man would naturally obviate the feeling of national
pride in their great numbers. The language here
seems to imply a certain danger or liability to sin from
numbering the people — to be obviated by the assess-
ment of tins tax. It appears that the good sense of

Joab gave him an instinctive apprehension of this
danger. See 2 Sam. 24: 3; and j^et more strongly in
1 Chron. 21 : 3 — " Why doth my lord require this

tiling ? Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? "

Perhaps, also, a hint is suggested in 1 Chron. 27 : 33 :
" David took not the number under twenty years old,
because the Lord had said he would increase Israel
like to the stars of the heaven." But David may have
thought he had good reason for enumerating the men
of war, and might, therefore, venture to go so far.

Opinions as to the nature of this sin fall into two

classes. (1.) That it lay in the line of pride over the

great prosperity, and the vast number of the people.
(2.) In the line of an unauthorized poll tax upon those

David's sin op numbering the people. 207

of military age. The former, it seems to me, has the
greater probability.

(b.) As to the question, What tempted David ? if the
view above given be the true one, the answer is — That
old enemy of human well-being — pride of heart, the
passion for self-aggrandizement and display — such as
would whisper into David's ear — Who but I among all
the great nations? Where can be found a nation so
prosperous and so populous ?

As to the agent in this temptation, it was God only
in the permissive sense; Satan in the personal and
positive sense, permitted of God, and by his very nature,
wanting nothing more than the barest permission to
give scope to the Satanic malice of his heart, and in-
volve both David and the Lord's people in terrible

calamities. It may, perhaps, be put to the account

of " progress of doctrine " that in the later book (Chroni-
cles) this agency is ascribed to Satan, while in the book
of Samuel, neither his name nor his agency appears.

(c.) As to any previous enkindling of the Lord's
anger against Israel, or any special cause for anger which
became in some measure an inducement to permit
this sin and its punishment, we can only say — The
narrative gives us no light, so that we must be
content not to know.

Despite of Joab's protest, David persisted, and the
numbering proceeded. Returns (incomplete) were made
after nine months and twenty days (2 Sam. 21 :
8). The results are stated variously in the two ac-
counts. No great reliance can be placed upon the
accuracy of this census ; the command itself "was
abominable to Joab." David's heart smote him after
the numbers came in. It does not certainly appear
whether this conviction of his sin preceded the Lord's
manifestations of displeasure : the account in Chron-
icles seems to make it subsequent. David's penitence
was apparently deep and humble (1 Sam. 21 : 10).
The morning after this penitent prayer the Lord sent
the prophet Gad to propose to his choice one of three
plagues : — Three years' famine (probably three as in
Chronicles rather than seven as in Samuel) ; or three
months driven before national enemies; or three days'
pestilence. The latter seemed to David to come most
directly from the Lord ; so he chose it, reasoning thus:

20S David's sin of numbering the people.

" Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies
are great ; and let me not fall into the hand of man."
Whether this pestilence filled out three days is not
certain — the phrase, ''from the morning even to the
time appointed," most naturally implies this, though
the Speaker's Commentary favors the sense — even to
the time of the evening sacrifice ; i. e., one day only.

Both accounts concur to make the number that

perished in this pestilence 70,000. It extended over
the whole country from Dan to Beersheba. When
it first reached Jerusalem the destroying angel became
visible — drawn sword in hand, standing at the thresh-
ing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David besought
the Lord to spare the people and bring this judg-
ment upon himself only — the guilty man. The Lord
bade the angel stay his hand and bade David build
an altar on the spot indicated by the visible presence
of the destroying angel. Noticeably David insisted
on buying the site for the altar and paying in full for
the animals sacrificed — a fact which shows that the
cost of the Mosaic sacrifices was one element of their
moral value.

This site became memorable as that of the future
temple on Mt. Moriah as we learn (2 Chron. 3: 1) :
" Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem in Mt. Moriah ivheix the Lord appeared unto
David his father, in the place that David had prepared
in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

Comparing the two accounts of this sin and of the
judgment sent because of it (2 Sam. 24, and 1 Chron.
21), we find the diversities somewhat numerous; the
real discrepancies few ; from which the inference seems
warranted that these authors drew from different origi-
nal sources and not from one and the same. There is
not the least difficulty in assuming that the contempo-
rary annals of Israel were written by more hands than
one ; e, g., " the acts of David the king, first and last, in
tlie book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan
the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer," as we
read 1 Chron. 29 : 29. In the ultimate compilation of
the books we have (e. g., 2 Sam. and 1 Chron.) the com-
piler of the former may have had one or two of these
original documents; the compiler of the latter, the re-
maining ono ; or if each had them all, he may have

209

found slight differences; possibly some discrepancies —
and would dispose of these according to his own judg-
ment or upon traditionary data. 1 have rarely

thought it desirable to discuss these diversities or even
the slight discrepancies — they being of the sort which
are passed over very lightly in all history as simply
inevitable under the necessary imperfections of the
most careful annalists. Critical labors upon the histor-
ical books of the Old Testament are frequently embar-
rassed by obvious imperfections in the Masoretic text —
as to which it is our misfortune that the critical helps
for its correction are few, and those few imperfect.
There is one redeeming consideration. These imper-
fections in the text very rarely, if ever, affect any vital
event of the history, or any important doctrine. In
view of this fact, all those who candidly read and sin-
cerely believe and obey the revealed word will be — on
the moral side — grateful to God ; and on the critical,
satisfied, despite of such imperfections.

We will not pass on from the scenes of these two
chapters — the sin, and the pestilence which was ar-
rested by means of prayer — without referring to Ps. 30,
which, on the strength of its internal testimony and its
heading, must pertain to these facts. These points are
discussed in my Introduction to Ps. 30. The course of
thought throughout this Psalm is entirely appropriate
to this occasion.

X. DavicVs work for the temple. The record of this work
appears mostly in 1 Chronicles. The compiler of these
books (supposing him to have been Ezra) had special
inducements to bring out David's example in this mat-
ter, and that of his officers and people, with great full-
ness and force. It would bear with wholesome moral

power upon the men of his own generation in

the age of the second temple. We can afford to be
grateful to him for the service thus rendered to all
future ages by the record of this munificent and fuU-
souled example of giving unto the Lord. Let us study
it.

In 1 Chron. 18 : 7-11, we read that David consecrated
to the future temple the spoils of war and the royal gifts

poured into his lap by friendly kings. 1 Chron. 22

recites with some detail his immense gifts of brass, iron,
cedar, building-stone, precious stones, gold and silver—
10

210 David's work for the temple.

the amount of pold beins^ put at 100,000 talents, and
the silver at 1, 000,000. The data furnished in the ac-
count of the poll-tax assessed upon the male adults of
Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 30: 13, and 38: 25, 26)
show that the talent was equal to 3000 shekels. These
data are (1). The number of males who paid, viz., 603,-
550; (2). The sum paid by each — one-half shekel; (3).
The total amount thus assessed and paid, viz., 100
talents, plus 1775 shekels. From these data we find
that 600,000 half shekels were equal to 100 talents, i. e.,
3000 shekels to one talent. The best authorities make
tlie shekel equal to 274 Parisian grains, But prob-
ably the mass of readers will best appreciate the vast
amounts named in 1 Chron. 22 : 14, if they estimate it
as if raised by the poll-tax of the time of Moses. One
hundred talents for 600,000 men is in the ratio of 1,000,-
000 talents to 6,000,000,000 of men. If we estimate the
total population of our earth to-day at 1,000,000,000, it
would require six worlds of the same population with
ours to raise the silver which David is said here to have
furnished to Solomon's temple. And the gold was even
greater in value though one tenth less in weight — gold
being to silver as one to seventeen.

The immense amounts here indicated raise very
grave doubts as to the correctness of these figures —
doubts which are not a little strengthened by a com-
parison of these with other sums estimated in talents
which appear in this history. Thus Solomon's annual
income (considered immense) is put (1 Kings 10: 14)
at QQ(S talents of gold per annum — (estimated equal to
three millions of pounds sterling). In 1 Chron. 29 : 3,
4, David's contributions to the temple out of his per-
sonal estate are put at 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000
talents of silver; the contributions of all his princes
(in mass) at 5,000 talents and 5,000 drams of gold, and
10,000 talents of silver (1 Chron. 29 : 6, 7). The queen
of Sheba gave Solomon 120 talents of gold (1 Kings 10 :
10) and King Hiram of Tyre, the same amount (1 Kings
9 : 14). These were princely gifts (equal each to £540,-
540). Placed by the side of the amounts named in the
text of 1 Chron. 22 : 14, they suggest either some error
in the text, or a grave doubt whether they are to be
taken as precise arithmetical amounts, rather than
general expressions for a very great quantity. Beyond

DAVIDS WORK FOR THE TEMPLE. 211

all question the amount realized for the temple from
the spoils of war — chiefly from the wars of David — was
very great ; not improbably so great as to make an ac-
curate computation and an exact arithmetical expres-
sion of it very diflicult to the Hebrew historian.

David did more for the temple than merely to heap
up gold, brass, and cedars. He charged his noblest son
with the responsibility of pushing the enterprise to its
completion. More than this, he breathed the lofty en-
thusiasm of his own great soul into his officers and
princes. To Solomon he said (in substance) : My son,
it was an object dear to my heart to build an house un-
to the name of the Lord my God. But the Lord said
to me : " Thou hast been a man of war and blood, and
mayest not build it; I will give thee a son, a man of
peace and rest ; he shall build the house." Now, my
son, the Lord has given thee this high honor; be strong
and of good courage; arise, and be doing, and the Lord

be with thee. His words to his princes, exhorting

them to aid Solomon, are full of vigorous inspiration :
"Is not the Lord your God with you? Hath he not
given you rest on every side ? Now set your heart and
your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise, therefore,
and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God to bring
the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy ves-
sels of God into the house that is to be built to the
name of the Lord" (1 Chron. 22: 17-19). An inci-
dental allusion to the public treasurer (1 Chron. 26:
26-28) shows that a fund consecrated to the future tem-
ple had been accumulating since the days of Samuel
the seer, his name and the names of Saul, Abner, and
Joab being mentioned as contributing — the three latter
probably from the spoils of war.

1 Chron. 28 and 29 are full of this inspiring theme.
David convenes his princes and officers, military and
civil; declares to them his own strong desire to build a
temple for God; rehearses the words of the Lord to him
denying him this privilege, but not debarring him from
the honor and joy of making immense provisions for it.
He commits the work to his son Solomon. Then
turning to Solomon, he exhorts him in their presence
to seek the will of God with all diligence; to know the
God of his fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart
and a willing mind — for the Lord would surely know

212

whether his heart were sincere inasmuch as he searches
all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the
thoughts. "If" (said he) "thou seek him, he will be
found of thee ; if thou forsake him, he will cast thee
off forever." He then proceeded to give him the pat-
tern of the house which he had received from the Spirit
of God, even to very minute specifications, not only of
the house itself, but of its sacred furniture. In com-
mending his son to the sympathy and aid of his numer-
ous officers, he takes occasion to refer to the immense
stores which he had accumulated and consecrated to
this great work of which much had been drawn from
his own private fortune (1 Chron. 29 : 2-5) ; and then
makes his warm appeal to them for their benefactions :
" Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day
.unto the Lord ? " The chief officers, the princes, cap-
tains, and men in authority, responded promptly and
nobly. As the record has it, " they offered willingly ; "
and more than this — they gave till the joy of giving
became a thrilling luxury :— " Then the people rejoiced
for that they offered willingly to the Lord; and

David the king also rejoiced with great joy (v. 9).

Such an inspiration of giving brought God very near
both to David and to his people, so that David's soul
poured itself forth spontaneously in one of the most
remarkable thanksgiving prayers on record — thus :

10. Blessed be tliou, Lord God of Israel our father, forever and
ever.

11. Thine, 0 Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in
the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, 0 Lord, and thou art exalted
as head above all.

12. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over
all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is
to make great, and to give strength unto all.

13. Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious
name,

14. But who am I, and what is ray people, that we should be able
to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and
of thine own have we given thee.

15. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners as were all our
fathers : our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none
abiding,

IG, 0 Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build
thee a house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all
thine own.

17, I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleas-

213

ure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I
have willingly offered all these things : and now have I seen with
joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

18. 0 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers,
keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of
thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee :

19. And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy
commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all
these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made pro-
vision.

Then a response from the people was in place. David
said to all the congregation ; " Now bless the Lord your
God ; " and all the congregation blessed the Lord God of
their fathers and bowed down their heads and wor-
shiped the Lord.

Giving careful attention to this thanksgiving prayer
we shall readily note the deep sense it expresses of God's
greatness and excellent glory ; the transition from this
to the littleness of man and of themselves ; their appre-
ciation of the high honor granted them to have and to
know such a God and to feel that all their good comes
from him; the joy of their hearts in giving back so
much of their treasure to build an house for his name
— all they have being truly his own ; and coupled with
this a rich, refreshing sense of having consecrated this
wealth to God with an honest and willing mind.

Noticeably it did not abate from the joy of this con-
secration and thanksgiving prayer to think that this
God to whom they offer both their gold and their prayer
knows all hearts and will witness to their sincerit}^
The climax of their joy seems to lie in this deep con-
sciousness of being whole-hearted and thoroughly sin-
cere in this entire service. Fitly this prayer closed

with the petition— May God's grace perpetuate this
spirit of consecration forever ! " 0 Lord, keep this for-
ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of
thy people, and hold their hearts steadfast to thyself,
and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy
commandments and to build the palace for which I have
made provision " (vs. 18, 19.)

This was one of the last great efforts of the aged king,
before he should lay down his earthly work to die, and
one of the noblest. A grander example of munificent
benefaction— of giving with the whob heart, when
has the world ever seen?

214 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUCCESSION.

XI. Arrangements for the succession to the throne. Con-
spiracy of Adonijah. If David had any son other than
Solomon, worthy at all to succeed him on the throne,
the history gives no hint of it — no light as to his
name or character. Both Absalom and Adonijah
thought themselves worthy : it is doubtless well that
the Lord thought otherwise. The succession fell to
Solomon, probably as being prospectively the fit man,
and possibly by virtue of some divinely manifested
choice. In his early years he did indeed appear exceed-
ingly well, as we shall see.

Adonijah, a younger brother of Absalom, missed the
lessons of wisdom which he ought to have learned
from the failure of his brother's conspiracy for the
throne. Probably he relied upon the extreme age of
his father and the youthfulness of Solomon; and,
not least, upon the momentum which his movement
would receive from the 23restige of Joab's name and
influence. But the sins of earlier years lay heavy
upon Joab. Neither David nor the Lord could forget
them; and probably his standing before the people
suffered in consequence. Adonijah's real strength,

therefore, was never great. Following close in the

foot-steps of Absalom, he affected royal display; char-
iots, horses, fifty men to run before him, and, to crown
all, a great feast under the inspiration of which the
trumpet was to ring out its blast with the procla-
mation— " Adonijah reigneth;" "God save king Adoni-
jah ! " Nathan the prophet is prominent in counter-
acting this conspiracy. Hastening to Bathsheba, the
queen mother, in few words he puts before her mind
the pending danger both to herself and to her son
and to the whole realm ; She brings the case before
the aged king. He rouses himself to one last effort ;
under the solemn oath confirms the kingdom to Solo-
mon, and directs the steps to be taken to secure the
succession to him. Under the leadership of Nathan
the prophet, Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, now cap-
tain-general of the army in place of Joab, Solomon
is re-anointed and the proclamation thereof goes
abroad over the city in the joyful acclamations of the
people. The conspiracy of Adonijah is squelched
without a blow. His guests were about to close their
long feasting and revelry when the quick ear of Joab

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUCCESSION. 215

caught the trumpet blast and he started up, inquiring,
" Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an
uproar ? " (1 Kings 1 : 41). At this juncture, Jonathan,
son of Abiathar arrives, fully able to explain it.
Hearing his story "all the guests that were with
Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every
man his way" — and nobody said any more that
Adonijah was king. Quietly, peacefuU}^, without
bloodshed, or further delay, Solomon was firmly
seated on the throne of his father. Some old polit-
ical offenders— Joab, Shimei, and this Adonijah,
were one by one disposed of — Joab with no condi-
tions and no interposition of clemency; the other
two under conditions which might have saved them
from death for their political crimes. Joab was a
hard man, born to rule; of stern and resolute will;
a veteran and able warrior and little else ; a man
who subserved the purposes of his king in many
very important respects, yet who, compared with
David, lacked most if not all of his softer, nobler
qualities — whom David never could love, though he
could use him because he must, and though he feared
him for his dangerous rashness and reckless viola-
tion of David's known commands and wishes. As a
representative man Joab belonged to an age which
in David's time was passing away, and with the
advent of Solomon, had passed altogether.

Abiathar deserved his penalty — that of being dis-
placed from the high priesthood— the last incumbent
in the line of Eli, in whom the judgment, passed two
generations before upon Eli and his house, received its
consummating fulfillment.

The tone of the narrative (1 Kings 1 and 2) does not
give indications that this uprising of Adonijah was
specially grave in character or grievous to the aged
king. But it may have been more so than appears at
first view. David was an old man, passing that stage
of this earthly life when " the grasshopper is a burden."
His vital forces were extremely low ; " he gat no heat."
Disease was upon him. Old friends from whom he had
a right to expect better fidelity were turning against
him. And this second conspiracy of a son, even though
not specially formidable, was yet painfully suggestive,
and to a father so near the last days of life, must have

216 dayid's last words and cpiaracter.

been cruelly afflictive. These considerations will

show the adaptation of two separate groups of Psalms
to these scenes of his life ; viz., Ps. 38-41, and Ps. 69-71.
To the careful reader of these Psalms it will be entirely
obvious that they give the experience of the Psalmist
in extreme old" age, and under the weight, not of years
only, but of infirmities and of sickness. Each of these
groups stands at or near the close of one of the origi-
nally distinct books of the Psalter — the first book closing
with Ps. 41 ; the second with Ps. 72. 1 need not re-
peat here the various considerations which sustain this
view of their application to these last trials of David.
The reader is referred to my Notes on these Psalms. They
have special interest as being the latest utterances of
that voice which sang the high praises of God so sweetly
in eo.rly life, and which seems to have missed no oppor-
tunity to bear its testimony to a heart warm with the
love of God ; for the most part constant and abiding in
its trust and true to the high mission of service for God
and God's people to which the Spirit had called him.

XII. David's last loords and character. The passage 2
Sam. 23 : 1-7, the translators of our version took to be
"the last Avords of David." The original might be
translated either the later or the latest ; meaning, there-
fore, either words later than the preceding song, or the
latest of all. There can be no special objection to the
sense, latest, last.

The passage has the distinctive features of Hebrew
poetry — the repetitious parallelism and the exuberant
imagery. It is also very terse ; consequently elliptical,

and sometimes in a measure obscure. To give the

greater force to the few special points he has to make,
lie states in the outset who he is and under what author-
ity he speaks. " The man raised up on high " — taken
from following the flock of Jesse and exalted to be the

Lord's Anointed over his chosen people. "The sweet

Psalmist of Israel " — literally, he who is sweet, delight-
ful as to the songs of Israel ; i. c, whose sacred songs are
charming, mellifluous, precious to the ear and to the

soul. in four-fold phrase; in four diverse forms of

expression he afflrms that he spake under inspiration
of God. "The Spirit spake by me;" it was his word
that fell from my tongue ; " the God of Israel said ; " " the
Kock of Israel spake to me," thus : — and this is the first

217

and main sentiment of this song : " He that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." Inasmuch
as he is set to act for God and under God, let him be
true to God's high behest; let him fairly represent his
own Infinite King and Lord. God ordains human gov-
ernment only for the ends of justice and righteousness.
Men who rule for other ends and unto other intended

results are an utter abomination before him. V. 4

makes prominent the blessings which attend just and
upright ruling. Such a ruler is to his people as the
light of morning when the sun rises, even a cloudless
morning ; and as the grass which springs up under clear

light (sun-shine) after rain. V. 5 is difficult, the

choice of constructions lying between the interrogative
and the affirmative ; the former thus : For is not my
house so with God (^^ e., like these figurative representa-
tions) ? For he has made with me an everlasting cove-
nant, ordered in all respects and sure (faithfully kept) ;
for this is all my salvation and all my desire ; shall it

not therefore prosper? With this construction the

sense is unexceptionable, but the original lacks the
usual particle of interrogation, and, therefore, leaves

some doubt as to the soundness of this construction.

The second (the affirmative) construction -admits in its
first clause and in its last that the then present indi-
cations in David's house were less propitious than one
might expect. Yet the Psalmist declares his unfalter-
ing faith in God notwithstanding — thus : Though my
house be not (just at present) so blessed of God.; yet his
covenant with me is everlasting — is well-ordered and
kept ; and my heart is wholly in it with my utmost
longing desire, although for a season now there may

seem to be no visible progress. The sense under this

construction is by no means bad. There were dark
things in the house [family] of David as he neared the
close of his life; was it not therefore pertinent that he
should take note of them as things to be thought and
spoken of in this song of last words, yet giving the
world his grounds of consolation and hope ; viz., in the
fact that God's covenant with him is everlasting — is
well arranged and ultimately sure ; and that in the end
his Great Anointed would come to a throne analogous
to his own and rule in righteousness and with tran-
scendent glory.

218

Over against the prosperity of the just and honest
ruler, the sons of Belial — wicked, unjust men — shall be
as thorns all thrust away; not to be touched by the
hand; but the man who has occasion to touch them
must be armed with iron and wood like the shaft of a
spear. Then let them all be burned where they lie, or
(as some take the last word) — for their utter end, de-
struction. Wicked rulers come to an end of unmiti-
gated ruin. Thorns they are, torn out by their roots ;
handled with instruments of wood and iron and without
mercy; then fired and burned till they are no more.
The fruits of good and just ruling are cheering as the
light of the new day; grateful and welcome as the fresh
vegetation of grass and flower under sunshine after rain.
Extreme and utter is the contrast under the reign of the
sons of Belial. This sentiment is worthy to be the last
thought of King David — worthy to be embalmed in the
poetic strains of his latest inspired song.

The Character of David.

There is the less occasion to comment at any consid-
erable length upon David's character, because through-
out his history it is YQiwiiv'kiihly transparent. The atten-
tive reader sees the real David everywhere in his full
and distinct proportions. Nobody can doubt his sin-
cerity, his great simplicity of character, his affec-
tionate disposition, his proclivity toward strong and
ardent friendships, his magnanimity as we see it con-
tinually evinced toward Saul, and, indeed, toward
Absalom — his two sorest enemies. That he had per-
sonal courage, who can fail to see? So also he had
rare power as a leader of men, whether in war or in
peace — a large measure of that cool, independent, self-
reliant judgment, which made his intuitions so safe, and
his success so nearly universal. This class of qualities
alone would suffice to place him among the world's
greatest men.

In respect to gifts of mind in the special sense he
was thoroughly a musician and a poet. Through native
endowment he took in readily these great arts — poetry
and song. By means of these gifts, and their early and
never neglected culture, he was prepared of God to in-

David's last words and character. 219

augurate that wonderful institution of sacred song in
Israel which ministered so richly during his reign to
the attractions and to the moral power of the sanctuary-
worship, and which has sent down through all future

ages its legacy of blessings. But the best thing to

be said of David is that from early age to his death, he^
was a servant, a worshiper, and a friend of God. There'
have been other men of equal native endowments who
yet have failed to fill any worthy sphere of service for
God or for man, through lack of this steadfast relation-
ship to God. David was a great success in life, because
he lived and walked with God. We may omit at this
stage the one great sin of his life, counting that a
mournful exception to the otherwise pure and stead-
fast current of his history. Yet while this great sin

and the manifold evils in his family are before our mind,
let it be said, not by any means as an apology morally,
but somewhat as an explanation philosophically — that it
was David's misfortune to live in an age of polygamy,
and, moreover, an age when current sentiment made
polygamy specially incumbent upon kings. It made
his family troubles still greater that he went to a
heathen land for at least one of his wives — viz., to
Tolmai, king of Geshur — the marriage which brought
into his family both Absalom and Adonijah. How
many of his wives were selected for their personal virtues
and real worth we can not well judge. The evidence
scarcely extends be3^ond a solitary one (1 Sam. 25). It
is sad to notice that while there was at least one (2
Sam. 6: 16, 20) who could taunt him for his noble
enthusiasm while the ark was coming into his royal
city, we lack the evidence that any one of them ever
sympathized with him in his great afflictions, or helped
him in his struggles of agonizing prayer, or bore with
him the burden of training wisely his numerous sons
and daughters. Oh, how blessed his lot had been with
but one wife, and that one worthy of his own noble heart
— provided, also, there had been no current sentiment
or usage, according a certain license to kings for the
violation of their marriage vows! But David was
human, and, therefore, not altogether above the in-
fluence of the pernicious sentiments and usages of
his time. To those sentiments and usages as occa-
sions and temptations we trace his great sin, and more

220 RELATIONS OF THE HEBREWS TO OTHER NATIONS.

than a few of the saddest calamities and sorrows of his
life.

Passing these sins, every thing else testifies that he
walked with God. If we read his Psalms in connection
with the leading events of his historic life, we see the
evidence that his prayer and communion with God
kept the Holy One of Israel ever before him ; that he
sought and found help under all the changes and ex-
tremest exigencies of a most eventful life ; that during
those years of perpetual trial from Saul, his soul was
evermore steadied and stayed on the Lord his God ; that
under the glory of a prosperous throne he did not be-
come giddy and vain, but bore his honors meekly and
sought to acquit himself rather to God than to men. It
is wonderful how such fear and love of God give to the
great men of earth the ballast they so much need. How
safely they outride the storms of life with God at the
helm ! A sense of his presence impresses just views of
responsibility, brings conscious help in every need, and
precious consolation, though every other source thereof

should fail. We may, therefore, think of David as

setting before the kings of the earth, and, indeed, before
all men holding positions of responsibility, an illustrious
example of the priceless value of true piet}'-, showing
how it comes in to make a noble character and to insure
the best success in human endeavor; how it shields
from peril and guides in wisdom; how it ministers
consolation where every human heart needs it, and
glorifies man by keeping him evermore beneath the
shadow of the Almighty.

Mutual Relations of the Hebrews to other known Historic
Nations.

Before we take our leave of David, let our attention
be turned a moment to the connection of the Hebrew
people with other nations known to history.

With their Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews severed
themselves for a long time from all historic connection
with Egypt. Amalek, Midian, Edom, Moab, Amnion,
and the Amorites of great Arabia; the Canaanites,
Hittites, and Philistines of Palestine ; have none of
them sent down to our time any historic records of
date anterior to Solomon. Whatever records (if any)

RELATIONS OF THE HEBREWS TO OTHER NATIONS. 221

they may have had have long since perished. Egypt,
during most or all of this period — from the Exodus to
Solomon — was comparatively inactive ; Assyria was yet

undeveloped. That the Hebrew people came into no

collision of arms with either Egypt or Egypt's old ene-
mies of Western Asia, peopling the valleys of the
Orontes and the Euphrates, may perhaps be due to the
fact that they did not hold the coast line of the
Mediterranean — the well-known thoroughfare of armies
— Egyptian or Asiatic— in their hostile demonstrations.
May it not have been of God's wise providence to leave
this coast line through so many centuries in the hands
of the Philistines, and thus exempt the Hebrews from
all contact with the movements of hostile armies
threading that great route of travel from Egypt to
Western Asia ? Remembering how it befell King Josiah
(2 Chron. 35 : 20-24) when he came into collision with
Pharaoh Necho, hurling his chariots and horsemen upon
the rising empire of Chaldea, we may readily appre-
hend the possibilities of this danger. Until the reign
of David they did not practically occupy that coast
line^the western margin belt of Palestine.

Thus it came to pass that during the entire period
from Moses to David, including the administrations of
Joshua, the Judges, Samuel and Saul, all the foreign
powers with whom the Hebrews came into contact have
passed into oblivion, leaving no historic records behind
them.

With David a new era in this respect opened.
When he pushed his victorious armies into the valley
.of the Euphrates and smote the king of Zobah (2
Sam. 8 : 3-8) and also the Syrians of Damascus who
were called in to their help, he came politically into
contact with nations of whose history some frag-
ments have survived to our times. Are those fragments
in harmony idth the history ichich appears in our sacred
hooks f

This war is mentioned by Eupolemus^- in a frag-
ment preserved to us by Eusebius, thus: "David
discomfited the vSyrians who dwelt by the river Eu-
phrates, and subdued Commagene, and the Assyrians
and Phenicians of Gadalene. He also made expedi-

* A great historic writer, of the age shortly before the Christian

222 RELATIONS OF THE HEBREWS TO OTHER NATIONS.

tions against the Idumeans, and Ammonites, and Moab-
ites, and Itureans, and Nabateans, and Nabdeans."-

Nicolas of Damascus (of the age of Augustus Caesar)
is believed to have drawn his information from the
records or traditions of his own country. He wrote :
" After this there was a certain Hadad, a native
Syrian, who had great power. He ruled over Damas-
cus and all Syria except Phenicia. He likewise
undertook a w^ar with David, the king of Judea, and
contended with him in many battles. In the last of
them all, which was by the river Euphrates and
in which he suffered defeat, he yet showed himself

a prince of the greatest courage and prowess."

That Nicolas speaks of David as " king of Judea "
is due to the date of his writing (within the cent-
ury before the Christian era) Avhen that country
was known under no other name. That he eulogizes
Hadad, though recording his signal defeat before
David, may be ascribed to merit or to national feel-
ing. The salient points in this fragment indicate
its authenticity.

According to the sacred narrative David came into
special relations with Tyre and her king Hiram. (See
2 Sam. 5 : 11, and 1 Kings 5 : 1, and 1 Chron. 14 : 1.)
These points are made historically probable by the fol-
lowing considerations : That Tyre, Sidon, and Phenicia,
in general, led the civilized world in the line of com-
merce and architecture ; that after David obtained con-
trol of the great commercial thoroughfare from the
Mediterranean to the Euphrates, it became^ vital to
their commerce to be on friendly terms with him ;
that the natural trade with David's country was of
priceless value to those cities — they giving cedars and
skilled mechanical labor, and getting bread-stuffs in
exchange. Hence, most naturally, " Hiram became
ever a lover of David" (1 Kings 5 : 1).

Direct confirmation of the sacred history appears in
the fact that the name of Hiram as the king of Tyre at
this period comes to us certified upon an Assyrian in-
scription ; also in the testimony of Menander preserved
by Josephus, of Herodotus, and also of Dius. Dius and
Menander were Phenician historians.-^

*See more at length on these confirmations in Rawlinson'a
Bampton Lectures, pages 89-92, and 304-308.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF KINGS. 223

Special confirmation appears also in the nicely ac-
curate references in Scripture to Sidon and to Tyre —
the former in most ancient times the leading city ; but
the latter taking the lead in the time of David and
ever after. Testimonies from the oldest profane records
are remarkably in accord with this change in the rela-
tive importance of these cities. While Sidon occurs in
Scripture even before Abraham Gen. 10 : 15, 19 ; in the
benedictions of Jacob, Gen. 49 : 13 ; and as " great
Zidon," Josh. 11 : 8, and 19 : 28, Tyre comes first to
view (Josh. 19 : 29). So, in profane authorities, Homer
speaks of Sidon often ; but of Tyre never.

Thus our scriptural history of David receives all the
confirmation from profane sources which the present
state of those records allows us to expect. As we come
down to later periods and as profane records multiply,
the points of confirmation will be correspondingly more
numerous.

CHAPTER IX.

Introduction to the Books of Kings.

As has been said already, the two books of Samuel
were originally one ; also the two books of Kings and the
two of Chronicles. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts

and other authorities are unanimous to this point.

Josephus counts the books of the old Testament canon
as twenty-two on this method. The fact has some im-
portance for its bearing on our questions of author and
date of compilation. Examined and judged of in the
light of internal tests of authorship, the two books of
Samuel might be assigned to one and the same hand ;
so also the two books of Kings to one author; and like-
wise the two of Chronicles; while under the same
tests we should assign the books of Kings to one author;
the books of Chronicles to another and later hand; and
the books of Samuel to yet another but earlier. The
author of Samuel never refers us to any original
sources; does not say: "The rest of the acts of Saul,
first and last, lo they are written in the books of the

224 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF KINGS.

Chronicles of the kings of Israel." It would seem that
in his day the prophet-annalist was but beginning
his professional service of making permanent record of
the great historic events of Israel. It may be noted,
also, that the author of Samuel gives but very few
points of chronology — few compared with either the
author of Kings or the author of Chronicles. If (as
is generally supposed) the books of Samuel were begun
by Samuel the prophet, and continued by his suc-
cessors, e. g.y Gad and Nathan, the latter followed
closely in the steps of their prophet-father. Mani-
festly, the same general methods of composition con-
tinue throughout these books.

The books of Kings exhibit unity of purpose and
method to such an extent as strongly favors the sup-
position of one and the same author. He refers us to
his original sources systematically, from Solomon to
Josiah inclusive — but no further. For what follows
Josiah, he may be presumed to have drawn from his
personal knowledge. This is one among several cir-
cumstances which strongly favors the opinion that
Jeremiah was the author of these books of Kings.
Other circumstances are the marked similarity between
the history of Josiah's sons, of the conquest of Judah and
destruction of Jerusalem as given respectively in the
prophecy of Jeremiah and in 2 Kings; also the similar
moral purpose which underlies both books. Promi-
nently under this head we shall note the references to
idolatry as the great national sin and the ground cause
of her ruin, and a like familiarity with " the book of
the law," especially with the judgments threatened
against apostate Israel in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Comparing Kings with Chronicles, we shall see that
the latter brings the history down to a later point, even
to the restoration from captivity in Babylon ; also that
its author gives credit in the same way for his original
authorities, referring the reader to them for " the rest
of the acts " of all his prominent kings ; moreover, that
he either had access to other and different authorities
from those used by the compiler of Kings, or at least
made in some cases fuller extracts from them. We
find that he often gives us new matter; e. f/., in regard
to King Asa, compare 2 Chroh. 14-16 with 1 Kings 15;
also to Manasseh's captivity and repentance (2 Chron.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF KINGS. 225

33: 11-19 with 2 Kings 21: 1-18); and in general the
author of Chronicles gives a much more full account of
the great reformations under the reigns respectively of
Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah ; while, on the other
hand, the author of Kings gives much more real history
of the kings of Israel and of those prophets, e. g., Elijah
and Elisha, whose labors were chiefly among the ten
tribes. Fortunately these books serve largely to supple-
ment each other. They also stand in the relation of in-
dependent witnesses.

Recurring to the hypothesis that Jeremiah was (sup-
posably) the author of Kings (as I have assumed Ezra
to be of Chronicles), it is well to say definitely that I
do not claim for these positions any direct historic evi-
dence. No such evidence exists. Both books appear
without name of author. But in the absence of the
highest and only absolute evidence, it may be at once
X)leasant and useful to approximate toward a satisfac-
tory theory as to the author of each of these books.

On the point of Jeremiah's authorship of Kings, it
may suggest itself as a strong objection that his own
book of prophecy comes down to us with less of order
and method in its arrangement than any other book of
the Bible. It is singularly disconnected and frag-
mentary, indicating that its author either had little
command of his time, or that he lacked a proper appre-
ciation of order. The former is almost without doubt
the true explanation of this disorder in the prophecies
of Jeremiah. Now, therefore, if Jeremiah, either for
lack of leisure, or because of the unrest, imprisonment,
persecution, suffering, of his lot, could not put together
a connected series of his own prophecies, how (it may be
asked) could he write out such a history as appears in
these books of Kings ?

The answer is at hand. The books of Kings were
written at an earlier date than the body of his prophe-
cies. Nearly all his successive prophecies date after the
death of Josiah, during the reigns of his godless sons.
Then Jeremiah was subject to harassing persecutions —
almost never at rest sufficiently for quiet authorship.
But his earlier life was passed under totally different
circumstances. Beginning his prophetic work in
Josiah's thirteenth year, he had eighteen years of un-
broken quiet before Josiah's death. Nothing in his

226 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF KINGS.

known circumstances forbids the supposition that

during this period he wrote the book of Kings. We

may go further. Not only does nothing forbid this sup-
position; there is every thing to favor it. At the com-
mencement of Jeremiah's prophetic life Josiah was
entering upon a great religious reformation. For the
promotion of this reform, he and his people needed pre-
cisely such a power as this book of Kings would suppl)^
Every word in these two books (or one) bears with tell-
ing force to promote the moral impression which such a
reform demanded as its very ground-work. These two
books give prominence to the history and work of the
prophets, e. g., Elijah and Elisha. At this juncture it
was every thing to utilize the labors of all the previous
prophets and bring them to bear with concentrated force

upon the hearts of the people. The author of Kings

omits no historic fact which would legitimately show
that the idolatrous kings of Israel brought down upon
themselves, their djaiasty, and their realm terrific judg-
ments from the Almighty. His selection of matter
witnesses that God evermore promised blessings to his
people and their sovereign when obedient, and that his
mercies were exceedingly great to those who humbly
sought him and penitently turned from their evil ways.
Thus blending mercies to the penitent and prayerful
with judgments on the prayerless and idol-worshiping,
these books brought the maximum of moral power to
bear toward that last great reform in which the Lord
sought to pluck his people from the ruin then immi-
nently impending. Thus do all internal testimonies

combine to sustain and render highly probable the hy-
pothesis that Jeremiah was the author of the books of
Kings.

On the subject of chronology there is no lack of state-
ments in either Kings or Chronicles. Both authors
usually state how old each king was w^hen he began
to reign, and how many years he reigned. While the
author of Kings is carrying along co-ordinately the con-
temporary reigns in the two kingdoms, he is wont to note
in what year of the reigning monarch in one kingdom
a new king came to the throne in the rival kingdom.
Dating from a fixed epoch, e. g., from the division into
two kingdoms at the accession of Rehoboam, or from
the dedication of the temple, seems not to have been

SOLOMON. 227

thought of. This improved method of chronology has
been a thing of later times.

It is the affliction of all critics that these chrono-
logical notices are decidedly imperfect. It is gener-
ally agreed that these imperfections are to be attributed

variously to the following causes : (a.) The use of

Hebrew letters for numbers — these letters being liable

to be mistaken by copyists one for another. (b.)

The practice of using abbreviations to some extent,

thus increasing the liability of mistake. (c.) The

practice by the earlier scribes or revisors, of suggesting
corrections on the margin, which, by some later hand

were introduced into the text. (d.) The attempt of

some professed chronologist to carry out his precon-
ceived system at the expense of modif34ng dates and

numbers to make them conform to his ideas. (e.) In

the series of kings of Israel it is probable there were
some periods of anarchy or of foreign rule, not defi-
nitely indicated. This may account for the fact that
the total years of her kings from Jeroboam I, to the
ninth year of Hoshea (the end of the northern king-
dom) is less by twenty years than the corresponding
sum of Judah's kings from Rehoboam to the sixth year
of Hezekiah.

Under influences coming in from one or another of
these several sources it must be conceded that the
chronological numbers in both Kings and Chronicles
are as a whole quite unsatisfactory. No critical labors

have hitherto been able to solve all the difficulties.

The purpose and plan of this volume do not provide for
extended discussion of these points. The figures which
I give may be considered as in the main only approx-
imations to perfect accurac3^ It is fortunate that these
imperfections of the Hebrew text are mostly restricted
to numbers and dates, and do not affect vital facts ;
much less, important doctrines.*

Solomon.

The main points of his history may be arranged
thus :

*■ For convenience to the reader I place in the appendix to this
volume a chronological table of the kings of Judah and of Israel,
and also of the prophets according to what are regarded as the best
authorities accessible.

228

I. His early 'promise.

II. His dream at Giheon: God's ivord to him and his
choice.

III. His wisdom and knoivledge, and his literary worl's.

IV. His great ivealth and royal state.

V. His building of tJw temple and its consecration.

VI. The second vision at Griheon.

VII. His foreign relations; political, commercial, social,
domestic.

VIII. His apostasy from God; its antecedents and occa-
sions.

IX. His repentance ; the evidence in the case.

X. The influence of this reign upon the moral and religious
state of Israel.

XI. Points of contact with p)rofane history.

I. Solomon'' s early promise. In common with Saul,
Israel's first king, Solomon, at least in his early life,
was modest and humble, neither self-conceited nor
vain. Both had at first a Teasonabl}^ just sense of
the great responsibilities of a king. This is more
apparent in Solomon than ever in Saul, and consti-
tuted one of the brightest token of his future promise.
His strong desire to rule well, coupled with a sense
of personal obligation to God, which was evinced
in his devotion to religious duties, must have in-
spired large expectations in the hearts of the saga-
cious elders of Israel, and if evinced fully to David
before his death, must have been exceedingly gratify-
ing to him. The record in 1 Chron. 28 : 9-iO, 20, 21,
gives very fully the warm parental exhortations with
which David devolved upon his hopeful son these
great responsibilities, but drops not a word of re23ly
from Solomon; nothing to indicate the spirit with
which he received these exhortations. But when he
entered upon his royal duties his spirit became at
once apparent, giving the best of testimony that the
counsels of his dying father had gone to his heart.
Such regard for wise parental counsels is in any young
man among the brightest and best elements of future
promise.

II. Solomonh dream at Giheon : God's word to him and
his choice. Of this great event the staple facts are given
in both Kings and Chronicles (1 Kings 3 : 4-15, and 2
Chron. 1 : 2-12), but most fully in Kings, although the

229

antecedent circumstances are stated more at length in
Chronicles. The two accounts are manifestly inde-
pendent of each other. The author of Chronicles

states that Solomon spake to all Israel — officers of every
grade and people — to go with him to Gibeon, and ex-
plains the reason for assembling at that place, viz.,
because the tabernacle built by Sloses was still there,
although the ark had long been in Jerusalem in a tent
specially provided for it by David. The brazen altar
built originally in the wilderness was also there.
Thither Solomon and all the congregation resorted, and
there he offered a thousand burnt-offerings. On the
night following the Lord appeared to Solomon in a
dream, and said — " Ask what I shall give thee." From
this point we have the more expanded statements in
Kings. The answer of Solomon expatiates upon God's
great mercies to his father, culminating in the gift of a
son sitting upon his own throne over so great a people ;
expresses his deep sense of personal weakness — " I am
but a little child, and I know not how to go out or
come in;" and then makes his great request; "Give
thy servant, therefore, 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 people ? "-

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing,
and as if to testify at once to this pleasure in Solomon's
choice, and to his glorious munificence in giving bless-
ings to the humble and pure-minded, he said : " Because
thou hast asked this thing, and not the lower, selfish
good of long life, or riches, or the life of thine enemies ;
Behold, I have done according to thy word, and have
given thee wisdom, never surpassed among mortals, and
never to be ; and I have also given thee that which
thou hast not asked — both riches and honor. On one
special condition, viz., " If thou shalt walk in my ways
and keep my statutes as David thy father did, then I

will lengthen thy days." The historian adds : " Then

Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream." But,
manifestly, this was no mere fancy, and can by no means
be classed with ordinary, average human dreaming,
under the normal action of mind in sleep. It is extra-
ordinar}^ and special, like the vision of Jacob at Bethel
— produced by most impressive manifestations of God's
presence to the human soul, awakening its powers to

230 Solomon's dream and choice.

their highest activity. The moral power of the will
is by no means suspended, but rather intensified.
Solomon's choice was, therefore, most entirely moral
and responsible, and God so regarded it. This case
seems to be closely analogous to prophetic vision which
is frequently spoken of as a " dream," and which stood in
some undefined relation to sleep — a relation of which
we can get no absolute knowledge without personal ex-
perience— perhaps not even with it.

We may notice that while the promises of great
wisdom and great wealth were absolute (without condi-
tions), the promise of long life was made upon conditions,
viz., of his steadfastness in the ways of his father David.
In this point Solomon sadly failed, and consequently
failed to realize the long life conditionally promised.
He is supposed to have ascended the throne at an age
not exceeding twenty. Having reigned forty, he died
at the age of sixty — not by any means an old man.

The moral lessons of this dream at Gibeon are richly
suggestive and instructive. It suggests that, practi-
cally, in view of the youthful vigor normally accorded
to virtuous young men, and the possibilities that lie
within the grasp of earnest, persevering endeavor, God
says to every young man as he said to Solomon — ^^Ask
what I ahall give thee.^' Make choice of the ends you
would accomplish in life. If they are worthy ends my
blessing shall be upon you. According to your faith
it shall be done. Any young man can choose as
Solomon did to " serve his generation according to the will
of GocV — to do the very duties which God in providence
lays before his hand, and to do those duties in the best
manner possible to him with his powers and oppor-
tunities. This virtuous noble purpose is one of the
first and best possibilities of every young man. He can
be, in this highest sense, good. He can consecrate to
tlie service of God in the line of labor for human well-
being whatever powers God gives him. So doing he
may be confident of two things : (a.) that his choice
will please God; (b.) that God will give him success —
most surely of all, success in his endeavors to please God
truly and serve him faithfully — than which no other
success can be greater or better. If he shall not become
as wise or as wealthy as Solomon, he can, at least, please
God as iiyell — can fill his measure of responsibility as

Solomon's dream and choice. 231

honestly and as acceptably to God, and can make it
most sure that his life shall not be a failure.

Again : the case as presented here, is good both for
proof and for illustration of the principle that when
men "covet earnestly" and supremely the best gifts,
God loves not only to give these best things thus pref-
erably and supremely sought, but to throw in the
lesser things as unasked gratuities— in business phrase
— "into the bargain." God gave Solomon not only
the wise and understanding heart to rule well — that
which he specially sought; but also great wisdom in
other directions; immense riches, moreover, and un-
surpassed honors. It seems to have been very easy for
the Lord to throw in all these lesser things, and make
no particular account of them. They were so much
extra — a kind of bonus, which signifies the rich mu-
nificence of the Giver, and the gushing fullness of his
heart toward that unselfish virtue which is so like
God, and which he so naturally enjoys when he sees

in his creatures. Moreover, this case suggests the

general law as propounded by Jesus in his great ser-
mon ; " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things" — food, raiment,
these lower blessings— "shall be added unto you."
They shall be thrown in, almost without your asking.
Give your full heart and chief endeavor to seeking
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and God will
see to the filling of your cup with earthly good as

may be best for you in his sight. Hence we may

conclude that the principle on which God blessed
Solomon was not exceptional but general. Any body
can have blessings from God on the same principle —
good blessings — the Lord himself being judge as to
what is really good for any one of us personally to
have. "Godliness hath the promise of the life that
now is," and in no trivial sense.

III. Solomon''s great ivisdom and hnoiolcdge ; his literary
works. The special type of wisdom wliich Solomon
asked— "an understanding heart to judge thy people,
that I may discern between good and bad " (1 Kings 3 :
9); "wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and
come in before this people " (2 Chron. 1 : 10)— was that
sagacity, that intuitive apprehension of character and
conduct, coupled with an unfailing sense of equity as

232 Solomon's wisdom and writings.

between man and man which he needed as the supreme
judge of Israel. His thought was specially upon the
civil administration of law. In its external relations
the realm was at peace with all the nations of the earth.
But internally, human depravity must needs be cared
for; controversies would perpetually arise; here, there-
fore, this profound sagacity of the discerning unbiased
judge would be the first qualification in Israel's king.

Noticeably, the author of Kings proceeds at once to

give an illustrative case in proof that God did really
endow Solomon with unsurpassed gifts in this special
direction. The story is told with beautiful simplicity
(1 Kings 3: 16-28). Two women ("harlots" they are
called), living in the same house, each became a mother
nearly at the same time. One of them overlaid her little
son by night and caused his death, and then slyly placed
the dead infant in the bosom of her sister harlot and took
thence the living boy for hers. In the morning this
second mother arose to nurse her child, and lo, it was
dead ! But what mother does not know her own infant
from a thousand? She saw that this dead infant was
not her own dear boy. Now there is a fierce dispute
and contention for the living babe — a case which none
of the lower courts availed to solve — so it came before

Solomon. His decision has been admired in all ages

as a perfect model of human sagacity. Look at the case.
Here was the conflicting testimony of these two women,
one swearing point blank against the other. The cir-
cumstances ruled out the possibility of any extraneous
testimony ; they were the only Avitnesses. It would
l)robably have been impossible to go further back with
the inquiry, which of these two women sustained pre-
viously the best reputation for truth and veracity. In
such inquiries the acutest judges often find it requires
little short of omniscience to sift and weigh the con-
flicting testimony. Solomon attempted no such thing.
Bat Solomon looked into human nature. He knew the
heart of a real mother. So he said, " Bring me a sword."
Now "divide the living child and give each of these
claimants one half" This was not ordered in pettish
mood, as if he were fretted and disgusted with their per-
sistent demand for tlie living treasure. No, indeed ; all
he wanted was to see whose maternal heart would quiver
at the thought of that sword passing through the body

Solomon's wisdom and writings. 233

of her own dear babe. This was the revelation which
he sought, and which he gained. The mother of the
living child cried out, no, no ; give her the living child,
and by no means slay it. Let me have the dead — but,
Oh, spare the living one ! The other acquiesced, alas,
but too readily in the king's decision— the heartless
wretch ! Now Solomon understands the case perfectly.
His verdict comes : That mother whose bowels yearn over
the living child is the rightful claimant ; give her the

living child. We may hope he punished the false

claimant for her group of horrid crimes — stealing a
living babe and putting her dead one in its place; per-
sistent perjury, and horrible inhumanity. But on this
point the record is silent. His decision on the main
question made a profound impression as it went forth
over all Israel. " They saw that the wisdom of God was
in him to do judgment."

According to God's promise the wisdom and knowl-
edge which he aided Solomon to obtain took a wide
range and covered far other ground than what is strictly
and technically judicial science. As the author of
Kings has it (1 Kings 4 : 29), " God gave Solomon wis-
dom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness
of heart even as the sand which is on the sea shore."
*' Largeness of heart " is breadth of understanding — a wide
range of knowledge ; treasures of science and wisdom,
at once minute and comprehensive, covering many
spacious fields of human thought. The specifications
which appear in the record lead us definitely toward

two departments of human knowledge : (L) Natural

history, of both animals and plants; for "he spake of
trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even to
the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spake
also of beast and of fowl, and of creeping things and of

fishes." And (2.) A department which we have no

precisely equivalent term to indicate, but which may
be defined as human knowledge expressed in proverbs
and cultivated in the framing and solving of "hard
questions." It made itself at home in the science of
ethics, but was free to go abroad quite beyond this ter-
ritory. Of the "three thousand j^roverbs" which Solo-
mon spake we have doubtless a specimen in the book
of "Proverbs" which bears his name. If we had also
some of those "hard questions" which the Queen of
11

234 Solomon's wealth and royal state.

Sheba brought to "prove him with" (1 Kings 10: 1)
and which j^rofane history refers to as the past-time and
wit-sharpener of Solomon and of Hiram of Tyre and
his savans, we might better comprehend the drift of
curious inquisitive thought in that age. It was, doubt-
less, oriental, but whether Samson's riddles or the
grander questions of Job and his three friends, or the
current strain of the book of Proverbs, would best rep-
resent it, we have not all the means of knoAving that
we might desire. The historian states, however, very
explicitly that Solomon exceeded all the kings of the
earth in wisdom as well as in riches, and that all the
earth sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom which God
had put in his heart (1 Kings 10; 23, 24); and yet
more specifically, that his wisdom exceeded the wisdom
of all the children of the east country and all the wis-
dom of Egypt, for he was wiser than all men — than
Ethan, Heman, etc. — names which appear among the
authors of the Psalms and the leaders in the music of the

sanctuary. Solomon cultivated poetry also, for " his

songs were one thousand and live " — of which one only
remains to our time, and that the superlative one —
" the song of songs." Of this we need only say here
that considered simply as poetry, it combines warmth
and purity of social affection with an exquisite sense
of beauty in nature, in a degree rarely if ever sur-
passed. Of his literary works nothing remains to us

save his three well-known books : Proverbs, Ecclesias-
tes, and the Song; and two Psalms ascribed to him,
viz., 72 and 127.

IV. The great wealth and royal state of Solomon are
the leading themes of two chapters, viz., 1 Kings 4 and
10. We shall pass this point with only a brief notice.
The method and order in matters political, intro-
duced and perfected under David, continued under Solo-
mon. The spirit of this system was carried by Solomon
into his domestic establishment, the magnificence of
which was very far beyond any thing before known in
Israel. It was the special admiration of the Queen of

Sheba (1 Kings 10: 4, 5). Of his splendid buildings

what shall we say ? In addition to the glorious temple,
a palace for himself; another for Pharaoh's daughter —
the first wife of Solomon brought to our notice (1 Kings
3 : 1) ; " the house of the forest of Lebanon " (1 Kings 7 :

THE BUILDING AND CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 235

2, and 2 Chron. 9 : 16) ; various cities in his own country;
the great and long famous Tadmor in the wilderness;
navies and ports for the commerce of the Mediterranean
Sea and of the Indian Ocean — where was the limit of
his magnificent works in this line?

V. The building of the temple and its consecration demand
somewhat special notice.

Of its plan nothing more need be said than that it
followed the model of the tabernacle built by Moses in
the wilderness. Having the same objects in view, con-
structed to subserve the same system of worship, — its
compartments on the ground floor were identically the
same. Every thing was on a larger yet corresponding
scale ; the same altars ; the same courts ; the same holy
place, and the same holy of holies, enshrouded in the
thick darkness.

As to dimensions the record is — sixty cubits in length
by twenty in breadth ; proximately 90 feet by 30 — double
the corresponding dimensions of the tabernacle. But
within these relatively small dimensions, what an
amount of magnificence and splendor were compressed !
The most superb textile fabrics ; the most exquisite
carved work, and the immense amount of surface over-
laid with gold, placed this structure in point of cost,
beauty, and magnificence, greatly in advance of any
structure known in ancient times. It was seven years
in building. The skilled laborers were largely Pheni-
cian, supplied by Hiram king of Tyre. The unskilled
men for the immense labor of transportation were
mainly from the subject races of foreign birth living
among the Israelites. 1 Kings 5 gives ample details
as to the levies of men, their duties, the associated
labors of T)' rians and Hebrews ; the materials of cedar,
fir, and stone, obtained in Phenicia but transported by
water to Joppa and thence overland to Jerusalem.
Every stone being cut in its quarry, all materials of
wood being prepared (framed and dressed) before being
shipped from Tyre, two valuable results were obtained ;
there was no waste of power in transportation ; and in
the holy city the great temple rose solemnly, in com-
paratively quiet stillness — from those immense founda-
tion stones now being laid bare, to the top-stone, laid at
last " with shoutings of grace, grace unto it."

The antecedent correspondence between Solomon and

236 THE BUILDING AND CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE.

Hiram of Tyre (given more in brief 1 Kings 5 ; but more
in full, 2 Chron. 2), sets forth with delightful recogni-
tion of the true God, the plans of Solomon and his pro-
positions to the king of Tyre ; the occasion for a temple ;
the uses it should subserve; and his reasons for making
it supremely magnificent. "The house which I build
is great, for great is our God above all gods. But who
is able to build him an house, seeing the heavens and
the heaven of heavens can not contain him? Who am
I that I should build him an house, save only to burn

sacrifice before him?" (2 Chron. 2: 5, 6) Hiram's

answer has some remarkable words for an idol-worship-
ing king. This is said to have been sent in writing : —
" Because the Lord [Jehovah] hath loved his people, he
hath made thee king over them. Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath
given unto David the king a wise son, endued with
prudence and understanding, wdio might build an house

for the Lord and an house for his kingdom." Was

this the complaisance of shrewd diplomacy, or the utter-
ance of honest convictions ? If the latter, why did not
king Hiram cast his idol gods to the moles and to the
bats, and give his own heart's honest worship to "the
God who made heaven and earth ? "

But a far more profound religious interest gathers
about the scenes of the dedication of this temple. Both
our authors (/. e., of Kings and of Chronicles) give the
details of this service, and with little variation and in
very considerable fullness, narrating the sacrifices that
preceded and that followed; the introductory address of
Solomon to the assembled people (1 Kings 8: 12-21),
and then the consecrating prayer (vs. 22-53), and the
closing benediction upon the people (vs. 54-61). The
service must have been in the highest degree impres-
sive and sublime. Every word seems to be perfect in
adaptation to the great purpose and the grand occasion.
We can scarcely forbear to ask (mentally) — Were these
words altogether original with Solomon, or was the
hand of Nathan or of Zadok, or of some other leading
religious spirit, in them? The question is of value
mainly as bearing somewhat upon our estimate of
Solomon. But we are left with no hint of other hand
in the responsibilities of this service save his own.
Accounting it as his we have here a very gratifying testi-

THE BUILDING AND CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 237

mony that he -well conceived the relation sustained by
the Hebrew people toward the God of their covenant,
and that he had ideas at once just and grand of the pur-
pose of this temple as a house of prayer — a place hon-
ored of God with the symbol of his presence, toward
which his worshipers were to turn in their ofierings of
prayer and of praise to the glorious God whose throne
filled the highest heavens, yet who had deigned to man-
ifest his presence among his worshiping people in this
earthly temple.

The tone of this consecration contemplates this tem-
ple as designed for national and public worship — for the
prayers of the whole people rather than for indi-
viduals.

Among the special points of this consecrating prayer
were — its prominent recognition of David and of God's
promise to him ; and its numerous specifications of the
peculiar circumstances under which, supposably, the
Lord's people in their various need might address their
supplications to God as in symbol dwelling in this tem-
ple to hear their prayers. The sublime grandeur of the
thought that the Great God should condescend so low
is put impressively: "But will God in very deed dwell
with men on the earth ? Behold, the heaven and the
heaven of heavens can not contain thee ; how much
less this house that I have built?" So also the cul-
mination of the prayer by invoking the entrance of
Jehovah with the ark of his strength : " Now, there-
fore, arise, O Lord, into thy resting-place, thou, and the
ark of thy strength ; let thy priests, O Lord God, be
clothed with salvation and let thy saints rejoice in
goodness. 0 Lord God, turn not away the face of thine
anointed; remember the mercies of David thy servant'^
[mercies promised to David]. Then the visible an-
swer to this wonderful prayer : " Fire came down from
heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacri-
fice; and the dory of the Lord" [that visible halo and
eff"ulgence of tightness] "filled the house." ^ "All
Israel saw this, and bowing themselves with their faces
to the ground upon the pavement, worshiped and
praised the Lord, saying — For he is good; for his mercy
endureth forever."

The correlation between the material and the moral
grandeur of this closing scene is put with equal beauty

238 THE SECOND DREAM AT GIBEON.

and force by Dean Milman (History of the Jews I : p.
318) : " As the king concluded, the cloud which had
rested over the holy of holies grew brighter and more
dazzling ; fire broke out and consumed all the sacrifices
(2 Chron. 7 : 1) ; the priests stood without, awestruck
by the insupportable splendor; the wdiole people fell
on their faces, and -worshiped and praised the Lord,
'/o?* he is good, for his mercy is forever.^ Which was the
greater, the external magnificence or the moral sub-
limity of this scene? Was it the temple, situated on
its commanding eminence, with all its courts, the daz-
zling splendor of its materials, the innumerable multi-
tudes, the priests in their gorgeous attire, the king with
all the insignia of ro3^alty on his throne of burnished
brass, the music, the radiant cloud filling the temple,
the sudden fire flashing upon the altar, the whole
nation upon their knees? Was it not rather the relig-
ious grandeur of the hymns and of the prayer; the
exalted and rational views of the divine nature ; the
union of a whole people in the adoration of the one
Great, Incomprehensible, Almight}^, Everlasting Cre-
ator ? "

VI. Tlie dream of Glbeon repeated : the Lord a^ipearing
to Solomon the second time. Both our histories narrate
this second appearance (1 Kings 9 : 2-9, and 2 Chron.
7: 12-22) — the autlior of Chronicles most fully, but
only the author of Kings compares it specially with
the dream at Gibeon. It followed the dedication of
the temple, and was manifestly designed to deepen
moral impressions, and perhaps to warn specially
against spiritual dangers already foreshadowed. In
substance the Lord said — I have heard thy prayer in
tlie dedication of this temple, and have accepted it.
If now thou wilt walk before me with perfect heart
as thy father David did, the throne of thy kingdom
over Israel shall be established forever: but if thou
turn aside after other gods, then will I cut off Israel
from this glorious land of promise, and this conse-
crated temi:»le shall be no protection against retribu-
tive judgments, for its ruin shall be as signal as its

magnificence is now glorious. Oh, had these words

of warning been duly remembered and diligentl}^
regarded !

Solomon's foreign relations, 239

VII. Solomon'' s foreign relations — political^ commercial,
social, and domestic. In the outset it may be assumed
that in a civilized world, international commerce
implies the existence of pacific political relations,
defined by treaties expressed or implied. Trade is
peaceful by nature. Applying this law of civilized
national life we may notice that the history speaks
more distinctly and fully of Solomon's commercial
than of his political relationships. But where there
was national commerce, we may assume national
peace on some well understood basis.

With Egypt Solomon established the closest rela-
tions possible at a very early period in his reign.
"He made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt and
took Pharaoh's daughter" in marriage (I Kings 3: 1).
This domestic union implied peaceful relations between
these two kingdoms, and opened the way for the un-
restricted commerce of which we read subsequently
(1 Kings 10: 28, 29), in which Solomon imported from
Egypt "horses, chariots, and linen yarn," not merely
for home consumption, but for export and sale to
supply "all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings

of Syria." To his relations with Tyre the whole

record testifies. These relations were of course neces-
sarily political; they were definitely and intensely
commercial — bread-stuffs in exchange for building
materials and skilled labor ; besides the co-operative
trade which Solomon and Hiram carried on jointly
through their commercial navies and seafaring men
across the great Mediterranean with North-western
Africa and South-western Europe — in Hebrew phrase,
" with Tarshish " and " ships of Tarshish." The imports
of this trade were gold and silver, ivory, apes, and

peacocks " (1 Kings 10 : 22, and 2 Chron. 9 : 21).

Moreover, having built Ezion-Geber on the eastern
arm of the Ked Sea for their port, they drove a very
considerable trade with the southern coast region of
Arabia and probably with India and Africa. The
precise location of Ophir — the land of gold — is still
an unsettled question, opinions being divided between
Arabia and India, with much to be said for either
theory. The products of this traffic were gold (princi-
pally), yet also "almug (or algum) trees and precious
stones" (2 Chron. 9: 10, and 1 Kings 10: 11). With

240 Solomon's foreign relations.

the Queen of Sheba and her kingdom, located, as is
supposed, in South-west Arabia, Solomon opened a
regular traffic ; and not with her kingdom only among
the numerous principalities of great Arabia, but "with
all those kings." To the statements made 1 Kings 10 :
14, 15 as to the annual receipts of Solomon in gold,
put at 66(y talents, it is added: "Besides what he had
of the merchant men and of the traffic of the spice
merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the
governors of the country."

Solomon pushed his overland commerce in still an-
other direction, viz., toward the Euphrates — that land
of immense wealth and resources. To facilitate this
traffic, he built Tadmor in the wilderness, otherwise
called Palmyra, both names signifying the palm-land
(2 Chron. 8 : 4). This great cit}^ was practically a half-
way house between Damascus and the Euphrates, about
120 miles from each. Much of the country to be trav-
ersed on this route was a desert. The magnificent
ruins of this once splendid city are among the wonders
of the Eastern world.

This geographical survey of Solomon's commercial
relations will suffice to show that in his age the land of
Israel was central to the commerce of the civilized world,
and that under his influence his kingdom, in conjunc-
tion with Tyre, became an immense emporium for the
traffic of all civilized countries. This traffic brought
into Israel, or at least, it brought to the king of Israel,
great wealth ; but it brought also great perils — great
temptations, and, apparently, great decline in her relig-
ious life. The danger to Solomon was immensely

greater from the fact that, according to the usages of his
age, these intimate political and commercial relation-
ships carried with them social and domestic relations
also. Beginning with Egypt, Solomon made affinity
with Pharaoh, and took his daughter to wife. Polyg-
amy among the oriental kings of that age being the
rule, not the exception, Solomon took other wives — as
the sad record in 1 Kings 11: 1-8 puts it: "King
Si)lomon loved many strange [foreign] women besides
the daughter of Pharaoh — women of tlie Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomitos, Zidonians, and Hittites." The
numbers given are startling — not to say almost incredi-
ble; "seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hun-

Solomon's apostasy from god. 241

dred concubines." These numbers may, perhaps, be
erroneously large; but the real number was doubtless
great. The usages of kings wrought powerfully in this
direction; political and business interests favored, and,
perhaps we might say, seemed to demand continual en-
largement of the royal harem.

VIII. Solomon''s apostasy from God ; its antecedents and
occasions. The history ascribes this apostasy to his un-
godly, idolatrous wives. " He clave to them in love,"
and by natural consequence "they turned away his

heart" from God, They did not come over to his

religion and to the sincere worship of his God; but
they brought their own religion, their own idol gods,
with themselves into Israel. Gradually (we may pre-
sume), little by little, they drew him into their own
practices of worship. It was when he was old, says the
historian, when the ardor of his youthful devotion had
sadly waned; when wealth and luxury had induced
effeminacy, and after unbounded admiration and high
position had stealthily undermined his piety — it was
upon a heart long exposed to these subtle influences
that the social power of so many wives — princesses of
leading influence, of high culture, and commanding
social position — was brought to bear upon him to his
sad fall. Many of them — w^e know not definitely how
many — came with the prestige of royalty, represent-
ing the dignity of courts and kingdoms. Shall not the
king of Israel receive them with all the honors due to
the kingdoms and thrones which they represent ?
Shall he not respect the religions they severally pro-
fess? Politeness, complaisance, the demands of civil-
ized society, the interests of international peace and
commerce — all concur in demanding unrestricted tolera-
tion of their idolatrous worship. [So it would seem; so,
but for the higher claims of God, and of truth, and of

his holy covenant, it would be]. When to these

demands of worldly sort we add the fact that Solomon
clave to these wives and concubines in love — that his
sensitive nature yielded to such powerful attractions —
we have no need to go further to seek the occasion of
Solomon's relapse into great sin. He became an idolater.
" His wives turned away his heart after other gods ; "
"his heart was no longer perfect with the Lord his God
as the heart of David his father." Specifically it is

242

stated that Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess
of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination
of the Ammonites. He also built high places and fur-
nished every facility for the worship of these gods — the

abominations of Moab and Ammon. The author of

Kings, who alone gives us these sad facts, is careful to
remind us that these marriages with foreign idolaters
were strictly forbidden by the divine law. Solomon
must have known that the God of Israel forbade his
taking many wives — forbade his taking even one who
was an idolater — a " strange," i. e., a foreign woman, still
adhering to her national idolatry. It was a fearful
stride in the downward road when Solomon broke over
the safeguards of this prohibition, and took his first
heathen wife. What could save him when he lost
respect for this law of God, and pushed on accumulating
foreign idolatrous wives, perhaps, by hundreds? It
was, indeed, a sad and terrible fall !

IX. His repentance; the evidence in the case. On the
question of Solomon's repentance we have to deal with
probabilities, not with absolute certainties. The Scrip-
tures neither explicitly affirm nor deny. Arguments
are sometimes built upon the silence of Scripture ; but
manifestly such arguing should proceed very cautiousl3\
The author of Chronicles is silent as to Solomon's
apostasy; but it would not be safe to infer from his
silence, either that Solomon never did apostatize, or
that this author could not have known it.

The author of Kings who has spoken with sufficient
plainness of his apostas}'- has said nothing as to his re-
pentance; yet let no one infer from this silence that
Solomon never repented. The Lord may have had
reasons for leaving this fact with no explicit affirma-
tion— perhaps to make the moral warning from his fall
the more impressive.

My reasons for the hope and for a certain amount of
belief that Solomon roj^ented of his great sin before he

died, come from these two considerations: (1.) The

tenor of God's promise to David in respect to this very
point, as it appears in 2 Sam. 7: 12-16. Bej^ond all
doubt this passage has special reference to Solomon :
" When thou shalt sleep with thy fjithers, I will set up
thy seed after thee who shall proceed out of thy bowels "
(applicable specially to Solomon); ''he shall build an

Solomon's repentance : the evidence. 243

house for my name " (Solomon only) ; " If he commit
iniquity " (which he did) " I will chasten him with the
rod of men " (it was Solomon who wrote — " Whom the
Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in
whom he delighteth" Prov. 3 : 12) : " But my mercy
shall not depart away from him as I took it from Saul
whom I put away from before thee." Saul was aban-
doned of God and never brought to repentance. God
'' took his mercy away from him " in that awful sense
of giving him over to his righteous doom. But the
Lord distinctly declares that he will not in this special
sense take his mercy away from Solomon. Upon Solomon
he will still hold fast and restore him to repentance — to

his ultimate salvation. 1 do not see how the contrast

between Saul and Solomon, indicated in this promise,
can mean less than a pledge on the part of God to bring
Solomon to repentance after his committing iniquity.
(2.) IMy second argument comes from the book of Ec-
clesiastes. This book bears ample evidence of having
been written by Solomon — late in his life. He is no
longer a young man. He has lived long enough to have
given all forms of worldly pleasure a full trial and to
have proved their utter vanity. He has thought over
his guilty life of pleasure-loving and pleasure-seeking
until he not only sees its folly but feels it. He sees that
such a life is inconsistent with fearing God and keeping
his commandments ; and he most unequivocally declares
that such fear of God and such obedience are the supreme

duty of mortals. These points in this book of Ecclesi-

astes afford strong proof of his real repentance — much
the more strong when seen in the light of the special
design of this book, viz., written for those who had ad-
mired his pleasure-loving life, and intended as his pro-
test and warning against the very life he had lived
before them which they had so much admired. [For a
more full presentation of the design and scope of this

book of Ecclesiastes, see my Introduction to it.] The

book should be taken as Solomon's testimony to the
grand mistake of his life and as the warning of a peni-
tent man against what he then saw to have been his

great life-sin. That the argument of Ecclesiastes is

made against worldlincss, and not specifically against
idolatry, may be due to one or both of these reasons : —
(a) That his philosophical mind deemed it better to

244 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE OF SOLOMON's REIGN.

strike at the root-sin than at its branches, his t)wn ex-
perience having shown him that apostasy began with
the love of the w^orId;or (b) That inasmuch as those
foreigners for whom especially he wrote this book were
born into idolatry and begirt on every side with its sur-
roundings, he had most hope of doing them good by
approaching them in the line of the great principle or
law of man's relations as a sentient and moral being to
God his Maker and Father. If they could be made to
see and feel that the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of all wisdom and that man's passion for pleasure should
be subordinated to the demands of his higher moral
nature and to the known will of God, the question of
worshiping idols would subsequently dispose of itself.
Hence, I infer that the silence of Ecclesiastes on the
subject of idol-worship can not be held to disprove his
real repentance of his own idolatry. The drift of this
book does signify that in his view his own fearful
apostasy began in his supreme devotion to worldly
pleasure.

X. The influence of this reign upon the moral and religious
state of Israel. Neither of the authors of our two his-
tories (Kings ; Chronicles) has made it a special point
to answer this question. Consequently, we are left to
inferences from the nature of the case, and from such
facts as they narrate, bearing incidentall}^ upon it.

It scarcely need be said, that, the human mind being
what it is, royalty is always a great power. The mani-
fest spirit and known life of kings have weight with
their people. The force of this common law of mind
is in the present case augmented by the fact that in the
previous reign, religion in Israel had been greatly
revived under the influence of David. During most of
his reign he had powerfully sustained the worship of
the sanctuary, giving it the full weight of his personal
attendance, and, yet more, the power of his warm,
earnest soul, and, more yet, the words of his own poetic
genius, and the attractions of his own music. All
these elements of influence were then combined with
his royal example to tone up the religious life of the
nation. The people had been under training, therefore,
in the line of being influenced by the king toward

vital godliness. To this we may add that the first

years of Solomon led off in the same direction. Appar-

RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE OF SOLOMON's REIGN. 245

cntly, during all the time of the temple-building until
its solemn dedication, the royal influence of Solomon
was conducive to the sound religious life of his people.
All the more fearful, therefore, must the revulsion have
been when they saw their king trampling under foot
the great law of God by which he held his throne —
multiplying wives to himself; taking them from the
idolatrous nations on every side; building idol temples
and altars for those wives, and, at last, himself joining
with them in their abominable idol-worship. We are
not told whether he forsook his own temple, and the
worship of the God of his own covenant ; and, in fact,
it is of the least possible account, whether he did or did
not. If he did not in form, he certainly did in spirit, for
none can serve both God and Mammon— both Jehovah
and idol gods. If he attempted it, his example could
scarcely be less pernicious than if he had utterly
deserted his magnificent temple. In either case his
moral power must have gone solid against real religion
— against the true worship of the holy God. The con-
trast between Solomon on his knees before all the as-
sembled thousands of Israel in his prayer consecrating
the new temple, and this same Solomon, going with his
scores or hundreds of heathen wives to worship their
gods on the high places of the land, must have been
terribly impressive — to all pious hearts sad, not to say
revolting ; but to the masses, we have reason to fear,
seductive toward the same idol worship. So much we
must infer from the well known laws of the human
mind, and from the relations of the throne to the people
under the religious system of Israel.

In addition to this inferential testimony, we have
the evidence of historic fact ; as, for example — that
when Jeroboam raised the standard of revolt and drew
around himself ten out of the twelve tribes, and set
up golden calves in Bethel and in Dan for the people
to worship, there was not apparently one note of re-
monstrance from the people; not a word of protest
appears upon the pages of their history from any pious
worshiper in those ten tribes against their national
apostasy. Alas, how fallen already from the spirit of
the reign of David and from the institutions of Moses!
What a change apparently since the dedication of
Solomon's temple! Either the apparent worship of

246 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE OF SOLOMON's REIGN.

the thousands of rulers and people on that august
occasion was utterly shallow and superficial, or the
new generation which the lapse of only twenty-nine
years has brought upon the stage has degenerated
wofully. [Solomon reigned forty years, and the tem-
ple was begun in his fourth year and finished in his
eleventh.]

The question of the influence of Solomon's reign
upon Israel should take a wider range than merely
the attendance upon the temple worship, or even the
spirit of that worship. The court, the family resi-
dence, and the entire surroundings of Solomon rose
almost at one bound from the severe but noble sim-
plicity of the reign of David to the highest style of
luxury and splendor known to the most cultivated
and wealthy nations of the age. Nay more; for Sol-
omon had the honor before the sovereigns of Tyre,
Egypt, and Sheba, of having surpassed them all in
taste and splendor, inventing and perfecting new
appliances for all earthly delights. The barriers set
up in the Mosaic law against conformity to outside
luxury and pomp were suddenly swept away ; no
court on the face of the eartli surpassed or even
equaled Solomon's in its magnificence. He led; they

only followed. What was the influence of all this

upon the masses of the people ? Was there not a
quickening passion for horses and chariots; for palaces
and equij^age ; for luxuries of the table, and for orna-
mentation in dress? If not, there must have been a
marvelous virtue among the masses, or a strange

suspension of the normal laws of human nature.

To what extent the immense influx of wealth to
the throne by commerce and otherwise, reached the
people, giving them facilities for its accumulation, it
may be difficult for us to determine absolutely. It is,
however, safe enough to infer that there was a great
body of men not enriched and not elevated in point
of style, or even of the comforts of life, by the new
influences which were bringing such wealth to their
king. There was an immense demand for hard work,
and Solomon drew heavily upon the solid muscle of
thousands and tens of thousands of men drafted into
this service. It would be very like all other workings of
human nature if, having the power to coerce such labor,

247

he did not pay wnges enough to improve the condition
of these laboring classes. The fact comes out very
clearly after his death that the people had felt the
burden of these levies for service and of their govern-
ment taxes, and were quite ready for revolution if
their request for relief were denied. The state of the
working men— the millions — of Israel was therefore
not improved but deteriorated by the influences of
Solomon's reign. This deterioration was by no means
favorable to either the religious or the social and gen-
eral culture of the people.

The history (1 Kings 11 : 14-40) appends to its sad
account of Solomon's apostasy the fact that in the latter
years of his reign, Solomon had more or less annoy-
ance, not to say political trouble, from personal ene-
mies. Hadad, representing the royal house of Edom,
had found great favor in the court of Egypt ; Rezon,
from the kingdom of Zobah, had found a home in
Damascus, and became the head of a powerful band.
Both became declared enemies of Solomon and dis-
turbed the otherwise mostly unbroken peace of his
realm. In the same connection we have the early his-
tory of Jeroboam — a bright, active young man, whom
at first Solomon promoted to responsibilities because of
his manifest energy and efiiciency. The Lord by his
prophet designated him as the future king of ten of
the tribes. It seems that this revelation came to the
knowledge of Solomon, who sought, unsuccessfully, to
defeat it by taking Jeroboam's life. Jeroboam fled to
Egypt, and was ready for his place when the tribes
broke with Rehoboam. These persons became God's
instruments to disturb the peace of Solomon's reign —
not to say, also, to scourge him for his great apostasj^
These facts bear strongly upon the political — perhaps
not specially upon the religious — condition of Solomon's
kingdom.

There is yet another point on which all thought-
ful minds will be moved to inquire, viz., the influence
for good or for ill of the unsurpassed magnificence of
Solomon's temple. During the twenty-nine years (the
maximum) intervening between its dedication and
Solomon's death, this temple stood in all its glory ; the
impressions made by it, then fresh and new, were in
their fullest strength ; — what was the result ?

248 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE OF SOLOMON 's REIGN.

Under David the Mosaic Institutions had manifestly
developed an immense power. The worship at the one
place; the daily morning and evening sacrifice; the
new moons ; the great day of atonement, and the three
great annual festivals— these normal seasons of public
worship, enlivened and enforced by the thrilling serv-
ice of sacred song — not to say, also, by the constant
and devout attendance of their beloved king David,
must have made the tabernacle worship a powerful
agency for religious culture in Israel. It is safe to
assume that these seasons of national worship were
well attended during the greater part of David's reign.
"The tribes w^ent up" — the masses of the people
thronged to the sacred city. The social and religious
forces of their sacred institutions were in full operation
— were, we may probably say, in their glory.

Under Solomon's reign the public worship at the
sanctuary opened with the quickening inspirations of
that mighty movement for temple-building. Immense
contributions of gold, silver, treasure — the presence of
materials borne laboriously from Joppa to Jerusalem
and piled up there year after year, stone upon stone, as
the building advanced, in growing magnificence; —
these seven years of previously unknown experience
among this people were crowned at length by the unsur-
passed solemnity of its dedication when God came
down in fire and in the visible glory of the Shechinah
and took possession — all constituting an era in their
national history rarely surpassed in its interest and its
promise.

As Christian philosophers, it behooves us to put and
press the question : What were the results? Was religion
mightily revived, and were its sweet, hallowed influ-
ences for the religious culture and for the moral life of
the people, powerfully sustained? Did the magnifi-
cence of this temple take hold with transforming power
upon the heart of the masses and elevate them in piety
and purity? And specially to our purpose in view of
the great national temptation of the age — Did this
gorgeous temple plant itself as a breast-work of pro-
tection against idolatry?

I am aware that it may be said, The problem is not
before us in its simple, unmixed elements, because the
influence of the king and his court became so entirely

CONTACT OF SACRED HISTORY WITH PROFANE. 249

adverse, and interposed so much countGraction. But

why should we not reckon in the power of this temple
upon king as well as upon people ? Did the magnifi-
cent temple conduce toward the piety and stability of
Solomon himself? Did it hold his court with a strong
grasp to the steadfast service and worship of the God of
Israel? Did the esthetic power of architecture, orna-
mentation, and magnificence, grasp the souls of either
the cultured or the uncultured Hebrews, and did these
elements extend their influence to the foreigners who
gathered to the great city and to the royal court, so as
to move them all effectively toward the true worship of

Israel's God? It was a great experiment; it was

novel — altogether untried before. What contribution
does it supply to our wisdom and knowledge on these
great points?

In reply, a few things may be safely said — as thus:

(a) There is no evidence that this temple, after its

dedication, improved the tone of the religious life of
Israel ; in other words, that it promoted a real revival

of pure religion. (b) It is quite certain that it did

not avail to counteract the various tendencies which
came in powerfully upon the nation in the age of Solo-
mon toward idolatry. (c) It is therefore quite certain

that too much may be expected of religious architecture
and of the esthetic influence of the place and surround-
ings of public worship. (d) While this case of Solo-
mon's temple may be quite too much mixed to justify
the conclusion that its influence was evil rather than
good; while under all the circumstances it might be
quite illogical to infer that it brought no blessings to
the people; yet surely the case must suffice to prove
that these external influences are far less than omnipo-
tent; that too much may be expected of them, and that
" the excellency of the power " that saves men from sin
and builds up real holiness in human souls must come
more directly from God than this.

XI. Some points exhibiting contact of sacred withqwo-
fane history during Solomon's reign demand brief atten-
tion.

It was very early in the reign of Solomon, before he
had finished his own palace or even the temple, that he
"made aflfinity with Pharaoh of Egypt" by marrying
his daughter (1 Kings 3 : 1). Most chronologists concur

250 CONTACT OF SACRED HISTORY WITH PROFANE.

in locating this Pharaoh in the 21st d3masty. A very
common opinion makes his name Psusennes II, — the
last king of his dynasty. The authorities, however, for
these names are somewhat discordant, and no absolutely
sure conclusion can yet be reached. For our present pur-
pose of confirming sacred history by the authority of
profane it must suffice to say that Egyptian dates, inde-
pendent of the Scriptures, place the close of this dynasty
within the reign of Solomon ; and that all concur that
Shishak, who comes to view before the death of Solomon
(1 Kings 11 : 40), and specially in the fifth year of Reho-
boam, (1 Kings 14 : 25, and 2 Chron. 12 : 2), as an ene-
my, was the first king of a new dynast}^, the 22d ; a new
king, who had no sympathies in common with the family
of Solomon.*

Turning to Tyre we find confirming testimony yet
more abundant than in the reign of David. The Pheni-
cian historians, Dius and Menander, not only give the
name Hiram as that of some Tyrian king, but as the
name of that very king who was in league with Solomon.
In extracts which come down to us through Josephus
they both speak of "hard questions," passing recij^ro-
cally between these kings to be solved for a w^ager ; and
curiously (whether in the interests of truth, or of
national vanity) represent that one Abdemon, a man
of Tyre, solved the riddles sent by Solomon, and sent
back others which Solomon could not solve. t

Again, Menander states that Hiram gave his daughter
in marriage to Solomon — a statement the more probable
because the sacred records speaks of his taking wives,
princesses, from the Zidonians (1 Kings 11 : 1).

Coincidences in the line of comprehensive and general
facts (rather than specific) are given very forcibly by
Rawlinson thus : — (1.) The kind of empire ascribed in
Scripture to David and to Solomon, stretching from the
Mediterranean to the Euphrates, is that which was com-
mon in those ages throughout Western Asia — one great
central power, holding numerous petty tribes and king-
doms in a tributary relation. Assyria rose soon after

to a similar prominence ; and, next after it, Chaldea.

(2.) The great buildings of Solomon, somewhat minutely

* Sec Rawlinson's Historical Evidences, pp. 93, 94.
t Rawlinson, pp. 307, 308.

CONTACT OF SACKED HISTORY WITH PROFANE. 251

described in the Scriptures, are shown to be remarkably
in harmony with the taste and style of the age. The
ruins of Nineveh, Susa, and Persepolis, extensively
disclosed during the present century, are found to be
in a similar style of architecture and ornamentation
with the great structures of Solomon. We may make
these special points: Immense pillars or columns of
cedar ; the copious use of gold and of ivory ; figures of

the lion about the throne, and gigantic sculptures.

(3.) The relative prominence of the Phenician cities
above, not the Hebrews only, but the whole world then
known, in the arts, in navigation, and in commerce.
This superiority of theirs is implied throughout the
Scriptures ; it is the testimony of all the most ancient
history.

Thus the Hebrew history of the age of Solomon is in
accord with the little we know of the Egyptain rec-
ords of that age ; yet more clearly so, with the Pheni-
cian annals; with the traditions of the Syrians of
Damascus, and of Western Asia in general. We have
here reached a point where confirming testimony begins
to come in from the Assyrian inscriptions; from the
ruins of Assyrian and Persian palaces; from Pheni-
cian coins, and histories, and from the earliest Greek
poetry.*

*Rawlinson, p. 90.

252 THE REVOLT.

CHAPTER X.

The Revolt

The kingdom as left by Solomon is rent asunder; ten
tribes organize under Jeroboam, bearing henceforward
the name Israel : only two tribes, Judah and Benja-
min, 3^et bearing the name Judah, remain to Keho-
boam, son and successor of Solomon.

This great historic event is dated B. C. 975. It
became an important epoch in Hebrew historj^, the
more so because this separation was permanent, no re-
union being ever effected ; and because it severed the
new, the Northern, kingdom from the influences of the
sanctuary, divorced them from the one place of national
worship, and practically drifted them oflP into idolatry,
and consequent degeneracy and corruption — political,
religious, and moral.

Both our histories give essentially the same account of
the negotiations which resulted in rupture between the
ten tribes and Rehoboam — the author of Kings having,
however, given a much more full account of the early
history of Jeroboam. The point of grievance with the
people was excessive taxation. The luxury and cost of
Solomon's court, i. e., his family establishment, his
harem, and his political relationships, had become
simply enormous. Whether the profits of his foreign
trade brought in less supply to his treasury, or whether
the tribute paid by subject kings fell off in the lat-
ter years of his reign, it is quite plain that he levied
unsparingly upon his people. It had become so severe
that the masses were at one in demanding relief from
Rehoboam as the condition of their allegiance.

Rehoboam met this demand as a grave question ; de-
ferred his answer for three days, and sought advice.
The older counselors — as usual the wiser— advised him
to make concessions. The young men* brought up

*As to the age of Rehoboam at his accession, put at forty -one, (1
Kings 14: 21, and 2 Chron. 12: 13) there are strong reasons for as-
suming this to be an error of some copyist for twenty-one. He was
manifestly associated in education and age with the young men (1

THE REVOLT. 253

with himself in luxury and self-indulgence, with never
a taste of what labor means, and having not the least
syrapath}^ with the toiling millions, advised a defiant
answer, threatening heavier burdens. This latter ad-
vice met the views of Kehoboam. It was of the Lord
that he should be left to play the fool ; so he gave the
people this reply : " My little finger shall be thicker
than my father's loins. My father chastised you with
whips; I will chastise you with scorpions." Defiance
begat defiance ; the people answered : " What portion
have we in David, neither have we inheritance in the
son of Jesse : To your tents, 0 Israel : now see to thine
own house, David." " So the people departed to their
tents;" and the kingdom was rent asunder — never to

be reunited. To put this movement to the test, Re-

hoboam sent out his tax-gatherer, Adoniram " who was
over the tribute." " The people stoned him with stones
that he died." Then Rehoboam, and his tribe Judah,
thought to rush to arms to subdue this rebellion, but
God sent his prophet Shemaiah to forbid the attempt ;
and they desisted. The ten tribes called Jeroboam for
their king, and both kingdoms naturally turned their
attention to military defenses — standing armies and
fortifications. Everybody saw war in the future of
these kingdoms. The problem of "balance of power"
became intensely critical.

From this point onward we have two kingdoms to
study in place of one. It becomes a practical question
— shall we attempt to carry forward these histories
co-ordinatel}^, passing often from one to the other; or
shall we take one of them through its entire career,
making its history the leading thread and touching
the rival kingdom only for its relations to the one first
presented; and then in like manner make the second
kingdom the leading theme till its history is told? I
judge the latter method will best avoid confusion and
conduce to a clear and well-defined conception of the
history of both kingdoms ; and propose to treat first
in order of the kingdom of Israel.

Kings 12 : 10). If really forty-one, he must have been bora one
year. before Solomon came to his throne, and of an Ammonite mother
— a thing highly improbable. Much later in life Solomon married
women of the Ammonites; but not (we may strongly presume) be-
fore the death of David.

254 THE REVOLT.

Our sources of information are mainly the books of
Kings and of Chronicles. These two books differ on the
point last spoken of, viz., the method of treating the
co-ordinate histories of the two kingdoms. The au-
thor of Kings carries both kingdoms on together,
passing from one to the other very frequently, yet
aiming, so far as could well be done, to keep them
both before the mind continuall}^ He gives all the
kings in both lines ; usually their age when they
began to reign; always the number of years they
reigned, and ordinarily the year of the reigning mon-
arch in the other kingdom when each king began.
It is not easy to say whether he gives disproportionate
attention to Israel : but it may certainly be said that,
compared with his brother, the author of Chronicles,
he presents the Northern kingdom much more fully

and the Southern much less fully. On the other

hand, the author of Chronicles gives all the kings of
Judah, but not all — not more than half the names even
— of the kings of Israel ; gives as to the kings of Judah
the years they severally reigned, and commonly their
age when they respectively began to reign; but never
tells us in what year of the rival monarch any one of
them began. Indeed he makes no attempt to present
the history of the kings of Israel. He refers to those
kings only in order to write out more fully the kings of
Judah. The latter are always the leading theme. The
kings of Israel come in only incidentally. The author
of Chronicles had a different purpose in his history from
that of his brother, the author of Kings — as has been
suggested above in the introduction to Chronicles, viz.,
to bring out specially the history of the good kings and
of their great revivals ; and in general whatever might
bear with wholesome force upon the then present duties,
responsibilities, hopes, and faith, of the returned exiles.

The author of Kings wrote as we should expect

Jeremiah to write; selected his matter as if he were
Jeremiah, aiming every-where to show how idolatry
worked out every form of ruin; how God labored
through his prophets and by means of varied discipline
and judgment to recall his wandering people to him-
self; how — as he often puts it — "the Lord sent to them
all his prophets, rising up early and sending " ; but the
people would not hear, and could not be saved. This

JEROBOAM. 255

purpose held him to a close and continuous history of
the Northern kingdom, down to its final and speedy
fall. Illustrations of the same principle occur not in-
frequently in Judah ; he gives them due attention in

their place. The author of Kings does not assume

that Chronicles is already extant; but the author of
Chronicles does assume that the book of Kings may be
before his readers, so that he can refer readily to' the
kings of Israel without formally introducing them to

his readers. Sketching the history of Israel first in

order, we shall naturally follow for the most part the
thread of the narrative as in Kinjrs.

Jerohoam.^^

The first king of Israel had shown himself active,
shrewd, capable; one of those men who are born to
do something in the world, and are ready upon occa-
sion to step into any position of high responsibility.
His keen eye saw at once that the religious element
in man's nature is a great power, to be taken into ac-
count in politics. If his people continued to go up
three times a year to Jerusalem for their religious
worship, how could he trust them to be true to
his throne? Yet they would not be satisfied with-
out some religion — so he projected a new system. In
this system it was vital that the localities of worship
should be within the bounds of his own kingdom.
He did not care to bring all the people to one place ;
he consulted their convenience and perhaps other
objects by fixing upon two — one at Dan, in his extreme
northern limit, where idolatry seems never to have
lost its focrt-hold since the age of the Judges ; and the

* The Septuagint, compared witli the Hebrew text, gives a quite
diiFereiit history of Jeroboam' s antecedents — a history not merely
supplementary, but in many points radically unlike. Some critics
(e. g., Stanley, as in Smith's Bible Dictionary — "Jeroboam") adopt the
Septuagint in preference to the Hebrew text. — attracted by its min-
uteness of detail, and by what is taken for verisimilitude. It is

not claimed that the Hebrew text is lame, apparently deficient, or
lacking self-consistency. I see therefore no sufficient reason to dis-
credit it as compared with the Septuagint. The additions in tlie
latter are in my view to be classed with its additions to the
book of Esther and to the book of Daniel as representing Hebrew tra-
dition at the time of its translation.

256 JEROBOAM.

other at Bethel — far toward its southern border. We
read of "an house of high places" — probably a tem-
porary and inferior structure of the sort common on
the hill-tops — consecrated to idol-worship; and also of
an altar upon which offerings were made and incense
burned (1 Kings 12: 31, 33). More surprising than
all else is the fact that he made two golden calves, and
in the very words used by Aaron in his scene of calf-
worship (Ex. 32 : 4, 8) proclaimed, " Behold thy gods,
0 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt." The most astounding thing here is that the
people could so readily relapse into that form of idola-
try which brought upon their nation God's fearful re-
buke in the wilderness. As to Jeroboam, we ma}^
remember that he was fresh from Egypt, and, naturally
enough, brought back with him this Egyptian worship;
but how could the people endure it ? It was, perhaps,
less revolting at first view because, professedly^ the calf
was not to be itself the object of worship as if itself a
God; but rather represented the true God. Egypt paid
high honors to the cow as one of the most useful of
animals, so that those philosophic minds who rose from
the creature up to the Creator may have regarded the
honors paid the calf as being virtually paid to its
Maker. This process of thought, though too refined
and abstruse for the masses, may yet have smoothed
the descent downward to this form of idol-worship.
The people of Israel at this time accepted it but too
readily, no remonstrance appearing on the pages of
this history.*

Jeroboam made two other changes: (1.) Of the stated
times for worship; not three times a year, but only
once; and this not in the first month, which might
(undesirably to him) remind the people of the Pass-
over; and not on the seventh, which would be associ-
ated with the feast of tabernacles; but on the eighth,
which would be associated with nothing in Hebrew
history. (2.) Next, he ruled out the entire body of

* It should be said, however, on the authority of Chronicles, that
" such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Je-
rusalem to sacrifice unto the God of their fathers" — thus quietly
protesting against Jeroboam's calf-worship. It seems to be implied
in this connection (2 Chron. 11: 13-17) that they not only came to
Jerusalem to worship, but removed their residence and citizenship,
thus strengthening Ilehoboam's kingdom.

THE AGENCY OF PROPHETS IN ISRAEL. 257

priests and Levites as knowing too much and having
too much personal character ; and, therefore, not suffi-
ciently tractable for his purpose. In their place he put
the lowest of the people, his new religion having no
sympathy with intelligence or moral stamina of char-
acter. Religiously his kingdom is now (as he hopes)

on a footing of stability. The priests and Levites
being thus thrust out of service and honor and robbed
of bread, emigrated into Judah, carrying out of one
kingdom into the other, not numerical force only, but
the better elements of religious character.

The Agency of God's 'prophets in Israel,

It should be specially noticed that as Israel was cut
loose by the policy of Jeroboam from the religious in-
fluences of the Mosaic Institutions, the Lord sought to
supplement that lack in a measure by employing
prophets. In the outset, Ahijah of Shiloh, in promising
Jeroboam ten tribes, assigned the idolatry of Solomon
as the reason for taking these tribes from his son, and
promised Jeroboam a sure house — i. e., a permanent
throne for himself and posterity, on condition of his
faithful allegiance to Jehovah (1 Kings 11 : 31-39).
Nothing in the history indicates that Jeroboam gave
this proposition even his respectful attention. It is
quite plain that he did not shape his national policy
to meet this divine proposal.

In 1 Kings 14 we see Jeroboam again in contact with
this aged prophet, Ahijah of Shiloh. He had a favorite
son, Abijah, severely sick. Probably he hoped for some
help from the prophet, or from the Lord through his
prophet, though the ostensible errand was only to inquire
what shall become of the child. Well aware that his
record as king would bear greatly if not fatally against
his success, he sends his wife (did he trust to a mother's
power to move human sympathy?) — sends her d^wisec^,
but liberally laden with presents for the old prophet.

Ahijah had lost his eye-sight, so that the deception

might have been successful, save that the eyes of the
Lord were there. When the sound of her feet on his
threshold fell on the old prophet's ear, how was she
astounded with his greeting: "Come in, thou wife of
Jeroboam; why feignest thou thj'self to be another?
12

258 THE AGENCY OF PROPHETS IN ISRAEL.

for 1 am sent to thee with heavy tidings." The

prophet prefaced these tidings with an allusion to the
Lord's original proposal to Jeroboam of a sure throne
if he would rule righteously for the God of Israel ; ar-
raigned him for his utter failure to meet these condi-
tions; charged him with open, outrageous idolatry;
and closed with the doom of swift extinction to his
royal house, and with the announcement to Jeroboam's
wife: ''When thy feet shall enter the city, the child
shall die." So it came to pass. This prophetic mes-
sage also announced the rooting up of Israel from her
goodly land, and her dispersion in captivity beyond the
great Euphrates— as God's ultimate judgment for her
persistent idolatry.

In 1 Kings 13 appears a very remarkable narrative
of the mission of a prophet from Judah (name sup-
pressed)— sent to meet King Jeroboam at his idol altar
in Bethel. We may suppose it to have been on the day
of Jeroboam's annual feast in the eighth month. He
stood by the altar to burn incense. The prophet cried
against the altar at the word of the Lord, declaring that
a child should be born to the house of David who should
offer on that altar the very priests of the high places
that burn incense there, and should burn upon it dead
men's bones to defile it. This projohecy beyond ques-
tion referred to King Josiah.*

When Jeroboam heard these words from the prophet
he put forth his hand to seize him, and also commanded
the bystanders — "Lay hold on him." Instantly that
outstretched hand withered, and the king "could not
pull it in again " to its normal position. The prophet
had given a sign that should verify his prediction,
viz., " The altar shall be rent, and the ashes upon it

* The text as we have it has the phrase, " Josiah by name " — which,
however, some critics suppose to be spurious — but only upon inter-
nal, not external grounds. They urge that it is not common that
prophecy should be so minute as to give names so long in advance
of fulfillment; that such minuteness has no worthy object, and that
in the narrative of its fulfillment (2 Kings 23: 15-20) it is not
intimated that Josiah' s name had been given in the prophecy then

being fulfilled. 1 fail to see any special force in these objections.

It is barely possible that the phrase may have been introduced by
some subsequent compiler as an explanation; but a bare possibility
can never justify a violent change of the sacred text, for which
change we have no important reasons.

THE AGENCY OF PROPHETS IN ISRAEL. 259

shall be poured out." To make the king's consterna-
tion the more complete tliis sign forthwith took place ;
the altar was rent, and the ashes scattered abroad.
Jeroboam begged for the prophet's prayers, and for his
hand to be restored to its normal power. The prophet
prayed and God restored the withered hand. Sud-
denly the king's tactics were changed. Instead of violent
arrest, he said to the old prophet — Now be so good as to
go home with me to dinner, "and refresh thyself, and

I will give thee a reward." Never, answered the

prophet ; my orders are not to eat bread nor drink water
in this desecrated place, and not to return by the same

way that /I came. So far this prophet is true to his

commission, and all has passed off well. The moral
trial under which he fell now opens — on this wise.

There lived an old prophet at Bethel (was he ever a
good man?) — whose sons seem to have witnessed the
scene at the Bethel altar. Returning home they
rehearse the story to their father. Forthwith he
orders his ass saddled; pursues and overtakes the old
prophet of Judah, and invites him to his own home to
eat bread. The prophet answers — No; my orders ex-

plicity forbid it. But, rejoins the old man of Bethel,

" I am a prophet as thou art, and an angel 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 " (adds the record) " he lied unto

him." This was the j^oint of stern temptation. He

is weary, we may presume, and hungr}^, so, with quite
too little thought, he concludes that, perhaps, the Lord
had changed his mind and given his consent that his
prophet might take some refreshment even in this

wicked Bethel. While they sat at the table a message

really from the Lord (not a lie as the former) came to
this Bethel prophet for his guest : " Thou hast disobeyed
the word of the Lord to thee ; thy carcass shall never go
to the grave of thy fathers." The prophet of Judah
started for his home; a lion met him in the way and
slew him.

These are the staple facts of the record : What is
their explanation, and what are the lessons they were
intended to teach ?

An era of prophetic missions to tlie ten tribes in
revolt was now opening. The reception given to this

260 THE AGENCY OF rROPHETS IN ISRAEL.

prophet from Judali by Jeroboam was quite in point to
show how delicate and critical such prophetic missions
were likely to be, and how vital to their success it was
that the prophets should not only understand their
messages, but have supreme, unlimited confidence that
the messages given them were really from God. For
all along through this era of prophetic missions in
Israel, the devil would be working his system of false,
lying prophets to counteract as best he could the influ-
ence of God's true prophets. It was vital, therefore, to
forewarn God's prophets to be on their guard against
the devil's prophets and against his lies. Jeremiah
had this fearful battle to fight to the bitter end. No
prophet whose history is known to us came into contact
with false prophets so often and so fiercely as he. Such
a case as this in 1 Kings 13 finds a place naturally,
therefore, in this history, assuming it to have been
written by Jeremiah.

As to the moral character of this old prophet of Bethel,
it is not perhaps competent for us to pass upon it abso-
lutely. The only point of difficulty is this : how, if he
were a prophet of God, he could lie so to the prophet of
Judah, and, on the other hand, how, if he were a prophet
of the devil, the Lord should have spoken through his
lips there at the table, dining with his guest. Perhaps
it may relieve us on either horn of this dilemma if we
consider, (a) That a man, normally good, ma}^ some-
times sin — as in this case, may be left of God to lie :

and (b) That a bad man may be used of God, as Balaam
was, to make prophetic communications, though only in
rare, exceptional cases.

Kecurring to the moral purpose of God in permitting
such a trial to come upon one of his prophets and really
seduce him into sin, to his sad but exemplary death, we
may suggest that it was supplemented not long after by
the case of Jonah, which, being put on permanent
record by his own pen, bears a similar w^arning to all
prophets of the Lord to execute with unswerving fidelity
their divine commission. These prophets were human;
only mere men of flesh and blood, and accessible, there-
fore, to those various temptations which more or less
encompass all the saints of God in their earthly life.
The solemn functions of the prophet brought his soul
into peculiarly near relations to the Great God; but

JEROBOAM OF ISRAEL AND ABIJAM OF JUDAII. 2G1

even this did not lift him above all approaches of temp-
tation; did not quench utterly those susceptibilities
upon which temptation works — to the result sometimes
of sorrowful sinning.

In the subsequent history of this Northern kingdom,
we shall frequently meet with the Lord's prophets. A
few of them appear without name. It is certain that
there were some there to whom no allusion is made in
either of our historic books. Their presence and labors
there come down to us only in their own prophetic
books; e. g.^ Hosea, Amos, Micah. Of those prophets
who ministered in Israel, some left no prophetic writ-
ings, and are known to us only through the historic
books; e. g.y Elijah and Elisha; Jehu, son of Hanani.
Another class named in these histories are yet best
known through their preserved writings — the books
designated as " The Prophets ; " e. g., Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Jonah.

Returning to Jeroboam, we note that the historian
touches but briefly upon the political events of his
reign. When Rehoboam sprang to arms to repress the
revolt, the Lord peremptorily forbade it ; and he de-
sisted. Apparently no great battle was fought between
these two kings during their respective reigns, though a
state of hostility was chronic : " There was war between
Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days " (1 Kings 14 :
30, and 15 : 6) ; " wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
continually " (2 Chron. 12 : 15).

As Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years and Rehoboam
but seventeen, Abijam, son and successor of Rehoboam,
filled out three years on his throne alongside of Jero-
boam. The author of Kings says briefly : " There was
war between Abijam and Jeroboam ; " but the author of
Chronicles devotes most of one chapter (2 Chron. 13 :
1-20) to a very remarkable and most bloody battle be-
tween them. Opening with a proclamation by King
Abijam, setting forth the claims of David's posterity
to the throne over all Israel ; the apostasy and idolatry
of Jeroboam ; and, on the other hand, the adherence of
Judah to the established worship at the temple ; and,
j^lacing himself publicly under the protection of the
Lord God of their fathers, he exhorted his enemy in

arms to forbear to fight against God. Jeroboam with

800,000 warriors was in the field against Abijam, with

262 JEROBOAM AND ABIJAM OF JUDAH.

only half that number. To his advantage in superior
numbers Jeroboam sought to add that of ambushment.
With his immense masses of men he quite surrounded
his enemy.

When Judah saw their foe before and behind, they
cried to the Lord ; the priests sounded with their trum-
pets; the men of Judah gave their terrible war-shout;
at that moment God smote Jeroboam and all Israel be-
fore Abijam and Judah. The record is that there fell
slain of Israel 500,000— a half million of men. The
historian's brief comment is: "Thus the children of
Israel were brought under at that time, and the children
of Judah prevailed because they relied u^wn the Lord
God of their fathers." Abijam followed up his victory;
took various cities, Bethel included. "Neither did
Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijam,

and the Lord struck him and he died." His reign,

commencing with some vigor, became morally more
and more rotten, and ended in political weakness and

dishonor. His son Nadab reigned but two years,

then fell by a conspiracy which extinguished the royal
line and the entire family of Jeroboam.

Baasha, of little known but humble antecedents, was
the head conspirator. He seems to have gained control
of the army then besieging Gibbethon in war against
the Philistines. This done, he slew Nadab, and all sur-
vivors of the line of Jeroboam ; then seated himself on
the vacant throne — only to reign jxt more wickedly.
Beginning in the third year of Asa (of Judah), and
reigning twenty-four years, his history hands down only
these facts — that he was in hostile attitude toward
Asa all his days; and that at some period he began to
fortify Ramah, " that he might not suffer any to go out
or to come in to Asa king of Judah " (1 Kings 15 : 17,
and 2 Chron. 16 : 1). Ramah held a commanding mili-
tary position on the great road from Jerusalem north-
ward, and but five miles distant. A strong garrison
tliere would prevent good men of the Northern kingdom
from going to Jerusalem, or emigrating into Judah, and
might sharply menace Asa's capital. To compel Baasha
to desist from this enterprise. King Asa hired Benhadad
of Syria to attack the northern cities of Baasha's king-
dom— with the desired result. For this reliance on a
foreign heathen power, Hanani, the prophet, is sent to

BAASHA, 263

rebuke Asa : " Thou shouldest have relied on the Lord
thy God " — always able to save his trustful people ; who
had previously saved thee from the mighty host of the
Et.hiopians, and would have saved thee at this time.
'^In this thing thou hast done foolishly; from hence-
forth thou shalt have wars."*

After Baasha, his son Elah reigned two years ; then
fell by conspiracy (headed by Zimri, captain of half
his chariots) while he was ingloriously drinking him-
self drunk in the house of his steward. Zimri pro-
ceeded at once to exterminate the whole house of
Baasha, as the Lord had said by Jehu the prophet —
the penalty for having utterly failed to rule right-
eously in the fear of God and to put down idolatry.

Another djmasty is blotted out from Israel.

This conspirator Zimri reigned but seven days.
("Had Zimri peace who slew his master?" 2 Kings 9 :
31). The army again besieging Gibbethon — where
twenty-six years before Baasha struck for the throne —
hearing that Zimri had slain the king, chose to put
Omri, then captain-general of the arm}^ on the throne.
They soon disposed of Zimri. Another competitor,
Tibni, w^as ultimately slain, and Omri reigned, no one
disputing the throne. For six years he held the old
capital Tirzah, (a beautiful city of Ephraim, just north
from Mt. Ebal, and identified by Dr. Robinson) ; and
then built Samaria — thenceforward the nation's capital

to the fall of the kingdom. Morally and religiously,

Omri is no improvement upon his predecessors, " walk-
ing in all the ways of Jeroboam wherewith he made Israel
to sin to provoke the God of Israel to anger with their
vanities" (1 Kings 16: 26). Omri will be most re-
membered as the father of Ahab.

* As to the date of these transactions, the author of Kings give no
figures; the author of Chronicles gives figures (2 Chron. 15: 19, and
IG : 1), which must be in error, since they would place these events
eight or nine years after Baasha's death. For Baasha began to reign
in the third year of Asa; died, therefore, after a reign of twenty-four
years, in Asa's twenty-seventh year; but here the figures are in

Asa's thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth year, Among various proposed

methods of correction, the best dates, not from Asa's accession, but
from the revolt — twenty years further back.

264 ahab: elijah the tishbite.

Ahab, and Elijah the Tishbite.

Three great historic facts make the name of Ahab
conspicuous : (a.) His marriage to Jezebel, daughter of
Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians; and its consequences;

(b.) His relations to Elijah the prophet; (c.)

His affinity with the otherwise good Jehoshaphat, and
the evils entailed upon Judah through this connec-
tion.

(a.) Jezebel, a born idolater, of indomitable spirit
and energy, equal to any wickedness which her proud
aspirations might prompt her to commit, brought
into Israel the whole system of Baal-worship; sus-
tained it by importing or raising up in Israel hun-
dreds of Baal-prophets, and by the utmost exertion
of her personal and political power. She appears
every-where as Ahab's counselor and instigator to
wickedness. Her plot to murder Naboth for his vine-
yard; to cut off the prophets of the Lord en masse;
and, finally, to revenge herself on Elijah by taking his
life, are at once cases in point and illustrations of her
influence. The power of such a queen opened a new
era in the kingdom of Israel. It took a long stride in
the downward road toward national reprobation and
ruin ; brought a new strain of moral trial upon the
religious people still surviving in that kingdom ; and
called forth fresh interpositions of that redemptive
force which God had provided through his prophets.

We are but barely introduced to the wicked Ahab and
his more wicked Jezebel (1 Kings 16: 29-33), when all
suddenly (1 Kings 17 : 1) Elijah the Tishbite bursts
upon our view. Probably "Tishbite" indicates the
city from which he came, — of which nothing is cer-
tainly known ; Gilead, east of the Jordan, the country
where he had been a sojourner, yet apparently, not a
native. Beyond this we inquire for his antecedents in
vain. Was he of the schools of the prophets — a pupil
trained under some earlier men of God? Had he been
in prophetic service before this mission to Ahab? Or
was he only a rude mountaineer, of rough, stern cul-
ture ; trained through years of solitude and prayer into
devout communion with God and unblenching firmness

of obedience to God's high behests? Ah, indeed, w^e

seem to know nothing where our curiosity instinctively

ELIJAH THE PROPHET. 265

cisks SO much. It is doubtless safe to say that the Lord
had had the training of his servant Elijah for precisely
such an emergency as the reign of Ahab and the sway
of Jezebel had created ; so that it only remained at this
juncture to summon him forth from the mountains of
Gilead for his work.

His first message to Ahab was put in few but most
telling words : " As the Lord God of Israel liveth, there
shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to
my word." So much ; no more ; and Elijah disappears
as abruptly as he came. The word of the Lord baae him
" hide himself by the brook Cherith that is before Jor-
dan."* There the Lord commanded the ravens f to
bring him bread and flesh morning and evening ; and
he drank of the brook until under the severity of the
drought the fountain foiled. His next location is out-
side the limits of Israel, with a widow-woman of Zare-
phath (the Zarepta of Luke 4 : 26) " which belongeth
unto Zidon." He finds her gathering a few sticks for
(as she supposed) her last cooking fire, for she had come
down to the last handful of meal and the last running
of her oil. Elijah is hungry, and presses his request for
a meal even of this starving family; but his employer
will provide ; and authorizes him to say to this woman —
Go on; fear not; but make me a little cake first, and
then make for thyself and son — for the Lord God of
Israel saith, " The barrel of meal shall not waste, nor
shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord
sendeth rain upon the earth." So the supply held out
and the board of Elijah and of his hostess was provided,

for many days. According to the narrative, the

closing scene of Elijah's stay in the house of this widow
was the raising of her son to life. The woman seemed
to assume that her son's death was in some way the
result of Elijah's presence there, for she said to him,
" What have I to do with thee. Oh thou man of God?"

■■•• This brook emptied into the Jordan, but on which side of it, and
which of many it was, must probably remain unknown.

t All attempts to change these ravens (exegetically) into Arabs or
merchants or Orbitcs seem to fall short of even probability. Con-
cealment from Ahab was a prime object which none of these proposed
amendments provides for. Moreover, if human hands brought this

bread and flesh, why should they have come twice every day ?

We have no occasion to miss the exquisite beauty and fitness of the
case as in our version — God using the ravens to feed his prophet.

2G6

What is there between me and thee that my child
must die ? " Art thou come unto me to call my sin to

remembrance and to slay my son ? " Elijah took the

dead boy to his own prophet-chamber and laid him
upon his own bed. Then he gave himself to prayer — •
" Oh Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the

widow wdth whom I sojourn b}^ slaying her son ?"

AVe need not construe the spirit of this praj^er as cap-
tious, nor as inquisitive for the reasons, nor further as
inquiring whether God's purpose was real death with no
restoration : Perhaps it simply brought up the case
before the Lord preparatory to the supplication which
he proceeded to make; — "Oh Lord God, I pray thee let
this child's soul come into him again." The Lord heard
this prayer; the child lived again. That the prophet
stretched himself upon the child three times is said,
yet with no hint as to the object or the reason for this
act. We must suppose the prophet did so in obedience
to intimations made to him of God's will ; but we ask

in vain for the reasons. The results of this miracle

were at least these two ; (a) It convinced the mother
(so she said) that Elijah was a man of God, and that the
word of the Lord in his mouth was God's truth ; and
(b) It gave Elijah a fresh experience — by no means out
of place at that time — that God hears prayer, and that
he might depend on other answers in his time of need.

Elijah, Ahabj and Rain.

The scenes of the memorable chap. IS (1 Kings) open
here. It is a great crisis in Israel. The heaven shut
up to the extent of neither dew or rain for three and a
half years; the fountains and streams dry; the cattle
perishing with thirst; famine confronting every house-
hold ; suffering and solicitude every-where. Such was

the state of the nation when the Lord said to Elijah,
"Go, show thyself to Ahab; for I will send rain upon
the earth." Ahab, it seems, had remembered the condi-
tions— " No dew or rain these years save according to my
word ; " so that since the drought had become a terrible
reality, he probably believed that he must have Elijah's
hand before he could have rain. Long before this, there-
fore, he had been searching for the missing prophet far
and near. It comes to light here through Obadiah that

ELIJAH, AHAB, AND THE RAIN. 267

he had not only searched his own kingdom from end to
end, but other kingdoms and nations also, even taking

of them their oath that they could not find him.

The head steward of Ahab (it so happened) was not
only a trusty man, but one " who feared the Lord
greatly " — of which he had given proof by secreting
and feeding 100 of the Lord's prophets by fifties in two
caves, at his own expense and personal peril. The
occasion for this was Jezebel's effort to cut ofi" all tho
Lord's prophets. How many she actually murdered we
know not. Through Obadiah the Lord saved this 100.
For them he had work in Israel.

Ahab and Obadiah were both out on a common mis-
sion, though in different directions, in a desperate efibrt
to find water and herba,2e somewhere to save their
horses and mules alive. While on this mission Obadiah
met Elijah and recognized him. "Go," said Elijah,
"tell thy master. Behold, Elijah is here." Obadiah
hesitates. Remembering what pains the king has
taken for so many months to find Elijah, and how
marvelously he had seemed to be spirited away, Oba-
diah finds it hard to believe the prophet's word, and
fears he shall get into personal trouble with Ahab.
Elijah is in earnest : " As the Lord liveth before whom
I stand, I will surely show myself to him to-day." So
Obadiah informs Ahab, and Ahab meets Elijah. The
words that pass reveal the men. With strangest moral
perverseness Ahab would hold Elijah responsible for
all the mischiefs of this terrible drought : " Art thou he

that troubleth Israel ? * At once fearless and true to

the facts, Elijah replies : " I have not troubled Israel ;
but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have for-
saken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast
followed Baalim." Doubtless, he made the word "i/iou"
emphatic, for this would express only the simple truth.
Ahab had followed Baalim above all who had gone
before him. He had brought all this trouble upon

Israel. Both these men were squarely outspoken ;

Ahab certainly was not restrained by any special respect
for the man of God; and Elijah, how muchsoever he
might honor the king, as in his duty bound, could not

* The verb he used would suggest Aclifin, to -whom it was linked by
historic association. Ahab charged Elijah with being to Israel a
second Achan.

26S ELIJAH, AHAB, AND THE RAIN.

forget that himself was the messenger of the King of
kinoes, and was commissioned just then to confront this

guilty rebel against Jehovah. Whether it were due

to his sense of truth, to the power of his conscience, or
to something in Elijah's manner which he knew not
how to meet, Ahab made no further reply. Plainly,
Elijah rises at once into the place of poAver, and puts
things his own way. With wonderful boldness he pro-
ceeds to give command: "Now, therefore," thou king
Ahab, " send and gather to me all Israel to Mt. Carmel,
and the prophets of Baal 450, and the prophets of
Asherah * 400, who eat at Jezebel's table.

Ahab obeys this behest. Did he ask, what for?
There is no' hint that he raised any question. The
hand of the Lord in it was a power he could not with-
stand. How it happened that Jezebel was not there
does not appear. It was enough that all her prophets

came. The place for this great transaction was of

Elijah's selection. Mt. Carmel is a lofty mountain
ridge, stretching about twelve miles from N. N. W. to
S. S. E., terminating at the north in a bold headland
which looks out upon the great sea ; and at the south,
in a projecting point which, overlooking the plain of
Esdraelon and the city of Jezreel, met all the desired
conditions of outlook and natural grandeur for transac-
tions so sublime as these. Some point near this south-
ern extremity of the Carmel ridge is believed to have
been the exact site of this transaction f — '<^ place con-
tiguous to a living fountain, which might supply the
water necessary, and where the wood for the altar was
at hand.

In due time the people en masse were there, and also
the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Ahab also was
there, yet during most of this day, Elijah seems to
ignore his presence and address himself only to the
people and to the idol-prophets; — first to the people,
in the words as in our version : " How long halt ye
between two opinions?" To the word "halt," we
must not give the sense — linger or pause as if through
indecision and consequent inability to act; but pre-

* Asherah (Ilcb.) was the corresponding female goddess, always
matched with Baal.

tSee Bib. Sacra, Oct., 1873, p. 672: "El Mohrakah, or the place of
Elijah's Sacrifice."

ELIJAH, AHAB, AND THE RAIN. 269

cisely that of walking, as one with legs of unequal
length, swaj^ing the body, therefore, to and fro, pitch-
ing now this way and now that — in most ungraceful,
not to say painful or revolting motion. Herein lies
the pungency of Elijah's appeal: How long do ye
vacillate between these two diverse opinions as to the
God ye will worship? How long will ye swing, pend-
ulum-like, from one God to the other — now borne by
3'our nobler convictions toward the true God; anon
seduced back to Baal by your lusts? He appeals to
their sense of fitness and right : " If the Lord, your
nation's own Jehovah, be God, follow him ; but if
Baal be really the supreme, almighty God, then follow
him." — This appeal probably carried conviction; yet
the people answer him not a word. It was a moment
of crisis. Elijah was equal to the emergency. The
people were there; the work in their souls is begun.
BaaFs priests are there also — for some foreordained
purpose. The great question at issue is — which God,
Jehovah or Baal, shall have the homage of all hearts.
Elijah has put the case upon its reasons; the people
have nothing to say against his logic ; but still seem
to be too feebly impressed to make a bold and firm
decision. — The prophet's next step therefore is a test.
Let us see who is the true God. We will invoke him
to reveal himself by fire, each upon his own altar.
The circumstances shall be such as to preclude all
mistake and all deception : then the answer will be
open to every eye, and all may know absolutely

whether Jehovah or Baal be the true God. The God

of Israel had given this sort of demonstration more
than once before. Perhaps some of the people might
remember to have heard of the original consecration
of the priests, as in Lev. 9 : 23, 24 ; or the case of
Gideon and the angel's staff, touching the offering
upon his altar (Judg. 6 : 21) ; or the sacrifice of David
at Araunah's threshing-floor (1 Chron. 21 : 26) ; or the
descending fire when Solomon's pra)^er consecrated the

temple (2 Chron. 7 : 1). As to Baal, moreover, since

he claimed to represent more or less the great powers of
nature, it was certainly not unreasonable to ask him
to send down (if he would or could) a flash of light-
ning, and consume the animal sacrifice on his own altar.
The proposition of Elijah was, therefore, obviously a

270 ELIJAH, AHAB, AND THE RAIN.

fair one. The people at once responded, ''It is well
spoken ; " (Heb. — that's a good word.)

Turning to the prophets of Baal, Elijah said : Ye are
many, and I stand on my side alone ; go on, therefore,
first in order; choose j^our bullock; slay, cut up, and
l^lace in order upon your altar, only put no fire under;
and then call upon your god to answer by fire and con-
sume your sacrifice. When you have made your trial,

I will take my turn. They commenced operations

quite early in the day ; for, having slain their bullock,
dressed and placed it on the altar, " they called on the
name of Baal from morning even until noon; O Baal,
hear us." But there was no replying voice ; no token
of his having heard a word of their prayer. As their
agony increased, they proceeded — not to " leap upon the
altar" as the English version puts it, but to dance
around it— such "bodily exercise" being in natural sym-
pathy with their intense mental excitement. Elijah
looked on quietly and patiently until noon, and then,
for the people's sake, began to make suggestions. If
these were sarcastic, keen, taunting, the occasion justi-
fied him. The people needed to see the facts in this
strong light. "Cry louder," said Elijah, "for Baal is
doubtless a god, and you will make him hear by and
by; he may be in deep meditation, engrossed in some
thoughts of his own; or he may have retired to his
private apartment upon a call of nature; or he may
have a journey on hand; or perhaps just now he may
be asleep and you will have to wake him — so cry yet a

little louder ! And they did cry a little louder; and

not only so, they cut themselves with knives and lances
(the war-weapon ; not the surgeon's), drawing blood
freely — as if to make appeal to the sympathy of their
inattentive, sleepy god. So they held on from morning
till noon, and from noon till the middle of the after-
noon— the hour when the evening sacrifice began; but
there came no voice ; no answering response ; no fire ;
no sign of recognition from the heavens above or from

the earth beneath. Elijah has now waited long

enough. Addressing himself to the people, he cried ;
" Come near to me ; " it is my turn now. The i:)eople
gathered about him. He repaired the broken altar of Je-
hovah with twelve stones, reminding them of the twelve
tribes and ignoring the unsanctioned rending of the

ELIJAH^ AHAB, AND THE RAIN. 271

kingdom. He then prepared a trench around the altar
for water; put his wood in order and his slain bullock
upon the wood; and then bade the bystanders bring on
water. Again and again, even to the third time they
brought their vessels (not "barrels," but more nearly
buckets) full of water till the whole altar, wood and
bullock, were saturated, and the very trench around
was more than full. There must be no room for sus-
picion of concealed fire beneath. Now is the time

for prayer — one short but fervent prayer : " Lord God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 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.
Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me that this people may know
that thou art the Lord God, and that thou art turning
their heart back to thyself again." There was no need
of vain repetition ; the prayer w^as heard. All suddenly
the fire of the Lord fell. In the sight of all those gath-
ered thousands it gleamed down from on high ; it "con-
sumed the sacrifice and the wood, and the stones" of
which the altar was built, "and the dust" (the earth
which occupied the center), " and licked up the water
which filled the trench." When the people saw this
they could be silent no longer, but fell on their faces
and cried aloud : "Jehovah, he is the God ; Jehovah, he
is the God."

It was a thrilling scene. The impulses of such a
moment must not be lost. Elijah cried aloud in tones
of command : " Seize the prophets of Baal ; let not a
man of them escape. By the law of God they must be
slain." Elijah brought them (so is the record) down to
the brook Kishon which flows out of the valley of Es-
draelon to the great sea, past the high peak of Carmel
where they were, and slew them there. The overawed
people are ready for this measure as one of the natural
and righteous results of the great decision that Baal is
not God and that Jehovah is ; so they doubtless aided
in this slaughter of Baal's jDriests. What Ahab thought
of it the record saith not. He either had no heart or
no power to resist.

At this point Ahab appears in the narrative. " Elijah
said to Ahal), Get thee up (L e., from the brook Kishon
where BaaFs priests were slain) to the top of Carmel
where thy supper is in waiting; eat and drink with

272 ELIJAH, AHAB, AND THE RAIN.

glad heart, " for there is a sound of abundance of rain."
Either Ahab had not much hiid to heart in sorrow the
slaughter of Jezebel's priests, or he felt the spell of
Elijah's power, or his other excitements gave place to
joy as he heard of the coming rain — for he was ready
for his refreshment and " went up to eat and to drink."

Elijah had other responsibilities. As the rain had

been withheld three and a half years in answer to his
prayer, so it was to come again at length through
prayer. Elijah with only his servant went up to " the
top of Carmel." There he "cast himself upon the earth
and put his face between his knees" — his chosen atti-
tude for this great struggle of prayer. Go, said he to
his servant, and look toward the sea ; watch for the first
gathering cloud. He goes, but soon returns — there is
nothing. Go again — the prophet meantime praying
and waiting, and the servant going and returning, with
the same result till the seventh time. Then he brought
back the thrilling word : " Behold, there riseth a little
cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." Instantly
Elijah understood it ; — " Go, tell Ahab ; " '^ Prepare thy
chariot ; descend from this mountain that the rain stop
thee not." The heavens are black with clouds and
wind ; the mighty rain breaks forth from those surging
clouds in torrents. Ahab's chariot drove swiftly toward
his palace in Jezreel, sixteen miles distant. Elijah
girded up his loins, and happy to serve as footman
for his king ran with the agility of a trained moun-
taineer before this flying chariot to the very entrance
of Jezreel. It is not said that he went into the city ;
the presumption is that he did not. After a long day
of such intense excitement and exhaustive labor did he
not need retirement, food, and rest ?

What was the out-come of this momentous day — of
these demonstrations that Jehovah is the God; of this
breaking down of Baal-power; of this slaughter of Baal's

priests ; and, to crown all, of this glorious rain ? Let

us follow Elijah yet a little further, and then return to
consider more fully the results that came of that day,
and also the results that seemed hopeful and possible,
but yet failed of realization.

There were a great many vacant scats at Jezebel's
supper table that evening. Can Ahab give any account
of their absence to his inquiring, perhaps anxious Jeze-

ELIJAH IN HOREB. 273

bel ? " He told her all that Elijah had done "—all about
the test by fire — the astounding decision in favor of
Jehovah against Baal; and "withal how he had slain

all the prophets of Baal with the sword." Was Jezebel

appalled ? Not for a moment. But her wrath kindled
into fury. Too much excited to lay plans for his arrest,
or possibly thinking it wiser to frighten him from the
country, she sent a messenger to Elijah to say — " So let
the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life

as the life of one of them by this hour to-morrow."

We must take the record as we find it, hard as it may
be to account for the statement. Elijah was afraid of
Jezebel, and fled for his life. The man who but yester-
day seemed as one who never had a fear — facing 850
Baal-men; commanding and aiding to execute their
wholesale slaughter; standing alone for God before his
idol-worshiping king and the assembled thousands of
Israel ; so near to God moreover in heart and in faith
and so prevalent in prayer — ah, but what of him now ?

"He saw" [the various reading has it, he was

afraid] ; he fled for his life, alone save his one servant ;
he stayed not his flight till he reached Beersheba, on
the extreme southern border of Judah, estimated to
be ninety-five miles from Jezreel. There he left his
servant (who perhaps was unable to go further),
but pushed on himself yet one whole day's journey
into the wilderness — so far before he felt himself safe
from the wrath of Jezebel. Here " he sat down under
a juniper tree " * and begged that he might die ! f
Alas, the flesh is weak ; he is utterly exhausted. Was
human endurance ever tasked more fearfully? After
such a day on Mt. Carmel, such a foot race to Jezreel,
and such a flight for life; breadless, sleepless, two or
three daj^s and nights at least — no wonder his spirits
sink within him ; no wonder he feels that it would be

sweet to die ! God's " kind restorer, balmy sleep,"

came to his relief; and yet, more, after he had slept,
we know not how long, the Lord sent his angel to
touch him, and call him up to eat. Lo, this angel had

* Understood to be a species of broom, common in the deserts of
Arabia, of size sufficient to aiford agreeable shade.

t Was it not a wonderful case of forgiving mercy that God not
only passed over this impatient outcry, but exempted him from ever
dying!

274 ELIJAH IN nOREB.

placed at his pillow there in the wilderness a traveler's
cake already baked, and a cruse of water. The prophet
ate and drank, and lay down again to sleep. Again, the
angel waked him to a' second meal— wonderfully sympa-
thetic and appreciative— " because the journey is too
much for thee." Now, somewhat rested and refreshed,
he traveled on forty days and nights, sustained by that
great hand Divine to Mt. Horeb. There he turned
into a cave for his home and place of rest. Here the
first word of gentle rebuke came to him : — " What doest
thou here, Elijah ? " Who sent thee here, and on what
errand ? Is this the place to fight the battle for truth
and for Israel's God against Baal, and against apostate

Ahab and his seducer Jezebel ? Remarkably Elijah's

answer gives mostly the dark side and not the bright :
one set of facts, and not the other. " I have been very
jealous for the Lord of Hosts " (so far, true) ; " for the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant— [but
they had with one loud voice declared for Jehovah — " he
is the God"]; ''they have thrown down thine altars,
and slain thy prophets with the sword " [yet Obadiah
had secreted and saved a full hundred] — "and I, even
I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away."
He did not mention that Baal's prophets were all cut
off too, not one of them being left ; nor that, through
the good hand of the Lord upon him, he had seen the
Lord answering by fire and mightily convincing the
assembled thousands of Israel that Jehovah and not
Baal is the Supreme God, and compelling their unani-
mous consent. These great facts so grand, and, withal,
so recent, Elijah fails to mention. There are depressed
moods of mind that have a natural sympathy with the
darker side of things, and this law of ^ human frailty

the Lord is not wont to ignore. In this case he comes

yet nearer to his servant for a more full and impressive
inanifestation. " Go forth," said he, '' and stand upon tho
mount before the Lord." We read—" Behold, the Lord
pa.ssed by, and a great and strong wind rent the moun-
tain, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but
the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an
earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake ;
and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not
in the fire ; and after the fire a still small voice," (Heb.
a voice of whispering stillness). " And it was so that

ELIJAH IN HOREB. 275

when Elijah heard this, he wrapped his face in his
mantle" (conscious that God was, indeed, there), "and
went out and stood at the entrance of the cave." Then
the same word as before came to him again : " What
doest thou here, Elijah ? " To which he gave the same
answer. ^That God came in these gentlest manifesta-
tions— not in those most appalling — is due, we may
assume, to the tenderness of his sympathy and pity for
human infirmity. Elijah must be rebuked, yet there
were redeeming features, and circumstances of apologetic
bearing, such as the Lord never ignores. It is, more-
over, supposable, and by no means improbable, that the
Lord intended a still further significance in the gentle
voice, contrasted with the tempest, the earthquake, and
the fire; viz., to suggest to his prophet the higher
modes of spiritual power. Perhaps, Elijah estimated
above its relative value the influence of judgment,
fiery zeal, blood, and carnage; and had yet to learn
that God's gentler ways reach men's hearts to better
purpose — as rocks are better melted than shattered to
fragments.

We have now before us the staple facts of Elijah's
experience and life from Carmel to Horeb. We ought
not to pass them without patient reflection.

That day on Carmel— the sun has risen and set on
few like it. I do not care to call special attention to
the external grandeur and sublimity of those transac-
tions; nor to the religious heroism of God's one only
prophet ; nor to the masterly powers of mind wielded
under God by this one man over almost a thousand of
"Baal's men, and over the many thousands of assembled
Israelites ; — but I call attention to the scenes of Carmel
as being siqiremely anspicious for a grand moral and relig-
ious reformation. What external circumstances could

ever be more so? (1) Note that most impressive

demonstration of the true God made by descending fire
upon the altar. Think how it impressed those admir-
ing thousands! Was not that a good beginning toward
a radical change in their allegiance from Baal to Jeho-
vah ? (2) Scarcely less propitious and impressive

w^as the second great demonstration of a present God —
that by water — by that mighty, glorious rain. Espe-
cially was this of priceless value, because it came in
answer to prayer. It lifted up its witnessing voice

27G REVIEW OF THE SCENES ON CARMEL AND IIOREB.

before the nation, testifying that God hears and
answers prayer. Usually God's judgments upon Israel
had been removed only on condition of their national
repentance and of their uplifted cry for mercy. Here
the people had professed their acceptance of Jehovah
as their God. It seems to have been upon the basis of
this acknowledgment that God returned to them in this

great mercy of rain. The rain was, moreover, so

great a mercy, it could scarcely fail to put their hearts
into a favorable attitude for moral and religious impres-
sion. (3) To these elements of general influence

must be added whatever had been gained upon the
heart of Ahab — an amount which (had Jezebel been
out of the account) might have been ver}^ considerable :

and (4) The positive gain secured by the sudden

removal of every Baal-prophet from the land.

AVas not this, therefore, a grand opportunity for push-
ing a general and radical reform throughout the Northern
kingdom ? How shall we adjust ourselves to the disap-
pointment as we see this sublimely grand opportunity
mostly lost ? A work so great and so hopeful — begun so
auspiciously — what shall we say when we see it suddenly
arrested and find it hard to discern even so much as

dim traces of resulting good? Were not the people

expecting that Elijah would be their great leader in
the re-establishment of Jehovah's worship and the utter
expulsion of Baal-worship from the land? And how
could they be expected to declare every-where for Jeho-
vah and against Baal in the face of Jezebel's fury when
even Elijah had fled before her threats and nobody
knew whither he had gone ?

It will not be wholesome to pass judgment severely
upon the course of Elijah on the days next after Carmel;

but we may suggest : What if, on hearing the threat

of angry Jezebel, he had lifted up his prayer to God —
" What wilt thou have me do? How shall I sustain and
carry on to final triumph the great work which thine
own strong hand but yesterday began?" — What if he
had said with Nehemiah — " Shall such a man as I flee ? "
What if he had given himself anew to the Lord his
God, saying — Here is my life, if thou dost call for the
sacrifice ; or if it please thee, let the life of Jezebel, like
the lives of her prophets, be taken out of the way and
thy work go on, no such adversaries opposing.

MO.RAL LESSONS FROM ELIJAH'S HLSTORY. 277

It is not permitted us to go back into the eternal
counsels of God and ask— Why did he permit such a
failure in a work so dear to his heart and so auspiciously-
begun? Why did he let Elijah lose heart so sadly, and
place such a contrast before the world between the sub-
lime heroism of one day and the (apparently) inglorious
flight of the next? We will not attempt to push ques-
tions of this sort. Let us rather suggest that this is one
of the sad experiences to which the Lord's cause has been
subjected all down the ages — viz., set back (as men view
things) by the human infirmity of his servants. It is
humiliating, and perhaps should teach us to beware of
too much confidence in great men.

Again, let it be suggested as at least supposable that
magnificent success, close on the heel of those scenes
of Carmel, and coming apparently as their result,
would have witnessed that God was in the tempest,
the earthquake, and the fire, rather than in the still,
small voice ; and so might have tended to misrepre-
sent Jehovah's spiritual power. True, the time had
not come to bring forth before the world the peculiar
power of tenderness, and tears, and pitying love ; but
the Lord might have deemed it unwise to accumulate
testimonies and illustrations of an entirely difierent,
not to say opposite, character and bearing.

Let it be suggested also, that such a case as this
affords a very special lesson on prayer, teaching not
merely that God hears prayer ; not merely that, despite
of the so-called "scientific" objections, he can hear
prayer about rain — to the extent of arresting the
entire rain-fall in Israel for three and a half years, and
then bringing it down in torrents, in answer to one
man's prayer, but specially this lesson — that this
praying prophet was "a man subject to like passions as
ice are^ The case as here put before us is a touching
comment on this very practical point. *'0f like pas-
sions as we." Not a man lifted above the infirmities of
human flesh ; not a man of nervous organism equal
to unlimited endurance, but perhaps rather specially
subject to terrible depression after the exhaustive
strain of immense and protracted excitement ; — a man
who, after having his prayers answered so wonderfully
one day, seems to have almost forgotten, the next day,
to lift up the simplest of all prayer — Lord, teach me

278 MORAL LESSONS FROM ELIJAIl's HISTORY.

how to order mj-self in this emergency. Well, it

was surely very gracious in our Heavenly Father to
give us such a lesson, showing that he can hear the
prayers of men of like passions with ourselves, and
can hear us, although compassed about with manifold
infirmities.

I suggest only one point more in quite another
line of thought. This history may well astound us
with its illustrations of the terrible influence of one
had ivoman. What Satanic energy of will! What bold
ingenuity ! What seductive power over her husband
toward wickedness! We might have supposed that no
mind less mighty than Satan's could throw itself into
the face of such a movement as that inaugurated on
Mt. Carmel and block it utterly ; — but apparently
Jezebel was equal to it — and did it! May the Lord
spare the world from other such !

Resuming the history of Elijah, we note that the
Lord had more service for him yet ; viz., to go back to
the upper Jordan valley — a district somewhat remote
from Jezebel's home ; and in due time call into the
Lord's service Hazael to be king of S^n-ia ; Jehu to be
king of Israel — both to serve as executioners of his
judgments on Ahab and his kingdom ; and also, Elisha,
to be his associate and successor, a prophet in Elijah's
room. Subsequent history shows that these words said
to Elijah were rather a general outline of the divine
policy than a specific programme for his own work, for
the anointing of Jehu took place some time after his
translation, and was done under Elisha's direction by
an unnamed " son of the prophets ; " and there is no in-
timation that Elijah went in person to anoint Hazael.
It only appears (2 Kings 8: 7-15) that Elisha, some
time after Elijah's translation, said to Hazael : " I know
the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel," etc.

Elijah did call Elisha personally, as we read 1

Kings 19 : 19-21 — a scene which suggests the manner
in which our divine Lord often called his disciples
suddenly away from their fishing nets or from their
custom-house office; and yet this call is singularly col-
ored with those shadings of wuld Arab life which rarely

fail to appear in Elijah the Tishbitc. At Abel-Meho-

lah — some x^h'^ce in the Jordan valley (not at present
identified) he found Elisha plowing, in care of twelve

HISTORY OF AHAB. 279

teams and plows — himself with the twelfth — a farmer
of very considerable responsibilities and probably of
wealth. As he passed along he threw his mantle over
him and silently went on. A few moment's reflection
suggested to Elisha the import of this mantle-call ; so
he left his oxen in the furrow and ran to overtake Eli-
jah, crying out : Grant me time to go home and give
my farewell kiss to my aged father and mother. Then
I will follow thee. " Go back," said Elijah, " for what

have I done to thee ? " This seems rather curt, with

an undertone of rebuke, as if he would say : " If thou
art not ready to forsake father and mother to follow me,
I have no service for thee : do as you like." The
thing Elisha actually did may have been a kind of
compromise between his first thought and Elijah's de-
mand. He seems to have omitted the going home for
the farewell kiss to father and mother whom he might
never see again ; but he made a sort of farewell sacri-
fice to his farm and to his workmen. His own yoke
of oxen are slaughtered and boiled — his yoke and plow
being the fuel. This is the end of his personal farming
— this farewell feast to his laborers. This done, he
follows Elijah as his servant.

To encourage Elijah — perhaps to rebuke his dark-
sided view of things — the Lord said to him : Thou art
not by any means the only man in Israel who remains
true to Jehovah and against Baal; for I have seven
thousand men yet left me of whom not a knee has ever
bowed to Baal, nor has a tongue kissed him. Elijah
needed some inspirations of hope and of numbers, and
God kindly gave them. The time had come, moreover,
when a true-hearted and sympathizing companion and
servant — such as Elisha became — of younger blood, and
perhaps of steadier nerve, might be at once a comfort
and a help; so the Lord provided him.

The History of Ahah Resumed and Concluded.

Three chapters remain in 1 Kings (20-22) in all which
the leading thread runs on the line of Ahab's life. The
prophets of God appear in every important transaction,
3^et not the same prophet, for the Lord had several in

his service, and work for all. Chap. 20 narrates

various war-scenes between Ahab and Ben-hadad of

280 HISTORY OF AHAB.

Syria in which a prophet appears in v. 13; the same
one reappears in v. 22, recognized here as "^/ie prophet"
(the article of renewed mention) ; but in v. 28 there
appears another prophet, as we may infer from his
different designation — "there came a man of God;"
and from his different geographical locality, this being

east of the Jordan. Again, in v. 35, we find yet

another description : " A certain man of the sons of the
prophets " — who is probably yet another and a third
prophet appearing in the scenes of this one chapter.

In the scenes of chap. 21 (of Ahab and Naboth)

Elijah bears God's message to the guilty king ; while
in chap. 22 — the history of Ahab and Jehoshaphat going
in alliance against Ramoth-gilead and the Syrians — the
Lord's messages are given through Micaiah, son of
Imlah.

In the history in chap. 20, Ben-hadad, king of Syria,
besieged Samaria with an immense armament. Hav-
ing reached a point where he felt sure of the city, he
sent messengers to Ahab to say — all your treasures, all
your wives and children, are mine. It was understood
on both sides that the surrender of these was the con-
dition proposed by Ben-hadad himself for sparing the
city and going home. Though these conditions were
hard, Ahab accepted them. But this concession came
so easily, it encouraged Ben-hadad to make a larger
grab, and withal to satisfy the grasping spirit of his
servants, and, moreover, to make the terms j^et more
humiliating. So he sent messengers again to say —
although I made thee a proposition so and so, yet I
want more. " I will send my servants to thee, and
they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy serv-
ants ; and it shall be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine
[their] eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take
it away." No wonder this roused Ahab's indignation.
He brought the case before the elders and people, and
they indignantly said. No/ Ahab replied to Ben-hadad,
No, and received in return the hardest sort of threaten-
ing. Ahab answered with one of the wisest sayings
of his on record : — " Tell him, Let not him that
girdeth on his harness, boast himself as he that

putteth it off." Ben-hadad said to himself, We shall

see, and to his officers, then carousing with him over
his wine, "Up and make ready" — to storm the city.

HISTORY OF AIIAB. 281

Just ill that critical juncture there came a prophet

of the Lord to Ahab with a message which ought to
have been thrice welcome: — "Hast thou seen all this
great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thy
hand this day ; and thou shalt know that I am the

Lord." Surel}^, this was mercy— help, unasked, and

undeserved, but in his deepest need. Ahab very
sensibly inquired, " By whom " wilt thou send this
deliverance ? To which the Lord answers — " By the
3'oung men of the princes of the provinces," i. e., by the
servants, attending the governors of adjacent districts
or principalities who seem to have fled to Samaria
before these invading Syrian hosts. In the line of
war-power, these young men w^ere neither numer-
ous nor formidable. It was found they numbered, all
told, 232 — less than the reduced band led on by
Gideon.

Besides these, the children of Israel mustered for
active service 7,000. Ahab asked a second question —
Who shall order the battle? and God answered. Thou.

They made the sally out from Samaria at noon —

Ben-hadad's dinner hour — he and his thirty captains
drinking themselves drunk in their royal tent. These
young men (232) took the front. AVhen it w^as reported
to Ben-hadad that a squad of men were seen coming
out of Samaria, he simply replied, "Whether they
come out for peace or for war, take them alive." But
they were in for deadly fight; they slew every one his
man ; the Syrians fled ; Israel pursued, and " slew the
Sj'rians with great slaughter." Samaria was free ; the
Syrians scattered and fled to their homes. Ben-hadad
hardly escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

The same prophet then warned Ahab to make his
position strong, for this enemy would come back at the
same time next year. The historian put on record the
reasonings of the defeated Syrians as they con over the
causes of their failure, and their new schemes for
future success — thus : The gods of that people are gods
of the hills ; therefore, they beat us on the hills ; we can
beat them on the plains. Another change also we will
make : discharge, those thirty-two kings — (they dont
fight well) — and put military captains — men trained
for war, in their stead. Then muster another army of
the same number, man for man, horse for horse, and
13

282 HISTORY OF AHAB.

chariot for chariot; so we shall have the victory.

The children of Israel drawn up against them seemed
(says the historian) like two little flocks of kids, while
the Syrians filled the country — an immense host, for,
according to the figures given in the sequel, 127,000
men never returned to their homes. A few thousand
should he added to this number for those who did.

Their proud reasonings about the weakness of Israel's
God on tlie plains proved the salvation of Israel. To
vindicate his own glorious name and his power inarms,
which must not be reproached with impunity, the Lord
interposed and went down himself into this fight. A
new prophet came and said to Ahab — "Because the
Syrians have said, Jehovah is the God of the hills but
not of the valleys, I will deliver all this host into thy

hands, and ye shall know that I am the Lord."

Seven days in succession these armies— the great one
and the little — faced and menaced each other. (Did
Ahab's fViith hold out? Why this delay to join issue?
On these points the record is silent). On the seventh
day the battle was joined, and "Israel slew of the
Syrians 100,000 footmen in one day." The rest fled to
Aphek, in the plain of Esdraelon at the southern base
of Little Hermon. There the city wall fell upon 27,000
men, to their death. Ben-hadad fled into the city and
secreted himself in a private chamber.

In the ensuing negotiations Ben-hadad proved him-
self adroit and Ahab unaccountably weak-minded and
vain. He seems to have had no conception of the
danoferous qualities of his great national adversary.
Perhaps he felt flattered by the proposed alliance with
such a king. The Lord rebuked this folly; "Because
thou hast let go out of thine hand a man whom I had
appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall
go for his life, and thy people for his people" (1 Kings
20: 42). The event fulfilled this word; Ahab fell before
the Syrians in battle, and his nation was scourged fear-
fully by that formidable power. From this great

victorv and God's disapproval of his treaty policy, Ahab
went "home to his capital heavy and displeased— not
quite happy with himself, and very far from being
happy in God. The fatal lack in his character was—
no harmony of will with Jehovah; no living faith; no
sincere prayer for divine guidance. How abundantly

AIIAB, JEZEBEL AND NABOTII. 283

God would have blessed him if only he had been in a
state fit to be blessed ?

Ahah, Jczchel, and Kaboth.

In 1 Kings 21 we have the story in which these three
were the prominent actors. Naboth had inherited a
vineyard in Jezreel. Ahab built his palace quite near.
Fixing his eye on this vineyard, he said, That would
be nice for a vegetable garden, and I want it. With a
sense of justice that does him honor he said to Naboth :
Your vineyard plat is exceedingly convenient for my
use ; I will give you a better vineyard for it ; or I will
pay its value in money. Naboth replied : God forbid
that I should alienate the inheritance of mv fathers.
For long succeeding generations my father s fathers
have held it ; by the law of Moses it must go down to

my children's children: no money can buy it.

Ahab's will had rarely been crossed, and he lacked both
the grace and the manhood to bear this refusal. He
even threw himself upon his bed, averted his face and
would not eat. Jezebel must know what the matter is,

and he told her the story. Jezebel had no sense of

justice standing in her way. She believed in the
right of kings to do their own pleasure and to have all
their heart's desire. First, she taunted her royal hus-
band : " Dost thou govern the kingdom of Israel ? "
This does not look much like being a king ! Put the
matter into my hands and then see. I will give thee

that vineyard of Naboth. She wrote letters in the

king's name ; summoned a court of mock justice, and
arraigned Naboth before it; suborned false witnesses
to swear upon him the crime of blaspheming God and
his king ; and enjoined them to execute the penalty
for this offense; viz., to hustle the criminal out of the
city and stone him to death. It was done ; and then
she reported the matter to Ahab and told him to go

and take the vineyard of the murdered Naboth. It

is sad that we must say, Ahab neither objected to this
use of his royal name and seal, nor to taking possession
of an estate obtained by such high-handed crime. He
set off — shall we say with light heart — to take posses-
sion. Ah, but just then, he met Elijah — the last man
he would wish to see. The Lord had noticed what was

284 AHAB, JEZEBEL, AND NABOTII.

going on under Jezebel's management, and had singled
out Elijah as the fit man to confront Ahab again.
Ahab's first words reveal his heart toward the vener-
able "man of God:" "Hast thou found me, 0 mine
enemy ? " — found me once more in sin ; found me when
I had fondly hoped God would for this once let me
alone? — found me to act against me the part of an
enemy? Must I be forever annoyed by such men as
you, coming across my path to block my way with

those awful words of Jehovah ? As usual, Elijah has

his answer ready : Yes, indeed, I have found thee, and
this is the reason why : " Because thou hast sold thy-
self to work what is evil in the sight of the Lord."
My message is short: "God will cut off thy life and
the life of thy posterity, sparing not a man, and the

dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." The

historian sums up his estimate of the character of
Ahab in the words : " But there was none like Ahab
who did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight
of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. He did
very abominably in following idols in all things as
the Amorite nations whom the Lord drove out of

Canaan for their abominations." Yet it is added in

the close of this narrative that when Ahab heard these
terrible maledictions, he stood appalled with fear ; he
humbled himself; rent his clothes; put on sack-cloth ;
fasted and went softly [what did Jezebel say to this?]
— so that the Lord modified his pronounced doom by
deferring certain portions of it till after his death, to
be consummated upon his posterity.

In the record of Jezebel, not one redeeming feature
anywhere appears. Her character bears the stamp of
unmixed wickedness — pure and utter depravity. We
should think much better of her if she had hired an
assassin to waylay Naboth and hurl a javelin through
his heart. It was doubly horrible to prostitute the
sacred forms of justice to the purposes of such foul
murder and wrong. Perhaps she thought to conceal
crime under such a covering; but God abhors such
concealments, and has ways to blast such schemes.
All in all, the character of Jezebel is drawn — to be
execrated. There could be no other worthy object in
delineating such ineffable meanness and wickedness.
True, she had a most indomitable will: so has Satan ;

AHAB, JEHOSHAPHAT, AND RAMOTH-GILEAD. 285

— and both are the more to be execrated. True, her
character is self-consistent— of one piece and one
stripe throughout; and so is Satan's — both simply and
supremely wicked — than which what worse thing can
be said of any moral being?

Thus far in the life of Ahab, we have found his
history in the book of Kings only. What we read in
the ensuing chapter (1 Kings 22) occurs with only
slight variations in Chronicles also (2 Chron. 18).

Ahah, Jehoshaphaf, and Ramoth-Gllead.

Here for the first time we find relations of alliance —
political fraternity — between the usually rival king-
doms of Israel and Judah. The author of Chronicles
indicates the particular form of this alliance ; " Jehosha-
phat joined affinity with Ahab," asking and taking
Ahab's daughter for the wife of his son Jehoram, heir-

a]iparent to his throne (2 Chron. 18 : 1, and 21 : 6).

This affinity is the more' astounding because Jehosha-
phat was in the main a good man and a real reformer,
while Ahab was wicked, and Jezebel notoriously and
fearfully so. What Jehoshaphat's inducements were
the record does not clearly indicate. The author of
Chronicles puts things in this order: "Now Jehosha-
phat had riches and honor in abundance ; and joined
affinity with Ahab." This author not seldom gives
indications of a philosophic turn of mind; so that we
probably do no violence to his words if we introduce the
logical connective — " And consequently " joined affinity
with Ahab. It would not be the first or the last time
in which riches and honor have opened the door and
led the way to affinities which morally should have been
revolting. The question has an interest for us, far more

and higher than merely speculative; How so good a

man could make so bad a blunder and involve himself
in perils so great, and his family in a ruin so fearful : —
for other men of our race — not to say ourselves — may

fall before like temptations. Jehoshaphat had riches

and honor in abundance; enough to make affinity with
his family more than acceptable to Ahab and Jezebel.
Ahab had put himself in affinity with the royal and
wealthy house of Tyre — a step upward, probably, in the
eye of the civilized world of that age ; and if Jehosha-

286 AHAB, JEHOSHAPHAT, AND RAMOTH-GILEAD.

phat looked at things merely as the world looks at them —
why should not he think so too? And why should it
not seem to him a ready way to put himself in strong,
sustaining relations to the great political powers nearest
at hand — to join affinity at once with Ahab and Jezebel
and Jezebel's royal father? This might seem the more
desirable on account of the growing political power of

Syria — so near, and naturally so hostile. The capital

mistake of Jehoshaphat lay in leaving God out of the
account. In his estimate of political forces and national
strength, the God of his fathers seems to have been
sadly, sinfulh^ omitted.

In process of time this family affinity led to a family
visit. "Jehoshaphat went down to Ahab in Samaria."
The author of Chronicles, and he only gives the social
side : " Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abun-
dance, and for the people he had with him " — his royal
retinue — perhaps a military guard, so strong as to sug-
gest to Ahab the proposal he proceeds to make. Ahab
held a council of war with his servants; "Know ye not
that Ramoth in Gilead is ours ; and yet we have been
tamely inactive and we take it not out of the hand of
the king of Syria." Turning to his royal guest he said,
"Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-Gilead? "

With no hesitation apparent on the face of the

record, he answered, Aye ; count my people as thy people

and my horses as thine. But Jehoshaphat has been

in the habit, on the question of war, of asking counsel
of God through his prophets, and his second thought (if
not his first) was that in a matter so grave as this might
prove to be, it would be well. So he said to Ahab, " In-
quire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day."

Ahab at once gathered 400 of his prophets. What

kind of prophets were these? Has Jezebel already re-
placed the Baal-prophets who fell on Carmel? Or were
these ostensibly prophets of Jehovah? Or were they
the religious officials of Jeroboam's system — those mean-
est of the people whom he made his priests? The

first alternative is scarcely probable so soon; the second
is quite improbable ; the third encounters least difli-
culty. It is plain they are low and mean enough —
sufficiently reckless of truth and subservient to the
known wishes of their monarch. They knew what
answer Ahab wanted ; and they gave it : " Go up, for

AHAB, JEIIOSHAPIIAT, AND RAMOTH-GILEAD. 287

God will deliver it into thy hand." Jehoshaphat

was impressed unfavorably by the look and tone of these
prophets; their answer w^as to him by no means satis-
factory. " Is there not here," said he, " a prophet of the
Lord besides, that we may inquire of him?" Rather
reluctantly, Ahab answers: "There is yet one man,
Micaiah son of Imlah ; but I hate him ; for he doth not
prophesy good for me, but evil." Jehoshaphat dislikes

the tone of this remark : — " Let not the king say so."

Politeness to his guest had its claims on Ahab; so he

hastened ofl' a messenger for this Micaiah. Meantime

the 400 prophets were entirely harmonious and em-
phatic in their assurance of success in this expedition.
Ahab's messenger suggested to Micaiah that this great
troop of prophets were all of one voice, and that if he
could bring himself to express the same opinion, it
would be exceedingly agreeable to King Ahab. Micaiah
was not the man to listen for a moment to such consid-
erations. He spoke warmly : " As the Lord liveth, what

the Lord saith unto me that will I speak." Brought

before Ahab, and the great question put to him: —
" Shall we go up to Ramoth-Giiead, or shall we for-
bear?" he answered in a way which made his words
signify one thing, and his tone and manner another.
It was equivalent to this : If you want an answer to
please yourselves, that is one thing : if 3*ou want the
answer that God gives, it is quite a different thing.
Even Ahab caught this distinction, and somewhat re-
senting it, replies : — " How many times shall I adjure
thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true
in the name of the Lord ? " — Oh, if you want what is
true in the name of the Lord (said Micaiah), I will give
it. The scene presented to my prophetic eye was this :
— " All Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have
no shepherd : and the Lord said unto me ; These have
no master; let them return every man to his house in
peace." The import of this could not be misunder-
stood. The king fallen ; his army smitten and disorgan-
ized under the usual cry — " Ho, every man to his tents ! "

Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat to say — "Did I not tell

thee so? He never prophesies any good for me, but
only evil." Micaiah notwithstanding, resumes, to des-
cribe another prophetic scene — a kind of cabinet council
(of course this is drapery), location not given, to debate

288 AHAB, JEHOSAPHAT, AND RAMOTII-GILEAD.

the question how to allure Ahab up to Ramoth-Gilead
to fall there in battle. The scheme of false, lying

prophets is agreed on and put in execution. In

respect to the morality of this transaction as related to
the Lord, it meets no other difficulty than is involved
in every case of God's providential agency in the exist-
ence of sin — which agency is not a license for sinning —
is never the employing of his moral subjects to do the
sinning; but is simply leaving the wicked to commit
sin of their own free will, his shaping hand being inter-
posed only to turn it to best moral account.

The narrative relates that Zedekiah, the spokesman
of the four hundred, fired up at the intimation about
lying spirits ; and that Ahab ordered Micaiah back to
the custody of the governor of the city — an order which
seems to imply a previous imprisonment. " Keep him
there on bread of affliction and water of affliction
[the coarsest fare], till I return again in peace." " If
thou return at all in peace," (responded Micaiah),
"then the Lord hath not spoken by me;" and he
cried aloud to call the attention of the whole people to
his words. A staunch man is he, swerving never a hair's
breadth from the rough line of duty as the Lord's
j)rophet. No conciliating words has he to sa}^, bear-
ing never so little upon his personal liberty or his
hardships in prison.

The views of the prophets are now all in, and
the hour for decision has come. What does Jehosha-
pliat think of the answer from the only real prophet
of the Lord? lie does not appear as well at the end
of this consultation with prophets as at the beginning.
We must probably conclude that Ahab and Jezebel
are the leading master minds of the group, and that
Jehoshaphat succumbs and really sacrifices his own
convictions to his desire to please his host and stand

to his original assent to go. They are ofi" for the

war — and about to go into battle. Ahab may have had
some intimation that he would be the special target
for the arrows of the Syrian host ; and, therefore, (not
quite honorably) he proposed to Jehoshaphat — "Let
me go into battle in disguise; but put thou on thy
robes." With no remonstrance Jehoshaphat con-
sented: but when the battle concentrated hotly upon
his royal chariot and his conspicuous robes, he cried

AHABj JEIIOSHAPIIAT, AND RAMOTH-GILEAD. 289

out, and his enemies turned back from pursuing him *
Ahab, attracting no special attention, escaped this
concentrated fire ; but some unknown Syrian archer
drew his bow at a venture [Heb. in his simplicity;
with no particular intent or aim] and this arrow took
Ahab between the joints of his coat of mail and his
breast-plate, and i)roved his death-wound. The king
had himself supported upright in his chariot till
night-fall that the conflict might not be arrested by
his withdrawal from the field, and then fell, to rise
no more. The blood ran from his wound into the
bottom of his chariot ; the washing was done at the
pool of Samaria ; there the dogs licked up that blood ;
and there the harlots bathed themselves in that bloody
pool [So the Heb., and certainly the Septuagint seems
to mean] — a divine and predicted retribution for
the blood of Kaboth — the beginning of this retribu-
tion, but not the end thereof. The after-part came
from the Lord by the hand of Jehu, and involved the
blood of Jezebel and of Ahab's second son and second
successor, Joram — first wounded in battle with the
Syrians; but ultimately slain by Jehu (2 Kings 9: 24

-37). Thus closed the life of Ahab, after a reign

of twenty years in consummate wickedness.

Of Jehoshaphat we shall see much more when we
study him in his place in the line of Judah's kings.
Yet let it be said here that this affinity with Ahab
brought upon him the divine rebuke as the author of
Chronicles is careful to say; — "When he returned in
peace to his house in Jerusalem, Jehu, son of Hanani
the seer, went out to meet him, saying, Shouldest
thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the
Lord? Therefore, is wrath upon thee from before the
Lord. Nevertheless, there are good things found in
thee in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the
land, and hast i)re2)arcd thine heart to seek God."

The author of Chronicles, with his ej-e on the history of Jehosha-
phat and with a kindly view of his character, made the hand of God
specially prominent here: "When the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat they said — It is the king of Israel, and they compassed
about him to fight; but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped
him^ and God moved them to depart from him."

290 AIIAZIAH OF ISRAEL AND ELIJAH.

Ahaziah of Israel and Elijah. (2 Kings 1.)

Ahaziah, son and immediate successor of Ahab, was
morally worse than even Ahab, and not unnaturally so,
as the mother has more absolute power in forming char-
acter than the wife. What ought to be expected of a
son, born of Jezebel- -nursed, molded, made, by her

hand? Ahaziah comes to view first, hurt by a fall,

and sending messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub,^!^ god
of Ekron, if he should recover. The Lord sent Elijah
to meet those messengers and to say — Do ye not assume
that there is no God in Israel when ye go to inquire of
Baal-zebub, god of Ekron? "Thus saith the Lord to
your king ; Thou shalt not come down from that bed, but
shalt surely die." They reported back this answer. The
king was inquisitive to know who said those Avords,
and obtained from them this description :— " A hairy
man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins."
"That, said he, is Elijah the Tishbite." Forthwith, the
king sent fifty men under their captain to bring Elijah
before him. It is not explicitly said, but yet is cer-
tainly to be inferred, that the king's purpose was to put

Elijah to death. This band of soldiers found Elijah

sitting on the top of a hill, and accosting him, " Thou
man of God," ordered him in the king's name to come
down. Elijah answered : " If I be a man of God, let fire
come down from heaven and consume thee and thy
fifty." The fire fell and consumed them. The king
sent a second company with the same result; and then
sent a third; but this third captain begged that the
life of his company might be spared. The angel of the
Lord bade Elijah go down, fearing nothing. Elijah
came before Ahaziah, and delivered to him in person
the original message. Ahaziah died as the Lord had
said. The significance of these facts seems to be that
King Ahaziah had determined to take the life of Elijah,
but was frustrated in this purpose, and met his own
death instead. That the spirit of persecution against
Elijah had reached the point of plotting his death, is a
fact bearing upon his translation which shortly ensued.

* Baal-zebub, god of flies, was (probably) supposed to protect bis
worshipers against this oriental annoyance.

Elijah's translation. 291

Elijah's Translation. (2 Kings 2.)
So far as is known to us, Elijah is the only man after
Enoch, exempted from the otherwise universal law of
mortality — transferred to the blessedness of heaven
without death. If we ask — why was Elijah selected to
this high honor rather than any other holy man of
God, the utmost we can say is that God had given him
the honor of confronting Jezebel and Baal on the high
places of Israel ; of imperiling his life in this conflict ;
of concentrating upon himself at once the wrath of
the wicked men of his generation and the gaze of the
whole Hebrew people ; so that if the Lord were to make
any signal demonstration of his power to lift his im-
periled saints out of danger, and even from earth to

heaven, Elijah was naturally the candidate. If we

ask, Why should the Lord ever make an exception like
this to the great law of human mortality, taking a man
up from human view in a chariot of fire, the answer
might take a somewhat wider range, for we might sug-
gest— not merely to confound wicked persecutors; not
merely to show himself the Almighty Protector and
Friend of his persecuted people ; but to prove to skepti-
cal mortals that heaven has both reality and place ; that
there is a home for the righteous beyond the life that is
of earth ; and practically to bring that heavenly home
nearer to human thought and motive. One such trans-
lation, well certified, might spread its influence over
vast countries, and send it down through long succeed-
ing ages. How grand and yet how specific the testi-
mony it bears to the resurrection of the righteous dead!
How it must awaken thought and inquiry ! For it
could not be supposed that the blessed home for God's
saints in his presence could be for Enoch and Elijah
only; it could not be assumed that those two human
bodies and those only among all the saved would find
place before the throne of God. Certainly, men must
infer that the bodies of other saints — nay of all the
saints— must reach that blessed world, as well as theirs,

in God's due time, and in his ordained method. It

scarcely need be suggested that in an age, drifting like
that of Elijah so fearfully away from the true God into
Baal-worship, the call for such a demonstration of the fu-
ture life would be urgent, and the scope for its influence
vast.

292

As to the immediate antecedents of this translation,
it is noticeable that Elijah, Elisha also, and even all
ihe " sons of the prophets " — those well filled schools
then flourishing at Gilgal, Bethel, and-Jericho — had pre-
intimations of the event. There was no effort to draw
together a crowd of witnesses ; nor, on the other hand,
was there any special effort to exclude all witnesses,
and have it take place before no human eye. Elisha
felt that he could not forego the spectacle. Elijah's
attitude on this point seems to have been — If you care
enough about it to go anywhere and stay anywhere

with me, you will see it ; otherwise, not. Note that

when Elijah was shown that his time was near, he
moved on toward the designated place, touching succes-
sively at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho— ^■. e., at all the
locations of prophet-colleges — at least, all in that vicin-
ity. Need we ask for what purpose ? Perhaps he had
some ftirewell benediction or some word of encourage-
ment as to the work of God which he must so soon
transfer from his own hand to theirs. Be this as it
may, this last call must have fixed attention most in-
tensely on the scene so near at hand when "the Lord
would (as to Elisha) take away his master from his
head" (2 Kings 2: 7).

Elijah and Elisha, journeying on, had crossed the
Jordan, the stroke of Elijah's mantle parting asunder
the waters at their feet. Elijah had said to his servant:
What last keepsake shall 1 give thee? and had been
answered: "A double portion of thy spirit to be with
me;" when, all suddenly, as they were in conversation
(was it upon those visions of glory then just ready to
burst upon Elijah's eye?) there appeared a "chariot of
fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder,
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
Elisha's eye was clear; he saw it, and took in its grand
significance ; for he cried : " My father ! my father ! the
chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" It was
a moment for only exclamations in briefest words.
Apparently his thought was — My father! the chariot
of the God of Israel has taken him; he is gone! Or
possibly this : ]\Iy father — he who is more and mightier
to Israel than chariots and horsemen !

The sequel is of minor importance. Elisha caught
the falling mantle of his prophet-father; smote and

JEHORAM, AHAB's SECOND SON. 293

parted the Jordan waters therewith ; touched at Jericho
where the sons of the prophets met him and proposed
to send fifty strong men to see if Elijah had not been
dropped on some mountain or in some valley; — against
which Elisha protested till his protest availed nothing.
Fifty men searched three fruitless days and then re-
turned. Let us hope this result helped them to loftier
and more just views of what Elijah's translation sig-
nified. It is surprising that they should think of this
as even possibl}^ an expedient to get Elijah out of
present danger, or away into some remoter field of
prophetic service.

We must note that Elisha shortly after touched at
Bethel — the site of one of the prophet-schools, but (at
least since Jeroboam) a wicked city. There the ascen-
sion of Elijah was known, not in the college only, but on
the street ; for, as Elisha was passing along, there came
forth boys (small young men, the Heb. signifies), and
mocked him with the challenge : " Go up too, thou bald-
head ; " ascend after thy master, old bald-head ! This
insult to age ; this shocking impiety toward the God
of the holy prophets ; this inexpressibly awful hardi-
hood in joking thus upon the chariot and horses of fire
which swept Elijah U]) to heaven — what shall we say
or think of it? We are not surprised that a divine
impulse moved Elisha to curse them, and that God
made them examples of swift and terrible retribution.

King Jehoram, the Second Son of Aliah.

The dynasty which began with Omri, which was
made notorious by Ahab, whose general character was
perpetuated by his immediate successor, Ahaziah, ter-
minated with the death of his second son, Jehoram. Con-
temporary with Ahab and Ahaziah, as we have seen, was
the prophet Elijah. Elisha, his servant and successor,
came often into contact with Jehoram, but lived far
into the dynasty which began with Jehu ; i. e., through
the reign of Jehu, twenty-eight years; through the
reign of his son Jehoahaz, sixteen years; into the reign
of Jehu's grandson, Joash, when his long and eventful
life closed.

After following out briefly the thread of Jehoram's
reign to the close of the Omri- Ahab dynast}^, it will be

294 JEHORAM, AHAB's SECOND SON.

in place to give our special attention to the recorded
incidents which cluster round the prophetic life of
Elisha.

Of Jehoram's religious life, the record is that he did
not follow his father nor his mother in the worship of
Baal, for he put away the images of Baal that his father
Ahab had made. He did, however, maintain the calf-
worship instituted by Jeroboam.

2 Kings 3 narrates a notable military expedition, in
Avhich Israel, Judah, and Edom were in alliance against
Mesha, king of Moab. It was made at the instance of
Jehoram of Israel, to whose throne Moab had been trib-
utary since the days of Omri ; but near this time (2
Kings 1 : 1) rebelled and withheld the customary trib-
ute. It is stated here that Mesha, king of Moab, was a
sheep-master — a royal shepherd on a large scale — his
annual tribute to Israel having been the wool of 100,000
lambs and 100,000 rams. The A. V. (accepted version)
means to say that this tribute included the animals as
well as the wool. The Heb. says : He returned these
lambs and rams as to the wool, or simply icool ; but not
" with the wool." It is certainly supposable, and on the
whole probable, that the wool was the only tribute ren-
dered. (So Keil.)

In this expedition the allied armies, instead of tak-
ing the more natural and usual route to Moab, across
the Jordan, and thence southward down the eastern
shore of the Dead Sea, kept down on the western shore,
to pass its southern extremity, and so strike Moab on
its southern border. This was a wikl, mountainous,
seven-days' route ; the army found itself entirely with-
out water. Jehoram was utterly discouraged; "Alas,
that the Lord hath called these three kings together to
deliver them into the hand of Moab." Jehoshaphat,
having more faith in God, was not so easily broken
down. " Is there not here, said he, a prophet of the Lord
that we may inquire of the Lord by him?" How
Elisha happened to be there we are not told; but he
was near at hand. A servant of the king of Israel
knew the fact and reported it. His description is
worthy of notice : " Here is Elisha who poured water
on the hands of Elijah." Was this service analogous to
the washing of feet in the time of our Lord? It could
scarcely have been due to the infirmities of feeble old

JEHORAM, AIIAB's SECOND SON. 295

age; for Elijah ^vas a vigorous pedestrian up to the

hour of his ascension. The three kings, instead of

summoning Elisha before them, " went to him." Elisha
had some respect for Jehoshaphat ; none at all for Jeho-
ram ; and thought proper to say so. " What have I to
do with thee ! Get thee to the prophets of thy father,
and to the prophets of thy mother." For Jehoshaphat's
sake, however, he consented to ask counsel of the Lord
in their behalf. But first Elisha called for a min-
strel— a player on stringed instruments. While the
minstrel was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon

Elisha, bringing the prophetic vision he sought. Was

this connection between music and prophecy normal, or
only occasional and special ? There being no other
allusion save this to the presence of a minstrel in the
prophetic life of Elisha, it would be gratuitous to infer
from this one case that he never prophesied without
such aid. Was it that his mind had been disturbed
by his thought of Jehoram, Ahab, and Jezebel, and
that, therefore, he needed the soothing influence of
music?

His message bade them "make that valley full of
ditches;" promised them that without seeing wind
or rain, they should yet see that valley filled with
water in ample supply ; and further, that the Lord
would give the Moabites into their hand. As the next
day opened, and while the morning sacrifice was in prog-
ress, the water came from the mountains of Edom. We
are left to suppose that a great rain fell on those moun-
tains— a miracle in the not infrequent sense — the
Lord's hand wielding the agencies of nature for his own

special purposes. A two-fold result followed. The

water saved the army; the appearance of it as seen at
sunrise by the Moabites — red as blood, filling those
ditches — suggested to them that their enemies had
fallen out with each other, and that mutual slaughter
had filled the valley with blood. Rushing, therefore,
in reckless disorder upon the hoped-for spoil, the}^ fell
upon hosts of men in arms, and were fearfully cut to
])ieces. The fleeing remnant was closely besieged in
Kirhareseth — supposed to be the modern Kcrak — a
place of immense natural strength. The narrative sets
forth that the king of ^loab, finding his last sally with
700 swords-men to break through to the kinp; of Edom

296 mesiia: the moabite stone.

ineffectual, took his eldest son, heir-apparent to his
throne, and offered him for a burnt-offering ujDon the
city wall ; i. c, in full view of the besieging army. The
author then closes with the statement— not altogether
lucid — "And there was great indignation against
Israel, and they departed from him, and returned to
their own land! " What was the ground of this great
indignation ? Who felt it ; and had it any connection
with raising the siege, and with the return of the allied
armies to their homes? I see no explanation of the
case more obvious and probable than that this horrid
spectacle impressed the besiegers with the severe and
terrible straits to which the king of Moab was reduced;
awakened pity and sympathy in his behalf, and corres-
ponding indignation against the king of Israel, at
whose instance this war on Moab was waged — under
which sentiments the allied armies desisted from such
horrid war and went home. Humanity forcing its
way to power amid the horrors of barbarism 1

Reverting to the mercy shown to Jehoram and to the
allied armies through Elisha and the miracle of water,
we may class it with many others in this age, designed
to show apostate Israel that her God was mighty to save,
and that, if the king and his people would indeed return
to him, and be true to their covenant, they would en-
sure the very highest prosperity. Jehoram ought to
liave been a better man after that great relief brought
to him through this divine mercy. It was one of the
great and w'ise efforts of the God of Israel to call him
back to a better mind.

Mesha^ king of 3foab, and the Moabite stone.

The historic connections of Mesha, king of Moab,
with Israel have received recently a most remarkable
confirmation by the discovery in 1868 of what is coming
to be generally known as ^Uhe Moabite Stoned ^ This is a
pillar or monumental stone about three feet nine inches
in length, two feet four inches in breadth, and one foot
two inches in thickness. It is undoubtedly an official
monument commemorating the emancipation of Moab
from an oppressive subjection during about forty years
to the kings of Israel. The language is fundamentally
Hebrew, no w^ord occurring of which the root does not

THE TROPnET ELISIIA. 297

exist in tlio Hebrew Scriptures. " It reads (says M. de
Vogue) like a page of the Hebrew Scriptures." "The
form of the letters is the oldest known to any written
language. The Pentateuch was no doubt written in
such letters in the time of Moses ; Solomon and Hiram
corresponded with each other in such characters." At
the time it was copied enough Avas still legible to show
that Moab had been in subjection to Israel, and had
achieved her independence ; and that the reigning
.monarch under whom her independence was achieved
bore the name Mesha. It began thus :

" I, Meslaa, am son of Cberaosb-gad king of Moab, tbe Dibonite.
My fatber reigned over Moab tbirty years, and I reigned after my
fatber. And I erected tbis stone to Cbemosb at Kareba [a stone of]
salvation, for be saved me from all despoilers and let me see my
desire upon all my enemies, and Omri, king of Israel, wbo oppressed
Moab many days, for Cbemosb was angry witb bis land. His son
succeeded bim and be also said, I will oppress Moab."

Its tone throughout is remarkably religious — in the
sense of recognizing the fortunes of his kingdom, good
or ill, as determined by his national god Chemosh. It
is chiefly occupied with his special exploits in war and
in the rebuilding of cities. A large number of proper
names, i. e., of great kings and of cities, appear on this
stone — names which occur also in the Hebrew Scrip-
tures— the number supposed to be satisfactorily identi-
fied being twenty-three, and conjecturally, some others.

It is generally admitted that this Moabite stone

brings to light the oldest extant specimen of alphabetic
writing. It records the military achievements of
Mesha, king of Moab, for a period of forty years or more,
from about B. C. 925. This would fix the date of this
writing not later than B. C. 885 — contemporary with
the accession of Jehu, the death of Ahaziah, king of

Judah, and of Jehoram, of Israel. Explorations in

these ancient lands are now in somewhat active prog-
ress, stimulated by this signal discovery.

The Prophet Elisha.

Both Elijah and Elisha fulfilled their prophetic mis-
sion in the kingdom of the ten tribes. The only excep-
tion to this general statement which appears in the
history is a letter from Elijah to Jehoram, king of

298 THE TROPIIET ELISIIA.

Judah, son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 21 : 12-15), sharply
rebuking liim for not following his father Jehoshaphat,
and grandfather Asa, but instead, his father-in-law
Ahab : also for murdering all the brothers in hisf^xther's
family — denouncing for these great sins this fearful
punishment : " Behold, with a great plague will the
Lord smite th}^ people and thy children and thy wdves
and all thy gods ; and thou shalt have great sickness by
disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason

of the sickness day by day." This apostas}^ and these

great judgments, though in the kingdom of Judah, yet
came wdthin the purview of Elijah as being the fruits

of the seed-sowing of Ahab and Jezebel. This letter

from Elijah is the only notice of him wdiich appears in
the books of Chronicles. Elisha's name is not in these
books at all — his prophetic life being entirely restricted
to the kingdom of Israel.

In speaking of the schools of the prophets (pp. 115,
117-122) I referred to some incidents in the prophetic
life of Elisha. We reach the record of them in 2 Kings,
commencing from the ascension of Elijah. Truly a
double portion of Elijah's miracle-working power
rested on Elisha. First at Jericho, he restored the
waters to salubrity and the land to fertility b}^ the
application of salt. The record is — "So the waters
were healed unto this day, according to the saying

of Elisha whicli he spake" (2 Kings. 2; 22). Next

in order stands the case of the impoverished widow
of one of the sons of the prophets (2 Kings 4 : 1-7)
(presented back on p. 119). This miracle is of the
same class with the feeding of five thousand with five
loaves and two small fishes — God's mighty hand and
loving heart ministering to human want otherwise
than through the ordinary laws of the material world.
A widow in straits learns that the God of Israel re-
members the poor, and has resources in plenty for

their help. Next Elisha makes the acquaintance

of a prominent woman of Shunem.-!^ He found in her
liouse a warm welcome and a free outgushing hospital-
it3^ In fact she was so impressed that he was a man
of God, she induced her husband to fit up a prophet-

* On the western extremity of Little Hermon, and four miles N. of'
Jezreel.

THE PROPHET ELISIIA. 209

chamber for his lodging whenever he might drop in
from his missionary travels. [Shunem lay on his oft-
traveled route between Carmel on the north and his
prophet-colleges (Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal) on the south.]
The historian narrates that a son was promised to this
good woman of Shunem, previously childless ; that
this son fell sick (a case of sun-stroke), and died ; that
her heart turned at once to the man of God (her fre-
quent guest Elisha), and she hasted to lay this burden
of her heart before him ; that she found him in Carmel,
and told him of her affliction. The prayer of faith
raised this dead child to life. In this case the resto-
ration was preceded by what may possibly have been
instrumental means, and yet the means were such
that we can not be certain of any natural connection
with the miraculous result. The prophet stretched
himself upon the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes,
hand to hand, and the child's flesh waxed warm.
Then he rose and walked the room and repeated this
process until at length life returned. The reason, if
any, for blending natural agencies (if they were agen-
cies) with miracles, is not apparent. The reason for
some doings which may test the faith of the party

interested is " not far to seek." This case is brought

to view again (2 Kings 8 : 1-6) some years afterward.
Elisha had advised her to leave the country on account
of a seven years' famine then impending. She went
into the country of the Philistines. When she return-
ed she found that her homestead had been appro-
priated, and she was compelled to apply to the king
to recover it. By a special providence the king was
just at that moment in conversation with Gehazi
(Elisha's servant), inquiring about the great things
that Elisha had done. The servant had reached the
story of this raising of the Shunemmite's son — when lo !
the woman herself appeared, crying to the king for her
house and for her land. His interest in her case was
so thoroughly awakened that she obtained her rights
at once.

Resuming the history of Elisha, we find him on his
mission tours, stopping at Gilgal, one of the prophet-
colleges which was apparently under his care. Here
again is dearth and famine; even the coarsest vegeta-
bles were scarcely to be had. In the search an un-

300 NAAMAN THE SYRIAN.

known herb was found and brought in, which proved
poisonous ; yet the poison was neutralized by meal cast
into the pot by the prophet's direction — a case which
natural law fails to account for, and in which w^e must
assume the supernatural.

In close connection with this stands yet another case
of the miraculous increase of a small stock to a large
supply — apparently at this Gilgal College. This man
from Baal-shalisha, bringing in some of the first-fruits
of his harvest, is a sample case, showing how, in part,
the prophet-schools were fed. The benefactions of
kind, religious friends w^ere in this case eked out by
that sort of miracle which multiplies little into
much.

NaamaUj the Syrian Captain- General.

This story (2 Kings 5) abounds in suggestive and
practical points. Naaman, chief captain of the Syrian
army, a mighty man of valor, successful, much esteemed
by his king, was yet a leper. A little captive maid
from Israel -waited on Naaman's wife, and expressed
her S3'mpathy with Naaman's great affliction by say-
ing : "Would God my lord were with the prophet that
is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy."
[Elisha's fame as a prophet and a worker of miracles
must have reached the remote northern districts of the
kingdom.] The king of Syria and his court had some
faith in the miraculous powers of tfie great prophet of
Israel (doubtless they had heard of him before). It is,
therefore, concluded to send Naaman to the king of
Israel, for he is assumed to be on intimate terms with
such a prophet. The king of Syria gave him a letter
of introduction, and a very liberal present besides. The
letter to Israel's king read : " I have sent Naaman my
servant to thee that thou mayest recover him of his
leprosy." The king of Israel knew far less than he
ought to have known about Elisha, and not dreaming
that this application had grown out of his fame, was
first astonished and then s'uspicious of foul play. For-
tunately— i. e., providentially — Elisha heard of the
agitation and trouble of his king, and sent him this
very sensible message: "Why hast thou rent thy
clothes? Let Naaman come now to me, and ho shall

NAAMAN THE SYRIAN. 301

know (hat there is a prophet in IsraeL" Naaman

came in royal state Avith horses and chariots, and halted
this brilliant body-guard before the humble door of the
prophet. Elisha did not come forth to pay his respects
to this roj-al troop, but quietly sent out a messenger to
say: "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh

shall come again and thou shalt be clean." This

sort of reception was entirely unexpected and seemed
to Naaman even disrespectful. Moreover, the means
for the cure were exceedingly cheap, not to say that he
thought them disparaging to the noble rivers and pure
waters of his own country. " I had supposed, said he,
that the prophet would surely come out to see and to
honor duly the captain-general of the great Syrian
army ; but he only sends out a messenger ! I thought
he would stand over me and call on the name of
the Lord his God, and then wave his hand over the
most diseased portions and so recover me of my leprosy.
Does he think I shall condescend to be healed in this

undignified way?" Style and rank and pride were

badly offended ; Naaman was really wroth ; " he turned
and went away in a rage." Fortunately, he had with
him servants more sensible than himself. One of
them very quietly and respectfully suggested — " If the
prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou
not have done it? How much rather then when he
saith unto thee, Wash and be clean?" This ap-
peared sensible ; so he went to the Jordan, dipped him-
self seven times in its waters, and was clean of his
leprosy.

Let us turn back a moment to ask, Was not Elisha a
little disrespectful, rather bluff, and deficient in true
Christian politeness? Perhaps some one will ask:
Did Jesus treat men and women so when they came to

him to be healed? To meet this case fairly it should

be premised that w^e have no means of knowing how
far Elisha's reception of Naaman was dictated by the
divine monition within him, and how much by his
own knowledge of human nature and sense of fitness;
but it is safe to assume that his bearing in this case
was not displeasing to God. Next, let it be said. The
cases on record of Christ's miracles of healing fail of
analogy with this, for he never had a Naaman halting
his chariot at his door in all the royal state, and pomp,

302 NAAMAN THE SYRIAN. ,

and pride of a Syrian captain-general. We remember
that Jesus did say : " Whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter there-
in " — a principle which Elisha's bearing toward Naaman
was well adapted, not to say intended, to exemplif3^
"The High and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity" has
unutterable tenderness toward the lowly; but "the
proud he knoweth afar off."

Naaman's sense of self-consequence had almost proved
fatal to him, as it has to thousands of sinners who come
to God for blessings with no true conception of ill desert
and no real cry for mercy. Their inward thought is to
be treated with all due deference and appropriate recog-
nition of their various good qualities and doings.

When Noaman came up from the Jordan consciously
made whole, he did not lay his course at once for home.
With nobler impulses he said, I must go back to that
" man of God " with two things to say to him : (1) That
now I know there is no God in all the earth but in
Israel, and that I will henceforth offer neither burnt-
offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto Jeho-
vah : — (2) That I am ready to pay ivell for the healing I
have found: — "Therefore, I pray thee take a blessing
from thy servant." This the prophet peremptorily and
persistently refused. It would not be wholesome to let
Naaman think that such blessings w^ere on sale or could

be remunerated with money. Then Naaman begs to

take two mule-loads of Israelite earth with which to
])uild an altar in his own country, assuming some
special sanctity in tlie very soil of a land in which

there dwelt a God having such power to save. But

it then occurred to him that his proposed worship of
Jehovah only will need to be somewhat qualified; for
his master, the king of Syria, worships the god Rimmon,
and expects his servant Naaman to be present that he
may lean upon his hand, and to bow himself also when
his master bows himself before this idol-god. For this
exception to the general law of worshiping Jehovah
only, Naaman begs pardon, hoping it will not be too
great an indulgence to ask : " The Lord pardon thy serv-
ant, I pray, in this thing." Thus, though some

great truths are forcing themselves in upon his mind,
yet still he gropes along but slowly out of his pagan
idolatrous darkness. It will be readily seen that

THE PROPHET ELISHA. 303

Naaman's case is a real specimen of human nature. -

If any would ask whether he carried out successfully
and to the divine accej^tance his declared purpose to
sacrifice to Jehovah alone with only the one specified
exception, the answer can be given with unerring cer-
tainty: By no means. No man ever yet succeeded in
worshiping both the idol Rimmon and the true God,
Jehovah. " Ye can not serve God and Mammon."
Never so little worship of Mammon vitiates all the pro-
fessed worship of Jehovah. We know this of Naaman
as well without any historic record of his future life as
with it.

In the sequel of this story of Naaman, Elisha's ser-
vant Gehazi put himself on record to illustrate that
"the love of money is the root of all evil." He did not
comprehend how Elisha could be willing to miss so fine
a chance to make money. Therefore when he saw that
money going away, 3^et in hands that were so willing
just then to give it, he said, " As the Lord liveth "
(what a place for such an oath ! ) " I will run after him
and take somewhat of him." He made up a story to
tell to Naaman, and succeeded in getting two talents of
silver and two changes of raiment. Having secreted it,
he took his place again before Elisha as if nothing had
happened. " Gehazi/' said the prophet, " whence comest
thou?" Where hast thou been? He tried another
falsehood to hide his crime, but had to bear the curse
of Naaman's leprosy through his remaining life.

The fragment of prophet-college history which we
have in 2 Kings 6: 1-7, touching the enlargement of their
buildings, probably at Gilgal or Jericho, has been under
consideration in our sketch of those schools (page 119).

Next (2 Kings 6: 8-33, and 7) we see Elisha in
scenes of war with Syria in the siege of Samaria ; in the
consequent severe famine and the ensuing relief.
These scenes illustrate the remarkable variety of
miraculous powers accorded by the Lord to his prophet
and the means employed in God's providence to bring
them in clear and strong light before the king, his
royal capital, and the whole kingdom.

The king of Syria "warred against Israel" (G : 8),
liere not in regular warfare with large army, but in
predatory bands of guerrilla character. In councils of
war, plans had been laid repeatedly to waylay the king

304 THE PROPHET EIJSHA.

of Israel at particular points ; but Elisha forewarned
his king of the clanger and saved him every time. The
king of Syria was greatly troubled, being sure there
must be some traitor among his cabinet officers. At
length some one explained the mystery: "Elisha, the
prophet, tells his king what thou speakest in thy bed-
chamber." Then, said the king, we must arrest that
prophet. Where is he? At Dothan.* Forthwith a
large force, including chariots and horsemen, invested
the city by night, ready to seize the prophet at the
opening of day. The prophet's servant, perhaps aware
of danger, went out at day-break to reconnoiter, and
came back in great alarm: "Alas, my master; how
shall we do? " Our enemies have surrounded the city !
Elisha replied calmly : " There are more with us than
with them." Did he remember the double camps of
God's hosts (Gen. 32: 2) whom Jacob saw about him
at Mahanaim? He knows that " the angel of the Lord
encampeth round about them that fear him and deliv-
ereth them" (Ps. 34: 7). To beget like faith in his
servant, Elisha prayed : " Lord, 02:>en his eyes " — his
spiritual eye — "that he may see." The Lord answered
this prayer instantly, and the servant saw, indeed, that
" the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha" — God's angelic host marshaled

for the protection of his servant. The Syrian forces

close in upon the prophet. He is moved of God to pray :
" Smite them, O Lord, with blindness." Done ; and
then Elisha in the guise of a friendly guide, said : "This
is not the way nor the city ; follow me, and I will lead
you to the man ye seek " — a species of deception
against an enemy in arms which moralists almost uni-
versally defend as no violation of the principles of
truth. The prophet led them twelve miles, into
Samaria; and there in answer to his second prayer, the

Lord opened their eyes. The current explanation of

this form of blindness is that they were not made ab-
solutely sightless, but that their eyes were holden only
so far forth as the object in view required. They were
unable to recognize their surroundings so as to under-
stand where tliey were, though they still had vision
enough to march after their leader. The king of

* The same place which appears in the story of Joseph (Gen, 37 :
17) near Shecuem, about twelve miles north of Samaria.

SAMARIA BESIEGED AND DELIVERED. 305

Israel woke suddenly to find this host of his Syrian
enemies at his mercy, and cried out to Elisha : " My
father, shall I smite them?" Elisha answered: By no
means ; but feed them bountifully and send them home.
This was done accordingly — a sort of peace policy
which worked admirably, for we read that " the bands
of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." This
predator}'- guerrilla warfare was resumed no more. The
siege of Samaria, narrated in the remaining part of
this chapter, seems to have occurred, not soon, but long

afterward. In v. 22 the clause translated — "Wouldest

thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with
thy sword ? " is constructed variously by critics, some
approving the English version, and others taking the
passage affirmatively; smite your captives taken by
force of arms (if you will), but not those who have
been thrown into your power by God's miraculous
hand. The Hebrew"^ text favors the English version
and so does the nature of the case, if it be true that
ordinary captives in war were spared from violent
death.

Samcu'ia Straitly Besieged^ and the Ensuing Deliverance.
(2 Kings 6 : 24-33 and 7).

This siege brought on extreme famine. Affecting
evidence of its severity came to the king's knowledge as
he was going the rounds upon his city walls where his
defensive army was stationed. A woman cried out to
him for help. Her story ran thus : By agreement with
this woman we were to boil and eat my child the first
day and her child the next. Mine was given up accord-
ing to agreement ; killed, boiled and eaten ; but when
the next day, I said to her, " Now give thy son that we
may eat him," she had hidden him. The king felt the
horrors of the case; saw the severity of this dreadful
famine; rent his clothes and put on sackcloth. His
first impulse was to cast the blame on Elisha, either as
having sent this famine, or as being able but not will-
ing to relieve it. So he vowed solemnly to take off his
head that very day, and started off a messenger — a
state executioner — for this purpose. Elisha knew from
the Lord who was coming, and bade his friends shut
and hold fast the door, for the king himself was closo
14

306 SAMARIA BESIEGED AND DELIVERED.

behind. It seems that the king's second thought was
a better one ; so he hastily followed the executioner ;
for the last words of v. 33, are manifestly his : " Behold
this evil is of the Lord" (not of Elisha, as I at first as-
sumed) ; yet how can we endure it even from the Lord
any longer? He seems to be in despair of help in
waiting on God.

The next chapter (2 Kings 7) continues the narrative
without interruption : — Banish, said Elisha, your de-
spondent fears. Hear ye this word of the Lord : " To-
morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour
be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for
a shekel in the gate (the market-place) of Samaria."
We are not told whether the king believed the proph-
et's word; but a lord on whose hand the king leaned
— one of his high officers, answered the prophet with
sarcastic contempt : — " See ! the Lord will make win-
dows (sluices, flood-gates) in the sky to rain down
bread upon us, and so this thing shall be!" This
seems the more exact sense of the Hebrew word; "Be-
hold," see how this thing shall be done— said in most
utter unbelief. This language comes from the story of
the deluge. God will open the flood-gates in the sky
now as then, raining bread now as then he rained
water. Elisha simply answered, " Behold " — repeat-
ing the first Avord of that unbelieving taunt; there is
another "6eAo/c?.-" "behold, thou shalt see this overflow-
ing abundance with thine eyes, but shalt not eat
thereof."

■In the event the Lord caused the Syrians to hear a
noise as of horses, chariots, and a mighty host, and they
said — Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites
and Egyptians to come upon us: let every man flee for
dear life. Leaving every tent standing ; their animals
tethered; their baggage and provisions all as they were,
they fled in the evening twilight and made fast time

toward their homes. The fact was first discovered

by four lepers, staying just outside the city gates, ex-
cluded from the city — their disease being accounted
unclean, and, perhaps, contagious. They had started
out at dusk, saying, we may as well die by the Syrians
there as by the fiimine here. To their great surprise
they found the first tent unoccupied, and the next also,
and so on ; food and stores of every sort plenty, but not

SAMARIA BESIEGED AND DELIVERED. 307

a man. They ate awhile as famishing men would; but
they soon thought — this is too good a thing to be with-
held from our friends in the city; so hastening in the}^
reported it. The cautious king at first saw in it a strat-
agem, and sent out a small exploring party. Joy and
plenty ensue, the prophet's words are all fulfilled. Even
that unbelieving lord lived to see those grand supplies
of bread brought into the city, but not to taste of it ; for,
being put in charge of one of the gates, the rush out
and in was so great that they trod him under foot — to
his death. Unbelief, ripened to the point of insult
and scorn was too reproachful to God to be borne with

impunity. Thus again the prophetic words of Elisha

were fulfilled in the most public manner, in modes best
adapted to fix the attention of the whole people, and to
produce the best possible moral impression. It was a
divine movement to recall the people of Israel from
their Baal and calf- worship to a solid faith in their
own Jehovah ; and to save the nation from drifting
utterly into idolatry and political ruin.

2 Kings 8 opens with the sequel to the history of
the wealthy and worthy woman of Shunem. Elisha
had apprised her of a seven years' famine, and sug-
gested that she seek a home elsewhere. She went
among the Philistines. This sequel is of interest as
showing incidentally that the king (Jehoram, second
son of Ahab) thought enough of Elisha to ask Ge-
hazi to tell him all the great things his master had
done. By God's providence it happened that Gehazi
had just told the story of his raising to life the Shu-
nemmite's son, when, lo, she came in, crying to the
king for her land. The Lord thus prepared the way
for the easy success of her plea.

The narrative next traces Elisha to Damascus — sent
there of God, it would seem, to fulfill a part of the
mission committed to Elijah at Horeb ; viz., to anoint
Hazael-'^ to his work as a scourge upon the family of
Ahab.

* The names of Ilazacl and Bcn-hadad have been recognized in the
Assyrian monuments. They occur in the inscription on the black
obelisk now in the British Museum. Both are mentioned as kings
of Damascus who contended with a certain Shalmanezer, king of
Assyria, and suffered defeat at his hands. In one of the battles
between this king and Ben-hadad, "Ahab of Jezrcel" is mentioned

308 JEHU AND HIS WORK.

This chapter closes with a historic grouping of the
leading points in the royal succession of kings on the
now related thrones of Israel and Judah ; viz., of
Ahab's second son, Jehoram — wounded by the Syrians
in battle, and returning to be healed of his wounds
in Jezreel; of Ahaziah of Judah, grandson of Jehosha-
phat and son of Jehoram, whose reign of but one year
closed at the same time with that of Jehoram of
Israel, both dying under Jehu's hand. Lest these
similar names in these two dynasties confuse us, it
should be borne in mind that the two immediate
successors of Jehoshaphat in Judah were his son
Jehoram and his grandson Ahaziah; while the two
immediate successors of Ahab were first, Ahaziah,
his eldest son, two years ; and then Jehoram, his
second son, twelve years. The same names are wont
to reappear in closely related families.

Jehu^ son of Nimshi, and Jus dynasty.

2 Kings 9 introduces a new dynasty in Israel, in-
augurated by the anointing of Jehu — a high officer in
the army. He was raised to the throne to be the scourge
of God upon the whole family of Ahab, including the
then related dynasty of Judah, both dynasties being at
that time descendants of Jezebel.

An unnamed " son of the prophets" was sent (doubt-
less under direction of Elisha) to anoint Jehu. This
also as well as Elisha's tour to Damascus to see Hazael
was included in the special mission assigned to Elijah
at Horeb when the Lord sent him back to his work in
Israel. He transmitted these responsibilities to his
successor Elisha.

Jehu was little else than God's messenger of terrible
retribution — first on Joram [Jehoram], king of Israel,
whom he shot through the heart; next, on Jezebel,
Joram's mother, upon whom full vials of righteous
judgment were poured out — in place and circumstance
suggestive of her part in Naboth's murder; and then
upon Ahaziah, king of Judah, son-in-law of this same

among the allies of the latter. This same Shalmanezer took tribute
from Jehu. This is the point at which the Assyrian records first
come into direct contact with those of Jews." (Speaker's Commen-
tary pp. 37, 88.)

JEHU AND HIS WORK. 309

Jezebel ; and, last, upon all the descendants of Jezebel
and Ahab from the least to the greatest.

In the brief record of Jezebel's last hour we may note
(2 Kings 9 : 30) the lofty spirit displayed in her mani-
fest purpose to die like a queen. When she heard that
Jehu had come to Jezreel, instantly forecasting the issue,
she painted her eye-lids — the upper and the under —
with a pigment of antimony to give the eye an unnatu-
ral brillianc}^,'!^ and also wreathed a royal tiara about

her head, and then placed herself at the window.

That dogs should eat the flesh of Jezebel in Jezreel
where she had shed Naboth's blood was at once the ful-
fillment of a delinite prediction of her doom, and the
most revolting end, in the view of the ancients, to
which any human being could come. Goliath, we may
remember, could denounce no lower doom on the strip-
ling David, than to say, " I will give thy flesh to the
fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field." But
the oriental dog is of all beasts at the lowest depth of
meanness.

Over the few remaining fragments of Jezebel's bones
(2 Kings 9 : 35) which the dogs had not had time or
taste to devour, we may well pause awhile — not to drop
any tears over fallen greatness, but to give thought to
the solemn though tardy retribution which she had so
long dared the God of heaven to send, and which she had
so richly deserved. Since the death of Ahab (fourteen
years) her name has not come upon the page of sacred
history, but her baleful power had been felt in Israel,
blocking every effort of prophet or other good men
toward reform ; filling Israel again with hundreds of
Baal's prophets and priests for Jehu to slaughter by
wholesale, even as Elijah had done at the foot of
Carmel. We must doubtless ascribe it largely to her
that Elijah's influence on Ahaziah (2 Kings 1) was so
inappreciable; that the glorious testimony of his ascen-
sion fell powerless on the royal court, on Samaria, Jez-
reel, and Bethel ; and that Elisha's long succession of
miracles turned to so little account as a means of im-
pressing the nation and witnessing to the true God in
Israel. That she was gifted with qualities of most com-

* This practice of painting about the e^'es is alluded to in .Jer, 4 : 30,
and Ezek. 23 : 40. Noticeably the Assyrian sculptures afford repre-
sentations of eyes thus painted.

310 JEHU AND HIS WORK.

lYianding sort, such as we should profoundly honor if
they were sanctified by goodness, there is no occasion to
deny ; but goodness seems to have been utterly foreign
from her character. She was no less wicked than great;
no less base than proud, persistent, and heroic. When
it shall be suitable to do homage to Satan, we may
afford to place on the same roll of honor this historic
Jezebel.

In the passage (2 Kings 9:11) which narrates the
return of Jehu to his military comrades after his
anointing by the young prophet, we read, "One said to
him, Wherefore came this mad fellow unto thee ? " Some
reader may inquire. How came it that this young
prophet made an impression so unfortunate upon

these military men? 1 answer, "The word 'mad' is

stronger than the Hebrew term it should represent :
' fellow ' is not in the Hebrew at all. The fact undoubt-
edly was that a peculiar excitement, a bearing of earnest
enthusiasm, normally accompanied the prophetic spirit.
This young man may have been unusually agitated, for
he was young : a total stranger to this imposing com-
pany, all unused to military scenes and surroundings,
and withal quite aware of the possible perils of anoint-
ing a new king and inaugurating a political revolution.
We need not assume or admit any other symptoms of
madness than these circumstances account for.

While Jehu was dashing from one scene of slaughter
to another, fulfilling his high behest of terrible retribu-
tion upon Ahab's house, he fell in with Jehonadab [or
Jonadab], son of Rechab, one of the noble reformers of
the age; greeted him joyfully, and seemed to be almost
overjoyed to have his favoring presence and approba-
tion. (See 2 Kings 10 : 15, 16.) Jonadab's aid was spe-
cially valuable in sifting out all the true friends of God
from the Baal-prophets and priests whom Jehu had
summoned together for slaughter. After Jehu had
sifted them as carefully as possible by the terms of his
call, he still felt the importance of being very sure that
no servant of God should be inadvertently among them.
Jonadab, familiar with the good men of the land,
walked carefully through this gathered house-full in
company with Jehu, to make it doubly sure that no
servant of the Lord should be there.*

* This Jonadab, son of Rechab, comes to light historically in Jer.

JEHU AND HIS DYNASTY. 311

In this history Jehu presents a somewhat striking
contrast of physical vigor against moral weakness.
Under the latter, I refer not altogether to his frequent
deceptions, for it might be a question how far the
exigencies of his bloody mission might apologize for or
justify those ; but to the fact that whereas he had a
grand opportunity to bring back the nation to the wor-
ship of the true God, he missed this high privilege and
opportunity most entirely. He rooted out Baal, but
kept the calves of Jeroboam, and " took no heed to walk
in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart "

(2 Kings 10 : 29-31). For the good he did the Lord

pledged to him four successive generations upon the
throne of Israel, but because of his manifold short-com-
ings, morally and religiously, God gave him the throne
of Israel no longer.^

Of the other kings in Jehu's dynasty only brief
notices appear. His son Jehoahaz reigned seventeen
years; had wars with Syria, for awhile disastrous, de-
structive; but subsequently, when he besought the
Lord for help, he found deliverance and peace (2 Kings
13 : 3-5, 22, 23). It fell to his son Joash to stand and
weep over the aged prophet Elisha in his last sickness,t
and to give utterance to his emotions in words bor-
rowed from Elisha's own lips as he saw Elijah ascend :
" 0, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the
horsemen thereof." The dying prophet aroused him-
self sufficiently to give the king some prophetic an-
nouncements bearing on the then pending issues of
his wars with Syria, in which the measure of the
king's success turned upon the reach and compass of
his faith.

At this point the historian records that the bones of

35. To my sketch of his history and that of his family — both an-
cestors and descendants — as given there, the reader is referred.

* At this stage of the history in 2 Kings we find a digression to the
affairs of the kingdom of Judah (filling chap. 11 and 12) to give the his-
tory of Athaliah and of Joash; — of Athaliah, a daughter and genuine
successorof Jezebel, coming in here by natural association with Jezebel
and Jehu, and of Joash, rescued from her murderous hand by special
providence, and, of course, linked in the history with his grand-
mother Athaliah. We shall give them further notice in their place
among the monarchs of Judah.

t Supposed to have reached the age of ninety, for full sixty-three
years had passed since his call into the prophetic office.

312 JEROBOAM II. AND THE PROPHETS.

Elisha imparted life to a dead body thrown in hastilj^
upon them (2 Kings 13: 20) — so Avonderfully was the
miraculous element blended with his whole* life, ex-
tending even to his decaying bones. The demand for
miracles, i-esidting from the great decline of faith, especially
in the kingdom of the ten tribes, is a point worthy of
special notice. The ministry of prophets, and partic-
ularly of the miracle-working prophets, Elijah and
Elisha, was the chief agency employed of God to re-
sist and eradicate Baal-worship from the land and to
bring the people back to a living faith in Israel's God.
Other prophets in considerable number had important
work to do in this special field ; but miraculous agency
seems to have been chiefly limited to these two men.

Two prophets whose writings have come down to us,
Hosea and Amos, fall within the long reign (41 years)
of Jeroboam II, son and successor of this Joash who
stood by the dying Elisha. Their writings show how
solemnly they expostulated with and how earnestly
they rebuked both the people and their king for their
sins; how tenderly they entreated them to turn to their
compassionate Father to find merc}^; and yet with how
little avail. If these written exhortations fairly repre-
sent the oral preaching of the prophets in Israel, it must
have been wonderfully pungent, searching, thrilling, —
and ought to have been full of moral power.

Physically, Jeroboam's long reign was vigorous; "He
restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamatli
unto the sea of the plain (the Dead Sea). ^^ The politi-
cal power of Israel had fcillen very low, but was revived
for a season through divine compassion under this Jero-
boam Il.f

^ With his son and successor Zachariah reigning but
six months, this dynasty of Jehu terminated, and the
kingdom declined thenceforward rapidly to its final

fall. One Shallum reached the throne by conspiracy

and by the murder of Zachariah — to hold it but one
month, and then give place to another conspirator,

* This had been predicted by the prophet Jonah, although this
prophecy does not appear in the Scriptures (2 Kings 14: 25).

t lictwccn Jeroboam II and his son some annalists find an inter-
regnum of eleven years, resting upon a comparison of 2 Kings 14: 2j
17, 2.'>, and 2 Kings 15 : 1, 8, If tlie figures in these texts are correct
this interregnum must be assumed. If incorrect, we are in great
chronological darkness.

MENAHEM AND PUL OP ASSYRIA. 313

Menahem, who took at once his life and his throne— to
hold it ingloriously ten years. His only recorded
achievement is that, when attacked by Pul, king of
Assyria, he hired him to "confirm the kingdom in his
hand" for the price of 1,000 talents of silver. This
money he exacted from his wealthy citizens, assessing
them fifty shekels each. The talent of silver being
equal to 3,000 shekels, each talent was divided among

sixty men, and the whole among 60,000. The

Northern kingdom had no rich temple-treasury to
drain on such occasions. It was doubtless politic in
Menahem to throw this burden ujDon his richest men.

Reverting at this point to the connections between
sacred history and profane, we have here the first
notice of an Assyrian king forcibly invading either of
these Hebrew kingdoms. Assyria, with Nineveh for
its center, had been rising in power a full century and
pushing its conquests toward the west and south-west.
Yet, on the authority of Geo. Rawlinson (Speaker's
Commentary on 2 Kings 15 : 19) " the name of Pu^
does not appear among the Assyrian monumental
kings. It is even absent from the copies of the Assyr-
ian Canon which profess to give the entire list of
monarchs from about B. C. 910 to B. C. 670." Assyria
proper seems to have been in a depressed state for some
forty years before Tiglath Pileser — the period within
which this expedition must fall. Berosus, who men-
tions Pul, calls him a Chaldean and not an Assyrian
king. These circumstances are thought to favor the
assumption that in the struggle for ascendancy between
Babylon and Nineveh, here was a period in which the
former was in the ascendant, and that Pul was one of
her kings — then recognized, however, by remote west-
ern nations as essentially of the Assyrian line.

The Assyrian inscriptions show that Menahem was
subsequently subdued by Tiglath Pileser, who made an
expedition into Syria early in his reign — an expedition
not noticed in the Scriptures. He sat on the throne of
Assj-ria proper, at Nineveh, a monarch of great vigor.
From this time onward the Assyrian kings bear rela-
tions of most vital moment toAvard both these Hebrew
kingdoms, subduing and uprooting the northern (as
we shall see), but most signally failing to crush out
the southern.

814 END OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.

The short reign (two years) of Pekahicah, son and suc-
cessor of Menahem, ended with conspiracy and his vio-
lent death — one Pekah, son of Remaliah, a captain of
his, being the successful usurper. During his reign of
twenty years — religiously like his predecessors, doing
only evil — Tiglath-Pileser came up against him,
dismembering his kingdom by wresting from it the
region of Naphtali, including several important cities

(mentioned 2 Kings 15 : 29). This Pekah became

prominent, associated with Rezin, king of Sj^ria, in
wars with Ahaz, king of Judah, with various success;
besieging Jerusalem unsuccessfully (2 Kings 16: 5),
but smiting the army of Ahaz with immense slaughter
(according to 2 Chron. 28 : 5-S). To these events we
must refer more in detail in tracing the history of Judah.

After Pekah, the narrative puts Hoshea, who reached
the throne by conspiracy and the murder of Pekah.
The chronological figures are extremely confused and
conflicting — 2 Kings 15 : 30 placing this event in
Jotham's twentieth year; v. 33, following, giving
Jotham's reign a total of only sixteen years; and 2
Kings 17 : 1 bringing Hoshea to the throne in the
twelfth year of Ahaz, Jotham's successor. It is at least
difficult, if not impossible, to decide wdiich figures are
correct and which in error. Some annalists locate an
interregnum of nine years between Pekah and Hosliea.
If tliis were the case w^e must assume that his first
efforts to gain the throne were unsuccessful. The king-
dom was fast verging tow^ard utter ruin.

The End of the Kingdom of Israel. (2 Kings 17 and
18 : 9-12.)

The events of Iloshea's reign of nine years decided
the fate of the kingdom. The wickedness of the nation
liad culminated and become unendurable before God.
Practically, reform was hopeless ; destruction and cap-
tivity, therefore, alone remained to close the scene.

Shalmanezer and the Assyrian power became the
Lord's instruments for this result. First, he placed
Hoshea under tribute. After Hoshea had paid tribute
for a period (not exceeding six years) he revolted and
sought aid from So, king of Egypt, in sustaining him-
self against Shalmanezer. This bad faith brought upon

END OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, 315

him the vengeance of Shalmanezer, who at once laid
siege to Samaria. After a siege of three years the city-
fell, and its surviving population were borne away into
captivity — placed in Halah and by Habor, the river of

Gozan,^ and in the cities of the Medes. This proved

to be their final captivity. These tribes never re-
turned to their native land. The kingdom was extin-
guished forever.

The historian proceeds immediately (vs, 7-23) to as-
sign the moral grounds for the hopeless captivity of
the ten tribes. They had gone into idolatry. They
had practiced it secretly ; they had practiced it openly.
They had adopted the idols and the idol-worshiping
usages of all the nations round about them, and had
done this despite of most stringent prohibitions from
their God; despite of repeated warnings; and of oft
recurring judgments. In these moral eflbrts to save
them God had sent his prophets often and long, but
they would not hear. They had hardened their necks
and would not believe God, They had utterly broken
his covenant, and so had forfeited all the protection
and blessings which in that covenant were pledged to
the obedient. Sinking themselves down to the very
depths of the abominations of idol-worship, they had
not only made and worshiped golden calves, but they
had worshiped the host of heaven; they had served
Baal ; and had even burned alive their sons and daugh-
ters ; had used divination and enchantments; — in short
had gone into the extremest forms of idol-worship and
debased themselves with all its attendant pollutions
and abominations. Hence the Lord " cast them utterly
out of his sight." The goodly land of promise had been
made his abode — his chosen dwelling-place. Conse-
quently, when he utterly rejected these tribes, it was
fitting that they should be driven from this land — "out
of his sight " — in the expressive and repeated language
of the historian (vs. 18, 20, 23).

The king of Assyria filled these emptied cities and
fields with another population, gathered up from Baby-
lon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim (v. 24) —

•■••This is the correct translation: "In Halah [a country], upon
Ilabor, the great river of [tlie country] Gozan. This Habor, often
spelled Chabour, is one of the largest tributaries of the Euphrates
from the west, draining the entire province of Gozan [Gauzanitis,]

316 CONNECTIONS OF SACRED HISTORY WITH PROFANE.

idolaters all, each class introducing and worshiping its
own idol gods at its option. Remarkably it is said that
" because they feared not the Lord, he sent lions among
them who slew some of them" — whereupon, according
to the current notion that each country has its own
special gods whose protection must be sought by wor-
ship acceptable to them, these colonists report to the
Assyrian king that they can not live there unless they
are taught how to worship the gods of that land, and that
he then sent back to them one of the priests taken away
from the country. He came and dwelt in Bethel — prob-
ably his old home — and taught them how they should
" fear the Lord " (v. 28). The historian is careful to say,
however, that they kept up their old idol- worship none
the less. This priest, being of Jeroboam's sort, had, we
may presume, no higher ideas. The Samaritan popula-
tion, occupying the territory held by the ten tribes,
come to light historically in connection with the re-
stored Jews in the age of Ezra, and also in long subse-
quent ages, e. gr., in the time of our Lord, and even down
to our own times ; but how much their religious char-
acter after Ezra — their Samaritan worship and Samar-
itan Pentateuch — stand related to this original priest
(2 Kings 17 : 27) sent back by the king of Assyria is
one of the very doubtful historic questions. The subject
will come up again in the history of Nehemiah's ex-
pulsion of an apostate priest who had married into the
family of Sanballat the Horonite (Neh. 13: 28.)

It is in place here to speak briefly of the confirmations
of sacred history which come in from profane sources
during the separate existence of Israel and Judah — i. e.,
from Jeroboam I (B. C. 975) to Hoshea's death and the
captivity of the ten tribes (B. C. 722). This confirming
testimony may be conveniently arranged under these
heads, showing :

1. That during the duration of the Northern kingdom,
Egypt, Moab, Syria (with Damascus for its capital) and
Assyria (with Nineveh for its capital) were contempo-
rary powers.

2. That at the points where the Scripture record pre-
sents those powers in war with Israel or Judah, they
were in fact vigorous, warlike, aggressive; i. e., sus-
taining such a character as is implied in the sacred rec-
ord. This, it will be noticed, is an advance upon the

CONNECTIONS OF SACRED HISTORY WITH PROFANE. 817

preceding point ; for those kingdoms were subject to
great variation in these respects — were sometimes rela-
tively weak ; again, relatively strong ; were at some
periods able or disposed to act only on the defensive;
at other periods, they were vigorous and terribly ag-
gressive.

3. That the coincidences between the sacred history
on the one hand and the profane historians and
monuments on the other, extend even to the names of
prominent kings on both sides ; some names of Hebrew
kings as given in Scripture being found on the monu-
ments of these foreign kingdoms; and, on the other hand,
the names of their own kings as on their monuments
being found in the Hebrew Scriptures.

4. Not only are many important names found in both
histories — the sacred and the profane; but they are
found as contemporaries — chronologically coincident.

These points taken in connection seem to me to com-
plete the confirmation which we desire, being all that
truth need to seek, or its friends to require. We take
up these foreign kingdoms separately.

Of Moah, nothing more need be said than has been
already presented in our notice of the " Moabite stone "
and of King Mesha on page 296.

EgyiJt comes into view politically but thrice. First
is the invasion of Judah by Shishak, a case of great in-
terest and value, presented in our history of Rehoboam

and Judah. Next is the invasion of Judah in the

reign of Asa by Zerah the Ethiopian, to be considered

under our notice of Asa. The third occurs in the

brief record of Hoshea's negotiations with So, king of
Egypt, for help against Shalmanezer, king of Assyria (2
Kings 17 : 4). " He had sent messengers to So, king of
Egypt, and brought no presents to the king of Assyria,
as he had done year by year."

Who was this "So?" — A slight disagreement exists
among even able critics, the difference lying between
Sabaco and Sevechus, i. e., between the first king and
the second, of the 2oth Egyptian dynasty, which was
of Ethiopian origin. Geo. Rawlinson, Usher, Hitzig,

favor the former ; Gesenius, Fuerst, Kiel, the latter.

The letters of this Hebrew name "^ are most easily iden-

*N1D

318 CONNECTIONS OF SACRED HISTORY WITH PROFANE.

tified with Sevechus.* The date of his reign corre-
sponds with these years of Hoshea. Fuerst sa3^s he sat
on the throne about B. C. 728, which would be six years
before the fall of Samaria.

That Egypt should be in hostile attitude toward
Assyria, is of course to be assumed. Historically, we
might say she was never otherwise. Their interests were
always antagonistic, so that the question of war or no
war as between them was only a question of power to
wage it. This Ethiopian dynasty brought to the throne
of Egypt an immense accession of Ethiopian allies —
rude men, and but rudely trained in the military
science of the age ; yet with their aid, Egypt might
dare to put herself in antagonism against Assyria. At
a point a few years later than this, we shall see Tirha-
kah, immediate successor of Sevechus (So), threatening
the Assyrian armies in Palestine (2 Kings 19 : 9).

Syria (its head Damascus) became a very positive
factor in the political and military relations of these
two Hebrew kingdoms from Ahab (1 Kings 20) to
Ahaz of Judah (2 Kings 16). Something is known of
the Syria of this age through its own historian, Nicolas
of Damascus ; but as yet no important monumental in-
scriptions— such as have been found in the ruins of
Nineveh — have come to light. The Assyrian inscrip-
tions, however, throw some light on Damascene Syria.

All foreign sources of historic knowledge concur

with the sacred Scriptures in the general character and
relations of Syria during the ninth century B. C. She
was then a vigorous power, having in her vicinity the
kingdom of Hamath; the kings of the Hittites and of
Phenicia — herself the most powerful among them, and
often in alliance with some or all of them. Her war-
force lay chiefly in her infantry and in chariots, with
relatively very few horsemen. Moreover, all accounts,
sacred and profane, concur on the point that during
this period the great eastern empire of Assyria lay
unaggressively upon their eastern border, occupied
with internal dissensions, or for other reasons, making
no warlike demonstrations westward. f

* Some acquaintance with the Hebrew alphabet and its relations to
the Greek (Sevechus), and also to the hieroglyphic characters, woul^
be necessary in order to trace the identity cf So with its Greek or
Egyptian equivalent.

f See Rawlinson's Historical niustrations, 128, 129.

CONNECTIONS OF SACRED niSTORY WITH PROFANE. 319

The memorial stone known as "the Black Obelisk,"
now in the British Museum, speaks of " Ahab of
Jezreel" as joining in a league of kings against the
Assyrians, and furnishing ten thousand footmen and
two thousand chariots. Among the confederate mon-
arch s was Ben-hadad, who appears in the Scriptures as
Ahab's contemporary. According to our Scriptures
Ben-hadad had wars with Ahab, yet there was at least
one period — three years in duration — of peace (1 Kings
22 : 1). The special interest manifested by Ahab in
fostering friendly relations with his "brother Ben-
hadad" (1 Kings 20: 31-38) finds, perhaps, its explana-
tion in the fact that they both had great reason to fear
the growing power of Assyria, and saw that naturally
their common interests demanded of them alliance and

not hostility. Moreover, the Black Obelisk bears the

name of Jehu, called, however, "son of Omri," perhaps
because they kncAV the kingdom of Israel as attaining
its celebrity under Omri the builder of its capital ; also
of Hazael who succeeded Ben-hadad. Hazael appears
there as the chief antagonist of the Assyrian invaders
of Syria, and as successor to Ben-hadad. Jehu (or, as
some think, Ahab, really the son of Omri) is on the
Obelisk as sending ambassadors to the Assyrian capital
with presents or tribute.^

The ancient Syrian histories are in accord with
Scripture in its account of Ahab's marriage with
Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians
(1 Kings 16: 31). Dius and Menander give the name
of this king Eithobalus. They make him the sixth
king after that Hiram with whom David was in
league. The interval between Hiram and tliis king
they make fifty years. Assigning to him a reign of
thirt3^-t\vo years, they make him contemporary Avith
Ahab. They state also that Eithobalus was the high
priest of Astarte [otherwise Ashtaroth] — a fact which
may account for the religious fanaticism of his daugh-
ter.

With Assyria, the points of contact are somewhat
numerous, and will become more so at periods yet later.

Of Pul, the first king named as being of Ass^^ria,

and of his relations to Menahem, king of Israel, I have
spoken.

* Historical Illastrations, p. 127.

320 REVIEW OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM.

Tiglath-Pileser who ascended the throne of Assyria,
B. C. 747, came into collision of arms with Azariah,
and with Ahaz, kings of Judah (of which more notice
will be taken in our review of Judah) ; also with Pekah
and Hoshea, kings of Israel. From the latter he ex-
acted tribute.^

Shalmanezer commenced the siege of Samaria. Sar-
gon, his successor, claims to have taken the city in the
first year of his reign. The Scripture records are so
shaped that they do not conflict with this claim.
While it is said definitely that Shalmanezer laid siege
to Samaria, the name of the king who took it is not
given. "They" (the Assyrian forces) "took it" (2
Kings 18 : 10). According to the Assyrian documents
Sargon came to the throne B. C. 721 or 722. Scripture
chronologists had already, on independent grounds,
fixed upon these as the alternative years.

The coincidences between the history of Assyria and
that of Judah and her kings, both before and after the
fall of Samaria, will be treated in their place.

The History of the Ten Tribes Reviewed in its Moral Aspects.

Morally considered, the fall of this northern kingdom

is one of the great events of Hebrew history. The

revolt of ten tribes from Rehoboam rent asunder the
kingdom as it stood in its greatness under David and
Solomon. Their continual, persistent decline — relig-
ious, moral, and, therefore, political — wrought their
ruin. It was only after they had thoroughly j^roved
themselves faithless to God and incorrigibly so that
they were given over of him to their righteous doom.

Let it be remembered this doom of national destruc-
tion had been predicted long before, even by Moses
(Lev. 26, and Deut. 28), and this prediction the Lord
through his prophets missed no good opportunity to

reaffirm. Note also that whereas, under the national

policy of Jeroboam, they had in the outset severed
themselves from the Mosaic Institutions, especially the
temple worship and the national festivals — a step
which seemed to Jeroboam a necessity of their sej^arate
national existence — the Lord graciously sought to sup-
ply this lack by a specially vigorous development of

* Historical Illustrations, 135, 136.

REVIEW OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 321

religious agency through the prophets. In very many
respects this seems to have been a really higher agency
— at least, one more directly religious and spiritual.
It was sustained remarkably by miracle, as we have
seen particularly in the case of Elijah and Elisha ; also
b}^ wonderful interpositions of God by means of drought
and famine ; also by various national events — wars,
deliverances. These were of a sort admirably adapted
to impress, not only the king and his court, but the
whole people, with a due sense of their obligation to
Jehovah, and of the supreme wisdom of banishing all
idols, and of giving their worship and service exclu-
sively to their own Almight}^ God.

To all this we must add the labors of those prophets
who not only spake but wrote, putting their messages
in permanent written form and scattering them we
know not hovf widely among the people. Of these, we
have among the northern tribes Hosea and Amos cer-
tainly ; and Micah seems to have some reference to this
kingdom. It was only after all these efforts had proved
unavailing that the Lord at length gave them up —
Hosea indicates in more passages than one with what
wonderful tenderness of emotion and after what touch-
ing admonitions and warnings. It was through his
lips and pen that the Lord said : " How shall I give
thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver tliee, Israel ?
How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set
thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned within me; my
repentings are kindled together" (Hos. 11 : 8).

The fall of the northern kingdom was purposely
made admonitory to the southern. It could not be oth-
erwise than a solemn warning to Judah. We can not
say definitely how powerful the influence of this final
fall and captivity of Samaria was upon the people of
Judah in promoting the great reform wrought by Heze-
kiah. This reform he commenced in his first year, six
years before the final conquest ; but continued it with
efforts more or less vigorous throughout his reign of
twenty-nine years. Consequently, under the " logic of
events " the great ftict was bearing upon his people of
God's exterminating judgments upon that apostate
nation. It was of yet more value to them because its
date (after this great reform commenced) gave them
the opportunity to invite their brethren of the north to

322 REHOBOAM.

come in and join them in this general turning to the
Lord. In our study of that reform we shall see how
intimately they must have become acquainted with
the religious state of the northern kingdom ; how
clearly they must have seen and felt their fearful
apostasy from God, and the incorrigible hardness of the
masses; and how powerfully this must have augmented
the moral effect of that terrific judgment, which, almost
before this great reform had culminated, became a fear-
ful fact before their ej'es.

After the fall of the northern kingdom prophets be-
came more conspicuous in Judah. Released from ser-
vice in the north, they concentrated their labors upon
the only remaining kingdom, uniting in one grand
effort to save Judah from the same threatening doom.
We meet no further notice of the prophet-colleges at
Bethel, Gilgal, and Jericho. They may or they may
not have continued in operation. Those localities were
not remote from Jerusalem, but no historic allusions to
their work or even to their existence have come down
to us.

CHAPTER XI.

History of the Kingdom of Judah.

From Rehoboam (B. C. 975) to Zedekiah (B. C. 588)
the sacred history appears chiefly in 2 Chron. chaps.
10-36; but partly in the book of Kings — for the period
prior to the fall of the northern kingdom in 1 Kings
12-22, and 2 Kings 1-17; and subsequently to Hoshea,
in chaps. 18-25.

Both our histories (Kings and Chronicles) recite the
grounds of the secession of the ten tribes; state that
Rehoboam at first summoned his whole army to compel
submission ; but that God's prophet forbade it. Beyond
this the author of Kings gives few particulars, save
that Rehoboam and his people ''did evil before the
Lord ; " built the high places for idol-worship, and prac-
ticed the abominations of the heathen. For these sins
the Lord sent upon them Shishak, king of Egypt, who
came to Jerusalem and robbed the temple of its treas-
ures, and especially of the shields of gold which Solo-
mon had made.

REHOBOAM. 323

The author of Chronicles adds many more particu-
lars; e. g., that after the revolt Rehoboam set himself to
building and fortifying cities (2 Chron. 11 : 5-10); that
the priests and Levites came to him from all Israel ;
and besides these, all who sought the Lord and were
unwilling to forego the national worship of their
fathers' God at Jerusalem. These classes were the best
elements of the nation's strength, and added greatly to
the resources and stability of Rehoboam's kingdom.
Particularly it is said " they made him strong three
years ; for three years they walked in the ways of David

and Solomon." Subsequently under a false sense of

strength, Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord and all
the people with him. For this apostasy the Lord sent
upon him Shishak with 1200 chariots ; 60,000 horsemen ;
and infantry without number. They took all the forti-
fied cities of Judah. At this point the tone of the nar-
rative (2 Chron. 12 : 4-12) implies that although Shishak
carried the other strong cities by storm or siege, yet the
Lord spared Jerusalem the horrors of both siege and
storm, because Rehoboam and his princes, admonished
by the prophet Shemaiah, humbled themselves before
the Lord. " God's wrath was not poured out upon Jeru-
salem by the hand of Shishak." He only came into the
city and pillaged the temple. The author of Chronicles
labors to make the point very clear that it was only
because of their repentance and humiliation before God
that he softened the severity of this punishment. It
was while Rehoboam and his princes were holding a
council of war over this invasion that Shemaiah the
prophet brought the Lord's message of rebuke : " Ye
have forsaken me ; therefore have I left you in the hand
of Shishak." Whereupon they humbled'themselves and
said, " The Lord is righteous." When the Lord saw this,
he relaxed the severity of this scourge. "The wrath of
the Lord turned from Rehoboam that he would not de-
stroy him altogether; also in Judah, things went well*."
So evermore in God's government over nations, guilt, per-
sisted in, measures retribution accurately; but repentance
and humiliation never pass unnoticed — always bring
some relaxation; often the full arrest of punishment.

At this point the coincidence of sacred history with
profane — Rehoboam's fifth year, with this invasion of
Shifihak, king of Egypt — demands special attention.

324 sHisHAK identifip:d.

In the Scriptures Sbishak appears first in 1 Kings 11 :
40, as then the king of Egypt to whom Jeroboam fled
for protection from Solomon. This fact indicates a de-
cisive change in the policy of the Egyptian court since
Solomon took to wife the daughter of the reigAiing
monarch. It suggests another d}' nasty, of other, not to
say opposite, sympathies and policy. In harmony wdth
this we find that Shishak (the Sheshonk of the Egypt-
ian monuments) was the founder of a new dynasty, the
22d. He was not on the best terms with Solomon and
readily took Jeroboam into his confidence and friend-
ship. Naturally, therefore, he only waited for the favor-
able moment to make this formidable military campaign
into Palestine in the interests of his friend Jeroboam.

Early in the present century during the exploration
of Egyptian ruins which commenced with Napoleon's
occupation of the country, the monumental record of
this identical invasion of Palestine by Shishak was dis-
covered, sculptured upon the walls of the great temple
of Karnak. "It was a list of the countries, cities, and
tribes, conquered or ruled by him or tributary to him."
This list as copied in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Shishak)
runs up to 133, of which No. 29 was at first read and
believed to be — The kingdom of Judah. Subsequent
studies of the hieroglyphic alphabet have created a
measure of doubt as to the correctness of this rendering
of the name. But these doubts can in no wise weaken
the evidence that this inscription gives the monu-
mental history of this very invasion by Shishak. A
large number of the cities of Palestine are unquestion-
ably identified. Egyptologists were at first surprised to
find many cities on this list that were known to be lo-
cated within the ten tribes, and therefore were assumed
to belong to Jeroboam. How, it was asked, is this, that
Shishak assaults and captures the cities of his old
friend? At length Dr. Brugsch noticed that these w^ere
all cities either of the Levites or of the old Canaanites ;
— the former in well known sympathy with liehoboam,
and the latter perhaps had not yet given in their alle-
giance to Jeroboam. What had before seemed inexi:>lic-
able now became clear. Shishak was fulfilling the
double purpose — first of fattening his army on the pil-
lage of cities; and second, of bringing those cities into
subjection to Jeroboam.

ASA, KING OP JUDAH. 325

Chronologically, this invasion is generally supposed to
have been made in the twentieth year of Shishak, which
corresponds with the fifth of Rehoboam. Some vincer-
tainty hangs over all the chronology of this period,
Hebrew or Egyptian ; but this coincidence is as w^ell
established as any point in that age of the world.

The history of Abijah, king of Juclah^ (called Abijam
in the book of Kings) has been fully presented above
(pages 261, 262).

After his reign of three years, his son Asa succeeded
him with a reign of 41 years. The author of Kings (as
noticed above), relates that Asa ruled for the most part
righteously; removed the queen-mother "because she
had made an idol in a grove;" hired Ben-hadad to
attack the northern cities of Baasha in order to compel

him to desist from fortifying Ramah. At this point

the author of Kings drops his history; but the author
of Chronicles continues it, informing us that the Lord
sent Hanani the seer to rebuke him for relying on the
king of Syria and not upon his own Jehovah. In this
expostulation,. the seer refers to a great victory which
God had previously given Asa over an immense host of
Ethiopians and Lubims under Zerah. " Because thou
didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thine
hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through-
out the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of
him -whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein (^. e.,
in going for help to Ben-hadad and not to Jehovah)
thou hast done foolishly ; tlierefore from henceforth thou

shalt have wars." It was a sad infirmity in so good

a man — a great sin indeed — for we can not say less of
it — that " Asa was wroth with this prophet, and put
him in a prison-house ; for he was in a rage with him
because of this." This double sin — rebelling against
God, and punishing God's prophet, as if he and not God
was responsible for this message, manifestly brought
upon him a painful disease in his feet — under which,
it is said, " he sought help, not from the Lord, but from
his physicians." Alas, the folly and the sin! Did he
die at last under this scourge; and worse yet — with his
heart still in rebellion against God ? The vail of silence
(on this point) drops over him. He was buried with
most ample earthly honors; fragrant spices were burned
over his mortal remains; but the fragrance of penitent

326 ASA AND ZERAH THE ETHIOPIAN.

tears on his sick-bed would have improved this record
immensely. As it is, we get from it a solemn admoni-
tion against clouding the close of a historic life, in
many respects brilliant and worthy, with such proofs
of a rebellious spirit against God and God's honest ser-
vants.

We turn back to note more particularly the great
events of his life, the record of which we find, not in
Kings but in Chronicles. (See 2 Chron. 14: 9 and 15) :
The first was an invasion of his kingdom by Zerah, the
Ethiopian, leading a host of a million of men with three
hundred war-chariots. The location of the great battle,
in the valley of Zephathah, at or near Mareshah, far in
the south-west districts of Judah, shows that Zerah en-
tered Palestine from the south-west, and was still in
the plains, yet just on the border of the hill country of
Judah. The prayer of Asa in the face of this great
battle is here on record (2 Chron. 14 : 11) — every thought
and sentiment in it most admirable — thus : " Lord, it is
nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with
them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God;
for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this
multitude. O Lord, thou art God; let not man prevail

against thee." This prayer put the king and his

people under the protection of the Almighty, and
brought forth his uplifted arm in their behalf. IIow,
by what special agencies, the half million men of Asa's
army (v. 8), supposing them all present, drove, routed,
and almost utterly annihilated this million of enemies
— we are not told. It is only said that " the Lord smote
the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the
Ethiopians fled." The victorious host pursued the flee-
ing to Gerar, full twenty miles, and took immense spoil.
The victory was most decisive : it broke the arm of
Egypt's strength for a full generation.

This Zerah is usually identified with Usarken II,
fourth king of the twenty-second Egyptian dynasty/^
who is supposed to have been by birth an Ethiopian,
and to have hold the throne of Egypt on the double
ground of an alliance between the two kingdoms, and

* Poole in Smith's Bible Dictionary [" Zerah "] expresses doubt
between Usarken I, and Usai-ken II; the former the second, and the
latter the fourth king of this dynasty ; but on the whole favors the
latter.

ASA AND ZERAH THE ETHIOPIAN. 327

b}^ right of his wife, the lineal heir to the Egyptian
throne. Chronologically there is accord between the
sacred dates and the Egyptian — the battle having oc-
curred about the fourteenth year of Asa, i. e.j B. C. 940.

The impulses of this wonderful victory were wisely
turned to account in promoting religious reform in
Judah. " The Spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah,
son of Oded (this Oded being perhaps but a different
form of the name Iddo), and he went forth to meet Asa,
returning under the yet fresh impressions of this great
deliverance. " Hear ye me," said he, "Asa and all Judah
and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while ye be
with him ; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you ;

but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." How

briefly and yet how truthfully put ! He proceeded to

speak of the many seasons of religious declension occur-
ring in their past history. In v. 3, " Now for a long sea-
son" should rather be — at many seasons — referring to the
period of the Judges, as well as other seasons subse-
quent. In these declensions there was no teaching of
God by priests or by the written law, and there was the
greatest insecurity of life and instability of thrones.
He exhorted them to be strong in faith and full of cour-
age and confidence in God. This must of course be
understood to imply that they purge away all vestiges
of idolatry and give their heart and worship to the true

God only. To this reform Asa and his people set

themselves earnestly. All who had faith in Israel's
God gathered together, not from Judah and Benjamin
only, but "the strangers with them outof Ephraim and
Manasseh and out of Samaria ; for they fell to him out of
Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord his
God was with him."

They renewed their covenant to seek the God of their
fathers with all their heart and with all their soul,
confirming it with the solemn oath, and with trumpets,
and with cymbals :^a thrilling scene indeed, of appar-
ently most hearty and joyous consecration. " 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." It is pleasant to think of this

revival as thoroughly national, seizing upon the awak-
ened souls of the whole people under the impulses of

328 jehoShaphat.

this wonderful victory, and bearing all hearts in unison
back to the God of their fathers in solemn and most
jo3'ful consecration. It is to be hoped that this re-
form was followed up with better religious instruction
of the whole people, and with more or less enduring
results of improved religious life.

Jehoshaphat.

The author of Chronicles devotes four chapters (2
Chron. 17-20) to this good king, of which chap. 18 ap-
pears substantially in 1 Kings 22. The historical matter
in the other chapters is chiefly new — not found in Kings.

As the most exceptionable points of his life grew

out of his affinity with Ahab, it results naturally that
the author of Kings, writing up Ahab fully, gives the
darker side of Jehoshaphat. The new matter which
comes in 2 Chron. presents the better side, viz., his
noble endeavors in the very beginning of his reign to
revive religious instruction in his kingdom (chap. 17 :
3-9) ; his effort, after the failure of his campaign with
Ahab, to reorganize and purify the judiciary system
(chap. 19) ; and the great victory through prayer and
song which the Lord gave him over the combined forces
of Moab, Amnion, and Edom (chap. 20).

Reviewing briefly these staple facts of his history, I
note the remark (17 : 3) that '' he walked in the first
ways of his fiither David," — which some critics would
amend by striking out Davld^ thus making the passage
refer to his father Asa whose first ways were better
tlian his last. But the same might be said (qualifiedly)
of David. His first ways were without blemish ; but
not so his last. The true principle of textual criticism
is, never to change the text arbitrarily where it gives a

fairly tolerable sense as it stands. In v. 6, we read

that " his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord"
— not, however, as this verb often means, in pride, but

in strength, in true dignity, in moral heroism. In

vs. 7-9, it should be noticed that the king sent out on
this missionary tour of public religious instruction five
princes, laymen ; nine Levites, and two priests. Some
critics are perplexed over the question — What had these
laymen to do in this work? Surely (say they) it can
not be that this good king sent them to teach. But this

JEHOSHAPHAT, AND HIS REFORMS. 329

is the very thing the author says. And thoy may have
been very capable. Their presence, doubtless, gave
prestige and influence to this mission. Let it be hoped
that this noble king was not trammeled by any restric-
tive scruples about the right or even the propriety of
putting laymen into this service — so be it they were

capable and worthy. Noticeably, ''they taught in

Judah, and had the book of the law with them, and
went about throughout all the cities of Judah and
taught the people." This " book of the law " could not
have included less than the five books of Moses. Had
they each a copy? Or was this whole mission of six-
teen men subdivided into several, with one or more

copies to each party? How often and in what way

did they convene the people ? On Sabbaths only ? Or
did their daj^s of public service include others— say the
semi-sacred days of the Hebrew system — the new
moons, and the protracted seasons of their three great
religious festivals? Or did they hold protracted meet-
ings consecutively, up to the measure of their strength,
on the modern missionary touring system? These
points of detail are left unrecorded. We may be sure
it was a grand and noble enterprise, and may trust
that it bore along with it waves of the waters of salva-
tion.

During this religious instruction of the people, the
fear of the Lord fell on all adjacent kingdoms, restrain-
ing them from war upon Judah. Some of the Philis-
tines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and a large amount
of silver. [The word used, v. 11, seems to mean, not
tribute-silver, but burdens of silver]. Arabian tribes
also brought him sheep and he-goats in large numbers,

here specified. The statements given here of the

size of his standing army stagger belief, and compel us
to assume an error of some copyist. Here are five
divisions of the army — three from Judah, and two from
Benjamin — who waited on the king, besides his gar-
risons in the fortified cities of Judah. Noticeably, the
total is precisely double the army of King Asa as in 2

Chron. 14 : 8. The Speaker's Commentary estimates

that such an army implies a maximum population of
1480 to the square mile — fully three times as dense as
in any known country of our age.

Jehoshaphat's second branch of reform (2 Chron. 10)
15

330 jEiiosnAPHAT invaded; delivered.

had special reference to the administration of law — the
judiciary s^^stem. We read — " He went out again
through the people from Beersheha to Mt. Ephraim
and brought them back to the Lord God of their
fathers" (v. 4). "And he set judges in the land
throughout all the fenced [fortified] cities of Judah
city by city." Apparently the king with his cabinet
made the tour of the whole land, and reorganized the
judiciary under their own personal inspection ; for the
last clause of v. 8, records their return to Jerusalem —
a clause which is but imperfectly translated and unfor-
tunately arranged in the division into verses. It
should be the first clause of v. 9 ; " And then they (the

king and his attendants) returned to Jerusalem." It

is not entirely clear whether this reform introduced a
new system, or merely modified an old one — reenforcing
it with better men, under rules more fully defined, and
with fresh impulses toward justice and righteousness.
The principles he laid down are admirable — a fine
model for an upright judiciary in whatever age of the
world and for whatever people.

Judah Invaded by the Allied Annies of 3Ioah, Ammon, and
Edom. (2 Chron. 20.)

The salient points of this invasion and its results are
striking and richly instructive. It was an immense
army; they advanced upon Jerusalem from the south,
having organized at the south end of the Dead Sea and,
marched northward along its western shore. They had
already reached Engedi, some twenty -five miles from
Jerusalem, when the movement was fully reported to
Jehoshaphat. He saw the danger and set himself to
seek the Lord earnestly by prayer and a day of national
fasting. The nation gathered together for prayer, Je-
hoshaphat leading them in words here on record.
Alluding to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the
temple, he assumes that this is a case in point — " evil
coming upon the land" — in this case the sword; "the
people standing in this house," the temple " in thy
])resence" (for thy name is in this house) "crying unto
thee in our afiliction ; thou wilt hear and help." He
cries to God to look upon tlieir enemies, coming up to
drive them out from the land God had given them, and

JEHOSHAPHAT INVADED ; DELIVERED. 331

prays — "0 our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we
have no might against this great company that cometh
against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes

are unto thee." Such an appeal God never fails to

hear. In this case he answered by sending his Spirit
mightily upon one of his prophets — Jahaziel — Avho
said — " Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this
great multitude ; for the battle is not yours but God's.
To-morrow go ye down against them, but ye shall not
need to fight in this battle: set yourselves; stand ye
still and see the salvation of the Lord with you, for the

Lord will be with you." Jehoshaphat bowed to the

earth in grateful, joyful assent ; all Jerusalem fell be-
fore the Lord in worship ; the Levites stood up to praise
the Lord God of Israel with loud voice on high. As the
army marched forth Jehoshaphat gave them his mili-
tary orders : " Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye
be established: believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."
In the forefront of his men of war marched the great
choir, " praising the beauty of holiness," singing in vast
chorus : " Praise ye the Lord, for his mercy endureth
forever." " When they began to sing and to praise, the

Lord set ambushments." We must pause a moment

here to ask the meaning of these words. The sense of
the Hebrew word for " ambushments " is clear — viz.. Hers
in wait ; but who were they? Not men of Judah — for
two reasons : (a.) They were not to fight but to stand
still and see God's salvation, (b.) They had not yet
reached the scene of the battle and did not reach it till
their enemies lay strown in death over all that bloody

field. As the Lord was by promise to bear a direct

hand in that fighting, we must accept the ancient in-
terpretation— viz., that these liers in wait were God's
angel-hosts, commencing the fight by surprising and
smiting with panic; then, perhaps, leaving those allied
armies to devour one another— first, IMoab and Amnion
against Seir till Seir was utterl}^ cut in pieces ; then
Moab against Amnion till they were in turn destroyed.
When the men of Judah had reached the higli lands
which overlooked this battle-field, lo, tlieir vast hosts
were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none -escaped.

Of course the spoil was immense — work for three

days' gathering. But more to our purpose is the

grateful recognition of God's mercy made by the army

332 JEHOSHAPHAT TRIUMPHANT.

of Judah ill the valley of Berachah — this name being
significant of blessing — a name which the place bears to
this day. If we would like to see the song they sung,
w^e may be gratified ; for there can be scarcel}^ the least
doubt that it is preserved to us in Psalm 47 — every
word, sentiment, and allusion of which meets the cir-
cumstances of this case to perfection. We may almost
hear the glorious shout of that army-host: "O clap
your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the
voice of triumph. For the Lord Most High is terrible ;
he is a Great King over all the earth." (Had he not
been proving this before their very e3^es?) "He shall
choose our inheritance for us." (Jehoshaphat's prayer
suggested that their enemies meant to root them out;
their song glorifies God for renewing to them his grant of
Canaan.) " God is gone up with a shout ; the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet." (Having been down into the
fight and utterly vanquished his foes, what remained
but that he should go up with the victor's song of tri-
umph?) And so the Psalm closes with a call for loud-
est praises to the God of their salvation. [See my notes
on Psalm 47.]

Still onward we read that [without the loss of a man]
they "returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem,
with Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again

to Jerusalem with joy." " And they came

to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets
unto the house of the Lord." Here there was yet more
song, not of instruments alone, but of voices also, and
with fitting words. Psalm 48 [the next in order] meets
this occasion so perfectly as to identify it beyond rea-
sonable question. " Great is the Lord and greatly to bo
praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his
holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole
earth is Mt. Zion on the sides of the north — the city of
the Great King." Never before was Jerusalem more
beautiful in their eyes, standing unharmed, its dangers
passed away; its palaces in all their splendor; its tem-
ple radiant with glory. God had made himself known
there for a refuge. True, the kings [of the south] had
been assembled against her; but "trouble came upon

them and they hasted away." How beautifully they

sing:^ "We have thought of thy loving kindness, 0
God, in the midst of thy temple. Let Mt. Zion rejoice ;

JEHORAM. 333

let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judg-
ments." [Was there not joy among those saved sons
and daughters?] "Walk about Zion; mark ye well
her bulwarks; consider her palaces" — and think that
he who hath saved all these to us is still our God for-
ever and ever; he will be our Guide evermore. So

in this national song this redeemed people celebrated
the loving kindness and ever-enduring faithfulness of

their nation's God. We need not wonder that (as the

historian testifies) " the fear of God was on all the king-
doms of those countries when they heard that Jehovah
fought against the enemies of Israel." "The realm of
Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest
round about." ^

The passage (2 Chron. 20 : 35-37) is manifestly out
of its chronological order here. This event occurred
within one or at most two years after Ahab's death
(Ahaziah his successor having reigned less than two
years) ; consequently about the seventeenth year of
Jehoshaphat — eight years before his death. Hence the
words " after this " can not mean, after the great vic-
tory recorded in this chapter. With this passage

compare 1 Kings 22 : 48, 49. Ezion-geber being a port
on the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea, these ships
were for the Indian, not the Mediterranean trade, and
were therefore called " ships of Tarshish " only in the
sense of being ships of the largest size — " East India-
men." Or possibly some place in those waters bore this
name " Tarshish." The Lord wisely baffled this com-
mercial enterprise ; for it was not well for Jehoshaphat
to be in intimate relations to this godless Ahaziah.

Jeho7xim.

This eldest son of Jehoshaphat succeeded him with a
very wicked and inglorious reign of eight years. The
most striking fact of his reign was the perpetual
curse brought upon himself, his family and his king-
dom, through the influence of Jezebel whose daughter
Athaliah became his wife. As might have been ex-
pected Athaliah was a second Jezebel. Her pernicious
influence was felt in Judah to the day of her death.

"■••Psalm 88 may be read usefully in this connection, since it was
probably prepared for this occasion; certainly for such an occasion.

334 AIIAZIAII.

Jelioram had six brothers. Their father gave them
riches, and the control of certain fortified cities of his
kingdom. It is supposable that Jehoram thought their
power dangerous to his throne, yet the historian makes
no apolog}^ on this ground, or any other, for his heart-
less murder of them all as soon as he had become estab-
lished in regal power. Inasmuch as his widow Atha-
liah pursued the same bloody policy as soon as her son
Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, it is safe to assume that the
practice Avas Phenician — brought into Israel with Jeze-
bel and the Avorship of Baal. Jehoram introduced

into Judah Baal worship, denoted by the word ''forni-
cation" (2 Chron. 21: 11), it being spiritual adultery
toward Jehovah to whom the peoj^le stood in a covenant
relation, analogous to that of marriage. It is even said

that the king compelled his people to this worship.

To him Elijah sent the letter already referred to above,
setting forth his great sins and denouncing fearful
judgments, both personal and domestic. The Philis-
tines and Arabians became God's instruments to j^lun-
der his palace, take into captivity his wives and all
his sons save the youngest; while God's own hand in-
flicted the terrible and fatal scourge of disease of the
bowels. The historian writes his epitaph in few words :
"He passed off ivith no desire:''^ nobody cared to have
him live ; nobody lost a tear for his death. Supremely
selfish and utterly wicked, the world felt relieved when
he breathed no longer. The historian intimates that
whatever good survived to his kingdom was due to his
parents and not to any good qualities of his own. " The
Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of
the covenant he had made with David, as he had prom-
ised to give a light to him and to his sons forever" (21 :
7). Otherwise, so much wickedness might have sunk
the nation.

Ahaziah.

This only surviving son of Jehoram, called Jehoahaz
(21 : 17), and probabl}^, by an error of the transcribers,
Azariah in 22: 6, succeeded his father and reigned one
year only. He met his death at the hand of Jehu while
himself on a visit to his cousins of Ahab's line in Jez-
reel, where Jehu was fulfilling his divine commission
against the house of Ahab. His record is brief but

ATHALIAH. 335

only bad — doing evil and evil only — " his mother Atha-
liali beinp: his counselor to do wickedly" (2 Chron.
22 : 3). The author of Chronicles, one of the most
profoundly philosophical historians, evermore tracing
events to their ultimate cause, suggests that the de-
struction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram
(king of Israel at Jezreel) ; for when he was come, he
went out with Joram against Jehu son of Nimshi,
whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of
Ahab (2 Chron. 22 : 7). Caught among the wicked
from whom he had inherited his wickedness ; caught
there just when the bolts of heaven's vengeance were
smiting them ; why should they not smite him also ?

Athaliah.

We have seen this bad woman already. We shall
remember her as the daughter of Jezebel, the wife of
Jehoram eldest son of Jehoshaphat, and mother of
Ahaziah his successor. The only woman who ever sat
on the throne of Judah, she made her name forever
notorious (I will not say immortal) by the meanness
and heartless inhumanity of her wickedness. As sur-
viving queen-mother, it was her responsibility to
bring forward her eldest son to the throne. Instead of
of this she murdered " all the seed royal," including all
her sons upon whom she could lay her hand ; and then
mounted the throne herself. Only God's special provi-
dence enabled one of her daughters (probably a step-
daughter), Jehoshabeath, to rescue Joash, the youngest
son — then an infant in the hands of his nurse — from
the jaws of this woman-demon. Athaliah held the
throne six j'ears, and then met the violent death she
had so long and so richly deserved — reigning only wick-
edly, and dying, we may be sure, unwept. The his-
torian briefly — we may sa}^, suggestively — remarks :
" All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was
quiet after they had slain Athaliah with the sword."
Nothing is recorded of her except crimes. It is rea-
sonably safe to infer that there was nothing better or
else to record.

336 JEIIOIADA AND JOASH.

Jehoiada and Joash."^

The name Jehoiada hrings to view a venerable High
Priest, liusband of that Jehoshabeath who saved the
infant Joash from the jaws of Athaliah, and who
became God's instrument to rid the world and espe-
cially the throne of Judah of Queen Athaliah. ^V'hen
Joash attained the age of seven years, Jehoiada con-
vened his friends from the whole country in council.
It was concluded that the nation had borne the curse of
such a queen full long. They concerted measures to
inaugurate Joash the rightful heir as king, and to dis-
pose of Athaliah. The boy had been secreted in the
recesses of the temple — a place which Athaliah was not
wont to visit. Jehoiada had charge there. It was the
custom for the Levites, organized in several divisions, to
stand guard over the temple in succession; so that it
was necessary only to strengthen these guards by large
accessions from the whole country, arming them from
the arsenal of King David. Silentl}^ they had filed in
and taken their posts till the military force was deemed
sufficient ; then on a given signal, the 3'oung king was
brought forth, anointed, inaugurated; — and Jehoiada
virtually made regent. Athaliah heard the trumj^et-
blast and the joyous acclamations as they rang out
through the city— only to throw up her hands in
horror, shouting, Treason! — to be hustled out of the
temple and then cut down by the sword of avenging
justice. The nation breathed freely once more ; idolatry
and cruel inhumanity had fallen together, and a right-
eous administration took their place.

Legitimately, the next step was the solemn ratifica-
tion of a covenant in which, as said in 2 Kings 11 : 17,
the contracting parties were — the Lord, the king, and
the people ; also " between the king and the people." f
After the extreme apostasy of the previous reigns
nothing could be more appropriate than this renewal
of covenant with God and his king. As the next

* This history appears substantially in both Kings and Chronicles ;
viz., 2 Kings 11 and 12, and 2 Chron. 22-24 ; most fully in the latter.

t Noticeably the author of Chronicles (23: 16) puts it — "between
him (.Jehoiada), all the people and the king, that they should be the
Lord's people." Jehoiada being High Priest, may be thought of here
as representing the Lord iu this three-fold covenant.

JEHOIADA AND JOASII. 337

step in the same direction, " all the people went into
the house" [temple] "of Baal; broke it down; broke in
pieces his altars and his images, and slew Mattan, the
priest of Baal, before the altar." Then the way was
prepared to reorganize the worship of the temple after
the Mosaic order, which was done apparently with a
hearty will and a noble enthusiasm (2 Chron. 23 : 18-
21). Next came the great Avork of repairing the tem-
ple. The need of this appears from the recorded fact
that "the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had
broken into the house of God, and all the dedicated
things of the house of God they had bestowed upon
Baalim " (2 Chron. 24 : 7). How extensive and funda-
mental these repairs were and needed to be is indicated
by the original word used for repair, which (in 2 Chron.
24: 4) means to mahe new ; in v. 5, to make strong; and
in 24 : 27, has the sense of founding^ laying foundations.

It seems that the young king entered into this

work with youthful ardor if we may accept the most
obvious sense of v. 6 which represents him as calling
for Jehoiada and (apparently) chiding him for tardiness
in that he had not pressed forward the Levites to bring

in the collections from the people. In the result the

work was done nobly and no inconsiderable reform was
achieved in the nation.

During the regency at least, and apparently during
all the remaining life of Jehoiada, the worship of the
true God w^as sustained with a fair degree of efficiency.
But the best of men become old and die. "Jehoiada"
(we read 2 Chron. 24 : 15) " waxed old and was full of
davs when he died: 130 years old was he when he
died." *

•*The number 130 I am constrained to think is an error — on these

grounds : (a) It. is almost double the duration of life of the old men

of that period. (b) Tlacing him in years by the side of Joash, who

reigned 40 years, -vve should make Jehoiada 90 at his inauguration, yet
then manifestly in his vigor if not in his prime ; and this too on the sup-
position that they both died in the same year. But Joash survived the
aged priest some years — suppose five. On this supposition Jehoiada
-was 95 at his inauguration. (c) More still ; the great ^vork of re-
pairing the temple was not done till after the 23d year of King Joash
(2 Kings 12 : G), which on the supposition made above was only twelve
years before the death of Jehoiada ; — but he is then in active life — at

118. (d) According to the total years of life as given (Jehoiada 130;

Joash 47) the former was 83 at the birth of Joash, and yet married hia
sister. We must of course assume that Jehoshabeath was older than

338 LAST YEARS OF JOASH.

After the good man had gone, the princes of Judah
came to the king very complaisantly and gained his
ear. Their purpose in coming is not stated definitely,
but is readily inferred, for we read immediately : " They
left the house of the God of their fathers and served
groves and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and
Jerusalem for this their trespass " (2 Chron. 24 : 17, 18).
They had become weary of the temple worship, and
gave up their hearts to the fascinations of the sensuous,

lustful orgies of heathen abominations. " The Lord

sent i^rophets to them to bring them back again to
Jehovah, but they would not give ear." Then the
spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Zachariah, son
of the late aged Jehoiada. He addressed the assembled
people : " Why transgress ye the commandments of the
Lord, and why will ye not prosper?" — assuming in the
last question that they must know that only disaster
could result from such a course. How can ye be so in-
fatuated that ye do not even wish to prosper ? Already
these results of ruin were apparent : " Because ye have

forsaken the Lord, he also hath forsaken you." The

sad record follows : " They conspired against him and
stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king, in
the court of the house of the Lord." Upon this hor-
rible deed the historian (a thing very unusual) allowed
himself to comment (v. 22), exj^ressing his sense of its
ingratitude to his venerable benefactor: "Thus Joash
the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada
(the father of the murdered prophet) had done to him,
but slew his son. And when he died he said, The

Lord look upon it, and require it."-!' God heard this

imprecation. The bolts of retribution fell thick and
fast. Within one year a small band of Syrians came
upon Judah, and the Lord delivered a great host of

her infant brother when she rescued him from death ; but the disparity
of GO or 65 years between herself and her husband amounts to a stub-
born improbability. It has been suggested that the correct figures

would be, not 130, but 103 or 83 — the exigencies of the case favoring
the lesser figure.

•*"This is that Zacharias to whom our Lord refers (Matt. 23 : 35) as
slain between the altar and the temple. According to the Talmud
a horror of this impious deed long possessed the Jews, They be-
lieved that this blood was not to be ettaced, but continued to bubble
on the stones of the court like blood newly shed, until the temple
was entered just prior to its destruction by Nebuzaradan.

AMAZIAH. 339

Jews — forsaken of God — into their hand. They de-
stroyed all the princes of the people — those apostates
who instigated this apostacy; pillaged the country
generall}^; and executed God's judgments upon Joash.
God smote the king with sore diseases : his servants
(named here) conspired against him and slew him on
his bed — a woful end to a reign and a life so auspi-
ciously begun. God's lessons of providential retribution
are given with unlimited variety, if so be they may be
made effective upon the hard and blind hearts of sin-
ful men.-'^

Amaziah.

This son of Joash reigned twenty-nine years, with
various fortunes, good or ill, corresponding to the vari-
ous phases of his religious life — blessed so far as he
walked with God; afflicted, dishonored, blighted, ac-
cording as he forsook the Lord. His record appears in

2 Kings 14 : 1-20, and more fully in 2 Chron. 25.

We are told that he punished with death the murder-
ers of his father — the men themselves, but not their
children, following in this the law of Moses : " The
fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the
children die for the fathers ; but every man shall die
for his own sin." This reference shows incidentally that
" the law of Moses " was in the hands of the king, as
according to that law it should be.

Of the two great wars of his reign, the first was
against Edom. In this he captured Selah, its noted
capital; slew ten thousand men, and hurled as many
more, whom he had taken captive, from the top of the
city rocks. No reason is assigned for this barbarous treat-
ment of prisoners. The author of Chronicles records

two facts not found in the other history ; viz., that Ama-
ziah hired 100,000 men of Israel for one hundred talents
of silver ; but there came " a man of God " to him to
forbid their going; and that, though reluctant to lose
his money, he yet sent them home. They took this as
an afi'ront, and made reprisals by pillaging cities on

"••- In V, 27 the word " burden " should be taken not in the physical
but in the prophetic sense — predictions of sore calamity. Tlie sense
here is: "Concerning the greatness of the burdens of predicted
calamity uttered against him, see what is written in the story of the
book of the Kings."

340 AMAZIAH.

their way. Next, that having conquered the Edom-

ites, he was silly and senseless enough to bring home
their gods and set them up for his own ; bow and burn
incense before them. The Lord sent to him a prophet
with the pertinent rebuke: ''Why hast thou sought
after the gods of the people who could not deliver their
own people out of thine hand ? " Instead of confess-
ing his folly and sin, the king put himself upon his
dignity, suggesting to the prophet to attend to his own
business : " Art thou made of the king's counsel? For-
bear; why shouldest thou be smitten?" The prophet
did forbear; but not without assigning his reason for
desisting from further effort to bring back such a king
to reason and to God : " I know that God hath deter-
mined to destroy thee because thou hast done this, and
hast not hearkened to my counsel." The king who
could do two things so foolish and sinful as to bring
home the powerless gods of Edom to be his own national
protectors, and then scornfully repel the Lord's rebuke
through his prophets, could do yet another foolish thing
for his own punishment and extreme humiliation ; viz.,
to challenge Joash, king of Israel, to battle ; get first a
sharp and sensible rebuke from that king, and next a
shameful defeat, which ended in his being made pris-
oner; in having his capital seized; its city walls ex-
tensively broken down; the treasures of the temple
and of his own palace taken away and hostages besides
—an extreme humiliation rarely visited upon any king

of Judah. It is not said whether this made him a

wiser and a better man. He had shown himself not
only intellectually weak but morally rotten. In closing
his record of this king the historian suggests that it
was after^ and plainly in consequence of, his turning
away from following the Lord that " they made a con-
spiracy against him in Jerusalem; that he fled to
Lachish; that they sent there for him and slew him
there. A man whose moral defects had made such a
wreck of his good sense and judgment, and who,
through sheer wickedness, had brought such calamities
on his city and kingdom, was obviously unfit to reign.
There were sagacious men enough in the high places
of power to see this and to combine against his life for
the salvation of their country. His case is one variety
under the axiom : " Whatsoever a man soweth, that

uzziAii. 341

shall he also reap." When his sinful passions rob a
king of his common sense, it is but meet that they
should rob him also of throne and life.

Uzziah.

This king whose record appears briefly in 2 Kings
14 : 21, 22, and 15 : 1-7, but much more fully in 2 Chron.
26, was a great improvement upon his father Amaziah,
whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, to reign fifty-
two years. He was one of the most energetic kings,
born to push business and to work toward success.
That he built Eloth [often written " Elath "], the well
known port on the gulf of Akabah near Ezion Geber, is
put first in the list of his exploits, perhaps because it
was first in time, or because it was so characteristic of
his energ)\ Its rebuilding indicates a revival of the
India trade by sea, after the manner of Solomon.

The testimony to the moral tone of Uzziah's reign
puts him not on the highest grade, nor yet on the low-
est. He did right after the manner of his father — com-
paring him with the better part of his father's reign.
He sought God in the days of Zechariah — a prophet-
teacher not elsewhere spoken of. The Hebrew words,
" Who had understanding in the visions of God," I pre-
fer to translate ; Who instructed in the fear of God ;
made men wise as to true piety. According to the uni-
versal law of God's administration, as long as Uzziah
sought the Lord, God made him prosper. All history
repeats evermore this great lesson.

Uzziah made wars successfully against the Philis-
tines ; breaking down their strongest city-walls. He
also subdued certain Arabians and brought them under
tribute. To his other labors he added extensive repairs
and enlargement of the walls of Jerusalem — sadly
broken down (we may remember) in the reign of his
father; the reorganization of the standing army; the
provision of enginery for war and for defence; and to
crown all (a rare record for a king) he labored munifi-
cently to increase the productiveness of his country in
the line of husbandry — the raising and the care of
cattle and the cultivation of the soil.

The darker side of his character seems to have been
developed under his great success and its temptations

342 jotham; ahaz.

to pride ; " His heart was lifted up to his destruction " —
the word for destruction suggesting that his being lifted
up, first depraved and then destroyed him. " He went
into the temple of the Lord to burn incense " — repeating
the sin of Korah and his associates (Num. 16). When
the High Priest withstood him, he became angry and
was smitten with leprosy — a terrible infliction which
suddenly appalled him, and adhered to him — the mark

of God's displeasure — to the day of his death. The

prophet Isaiah wrote his history for the archives of the
nation, having commenced his prophetic functions a
short time before Uzziah's death.

Jotham.

This son and successor of Uzziah reigned sixteen
years, leaving a fair record morally, fully up to the
best side of his father's, and avoiding the great sin
which brought such gloom over the closing years of
Uzziah. He followed the steps of his father in the line
of building cities, castles, towns ; and in wars against the
contiguous Ammonites, who probably provoked this by
their incursions. The comprehensive generalization of
his reign is, " So Jotham became mighty because he
pj-eparai his ways ; " better — he purposely ordered, de-
termined his ways as before God ; steadfastly aimed to

please God. A worthy record! Only seven verses

are devoted to his history by the author of Kings (2
Kings 15 : 32-38). The fuller record by the author of
Chronicles gives him one short chapter (27).

Ahaz.

Ahaz, son and successor of Jotham, in his reign of
sixteen years made himself notorious for his wicked-
ness, surpassing in crime and downright depravity all
the kings of Judah before him. In fact it is intimated
that he walked in the ways of the most wicked kings
of Israel, surpassed in sin by few even if any of them.

To his record the author of Kings devotes one

chapter (16), and the author of Chronicles one (28), each
containing some new matter, and also some matter com-
mon to both. Both of his historians give his history
in the philosophical order; first, his great sins, and

AHAZ. 343

then their legitimate results; defeat, disaster, the de-
struction of his immense armies ; the exhaustion of his
treasury, by foreign exactions — the " bringing of Judah
low and making her naked because of his sore trans-
gressions against the Lord." In the line of sins he in-
troduced Baal-worship, never brought into Judah before,
save for a short time under Jehoram and Athaliah. He
was the first to desecrate the famous " valley of the son
of Hinnom " (south of Jerusalem), not only burning in-
cense there to idol gods, but burning his own children
there in the lire, after the abomination of the old
Canaanites — a horrid worship which seems to have
been kept up vigorously in Moab and Ammon. The
author of Kings used the phrase — "made his son to
pass through the fire;" but the author of Chronicles
said in plainest terms — " burnt his children in the
fire " — showing that the former phrase means nothing
less than burning children to death. It is not perhaps
certain that he burned more than one, though in
Chronicles we read '* sons," in the plural. We may be
thankful the murdered son was not Hezekiah, and that
God spared him to fill the throne so righteously after
the death of his godless father. Perhaps the wicked-
ness of his father was to him revolting and wrought a
deep abhorrence of such crime. Did his young eyes
see his little brother burned to death to Moloch ? Had
he a godly mother to aid him to just views of such
horrid worship of devils ? If we may attach any weight
to the statements bearing on his age as related to his
father's, he was old enough when Ahaz began to reign
to appreciate his shocking inhumanity and even his
guilt before God. Being twenty-five yeuYS old when he
began to reign, he was nine when his father began.

For such sins judgments from God came speedily and
fell thick and fast. The Syrians smote him and carried
a great multitude of captives to Damascus. Pekah,
king of Israel, came also upon him and "slew in one
day 120,000, all valiant men, because they had forsaken
the Lord God of their fathers." He also took 200,000
captives — "women, sons, and daughters," and brought
them to Samaria with immense spoil. There a prophet
of the Lord, Oded by name, stepped forth boldly before
the conquering army, and made this very effective
speech (put on record 2 Chron. 28 : 9-11) :

844 AHAZ.

" Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with
Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them
in a rage that reacheth up to heaven. And now ye propose to keep
under the children of Judah and Benjamin for bondmen and bond-
women unto you ; but are there not with you, even with you^ sins
against the Lord your God ? 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."

In the result several leadin<^ men of Ephraim stood
up to sustain this appeal of Oded with such effect that
the army surrendered their captives. Kind-hearted
men came forward to clothe, furnish, and feed them,
and take them toward their homes as far as Jericho — a
grand exhibition of the principles of true humanity in
war, brought about by the Lord through his prophet.

The military expedition (recorded in Kings only) in
which Syria and Ephraim combine under Rezin and
Pekah against Ahaz, seems to have been subsequent to
the events narrated above. They came up against
Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz but could not overcome
him. The account given in Kings (16) should be com-
pared with Isa. 7, where the same facts are referred to,
and with them are inwoven most inspiring predictions
of God's future mercies to Zion. It was under the pres-
sure of these foreign enemies that Ahaz, weakened by
the loss of the flower of his army, sent to Tiglath-pileser
of Assyria for help. He came ; seized Damascus on his
way (it being on his route) ; and sent many of its peo-
])le into captivity to Kir, and slew Rezin their king.
These facts are certified on the Assyrian monuments,

brought to light within the last half century.-S'

Another fact comes through the same channel, viz.,
that the Assyrian conqueror gathered at Damascus a
group of captive kings, including those of Judea, Edom,
Ammon, Moab, Gaza, Askelon, Tyre, and Arvad; put
them ujwn their terms of allegiance and tribute; and
there imposed upon them, according to the usages of

■*The Assyrian records of Tiglath-pileser state that from his
twelfth to his fourteenth year (B. C. 734-732) he carried on a Avar iu
Southern Syria against the two kings — Pekah of Samaria and Rezin
of Damascus who were confederate together; that he besieged Rezin
in his capital for two years, at the end of which time he captured him
and put him to death, Avhile he punished Pekah by mulcting him of a
large portion of his dominions and carrying off vast numbers of his
subjects into captivity." (Historical Illustrations 134). ' .

AHAZ. 345

Assj^rian conquerors, a certain fealty to the Ass5^rian
gods. To this some critics ascribe the act of Ahaz in
talving the pattern of the Assyrian altar (assuming it to
have been not Syrian but Assyrian), and in having one
like it built at Jerusalem. The author of Chronicles,
however, assumes that these gods were those of Damas-
cus which had (so Ahaz assumed) been powerful enough
to help them, and therefore he would invoke their help
for himself

Calamities by war came upon Ahaz, not from the
north only, but from the south and south-west. " The
Edomites came and smote Judah and carried away cap-
tives ; the Philistines also invaded the cities of the low
country (the great plain on the south-west), and all the
south of Judah, and took several important cities
(named 2 Chron. 28 : 18). There is not the first hint
that Ahaz in his trouble sought help from the Lord.
Repeatedly he sought help from the king of Assyria, at
first with the very partial success of relief from Rezin
of Syria ; but the author of Chronicles speaks only of
disaster from this quarter : " The king of Assyria came
unto him and distressed him, but strengthened him
not." To buy his help or glut his rapacity, Ahaz not
only robbed the temple, his own palace, and those of
his princes of their treasures, but the temple of some
of its ornamental and indeed useful portions, named
by the author of Kings (vs. 17, 18). Even these calam-
ities and straits utterly failed to turn the heart or even
the thought of Ahaz toward the true God. He only
rushed with the more infatuation to idol gods for help
— (as said in this connection) — to the gods of Damascus
whom he supposed to have smitten him, and wished to
propitiate so that they should help him instead. "But
(says the historian) they were the ruin of him and of
all Israel ; " i. e., of his own nation.

Taken in whole the record of Ahaz is one of unmiti-
gated crime and folly, and of consequent ruin. Not
one redeeming feature appears throughout his entire
history. It seems hard to account for such depths of
depravity; such infatuation of guilt and folly.

346 HEZEKIAH.

Hezehiah.

In respect to both character and reign, Hezekiah
stands in marked and pleasing contrast with his father
Ahaz and his son Manasseh. His reign is ever mem-
orable for the great Jewish revival of religion with
which it opened; for the earnest consecration of its
monarch to the God of his fathers ; for the deliverance
granted him from impending destruction before the
great Assyrian power; for the extraordinary prolonga-
tion of his life under the special promise of just fifteen
years more ; and for his association with the venerable
2)rophet Isaiah.

To his history the author of Kings devoted three
chapters (18-20), and the author of Chronicles four
(29-32). The former gave almost exclusively his
political history; the latter, through three chapters,
his religious history — a somewhat minute account of
that great reformation which so distinguished his
reign. Much the greater part of this political history
as in Kings appears also with no considerable variation
in the prophecy of Isaiah (36-39) — viz., that part
which records the invasion of Judah by the king of
Assyria; the embassy of Kabshakeh and his taunting
speech, and the course pursued by Hezekiah with its
ultimate results. It scarcel}^ admits of doubt that the
compiler of Kings drew his history of Hezekiah from
the annals of his reign, prepared by Isaiah, and that in
making up his own book of prophecies, Isaiah placed
in it so much of these annals as we find in his four
chapters. The author of Chronicles (supposably Ezra)
made up his history many years later. He, therefore,
assumed that his readers had access to Kings and prob-
ably to Isaiah, and thus naturally condensed very much
the account found there of the Assyrian invasion,
giving his attention chiefly to the great religious
reformation and its results. These were matters of
living interest to himself and his brethren of the
restoration.

In treating of Hezekiah, I propose to pass lightly
over that portion of it which appears in Isaiah 36-39,
and in 2 Kings 18 : 13 to the close of chap. 20, inasmuch
as those portions have been critically examined in my

HEZEKIAH. 347

Notes on Isaiah ; and to give chief attention to his
great religious work presented in 2 Chron. 29-31.

Of this transcendently precious revival, it scarcely
need be said in the outset that it came in a time of
utmost need. The declension under Ahaz had been fear-
ful ; the temple had never been so shamefully dese-
crated before ; idolatry in Judah had never been so bold
and defiant ; never before had great men burnt their
sons and daughters so openly in sacrifice to Moloch.
The northern kingdom had long been going down
morally and religiously by a perpetual backsliding. It
was at this point on the verge of political destruction
and hopeless captivity. The present was the last
opportunity to pluck a remnant from the open jaws of
this ruin. It was the last call of mercy to the people
of the ten tribes, inviting them back to the God of
their fathers.-'^

Next it may be noted that this great revival was
wrought, instrumentally, by means of the religious institu-
tions of Moses. We read of no special labors of Hebrew
I^rophets.f It is not said that there was extra preaching
or any special services of reading the law. But the
Mosaic ritual services were put in full requisition, and
(probably) developed their utmost legitimate force
toward a spiritual reformation. In this point of view,
this revival may be made a valuable study philosophic-
ally, answering the great question as to the practical re-
ligious power of that ancient ritual.

Hezekiah began this effort in reform immediately
after ascending the throne. Doubtless his soul had been
crying out through more than one tedious year under
the awful wickedness of his father's reign, longing for
the time to come when he might strike for the salva-
tion of his country and the recall of the people from
their idolatrous abominations. Had he not been weep-

* Psalm 80 appears to have been composed for the case of the
nortliern tribes, desolated by their crimes and the judgments sent
because of them — in whose behalf tlie men of prayer in Ilezekiah's
times gave utterance to their emotions and supplications in this
Psalm.

tWe know however from other sources that Ilosea, Amos, Micah
and Isaiah had been laboring among the people, some in Israel and
some in Judah, so that no small amount of preparatory work must
have been done. Such men as they could never be idle during the
progress of such a work.

348 HEZEKIAH.

ing over the broken altars and the poUuted sanctuary,
and waiting in the agon}" of long pent up grief and in-
dignation for the moment to come when he might
'' open the doors of the house of the Lord " and sum-
mon the godly Levites " to sanctify themselves and the

glorious temple " ? So when at length he came to the

throne of Judah, his heart was ready; his hand was
ready — for this first great measure of his reign.

First he summoned together the priests and the Le-
vites, for these men must be his chief agents in a revi-
val to be worked by the instrumentalities of the Mosaic
Institutions. In few but telling words he sets the case
before them — how the wrath of the Lord had come down
upon Judah and Jerusalem for their great sins; how
their fathers had fallen by the sword and their sons
and daughters and wives had gone into captivity for
this. " Now," said he, " it is in my heart to make a
covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce

wrath may turn away from us." Thus the moral

pressure toward a thorough reformation, growing out

of these patent facts, w^as immense. Now, therefore,

my sons, God lays this responsibility largely on j^ou.
He has chosen you out of all the tribes to stand before
his altar and to lead in all these holy services; there-
fore be ye not remiss, but meet your obligations witli
the utmost diligence.

Then they set themselves to cleanse the temple and
to restore what the sacrilegious hand of Ahaz had taken
away. This being done and reported to the king (so we
read 2 Chron. 29: 20) — " Then King Hezekiah roseearly^^
(as one whose heart was there before the morning light),
''and gathered the rulers of the city" (his officers and
cabinet must combine all their personal and official
influence), "and went up to the house of the Lord." A
solemn service of sacrifice followed. Burnt-oflerings,
sin-offerings with imposition of hands and confession
of sin — " an atonement for all Israel ; " and accompany-
ing this the full service of song with all the ordained
instruments of music, pouring forth their mighty chorus
of thanksgiving and praise during the entire service of
the burnt-offering till it was concluded, after which
" the king and all that were present with him bowed
themselves with him and worshiped." It is specially
said that " they sang praises to the Lord with the words

HEZEKIAH. 349

of David and of Asaph the seer," making use of those
glorious Psalms of praise which have so often in all later
ages, as in the earlier ages also, borne up the grateful
offerings of praise and adoration to the great Jehovah.
It need not surprise us that this return to the sublime
songs of the sanctuary and to the long neglected ser-
vices of sacrifice and offering should have been with
great rejoicings of heart. The soul of the noble king
and the souls of many of his princes and people like-
minded, were deeply in it.

The next great movement was the due celebration of
the Passover. Neither the priests nor the people, and
scarcely the temple itself — was in readiness when the
appointed day — the fourteenth of the first month —
arrived. So the king took counsel, and by general con-
sent it was concluded to defer the Passover to the four-
teenth day of the second month. The Mosaic law
provided for this postponement under peculiar circum-
stances. This gave the king opportunity for ample

preparation. He wrote letters and sent out his messen-
gers not only over all Judah but over all Israel, from
Dan to Beersheba, through Ephraim and Manasseh,
affectionately and earnestly inviting them to come up
to Jerusalem once more and honor the God of their
fathers by a joint observance of the great Passover.
" Ye children of Israel " (thus we read), " turn again to
the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for he will
return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the
hand of the king of Assyria; and be ye not like your
fathers and like your brethren who trespassed against
the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them
up to desolation as ye see. Now be ye not stiff-necked
as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord
and enter into his sanctuary and serve the Lord your
God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from
you." It was indeed the very crisis of their destiny —
such multitudes of their nearest and dearest ones
already cut down by the sword or borne away into cap-
tivity before their very eyes, and nothing but repent-
ance and returning to God could by any possibility
avert the same uplifted arm from blotting out the whole

northern kingdom. This tender and fervid appeal

fitly closed with reminding them of God's great com-
passion : " For the Lord your God is gracious and mer-

350 HEZEKIAH.

ciful, and will not turn away his face from you if ye
return unto him " (v. 9). " the posts passed from city
to city through Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebu-
Ion ; but " (with sorrow let it be read), " they laughed
them to scorn and mocked them." This was the gene-
ral fact, true of the masses ; but there were some brighter
shades : " Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh
and of Zebulon humbled themselves and came to Jeru-
salem." With a high degree of probability Ps. 84 was

composed and sent out with these Jewish missionaries
to be not only read but sung, to back up their w^arm-
hearted invitations to their northern brethren to gather
themselves at the holy city in those lovely tabernacles
of the Lord of Hosts. The sweet associations linked to
the courts of the Lord ; the blessedness of those who
have Jehovah as their sun and shield — how finely are
they portrayed in this Psalm and how exceedingly perti-
nent were these w^ords to be said and sung w^herever

audience could be gained. Several other Psalms of

the third Book may be read in connection with the age

of Hezekiah, e. f/., 75, 76, 80-82, and 85-89. Judah

came in well. "In Judah the hand of God was to
give them one heart to do the commandment of the

king and of the princes by the word of the Lord."

A great congregation was on hand for the Passover in
the second month. The idol-altars in Jerusalem were
borne away and cast into the brook Kidron. Noticeably,
multitudes who came up to the holy city from the
northern tribes had not cleansed themselves according
to the law of Moses, 5^et did they eat the Passover other-
wise than it was written. A fair measure of sincerity
was their passport, and overruled the technicalities and
ritualities of the law. In the true spirit of his divine
Master, Hezekiah prayed for them — "The good Lord
pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God,
the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed
according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the
Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people."

Tills too, as well as the first great season of sacrifice,

was an occasion of great gladness. They sang praises
with loud instruments; they ate throughout the feast
seven days; they made confession to the God of their
fathers ; the king encouraged all the Levites that taught
the good knowledge of the Lord. Seven days proved

HEZEKIAH. 351

too short for the great work before them. The Spirit of
God was so manifestly upon the great congregation they
could not close with the first seven days, but took coun-
sel and by general consent kept other seven — a " pro-
tracted meeting" of fourteen days' continuance with
apparently growing interest and power to the end.
The record testifies in precious detail that "all the con-
gregation of Judah with the priests and Levites; also
all the congregation that came out of Israel with the
strangers both from Israel and from Judah rejoiced.''^
There was great joy in Jerusalem, for no such scenes
had been known there since the great day of Solomon ;
i. e., at the dedication of the temple. "Then the priests
and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their
voice was heard, and their prayer came up to the holy
dwelling place of God, even unto heaven."

If we were to analyze the influences that blended in
this great religious movement, we might say — the
ritual services of sacrifices, altars, temple, were present
in their full strength ; perhaps the stronger for having
been long remitted. Coupled with those were the out-
pouring of song; the teaching of the good knowledge
of the Lord; the social power of an immense congrega-
tion ; the services protracted till the hearts of the peo-
ple were profoundly impressed; and not least, the im-
mediate historic antecedents — that fearful scourging of
war and captivity which had sent death into so many
households, and borne away so many loved ones into a
captivity from which nothing but national repentance
could move the Almighty to restore them. Nor let us
forget the influence of the noble king, leading on with
his whole heart ; consecrating treasure without stint,
and promptly foremost in every point where his hand
could touch the springs of a great movement. All in
all it was a scene of moral sublimity rarely equaled.

When this great Passover scene was finished, the
people were in heart prepared for one more service
imperatively demanded, viz., the destruction of idol-
images, altars, and groves throughout all the cities and
high places of both Judah and Israel. That the}^ should
go forth en masse throughout Judah on this mission was
to be expected. Such a reformation would have been
wretchedly su])erficial and shallow without it. But
that they should have gone forth over all the kingdom

352 HEZEKIAH.

of Hoshea as if there were no such king there ; that
they should go where they would with no apparent re-
sistance : — this is truly a wonderful proof of the zealous
enthusiasm and of the moral power of this great refor-
mation. Recalling to mind the fact that this great

revival and this breaking down of idols in the north-
ern kingdom preceded the invasion under Shalmanezer
by only three years, and the total destruction of
Samaria and the entire northern kingdom by not more
than six years, we shall see reason to regard this as not
only God's last call of mercy to thousands in the north-
ern kingdom, but as his grand providential agency for
sifting out his own chosen ones ; gathering in all whom
the most efficient agency could avail to save before the
final storm should sweep the nation forever into
ruin.

The historian of Chronicles devotes one chapter (31)
mainly to the systematic arrangements for the religious
services which very properly filled out and consum-
mated this great revival. After that vigorous icona-
clasm which swept the vestiges of idolatry from the
land, Hezekiah set the Levites and priests in their
respective courses, giving jsach his duties in due order,
and carefully made the provisions required by the law
of Moses for the payment of tithes and offerings to sus-
tain the entire religious system. It testifies nobly to
the genuineness of this revival that the offerings of
all first-fruits and treasure were abundant, even almost
superabundant. Ample store-houses became a neces-
sity. The historian concludes his account with joy-
ous words bearing grateful testimony to the good King
Hezekiah: "Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah,
and wrought that which was good and right and truth
before the Lord his God. And in every work that he
began in the service of the house of God and in the law
and in the commandments to seek his God, he did it

with all his heart and prospered " (31 : 20, 21). Let

us hope that as the fruit of his noble labors many souls
were born to God and blessed with the fulness of his
great salvation. If Ezra (as may be supposed) wrote
out this history in Chronicles, we can readily imagine
with what full heart and flowing pen he chronicled
the words and doings of such a king, and laid them
l)efore the returned exiles of his time to help onward a

HEZEKIAH. 353

similar reformation in souls made mellow under long
and sore affliction, but then waking to new joy and to
spiritual life under the precious services of a new
sanctuar3^

The political events in Hezekiah's reign are drawn
out in detail in 2 Kings 18-20, and in Isaiah 36-39.
Suffice it to say here that Sennacherib seems to have
made two expeditions into Judea. In the first he came
" up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them"
(2 Kings 18 : 13, and 2 Chron. 32 : 1) ; received Heze-
kiah's submission and tribute, but did not march upon
Jerusalem. In the second " he sent Rabshakeh with a
great host against Jerusalem " (2 Kings 18 : 17, and 2
Chron. 32: 9), himself, meantime, laying siege to
Lachish. The speech of Rabshakeh is given in detail ;
also its reception by the king, his bearing the case be-
fore God, and the gracious answer God gave him, fol-
lowed in due time by the fearful destruction of the
Assyrian army to the number of 185,000 men in one
night. This effectually broke his power; relieved the
holy city, and saved the throne and people of Heze-
kiah from being further annoyed by the Assyrian
armies. This deliverance was the great event of Heze-
kiah's reign, and indeed, of those ages. It had been
repeatedly predicted by Isaiah {e. g., 10: 24-34, and 14:
24-27, and 17 : 12-14, and 33 : 17-24). Consequently,
its historical fulfillment should find place in his book

(chaps. 36 and 37). The great moral lessons of this

event are embalmed in song in Psalm 76: " In Judah
is God known: his name is great in Israel. There
brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the
sword, and the battle. The stout-hearted are spoiled;
they have slept their sleep. At thy rebuke, O God of
Jacob, both the chariot and the horse are cast into a

dead sleep." What a " sleep " was that ! when God

arose to judgment to save the meek ones of the land.
Let it teach us that verily the wrath of man is made
to praise God, and that it behooves his people, having
vowed to God in their distress, to pay their vows with
grateful thank-ofl'erings when such deliverance comes.

This manifestation of God's high hand against

proud Assyria was a fit sequel to the glorious reforma-
tion in the first year of Hezekiah's reign. The way
was opened legitimately for such prayer as God could
16

354 HEZEKIAH.

hear, and with honor to himself could answer in over-
whelming judgments on his foes.

The date, within Hezekiah's reign, of these Assyrian
invasions has been gravely questioned by Geo. Rawlin-
son, as has been stated at some length in my Notes on
Isa. 37. The Scripture statements are in a good degree
definite and self-consistent, assigning the first invasion
to Hezekiah's fourteenth year (2 Kings 18 : 13, and Isa.
36: 1), and implying that the second followed the first
at no long interval. The author of Chronicles is in-
definite, yet seems to imply that it fell within the
early and not the latter part of his reign, after the great
reformation and the thorough reorganization of relig-
ious worship — his words being : — " After these things
and the establishment thereof" (2 Chron. 32: 1). In
harmony with these dates his sickness and miraculous
recovery fell in close connection, perhaps between the
first invasion and the second, since his entire reign
filled twenty-nine years, of which fifteen followed this

sickness and fourteen preceded. Mr. Rawlinson,

however, insists that the AssjTian inscriptions require
a place for Sargon between Shalmanezer and Sennach-
erib, since Sargon finished the subjugation of Samaria
in his first year (the sixth of Hezekiah) and reigned
not less than fifteen years, and probably nineteen. Sen-
nacherib (his son and successor) invaded Judah accord-
ing to Assyrian authorities in his fourth year. These
data require us to place the destruction of Sennacherib's
army in Hezekiah's twenty-seventh or twenty-ninth
year instead of his fourteenth. In Mr. Rawlinson's
view the Assyrian authorities are so definite and strong
to these points that Ave must either deny their author-
ity altogether, or modify the dates of Scripture to con-
form to them.*

But this scheme of Mr. Rawlinson is not only out of
harmony with the definite dates of Scripture (e. g., the
fourteenth year of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18 : 13, etc.), but
with the general current of events, specially as given in
2 Chron. 32 : 22-30. For here the order of great events
runs : The destruction of the Assyrian army (v. 21) ;
the saving of Hezekiah and his people from all other

••• Rawlinson's views may be seen in Smith's Dictionary (" Sargon") ;
also in Lis " Historical Illustrations," 138-141, and in his Historical
Evidences, 118-120.

MANASSEH. 355

enemies, and " guiding them on every side " (v. 22) ; a
great influx of gifts and presents "so that he was mag-
nified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth "
(v. 23); next "w those days fell his great sickness"
(v. 24) from which he was restored and lived after it
fifteen years — a fact which, located here, is utterly re-
pugnant to Mr. R.'s theory. Still after this came a
period of remarkable prosperity, great riches and honor
(vs. 27-29), coupled with more exploits than can be
rationally supposed to have fallen within the last two
years of his life. I do not see therefore how we can
believe that the sacred writers put the destruction of
the Assyrians within the last two years of Hezekiah's
reign.

Of the later events of his reign Isaiah (in chapter 39)
has given most fully the account of the embassadors
from the king of Babylon : the author of Chronicles
only has referred to the divine purpose in this moral
trial of Hezekiah, viz., that "God left him" {i. e., with-
out special direction or without restraining grace or
special admonition) " to try him that he might know
all that was in his heart."

Viewed in whole his character is not unblemished,
yet is in the main that of a man of prayer and of both
favor and power with God, whose reign bore a glorious
testimony to Jehovah's presence with his people, and to
the might of his arm for their salvation. The impulses
of those memorable scenes live and are borne down
through all time in the sublime faith and the glorious
visions of Isaiah the prophet. His eye saw them ; his
soul felt their utmost thrilling power. The spirit of
prophecy availed itself of those present manifestations
of God to exalt his conceptions of the glorious future
of the real Zion — the city and kingdom of the Great
God.

Manasseh.

To Manasseh, son and successor of Hezekiah, and to
his son Anion, each of our historians devotes one chap-
ter (2 Kings. 21, and 2 Chron. 33). Alike these his-
torians testify to Manasseh's great wickedness — how he
set himself to undo all the noble reformatory work liis
father had done; how he built up the high places his
father had thrown down, desecrated the temple his

356 MANASSEH.

father had cleansed; burnt his son in the fire; prac-
ticed divination and witchcraft ; built altars for all the
host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the
Lord; filled Jerusalem with innocent blood — supposa-
bly of sons and dau.i^hters burned to death in the orgies
of devil-worship. The author of Kings attributes the
destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Judah
specially to these great sins of Manasseh, both in this
chapter (vs. 10-16), and also in chap. 23: 26, 27, and

24 : 3, 4. The author of Chronicles, omitting these

points, gives new and not unimportant matter, particu-
larly that the Lord brought upon Manasseh the great
Assyrian army wdio " took him among the thorns, *
bound him w4th fetters and carried him to Babylon,"
that there in his affliction he besought the Lord his God
and humbled himself before the God of his fathers and
prayed to him ; and the Lord was entreated of him —
and restored him again to Jerusalem. Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord was truly God. After this repent-
ance he removed his idol-gods and altars from the tem-
jjle ; repaired the Lord's altar ; offered sacrifice thereon ;
and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
He also refers to the words of the seers who spake to
him in the name of the Lord, and also to his prayer
and confession as being on record in the national
archives, "written among the sayings of the seers."

Why the author of Kings omitted the captivity, re-
pentance, and reformation of Manasseh does not appear.
Probably it occurred late in his long reign (55 years),
and being followed soon by the intensely wicked reign
of his son Anion, scarcely lessened the strong drift of
the nation into the worst abominations of idolatry.
The general influence of Manasseh on the nation was
fearfully bad.

As Christian philosophers, cherishing moreover a
living faith in the great promise of God to Abraham
and through him to the whole church : — " I will be a
God to thee and to thy seed after thee," we can by no
means pass unnoticed the grave question ; How could so
good a man as Ilezekiah have a son so ivicked as Manasseh f

* The best critics reject the sense " thorns " and give to the Hebrew
word the sense of rinffs — the same which were put through the jaws
of a fish when placed back in the water, that by means of a cord at-
tached they might bring him up again.

MANASSEH. 357

Every Christian parent has reason to ponder the

question with personal, not to say painful, interest.

The following considerations may serve at least to abate

our surprise at the fLict, (a) Manasseh was but twelve

years old at his father's death. He was yet unborn when
the great reformation in Hezekiah's first year occurred;
he was not yet born when his father was sick unto
death and when his life was prolonged fifteen years.
According to dates and implications of the Scripture
narrative, he was not living to see the great deliverance
from the Assyrian power. The history of Hezekiah's
last twelve years speaks chiefly of his general pros-
perity; of his great riches and honor; and probably
includes that visit from the embassadors of the king
of Babylon — in general the darker side of Hezekiah's
religious life. Hence the bearing of public events
upon the mind and heart of a lad under twelve may not

have been specially favorable. (b) We know nothing

of his mother save her name, and can make no account
of the defects or of the possible mischiefs of her moral
training of her son. (cj Philosophically we are en-
titled to make some (perhaps large) account of the law
of reaction. Hezekiah's reformation left multitudes
still (in heart) in their sins. Restrained while he lived
from open idolatry, yet in heart real idolaters, they were
ready at his death for a bold rush into those abomina-
tions. There is no reason to suppose that Manasseh
moved off alone at the age of twelve in his wild career
of depravity. There must have been strong surround-
ing influences pressing him on in that direction. It
would be simply human nature if those influences were
largely reactionary against the restraints upon sin in
Hezekiah's reign. To this we may add that probably
this reactionary law worked strongly upon Manasseh
himself. The godliness of Hezekiah's family and of
his personal character quite failed to change the heart
of this son ; it may have only chafed and fretted him by
the restraints it brought upon his impulses toward sin-
ful pleasure. When the death of his father suddenly
removed these restraints and brought around him men
of leading influence like-minded in their propensities
toward the extreme abominations of heathenism, there

is no occasion for surprise at the result. The moral

lesson for every Christian parent in this history is pri-

o58 JOSIAH.

marily this : Be intensely earnest and thorough in
securing radical conversion in the very earliest years of life.
To die, leaving a godless son of twelve years to run such
a career as Manasseh ran, should appall ever}^ heart with
dread and intensify every endeavor to forestall it.

Returning to the course of this history, -we note that
Anion, son and successor of Manasseh, came to the
throne at the age of twent3^-two ; reigned but two years,
simply and onl}^ in wickedness; and seems to have out-
raged his people by his crimes. His servants conspired
against him and slew him in his own house. A reign
of vastly more interest and importance followed.

Josiah.

The history of this last good king of Judah fills two
chapters in Kings (22 and 23), and two in Chronicles
(8-4 and 35). " The people of the land " (says the author
of Chronicles) "made him king in the stead of his
wicked father," though at the very early age of eight
3'ears. It would seem that in this case also, as in that
of Manasseh, a somewhat large allowance must be made
for reactionary influence — here from revolting, outra-
geous wickedness toward a better life. Of the first eight
years of his reign we have no historic notice ; but in his
sixteenth year of life — the eighth of his reign, while he
was yet young, he began to seek after the God of Dayid
his father; and four years later began to purge Judah
and Jerusalem from the images and groves of idolatry.
This work was thoroughly done. The next impor-
tant measure of reform, assigned to the eighteenth year
of liis reign, was to repair and purify the temple. At
tliis point the history shows that Josiah had good and
strong men in high positions to aid him in this great
reform, e. g., Shaphan; Masseiah, governor of the city;
Ililkiah the High Priest — some of whom appear in Jere-
miah's book of prophecies (Jer. 26: 24, and 32: 7, 12).
This last reformation in Judah was pressed forward with
noble zeal by Josiah, the points specially expanded in
the narrative being, the cleansing and repairs of the
tcmi)le ; the destruction of all idol-images and of all the
apjHirtenances of idol-worship, not only in Jerusalem
and in Judah, but extensively throughout the ancient
territory of other tribes— the cities of Manasseh, Eph-

josiAH. 359

raim, Simeon, even to Naphtali being mentioned (2
Chron. 34 : 6). Noticeably, he not only destroj^ed but
defiled and sought to make repulsive and unendurable
all localities desecrated by the abominations of idol-wor-
ship, filling those places with dead men's bones and all
unclean ness. Bethel, made infamous by Jeroboam, and
Tophet already foul with the blood of human sacrifices
to Moloch, he sought to defile so effectually as to break
forever the spell of the old associations. The historian
of Kings spoke of his putting away all who wrought
with familiar spirits or other magic arts, and gave him
the credit of surpassing all kings before him in turning
to the Lord with all his heart according to the law of

Moses ^^ (23: 24, 25). One prominent event of this

reform was a very remarkable celebration of the Pass-
over which the author of Chronicles (characteristicall}^)
narrates quite fully (35 : 1-19), closing with this high
praise : " There v/as no passover like to that, kept in
Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet, neither did
all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah
kept," etc. We may hope that the legitimate influ-
ences of that great festival were turned to best account
to bring the people back to the true worship of the God
of their fathers, and to stem the already alarming drift
of popular feeling toward the worst forms of idol-abomi-
nations.

Yet one other event has made the reign of Josiah
noticeable, not to say, memorable ; — the discovery of
what was (probably) the original copy of the book of
the law. It was brought to light as the officers were

* An inside view of the spirit and times of Josiah may be obtained
from the Psalms composed or at least compiled during his reign or
soon after. The fourth book of the Psalter (Ps. 90-106) falls under
this description. We can scarcely be mistaken in ascribing the com-
pilation of this fourth book to Jeremiah, The sympathy due to kin-
dred spirit and to similar surroundings attracted him to Ps. 90 — to
which Ps. 91 is a counterpart. Ps. 101 well expresses the noble spirit
of youthful piety and holy purpose which the history clearly assumes
in the young King Josiah. We seem to have the very heart and hand
of Jeremiah in Ps. 102 — written in view of the events of his later
years; Ps. 92 and 93 are at least pertinent to the times of that great
reformation; while Ps. lOG may well refer to the first great deporta-
tion of captives. It is pleasant to hope that the joyous thanksgivings
of that precious revival gave tone to Ps. 95-100 and 103-105. For a
more full discussion of the historic occasion and reference of these
Psalms, I must refer the reader to my Notes on these Psalms.

360 JOSIAH.

depositing in their proper place in the temple certain
money's contributed for its repair and worship. The
remarkable things in this case, as the account comes to
us, were — the surprise occasioned by this discovery;
the impression made upon the king when portions of
this book were read to him ; the resort to Huldah the
prophetess for direction from the Lord; and her mes-
sage from the Lord to Josiah in reply. This event

has seemed to some rather skeptical critics to justify
them in the assumption that no written copy of this
law had been in existence before, and that this may
(or must) have been a forgery, then for the first time
brought out to the world. But the narrative gives no
support to these assumptions. The profound and start-
ling impression made upon the king by the reading
of this book may have been due wholly to the fact
that it brought to him the very words of God through
Moses — supposably those fearful denunciations of judg-
ment for idolatry which may be seen in Lev. 26 and

Deut. 28. The narrative does seem to imply that

written copies of the Pentateuch were not at that time
abundant. Very probably Josiah had no copy in his
possession, as the Mosaic law required the king of Israel

to have. On the other hand it may be supposed that

a peculiarly solemn impression was made upon him by
the circumstance that this was (or was supposed to be)
the original copy, handed down from Moses; and by
the further fact that the passages read to him were
those aV)ove referred to which met so pertinently the
case of the men of his generation, and, therefore, seemed
to bring down those fearful maledictions fresh from the
lips of the Almighty, thundering against the very peo-
ple for whom he was in a sort responsible as their
king. This copy may have been withdrawn from view
during the long reign (fifty-five years) of Manasseh —
perhaps lest his ungodliness should imperil its safety.
More than one generation may have passed away while
its hiding-place Avas unknown. Then coming to light
so unexpectedly at a time when its fearful maledictions
were apparently (and really too) on the verge of fulfill-
ment, it need surprise no one that Josiah was startled
and his soul moved to its depths. =-It should be spe-
cially noticed that the message sent through the proph-
etess, though speaking very kindly of Josiah and

JOSIAH. 361

promising that these judgments should not fall on his
people during his life, yet* expressly declared that they
were near at hand : " Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I
will bring evil on this place and upon the inhabitants
thereof, even all the words of the book which the king
of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me
and have burned incense to other gods . . . there-
fore, my wrath shall be kindled against this place and
shall not be quenched" (2 Kings 22: 16, 17). The
appalling truth was, therefore, forced upon Josiah that
all hope of saving his nation was virtually extinguished;
that his great effort at reformation might delay the
outbursting of these judgments; might save many indi-
vidual souls from perdition; but could not perma-
nently arrest the downward proclivity of the masses;

could not effectually save the nation. It is not easy

to estimate the sad, depressing, and yet quickening

impulses of such a revelation from God. Moreover,

Josiah saw that it must be so. The power of idolatry
throughout his kingdom w^as terrific ; the heart of the
masses w'as fearfully saturated with its spirit. He
could send abroad his roj^al mandate and find a few
trusty men to arm wath his authority to go forth, level-
ing heathen groves, crashing down idol-images and
altars, burning dead men's bones on all desecrated
localities ; but it must have been a mountain of lead
on his heart to think that the roots of this awful sin
would yet remain, and that not many years would
elapse before the vials of God's wrath would be poured
out for sins and abominations that defied all remed3^

The great Passover and the discovery of this copy of
the law are both assigned to the eighteenth year of
Josiah's reign. Jeremiah had then been in his pro-
phetic work five j^ears. Thirteen more remained before
Josiah's death. So far as can be inferred from the his-
tory he continued to reign in the fear of the Lord to
his death. The manner of this death brings a slight
shade over his name — the historian of Chronicles inti-
mating that his collision with Pharaoh Necho in arms
was against the will of God ; " he hearkened not to the
words of Necho from the mouth of GodJ^ Necho had
said to Josiah — then marching upon liim for battle :
"What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?
I come not against thee this day, but against the house

362 THE SONS OF JOSIAH.

wherewith I have war" (the Chaldean), "for God com-
manded me to make haste : forbear then from meddling
with God who is with me that he destroy thee not "
(2 Chron. 35 : 21, 22). This movement was on Josiah's
part a mistake. Plow clearly he saw it to be against
God's will (if at all) we can not decide with confidence.
He might have asked God's will and have received a
perfect answer. The result was sad; it brought deep
sorrow upon all his good people. Jeremiah bewailed
his noble sovereign and bosom friend with tenderest
lamentation — and not without reason. There were
graceless sons to succeed their godly father on his
throne — not one worthy man among them all. Days
of bitter trial and of stinging grief were coming upon
Jeremiah, and perhaps, to no small extent, upon those
other good men who had wrought in this great reforma-
tion. They must breast the fury of this storm — and
with no sustaining fiope of arresting the near impend-
ing doom of their country.

In explanation and partial vindication of Josiah's
policy in going out to fight Necho, it may be said that
he probably regarded this movement by Necho as one
for conquest, and as ultimately dangerous to his own
kingdom. He may have acted in concert with other
powers, Syrian or Chaldean, in this effort to repel a

foreign intruder and invader. But on the other

hand, we may ask — Had he sought counsel of the Lord
in the case? Was he acting as the ally of Babylon or
of Damascus; and if so, had he not forgotten the Mighty
God of Jacob — always able to protect his own? PoHti-
cal alliances, offensive and defensive, were alw^^ys a
snare and a curse to God's people.

The Sons of Josiah.

After Josiah's death the people placed on the throne,
not his eldest son Jehoiakim, but a younger son
Jehoahaz, probably as giving better promise. His age
was twenty-three; Jehoiakim's, twenty-five. He had
reigned but three months when Pharaoh Necho " put
him in bands at Riblah tliat he might not reign in
Jerusalem" (2 Kings 23: 33); took him a prisoner to
Egypt where lie died ; put Jehoiakim on the throne
and the kingdom under tribute. He reigned eleven

THE SONS OF JOSIAH. 363

years, supremely wicked. The author of Kings, besides
saying that "he did evil in the sight of the Lord ac-
cording to all that his ftithers" [not including Josiah
we must assume] "had done," states very particularly
that in raising this tribute, he "taxed the land;"
"put the land to a tribute," etc.; probably implying
that he took care to exempt himself entirely from these
burdens, and very possibly, to enrich himself from these
exactions. On the point of his covetousness and self-
ishness, his personal extravagance and grinding oppres-
sion of his people, Jeremiah (Jer. 22 : 13-19) is very ex-
plicit and very unsparing in his animadversions.
While his people were thus crushed by these exactions,
he was building a palace for himself by unrighteous-
ness, shedding innocent blood in oppression, using his
ro3^al power only in ways to make his name execrable
and execrated. (See my Notes on Jer. 22.) On many
other points Jeremiah's book of prophecy throws light
on the character and reign of Jehoiakim, showing him
to have been not only a merciless tyrant, but a heartless
persecutor of the Lord's prophets — so recklessly defiant
of God that he could cut in pieces the roll of Jeremiah's
prophecies and burn them in his parlor fire ; and
withal so false to his treaty obligations that he brought
upon his kingdom the vengeance of the Chaldean king.
Nebuchadnezzar had defeated the Egyptians in a great
battle at Carchemish (Jer. 46 : 2) and forced them back
into Egypt. Then coming up against Jerusalem, he put
Jehoiakim under tribute, — who soon rebelled and thus
brought on a more vigorous subjugation, and the first
heavy installment of captives was borne away to Baby-
lon. To this event Ave find allusion in Dan. 1 — him-
self and his three friends with several thousands of the
leading men being taken into captivity at that time.
The events of Jehoiakim's latter years and death are
referred to only in general terms. The author of Chron-
icles (36 : 6) seems to imply that he was bound in fetters
to be taken to Babylon, while Jeremiah (22: 18, 19)
assumes that he died unwept and uncared for in Jeru-
salem. Nebuchadnezzar placed his son Jehoiachin on
the throne. He held it three months only and then
was taken captive to Babylon, to lie there in bonds at
least thirty-seven years — to the death of Nebuchad-
nezzar. A considerable number of the most capable

364 THE CAPTIVITY.

men of Jerusalem and Judah were taken to Babylon at
the same time (2 Kings 24 : 12-16), including most of
the royal family, the princes and all the mighty men of
valor; tlie craVtsmen and smiths — the efficient men,
capable of doing something in the arts of war or peace;
leaving in the country as of no particular account " the
poorest sort of the people of the land."

The king of Babylon then placed on the throne yet
another son of Josiah, viz., Zedekiah, who did only evil
before God; proved himself treacherous to his sovereign,
and after seven years provoked a final invasion of Judah
and siege of Jerusalem. In his ninth year this ended
in its capture and total destruction. City and temple
went down together into the abyss of complete destruc-
tion— violence and fire leveling the walls of both city
and temple, and leaving the whole a blackened pile of
ruins. The king was arrested in his flight, his sons put
to death before his eyes ; then his eyes put out and him-
self taken in chains to Babylon and kept there in prison
till his death (Jer. 52 : 8-11). Only a miserable rem-
nant were left in the land, whose history Jeremiah only
has given (Jer. 40-44). For some reason he preferred
to cast in his lot with them instead of going with the
better class of surviving Jews to Babylon. He seems to
have followed this last wretched group of ineflicient
men and women — infatuated idolaters — into Egypt.
where he disappeared from history.

The Captivity.

Such in brief terms is a general view of the events
which culminated in the deportation of the better part
of the surviving Jews to Babylon; in the capture of
their great city and the destruction of both city and

temple. The points most worthy of sj^ecial notice

are :

(1) The successive deportations of Jews, at four dis-
tinct periods; the first in the fourth year of Jehoiakim,
when Daniel and his three friends were taken to Baby-
lon. The number taken at this time was probably
small, but the quality, superior. (See Dan. 1 : 3-7.)
Next when Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon. The
author of Kings gives the round numbers and the gene-
ral character of the captives taken at this time (2 Kings

THE CAPTIVITY. 365

24 : 12-16). Jeremiah (Jer. 52 : 28) locates this deporta-
tion in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, which
would be the eleventh of Jehoiakim, or first of his son

Jehoiachin. Next at the fall of the city in Zede-

kiah's eleventh and last year; the eighteenth of Nebu-
chadnezzar. Jeremiah puts the number of captives at
this lime at 832. After this the last gleanings were
gathered up by Nebuzaradan, in Nebuchadnezzar's
twenty-third year, to the number of 745. Thus a period
of twenty-three years intervened between the first
deportation and the last. The total number taken away
is put by Jeremiah at 4600.^-^ In 2 Kings 24: 14, 16,
in round numbers (perhaps) 10,000. This may be the
number in gross — of which some specifications appear
in V. 16; 7,000 of one class; 1,000 of another, leaving
about 2,000 of the high classes, princes and leading men
in society.

(2) The numbers carried to Babylon were small,
relativeh^ to the immense numbers which appear from
time to time, e. ^., in the reigns of Asa and Jehoshaphat.
The crimes of Ahaz and the judgments sent for his
sins cut off immense numbers. The wicked reigns of
Manasseh and Amon reduced them still further.
Under the wicked sons and grandson of Josiah the
same process went on with accelerated rapidity. This
last siege of the city was probably at a fearful cost of
human life through the combined agencies of sword,
famine, and pestilence.

On the moral side of this series of events let us
note :

^ (1) That it came in fulfillment of prediction and
threatened judgment, long since first made and often
repeated. Through Moses (Lev. 26 and Deut. 28) these
judgments were spread out in various language, with
impressive minuteness, and in figures most appalling.
After this, from age to age, God sent his prophets to
reiterate these terrible threatenings and press them in
utmost earnestness upon the heart and conscience of
the people. What could the Lord have done more?
How patiently and long had he been sending to them
his servants the prophets, "rising up early and send-
ing ; " — but alas ! they would not hear !

* Probably by some textual error too small.

366 THE CAPTIVITY.

Nothing now remained but the execution of this long
threatened doom. To have postponed it longer would
have imperiled the moral force of God's government
over guilty men. To have ignored his threatenings
and passed over this awful sin without due retribution
would have broken down the divine veracity and
utterly misrepresented the Holy God before both earth
and heaven. It was one of those stern and awful mo-
ments in the moral history of a moral world when
it is simply imperative upon the Almighty that his
arm should be uplifted high in judgment and his indig-
nation against sin should blaze forth — in the language
of this inspired history — that his " wrath should arise
against his" (nominal) ''people, and there be no rem-
edy" (2Chron. 36: 16).

(2) Idolatry was the head sin. For ages. the national
depravity had gravitated perpetually and with fearful
force toward this gigantic wickedness. Ever since
Aaron made the golden calf and the people danced and
shouted around it in wild revelry, this sin had been
springing to the surface; giving a sad tone and dark
shading to the history of the Judges; crowded back
more effectually than at any other time during the
reign of David; working up with strange fascination
in the latter years of Solomon; darkening the whole
northern kingdom during its entire continuance; and,
finally, pressing in upon the southern kingdom till its
spirit pervaded the mass of the people, past all moral
remedies. It is not easy in this age to conceive ade-
quately the fascinating power of a sj'stem which had
so intrenched itself in the superstitions of all nations^
which drew to its support the attractions of art, taste,
culture ; which fostered and fed lasciviousness and lust;
and yet which strangely seized upon the religious ele-
ments of man's nature and sought by the basest per-
versions to adjust itself to all their demands. A relig-
ion made subservient to the lowest and the utmost
impulses of human depravity — who can adequately
measure its capabilities to curse mankind! This was
the form of sin against which the divine law thun-
dered; against which prophets protested, and God's
providential judgments and retributions were leveled
and poured out age after age, culminating at last in
this most terrific scourge — the blotting out (for the

THE CAPTIVITY. 367

time) of the whole Jewish nation ; the fiill of their
holy city, and of their ever memorable sacred temple.

(3) Another evil, too great to be adequately esti-
mated, was their reliance upon th^ ritualities and ex-
ternals of their religion to shield them from God's re-
tribution for their sins. Were they not the Lord's own
people, and was not that gorgeous building his own
glorious temple, and did not the sacred presence of the
Holy One abide there ? How could it be possible that
God would let this temple fall before his enemies and
his own holy city be laid desolate ? Did not the ark of
his covenant part asunder the Jordan waters and cast
down the walls of Jericho; and was not the Almighty
able to protect ark, temple, and holy city, from uncir-

cumcised hands? Thus this vain confidence took

the moral force mostly out of those terrible threaten-
ings, and in a sense made it necessary that God should
let city and temple go down under an avalanche of
desolation ere he could dislodge this delusion from their
souls.

(4) Consequently the two great moral results sought
by means of this destruction of city and temple and of
this seventy years' captivity, were — (a) To cure the
nation of idolatry ; — (b) To break down this false reli-
ance on the mere externals of their religious system.

The whole book of Ezekiel should be read with these
points in mind. Every chapter, almost every verse,
shines in the light of these truths and bears to their
illustration. Of his forty-eight chapters, the first
twenty-four protest with unwearied breath against
the national sin of idolatry ; set forth with perpetual
reiteration the foulness of the sin, its terrible grasp on
the national heart, its incessant and resistless demand
for the most appalling retribution : while all along the
prophet labors to make the captive exiles believe that
their ritualities and sacred things could by no means
avert from them the judgments of the Almighty.
Noticeably, it was not till the tidings came to them in
their captivity that the city had actually fallen and
that the holy temple did certainly lie in ruins, that

this vain confidence broke down ! From this point

the entire tone of the prophet changes; the despondent,
broken-hearted people needed the consolations of hope,
and the prophet hastens to supply them. A great

368 THE CAPTIVITY.

moral crisis had been reached in the discipline and ciiU
ture of the Jewish people. Wonderfully, admirably, did
the prophet Ezekiel adjust his messages accordingly.^

(5.) Bearing in mind that it was never the thought
of God to forsake his people utterly and forget forever-
more his promises to Abraham and the mercies made
sure to David, but was rather his purpose to replant
the land of promise, we may note with admiration
the wisdom of his sifting processes: first, in taking
away the better elements into Babylon, leaving
behind in Judea the men who had sunk physi-
cally and morally so low as to be of no particular
account as elements of society. The king of Babylon
was not looking out for religious men ; but he had need
of men who had some force in them — some capability
for labor and service. This, therefore, was one of the
principles on which he sifted the conquered people of
Judea. The other w^as equally simple. The men of
vigor and valor were the men whom it would be danger-
ous for him to leave behind. They might head another

revolt. Therefore it was wise to take them away.

Thus (unwittingly as to God's plans) he took away not
merely such men as he wanted and dared not leave
behind, but such men as God wanted wherewith to re-
plant his Canaan in his due time. When seventy

years had transpired and the Lord put it into the heart
of Cyrus to invite the Jews to return, the sifting process
was again put in requisition — this time by making it
a call for volunteers. Such a call would of course bring
out the men of vigor and stamina enough to bear the
strain of the fatigues of a four months' journey, to be
followed by the labors and hardships of a new settle-
ment ; and also men of heart and soul aflame with zeal
and with love for the Zion of their fathers — men, more-
over, whose faith took hold of God's everlasting cove-
nant. The willing, the earnest and true-hearted— not
the easy-going and indifierent — would respond to this
call ; the men of moral heroism wdio could welcome sac-
rifice and hardship for the love they bore to the land
of their fathers' sepulchers and for their faith in the
yet unfulfilled promises of his covenant.

Some one has said that in looking for seed to plant

* I must be allowed to refer the reader for a more full develop-
ment of these points to my Notes on Ezekiel.

SACRED HISTORY CONFIRMED BY PROFANE. 369

New England, two and a half centuries ago, the Lord
sifted two kingdoms (England and Holland) for the
best they had. With equal truth it may be said that
the Lord of providence, on the same wise principle,
sifted the Jewish people twice over to get out the best
seed for replanting the land of promise.

The history of the Jews during this captivity is to be
gleaned chiefly from the books of the prophets, Jere-
miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel — mostly from Ezekiel,
because his prophetic life and labors lay among the
exiles.

Confirmations of Sacred History from Profane Records and
Monuments.

On this point the period from Hezekiah to the cap-
tivity should pass under review.

Of Hezekiah's relations to Sennacherib, notice, per-
haps sufficiently full, has been taken in my Notes on
Isa. 36-39. His history brings to view two other foreign
monarchs; Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia (Egypt also) 2
Kings 19: 9; and Merodach Baladan, king of Babylon
(2 Kings 20 : 12, 13, and 2 Chron. 32 : 31). The former
is supposed by Rawlinson to be the " Tehrah " of the
Egyptian monuments, who reigned over Egypt B. C.
690-667; the third king of Manetho's 25th dynasty.
The ancient, never-failing antipathy between Egypt
and Assyria would naturally bring him to the help of
Hezekiah against Sennacherib if his aftairs at home

would permit such an expedition abroad. Merodach

of Babylon was in hostile relations toward Assyria, and
therefore naturall}^ in sympathy with Hezekiali.^

•The king of Assyria who took Manasseh to Babylon
should be by his date Esarhaddon, who succeeded Sen-
nacherib on the throne of Assyria. But why should

he take Manasseh to Babylon rather than to Nineveh,
the proper capital of Assyria? In answer, Rawlin-
son brings out two points:— (1) That on the Assyrian
inscriptions ISIanasseh appears in the list of Esarhad-
don's tributaries; — (2) That, according to their inscrip-
tions, Esarhaddon not only took the title of " king of
Babylon," but built himself a palace there, in which it
must be presumed he occasionally resided. In these

* See Rawlinson's Historical Illustrations, pages 147, 148.

370 SACRED HISTORY CONFIRMED BY PROFANE.

years the relations of Babylon to Nineveh were fluc-
tuating— Babylon rising relatively in strength and im-
portance; sometimes subject to Assyria, but fast attain-
ing the power with which not long after, aided by the
Medes, she subdued Nineveh and quite eclipsed her an-
cient glory.*

Josiah is said (2 Chron. 35 : 20-24) to have gone out
to war against Pharaoh Necho, then passing through
Northern Palestine on his way to the Eui^hrates. Pro-
fane history sustains this point in the sacred record.
Herodotus states that " Necho made war by land upon
the Syrians and defeated them in a pitched battle at

Magdolus." In this passage " the Syrians " naturally

include the Jews as seen by a Greek historian. Mag-
dolus answers to the Hebrew " Megiddo." Jeremiah

states (46 : 2) that Nebuchadnezzar (four years later)
defeated Pharaoh Necho in a great battle at Carchemish
on the Euphrates, and followed up this victory by
smiting the land of Egypt (46: 13). AVith this cor-
responds the statement of the Scriptures that Necho
" came no more out of his land " (2 Kings 24 : 7) " for the
king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt
unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king
of Egypt." Berosus bears his testimony to the same
point in a fragment that comes down in Josephus
(against Apion 1 : 19).

In the next section of Scripture history, Jehoiakim,
Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah are brought in contact with
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Does profane his-
tory sustain these coincidences ?

Profane history locates Nebuchadnezzar precisely
liere, coming to the throne of Babylon in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim — the very year of the first great de-
portation of captives, and reigning forty-three years.
Berosus records that, "having conquered the Jews, he
burnt the temple at Jerusalem, and removing the
entire people from their homes, transported them to

Babylon." More details on the Chaldean side would

probably have come down to our age if the monuments
of Babylon had been as enduring as those of Nineveh.
For our knowledge of ancient Chaldean history it is
unfortunate that the materials of art and architecture
in Babylon were signally perishable.

*Rawlinsons Illustrations, page 150.

THE restoration; its antecedents. 871

Pharaoh Hophra whose name appears (Jer. 44 : 30) is
recognized in Egyptian authorities under the name
Aprics or Ilaifra-het, ruling over Egypt B. C. SSS-SSG.'J'-

CHAPTER XII.

The Age of the Restoration.

One of the great events of Hebrew history is the
restoration of the captive Jews from Babylon to their
own land — great as restoring the chosen people again to
the land of promise ; great as providing for the con-
summation of God's great plans for the future kingdom
of his Messiah ; great as the accomplishment of many
precious promises and as the pledge for the fulfillment
of yet other and greater ; great also for its moral results
upon the character of the exiled people.

The duration of this captivity is commonly put in
both prophecy and history at seventy years. Strictly
considered, the captivity can not be dated wholly from
any one epoch. As we have seen, there were several
successive deportations of captives, the earliest having
been i-n the fourth year of Jehoiakim; the latest of

*Geo. Rawlinson in "Historical Illustrations" (p. 154) suras up in
these words the coincidences between the sacred record and the pro-
fane during the period from the revolt to the captivity. "They

include notices of almost every foreign monarch mentioned in the
course of the [sacred] narrative — of Shishak, Zerah, Ben-hadad,
Hazael, Mesha, Rezin, Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Shalmanezer, So, Sargon,
Sennacherib, Tirhakah, INIerodach Baladan, Esarhaddon, Necho,
Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, and Apries; — and of the Jewish or
Israelite kings, Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Ahaziah, Menahem, Pekah, Ahaz,
Hoshea, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. All these monarchs occur in pro-
fane history in the order and at or near the time which the sacred
narrative assigns to them. The synchronisms which that narrative
supplies are borne out wherever there is any further evidence on the
subject. The general condition of the powers which came into con-
tact with the Jews is rightly described; and the fluctuations which
they experience, their alternations of glory and depression, are cor-
rectly given. No discrepancy occurs between the sacred and the pro-
fane throughout the entire period, excepting here and there a chrono-
logical one. And these chronological discrepancies arc in no case
serious."

372 THE restoration; its antecedents.

much note at the point of the capture and destruction
of the city, in Zedekiah's eleventh year, eighteen years
Later than the first. The edict of Cyrus for the restora-
tion was seventy years after the first deportation of
captives — tlie restoration bearing date B. C. 53G; the
first deportation B. C. 606.

The antecedents of this restoration fall naturally into
two classes: (a.) The moral and religious; (b.) The
political.

(a.) On the moral and religious side, w^e learn espe-
cially from the prophetical books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel, that the Jews in their captivity had
humbled themselves greatly before God, were confessing
their sins and seeking his face with all their heart.
In point as illustrating their moral and spiritual state,
see Jer. 29 : 10-14, and 30, and 31 ; Ezek. 36 : 24-38, and
.37 ; and Dan. 9, and also Ps. 102 : 13-24.

Inasmuch as the captivity occurred at all only for
moral reasons, the Lord having caused his people to go
into this captivity only for their great sins, so there
could be no restoration until their moral state was
effectually changed ; till their hearts were turned from
idols, broken in penitence and confession of sins, and
lifted to God in prayer for mercy. On these conditions
God had all along promised his pardon and favor.
These conditions being in a good degree fulfilled, he re-
turned to his people in mercy, their captive chains
Avere broken, and they were free to return to their
land.

(b.) On the political side, God made Cjaais, king of
the Medo-Persian Empire, his great instrument — first,
to conquer Babylon and annex it to his empire; then
to issue his decree inviting all Jews who would to re-
turn to their own land ; particularly encouraging them
to rebuild their temple and aiding them in this enter-
prise. The terms of this decree are memorable :

2. Thus saitli Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven liath
given nie all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to
build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him,
and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the
liouse of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jeru-
salem.

4. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let
the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with

THE restoration; its antecedents. 373

goods, and with beasts, besides tlie freewill offering for the house of
God that is in Jerusalem.

Jewish tradition holds that Daniel, occupying a high
position in the court of Cyrus, brought to his attention
the prophecies of Isaiah which even name Cyrus as
God's servant (Isa. 44 : 26-28, and 45 : 1-4).

26. That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the
counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be in-
habited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will
raise up the decayed places thereof:

27. That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers :

28. That saith of Cyrus, lie is my shepherd, and shall perform all
my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to
the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

1. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand
I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the
loins of kings, to open before him the two- leaved gates; and the
gates shall not be shut:

2. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight: I
will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars
of iron :

3. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden
riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord,
which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have
even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, though thou
hast not known me.

There is no good reason to question this Jewish tra-
dition. We know that Daniel stood high at the court
of Cyrus; had ready access to his ear; was familiar
with Hebrew prophecy; was aware that God's time for
the restoration had come and was laboring and pra3^ing
for this result. In fact Daniel was raised up of God for
this emergency as truly as Cyrus. The men whom
God makes for a great emergency always come to time

and do their duty. The Jewish tradition adequately

accounts for facts otherwise not easily if even possibly
accounted for. Hence this imperial summons to all
who recognized themselves as God's people — "Who is
there among you of all his people? His God be with
him and let him go up," etc. Wherever a Jew is found
sojourning among us (Ezra 1 : 4), let his neighbors aid
him with silver, gold, goods, and beasts of burden, etc.,
and let that temple be rebuilt.

This decree paved the way for the restoration. The
policy of the Chaldean kings was scarcely less hostile

374 HISTORY OF THE RESTORED PEOPLE ; BOOK OF EZRA.

to the restoration than Pharaoh's to the release of the
Hebrews from their bondage. It was therefore of the
Lord to break down that policy by breaking down the
throne that worked it and ruled under it. The Lord
not only needed Cyrus but called him; not only called
but made him. Cyrus was his servant — made all that
he was, to do his Master's pleasure. He did it.

The History of the Restored People.

This is found chiefly in the books of Ezra and of
Nehemiah ; with some new light from the three proph-
ets of the restoration, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi ;
and the fifth book of the Psalter, viz., Ps. 107-150— all
compiled and some composed, during this age.

The hook of Ezra may on good grounds be accepted as
written or compiled by himself. It has always borne
his name in a way which assumes a standing tradition
of his authorship. From chap. 7, onward to the close
he was an important actor in the great events here
recorded, and therefore probably the original author.
The first six chapters are largely made up of public
documents which must have been within his easy reach.
The events which transpired before he arrived from
Babylon may have been put on record first by other
hands ; e. g., chap. 1 by Daniel ; chap. 2 is a public docu-
ment which the proper officers should prepare ; chaps.
3-6 we may ascribe to Haggai or some one in like posi-
tion. On this theory, Ezra's labor on these chapters

(1-6) would be only that of compiler. Moreover being

by profession a " scribe of the law of God," he was of all
the man to compile and prepare this book. We have
seen good reason to assume that he wrote and compiled
the books of Chronicles. Much more should we ascribe
to liis hand this book.

The state document in 7 : 12-26 is in the Chaldaic
dialect ; also the passage 4 : 8, to 6 : 18. The rest of the
book is in Hebrew, yet with a few Chaldaic words, indi-
cating the age of the composition.

If we study with care the circumstances of the restored
people and the matters — political; moral and religious —
that were vital to their prosperity, we shall see that the
subjects presented in this book of Ezra were of prime
importance. Let us pass them rapidly under review.

DECREE OF CYRUS; GENEALOGICAL RECORD. 375

Appropriately, the great decree of Cyrus opens the
book (1 : 1-4). This decree must have stirred the hearts
of God's true children to their depths (vs. 5, 6). All the
chief fathers and those whose hearts God had touched
spran^r to respond to this call. Those Jews who did not
join the caravan, and perhaps others than Jews, put in
their aid in money, valuable goods and beasts of burden.
Cyrus restored those vessels from the old temple which
Nebuchadnezzar brought away — catalogued here (vs.
9-11).

Chap. 2 is the enrollment of the first band of returning
exiles, by genealogy. It was of high importance to trace
out and record the pedigree of these men. Let it be
shown and known that they are indeed Jeivs — the
Lord's chosen people ; heirs of the promises made to the
fathers. To bring out these relations will be wholesome
and quickening to their hearts. Scenes of hardship
and sacrifice are before them. They will endure the
better if they recall their noble parentage, and remem-
ber that they go to replant the land of their fathers'
sepulchers, and carry out the grand purposes under
which God gave Canaan to their fathers, and all " the

sure mercies of David." A few families of doubtful

or discredited genealogy are specially noted (vs. 59, GI-
GS). Their lack of pedigree would enhance the value
of a clean record to those who had it.

The total number (v. 64) was 42,360. Besides these
there were 7,337 servants; and 200 singers, making a
total of 49,897-7within a small fraction of 50,000. The
number of their domestic animals, beasts of burden
(vs. Q>(S, 67), gives some idea of their property and of
the means of conveyance for their heavy goods ; for the
infirm, for some of the women and children. The
masses must have made the journey on foot.

Chap. 3 presents the people arrived and somewhat
settled in the land — ready when the memorable seventh
month opened to convene for the feast of tabernacles.
Assembling on the first day of the month, they had
time to prepare the great altar for burnt-offerings.
Then they resumed the regular morning and even-
ing sacrifice. Noticeably, one reason assigned for pre-
paring this great altar was " their fear of the peo-
ple of those countries " (v. 3). They needed God on
their side against enemies so formidable, and therefore

37G FOUNDATIONS OF THE SECOND TEMPLE LAID.

must establish his worship promptly and heartily.

Presently they commenced their preparations for re-
building the temple, contracting for timber and mate-
rials with the men of Tyre and Zidon, as Solomon had
done for the lirst temple (v. 7). Ezra gives carefully
the date when the foundations were laid — in the second
year and second month of their restoration. Then the
foundations were laid with appropriate services of
thanksgiving and praise. In this service the emotions
of the great congregation rose high, expressed with
ringing shouts of joy as well as songs of praise and the

glorious C3^mbals and trumpets. But some of the

more ancient men — the venerable fathers w^ho had seen
the first temple in its glory — Avere sad and tearful, even
to " Aveeping with a loud voice." Ah, it reminded them
of other and better days ! Even in the foundations
they saw how far inferior this temple must be — not to
say that the reminiscences awakened Avould bear their
thought across the great sorrows of their captivity to
the agony of those scenes of fire and blood and desola-
tion when the city fell and the temple went down in

ashes. What a tempest of emotions ! But the young

were joyous to have any temple at all. It was so great
an advance upon the sad privations of those dreary
years of their Chaldean bondage. So there were shouts
of joy and w^ailings of sorrow, blended in touching

chorus. "The sound thereof was heard afar off."

Was not this human and earthly? It will not be so in
that other state where "God shall wipe tears away
from every eye."

Chap. 4 brings to view opposition — artful, violent,
formidable. It came from " the people of the land "
(v. 4) ; i. c, from the people who were there before the
Jews returned — the Samaritan population. They said
they were brought there by Esarhaddon (4 : 2) ; and
of various nations (vs. 9, 10). They first proposed to join
the Jews in building the temple and (supposably) in
tlie worship of God there (v. 2). This being rejected
(wisely), they sought, to traduce and misrepresent the
Jews at the Persian court. They said that this city had
been of old in rebellion against the great kingdoms on
the Euphrates — not precisely against Persia, but Baby-
lon; that when they had rebuilt their temple and made
their city strong, they would withhold tribute from the

OPPOSITION FROM SAMARITANS. 377

Persian .kings and detach from their sway all the coun-
tries west of the Euphrates. There had been kings
(they said) who had held all the country even to the
great river — referring probably to David and Solomon.
By these artful representations, they obtained a rescript
to arrest the building of the city. The work on the
temple ceased.

When and how long was the temple-building suspended f

The answer turns upon the identity of the Persian
kings named in this chapter; viz.: Darius, vs. 5, 24;

Ahasuerus, v. 6; and Artaxerxes, vs. 7, 8, 11, 23.

Various opinions have been held as to these kings, the
jjreponderance being in favor of the theory herein ad-
vocated, viz. — that this Darius is Darius Hystaspes,
fourth king of this dynasty, counting Cyrus as the first;
that Ahasuerus is Cambyses, the second in order; and
that this Artaxerxes is the third, better known as
Smerdis the Magian. [For the convenience of the
reader I place in the margin a table of this Persian
dynasty, so far as to include the monarchs who appear
in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.*]

The efforts of these adversaries seem to have been
unsuccessful with Cambyses, but successful with Smer-
dis the Magian, whose religious notions were entirely
adverse to the Jewish faith. His reign being short, the
entire period of suspended work on the temple could
not have been more than two years.

In Ezra 5, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah appear,
calling the people to resume the rebuilding of the tem-
ple. Their books of prophecy concur with the history to
this point. Under the inspiration of their prophetic
messages and personal influence the work was resumed
in the second year of Darius Hystaspes. Then a new
opposition arose. The leaders in this instance (de-
scribed vs. 3, 6) were the high officials (governors) over
Syria and Palestine. These opponents were apparently

* NAME. REIGNED. NO.OFYRS.

Cyru3 B. C. 536-529 7

Cambyses [Ahasuerus of Ezra 4: G] 529-522 7^

Smerdis or Gomates, [the Artaxerxes •

of Ez. 4: 7, 8, 11, 23] 522-521 7mo3.

Darius Hystaspes 521-485 36

Xerxes [the Ahasuerus of Esther] | ^or~464 or 21

Artaxerxes Longimanus 474 (or 464)-424 60 or 40

17

378 TEMPLE FINISHED.

less virulent and more candid than the Samaritans seen
in chap. 4, and far less scornful and bitter than Sanbal-
lat and his associates, as seen in Neh. 4 and 6. It is
well that the reader should keep distinct in his mind
these three sets of adversaries — the first and second,
withstanding the work on the temple; the third, the
work on the city walls. This second class of opponents
came to Jerusalem in person and demanded of the
elders their authority for this rebuilding; and asked
their names that they might be properly indicted
before the king. This gave those elders an opportunity
to refer to the decree of Cyrus under which they were
acting (5: 11-15). Consequently this letter of com-
plaint to King Darius carried with it its own antidote.
It called for an investigation of the records of Cyrus'
reign where Darius found the original decree and forth-
with confirmed it, ordering Tatnai and his associates
not only to desist from all opposition, but positively to
help the work forward, making appropriations from the
king's revenue for this purpose. Under these auspi-
cious circumstances, coupled with aid and impulse from
the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (referred to again 6 :
14), the work moved forward rapidly to its completion in
the sixth year of Darius.*

This chapter closes with the dedication of the temple
— a joyful scene of glad and grateful thanksgiving to
their God for his favoring hand in this work.f

Opening chapter 7, we must notice that a very con-
siderable interval of time lies between the dedication
of the temple in the sixth year of Darius, and this mis-
sion of Ezra in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. It must
include — from the reign of Darius thirty years; of Xerx-
es (as commonly estimated) twenty-one ; of Artaxerxes
seven; total, fifty-eight. This was Ezra's introduction
to the Jews in Judah. The history gives his genealogy

* The " Artaxerxes " of v. 14 must be, not the king of that name in
chap. 4, but he who appears under this name in Ezra 7: 7, 11, 12, and
often in Nehemiah — the successor of Xerxes. He is referred to here
not because he bore anj- part in this first building of the temple, since
this was completed many years before his reign began ; but because
he aide.l in rebuilding the city and was fully in sympathy with Cyrus
and Darius.

^ TThat the king of Persia should be referred to (v. 22) under the
title of "king of Assyria" is due to the fact that his kingdom em-
braoijd all the provinces which oivginally constituted that empire.

EZRA ARRIVES ; HIS COMMISSION. 379

from Aaron ; also liis profession as " a ready scribe of
the law of Moses," " who had prepared his heart to
seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach
in Israel statutes and judgments" (vs. 6, 10). The
royal letters patent under which he was sent refer to his
character in corresponding terms (v. 12). These papers
are given in full, minutely defining his duties and
specifying his powers, viz., to "inquire concerning
Judah and Jerusalem," and under this right of inquiry,
doubtless, to reform abuses and make wrong things
right ; to appoint magistrates and officers ; also to con-
vey to the holy city the free-will offerings of Jews yet
living in their eastern homes ; to draw upon the king's
treasurers in the western provinces within certain
specified but generous limits (vs. 21, 22), and to exempt
from government tax all who ministered in the tem-
ple and its worship. The king speaks as one who
has at least some faith in the powers of the God of
Israel and who would propitiate his favor through the
prayers and worship of his chosen people (v. 23).
"Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let
it be diligently done for the house of the God of
heaven ; for why should there be wrath against the
realm of the king and his sons?" For this remark-
able letter, conferring powers so liberal in a spirit
so kind, Ezra appropriately renders thanks to God:
" Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers who hath put
this in the king's heart to beautify the house of the
Lord which is in Jerusalem (v. 27), and who hath ex-
tended such mercy to me before the king, his coun-
selors and mighty princes."

Ezra (chap. 8) gave with great minuteness the
genealogy of those Jews who went to Judea with him
(vs. 1-14). Finding no Levites in the companv, he
sought and through a kind providence found some' men
of great worth whom he attached to his party. The
journey being dangerous, he relates with touching
simplicity that he was ashamed to ask the king for an
armed convoy because he had previously said — "The
hand of our God is upon all them for good who seek
him ; but his power and his wrath are against all
them that forsake him." This involved the nice ques-
tion whether faith in God's protecting hand should be
held to supersede a guard of armed men. Ezra felt the

380 INTERMARRIAGES WITH IDOLATERS.

delicacy of the question so deeply that he could not
bring himself even to suggest to the king to send a
guard; but turned to fasting and prayer instead. The
Lord heard their prayer. Ezra joyfully testified — " The
hand of our God was upon us and delivered us from
the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by
the way" (vs. 23-al). As they were intrusted with
valuable property to convey to Jerusalem, involving no
small responsibility for its safe-keeping and transmis-
sion, Ezra designated twelve priests as treasurers ; con-
signed this property to their hand by definite count
and weight; and when they arrived at Jerusalem, saw
it weighed and counted over into the hands of the
proper officers there — an example not to be despised.

The time occupied in this journey — from the

twelfth day of the first month (8: 31) to the first day
of the fifth month (7 : 9)— suggests that they took the
long route — up the valley of the Euphrates to Car-
chemish ; thence crossing the desert at its narrowest
point into the valley of the Orontes and so entering
Palestine from the north by " the entering in of
Hamath" — which though long (900 miles) was the
usual route of armies and of large caravans. Moreover,
some time may have been lost in detours to avoid dan-
gerous localities, or known enemies.

Intermarriages luith Idolaters. (Ezra 9 and 10.)

The first greetings were scarcely passed and their
fiducial trusts disposed of, when Ezra found painful
work before him. Evils of most perilous sort had been
admitted into the colony. The Jews and even their
priests and Levites had been intermarrying with idol-
worshiping families of Canaanite and other adjacent
tribes. He learned this first from some of the princes.
They stated " that the hand of the princes and rulers
had been chief in this trespass" (10: 2). Such inter-
marriages led toward idolatry with a social power prac-
tically resistless. The only safety lay therefore in
arresting this thing instantly; divorcing all heathen
wives at any cost of feeling or of family ties, and in
taking a stand that should put an end forever to this
violation of the law of Moses and of God. Ezra himself
was the writer of this narrative and expressed in his

EZRA IN AGONY AND IN PRAYER. 381

own words his grief and horror when he heard these
things (9 : 8, 4) : " I rent my garment and my mantle
and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard,
and sat down astonished. There gathered about me all
who trembled at the Avords of the God of Israel because
of this transgression. Before them I sat astonished till
the evening sacrifice" — late in the afternoon — the
usual hour of praj^er. In a case so sad, so critical, so
perilous to the dearest interests of Zion, what could such
a man do but pray! At the hour of prayer he fell upon
his knees, spread out his hands unto the Lord his God,
and then poured forth his heart in prayer. Here are
his words, expressing shame as well as grief in view of
these sins; confessing them most unqualifiedly, reciting
appropriately the history of God's great mercies to his
people, every remembrance of which served to intensify
his sense of the great sin of his people, referring also to
the admonitions God had sent through his prophets —
standing appalled before this great sin in fear of God's
righteous judgments — appalled, 3'et imploring divine

mercy. Manifestly this scene of prayer — so sincere,

evincing such grief and horror toward this sin — moved
the people greatly and melted many hearts. It opened
their eyes to see great sin where they had seen nothing
very wrong before. The}^ saw that they had incurred
the wrath of God, and their souls quivered with fear.
Best of all, they saw that something must be done, and
resolved it should be — to wipe out this iniquity. It is
always easier to get into sin than to get out of it. In a
sin of this sort, the steps backward to undo the wrong
must be specially diliicult. But the hearts of the people
were touched — "the people wept very sore." Leading
men cried aloud, " We have transgressed against our God
and have taken strange wives of the people of the land;
3'et now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing "
(10: 2). Wisely they suggest that this reform be
entered upon in concert ; that all the people be pledged
on the spot, while their hearts were tenderly and
solemnly affected, to go through with this reform as
rapidly as possible. It must take time, for it was vital,
(1) To bring in all the actual cases; (2) To investigate
each several case thoroughly; (3) To make out the
proper writing of divorcement, and settlement of estate.
But let the whole matter bo determined past all recall,

382 THE STEPS TOWARD REFORM.

and measures be taken to carry it through with the
utmost expedition. Accordingl}^ by proclamation, all
the people were summoned to Jerusalem within three
days on pain of confiscation of all their property and of
exclusion from the congregation (vs. 7, 8). All the
people of Judah and Benjamin were convened within
the time. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month
(December) — the depth of their rainy season. " All the
people sat in the street [court] of the temple, trembling

because of this matter, and for the great rain." This

pouring rain in the chill of bleak December put the
outside face of nature in sympathy with their sad and
weeping hearts. But no discomforts might postpone
action in a case so critical and momentous. Ezra stood
up before them and said — "Ye have transgressed and
taken strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel.
Now, therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your
fathers and do his pleasure ; let confession be followed
by swift reform ; separate yourselves from the people
of the land and from your strange wives." Then all
the congregation with one voice responded — "As thou

hast said, so must we do." Thus they committed

themselves to this trying but imperative duty. They
said moreover — This will require time : we can not
stand in this rain to see it all done ; let a commission
be appointed to investigate and act on each case; let
the proper authorities in every city take up the matter
— prepare and bring forward each several case, and so
let the work be carried through "until the fierce wrath
of our God be turned from us " (vs. 12-14).

In the result Ezra and certain chiefs of the fathers,
were constituted a commission or high court for the
transaction of this business. After two months' labor

they reported the business brought to an end. The

narrative closes with a list of the parties who, having
been implicated in this sin, had put away their strange
wives— some of them having become fathers of strange

children. In v. 15 our translators (probably) missed

the sense of the Hebrew word "stood" (putting it
" were emploj^ed "). With the preposition which fol-
lows it, the meaning is — stood against , opposed. Only
these two men opposed; two others hel])ed them ; but, as
the next verse states, the children of the captivity
as a body did as they had pledged themselves to do.

CHARACTER OF EZRA. 383

The immense majority -svere steadfast and carried it
through.

Such are the salient points of this reform, seen in
their external aspects. The moral aspects deserve a

few moments' thought. Throughout these scenes

Ezra's character stands forth radiant in goodness, solid
in the best elements of firmness and strength. But just
arrived from his far eastern home, charged with grave
responsibilities, and we may presume happy in san-
guine anticipations, he had not dreamed of the presence
of such sin among the people of God. How was he
astounded and horrified to see that the people were
lapsing back so soon and so fearfully into that ruinous
idolatry from which he had hoped and supposed a
seventy j^ears' captivity had cleansed them ! Alas,
that so soon hopes and promises so fair should be darkly
clouded ! He has told us how he was ashamed, alarmed,
horrified; and how his heart turned away from all else
to God in imploring supplication and confession, with
strong crying and tears. Ps. 119 — with very high prob-
ability from his own heart and hand — witnesses to his
heart experiences : " Horror hath taken hold upon me
because of the wicked who forsake thy law " (v. 53) ;
*' Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because men keep
not thy law " (v. 136). So deeply is his heart in sym-
pathy with God ; so entirely has he adjusted his whole
moral nature to the revelations of God which come to
him in his pure and holy law ! This sound and solid
piety — utterly unlike mere sentimentalism, high above
the best humanitarianism — accepts God's law as re-
flecting down from heaven to us his real character, and
therefore knows no higher — indeed, no other standard
for human duty than this.

Note also with how firm a tread he marches straight
through this fearfully perplexing, trying scene. Think
how many families must be rent asunder, how many
ties cemented in the connubial relation must be sev-
ered. Think of children borne away from affectionate
fathers, to be of their homes and houseliolds no more !
Yet nothing less than this could save the colony from
the ruin of idolatry; nothing less could redeem them
back to the favor and protection of the God of their
fathers' covenant. Therefore it must be done. Many
heart-strings must quiver; many tenderest cords of

384 BOOK OF NEIIEMIAH.

earthly love he snapped in sunder. It costs fearfully
to retrace the steps of a sinning life; 3^et there is no
alternative but duty or death! Ezra believes in the
wisdom of dut3\ Such an example of manhood coupled
Avith piety deserves its place in this inspired history.
Let us be thankful to find it here.

It is, moreover, refreshing to notice that such men
have power. The hearts of the nation were swayed
and melted by the manifest goodness, tenderness, holy
zeal, intrepid firmness, of this one man. A great
national sin which imperiled the very life of the re-
stored community was arrested, and the nation once
more saved. A seventy years' captivity had fearfully
scourged the nation for the sin of idolatry and seemed
to have wrought a wholesome horror of that sin; but
here and now the same sin was stealthily insinuating
itself under a new guise and alluring them to ruin. It
may be presumed they did not think of these inter-
marriages as involving idolatry. All the greater there-
fore was their danger. It was of the Lord's wisdom as
well as love that this evil was arrested so soon. Sad
to say, we shall see in the story of Nehemiah that
it broke forth yet once more.

Nehemiah,

The book of Nehemiah is a natural sequel to the book
of p]zra, continuing the history of the restored people

yet a few years further. On the point of authorship

there seems to be no ground for a question. The author
says he is Nehemiah : " The words of Nehemiah, the
son of Hachaliah." The book is written in the first
person as if it were his private diary or journal; in-
deed so private that it records not only public events
but private personal experiences. The only question
of criticism as to author and intent would seem to be
whether it were not originally written for a private
diary rather than for publication. The extreme sim-
plicity and the exquisite touches of personal experience
are so very prominent as to give (may we not say?)
some plausibility to this opinion. Yet 'if accepted, the
book would be none the less valuable — none the less
truthful and worthy of confidence.

The date of these events is fortunately bej^ond ques-

nehemiah's story. 385

tion. This Artaxerxes is the Persian king distin-
guished by his specialty — " Longimanus " (the long-
handed), son and successor of Xerxes, sometimes called
" the great." In his seventh year Ezra went from his
court to Jerusalem. In his twentieth year Nehemiah
followed ; to remain twelve years and then go back to
his eastern home, and subsequently return to Judea
again.

Nehemiah^ s Story.

This is — that he was the king's cup-bearer— in an
oriental court a position of very considerable responsi-
bilities. It brought him into near and confidential
relations to the king; gave him free access to his per-
son, at least on frequent occasions, and seems to have
carried with it more or less of official trusts.

Being visited at his home in the palace at Shushan
by certain brethren of his from Judea, he inquired of
them concerning the Jews of the restoration and con-
cerning Jerusalem. To his great sorrow, he learned that
the remnant there were in deep affliction and reproach ;
that the city walls were broken down and the gates
burned. It affected him deeply. He wrote : " I sat
down and wept and mourned certain days, and fasted
and pra3^ed before the God of heaven." His prayer is
here on record (1 : 5-11), in every point pertinent, ear-
nest, humble, free in confession ; fervent in supplication
— closing with the request for "mercy in the sight of
this man," i. e., the king. He had some foreshadowings
of help through the king's favor. Soon called before the
king with wine, his heart still heavy with this fresh
sorrow, his countenance would betray it. Simply as a
child he tells his story : '* I had never been sad in the
king's presence before." The king said, '' Why is thy
countenance sad, since thou art not sick? This must
be sorrow of heart." It was a critical moment. Nehe-
miah was " sore afraid." A king's favor is sometimes
capricious. He had some hope of help from the king,
but all might fail, and the issues were so great and
critical that his heart trembled. But his answer was
frank and full — " How can I be otherwise than sad
when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers,
lieth waste ?"*^ What would you have? said the king.
Oh, what a moment ! Quick as thought, his soul goes

386 NEHEMIAH ARRIVES AT JERUSALEM.

forth to God for help: "So I prayed to the God of
heaven." He does not mean that leaving the ques-
tion in suspense he withdrew to his closet for prayer;
but this, that his mental eye was lifted to God in
that spontaneous outgoing of prayer and trust which
every Christian finds so natural and so precious. It
proved that this '' king's heart was in the hand of
the Lord to turn it as he would"— and he gave Nehe-
miah all he could ask ; leave of absence ; most liberal
aid; letters to his subordinate officers west of the
Euphrates; authority to draw for timber and materials
for the city walls and gates. The king provided also an

armed escort. Before he reached Jerusalem he met

with adversaries bitterly hostile to the restored Jews,
and grieved that one should appear clothed with royal
authority to seek their welfare. This third set of
adversaries, named here— Sanballat the Horonite (a
Moabite of Horonaim), Tobiah the Ammonite, and
Geshem the Arabian — represented (apparently) the
old antipathy of those nations. They come to view
often in the sequel of this story.

Arrived at Jerusalem, Nehemiah gave three days tc
rest and to a general introduction to his national breth-
ren; then went out alone b}^ night to examine for
himself the state of the city walls. After this explora-
tion he was prepared to say to the assembled priests and
nobles : Ye see the distress we are in ; how Jerusalem
lieth waste; its gates burned down: "come, let us build
up the walls of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach.-'

As to the need and value of city walls and gates, the
reader will be too intelligent to estimate it by compari-
son with our own times and country. That weak
Jewish colony was surrounded with enemies, armed,
warlike, addicted to robbery, plunder, murder. The
fact that these walls were broken down and these gates
burned was itself a testimony that the people were un-
safe save in a fortified city. The very existence of the
community was imperiled. All the precious interests
garnered in that little colony of restored Jews de-
manded the protection of rebuilt walls and restored

gates and bars. Backing up his exhortation to the

city fathers to arise and build, Nehemiah told them of
the good hand of his God upon him and of the king's
encouraging words. They responded, " Let us arise and

REBUILDING TBE CITY WALLS. 387

build." "And they strengthened their hands for this

good work." At this point their adversaries appear

again. Having heard of the scheme for rebuilding,
" they laughed us to scorn, and despised us and said
"What is this thing that ye do?" As if to carry the
whole question by assuming this rebuilding to be trea-
sonable, they added, "Will ye rebel against the king?"
They probably knew better than they wished to know
that the king sent Nehemiah for the very purpose of
rebuilding these walls. But artful and false assump-
tions are the science of wicked men. Conscious of
being powerless at the royal court, their chief reliance
is upon scorn and lies and violence by arms if they
get the opportunity.

Chap. 6 details minutely the distinct work done by
each considerable group of citizens : by the priests ; the
nobles and head men— a grand personal record, of
special value in those days when names signified
known men, though in this respect valueless to us to
whom the parties are chiefly unknown. We may
profitably notice that mostly the people of the city
built each over against their own house — an arrange-
ment at once convenient as being economical of their
time, and inspiring as giving them a sense of working
every man for his own as well as for the public interest.
The careful reader would notice the not quite hon-
orable record of certain Tekoites (v. 5) ; that though the
people wrought, yet " their nobles put not their necks
to the work of their Lord." Did Nehemiah purposely
make the word " their " emphatic when he said, not the
Lord but ^^ their ^^ Lord? as if to suggest that they little
deserved to be accounted noble men when they so dis-
honored their Lord. Such aristocracy, so exhibited,

Nehemiah held in no great esteem. Another party

of laborers deserve from us a more honorable notice —
(they of V. 12) " Shallum, the ruler of the half part of
Jerusalem ; he and his daurjhters." He was not too high
in dignity to put his hand and neck even to the Lord's
work. But what of "his daughters"? Of almost royal
blood, and of true royal soul, they gave the work at
least their hearty sympathy. Did they help to clear
away the rubbish, or to cut the stone or to carry mor-
tar? Enough, we must assume, to show that heart as
well as hand was in the Avork. After reading such a

388 REBUILDING THE WALLS : THE OPPOSITION.

chapter it should not suprise us that in a wonclerfally
short time the city walls were up, the gates hung,
and the holy city once more in her strength and
glory.

In chap. 4 Nehemiah resumes the story of this re-
building and gives some facts that occurred during the
progress of the work, setting forth especially the oppo-
sition which sought, chiefly by scorn and plots for vio-
lence, to frustrate the enterprise. Sanballat, their

leader, hearing that the city walls were going up, was
hotly indignant. He "mocked the Jews." "He spake
before his brethren and the army of Samaria," obvi-
ously to excite them to join him in assault by force of
arms. Tobiah the Ammonite was bitterly scornful.
He thought a fox's tread would break down their stone

wall ! Under these insults and dangers, which way

does Nehemiah turn? First of all, to the Christian's
first and only refuge — to God in prayer. "Hear, O God,
for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their
own head." Having prayed, they kept on building the
wall. Soon all the wall was joined together (all the
breaches closed) "unto the half thereof" — i. c, raised
to half the contemplated height (v. 6), " for the people
had a mind to work." They put their souls into it.
There is a will-power which pushes the hardest work
along and bears the heaviest enterprises rapidly
through.

Next, their enemies (specified v. 7) conspired in force
to make an armed assault upon the city and its re-
builders. Nehemiah plans the defense ; first, to seek
help from God; next, to set a watch day and night.
Three special difficulties are noticed: (a.) "Judah" —
the Jews of the country outside the city — are quite dis-
couraged. "The strength of the workmen is failing;
there is much rubbish in the way; we are not able to

build the wall."* (b.) The adversaries are planning

a surprise. (c.) The Jews dwelling by them (e. g., in

the vicinity of Samaria) come to us many times, solic-

* The feeble heart of the outlying Jewish population explains the
purpose of the scorn manifested by Sanballat and Tobiah. They
were purposely acting on these feeble souls to dissuade them from
the great enterprise. They did not expect their scorn and insults
would disturb Nehemiah directly; they did hope to draw off feeble-
hearted Jews.

A CITAPTEU ON THE POOR AND TITE RICH. 389

iting our laborers from the country to leave the work
and go home.*

Then Nehemiah arranged his men by their familieSj
all armed (v. 13) ; he sought to inspire their faith in
God (v. 14) ; he divided his laborers into two grand
divisions, half to bear arms and half to build wall ; of
the builders each held a weapon of war in one hand and
wrought with the other — every workman with sword
girded on his thigh; the trumpeter standing by Nehe-
miah as commander-in-chief, and all the nobles being
under orders to hasten to whatever point the trumpet-
blast should call. Yet further, he took the precaution
to have every man wath his servant lodge by night
within the cit}^, to be ready to repel a night assault if

made. Thus this godly warrior and his servants

Avrought and stood guard, no man laying off his clothes
by night, and no man going after water save wath war-
weapons in his hand.f Such precautions and such
unceasing vigilance seem to have forestalled the threat-
ened assault. Thus with labor, watchfulness, and prayer,
the great work was ere long completed.

A Chapter on the Poor and the Rich.

Neh. 5 has a theme peculiarly its own, unlike that of
any other chapter in the Bible — The mutual relations of
rich and j)oor^ in a season of general scarcity. " The poor
ye have alwaj's with you " (said the Great Teacher).
The inequalities, property-wise, which will exist every-
where, constitute a part of the moral trial of all men.

This Jewish colony was fortunate, not to say blest, in
that it was rather a brotherhood than a mere aggrega-
tion of families; for they lived and were there for a
common object; enduring common privations; opposed
by common enemies — in this respect illustrating not
badly all Christian churches in their fraternal and life-
work relations. Here in Judea were dearth, suffer-
ing for bread, and complaints of the poor against their

"^•This is plainly the meaning of v. 12, translated badly in our
English version. The margin has it better: From ^vhatcver place ye
cx)nic, return to us: go home and abandon this hard ajid hopeless en-
terprise. The Septuagint has it well: "Return from all places unto
us."

t This I take to be the sense of the last clause of v. 23, the marginal
reading being with the Hebrew.

390 A CHAPTER ON THE POOR AND THE RICH.

richer brethren. The poor came to Nehemiah ; " there
was a great cr}^ of the people and of their wives against
their Jewish brethren." Some with large families could
not fill so many mouths ; some had mortgaged every-
thing for bread; some had borrowed to pay state taxes;
some had been obliged to sell sons and daughters into
slavery, and had no means to redeem them because
their lands too were gone for debt. And they could not
tell this sad tale without suggesting that their children
were of their own flesh and blood — as dear to them as sons
and daughters were to their richer brethren who had

been buying and selling their neighbor's children.

Nehemiah, good man that he was, heard this with sorrow
and indignation. He " was very angry when he heard
their cry in these words." He thought the case over
(perhaps he supposed it were his own) ; he rebuked
those rich men for their oppressive usury; he brought
face to face before them the many who were suffering
so cruelly under their oppressions. He thought proper
to speak of his own case : We have done all we could
to redeem our Jewish brethren from personal slavery to
foreign slave-holders; but ye are enslaving your own
brethren. They could say nothing in reply. He said
— Ye bring on us the reproach of our enemies; this is
a disgrace to our religion and to the God we worship.
I pray you, restore to your brethren those lands, those
enslaved children, and that exorbitant interest — " the
hundredth part " — one per cent, (payable monthly, we
must presume — equal to twelve per cent, per annum),
which ye have charged, not for monc}^ loaned merely,
but for corn — the necessaries of life.

We may rejoice to see that they responded promptly —
" We will restore ; and will require nothing of them ; so
will we do as thou sayest." But lest second thought
should bring on the grip of covetousness again, Nehe-
miah called in the priests to administer the sacred oath
that they should fulfill this promise. Also to add the
force of his own noble heart, he shook his lap and said ;
" So God shake out every man from his house and from
his labor" (all the fruits of it) " who performs not this
promise." There was some public feeling there, for
all the congregation cried " Amen ; and praised the
Lord."

In the sequel, Nehemiah thought proper to speak of

OPrOSITION TO THE WALL BUILDING. 391

his own personal management and finances since he
had been among them — twelve years. He had taken
no salary as governor, because the taxes on the people
Avere very heavy. He and all his servants had labored
on the city walls without pay. He had boarded an
average of one hundred and fifty constantly at his table,
besides transient visitors. Of course he must have
drawn heavily on previous accumulations in his Per-
sian home. Noble man ! He expected no reward from
his Jewish brethren or from any fellow-men. He only
looked upward : " Think upon me, 0 my God, for good,
according to all that I have done for this people." No

doubt this prayer was answered. Let us hope that

this chapter will not be valueless to mankind. Whom
does it rebuke ; and whom does it bless ?

In chap. 6 Nehemiah resumes the stor}^ (unfinished
in chap. 4) of the opposition to their work on the city
walls. First, when Sanballat and his friends heard that
the work was too far advanced for their success by an
armed assault, and the city too vigilantly guarded to
admit of a night surprise, they sent Nehemiah an invita-
tion (or challenge) to meet them in the plain of Ono* —
they did not say for what purpose. Nehemiah was not
caught in this trap. He remarks here : " They thought
to do me mischief." Probably they were plotting his
assassination. Yet he replied with no lack of civility:
" I am doing a great work, so that I can not come down ;
why should the work cease while I leave it and come
down to you?" This was reason enough; was manly,
reasonable, and withal, safe. The principle on which
it rests, applied in a thousand relationships with the
world, would save Christian laborers from many a sore
temptation and many a grievous fall. Let us attend
diligently to our own great work, and not listen to in-
vitations to "the plain of Ono." Yet they sent four

times— only to get the same answer every time. The

fifth messenpjer brought an open letter from Sanballat
(copied out in this narrative) charging Nehemiah with
designs wholly treasonable and ambitious — to rebel
against the king of Persia and to make himself king
in Judah. AVithal he threatened to report this charge

*Ono appears (I Chron. 8: 12) in the list, of towns on the north-
ern border of Benjamin, some twenty-five or thirty miles distant from
Jerusalem.

o92 OPPOSITION TO THE WALL-Bail-DING.

to the king. On the basis of this charge, trumped up
for his own purposes, he again requests an interview
'' to take counsel together ! " The stupid fellow ! — did
he think to pass himself off upon Nehemiah as his per-
sonal friend, anxious to aid him with some kind ad-
vice ? Nehemiah's reply is put squarely — Not a

word of truth in what you say ; no such things are
done as thou sayest ; these charges are born of thine own

brain. Their purpose, Nehemiah said, w^as to alarm

the builders, weaken their hands ; stop their work.
Therefore, as one whose habit is to look to God in every
emergency, he cries : ^' Now, therefore, 0 God, strengthen
my hands. What time my enemies and thine would
weaken, do thou give strength ! "

Other trials were sprung upon him as he came into
the house of one Shemaiah. This man had been so
frightened by the threats of Sanballat that he shut
himself within his house as in a castle. He presses
Nehemiah to do the same. " Let us gather into the
temple," said he, and make that our castle, "for they
will come by night and slay thee." His answer gives
us those memorable heroic words : " Should such a man
as I flee? And who is there, that being as I am
would go into the temple to save his life ? I will not
go in." Not so much because he would not believe
there was danger; but rather because, if there was
danger, it behooved him to face it as a man and a hero!
To have fled himself would have been the signal for all
timid souls to flee likewise; and what could come of

such fleeing but ruin to their enterprise ? He adds —

" I perceived that God had not sent him to me with these
w^ords; but Sanballat and Tobiah had hired him."
Indeed ! they were arch fellows, and omitted no device

to ensnare him to his ruin. One more prayer : " O

my God; think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat
according to these their works; and on the prophetess
Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have
put me in fear." The satanic arts of the false prophets
had not yet ceased in Israel.

The long list of special trials closes at last with the
fact of secret correspondence carried on between some of
the nobles of Judah and those arch enemies, favored by
the intermarriage of their respective families. To-
biah the Ammonite led in this correspondence.

A GREAT MEETING FOR SCRIPTURE READING. 393

The work on the city walls was at length finished
joyfully, having occupied lifty-two days — pushed with
untiring diligence, and the energy of a noble enthusi-
asm. \Ve shall meet a somewhat extended account of
the joyous dedication of these walls below (chap. 12:
27-43).

Nehemiah states (chap. 7) that he put his brother
Hanani and Hananiah, ruler of the palace, in charge
jointly of Jerusalem, adding his testimony as to Hanani
that he was a "faithful man and feared God above
many" — the right man for grave responsibilities. Their
instructions in regard to opening and closing the gates
show that the danger of violence from enemies had not
entirely ceased. Safety still demanded vigilance.

This genealogical table of the first company of return-
ing Jews (substantially the same as in Ezra 2) may be
brought out here in connection with measures for fill-
ing up the city — its population being entirely too sparse
for the best interest of the entire colony. We shall see
more on this subject in chap. 11 and 12.

In Neh. 8 we see an immense assembly convened on
the first day of the seventh month ; their public services
commencing with the reading of the Scriptures by Ezra
the scribe. As he read he gave such exposition as the
change of dialect from Hebrew to Chaldee — then the
spoken language of the people — required. It is said —
" He read in the book of the law distinctly and gave the
sense, and caused them to understand the reading "
(v. 8). It was a memorable day. This reading con-
tinued (so said) "from morning till mid-day, and the
ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of

the law." The accompanying devotional exercises

are described thus: "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the
Great God. And all the people answered, Amen, amen,
with lifting up their hands; and they bowed their
heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the
ground " — a scene of no little animation ; less dull and
more deeply animated (let us hope) than some worship-
ing assemblies of our modern times. Is there not some-
thing here to be learned as to modes of public worship?

Not Ezra only but many others (v. 7) officiated in the
reading and exposition of the Scriptures. The assembly
was too large to be reached audibly by one human voice.
Probably half the people of the colony were here ; say

894 THE GREAT FEAST OF THE TABERNACLES.

over 20,000. We may suppose them grouped about

several speakers. Was not the scene inspiring?

Yet apparently, there was no such exhilaration as pre-
cludes serious thought and personal conviction of sin :
" all the i:>eople wept when they heard the words of the
law." It is rare that a religious assembly becomes too
tearful and tender or even too sad of heart so as to re-
quire the treatment indicated here. Manifestly the
leaders, Ezra, Nehemiah and the teaching Levites,
sought to promote a more cheerful tone of feeling : " This
day is holy unto the Lord j-our God; mourn not nor
weep. Go your way; eat the fat and drink the sweet;
and send portions to the destitute, for this day is hoi}'-
to the Lord ; be ye not sad, for the joy of the Lord is
your strength." The word here for " strength " signifies
fortress, implying that rejoicing in God is a strong power
to the soul, like the walled city they knew so well how

to appreciate. We need not press this case so as to

make it condemn men for sorrow and penitence in
view of their sins, but should rather construe it to im-
ply that when profoundly solemn, penitent, impressed
with the words of God's law and withal sincerely docile
in spirit, joy in God is appropriate and wholesome and
should be cultivated. Our sadness and tears should not
ignore God's great love. Since he is a tender Father, if
Ave are consciously his dutiful children let us be joyful
in his favor.

Convened again on the second day to continue their
public reading of the law, they came upon the statute
respecting the feast of tabernacles on the fourteenth
of this very month. Probably this observance had been
omitted for a season. The people were quite in mood at
this time for such a festival, and therefore made prepa-
ration for it with enthusiasm. They gathered their
boughs ; constructed their booths (" tabernacles "), and
ere the day arrived had all things ready. According
to Moses, the book of the law was to be read publicly
every day of this festival. Nothing could be more con-
genial with the public feeling; so from the first day to
the last, the law was read.

Nch. 9, continues the record of this great convocation.
If the scenes of the first day of this seventh month were
memorable and the celebration of this seventh month
festival, scarcely less so, the closing service, the twenty-

NATIONAL CONCERT OF PRAYER. 395

fourth day and onward, reached the climax of religious
solemnity and power. Their leaders manifestly had
their hearts on turning this great national movement
of religious thought, knowledge and feeling, to the best
practical account. Let us note what they did and with
what results.

On the twenty-fourth the eight days of the feast of
tabernacles would be past. But there was no disper-
sion to their homes yet. " The children of Israel were
assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and with
earth upon them." First, they separated themselves
from all strangers, severing all unhallowed alliances by
intermarriage and otherwise. They stood up and read
in the book of the law (and heard the reading) one
fourth part of the day; another fourth part, they con-
fessed their sins and worshiped. That we and all
Bible readers in the ages onward from that hour might
have a more just and full view of the spirit of this
scene and of the moral value of that prayer, it was put
on record and still stands in this ninth chapter. Sev-
eral Levites seem to have led the devotions of the vast
multitude simultaneously (possibly at different points)
in this great concert of prayer. [The tone of the nar-
rative favors the supposition of an actual concert — a
unison of voices.] What they said is the more vital

point, and is before us here. "Stand up and bless

the Lord your God forever and ever, and blessed be thy
glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and
praise." The prayer follows, reciting in most interest-
ing detail the great historic Aicts of God's dealings with
their fathers; acknowledging their nation's sin and
their own personally ; referring quite fully to their own
weak, dependent colony, as needing specially such help

as none but their Almighty Protector could give.

This full recital of their nation's history — the ways of
the people, sinning or obedient, toward God; and God's
ways in judgment or in mercy toward them — was ad-
mirably adapted to the desired religious impression.
When all these grand truths, so practical to tliemselves,
so pungent therefore and effective, wore brought fully
before tbem, they were prepared for the solemn recon-
secration which ensued. "Because of all tliis" (they
say) " we make a sure covenant and seal it." They
seem to have i^t hand and seal to it, not in a figure of

39G NATIONAL RECONSECRATION TO GOD.

speech only, but in fact; for here is a list, filling
twenty-seven verses of individual names that were
appended, and this list is followed with the statement
that the rest of the people — the priests, Levites, por-
ters, singers, Nethinims, and all they who had sepa-
rated from the people of the lands unto the law of God,
with their wives, sons, daughters — all who had reached
years of moral understanding, clave unto their brethren,
uniting most heartily with their leading men to bind
themselves by solemn oath and covenant.

Let us take special note of the points of this solemn
covenant; viz.. To walk in the law of Moses; not to
intermarry with strangers — the godless, idol-worshiping
heathen ; not to trade on the Sabbath or otherwise
desecrate the holy day ; to assess themselves one-third
of a shekel each for the expenses of the sanctuary ; to
cast lots for supplying wood for the sacrifices; to bring
in according to law their first-fruits and first-born, the
required tithes also, and last Tnot least) '' we will not
forsake the house of our God." This, it will be no-
ticed, includes the great points of their religious insti-
tutions as given by the Lord through Moses. It was a
Jewish religious covenant, looking specially toward the
ritual worship under which God was training them to a
holy life.

This great " protracted meeting," almost a full month
— the mind and heart of many thousands held intently
upon the book of the law — may suggest to some readers
that this is the very atmosphere of Ps. 119: "Open
thou mine eyes that t may behold Avondrous things out
of thy law " (v. 18). " O how love I thy law ; it is my
meditation all the day" (v. 97). The date and author
of this Psalm are not given in the Psalter. We are left
to fix its date and find its author by studying its
adaptations to known history. Pursuing this inquiry
we need go no further than Ezra. The entire tone of
this Psalm and all its allusions to surrounding circum-
stances conspire to sustain his date and authorship. It
is refreshing and profitable to study this Psalm in con-
nection with his spirit and times, especially as seen in
the history of this great Bible reading occasion.

The last book of the Psalter (Ps. 107-150) should be
studied in connection with the times of the restoration,
beyond doubt the date of its compilation. Some of these

THE PSALMS OF THIS PERIOD. 397

Psalms have at their head the name of David. Why
these (if really his) were not included in the first or
second hooks of the Psalter it will probably be impossi-
ble to determine with certaint3^ They are here because
found to be, or modified to become, appropriate to these
times. The others are chiefly without name of author,
perhaps because their authors were also compilers and
chose to suppress their own names. There may have
been inspired Psalm-writers in that age whose names
as such are not on record at all. Some may have been
written or compiled by liaggai or Zechariah. The spirit
of Zech. 4 : — " Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit " — is in striking harmony with Ps. 127 ; — " Except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build
it." If this were originally written by Solomon of the
first temple, it was yet more applicable to the second,
and so would meet the sentiments of Zechariah and

come into the Psalter under his hand as compiler.

Those wonderful Hallelujah-Psalms (146-150) may
have been an outgrowth of the joyful, inspiring scenes
of the great meeting here before us. May we suppose
them to have been written during its progress and for
its occasion ?

Nehemiah proceeds (chaps. 11 and 12) to speak of
measures for bringing more of the people to reside
within the city, protection against their enemies being
the special reason. The people, subsisting so largely by
agriculture, were attracted to the country. Hence a
draft was made upon the country population of every
tenth family by lot, to remove into the city; and a
special blessing was implored upon all who volunteered
to change their residence from the fields to the city.

The dedication of the city-walls (12 : 27-43) testified
to the general joy and thanksgivings of the occasion,
the record closing with these emphatic words (v. 43) :
" Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced ;
for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the wives
also and the children rejoiced (who could realize the
blessings of strong city-walls better than they ?) so that
the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off." (How
did it sound in the ears of Sanballat and Tobiah ?)

Neh. 13. The reading of the law brought to the
notice of the people the ])assage (Deut. 23 : 3, 4) which
forbade the Moabite and the Ammonite to enter into

398

the congregation of the Lord. Consequently they pro-
ceeded to separate from Israel "all the mixed multi-
tude,'- i. e., those who were intermixed in blood with

Moab or Ammon. Previously to this, Eliashib the

priest (supposed to have been ^High Priest, v. 28) had
been allied by marriage wuth Tobiah (doubtless the
same Tobiah the Ammonite wdio has appeared often in
this history, for he and his son had married Jewish
women, Neh. 6: 18). This Eliashib, being in official
charge of the temple, had assigned to Tobiah spacious
chambers which had previously been used as store-
chambers for the temple offerings. It was an outrage.
Nehemiah felt it to be so, and at once cast forth all
Tobiah's stuff from the chamber and ordered it cleansed
and put to its proper use. He remarks that when this
outrage was perpetrated, he was not in Jerusalem, hav-
ing returned to his king in his thirty-second year, and
been absent therefore from the holy city for a season.
The events of this last chapter belong to the period
after his return to Jerusalem. How long he was absent
at the court of his king is not stated very definitely.
The Hebrew phrase translated "at the end of days"
commonly signifies one year. But the events that fell
within this period strongly favor (not to say demand) a
period longer than this.

He found another evil. The portions of the Levitcs
had been withheld, and they consequentl}' were driven
from the temple service by the failure of supplies. He
contended sharply with the rulers for this neglect, and

effected a reform. The next abuse was the violation

of the Sabbath, occasioned by the tradesmen of Tyre
(vs. 15-27). His expostulation with the rulers on this
point appeals to judgments sent on the city for similar
violations of the Sabbath in the days of their fathers

(v. 18). Lastly, he encountered yet another abuse in

the line of the besetting national sin — intermarriages
with idol-worshiping "strangers." Jews had married
wives of Ashdod, Moab, and Ammon. Their children
spake a mixed dialect, compounded of the Jewish and
Ashdod tongues — a fact which shows that these tongues
though related were yet dialectically different. Nehe-
miah's statement shows that he treated these offenders
sternly, not to say roughly, manifestly regarding the
offense as flagrant and determined to make his mind

REVIEW OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH. 399

understood beyond mistake and his power so felt that
there should be no escape. Worst of all, this outrage-
ous iniquity had reached even the high places of the
priesthood, invading the sanctity of the temple and its
holiest offices. One of the sons of Joiada, the son of
Eliashib the High Priest, had married a daughter of
Sanballat the Horonite — that old, arch, scornful enemy
of Zion. "Therefore," says Nehemiah, "I chased him
from me." No wonder he did. It is astounding that
the same Sanballat and the same Tobiah who appear
in the earlier stages of this history as the most subtle,
pronounced and bitter enemies of Jerusalem should be
here related by intermarriage with even the High
Priest's family. It gives a strong impression of the
perils incident to this Jewish community and of the
abuses which these reformers had to encounter and to
eradicate. With the prayer that God would " remem-
ber those defilersof the priesthood" for mercy and him-
self "for good," this striking personal autobiography of
the good Nehemiah comes to its close.

This second period of Nehemiah's residence in Judea
(narrated in Neh. 13) is supposed to coincide chrono-
logically with the age of the latest known prophet,
Malachi. The abuses and evils to which the book of
Malachi refers are essentially the same which appear in
Neh. 13. The same deplorably low moral tone in the
priesthood which Malachi assumes to exist (Mai. 2),
Nehemiah's story fully accounts for. Such dereliction
in the High Priest would naturally deprave the whole
fraternity.

Reviewing briefly the religious history of this restored
people as in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we shall
notice two very prominent facts :

1. The high and noble character of these two men,
Ezra and Nehemiah.

2. Their remarkable efliciency and moral pow^r in
their work.

1. Ezra and Nehemiah are brought before the reader
somewhat full}^. Tlieir personal characters stand out
in the strong light of words spoken, deeds done, sympa-
thies manifested. It is rare that we meet with nobler
men, of purer motive, more earnest spirit and of more
unselfish natures. How eminently prayerful ! How
pure and^weet is the simplicity of their devotion to the

400 REVIEW OF EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.

cause of God ! It is refreshing to come into contact with
such men, to feel the power of such examples, and the
inspiration of such spirits. They may have had blem-
ishes of character, or sins of life ; but if so, the record
passes them unnoticed. Let us be thankful for such
recorded lives.

2. Their labors seem to have been signally effective.
In reading the account given of the reforms wrought
by Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah, we see indica-
tions of earnest endeavor and of true devotion to their
work, but no decisive proof of any profound impressions
made — no evidence that the popular mind was deeply
moved. But here, under the labors of Ezra and Nehe-
miah, the record on these points is thoroughly emphatic.
When Ezra first grappled with the terrible evil of un-
godly intermarriages — his soul borne down with heavy
grief and his spirit poured forth in mighty prayer, —
" there assembled unto him a very great congregation of
men and women and children; for the people wept
very sore." The whole community seem to have been
thoroughly aroused and deeply moved. " Men trembled
at the commandment of God." The reform from its
nature must needs rend asunder the tenderest ties of
earthly affection ; but the demands of religious purity
and the authority of God were felt to be paramount to
every thing else; — and the work was done.

So under Nehemiah. With what enthusiasm, and
despite of what perils, and labors, and watchings did
those city-walls go up! When he came to the money
question and took the rich men in hand for their oppres-
sion of the poor — a reform which is wont to test and to
task the sturdiest arm — the exactors said, " We will
restore, and will require nothing of them." One broad,
deep tide of enthusiasm swept the whole community

along. Next the record of those many days (Neh. 8

and 9) — that whole month of public Bible reading and
of the magnificent celebration of the feast of tabernacles,
followed by a universal reconsecration of the people to
God, marks a most wonderful movement of the popular
mind and heart. Where in all history do we find a
record of religious services more protracted ; more assidu-
ously and heartily sustained; with more earnest atten-
tion to the revealed will of God, and more impressive
devotional services — closingr with such a consecration

ORIGIN OF THE SAMARITAN COMMUNITY. 401

as seemed to lift the whole people to a vastly higher
plane of religious life? There must have been in the
people a remarkable susceptibility to moral and relig-
ious impressions, and in their religious leaders a union
of wisdom, zeal, piety, and prayer, to a degree rarely
equaled, perhaps never surpassed. No doubt the good
hand of God was there, carrying out his earnest purpose
to redeem and to save this restored people and to give
stability and strength to his earthly kingdom.

In the line of coincidences, harmonious and confirm-
atory, between sacred history and profane, there seems
little occasion for remark in regard to the era of the
restoration. The salient points of Persian history from
Cyrus to Artaxerxes inclusive have been long known
to the civilized world, chiefly through the ancient
Greek historians. There can therefore be scarcely the
least occasion to say that Cyrus appears in profane his-
tory at the right time and place and of the right char-
acter to be the restorer of the captive Jews. The same
is true of Darius Hystaspes under whom the temple
was finished : also of Artaxerxes Longimanus under
whose long reign Ezra and Nehemiah wrought their
work for the restored people. More perfect coincidences
it were captious and unreasonable to ask.

In our notice of the captivity of the ten tribes (p.
316) and the resettlement of their country, allusion was
made to the religious character of the Samaritan com-
munity as known to history during the entire Christian
era with reference to the question — Whence came their
religion, and whence their celebrated Samaritan Penta-
teuch and their ritual w^orship ? Do these facts of their
religious sj^stem date from Shalmanezer, or from
Nehemiah, or from some other historic era and
events?

The best and best-sustained opinion dates the relig-
ious elements of the Samaritan people, not from the
Assyrian era but from the Persian — in the age of Nehe-
miah ; and mainly on the following grounds :

(a.) The religion brought in at the Assyrian date
must have been of the Jeroboam type — in nowise bet-
ter than the worship of the calves of Bethel and Dan;
would have been by no means likely to have intro-
duced the Samaritan Pentateuch : still less likely to
have provided for its preservation twenty-five hundred
18

402 ADDENDA ON EZRA AS SCRIBE, ETC.

years — not to say that such a religious system had too
little vitality to have lived till this day.

(b.) On the other hand, in the age of Nehemiah the
Samaritan community absorbed into itself a renegade
high priest (Neh. 13 : 28) who married a daughter of
Sanballat the Horonite. It may be assumed that he
had the Pentateuch in his possession. His high social
position would both give him the power and inspire
the ambition to inaugurate a new religion and engraft
it into the Samaritan community.

(c.) The intense antipathy between Jew and Samar-
itan in which this Samaritan religion was born accounts
philosophically for the great facts of all their subse-
quent history — this antipathy sustained as a national
characteristic, manifesting itself all through the cen-
turies to the Christian era, and indeed to the present
day.

Addenda on Ezra as Scribe^ Author and Compiler.

The reader will have noticed that I have spoken of
Ezra as probably the compiler of the books of Chron-
icles; the author substantially of the book that bears
his name as well as of some Psalms. Also, that in com-
piling Chronicles, regard was had to the moral wants

of the age of the restoration. Here the question will

arise — Was not Ezra's active life too late to admit the
supposition of his agency so early as the building of the
second temple ?

To this I answer,

(1.) The age of Ezra when he went to Judea (seventh
year of Artaxerxes) is not known. Probably he was
then far advanced in life. He certainly had a national
reputation as a learned and ready scribe in the law of
God before he went. It seems morally certain that he
must have died before Nehemiah's return to Persia ; for
the social evils and national sins that developed them-
selves then (Neh. 13) quite forbid the supposition that
he was living there at that time. It is entirely reason-
able to suppose that much of his literary labor upon
the Scriptures was done before he went personally into
Judea ; possibly (perhaps not' probably) some of it as
early as the dedication of the second temple.

(2.) But we need not assume that Ezra labored in his

ESTHER; THE BOOK BEARING HER NAME. 403

great work upon the Scriptures alone. Jewish tradition
makes him the head man in " the Great Synagogue " —
a group or society of learned scribes who wrought in the
same field, some luith him in time; some before him, and
some after. This seems to be the true explanation of this
chronological question. Such men as Haggai, Zecha-
riah, and Zerubbabel may have commenced this great
work ; Ezra took it up and carried it forward ; other good
men, following, gave it the finishing hand.

Esther; and the Booh which hears her Name.

The points properly introductory to this book are — the
date and locality of its events ; the author of the book
and his pur2oose.

The question of date involves the prior question : Who
was this Ahasuerus? I slightly emphasize the word this^
for another Ahasuerus appears in Ezra 4:6. By almost
universal consent of modern critics this one was Xerxes
the Great — famous for his invasion of Greece — whose
reign, commonly reckoned at twent)^-one years, fell
between Darius Hystaspes and Artaxerxes Longimanus.
His Hebrew name was written by the Greek Xerxes ;
his character and acts as here correspond with remark-
able precision to the character and life of Xerxes in
Grecian histor}^ I am not aware of any objection of
real weight against this identification, and shall there-
fore assume it.

The reader will notice that, taking Ahasuerus to be
Xerxes, the events of this book fall after the dedica-
tion of the second temple (second j^ear of Darius), and
hejore the labors of Ezra and Nehemiah (from the
seventh to the thirty-second or some later year of
Artaxerxes Longimanus).

As to locality, the reader will see that these events
transpire, not in Judah, and not where they would
directly affect the colony there save through sj-mpathy;
but in Shushan, the capital of the Medo-Pcrsian Em-
l^ire. The book shows that Jews in considerable
numbers were scattered over that empire, many in
Shushan itself. Of their fortunes under a special
exigency during the reign of Xerxes this book gives
an account.

The name of the author of this book can not be

404 THE STORY OF ESTHER.

ascertained with any certainty. He gives details so
minutely that he must have lived on the spot. His
allusions to Persian life and manners, luxury, customs
and history, harmonize so entirely with what comes to
us through the Greek historians as to compel the same
conclusion. The waiter knew too much of the Persians

to have lived elsewhere than there and then. Some

think the book was written by Mordecai. It is probably
safe to SHY — By him, or at least under his eye.

As to purpose and aim, the author recognizes the feast
of Purim ; indeed makes great account of it as an estab-
lished institution; probably was active in making it
such; and consequently prepared this history of the
events that culminated in that commemorative fes-
tival. Those events were worthy of this commemora-
tion. God's hand in them from first to last was so
signally manifest, the lessons they taught could not fail

to be at once impressive and instructive. But though

God's hand was in these events, too plainly manifest to
be mistaken or unnoticed, yet his name is not here, not
being even once written in this book. We are left in
no doubt that Mordecai believed in God's covenant with
his people and in his promises of salvation in their
behalf (4 : 14), and that both he and Esther believed in
prayer, though they do not name pra5"er, but only fast-
ing, when it seems plain enough that prayer is in their
thought as truly as fasting. Why this reticence as to
the name of God and as to prayer to him, is a mystery
unexplained. It is natural to assume that there was
some reason in their relation to Persian or to Magian
ideas (philosophical, superstitious, or otherwise) which
induced this suppression of names ever dear to pious
souls ; but what the reason was must probably remain

unknown. The contrast between this book and

Nehemiah and Ezra in these respects is striking.

The story is told with great simplicity and clearness.
In the third year of the reign of this Ahasuerus he
convened an immense council of his subordinate offi-
cers, heads of the provinces (127) of his vast empire
which continued its sittings and convivialities 180
days. It is assumed with high probability that the
object of this council was to take action upon the inva-
sion of Greece — that great but most disastrous enter-
prise of Xerxes, in which he took 5,000,000 of men

THE STORY OF ESTHER. 405

a'cross the Hellespont (soldiers, servants, sutlers, etc.,
all counted), yet scarcely brought back 5,000. The
gorgeous splendor of this great festival (1 : 5-8) is quite
in harmony with the historic accounts of Persian luxury
and magnificence. His great army gotten up in the
same style was enervated, and, against Grecian disci-
pline and vigor, powerless. When the king and his

lords became merry and rude with wine, he gave orders
" to bring his Queen Yashti before him with the crown
ro3^al to show the people and the princes her beauty;
for she was fair to look on." We think the better of
her that she had so much sense of womanly dignity as
to refuse to make herself the gazing stock of a hundred
or more half-drunken men though they were the digni-
taries of the empire. The king felt his dignity hurt by
her refusal, and brought the offense, as one of grave
importance, before his seven high counselors. They
too felt the gravity of this momentous question, taking
what they seem to have regarded as very broad and
statesman-like views of its bearings upon the proper
subordination of all wives throughout the realm to their
husbands. They advise that she be promptly deposed
(shall we say divorced?) and her place filled by the
most beautiful damsel to be found in the realm. It
was of the Lord that this flurry in the royal harem
should bring in Esther the Jewess, cousin and ward of
Mordecai, to become queen of King Ahasuerus. Mor-
decai, it seems, held some subordinate place in the
palace. Esther's nationality was not at this time
known.

Another incident is on record (2 : 21-23) which sub-
sequently turned to account toward the elevation of
INIordecai. A conspiracy by two offended chamberlains
to take the life of the king came to his knowledge.
Promptly exposing it he saved the king from assassi-
nation. Public record was made of his agency in their
exposure and punishment; but no further notice was
taken of it at the time.

Haman comes to light here, apparently an artful
flatterer, working his way skillfully into the good graces
of his king, and rising rapidly to the highest honors.
All the king's servants bowed before Haman with
oriental reverence — all save this Jew Mordecai, who,
from conscientious scruples or contempt for the man,

406 THE STORY OF ESTHER.

declined persistently. The supposition of conscientious
scruples is the more probable because in this connec-
tion it came out that Mordecai was a Jew. Haman

was stung by this assumed disrespect. Disdaining the
insignificant revenge of taking one human life for so
grave an insult, he plotted the destruction of all the
Jews in the empire. Such a measure commended
itself to him (probably) as magnificent — worthy of the
head prince of the great realm of Persia ! To compass
his object he represented to the king that the Jews
were a "diverse" set of people scattered over his realm,
subject to laws of their own, and, as he would imply, to
no other laws — not, therefore, a profitable class of sub-
jects for his empire. He proposed to the king to ex-
terminate them altogether. He will pay the king ten
thousand talents of silver for the desired edict for their

extermination. Under a strong love of money and a

shamefully weak sense of justice, the king yielded. It
does not appear that he even hesitated at all over this
bloody proposition.* Apparently to relieve somewhat
Haman's financial burdens, the king said to him : "The
silver is given to thee " (probably in the sense of j^er-
mission to confiscate all the property of the murdered
Jews, to reimburse himself for the ten thousand tal-
ents); "and the people also;" do what you like with
them. Haman had previously cast lots to find the
auspicious day for this holocaust of human life ; and
tlie Lord had put it off to the last month of the year, so
that eleven months intervened before the day of
slaughter. The order having been obtained, sealed, and
made irrevocable by the Persian constitution, it was
promulgated throughout the empire, that on the thir-
teenth day of Adar, the last month of the year, all Jews
were to be massacred and their property confiscated.
This being done, "the king and Haman sat down to
drink" — little dreaming of the retributions of the
Ahnighty; "but the city Shushan was perplexed" —
not tlie Jews only, but the people at large trembled be-
fore such shocking inhumanity and such a barbarous

*■ Such massacres of a wliole race of people were by no means un-
known in Oriental history. The immediate predecessor of Darius
(Xerxes' father) was a Magian. On the accession of Darius, all
Magians were doomed to slaughter. It is said that fifty thousand
were slain.

THE STORY OF ESTHER. 407

exercise of power. How could they know how soon a
similar edict might call for their own heads?

Mordecai mourned in bitter grief; and " many of his
people lay in sackcloth and ashes." Ultimately ho
sent to Esther a copy of the king's bloody decree and
"charged her to go in to the king and make request

before him for her people." This is the hour of her

responsibility. She feels the critical delicacy of her
position. By the law of the Persian harem she can not
go before the king uncalled, except -svith some peril of
her life. If the king takes such intrusion kindly, he
extends the golden scepter : if otherwise, the intruder
must die. She replied to Mordecai that she had not
been called in to the king for thirty days, and could not
know when she might be called again. Mordecai
replied : Remember you belong to the doomed race.
Think not that you will escape when all the Jews of
the realm are massacred. He added — "Enlargement
and deliverance will come to the Jews from some
quarter." Manifestly he had faith in the God of their
covenant — the God of the ancient promises. He con-
cluded with yet another allusion to the unseen, dispo-
sing Hand : — "Who knoweth whether thou art come to
the kingdom for such a time as this?" The provi-
dences that brought you there are wonderful. Perhaps
God's hand shaped them that you might be the savior
of 3'our people in this terrible emergency.

What is her reply? "Go," said she, "gather all the
Jews of Shushan and fast for me three days." (Why does
not she say what she doubtless means— fast and pray ?)
I and my maidens will fast likewise; and so— after this
— I will go in to the king, though it be not according to

law; "and if I perish, I perish." She went in, and

the king extended his golden scepter, and invited her
to make her request known. The moment is so criti-
cal, the interests are so vast, the perils of the future so
great, she can not bring herself to name her main re-
quest 5'et, but said — " Come, thou and Haman, to-mor-
row to my banquet." Agreed; but still her mind
labored with anxious care. She dared not present her
main petition yet (the Lord's aiTangements were not
ripe) — she therefore invited them to a second banquet
the next da3\ Then she would bring before the king
her great request.

408 THE STORY OF ESTHER.

This delay provided for certain new developments as
to Haman. He is elated with the honors shown him — •
l:)y all save that man Mordecai, sitting contemptuously
and giving him no recognition of homage as he passed
along. ''AH this honor," said he, "avails me nothing
so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's
gate," paying me no deference. It weighed upon his
heart so badly that he talked the case over with his
wife and friends. They advised him to fit up a gallows
for Mordecai fifty cubits high, and ask the king's order
to hang Mordecai thereon. They assumed that the king
would grant this. Mordecai was nothing but a Jew, and
only one at that — not a whole nation ; and at the utmost,
this would only anticij^ate by a few months what the

king had already decreed. Here the hand of God

came in again. For some reason unknown to himself
the king on the ensuing night was sleepless. To pass
away the heavy time, he ordered the records of the realm
to be read before him; when lo, there came up the for-
gotten case of the conspiracy against his life, discovered
and disclosed by Mordecai the Jew. "Has any thing
been done to reward Mordecai for this ? " " Nothing."
Something must be done without delay. [It is very
much for the interest of all kings — despots as well as
better men — to encourage the revelation of bloody con-
spiracies]. At the dinner table where Haman has it on
his mind to ask the king's permission to impale Mor-
decai on his lofty gallows, the king has this other thing
on his mind. " Haman," said he, " what shall be done to
the man whom the king delighteth to honor?" That,
said Haman to himself, means me ; now is my time to
mount to the highest honors of the realm — next below
the king. So he shapes the answer to his own taste : —
"Put on him the king's apparel; give him the king's
horse to ride — his crown to wear ; and a herald to go
before him, proclaiming, " Thus is it done to the man
whom the king delighteth to honor." "Go thou," said

the king, "and do all this to Mordecai the Jew."

Alas! was ever mortal man worse confounded? The
king's word is law. Having obeyed it, he hastened to
his house, with heavy heart — head covered. He could
not conceal from his wife and friends what had hap-
pened. They see in it the augury of a sure and fatal
fall. The second banquet hastened on; the time had

THE STORY OF ESTHER. 409

fully come for Esther to present her great request to
the kins:. She does it modestly, yet with thrilling
effect : " If it please the king, let my life be given
me at my petition and my people at my request ;
for we are sold, I and my people to be destroyed, to
be slain, to perish. If we had only been sold for slaves,
I would have remained silent — although the enemy

could not make good the damage to the king."

" Who is the man," said the king; "where is the man
that durst presume in his heart to do so?" Esther
replied — "The adversary and enemy is this wicked

Haman." Alas, poor Haman! "He was afraid"

[these words are weak] — " afraid before the king and
the queen." The king rose suddenly from his table in
great agitation, to walk in his palace garden. Haman
seizes the moment to fall at Esther's feet and beg for
his life. The king returning saw him there and said —
" Will he even force the queen before me in the house ? "
At that word, the attendants forecast Haman's doom and
cover his face. One said — There is the gallows, fifty
cubits high, which Haman built for Mordecai. The
king said, " Hang Haman there." Done ; and the king's
wrath was pacified.

At this stage (if not before) Esther informs the king
of her relation to Mordecai. He was introduced before
the king and at once promoted to high honor and re-
sponsibility. The house and estate of Haman were

made over to him. The way was at length prepared

for Esther to make her final request of the king — that
ho reverse that horrible decree which authorized the
slaughter of all the Jews of his realm. He avowed his
readiness to do any thing for her and her people that
he could ; but a decree of the Medes and Persians, once
made and sealed, no power could reverse. This how-
ever he could do, and did : Raise Mordecai to the highest
honor as his prime minister; show his personal sympa-
thy for his Jewish subjects unmistakably, and give them
full authority to defend themselves everywhere ; destroy
their assailants; and confiscate their property.

In the event the popular sympathy proved to be
intensely icUh the Jews and against their enemies.
" Many of the peoi)le of the land became Jews, for the

fear of the Jews fell upon them" (8: 17). On the

great day of their decreed slaughter, " all the rulers and

410 REVELATION PROGRESSIVEj ETC.

officers of the king helped the Jews because the fear of
Mordecai fell upon them " (9 : 3). The story does not
indicate that any Jews fell in these two days of terror
and blood. Of their enemies there fell 500 in Shushan ;
in all the provinces 75,000. The second day assigned
for slaughter and the day following were for all Jews
days of intensest exultation and joy. The day " was
turned as to them from sorrow to joy ; and from mourn-
ing into a good day." That day in which they had
expected only assault, pillage, blood, death, over all the
Persian empire, proved through God's reversing provi-
dences to be a day of bloodless victory over their ene-
mies ; a day of gladness, congratulations, feasting, and

all possible demonstrations of joy. To celebrate these

days the feast of Purim was ordained for the fourteenth
and fifteenth of the month Adar — to be celebrated
through all their generations. It has been kept to this
day. In this festival, all Jews refresh their memory
with the events of this book of Esther and their hearts
with the indications of God's kind remembrance of
their low estate, gratefully welcoming such proofs as
these that their own God knoweth how to give songs in
pLace of wailings ; life and peace instead of the horrors
of bloody extermination.

CHAPTER XIII.

Divine Revelation iirogresslve throughout Hebrew History.

Our study of Hebrew history will be yet incomplete
till we have given duo attention to the progress made
in God's revelations of himself to men in the course of
this Hebrew history.

In the outset I must caution the reader not to con-
found progress in building up and purifying the church
with progress in the revelations of God. It is charming
to be able to observe progress in the tone of piety; joro-
gress in the manifestations of the religious life; and
sad to see — instead of this — a real decline, a positive
retrogression. Yet let it be distinctly said : God may
be making as real and as rapid progress in the revela-

ETC. 411

tion of himself in jieriods of declension as in periods of
reviving and enlargement to Zion. There are aspects
of his character which shine more brightly in times of
Zion's fldversit}^

Aiming to arrange with some method the points of
noticeable progress in this portion of*Hebrew history, I
remark,

1. If it was progress to give to mankind a large body
of Christian experience in the inspired utterances of
Psalmist and Prophet, it was but filling out more com-
pletely the exhibition of this progress to give in history
the circumstances and events under which those experi-
ences occurred. By this aid those experiences become to
our apprehension more life-like, vivid, real, impressive.
Indeed it were simply impossible to understand and ap-
preciate those experiences without this historic aid.
Hence I have aimed to refer from this history to the
Psalms composed under the full impression of the cir-
cumstances which this history sets before us. On the
same principle many passages in the prophets will be
seen in their true light and felt in their fuller power if
read in connection with the history to which they refer.
The experiences of both Psalmist and Prophet, history
serves not only to interpret, but to illustrate and even to
illuminate with the radiance of their full glory.

2. It was progress to reveal the purity and justice of
God both in chastising and in punishing his people
when they apostatized into idolatry and lapsed into
flagrant immorality. Of this we have seen count-
less examples throughout the history of the Judges
and of the wicked kings of both Israel and Judah.
It was the solemn purpose of the Lord to make his
covenant people understand that such sin could not be
tolerated; that such professed service could in nowise
be taken for service at all. "Of purer eye than
to behold iniquity" was written by the divine
finger on every uplifted rod of chastisement ; on every
visitation of retributive judgment. While the chas-
tisement was corrective and the judgment was illustra-
tive of his eternal justice, both alike bore their testi-
mony that God hated sin intensely, and must either
eradicate the sin or exterminate the sinner.

3. It was progress to roll up a mass of overwhelming
testimonies to God^s iirescnt retribution upon guilty nations.

412 REVELATION PROGRESSIVE, ETC.

It can not be said too clearly or emphatically that
nations as such have a character and life of their own ;
therefore must bear moral responsibilities toward the
Infinite God each for itself; and — what is specially
vital to consider — must have their retribution not only
begun but finished in this w^orld — in time — for the sim-
ple reason that as nations they have no future world.
Hence they afford in all ages finished examples of God's
retributive justice.

It should be remembered as bearing not on this one
point only, but upon all the points made in this closing
chapter : — It is valuable to us above all price that in
this historic Bible, the Historian is virtually God himself.
" Hoi 3^ men of old spake as they moved by the Holy
Ghost." Of uninspired historians some are too blind to
see God's hand in history ; some too perverse to honor
what of it they do see. God knows his own doings and
the meaning thereof. When therefore he becomes his
own historian, how should we honor the history he
w^rites, and how should we ponder solemnly, profoundly,
the words which reveal the great principles upon Avhich,
as he himself testifies, he governs the nations of the
earth !

4. It was progress to give so many manifestations of
God^s righteous judgments upon individuals — in a dispensa-
tion which filled out its results upon individual men
so far — not perfectly indeed, yet far enough to become
strikingly manifest. It has been sometimes said (upon
very superficial consideration) that all the ills sent of
God upon sinners in this world are discipline; none of
them retribution. Our reading of this Hebrew history
sliould have taught us better. For, what shall Ave say
of God's "rendering their iniquities upon Abimelech
and the men of Shechem" (Judg. 9 : bQ^ bl) or upon the
two sons of Eli, or upon King Saul, or upon Absalom,
or Jezebel, or Jehoiakim ? If there be any such thing
as retribution from God upon sin, the judgments that
fell from his hand upon these notorious sinners were of
this sort; not indeed finished, perfected retribution, yet
retribution in nature and in fact none the less. The
fullness and variety of these illustrative cases make up
a chapter from God's recording prophets whose testi-
mony it were folly to ignore and fool-hardiness to dis-
regard.

REVELATION PROGRESSIVE, ETC. 413

5. It was progress to give illustrations of this divine
retribution in sufficient number, variety and clearness,

to disclose in a fair measure its real nature. The idea

finds no little favor in our age that retribution for sin
is neither more nor less than sin punishing itself. Sin
(some men love to say) is its own punishment ; a bad
heart its own avenger— and beyond that — nothing. In
their view there is no need of God in the case ; and God
is not in it. Whatever moral government there is in
this world or in the world to come runs itself. Tlie sin-
ner's own nature, and this only, is judge, jur}^, execu-
tioner. If God even stoops to look on, it is a fact of no
particular account. The process is all the same whether

he do or do not. This volume can not afford space to

discuss this notion exhaustively. But it is in place
here to say emphatically that these views of retribution
for sin never came from the Bible. Everywhere in the
insj^ired history of retribution on sinners, it is God's
own scales of justice that measure the sinner's ill-desert,
and his own hand which hurls the thunders of heaven
upon the guilty. Who judged and punished the wicked
sons of Eli? Were they left to the sole retribution of a
guilty and accusing conscience ? Was Jezebel's a case
of self-torment and of self-inflicted punishment ? Is
there a solitary case in the long catalogue of Bible sin-
ners suffering retribution for their sins on earth, in
which you can say with the least show of reason that
sin punished itself and that the government which
visited them with retribution was self-acting, self-
asserting, and self-vindicating ? We shall need entirely
another Bible for this new doctrine of retribution.

6. It is in a sort the resultant of points already made
above, to say that Bible history shows God to be a Moral
Governor — evermore holding men responsible to him-
self, and actually punishing sin by the infliction of suf-
fering. Tliis doctrine does not assert that God makes
his administration of this moral government perfect
here in time ; does not deny that in large part it holds
over to another world — beginning here ; taught, illus-
trated and enforced upon the human heart and con-
science by the part developed here ; yet carried over for
its completed result, into that enduring state of exist-
ence where there shall be no lack of either time or means
or agencies to make its awards absolutely perfect. The

414 REVELATION PROGRESSIVE, ETC.

great fact — God the Moral Governor of all his moral
subjects — stands out on every page of Bible history. It
could not well have been made more plain if God had
created the Hebrew race and given them a history for
the sole end of teaching and illustrating this stupen-
dous truth.

7. It was progress to show by frequent, indeed per-
petual, illustrations that probation in time is purposely
shaped to afford space for repentance. What is the history
of God's ways with sinners (nations or individual men)
but warning and waiting; waiting and warning — with
rod uplifted but slow to fall — all as if the ever-present
thought and purpose of the Great Ruler were to per-
suade the guilty to repent; to spare them long in
patient hope ; and to let fall the fearful blow only when
the last hope had perished? We have read this his-
tory but poorly if we have not seen this great purpose
of God radiant everywhere in the light of his patieiice
and of his love.

8.^ It was progress to show that while God's judgments
against sin were fearfully manifest, yet they were " his
strange loork, and mercp his delight.'''' Everywhere the
record shows that he loves to forgive and does not love
to afflict ; that he gives pardons when he can with full
heart and overflowing hand; but lets fall consuming
judgments with heart-pangs of grief, and only when
lie must — swift to hear the cry of penitent souls for
mercy; slow to wrath even against the most defiant and
most guilty. A history which abounds in such illus-
trations ought to leave no mind in darkness as to the
character and ways of the Holy One.

9. Let the remark take the broadest compass : — It is
progress to show that man needs a Savior, and more-
over needs a moral laiv to reveal to him this need of such
a Savior as Jesus. It was consummate wisdom in God
to allow some time in this world's history before the
Messiah should appear. There was preparatory work to
be done. In nothing was this need more imperative
than in regard to just views of God as Lawgiver and
Moral Governor; a just sense of sin and of the hopeless-
ness of the sinner's case without a divine Redeemer.
AH along the ages of Hebrew history light was break-
ing forth on these cardinal points. The chosen people
were often falling into great sin, and as often were

ETC. 415

compelled to study and learn the conditions of God's
forgiving mercy. Sacrifice, confession, penitence,
prayer— so they found mercy, and so they marked the
way to mercy for the guidance of sinning men all along
the ages that were to follow. The sacrificial system
gave the idea of atonement — pardon through another's
blood. Confession admitted that in justice the sinner
and not the innocent lamb deserved to die. So light
was shed on the way of salvation through a Savior yet
to come, witnessing "that " without the shedding of blood,
there could be no remission of sin."

10. A ritual system with indefinite ceremonial cleans-
ings being useful to lift men's thought to the idea of
spiritual puritj^ it was progress to guard the system
against abuse by showing that the washing of the flesh
merely illustrated but could never supersede the washing

of the heart, and was by no means the same thing.

So also, it being helpful toward just conceptions of a
present God to give some symbols of his presence (e. g.,
the ark ; the visible glory above it ; the sacred temple)
it became vital to guard these ritual helps against abuse
by showing that the presence of these symbols could
never save men in their sins. Historic illustrations on
such points as these became a necessit}^, and are ainong
the points of real progress in the revelations of God to
men.

11. It was progress to furnish prophetic foreshadowings
of God's great thoughts of merc}^ touching a Savior to come

and the icork he should really achieve in our world. We

can scarcely enter upon this great subject here. Yet
let it be said briefly that while the nature of his atoning
sacrifice is largely left for its illustration to the Mosaic
sacrificial S3"stem, it fell chiefly to the prophets to give
pre-intimations as to the residts of the Messiah^s coming and
the extent of his blessings upon our race. The details on
these points are to be found (of course) in the prophetic

l)ooks, and can not be presented here. But it is in

place to say here that these pages of Hebrew history
stand in a very peculiar relation to Hebrew propliecy
as furnishing to a great extent the basis for 2^0 j)hetic illus-
ti-ation. Let us study this fact as seen in special ex-
amples.

(a.) In prophecy the Messiah is a king; is to 'rule a
kingdom; is to achieve results legitimate to a well

416

ordered kingdom, viz., righteousness, prosperity, peace.

Where is the model of this kingdom? Whence

came the conception, the figure, which so largely under-
lies three-fourths of all the prophecies respecting the

Messiah ? The one comprehensive answer is — Fivm

the kingdom of David. As David's reign made Israel
great and triumphant over enemies on every side, and
religious also, and peaceful and prosperous beyond any
thing known in the whole range of Hebrew history, so
it came to be the best type of the nation's Messiah in
all the great respects here contemplated. The history
well studied interprets those grand old proj)hecies
whose imagery is built upon it.

(b.) There occurred more than once in the course
of this history some signal deliverance wrought of
God in behalf of his people, of a sort to set forth both
the power and the love of their own Jehovah.. These
were seized by the prophets for the illustration of the
great and benign results to be achieved by the nation's
Messiah. When the Assyrian hosts were laid low so
suddenl}^, so signall}^, so utterly, in one eventful night,
Isaiah saw it with his own eyes, and his soul was en-
kindled. He saw in it not only what God had wrought
there, but what he ivould achieve when the little root-
shoot from the stem of Jesse (Isa. 10: 24-34, and 11 : 1-
16) should rule in righteousness, and his moral sway on
human souls be far more glorious than this fall of the
proud Assyrian's host. Who can say how much the
lofty sublimity of Isaiah's conceptions of the Messiah
may be due to the inspirations of this stupendous
scene? The peace and joy felt by the daughters of
Jerusalem after the Assyrian's fall passed over into his
tliought of the blessedness of the spiritual Zion under
the glorious reign of her own Messiah. So the res-
toration from captivity in Babylon served to lift the
soul of many a Hebrew prophet to loftier conceptions
of what God would achieve when his Son should become
the world's Great Iledeemer ; should break every yoke ;
lift his people from bondage, otherwise hopeless, and
prove himself able to save to the uttermost. Those glow-
ing prophecies of Isaiah (chaps. 40-66) seem to have
been built in large part on the foreseen redemption of
Israel from her captivity in Babylon. Jointly, there-
fore, upon what Isaiah saw (the Assyrian fall) and

REVELATION PROGRESSIVEj ETC. 417

what he foresaw (the restoration from Babylon) his
sublime predictions of the future Zion rest, and from

those scenes derive their wonderful illustrations.

These cases, the reader will remember, are not exhaust-
ive, but are only samples to illustrate the modes of
prophetic conception and the uses which the prophetic
spirit made of Hebrew history.

(c.) Yet another class of prophecies find their historic
illustration in another group of historic facts. There
were periods (e. g., in the reign of Ahaz, also of Jehoia-
kim, and in the age of Malachi) when Judah was brought
low for her transgressions. There seemed to be no spirit-
ual vitality left upon which to rally toward new life.

Measured by human resources, all was lost. But God

still lived and his arm was still strong to save. The
very emergency made a place for the more glorious re-
vealing of his power and of his love. It was when the
whole aspect of affairs looked so death-like under Ahaz
that the Lord sent through Isaiah that bright prophecy of
the Virgin and her son Immanuel (Isa. 7: 10-16).
Drawn out in more ample detail the same principle may
he seen unfolded in Isa. 59 and 60; — first a state of un-
paralleled moral prostration ; wickedness rampant ;
*' justice standing afar off;" "truth fallen." Then the
Lord saw there was no help in man, and therefore he rose
to the crying emergency; girded himself for the onset
and wrought glorious victory for Zion ; for here Isaiah
introduces one of the grandest predictions of Messiah's
reign (Isa. 60) which prophet's eye has ever seen or pen
recorded. The background of this wonderful picture is
the desolation that came over Zion in the wicked reign
of Ahaz, or in the not less wicked reigns of Judah's last
three kings, foreseen prophetically, which brought on

the great captivity. A similar moral ruin in the age

of Malachi kindled the zeal of the Holy One of Israel to
declare — "I will not accept your" [heartless] "offering."
^^ For from the rising of the sun to the going down of
the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles ;
and in every place incense shall be offered to my name
and a pure oflering; for mv name shall he great among

the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Mai. 1 : 11.)

Hebrew history gives these background positions for
the setting of such brilliant portrayals of Zion's tran-
scendent glories. It was one of the elements of a pro-

418 REVELATION PROGRESSIVE, ETC.

gressive revelation to give these darkest historic scenes,
and then put them behind the prophetic pictures for
their background. Else we had failed of the full con-
ception of the glories of our Messiah's reign. Such

emergencies, moreover, give historic occasion for the
enkindling of zeal and the expression of determined
purpose on the part of the Almighty — of a sort which
give the richest demonstrations of his will to make the
gospel under Messiah's reign a sublime and glorious
success, to the full extent of " giving the nations to him
for his inheritance and the ends of the earth for his
possession."

APPENDIX.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

419

I. KINGS OF JUDAH.

Began to reign Reigned

B. C. years.

Pichoboam 975 17

Abijain 958 3

Asa 955 41

Jehoshaphat 914 25

Jehoram 891 7

Ahaziah 884- K

Athaliah 884 7

Joash 877 39

Amaziah 838 27

Uzziah 811 52

Jotham 759 16

Ahaz 743 15

Ilezekiah...; 728 29

Manasseh 699 55

Amon 644 2

Josiah 642 31

Jehoahaz 611 K

"Jehoiakim 611 11

Jehoiachin 600 —

Zedekiah 600 12

End of the kingdom 588

II. KINGS OF ISRAEL.

Began to reign Reigned

B. c. years.

Jeroboam 1 975 22

Nadab 954 2

Baasha 952 22

Elah 930 1

Omri 929 11

Ahab 918 21

Ahaziah 897 1

Jehoram 896 12

Jehu 884 28

Jehoahaz 856 16

Joash 840 16

Jeroboam II 825 41

Interregnum 784 11

Zachariah 773 K

Shallum 773 1-12

Menahem 773 12

Pekahiah 761 2

Pekah 759 19

Interregnum 740 9

Hoshea 731 9

Endof the kingdom 722

III. HEBREW PROPHETS.

B. C,

Joel (supposed) 830-825

Jonah 823

Amos 825-759

Hosea between 825 and 699

Isaiah 759-699

Micah 758-699

Nahum 700

Jeremiah 629-580

Zephaniah 624

Habakkuk 610-588

Daniel 603-533

Ezekiel 595-573

Obadiah 538-580

Ilaggai 520

Zechariah 520

Ezra 457-432

Nehemiah in Judah

444-432 and 408-400

Malachi (supposed) 408-400

N. B. — In a few of these cases no
certain data exist. The figures
should be regarded as only the near-
est approximation to truth possible
under the circumstances.

IV. KINGS OF ASSYRIA

Which appear in the sacred history.

[On the authority of Geo. Raw-
linson.]

B. C.

Pul 800-750

Tiglath Pileser 747-730

Shalmanezer 730-721

Sargon 721-702

Sennacherib 702-680

Esarhaddon 680-660

CowLEs's Notes on the Old Testameni

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1 VoL 12mo. Cloth. 638 pages $1.75.

CONTENTS.

1, Cent.— -Tho Bad Eraperors.— II. The Good Emperors. — III. Anar-
OHy and Confusion. — Growth of the Christian Church. — IV. The EemoTal
to Constantinople. — Establishment of Christianity. — Apostasy of Julian. —
Bcttlement of the Goths. — V. End of the Roman Empire. — Formation ol
Modern States.— Growth of Ecclesiastical Authority.— VI. Belisarius and
Narses in Italy— Settlement of the Lombards. — Laws of Justinian. — Birth
of Mohammed.— VII. Power of Home supported by the Monks. — Coa-
quests of the Mohammedans. — VIII. Temporal Power of the Popes. — The
Empire of Charlemagne. — IX. — Dismemberment of Charlemagne's Em-
pire.— Danish Invasion of England. — Weakness of France. — Reign o(
Alfred. — X. Darkness and Despair. — XI. The Commencement of Imnrove-
ment. — Gregory the Seventh. — First Crusade. — XII. Elevation of Learn-
ing.— Power of the Church. — Thomas k Becket. — XIII. First Crusade
against Heretics. — The Alblgenses. — Magna Charta. — Edward I. — XIV.
Abolition of the Order of Templars. — Rise of Modern Literature. — Schism
of the Church. — XV. Decline of Feudalism. — Agincourt. — Joan of Arc. —
The Printing Press. — Discovery of America. — XVI. The Reformation. —
The Jesuits. — Policy of Elizabeth. — XVII. English Rebellion and Revolu-
tion.—Despotism of Louis the Fourteenth.— XVIII. India.— America.—
France. — Index.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Mr. White possesses in a high degree tho power of epitomizing— that
fHOulty which enables him to^distil the essence from a mass oi facts, and to
eondenso it in description j" a battle, siege, or other remarkable event,
which, without his skill, might occupy a chapter, is corwpressed within
the compass of a y^"^ or two, and this without the sacrifice of any feature
ebsential or signincant. — Century.

Mr. White has been very happy in touching upon the salient points in
the history of each century m the Christian era, and yet has avoided mak-
ing his work a mere bald analysis or chronological table. — Prov. Joubnau

In no single volume of English literature can so satisfying and clear ax>
Idea of the historical character of these eighteen centuries be obtainei.—
Hoiu Journal.

In this volume we have the best epxtoice or Christian History bx-
fAMT. This is high praise, but at the same time just. The author's pecu-
liar success is in making the great points and facts of history stand out hj
Nharp relief. His style may be said to be stereosoopio, and tno effect \a e»
oewlingly impresBive.— Pboyidmiok Pbesb.

A Complete Biblical Library.

THE

TREASURY OF BIBLE KNOWLEDGE

BEING

A Dl CTION AR Y

The Books, Persons, Places, Events, and other matters, of

which mention is made in Holy Scripture. Intended

to establish its authority and illustrate its contents.

By RE^. JOHN- ^YRE, 1^1. ^.,

OF GONVILLE AND CA1U3 COLLEGE, CAilBKIDGE,

Illustrate J ivith many hundred ivoodcuts and fifteen full-page steel flateSj
drawn by Justyne^from original photographs by Graham^ and fi-ve
colored maps. l thick volume, izmo, ^^ pages. Price,
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Sent free hy mail on receipt of the price.

" The general object of this work is to promote the intelligent
use of the Sacred Volume by furnishing a mass of information re-
specting Palestine, and the manners, customs, religion, literature, arts,
and attainments of the inhabitants ; an account of the countries and
races with which the Hebrews had relations, together with some
notice of all the persons and places mentioned in the Bible and
Apocrypha. The history and authority of the books themselves are
discussed conjointly and severally. I have been anxious to study the
best authorities for what is asserted, and to bring up the informa-
tion to the most modem standard. I have not written hastily,
therefore, but have spent some years in the compilation of this
Tolume." — Extract from the Preface.

"Among the books which should find a place in the collection of
every Christian man, who seeks to have in his possession any thing
beyond a Bible and hymn-book, we know of none more valuable
than 'The Treasury of Bible Knowledge.' It is in all respects the
best, as it is the most convenient manual for the Biblical student yet
published. We hope to see this work in the hands of every Sunday-
Bchool and Bible-class teacher." — Americatt Baptist.

" » * * Qjjg Qf ^jjg most valuable publications ever issued by
that house." — Xew Yorker.

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