HAROLD B LEE^TTPT?Ar>v
BRIGHAM YOUNG umSxY
PROVO, UTAH ^
oldT^estament studies
VOLUME TWO
From the Establishment of the Kingdom
Under Saul
Written for the
Deseret Sunday School Union
By Dr, Joseph M. Tanner
Published by the Deseret Sunday School Union
Salt Lake City, Utah
1917
Copyright 1917
By Joseph F. Smith
for the
Deseret Sunday School Union
BRteHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
PROVO. UTAH
PREFACE
This work has been prepared in two volumes as
a text-book for the Deseret Sunday School Union.
Its object is to cultivate a familiarity with the lan-
guage of the Bible, to awaken an interest in Sacred
History, and to develop a love for the truths con-
tained in this, the best known and most widely read
of all books.
The Old Testament unfolds the history, teach-
ings, aim and hopes of a peculiar race in a manner
unparalleled by any other book. Its chief value,
however, lies in the teachings of the relationship of
man to God. Its influence for good reaches through
centuries, and its teachings become a guide to indi-
vidual conduct.
It is sincerely hoped that the text will stimulate
home preparation for class work on the part of stu-
dents, and to this end the services of the parents
are earnestly solicited to give encouragement and
guidance. The reading of scriptural passages
aloud in the home by the student as a preparation
will afford an excellent opportunity for familiariz-
ing him with the style of language used in the
Bible, and will serve to impress upon him the force
and the world of thought therein contained. The
memorization of choice passages is always to be
commended.
The limitations put upon the book were such
iv OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
that much valuable subject matter had to be omit-
ted. The student, therefore, will do well to supple-
ment the text book by the study of special passages
of scripture and other references bearing upon the
subj-ect under discussion.
The review questions are intended not merely to
fix the facts of the lesson in the mind, but to culti-
vate a habit of thoroughness in reading. ^^Repeti-
tion is the mother of learning." The questions for
discussion are given to encourage reasoning by the
wider application of Bible teaching to general
knowledge and the application of what is learned to
the conduct of daily life. They should further en-
courage a spirit of investigation and the practice
of home reading. Second and repeated thoughts
are more helpful, intellectually and religiously,
than the mere cursory reading of the text.
It will be helpful to the students of Old Testa-
ment history if additional time be given to a care-
ful study of Proverbs and the Psalms. These books
throw special light on the underlying thoughts,
feelings, and character of Israelitish life. They are
also the sources of much of the wisdom and litera-
ture of the subsequent ages. Individual guidance
may be aided very greatly by a familiarity with the
teachings of these books.
It is hoped that the quotations will lead to a
greater desire on the part of students to read and
study all the books of the Old Testament and to ac-
quire a deeper insight into the Bible and from it
into life itself.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
Saul, the First King of Israel
Choice of king entrusted to Samuel — Meeting of Saul and
Samuel — Saul anointed king — ^Saul's heart changed —
War against Moabites — Saul's army — He is command-
ed to utterly destroy the Amalekites including their ani-
mals— He disobeys — Rebuked by Samuel — Rejected of
God 1
CHAPTER 2
The Call and Preparation of David
Samuel grieves for Saul — A^noints David — Saul afflicted —
Relieved by David's music — Goliath challenges Israel —
Slain by David — David and Jonathan — Saul jealous of
David — The people love Davi<d — His marriage 13
CHAPTER 3
Call and Preparation of David (Continued)
David and Jonathan confer — Saul angry with Jonathan —
David flees from Saul — Is pursued — bpares Saul — Sam-
uel's death — David marries Abigail and Ahinoam —
Spares Saul again 27
CHAPTER 4
David a Refugee and the Death of Saul
David and Achish — Witch of En-dor — Achish refuses
David's help — David recovers spoil — 'Divides it — Death
lOf Saul and Jonathan 2)7
CHAPTER 5
David king of Israel
David avenges Saul's death — Mourns for Jonathan — Da-
vid anointed king of Judah — Abner and Joab — ^David
anointed king over all Israel — Desires to build a tem-
ple— The Lord withholds permission — Ark removed to
Jerusalem — ^Uzzah smitten with death for taking hold
.of it— Wars of David 46
vi OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
CHAPTER 6
Troubles Becloud the Reign of David
David sins with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah — Rebuked by
Nathan the prophet — Mourns his sin — Revolt and death
of Absalom — David's grief for him — Revolt and death
of Sheba — David's conquests — He luumbers Israel and
Judah — <Given choice of Dunishments and chooses pesti-
lence 56
CHAPTER 7
Solomon Made King
Adonijah claims throne — Bathsheba intercedes with Da-
vid for Solomon — David causes Solomon to be anointed
king — 'Adonijah surrenders — ^Desires to marry Abishag
— Condemned to death by Solomon — Solomon prom-
ised wisdom — Size of his kingdom — His great wisdom 69
CHAPTER 8
Solomon^s Temple
Building of temple begun — Hiram, king of Tyre, assists
— Forced labor employed — Chronology — Solomon's
palace — ^Interior furnishings of temple — Dedication of
it — Dedicatory prayer 80
CHAPTER 9
The End of Solomon's Reign
Lord appears to Solomon — King Hiram's reward — ^Levy-
ing system — ^Land of Ophir — Queen of Sheba — Splo-
moiu's wives lead him into idolatry — Jeroboam rebels —
Ahijah the prophet promises him the Ten Tribes —
Glory of Solomon 92
CHAPTER 10
Division of the Kingdom
Two kings — Benjamin unites with Judah — Divine purpose
— Jeroboam — Rehoboam threatens the people — The Ten
Tribes rebel — Israel and Judah separate — 'Jeroboam
king of the Ten Tribes called Israel — Assails man of
God, is smitten, repents and is healed — The disobedient
prophet — Jeroboam sins — Resorts to deception — ^De-
nounced by Ahijah the prophet — His child dies — ^He
dies 102
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER 11
The House of Judah
Ten Tribes to be scattered — Kingdom of Israel during
Asa's reign — Jeroboam's house destroyed — EHjah pre-
dicts drouth — Elijah and the ravens — ^Elijah and the
widow — Elijah meets Ahab — Obadiah meets Elijah —
Elijah and the prophets of Baal — Rain falls 114
CHAPTER 12
The Wanderings of Elijah
Elijah flees from Jezebel — Despairing, sleeps under juni-
per tree — Food and drink brought by an angel — Won-
derful manifestations at Horeb — ^Elijah calls and casts
his mantle upon Elisha — Jezebel procures murder of
Naboth — Elijah speaks doom of Ahab and Jezebel —
Ahab humbles himself — Alliance between kings of Ju-
dah and Israel — Jehoshaphat wants a prophet — Vision
,of Micaiah— Death of Ahab 125
CHAPTER 13
The Last Days of Elijah
Ahaziah son of Ahab succeeds him — Falls and is sick —
Sends messages to ask heathen god if he will recover —
They meet Elijah who foretells king Ahaziah's death —
King sends captain and fifty soldiers to take Elijah —
Fire from heaven consumes them — Another captain and
fifty meet same fate — -Elijah goes to the king — ^Elisha
refuses to leave him — They cross the Jordan miracu-
lously— ^Elijah promises a double portion of his spirit
to Elisha conditionally — Elijah taken to heaven in char-
iot of fire — Elisha sees it — Elisha purifies spring —
Curses children who mock him — They are torn by bears 136
CHAPtER 14
Elisha — A Chapter of Miracles
Water produced miraculously — ^iMiracle of the oil — The
Shunammite woman — Her child dies and is restored to
life by Elisha — Miracle of the bread — Naaman the leper
healed — ^Ax floats — Syrians seek to capture Elisha — His
servant shown in vision how Elisha was protected —
Famine broken — Elisha foretells Hazael's wickedness —
Hazael's crimes 143
viii OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
CHAPTER 15
Overthrow of the House of Ahab
House of Ahab destroyed by Jehu — Prophets of Baal
slain by Jehu^Athaliah seizes control of Judah — She
destroys her son's house — Joash becomes king of Judah
— He does right — Temple repaired — Jehoahaz king of
Israel — Joash king of Israel shoots arrows and smites
the ground at Elisha's command — Elisha dies — Dead
man comes to life on touching Elisha's bones 153
CHAPTER 16
Jonah and His Times
Jeroboam II king of Israel — Extent of his kingdom —
Jonah commanded to preach to Nineveh — Seeks to
escape the duty and sails — Storm at sea — Jonah thrown
overboard, is swallowed by whale 'and after three days
is cast up on land — Preaches to people of Nineveh who
repent — Jonah and the gourd — ^Views on the story of
Jonah — Ass3^rians — Israel and Judah — Isaiah appears.. 162
CHAPTER 17
Judah — Amaziah — Ahaz
C&nsus of Judah and Benjamin — Amaziah king of Judah
put to death — Succeeded by his son Uzziah who dese-
crates the temple and is smitten with leprosy — ^His son
Jotham made king — Does right — Is succeeded by his
son Ahaz, the worst of Judah's kings — Ahaz estab-
lishes Moloch — Obed the prophet — Political complica-
tions— Ahaz desecrates the temple 171
CHAPTER 18
The Downfall of the Northern Kingdom
Hoshea, king of Israel, does evil — Shalmaneser, king of
Assyria, carried Israel (the Ten Tribes) captive into
Assyria — Assyrians occupy Samaria — Remnant of Israel
left — Babylonian religion — The Ten Tribes, where are
they? — The Prophet Hosea — The prophet Amos — The
prophet Micah — Foretells the latter-day gathering —
Sublime language 181
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER 19
Hezekiah
War on Idolatry — ^Idolatrous practices — Temple reno-
vated— Sennacherib — Alliance with Egypt — Assyrian
army destroyed 195
CHAPTER 20
Death of Hezekiah
Hezekiah's life prolonged — His mistake — Apostasy of
Manasseh — Made his SiOn pass through fire — Prophets
foretell God's punishment — Two extremes — ^Steeped in
idolatry — Amon, made king, slain 204
CHAPTER 21
Josiah
Josiah made king when eight years old — Did right — Book
of the law discovered — Huldah the prophetess — ^King
Josiah's death — Jehoahaz — Jehoiakim — ^Egypt and As-
syria— Nebuchadnezzar attacks Jerusalem and takes
many captives — Zedekiah made king of Jerusalem —
Rebels against Nebuchadnezzar 213
CHAPTER 22
Fall of Jerusalem
Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem — Hatreds of the
siege — Walls broken down — Zedekiah taken captive,
his sons slain and his eyes put out — Chaldeans occupy
Jerusalem — ^Temple and city destroyed — Gedalkh made
ruler and put to death — Jews flee to Egypt — Scythians
— Jeremiah's vision — Habbakuk 222
CHAPTER 23
The Cativity of Judah
Isaiah, remarkable prophet — Promises forgiveness and
denounces sin — Foretells events of the last days — ■
Isaiah and Ahaz — Isaiah and Sennacherib — Isaiah
warns Hezekiah — Tribute to Isaiah 231
X OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
CHAPTER 24
Jeremiah
Call of Jeremiah — Foresees invasion by Scythians — .Wick-
edness of Jerusalem— Jeremiah wonders — ^In the stocks
— ^Nebuchadnezzar instrument of God's punishment —
Jeremiah instructs Jews in Babylon — Contends with
false prophets — All nations commanded to serve
Nebuchadnezzar — Zedekiah misled by false prophets —
Deserted by Egyptians 242
CHAPTER 25
Ezekiel
Jews in captivity — Masterpieces of literature — Ezekiel s
message to Jerusalem — Individual sins — New doctrine
— ^False hopes of the captives — Judah's punishment real-
ized— Reassurances — Ezekiel's vision of the resurrec-
tion .^ 254
CHAPTER 26
Isaiah in Babylon
Ancient nations — Kings of Babylon — Another Isaiah —
Great book — ^Jews in captivity — Isaiah comforts the
Jews — Jews not easily absorbed 266
CHAPTER 27
Isaiah in Babylon (continued)
Ancient Greeks — »Cyrus a deliverer — Wise monarch —
Isaiah arouses the people — Sublime chapter — Concep-
tion of God — Jews love Isaiah 276
CHAPTER 28
Daniel
Daniel captive in Babylon — Declares and interprets
Nebuchadnezzar's dream — Three Hebrew children re-
fuse to worship golden image, and are thrown into fur-
nace, but are unharmed — ^Nebuchadnezzar's second
dream interpreted by Daniel — Nebuchadnezzar loses his
reason — ^Writing on the wall read by Daniel — ^Daniel in
lions' den — Saved unharmed — Effect of Daniel's writ-
ings 287
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER 29
Ezra
Story ,of Ezra — Cyrus fulfills hope of Jews by returning
them to Jerusalem to build the house of the Lord —
Ephrairti and Manasseh with Judah in Jerusalem —
Many Jews remain in Babylon — Ezra makes record of
those who returned — Cities of Judah had been de-
stroyed— Number that returned — Jerusalem a loved city
— Samaritans — Jews accused by Samaritans — Jews' un-
happy history — Governor's requirements 297
CHAPTER 30
Ezra (continued)
The scribes — Ezra commissioned by the king to lead the
Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem — His departure and
route — Sinful marriages — The people repent — Sinful
marriages dissolved — Judah chosen ancestry of the Son
of God 310
CHAPTER 31
Nehemiah
Nehemiah remained in Babylon — Was king's cup-bearer
— Sad before the king — Asks leave to go to Jerusalem-
Arrives there — Urges the people to. rebuild the city —
Opposed by Sanballat — Work begins and is divided
— Samaritans menace builders — Workers on the defen-
sive— Tribute and taxes — Usury exacted — Mon^y
lenders repent — Nehemiah is governor — His daily al-
lowance— Message from Sanballat — Wall finished 319
CHAPTER 32
Nehemiah and the Prophets of the Return
Ezra reads the law — Feast of Tabernacles — Jerusalem
neglected — Sabbath neglected — ^Haggai and Zechariah
— Vision — 'Zechariah's predictions 334
xii OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
CHAPTER 33
Esther
Life am,ong the Persians — Ahasuerus or Xerxes is king —
Giv.es a feast— Commands his queen Vashti and she
disobeys and is dropped — Esther chosen — Mordecai —
Haman's plot to destroy the Jews — ^Feast of Purim —
Mordecai m,ourns — Esther calls a fast 343
CHAPTER 34
Esther (continued) *
Esther enters king's presence — Invites him and Haman to
a banquet — Haman seeks Mordecai's life — King is re-
minded of service rendered by Mordecai and deter-
mined to reward him — Haman's mistake — ^Builds gal-
lows for Mordecai — Esther saves her people — Haman
executed — ^Mordecai promoted — Jevvs permitted to de-
fend themselves — Many Persians become Jews — Hating
the Jew .; 351
CHAPTER 35
Job
Job's identity — Study of his book — His misfortunes — His
three friends — His vision — An admonition. 361
CHAPTER 36
#
Job (continued)
Bildad appears — Job addresses the Lord — ^Peculiar philos-
ophy— Job is weary — He appeals to God — Elihu speaks
---The Lord answers Job — Job's need — His prosperity
restored 373
CHAPTER Z1
Psalms
Characteristics — Opening Psalm — Greatness of the
Creator — Happiness of the forgiven — Rewards and
punishments — Cry of sin — Jews in Babylon 384
CONTEiNTS xiii
CHAPTER 38
Proverbs
Character of Proverbs — Phraseology — Book of Proverbs
a balance wheel— Day of reckoning — Intimacy with
God — Warnings — Lessons of wisdom — Lessons of obe-
dience— Discretion — Miscellaneous proverbs 391
CHAPTER 39
The Greek and Roman Period
Jewish peculiarities — Jewish isolation — Greek interven-
tion— Spread of the Law — ^Spread of the Greeks — Rise
of the Maccabees — Their wars — Romans given power —
Liberal in religion — Tax-gatherers — Under their rule
the M^essiah was- born and crucified 400
Old Testament Studies
CHAPTER 1
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL
(I Sam. 9-15)
Man, proud man,
Dressed in a little brief authority
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven,
As make the angels weep. — Shakespeare.
To Samuel was entrusted, under the direction of
the Lord, the choice of the first king of Israel. The
two most powerful tribes of Israel were those of
Judah and Joseph. Joseph, however, was repre-
sented in Ephraim and Manasseh. The weakest
tribe of Israel was that of Benjamin, which a short
time before had been almost entirely annihilated.
''Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name
was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son
of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a
mighty man of power.
"And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a
choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not
among the children of Israel a goodlier person than
2 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher
than any of the people."^
Meeting of Saul and Samuel. Kish had lost some
of his animals, and had sent his son Saul and one of
his servants out in quest of them. And when they
came to the land of Zuph, after hunting for them
for some time in the neighborhood of SamueFs
home, Saul sought out the prophet in order that he
might perchance learn through him where his ani-
mals were.
C'Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to in-
quire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to
the seer : for he that is now called a Prophet was
beforetime called a Seer.) * * * *
''And they went up into the city: and when they
were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out
against them, for to go up to the high place.
"Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day
before Saul came, saying,
''Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a
man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt
anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that
he may save my people out of the hand of the Philis-
tines: for I have looked upon my people, because
their cry is come unto me.
"And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto
him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of, this
same shall reign over my people.
"Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and
said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is.
«T Samuel 9:1,2.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL 3
"And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the
seer; go up before me unto the high place; for ye
shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let
thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart.
"And as for thine asses that were lost three days
ago, set not thy mind on them ; for they are found.
And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not
on thee, and on all thy father's house?
"And Saul answered and said. Am not I a Ben-
jamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and
my family the least of all the families of the tribe of
Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to
me?"^ (Note 1).
When Saul went in and ate with Samuel, "the
cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon
it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said. Behold
that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for
unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said,
I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with
Samuel that day."''
The right shoulder was the part of the animal,
according to the order of sacrifices, set apart for
the priest. Josephus calls it "the royal portion."
Saul Anointed King. Saul's humility in the pres-
ence of Samuel showed the beautiful simplicity of
his nature, and further showed that it was possible
for him to be what God wanted him to be. When
men are chosen for some divine purpose, they are
left their free agency, and although there is within
^I Samuel 9:9-21.
'^I Samuel 9:24.
4 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
them the possibility of accomplishing the mission to
which they are called, there is no certainty that
they will do so. Their success in a divine mission
depends upon their ability to enjoy the companion-
ship of Him who has called them.
"And as they were going down to the end of the
city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on
before us (and he passed on), but stand thou still a
while, that I may shew thee the word of God.^
"Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it
upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not
because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain
over his inheritance?"^
Then Samuel tells Saul by way of assurance of his
divine calling, what shall happen to him on his way
back to his home. First, he should meet two men
at Rachel's sepulchre at Zelzah; he should meet
there men on the plain of Tabor going up to God
to Beth-el.
"After that thou shalt come to the hill of God,
where is the garrison of the Philistines : and it shall
come to pass, when thou art come thither to the
city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets
coming down from the high place with a psaltery,
and a tabret, and a pipe and a harp, before them ;
and they shall prophesy.
"And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee,
and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be
turned into another man. * * *
^I Samuel 9:27.
^T Samuel 10:1.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL 5
''And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal;
and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer
burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace
offerings : seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come
to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
"And it was so, that, when he had turned his back
to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart :
and all those signs came to pass that day/'^
He was a choice young man, and there was not
among the children of Israel a goodlier person than
he. And yet God gave him another heart. It is not
enough that man should be good in the estimation
of his fellow-men. It is not enough that he should
be good in the ordinary conduct of life, when he is
given a special mission from above. He must be
good, as God would have him good, — humble, obe-
dient, prayerful, mindful of the words of the Lord,
and zealous in keeping His commandments. He
must also be good in his efforts to shun temptation
and overcome evils that surround him. Saul could
fight the enemy in battle, but the enemies of his
daily conduct, his pride, his selfishness, were more
than he could vanquish.
And Saul returned to his home to wait upon the
Lord, — that trying position into which so many
men and women in this world are put. They are
impatient. They want to take things into their own
hands and put themselves in the place of the Lord,
to judge before they are called to do so.
fl Samuel 10:5-9.
6 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
In the course of time, Samuel gathered the tribes
of Israel together, and among them he brought the
tribe of Benjamin. But Saul even now shrank from
making his appearance when the announcement of
his calling was to be made before the people, and
he hid himself among the stuff (baggage), and had
to be brought out by his tribesmen.
''And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him
whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like
him among all the people? And all the people
shouted, and said, God save the king."^
Samuel sent the people away now, it is said,
"every man to his house." Saul went to his own
home in Gibeah, where his tribesmen had formerly
treated the Levites in a most shameful manner. It is
said that the children of Belial did not receive Saul
kindly; that they despised him, and brought him no
presents, but that he held his peace, awaiting, no
doubt, the time when he might bring them to an ac-
counting.
War Against the Moabites. Soon Saul was given
an opportunity to lead his people in battle. The
people of Moab, who were not of Israel, resented
the possession by the Israelites of the land beyond
the Jordan. The report of their position, and their
threat to put out the eyes of his brethren in Gilead,
came to Saul, as he was going out of the field with
a herd,
''And the spirit of God came upon Saul when he
^I Samuel 10:24.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL 7
heard those things, and his anger was kindled
greatly.
"And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in
pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of
Israel by the hands of messengers, saying. Whoso-
ever Cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel,
so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of
the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with
one consent."^
Of these it is said there were 300,000, besides
30,000 from the tribe of Judah. And they went out
to battle for their brethren beyond the Jordan.
They slew the Ammonites so "that they which re-
mained were scattered, so that two of them were
not left together."
The people were now enthusiastic for their young
leader, and they desired to put to death those who
questioned his right to rule over them.
"And Saul said. There shall not a man be put to
death this day: for today the Lord hath wrought
salvation in Israel."*
Samuel, in his old age, addressed the people of
Israel in his own behalf, and asked them to witness
that his life had been upright in their presence. He
repeated the obligations of the people to keep the
commandments of God, who had redeemed them
out of Egypt and shown them repeated kindnesses,
and delivered them from the hands of their op-
pressors. Finally, Samuel called on the Lord for a
n Samuel 11:67.
^*I Samuel 11:13,
8 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
testimonial : "and the Lord sent thunder and rain
that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord
and Samuel/*
Saul's Army. Saul was not content to do as the
judges of Israel had done in calling up the Israelites
to fight for their deliverance under the direction
and guidance of Jehovah. He began to organize
an army for himself.
"Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel;
whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash
and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with
Jonathan in Gibeath of Benjamin: and the rest of
the people he sent every man to his tent."^
Jonathan, the son of Saul, now began war upon
the Philistines. Saul justified his own action before
the prophet.
"And Samuel said to Saul, Thou has done fool-
ishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the
Lord thy God, which he commanded thee : for now
would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon
Israel for ever.
"But now thy kingdom shall not continue : the
Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart,
and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain
over his people, because thou hast not kept that
which the Lord commanded thee."^
Saul had also been guilty of offering a burnt
offering, contrary to the law prescribed by Moses.
, War. War was now renewed between the Israel-
ii Samuel 13:2.
n Samuel 13:13-14.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL 9
ites and the Philistines. And Jonathan, the son of
Saul, contrary to the covenant of his father to fast
the whole day in which they were contending
against the enemy, partook of honey which he
found by the way. \ Sc(^>Oi>^ /. v>'/>,
"Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou
hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did
but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that
was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.
"And Saul answered, God do so and more also:
for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.
"And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan
die, who hath wrought this great salvation in
Israel? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall
not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he
hath wrought with God this day. So the people
rescued Jonathan, that he died not"^ (Note 2).
Jonathan had gone to battle without the knowl-
edge of his father, and had been gloriously success-
ful. He had won the hearts of the people, who were
now ready to oppose their king.
Saul Disobeys. Finally the test came again. Sam-
uel, the prophet, had trusted Saul to perform an-
other work, — the utter destruction of the Amalek-
ites. He was to slay both man and woman, infant
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass, and was
to spare nothing from the people. With the Amal-
ekites there were also the Kenites, the tribe to
whom Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, belonged.
^I Samuel 14:43-45-
10 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
They were required to separate themselves from
the Amalekites, because of the kindness they had
shown the children of Israel when they came up
out of Egypt.
''And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah
until thou comest to Shur, that is over against
Egypt."^
But Saul was disobedient again to the injunctions
of Samuel. He allowed the people to take the king
and the spoil.
"But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen,
the chief of the things which should have been
utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy
God in Gilgal.
''And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great de-
light 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. Because
thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath
also rejected thee from being king.
"And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I
have transgressed the commandment of the Lord,
and thy words : because I feared the people, and
obeyed their voice.
"Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and
turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.
"And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return
with thee for thou hast rejected the word of the
^I Samuel 15:7,
SAUL, THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL 11
Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being
king over Israel.
"And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid
hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
"And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent
the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath
given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than
thou."'^
Agag, the king of the Amalekites, was not to be
saved, and the pleadings of Saul were of no avail,
because he had been rejected, and another was to
take his place.
"Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went
up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
"And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the
day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for
Saul; and the Lord repented that he had made Saul
king over Israel."^
Saul was not like David, who was later sorrowful
over the sin he had committed, and repented of it.
Saul was sorrowful, not because of his sin, but
rather because of his punishment. How often it
happens in life that men and women feel sorrowful
only when punishment overtakes them. They jus-
tify their evil conduct until they are called upon to
answer, and have to meet the consequences of their
evil doing. Notwithstanding all that Saul had seen
of the favor which God showed His prophet, he
nevertheless sought to set him aside to disregard
^I Samuel 15:21-28.
ol Samuel 15:34,35,
12 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
his words and positive commandments. The an
thority which had been conferred upon the king
was abused, and the abuse of authority is one of the
sins which those who hold it must answer for.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How was Saul revealed to the Prophet?
2. If Saul was a choice young man and humble, why did
he need "another heart"?
3. In what way did Saul modify the methods of the Judges
in carrying on war?
4. Why was war declared against the Moabites?
5. In what way did Saul offend God?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are the present day relations between the tribes of
Judah and Joseph?
2. What are the dangers of false humility?
NOTES
1. *'The third thing to notice about him is his modest dis-
position. On Samuel calling him to the kingdom you re-
member his answer — 'Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest
of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the
families of Benjamin? Wherefore then speakest thou to me
after this manner?' While pride makes men ridiculous, hu-
mility commands admiration and love. But modesty may
degenerate into a vice — a vice not particularly common, how-
ever, among young men. I would rather have a man over-
estimate than under-estimate his powens. While the
first mistake may stimulate small talents to the performance
of great deeds, the last may prevent great talents from
achieving half their possibilities.'*
2. "There iis no ill without its compensation
And life and death are only light and shade;
There never beat a heart so base and sordid
But felt at times a sympathetic glow;
There never lived a virtue unrewarded
Nor died a vice without its meed of woe,"
CHAPTER 2
THE CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID
(I Sam. 16-19)
Better is the poor that walketh in his upright-
ness than he that is perverse in his way though he
be rich. — Prov. 28:6.
The Prophet's Grief. The Prophet Samuel was
Saul's safe guide. Had Saul listened to his words
of warning and heeded his instructions, misfortune
would not have overtaken him. Saul had ample
testimony that Samuel was called of God, and he
knew that the prophet enjoyed divine favor. He
also knew that the prophet's life was an upright
one. So he had no difificulty in understanding what
course he should pursue.
Samuel likewise knew Saul. He had anointed
him king, and no doubt admired the beauty of his
person, and saw, with divine insight, the great pos-
sibilities that were in Saul's life. It was not, there-
fore, easy for the prophet to give him up. /c^^
''And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt
thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him
from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil,
and go, I will send thee to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite :
for I have provided me a king among his sons.
"And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it,
he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer
14 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the
Lord.
''And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew
thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto
me him whom I name unto thee."^
The student may sometimes read from those who
would destroy the influence and authority of the
Bible that here the Lord was practicing and even
commanding duplicity or falsehood. Concealment
of one's exclusive rights for a good purpose is jus-
tifiable, and in this case the Lord had a perfect right
to bring about the anointing of the son of Jesse in
any way that He saw fit. Moreover, the call of a
new king did not mean that he was to enter imme-
diately upon the duties of his office. He had to be
educated, and a part of the education of the new
king was to be in the court of Saul.
Saul also was to have the opportunity of reveal-
ing his own unworthiness. In other words, Saul
was to be made his own judge, so that whatever
befell him in the end would be a righteous judgment
which his own conduct would show he deserved;
and that judgment would in centuries to come be
a guide and a warning to others.
When men's hearts are evil they may conceal
their thoughts and feelings and appear innocent be-
fore their fellow men. No doubt untold thousands
go to the grave whose secrets have never been re-
vealed in life to others. However, in the case of
men like Saul, whose conduct would be read by
«T Samuel 16:1-3.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 1,5
millions of others, there were special reasons why
he should not be permitted to die without revealing
the evil that was within him. In striking contrast
to Saul was the humility and the upright character
of Samuel.
David Anointed. *'And Samuel did that which
the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the
elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said,
Comest thou peaceably?
"And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice
unto the Lord : sanctify yourselves and come with
me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his
sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
"And it came to pass, when they were come, that
he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's
anointed is before him."^
Eliab was Jesse's oldest son. He must have had
about him a kingly appearance. He was attractive
to Samuel, — so attractive that Samuel, with all his
spiritual insight, would have selected one not in-
tended by the Lord. Here follows one of the many
beautiful passages of the Bible, a passage, like
others, that we should be able to call to memory
at our will :
"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his
countenance, or on the height of his stature; be-
cause I have refused him : for the Lord seeth not as
man seeth; for man looketh on the outward ap-
pearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
^I Samuel 16:4-6.
16 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
*'Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass
before Samuel."'^
When all of the sons of Jesse who were at hand
had appeared before the prophet, Samuel had
learned his mistake, and no longer trusted to his
own spiritual insight. In the choice of a new king,
he awaited the voice of God. ''Are here all thy chil-
dren?" inquired Samuel. No, there was another,
the youngest, who must have been thought unim-
portant by his father. . He was herding sheep, per-
haps in the beautiful valley that lies next to Beth-
lehem. When the youngest boy appeared, "he was
ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and
goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise anoint
him : for this is he.
''Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed
him in the midst of his brethren : and the Spirit of
the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
"But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,
and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him."^
"An evil spirit from the Lord" ! One would nat-
urally say that was a strange place for an evil spirit
to come from. There is no difficulty in believing
that God may make evil spirits as well as good ones
the messengers of His will and purpose. Such an
act by Jehovah could by no means be made to con-
vey the idea that Jehovah approved or loved evil
spirits.
a Samuel 16:7,8.
^T Samuel 16:-12-14.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID \7
Saul's Affliction. From this time, Saul was the
victim of evil spirits. They haunted his life until
finally it v^as suggested that music should be made
before him to give him relief. To this end David'
was called by the king, and his harp quieted the
feelings of Saul. The young man had already been
anointed the future king of Israel. He was now to
be educated in the court of a king. Saul's mistakes,
Saul's evil spirit, Saul's envy and jealousy and ha-
tred were all manifested towards David, who had
an opportunity to learn what he should avoid when
he should become king. The spirit and power of
God acted wonderfully in David's favor (Note 1).
While he was still in the fields with his flock, the
Philistines came upon Israel, and among them was
their champion fighter, the giant Goliath, whose
height was six cubits and a span. A cubit was
measured from the elbow to the tip of the middle
finger, and is generally estimated at a foot and a
half. If this is correct, then Goliath was about nine
and a half feet tall. That was an extraordinary
height, though giants have been known since then
whose size approached very nearly that of Goliath.
- This champion sent out a challenge to the Israel-
ites, by which he offered to fight any one of their
men, with the understanding that the side which
lost should be servants to the side whose champion
was victorious. David, about the time this chal-
lenge was taking place, was sent by his father, who
had eight sons, the oldest three of whom were with
Saul's army, with provisions to his brothers. ^
18 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''And Jesse said unto David his son. Take now
for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and
these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy breth-
ren."^
His brethren v^ere then not far from Bethlehem
in the valley of Elah. When David's brethren saw^
him, and saw that he was asking about this Philis-
tine, they were greatly annoyed.
''And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he
spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled
against David, and he said, Why camest thou down
hither? and with whom hast thou left those few
sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the
naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down
that thou mightest see the battle."^
Goliath. Then David showed his wonderful faith
and courage :\A I
"And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail
because of him; thy servant will go and fight with
this Philistine.
"And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go
against this Philistine to fight with him ; for thou
art but a youth, and he a man of war from his
youth.
"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his
father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear,
and took a lamb out of the flock;
"And I went out after him, and smote him, and
delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose
el Samuel 17:17.
n Samuel 17:28.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 19
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote
him, and slew him.
''Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear:
and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living
God."^
Saul armed David with his armor, but David
could not move in it. He was fearless in the might
of the spirit which was upon him, for God had or-
dained David to do great and marvelous things.
''And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him
five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them
in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip:
and his sling was in his hand; and he drew near to
the Philistine. * * *
"And when the Philistine looked about, and saw
David, he disdained him : for he was but a youth,
and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
"And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog,
that thou comest to me with staves? And the Phil-
istine cursed David by his gods.
"And the Philistine said unto David, Come to me,
and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air,
and to the beasts of the field. .
"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest
to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou
hast defied.
"This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine
^I Samuel 17:32-36.
20 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head
from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host
of the Philistines this day unto 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 assembly shall know that the Lord
saveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is
the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.
''And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose,
and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David
hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philis-
tine.
"And David put his hand in his bag, and took
thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philis-
tine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his
forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. "^
And it is said that David took the head of Goliath
and brought it to Jerusalem. We are not informed
that at this time Jerusalem had even been taken
from the Jebusites. We know that it was subse-
quently conquered by David, but it may be that at
this time there were Israelites living with the
Jebusites in that city.
David and Jonathan. There now comes into the
life of David one of those beautiful friendships that
so greatly adorn human nature, — a friendship that
is almost always quoted to demonstrate true devo-
tion of one to another. It was the friendship of
David and Jonathan. David had been taken, as we
might now naturally expect, into the army of the
^I Samuel 17:40-49.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 21
king, to be the king's standard-bearer, to enjoy the
favor of the king because of the wonderful thing
which he had done in Israel. Thus he was brought
into close contact with Saul's son, Jonathan.
We may well imagine that the two were about
the same age, and their association together shows
that there was a great similarity between them.
There was in their characters steadfastness, devo-
tion, and friendship. Friendship always has some-
thing of virtue in it when it is sincere, and especially
when it is formed for noble purposes. There can
be no doubt that God called Jonathan to this mis-
sion of friendly relations to the newly anointed,
though uncrowned king. How beautifully that
friendship is expressed in the words, "the soul of
Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
"And Saul took him that day, and would let him
go no more home to his father's house.
"Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, be-
cause he loved him as his own soul.
"And Jonathan stripped himself of ^the robe that
was upon him, and gave it to David, and his gar-
ments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to
his girdle.
"And David went out whithersoever Saul sent
him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him
over the men of war, and he was accepted in the
sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul'^
servants."*
a Samuel 18:1-5
22 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''Behaved himself wisely" ! How full of meaning
to every young man who modestly, unselfishly and
loyally devotes himself to the cause of truth! There
is this beautiful quality in David's life, so far as the
Bible reveals it to us, that he never spoke frivol-
ously or contemptuously. He was deeply in earn-
est, sincere in all that he undertook, and though he
had been anointed king, he evidently at this time
could not comprehend what it all meant to him. He
had accepted a divine ordinance, and he meant to
live so that he could enjoy its blessings. For
whether men are anointed kings, or appointed to
any other mission of divine favor, if they succeed
they must act wisely as David did.
Jealousy. But David's own wisdom could not
save him from the distrust and jealousy of Saul. If
he acted wisely there were so-called friends and ad- i
mirers who acted unwisely. One may almost be-
lieve that if troubles, and severe ones, are the lot
of any person, wisdom can hardly save him from
them. Under such circumstances, troubles that are ,
not brought by himself upon himself are brought 1
upon him by others.
"And it came to pass as they came, when David
was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines,
that the women came out of all cities of Israel, sing-
ing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets,
with joy, and with instruments of music.
"And the women answered one another as they
played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and
David his ten thousands."^
"~7l Samuel 18:6-7.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 23
Such words were too much for Saul. He *'was
very wroth." "To me," said the king, '*they have
ascribed but thousands : and what can he have more
but the kingdom ?"
The following day ''the evil spirit from God came
upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the
house : and David played with his hand, as at other
times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand."
David undertook by his music to soothe the king,
as he had done before. But jealousy is a plant of
rapid growth. It soon blossoms into hatred, and
ofttimes hatred that is deadly. David's presence
before Saul acted upon the king with unusual ag-
gravation, and with a javelin he had in his hand,
he sought David's life. 'Tor he said, I will smite
David even to the wall with it. And David avoided
out of his presence twice (Note 2).
"And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord
was with him, and was departed from Saul."^
Evidence this is that when God's favor is upon a
man, that man cannot be tolerated by one who has
an opposite spirit. It is the similarity of spirits that
makes a common cause between men and unites
them. Knowledge is not necessarily a source of
unity. Saul knew, but his knowledge only pro-
voked him to anger, and made him the more sinful.
This circumstance in the life of David and Saul
teaches us that salvation, that which is real, ulti-
mate, divine favor, cannot be won by the power of
knowledge. Knowledge alone is not really intelli-
n Samuel 18:11,12,
24 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
gence. Intelligence is more the product of the
spirit which leads men into all truth. Saul knew
that God favored David; yet he hated David the
more because of it. They were of different spirits.
Therefore unity between them was impossible.
''And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord
was with him."
''But all Israel and Judah loved David, because
he went out and came in before them."^
Saul, however, sought the life of David; and to
bring about his wicked purpose, he gave to David
his daughter in marriage, with the thought that he
would deliver the young man into the hands of the
Philistines, who might spare Saul the necessity of
putting the young king to death himself. He would
therefore give his daughter Merab; but when the
time arrived, Merab, Saul's daughter, was given to
another.
"And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and
they told Saul, and the thing pleased him."""
But David, in his humility, said, "Who am I? and
what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that
I should be son in law to the king?""
Coming, as these words did, from the heart of a
sincere young man, they reveal the fact that David, |
although anointed by Samuel, did not realize what
his station in life was to be. ^ j
David's Marriage. David married Michal, who,
n Samuel 18:16.
«^I Samuel 18:20.
«I Samuel 18:18.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 25
\
like her brother Jonathan, protected him from the
anger and murderous designs of their father. Jona-
than pleads for David, but the father would not lis-
ten, and through Jonathan's devotion to his friend,
the secret designs of Saul v\^ere made knov^n to
David, w^ho thereby escaped the dangers of the
king.
Finally David betook himself to Ramah, where
Samuel lived, and threw himself upon the protec-
tion of the prophet. To Ramah, Saul sent messen-
gers to bring David back. But the Spirit of God
was upon them, and they prophesied, and other
messengers were sent, and they prophesied also;
and on the third day other messengers were sent,
and they also prophesied. Then the king went to
Ramah himself, and it is said that the Spirit of God
was also upon the king, and he prophesied. Saul
stripped himself before the prophet and lay before
him ''all that day and all that night. Wherefore
they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?"^ (Note
3).
REVIEW QUESTIONS
L How did Saul begin to reveal himself?
2. Relate the calling of David?
3. Relate the contest between David and Goliath.
4. How did the women of Israel endanger David's life?
5. What gave rise to the friendship between David and
Jonathan?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are our duties in the matter of frankness toward
tliose who are the enemies of righteousness?
2. What is the difference between the friendships of duty
and -those of joy?
oj Samuel 19:24.
26 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIE S
NOTES
1. "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there:
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there shall Thy hand lead me.
And Thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
Even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee,
But the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to Thee."
—Psalms 139:7-12.
2. Foul jealousy! that turnest love divine
To joyless dread, and mak'st the loving heart
With hateful thoughts to languish and to pine
And feed itself with self-consuming smart:
Of all the passions in the mind thou vilest art.
— Spenser.
3. "There are people who resolve, at any cost, to deal
truthfully with their neighbors; they will not deceive, or
flatter, or extenuate; truth shall be the law of their lips. Who
are these worthy people? They are your censorious and
critical friends, whos-e judgments you know are just, but who
are a thorn in your flesh becauise their judgments are so hard.
They interpret you precisely as you are, but they give no
credit for that which you are not, but desire to be. It is
almost easier to love your enemies and bless those who curse
you, than to find pleasure in such friends.
'But of all plagues, good H.ea^ en. Thy wrath can send.
Save, save, 0"isave me from the candid friend.' "
— Peabody,
CHAPTER 3
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID (Continued)
(I Sam. 20-26)
Sorrow is knowledge : they who know the most
Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth.
— Byron.
David did not feel himself safe even in the pres-
ence of the prophet Samuel. His was a young and
loving heart, and he would gladly enjoy the favor
of the king, whom he regarded faithfully as the
anointed of the Lord. Of his bosom friend, Jon-
athan, he asked, ''What have I done? what is mine
iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that
he seeketh my life? * * Truly, as the Lord liv-
eth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step be-
tween me and death.
''Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever
thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
"And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomor-
row is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit
with the king at meat : but let me go, that I may
hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.""^
The new moon in those days was celebrated by
special sacrifices, and by the blowing of trumpets.
It was kept with ^reat solemnity as a day of glad-
ness, and the celebration lasted about three days.
«I Samuel 20:1-5.
28 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
during which time the king was attended by his
chief officers.
Saul Angry with Jonathan. David sought to
evade the king. He had reason to fear for his life,
yet Jonathan he could trust. Saul was now fully
aware, since his son Jonathan had pleaded for
David, that his son was the latter's faithful friend,
willing to protect him. This naturally made the
father angry, whereupon he upbraided Jonathan :
''Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do
not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse
to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of
thy mother's nakedness? * * *
"And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said
unto him. Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath
he done?
"And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him :
whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of
his father to slay David. "^
Jonathan would be a dutiful son and a loving
friend at the same time. It was a most difficult role
for him to play. It was hard because of his father's
extreme violence. There is through all the episodes
between Saul and David a very striking difiference.
Saul was impatient, petulent, and violent; David
was possessed of a spirit of calmness and patience.
The experience of David with Saul is one of the
sublimest illustrations of the power of patience
found anvwhere in Holy Writ. There are few qual-
ities in life that do so much to promote the well-
n Samuel 20:30-33.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 29
being of man, and above all, to protect man against
himself, as the quality of patience. In a man's own
soul there is generally found the most violent agita-
tions, the greatest misgivings ; indeed it is the storm
center of all that affects most unfavorably the
peace, the happiness, and the serenity qf man.
Against these turbulent and unhappy conditions
patience is man's greatest consolation.
Jonathan indicated to David by means of his bow
and arrow whether Saul was still bent upon David's
destruction. After David had been warned, he arose
out of his place of concealment, "and fell on his
face to the ground, and bowed himself three times :
and they kissed one another, and wept one with
another, until David exceeded."^
Not to enjoy the favor of his king was indeed a
great affliction to David. Through it all, however,
he was devoted. The beauty of David's character
shines forth in the hours of his adversity. Without
it the best, the sweetest qualities of his life as a kin^
of Israel would have been hidden from us (Note 1).
David^s Escape. David saw that he must make
his escape, so he came to a place called Nob.
Ahimelech was officiating in the tabernacle, which
had already been removed from Shiloh. Here David
obtained from the priest even the shew bread to
appease his hunger. Ahimelech, however, was in
no sense a party to the protection of David, about
whose danger and escape he was not informed. This
fact, however, did not prevent Saul from destroy-
'^T Samuel 20:41.
30 ' OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
ing the priest and all his family. The accusation
which Saul brought against the priest was that
David, through the latter, sought the word of God.
This was a privilege since the days of Moses ac-
corded only to the chief ruler. The fact that Ahim-
elech was innocent did not save him from Saul's
anger.
David now flew into the country of the Philis-
tines, and threw himself upon the mercy of Achish,
the king of Gath, whose giant he had killed in a
duel, and whose sword he had taken with him from
the tabernacle. From Achish David fled to the
southern part of Palestine, and hid himself in one
of the numerous caves, Adullam. It was in this
retreat that, "every one that was in distress, and
every one that was in debt, and every one that was
discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and
he became a captain over them ; and there were
with him about four hundred men""^ (Note 2).
From Adullam David went over across the Jor-
dan up into the hilly country of Moab to Mizpeh,
where he placed himself under the direction of the
prophet Gad. However, the people on the western
side of the Holy Land began their raids upon the
Israelites. David, through the command of Gad,
went to relieve the people of Keilah, and when they
were delivered, David. went to inquire of the Lord
whether, after all, the people would deliver him
into the hands of Saul. "And the Lord said: They
will deliver thee up."
dl Samuel 22:2.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 31
Thence David must make again his escape. This
time he went to the wilderness of Ziph, a place
judged to be about three miles south of Hebron.
During all this David was not forgotten by his
faithful friend :
"And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to
David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in
God.
''And he said unto him, Fear not : for the hand
of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt
be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee;
and that also Saul my father knoweth.''^
It does not appear at this time just how this in-
formation was brought to Jonathan. David, in his
confidence to his devoted friend, may have revealed
to him the fact of his anointing, or it may have come
to him through the voice of the Spirit of God.
David Pursued by Saul. Saul, however, pursued
David into the wilderness of Ziph; but while in pur-
suit of David, word came that the Philistines were
over-running the country, and he was obliged to
return from his pursuit of David. David now had
an opportunity to escape to one of the most seclud-
ed parts of the country. He betook himself to
En-gedi; about two hundred yards west of the Dead
Sea, at about the center of its western shore. This
place is reached by a very difficult pass, which can
be descended only with considerable risk. All the
country there today is indented with caverns. In
recent years the place has been a favorite resort of
ej Samuel 23:16, 17.
32 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
monks, who sometimes lay for days in these dark
caverns. Into one of these caves of En-gedi, David
escaped; but Saul also made his way there, and
went into the very cave where David was.
"And the men of David said unto him, Behold the
day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will
deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou
mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.
Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of SauFs
robe privily.
''And it came to pass afterward, that David's
heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.
"And he said unto his men. The Lord forbid that
I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's
anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him,
seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.
"So David stayed his servants with these words,
and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But
Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way."^
David followed, implored his king, and bowed
with his face to the earth before him.
"And David said unto Saul, Wherefore hearest
thou men's words, saying. Behold, David seeketh
thy hurt?"^
David pleaded with his king, who was now
touched by the tenderness and devotion of David.
He asked "Is this thy voice, my son David? And
Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.
"And he said to David, Thou art more righteous
n Samuel 24:4-7.
^I Samuel 24:9.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 33
than I : for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I
have rewarded thee evil."^'
• Saul knew that David would yet be king, and he
said unto him :
''Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that
thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that
thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's
house."* J
David granted this solemfi request. But Saul,
like many another man, was the maker neither of
his good nor bad fortune. In his evil days he was
not himself. He was tormented by an evil spirit,
to whose power he had surrendered himself by his
own rebellious, wicked life, and every evil act only
added to the power which the evil one had over him.
Samuel's Death. We now come to a solemn
event in the life of Israel. It was the death of
Samuel. 'Tor twelve years," Josephus tells us, "he
had ruled alone over Israel, and for eighteen years
he had ruled with Saul." The people mourned for
Samuel. He was a man of great righteousness, gen-
tle in his nature, and always obedient to the voice
of God. As was the case with his predecessor, Eli,
however, his sons dishonored him. Samuel may
have had some restraining influence over Saul,
which, however, does not appear to be the case. At
any rate the king pursued David in the same hostile
way.
David escaped to Maon. Maon was on the bor-
n Samuel 24:17,
n Samuel 24:21.
34 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
der of the wilderness. Here David came in contact
with Nabal, a wealthy man whose sheep and cattU
and property David and his men were scrupulous^
to protect. But when David sent out ten of his
young men to seek help from him, the latter sent
them away contemptuously without help. This
angered David, and he gathered his men with the
intent of destroying all the males of the house of
Nabal.
Abigail. Nabal, it seems, had a most excellent
wife, whose cherished name in Scripture is Abigail.
When she learned from one of the servants what
her husband had done, she immediately prepared
dressed sheep, bread and wine, and started out to
meet David. She apologized for the conduct of her
husband.
''Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of
Belial, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he;
Nabal is his name, and folly is with him ; but I thine j
handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom
thou didst send."^
She turned David from his rash intent. Soon
after, her husband, who was drunken at one of the
feasts, became the victim of his own excesses :
''But it came to pass in the morning, when the
wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told
him these things, that his heart died within him,
and he became as a stone.
/I Samuel 25:25.
CALL AND PREPARATION OF DAVID 35
''And it came to pass about ten days after, that
the Lord smote Nabal, that he died."^
This circumstance led a Httle later on to the mar-
riage of Abigail to David.
''David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they
were also both of them his wives.
"But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's
wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of
Gallim.''^
David was therefore deprived of his first wife
through the enmity of his father-in-law, the king.
David escaped to the country south of Palestine,
the wilderness of Ziph. Here he was pursued by
Saul, who was again delivered into the hands of
David while sleeping within a trench with his spear
struck in the ground. David, however, was content
to remove his spear and the cruse of water that
was by him. And he again reminded those who
would have him smite the king that Saul was still
the Lord's anointed. Again Saul and David came
within speaking distance. The king knew that he
had sinned, and said :
"Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred
exceedingly."
"Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my
son David : thou shalt both do great things, and
also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way,
and Saul returned to his place."'"
^I Samuel 25:37, 38.
n Samuel 2S A3, 44.
»«I Samuel 26:21,25.
36 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Saul knew, but his knowledge did not save him.
He had lost his only refuge of safety, — the Spirit of
God. Nor was his loss of that spirit his only mis-
fortune : an evil spirit took its place ; it was a double
affliction.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. In what way did Jonathan act to save David from the
ancyer of Saul?
2. Relate the circumstance which led David to eat the
shew bread in the tabernacle?
3. In what ways did David escape Saul?
4. Relate the circumstance attending Samuel's death.
5. What part of Palestine was the wilderness in the days
of David? Why?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. How do.es patience give power?
2. Why does the spirit of revenge unfit man for divine
purposes, when advensity becomes necessary for his develop-
ment?
y
CHAPTER 4
DAVID A REFUGEE, AND THE DEATH OF SAUL
(I Sam. 27-31)
David and Achish. David lived in constant fear
that some day he would perish by the hand of Saul.
This great suspense begotten of fear, weighed heav-
ily upon the heart of David. His own people did
not protect him. He therefore with his men went
to the Philistines, and dwelt with king Achish, of
Gath, who set aside for David and his men the city
of Ziklag. The time he passed in this country was
a year and four months. During that time he went
to war with the people in the south, the Geshurites,
and the Amalekites, who lived in the wilderness of
Shur, which extended along the Mediterranean to
the land of Egypt. He smote the land, we are told,
''and left neither man nor woman alive, and took
away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and
the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came
to Achish."^
It appears from what passed between David and
Achish, that these two lived in friendly relations.
However, there could be between the Israelitish
king and this king of the Philistines no permanent
alliance. David sought refuge where conditions
seemed to him most favorable for his safetv. As
time went on, however, the Philistines became more
«I Samuel 27:9.
38 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
aggressive. They pushed their way northward and
invaded the beautiful valley of Jezreel which lies on
the border line between Galilee and Samaria, and
extends east to Mount Gilboa which overlooks the
valley of the Jordan eastward. Saul was now in
great distress. He needed the Lord and sought
Him, but "the Lord answered him not, neither by
dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets."
Witch of En-dor. The Urim and Thummim were
the stones through which the prophet looked to dis-
cover the word of God and things to come. Saul
had known in his better days something of the spirit
of revelation and the divine favor of the prophets.
"Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a
woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to
her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to
him. Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar
spirit at En-dor."^
Saul went in disguise to see her, for he had driven
witches and those with familiar spirits out of the
land, and the woman of En-dor would naturallv
protect herself after the unfortunate experience of
those of her class. The story of the witch of En-dor
is so often referred to, and so violently discussed by
some that I give it in the words of the Scripture at
some length :
"Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up
unto thee? And he said. Bring me up Samuel.
"And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried
with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul,
n Samuel 28:7.
DAVID A REFUGEE, AND THE DEATH OF SAUL 39
saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art
Saul.
''And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for
what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul,
I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
''And he said unto her, What form is he of? And
she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered
with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was
Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground,
and bowed himself.
"And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou dis-
quieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I
am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war
against me, and God is departed from me, and an-
swereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by
dreams ; therefore I have called thee, that thou
mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
"Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou
ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee,
and is become thine enemy?
"Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with
thee into the hand of the Philistines : and tomorrow
shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also
shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the
Philistines."^
This was a fatal message to Saul. The evil spirits
answered Christ in His day. Those spirits had
knowledge and spoke some truth. But how should
a witch have the power to call up a prophet? Did
she call him up, or was she the victim of some false
^T Samuel 28:11-16,19.
40 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Spirit that imitated Samuel? Many questions arise
out of this peculiar circumstance. As a rule they
are not questions vital to our needed knowledge of
God or to the manner of our worship. We know
that God has disapproved witchcraft in whatever
form it appears. We know that He has made proph-
ets the mediums of communications. ''Surely the
Lord doeth nothing save as he reveals his mind and
will to his servants the prophets.'' As the Philistines
gathered in the valley of Jezreel, Saul went out to
meet them.
Achish Refuses David's Help. At this peculiar
place a somewhat curious incident occurred. Achish
had brought David and his six hundred men along
with him, as if David might contend as an ally of
the Philistines against his brethren the Israelites.
The princes of the Philistines objected to David's
presence, but Achish defended David. He was com-
pelled to yield to these princes, who said, "Make
this fellow return that he may go again to his place
which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go
down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an
adversary to us : for wherewith should he reconcile
himself unto his master? should it not be with the
heads of these men?
"Is not this David, of whom they sang one to
another, in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands,
and David his ten thousands? * * *
"And David said unto Achish, But what have I
done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so
long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I
DAVID A REFUGEE, AND THE DEATH OF SAUL 41
may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the
king?
''And Achish answered and said to David, I know
that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God:
notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have
said, He shall not go up with us to the battle/'^
So David and his men returned across the coun-
try to Ziklag, a journey of about two or three days.
One is likely here to conclude that there was really
some deception in David's words to Achish. David
had been anointed king. He knew the Israelites
were God's people; he knew that God had com-
manded the utter destruction of all the Canaanitish
people of the Promised Land. How could he then
fight against the Israelites? It will be noticed here
that the narrative in no way justifies the practice of
deception.
It may here be said in passing that this sort of
deception, as in matters of trade, is a universal prac-
tice among the Orientals in all the country round
about where David lived. They do not let their
yeas be "yea" and their nays "nay" as Christ com-
manded them. Surely our Lord knew what He was
saying when he warned them against the practice
of deception, or saying not only more than they
needed to say, but also more than they meant. It
is a disposition to make themselves agreeable to
others by exaggeration. One cannot believe that
David ever had a thought of fighting on the side of
the Philistines against the Israelites.
^I Samuel 29:4-9,
42 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
David Recovers the Spoil. However, he returned
to Ziklag, where he found the city had been de-
stroyed by fire, and the women and children and
livestock carried away. David naturally went in
hot pursuit.
*'And David's two wives were taken captives,
Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of
Nabal the Carmelite. * * *
*^And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahime-
lech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.
And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
"And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I
pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And
he answered him. Pursue : for thou shalt sureiy
overtake them, and without fail recover all."^
They made rapid and long marches in a southerly
direction. At the brook Bezor David was obliged
to leave two hundred of his men. On the way they
discovered in the field an Egyptian servant of tne
king of the Amalekites, who had destroyed Ziklag.
From him David learned what had been done and
set out with his four hundred companions to re-
cover what had been carried away. He recovered
all.
"And there was nothing lacking to them, neither
small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither
spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them:
David recovered all.''^
However, those who had been in the contest did
^I Samuel 30:5-8.
n Samuel 30:19.
DAVID A REFUGEE, AND THE DEATH OF SAUL 43
not care to share with the two hundred who had
taken no part in the fight. David however reproved
them.
^'Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my breth-
ren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who
hath preserved us, and delivered the company that
came against us into our hand."^
So David divided the spoils of those who stayed
to take care of the stuff with those who went down
to do battle. Here is a peculiar circumstance which
well illustrates what may happen to people in our
own day. Those who have obtained position and
title to worldly goods clairh them as a matter of
right, and rest on their legal titles.
There is always, however, this almost universally
unanswered question : ^^What part hath God taken
when we are made stewards of the property to
which we claim right and title?" David said that
because God had helped them into the possession
of what they had recaptured, those who had been
helped by the Lord must divide with those who
were left behind. The selfish four hundred would
have taken all.
As conquerors the argument was on their side,
and above all, they were selfish enough to enforce
at the expense of their brethren the old adage :
''Possession is nine points of the law." That same
question has been coming up from the days of
David down to the present time. It made trouble
then : it is making trouble now. However, the cir-
^I Samuel 30:23.
44 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
cumstance contains a warning that men would do
well to heed, not to provoke divine displeasure.
Death of Saul and Jonathan. While these things
were going on in the southern part of the Promised
Land, in the north and around Gilboa which over-
looks the river Jordan and the valley below, there
was going on a decisive battle in the history of an-
cient Israel. Saul and his sons were defeated.
''And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and
upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan,
and Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, Saul's sons. * * *
''Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy
sword, and thrust me through therewith ; lest these
uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and
abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he
was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and
fell upon it. •
"And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was
dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with
him."^
One is led to exclaim, Alas for the brave and
true-hearted Jonathan! Was the sin of his father
visited upon the son? They had perished together.
We cannot withhold the regret that Jonathan did
not live to enjoy the fruits of a friendship so strong,
so true between him and David. In the fullness of
their confidence and friendship, Jonathan died. How
he and David would have withstood the tempta-
tions and trials that might still have come to them
in later years we are unable to say. We can only
hj Samuel 31:2-5.
DAVID A REFUGEE, AND THE DEATH OF SAUL 45
see as man seeth. But God knows all things, — the
end from the beginning. At any rate there is noth-
ing to disturb the admiration we feel for that sweet
friendship of which poets and prophets have sung.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. ^Vhat were the relations between David and the Philis-
tines?
2. What was the Urim and Thummim?
3. What relieved David from any duty he might think he
was under to fight with the Philistines against the Israelites?
4. What was the use prescribed for the ephod?
5. What are the lessons taught in the division of the spoil
taken from the Amalekites?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are your views about the experience of Saul with
the witch of En-dor?
2. When does passiveness become a duty in the conduct
of man?
NOTES
1. It is good for us that we sometimes have sorrows and
adversities, for they often make U man lay to heart that he
is only a stranger and sojourner, and may not put his trust in
any w^orldly thing. It is good that we sometimes endure
contradictions, and are hardly and unfairly judged, when we
do and mean what is good. For these things help us to be
humble, and shield us from vain-glory. For then we seek
the more earnestly the witness of God, when men speak evil
of us falsely, and give us no credit for good.
2. Make no great account who is for thee or against thee,
but mind only the present duty and take care that God be
with thee in whatsoever thou doest. Have a good conscience
and God will defend thee, for he whom God will help no
man's perverseness shall be able to hurt. If thou know.est
how to hold thy peace and to sufTer, without doubt thou shalt
see the help of the Lord. He knoweth the time and the way
to deliver thee, therefore must thou resign thyself to Him.
To God it belongeth to help and to deliver from all confusion.
Oftentimes it is very profitable for keeping us in greater
humility, that others know and rebuke our faults.
CHAPTER 5
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL
(II Sam. 1-10)
Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. —
Emerson.
The Second Book of Samuel continues the life of
David from the death of Saul. It is sometimes
called the Second Book of Kings. There is no real
reason why Samuel should have been divided into
two books, as the second is a mere continuation of
the first.
According to the account given in the first Book
of Samuel, Saul killed himself by falling upon his
own sword. The second book opens with the de-
livery to David at Zi^lag, in the country of the
Philistines, of a message from an Amalekite, who
also brought Saul's crown and bracelet, and who
informed David that he (the Amalekite) had taken
the life of the king.
David did not welcome the news of Saul's death.
Saul had been anointed by the Lord, and that fact
David had repeated again and again. As one anoint-
ed of the Lord, David considered Saul entirely sub-
ject to the decrees of Jehovah. The Lord appoint-
ed Saul, and it was His business to remove him in
His own due time. So he mourned and wept for
Saul, and to the young Amalekite he said :
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL 47
•How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine
hand to destroy the Lord's anointed P''""
The rash deed cost the young Amalekite his life.
To David the message was the more sorrowful be-
cause it also contained the death of his friend Jona-
tnan. In his lamentations he exclaims :
'*The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high
places : how are the mighty fallen !
'*Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets
of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines re-
joice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised
triumph.
'*Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew,
neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of
offerings : for there the shield of the mighty is vilely
cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not
been anointed with oil. * * *
'*Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in
their lives, and in their death they were not divided :
they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger
than lions.
'*Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who
clothed you in scarlet, with other delights ; who put
on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
^*How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the
battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high
pjaces.
'*T am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan :
very pleasant hast thou been unto me : thy love to
me was wonderful, passing the love of women. "^
^[J Samuel 1:14.
"TI Samuel 1:19-21, 23-26.
48 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
David's life was singularly free from resentment
towards those whom he esteemed as favored of the
Lord, even though they sought his own life.
The First Kingship. The Lord now commanded
David to go up to Hebron. Here men of Judah
came and anointed him king over the house of
Judah. David moved slowly in advancing his claims
as king over all Israel. God had made him what he
was, and God would make him all that he was in-
tended to be. He did not care to assume any au-
thority to which he had not been advanced by di-
vine command.
It was quite natural that those who were the sons
of Saul would consider themselves entitled to the
inheritance of the kingdom. Saul's sons, however,
all perished in battle with the exception of Ish-
bosheth, who made himself king over the people in
Gilead, and later over all the other tribes except
Judah, who had followed David. This son was at
the time he began to reign over Israel forty years
old, and he reigned for two years.
The fact that there were now two kings in Israel
led naturally to civil war. The Bible says :
'^Now there was long war between the house of
Saul and the house of David : but David waxed
stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed
weaker and weaker."^
There were two strong characters at this period,
warriors who represented the two factions ; one was
Abner, who took the part of Saul's son ; the other
'^II Samuel 3:1.
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL 49
was Joab, a mighty warrior of David. Abner, how-
ever, and Saul's son fell into a dispute from the fact
that Abner married one of the wives of Saul. This
led Abner to seek an alliance with David, to whom
he sent messengers. David, however, could not
forget his wife Michal, whom Saul had given to him
in his youth as a reward for an act of bravery.
When, however, David fell into disfavor with Saul
he took his daughter Michal away from him and
gave her to another.
David now demanded as an evidence of good
faith on the part of Abner that Abner return to him
his wife Michal, and as she was led from the north
southward to Hebron, she was followed by her hus-
band, Phaltiel, who wept over his misfortune. Ab-
ner, however, would not find any special welcome
with Joab, whose brother Asahel Abner had killed
in one of their former wars, and Joab therefore took
the first opportunity to encompass the death of
Abner. This was another source of sorrow to
David, who followed his bier and mourned his
death.
"And the king said unto his servants. Know ye
not that there is a prince and a great man fallen
this day in Israel P""^
Such was the testimony of David to the memory
of Abner.
When the chief general of Ish-bosheth betrayed
his king, it was quite natural that others would con-
spire to dethrone him. Finally he was slain by
^TI Samuel 3:38.
4
50 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Recfiab and Baanah while lying upon his bed dur-
ing the heat of the day. They brought his head to
David in Hebron. If they thereby expected to gain
the favor of David in his rise to power, they were
mistaken.
./'How much more, when wicked men have slain a
righteous person in his own house upon his bed?
shall I not therefore now require his blood of your
hand, and take you away from the earth?"''
They paid the penalty of their treachery.
David Again Anointed King. This circumstance,
however, brought the elders of Israel together at
Hebron in the southern part of Judah, where they
again anointed David king over all Israel.
**David was thirty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned forty years.
'Tn Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years
and six months ; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty
and three years over all Israel and Judah.
"And the king and his men went to Jerusalem
unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land:
which spake unto David, saying. Except thou take
away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in
hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.''^
David now went up with his men to Jerusalem
from Hebron, where he took the city from the
Jebusites, and laid the foundation of the most
famous city the world has ever known.
By this time David had won the consideration,
ell Samuel 4:11.
fU Samuel 5:4-6.
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL 51
if not the friendship of some of the stronger tribes
around him. Hiram, king of Tyre, sent to David
cedar trees, no doubt from the Lebanons, and also
carpenters and mechanics that they might build him
a house. This circumstance, however, brought to
David's mind the fact that it was not consistent
with humble dignity to build a house of cedar for
himself while the ark of God rested in a tent. David
therefore appealed to the prophet Nathan, who at
this time enjoyed the prophetic office, proposing to
build a house to the Lord.
The idea at first appealed to Nathan favorably,
but the Lord appeared to him in the night and com-
manded him to go to David and let him know that
the building of a house to the glory of God was not
a part of his mission in life. David was a war-
rior. But God promised that such a high privilege
should be granted to David's house. So the erec-
tion of the temple at Jerusalem was left to David's
son, Solomon. David, however, was not disap-
pointed. He was still grateful, and praised God
that the honor of such an opportunity should come
to his house.
The Ark Removed to Jerusalem. When the
Philistines met repeated calamities by the presence
of the ark in their leading cities, they returned it to
the Israelites, who deposited it at Kirjath-Jearim,
where it remained thereafter. David had selected
the city of the Jebusites as the capital of his new
kingdom. There he set up the tabernacle, and there
the ark of God should be placed within it. A new
52 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
cart was made to bring it from the house of Ab-
inadab in Gibeah.
''And David and all the house of Israel played
before the Lord on all manner of instruments made
of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on
timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
''And when they came to Nachon's threshing-
floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God,
and took hold of it ; for the oxen shook it.
"And the anger of the Lord was kindled against
Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error; and
there he died by the ark of God."^
Whatever punishment Uzzah may have required
for transgressing both the law and the will of God,
the circumstance aroused, naturally, throughout
Israel a spirit of fear for God and reverence for the
ark. David was also afraid because of what had
happened, and carried the ark aside into the house
of Obed-edom, where it rested for three months.
During this time Obed-edom was blessed in all his
affairs, because of the presence of the sacred ark.
Finally, David removed it to the tabernacle , on
Mount Zion, one of the sacred precincts of what
was now to become the holy city of Jerusalem.
David's first wife did not appreciate the conduct
of her husband in dancing before the ark as it
moved by her house. "She despised him in her
heart."
"And David said unto Michal, It was before the
Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before
^11 Samuel 6:5-7.
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL 53
all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of
the Lord, over Israel : therefore will I play before
the Lord."
''Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no
child unto the day of her death/'^
His wife paid the penalty for the contempt with
which she looked upon her husband, who in her
mind was celebrating in too humble a manner the
arrival of the ark at Jerusalem.
The Wars of David. The wars of David cover a
considerable period in the history of this king. In
these wars we have a repetition of the divine favor
which made Israel successful in their contentions
against the people of the Philistines to the west of
them and against the Moabites beyond the Jordan
to the east of them. It is said that David put gar-
risons in Syria of Damascus, showing that he ex-
tended his conquest away beyond the limits of the
Promised Land as Palestine . was subsequently
known. The days of successful wars are days of a
king's glory.
''And David gat him a name when he returned
from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt,
being eighteen thousand men. * * *
"And David reigned over all Israel ; and David
executed judgment and justice unto all his people.'''
He made his sons chief rulers and began the es-
tablishment of a royal household that in days to
come became a source of sorrow to him.
^^11 Samuel 6:21,23.
ni Samuel 8:13-15.
54 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
*'And David said, Is there yet any that is left of
the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? (Note 2).
"And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet
a son, which is lame on his feet.
''And the king said unto him. Where is he? And
Ziba said unto the king. Behold, he is in the house
of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar/'^
This son, Mephibosheth, David took into his
house and provided with means of support and re-
stored to him the land of his grandfather, Saul.
David cherished other friendships. He had not
forgotten when he was a refugee the kindness of
Nahash, king of the Ammonites. When Nahash
died David sent messengers to his son Hanun to
comfort him and to extend to him words of kind-
ness. The son, however, became suspicious. He
took David's servants, shaved ofif one half of their
beards and cut their garments off in the middle, an
act of greatest insult and degradation to an Ori-
ental. In their humiliation, David granted them
the privilege of remaining at the Jordan until their
beards should grow again.
The children of Ammon how prepared for war
and were met by the hosts of David under the lead-
ership of Joab.
''And the Syrians filed before Israel ; and David
slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the
Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote
/II Samuel 9:1-4.
DAVID, THE KING OF ISRAEL 55
Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. "^
From this time on the Syrians were afraid to
help the children of Ammon any more. These were
the wars beyond the Jordan.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How did David receive the news of Saul's death?
2. Explain the rivalry for the kingdom which Saul's death
created.
3. What was the history of Jerusalem up to the time of
David?
4. What was the sin of Uzzah?
5. What were the relationis of David and Nahash?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What were the boundaries of Paleistine under the rule
of David?
2. What was David's conception of Saul as the anointed
of the Lord?
NOTES
1. My Lord Cardinal, there is one fact which you seem to
have forgotten. God is a sure paymaster. H.e may not pay
at the end of every week or month or year; but I charge you,
remember that he pays in the end.
2. The generous who is always just, and the just who is
always generous, may, unannounced, approach the throne of
heaven.
ni Samuel 10-18.
CHAPTER 6
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID
(II Sam. 11-24;
How oft the sight of means to do all deeds makes
deeds ill done. — Shakespeare.
Triumphs, glory, and success often crown the
lives of nations and individuals as the companions
of temptations, sorrows, misfortunes, and some-
times degradations. David would not have been
human had he not felt some exultations of selfish
pride as he beheld the kingdom of Israel spreading
beyond the confines of all former conquests. As his
own glory enveloped him day by day, it would be
strange indeed if the glory of God did not some-
times fade before him. David never fully forgot his
God as Saul before him had done. Saul might
mourn his punishment, but David mourned his sins.
For the latter, repentance holds out some hope,
gives some assurance.
It is remarkable how the Bible reveals to us the
sins of men, often in revoking details. In those
days the sins of men's hearts were not very far re-
moved from their conduct. Their social lives and
their surroundings did not bring a very great com-
pelling pressure upon them. Through it all, how-
ever, the requirements of the law of Moses were
binding and severe, and God's standard of judgment
was never more exalted than in those primitive
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID 57
times. We may wonder that the people did not do
better, but sometimes we are compelled to wonder
that they did not do worse.
King David Sins. David was a great character.
He was anointed king, as a man after God's own
heart. Some of his sins were no doubt grievous,
but his repentance was as sorrowful as his sins had
been glaring. He no sooner reached the pinnacle
of his fame than the severest of his temptations
overtook him. Uriah, a Hittite, had a beautiful
wife. In the means David adopted to secure her,
he truly sinned, but he also sinned by marrying into
a forbidden nation. She was a beautiful woman.
It was the old, old story, — the god-like attribute of
love turned from sacred channels into sin (Note 1).
David had Uriah placed in the front ranks before
the walls in the siege of the city, where his life was
taken. He not only sinned in bringing about the
death of Uriah, but he sinned while Uriah was yet
living. The child of his sin died. But later, Bath-
sheba, Uriah's vv^ife, bore David an illustrious son,
whom God honored, and whose glory and wisdom
have drawn upon him the admiration of the world.
The wisdom of Solomon from his day to this has
been considered the very acme of all wisdom.
For such a sin as David committed God did not
permit him to escape retribution. In those days
Nathan was the prophet of the Lord. The story of
Nathan's rebuke to David is so poetic, so touching,
so historical in unnumbered quotations, that it is
given here in full :
58 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
"And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he
came unto him, and said unto him, There were two
men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor
''The rich man had exceeding many flocks and
herds :
"But the poor man had nothing, save one little
ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished ud:
and it grew up together with him, and with his chil-
dren; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his
own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him
as a daughter.
"And there came a traveler unto the rich man,
and he spared to take of his own flock and of his
own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was
come unto him ; but took the poor man's lamb, and
dressed it for the man that was come to him
"And David's anger was greatly kindled agamst
the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord Hveth.
the man that hath done this thing shall surelv die:
"And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because
he did this thing and because he had no pity.
"And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.
Thus saith the Lord God of Lsrael, I anointed thee
king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the
hand of Saul ;
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy
master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the
house of Israel and of Judah ; and if that had been
too little, I would moreover have given unto thee
such and such things.
"Wherefore hast thou despised the command-
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID 59
nient of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast
killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast
taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him
with the sword of the children of Ammon.
''Now therefore the sword shall never depart
from thine house; because thou hast despised me,
and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be
thy wife.
''Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up
evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will
take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them
unto thy neighbor."^
David mourned his sin (Note 2), — not merely his
punishment. He exclaimed, "I have sinned against
the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord
also hath put away thy sin; thou shal|: not die.''^
David had pronounced his own judgment upon
his own head; but God did not require the fulfill-
ment of that judgment. There was yet more for
David to do in the fulfillment of God's purposes. It
is remarkable that Solomon, the fruit of this sinful
marriage, should come to fill Jerusalem with the
glory of God's temple, and to fill the world with the
glory of his wisdom. What is yet more striking is
the wonderful inspiration that has come to the
world through the Psalms of David. In those
psalms, which sing the praises of God, there is a
sublime spirit of repentance. There is in them a
«II Samuel 12:1-11, 13.
^11 Samuel 12:13.
60 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
spirit of mourning and the answering spirit of com-
fort. Sometimes we are almost led to ask if David
could have written those beautiful Psalms had he
not been constantly yearning for divine glory.
David came down to the level of a sinful man, and
he had attuned the heart of the sinner in quest of
his God's forgiveness to the great hope that God's
mercies are ample to cover all the sins of man save
those for which there is no forgiveness. David's
appeal to divine mercy put aside the self-righteous,
and made him a companion to the man in sin, who
in the true spirit of repentance is struggling to re-
gain divine favor.
Absalom. The next trouble to vex David was
the revolt of his son Absalom, whose beautiful sis-
ter Tamar, one of her brothers, Amnon loved. His
violation of the law of Moses with respect to his
sister led Absalom to kill Amnon. Thereupon Ab-
salom made his escape to the home of his grand-
mother across the river Jordan in Geshur, where he
remained in exile during a period of three years.
Through the intrigue and influence of David's chief
general, Joab, Absalom was recalled, not through
David's wish, nor yet by the command of God.
David though permitting Absalom to return to
Jerusalem was not disposed to meet him, and it
was some time before Absalom received any con-
sideration from his father. No sooner, however_,
had Absalom re-established himself in Jerusalem
than he began his intrigue against his father. He
was popular with the people, attractive, winsome,
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID 61
and withal perhaps what we should now call a dem-
agogue.
"And it was so, that when any man came nigh to
him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and
took him, and kissed him.
''And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel
that came to the king for judgment; so Absalom
stole the hearts of the men of Israel/'^
Absalom soon obtained a following, and gathered
those who were intriguing with him to Hebron
south of Jerusalem about twenty-five miles. Ab-
salom was born at Hebron, and there David had his
early reign over the house of Judah. The place was
therefore suitable for Absalom's purpose. From
his headquarters in the south he sent spies through-
out Israel and created a revolt against the rule of
David.
The king was in no disposition to oppose Ab-
salom, and with some of his followers he left Jeru-
salem and fled towards the river Jordan, at first
taking with him the ark; but after further consid-
eration, David decided to return the ark to its rest-
ing place in the tabernacle on Mount Zion.
Absalom had therefore no difficulty in making
his entry into Jerusalem. The character of the man
was shown by the fact that he violated the honor
of his father's house with ten of David's wives or
concubines who were left behind when the king fled
out of the city. Such an act was the greatest of-
fense that could be committed against any person,
'^II Samuel 15:5,6.
62 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
and of course would naturally make any reconcilia-
tion impossible between the father and the son. It
may be here too that David was compelled to taste
some of the bitterness which he had caused others,
and especially in the case of Uriah and his wife
Bathsheba.
There was nothing in the character of Absalom,
except his beauty and his winning ways, that com-
mended him to the people, and he proved unworthy
before the Lord. Absalom now starts out with an
army of Israelites against his father, who was lo-
cated in Geshur beyond the Jordan. Here a battle
took place, and while Absalom was riding beneath
the trees at a place near the wood of Ephraim, his
long flowing hair caught in the boughs of the trees,
and he was so suspended that his animal passed on
from under him. Through Joab, Absalom was put
to death.
David Mourns for Absalom. This wily general
realized that there could be no peace for David and
his kingdom so long as this unworthy son remained
at large, and though David had pleaded that the life
of his son be spared, Joab was in no mood to grant
the king his request, inasmuch as he looked upon
David's love for Absalom as the weakness of a
father for an unworthy son. David, however, was
inconsolable, and burst out in the loving exclama-
tions of his poetical and musical nature in one of
those rhapsodies which so frequently characterize
his words :
''O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom !
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID 63
would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son,
my son!"^
joab was in no mood to humor the king in his
mconsolable grief over Absalom, and he therefore
appears before David with words of rebuke :
"*Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy
servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the
lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives
of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;
*Tn that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy
friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou
regardest neither princes nor servants : for this day
I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we
had died this day, then it had pleased thee well/'^
Such words roused David from his selfish grief
to a higher consideration of the duties which he
owed to those who had fought his battles and won
his deliverance.
The Revolt of Sheba. The troubles of David
were not yet ended. One revolt but gave encour-
a§:ement for others, and so Sheba, a Benjamite, un-
dertook the overthrow of the house of David. The
people of Judah, however, were again loyal to their
king, and Joab found himself again at war for
David, and Sheba betook himself to a walled city
called Abel where he was besieged by Joab and his
army. It was here the wise woman came to the
wall, and looking down upon Joab said:
''IT Samuel 18:33.
-n Samuel 19:5,6.
64 ' OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he an-
swered, I do hear.
''Then he spake, saying, They were wont to
speak in old times, saying, They shall surely ask
counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter."^
Abel-was one of those cities noted for the wisdom
of its people. Joab, however, demanded as a con-
dition of refraining from taking the city, that the
wise woman send to him the head of Sheba, and
it was done. This ended the revolt.
David's conquest of the Philistines and the Am-
monites and the Syrians, the tribes round about
Israel, was naturally a source both of gratitude and
pride. It is always safer to encourage feelings of
gratitude than feelings of pride; gratitude carries
us back to God; pride lifts us in the conceit of our
own wisdom and ways. In the moment of David's
gratitude his praises to Jehovah are sung in those
psalms which contain the wisdom and the inspira-
tion that have been a light to the world. In his last
days, "David spake unto the Lord the words of this
song, in the day that the Lord had delivered him
out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the
hand of Saul."^
The same psalm is contained in the eighteenth
chapter of Psalms. There are many beautiful pas-
sages, only one or two of which space will permit
to be inserted here:
"I was also upright before him, and have kept
myself from mine iniquity.
fU Samuel 20:17, 18.
^11 Samuel 22:1.
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID 65
''Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me ac-
cording to my righteousness; according to my
cleanness in his eyesight. * * *
''As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the
Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust
in him/'^
The twenty-fourth verse of this psalm has a spe-
cial significance for all God's children. David says,
"I have kept myself from mine iniquity.'' Our own
iniquities, — think of them ! They tempt us ; they
try us ; they have power to destroy us. It is so easy
to think of the iniquities of others and so hard to
think of our own that we perish rather by our own
hand than fall by the sword of the enemy.
David Numbers Israel and Judah. How beauti-
fully expressed is the gratitude of David; how
wrongfully expressed was his pride. When the
anger of God was kindled against him because of
the pride of his heart and in the flush of his vic-
tories, he numbered Israel and Judah, even though
his old general, Joab, gave him a most solemn
warning:
''Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how
many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the
eyes of my lord the king may see it; but why doth
my lord the king delight in this thing?"*
The king was not restrained. And then came to
him and the people who shared his pride one of the
greatest sorrowings of David's life, after they were
HI Samuel 22:24, ,25, 31.
ni Samuel 24:3.
66 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
numbered, 800,000 men in the tribes of Israel, 500,-
000 men of the tribe of Judah. The enumeration
of the tribes separated Judah from the rest of Israel,
as if foretelling the division of the kingdom. David's
heart smote him:
*'I have sinned greatly in that I have done : and
nov^, I beseech thee, O Lord, take av^ay the iniquity
of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly (Note
3).
*'For when David w^as up in the morning, the
word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad,
David's seer, saying,
''Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I
offer thee three things.; choose thee one of them,
that I may do it unto thee.
''So Gad came to David, and told him, and said
unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto
thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months be-
fore thine enemies, whil-e they pursue thee? or that
there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now ad-
vise, and see what answer I shall return to him that
sent me.
"And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait;
let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his
mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand
of man.
"So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from
the morning even to the time appointed; and there
died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba
seventy thousand men.
"And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
TROUBLES BECLOUD THE REIGN OF DAVID (^1
Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of
the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the
people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And
the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of
Araunah the Jebusite.
'*And David spake unto the Lord when he saw
the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I
have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these
sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray
thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
''And Gad came that day to David, and said unto
him. Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the
threshingflioor of Araunah the Jebusite.''^
The threshing floor where David built an altar
was subsequently the site of the temple which Sol-
omon built. This was one of the greatest plagues
in Israel, — the greatest of all up to that time. When
Sennacherib suffered a plague in his army it carried
off 185,000 men in one night. It is related in history
that when the army of the Carthaginians were at
Syracuse a plague carried off 100,000 men.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Narrate the story of David'.s sin against Uriah.
2. How did Nathan bring home to David his sin?
3. What is the story of Absalom?
4. Describe the history and character of Joab.
5. Why was pestilence wrought upon the people?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are the dangers of personal popularity?
2. Give a character sketch of Joab.
ill Samuel 24:10-18.
68 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
NOTES
1. H.e who has no mind to trade with the devil should be
so wise as to keep from his trap. — South.
2. A Jewish Rabbi exhorted his disciples to repent the day
before they died. One replied that the day of a man's
death was uncertain. "Repent, therefore, every day," said
the Rabbi, "and you will be sure to repent the day before
3^ou die."
3. "It was prettily devised of Aesop, the fly sat upon the
axletree of the chariot wheel, and said, 'What a dust do I
raise!'? So are there some vain persons that, whatever goeth
alone, or moveth upon greater means, if they have never so
little hand in it they think it is they that carry it." — Bacon.
CHAPTER 7
SOLOMON MADE KING
(I Kings 1-5)
Wisdom lies only in truth. — Goethe.
When David was upon his death-bed, his son
Adonijah, the son of Haggith, was so possessed by
ambition that he conspired to be the successor of
his father David. Adonijah conferred with Joab,
the great general of David, and also with Abiathar,
the priest, both of whom were self-seeking in of-
fering their help to the new pretender to the throne.
Adonijah was the full brother of Absalom, ''a very
goodly man" the Bible says, and he no doubt had
the same persuasiveness that his brother possessed.
However, there was one who had not been con-
sulted,— the man who represented the authority of
God, — Nathan the prophet, who immediately spoke
to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying:
''Go and get thee in unto king David, and say
unto him. Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear
unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon
thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon
my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign P""*
Solomon Anointed King. All that Adonijah had
done had been without the knowledge of his father.
At the same time Bathsheba approached the king,
Nathan also came to him. David thereupon called
«I Kings 1:13,
70 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
the priest Zadok and Nathan the prophet, and had
them take Solomon, his son, down into the valley of
Gihon, and Zadok there anointed him king over
Israel. This Gihon is undoubtedly the Tyropoeum
valley, a valley that separated Jerusalem into east-
ern and w^estern parts. It ran from the north side
of the city in a southerly direction, dow^n into the
Kedron. On the east side of the valley in ancient
times the hill was called Zion. It was the temple
hill, in later times called Mount Moriah. The west-
ern and southern part of the city was in later times
called Zion.
The command of David was that Solomon should
ride on the king's own mule. This was a sign of
royalty. The Jews, in their early writings, say that
it was a sin punishable by death to ride on the
king's mule without his permission. Christ, when
He gave the people of Jerusalem an opportunity to
receive Him as their king, rode into the city on a
mule. When Adonijah discovered that Solomon
had been appointed king by his father, and anointed
by Zadok and Nathan the prophet, he immediately
surrendered his claims to his younger brother, pro-
fessed allegiance to him and asked that he be not
put to death. Adonijah, in his fear had gone to
the temple and seized hold of the horns of the altar.
Solomon assured him, however, that not a hair of
his head should fall if he proved himself worthy,
but that if wickedness was found in him he must
die.
It was not long, however, before Adonijah was
SOLOMON MADE KING 71
caught in a conspiracy. When David was old and
on his death-bed there was a young woman se-
lected, to cherish and warm him, whose name was
Abishag, the Shunammite. It was a practice then
and later among Oriental nations that whoever
dwelt within the precincts of the king became a
part of his possessions, so that Abishag really be-
longed to the household of David. As Saul's house-
hold came to David, so likewise would the house-
hold of David be the inheritance of Solomon. ^
The intrigues of women have more than once
led to the overthrow of a kingdom, and the king,
upon his succession in a land where polygamy was
practiced regained the women still in his possession
and within his influence, and he might make of
them his wives if they were not forbidden by the
terms of the law of Moses.
Adonijah now came to Bathsheba, Solomon's
mother, and sought her influence to make Abishag
his wife. The matter seemed innocent enough to
Bathsheba. Women are sometimes interested in
love matches, and she no doubt had her pride grati-
fied by the request that she exercise her influence
with her son Solomon. She now appeared before
the king and was seated at his right side, a place
of distinction and one accorded in those days in
Israel as well as other Oriental countries to the
very powerful personage known as the king's
mother. Solomon, however, was not deceived by
this intrigue.
"And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunarn- ,
72 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
mite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also;
for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for
Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of
Zeruiah."^
Death of Adonijah. By this conspiracy, Adonijah
forfeited his life. To the other conspirator, Abi-
athar, the king said:
''Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields;
for thou art worthy of death : but I will not at this
time put thee to deaths because thou barest the ark
of the Lord God before David my father, and be-
cause thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my
father was afflicted.'''^
Joab, the chief general of David, fled to the tab-
ernacle and laid hold on the horns of the altar.
Joab craved death at the altar rather than appear
before the king. So Solomon granted his request.
Joab, though an old man, had been guilty of cruel
and murderous conduct which had brought disfavor
upon David and upon his house. Let the blood of
those whom he had unjustly slain, said the king,
return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of
his seed forever.
Solomon had now made himself safe against
intrigues in Israel. He was firmly established upon
his throne, and began his kingly career in the glory
that afterward made his name famous not only
throughout Israel, but by its grandeur, throughout
the world.
^I Kings 2:22.
^I Kings 2:26.
SOLOMON MADE KING 73
The nation that would most naturally and easily
be brought into contact with Israel was Egypt
which was separated on the southwest by only a
comparatively short distance. Solomon married
one of the daughters of Pharaoh. Whether in this
marriage there was any thought of maintaining a
royalty by intermarriage as is done in our own day,
we are not informed.
Solomon encouraged the worship of God by sac-
rifices upon altars in the so-called high places.
These high places had been forbidden because the
heathen nations had used them for their own idol-
atrous purposes. Then again there was one place
given for the offer of sacrifices, and that was at the
door of the tabernacle.
We are not told that Solomon was forbidden to
offer sacrifices elsewhere, but we do know that
it helped the separation of ancient Israel when they
were divided into two separate kingdoms. The
central place of worship, at the door of the taber-
nacle, wherever that was, would naturally have
a strong tendency to keep the people of God united
as a nation.
Solomon Promised Wisdom. There comes now
into Solomon's life a beautiful lesson which has
been told and retold for thousands of years, — the
story of Solomon's wisdom:
"In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a
a dream by night : and God said. Ask what I shall
give thee.
"And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy
74 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
servant David my father great mercy, according as
he walked before thee in truth, and in righteous-
ness, and in uprightness of heart w^ith thee; and
thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that
thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne,
as it is this day.
''And nov^, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy
servant king instead of David my father: and I
am but a little child : I know not how to go out or
come in.
''And thy servant is in the midst of thy people
which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot
be numbered nor counted for multitude.
"Give therefore thy servant an understanding
heart to judge thy people, that I may discern be-
tween good and bad : for who is able to judge this
thy so great a people?
"And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon
had asked this thing.
"And God said unto him. Because thou hast asked
this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life ;
neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked
the life of thine enemies ; but hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment;
"Behold, I have done according to thy word: lo,
I have given thee a wise and an understanding
heart; so that there was none like thee before
thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto
thee.
"And I have also given thee that which thou hast
not asked, both riches^ and honor; so that ther^
SOLOMON MADE KING 75
shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all
thy days/'^
Soon thereafter is recorded the fact that there
came to Solomon two women both claiming the
same child, which one had obtained by placing her
dead child at the side of her who had a living child
which the mother of the dead child removed by
stealth. From their contrary statements Solomon
did not judge them, even though the spirit of the
Lord may have enabled him to do so. As a judge
it was his duty to act upon the testimony. There-
fore he proposed to dividevthe child in two by the
sword. The real mother, whose heart went out to
her offspring, preferred that the child be not killed,
even though the one who was not its mother kept
it. This expression of the mother's heart was evi-
dence to Solomon, who the mother was, inasmuch
as the one who had stolen the child was willing that
it should be thus divided.
The Size of the Kingdom. ''And Solomon
reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the
land of the Philistines, and unto the border of
Egypt : they brought presents, and served Solomon
all the days of his life.
''And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty
measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of
meal.
"Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pas.-
tures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roe-
bucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl."^
dl Kings 3:5-13.
^I Kings 4:21-23,
l(y OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The exact amount here given cannot be calcu-
lated in terms of English weights. It has been
estimated by those who have undertaken the com-
putation that Solomon fed daily at the royal table
something like 14,000 persons. It is also said in
ancient history that the kings of Persia during their
supremacy fed 15,000 daily at the board of the
king.
''And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man
under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan
even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
"And Solomon haci forty thousand stalls of
horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horse-
men. * * *
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and under-
standing exceeding much, and largeness of heart,
even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
"And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of
all the children of the east country, and all the
wisdom of Egypt. * * *
"And he spake three thousand proverbs : and his
songs were a thousand and five.
"And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that
is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth
out of the wall : he spake also of beasts, and of fowl,
and of creeping things, and of fishes.
"And there came of all people to hear the wis-
dom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which
had heard of his wisdom."^
Evidently most of Solomon's proverbs have been
n Kings 4:25-34.
SOLOMON MADE KING 11
lost to US. The Book of Proverbs has perhaps less
than a thousand. Even if Ecclesiastes was written
by Solomon and its proverbs be included, it would
add only one or two hundred.
''He spake of trees." Solomon was something
of a naturalist; he evidently possessed great powers
of observation. That he wrote on the subjects of
plant life or animal life seems hardly likely, as no
evidence remains to us to that effect. He was a
striking example of Christ's promise: ''Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you."
The Gift of Wisdom. What does the gift of wis-
dom to Solomon teach us? Simply that we should
ask for what he asked. Solomon wanted that which
he needed most, to perform the mission in life
which God had assigned him. He was thinking not
so much of himself as he was of the great divine
requirements which he would have to meet. His
desire for wisdom therefore was not simply a selfish
desire to advance his fame or his wealth. There is
in Solomon's expressed wish for wisdom a childlike
humility.
He knew the greatness of his father, the great-
ness of the kingdom which David erected, and he
said: "I am but a little child: I know not how to
go out or come in." God also gave Solomon
"largeness of heart." His sympathies therefore
were great, and there was charity in his judgments.
Along with the gifts of God there are usually found
corresponding temptations. "Where much is given
78 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
much is required.'' In his great love for God and
God's children there were lurking temptations that
beset Solomon and proved his v^eakness, and
brought on God's displeasure. However, he was
chosen of God — no doubt the best instrumentality
of his day in carrying out the will of Jehovah.
Today we look at Solomon from afar. Not only
are we removed from him a long way in the matter
of our calling and mission in life, but we look at
him from the great distance of time. We may
judge from the standpoint of God's requirements,
but not from our own ability to say what we could
or would do under similar circumstances. Few of
God's children have ever been put to such a test.
We must therefore conclude that the possibilities
of Solomon's life were as great as his calling.
We may safely conclude that all in all God loved
and blessed Solomon, and God, knowing the great
temptations that would beset him, must have felt
somewhat towards this prince in Israel as Christ
felt towards Peter, even after Peter privately de-
nied his Master. On one occasion Christ said to
Peter, ''Satan hath sought thee that he might sift
thee as chaff." From that we may reasonably con-
clude that men without divine protection are no
match for Satan.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the conspiracy of Adonijah?
2. How was Solomon made king?
3. Why was worship in the high places forbidden?
4. Why was Solomon given wisdom?
5. What were the boundarie>s of the kingdom of Israel
under Solomon?
SOLOMON MADE KING 70
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is wisdom?
2. Why is wisdom not always a safe substitute for divine
protection?
NOTES
The Greeks had deified wisdom; as shown by St. Paul's
language, "We worship not Minerva, but Christ."- It is im-
portant to dwell upon this — there is a marvelous idolatry of
talent; it is a strange and grievous thing to see how men bow
down before genius and success. Draw the distinction sharp
between these two things — goodness is one thing, talent an-
other. The Son of Man came not as a scribe, but as a poor
working man. He was a Teacher, not a Rabbi. When the
idolatry of talent enters the Church, then farewell to spirit-
uality; when fnen ask their teachers, not for that which will
make them more humble and God-like, but for the excitement
of an intellectual banquet, then farewell to Christian pro-
gress. Here also St. Paul stood firrn — not wfsdom but Christ
crucified. Christianity is not a creed, but a life; and when
men who listen to a preacher only find an intellectual amuse-
ment, they are not thereby advanced one step nearer to
the high life of a Christian. — Robertson.
CHAPER 8
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
(I Kings 6-8)
Choose well; your choice is brief and yet endless.
— ^^Goethe.
If David founded what was to be the most cele-
brated city in the world, it was left to his son
Solomon to construct a building which, including
those that followed it after its destruction, was to
become the most celebrated of all buildings, — the
temple of Jerusalem. It became the heart of the
Jewish world, and its history has been sacred to
millions of Christians who believe in the God of
Israel. (Note 1.)
There was a people with whom the Israelites
hitherto had little to do. They were located di-
rectly west of the northern extremity of the prom-
ised land in a counry called Phoenicia. Their chief
cities were Sidon and Tyrqdj^ The Phoenicians had
only a small seacoast, and could not therefore en-
gage in the pursuits of agriculture and stock rais-
ing. They were artisans and merchants whose
ships might be seen in all parts of the Mediter-
ranean.
Building of the Temple Begun. The Israelites,
on the 'other hand, were agriculturists, and pre-
pared to exchange the raw material for the finished
products and the timber of the Lebanon, which was
SOLOMON^S TEMPLE 81
so close to the country of the Phoenicians. Sol-
omon sent this message to king Hiram of Tyre :
''Thou knowest how that David my father could
not build a house unto the name of the Lord his
God, for the wars which were about him on every
side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his
feet."«
Solomon now had peace and was prepared to go
ahead with the chief mission of his life — the con-
struction of the temple. So the Sidonians were
employed to hew the timbers and transport them to
Jerusalem. The Lebanons where the timbers
grew were something like one hundred fifty to two
hundred miles northeast. The most feasible plan
was to haul these timbers from the Lebanons in
the north thirty or forty miles to the seacoast of
the Mediterranean and then bring them in ilats
down to a place called Joppa, from which they were
taken by a good road across the valley of the Sharon
up through the low mountains of Judea to their
destination. To carry on this work, ''King Sol-
omon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy
was thirty thousand men.
"And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a
month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon,
and two months at home. * * *
"And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand
that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers
in the mountains.''*
«I Kings 5:3.
n Kings 5:13-15.
82 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
This of course was forced labor. It was the first
time that the people of Israel had been brought
under a species of serfdom, peonage. Here the
warning of God was fulfilled wherein He said to
Samuel that a king would ''take their men servants
and their maid-servants and their goodliest young
men, and put them to his work.'' David, in his time,
had compelled the strangers that were in Israel ^o
do certain work.
According to the numbers of the people, there
were 1,030,000 able-bodied Israelites. Now a levy
of 30,000 would be one in every forty men, and one-
third of these were constantly at work in the Leb-
anon. They worked one month and returned home
to pursue their own labors two months, and then
returned. This in itself perhaps was not so severe
a burden, but the people did not like it. They com-
plained, and it was one of the causes that led tc a
division of the kingdom of Israel later on alter
Solomon's death.
''And the king commanded, and they brought
great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to
lay the foundation of the house. "'^
Some Chronology. Chapter six of First Kings
opens with the words,
"And it came to pass in the four hundred and
eightieth year after the children of Israel were
come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of
Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif,
I Kings 5:17.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 83
which is the second month, that he began to build
the hou^e of the Lord."^
This statement of the period of time between the
Exodus and the fourth year ol Solomon's reign is
the usually accepted chronology of the Old Testa-
ment from the time of the Exodus. To get the time
down to the accession of Cyrus to the throne of
Babylon one may add the remaining years of Solo-
mon's reign, the years of the kings of Judah, and
the seventy years of exile. By this chronology,
with very slight dififerences, the accession of Solo-
mon to the throne is usually fixed at 1000 B. C.
This computation is really not satisfactory.
Periods of time are given for most of the judges,
though two or three are left out which would make
the time 580 years; another computation is 600
years. St. Paul gives the lime from the division of
Canaan among the tribes in the sixth year of Joshua
down to Samuel as 450 years. This would make
the period between the Exodus and the beginning
of the temple 579 years. It must be admitted that
none of the computations given are entirely satis-
factory. The 480 years given in I Kings quoted
above does not correspond with other chronology
given in the Old Testament. Some have thought
the statement ''480 years" an interpolation by some
of the ancient scribes.
Plans of Temple. The temple of Solomon, built
after the pattern of the tabernacle heretofore de-
scribed, was seven years in construction. Alljoi the
^I Kings 6:1,
84 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Stones and timbers were cut so that the sound of
the carpenters' tools was not heard when the house
was put together. God had commanded, according
to the law of Moses, not to lift up any iron tool on
the stones of an altar.
There has been some dispute, of course, about
the dimensions of the house and the peculiarities
of its roof. There are those who believe that the
roof of Solomon's temple was built like the tent of
the tabernacle, sloping. The inside of the house
was finished with cedar ornamented by carvings,
and much of it overlaid with pure gold. The temple
in one respect differed from the tabernacle in that
there were rooms built up against it, — what we
should call lean-tos. These were evidently for the
accommodation of the priests and those who took
care of the temple.
Solomon's Palace. "Solomon was building his
own house thirteen years. * *
"He built also the house of the forest of Leb-
anon; the length thereof was a hundred cubits and
the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height
thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pil-
lars, with cedar beams upon the pillars."^
In other words, it would have been about 150 feet
by 75 feet, if we take the commonly accepted length
of a cubit as a foot and a half. Some have held
that the house of the Forest of Lebanon was built
in the Lebanons themselves. This is very doubtful,
as Solomon's palaces consisted of a variety of
n Kings 7:1,2.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE S5
houses for different purposes and no doubt had dif-
ferent names. He built a separate house for the
daughter of Pharaoh, and it is noted that in front of
one of his palaces he built a porch for the throne
where he might judge.
Here he followed out the old Israelitish custom
of the judges sitting in the gate judging disputes
that came up between the people. Most of the
cities in those days were walled, and the entrance
to them was by means of large gates at one side of
which the judge sat and rendered his decisions con-
cerning the matters of dispute among the people.
So we have the gate of Justice of Granada, Spain,
and in Constantinople we have the Sublime Porr,
or Lofty Gate.
The time consumed in building the temple was
seven years; that of his palace thirteen years, a
total of twenty years in which he was engaged in
beautifying the city of Jerusalem.
''And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out
of Tyre
''He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali,
and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in
brass : and he was filled with wisdom, and under-
standing, and cunning to work all works in brass.
And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his
work."^
We may here understand that the workman was
of course not the king, but a man sent by the king.
In Chronicles it is said that Hiram was "the son of
n Kings 7:13, 14.
86 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
a woman of the daughters of Dan." That may be
true, and the discrepancy would be cured by saying
that while he was the son of a woman of the tribe
of Dan, she might have had as her first husband a
man of the tribe of Naphtali.
Interior Furnishings. For the temple Solomon
also constructed what is called ''a molten sea"
which was ten cubits or fifteen feet from one brim
Id the other and had a height of five cubits, or seven
and a half feet, and a line of thirty cubits or forty-
five feet was perhaps its circumference. 'Tt con-
tained two thousand baths," a bath being a measure
of eight and a half gallons, so that the ^^molten sea"
was sufficiently large to hold 17,000 gallons.
'Tt ('the molten sea,' what we would call a font)
stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the
north, and three looking toward the west, and three
looking toward the south, and three looking toward
the east : and the sea was set above upon them, and
all their hinder parts v\^ere inward."^
Besides the fort, or ''molten sea" Solomon also
built lavers that were used for ablutions.
"And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained
unto the house of the Lord; the altar of gold, and
the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread w^as.
"And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the
right side, and five on the left, before the oracle,
with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of
gold.
"And the bowls, and the snufifers, and the basins,
/rl Kings 7:25.
j
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 87
and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and
the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner
house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the
house, to wit, of the temple.
''So was ended all the work that king Solomon
made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon
brought in the things which David his father had
dedicated ; even the silver, and the gold, and the
vessels, did he put among the treasiires of the house
of the Lord."'^
These contributions to the temple of gold and
silver began as early as the reign of king Saul. In
David's time these contributions had of course
reached enormous sums, especially as David's con-
quests extended to the surrounding tribes, whose
treasures he had confiscated. The wealth, there-
fore, of the temple treasury was from the beginning
enormous, and naturally attracted unsrcupulous
kings, who had no hesitation about plundering the
house of God.
The books of Kings and Chronicles give a de-
tailed description of the great ornamentations
which decorated the house of God. They must ht
consulted for further details concerning the con-
struction of the temple.
Dedication of the Temple. "Then Solomon as-
sembled the e-ders of Israel, and all the heads of the
tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of
Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they
n KinRs 7:48-5L
88 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
might bring tip the ark of the covenant of the Lord
out of the city of David, w^hich is Zion."*
That w^as a great day in Jerusalem v^hen the ark
of the covenant v^^as carried by the priests from the
tabernacle to the temple of God.
**There w^as nothing in the ark save the two tables
of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when
the Lord made a covenant with the children of
Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
'^And it came to pass, when the priests were come
out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house
of the Lord."^
That was a great day in Israel. With all the lead-
ers of Israel assembled in Jerusalem, Solomon stood
before the altar of the Lord and, spreading forth his
hands towards heaven, offered a dedicatory prayer.
The prayer contains many sublime passages that
are worthy of special study. One or two may here
be quoted :
''When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against thee; if they pray
toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn
from their sin, when thou afflictest them :
"Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin
of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou
teach them the good way wherein they should walk,
and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given
to thy people for an inheritance."^
»I Kings 8:1.
/I Kings 8:9, 10.
n Kingis 8:35,36.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 89
Custom in Prayer. Praying with the face toward
the temple was a common practice among the Jews.
Today even it is so among the Arabs, who turn to
their house of God at Mecca. Solomon prayed that
the stranger might be remembered, in his supplica-
tions to God. The law of Moses was very liberal
for those days toward strangers. They could not
be oppressed nor vexed. They might make offer-
ings at the tabernacle, and they might be present at
the solemn readings of the law which took place
once in seven years.
Concerning the people of God:
'Tf they sin against thee, (for there is no man
that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and
deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them
away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or
near;
'*Yet if theyshaU bethink themselves in the land
whither they were carried captives, and repent, and
make supplication unto thee in the land of them
that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned,
and have done perversely, we have committed wick-
edness;
''And so return unto thee with all their heart, and
with all their soul in the land of their enemies,
which led them away captive, and pray unto thee
tovvard their land, which thou gavest unto their
fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the
house which I have built for thy name :
''Then hear thou their prayer and their supplica-
90 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
tion in heaven thy dwellingplace, and maintain their
cause/'^
After Solomon had finished his dedicatory prayer,
he stood in the presence of the people, and with
outspread hands ''blessed all the congregation of
Israel with a loud voice, saying,
''Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto
his people Israel, according to all that he promised :
there hath not failed one word of all his good prom-
ise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his
servant. * * *•
"And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offer-
ings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and
twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty
thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of
Israel dedicated the house of the Lord." ^ * *
"On the eighth day he sent the people away: and
they blessed the king, and went unto their tents
joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the
Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel
his people."'"
The dedication of the temple was a land-mark in
the history of Israel. Rest had come to them ; bless-
ings, peace and prosperity. It did not last long.
Israel's great work, the inspiration which she gave
to the world, was begotten chiefly in affliction
(Note 2).
a Kings 8:46-49.
"^I Kings 8:56, 63, 66.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 91
REVIEW QUESTIONS
L Who were the Phoenicians?
2. How was material obtained for the temple built by
Solomon?
3. Describe the pattern adopted for the construction of
Solomon's temple.
4. How was the temple of Solomon decorated?
5. Describe the dedication of the temple.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What difficulties are found in Bible chronology?
2. What effect did temple worship have upon the unity of
ancient Israel and upon the individual lives of the people?
NOTES
1. Solomon did not attain the greatness of his father.
Brought up as a king's ison, without the opportunity or the
necessity of isteeling his will in the hard school of danger and
self-denial, he was also destitute of his father's energy and
originality. He was more interested in the privileges of the
throne and its comforts, than in its lofty duties and mission.
The despotic tendencies which, in the case of his father, ap-
peared only occasionally, and were always restrained or sup-
pressed, became, in the case of the son, a fundamental trait
of character. His chief interest was in costly buildings,
foreign wives, and gorgeous display. — R. Kittel, in '^A History
of the Hebrews."
2. And When Thou Hearest, Forgive!
And when thou hearest. Holy Lord, forgive!
Thus with wnse reverence prayed King Solomon
When, as the crowning glory of hiis throne,
He claimed his God-bestowed prerogative,
'i
And built the Temple; knowing that in all
Man thinks or does — ay, even when he prays.
Or, i,n God's house spends dedicated days —
The taint yet lingers of our nature's fall.
Thou through whose power dead souls arise and live,
Thou in whos-e name we dare presume to teach
Of things so high, so far beyond our reach, —
Oh, when thou hearest, Holy Lord, forgive.
— A. H. Browne.
CHAPTER 9
THE END OF SOLOMON'S REIGN
(I Kings 9-12)
Great is the glory for the strife is hard. — Words-
worth.
After Solomon had finished on Mount Moriah,
the southeast hill of Jerusalem, the building of the
temple, and the construction on the southwest hill,
Mount Zion, of the royal palace, and had dedicated
the temple to the service of God, the great and ap-
pointed work of his life was completed (Note 1).
He was now growing old and appealed to the Lord
in prayer, and the Lord appeared to Solomon a sec-
ond time as he had done at Gibeon when He con-
ferred upon him the great blessing of wisdom.
^'And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy
prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made
before me : I have hallowed this house, which thou
hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine
eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
''And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy
father walked, in integrity of heart, and in upright-
ness, to do according to all that I have commanded
}-hee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments ;
''Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom
upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy
father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon
the throne of Israel.''
THE END OF SOLOMON'S RElGN 93
If he did not keep the commandments of God,
what then?
"Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which
I have given them; and this house, which I have
hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight;
and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among
all people.
''And at this house, which is high, every one that
passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss ; and
they shall say. Why hath the Lord done thus unto
this land, and to this house P"""
King Hiram's Reward. For the part king Hiram
of Tyre had taken in providing Solomon with lum-
ber and money, Solomon gave to him twenty cities
in the land of Galilee. When the Tyrian king went
to look at the cities ''they pleased him not.'' It is
said that Hiram had cast his eyes on the beautiful
Bay of Acra to the south of Phoenicia, and the in-
land cities were not attractive to him. "And he
called them the land of Cabul unto this day." It is
said that the word "Cabul" which is often used in
our own day, has no meaning in the Hebrew lan-
guage. Josephus tells us that it is a Phoenician
word meaning, "displeasing."
King Hiram had sent to Solomon six score talents
of gold, an amount equal in our money to a million
and a quarter dollars.
Along with the temple and the royal palace, Solo-
mon erected between them what is known in
Scripture as the millo, between Mount Moriah and
«I Kings 9:3-7.
94 OLD TESTAMENT STUIMES
Mount Zion. This millo was undoubtedly a fortress
located in the valley between the two hills.
The Levying System, The Canaanites, the in-
habitants that Joshua had found in the land, and
had not destroyed, were subject to a bond service,
a system of slavery. The oppression of such a ser-
vice was of course heaviest upon them when the
Israelites were strongest and best able to enforce it.
In the clays of their weakness it was not so exten-
sively carri'^d out. The Canaanites were in this way
made very profitable to the Israelites who were
thereby enabled to escape many of the more menial
kinds of labor. The Israelites would therefore nat-
urall}' hesitate in destroying altogether a people
whom they could thus use in a peonage system as
their servants. In the days of Solomon the Israel-
ites themselves did not escape this hardship.
The Land of Ophir. Solomon was not only pow-
erful upon the land, but he imitated the Phoenicians
by establishing a commerce upon the seas. These
ships brought gold from the land of Ophir to Ezion-
geber, a city somewhere near the present Acabah,
the east arm of the Red Sea. Where, however the
land of Ophir was, to which these ships were sent,
we do not know. The location of the land of Ophir
has been a subject of controversy for hundreds of
years. Its location has been designated in India,
Arabia, Burma, Africa, Armenia, Phrygia, Iberia,
and South America. Arabia and Africa both have
strong claims for the city. There has always been
an objection to Arabia on the ground that it did
THE END OF SOLOMON'S REIGN 95
not produce gold. However, gold may have been
brought to that country and shipped thence to Jeru-
salem; nor is it certain that gold never was found
in the Arabian peninsula.
The Queen of Sheba. x\mong the distinguished
visitors to Solomon in the days of his glory was the
queen of Sheba. Sheba was an important kingdom
of Arabia.
''And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she
came to prove him with hard questions.
''And she came to Jerusalem with a very great
train, with camels that bare spices, and very much
gold, and precious stones : and when she was come
to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was
in her heart. ''^
When the queen saw the palace of Solomon and
the temple, and she beheld his ministers, "and their
apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which
he went up unto the house of the Lord ; there was
no more spirit in her."''
She had proved all that she had heard about this
wonderful king.
"Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came,
and mine eyes had seen it : and, behold, the half was
not told me ; thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth
the fame which I heard.'' * * *
"Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted
in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel : because
n Kings 10:1,2,
a Kings 10:5.
96 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he
thee king, to do judgment and justice/'^
She thereupon gave the king one hundred twenty
talents of gold. The rich presents of Hiram and
the queen of Sheba added greatly to the v^ealth of
Solomon.
''Nov^ the v^eight of gold that came to Solomon
in one year was six hundred threescore and six
talents of gold/'"
With all this gold he began the ornamentation of
his palace and of the temple. His drinking vessels
were of gold;
'The throne had six steps, and the top of the
throne was round behind : and there were stays on
either side on the place of the seat, and two lions
stood beside the stays.
''And twelve lions stood there on the one side
and on the other upon the six steps: there was not
the like made in any kingdom."^
Of all these ornaments "none were of silver: it
was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon."
"So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the
earth for riches and for wisdom.
"And all the earth sought to Solomon, to heat
his wisdom, which God had put in his heart."^
What glory! what divine favor! what wisdom!
Who is there that could resist the temptations that
come through them? Certainly Solomon did not.
^I Kings 10:7,9.
el Kings 10:14.
n Kings 10:19,20.
^I Kings 10:23,24.
THE END OF SOLOMON'S REIGN 97
In the power of a young and noble manhood he was
valiant for God. With old age, he felt likewise the
infirmities of the will and the spirit.
'Tor it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that
his wives turned away his heart after other gods :
and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his
God, as was the heart of David his father.''''
Solomon's Wives. Solomon had done that which
God forbade the Israelites to do when they entered
the Land of Promise. He took wives from among
the Canaanites, ''Solomon clave unto these in love."
Solomon, therefore, to gratify the wives that he
had taken from foreign nations, built for them mag-
nificent temples to their false gods. Neither did he
appear ashamed to build them close to Jerusalem.
In these temples of the idols, he himself went and
took part. It was an apostasy from the true wor-
ship of God, though it is said that he made sacrifices
three times a year in the temple which he had built
to Jehovah. But he mixed with his worship burnt
incense to the idols of the heathens.
"And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because
his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel,
which had appeared unto him twice,
"And had commanded him concerning this thing,
that he should not go after other gods : but he kept
not that which the Lord commanded.
"Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Foras-
much as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept
my covenant and my statutes, which I have com-
n Kings 11:4.
98 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
manded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from
thee, and will give it to thy servant.
^^Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for
David thy father's sake : but I will rend it out of the
hand of thy son.
''Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom ;
but will give one tribe to thy son for David my
servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I
have chosen."*
Jeroboam. Solomon was not permitted to die
in peace.
''And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite
of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name
was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his
hand against the king."-^
Though a man of great valor, he was not permit-
ted to overthrow the kingdom in the days of Sol-
omon.
*'And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam
went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the
Shilonite found him in the way; and he clad him-
self with a new garment; and they two were alone
in the field:
"And Ahijah caught the new garment that was
on him, and rent it in twelve pieces :
''And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces :
for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold,
I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon,
and will give ten tribes to thee :
«I Kings 11:9-13.
n Kings 11:26.
THE END OF SOLOMON'S REIGN 99
''(But he shall have one tribe for my servant
David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city
which I have chosen out of all the tribes of
Israel :)"^
Jeroboam fled into Egypt, and remained there
until the time of Solomon's death.
''And the time that Solomon reigned in Jeru-
salem over all Israel v^as forty years.
"And Solomon slept w^ith his fathers, and was
buried in the city of David his father: and Reho-
boam his son reigned in his stead."^
The Book of Chronicles is in some respects more
extended in its descriptions than the First Book
of Kings, from which the quotations in the text
have been exclusively taken.
The Glory of Solomon. "The glory of Solomon,"
"the wisdom of Solomon" are household words used
frequently in the history of the Jews, and common
to all the Christian world. These glories, however,
were earthly glories, and the rewards of Solomon
are more eagerly sought by men of worldly ambi-
tions, than the glories of David; yet David was held
by the Lord in higher esteem than his son Sol-
omon.
Those things which men esteem success in life,
the things most eagerly sought for, are not the
things to which God gives the highest seal of his
approval. Solomon is reminded, and all the world
is reminded by the words of the Lord, that the heart
n Kings 11:29-32.
^I Kings 11:42,43.
100 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
of Solomon was not right; that it was not like that
of David, who was ''a man after God's own heart."
''The Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh
on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh
on the heart.'' From the words of the Lord thus
spoken to Samuel, we may conclude that the judg-
ments of men respecting man are not as God's
judgments.
Men's opinions, therefore, about their fellow men
may not only be of no value — they may even be
pernicious and harmful. How exceedingly cau-
tious, then, we should be in drawing up an estimate
of others ! The more worldly-minded we are, the
greater our liability to err — the more the glories
of this world appeal to us the more easily we are
mistaken about the eternal value of any humar
character.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What promise did God make to Solomon respecting
the temple?
2. How did Solomon recompense Hiram of Tyre?
3. For what was the land of Ophir noted?
4. Give an account of the visit of the Queen of Shebj
to Solomon.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. How are such statements concerning David as are mad<
in I Kings 11:14 reconciled with both his sin and the state
ment of him in the Doctrine and Covenants?
2. God gave riches to Solomon as a reward. When ma]
riches be regarded as a divine favor?
NOTES
1. The culminating act of Solomon's reign was the build
ing of his palace and temple. His public buildings wen
reared on the northern continuation of the hill of Ophel, a*
THE END OF SOLOMON^S REIGN IQl
V
it rises gradually above the site of the ancient Jebusite city.
The jagged lim^estone rock, still higher and) farther to
the north was without much doubt the ancient threshing
floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, on which was reared the fa-
mous temple of Solomon. — Keitt.
2. Solomon's Temple Compared with Egyptian Temples.
Compared with the religious buildings of Assyria, Babylon, or
Egypt, a istructure like the temple, apart from its vast
substructures, was hardly worthy of notice, either for its
size or splendor. The great temple of Amon, at Thebes,
for example, ultimately extended to a length of one thou-
sand, one hundred and seventy feet, while the ruins of its
associated edifices still cover a plateau nearly four miles in
circumference. Nor is the contrast between the simplicity
of the Israelite temple and the splendor of those on the Nile
less striking. Its exterior se.ems to have been entirely plain,
and though there was a pillared porch, it shrank into insig-
nificance before the long avenues of mighty columns of
Egyptian sanctuaries, the alleys of isphinxes, the obelisks, and
the vast pylons, all, in common with the temples them-
selves, covered with sculpture and ornament.
But the lavish employment of gold for the decoration of
the interior of Solomon's building exceeds anything told us
of other ancient temples. Israel was still wholly dependent
on foreign artistic iskill, and at the same time, was rigidly
excluded from whatever even remotely pointed to the heathen
ideas which were then the basis of all art. Only innocent
details could be sanctioned, the bas-reliefs of palms and
flowers, the forms of lions and oxen, and the mystical shapes
of the winged cherubim were the widest range of invention
or fancy permitted. Even in those, Phoenician art, borrowed
from Assyria, may be traced, for the ruins of Nineveh still
disclose allied conceptions and style of ornament.
CHAPTER 10
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM
(I Kings 12-14)
Men are never wise and select in the exercise of
a new power. — Channing.
The Two Kings. For some time now in the his-
tory of ancient Israel, we shall have to follow a di-
vided national life and keep in mind the fact that
there are two separate opposing governments.
They are the government of the north and that of
the south. In the north the ten tribes belonged to
what was called the kingdom of Israel, as distin-
guished from the kingdom of Judah, which ruled in
the south.
It should here be mentioned that Benjamin, al-
ready recovering from its almost complete annihila-
tion, was taken over into the tribe of Judah. It was
a process of absorption that in time left no trace
of separation between Judah and Benjamin, both
tribes being known as Judah, and from whom the
Jewish people of today are descended.
Benjamin's Choice. The fact that Benjamin
chose an alliance with Judah is somewhat surprising
to us, if we conclude that such a course was really
the choice of the tribe of Benjamin. As a matter of
fact, Benjamin, prior to thi^ time, was more united
with the powerful tribe of Ephraim on the north
than with the tribe of Judah on the south. When
Saul established the kingdom the first king was
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 103
taken from the tribe of Benjamin. Later on the
choice was transferred to the house of Judah. This
gave rise also to some jealousies. Then there were
the wars between Joab and Abner that caused jeal-
ousy and division. We must therefore conclude
that in going over to the tribe of Judah, Benjamin
was actuated by the Spirit of God in casting its lot
with Judah.
Divine Purpose. Here let it be said that the di-
vision of the kingdom was brought about by the
special purposes of the Lord. We are not permitted
to know fully all the reasons for this division, but
God in His own words assumes responsibility for
it. We know that the ten tribes were carried off
bodily and that they disappeared altogether from
the scenes of history. We know, too, that the tribe
of Judah was reserved in the Land of Promise to be
God's people from whom the Messiah should come,
and that their history should continue down until
the end of time.
Whatever has become of the rest of Israel, and
wherever the blood of Ephraim may be distributed
among the nations of the world, the Jews have their
identity and have almost universally kept them-
selves separate from all other nations. We follow,
therefore, the stream of national life of the king-
dom of Israel only a short time. What becomes of
most interest in the history of all the Jewish and
Christian world, is the story of the house of Judah
after it had absorbed the tribe of Benjamin.
(Note 1.)
104 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Jeroboam. The man who was to rule over the
ten tribes was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an
Ephrathite. According to the promise of the
prophet Ahijah, who lived at Shiloh, Jeroboam
was to rule over the ten tribes ; but in consequence
of Solomon's efforts to destroy this new prince, he
fled to Egypt where he remained until the death of
Solomon.
Before taking up the further history of these two
kingdoms, a geographical separation of them should
be made. We may for general purposes conclude
that Judah included all of southern Palestine as far
north as the northern boundary of the tribe of Ben-
jamin. Just where this northern boundary was we
do not know exactly. It was a small strip of coun-
try extending perhaps twelve or fifteen miles north
of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the southern limit of
Benjamin, just across the line north from the north-
ern limits of the tribe of Judah. Jerusalem was
therefore within Benjamin's territory. Bethlehem,
about three miles south of Jerusalem, would be in
the territory of Judah. It was near Bethlehem that
David was herding his sheep when Samuel found
him.
Rehoboam. The king of Judah, — and hereafter
when we speak of Judah we also include the tribe
of Benjamin — was Rehoboam, a son of Solomon,
who was permitted to be king over Judah, not be-
cause of God's love for His Father, but because of
His exceeding great love for his grandfather David.
As soon as Solomon died, Rehoboam assembled the
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 105
tribes of Israel at Shechem. This was within the
territory of the ten tribes between Mount Gerizim
and Mount Ebal, a valley very much celebrated in
history from the day that Abraham first came into
the land down to the time of the Roman conquest.
Though Shechem had been destroyed by Abimi-
lech, one of the sons of Gideon, it must have been
rebuilt at this time, and it was for religious senti-
ment, therefore, a very suitable place for Rehoboam
to set up his claims of ruler over the entire house of
Israel. Rehoboam, however, must have known the
word of the Lord in declaring a separation of the
kingdom. It is hard, however, for the voice of God
to reach the ears of a selfish and ambitious man.
Ambition and selfishness create in such instances
almost impenetrable deafness.
The Grievances of the People. The people had
their grievances. The glory of Solomon and his
kingdom on the one hand meant the oppression and
hardship of the people on .the other. They said :
"Thy father made our yoke grievous: now there-
fore make thou the grievous service of thy father,
and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter,
and we will serve thee."^
Here the people sought to. make terms with Re-
hoboam, in opposition to the purposes of God, and
so it was not likely the Lord would permit Reho-
boam to give them a favorable answer. He sought
first the counsels of the old, who advised the king
to yield to the wishes of the people; but the young
«I Kings 12:4.
106 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
men, in their counsels, advised otherwise. It was
they the king followed. So after three days he gave
the people their answer as he had promised:
^^And now whereas my father did lade you with
a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke : my father
hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise
you with scorpions."^
The people were now rebellious :
'^What portion have we in David? neither have
we inheritance in the son of Jesse : to your tents, O
Israel : now see to thine own house, David. So
Israel departed unto their tents. ''"^
Of course there would be at this time people out
of the ten tribes dwelling in the cities of Judah, and
vice-versa. What was, however, at this time of
greatest consequence, was the action taken by the
Levites, who possessed the priesthood. They cast
their lot with Judah.
The Return of Jeroboam. As soon as Jeroboam
had learned of the death of Solomon, he returned
to his country and placed himself at the head of
Israel, the ten tribes. Jeroboam was at a disad-
vantage; Jerusalem was the Holy City, the temple
of Solomon was there, and the ark of the covenant.
In the temple the priesthood officiated. The re-
ligious influence of the people would naturally cen-
ter around Jerusalem. Jeroboam therefore selected
two cities, one Bethel, the other Dan, where he
established altars. Bethel could not have been very
^I Kings 12:11.
^T Kings 12:16.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 107
far from Jerusalem. It is north and a little east of
that city. Dan was in the extreme north of the
Holy Land.
The setting up of altars in these cities, and the
choosing from all ranks of the people of those who
officiated in sacrifices, were in violation of God's
command to Moses. Rehoboam, however, was not
disposed to sit quietly by and watch this division
go on. He therefore assembled an army out of
Judah and Benjamin, and was ready to go up
against Jeroboam, when the word of the Lord
through the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam,
saying:
"Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your breth-
ren the children of Israel: return every man to his
house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened
therefore to the word of the Lord."^
Jeroboam now, to make his authority complete
over all the tribes also set up a house in Penuel,
beyond the river Jordan, wherein the two and a
half tribes dwelt.
A Man of God. Jeroboam was king, but he was
not a prophet.
"And, behold, there came a man of God out of
Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and
Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense."^
The man of God said :
"Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that
are upon it shall be poured out.
^I Kings 12:24.
n Kings 13:1.
108 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
"And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard
the saying of the man of God, which had cried
against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his
hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And
his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up,
so that he could not pull it in again to him."^
His altar was rent, according to the words of the
prophet. The king was momentarily subdued, and
he said:
"Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and
pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me
again. And the man of God besought the Lord,
and the king's hand was restored him again, and be-
came as it was before."^
The king would now refresh the man of God and
extend him his hospitality, but this unnamed proph-
et replied :
"If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not
go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink
water in this place ;
"For so it was charged me by the word of the
Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor
turn again by the same way that thou earnest. ■'''
So the prophet went southward to his home by
another road.
"Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and
his sons came and told him all the works that the
man of God had done that day in Beth-el : the words
fl Kings 13:3,4.
^'I Kings 13:6.
^I Kings 13:8, 9.
DIVISON OF THE KINGDOM 109
which he had spoken unto the king, them they told
also to their father/'*
The old prophet started out in pursuit, and found
the man of God sitting under an oak, and when the
latter had told the old prophet the words of the
Lord, he replied :
''I am a prophet also 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 he lied
unto him."^
The man of God by these words was deceived.
He returned with his seducer, and after he had
eaten and drunk, saddled his animal and started
back home.
''And when he was gone, a lion met him by the
way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the
way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood
by the carcass.''^
When the old prophet learned the calamity which
had befallen the man of God for his disobedience,
he went and secured his body and buried it, and
said:
"When I am dead then bury me in the sepulchre
wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones
beside his bones."
''After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his
evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people
a Kings 13:11.
n Kings 13:18.
n Kings 13:24.
110 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
priests of the high places : whosoever would, he
consecrated him, and he became one of ""he priests
of the high places/'^
Thus Jeroboam sinned.
Obedience. The man of God who brought to
Jeroboam a divine message that should have been
heeded by the king, succumbed himself to disobe-
dience and lost his life. The principle of obedience
to the laws, to the word, and to the purposes of
God is taught from the beginning to the end of
Holy Writ. Obedience is a law by which human
society is held together. Obedience is fundamental
in the worship of Jehovah, and is the ground work
of all human progress. The nearer men approach
God in their lives the deeper they sense the law of
obedience in all things. The feelings of obedience
should be present in every man's heart.
It may be asked if we are to obey evil counsels.
No, — it is naturally the rebellious heart that yields
to evil counsels. A prayerful obedience is its own
best interpreter of rightful authority as well as
proper conduct.
Jeroboam's Deception. Jeroboam furnishes a
striking illustration of his own spiritual blindness.
He undertakes the most difficult piece of deception
that men in this life can try — namely, the deception
of God. His son Abijah fell sick. His selfish ambi-
tion created fears about his son, so he directed
his wife to go up to Shiloh where the prophet
Ahijah lived. It will be seen from this that all the
^I Kings 13:31, 33.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 111
prophets and the Levites had not yet left the tribes
of Israel. His wife was to take with her certain of-
ferings to this prophet with a view of determining
what was to be the fate of their son. But the wife
was to disguise herself so that the prophet should
not know her.' To Ahijah, however, God revealed
the deception of Jeroboam, and the prophet was di-
rected what to say to her.
"And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of
her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said.
Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam ; why feigriest thou
thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with
heavy tidings.
"Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the
people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
'•And rent the kingdom away from the house of
David, and gave it thee : and yet thou hast not been
as my servant David, who kept my commandments,
and who followed me with all his heart, to do that
only which was right in mine eyes ;
"But hast done evil above all that were before
thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods,
and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and
hast cast me behind thy back.''*^
The woman is told to return, and that when her
feet should enter the city the child should die.
It is hard to cast God behind men's backs. Jero-
boam tried it, and he has been by no means the last
^a King.s 14:6-9.
112 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
that has tried such deception. And what a spec-
tacle,— seeking the favor of God by deception!
"And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two
and twenty years : and he slept with his fathers, and
Nadab his son reigned in his stead/'^
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an account of Rehoboam.
2. Give an account of Jeroboam's rise to favor.
3. How came the Benjamites to be included in the tribe of
Judah?
4. What were the grievances of the people at the time of
the death of Solomon?
0. What was Jeroboam's deception?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. In what way does history reveal the purposes of God
in the division of the Hebrews after the death of Solomon?
2. What is your estimate of Solomion, as a man with and
without a mission in life?
NOTES
1. Why was the division of the kingdom brought about by
God? It was the beginning of disasters that culminated in
the overthrow of both kingdoms. In a little over two cen-
turies the northern tribes were carried off into captivity by
the Assyrians and one hundred and thirty-six years later the
kingdom of Judah came to an end at the hands of the Baby-
lonians. During the century that followed the death of
Solomon, Egypt was weak and Assyria was inactive, and had
the tribeis of the Israelites remained united they might have
become a great Jewish empire, powerful enough to absorb
the other kingdoms along the Mediterranean. Why^ then,
was this crisis, so far-reaching in lits baneful effects, brought
about by God? The Israelites were God's chosen people,
and their peculiar mission was not to attain political succciss,
but to receive and transmit high spiritual blessing. Political
success meant oriental despotism and idolatry. Political fail-
ure meant the rule of the prophets rather than that of the
kings.
^I Kings 14:20.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 113
"It was only in the furnace of affliction that those perverse,
inisignificant Canaanitish tribes were prepared for the recep-
tion of their commission. Approaching captivity led their
prophets to open w^ider their spiritual eyes until they beheld,
instead of a local God, of one little nation, a Lord supreme
in the affairs of men and in the universe. Out of the depths
of their private and national woe, those divinely enlightened
men caught glimpses of the character of the Eternal and of
his purposes which enabled them to rise above national anni-
hilation and exile, and to give to their nation and the world
hopes and truths and principles which are the eternal foun-
dations of religious faith. Thus, while by the disruption the
Hebrew nation lost its life, in a truer and higher sense it
found it, and was prepared in turn to transmit this life and
hope to humanity." — Charles Foster Kent, in Biblical World.
2. "Thus it will be. Let us not be disturbed in heart. The
affairs of the world will be carried on in future, as they have
been in the past, by the foolishness of man and the wisdom
of God." — Wordsworth. :
CHAPTER 11
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH
(I Kings 14:18)
There was a long period of years between Re-
hoboam and Jehoshaphat (chapters 14 to 22) dur-
ing which there was a growing separation between
Israel and Judah, which clearly indicated that these
two branches of Israel could not be brought to-
gether until the last days. (Note.) We are early
shown that in the division of the kingdom the ten
tribes were to be scattered.
"For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is
shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel
out of this good land, which he gave to their fath-
ers, and shall scatter them beyond the river. ^'^
Down south at Jerusalem Rehoboam, the son of
Solomon, ruled. He was forty-one years old when
he mounted the throne, and he reigned seventeen
years in Jerusalem.
Judah, like Israel, did evil in the sight of the
Lord, and the people under Shishak, king of Egypt,
came up against Jerusalem, and robbed the house
of God of its treasures. The king took away the
shields of gold that Solomon had made. The rec-
ord of Judah, especially under Asa is given at some
length in the Second Book of Chronicles.
Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijam
«I Kings 14:15.
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH . 115
(also written Abijah), and Abijam by his son Asa,
who is characterized as one of the good kings of
Judah, and who reigned forty-one years in Jeru-
salem. Asa removed out of his kingdom the idols
which some of the people continued to worship, —
idols that his father had made. He removed his
mother from being queen — she enjoyed the rank of
queen mother — because she had made an idol in a
grove.
There would naturally be some contention be-
tween the two kingdoms. Baasha, who was king of
Israel, for example, undertook to make a fortifica-
tion of Ramah not far from Jerusalem, that the
people of Judah might be hemmed in. Asa, to re-
lease himself of this siege, entered into a league
with Ben-hadad, king of Syria. This, however,
was not pleasing to the Lord, and it was followed
by the rebuke of the prophet Hanani :
"Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria,
and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is
the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine
hand."^
In his old age Asa was diseased in his feet, and
in time he, too, slept with his fathers, and Jehosha-
phat his son reigned in his stead.
The Kingdom of Israel During the Reign of Asa.
During the long reign of Asa a number of kings
ruled in Israel. In a work of this character the
lives of these kings do not merit any notice. Nadab
^11 Chron. 16:7.
116 ' OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
succeeded Jeroboam. The house of Jeroboam was
overthrown by Baasha, who overthrew Nadab and
ruled in his stead.
"And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he
smote all the house of Jeroboam ; he left not to
Jeroboam any that breathed until he had destroyed
him, according unto the saying of the Lord, which
he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite/'^
Jeroboam had established his kingdom in the
beginning at Shechem. Later on the capital of his
kingdom was moved north to Tirzah. Baasha did
evil in the sight of God, and was succeeded by his
son Elah. Elah and his house were overthrown,
and he was succeeded by Zimri, one of his officers,
who in turn slew all the house of Baasha. This re-
bellion was followed by another that placed Omri
on the throne. His rule was followed for a short
time by a division in the kingdom.
Omri is noted in history as having purchased the
hill of Samaria, a beautiful location north and a
little west of Shechem. It was one of those high
places that could be fortified, which had on it
springs, and the country about it was very produc-
tive. But Omri was worse than all that were before
him, and he likewise slept with his fathers, and was
succeeded by his son Ahab. Ahab's name is made
somewhat famous from the fact that a great
prophet appeared to the house of Israel represented
in the ten tribes, and through the manifestation of
^I Kings 15:29.
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH 117
God's power endeavored to win the people from
their idolatry :
"And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more
to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kiiags of Israel that were before him.
''In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho;
he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first-
born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest
son Segub, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.""^
The sacred warning of Joshua had for all these
centuries, and during all the wickedness of all the
tribes of Israel, been respected. Hiel was not only
among those who were disobedient to God, but he
had fallen so low that he manifested the utmost
contempt for God's warning.
Elijah and the Ravens. From beyond the Jordan
in the land of Gilead among the two and a half
tribes, there appeared a prophet in Israel, whose
name was a household word in ancient Israel, and
who is celebrated in our own time by the mission
he has performed to the Latter-day Saints. He is
Elijah, the Tishbite. Of Elijah's home in Tishbeh
we have no other account than the brief reference
in the Scripture. Josephus said it existed in his day
under the name of Thesbone. ^^^
This new prophet appeared before Ahab and de-
clared that there should be no dew nor rain ''these
years in the land of Israel." After delivering this
message, the prophet is commanded to return to
^I Kings 16:17. ^:
118 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
the east of Jordan and hide himself ''by the brook
Cherith, that is before Jordan.''
''And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the
brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed
thee there. * * * ,
"And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in
the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening;
and he drank of the brook.
''^ * After a whWt the brook dried up, because
there had been no rain in the land.''^
Elijah and the Widow. And Elijah was com-
manded to go into the country of Sidon. The Lord
said: "Behold, I have commanded a widow woman
there to sustain thee."^
Upon his arrival in Sidon at Zarephath, he found
a widow woman who was gathering sticks, and he
asked that she bring a little water in a vessel.
"And as she was going to fetch it, he called to
her, and said. Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of
bread in thine hand.
"And she said. As the Lord thy God liveth, I have
not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a
little oil in a cruse : and, behold, I am gathering two
sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my
son, that we may eat it, and die.
"And Elijah said unto her. Fear not; go and do
as thou hast said : but make me thereof a little cake
first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee
and for thy son.
el Kings 17:4-7.
/I Kings 17:9.
TH*E HOUSE OF JUDAH 119
'Tor thus saith the Lord God of Israel^ The bar-
rel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse
of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain
uppn the earth.
"And she went and did according to the saying
of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat
many days.
''And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did
the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the
Lord, which he spake by Elijah/'^
After that the son fell sick, and there was no
breath left in him. The woman was in great dis-
tress. She felt that Elijah's presence was the cause
of her son's death. He had come into her home and
thereby brought her to the knowledge of the Lord,
who was thus punishing her for her sins. Elijah
took the son up into a loft and laid him upon his
own bed.
"And he stretched himself upon the child three
times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord
my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into
him again. "^
The child was restored to life and returned to his
mother.
Elijah Meets Ahab. The voice of the Lord came
again to Elijah and promised the restoration of rain.
He was to go up, however, to Samaria and present
himself to King Ahab. At about the time of
Elijah's new call Ahab corhmanded Obadiah to go
^I Kings 17:11-16.
n Kings 17:21. , !
120 OLD TESTAMENT STUblES
in quest of water and grass to save the remnants
of their horses and mules. It was this same Oba-
diah who had hid a hundred prophets in the cave
when Jezebel, the wicked wife of Ahab, was bring-
ing them to their destruction. While Obadiah was
on his way in quest of water and grass he met
Elijah*: ''and he knew him, and fell on his face, and
said, Art thou that, my lord Elijah?
''And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah is here."*
Obadiah was fearful of the king and hesitated;
but he told Elijah that his Lord had sent in all coun-
tries round about messengers to find the prophet.
Obadiah said:
"And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone
from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry
thee whither I know not ; and so when I come and
tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me :
but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth. "^
This is the beginning of a new instance of God's
power by which human beings are transported
supernaturally from place to place. After Elijah's
assurance that he would appear before the king,
Obadiah did as he was commanded, for he was a
man in whose heart was the love of God. Ahab
_— th^n went to meet Elijah.
"When Ahab saw Elijah Ahab said unto him,
Art thou he that troubleth Israel?"*
n Kings 18:7,8.
n Kings 18:12.
^I Kings 18:17.
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH 121
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal. The prophet
here reminds the king that it is he that has offended
God by his worship of the gods of Baal. ''Let the
prophets of this god four hundred and fifty be gath-
ered on Mount Carmel/' was the order of EHjah,
that they might learn whether Jehovah ruled and
had power, or Baal, the god of the Canaanites. By
order of the king, these prophets were commanded
to offer up one of two bullocks, while Elijah offered
the other. For this sacred contest all Israel had
gathered unto Mount Carmel, a range of mountains
extending from the southern and middle part of the
valley of Esdraelon out westward to the Mediter-
ranean Sea.
After the altars had been constructed and the
wood placed upon them, the offering was to be
burned by fire called forth either by the prophets of
Baal or by Elijah. It was a contest between him
and them, and was to determine whose god should
be recognized and worshiped. Furthermore, Elijah
put four barrels of water in a trench about the altar
which he had made. When all was in readiness,
Elijah taunte.d the prophets of Baal by mocking
them. He said:
''Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking,
or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or perad-
venture he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
"And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after
their manner wath knives and lancets, till the blood
gushed out upon them."^
n Kings 18:27,28. '
122 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Cutting the body and causing the blood to gush
forth in religious ceremonies was a practice of those
early days that has been handed down among some
of the Oriental nations, and is practiced in certain
places today. There is a sect of the Mohammedans
that follow this ghastly practice in memory of two
great heroes in the history of Islam. The writer
has seen in Constantinople the religious rites of this
sect ce^.ebrated when its devotees marched clad in
white and at the same time inflicted upon their
heads and bodies wounds from, which the blood
gushed, ^^d presented the most horrible appear-
ance. • It is done in the belief that God takes
pleasure in the sheddmg ot human blood.
After the failure of the prophets of Baal to call
forth fire, Elijah, who had constructed his altar out
of twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of
Israel said:
'Xord God of Abraham, Is'aac, and of Israel, let it
be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and
that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these
things at thy word. * * *
^'Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the
burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and
the dust, and licked up the water that was in the
trench."^
Elijah commanded that the prophets of Baal be
taken down to the brook Kishon, where he slew
them.
^1 Kings 18:36,38.
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH 123
''And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and
drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain."^
Rain Falls. He doubtless heard the rustle of the
wind which in that country is the announcement of
rain, brought from the clouds that are filled by^
evaporation from the Mediterranean sea. So Elijah
commanded his servants to go up on the mountain
toward the sea, and seven times they went and
looked over to the Mediterranean, and the seventh
time they™'bdTeT3irTiUTe"(^ud7^T^ a man's hand.''
''And there was a great rain."
"And the hand oi the i^ord was on Elijah; and^
he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the
entrance of Jezreel."''
The capital was still at Samaria, and to one side,
at a place called Jezreel, Ahab had built him two
Baalim. Elijah went to the gate, but did not go
inside. Perhaps he feared' the treachery of the
queen, Jezebel, or the inhabitants. The Arabs of
our own day can hardly be induced to enter walled
cities. Their experiences and the traditions handed
down to them make them constantly fearful of some
treachery.
Ahab's queen, Jezebel, was a blood-thirsty wom-
an, a daughter of the king of Tyre, and Elijah was
no doubt anxious to learn what her course of con-
duct would be as she domineered her husband and
compelled him to act in conformity to her wishes.
One might imagine that such an event as the mani-
"I Kings 18:41.
''I Kings 18:46.
124 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
festation of God's power at Carmel would have soft-
ened the hearts of all; but those who crave power
for themselves are often jealous, sometimes mur-
derously jealous, of power in others, even though
it be divine power.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. For what was the capital of the kingdom of Israel —
Shechem — noted ?
2. Give account of the reign of Asa at Jerusalem,
3. What events attended the rebuilding of Jericho?
4. Give an account of the visit of Elijah to Ahab.
5. Give an account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What were the relative powers of Babylon and Egypt
during this period of history?
2. Why was God displeased when Asa entered into an
alliance with Ben-hadad, king of Syria?
NOTE
The movement known in modern tim,es as Zionism, a move-
ment which is leading large numbers of Jews to find homes in
Palestine, contemplates the establishment of a Jewish state
m PalcL-^tine under the protection of the European ])OVvers.
It should not be looked ipon as an effort of the Jewish people
to realize in this age their old dream — of a world power in
Palestine, to which all nations of the earth would pay
homage. In it, however, we see still persisting the hope of a
future for the Jewish people, which is the expression of an
optimism upheld through all the ages by firm trust in Jehovah.
CHAPTER 12
THE WANDERINGS OF ELIJAH
(I Kings 19-22)
Elijah was not long in learning what Jezebel
thought about him, even though the power of
Jehovah had deeply affected her husband, King
Ahab.
"Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, say-
ing, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I
make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-
morrow about this time.""^
He must, if she had her way, suffer the penalty
of death, as he had inflicted death upon the false
prophets. Elijah fled and came to Beer-sheba, on
the southern extremity of the land of Judea. This
southern district in the first division was assigned
to Simeon, but by this time it was all absorbed by
Judah. How many of the tribe of Simeon remained
with Judah we are not told.
Elijah Flees Into the Wilderness. Elijah no
doubt felt that he was unsafe as long as he remained
in the territory of Judah, as Jehoshaphat might de-
liver him up to King Ahab. He therefore made
his way through the wilderness that he might reach
a place of safety. The first day on the journey he
sat under a juniper tree, tired, no doubt famished,
disheartened. If people would thus rebel against
«I Kings 19:2.
• 126 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
^the power of God so wonderfully manifested to
them, what chance was there for his life? And
moreover, what chance was there of turning apos-
tate Israel back again to the worship of God?
^^'^~~~if6 doubt to Elijah his mission appeared a failure.
Its effects were not immediate, — not even distantly
apparent to him. He was disappointed: ''and said,
It is enough ; now, O Lord, take away my life ; for
I am not better than my fathers.''
''And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree,
behold then an angel of the Lord touched him, and
said unto him. Arise and eat.
"And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake
baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head.
And he did eat and drink, and laid him down
again. "^
Again at the command of the angel he ate.
"And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went
in the strength of that meat forty days and forty
nights unto Horeb the mount of God."^
There he lodged in the cave in the mountain
made sacred by God's appearance to Moses there,
and doubly sacred as the place of origin of the Ten
Commandments. And the Lord said:
"What doest thou here, Elijah? (Note 1).
"And he said, I have been very jealous for the
Lord God of hosts : for the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars,
and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even
n Kings 19:4-6.
^I Kings 19:8.
THE WANDERINGS OF ElIJAH 127
I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it
away."^
Wonderful Manifestation. Here follows one of
the most beautiful passages of Holy Writ. Elijah
was not to go unrewarded. And what greater re-
ward is there in life than the assurance which comes
to man in a high or lowly estate that he enjoys the
favor of God? So the divine command came to
Elijah :
''Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the
Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a
great and strong wind rent the mountains, 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 earth-
quake :
''And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord
was not in the fire; and after the fire a still, small
voice.
"And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he
wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and
stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold,
there came a voice unto him, and said. What doest
thou here, Elijah?"^
The prophet repeated his zeal for God, and his
lamentation that Israel had forsaken their cove-
nants with Jehovah.
"And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy
^I Kings 19:10.
^I Kings 19:11-13.
128 OLD tf:stament studies
way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou
comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
''And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to
be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat
of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in
thy room.
''And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth
the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that
escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all
the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and
every mouth which hath not kissed him/'^
These are beautiful passages of Scripture worth
memorizing. There is in Horeb a traditional cave
of Elijah, on the high summit of the mountain of
Moses, just large enough for a man's body. The
religious enthusiasts of the Holy Land have located
for their own satisfaction and gratification in their
own form of worship, nearly all the historical places
made sacred by the dealings of God with his chil-
dren, ancient Israel.
"God is in the still, small voice.'' What a beau- ^
tiful expression of His nearness to man, of the ease
by which His presence may be heard and felt.
"And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he
wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and
stood in the entering in of the cave." The mantle
of the prophet in those days is said to have been an
upper garment or short cloak worn over the shoul-
ders, made of untanned sheepskin. This covering,
fl Kings 19:15-18.
THE WANDERINGS OF ELIJAH 129
with a strip of leather around his loins, was the
outer garment of the prophet. It was like the gar-
ment of camel's hair described in the dress of John
the Baptist.
Elisha Called. Elijah had fled southward. He
was now commanded to return northward to Da-
mascus, the capital of Syria, at this time a nation of
unbelievers, whose king, Hazael, Elijah was to
anoint. He seems first to have met his successor,
Elisha, ^^who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen
before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah
passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him."^
Elisha understood the call, and immediately left
his oxen, and ran after the prophet. In rendering
his duty, therefore, to Jehovah, he also remembered
his father and his mother, and he asked that he
might return to kiss them. Elijah replied, ''Go
back again: for what have I done to thee?" — as
much as to say, ''Go back and go on with thy plow-
ing."
Elisha simply returned to his oxen, slew a yoke
of them, boiled their flesh, and gave the meat to the
people to eat. "Then he arose, and went after
Elijah, and ministered unto him."
Ben-hadad. The prophet's mission to Hazael,
whom he was to anoint king over Syria, and to
Jehu, whom he was to anoint king over Israel, was
not so quickly performed as that by which Elisha
was called to be his successor.
Ben-hadad was now king over Syria, and he be-
^I Kings 19:19.
130 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
gan his wars against Ahab. In these wars the
power of Jehovah was manifested in behalf of
Israel, and the Syrians were miraculously defeated,
and almost entirely destroyed. These wars on the
part of Israel were followed at the behest of an un-
known prophet, supposed by some to be Micah.
Jezebel. In the midst of them Jezebel comes to
light, and reveals her unsavory character. Her
husband, the king, coveted a vineyard of Naboth
that was close to the palace of the king at Jezreel.
The king offered to buy it, or to exchange land of
equal value, but Naboth would not give up his in-
heritance. The disappointment distressed the king,
whose wife, Jezebel, noticed that his spirit was sad
and that he did not care to eat. When she learned
the cause of his trouble, she said to the king,
"Arise and eat bread, and let thine heart be
merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite."^
She thereupon entered into a conspiracy that
brought about Naboth's death. Ahab, who was a
mere creature of his wife Jezebel, now took posses-
sion of the inheritance of Naboth.
Elijah Appears Again. It was not long, however,
before the word of the Lord through Elijah came
again to Ahab :
''Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogS-1
licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood,
even thine. * * *
n Kingis 21 :7.
THE WANDERINGS OF ELIJAH 131
"And of Jezebel, also spake the Lord, saying, The
dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."*
But Ahab, who was a weak man, still had some
faith in Jehovah, although he had not the strength
to throw ofif the evil influence of a wicked wife. She
sinned doubly: first, she exercised authority that
was not hers; and secondly, she sinned from a
wicked heart. God must have pitied Ahab. He
needed pity, not alone for his sins, but for the loss
of his dignity and authority by delivering himself
over to the misuse of his heathen wife.
''Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before
me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will
not bring the evil in his days : but in his son's days
will I bring the evil upon his house. ^'^
Thus were the wars of Ahab with the Syrians
ended.
Alliance Between the Kings of Judah and Israel.
Over in Gilead there remained a place called Ra-
moth which was still in the hands of the Syrians.
To restore it to his kingdom Ahab, king of Israel,
entered into an alliance with Jehoshaphat, who now
was king of Judah. Jehoshaphat was anxious to
know the will of the Lord, and directed Ahab to
consult the prophets. Ahab assembled about four
hundred of them, and they at once counseled war.
Jehoshaphat, however, was not satisfied. He doubt-
ed their favor with Jehovah. He asked :
»I Kings 21:19,23.
/I Kings 21 :29.
132 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
"Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides,
that we may inquire of him?''^
There was one of whom King Ahab knew; he
disliked him, but would send for him in order to
satisfy Jehoshaphat. He answered:
"There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah,
by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate
him ; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me,
but evil. And Jehoshaphat said. Let not the king
say so/'^
Micaiah came, and spoke as the Lord directed
him. He knew that this war proposed by these two
kings meant the death of Ahab, who should fall in
the country of Gilead.
"And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the
hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the
Lord said. These have no master: let them return
every man to his house in peace. "^
Ahab was piqued by the words of the prophet and
said to Jehoshaphat: "Did I not tell thee that he
would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?''''
Now follows a most remarkable vision to Mi-
caiah :
"And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of
the Lord : I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and
all the host of heaven standing by him on his right
hand and on his left.
n Kings 22:7.
il Kings 22:8.
'"I Kings 22:17.
nl Kings 22:18.
THE WANDERINGS OF ELIJAH 133
''And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab,
that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And
one said on this manner, and another said on that
manner.
"And there came forth a spirit, and stood before
the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
"And the Lord said unto him Wherewith? And
he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in
the mouth of all his prophets. And he said. Thou
shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth, and
do so.
"Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a
lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets,
and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."^
This was too" much for one of the prophets of
Ahab, Zedekiah, who "smote Micaiah on the cheek,
and said. Which way went the Spirit of the Lord
from me to speak unto thee?
"And Micaiah said. Behold, thou shalt see in that
day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to
hide thyself."^
This false prophet should know when he should
get word of Ahab's death, and seek to hide himself
from the vengeance of Ahaziah or Jezebel which
way the Spirit went.
Death of Ahab. The two kings went up to battle.
The king of Israel was shot with an arrow, and was
taken into a chariot. And after the battle every man
''I Kings 22:19-23.
PI Kings 22:24,25.
134 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
was commanded to return to his city, and the dead
king was brought to Samaria. His blood was
washed from the chariot and the dogs licked it up;
''According unto the word of the Lord which he
spake."
Ahab slept with his fathers. We are told that
Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, now began to rule over
Judah; that he was then thirty-five years old, and
that he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem; that
he walked in the ways of his father and did that
which was right in the eyes of the Lord; -that he
''made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold;
but they went not : for the ships were broken at
Ezion-geber."^
Ahab was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who
reigned two years over Israel. He likewise sinned
and followed the example of his father.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. ]Who was Jezebel?
2. Give an account of Elijah's journey to Horeb.
3. What was the message of God to Elijah at Horeb?
4. How was Elisha called to be successor to Elijah?
5. What was the vision Micaiah?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Elijah fled to Beer-Sheba. The British army is now
(Aug. 1917) at that town. Describe the country about Beer-
Sheba.
2. Simplify in your conception the words, "God is in the
still, small voice."
Ql Kings 22:48.
THE WANDERINGS OF ELIJAH 135
NOTE
1. ''Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermoist parts of the sea,
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me,
And tbe light about m,e shall be night;
Even the darkness hideth not from thee,
But the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.''
— Psalms.
CHAPTER 13
THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH
(I Kings 1-2)
Upon the death of Ahab (Note), the king of
Israel, the people of Moab rebelled. During Ahab's
reign they were placed under enormous tributes. It
was customary also for subject peoples in those an-
cient times to rebel upon the death of the king who
held them in subjection. The son of Ahab, Ahaziah,
we are told fell down from a lattice in the upper
chamber and was sick, and that he sent to Ekron,
one of^the northern towns of the Philistines, to in-
quire of Baal-zebub whether he should recover from
his disease. Baal-zebub means properly the god of
flies. In those times among the heathen nations all
kinds of calamities had their averting gods, whose
business it was to keep oflf things that were calam-
itous to the people, and the fly is one of the calami-
ties to those Oriental countries. The Greeks wor-
shiped a fly-averting god, and the Romans likewise
acknowledged a similar one.
Elijah. The messengers that were now taking
the inquiry from their king to the heathen god met
Elijah on the way, who informed them that their
king should not recover. It was a great ofifense:
Ahab, and those before him, while given to heathen
idolatry, consulted the professed prophets of the
Israelitish nation. When the king learned that his
THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH 137
messengers had been stopped by a man, he asked
for the man's description, and they told him that
"he was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of
leather about his loins," and he said, "It is Elijah
the Tishbite."
The king must have known about Elijah's fame,
for he sent a captain and fifty of his men to bring
him down; but when they had come to him, the
prophet said,
"If I be a man of God, then let fire come down
from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And
there came down fire from heaven and consumed
him and his fifty."^
Again, fifty others were sent and likewise con-
sumed. When the third set of messengers came,
they prayed for their delivery, and the angel of the
Lord came to Elijah and bade him go down to the
kingf, and to be not afraid.
The message, however, of Elijah to the king
gave no relief: he died, according to the word of the
Lord which Elijah had spoken.
Jehoram now reigned as king of Israel. It is the
history of this rebellion of Moab that is in part in-
scribed upon the Moabite stone which was dis-
covered in 1869.
Elijah Translated. Elijah now closes his mortal
career. We have already learned that as he was
passing through the field one day where Elisha
was plowing, he cast his mantle upon Elisha, who
thereupon followed the prophet to the end of his
«II Kings 1:10.
138 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
earthly career. We are not permitted to know
much of the relationships that existed between
these two very remarkable men. After the events
above recorded, we find them together at Gil gal
where the Israelites had camped after they first
crossed the river Jordan.
"And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray
thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And
Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went
down to Beth-el."^
From Bethel Elijah was sent to Jericho, and
Elisha repeated his determination to follow the
prophet.
"And the sons of the prophets that were at Jer-
icho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest
thou that the Lord will take away thy master from
thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know
it ; hold ye your peace."^
So Elisha was steadfast in his determination to
remain by Elijah. When they reached the Jordan,
"Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together,
and smote the waters, and they were divided hither
and thither, so that they two went over on dry
ground.
"And it came to pass, when they were gone over,
that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do
for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And
^11 King^s 2:2.
^11 Kings 2:5,
THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH 139
Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy
spirit be upon me.
''And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing:
nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from
thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not
be so.
"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and
talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of
fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into
heaven.
"And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my
father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen
thereof. And he saw him no more; and he took
hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
"He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell
from him, and went back, and stood by the bank
of Jordan.''^
The same miracle which Elijah performed Elisha
repeated when he in turn crossed the river going
back to Jericho.
After the new prophet had crossed the river, he
met the sons of the prophets, who asked that they
be permitted fifty strong to cross the river and go
up on to the mountains of Moab to seek Elijah, as
the Scriptures say:
"Lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath
taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain,
or into some valley."^
^11 Kings 2:8-13.
^11 Kings 2:16,
140 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Spring Purified by Elisha. It was not agreeable
to Elisha, but when he was ashamed to deny them
further their repeated requests, they were finally
permitted to go. But the men were not successful
in their search after their missing prophet. The
men of the city of Jericho remind Elisha of the
pleasant situation of the place, but they call his at-
tention to the fact that the water is bad, and that
the ground is barren. So the prophet asks that they
bring him a new cruse and put salt into it.
"And he went forth unto the spring of the waters,
and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the
Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not
be from thence any more death or barren land.
"So the waters were healed unto this day, ac-
cording to the saying of Elisha which he spake. "^
There is a spring probably a mile from Jericho,
or from the site of the ancient town, whose water is
still pleasant and sweet to drink. The water, how-
ever, that comes from the springs at the base of the
mountains of Judea farther west is generally brack-
ish. This was a beneficent miracle which was
wrought in behalf of the people who loved and
trusted Elisha.
His first journey from Jericho was to Beth-el,
which was situated upon the large mountain north-
west of Jericho. As he went up through the brush
on his way to Beth-el, "there came forth little chil-
dren out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto
him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head
fU Kings 2:21,22.
THE LAST DAYS OF ELIJAH 141
''And he turned back, and looked on them, and
cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there
came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare
forty and two children of them."^
We are not permitted to know all the circum-
stances surrounding this event. It was doubtless in
harmony with some divine purpose. These chil-
dren were evidently of irreligious parents who had
no respect for a prophet of God, and it may have
been that their parents needed a very striking ex-
ample of the punishment meted out to those whj
mock God's chosen servants. ,
It should always, however, be remembered, that
death is not necessarily a calamity. Death may
have for some a beneficent purpose. It may mean
relief from worldly troubles, or it may mean ad-
vancement to a happier life beyond. In this case
death was a punishment, and we must assume that
as a punishment it could not be greater and was
not greater than the offense. What death meant fo
these little ones under the circumstances is a part of
the future divine judgment which we cannot
fathom, and which has not been revealed to us.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of Baal-zebub?
2. What happened to the messenger sent by Ahab to
Elijah?
3. Narrate the closing scenes in Elijah's life.
4. Give an account of Elisha.
5. Where was the capital of the kingdom during the reign
of Ahab?
gU Kings 2:23,24.
142 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is meant by "3, double portion of thy spirit?"
2. 'iWhat was there in the life of Elijah to qualify him for
his mission in the last days — turning the hearts of the
children, etc?
NOTE
Ahab evidently sought in every way to develop the com-
mercial resources of his kingdom. His marriage with Jez-
ebel, the daughter of the Tyrian king, was intended to ce-
ment more closely the relations with this great commercial
people on the west. Viewed from the point of view of
world politics, Ahab's policy in maintaining the natural
boundarieis and in developing the commercial resources of
his nation wais sound. By his contemporaries he was doubt-
less regarded as a most successful king. His fatal mistake,
however, was that of Solomon; in his pursuit of material
splendor he disregarded the inherited beliefs and rights of his
subjects. The official recognition of the Canaanite worship
of his Phoenician queen was even more of a menace to the
pure worship of Jehovah in Northern Israel in the days of
Ahab than in Jerusalem in the days of Solomon. Northern
Israel was pre-eminently Baal's land. Here the Canaanites
had been most strongly intrenched and their religious tradi-
tions still perverted the land. Communication with the
Canaanites on the Mediterranean coast was exceedingly close
and there was much in these ancient Baal cults to attract the
prosperous, pleasure-loving, cosmopolitan people of North-
ern Israel.
CHAPTER 14
ELISHA->A CHAPTER OF MIRACLES
(II Kings 3-8)
The utter overthrow and destruction of the house
of Ahab and his Phoenician queen, Jezebel, was pre-
dicted by the prophet Elijah; but it was left to
Elisha, the prophet, to carry out the work which
Elijah began. In Elisha's times the chief wars car-
ried on were between the Syrians, whose capital
was Damascus, (Note) and the heathen tribes
beyond the Jordan now generally known as the
Moabites, or inhabitants of the country of Moab.
Water Produced Miraculously. In one of these
wars, the kings of Judea and Israel joined. When
they began to suffer from lack of water they in-
quired among their armies for a prophet who might
relieve them from their sufferings. On this occa-
sion Elisha was found in their midst. Elisha, how-
ever, had no pleasure whatever in the kings and
people of Israel. He said:
"As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I
stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence
of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look
toward thee, nor see thee."''
By his presence and his priestly power he called
forth water that served the armies of both Israel
and Judah, and spared to them their cattle and their
«II King-6 3:14.
144 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
beasts of burden. These wars and contentions are
contained in the Second Book of Kings and in the
Second Book of Chronicles. It is thought best here
to follow rather the life of the prophet Elisha than
the details of wars whose cruelties and abomina-
tions are mere repetitions of what Israel had been
suffering for centuries.
It was during this period that Elisha performed
a number of miracles. In the first place, a certain
woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets
complained to Elisha that her husband was dead,
and that his creditors had come to take away her
two sons in bondage for the payment of the debt.
The law of Moses, like the law of the Greeks and
the Romans, recognized servitude as a payment for
debt, and provided that a man might not only
pledge himself but his family in payment. The
poor woman had nothing in her house but a pot of
oil.
The Miracle of the Oil. She was commanded to
borrow from her neighbors all the vessels that she
could, and the oil was multiplied as vessel after ves-
sel was filled by the pouring out of the small quan-
tity that she had in her home, until she had enough
to pay her debts and redeem her sons from bond-
age.
The Shunammite. The Shunammite is called a
great woman in the Scriptures, and she entertained
the prophet Elisha as he passed by her home, and
built on to the wall of the house a small chamber
where he and his servant Gehazi might find ac-
ELISHA— A CHAPTER OF MIRACLES 145
commodations for the night. Elrsha was disposed
to bless the good woman, and he was reminded by
his servant that she was childless, and that her hus-
band was old. According to the words of Elisha,
however, she became a mother. In time the child
died. Her confidence in the prophet was unbound-
ed, and she set out for this man of God to Mount
Carmel. When she laid before the prophet her sor-
rows, the prophet returned with her to her home.
''And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put
his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his
eyes, and his hands upon his hands : and he
stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of
the child waxed warm.
"Then he returned, and walked in the house to
and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon
him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the
child opened his eyes."^
While Elisha was in the land of famine, "There
came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the
man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves
of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof.
And he said, Give unto the people, that they may
eat."
"And his servitor said. What, should I set this
before an hundred men? He said again, Give the
people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord,
They shall eat, and shall leave thereof."^
«II Kings 4:34, 35.
ni Kings 4:42, 43.
10
146 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
And there was bread left after the miraculous
feeding of the hundred men.
Healing the Leper. There was among the
Syrians a man whose name was Naaman, captain
of the host of the king of Syria, ''but he was a
leper." The Syrians had among them a little maid,
a captive whom they h^d taken out of Israel, "and
she waited on Naaman's wife."
''And she said unto her mistress, Would God my
lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for
he would recover him of his leprosy."^
This remark created faith in the captain of the
king's host that he might be cured, so he went with
his horses and chariots to the door of Elisha, who
commanded the leper saying:
''Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy
flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be
clean."^
At this "Naaman was wroth." There were rivers
near Damascus better, to his mind, than all the
waters of Israel to which he would not lose his
loyalty; but he yielded to the words of the prophet
and the persuasions of his servants and dipped him-
self seven times in the river Jordan, as he was
commanded, when "his flesh came again like unto
the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."
The leper had brought with him large sums of
money and presents for the prophet, but the
prophet would not make gain out of the gifts of
^11 Kings 5:3.
dU Kings 4:10.
ELISHA— A CHAPTER OF MIRACLES 147
God, and refused to receive the presents. Such,
however, was not the spirit of his servant Gehazi,
who, after Naaman had left, ran after him and made
him believe that the prophet had changed his mind
as to some of the presents, which the servant
brought back. When he approached his master,
the prophet, he denied even being absent. Where-
upon the prophet said :
''Went not mine heart with thee, when the man
turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it
a time to receive money, and to receive garments,
and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen,
and menservants, and maidservants?
"The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave
unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he
went out from his presence a leper as white as
snow."^
The prophet had read the secret thoughts of the
selfish heart that was in Gehazi. He not only had
lied to his master, but had lied to God.
An Ax Made to Float. The sons of the proph-
ets, with the permission of Elisha, went down to
Jordan to build houses where they might dwell, and
t^he prophet went with them. As one was felling a
beam, ''the ax head fell into the water: and he
cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed."
"And the man of God said, Where fell it? And
he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick,
and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.''^
^11 Kings 5:26, 27.
fll Kings 6:5, 6.
148 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
After this, the prophet reads the thoughts of the
king of Syria, and warns the king of Israel not to
go where the Syrians were lying in wait for him.
When the king of Syria learned that it was Elisha
the prophet that read his secret thoughts and pur-
poses, the Syrian king said to one of his servants :
'*Go and spy where he is, that I may send and
fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he
is in Dothan," (where Joseph was when he was sold
into Egypt.)
''Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots,
and a great host : and they came by night, and com-
passed the city about.
''And when the servant of the man of God was
risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host com-
passed the city both with horses and chariots. And
his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how
shall we do?
"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be
with us are more than they that be with them.
"And Elisha prayed, and said. Lord, I pray thee,
open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw:
and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and
chariots of fire round about Elisha."^
According to the prayer of Elisha, the Lord
smote the people with blindness, and the prophet
led them to Samaria, where through the prayer of
the prophet, their eyes were opened. The king of
Israel was anxious to smite the Syrians, but the
^11 Kings 6:13-17.
ELISHA— A CHAPTER OF MIRACLES 149
prophet forbade it, and ordered that bread and
water might be set before them, that they might
eat and drink.
Famine Broken. In the course of time the Syr-
ians came up against the people of Israel again, and
the people, through their idolatry and apostasy
were afflicted by a great famine that came to the
land. All these marvels and divine evidences were
insufficient to humble the king of Israel or his peo-
ple. For the sorrows that had come upon them
Elisha was blamed, and the king sought his life.
In the course of time the famine was broken.
''And there were four leprous men at the enter-
ing in of the gate: and they said one to another,
Why sit we here until we die?"^
In the'midst of this calamitous condition the Syr-
ians had come up against the kingdom of Israel.
These leprous men decided to go to the army of
the Syrians, and, in quest of food among them risk
their lives. But the Syrians were frightened by
the strange noises, which they heard, and which
were caused by the power of God. They inter-
preted these noises to mean the hosts of the Israel-
ites and the various nations which the Israelites
had employed to fight the Syrians. The latter fled
in confusion, and left their animals and their pro-
visions. They were followed by the people to the
Jordan: "and, lo, all the way was full of garments
and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in
ni Kings 7:3.
150 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
their haste. And the messengers returned, and told
the king/'*
Elisha Appears in Damascus. While Ben-hadad
was king of Syria, Elisha came to Damascus, where
he found the king sick. Hazael, the chief general of
the king, went out to meet the prophet and take to
him the presents which required forty camels to
carry. The king would know from the prophet
whether he should die.
"Go say unto him," said Elisha, "Thou mayest
certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed
me that he shall surely die.
"And he settled his countenance steadfastly, until
he was ashamed : and the man of God wept.
"And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And
he answered, Because I know the evil that thou
wilt do unto the children of Israel : their strong
holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men
wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their
children, and rip up their women with child. "^*
The Lord had showed Elisha that Hazael should
yet be king over Syria, but the fears that caused
the prophet to weep brought forth indignant ex-
pressions from Hazael:
"Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this
great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath
shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria/'^
This prophecy was fulfilled when Hazael smoth-
ni Kings 7:15.
JU Kings 8:10-12.
^11 Kings 8:13.
ELISHA— A CHAPTER OF MIRACLES 151
ered the king, and took the reigns of government.
Notwithstanding Hazael's indignant reply, he did
what the prophet feared. Hazael may have been
actuated by good intentions at the time he made
his indignant reply. He may have thought it im-
possible for him to injure a people whose prophet
had foretold for him such power. Men, however,
are not always their own keepers. They are not
the architects of their own fortunes. They are
rather creatures of those whom they enlist to serve.
Hazael served evil spirits and he placed himself in
their keeping, and carried out their mandates to
destroy the people, as the prophet said he would do.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why had Elisha so little pleasure in the alliance be-
tween Israel and Judah?
2. What was the law of bondage in the matter of debts?
3. What was the miracle of the oil?
4. Give an account of the Shunammite.
5. Give an account of Naaman the Syrian leper.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Describe the finding and translation of the ''Moabite
Stone."
2. How do you account for the healing of the leper, who
was required to ''wash in Jordan seven 'times?"
NOTE
The Aramean kingdom. Northern Israel suffered from
its exposed position. At first there was war between Judn.b
and its northern rival, which resulted disastrously for the
southern kingdom. To aid them in the co^nflict, the southern
Israelites made the fatal mistake of calling in the Arameans
to attack their foes on the inorth. By this time the Ara-
means had taken possession of northern Syria and established
1,52 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
them&eives at the ancient city of Damascus, which lay on a
fertile oasis out in the desert, on the border line between
Syria and northern Arabia. By virtue of its central position
it commanded the land trade of Egypt, Palestine, and
Phoenicia on the west, and of Arabia, Mesopocamia, and
Babylon on the east. It was ''the harbor of the desert." The
Aramean kingdom, with its capital at this favora5>]e point,
rapidly developed great wealth and military resources, and
soon became a menace to the independence of both Hebrew
kingdoms, for the natural line of expansion of this Aramean
kingdom was toward the south. The exposed position of
Damascuis alone saved the Hebrews from complete subjui^.i-
tion. — Kent.
CHAPTER 15
OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB
(II Kings 8-14)
It will be noticed at this period of history that the
two kingdoms of Israel were different, not only iii
the men who ruled over them as kings, but in the
general disposition of Israel to be idolatrous and
Judah to worship the true and living God. Israel
had fallen into a hopeless condition; her kings had
sinned, and the people were filled with the spirit of
idolatry.
Evil days fell upon Judah; bad kings ruled over
the people occasionally, but there was enough salt
in the tribe to keep it intact and within God's pur-
poses until the coming of the Son of God. There
was some intermarriage between Judah and Israel.
They joined in battle against the common enemies
beyond the Jordan, but they remained almost en-
tirely distinct.
House of Ahab Destroyed. The day of the final
overthrow of the house of Ahab had come, and
Elisha sent one of the children of the prophets up
to Ramoth-gilead with a box of oil to anoint Jehu,
the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, king
over Israel. The captains of the hosts who were
there proclaimed Jehu king. It was the mission of
the new king to destroy utterly the hosts of Ahab.
In his battles with the Syrians Jehoram had been
1.54 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
wounded and returned to his palace at Jezreel,
where he hoped to be healed.
Joram (or Jehoram) the king, made ready with
his troops to meet Jehu, the newly anointed king.
''And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of
Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went
out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of
Naboth the Jezreelite.
"And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that
he said. Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered. What
peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother
Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?''
Joram turned and fled : ''And Jehu drew a bow
with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between
his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and
he sunk down in his chariot."^
They also smote king Ahaziah, who fled to Meg-
iddo, where he died.
"And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jeru-
salem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his
fathers in the city of David. "^
Jehu then went to Jezreel, where, by his com-
mand the king's wicked queen was likewise put to
death. In addition to the destruction of Ahab and
his wife, Jehu caused the destruction of his seventy
sons.
"So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of
Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kins-
«II Kings 9:21-24.
HI Kings 9:28.
. OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB 155
folks, and his priests, until he left him none re-
maining/'^
Destruction of the Priests of Baal. His next
mission was the destruction of the priests of Baal.
"And Jehu gathered all the people together, and
said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu
shall serve him much.
''Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of
Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be
v/anting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal;
whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But
Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might
destroy the worshipers of Baal."^
A solemn assembly was proclaimed; the priests
were brought together, everyone that could be
found, and Jehu's captains smote them with the
edge of the sword, and he brought out their images,
and broke them in pieces and burned them.
''And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast
done well in executing that which is right in mine
eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahat accord-
ing to all that Avas in mine heart, thy children of
the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of
Israel."^ (Note.)
During these troublous times Israel was certainly
seething in a caldron of discofitent and death.
There was some saving salt in the kingdom of
Judah, and the willingness of this tribe to serve God
^11 Kings 10:11.
^11 Kings 10:18, 19.
^11 Kings 10:30.
1,56 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
was in striking contrast to the almost universal
apostasy of the other tribes known as Israel. Judah,
however, now entered upon a period of misfortunes.
Athaliah. When Ahaziah died his mother
Athaliah seized the reins of government ''and de-
stroyed all the seed royal."
This woman possessed something of the spirit of
her mother Jezebel, who was a Phoenician. If
they were a fair representation of the condition of
the idolatrous nations surrounding the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah, then the latter were immeasur-
ably better than anything to be found in the
heathen world of that day.
As long as AthaHah's son lived, she enjoyed the
high rank of queen-mother or gebirah, the most
powerful place in the household of an Oriental king.
Upon the destruction by Athaliah of all in the
house of her son who would be likely to claim a
title to royalty, she made herself ruler over the
kingdom of Judah. There was, however, a grand-
son, who did not become a victim to her murderous
designs. Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,'
took Joash, or as he at times is called, Jehoash,
as a child and concealed him in the house of the
Lord for six years. At the end of this period the
priest Jehoiada gathered the warriors at the house
of the Lord, and bringing forth the young boy,
proclaimed him the king of Judah. This resulted in
the downfall of Athaliah who was put to death.
The government, during the period of the minor-
ity of Jehoash was now in the hands of Jehoiada,
OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB 157
the priest. Thus there came to be exercised over
the people a priestly authority, much like that of
Samuel. During the administration of this priest
a considerable reformation was brought about in
Judah. There began the destruction of the altars
of Baal, whose images were broken to pieces, and
whose priests were put to death, before the altar
of the heathens.
Jehu and Jehoash were now reigning over Israel
and Judah, and for forty years the latter reigned in
Jerusalem. As long as the young king followed the
instructions of the priest Jehoiada things went well
in the land, and the young king ''did that which was
right in the sight of the Lord." However, the high
places were not destroyed.
What there was about the charm of these eleva-
tions that attracted the worship of the Israelites
we do not know. The high places where Baal was
worshiped may have been preserved largely be-
cause the earliest inhabitants of the land continued
to occupy them. The most satisfactory explana-
tion, however, is that while the Israelites frequently
destroyed the idols and the worship of Baal in those
places where their own people lived, they generally
left undisturbed the reHgious worship of the
Canaanites, who preferred the high places and the
mountain tops as a sanctuary for their gods.
The Temple Repaired. It was during the reign
of this king that repairs in the temple took place.
A money chest was set beside the altar in the house
of the Lord, and all the money that was contributed
1,58 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
for religious purposes was placed in the chest.
With this treasury, the work on the temple was
carried on, chiefly by those who belonged to the
tribe of Levi, whose special business it had been
in the wilderness to care for the ark or for the taber-
nacle of the covenant, and whose business it had
now become to care for and keep in repair the tem-
ple itself.
King Jehoahaz of Israel. While Joash was reign-
ing in Jerusalem, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, was
ruling in Samaria, the capital of Israel. Almost all
the rulers of the northern kingdom were men of
the type of its first king, Jeroboam. Jehoahaz, op-
posed the Lord and yielded unto the nations sur-
rounding him, especially the Syrians, the strongest
people with whom the Israelites had yet come in
contact. The Syrians began to overrun the country
from the north. The people did not long remain
true to the worship of Jehovah, and came under
the constant attacks of the Syrians, whose chief city
at this time was Damascus. Jehoahaz was suc-
ceeded by Joash.
Death of Elisha. We now have two kings by
that name, one of Judah and the other of Israel.
Joash comes upon the scene at a time when Elisha
closes his career. The prophet must have been i
very old by this time, and for many years he had
apparently disappeared from sight. When on his
deathbed, Joash, the king of Israel, visited him.
The prophet said: "Take bow and arrows." The
king did as he was commanded, and Elisha put his
OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB 159
hand upon the king's hand and said, "Open the win-
dow eastward, and shoot.'' It was to be the arrow
of God's deliverance from the Syrians whom Joash
smote at Aphek, and consumed them. Again the
prophet said to the king, ''Smite upon the ground.
And he smote thrice, and stayed." Elisha was
angry and said,
''Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times;
then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst con-
sumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but
thrice.
"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the
bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the com-
ing in of the year."^
As we have seen, it w^as a custom in those days
to do the fighting chiefly in the warmer seasons of
the year. The year began along the middle of
March.
"And it came to pass, as they were burying a
man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and
they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and
when the man was let down, and touched the bones
oi Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet."^
The burial of men in those days was not in
graves, as it is with us. Generally they were taken
into caverns of the earth, and if there were not
natural caverns, artificial ones were made wherever
soil and rock in the hillsides permitted. Into the
rocks a hole was dug large enough to permit a
fU Kings 13:19, 20.
^11 Kings 13:21.
160 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
man's body to be held. These holes w^re called
''loculi." In front of the hole a rock was placed.
Sometimes alongside of the rock a place was hewed
out large enough to receive the body of the man
within the cave. The body in those days was
wrapped in a cloth and in the course of time noth-
ing was left of it but the bones. Such places are
still seen in Palestine, and the bones of those buried
in earlier times are numerous in certain parts.
There is in the Scriptures no exact parallel to
this miracle. We read that in the days of Christ
the woman was healed when she touched the hem
of Christ's garment, and again in Acts that from the
body of Paul, handkerchiefs and aprons were
brought to the sick and the diseases departed from
them. In the case of Elisha it was a dead object
brought in contact with a dead object, so that the
healing was not done by the power of faith in either
— both were dead. The act was wholly within the
purposes of Jehovah, to magnify His power and
glory. Marvelous as it was, it had no effect upon
the people who must have known the circumstances
from those who witnessed the event.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an account of Jehu.
2. How dM Toash become king of Judah?
3. Describe the events in the lives of Joash and Elisha.
4. Whv was the fighting season confined to summer in
those ancient days?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Who were the Arameans?
2. What lesson is derived from the failure of Joash to
smite the ground more than three times?
OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB h
NOTE
Again Northern Israel touched its widest bounds.
Pride and self-confidence took pos^session of the nation.
The military nobles who rallied about the king, enriched by
the spoils of war, enslaved their fellow-countrymen whose
fortunes had been depleted by the disastrous Aramean wars.
Outwardly Northern Israel seemed strong and prosperous,
but with'n were social wrongs which were eating the very
vitals of the natio.n.
11
CHAPTER 16
JONAH AND HIS TIMES
(II Kings 14; Jonah)
A blessed opportunity — the privilege of correct-
ing one's mistakes.
When Jeroboam II reigned in the kingdom of
Israel new dangers began their approach. There
were also in his times growing contentions and
wars between these two kingdoms which for so
many years had remained friendly, though separ-
ated. When Rehoboam undertook to bring the ten
tribes under subjection he was stopped by the word
of the Lord, who informed him that this division
was for His own purpose and brought about by
Him. There were occasional alliances between the
two kingdoms, but they never came under one rule.
Extension of the Kingdom. Jeroboam II ruled
over Israel for forty-one years. The most impor-
tant event perhaps in his reign was the appearance
of Jonah, whose biography in the Book of Kings is
confined to a single paragraph describing the ex-
tent to which the king had extended his domain far
north beyond Damascus to Hamath.N He also re-
covered Damascus, which had been taken once in
the days of David.
''He restored the coast of Israel, from the enter-
ing of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according
to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he
JONAH AND HIS TIMES 163
spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of
Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher."''
This extension of the kingdom of Israel to its
farthest limits naturally led to wars with the
Syrians. As they possessed a fertile country cover-
ing all that part of the land from Damascus north to
the boundary of Asia Minor it would naturally
attract the Syrians and the Babylonians of the
Mesopotamia when they grew strong enough to go
in search of new lands and new conquests. We
are now coming in sight of the great nations of
Mesopotamia, with whom Israel hereafter had
much to do.
Introduction to Jonah. As the story of Jonah is
introduced at this point, it may be given here ac-
cording to the contents of the book bearing his
name. The period in history assigned to him is
782-745 B. C. The prophet is commanded by the
Lord to go down to the city of Nineveh, a city of
the Syrians located on the river Tigris in Meso-
potamia. The prophet fears that the Lord will
repent and not destroy the people of Nineveh ac-
cording to his words, and therefore seeks to escape
by going down to Jaffa on the coast of the Mediter-
ranean and taking a ship for Tarshish.
The city of Tarshish is believed to have been a
Phoenician city located in the southwestern part
of Spain. A violent storm arose, and the people
prayed to their gods for relief but found no help in
them. They concluded that someone must be
«II Kings 14:25.
164 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
aboard who was really responsible for their mis-
fortunes, and they searched out Jonah, whom they
found asleep. They cast lots to discover whose
presence was bringing upon them such distress and
the lot fell on Jonah. He acknowledged his guilt
and asked that they cast him over into the sea.
Before doing this, however, they made an unsuc-
cessful attempt to row the vessel' to land.
When they found their efforts futile, they threw
Jonah overboard and the storm abated and the
heathens had reason to adore the God of the
Hebrews. Jonah was swallowed up by a fish that
was prepared for the purpose by the Lord. He re-
mained in its belly three days and nights where he
offered prayers. He was then cast up on land by
the fish after which he was commanded to perform
his neglected mis-sion to Nineveh. He made his
way immediately to his destination.
People Repent. When the prophet, however, be-
gan to declare that the city should be destroyed
within forty days, the people repented, believed in
God, proclaimed a fast, and put on themselves sack-
cloth and ashes that they might escape the punish-
ments which the prophet had declared would come
upon them. Such a condition in the heathen world
is remarkable, as the kingdom of Israel, from which
Jonah came, had never manifested such a spirit of
repentance nor such a disposition to observe the
words of a prophet.
"And God saw their works, that they turned from
their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that
JONAH AND HIS TIMES 165
he had said that he would do unto them ; and he did
it not."*
This Jonah did not appreciate. He was angry,
and said to the Lord : "Was not this my saying,
when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled
before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a
gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil."^
Jonah now, like Elijah in the desert, wanted to
die.
"So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the
east side of the city, and there made him a booth,
and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see
what would become of the city.
"And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made
it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow
over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So
Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
"But God prepared a worm when the morning
rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it
withered.
"And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that
God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun
beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and
wished in himself to die, and said. It is better for
me to die than to live.
"And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be
angry for the gourd? and he said, I do well to be
angry, even unto death.
^Jonah 3:10.
^Jonah 4:2,
166 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
"Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the
gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither
madest it grow; which came up in a night, and per-
ished in a night:
''And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city,
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons
that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand; and also much cattle P""^
Views on Story of Jonah. What shall we think
of the story of Jonah? Modern writers are greatly
divided. Some accept it as historical; some think
that it is mythological. Some think, and this is the
teaching of the Catholic church, that Jonah wrote
it; others think that it was written by someone
else. Josephus, in his day, disowned the word
about the repentance of the Ninevites or God's
remonstrances with Jonah. Josephus was a Phar-
isee and believed fervently that God could hardly
love anyone but an Israelite.
Cheyne, a great English author, treats the book
as an allegory. The name Jonah is the Hebrew
word for "dove" which this writer takes to mean
Israel. The prophet himself stands for Israel, which
was to prophesy among the nations. The sea is
taken as a figure of speech that was to portray the
fall of Israel. The fish, according to him, refers to
Babylon, which swallowed up Israel, not to destroy
Israel, but to give Israel a chance to repent, as
Jonah did in the belly of the whale.
The story of Jonah teaches a number of beautiful
rfjonah 4:5-11.
JONAH AND HIS TIMES 167
truths, and it is much less important from its his-
torical standpoint than from the divine wisdom
which it contains. To Jonah was given in his day
a revelation that many do not even appreciate now,
— that God is the father of all living, and that He
is merciful to all, though He has a chosen people.
It further teaches the patience of God toward
those whose anger and wrong-doing are the result
of their lack of understanding. Jonah's heart may
have been right enough, but his conception of what
God ought to do to the Ninevites was wrong, and
therefore the Lord patiently taught him by the
growth of the gourd and its death, over which the
prophet mourned. Jesus Himself makes use of
Jonah in describing His descent into the world of
departed spirits.
Advent of the Assyrians. About this time, Pul,
the king of the Assyrians, came to the kingdom of
Israel. As the Assyrians grew in strength they
overran the country of Assyria to Damascus, where
they would naturally learn about the Israelites and
their possessions. The king of the Ten Tribes was
ready to buy ofiF the Assyrians, which he did by the
payment of large sums of money. As wars in those
times were raids made for the purpose of obtaining
booty, the armies were more in the nature of rob-
bers.
This is the first mention we have of Assyria mak-
ing an inroad as an aggressive power into the Land
of Promise. During this time assassinations
brought about rapid changes in the kings of Israel.
168 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
They become now too numerous even to mention,
until finally in the days of Pekah, king of Israel,
Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, entered the land,
captured a number of cities, and carried away cap-
tives from them and from Galilee generally.
The days of Israel's destruction were rapidly ad-
vancing. Her kings had been almost universally
bad. At the close of the reign of each of them, it
was the same story, ''he departed not from the sins
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin."
"And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy
against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him
and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twen-
tieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah."^
A Comparison Between Israel and Judah. It
would be quite natural that the people of Judah
would hold themselves aloof from alliance with the
kingdom of Israel, whose wickedness and whose
disloyal kings were in striking contrast to the kings
of Judah, who obeyed more humbly the words of
the prophets. Judah therefore felt their superior
favor with Jehovah, and naturally became more or
less contemptuous towards their apostate brethren
in the kingdom of the north. From now on we may
designate the tribe of Judah as the Jews, though
into their nation the tribe of Benjamin is taken, and
they no doubt absorb many of the tribe of Simeon,
whose home was south of Judah's.
^11 Kings 15:30,
JONAH AND HIS TIMES 169
The kingdom of the north, however, when the
people began to see the dangers that they were
likely to suffer from the inroads made by the As-
syrians, sought an alliance with their neighbors the
Syrians. Into this alliance they sought to draw
the Jews. The recent invasions of Pul and Tiglath-
pileser alarmed the kings of Israel and Syria. They
were anxious that the House of David should be
included in their alliance. They therefore formed a
plan to transfer the crown of the Jews to Ben-tabal,
who was no doubt a refugee in one of their courts
at this time. Nothing, however, came of this
scheme, and the dangers of an alliance between
Israel and Judah called forth the warnings of God
through denunciation by his prophets.
Isaiah, perhaps the greatest of all Jewish proph-
ets of the later period, now appears on the horizon
of Jewish history, and we shall have occasion to
notice his words and history a little later on.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Relate the story of Jonah.
2. Who were the Syrians?
3. Who were the people of Nineveh?
4. Who were the Asisyrians?
5. What great prophet appeared about this time in the
history of Israel?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What influences were strongest in keeping the king-
doms of Israel and Judah apart?
2. What were the racial relations between the Hebrews
and the people of Nineveh?
170 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
NOTE
What most stands in the way of the performance of duty is
irresolution, weakness of purpose, and indecision. On the
one side are conscience and the knowledge of good and evil;
on the other are indolence, selfishness, love of pleasure, or
passion. The weak and ill-disciplined will may remain sus-
pended for a time between these influences; but at length the
balance inclines one -way or the other, according as the will
is called into action or otherwise. If it be allowed to remain
passive, the lower influence of selfishness or passion will
prevail; and thus manhood suffers abdicatio,n, individuality
is renounced, character is degraded. It was a noble saying
of Pompey, when his friends tried to dissuade him from em-
barking for Rome in a storm, telling him that he did so at
the great peril of his life: "It is necessary for me to go,"
he said; "it is not necessary for me to live." What it was
right that he should do, he would do, in the face of danger
and in defiance of storms. — S. Smiles.
CHAPTER 17
JUDAH^AMAZIAH— AHAZ
(II Chronicles 25-28)
Extremes of fortune are true wisdom's test,
And he's of men most wise who bears them best.
Going back a brief period, we take up again the
history of Judah in the time of Amaziah, who
reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He took a
census of the people throughout all Judah and Ben-
jamin. Here we have an evidence of Benjamin's
inclusion in the tribe of Judah. And they brought
300,000 choice men over whom he appointed cap-
tains of thousands and captains of hundreds in
order that he might go up against the Edomites to
the east of the Holy Land ; and to be sure of vic-
tory, he hired a hundred thousand out of the king-
dom of Israel.
**But there came a man of God to him, saying, O
king, let not the army of Israel go with thee ; for the
Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children
of Ephraim. * * *
"And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what
shall we do for the hundred talents which I have
given to the army of Israel? And the man of God
answered. The Lord is able to give thee much more
than this."^
«II Chron. 25:7,9.
172 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
In his battle with the Edomites Amaziah was
successful, but on his return from victory, he
brought with him the gods of the children of Seir,
a mountain in which the Edomites dwelt, and he
worshiped these gods and burned incense to them.
This act brought upon him divine displeasure ; but
his success through divine aid made him boastful,
and he challenged the Israelites to war. His chal-
lenge was accepted, and the Israelites defeated
Judah. They broke down the walls of the city of
Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner
gate, four hundred cubits, or six hundred feet, and
after the king of Israel had gathered up all the gold
and silver and the vessels that were in the house of
God, he returned to his capital city of Samaria.
Uzziah. Amaziah, king of Judah, was put to
death by those who conspired against him. He was
succeeded by his son Uzziah who, in the beginning
of his reign, gave great promise of a righteous rule
in Judah.
"And he built towers in the desert, and digged
many wells : for he had much cattle, both in the low
country, and in the plains ; husbandmen also, and
vinedressers in the mountains, and in Carmel : for
he loved husbandry."^
He had a host of fighting men whom he equipped
and made a powerful army.
"And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by
cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bul-
warks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal
ni Chron, 26:10,
JUDAH— AMAZIAH— AHAZ 173
And his name spread far abroad; for he was mar-
velously helped, till he was strong."^
Read the lesson of his pride and downfall in the
following verses :
*'But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up
to his destruction: for he transgressed against the
Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord
to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
"And Azariah the priest went after him, and with
him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant
men:
"And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said
unto him. It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to
burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the
sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense :
go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed;
neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord
God.''^
Such pointed talk from the priests shows the in-
dignation that they felt, and the gross insult to
Jehovah when the king undertook to officiate in the
holy place instead of those whom God had appoint-
ed to that duty. Such talk from the priests excited
the anger of the king, whose resentment brought
upon him the curse of God: "the leprosy even rose
up in his forehead before the priests in the house of
the Lord from beside the incense altar/'''
This settled the king's doom : the priests at once
^11 Chron. 26:15.
^IlChron. 26:16-18.
^11 Chron. 26:19.
174 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
put him out of the temple as an unclean man, and
the king himself seeing the curse that had come
upon him, withdrew, and he was taken out of the
city where he lived in an isolated house provided
for those who suffered from the unclean disease,
leprosy. His burial place was in the field of the
kings, but not in their tombs; as a leper he must be
buried separately. As in life, he could not mingle
with others, so in death there must be no contact
with others.
^'Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last,
did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. "^
As Isaiah lived well on into the reign of Heze-
kiah, a great grandson of Uzziah, he can hardly
have been contemporary with Uzziah as a grown-
up man, unless it be for a short period of time at
the close of the king's reign. This is the first an-
nouncement of Isaiah, a great prophet whose his-
tory in Israel commands a high place.
Jotham. Jotham, the son of Uzziah, reigned in
Jerusalem sixteen years.
"And he did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah
did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the
Lord."^
The lesson of his father could not be so quickly
ignored, and the son recognized more than his
father the divine authority which belonged to the
prophets of Judah. The reign of Jotham was not
fU Chron. 26:22.
^11 Chron. 27:2.
JUDAH— AMAZIAH— AHAZ 175
important. He defeated the Ammonites in war and
they paid him tribute of wheat and barley. The
Ammonites lived in Moab beyond the Jordan, the
land that has been famous for its generous produc-
tion of different kinds of grain. He was succeeded
by his son Ahaz, who was at the time of his father's
death twenty years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem
sixteen years : ^^but he did not that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, like David his father.''^
King Ahaz was the worst of all the kings of
Judah from David down. He established Moloch
in the valley of Hinnom, which is just below the
walls of Jerusalem on the west. The worship of
this god is not mentioned since the days of Solo-
mon. Moloch was the principal god of the Ammon-
ites, who, that they might succeed, ofTered up their
first-born sons to this god of fire. Ahaz offered his
own sons likewise to the god of fire and abandoned
the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
His wickedness brought trouble upon him. His
enemies from all sides began to close in on Jeru-
salem. Rezin, king of Damascus, formed an alli-
ance with Pekah, king of Israel, in the north; the
Philistines oppressed him from the southwest, and
from the southeast fought against him. The alli-
ance of the Assyrians proved too great for Ahaz,
and these kings entered the city of Jerusalem, and
took from Judah a large number of prisoners.
The Prophet Oded. The king of Israel proposed
^11 Chron. 28:1.
176 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
to bring these prisoners to Samaria and make out
of them bondsmen. However, there appeared the
prophet Oded, one of the leading men of Samaria,
and reminded them that such a cruel act would
bring upon them the punishment of God. He also
reminded them that although Judah may have
strayed from the paths of correct worship, the peo-
ple of Israel were in no better position themselves.
His warning was heeded, and the prisoners of Judah
were not sent back to Jerusalem, but down to
Jericho. Just why this was done we are not told.
In the midst of 'these great catastrophies to
Judah, their king sent away east in the valley of the
Mesopotamia to King Tiglath-pileser for help. This
was a most dangerous thing to do, as it so proved
by later results. Judah could not very well get aid
from Egypt, because at this time Egypt was in a
weakened condition. The Assyrians were called to
bring the country immediately north of Palestine,
known as Syria, under Israel's control. The As-
syrian king therefore took Damascus and captured
the. king, Rezin, and later his son, and took many
prisoners captive away down into the southeastern
part of Assyria to a place called Elam in the south-
west part of the valley of the two rivers. It is not
at all unlikely that at this time a considerable num-
ber of Israelites from beyond the Jordan were also
among the prisoners.
While Tiglath-pileser was at Damascus, King
Ahaz went to visit him. As the Assyrians were
growing in power and extending their coiitjuests
JUDAH— AMAZIAH— AHAZ 177
rapidly to the west, it was only a question of time
when their greed of empire would lead them to
seize the people of Palestine; although the king of
Judah had formed a temporary alliance with the
Assyrians, an alliance which in time led to the cap-
ture of the Ten Tribes, it would naturally be only a
question of time when the kingdoms of the Meso-
potamia would find some excuse for swallowing up
the kingdom of Judah.
Ahaz Desecrates the Temple. While the king of
Judah was at Damascus to visit the king of the
Assyrians there, he saw an altar which evidently in-
terested him greatly. Whether he cared for the
worship of the new gods of Assyria or not, Assyria
was growing so powerful that the worship of its
gods might at any rate become attractive to his
people. We know from history that the altars be-
came with the Assyrians in their conquests of other
nations the altars on which those conquered were
required to make sacrifices to the gods of the con-
querer. Sometimes the Assyrians erected temples
of worship in the lands of the people brought under
the'r rule.
It is a little difficult for us perhaps to understand
at this period of time the great effect that the wor-
ship of these idols of antiquity had upon the people.
About them centered their loyalty; they believed in
the assistance that came from unseen forces, and in
their efforts to account for the unseen power, they
established a form of worship which they repre-
sented in idols.
12
178 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The Israelites had taught the nations around
them the force of unseen powers which operated in
their behalf. But the great things which Israel did
through the aid of Jehovah did not bring other
nations to the worship of Israel's God. The great
things done in Israel by the power of God created
in other nations a rivalry, and when the Israelites
were punished by the neighboring nations for their
wickedness, their neighbors took their victories
over Israel as an evidence of the superior power of
their gods over Jehovah.
Worship of Power. As the nations about Israel
and Judah in the days of their wickedness were
growing more and more powerful, there were no
doubt many people both in Samaria and Jerusalem
who believed that the idols of Syria and Assyria
were superior to Jehovah as aids in battle. They
came in those days to look upon the value of their
gods from the standpoint of victory. It was then,
not the worship of goodness, purity, and right, but
a worship of power. We are not, even in our own
day, without reverence for persons and things that
to us seem most powerful.
Ahaz was impressed by the superior power of the
Assyrians. The new altar, therefore, he put in place
of the former brazen altar that stood immediately
in front of the porch of the temple. He removed
the font or sea from ofT the twelve brazen oxen, and
finally closed the temple to the worship of Jehovah.
The king of Assyria was disposed now to favor
Judah as an ally; and as he had made war upon the
JUDAH— AMAZIAH— AHAZ 1/9
kingdom of Israel, it was natural that when the two
kingdoms should be overthrown, their overthrow
should take place separately, as God intended it
should. Israel and Judah were not, according to
His purposes, to go into bondage together. They
were required to remain separate throughout all
their history to the time when both, in the last dis-
pensation, should be brought together, and their
redemption is to belong to the Second Coming of
the Son of God.
The historical position at this period was such
that the temporary friendship of the king of Israel
for Judah saved that king when the people of the
kingdom of Israel were taken by the Assyrians into
bondage. Judah was certain in time to bring on its
own overthrow. Such conduct as that of which
Ahaz was guilty would lead to rejection on the part
of Jehovah. Isaiah, who now comes on the scene,
says that ^^Judah was growing weary of the house
of David."
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an account of Amaziah's reign.
2. Who were the Edomites?
3. Give an account of the reign of king Uzziah.
4. Give ain account of the reign of king Ahaz.
5. What brought the Assyrians to Palestine?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What part did the city of Damascus play in the history
of Israel?
2. What has always been the rivalry between the worship
of power and the worship of the good and true?
180 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
NOTE
Ancient Israel in dire extremity sought relief in political
alliances. They vainly believed that a persecutor, if pro-
pitiated, might become a protector. They looked around for
help, and not upward. They would substitute the wisdom of
the age for God's guidance. Against political salvation
Isaiah warned the people. — Author.
CHAPTER 18
THE DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
(II Kings 17; Hosea, Amos, Micah;
We fancy we suffer from ingratitude, while in
reality we suffer from self-love.
While things were going on so badly in Judah,
and during the twelfth year of the reign of King
Ahaz, King Hoshea began his reign of nine years in
Samaria.
"And he did that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were
before him.""^
Repentance for Israel was evidently too late, and
though this last king may have been much better
than his predecessors, into the lives of his people
idolatry had been so instilled that the nation was
poisoned through and through by it. Repentance
in nations is like repentance in the individual : it
becomes almost impossible after generations of sin.
If there had been any saving salt in the kingdom
of Israel, God would undoubtedly have spared the
nation, as He was willing to do in the case of Sodom
and Gomorrah. His judgment of Israel and the
destruction of the kingdom must be final as it must
be just.
Israel Carried Away. Shalmaneser, the king of
Assyria, had brought the northern kingdom under
«II Kings 17:2.
182 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
subjection, and Hoshea was under tribute to the
Assyrian king. Hoshea, however, did not long sub-
mit to this bondage without an effort to throw it
off. He therefore sent his messengers to So, the
king of Egypt, and ceased bringing his present to
Assyria. This was revolt against his master, and
it is said the king of Assyria shut Hoshea up ''and
bound him in prison." It is not said that the As-
syrian king who thus overthrew the northern king-
dom was Shalmaneser, and historians generally be-
lieve that it was King Sargon. At any rate this
king claims to have taken Samaria in 721 B. C.
"In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria
took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria,
and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river
of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.''^
This destroyed the kingdom of the north. At first
it is said that only 27,280 prisoners were taken, but
historians generally believe that all the inhabitants
were taken into the country of the Mesopotamia.
It was a practice of Sargon to shift populations
about. In the land of the Israelites he settled Arabs.
''And the king of Assyria brought men from
Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from
Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in
the cities of Samaria instead of the children of
Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
the cities thereof.'''^
The new population of Samaria, as the country
ni Kings 17:6.
^11 Kings 17:24.
DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM 183
of the northern kingdom now came to be called,
l)rought with them the idolatry of the tribes to
which they belonged. They set up images, wor-
shiped in the groves and on the high hills, and in-
dulged in many pagan practices.
Remnant of Israel. This cleaning out of ^he
population of Israel was not complete, and we
afterward read there of a ''remnant of Israel.'' And
among the new population the Lord sent lions that
slew some of the people.
''Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria,
saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and
placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the man-
ner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent
lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, be-
cause they know not the manner of the God of the
land."^
They therefore sent finally to the priests of Israel
who might teach them how to worship Jehovah.
One of the priests came, by order of the king, and
settled in Beth-el. The people, however, while they
feared the Lord, set up their own priests in the high
places and sacrificed to their idols ; or, as the Bible
puts it :
"They feared the Lord, and served their own
gods, after the manner of the nations whom they
carried away from thence."^
There is a small remnant in the old town of
Shechem todav that c'aim to be descendants of
^TT Kings 17:26.
^'IT Kings 17:33.
184 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
those brought up from Assyria to inhabit the land
left desolate when Israel was carried away into
bondage. They come later on into frequent men-
tion in the Bible. Much has been written about
these people who were brought into Samaria, by
the Jews who hated them, and would have nothing
to do with them. The Jews refused every advance-
ment that these Samaritans made to come into
friendly relations and to worship with the Jews, al-
though the Samaritans claimed in the course of
time to be followers of Jehovah.
Babylonian Religion. From the account that we
have of the Babylonians and of their religious sys-
tem, we learn that they did not use very extensively
the images of animals in their forms of worship.
Their gods were rather those of nature. They
represented the male sun either by a circle, a plane
or a cross. The female sun was represented by an
eight-rayed star. The god of the atmosphere was
represented by a double or triple thunder-bolt, and
in a general way their gods were represented in
human form. All in all, it may perhaps be said that
the worship of the Babylonians was at this time not
so degrading as the worship of the nations which
surrounded ancient Israel. In time these new-
comers, which now came to be known as the Sa-
maritans, adopted the Five Books of Moses, and
they erected on Mount Gerizim a temple. They
also laid aside their idolatrous ceremonies and ad-
mitted the binding authority of the Pentateuch.
The Ten Tribes. At the downfall of ancient
DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM 18,5
Israel, the Ten Tribes disappear. It is asked if, as a
people, they were kept intact. Prophecy and mod-
ern revelation afifirm that they were. What became
of them? We look for the return of the Ten Tribes.
But where have they been all these centuries?
Where are they now?
Some claim that they have been discovered in
Malabar; others say they are in Cashmere, in
China. Some locate them in Turkistan; some say
they are in the Kerbish mountains ; others say they
are still in Arabia; while some writers locate them
in Germany and others in North America. Many
books have been written on the subject. There are
those who contend that a considerable number of
them returned with the Jews, who later on spent
seventy years in captivity in Babylon. Josephus in
the first century says that they then still existed
beyond the Euphrates, — that was the tradition of
his day.
We believe that a part at least of the tribe of
Ephraim was scattered throughout northern
Europe, whose blood, mingled with the blood of the
Gentiles, has been pronounced in their acceptance
of the faith as taught by the Latter-day Saints. The
subject of the abode of the Ten Tribes and their res-
toration in the last days does not property come
within our discussion of Old Testament history.
Prophet Hosea. In this latter period the prophet
Hosea appears and makes reference to the proc-
livities of King Hoshea toward the Egyptians.
Hosea is the only one whose writings have sur-
186 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
vived, and who was himself born in the northern
kingdom. He appeared in the kingdom about 746
to 735 B. C. Neither his name, however, nor his
history appears in either Chronicles or Kings, and
all that we know of him is confined to the book
which bears his name.
And the Lord said to Hosea, ''Go, take unto thee
a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms :
for the land hath committed great whoredom, de-
parting from the Lord.*''^
''So he went and took Gomer the daughter of
Diblaim.'' It was really a command to the prophet
to take a woman who would bestow her love upon
others; and his own individual experience in which
he was made to feel a wife's imfaithfulness was a
reminder to him that Israel had likewise been un-
faithful to Jehovah.
A few extracts from the writings of this prophet
must sufifice. He emphasizes the leading position
which Ephraim took among the Ten Tribes,
Throughout all the history of God's chosen peo-
ple the position occupied by Judah and by Ephraim
is foremost in the history of Israel.
"O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O
Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your good-
ness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it
goeth away."^
Of Ephraim's scattering he says:
/Rosea 1:2.
^Hosea 6:4.
DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN 'KINGDOM 187
''Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the peo-
ple; Ephraim is a cake not turned."^
Again,
''My God will cast them away, because they did
not hearken unto him : and they shall be wanderers
among the nations."*
The Prophet concludes with a beautiful eulogy
upon Israel :
''I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow
as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. * *
''Ephraim shall say. What have I to do any more
with idols? I have heard him, and observed him *
I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit
found.
"Who is wise, and he shall understand these
things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the
ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk
in them : but the transgressors shall fall therein.''^
Amos. At this time there appears also the
prophet Amos wdio, though born in the kingdom of
Judah, had a message for the people of the north.
The period assigned to him is from 775 to 750 B. C.
This prophet predicts the calamities of the Syrians,
who, for nearly a hundred years, had greatly har-
rassed the kingdom, and had taken away the two
and a half tribes beyond the Jordan.
The words of Amos tell of the moral life of the
chiMren of Israel. He gives us a very dark picture
of the moral anarchy of his day. He calls attention
^Hosea 7:8.
^Hosea 9:17.
.'Hosea 14:9.
188 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
to the fact that God does not deHght in the sacri-
fices of the people, who were going in great num-
bers to the temple, without improving the conduct
of their daily lives. He denounces the rich who live
idle lives, who are lazy and pampered, and the
women he calls the "kine of Bashon." Justice is
vanished, and the weak are oppressed by the
strong; robbery, bribery, and the carping sins of
the age prevail in Israel ; weights were falsified and
foods adulterated. (Note.)
Amos pronounces against the gods of the heath-
ens, and preaches that Jehovah's power is universal,
that He is not on^y the God of His chosen people,
but that He is ruler of all the world. Amos shows
that although Israel is God's favorite people, be-
cause of that divine favor the people had additional
and heavier responsibilities, and points out to them
the so-called "Day of the Lord," a time when God's
punishment would fall upon them. This prophet
makes use of Scripture with which missionaries of
the Latter-day Saints have made themselves fa-
miliar:
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he re-
vealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."^
"Behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
"And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the
Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst
^Amois 3:7.
DOWNFALL OF THe NORTHERN KINGDOM 189
of my people Israel : I will not again pass by them
any more/'^
That this prophet did not belong to the school
of the prophets, and was not like many of the false
prophets which had arisen before him, he declared
to Amaziah of Bethel,
"I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son;
but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore
fruit.*^
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that
I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord.""*
Of the restoration of Israel, God manifested His
loving designs :
"And I will bring again the captivity of my peo-
ple of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,
and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards,
and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make
gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
"And I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no more be pulled up out of their land which
I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.'''
Micah. A part of Micah's prophecies refer to the
destruction of Samaria, which took place 722 B. C.
Most of his predictions, however, fell about 705
to 701. Micah, like his predecessors, Hosea and
Amos, represented God as a righteous being who
^Amos 7:8.
'^Amos 7:14.
«Am.os 8:11.
^Amos 9:14, 15.
190 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
cared more for the good deeds of the people than
their efforts to appease him by sacrifices. The
ancients who did not belong to the house of Israel,
as heretofore stated, did not treat religion in the
light of morals. Their gods were renowned rather
for their strength, their power, and their helpful-
ness than for their goodness or virtue.
*'The word of the Lord that came to Micah the
Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze-
kiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem.''^
Concerning Samaria and Jerusalem he said,
"What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not
Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah?
are they not Jerusalem?''^
''Woe to them that devise' iniquity, and work evil
upon their beds ! when the morning is light, they
practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
''And they cover fields, and take them by vio-
lence; and houses, and take them away: so they op-
press a man and his house, even a man and his
heritage."^
Micah condemns the rich for their gross injustice
to the poor.' Class distinction in those days must
have been very great. Men's avarice manifested
itself treacherously by the manner in which they
dealt with those whom they had the power to
oppress. Micah also condemns false prophets, who
/'Micah 1:1.
^Micah 1:5.
^Micah 2:1,2.
DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM 191
in that age had become numerous, and who were
wilHng to prostitute their divine gifts for hire.
"Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets
that make my people err, that bite with their teeth,
and cry. Peace; and he that putteth not into their
mouths, they even prepare war against him. * * *
''Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners
confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips;
for there is no answer of God. * * *
''The heads thereof judge for reward, and the
priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets
thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon
the Lord, and say. Is not the Lord among us? none
evil can come upon us."-"
Foretells the Gathering. In the visions of future
glory, and of the gathering of the last days, Micah
sends forth this beautiful declaration, so often
quoted by the elders of Israel :
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that
the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and it shall
be exalted above the hills ; and people shall flow
unto it.
"And many nations shall come, and say, Come,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and
to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for
the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem.
"And he shall judge among many people, and re-
•^Micah 3:5,7,11
192 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
buke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks : nation shall not lift up a sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more.
''But they shall sit every man under his vine and
under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it/''
This great prophet further declares the coming
of the Messiah:
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting/'**
In the days of Hezekiah there was a reformation,
to all outward appearances, but it evidently did
not come from the heart. Sacrifices were re-estab-
lished, and the high places cast down, but God did
not find pleasure in the manner of the worship of
the people:
"Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall
I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul?
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly
and. to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?"^
^Micah 4:1-4.
«Micah 5:2.
^Micah 6:7,8.
DOWNFALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM 193
Micah, like the great prophets that had written
before him, closes the book in a glorious tribute
to God:
''Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth in-'
iquity, and passeth by the transgression of the rem-
nant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
"He will turn again, he will have compassion
upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou
wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
''Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the
mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old."^
The language of, these prophetic utterances is
among the sublimest in Holy Writ. In the back-
ground of faFen Israel may be seen the reasons for
the call of such men. Their warnings were more
than solemn. Their promises were heavenly as-
surances. But the movement of the people down-
ward had become so rapid that they went heedlessly
to the evil judgment which God pronounced against
them in case they would not repent.
A careful reading of the prophets will amply com-
pensate the student, who may learn from them not
only the sublimest literature of the Bible, but the
spirit of the times in which they wrote. Their words
often unlock the secret thoughts of the human soul
in its longings after God.
^Micah 7:18-20.
13
194 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Who led the people of the kingdom of Israel into
bondage?
2. ^ Who occupied the cities made vacant of the Assyrian
captivity?
3. What became of the Ten Tribes?
4. Who was Hosea?
5. Give an account of Amois.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are the teachings of the Latter-day Saints re-
specting the union of Ephraim and Judah in the last days?
2. Who constituted the school of the prophets?
NOTE
1. For in the spiritual world alone lies the remedy for
the inequalities and injustices of this. The 'eternal principle
of righteousness, "Seek ye me, and ye shall live," to which,
ais the Rabbis said, Amos reduced the 612 commands of the
Mosaic law, is after all the only true solutioin of all social
problems.
The business of the government, according to a certain
school of politicians, is concerned O'uly with the material
interests of the nation. "Laws," it is said, "cannot make the
people moral, and the nation being an end to itself its relation
to other nationis is not subject to moral criteria." "We are
legislators, not moralists," was the position taken by a states-
man in a recent parliamentary debate. Those who engage
in the business of governing the nation are, according to
this view, concerned only to secure comfort, wealth and
pow.er. They have no need to ask whether a law will raise
or lower the moral standard, or whether a policy is likely
to increase peace and goodwill in the world. Their one
object is material advantage, and their best guide is the busi-
ness instinct which foresees the gain and loss of different
courses. They have to do with profit and not with morals,
"Things are in the saddle and ride mankind" is their motto.
CHAPTER 19
HEZEKIAH
(II Kings 18 and 19, II Chron. 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, 32)
How can a people be free that has not learned
to be just? — Abbe Sieyes.
War Upon Idolatry. Before the Ten Tribes had
been carried away into captivity and during the
third year of the reign of Hoshea, Hezekiah began
his reign at Jerusalem. Though the people of
Judah in the early division of the kingdoms main-
tained a much higher order of worship and kept
themselves much freer from idolatry than did the"^
Ten Tribes, yet as time went on the spirit of idol-
atry around them fastened itself upon their lives.
AVhen Hezekiah began his reign, he did so by mak-
ing war upon idolatry.
''He removed the high places, and brake the
images, and cut down the groves, and brake in
pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for
unto those days the children of Israel did burn in-
cense to it : and he called it Nehushtan.""^
Worship in the high places was one of the com-
plaints which the prophets of ancient Israel alleged
against the people. Even when worship was de-
stroyed elsewhere, when the people were willing
that their idols should be destroyed in their homes,
in the valleys, in the forests, and by the streams,
the worship in high places continued.
«II Kings 18:4.
196 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
As has already been explained, Baal was not one
distinct god, but represented the spirits that re-
mained, according to popular superstition, in the
various places just mentioned. There was, how-
ever, in the mind of the ancient Israelites, very sac-
red memories of Sinai and the appearance of God
on the mount. It is therefore not unlikely that in
their efforts to worship God in high places, they
had in mind the wonderful appearance of Jehovah
to Moses on Mount Sinai; and however willing they
may have been to give up the worship of idols of
the groves and of the springs and other places,
they would naturally hold tenaciously to the last in
their worship on high places, where sanctuaries or
altars were built.
Idolatrous Practices. In recent years explora-
tion parties have uncovered a number of these high
places of worship. Some remarkable discoveries
have been made, especially at Gezer. Here they
found a rock cemetery in which skeletons of young
infants, said to be not more than a week old, were
found deposited in jars. An ancient practice among
the Canaanit^s, and imitated at times by the Israel-
ites, was that of offering the first born children
in sacrifice to idols. These high places had also de-
generated so as to become places of immoral re-
sort; and while in the beginning the Israelites may
have undertaken to make their offerings at the high
places in conformity with the law given in the Book
of Deuteronomy, in time their worship in the high
places became like that of the idolators.
HEZEKIAH 197
When the temple of Solomon had been built,
every excuse was removed for making sacrifices in
the high places, and the people v^ere forbidden to
resort to their old practices. However, the customs
of centuries had fixed themselves into the minds of
the worshipers, and they turned naturally to idol-
atry, which was more in keeping with the fallen
condition of man than the worship prescribed by
God for man's exaltation in His commands to the
people.
Here recurs the old emblem of the brass serpent
for the first time since Moses set it up in the wilder-
ness. Some suppose that it was left in the wilder-
ness and transferred to Jerusalem by Ahaz. Others
presume that it had always been preserved in the
temple and had been brought by Solomon from
Gibeah and placed in the temple among other treas-
ures.
How extensively the Israelites burned incense
to this brazen serpent we are not informed. As
this IS the first mention we have of such a practice,
we may well believe that it had not become com-
mon. It was called "Nehushtan," which meant in
Hebrew "brass thing." Although made in the form
of a serpent, Nachash, the people did not mention
it under that name, perhaps because of their ab-
horrence for the serpent itself.
The Temple Renovated. Hezekiah also reno-
vated the temple which had been closed, and opened
the door of the house of the Lord to the worship of
the people. He gathered the priests and the Le-
198 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
vites and set them to work preparing the house of
God and themselves for the worship which was
prescribed by the Law of Moses. It is said that in
their zeal the Levites were more devoted than the
priests, although the priests stood above the
Levites.
''And the priests went into the inner part of the
house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all
the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the
Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. AnJ
the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the
brook Kidron."^
According to the rule of worship in the temple
the inner part here did not mean particularly the
^'holy of holies,'' but the interior generally. The
priests alone might enter into the temple buildings.
The Levites were confined to the inner court. Thus
the distinction between them. After all had been
put in readiness the king gave orders that the daily
morning sacrifice should be established upon the
present altar in front of the porch of the temple.
It will be noticed in this reformation by Heze-
kiah that it was extended throughout all Israel.
The northern kingdom was fast approaching its
dissolution. At the time of Hezekiah this kingdom
in the north was not an independent country.
Hoshea was a subject of the king of Assyria. The
people of the north, however, were not persuaded.
Though the opportunity was given them to return
to the worship of Jehovah through the reforma-
^11 Chron. 29:16.
HEZEKIAH 199
tion, they preferred to keep their idolatrous prac-
tices.
Sennacherib. In the fourteenth year of the reign
of Hezekiah, a new menace came to Judah. Sen-
nacherib, whose father Sargon had carried away the
people of Israel into captivity, appeared before the
city of Jerusalem. This must have been soon after
Sargon's death, which is given as 705 B. C. Sen-
nacherib began his siege first against the fenced
cities of Judah, which were taken by the Assyrians.
Hezekiah did not feel himself in a position to op-
pose this powerful Assyrian monarch, and con-
sented therefore to make himself a mere satrap to
the king of Assyria, who required this Jewish king
to pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty
talents of gold.
In order to make this large payment, the king
was compelled to despoil the house of the Lord ol
its sacred metals. This mission of Hezekiah wa5
not in harmony with the expressed wishes of Isaiah
who thought that the people and the king should
trust in the Lord. Sennacherib, after over-running
Syria, and the Phoenicians and the Philistines, anc
bringing Judah under subjection, returned to Nine-
veh, with great numbers of captives and immense
quantities of spoil.
Alliance with Egypt. (Note.) Hezekiah felt
no doubt, the humiliation that came about througl
his suhmfssion to the king of Assyria, and he begar
to look to an alliance with the king of Egypt foi
protection, and as an aid in throwing off the yok<
200 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
of the Assyrians. This he did contrary to the coun-
sel of the prophet, who warned him that Egypt was
but a broken reed, and that the king of Egypt could
not be relied upon. Furthermore, it was a reliance
upon the arm of flesh.
When the king of Assyria found out what was
going on in Judah, he sent Tartan and other agents
to Hezekiah, so that a new army now appeared be-
fore Jerusalem. In those da3^s the king of Assyria,
when all of Syria was brought under subjection,
kept a large army along the banks of the Orontes
River^ something like two hundred miles north of
Judah. From this point his armies could be sent in
all directions to keep those whom he conquered in
submission. When Hezekiah was thus again
threatened, he sent messengers covered with sack-
cloth to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos.
"And Isaiah said unto them. Thus shall ye say to
your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of
the words which thou hast heard, with which the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed
me.
"Behold, I will send a blast upon him^ and he
shall hear a rumor, and shall return to his own land;
and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
land."^
The Assyrian king sent to Hezekiah a letter of
warning reminding him that other nations had fal-
len and that their gods had not been of any avail in
protecting them.
TI Kin^s 19:6, 7,
HEZEKIAH 201
"And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of
the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up
into the house of the Lord, and spread it before
the Lord."^
Assyrian Army Destroyed. These were trying
hours for the soul of the king of Judah; he well
knew the power of the Assyrians, and how the na-
tions around him had fallen hopelessly before the
armies of Sennacherib. But the Lord would yet
humble the heathen and give to the nations about
Judah a fresh and convincing evidence of His great
power over His chosen people. The king of As-
syria had reproached the Lord, and lifted up his
voice in contempt of the ''Holy One of Israel.'' An-
other message came from Sennacherib in no un-
certain words :
"Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is
come into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook
in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will
turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."^
Putting a hook in the nose and a bridle in the lips
was one of those cruel methods by which the kings
of ancient Assyria and Babylon were wont to lead
about their distinguished prisoners. Speaking of
Jerusalem the Lord said:
"For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine
own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
"And it came to pass that night, that the angel
of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of
^11 Kings 19:14.
'TI Kings 19:28,
202 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thou-
sand: and when they arose early in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses.
"So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and
went and returjned, and dwelt at Nineveh."^
The annals of his kingdom show that he warred
with other nations, but did not again in his life
time invade or threaten Jerusalem. At this time
Nineveh appears to be the capital of Assyria.
"And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the
house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and
Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword :. and
they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esar-
haddon his son reigned in his stead. "^
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Explain the worship of Baal.
2. Explain worship in the high places.
3. What were the reformatioins of Hezekiah?
4. Give an account of Sennacherib.
5. What was the end of Sennacherib?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. How did Isaiah regard Hezekiah*s effort to save himself
by entering into political machinations with the Egyptians?
2. What impressions do the miracles of this age produce
upon you?
NOTE
Egypt had a great reputatioiU, and was a mighty promiser.
Her brilliant antiquity had given her a habit of generous
promise, and dazzled other nations into trusting her. Indeed,
so full were Egyptian politios of bluster and big language that
the Hebrews had a nickname for Egypt. They called her
fU Kings 19:34-36.
^11 Kings 19:37.
HEZEKIAH 203
Rahab — Stormy-speech, Blusterer, Braggart. It was the term
also for the crocodile, as being a monster, so that there was
a picturesqueness as well as moral aptness in the name. Ay,
says Isaiah, catching at the old .name and putting to it an-
other which describes Egyptian helplessness and inactivity, I
call her Rahab Sit-still, Braggart-that-sitteth-still, Stormy-
speech, Stay-at-home. Blustering and inactivity, blustering
and sitting still, that is her character; for Egypt helpeth
in vain and to no purpose. Isaiah tracks the bad politics
to their source in bad religion, the Egyptian policy to its
roots in the prevailing tempers of the people. The Egyptian
policy was doubly stamped. It was disobedience to the word
of God; it was satisfaction with falsehood. The statesmen
of Judah shut their ears to God'is spoken word; they allowed
themselves to be duped by the Egyptian Pretense. — G. A.
Smith.
CHAPTER 20
DEATH OF HEZEKIAH
(II Kings 20-21, II Chron. 32-33)
The greatest prayer is patience. — Buddha.
Hezekiah's Life Prolonged. After the delivery
of Jerusalem from its threatened destruction by the
Assyrians, Hezekiah became sick unto death. Fur-
thermore, the prophet Isaiah made the announce-
ment to him that he should set his house in order,
for he must die. Death to Hezekiah was a great
calamity, as he viewed his situation. He went into
the house of the Lord and turning his face to the
wall, implored Jehovah that he might yet be spared
a while. He said,
'*I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I
have walked before thee in truth and with a per-
fect heart, and have done that which is good in thy
sight. And Hezekiah wept sore."^
One of the blessings of devotion to God was the
promise of a long life. The king at this time must
have been in middle life, and he was not ready to
go. He had witnessed God's power in the destruc-
tion of the Assyrians, and that undoubtedly gave
him a new heart. Then there was the absence of
sons to take his place, so that all in all he was grief
stricken. Isaiah had just made the announcement
that he shouM die, and before he left the middle
«TI Kingis 20:3,
DEATH OF HEZEKIAH 205
court the word of the Lord came to him that he
should return and tell Hezekiah that his prayer had
been heard.
''Behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou
shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
''And I will add unto thy days fifteen years ; and I
will deliver thee and. this city out of the hand of
the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
"And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they
took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. * *
"And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of
the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he
hath spoken : shall the shadow go forward ten de-
grees, or go back ten degrees?''^
Just what kind of instrument this was for re-
cording time we do not know. According to his-
tory, the sun dial 'proper was invented by the Baby-
lonians before the time of Herodotus.
Hezekiah's Mistake. Merodach-baladan, the
son of Baladan, king of Babylon, having learned of
the sickness of Hezekiah, sent messengers with
presents to the Jewish king. The heart of the king
was no doubt flattered, and he showed all the
precious things of his house, its gold and silver and
spices and treasures to these strange messengers.
When Isaiah learned what Hezekiah had done, he
said:
"Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine
house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in
ni Kings 20:5, 6, 7, 9.
206 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon:
nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
"And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which
thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they
shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Baby-
lon."^
That does nat seem to have troubled very greatly
the king, who thought that the word of the Lord
had in it the consolation that it would not happen
in his days. One is led to wonder, in view of his
prophecy, whether the answer of the Lord, who
promised Hezekiah fifteen years more of life, was,
after all, a blessing. The good king Hezekiah died,
and was buried in the chiefest of the sepulchres of
the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabit-
ants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death.
(Note.)
The Apostasy of Manasseh. "Manasseh was
twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. ""^
It is remarkable how easily and how quickly the
people were turned from good to evil ways. The
reformation of Judah under Hezekiah was not
heart-felt and pronounced. It was not very sincere
repentance. They were easily and quickly turned
by his unworthy son Manasseh. The fickle ten-
dency of the people shown in this change indicates
their unstable character; they were not depend-
able. A repentance that could not last a single gen-
^11 Kings 20:17, 18.
^11 Kings 21:1.
DEATH OF HEZEKIAH 207
eration in a nation could not serve the purposes of
God. The situation was full of forebodings, and
thoughtful men and godly men dreaded the evil day.
The curse pronounced upon the final apostasy of
the nation v^as a most terrible one.
In the midst of the great dangers now hovering
over Israel there appeared three of Israel's great-
est prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. God '
gave His people the best help He could afford
them: He held out to them the possibilities of
escape ; they were still His people, and He was their
God. If they would in their perverseness go
through the 'Valley of the shadow of death," God
would be at its remotest bounds yet to deliver them.
Manasseh ''built altars for all the host of heaven in
the two courts of the house of the Lord."^
"And he made his son pass through the fire, and
observed times, and used enchantmrcnts, and dealt
with familiar spirits and wizards : he wrought much
wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him
to anger."^
Making his son to pass through the fire was the
worship of that element by offering up as a sacri-
fice to it his own children. He "observed times''
it is said, a thing that was forbidden in the law:
"There shall not be found among you any one
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through
the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch."^ .
ni Chron; 33:5.
fU Kings 21:6.
^Deut. 18:10.
208 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
That was a kind of divination practiced by the
ancient Ganaanitish nations. It consisted in pre-
dictions made from certain positions of the clouds
and the state of the atmosphere. Manasseh's deal-
ings with familiar spirits are perhaps best illustrated
in Saul's visit to the witch of En-dor; and the wiz-
ards with which the king dealt had familiar spirits,
and were a kind of necromancers. Isaiah says they
''peep'' and "mutter."
This apostate king was not content to go out and
worship in the groves as the heathen did; but he
put one of the images in the very temple itself,
which was later taken out and destroyed by Josiah.
The Israelites were still promised that they
would not be compelled to leave the land which God
gave to their fathers if they would only do accord-
ing to the Law of Moses.
''But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced
them to do more evil than did the nations whom
the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
"And the Lord spake by His servants the proph-
ets, saying,
"Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done
these abominations, and hath done wickedly above
all that the Amorites did, which were before him,
and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols :
"Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and
Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears
shall tingle.
"And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of
DEATH OF HEZEKIAH 209
Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab:
and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish,
wiping it, and turning it upside down."^'
Two Extremes. Ancient Israel represented the
the two extremes. They might devote themselves
to God as no other nation could or would do, but
when they apostatized from His ways their evils
were more abominable than the nations that knew
not the light. They had the greatest powers for
good; they were God's chosen people; they should
inherit the earth ; or they might forfeit their in-
heritance, choose evil in the place of good, and
abandon themselves to the power of Satan; there
was no half-way place for them in the purposes of
Jehovah.
Through some of the writings of the prophets,
we learn that the worship of the heavenly bodies
was so fostered that the people erected altars on
the roof of almost every house. They offered cakes
in the street to Estarte. Children were sacrificed
to the god of fire in the valley of the Hinnon; it
became as common to swear by Molech as it was
by Jehovah. The sins of the Sodomites polluted
the people, and were practiced in the very neigh-
borhood of the temple. The upper classes greatly
oppressed the people at large; the prophets lost
their high calling and prophesied in the name of
Baal; the priests polluted the sanctuary and did
violence to the law, and it is said that there could
hardly be found in all Jerusalem one who "executed
'^II Kings 21:9-13.
14
210 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
judgment" or "sought the truth." Read on and
there is more of it.
''Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very
much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to
another; besides his sin wherev^ith he made Judah
to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord."*'
Steeped in Idolatry. As we come along down to
the later periods in the history of Israel, Josephus
begins to throw more light upon the history of
the times. From his writings it appears that there
were those in the days of Hezekiah who resented
the reformation; who were so steeped in their idol-
atry that they could not forget nor forgive those
under the good king who would wipe it out. When
Manasseh gave them the opportunity to resent the
reformers, they were anxious to put the latter to
death. It was a reign of terror; prophets were called
forth and put to death, day by day, as they had
been the chief instrumentality of Hezekiah in bring-
ing about the reformation of his day.
Those nobles who took the part of the priests,
we are told, were thrown from the rocky cliffs
of Jerusalem. Tradition has it that Isaiah was
among those to perish in those evil days. Manasseh
was certainly a persecutor, and it was well said of
him that he filled Jerusalem with blood from one
end to another. There was not much to hope for
such a people and for those who welcomed and sus-
ill Kings 21:16
DEATH OF HEZEKIAH 211
tained the administration of such a king as Manas-
seh. The king, however, further misguided the
people by telling them that he could keep them se-
cure by strengthening the walls around the city.
On the north, it is said that he built an entirely new
wall; he completed certain fortifications that had
been begun. He also fortified many of the cities
of Judea and placed them under experienced
leaders.
In the temple, where the ark of God had been
placed, there ceased to be room for it after he had
placed his grove there. He destroyed, it is said,
all the copies of the law that could be found, so that
later on when a copy of it was really brought out it
was an occasion for great joy.
His reign was a long category of awful crimes.
From many of them there was no escape, because
they were committed in contempt of God and His
holy ordinances. The king mocked at the sacred
things of Jehovah and put to death those who were
not in sympathy with his conduct. He named one
of his sons Anion after the Egyptian god in order
to honor that people, with whom he wished to be
on friendly terms, and in defiance of the warnings
of the prophet Isaiah.
Amon. After Manasseh ''slept with his fathers,"
Amon, his^son, reigned two years in Jerusalem, and
he also 'Mid that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord." His own servants conspired against him
and slew him in his own home. Thereupon, the
people rose up and slew the servants who had con-
212 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
spired against Amon, and they made his son, Josiah,
king in his stead.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an account of the prolongation of the life of Heze-
kiah.
2. Give an account of Manasseh.
3. What was the idolatry of *'obs.erving times?"
4. Who was Amon?
5. What was the status of Jerusalem during the reign of
Manasseh?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION *
1. Why did idolatry give such encouragement to sin?
2. Why are sinners prone to persecution?
NOTE
In direct contrast to his father, who had zealously favored
everything Assyrian, Hezekiah gave himself paissionately to
whatever was national, and devoted his life to the restora-
tion of the worship of Jehovah and the purification of the
land from the heathenism which Ahaz had introduced. The
"Law" was his guiding .star in public and private. The proph-
ets were his honored and cherished counselors. He was in-
telligent and refined as he was humble and godly. Jewish
tradition, magnifying his fame and merits in after years,
fancied that he must have been the promised Messiah; and
the inspired compiler of the Second Book of Kings only re-
flects the universal homage of contemporary public opinion^^
in the grand eulogium, that "he trusted in the Lord God of j
Israel; so that after him was lUone like him among all the
kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." — Geikie. -^^ "
CHAPTER 21
JOSIAH
(II Kings 22-23, II Chron. 34-35-36)
The soul is strong that trusts in goodness.
— Massinger.
According to the Bible, Josiah was eight years
old when he began to reign. As Amon, his father,
was twenty-four years old at the time of his death,
it would seem that he was married when he was
about fifteen years of age . In eastern countries
early marriages were celebrated very generally
among the people, and it is still a custom in those
lands to bring about the marriage of sons and
daughters when they are still very young. These
marriages are generally brought about by the inter-
cession of parents, to whose wishes in the matter
their children are generally subservient.
It is said that Josiah ''did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord." The new king sent to the
high priest with instructions that he take charge of
the silver that was delivered by the people at the
door of the tabernacle. Hilkiah at this time was
high priest, and continued to act in that capacity
until the destruction of Jerusalem and the de-
parture of the tribe of Judah into Babylonian cap-
tivity.
Book of the Law Discovered. Hilkiah, while
working in the temple, discovered the book of the
214 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
law, and gave it to Shaphan the scribe, who brought
it to the iking. As the scribe read the law to the
king, the latter must have been very greatly im-
pressed, as we are told that he rent his clothes.
The king would naturally know from the reading of
the law to what extent the people had departed from
its requirements. Their apostasy from its sacred
provisions would be made very clear to him as one
by one the commandments of God contained in the
law were read in his hearing. He therefore said:
''Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the
people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of
this book that is found : for great is the wrath of
the Lord that is kindled against us, because our
fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this
book, to do according unto all that which is written
concerning us."""
Huldah. The high priest, Hilkiah, and other
messengers of the king, went to Huldah, the proph-
etess, the wife of Shallum; she ''dwelt in Jerusalem,
in the college." And they communed with her.
Huldah, like Miriam of old, and like Deborah, is
styled a prophetess. Her reply iri the name of the
Lord was,
"BehoH, I v/ill bring evil upon this place, and
upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses
that are written in the book which they have read
before the king of Judah:
"Because they have forsaken me, and have burned
incense unto other gods, that they might provoke
^11 Kings 22:13.
JOSIAH 215
me to anger with all the works of their hands;
therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this
place, and shall not be quenched."^
To Josiah, however, the message came that be-
cause he had humbled himself before the Lord and
wept as he rent his clothes, he should be permitted
to be gathered unto the grave in peace. This mes-
sage which the prophetess Huldah brought to the
king, became afterwards a special message of Jere-
miah, who thundered his condemnations upon the
people because of their iniquities. Josiah's eyes
were not to see ''all the evil" which was to be
brought upon Jerusalem. (II Kings 22:20.) But
he saw the beginning of it.
''And the archers shot at King Josiah; and the
king said to his servants. Have me away; for I am
sore wounded.
"His servants therefore took him out of that
chariot, and pift him in the second chariot that he
had ; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he
died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his
fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for
Josiah.
"And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah : and all the
singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah
in their lamentations to this day, and made them
an ordinance in Israel : and, behold, they are written
in the lamentations."^
We are not informed that in the davs of Tosiah
^11 Chron. 34:24,25.
^11 Chron. 35:23-25.
216 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
there was any open idolatry; perhaps no offering of
human sacrifices to Molech, or worship in the high
places. The reformation, however, does not seem
to have been deep seated, for Jeremiah says, ''J^dah
did not return to God with her whole heart, but
feignedly."^
The war in which Josiah lost his life was one that
was waged between the tribe of Judah and the
Egyptians. Josiah's reign was moreover celebrated
for the great passover, the like of which had not
been kept since the days of Samuel the prophet.
We need not wonder that the people mourned : they
were left now on all sides exposed to the enemy;
their doom was within ^their own vision. It was not,
however, Egypt that was to repeat its bondage over
the house of Israel. Three years ^ater King Nebuch-
adnezzar appeared before Jerusalem.
Jehoahaz. Josiah was succeeded by his son Je-
hoahaz who was twenty-three years old when he
began to reign, but whose reign covered the brief
period of only three months. The Egyptians at this
time began their inroads into the country of Syria,
and would naturally want to lay the people of Judah
under tribute, not only that they might furnish
revenue, but that they might also 1)e prevented from
placing any obstacles in the v/ay of the Egyptians
that would interfere with their march into the coun-
try to the northeast of the Promised Land. The
new king was therefore put under a tribute of one
hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.
^Jer. 3:10.
JOSIAH 217
Egypt and Assyria were now becoming more
hostile toward each other. Necho, king of Egypt,
fearing Jehoahaz, took him captive into Egypt and
put his brother Eliakim on the throne of Judah.
Jehoiakim. His name, however, he changed to
Jehoiakim. He likewise was a young man of
twenty-five years when his reign began, but it lasted
something like "eleven years in Jerusalem ; and he
did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his
God."^
It will be seen that these two great rival powers
in the valley of the Nile and in the valley of the
Mesopotamia were tearing Judah asunder as a wild
beast its prey. The scattering of the House of
Judah had already begun ; many of the Jews were
now taken captive into Egypt. To oppose the Egyp-
tians, the great king of Babylon started out on his
expedition against Judah.
At this point we have a number of writers whose
accounts in the matter of time are not harmonious.
According to Daniel, chapter 1:1, Nebuchadnezzar
went to Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim's
reign. According to Jeremiah, it was not before
his fourth year. There is also some difference in
the spelling of the Babylonian king's name; Jere-
miah and Ezekiel spell it Nebuchadnezzar; the orig-
inal in the Babylonian is Nebu-chad-ruzzer. It is
made up, as will be seen, in three parts, like most
Babylonian names in that period.
Nebuchadnezzar was the second monarch of the
^TT Chron. 36:5.
218 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Babylonian empire. He ascended the throne in the
year 604 B. C, and he reigned 43 years, dying in 561
B. C. He was the most celebrated of all the Baby-
lonian monarchs, and he occupies the most con-
spicuous place of any heathen king in the Scrip-
tures. He brought, during the periods of his wars,
all the Syrians under subjection and carried on the
siege of Tyre. His first expedition here spoken of,
it is generally believed by historians, was while he
was merely crown-prince and leader of the army
under his father.
Necho. When Necho had carried on wars and
brought all of the country of Syria up as far as the
headwaters of the Euphrates river under Egyptian
rule, Nebuchadnezzar began his wars against the
Egyptians. This Babylonian monarch was a suc-
cessful general and soon drove the Egyptians back
within the confines of their own country. He took
Jerusalem and carried off a number of its inhabi-
tants as prisoners. When he had finished his great
campaign he was suddenly called home on account
of the death of his father.
The latter part of Jehoiakim's reign is covered in
some obscurity. At this point there is some con-
fusion in the course of history. The nations set
against him on every side ; he was taken captive and
brought to the king of Babylon. At this time the
headquarters of the Babylonian king was probably
in Syria, somewhere on the Orontes River. It is
believed by some historians that Jehoiakim was
first taken to that place and later brought by
JOSIAH 219
Nebuchadnezzar back to Jerusalem, where he was
executed and his body treated as predicted by Jere-
miah, 22:19 and 36:30:
''He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,
drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jeru-
salem."
''Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king
of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the
throne of David : and his dead body shall be cast
out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the
frost."
In Kings it is said that he slept with his fathers.
His body in the end may have been gathered up
from the place where it was, and put in the burial
place at Jerusalem.
"And the king of Egypt came not again any more
out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken
from the river of Egypt unto the river of Euphrates
all that pertained to the king of Egypt. "^
Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin now succeeded his father,
and when Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jeru-
salem, "the king of Judah went out to the king of
Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and
his princes, and his officers : and the king of Babylon
took him in the eighth year of his reign.
"And he carried out thence all the treasures of
the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the
king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold
which Solom_on king of Israel had made in the tem-
ple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
fU Kings 24:7.
220 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the
princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten
thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths :
none remained, save the poorest sort of the people
of the land.''^
Zedekiah. After the leaders of the ruling party of
Jerusalem had been taken captive to Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar put a new king upon the throne
to ru^e over the poorer classes of people, ana those
who dwelt in the country. The name of this new
king was Mattaniah, whose name was changed to
Zedekiah. Judah was fast approaching its end. The
last king under the old regime also "did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord."
The leaders, those w^ho were now in captivity,
had strong hopes that they would soon be permitted
to return to their native land. It seemed that Zede-
kiah himself entertained such a hope. Zedekiah
finally sent messen^-ers to Babylon, and after this
made a personal visit to that country for the pur-
pose of obtaining the restoration of the captives;
but he did not seem to succeed with Nebuchadnez-
zar. He did not even succeed in getting Jehoiachin
released from prison.
He therefore returned to his own country greatly
inflamed in his mind against the Babylonians, and
plotted a rebePion. At first he sought an alliance
with the neighboring tribes of the country such as
the people of Phoenicia, Moab, and Edom. Later
he made overtures to the king of Egypt, who re-
gU Kings 24:12-14.
JOSIAH 221
ceived him favorably. Nebuchadnezzar now sent
another expedition against Judah, and began again
the siege of Jerusalem, which resulted in its final
overthrow.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the coindition of the people with respect to a
knowledge of the law?
2. What was the sin of the people with reference to the
law?
3. What were the curses of the book?
4. Give an account of Josiah.
5. Give an account of Jehoiakim.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are your views about early marriages?
2. What was the social and moral condition of Jerusalem
when her princes were carried off into captivity?
NOTE
Great is the faith which can pass things incomprehensible
and await the disclosures that come with death.
"Doubt no longer that the Highest is the wisest and the best,
Let not all that saddens Nature blight thy hope, or break thy
rest,
Quail not at the fiery mountain, at the ishipwreck, or the
rollmg
Thunder, or the rending earthquake, or the famine, or the pest.
"Neither mourn if human creeds be lower than the heart's
desire;
Thro' the Rates that bar the distance comes a gleam of what
is hi2-her.
Wait t'll death has flung them open, when the man will make
the Maker
Dark no more with human hatred in the glare of deathless
fire."
— Tennyson.
CHAPTER 22
FALL OF JERUSALEM
(II Kings 25; Habbakuk)
There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-
hew them as we may. — Shakespeare.
The rebellion of Zedekiah brought Nebuchad-
nezzar and his host to Jerusalem. Now began the
siege of that city which lasted almost a year and a
half. The misfortunes of the city, the suffering of
its people, are contained in part in the Lamenta-
tions of Jeremiah, and we shall speak of them in
the chapter dealing with that prophet. To add to
the horrors of those awful days, a famine prevailed
in the city. With famine came pestilence. It is said
that the complexions of the men grew black; their
skin was shrunk and parched upon their bodies; the
rich and noble women searched dung heaps for
scraps of offal. Children perished of starvation, and
many of them were eaten by their parents. It is
further said that a third part of the inhabitants died
from the plague which grew out of the famine.
The Hatreds of the Siege. As the besieging army
built its bounds and towers immediately without
the walls of the city, the besieged would be subject
to great dangers and often severe punishments. The
darts of the enemy from the tower would make the
poor soldiers cringe, and this unrelenting warfare
carried on for a year and a half would naturally
FALL OF JERUSALEM 223
beget the most intense hatreds. Hand to hand con-
flicts bring on personal animosities that are more
intense than those created under our system of mod-
ern warfare.
Finally the walls of the city were broken down,
but the warriors within made their escape, and the
king with them, on their way toward the plain. This
escape was no doubt in the direction of Jericho, by
way of the Mount of Olives, before the king and the
people of Judah who had escaped, were pursued.
They were overtaken, and the captured king was
taken to Nebuchadnezzar, whose headquarters at
that time were at Riblah, northwest of Damascus.
It should be remembered that at this time Nebuch-
adnezzar was conducting two great sieges, — one
against Jerusalem, and one against Tyre, the city of
the Phoenicians. He therefore established himself
at a convenient place where he might send his
armies in both directions. Along with the king
were his sons, some of whom at this time, must have
been old enough to take part in the battle.
"And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound
him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Baby-
lon.''^
Those who were now found about the city are
called Chaldeans. They were undoubtedly a part of
the army of the Babylonian king, as Chaldea at this
time had come under the power of Babylon.
Jeremiah (Note 1) warned Zedekiah that he
«II Kings 25:7.
224 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
would fall into the hands of the Chaldeans if he
persisted in his resistance. This cruelty towards
Zedekiah and his sons was particularly shocking to
the Jews, who were generally not considered so
cruel in their wars, notwithstanding all the shock-
ing things they did, as the nations of antiquity
about them.
The City Destroyed. A few years later, the nine-
teenth of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he sent one
of his captains, Nebu-zar-adan, to Jerusalem :
''And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the
king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and
every great man's house burnt he with fire.
"And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with
the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of
Jerusalem round about.
''Now the rest of the people that were left in the
city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of
Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did
Nebu-zar-adan the captain of the guard carry away.
"But the captain of the guard left of the poor of
the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen."^
The house of God was completely demolished;
the brazen sea was broken to pieces; the sacred ves-
sels of the house, and all vessels of brass were car-
ried away; of the gold and silver they left nothing.
When the city had fallen, the captain of the guard
selected the leading citizens whose influence would
be most likely to give the Babylonians trouble in
the future. He therefore took the high priest Seriah
^11 Kings 25:9-12.
FALL OF JERUSALEM 225
and the second high priest, and the three keepers of
the door. With these he took the officer that was
set over the men of war, and five of the men that
were stationed with the king, the principal scribe of
the host, and three score men of the people of the
land that were found in the city.
These were taken to the king at Riblah, the head-
quarters of Nebuchadnezzar in the land of Hamoth,
on the Orontes river. These were put to death by
the king. According to those times, when we com-
pare the fall of Jerusalem with the siege of other
cities, they were not many to pay the penalty of
death for their rebellion. Some writers think that
Nebuchadnezzar was even moderate or merciful in
the matter of vengeance.
The captivity which was begun in the third year
of the reign of Jehoiachin, was now completed, and
the fate that overtook the kingdom of Israel had
now befallen the kingdom of Judah. There were,
however, a few people left in the land of Judah over
whom Gedaliah was made a ruler. As Jerusalem
itself was razed to the ground, the capital of the
ruler of the remnant was located at Mizpah.
Gedaliah. To Gedaliah certain leading men of
the different tribes came when they learned that he
had been elevated to be the ruler of the people. He
undertook to pacify them and gave them assurances
that all would be well with those who were willing
to serve the king of Babylon. There arose, how-
ever, a conspiracy in which Ishmael, a member of
the royal family of Judah, with others put Gedaliah
15 ■
226 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
to death, as well as the Jews and the Chaldees that
were with him at Mizpah.
"And all the people, both small and great, and
the captains of the armies, arose, and came to
Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees/''^
According to Jeremiah, the death of Gedaliah
represents the atrocious character of the people at
this time. Ishmael and his ten friends had been
instigated by the Ammonites to put the new ruler to
death. They came to his home in Mizpah, accepted
his hospitality, and when they had ''eaten of his
salt'' they arose suddenly and put him and his im-
mediate attendants to death; and took the Chaldees
that were kept there as a guard, and put everyone
of them to the sword. Among those who went to
Egypt was Jeremiah, who was very much opposed
to this movement on the part of the remnant of the
people.
Jehoiachin. Upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar,
Jehoiachin, who had been retained in prison, was
given his liberty by Evil-merodach, the son and suc-
cessor of Nebuchadnezzar.
And he (Merodach) ''spake kindly to him, and
set his throne above the throne of the kings that
were with him in Babylon ;
"A^nd he changed his prison garments : and he
did eat bread continually before him all the days of
his life."^
^11 Kings 25:26.
^TI Kings 25:28,29.
FALL OF JERUSALEM 227
How long that life was we are not told. Jehoia-
chin was a very young man when he was taken
captive and was hardly to be blamed for the condi-
tion that befell him and the people.
The Scythians. The evil that Manasseh did dur-
ing his long reign in Judah was irreparable. He
was upon the throne from 685 to 641 B. C. During
all those years the people were more and more
firmly established in their idolatrous and immoral
practices. The rich had formed a cast that was ex-
tremely oppressive toward the poor, and it was an
age when woman-kind exercised an unrighteous as
well as an immoral dominion over the hearts of
men. The successor to Manasseh, Amon, ruled a
little less than two years, but he accomplished
nothing. Josiah, his son, was watched over in his
youth by the priests and the prophets with jealous
care.
It was now about 626 B. C. when a new plague
came upon the Land of Promise. There was a race
of people, barbarians from south-eastern Russia,
called Scythians. They spread out over the coun-
tries to the south of them, threatening the Meso-
potamia as well as Palestine and Syria. They were
the scourge of God. They were met by the king of
Egypt in Palestine, and after receiving tribute from
the people, turned back again. We do not know
much of the extent of the damage which they did
to the countries which they overran. They were
more terrible than the Assyrians, and no doubt in-
flicted heavy losses upon the people of Judah. All
228 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
of this trouble came upon the people before the final
overthrow of the city of Jerusalem. -
In response to the word of God to Jeremiah, who
questioned the prophet, saying, "What seest thou?"
he replied, ''I see a boiling caldron, and the face
thereof is from the north." Then Jehovah said
unto him, ''Out of the north evil shall break forth
upon the inhabitants of the land." A boiling caldron
was perhaps the best description that could be given
of the land of Judah in those days. The people won-
dered at their affliction and asked why it was that
Jehovah would use a wicked nation to execute His
purposes against His disobedient people. They
might be bad, they argued, — but there Avas that old
spirit of justification, that bad as they were, those
who punished them were worse. Where was the
justice in such a thing?
Habbakuk. In the closing scenes ending the
kingdom of Judah, there appeared one of the minor
prophets, whose brief space in history may perhaps
be best disposed of in this place. It will be noticed
that the names of different nationalities are used.
The people of the valley of the Mesopotamia who
came up against the people of God were known in
the order of their kingdoms as the Chaldeans, the
Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Medes and
Persians.
The Chaldeans are mentioned in the time when
the Babylonians set up their kingdom, and the Chal-
deans were no doubt used by the Babylonians in the
support of their great empire. The people of the
FALL OF JERUSALEM 229
Mesopotamia in the time of the Babylonians Hab-
bakuk mentions as the Chaldeans. His place in
history may be fixed somewhere about the close of
the seventh century B. C, just shortly before the
destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews at this early
time could not conceive that Jerusalem could ever
be violated.
Habbakuk lived in those turbulent days, and won-
dered why the righteous should suffer so much at
the hands of the wicked. He mourned also the
silence of God and predicted, when the voice of God
came to him, the great destruction that would come
upon the people. Space will permit only a brief
mention of this, the eighth and the last of the minor
prophets of Israel. The anguish of his despair is
recorded in the following words :
"Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou
upon them that deal treacherously, and boldest thy
tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he?
"And maikest men as the fishes of the sea, as the
creeping things, that have no ruler over them?"^
Truly, those were days of despair; Jerusalem was
reduced to the ground. Those who were not car-
ried away captive into Babylon at that time sought
refuge in Egypt. For seventy years they were in
bondage, and we shall have to follow them to a
strange land among a strange people until they have
paid the penalty of their offenses against Jehovah.
^Hab. 1:14,
230 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an account of the siege of Jerusalem.
2. Give an account of its final deistruction.
3. Who was Gedaliah?
4. Who v^ere the Scythians?
5. Who was Habbakuk?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Punishment by the wicked is often .excessively wicked.
Why does God permit it?
2. Why should God-fearing individuals suffer for national
sins that are not always universal?
NOTES
Am reading Jeremiah at present at family worship. What
richness of metaphor and of feeling; what heart-broken elo-
quence; what a noble, weeping, wrestling, divine soul he was!
His tears came down large, electric, like the first drops of a
thunder-cloud. H.e is not so picturesque, but he is fully as
eloquent as Isaiah. He has no passage so powerful as some
in that prophet: but he is as a whole not inferior. He is the
Demosthenes of sorrow, and often, too, of Philippic fire —
with all his vehemence and intensity, but with far more
poetry. — Gilfillan.
Jeremiah enters with intimate sympathy into his relationis
with Israel, the wounded love, the burning indignation, the
readiness to forgive. And he in turn lays bare his soul to
God. Startled at the disclosure of the evil possibilities of
his own heart, deceitful and desperately sick, he prays the
skilled Physician of Souls, who knows his malady through
and through, to heal him. Or when his lot becomes too
bitter, and he can endure it no longer, he turns upon God now
with plaintive expostulation, now even with fierce resentment.
And God shows him scant sympathy, rather He rebukes him
for faltering and bids him brace himself for trials still more
severe, rising above his human weakness in the faith that the
Divine promise of protection would be fulfilled. — Hastings.
It is a great hour in any man's life when he is obliged to
stand up alone and state his case or defend his cause. What
an hour that was in Paul's history when before the Roman
.officials "no man stood with him," but, dependent as he was
o.n sympathy and fellowiship, he stood alone! It is when a
man is absolutely left alone, in danger or disgrace, that the
deepest test of his character is reached. That is the reason
why the night-time, which seems to say to us, "You are alone
with God," has its impressiveneiss and why the death hour
has a similar impressiveness. — McClure.
CHAPTER 23
THE CAPTIVITY OF TUDAH
(Isaiah)
A great soul is above insult, injustice, grief, and
mockery. — Bruyere.
One of the most remarkable prophets in aU an-
cient Israel was Isaiah, whose book of prophecies
is worthy of a more extensive study than is here
permitted. He is such a striking character that it is
necessary here to give a brief review of Judah's
history prior to the fall of Jerusalem in order that
this wonderful man may be seen from the stand-
point of his own personal history and individuality.
He was first of all called to warn Judah. The
distance between Jerusalem, the capital of Judah,
and Samaria, the capital of the Ten Tribes, is only
about thirty miles. It is remarkable that the Ten
Tribes should have lost their kingdom more than
one hundred years before the fall of Jerusalem ; but
the people of Judah, in their earlier history, were
more exemplary in their worship and conformed
more to the requirements of God.
Th-ere are certain great events upon which Isaiah
dwells: First, he gives in his day a picture of the
city of Jerusalem : he warns the Jews against their
belief that Jehovah was bound to protect His chosen
city of Jerusalem. They might save it and them-
selves, but only upon the condition that they re-
232 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
pented thoroughly of their evil ways. It was an
age of commercial greed, and the Jews oppressed
one another and their poor brethren by extortions
of all kinds, and the rich flaunted their luxury in
the faces of the poor; and their manner of worship
was of the most formal.
They had abandoned themselves to ease, to
riches, and to pleasure; they had re^sorted to the
worship of false gods, because the requirements of
that worship were less exacting of them. They also
imagined that God could be satisfied by the observ-
ance of ceremonials, and the gifts made to Him in
the temple. What He wanted of them was a simple
honesty, true mercy, and justice, — things that were
shamefully disregarded in their daily associations
with one another.
Forgiveness Promised and Sin Denounced. And
the prophet would have the Jews understand that
God's punishment was for their reformation, and
not an act of vengeance : there was yet a chance for
them if they would only repent, but there were
grievous sins at their door. Before the awful judg-
ment, God said to His chosen people :
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the
good of the land."""
AVillingness and obedience have been the stum-
ajsaiah 1:18, 19.
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH 233
bling block in all ages between God and man. Re-
pentance was within the reach of men; the chances,
however, were against them if they would persist
in sin.
"How is the faithful city become an harlot! it
was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it;
but now murderers.
'^Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with
water:
"Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of
thieves : every one loveth gifts, and followeth after
rewards : they judge not the fatherless, neither doth
the cause of the widow come unto them."^
That the city was abandoned to a pleasureable
life, and that its women reflected in the description
Isaiah gives of them the sins of their age we learn
from the following:
"What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces,
and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God
of hosts.
"Moreover the Lord saith. Because the daughters
of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth
necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as
they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
"* * * The Lord will take away the bravery
of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and
their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
"The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
"The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and
the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
Isaiah 1:21-23,
234 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
"The rings, and nose jewels,
"The changeable suits of apparel, and the man-
tles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
"The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods,
and the vails.
"And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet
smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a
rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and in-
stead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and
burning instead of beauty.
"Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty
in the war. '
"And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she
being desolate shall sit upon the ground. ''"^
It is difficult to imagine that in those early days
such extremes of fashion and pride, the allurements
to wickedness, were possible.
Events of the last Days Foretold. Isaiah looked
far into the future.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that
the mountain of the Lord's house shall be establish-
ed in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills ; and all nations shall flow to it.
"And many people shall go and say. Come ye, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of
his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of
. Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. ""^
^Isaiah 3:15-26.
^Isaiah 2:2,3.
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH 235
A clear indication that the prophet foresaw the
gathering in the last days, not simply the gathering
of the house of Israel, neither the gathering of the
house of Judah, but a gathering of all the nations,
such as belongs to this last dispensation, is given in
the following:
"And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it
shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glori-
ous."^
The people who heard these warnings needed
them, but would not heed : they had ears but would
not hear; eyes, but would not see. Against them
the prophet thundered his awful denunciations :
"Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight."^
One of the unfortunate conditions of those un-
happy times is described by the prophet in the^ fol-
lowing:
"As for my people, children are/Aeir oppressors,
and women rule over them. O' my people, they
which lead thee cause thee to eirr, and destroy the
way of thy paths. "^
Isaiah and Ahaz. Isaiah warnet^ Ahaz, king of
Judah, against an alliance with northern Israel or
Syria. Ahaz could not aid his neig:)ibors against
such a powerful foe as Assyria, and an the other
^Isaiah 11:10. I
/"Isaiah 5:21.
^Isaiah 3:12.
236 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
hand he was scarcely prepared to draw upon himself
the combined enmity of the Ten Tribes and their
allies, the people of Syria. His only escape was by
an appeal to the great Assyrian king in order that
he might be separated from those on whom the
Assyrian monarch would wreak vengeance.
In those trying times the king of Judah was dis-
posed to listen to the prophet. The appeal of Ahaz
to Tiglath-pileser put off the evil day, but through
his appeal, he lost the independence of Judah. The
wisdom of Isaiah's counsel to the king was vindi-
cated. The Ten Tribes were taken away into As-
syrian captivity, and Judah was left a vassal to the
great king of Assyria. For a period of something
like ten years after the fall of the Ten Tribes we
have no clue to the mission of Isaiah: all is left to
our imagination. There would be plenty of work
to do. He was no longer concerned about the in-
fluence of the Ten Tribes upon the kingdom of
Judah, but a new danger appeared on the horizon.
We may belicTe from what the prophet says that
Egypt for centuries held a predominant influence
over Palestine. Egypt's civilization the Israelites
had in some measure inherited through traditions,
and the Egyptians were so close that the relations
between the two countries were more or less famil-
iar. It wou/d be quite natural, therefore, that in
such a state of preference for Egypt the people of
Judah wou.d be admitted into an alliance with that
country. The prophet Isaiah foresaw its dangers
and warned the people against them. H^e showed
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH 237
them that their strength lay in Jehovah and not in
alliances.
In those ancient times the prophet humiliated
himself before the Lord:
''And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah
hath v^alked naked and barefoot three years for a
sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia:
''So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyp-
tians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young
and old, naked and barefoot/'^
Isaiah was dealing with politics in ancient Israel.
He warned the people of his country against put-
ting confidence in the horses and chariots of Egypt.
Isaiah and Sennacherib. Sargon had carried
away the Ten Tribes into captivity, and his son Sen-
nacherib was now upon the throne of Assyria.
Hezekiah had come to rule over Judah. New rulers
brought about new fears. All the nations about
Judah were at first plundered and then carried into
captivity; all the country round about was in a
whirlpool of confusion. Hezekiah sought to pur-
chase freedom by an immense tribute, so large that
it impoverished the country, and the peace thus pur-
chased was only of short duration. Sennacherib did
not trust the king of Jerusalem, and in one of his
new invasions he moved his army down to Sidon,
thence south along the coast of the Mediterranean,
until he brought all the people under his domain.
Just before the king's further invasion of Judah,
Isaiah might have been seen walking the streets of
^Lsaiah 20:3,4.
2ZS OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Jerusalem in the garb of a captive of war. He was
reminding the people of the awful judgment about
to fall upon them ; a terrible crisis was at hand. The
people, however, were over-confident. Jerusalem
had already fixed itself upon their imagination so
strongly that they could hardly think of a God that
did not have a Jerusalem in which to dwell.
As the new danger of Sennacherib approached
them, the people renewed the empty ceremonies of
their religion. They rushed to the temple with their
offerings, came into its courts, and did all they could
by their sacrifices to placate Jehovah and relieve
themselves from the threatened danger. The proph-
et reminds them that it is not these sacrifices that
the Lord requires ; He wants them to reform ; to
quit their oppressions of the poor; to live virtuously
and truthfully and honorably with one another and
to their God. Isaiah is not without the word of the
Lord and he delivers it to them :
''Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth : for the
Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled against me.
"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his mas-
ter's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider.
"A sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a
seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters : they
have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the
Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away
backward. * * *
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacri-
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH 239
fices unto me ? said the Lord : I am full of the burnt
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I
delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or
of he goats."*
Hezekiah takes warning from Isaiah, takes the
letter which King Sennacherib sends him, and
brings it to the Lord in the temple and pleads for
divine aid. The army of Sennacherib is smitten but
the inevitable day has been merely postponed.
^^Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Heze-
kiah, saying. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Senna-
cherib king of Assyria :
''This is the word which the Lord hath spoken
concerning him ; The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the
daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at
thee."^'
''Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the
king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city,
nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with
shields, nor cast a bank against it."
A Tribute to Isaiah. There has perhaps been no
higher tribute paid by the world at large to any
prophet than that paid to Isaiah. His book is full
of wisdom, of purity, of beauty and divine warnings.
It is a book filled with applications to all ages and
all people : to those who would live godly lives in
Christ Jesus, it is full of consolation; to those who
*Isaiab 1:1-4, 11.
/Tsa'ah 37:21,22,33.
240 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
believe in the justice of God, it is full of encourage-
ment to do right; to those who would admonish, it
is full of wisdom and courage.
It is read perhaps more than any prophet of the
Bible.
It is so plain in its revelations that it opens the
vision of men to the coming of the Messiah; it is so
far-reaching in time that it portrays the gathering
in the last days. No preacher of righteousness, no
man who would take on courage in his struggle to
live an upright life, can' be without the wisdom and
the spirit of Isaiah. All in all, it is one of the most
remarkable books ever written.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What change did Isaiah find in Jerusalem?
2. What was the condition of the women of Jerusalem?
3. How was war made to punish women?
4. What were the prophecies of Isaiah respecting the last
days ?
5. What are your views of the Book of Isaiah?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Do sins, if forgiven, always leave a sting or a istain?
2. What analogy do you find between the molly-coddled
condition of many of our youth today and the people de-
scribed by Isaiah, *'As for my people, children are their
oppressors and women rule over them."
NOTE
The Hebrew term for righteousness denotes that which is
perfecUy straight. The Greek is that which divides equally
to all, apportions to every one his due, whilst the Latin means
that which is commanded.^ The thought expressed by the
Hebrew root is deeper than that which is conveyed by either
the Latin or the Greek. The Romans vv^ere a military people,
a nation of soldiers, and the idea of righteousness in their
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH 241
minds was inaturally associated with that of obedience to
orders. The Greeks were a people foremost in all that min-
iisters to social enjoyment and civilization, and their idea of
righteousness was that which accorded to each the possession
of his due. The thought of an antecedent and eternal dis-
tinctioiU between right and wrong, as a straight line drawn
from earth to Heaven, apart from the present results of good
and evil, runs through the whole system of Old Testament
morality, and that thought is graphically represented under
the image of that which is perfectly straight. According to
Euclid, a straight line is the shortest which can be drawn
from one point to another, and in the Jewish tongue Right-
eousness is the most direct path towards the Great White
rhrone. So we find that the usual word for sinning — Kha-ta
— means not only that of missing the mark, as generally
taken, but also of swerving from this straight line, and
thereby making so much the longer the sinn,er's journey
towards the goal and aim of his existence. — Saulez.
CHAPTER 24
JEREMIAH
(685-641 B. C.)
Our sins, like to our shadows, when our day was
in its glory, scarce appeared; toward our evening,
how great and monstrous ! — Suckling.
The Call of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the second
of the great trio of prophets that dealt with the fall
of Jerusalem and the captivity of its unhappy peo-
ple in Babylon. Going back briefly over the history
of Judah and its downfall, we learn that Manasseh,
during his long reign, had established very firmly
the idolatrous practices which were sapping the
strength of the nation. He was succeeded by his
son Amon, who reigned only two years, and whose
son Josiah was put upon the throne. Josiah, how-
ever, could not stem the downward course of the
nation.
It was in the midst of these distressing days that
the call of God came to Jeremiah of Anathoth. The
Lord declared that he knew Jeremiah before he was
born. The home of Jeremiah, Anathoth, was no
doubt the village near Jerusalem where groups of
priests lived, and from which they proceeded in
trains to Jerusalem to officiate in the temple.
The Scythians. This prophet saw the invasion of
the Scythians, whom he compared with a boiling
caldron. He likewise raised his voice in warnings
JEREMIAH 243
to Judah. To his mind these people, the most terri-
bly destructive of any in their day, were overrun-
ning the country. But the cause of Judah was not
hopeless:
"If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, re-
turn unto me : and if thou wilt put away thine abom-
inations out of my sight, then shalt thou not re-
move."^
Their deliverance depended upon their reforma-
tion. What the Lord required of them was a spirit
of righteousness and repentance.
The Wickedness of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was
bad, perhaps hopelessly bad:
"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jeru-
salem, and see now, and know, and seek in the
broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be
any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the
truth; and I will pardon it.''^
"To what purpose cometh there to me incense
from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country?
your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your
sacrifices sweet unto me."'^
Jeremiah made himself in and about Jerusalem
by his prophetical utterances a well-known per-
sonage. For some reason he returned to his home
at Anathoth where he found a conspiracy against
his life. He told the people that Jehovah gave him
knowledge of it and showed him their doings, that
'^Jer. 4:1.
^Jer. 5:1.
^Jer. 6:20.
244 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
he himself was like a gentle lamb led to the slaugh-
ter.
Jeremiah Wonders. The prophet saw the pros-
perity of those who were leading the people astray,
who were oppressing their brethren, who were lead-
ing the Jews into idolatry, and living in luxury. He
had uttered the words of the Lord manifested to
him in a revelation. Their fulfillment was not
prompt, and he wondered and asked the Lord ques-
tions which men are asking themselves even today.
''Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with
thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments:
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
wherefore are all they happy that deal very treach-
erously? * * *
"But thou, O Lord, knowest me : thou hast seen
me, and tried mine heart toward thee : pull them
out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them
for the day of slaughter.""^
Why do the wicked prosper? They prosper for a
little season. The judgments of God were not rapid
enough for the prophet; he had grown weary and
faint. He saw no hope of reformation in the people,
and he was ready to witness all the judgments of
Jehovah against them. But God v/as yet merciful!
It is wonderful how the mercies of God outlast the
mercies of man. Even in those days there began
the development of that strange belief which has
lasted and become perhaps stronger even in our
day, — the belief that financial and social prosperity
djer. 12:1,3.
JEREMIAH 245
is a sign of righteousness, and that suffering is the
result of sin.
Jeremiah in the Stocks. The denunciation of
their wickedness by Jeremiah brought upon him the
hatred and violent opposition of the people; he was
put in the stocks. If stocks of ancient times were like
those of modern times, they consisted of a plank
with attachments at each end which received both
the hands and both the feet and kept the prisoner in
a bended position such as creates great pain. This
was all a very trying time for the prophet. In the
anguish of his soul he exclaimed:
*'0 Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was de-
ceived : thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed :
I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
''For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence
and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made
a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
''Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor
speak any more in his name. But his word was in
mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not
stay.""
He was swept by the zeal of the spirit ; he was not
himself; the burning fire within consumed his fear
and emboldened him to speak the words which
God put in his mouth. Between his fears and his
human weakness, and the Spirit of God that was
upon him, he moved to and fro like the pendulum
^Jer. 20:7-9.
246 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
of a clock. He was up and down, first full of fire,
and then full of fear.
''Cursed be the day wherein I was born : let not
the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
''Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my
father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; mak-
ing him very glad/"^
Cursed be the day wherein he struggled in his
labor and sorrows, and felt that his days should be
consumed with shame.
Nebuchadnezzar, Instrument of God's Punish-
ment. The greatest enemy among the nations as-
sociated with ancient Israel up to this time was
King Nebuchadnezzar, who took the people of Jeru-
salem captive into Babylon. He had built the great-
est city of all antiquity up to that time; it was the
business, religious, and political center of the old
world.
Jeremiah was disappointed when he saw the best
blood of Jerusalem, the sons of the kings and
princes and men of wealth of their provinces, car-
ried ofif captive into Babylon. The city itself, how-
ever, was not destroyed, and the king made Zede-
^:iah the ruling monarch. Zedekiah was the oldest
^on of Josiah, and when he was made king he took
Ihe oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. The
prophet did all in his power to keep Zedekiah faith-
ful to his pledge. The people of Jerusalem who were
eft behind did not appeal so strongly to the proph-
et. He sent letters to those in Babylon to admonish
/Jer. 20:14-15.
JEREMIAH 247
them to serve the Lord. Those who were left, how-
ever, he warned against assuming that they were
more virtuous than their brethren who had been
taken into exile.
A new question had now to be solved by the peo-
ple. They had learned to worship God in Jerusalem
and at the temple in the Holy City. Could Jehovah
be worshiped in any place outside of the Promised
Land? They speculated about a lost land and a
lost God. The prophet encouraged the people in
Babylon to be patient, and warned them against
the prediction of false prophets that they should
have a speedy return.
''Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
unto all that are carried away captives, whom I
have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem
anto Babylon ;
''Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant
gardens, and eat the fruit of them ;
"Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters ;
and take wives for your sons, and give your daugh-
ters to husbands, that they may bear sons and
daughters; that ye may be increased there and not
diminished.
"And seek the peace of the city whither I have
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray
unto the Lord for it : for in the peace thereof shall
ye have peace.
"For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel ; Let not your prophets and your diviners,
that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither
248 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be
dreamed.
'Tor they prophesy falsely unto you in my name:
I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
''For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy
years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you,
and perform my good word toward you, in causing
you to return to this place. * * *
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall
search for me with all your heart. "^
The Home Prophets. Jeremiah had not only the
difficult task of guarding the exiles in far-off Baby-
lon against false prophets, but he also had to con-
tend with those who sought to persuade Zedekiah
by telling him that there would be a speedy end of
the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. These prophets were
governed no doubt, in their predictions, by the fact
of the frequent changes that had taken place in the
valley of the Mesopotamia. The events so far had
justified the words of Jeremiah, and made him
feared, if he was not always heeded. He wished to
give the people an object lesson, as the Lord had
directed him to do:
''Thus saith the Lord to me: Make thee bonds
and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
''And send them to the king of Edom, and to the
king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites,
and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon,
by the hand of the messengers which come to Jeru-
salem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
^Jer. 29:4-13.
JEREMIAH 249
''And command them to say unto their masters,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;
Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
"I have made the earth, the man and the beast
that are upon the ground, by my great power and
by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto
whom it seemed meet unto me.
''And now have I given all these lands into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my
servant ; and the beasts of the field have I given him
also to serve him.
"And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and
his son's son, until the very time of his land come:
and then many nations and great kings shall serve
themselves of him.
"And it shall come to pass, that the nation and
kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchad-
nezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put
their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,
that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the
sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence,
until I have consumed them by his hand."^^
Lying Prophets. This was the exaltation of a
heathen king, an idolatrous king, whom God made
the instrumentality of His purpose. The people
were also warned not to heed the words of the lying
prophets in Jerusalem :
"For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you
far from your land : and that I should drive you out,
and ye shouM perish."'
""^^167727:2-8.
»Jer. 27:10.
250 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
As an illustration of what Jeremiah had to meet,
there arose Hananiah of Gibeon, who spoke as fol-
lows :
"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king
of Babylon.
''Within two full years will I bring again into this
place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from
this place, and carried them to Babylon:
''And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the cap-
tives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the
Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon."^'
As the people had lost their spiritual discernment,
it will be easily seen that such a contention would
be to them a source of confusion. They would pre-
fer to believe Hananiah, because his words were in
harmony with their hopes. This false prophet took
from Jeremiah's neck the yoke and broke it; but the
Lord reminded him and the people through the
prophet Jeremiah, that he had merely broken bars
of wood, and that they should receive bars of iron
instead.
"Hear now, Hananiah,'' said Jeremiah the proph-
et; "the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest
this people to trust in a lie.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will
cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year
yjer. 28:2-4.
JEREMIAH 251
thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion
against the Lord.
''So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in
the seventh month."^
Zedekiah Yields to False Prophets. The king of >
Judah yielded to the persuasions of the false proph-
ets and placed his trust in the king of Egypt, against
whom he had been warned. Pharaoh Hophra could
not help him, but brought upon Jerusalem, that was
already well-nigh ruined, another siege by Nebuch-
adnezzar. As we have learned previously, Zedekiah
soon underwent an awful ordeal.
Before this happened, and in his greatest distress,
he turned to Jeremiah, but the prophet had no
words of consolation for him. He could simply say
that the city should be taken and burned, and that
Zedekiah would be carried away as a captive into
Babylon.
In those awful days there were no doubt those
who looked upon Jeremiah as the cause of all their
misfortunes, and he was therefore made a prisoner,
and they would have put him to death. He was cast
into a dungeon, probably an old cistern, as we learn
that the bottom of it contained much mud in
which the prophet had to wallow. From this dun-
geon, however, we learn that the prophet was res-
cued and put under a guard. While on his way to
his home in Anathoth the prophet was seized and
again cast into prison. He was in great danger of
losing his life and feeling ran high against him,
^Jer. 28:15-17.
252 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The Egyptians were useless; they returned to
their country, and left the people of Jerusalem to
their fate. The Babylonians, called in the Bible,
''Chaldeans," burned the king's house, broke down
the walls of Jerusalem, and took the remaining part
of the people of the city into captivity. There were
a few, however, who were allowed to remain. They
were those considered as an unimportant class by
Nebuchadnezzar. They soon fell into a condition
of anarchy, and fearing that they too would be car-
ried into Babylon, made their escape into Egypt.
They went against the solemn ' warnings of the
prophet Jeremiah. Whether he died in Egypt, re-
turned to Palestine, or found his way into Babylon
we are not told. His message to the people was not
received; his warnings were unheeded, and persecu-
tions made his trials at times unbearable.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What does the call of Jeremiah teach us about pre-
existence?
2. How was Jeremiah treated by the people of Jerusalem?
3. How did thoise left in the land compare themselves with
those carried into exile?
4. How were the people misled by false prophets?
5. What was the coindition of the Egyptians in the days
of Jeremiah?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Why do the meditations of life hold most of the secrets
of our happiness?
2. Why do wicked men so often prosper?
JEREMIAH 253
NOTE
Like many of th,e world's greatest children, Jeremiah was
little esteemed in his life, but when dead his spirit breathed
out upon men, and they felt its beauty and greatness. ^ The
oppressed people saw for ages in his sufferings a type of itself,
and drew from his constancy courage to endure and be true.
Imagery from the scenes of his life and echoes of his words
fill many of the Psalms, the authors of which were like him
in his sorrows, and strove to be like him in his faith. From
being of no account as a prophet, he came to be considered
the greatest of them all, and was spoken of as ''the prophet;''
and it was told of him how in after days he appeared in
visions to those contending for the faith like an angel from
heaven strengthening them. — G. Steven.
CHAPTER 25
EZEKIEL
We cannot think too highly of our friends, nor
too humbly of ourselves. — Colton.
The Jews in Captivity. Going back to the first
kingdom that was taken over to Babylon, by Ne-
bunchadnezzar in 597 B. C, we find Jerusalem be-
reft of its leadership, its craftsmen, its nobility, its
writers, its prophets. They were lodged on what is
called the river Sherbar, evidently one of the great
navigable canals that in those days crossed the val-
ley of the Mesopotamia. Here the Jews were lo-
cated in a favorable part of the empire. Their op-
portunities for commercial progress were greater than
they had been in Jerusalem.
But the captivity proved to be a leveling process.
When they reached the Mesopotamia they were
denuded of all their wealth and had to begin life
anew; the distinction between rich and poor and
great and small was, in a large measure, wiped out.
We shall never know in this life how much of men's
so-called successes depends upon the wheel of good
fortune to which they often become accidentally
attached. We know that temporary advantages
roll up often like the snow ball into permanent
gains.
It should be noted here in passing that God, in
the course of His dispensations among the children
EZEKIEL 257
an hard language, whose words thou canst not un-
derstand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they
would have hearkened unto thee." * * h«
*^Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-
abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat
where they sat, and remained there astonished
among them seven days.
"And it came to pass at the end of seven days,
that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
''Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto
the house of Israel : therefore hear the word at my
mouth, and give them warning from me.""^
Individual Sins. From the time that Moses gave
the law of God to the people at Mount Sinai, there
had grown up among them a belief that the sins of
the fathers and the sins of the children were so
mterwoven that the one was made responsible for
the wrong-doings of the other. ''The sins of the
fathers shall be visited upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation," was the declared word
of God in those early days.
Throughout the early history of Israel there are
numerous instances where the judgments of God
fell upon a man and upon all his household; when
men were ^punished in groups, as though their sins
had been collective. How far this idea was carried
by the Israelites we do not know. Undoubtedly,
there was a feeling among them, that they would all
rise or fall together; that what was good enough
for all of them was good enough for each of them.
^Ezekiel 3:4-6, 15-17.
258 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
No doubt, too, men sought to shirk responsibility,
when they said to themselves, I must do as others
do.
Sin of All Ages. Such logic was not the sin of
their age only, but it has been the sin of all ages.
Men have found it convenient to drift with the tide
of human conduct. They are even now too often sat-
isfied when they make themselves believe that
though they be not good, and though they fulfill
not the requirements of Jehovah, they are as good
as others, and that their reward will be the common
reward of all. Out of this condition Ezekiel under-
takes to lift the people :
*'The word of the Lord came unto me again, say-
ing,
'^What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concern-
ing the land of Israel, saying. The fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set
on edge?
"As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have
occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
"Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine : the soul
that sinneth, it shall die.
"But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful
and right,
"And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither
hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, * * *
"And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored
to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by vio
EZEKIEL 259
lence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath
covered the naked with a garment;
''He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither
hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his
hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment
between man and man,
''Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my
judgments, to deal truly; he is just he shall surely
live, saith the Lord God. * * *
"Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the
iniquity of the father? When the son hath done
that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my
statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son
shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son : the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him,
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
him.''^
This was to Israel a new if not a startling an-
nouncement. It was revolutionary for those days.
"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel,
every one according to his ways, saith the Lord
God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."^
In those days there grew up a belief that God
delighted in vengeance ; that vengeance carried
with itjdeath; and that when men died in their wick-
edness or were put to death by their enemies,
^Ezekiel 18:30.
^Ezekiel 18:1-9, 19-20.
260 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
God was delighted. Ezekiel pointed out to the cap-
tives that such was not the principle of God's ways,
that He was a God of mercy, of love, of forbear-
ance; that men brought upon themselves through
their sins those punishments that overtook them in
those days. What God felt it was His duty to do
in the reformation of His children, and what He
took a pleasure in doing were two different things.
"For I have no pleasure in the death of him that
dieth, saith the Lord God : wherefore turn your-
selves, and live ye.""^
False Hopes of the Captives. It was not easy for
the captives to settle down in a spirit of resignation
to the punishment and discipline they were to un-
dergo. They brought the crimes of their enemies
before God, Jehovah must surely avenge the
wrongs that had been put upon them. Their eyes
turned to Jerusalem, and they hoped and believed
that it would not be destroyed. At last the un-
happy news of its' destruction reached them in their
lonely captivity.
In the course of time those who had remained to
see Jerusalem utterly razed to the ground met their
brethren in a distant land whither they had marched
over a long stretch of country covering nearly a
thousand miles. It must really have looked to them
as though they had been deserted by their God, as
though the God of Babylon was in the end triumph-
ant,— for to them God was above all things a God
^Ezekiel 18:32.
EZEKIEL 261
of power. If He could not resist, He did not fulfill
the requirements of His worshipers. Such was the
general view of those who professed religion in
those times.
As long as the city was undestroyed, they had
something to hope for, something to look forward
to — their return. No wonder they wept. Little by
little, however, they were transformed into a new^
life. They were among a strange people, had new
lessons to learn, and above all they had an individ-
ual training which meant an individual responsi-
bility and an individual worship that they had hith-
erto not known. The destruction of their city, how-
ever, was a great blow to their faith.
Judah's Punishment Realized. The people now
came to a fuller realization of the reality of their
punishment. They had opportunity now to reflect
upon the words of those prophets who had admon-
ished them faithfully in the past. They leurned
that Jehovah would not be mocked; that His curses
had overtaken them because of their wickedness.
They had been ready to put His prophets to death ;
now they must learn the lesson of obedience. .Dur-
ing these seventy years of exile, or perhaps more ac-
curately sixty-eight years, they had to unlearn those
things that had made them perverse and stubborn.
In their lamentations they wept, and their great
sorrow softened their hearts and prepared them to
worship Jehovah anew.
Reassurances. The people, however, were not
left without Jehovah's comfort. As years passed
262 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
on, the opportunity of their return appeared less
and less to them; they must have imagined that all
of their ideas about being God's chosen people
would never be realized. Ezekiel now has to re-
mind them that in due time they should feel God's
sustaining power and witness His love in their be-
half.
Ezekiel is sometimes called a man of visions.
One perhaps of the most remarkable is that of the
dry bones:
''The hand of the Lord was upon me, and car-
ried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me
down in the midst of the valley which was full of
bones,
''And caused me to pass by them round about :
and, behold, there were very many in the open val-
ley; and, lo, they were very dry. ^
"And he said unto me, Son of man, can these
bones live? And I answered, O Lord, thou
knowest.
"Again he said unto me. Prophesy upon these
bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the
word of the Lord.
"Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones;. Be-
hold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye
shall live:
"And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring
up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know
that I am the Lord.
"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I
EZEKIEL 263
prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shak-
ing, and the bones came toegther bone to his bone.
"And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh
came up upon them, and the skin covered them
above : but there was no breath in them.
"Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind,
prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind. Thus
saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may
live.
"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the
breath came into them, and tliey lived, and stood
up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones
are the whole house of Israel : behold, they say. Our
bones are dried, and our hope is lost : we are cut
off for our parts.
"Therefore prophesy and say unto them. Thus
saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will
open your graves, and cause you to come up out of
your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
"And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I
have opened your graves, O my people, and brought
you up out of your graves,
"And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live,
and I shall place you in your own land : then shall
ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and per-
formed it, saith the Lord.''^
^Ezekie! 37:1-14.
264 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the condition of Judah in their captivity?
2. What was Ezekiel's message to the people of Jeru-
salem?
3. What were the false hopes of the captives?
4. In what way did the Jews receive, while in Babylon,
a training they needed for their restoration?
5. How did natural environments in Babylon differ from
those at Jerusalem?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is the effect of a belief in a common sin?
2. -What is the warning of the Jews in captivity to those
who magnify the sins of others, yet see not their own evil
ways?
NOTE . .
Of much greater importance, however, is the state of mind
which prevailed among those exiles. And here the remark-
able thing is their intense preoccupation with matters na-
tional and Israelitic. A lively intercourse with the mother
country was kept up, and the exiles were perfectly informed
of all that was going on in Jerusalem. There were, no doubt,
personal and selfish reasons for their keen interest in the
doings of their countrymen at home. The antipathy which
existed between the two branches of the Jewish people was
extreme. The exiles had left their children behind them to
suffer under the reproach of their fathers' misfortuneis. They
appear also to have been compelled to sell their estates hur-
riedly on the eve of their departure, and such transactions,
necessarily turning to the advantage of the purchasers, left
a deep grudge in the breasts of the sellens. Those who re-
mained in the land exulted in the calamity which had brought
so much profit to themselves, and thought themselves per-
fectly secure in so doing, because they regarded their brethren
as men driven out for their sins from Jehovah's heritage.
The exiles on their part affected the utmost contempt for the
pretensions of the upstart plebians who were carrying things
with a high hand in Jerusalem. Like the French emigres in
the time of the Revolution, they no doubt felt that their
country was being ruined for want of proper guidance and
experienced statesmanship. Nor was it altogether patrician
prejudice that gave them this feeling of their own superiority.
EZEKIEL 265
Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel regarded the exiles as the better
part of the nation, and the inucleus of the Messianic com-
munity of the future. For the moment, indeed, there does
not seem to have been much to choose, in point of religious
belief and practice, between the two sections of the people.
In both places the majority were steeped in idolatrous and
superstitious notions; some appear even to have entertained
the purpose of assimilating themselves to the heathen around,
and only a ismall minority w,ere steadfast in their allegiance
to the national religion. Yet the exiles could not, anj' more
than the remnant in Judah, abandon the hope that Jehovah
would save His sanctuary from desecration. The Temple wa«
the excellency of their strength, the delight of their eyes,
and that which their soul desired. False prophets appeared
in Babylon to prophesy smooth things, and assure the exiles
of a ispeedy restoration to their place as the people of God.
It was not till Jerusalem was laid in ruins, and the Jewish
state had disappeared from the earth, that the Israelites were
in a mood to understand the meaning of God's judgment,
or to learn the lessons which the prophecy of nearly two
centuries had vainly striven to inculcate. — Hastings.
CHAPTER 26
ISAIAH IN BABYLON
(Iisaiah)
The mighty hopes that make us men. — Tenny-
son.
It is chiefly through the prophets that our infor-
mation about the life and conditions of the Jews in
Babylon is derived. Nebuchadnezzar was a con-
spicuous figure not only in the ancient history of
Babylon, but also in his relation to God's people.
He was evidently a military genius, and a man for
his time of considerable liberality and kind disposi-
tion.
Ancient Nations. The student of this period of
secular history may become somewhat confused
from the Bible use of certain names such as Chal-
deans, Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. It
should be stated that the earliest great monarchy in
the lower Mesopotamian valley was the Chaldean.
The Chaldeans were overthrown by the Assyrians,
who built up the country farther to the north, more
in the central part of Mesopotamia, and established
the great city of Nineveh, to whose inhabitants
Jonah brought his warning.
The Assyrian kingdom was overthrown by the
Babylonians, whose capital was the city of Babylon,
which became the most magnificent city perhaps of
antiquity up to that time. Finally, the Babylonians
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 267
were overthrown by the Medes and Persians under
Cyrus. Sometimes the Bible refers to the people
of Mesopotamia, and their rulers as the Chaldeans,
when as a matter of fact the Chaldeans had been
overthrown by the Babylonians, and even in the
time of the Persians the people of Mesopotamia are
referred to as Babylonians. This, however, is not
a matter of serious consequence, except that it is
likely to confuse the student unless this order of
ancient kingdoms is kept in mind.
Kings of Babylon. Upon the death of Nebu-
chadnezzar he bequeathed his immense empire to
his son Evil-merodach. This new king was a man of
weak character and ruled only a couple of years,
but during his reign he gave to the Jewish king
Jehoiachin his liberty. The changes in the mon-
archs of Babylon naturally created some hope or
expectation in the minds of the Jews that they
would be relieved *of their exile, — perhaps some
nev/ freedom would come to them, and then on the
other hand there was the constant fear that a more
severe oppression would befall them, so that be-
tween their hopes and their fears they did not have
much courage, much disposition to work, to plant
and to reap, as their prophet had commanded them
to do.
Evil-merodach, after two years' reign, was as-
sassinated by his brother-in-law, Gilgal-sharezar,
who seized the throne of Babylon in the year 558
B. C. This new king adopted more the policy of
Nebuchadnezzar, and spent much of his time build-
268 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
ing grand palaces and temples ; and as he was an
assassin himself, took great precautions that he
should be protected from his enemies. He died,
however, and left the throne to his son, Labashi-
Murduk, who was a young boy, and whom the
nobles murdered after a reign of nine months.
Those who overthrew the regime of this boy put
on the throne Naboriidus in the year 554 B. C. His
interests were chiefly religious, and he spent much
time building temples, renovating old ones, making
collections of the different kinds of gods round
about, and neglected it is said the commercial and
political interests of the empire.
It was this Nabonidus who left the government
o( the city of Babylon chiefly to his son Bel-
Sharuzur; and it was he who joined the Egyptians
in an alliance against Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus,
as we shall see later on, became the liberator of the
Jews. This brings us down to the middle of the
sixth century B. C, the period of Cyrus and the
return of the Jews to Palestine.
Another Isaiah. During all this period of cap-
tivity, in round numbers seventy years, the Jews
were undergoing a very severe training, an ex-
perience in bondage. It was during that period
that an Isaiah flourished, who is believed in niodern
times to be a separate Isaiah from one who prophe-
sied in Babylon. In other words, modern writers
look upon chapters 40 to 66 of Isaiah as the work
of an entirely different author. If the Isaiah of
Babylon was the Isaiah of Palestine, he must have
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 269
been an extremely old man, for the Isaiah of Baby-
lon began his prophecies at Jerusalem at the time of
King Uzziah. That would be about the time of
Uzziah's death, about 740 B. C. Now the death of
Nebuchadnezzar was about 560. B. C. Isaiah would
be at that time already a hundred years old. Still,
he may have prophesied much before the death of
Nebuchadnezzar.
Chamberlain says, in commenting on the proph-
ets of that early period : "We will call him Isaiah of
Babylon, because in the confusion of passing years,
his wonderful utterances were bound up with those
of Isaiah of Jerusalem, whose work preceded his by
more than half a century. He is really unknown,
not only in his name, but also in the facts of his life,
save only that he was among the captive Hebrews
in Babylonia. His words portray not himself, but
the glory of Jehovah, and the great manifestation of
his power and favor which was about to appear/'
There has been of late years much speculation
about the authorship of the different parts of Isaiah.
Those who are interested in a technical study of the
Bible may wish to pursue these discussions which
are given in all modern dictionaries of the Bible and
in Old Testament literature. Here, however, we
are interested more with the book itself.
The book of Isaiah is a great book. Its literature
in some passages is the most subHme of Holy Writ.
Its conceptions of God are in places almost without
parallel; and all in all it has had a most wonderful
influence upon Jewish life. Isaiah is quoted by the
270 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Jewish people more than any other prophet. His
influence upon the Hfe of the Jews is very remark-
able, so much so that one can hardly appreciate
modern Jewish life and many of its striking peculi-
arities without an intimate knowledge of Isaiah.
Isaiah possessed in his day the spirit of gathc-
ing; first, the spirit of gathering of the Jews, their
return from Babylon, and also 'their return to
Jerusalem, from their great dispersion, in the last
days. While the spirit of gathering was upon him,
he prophesied things dowai to the last days, things
that are dear to the hearts of Latter-day Saints, who
find in his words assurances that in the visions of
his mind he saw our own day. Volumes are writ-
ten on Isaiah, so wonderful is his book. I can
give here only the most striking passages.
Jews in Captivity. The Jewish people who sat by
the river and wept were no doubt a solemn people
whose heavy hearts made it quite impossible for
them to enter into the new life of a foreign country
with any feeling of joyful expectation. It is true
many of them became favorites, through the in-
fluence of God, at the courts, as we shall see in re-
viewing the history of this period under other
prophets. There were business men among the
Jews. The commercial qualities of Jewish life have
characterized that people down to the present time.
To build homes and make farms, raise stock and
engage in permanent pursuits was not in harmony
with their yearning to return to the Land of Prom-
ise. Palestine was not so inviting a country as the
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 271
Mesopotamia, but the commerce of Babylon held
out great attractions; the opportunities for specu-
lation were abounding on every hand; and the Jews
naturally would take to that which was closest at
hand and of a temporary character. Business life
met their immediate wants.
They had evidently been very greatly humiliated,
for God sends His prophet to comfort them. The
prophet tells them that his mission is one of com-
fort to the people, whose suffering had more than
compensated for past sins. They must be aroused
from their state of lethargy; new hopes must be
awakened v/ithin them. The older generation was
passing away, and the new generation must not be
allowed to forget that after all they were strangers
in a strange land, that Babylon was not their home,
that they must not be allowed to form attachments
for their adopted country, neither must they be per-
mitted to receive its abominations.
Isaiah Comforts the Jews. Isaiah bursts forth in
the memorable words :
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your
God.
''Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto
her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her in-
iquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins.
''The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in
the desert a highway for our God.
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every moun-
272 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
tain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
''And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and
all shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it.
'*The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I
cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness there-
of is as the flower of the field :
''The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because
the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it : surely
the people is grass.
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the
word of our God shall stand for ever.
"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up
into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring-
est good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift
it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God! (Note.)
"Behold, the Lord God will come with strong
hand, and his arm shall rule for him : behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him.
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall
gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in
his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young.
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of
his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills
in a balance?"''
^^Isaiah 40:1-12.
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 273
In those lonely days and silence of God's revela-
tions the people may well have thought themselves
overlooked by Jehovah. They must have felt that
their belief that they were God's chosen people was
without any sound foundation. Their faith had
been severely tested, and why should they not turn
to the nations about them for comfort, for fellow-
ship, for a place in the life of the world occupied
by other nations?
The Jews were not easily absorbed by others,
even had they been disposed to forget Jehovah
and wander away from Him. He had already filled
the hearts and conceptions of the nations among
whom they had sojourned, as He has done in the
wanderings of Jews during the many centuries
that have intervened since the destruction of Jeru-
salem soon after Christ, with the idea that the Jews
were an undesirable people in their midst. Through
Isaiah God sent them new assurances and com-
forted their doubting hearts : (Note.)
"Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O
Isaiah, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judg-
ment is passed over from my God?
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that
the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the
ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is w^eary?
there is no searching of his understanding.
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that
have no might he increaseth strength.
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and
the young men shall utterly fall :
18
274 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
^'But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and they
shall walk, and not faint. "^
What a wonderful chapter of history, always
fresh and exalting in its beauty and inspiration!
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Name the ancient nations of Mesopotamia in their
chronological order.
2. What has given rise to the belief that there were tvvo
distinct Isaiahs?
3. What special training did the Jews rceive in Babylo.n?
4. What comfort did Isaiah bring to the Jewis in bondage?
5. What was the attitude of the Jews toward the sur-
rounding nations?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is meant by the words ''waiting upon the Lord?"
2. What at this time helped to make the Jews a '.leculiar
people?"
NOTES
1. Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control
That o'er thee swell and throng:
Thy will condense within thy soul
And turn to purpose strong.
But he who lets his feelings run
In soft, luxurious flow,
Faints when hard service must be done,
And ishrinks at every blow. — Newman.
2. To trust God for protection is to wait under discourage-
ments and disappointments for a desired issue of the affairs
we commit to Him. ''He that believeth will not make haste."
This the Lord pleads for. Men will have their desires pre-
cisely accomplished this year, this month, this week, or they
will wait no longer. These, says God, are proud men; their
^Isaiah 40:27-31.
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 275
hearts are lifted up in them; they trust not to me lor pro-
tection. Men love to trust God (as they profess) for what
they hav-e in their hands, in possession, or what lies in an
easy view; place their desires afar off, carry their accomplish-
ment behind the clouds out of their sight, interpose dilTicuItios
and perplexities — their hearts are instantly sick. They can-
not wait for God; they do not trust Him, nor ever did.
Would you have the presence of God with you? Learn to
wait quietly for the salvation you expect from Him. Then,
indeed, is He glorified, when He is trusted as in a storm. —
Jobn Owen.
CHAPTER 27
ISAIAH OF BABYLON (Continued)
(Isaiah)
Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy. — Pol-
lok.
In this prophet's day, a new star to Israel was
rising: the Persians were overrunning the country
north and south of Babylon. Cyrus had ascended
the throne of Persia about 551 B. C. He soon be-
gan a conquest along the coast of Asia Minor. Rich
King Croesus controlled the whole of that country.
Ancient Greeks. Cyrus was likewise brought
into contact in the western part of Asia Minor with
Greek cblonies. These Greeks were no doubt even
this early in history more or less diffused through-
out Babylon. They were a people of ready wit, of
versatile talents, just such a class as the marauding
kings of those days would want within their do-
main.
Besides, the Greeks were naturally ubiquitous,
they were everywhere. They were a commercial
people, an intellectual people, an artistic people,
what we now call the most highly cultured people
of antiquity because of their varied gifts and mental
powers. It is much later than this, however, that
they are brought into contact with the Jews. The
rise of Cyrus of course was watched by the Jews, as
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 277
his traits of character were no doubt known to
them. They felt that he certainly would not stop
short of the conquest of Babylon. Indeed, Babylon
would only be in his way if it were not taken by
him.
Cyrus a Deliverer. Cyrus had been mentioned in
the prophecies and the language of the ancient
prophets. Jehovah had promised that he would
raise up Cyrus as a deliverer of His people. Their
old hope had suddenly been kindled anew; they had
much to speculate about, and it is easy to imagine
that they discussed the purposes of God and what
God must shortly do for them. One of the greatest
consolations of the human heart is the feeling that
there is some kinship between the individual hopes
and aspirations and the purposes of God. The
prophet now challenges the gods of Babylon. He
even taunts them :
''That they may see, and know, and consider, and
understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath
done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath cre-
ated it.
''Produce your cause, saith the Lord ; bring forth
your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
"Let them bring forth, and shew us what shall
happen : let them shew the former things, what they
be, that we may consider them, and know the latter
end of them ; or declare us things for to come. * *
"Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of
nought : an abomination is he that chooseth you.
"I have raised up one from the north, and he shall
278 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
come : from the rising of the sun shall he call upon
my name : and he shall come upon princes as upon
mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. * * *
''Behold, they are all vanity; their works are
nothing: their molten images are wind and con-
fusion."^
''Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the
robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we
have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways,
neither were they obedient unto his law.
"Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of
his anger, and the strength of battle : and it hath set
him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it
burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. "^
Jehovah comforts his people; he reminds them of
their place in life :
"Remember these, O Jacob and Israel ; for thou
art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my
servant : O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy trans-
gressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins : return unto me;
for I have redeemed thee.
"Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it:
shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into
singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree
therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and
glorified himself in Israel.""^
That they may find in the new monarch, Cyrus,
^Isa^'ah 51:20-29.
^Isaiah 42:24,25.
^Tsaiah 44:21-23. , , , :
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 279
reason for hope, He says : "He is my shepherd, and
shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jeru-
salem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple. Thy
foundation shall be laid."^
Cyrus a Wise Monarch. The coming of Cyrus
was to all the nations subject to Babylon a source
of great relief. He was a wise monarch; it is said
that he worshiped all the gods. At any rate he re-
spected the gods of the various peoples that he
brought under his dominion. It would not be sur-
prising that with the coming of such a man many
Jews would find an excuse to remain where they
were. With him came new feelings of safety, new
commercial intercourse, and many opportunities of
freedom in trading. But Israel must go :
'*Go ye forth to Babylon, fliee ye from the Chal-
deans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this,
utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The
Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. "^
It was a new day for Jehovah's people. This great
warm-hearted prophet exclaimed in the divine love
which moved him to words and actions :
"Can a woman forget her child, that she should
not have compassion on her son? yea, they may
forget, yet will I not forget thee."^
Here the prophet reminds Israel that if they
would know their mission in life they must look to
their ancestors, to those from whom they sprang as
^Isaiah 44:28.
^Isaiah 48:20.
/Isaiah 49:15.
280 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
an index to God's purposes. How true the general
principle is that men fashioned in life for some
definite purpose, become in time the index to their
children's conduct. We all owe something to our
birth. ' We are indebted to those whose calling
should in some measure be an index to our course
in life, a goad to action. We may therefore con-
clude that we have a double duty in life, first to keep
ourselves individually in harmony with God's pur-
poses; and second, to keep ourse>ves in harmony
with the mission of those to whom we owe our ex-
istence.
^'Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteous-
ness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock
whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit
whence ye are digged.
^'Look unto Abraham your father, and unto
Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and
blessed him, and increased him.
'Tor the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort
all her waste places ; and he will make her wilder-
ness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the
Lord : joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."^
Isaiah Arouses the People. To arouse the people
was certainly a great work. It required the inspira-
tion of a great man, a man sufficiently strong and
great to carry so abundantly the Spirit of God in
his heart.
"Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion ; put
^Isaiah 51:1-3.
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 281
on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
city: for henceforth there shall no more come into
thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
''Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down,
O Jerusalem : loose thyself from the bands of thy
neck, O captive daughter of Zion. * * *
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that pub-
lisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth I * h^ *
"Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,
touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of
her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
"For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by
flight : for the Lord will go before you; and the God
of Israel will be your rearward."'^
Now comes some of that beautiful philosophy
that we get from experience rather than from rea-
soning. The Jews, during those unhappy days no
doubt found themselves tempted to ask, if God was
all-powerful, why He permitted His people to be so
cruelly oppressed. They had suffered, and their
suffering was known to the prophet, because he was
among them. It was known to him because God
opened to the vision of his mind the secret question-
ings of their heart. But why must they suffer?
Why is suffering necessary?
To bring light into the soul of man and make him
feel and sense the touch of God's favor. All do not
Isaiah 52:1,2,7,11,12.
282 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
suffer: it is not given to all to know the glory of
God nor reflect to the world that spiritual knowl-
edge that comes so abundantly from a people in the
depth of their sufferings. The whole history of the
people of Israel was in some measure typical of the
Son of God.
Sublime Chapter. Now follows what must be to
the minds of many perhaps the sublimest chapter in
all Isaiah, if not in all the Old Testament. Israel is
represented as a man of sorrow. They had come up
even as Christ came up. They were not sought and
greeted of the world, — neither was the chosen Mes-
siah.
''Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?
''For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath
no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as
it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and
we esteemed him not.
"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of
our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we
are healed.
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 283
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
''He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
''He was taken from prison and from judgment :
and who shall declare his generation? for he was
cut off out of the land of the living; for the trans-
gression of my people was he stricken.
"And he made his grave with the wicked, and
with the rich in his death; because he had done nO
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath
put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall pro-
long his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand.
"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall
be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniqui-
ties.
"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and
he was numbered with the transgressors; and he
bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors."*
This was the Messiah. Isaiah was- the great
prophet of His coming. Isaiah's words are not only
^'Isaiah 53:1-12.
284 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
filled with love and inspiration unbounded, but they
teach us some of the most beautiful lessons of wis-
dom.
''Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un-
righteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto
the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
''For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts."^
Conception of God. Israel, in the childhood of
the nation, had come into the conception of God
very much as a child comes into the conception of a
parent. In the early history of that people Jehovah
was their Redeemer, their protector. With them
His glory was in His power and His preservation.
If these were not manifest, they did not behold His
glory, and fell away into idolatry. The prophets of
this later period brought into their minds a higher
conception of God's great love. If they had learned
the severity of His punishments, they began now
to feel the joy of His mercies; the one was as great
and exalted as the other was painful.
It is hard to take one's departure from Isaiah.
His comforting words, his assurances of divine love,
have brought unbounded comfort to the human
heart. Few books in all the world are read by
those who would enjoy divine favor like the book
/Isaiah 55:7-9.
ISAIAH IN BABYLON 285
of Isaiah. How the Jews love that book! How
familiar its words are to them ! What comfort it
brings to their lives ! Those in sorrow seek perhaps
before all others this great prophet of the Old Tes-
tament. His words are among the very best revela-
tions of God to man. They have opened the human
heart, and made its conditions manifest as no other
book has ever done. Go into the home in foreign
lands, of those who have great sorrows to bear.
You will often find on the shelf the sacred Bible, and
its leaves part at the memorable words contained
in these chapters.
The young may not care for Isaiah. It is not a
book of mirth. But men seek him in their sorrows,
for Isaiah is the friend of the distressed, of the sor-
rowful. How many hearts have felt the healing
balm of his wonderful inspiration we shall never
know, but we may safely believe that they number
millions.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Who were the Persians?
2. Who were the Greeks?
3. When did Cyrus ascend the Persian throne?
4. How did Isaiah comfort the people?
5. How was Christ's coming foretold by Isaiah?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What relation does comfort bear to sorrow?
2. What educational value has suffering?
NOTE
After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B. C. the Jews
were to be found in three great centers — Egypt, Babylonia,
286 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
and Palestine. Egypt, because of its friendly attitude toward
the Jews and its nearness to southern Palestine, was the
refuge to which most of the Jewish fugitives fled. Inasmuch
as the approach of the Chaldean armies was from the north,
the main highway running south from Hebron through the
solitary des.ert was the most natural line of escape. The
result was that a very large proportion of the Jewish race
were to be found from this time on in the land of the Nile.
Even before the final destruction of Jerusalem, both Jere-
miah and Ezekiel addressed the Jewish refugees in Egypt.
—Kent.
CHAPTER 28
DANIEL
When a man's ways please the Lord He maketh
even his enemies to be at peace with him.
The Jews in exile must have had many gifted sons
whose superior intelligence and wisdom brought
them into the favor of the Babylonian monarchs.
Their humiliation in exile had the sting taken from
it by the honors and employments that came to the
children of God in those trying hours of their lives.
The Jews, like many an individual, and like many
another nation, did not realize the value of their
blessings until they had been lost. They learned to
love Jerusalem and to love God in a foreign land as
they had not learned to love them in their home of
divine promise and in the bounteous blessings of
Jehovah. What a wonderful teacher sorrow is !
Why does sorrow teach us? How does it teach us?
Could we learn the same lesson without it?
Among those taken away into captivity was a
certain Daniel, said to have been carried away from
Jerusalem in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel
was one of four princely children whose stately ap-
pearance and bearing the king of Babylon would
improve by a certain kind of prescribed diet. These
children of Judah Avere Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
288 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
and Azariah. Their names, however, were changed
so as to give them a Babylonish covering and take
away the offensive Jewish accent. They were there-
fore given other names in the land of their con-
querors : Belteshazzar to Daniel ; Shadrach to Han-
aniah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Aza-
riah. As the king's diet consisted largely of wine
and meat, Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself by it, and pleaded with the
eunuch with whom he found favor that he might
keep the simple diet to which he had no doubt been
accustomed, the diet of his Jewish life. At the end
of a period of ten days a test was made of Daniel
and the princes. So improved was their appearance
that they were permitted to live in the enjoyment
of their own simple diet. The Bible says that they
were ^^ten times better than all the magicians and
astrologers that were in all his realm'' in wisdom
and understanding.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. Daniel was brought
very prominently before Nebuchadnezzar in conse-
quence of a remarkable dream of the king which
he could not remember, and which his astrologers
therefore could not interpret. The dream evidently
worried the king, who very unreasonably insisted
that though he could not call it to mind his wise
men should do so for him. In his angry frame of
mind the king sent forth a decree that his wise men
should be put to death, and Daniel was sought
among them. In a vision of the night the secret of
the king's dream was revealed to the prophet, a
DANIEL 289
most remarkable dream indeed, as it was made
known to the king.
'Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image.
This great image, whose brightness was excellent,
stood before thee; and the form thereof was ter-
rible.
'This image's head was of fine gold, his breast
and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of
brass.
"His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part
of clay.
'Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out with-
out hands, which smote the image upon his feet that
were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
'Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver,
and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became
like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors ; and
the wind carried them away, that no place w^s
found for them : and the stone that smote the image
became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth."^
Dream Interpreted. The interpretation of the
dream is given at some length ; a verse or two here
must suffice.
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de-
stroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms,' and it shall stand for ever.
"Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was
^Daniel 2:31-35.
19
290 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the sil-
ver, and the gold; the great God hath made known
to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and
the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof
sure."^
The little stone cut out of the mouatain without
hands was the rise of the chosen people, the Latter-
day Saints.
Daniel naturally gained favor in the sight of the
king, and became a great man. He was made a
ruler over the whole province of Babylon. Nor did
Daniel forget his faithful friends, the three Hebrew
children; who were likewise elevated to office. It
may be said here in passing that Nebuchadnezzar
was indeed a most remarkable man. Language was
put into his mouth, and utterances were delivered
by him that are so in harmony with Hebrew proph-
ecy that he stands at times almost like one of the
favored Israelites of old.
Fiery Furnace. This exaltation of the king was
more than he could endure,, and his pride grew upon
him, so that he made a great image of gold about
ninety feet high and nine feet broad (Note). It was
an image which all were commanded to worship.
When the cry of the herald and the announcement
of the music warned the men to bow before this
image, the three Hebrew children refused to do so,
and as a punishment they were cast into a fiery fur-
^Daniel 2:44,45.
DANIEL 291
nace, but they were unburned. The king said to
one of his counselors :
''Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst
of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of
the fourth is like the Son of God."^
The persons of this miracle were promoted to
high places of honor.
Another Dream. Again Nebuchadnezzar dream-
ed, and he saw in the vision of his mind "a tree in
the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was
great.
''The tree grew, and was strong, and the height
thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof
to the end of all the earth.
''The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit
thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts
of the fields had shadow under it, and the fowls of
the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh
was fed of it."^
xA^gain Daniel was called to interpret this remark-
able dream.
"This is the interpretation, O king, and this is
the decree of the Most High, which is come upon
my lord the king:
"That they shall drive thee from men, and thy
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and
they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they
shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven
times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the
^Daniel 3:25.
^Daniel 4:10-12.
292 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giv-
eth it to whomsoever he will."^
The interpretation by the prophet concluded with
these beautiful words of counsel :
"Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable
unto thee, and break ofif thy sins by righteousness,
and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor:
if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility/'^
So the king lost his reason and the glory of his
kingdom departed from him until the time of God's
judgment was fulfilled. We are not told in the book
of Daniel about the passing of Nebuchadnezzar.
Writing on the Wall. We are introduced to Bel-
shazzar, the new king, who evidently profited noth-
ing by what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar; he
disregarded the ordinances and the worship of Jeho-
vah by taking the sacred vessels which had been
carried away from the temple in Jerusalem and
using them in his revelry at night for drinking wine
out of them. There appeared upon the wall of the
palace a writing, "and the king saw the part of the
hand that wrote."
This brought to the riotous king consternation,
his countenance was changed, and his lords were
astonished. The queen now reminded him that
there was a man in the kingdom who could interpret
these words. Here Daniel points to the misfortune
that had overtaken Nebuchadnezzar who had to
learn "that the Most High God ruled in the king-
^Daniel 4:24,25.
/Daniel 4:27.
DANIEL 293
dom of men, and that he appointeth over it whom-
soever he will/ * * *
"And this is the writing that was written, Mene,
mene, tekel, upharsin.
"This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene;
God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
"Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and
art found wanting.
"Peres ; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the
Medes and Persians. * >h *
"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the
Chaldeans slain."^
Daniel in the Lion's Den. Daniel was exalted to
high office under the new king. It was not only a
new king, but a new nation, with its peculiar laws
and government. It was the kingdom of the Medes
and Persians, whose laws were unalterable, as they
were often very severe. Daniel's promotion soon
brought upon him the jealousy and hatred of a class
of princes who sought to find favor with the new
king by creating in his mind enmity toward Daniel,
and a decree was set forth that any man that should
"ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days,
save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of
lions."*
Daniel knew of this decree, but as usual went to
his house, and before the open windows prayed with
his face turned toward Jerusalem, three times a day,
^Daniel 5:21.
'^Daniel 5:25-28,30. -
'Daniel (>\7 ,
294 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
as was his custom. It was the law of the Medes and
Persians, and whatever regret the king might have,
they called his attention to the fact that a decree
was tmchangeable. The king comforted Daniel by
the expressed belief that the God whom he wor-
shiped would save him. And after Daniel was
thrown into the den of lions, "the king arose very
early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den
of lions.
''And when he came to the den, he cried with a
lamentable voice unto Daniel : and the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living
God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually,
able to deliver thee from the lions ?"^
To see Daniel alive, the king was "exceeding glad
for him, and commanded that they should take
Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up
out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found
upon him, because he believed in his God."^
Chapters seven to twelve give the visions of
Daniel, about which volumes have been written in
speculation. The book of Daniel is sometimes
spoken of as an Apocalypse of the Old Testament,
sometimes as one of the Major Prophets, sometimes
one of the Minor Prophets.
Effect of Daniers Writings. The book of Daniel
starts with the history of the prophet in the Baby-
lonian exile and covers a period down to 165 B. C.
The religious writings of this prophet have had a
/Daniel 6:20.
^Daniel 6:23.
DANIEL 295
wonderful effect, not only upon the Jews in Daniel's
time, but upon religious feeling throughout subse-
quent centuries. His loyalty to his religion and to
Jehovah has been seized upon by people under
similar trials to those of the Jews as an object lesson
and guide for their own conduct.
The temple at Jerusalem had been destroyed in
the year 586 B. C, which event was a source of
great disappointment to the Jews, who had believed
that God would never permit its destruction. They
felt that He was bound to protect it, and that His
promise and the worship of Him were so bound up
in the existence of the temple that it must stand
forever whatever the people themselves did. Even
that was not the most trying condition of Jewish
life in those days; efforts were made to exterminate
the Jewish religion itself. There were sufferings in
those days which beggar description, and the ex-
amples of Daniel in the lion's den and the three
Hebrews in the fiery fm^nace gave heart to people
throughout all those terrible days.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Who were the favored Hebrew children mentioned in
Daniel?
2. What was the dream of the image which Daniel in-
terpreted?
3. How do Latter-day Saints interpret the "little sto-ne''?
4. Why were the Hebrew children thrown into the fiery
furnace?
5. Give an account of how Daniel came to be placed in
the lions* den,
296 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. )Why is it never isafe to conclude that because God
intervened in one case for a certain man He would likewise
intervene in another case for another man in a similar man-
ner?
2. Give your owiU interpretation of Daniel's interpretation
of the image.
NOTES
1. Pride seeks to lower others, because it seeks to raise
self. The wish to exalt self leads to the wish to see one's
neighbor humbled. The presence of pride discloses itself in
subtle and unexpected ways. Why do we take pleasure in
our neighbor's misfortunes? Is it not the strange isensation
of satisfaction with which w.e feel the pulse of our unsubdued
pride? This uncanny but pleasing thrill is the wicked
chuckle of our pride. On this platform stands La Roche-
foucauld's cynical saying: ''We have all enough patience to
bear our neighbour'is misfortunes." "Pride," as Thomas
Aquinas writes, ''is said to be the love of our own excellence,
in so far that out of love arises an overweening presumption
of our right to overtop others, which fitly belongs to pride."
— Boyd Carpenter.
2. "The Lord is a God of knowledge," says a solemn
Scripture, "and by him actiona are weighed." That is to
say, you will be weighed in those scales of God by means
of which He gets at the very heart's blood of all your actions.
Till He has got at the very heart's blood, till He has got at
the thoughts and intents of an action, at its most secret
motive. He is not yet a God of knowledge. But after that He
is. You deceive us, you, and your actions both pass with us
for what at your heart you are not. But Goa is' not mocked.
He knows your exact weight and worth; and the exact
weight and worth of all your words and all your deeds. He
knows down to the bottom why you did this; and down to
the bottom why you did not do that. He has known it all the
time, only He has numbered your kingdom, and He lets you
go on, deceiving and being deceived, till the Persian is at
your gate. — A. Whyte.
CHAPTER 29
EZRA
It is human nature to hate those whom we have
injured. — Tacitus.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which contain
an account of the return of the Jews from their
exile in Babylon (Note 1), were in early times re-
garded as one book divided into two parts. There
can hardly be any doubt that Nehemiah, who writes
the story of his mission to Judah, is the author of
the book which now bears his name. Modern criti-
cism has been very searching, but to most people
who are not scholars in the Hebrew language, it is
not very satisfactory. The criticism is often based
upon the style and peculiarities of an ancient lan-
guage which the great masses of the people do not
understand. When translated, the Bible does not
present to the ordinary reader all the differences in
details of style that are claimed for the original by
Bible scholars of the day.
The story of Ezra is devoid of stirring incidents,
and may, for convenience, be divided into two
parts: first, chapters one to six; and second, chap-
ters seven to ten.
It would be quite natural in both Ezra and Ne-
hemiah that some mixture of language took place,
298 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The Hebrews, who had hVed nearly seventy years
among the Chaldeans, must naturally have learned
to speak the Chaldean language, and there would
quite likely be a mixture of words between the He-
brew and the Chaldean. The Jews, however, held
tenaciously to their mother tongue which they have
always loved throughout the whole history of their
race with a peculiar fondness, even though cir-
cumstances may have deprived them of the privi-
lege of using it.
Hope Fulfilled. "Now in the first year of Cyrus
king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the
mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom,
and put it also in writing, saying,
"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God
of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the
earth; and he hath charged me to build him a house
at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
"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 house of the Lord
God of Israel (he is the God), which is in Jerusa-
lem.
"And whosoever remaineth in any place where
he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him
with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with
beasts, besides the freewill offering for the house of
God that is in Jerusalem.
"Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah
EZRA 299
and Benjamin and the priests, and the Levites, with
all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to
build the house of theLord which is in Jerusalem/'"
Here it will be noticed that with Judah was the
tribe of Benjamin. It would be natural that also
in the tribe of Judah some of the tribe of Simeon
that was located just south of Judah, should be
found. In first Chronicles, chapter 9, verse 3, we
are informed that in Jerusalem dwelt all the chil-
dren of Judah, and all the children of Benjamin,
and all the children of Ephraim and Manasseh.
This statement supports that contained in the
Book of Mormon which reveals to us the fact that
the Nephites, who sprang from the little band of
men and women that left Jerusalem at the time of
its fall, were descendants of Ephraim and Ma-
nasseh. They were not a part of the Jewish race,
for Jerusalem at that time was supposed to contain
only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It is not
unlikely, however, that these two tribes constituted
the great bulk of the people. It is quite believable
that Cyrus was brought into contact with Daniel,
and that Daniel drew his attention to the prophe-
cies of Isaiah.
Of this return of the exiles, Josephus says, "Many
remained in Babylon, since they were disinclined to
relinquish their property." We may therefore con-
clude that those who went back to their beloved city
were men who loved God and were willing and
ready to make almost any sacrifice for His glory.
«Ezra 1:1-5.
300 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Great provisions were made for the return of the
Jews :
"Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels
of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar
had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put
them in the house of his gods. * * *
"All the vessels of gold and of silver were five
thousand and four hundred. All these did Shesh-
bazzar bring up with them of the captivity that
were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem."^
Children of the Province. Chapter two of Ezra
gives an account of "the children of the province
that went up out of the captivity, of those which
were carried away." The "children of the prov-
ince" were of course those who belonged to Judah,
which was no longer a kingdom, but a province of
Persia. The Israelites who returned to Palestine
are therefore made distinct from those who re-
mained in Babylon and Persia. And they "came
again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his
city," that is the city of his forefathers.
Many of the cities had been destroyed. It is
doubtful if those who remained behind when the
Jews went into captivity ever rebuilt more than a
few of them. At the head of the list of returning
builders was Zerubbabel, a secular ruler, a sort of
prince. Second in the list came Joshua, who was
the high priest. There is also a statement that
among them came "the children of Solomon's ser-
vants." These may probably have been descend-
&Ezra 1:7, 11
EZRA 301
ants of the Canaanitish people whom Solomon
brought into forced labor.
''And the Tirshatha (governor, Zerubbabel) said
unto them, that they should not eat of the most
holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim
and with Thummim''"^ (Note 1).
Number that Returned. According to the state-
ment of Ezra, after recounting the families,
''The whole congregation together was forty and
two thousand three hundred and threescore.
"Besides their servants and their maids, of whom
there were seven thousand'three hundred thirty and
seven : and there were among them two hundred
singing men and singing women. ''^
Of live stock they had seven hundred and thirty-
six horses, two hundred forty-five mules, four hun-
dred thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven
hundred twenty assess. This was of course in men
and chattels only a remnant of those who were car-
ried into captivity. The increase in birth would
have accounted for more than are given in the
above enumeration. For their travels the people
of Babylon made generous provision:
"They gave money also unto the masons, and to
the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto
them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar
trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according
to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of
Persia. * * *
^Ezra 2:63.
^Ezra 2:65.
302 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''And when the builders laid the foundation of
the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their
apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of
Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the
ordinance of David king of Israel. * * *
''But many of the priests and Levites and chief
of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen
the first house, when the foundation of this house
was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;
and many shouted aloud for joy:
* "So that the people could not discern the noise of
the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of
the people: for the people shouted with a loud
shout, and the noise was heard afar off/'^
Jerusalem a Loved City. To those whose mem-
ories carried them back to the days of Jerusalem,
that ruined city must have been a sad sight. There
has always been something about Jerusalem which
has kept it in the loving memory of its children.
The poets and prophets of the Israelites have sung
for centuries of its glory, its beauty, its greatness,
and they have loved it because Jehovah loved it.
They would be untrue to their God if they did not
have an affection for that which was the object of
God's mercy and His joy.
Christ also loved that city. It was the heart of
the Jewish world. No city under the heavens has
received in song and story the adoration which
throughout time has come to Jerusalem. Even now
men wander back to the sacred place that they may
^Ezra 2>\7, 10, 12, 13.
EZRA 303
approach within the shadow of its walls. The love
of the orthodox Jew for this city of his God is past
belief, almost past comprehension.
Every Friday afternoon, even to this day, crowds
of Jews gather outside of the walls of the city on
Mount Moriah, the hill on which the temple stood,
and read Lamentations and certain passages from
Isaiah. The story of Jerusalem has gone home to
the heart of every faithful Christian. It is perhaps
the best known story in history.
We may know, then, how these poor returning
exiles felt when they looked upon the heap of ruins
that greeted their eyes. They had sat by the rivers
in Babylon, talked of Jerusalem, and wept.
The Samaritans. The Jews took up their work,
the rebuilding of a temple unto the God of Israel.
There came to them, however, at that time, their
adversaries the Samaritans, and asked the privilege
from Zerubbabel to take part in rebuilding the city
and its temple.
"For," said they: "we seek your God, as ye do;
and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Es^r-
haddon king of Assur, which brought us up
hither."^
The Samaritans are still in the land, a remnant of
them, perhaps less than 200 at the present time, in
the old town of Shechem. They have a very an-
cient Bible and a synagogue in which they meet.
They are very anxious that travelers should see
fEzrsi 4:2.
304 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
their Bible and believe that it is more reliable than
the Bible of the Jews.
Who are these Samaritans, this little handful of
people? There really seem to have been three little
colonizations made by the Assyrians in Samaria.
The first colonization would be by Sargon, who Re-
placed the captives by colonists from Babylon and
Hamath. After this there were settlers from a cer-
tain Arabian element, and later still Ashur-hadam,
grandson of Sargon, put colonists there from var-
ious parts of the empire, especially from the low-
lands of the Mesopotamia. It will be seen from this
that these Samaritans were a greatly mixed race.
Zerubbabel, however, and the rest of the chiefs of
the fathers were unwilling to accept of their help
and said,
"Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house
unto our God; but we ourselves together will build
unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus of Persia
hath commanded us."^
Of course with this rejection of the offer of the
Samaritans trouble began; but the Israelites
were brought up under trouble; the Jews have
had no end of trouble; they are "a man of sor-
row". Even now in Poland they are the objects
of bitter hatred, and their condition of life is said to
be most pitiful.
Jews Accused by Samaritans. The Samaritans,
if they could not dictate a friendship, could at least
interpose hostility and delay, so they hired counsel-
^Ezra 4:3.
KZRA 305
ors against the Jews ''to frustrate their purposes/'
They might bribe Persian officials in the court to
intercept the work, and give the Jews all possible
annoyance. A new reigning monarch on the Per-
sian throne received an accusation made by the
Samaritans against Judah and Jerusalem, and later
letters were written also to Artaxerxes, setting
forth the disloyalty of the Jews towards the Persian
empire.
The Samaritans, who had sent for a priest that
they might be taught in the religion of the Jews
soon after they were settled in the country of Sa-
maria, naturally felt very rebellious towards those
who they thought ought to be brethren. They
were determined, however, to put every impedi-
ment in the way of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and
in their petition to the king they said:
"Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which
came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem,
building the rebellious and the bad city, and have
set up the walls thereof, and joined the founda-
tions."'*
These malcontents also asked the king to look up
the records of these Jews to determine whether or
not they were really a rebellious people; the rec-
ords would prove their contention. Of course this
was an argument that was not the truth. The Jews
were schooled under different conditions. They
came up loyally and began the reconstruction of
their new city.
^Ezra 4:12.
20
306 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter
was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe,
and their companions, they went up in haste to Je-
rusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease
by force and power.
Then ceased the work of the house of God which
is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year
of the reign of Darius king of Persia/'*
At this period in the history of Israel there ap-
peared two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, whose
words will be considered at the end of the present
narrative. In the time of Darius, about 520 B. C,
Zerubbabel began again to build the house of God
at Jerusalem, and with the builders were the proph-
ets. The Jews had been loyal; this interruption
was extremely annoying to them.
Unhappy History. It may be well here in pas-
sing to note that no people in the world has ever
undergone the trying ordeals that from the be-
ginning of their distinct national birth to the pres-
ent day, a period covering more than 2500' years,
have befallen the house of Judah. The book of
Deuteronomy gives to the world the consequences
that would come to them through disobedience of
God's law and the rejection of His requirements for
2500 years. They have been subject to hostilities,
enmities, race hatreds, persecutions, drivings, cruel-
ties, horrible sufferings such as have befallen no
other people, perhaps in one ten-thousandth degree.
The story of the poor Jews today in Poland is a
«Ezra 4:23, 24.
EZRA 307
repetition of their unhappy history everywhere.
Iliey have borne, it would seem, almost enough
sorrow for the whole human race; they are God's
chosen people; they have their mission to perform.
No one may ever know the value of their sorrows to
us, or their place in the lessons which their history
teaches to the world. They have behind them a
greater history than any other people that has ever
lived. Their history is more universally known to
mankind. Truly they occupy a very remarkable
place in the purposes of Jehovah.
Govemor's Requirements. It seems strange
that in those days their hearts should be inclined
towards the kings of Persia. Their governor made
certain requirements; among them, he said that
they might "offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the
God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king,
and his sons."^
When they were carried away into captivity the
Prophet Jeremiah, after requiring them to seek the
peace of the city where they were carried as cap-
tives, he admonished that they pray unto the Lord
for it, "for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace."
Since that day it has been a practice more or less
common among them to pray for the nations
among whom they have sojourned.
After the temple was finished it was dedicated by
a sacrifice of a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams,
and four hundred lambs. Compared to the dedica-
tion of Solomon's temple, this dedication was a very
/Ezra 6:10.
308 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
insignificant afifair in matters of display. It was a
very humble effort from the point of view of ma-
terial considerations — a most inconsiderable affair.
''The priests and the Levites were purified to-
gether, all of them were pure, and killed the pass-
over for all the children of the captivity, and for
their brethren the priests, and for themselves."^
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Of what do Nehemiah and Ezra give an account?
2. In what way does chapter 9 verse 3 of Chronicles sup-
port the Book of Mormon?
3. How many returned from the exile?
4. What was the adoration of the Jews for Jerusalem?
5. Why did the Jews refuse the Samaritan^s the latter's
request to help build the Temple at Jerusalem?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What reason have you to believe that there was more
than one Urim and Thummim?
2. Mention the greatest persecutions that have befallen the
Jews since the days of Ezra.
NOTES
1. Urim and Thummim. — ^These denote the two essential
parts of the sacred oracle by which in early times the He-
brews sought to ascertain the will of God. Our Old Testa-
ment revisers give as their meaning "The Lights and the
Perfections." This rendering — or rather, taking the words
as abstract plurals, ''Light and Perfection" — iseems to reflect
the views of the late Jewish scholars to whom we owe the
present vocalization of the Old Testament text; but the old-
est reference to the sacred lot suggests that the words ex-
press two sharply contrasted ideas. Hence if Thummim, as
most believe, denotes ''innocence", Urim should denote
"guilt" — a sense which some would give it by connecting it
with the verb meaning "to curse". Wtinckler and his follow-
^Ezra 6:20.
EZRA 309
ers, o,n the other hand, start from "light" as the meaning of
Urim and interpret Thummim as ''darkness", the completion
of the sun's course. Urim and Thummim are life and death,
yes and no, light and darkness. — A. Jeremias.
2. The overthrow of the Chaldean Empire by Cyrus in
538 B. C. gave the Jews of Babylon an opportunity to re-
turn, for the Persian king revensed the policy of the Assyr-
ians and the Babylonians and aimed to develop the re-
sources and loyalty of each of the many peoples in his great
empire. There is no evidence, however, that more than a
handful of the Jews in the east improved this .opportunity.
Cyrus also adopted the policy of appointing native princes
as local governors. A scion of the royal house of David was
placed over the little sub-province of Judah. This appoint-
ment gave the Jews a local government that undoubtedly at-
tracted to the homeland many refugees from Ammon and
Moab and especially the land of Egypt. But the sermons of
the contemporary prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, indicate
clearly that those who constituted the rank and file of the
Judean community and rebuilt the temple were the people of
the land and that a general return of the exiles was an event,
still in the future for which they ardently longed, — Kent.
CHAPTER 30
EZRA (Continued)
If thou wouldst marry wisely, marry thine equal.
—Ovid.
After the temple had been finished in the reign of
Artaxerxes, a great scribe, Ezra, whose office now
became an important landmark in Jewish history,
went up to Jerusalem to join the exiles who had
finished the house of God and were rebuilding the
beloved city of Jerusalem. The period cov-
ered from the time of Darius, who granted the
privilege of beginning work again on the tem-
ple, to the time of Artaxerxes, is said to be
fifty-seven years. This makes a long break in
the Book of Ezra. Some writers have under-
taken to prove that the Book of Ezra is really
the work of two distinct authors.
The Scribes. Who were the scribes that in later
times became so famous in Jerusalem? They were
no doubt translators, ready writers, a professional
class, whose knowledge was demanded in the
courts and among the leaders of the people. They
were known in ancient Egypt at a very early date.
They existed, in a small way, among the Jews in the
days of the Judges, and although in the earliest his-
EZRA 311
tory they were mere secretaries, they acquired in
course of time a very distinct place as a powerful
and influential class in the nations where they lived.
In ancient Israel it was their duty not only to
copy the law, but they were also its interpreters.
In Jeremiah, 8th chapter, we read of the scribes
who say, ''we are wise, and the law of the Lord is
with us." They also guarded very tenaciously the
old records. They were the historians, and to them
we owe much in retaining the old forms of lan-
guage, the old customs, even the laws of Moses.
Ezra, a scribe in the law of Moses, gives us the
earliest instance of the great power that came into
the hands of the class to w^hich he belonged. We
shall soon see that he really put the members of the
priesthood into a position inferior to that which he
occupied.
Ezra Commissioned by the King. Ezra came up
to Jerusalem full of zeal for the law of the Lord.
He expected to find there a devout people, worship-
ing Jehovah in a way that they could not worship
Him elsewhere. The king had given to this scribe
or priest Ezra a letter setting forth what he was
authorized to do, that the people of Israel might
know that he came with authority from the king.
''I make a decree," said the king, ''that all they of
the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites,
in my realm, which are minded of their own free-
will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
"Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of
his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah
312 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God
which is in thine hand."^
What this inquiry was is not quite clear to us,
Ezra had to carry up gold and silver and no doubt
make certain inquiries as to the manner in which
the laws of Moses were kept. It may have been a
part of the general requirement of the Persians by
which the king once a year sent inspectors to all
the provinces.
''Also we certify you, that, touching any of the
priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or
ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful
to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them."^
This was a very liberal exception that was made.
Herein the Jews were more favored than they had
been by previous Persian monarchs. Later on, this
exception in the matter of toll was applied to Judah,
but earlier all classes were compelled to pay it, es-
pecially as the priestly class was very numerous.
The decree of the king ends, and Ezra pours forth
his gratitude in the words:
''Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which
hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart,
to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jeru-
salem."^
Ezra was a most zealous man. He might perhaps
have obtained from the king an escort, but he says,
"I was ashamed to require of the king a band of
«Ezra 7:14.
^Ezra 7:24.
cEzTB. 7:27,
EZRA 313
soldiers and horsemen to help us against the ene-
my in the way: because we had spoken unto the
king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them
for good that seek him ; but his power and his wrath
is against all them that forsake him.
''So we fasted and besought our God for this : and
he was entreated of us."^
Departure of Ezra. The treasures which had
been committed to Ezra by the king were put un-
der the charge of the chief priests, and the Levites
to take with them to Jerusalem, and on the twelfth
day of the first month they departed from the river
of Ahava, one of the principal stations on the course
of travel that they took in those days in a north-
westerly direction, and then southwesterly down
to Damascus into Palestine. The reason for this
was that the Arabian desert exists far to the north
and cannot be crossed by considerable bodies of
men and women traveling together.
Sinful Marriages. Ezra met his surprise, and it
was a source of anguish to his righteous soul. As a
scribe he knew well the requirements of the Lord;
he knew the Jews were forbidden to marry into the
nations around them. Certain of the princes met
him, saying:
•''The people of Israel and the priests, and the
Levites, have not separated themselves from the
people of the lands, doing according to their abom-
inations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
^Ezra 8:22, 23.
314 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Mo-
abites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
'Tor they have taken of their daughters for them-
selves, and for their sons : so that the holy seed have
mingled themselves with the people of those lands :
yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been
chief in this trespass."^
Something had to be done; it was necessary to
the preservation of Judah, and Ezra was determined
to stamp out such an idolatrous practice.
''And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my
heaviness; and having rent my garment and my
mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my
hands unto the Lord my God/'^
He was up in the temple precincts so that the
people below might see him, and many no doubt
heard him. Such a great trespass had not been
committed in Israel for a long time. He reminds
the people that now the Lord had granted them a
little period of relief and grace, they had answered
their God by defying one of His most holy ordi-
nances. This did not look to Ezra as an effort on
the part of the people to cleanse the land, which
had become unclean through the filthiness of the
people, and through the abominations of the heath-
ens who had occupied it during the exile.
"Now therefore," he implored them, ''give not
your daughters unto their sons, neither take their
daughters unto j^our sons, nor seek their peace or
^Ezra 9:1, 2.
/Ezra 9:5.
EZRA 315
wealth forever : that ye may be strong, and eat the
good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to
your children forever.
''And after all that is come upon us for our evil
deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou
our God hast punished us less than our iniquities
deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this ;
''Should we again break thy commandments,
and join in affinity with the people of these abom-
inations? Wouldst not thou be angry with us till
thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no
remnant nor escaping?
"O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous; for
we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we
are before thee in our trespasses; for we cannot
stand before thee because of this."^
Ezra was full of repentance for the people; he
himself had not committed this abomination, but
he loved his people. Above all, he loved his God,
and no trespass of divine commandments waned
that love.
The People Repent. The people saw the great
grief of their leader. They saw the spirit of humili-
ty that was upon him, they heard his pleadings with
Jehovah. They felt the spirit of repentance which
possessed him for the people, and therefore were
ready to accept his commandments and his decis-
ions in the matter. He required of the leaders of
the people an oath that they wouM do according to
his words. They thereupon "made proclamation
^Ezra 9:12-15.
316 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the chil-
dren of the captivity, that they should gather them-
selves together unto Jerusalem;
''And that whosoever w^ould not come within
three days, according to the counsel of the princes
and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited,
and himself separated from the congregation of
those that had been carried away.
''Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gath-
ered themselves together unto Jerusalem within
three days. It wais the ninth month, on the twen-
tieth day of the the month; and all the people sat in
the street of the house of God,.trembling because of
this matter and for the great rain.
"And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto
them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken
strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
"Now therefore make confession- unto the Lord
God of your fathers, and do his pleasure : and separ-
ate yourselves from the people of the land, and from
the strange wives.
"Then all the congregation answered and said
with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we
do."^
The people were there in great numbers, there
were heavy rains, they were not able to stand out
in the inclement weather, so the inclemency of the
weather and the fear of their leader had their strong
influences upon the multitude.
Sinful Marrialges Dissolved. So they decided
/'Ezra 10:7-12.
EZRA 317
upon a plan by which the women were to be separ-
ated from their husbands and husbands from their
wives in all cases of mixed marriages.
"And they made an end with all the men that had
taken strange wives by the first day of the first
month."*
These men had put their wives away. Decrees
of divorce were made out and given to the people.
It was no doubt a painful occasion among the Jews.
For a large number of years they had accustomed
themselves to the companionship of wives that
were not of their race, in disobedience to the com-
mands of Moses. It had been in earlier times before
the captivity, a too common practice among them.
The practice, in the judgment of Ezra, must not be
repeated, and there were very distinct reasons why
there should thereafter be comparatively no inter-
marriages with the surrounding tribes.
Judah had been chosen out of the twelve tribes
of Israel to be the ancestry of the Son of God.
They must be kept distinct, not only until the ap-
pearance of the Messiah, but throughout all time,
and never be allowed through intermarriages to
lose their race identity. To the law of exclusiveness,
the Jews have adhered with remarkable fidelity
even down to the present day. Even now they do
not countenance intermarriage. It is offensive to
them, and throughout all these centuries, they have
maintained a distinctness that has given them a
race pride that belongs to no other class of people.
»Ezra 10:17.
318 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIl^S
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the mission of Ezra?
2. How was Ezra surprised when he reached Jerusalem?
3. What did Ezra require of the people in the matter of
marriage ?
4. For what purpose was Judah chosen out of the twelve
tribes?
5. What is the present attitude of the Jews on inter-
marriage?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Ezra forbade that the Jews seek the "peace" of the
(Surrounding nations. Is there a peace that tempteth man
from serving God?
2. What adva.ntage came to the Jews by giving up their
heathen wives?
NOTE
The Law was something more than a system of restraint
and condemnation. It contained an element of progress.
Under the tutelage of his pedagogue the boy is growing up
to manhood. At the ^end of its term the Law will hand over
its charge mature in capacity and equal to the respo.nsibil-
itieis of faith. Judaism was an education for Christianity.
It prepared the world for the Redeemer's coming. It drilled
and moralized the religious youth of the human race. It
broke up the fallow-ground of nature, and cleared a space
in the weed-covered soil to receive the seed ot the Kingdom.
Its moral regimen deepened the conviction of sin, while it
multiplied its overt acts. Its ceremonial impressed on sensu-
ous natures the idea of the Divine holiness; and its sacrificial
rites gave definiteness and vividness to men's conceptions of
the necessity of atonement, failing indeed to remove, but
awakening the need and sustaining the hope of its removal.
— Findlay.
CHAPTER 31
NEHEMIAH
It is never too late to return from the error of
our ways.
He who repents of his sins is almost innocent.
Nehemiah was not among those first exiles who
came up under the leadership of Zerubbabel. He
had remained back in the land of his captivity. He
was at the time mentioned in the beginning of his
book, at Susa, or, as he puts it, Shushan, one of the
capitals of the Persian empire. It appears there
were Jewish travelers between Jerusalem and Mes-
opotamia. They would naturally go back to see
their relatives and old-time friends whenever an
opportunity came. Some of the Jews from Jerusa-
lem brought discouraging news of the condition of
that city. The Samaritans had succeeded in stop-
ping its reconstruction for a season. This sad news
brought the spirit of sorrow upon Nehemiah, who
was the king's cup-bearer.
''And it came to pass, when I heard these words,
that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain
days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of
heaven.
"And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven,
the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant
320 OLD TESTAMENT STUDiES
and mercy for them that love him and observe his
commandments: (Note 1)
''Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes
open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy serv-
ant, w^hich I pray before thee now, day and night,
for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess
the sins of the children of Israel, which we have
sinned against thee : both I and my father's house
have sinned.
''We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and
have net kept the commandments, nor the statutes,
nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy
servant Moses.
''Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou
commandedst thy servant Moses, saying. If ye
transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the
nations :
"But if ye turn unto me, and keep my command-
ments, and do them ; though there were of you
cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet
will I gather them from thence, and will bring them
unto the place that I have chosen to set my name
there. * * *
"And prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day,
and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For
I was the king's cup-bearer.""^
Nehemiah Before the King. It happened that
when Nehemiah stood before the king with wine
that the king discovered a change in the appearance
of this servant.
^Nehemiah 1:4-9, 11.
NEHEMIAM 321
''Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy
countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is
nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very
sore afraid,
''And said unto the king, Let the king live for-
ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when
the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth
waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with
fire?"^
Nehemiah, to be sure, had some misgivings be-
cause the Medes and Persians were very severe in
their rules and regulations, and it was often said
when a thing was fixed certain and unalterable that
it was "like the laws of the Medes and Persians/'
The servants of the king were expected to be joyful,
pleased, and of happy demeanor. It was a very
serious request to ask to leave the king's court;
it was a sort of disloyalty, and hence the hes-
itation of Nehemiah. However, he was fearless
in expressing his grief, and he was bold
enough to ask the king to send him to Judah that
he might build again the city of his fathers, or at
any rate repair the walls and put up the gate there-
of.
Nehemiah wanted to go fully equipped, so he
asked the king for letters to different governors
along the route beyond the river that he might be
received and respected on his journey. He also
asked for a letter to one Eliashib, that he might
obtain timbers with which to make beams for the
'^Nehemiah 2:2, 3.
322 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
gate. When Nehemiah was near Jerusalem he met
Sanballat, who appears to have been a leader of
the Samaritans. You remember that Samaria was
only about thirty miles north of Jerusalem. He
also met Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite. These
leaders were very much disappointed in the appear-
ance of Nehemiah, whose mission was the success
of the children of Israel.
Nehemiah in Jerusalem. Nehemiah, however,
came on to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
''And I arose in the night, I and some few men
with me; neither told I any man what my God had
put in my heart to do at Jerusalem : neither was
there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode
upon.
"And I went out by night by the gate of the val-
ley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung-
port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which
were broken down, and the gates thereof were
consumed with fire.
"Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and
to the king's pool; but there was no place for the
beast that was under me to pass.
"Then went I up in the night by the brook, and
viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by
the gate of the valley, and so returned."^
After making this examination of the walls of the
city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah calls the attention of
the people to the condition of the walls and city,
and says.
^Nehemiah 2:12-15.
NEHEMIAH 323
''Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusa-
lem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned
with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of
Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. * * *
"But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah
the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab-
ian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and de-
spised us, and said. What is this thing that ye do?
Will ye rebel against the king?""^
Sanballat no doubt felt more concerned about
the rivalry of Jerusalem to the city of Samaria than
anxiety for the loyalty of the Jews to the king of
Persia. It would appear that the city of Samaria
enjoyed some measure of prosperity after the cap-
tivity of Judah, and naturally there would be jeal-
ousy on the part of the people of Samaria when
they heard that Jerusalem was likely to be rebuilt.
Before its destruction, Jerusalem had been the
glory of the Jewish world. It was the most beauti-
ful city in all the country round. If it were rebuilt
and its glory again established, the city of Samaria
would occupy in the future a very inferior place.
Work of Rebuilding Begun. The work on the
walls of the city began by the distribution of the
labor to the different cities surrounding it of those
parts which they were to rebuild, the inhabitants
working on the part of the wall from which they
came. Thus, the people from Jericho were put
on the east side. We are not informed just how
much of the walls of the city really had been torn
^Nehemiah 2:17, 19.
324 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
down. It must be remembered that these walls
would be nearly four miles in length.
The material was close at hand so that the work
could be taken up and accomplished without very
great delay. Wherever the walls were broken
down there would be great piles of rubbish and a
large amount of work would be necessary to clean
up around the broken places and get the founda-
tions in good condition so that the wall might be
built upon them. It would be quite natural that as
the work progressed day after day, and the debris
had been carried away, and the city cleaned up and
given a new life and a new shape, some je^ousy
would arise among the Samaritans. , Sanballat^ took
offense from the first at what the Israeik^ were
doing. We are told in the scriptures that he
mocked them,
"And he spake before his brethren and the army
of Samaria, and said. What do these feeble Jews?
will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice?
will they make an end in a day? will they revive
the stones, out of the heaps of the rubbish which
are burned?
''Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he
said. Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he
shall even break down their stone wall.
"Hear, O our God; for we are despised and turn
their reproach upon their own head, and give them
a prey in the land of captivity."^
Nehemiah was very ready for the swift punish-
^Nehemiah 4:2-4.
NEHEMIAH 325
ment of his enemies. He would have them taken
away into captivity and suffer the punishment of
Jehovah.
''But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and
Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and
the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem
were made up, and that the breaches began to be
stopped, then they were very wroth.
''And conspired all of them together to come and
to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it."^
Jews Not Enthusiastic. There does not seem to
have been any very great enthusiasm among the
Jews generally in this work, and it might have
dragged along for a greater length of time had not
these enemies of the Jews, these Samaritans, Edom-
ites, Arabians, and others, brought their opposi-
tion to bear and thus brought the Jews together
in a united effort. These different tribes about
them thus became a menace, so that the Jews were
required to defend themselves against the attacks
of those who might come upon them by surprise.
They were therefore obliged to work with shields
and bows in their hands.
"For the builders, every one had his sword
girded by his side, and so builded. And he that
sounded the trumpet was by me.
"And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers,
and to the rest of the people. The work is great and
large, and we are separated upon the wall, one
far from another.
mehemiah 4:7, 8,
326 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''In what place therefore ye hear the sound of
the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God
shall fight for us.
''So we labored in the work: and half of them
held the spears from the rising of the morning
till the stars appeared.
"Likewise at the same time said I unto the peo-
ple, Let every one with his servant lodge within
Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard
to us, and labor on the day.
"So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants,
nor the men of the guard which followed me, none
of us put off our clothes, saving that every one
put them off for washing."^
In those days there would naturally be much op-
portunity for speculation. As the Jews returned
little by little to the land of their forefathers, the
land was brought more and more into demand. It
became by the presence of each new colony of
settlers of greater value. Those who were poor
were often compelled to sell their small holdings,
and those who had money bought them up. Then
there were those who were money lenders and in
one way or another the people were brought into a
system of bondage.
Tribute and Taxes. Furthermore, every year
they were compelled to pay tribute to the king;
this must be in gold and silver. To raise this tribute
was a great efifort for the poor. They were taxed
more heavily in proportion than the rich; often the
^Nehemiah 4:18-23.
NEHEMIAH 327
tax was so much per individual. Money must
under such circumstances be borrowed. Large
rates of interest were required, and in the midst of
this work devoted to the Lord there grew up such
oppression that Nehemiah was compelled to de-
nounce the course of those who were oppressing
the poor.
"Some also there were that said, We have mort-
gaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we
might buy corn, because of the dearth.
"There were also that said, We have borrowed
money for the king's tribute, and that upon our
lands and vineyards."
It appears from the law of Moses that parents
were permitted to sell their sons and daughters
into bondage, though at the time of the year of
the Jubilee they might be redeemed. Of this con-
dition Nehemiah says :
"And I was very angry when I heard their cry
and these words.
"Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked
the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them. Ye
exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set
a great assembly against them.
"And I said unto them, We after our ability,
have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were
sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your
brethren ? or shall they be sold unto us ? Then held
they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
"Also, I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye
328 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
not to walk in the fear of our God because of the
reproach of the heathen our enemies?
"I likewise, and my, brethren, and my servants,
might exact of them money and corn: I pray you,
let us leave ofT this usury.
"Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day,
their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and
their houses, also the hundredth part of the money,
and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact
of them/''^
What he means by the hundredth part of the
money is not clearly understood unless he means
the interest. It was believed by some writers that
interest was payable monthly or taken at the rate
of twelve per cent. The law generally disallowed
the taking of interest from the Israelites. The
money lenders were touched in their hearts, and
promised to restore what they had obtained from
the poor as required by Nehemiah.
"And I also shook my lap, and said. So God shake
out every man from his house, and from his labor,
that performeth not this promise, even thus be he
shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation
said. Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people
did according to this promise."*
Nehemiah as Govemor. Now Nehemiah was
the governor of the people. He had along with
him a court and a considerable number of followers
to do his bidding. He was entitled, as their gov-
'^Nehemiah 5:6-11.
/Nehemiah 5:13.
NEHEMIAH 329
ernor, to support, which he did not require, as it
meant additional burdens upon the people. He did
not buy lands of those whose necessities compelled
them to sell, and all the time he took his full share
of the burden of building up the walls around the
city. For twelve years, he says :
''Moreover from the time that I was appointed to
be their governor in the land of Judah, from the
twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth
year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years,
I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the
governor.
"But the former governors that had been before
me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken
of them bread and wine, besides forty sheckels of
silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the
people : but so did not I, because of the fear of
God. * * *
"Now that which was prepared for me daily was
one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were pre-
pared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts
of wine ; yet for all this required not I the bread of
the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon
this people."^*
Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to the king, came to
Jerusalem in the fulfillment of what he considered
a sacred mission and duty. He was zealous for God
and for the holy city of Jerusalem. From what we
gather of those times, those that came with Zerub-
babel must have cleared out just such parts of the
iNehemiah 5:14, 15, 18
330 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
city as were immediately necessary for the building
of homes. The city itself must have presented a
tumble-down aspect. The houses had been razed
to the ground, and the work of clearing the debris
away would naturally be a very great one.
It is not uncommon in those ancient cities to see
the people settled amidst ruins, winding their way
through tortuous paths from the outskirts of the
city to the homes within. They are almost like
birds that build their nests in the waste places, or
in the ruins of cities. The news of such a condition
stung Nehemiah to the heart. With him it was a
work of love, and to find in the midst of his efforts
such a spirit of selfishness was wholly out of har-
mony with what it was in his heart to accomplish.
He had his commission as governor of Jerusa-
lem ; he was fully authorized by the king to do the
work, and his authority was therefore complete.
He was entitled to obedience, and he meant that
as long as he possessed authority over Jerusalem
his fortunate brother should not be permitted to
reap advantages over the poor. As the work went
on, and the breaches in the walls had been filled,
and the places left open for gates were so built
as to be ready to receive these doors of the walls,
new opposition broke out on the part of SanbaPat.
Message from Sanballat. When Nehemiah was
completing his work there came from this unscrup-
ulous man a message asking that Nehemiah meet
him "in some one of the villages in the plain of
Ono." This man was bent on mischief, and no dottbt
NEHEMIAH 331
intended to make trouble for Nehemiah, if not to
take his life. The governor, however, had wisdom
to foresee the danger and sent back a curt message
saying that he had no time to leave his work. Four
times this invitation had been sent to Nehemiah,
and every time the same answer went back. The
fifth time there came to the governor not only the
messenger, but an open letter,
"Wherein was written. It is reported among the
heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the
Jews think to rebel : for which cause thou buildest
the wall, that thou mayest be their king, accord-
ing to these -words.
"And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach
of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in
Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king
according to these words. Come now therefore,
and let us take counsel together."^
It was the same old difificulty over again. Nehe-
miah promptly made denial of the accusation. It
was recommended to the governor Nehemiah that
he go into the house of God within the temple and
shut the doors of it in order that he might protect
himself from the enemy that it was thought would
slay him :
"And I said, 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.''^
He here evidently means that it was not lawful
^Nehemiah 6.6, 7.
^Nehemiah 6:11,
332 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
for any man to go into the interior of the temple,
save the priests and the Levites, whose duty it was
to enter and minister there.
''My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat
according to these their works, and on the prophet-
ess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that
would have put me in fear.
''So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth
day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days."'''
This is a remarkably short time in which to com-
plete the actual work. Josephus says that this re-
pair occupied two years and four months. Nehe-
miah, however, speaks everywhere of repairs to be
made upon the walls, but there is nothing incon-
sistent in his representations.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How was Nehemiah called to rebuild walls of Jerusa-
lem?
2. Explain the condition of Jerusalem as Nehemiah found
it.
3. Why did he forbid usury among the Jews?
4. Who was Sanballat?
5. How long did it take to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Why have enemieis always kept close on the heels of
God's people in their divinely appointed task?
2. What was usury? What would it be in this age?
NOTE
Nehemiah perceived that God's mercy and His covenant
go together, that the covenant does not dispense with the
'wNehemiah 6:14, 1.5,
NEHEMIAH 333
need of mercy any more than it forecloses the action of
mercy. When the covenant people fall into sin, they cannot
claim forgiveness as a right; or can they ever demand de-
liverance from trouble on the ground of their pact with God.
God doeis not bargain with His children. A Divine covenant
is not a business arrangement, the terms of which can be
interpreted like those of a deed of partnership, and put into
force by the determinate will of either party. The covenant
is, from the first, a gracious divine promise and dispensation,
conditioned by certain requirements to be observed on man's
side. Its very existence is a fruit of God's mercy, not an
outcome of man's haggling, and its operation is just through
the continuance of that mercy. It is true a promise, a sort
of pledge, goes with the covenant; but that is a promise of
m>ercy, a pledge of grace. It does not dispense with the
mercy of God by converting what would otherwise be an
act of pure grace on His part into a right which we
possess and act upon of our own sole will. What it does
is to afford a channel for the mercy of God, and to assure
us of His mercy, which, however, remains mercy throughout.
— W. F. Adeney.
CHAPTER 32
NEHEMIAH AND THE PROPHETS OF THE RETURN
(Nehemiah)
Vice thrives and lives by concealment. — Virgil.
After Nehemiah had completed the wall and put
it in satisfactory repair he gave over the govern-
ment of Jerusalem to his brother Hanani, and Han-
aniah, ruler of the palace, for he says : ''He was a
faithful man, and feared God above many."
''And I said unto them. Let not the gates of Je-
rusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while
they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar
them : and appoint watches of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one
to be over against his house. ''"^
Jerusalem was large, four miles in circumference,
but the inhabitants were few; probably at this time
not more than fifty thousand persons had returned
to Judea, and these were scattered from Bethel in
the north to Beersheba in the south. Nehemiah
undertook to get up a genealogy of those who had
returned.
Ezra Reads the Law. During all this period of
Nehemiah's activity, not a word is said about Ezra,
the great scribe whose influence over the people
was so powerful in his day. It may be that this
wonderful scribe had returned to Babylon after his
^Nehemiah 7:3.
NEHEMIAH 335
mission had been accomplished, and that he had
remained there upwards of ten years. In the eighth
chapter of Nehemiah it is said:
''All the people gathered themselves together as
one man into the street that was before the water
gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring
the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had
commanded to Israel."^
Ezra then began, from a pulpit which was con-
structed for the purpose, to read the law to the
people. This was the beginning of a form of
worship that prevailed at the time of Christ's com-
ing. It was likewise the beginning of an order of
men known as the Scribes, whose influence upon
the life of Israel as the interpreters of the law
was most remarkable.
When the people heard Ezra read the law, they
wept because of their condition brought about by
their transgressions of the law. There gradually
began to crystalize within their minds the con-
viction that all of their sorrows were brought about
by their disregard for the laws of God. To avoid
such calamities in the future, they took steps to
remind the people constantly that God made cer-
tain requirements which must not thereafter be
disregarded.
Feast of Tabernacles. The people further dis-
covered that they had neglected to observe the
great feast of the tabernacles. They also discov-
ered that there had been in the celebration of that
^Nehemiah 8:1
i^6 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
feast a practice of dwelling in booths made of wil-
lows and leaf branches. It is quite likely that their
circumstances in captivity compelled them to
forego the celebration of the feast of the taber-
nacles in this manner. They were commanded to
''Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive
branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches,
and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to
make booths, as it is written.
''So the people went forth and brought them,
and made themselves booths, every one upon the
roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the
courts of the house of God, and in the street of the
water gate, and in the street of the gate of
Ephraim."''
And thus began again a celebration which was
zealously carried out. The writer says here that
this had not been done since the days of Joseph.
This is evidently a mistake, as the celebration of the
feast of the tabernacles is referred to in Kings and
in Ezra. It is probable he means that no such cel-
ebration, that is, in no such way, was kept. It is
said that the celebration was held for eight days,
and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly
of people.
In the celebration of this grand feast the seed of
Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and
stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of
their fathers. This was the beginning of a new zeal
which has characterized the steadfast determina-
^Nehemiah 8:15, 16.
NEHEMIAH 337
tion of the Jews from that day down to the present
time.
Jerusalem Neglected. The city of Jerusalem,
during the time of Nehemiah, suffered great neg-
lect. People w ere rather disposed to live in the
villages near by the lands which could be cultivated,
so finally certain ones were called to go to the city,
and they cast lots so that every tenth man gave
up his home in the different parts of the province
and came to the city to live. It was not an uncom-
mon practice in those days to increase the popula-
tion of certain cities by compelling men to move
their homes. The Levites were compelled to take
up again their duties with the priests in the admin-
istration of the temple service.
The people had returned to a ruined land. It was
poor and they were poor, and the scanty living
which the priests and Levites obtained in the tem-
ple service compelled them to seek employment in
the country round. Nehemiah in his day likewise
had to contend with the question of mixed mar-
riages, and the law was read to the people
wherein it was written that the Moabites ''should
not come into the congregation of God forever;
"Because they met not the children of Israel with
bread and with water, but hired Balaam against
them, that he should curse them : howbeit our God
turned the curse into a blessing:""^
Sabbath Neglected. They began again the pro-
cess of the separation of the mixed multitude, send-
^Nehemiah 13:2.
338 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
ing the heathen wives back to their old homes; ana.
thus they gave to their enemies a new^ offense. An-
other evil that Nehemiah found on his return from
Babylon w^as the grov\^ing neglect of the Sabbath.
''In those days saw I in Judah some treading
winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in
sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and
figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought
into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified
against them in the day wherein they sold their
victuals.
''There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which
brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on
the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Je-
rusalem."^
Against this practice Nehemiah contended vig-
orously. The gates were closed during the Sab-
bath day, and the people solemnly warned. He
says,
"In those days also saw I Jews that had married
wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; * * *
"And I contended with them, and cursed them,
and smote certain of them, and plucked off their
hair, and made them swear by God, saying. Ye
shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor
take their daughters unto your sons, or for your-
selves."^
Haggai and Zechariah. During this period in
the return of the exiles from Babylon, there ap-
^Nehemiah 13:15, 16.
/Nehemiah 13:23, 25.
NEHEMIAH 339
peared two prophets, whose names are barely men-
tioned in Ezra as taking part in the work of re-
storing Jerusalem. They are here given in closing
this period of Jewish history. Their names are
Haggai and Zechariah. Of their personal history
we know but little. According to tradition Haggai
was born in Babylon and came up with Zerubbabel
to Jerusalem. In urging upon the people their
duty, he asks :
''Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled
houses, and this house lie waste ?"^
In contrasting the temple which they were just
building with that which reflected the glory of Sol-
omon, he says,
''Who is left among you that saw this house in
her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not
in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?"''
The prophet Zechariah writes at greater length.
His book contains fourteen chapters, in contrast
with two chapters of Haggai. He deals with more
of the great questions of religion and morality, and
speaks out from a greater fullness of the heart. He
dwells, however, much upon the blessings of pros-
perity and the strength that comes through the di-
vine spirit. In that vision of his mind, he says:
A Vision. "And he shewed me Joshua the high
priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and
Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
"And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord re-
^Haggai 1:4.
^^Haggai 2:3.
340 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
buke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuke thee : is not this a brand plucked
out of the fire ?"^*
But the angel saw that he found evil to rebuke
w^hen he said, ''the word of the Lord came unto
Zechariah, saying,
"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying. Exe-
cute true judgment, and shew mercy and compas-
sion every man to his brother:
''And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless,
the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you
imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
"But they refused to hearken, and pulled away
the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they
should not hear."^*
Again,
"And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts
against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all
these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.''^
He bears a most remarkable testimony about the
coming influence of Judah, and the high station in
life to which they would yet be exalted (Note).
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it
shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold of
all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of
the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go
with you : for we have heard that God is with you."^
^'Zechariah 3:1, 2.
iZechariah 7:8-11.
/^Zechariah 8:17.
'Zechariah 8:23.
NEHEMTAH 341
Of Christ's coming and greatness he also proph-
sies :
''Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh
unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly,
and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of
an ass.""^
The prophet foresees likewise a time when
Ephraim shall be joined to Judah. They were now
separated: one of them off with the Ten Tribes to
the north, the other returned to Jerusalem :
''And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and
I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring
them again to place them; for I have mercy upon
them : and they shall be as though I had not cast
them ofif: for I am the Lord their God, and will
hear them.
"And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty
man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine:
yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their
heart shall rejoice in the Lord.
"I will hiss for them, and gather them ; for I
have redeemed them : and they shall increase as
they have increased.
"And I will sow them among the people : and
they shall rem.ember me in far countries ; and they
shall live with their children, and turn again. "'^
This was the gathering of Ephraim ; as elsewhere
^"Zechariah 9:9.
''Zechariah 10:6-9.
342 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
declared, they had been scattered among the na-
tions.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Whom did Nehemiah call to rule over Jerusalem in his
place?
1. How did the people of Jerusalem protect themselves
from the enemy without?
3. Why does the .name of Ezra not appear during this
active period when the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt?
4. Why did the people prefer to live in the country during
these times?
5. How was the Sabbath treated in the time of Nehemiah?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What prophecies of Zechariah have distinct reference
to our time?
2. The Lord says to the people: ''Love no false oath."
What particular meaning did that have with reference to
the Jews?
NOTE
The Babylonian and Persian age a)S a whole was for the
Jews a period of overwhelming calamity and discourage-
ment, and yet during the latter part of this era scattered
remnants of the race began again to restore the temple and
capital city. During this era the foundations of Judaism
were laid along the lines first outlined by Ezekiel. The
priests and iscribes succeeded to the earlier authority of the
kings and prophets. Loyalty to the law and ritual took the
place of the ancient loyalty to the king and state. Judaism,
helpless and exposed to the attacks of its powerful foes,
stood apart from the rest of the world, finding its joy more
and more in worship, in trust in Jehovah, and in the 'Uoble
ideals and hopes that are voiced in the psalms and wisdom
writings of this period. — Kent.
CHAPTER 33
ESTHER
(Chapters 1-4)
A woman's honor rests on manly love. — Tegner.
The book of Esther gives us some further insight
into the life of the Persians. The prophets in those
days who wrote about the condition of the exiles in
Babylon, dealt chiefly with conditions under the
governments of the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
Daniel introduces us to the Persians, and the return
of the Jews, which took place under the reign of
the first Persian king, Cyrus.
Later on, however, in the days of Ahasuerus
there arose a maiden of Jewish descent who became
famous because of her relations to this king who in
the Greek language was called Xerxes. In the
third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his
princes and servants. We are also informed that
in the same year he gathered the leading men, the
governors of the provinces of Assyria together,
preparatory to an expedition against Greece.
We have here the introduction of a new nation
with whom later on the Jews had extensive deal-
ings, and who, in the course of time, exercised a
considerable influence over Jewish life. We also
have here the introduction of a Greek historian,
Herodotus, who supplements some of the history
of the Bible by his own writings.
344 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The Greeks lived a long way from the capital of
Persia. To reach them, all Asia Minor, from east
to west had to be traversed, and then the Darda-
nelles, called the Hellespont, had to be crossed. It
is through this narrow waterway that the English
vainly tried to make their way into the Marmora
Sea on the borders of which Constantinople is lo-
cated. As we shall learn, the Persians were not
successful in their efforts to conquer the Greeks.
Persia had now in the time of Xerxes reached the
highest point of glory in her national life.
King's Feast. The feast of the king, we are told,
lasted one hundred and eighty days. We know
from secular history, and especially from the Greek
writer Herodotus, that feasts among the Persians
were celebrated on a very extensive scale. It is
said that as many as 18,000 people were entertained
at one time at the king's table. It was also an
occasion for the drinking of wine. It seems that
the king, in a vainglorious moment, sent for his
nueen, Vashti, that she appear before the people
that they might witness her beauty, "for she Avas
fair to look on." To this message the queen re-
turned her refusal. It was a somewhat extraor-
dinary thing for the king to do, as in those days
women were veiled, and were supposed to conceal
their beauty from the gaze of the people.
The Queen's Humiliation. The Persians were per-
haps amon^ the ancient monarchs the most unre-
lentinof in their commands. The decrees of the king,
like the laws of the Medes and Persians, were una!-
ESTHER 345
terable, and woe to him who did not promptly yield.
The question now arose as to what must be done
with the queen. The king might not be resisted,
and like such monarchs was susceptible to flattery.
His princes and governors gathered round him and
urged that Queen Vashti must be dealt with for her
disobedience to a royal command. These gov-
ernors gave as their reason the fears of her example
among the wives of the leading men of the realm,
and urged that she be disciplined. She was conse-
quently dropped from her position, which was left
vacant until filled in a rather remarkable way by
another.
Esther Chosen. At this time, about 483 B. C, the
maidens of the realm were ordered to appear before
the king in order that a successor to Vashti might
be chosen. It happened that among those sum-
mone<^ to the palace was a certain Jewish maiden
whose name was Harasah, that is, Esther. She
was an orphan that had been reared bv Mordecai, a
nephew to her father. It is said that the maiden
pleased the king, and that ''she obtained kindness
of him." Esther was a Jewess, and thougfh at this
time there appears to have been no special ani-
mosUy to the Jews, she did not let it be known that
she belonged to this race. In this respect she fol-
lowed the counsel of Mordecai, her guardian. In
the course of time, according to Persian custom,
she occupied the place of queen in the royal house-
hold:
''And the king loved Esther above all the women,
346 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more
than all the virgins ; so that he set the royal crown
upon her head, and made her queen instead of
Vashti."^
Mordecai. Mordecai, it appears, was in those
days an inferior officer of the king's court and ''sat
in the king's gate." Here he learned of a con-
spiracy on the part of two of the chamberlains of
the king ''to lay hand" upon their master. This
conspiracy he made known to Esther, who in turn
let it be known to the king. The men were ex-
amined, found guilty, and hanged on a tree. Thus
it appears that Mordecai saved the king, perhaps
from assassination, as that is what it meant when
it is said that they sought to "lay hand" on him.
The service of Mordecai to the king does not ap-
pear to have been rewarded promptly. This hum-
ble and faithful Jew still sat in the king's gate.
Over him and over all the household of the king
was appointed Haman, an unworthy and cruel man.
When this exalted officer passed the guards and
other servants of the king, they bowed in reverence
to him. It has been from time immemorial a prac-
tice of Orientals to bow down to the earth in abject
servitude to those in authority above them.
We are led to believe that Mordecai did not pros-
trate himself because of his religion, and it may be
that from this circumstance it came to be .known
that he was a Jew. However, the Greeks refused
^Esther 2:17.
ESTHER 347
likewise to prostrate themselves as the people of
Asia did. They were proud and independent and
refused this token of humility because they con-
sidered it unmanly and it was contrary to their cus-
toms. While others yielded in such a menial atti-
tude before Haman, they noticed that Mordecai was
obstinate in his repeated refusals to bow to the
great man. They naturally asked why all this dif-
ference?
When this contempt was pointed out to Haman,
it is said that he was full of wrath, and was inclined
at first to lay hands on the Jew and punish him. If,
however, the Jew was acting as all others of his
race would act under similar circumstances, why
not destroy all the Jews within the realms of Per-
sia?
Haman's Plot to Destroy the Jews. When Ha-
man determined to punish all the Jewish race for
what this man had done, he found it necessary to
set apart a general day for the slaughter of all the
Jews. As was customary among the Persians, lots
were cast in order to determine which of all days
in the year would be most favorable to their gods.
This lot in the Persian language was called Pur.
and from it later there was celebrated the feast of
Purim, as we shall see. After they had cast lots a
day was finally fixed for the destruction of all the
Jews throughout the empire. The king was asked
to confirm Haman's resolve to strike down a race
the representative of whom had grossly offended
him. The day was fixed, the order issued, and
348 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
sealed with the king's ring. At this it became the
unalterable law of the Medes and Persians.
Letters were then sent to the governors of the
various provinces commanding them to kill all the
''Jews, both young and old, little children and wom-
en, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to
take the spoil of them for a prey."^
The spoil thus became an inducement to kill. The
Jews were doubtless more or less prosperous within
the empire. It will be seen from the Scripture that
the day fixed was a long way off. Why the delay?
It may be that Haman thought that perhaps the
Jews would take their flight from the empire in
order to avoid a massacre of them, and that leav-
ing their goods and chatties behind them they
would contribute thereby to those of their neigh-
bors who were, if necessary, willing to carry out the
decree of the king.
Mordecai Mourns. This was a sad announce-
ment to Mordecai, but he would not yield (Note
1). His resistance therefore not only threatened
his life, but the life of all his brethren throughout
the realm. No wonder he ''put on sackcloth with
ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and
cried with a loud and a bitter cry."^
He came also to the king's gate; but in such a
Sfarb no one was allowed to enter. Nor was this
^^Esther 3:13.
^Esther 4:1.
ESTHER 349
mourning confined to this solitary Jew. It was uni-
versal to Jews throughout the empire, who united
in fasting and weeping and wailing. Such a cruel
decree would naturally reach Esther; they were her
people; Mordecai had been her guardian, her pro-
tector. She likewise mourned with others. But
she was in a position to exercise an influence over
the king.
Just when this custom of mourning in sackcloth
with ashes began we do not know. It was common
among the Orientals in those days and was prac-
ticed even among the Persians.
Esther now took steps to save her people. Com-
munication continued between her and Mordecai.
To the communication of her faithful protector she
returned these words:
''Go, gather together all the Jews that are present
in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor
drink three days, night or day : I also and my maid-
ens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the
king,which is not according to the law: and if I
perish, I perish (Note 2).
''So Mordecai went his way, and did according to
all that Esther had commanded him.""^
Esther, while greatly favored and beloved of the
king, yet knew the danger she was in if she intruded
herself into his presence. One might, it is said,
request an audience with the monarch, but if one
went in to his presence uninvited there was a law
^Esther 4:16. 17.
350 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
putting such person to death. The opportunity to
meet the king was without immediate prospect.
What could be done? The time could not be
wasted. So she must act in some manner so adroit
as not to give offense to her lord. Esther was not
without tact, and not without wisdom in safeguard-
ing her life as well as the lives of her people.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What brought the Persians into contact with the
Greeks ?
2. Who were the Greeks?
3. What first brought Esther into prominence?
4. Who was Haman?
5. Why did Haman seek the destruction of the Jews in
Persia?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are some of the far reaching effects of the per-
secution of the people of God?
2. What might have been the financial status of the
Jews in Persia at the time of Esther?
NOTES
1. If patriotism is a virtue, and belongs to good morals
in the Jewish and Christian systems, then the book has its
place in the Bible, as teaching this virtue, even if every-
thing else be absent. No book is so patriotic as the Book
of Esther. Esther is the heroine of patriotic devotion. She
is the incarnation of Jewish natio^nality, and thus is the ap-
propriate theme of the great national festival of the Jews.
And in all the Christian centuries Esther has been an inspira-
tion to heroic women and an ince^ntive to deeds of daring
for heroic men. — Hastings.
2. Grant us the will to fashion as we feel,
Grant us the strength to labor as we know,
Grant us the purpose, ribbed and edged with steel,
To .strike the blow.
Knowledge we ask not — knowledge Thou has lent.
But, Lord, the will — there lies our bitter need,
Give us to build above the deep intent
The deed, the deed. — Drinkwater.
CHAPTER 34
ESTHER (Continued)
(Chapters 5-10)
"Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they
grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting, with
exactness grinds He all ."
— Von Logan.
The numerous court ceremonies of the eastern
nations often created long delays in securing the
attention of the authorities or an opportunity to lay
before them requests and petitions. Queen Esther
placed herself where the king might be attracted
to the beautiful woman whom he so fondly loved.
She was therefore invited into his presence.
"Then said the king unto her. What wilt thou,
queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be
even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
"And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the
king, let the king and Haman come this day unto
the banquet that I have prepared for him.""^
This chief advisor and the man who had plotted
the destruction of the Jews "went forth that day
joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw
Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up
nor moved for him, he was full of indignation
against Mordecai."^
^Esther 5:3, 4.
^^Esther 5:9.
352 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
This Jew seems to have been more stubborn now
than ever. Formerly he would not bow; now he
would not even rise in the presence of the chief of-
ficer of the king. Haman had been bidden to the
banquet, and he little realized what was in the mind
of Esther concerning him. However, Haman must
be rid of Mordecai. He laid the matter of this
Jew's resistance before his friends and before Zer-
esh, his wife.
''And Haman told, them of the glory of his riches,
and the multitude of his children, and all the things
wherein the king had promoted him, and now he
had advanced him above the princes and servants
of the king."^
In those days a multitude of children was one
of the greatest honors that could befall a man. It
is said by the Greek historian, Herodotus, that it
was next to the honors that befell a man for his
bravery and accomplishments on the field of battle.
Here in Persian history we are brought into con-
tact with a -character who is sometimes called the
father of history, Herodotus. His writings give
us a picture of the customs of those times. He
traveled much, and made careful note of the pecul-
iarities of the various people whom he visited. To
him we are indebted for much of the history of the
nations with whom the Jewish people were associ-
ated in those days.
For some reason, Esther did not seem able to
bring her request before the king at the first ban-
^Esther 5:11,
. ESTHER 3S3
quet prepared for him and Haman. She therefore
asked that she also have the pleasure of serving
the king and his chief officer at a second banquet.
Haman Seeks Mordecai's Life. This honor to
Haman flattered his pride greatly, but the pleasure
occasioned by Esther's apparent attention v^as
greatly disturbed by the conduct of Mordecai,
whose death he now^ sought to bring about.
He v^as advised by his wiit and his friends to
build a gallows fifty cubits (seventy-five feet) high,
that Mordecai might be hanged thereon. When
this w^as accomplished, according to their state-
ment, he might go into the banquet merrily and en-
joy the association of the king and the queen. To
the end that Mordecai might be hanged, Haman
made his preparations. Hanging was not custo-
mary, the Greek historian tells us, in those days. It
was more common to crucify or to impale persons
whom they wished to execute.
However, an obstacle immediately came in the
way of Haman. It appears that the king was great-
ly troubled in his sleep, and that he had brought
before him the records, or so-called chronicles of
the kings, and they were read before him. It is
said that in those days the kings could not read;
for that purpose they had their scribes. It was
found in the records that Mordecai had sometime
before informed the king about those who sought
to encompass him. Now the king wanted to know
what honor such a man should have.
' It is strange that the reward of this loyalty
::3
354 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
should be delayed, but such was a practice among
the ancients. Sometimes the delay of a reward to
which a man was entitled covered a period of years,
often months, so the delay in the case of Mordecai
was no unusual thing.
Haman's Mistake. The king, without letting
his chief officer know who was to be honored, asked
Haman what should be done to the man whom the
king delighted to honor. Haman in his pride no
doubt pointed to himself as the fortunate man, and
he therefore recommended the most extravagant
display, by suggesting to the king that ''the royal
apparel be brought which the king useth to wear,
and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the
crown royal which is set upon his head:
''And let this apparel and horse be delivered to
the hand of one of the king's most noble princes,
that they may array the man withal whom the king
delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback
through the street of the city, and proclaim before
him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the
king delighteth to honor.
"Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and
take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said,
and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at
the king's gate : let nothing fail of all that thou hast
spoken."^
Haman had prepared a high gallows for Morde-
cai; he must now endure the humiliation of honor-
ing the man he sought to punish. But the decree
^'^Ksther 6:9. 10.
ESTHER 355
had gone forth; if he undertook to escape it it would
result in the loss of his life. He therefore did as
the iking commanded. After all the brilliant cere-
mony was over, Mordecai went again to his place
at the king's gate. "But Haman hasted to his
house mourning, and having his head covered.
''And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his
friends every thing that had befallen him. Then
said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him,
If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before
whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not pre-
vail against him, but shalt surely fall before him."^
Esther's Petition — Haman Executed. While
they were thus talking and bemoaning the unhappy
event which had befallen him, announcement was
made that Haman should appear again at the ban-
quet of Queen Esther. At this second banquet the
king again asked Esther what it was she would
have, to which she replied in the beautiful language
which follows :
"If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and 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 de-
stroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had
been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had
held my tongue, although the enemy could not
countervail the king's damage.
"Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said
^Esther 6:13.
356 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES j
unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is
he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
"And Esther said. The adversary and enemy is
this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid be-
fore the iking and the queen.
''And the king arising from the banquet of wine
in his wrath went into the palace garden: and
Haman stood up to make request for his life to
Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil
determined against him by the king.
''Then the king returned out of the palace garden
into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman
was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then
said the king. Will he force the queen also before
me in the house? As the word went out of the
king's mouth, they covered Haman's face."^
Such covering of a man's face and head before
his execution was a common practice among the
Greeks and Romans, but this, historians say, is the
first mention made of it as a Persian custom.
Haman was taken to the gallows which he had pre-
pared for Mordecai, and there he was hanged.
Strange retribution! How often in, the ordinary
walks of life men fall into the pits which they dig
for others.
In this story of Queen Esther and the king we
find a pleasure-loving monarch swayed by the in-
fluence of the courtiers around him. Transferring
authority to shirk the responsibilities belonging to
it is a dangerous practice, either in secular or re-
ligious government. If one will follow carefully
/Eisther 7:3, 8.
ESTHER 357
the story of God's dealings with ancient Israel from
the beginning of its national life in the days of
Moses, one will find that God Himself safeguarded
jealously the authority which He bestowed on those
whom He had chosen. Violations of this authority,
of its rights and duties, Jehovah was swift to pun-
ish. Authority in His kingdom was fundamental.
Again and again men were put to death when they
disregarded it or undertook to override it.
Mordecai Promoted. Haman, the author of the
decree that went out declaring the destruction of
the Jews, was dead. The house of Haman was
given over to Esther, the queen, and Mordecai now
became the chief counselor of Ahasuerus. What,
however, was to be the fate of the unfortunate
Jews against whom the king's decree had been
issued? Were they to be spared? How could they
be spared in the face of a decree — unalterable, ac-^
cording to the laws of the Medes and the Persians? '
The decree might not be withdrawn, but aaother
decree could be issued that would set aside its ef-
fects, and so the severe law of the Persians might
be kept in word though destroyed in spirit. To
Mordecai the king now said:
"Write ye also 'for the Jews, as it liketh you, in
the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for
the writing which is written in the king's name,
and sealed with the king's ring, may no man re-
verse."^
So a new decree of the king went forth,
^Esther 8:8. *
358 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
**Wherein the king granted the Jews which were
in every city to gather themselves together, and
to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to
cause to perish, all the power of the people and
province that would assault them, both little ones
and women, and to take the spoil of them for a
prey/'^
Strange decree this ! It really meant civil war
throughout the empire!
Something like eight months, however, were to
pass before the first decree of Haman was to be
executed. It therefore gave the Jews an opportun-
ity to prepare to defend themselves. They were
therefore relieved from the anxiety which they
must have felt in the presence of the decree of
death which had befallen them. The opportunity
to resist and to kill their adversaries gave them
some assurance, and then there was the very im-
portant fact that Mordecai was a Jew, that he was
the chief officer of the king, and that his influence
throughout all the provinces of Persia must un-
doubtedly have been great.
It is said that fear came upon the people, "and
many of the people of the land became Jews ; for
the fear of the Jews fell upon them." It would be
interesting to know how long they continued to
be Jews, and whether they gathered subsequently
with the Jews who must have gone up to Jerusalem,
the heart of the Jewish world.
When the time, however, arrived at which the de-
^Esther 8:11,
ESTHER 359
cree of the king was to be carried out, the Jews
not only protected themselves, but they "gathered
themselves together on the fourteenth day also of
the month Adar, and slew five hundred men at
Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their
hands;" they "smote all their enemies with the
stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction,
and did what they would unto those that hated
them."*
Hating the Jew. From that day even down to
the present hatred has been the portion of the Jews.
They have lived under the hatred of rulers, the
hatred of neighbors, and the contempt of the world
about them. What effect has this hatred had upon
Jewish life? It has had, indeed, a very perceptible
one, some of it for good, some of it for evil. In the
city of Shushan the Jews slew five hundred. They
slew the ten sons of Haman, and according to the
practice of those days, later hanged these ten sons
as an exhibition of the punishment that came to
Haman and his family. In the provinces it is said
seventy-five thousand were slain by the Jews, "but
they laid not their hands on the prey."
This day fixed according to the decree of Haman
by lot for the destruction of the Jews, became later
among the Jews the festal day of Purim. From this
period, 473 B. C, two days in that twelfth month
Adar, or March, the Jews have celebrated the feast
of Purim. It has. not been generally accompanied
by any particular religious ceremonies; it was
^'Esther 9:5,
360 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
rather two days of boisterous enjoyment, and in
later times on this occasion of festival, the book of
Esther was read in all the synagogues.
Thus we close the historical narrative contained
in the Old Testament.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Who was Herodotus?
2. How did Haman seek to end the life of Mordecai?
3. How did Esther thwart the plans of Haman?
4. What was the feast of Purim?
5. How many were slain in the provinces?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Were those whom the Jews killed in any way respon-
sible for the king's decree passing the sentence of death upon
the Jews?
2. /What is the Jewish temperament that makes him of-
fensive to other nationalities?
NOTE
Let us honestly acknowledge that Old Testament saints
exhibit not a little of the spirit of vengeance. It jars upon
our better feelings in many a beautiful psalm, and it has made
many ask the question whether such songs should be em-
braced in the portions of the psalter sung in the Christian
Church. We shall not .enter upon the thorny subject of the
imprecatory psalms further than to say that it is only upon
such enemieis as exhibit downright wickedness that the
psalmists ask God's vengeance, and that in every case the
motive seems to spring from a sense of duty and desire for
God's honor. These sacred odes are not the outcome of
private pasision, but the psalmist identifies himself with God,
and believes that God's majesty and glory are bound up with
the overwhelming of His foes. — W, S, Bruce.
CHAPTER 35
JOB
(Chapters 1-7)
Sweet source of virtue,
O sacred sorrow! he who knows not thee
Knows not the best emotions of the heart,
Those tender tears that harmonize the soul,
The sigh that charms, the pang that gives delight.
— Thompson.
Having finished the narrative of Old Testament
history, before going on to close up the period be-
tween Esther and Christ's advent, we shall go back
in Old Testament times and learn from Job, the
Psalms and Proverbs and other writings of ancient
Israel, something of the thoughts, feelings, manners
and customs of the people.
The story of Job has a wonderful, dramatic effect,
and is perhaps one of the most beautiful as well as
one of the most striking pieces of literature ever
given to the world.
Job is said to have been a perfect man in his day,
and his patience has been the theme of writers from
his time to the present. Perfection and patience are
represented in this wonderful character. President
Hadley, of Yale University, has delivered a lecture
printed in one of the ''Worth While" series called
"The Power of Patience." It is an address which
represents not alone the great learning of the man.
362 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
but furnishes inspiration and guidance in the pri-
vate and detailed affairs of life. ''The Power of Pa-
tience" is revealed all through the story of the Old
Testament, and finds its great glory in the w^onder-
ful revelations which it gives us through the Book
of Job.
Job's Identity. Who was Job? He is called in
his book, the man of Uz. Some say his home was
across the Jordan, in the land of the Moabites;
others say he was at one time king of Edom, where
the descendants of Esau dwelt; others place him
somewhere in the land of Arabia. When did he
live and write? There are those who believe that
his book should be placed between the five books
of Moses and the book of Joshua. More generally,
however, the book is said to be contemporary with
the Psalms and the Proverbs. There is really no
history of Job's life which relates him to the people
of the Bible.
Job offers to the world that ever-recurring prob-
lem of the suffering of humanity (Note 2). The
pain of physical and moral evil has been the com-
panion of man from the time of his creation. From
that day down to the present time men have been
trying to construct a philosophy that will give the
reasons for and the divine purposes of suffering.
Nephi tells us that ''x\dam fell that man might be,"
that he might have an existence ; that we could have
no joy without knowing misery, and that after all
we are created that we may have joy. But there
is the ever-recurring question, Why must we come
JOB 363
through sorrow to reach joy? That problem pre-
sents itself to us in a most striking aspect in the
book of Job. We are told that ''God's whole cre-
ation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now." Again, 'The word of God came to the
prophets saying, Comfort ye, comfort ye my peo-
ple." It is a marvelous truth, we know its exist-
ence, but man has^neyer been permitted to know-its
necessity.
There is a striking lesson in sorrow which comes
to us through the history of the great religious
reformations, revolutions and dispensations of
God's" providences to the world. If there is one
thing which history teaches us more impressively
than another, it is the fact that any important ad-
vance in religion, or the birth of a new God-given
religion to the world, is accompanied by excessive
sorrows and persecutions.
The birth of a new religious life, therefore, has
not alone for the people that are born into it, but for
the individual who experiences a spiritual birth,
sorrows, troubles and disappointments never
known to them or him before. Nor is the birth of
a new religious life simply the advent of additional
sorrow; it means also to the nation or to the indi-
vidual the introduction of temptations never known
before.
Study of the Book of Job. Keeping in mind cer-
tain great lessons of life, such as the sorrows of the
poor, and patience, let us approach the study of the
book of Job. It will interest us, but it will
364 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
do more than that; it will comfort us, and help
us to bear those afflictions that, however much
concealed, come to the life of every man and
every woman. The language of the book itself is
so charming that one almost regrets the necessity
of abbreviating it, or of presenting its teachings in
any other form.
^^There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name
was Job ; and that man was perfect and upright, and
one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
^^And there were born unto him seven sons and
three daughters.
''His substance also was seven thousand sheep,
and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke
of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very
great household; so that this man was the greatest
of all the men of the east.
''And his sons went and feasted in their houses,
every one his day; and sent and called for their
three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
"And it was so, when the days of their feasting
were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them,
and arose up early in the morning, and offered burnt
offerings according to the number of them all : for
Job said. It may be that my sons have sinned and
cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continu-
ally."^
Notice here the searching inquiry which Job put
to himself, not about the conduct of his sons, but
as to what might be in their hearts. He would go
«Job 1:1-5,
JOB 365
back to the fountain of evil deeds and evil words,
and check at the fountain head evil thoughts and
evil feelings.
"Now there was a day when the sons of God
came to present themselves before the Lord, and
Satan came also among them.
''And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest
thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,
From going to and fro in the earth, and from walk-
ing up and down in it.
''And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou con-
sidered my servant Job, that there is none like him
in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that
feareth God, and escheweth evil?
"Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth
Job fear God for nought?
"Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and
about his house, and about all that he hath on every
side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and
his substance is increased in the land.
"But put forth thine hand now, and touch all
that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that
he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not
forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord."^
Job's Misfortunes. Thus began the series of
events by which Job was tested — sorrowful events.
As his servants were plowing in the field, the Sab-
eans fell upon them took them away and slew them.
^Job 6:6-12.
366 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
While the messenger who brought this announce-
ment was speaking, another came who said that
fire from heaven had fallen and burned up other
servants and the sheep. Then appeared another,
with the announcement that the Chaldeans fell upon
his camels and the servants with them, and still an-
other that while his sons and daughters were eating
and drinking a great wind smote them and they fell
dead.
''Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved
his head, and fell down upon the ground, and wor-
shiped,
''And said, Naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord.
"In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God
foolishly."^
When the sons of God again presented them-
selves before the Lord, Satan came also, and again
Satan was asked if he had considered the Lord's
servant Job.
"And Satan answered the Lord, and said. Skin
for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his
life.
"But put forth thine hand now, and touch his
bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face.
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in
thine hand; but save his life.
^Job 1:20-22.
JOB 367
''So went Satan forth from the presence of the
Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole
of his foot unto his crown."^
This affliction reached the end of Job's wife's
patience.
*'Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God,
and die.
"But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of
the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we re-
ceive good at the hand of God, and shall we not re-
ceive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his
lips."^
Job's Three Friends. Then there were Job's
three friends who, hearing of the evil that had be-
fallen him, came to mourn with him and to comfort
him.
''So they sat down with him upon the ground
seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word
unto him : for they saw that his grief was very
great."^
Job was touched though he was not hurt. He ex-
claimed :
"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the
night in which it was said, There is a man child
conceived.
"Let that day be darkness ; let not God regard it
from above, neither let the light shine upon 1t."^
He regreited himself, he regretted the day of his
^Tob 2:4-7
^Tob2:9, 10.
f]oh 2:13.
^Job 3:3, 4.
368 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
birth and cursed it, but there was no trace in his
soul of anger against God. He bewails his own
misery; he longs for death for his own bodily relief:
''I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither
was I quiet; yet trouble came."^
His friends had listened; they had witnessed his
sorrow; now they would remind him of that old
Jewish law of retribution. They had perhaps heard
the prophets' warning to the people of the suffer-
ings and sorrows that would overtake them because
they had violated God's laws. The prophets had
'warned Israel against the time of God's judgment,
the time of retribution for their sins. Job must
have been a man of superior ability, a leader and
teacher. One of his three friends said:
"Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou
hast strengthened the weak hands.
"Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
and thou hast strengthened the feeble knee.
"But now it is come upon thee, and thou faint-
est; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
"Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope,
and the uprightness of thy ways?
"Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, be
ing innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
"Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
"By the blast of God they perish, and by the
breath of his nostrils are they consumed."*
^Job 3:26.
»Job 4:3-9.
JOB 369
Job's Vision. A vision now came to Job, which
he relates as follows :
'Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of
my flesh stood up :
"It stood still, but I could not discern the form
thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was
silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall
a man be more pure than His Maker?
"Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his
angels he charged with folly:
"How much less in them that dwell in houses of
clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are
crushed before the moth?
"They are destroyed from morning to evening:
they perish for ever without any regarding it.
"Doth not their excellency which is in them go
away? They die, even without wisdom."^
Eliphaz continued his argument with the afflicted
man. Was he blaming him, or was he arguing for
the consolation and comfort of his afflicted friend?
"Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,
neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
"Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly
upward."^
Again, he says :
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth :
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Al-
mighty."'
/Job 4:15-21.
nob:5:6. 7.
/Job 5:17.
370 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
To these arguments Job replied,
''Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and
my calamity laid in the balances together!"^
Job would have his sins weighed against. his ca-
lamities; he believed that the latter outweighed all
that he had done to offend Jehovah. The more he
feels the pangs of them, the more he talks about his
sorrows.
"For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit : the ter-
rors of God do set themselves in array against me.""
From this picture no doubt Shakespeare draws
wherein he speaks in Hamlet of the ''arrows of out-
rageous fortune.'' The more Job dwells upon his
sorrow, the more it grows upon his mind. From his
physical and mental sufferings that are real and
great, he goes on to imaginary ones that are greater
still, and haunt him all the more.
"What is my strength, that I should hope? and
what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?"^
He further reproves his friend when he says :
'^Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the
speeches of one that is desperate, which are as
wind?"^
An Admonition. Here is a striking admonition
to those who pick up the words of a man in desper-
ation or in trouble, or words that are spoken lightly,
and harp upon them. Against words of no moment
'wjob 6:2.
wjob 6:4.
^Tob 6:11.
PJoh 6:26.
JOB 371
thoughtlessly spoken, a valiant opponent never ad-
dresses himself. He that would be fair in argument,
honorable and above petty contention, goes to the
substance and depth of the reasons advanced by
his opponent. Job became weary of his friends'
arguments :
"How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let
me alone till I swallow down my spittle?"^
This is a very common figure of speech even
among the Arabs today, who ask you to wait a
moment.
Addressing his God, he asks,
"I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou
preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark
against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
"And why dost thou not pardon my transgres-
sion, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I
sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the
morning, but I shall not be.''''
Why did God trouble Himself so much about an
inconsequential man, for Job felt in his distress as
the children of God generally feel when they are
overwhelmed by the littleness of their position in
life, their unworthiness in the purposes of God.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Who was Job?
2. Of whom did the family of Job consist?
3. Relate the conversations of Satan respecting Job.
4. What was Job's answer to his wife?
5. What was the argument of Job's friend Eliphaz?
^Job 7:19.
^-Job 7:20, 21.
372 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. To what extent if any has Satan power over the lives
of mein?
2. What is the relationship betwee.n sorrows and punish-
ment?
NOTES
1. Professor R. G. Moulton hais expressed his belief that
if a jury of persons well instructed in literature were em-
paneled to pronounce upon the question what is the greatest
poem in the world's great literature, a large majority would
give their verdict in favor of the book of Job. A few judg-
ments are worth recalling. Luther thought Job ''magnificent
and sublime as no other book of Scripture." — Strahan.
The greatest poem of ancient or modern times. — Tennyson.
The whole language, both of the book of Job and the Ser-
mon on the Mount, gives precisely the view of nature which
is taken by the uninvestigating affection of a humble, but
powerful mind. — Ruskin.
I call it, apart from all theories about it, one of the grand-
est things ever written with pen. — Carlyle.
2. If we exclude disciplinary suffering as being simply
a natural extension of penal or retributive, then we may say
that the Old Testament offers five different attitudes to the
problem of the suffering of the innocent (with the related
fact of experience, the prosperity of the wicked). These
five attitudes in logical, though not chronological, order, are:
(1) Wait! (2) There may be life beyond death for the
righteous ; (3) Life is a dark mystery; (4) Life is a bright
mystery of a Divine purpose higher than our grasp; (5)
The suffering of the innocent may avail for the guilty. The
variety of these suggestions shows how widely the problem
was felt, as their fruitfulness shows its intensity. We might
almost write a history of Old Testament religioin around the
simple account of its development.
It is clear that the second, fourth, and fifth of these atti-
tudes or solutions mark a real advance for religion. Besides
the fundamental conception of suffering as penal and disci-
plinary, which continues to hold its proper, if partial, place
in any moral view of the world, there is (a) the reminder
that the portion of life we see is incomplete, and affords no
sufficient test and manifestation of disinterested religion;
and (2) the conviction of its atoning value for others. —
Wheeler Robinson.
CHAPTER 36
JOB (Continued)
Chapters 8-42
In parts superior what advantage lies?
Tell (for you can) what is it to be wise?
'Tis but to know how little can be known;
To see all others' faults, and feel our own.
— Pope.
Now comes Job's third friend, Bildad.
''Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Al-
mighty pervert justice?
'Tf thy children have sinned against him, and he
have cast them away for their transgression;
'Tf thou wouldest seek unto God betime, and
make thy supplication to the Almighty;
'Tf thou were pure and upright; surely now he
would awake for thee, and make the habitation of
thy righteousness prosperous."^
Not much consolation in that; nor do his further
observations about God's ways give Job any com-
fort:
''Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man,
neither will he help the evil doers. "^
Job has a terrible burden to bear. He must an-
swer the questions that come from the depth of his
^Job 8:2-6.
Hob 8:20.
374 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
afflictions. He questions God and replies to his
friends,
"I -know it is so of a truth : but how should man
be just with God? * * *
"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall con-
demn me : if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove
me perverse.
"Though I were perfect, yet would I not know
my soul : I would despise my life."^
He has put himself, as far as mortal can, in the
place of God, and undertakes to reason about
what God does from what he would do in his ^lak
er's place. Finally he concludes that one thing is
certain: "He destroveth the perfect and the wick-
ed."
Notice in this controversy between Job and his
friends how diflferent the afflicted man speaks when
he addresses his Maker. ]Men speak to men some-
times in a spirit of frivolity, sometimes thought-
lessly, without regard to their foolish ways in the
minds of others. When men address their Maker,
notice their great deliberation, their sincerity, their
earnestness, their humility in their appeal for wis-
dom.
Job Addresses the Lord. ''^ly soul is weary of
my life: I will leave m}^ complaint upon myself: I
will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
"I will say unto God. Do not condemn me : shew
me wherefore thou contendest with me.
"Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress.
Job 9:2. 20, 21.
JOB 375
that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands,
and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
''Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man
seeth?
''Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years
as man's days,
"That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and
searchest after my sin? * * *
"Thine hands have made me and fashioned me
together round about : yet thou dost destroy
me. 5i^ ^ *
"Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and
curdled me like cheese? ^ ^ ^
"If I be wicked, woe unto me : and if I be right-
eous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of
confusion ; therefore see thou mine affliction."^
These friends of Job were no ordinarv men.
They had evidentl}' been the companions of his
words and thoughts. They were worthv of his
association, and their companionship must have
been esteemed by him. The third one comes on
and asks :
"Canst thou by searching find out God? canst
thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
"It is as high as heaven: what canst thou do!^
deeper than hell; what canst thou know?"^
Peculiar Philosophy. Closing with the oecu^iar
philosophy of those early days, the third friend
savs.
^lob 10:L-<^. 8. 10. 15.
^Tob 11:7. 8.
Z16 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they
shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giv-
ing up of the ghost. "^
Job has grown weary. Such philosophy does not
help him. He becomes sarcastic, skeptical of the
wisdom of his friends :
''No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom
shall die with you.
"But I have understanding as well as you; I am
not inferior to you ; yea, who knoweth not such
things as these?
"I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who call-
eth upon God, and he answereth him : the just up-
right man is laughed to scorn.
"He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a
lamp despised in the thought of him that is at
ease.''^
What a wonderful admonition is contained in
those last words ! How ready are those who stand
at ease to despise those whose steps falter, or who
slip on the pavements ! Note what Job says of the
wicked:
"The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they
that provoke God are secure ; into whose hand God
bringeth abundantly.
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach
thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell
thee."^
/Job 11:20.
i^Job 12:2-5.
Vob 12:6, 7.
JOB 377
May as well ask them, for man cannot answer
these great problems of his life. He may speculate
about them, he may pray about them, but they are
problems with which man has wrestled from his
earliest existence; they are problems unsolved, and
await the great final day of God's judgment, when
Jehovah's purposes may, let us hope, be revealed in
a fuller light, than we see them today.
Job is Weary. Job's friends have wearied him ;
he needed comfort; it was God's mercies which
his soul craved, God's loving kindness that was
needed to heal his affliction; it was not argument;
it was not reason. How often it happens in life that
men believe they can help us if their reasons are
strong and their arguments difficult to answer!
How often we speak to the ears of men when their
ears are closed, but their hearts opened! How
prone men are in a spirit of desperation to argue
their case before God, to question His ways and
His judgments ! But the arguments of men do not
reach him ; to him their wisdom is of little conse-
quence. He wants his children to trust him, and
by trusting him, learn to love Him. Such a spirit
takes hold upon Job, and he says, from the fulness
of his heart,
''Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. * *
''He also shall be my salvation : for a hypocrite
shall not come before him."*
The thought of his own sins did not leave Job.
»7ob 13:15, 16.
378 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
From his youth he has grown in the spirit of perfec-
tion. Is it possible that the Lord remembers the
follies of his youth? He confesses them:
'Tor thou writest bitter things against me, and
makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
''Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and
lookest narrowly unto all my paths ; thou settest a
print upon the heels of my feet.
"And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a gar-
ment that is motheaten."-^
In the same spirit David appeals to the tender
mercy and loving kindness of the Lord :
"Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my
transgressions: according to thy mercy remember
thou me for thy goodness's sake, O Lord."^
Job continues to ask of his friends,
"Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your
consolations.
"Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I
have spoken, mock on.
"As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it
were so, wh)/^ should not my spirit be troubled?"'
Job Appeals to God. Job gets little satisfaction
from his friends, neither do arguments bring him
consolation or assurance. These arguments go on
apparently day after day. Finally Job appeals to
his God; he endeavors to put himself in the place of
God ; he reasons about the wonderful works of God
iTob 13:26-28.
^Psalms 25:7.
Oob 21:2-4.
JOB 379
ind concludes that if the handiworks of God are far
)eyond his comprehension, how is it possible for
lim to understand them. Job examines his own
leart:
'*I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then
ihould I think upon a maid?
''For what portion of God is there from above?
md what inheritance of the Almighty from on
lisfh p * * *
''If mine heart have been deceived by a woman,
)r if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;
"Then let my wife grind unto another, and let
)thers bow down upon her. ^ ^ ^
"For destruction from God was a terror to me,
md by reason of his highness I could not endure.
"If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the
ine gold. Thou art my confidence ;
"If I rejoiced because my wealth w^as great, and
)ecause mine hand had gotten much. * * *
"This also were an iniquity to be punished by the
udge: for I should have denied the God that is
bove.''^
He then speaks about the hospitality of his home,
nd claims that he did right in spite of any fear of
he multitude. Finally he exclaims :
"Oh that one would hear me ! behold, my desire
5, that the Almighty would answer me, and that
nine adversary had written a book."""
Here book means a scroll, a manuscript, so to
^"Tob31:l, 2, 9, 10, 23, 24, 25, 28.
''Job 31:35.
380 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Speak, an indictment, setting forth those things of
which he was accused. This passage of Scripture
is often misquoted, for it has no reference to the
adversary of Christ, or the enemy of His work.
Elihu Speaks. There enters then into this con-
troversy another and younger man, Elihu, who
waited while his elders were in disputation with the
wise man ; he had shown respect to his elders by his
hesitation :
^'I said, Days should speak, and multitude of
years should teach wisdom.
''But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration
of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
''Great men are not always wise : neither do the
aged understand judgment.
"Therefore I said, Hearken to me; I also will
shew mine opinion."^
The Lord Answers Job. But these opinions,
these reasons and these arguments of his fellow
men did not help Job to solve the problem of his
sorrows. Finally, the Lord answers Job out of the
whirlwind :
"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge?
"Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will de-
mand of thee, and answer thou me.
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of
the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
^Job 32:7-10.
JOB 381
''Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou
knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
''Whereupon are the foundations thereof fas-
tened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
"When the morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy?"^
The Lord here makes reference to Job in his
primeval childhood. Jehovah shows him how little
he knows of the wonderful creations of his Maker.
Man is willing to yield to the laws of nature and
accept punishment when he knows those laws have
been violated by him. Here then, he may not com-
plain against God, whose purposes he cannot un-
derstand, and whose ways are only in small part re-
vealed to man's understanding.
Job's Need. What Job needs, what all men need,
is the spirit of appreciation, — appreciation of the
wonderful handiwork of God. It is appreciation
that gives such a wonderful value to life. One
ounce of appreciation, properly bestowed, is worth
a ton of gold. And Job must learn what every man
must understand before he comes to wisdom or
reaches happiness, — that he must appreciate his
Maker. Finally the wise man submits himself to
God.
"I know that thou canst do every thing, and that
no thought can be withholden from thee. *
"Who is he that hideth counsel without knowl-
edge? therefore have I uttered that I understood
PJoh 38:2-7.
382 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew
not."^
Job was commanded to make an offering.
"Then came there unto him all his brethren, and
all his sisters, and all they that had been of his ac-
quaintance before, and did eat bread with him in
his house : and they bemoaned him, and comforted
him over all the evil that the Lord had brought
upon him : every man also gave him a piece of
money, and every one an earring of gold.
''So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more
than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand
sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand
yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
"He had also seven sons and three daughters.
"And he called the name of the first, Jemima;
and the name of the second Kezia; and the name of
the third, Keren-happuch.
"And in all the land were no women found so fair
as the daughters of Job : and their father gave them
inheritance among their brethren.
"After this lived Job a hundred and forty years,
and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four
generations.
"So Job died, being old and full of days."''
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the argument of Job's third friend, Bildad?
2. How does ease endanger our judgments and mercy?
^Job 42:2, 3.
^'Job 42:11-17.
JOB 383
3. Job is willing to accept death but not condemnation.
Why?
4. Does God oppress men for His, God's, good? Why?
5. Does wisdom die with the people? Explain.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Job says: ''Though I were perfect, yet would I not
know my soul." Explain.
2. Job, addressing God, asks: "Hast thou eyes of fl^esh, or
seest thou as man seeth?" To what extent may we suppose
that God places himself in man's positioin and understand-
ing when He imparts divine wisdom?
NOTE
1. Prosperity, enjoyment, happiness, comfort, peace, what-
ever be the name by which we designate that state in which
life is to our own selves pleasant and delightful, as long as
they are sought or prized as things essential, so far have they
a tendency to disennoble our nature, and are a sign that we
are still in s.ervitude to selfishness. Only when they lie out-
iside us, as ornaments merely to be worn or laid aside as God
pleases — only then may such things be possessed with impun-
ity. Job's heart in early times had clung to them more than
he knew, but now he was purged clean, and they were be-
stow^ed because he had ceased to need them. — Froude.
2. When this world's pleasures for my soul sufficed.
Ere my heart's plummet sounded depths of pain,
I called on reason to control my brain,
And scoffed at that old story of the Christ.
But when o'er burning wastes my feet had trod,
And all my life was desolate with loss,
With bleeding hands I clung about the croiss,
A,nd cried aloud, ''Man ineeds a suffering God!"
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
CHAPTER 37
PSALMS
Characteristics. Whenever we have progressed
sufficiently in the question of dependence and in the
knowledge of our own weakness and in the needs
of divine aid, there is nothing more pleasing to the
thoughts and feelings of men than to study the
book of Psalms. There is something in these songs
of David that gives them an eternal freshness.
There is something in them that touches our lives
where our experiences are deepest and tenderest.
There is, too, about the Psalms, such a diversity
of joys, loves, hopes, fears, confidences and sor-
rows, remorse and sadness, that we may, if we seek
these sacred songs, find comfort and consolation.
They are the repairers of men's broken souls. They
are the spirit of the lowly, and the consolation of
the repentant sinner. Some were read in the con-
gregations of the people, and some were sung in
the temple of worship.
The Psalms, too, lead us into lives of apprecia-
tion. From them we gain the joy that comes from
the praises we utter to Jehovah. Through the
Psalms of David we are made to feel some divine
joy in the unhappiest moods to which human life
is given. The Psalms, too, are the companions of
solitude. They point out the way to self-rectifica-
tion, and help us enjoy communion with God. It is
not possible in this life to meet its temptations, its
PSALMS 385
difficulties, and its troubles without wounding our
souls. -To heal the wounds with which life afflicts
us, there is a great help in the repetition of the
sweet and comforting words of the Psalms of an-
cient Israel.
The Psalms were not all the work of David. They
refer to the Babylonian captivity long after his
death. Two are ascribed to Solomon, twelve to
Asaph, and one, the 19th, to Moses.
A Contrast. The opening Psalm reads :
''Blessed is the man that walketh not in the coun-
sel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sin
ners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
'*But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and
in his law doth he meditate day and night.
''And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper.
"The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away.
"Therefore the ungoldly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous.
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous ;
but the .way of the ungodly shall perish."^
The Greatness of the Creator. "When I consider
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained;
^Ps. 1:1-6.
25
386 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and
the son of man, that thou visitest him?
"For thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.
''Thou madest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under
his feet/'^
The Happiness of Those Who Are Forgiven. —
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
"Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord im-
puteth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no
guile.
"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 is turned into the drought of sum-
mer. Selah.
"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine in-
iquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
"For this shall every one that is godly pray unto
thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely
in the floods of great waters they shall not come
nigh unto him.
"Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve
me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with
songs of deliverance. Selah. * * *
"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he
^Ps. 8:3-6.
PSALMS 387
that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him
about.
''Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice ye righteous:
and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. "^
Rewards and Punishment. The Psalmist has
warned us against the wicked, to whom are imputed
prosperity. He does not explain the reason for it;
he does the only wise thing to do; he leaves them
to the Lord, and puts himself in harmony with the
divine will. Quoting Psalm 37:
"Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither
be thou envious against the workers of iniquity:
"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
and wither as the green herb. * * *
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him :
fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in
his way. * * *
"For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not
l)e ; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and
it shall not be. * * *
"I have been young, and now am old ; yet have I
not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg-
ging bread. * * *
"I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree.
"Yet he passed away, and lo, he w^as not; yea, I
sought him, but he could not be found.
"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:
for the end of that man is peace. "^
c Ps. 32:1-7: 10,11.
^Ps. 37:1,2,7,10,25,35-37.
386 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
The Cry of Sin. A Psalm of David after Nathan
the Prophet had rebuked the king for his sin against
Uriah:
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy
lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of
thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
"Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin.
"For I acknowledge my transgressions ; and my
sin is ever before me.
"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done
this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou
judgest.
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did
my mother conceive me.
"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts :
and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know
wisdom.
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
"Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine
iniquities.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a
right spirit within me.
"Cast me not away from thy presence; and take
not thy holy spirit from me.
"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold me with thy free spirit:
PSALMS 389
''Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and
sinners shall be converted unto thee.
"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou
God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing
aloud of thy righteousness.
''O Lord, open thou my lips ; and my mouth shall
shew forth thy praise.
"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give
it : thou delightest not in burnt offering.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise,
"Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build
thou the walls of Jerusalem.
"Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of
righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt
offering; then shall they offer bullocks upon thine
altar."^
This is sometimes said to be the most universally
read of the Psalms. It is certainly one of the most
beautiful, and is here given in full.
The 137th Psalm depicts the sadness of the Jews
in Babylon, and it is one of the most universally
quoted of the Psalms.
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion;
"We hanged our harps upon the willows in the
midst thereof.
"For there they that carried us away captive re-
quired of us a song: and they that wasted us, re-
^Pg 51,
390 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
quired of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs
of Zion.
''How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land?
''If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning.
"If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem
above my chief joy."^
Note — As chapters 37 and 38 are given for meditation and
discussion, no review questions are attached.
/Ps. 137:1-6.
CHAPTER 38
PROVERBS
Character of the Proverbs. One of the most
widely quoted books of the Old Testament is the
Proverbs of Solomon. They may contain more
than the sayings of this wise man. Whether he col-
lected them or not, they represent to us the wisdom
of the age chiefly subsequent to his time. When
the Hebrews came in contact with the Greeks, it
was the boast of the former that their wisdom
greatly exceeded the knowledge of the Greeks.
During an age when the heavens were said to be
as brass, and the word of the Lord was not had
among the people, the Hebrews rejoiced, neverthe-
less in the wisdom of Solomon. Proverbs became,
in a measure, a substitute for inspiration and pro-
phetical declaration. They represented the pru-
dence, the wisdom, which God, through inspiration,
had imparted to men. It is sometimes said that the
teachings of Solomon were very distinct from those
of Christ, and that the latter taught love while the
former taught prudence ; but after all, do not pru-
dence and wisdom originate in love? The proverbs,
at any rate, were an excellent preparation for the
coming of the Son of Man, and aided the Jews in
receiving His teachings when carried to them by
His early followers, the Apostles.
The Phraseology of the Proverbs. The method
392 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
of expression which we find in the Proverbs is
something peculiar to Asiatic nations. They are
all more or less a meditative people. Their silences
are broken in expressions of wonder and admiration
and love for the things that for months and years
may have absorbed their souls. There is an ele-
gance of expression in these proverbs. There is an
acuteness and directness that are stimulating and
convincing. They afford the reader an excellent
opportunity for deliberation, and they deal in such
a way with the practical affairs of life that he who
misses them has lost the guide post to the best
chosen road of success in life.
The Asiatics are moralists ; their literature is full
of such ethical expressions as are found in the Book
of Proverbs, which is the best book of the kind ever
written. To the wise men of course these proverbs
were a source of great inspiration, and it is said by
some that they found matters of wisdom of more
application among the Greeks than with the He-
brews. Yet the Greeks called all who were not
of their race, barbarians.
The Book of Proverbs a Balance Wheel. One
who has read the political history of the Jews would
obtain a very imperfect judgment of their character
and of their lives, unless he read in correction of
that judgment the Book of Proverbs. It is a kind
of balance wheel. It shows up the religion and
morality of the people, who constantly quoted the
sayings of Solomon in public and private life. That
was an age of memory, and the knowledge of men
PROVERBS 393
was measured by the extent and quality of their
quotations.
Proverbs was a book not only of inspiration, but
of information. Many scholars of those days learned
to repeat from memory every v^ord of their wise
men, and the Book of Proverbs did much to educate
the motives that actuated the Jews from the days of
their return down to the time of the coming of the
Son of Man. It is impossible to understand the
character, the aspirations, the hopes of that remark-
able people without a knowledge of those great sen-
timents that swayed the nation in the hours of both
its prosperity and its adversity.
A Day of Reckoning. The Proverbs are full of
warnings that there are peculiar days in the lives of
men as of nations — days of reckoning. They teach
that God hath ordained times and seasons when
men and nations shall harvest the fruits, bitter or
sweet, that come from their conduct in life. But
there are days of good, and there are days of evil,
and it shall be given to men to receive the days of
good with understanding hearts, and to escape the
days of evil that torment the lives of men.
"The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea,
even the wicked for the day of evil."^
Intimacy of God. There is one beautiful char-
acteristic about the Book of Proverbs, which creates
intimacy between man and God. It is not a feeling
of fear, awe, admiration, and wonderment; it is a
feeling of companionship, friendship, personal asso-
^Prov. 16:4.
394 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
ciation, and fraternal good-will. It is impossible,
perhaps, to feel this intimacy between man and God
without a belief in a primeval existence. When a
people become strongly imbued with the thought
that there existed between man and God a personal
relationship prior to the creation, they are more
fully prepared for his companionship in life.
"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his
way, before his works of old. * * *
"When there were no depths, I was brought
forth; when there were no fountains abounding
with water. * * *
"Then I was by him, as one brought up with him ;
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before
him :
"Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth ; and
my delights were with the sons of men."^
What a revelation of the great principle that the
brotherhood of man is something more than an
earthly condition. Brotherhood was a delight, a
necessity for the happiness and joy of human ex-
istence. The further we get from that brother-
hood the sadder life becomes to us. Are we trying
today to establish the belief that we have within us
the needed means of our spiritual subsistence and
our joy? There can be no delight in self-sufifi-
ciency, no satisfaction in our separation from the
sons of God.
Warnings of the Proverbs. The Proverbs were
^^Prov. 8:22,24,30,31,
PROVERBS 395
full of warning. The young man in the first chap-
ter was asked to stop and listen:
''My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and
forsake not the law of thy mother;
'Tor they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy
head, and chains about thy neck.
"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
"If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for
blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without
cause. '''^
How foolish it is in the young to be boastful of
their vain innocence, innocence which they feel
they have themselves alone the power to protect.
The young are also warned in the same chapter
against the selfishness of youth, against its greedy
ambitions :
"So are the ways of every one that is greedy of
gain; which taketh away the life of the owners
thereof."^
It is owing to the fullness of our life that we are
unable to enjoy what we possess. If we possess a
gain which we are unable to enjoy, of what happi-
ness or benefit is it? Is it a gain to us? It is what
the man of proverbs calls an "unjust gain.''
The wise man warns against unchastity:
"Keep my commandments, and live; and my law
as the apple of thine eye.
"Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon
the table of thine heart.
^Prov. 1:8-11.
^Prov. 1:19,
396 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call
understanding thy kinswoman:
"That they may keep thee from the strange wom-
an, from the stranger which flattereth with her
words. "^
Lessons of Wisdom. The ancients, in the wise
sayings of Solomon, were taught the laws of the
higher freedom of life. They were taught how to
avoid the adversary, and to be free from those who
rule over the conduct of man :
''Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and
the opening of my lips shall be right things.
"For my mouth shall speak truth; and wicked-
ness is an abomination to my lips.
"All the words of my mouth are in righteous-
ness; there is nothing froward or perverse in
them."^
Let men eschew the things which God hates, for
Proverbs tells us that:
"These six things doth the Lord hate ; yea, seven
are an abomination unto him :
"A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood,
"An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
"A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren.''^
These are seven things every man should lay to
^Prov. 7:2-5.
fFrov. 8:6-8.
?Prov, 6:16-19,
PROVERBS 197
heart, that he be guilty of none of them. How
shall he lay them to heart, except he repeat them
and so impress them upon both his mind and his
feelings that they become a part of those heart-
felt incentives which we call the true emotions of
life?
Lessons of Obedience. Nothing stands out more
prominently in the exhortations of the wise man
than the benefit that comes from keeping scrupu-
lously the laws of obedience :
*'I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst
of the paths of judgment:
''That I may cause those that love me to inherit
substance; and I will fill their treasures."^
Discretion. Christ has said that we should not
cast pearls before swine. How difficult it is to un-
derstand the law of discretion. What a troublous
thing to us the unruly member sometimes becomes :
"The wise in heart will receive commandments:
but a prating fool shall fall.
''He that walketh uprightly walketh surely; but
he that perverteth his ways shall be known. * * *
"In the lips of him that hath understanding wis-
dom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that
is. void of understanding.
"Wise men lay up knowledge : but the mouth of
the foolish is near destruction.
"The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the de-
struction of the poor is their poverty.
^Prov. 8:19,20.
398 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
''The labor of the righteous tendeth to life: the
fruit of the wicked to sin/''
''Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee : rebuke
a wise man, and he will love thee/'-^
"He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that
taketh a city."
"A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips
are the snare of his soul. * * *
"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
and before honor is humility.
"He that answereth a matter before he heareth
it, it is shame and folly unto him.''^
Miscellaneous Proverbs. "Love not sleep, lest
thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou
shalt be satisfied with bread. "^
Too much sleep is the companion of idleness;
when once the needs of life are duly satisfied, more
is a danger. It misleads us.
"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait
on the Lord, and he shall save thee.'""
"He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man; he
that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.""
"The horse is prepared against the day of battle;
but safety is of the Lord."''
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great
»Prov. 10:8-9, 13-16.
/Prov. 9:8.
^Prov. 18:7, 12, 13.
^Prov. 20:13.
^Prov. 20:22.
"Prov. 21:17
^Prov. 21:31.
PROVERBS 399
riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.
"The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is
the maker of them all.
''A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth
himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
''By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches,
and honor, and life. * * h^
''The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrov^er
is servant to the lender.
"He that sow^eth iniquity shall reap vanity; and
the rod of his anger shall fail.''^
Note — As chapters Zl and 38 are given for meditation and
discussion, no review questio,ns are attached.
PVxov. 22:1-4,7,8.
CHAPTER 39
THE GREEK AND ROMAN PERIOD
''A God all mercy is a God unjust."
Jewish Peculiarities. The return of the Jews to
Palestine marked a change in Jewish life whose
peculiarities have survived in a large part down to
the present. The exile had showed them the futil-
ity of becoming or even of attempting to become
like any other people. The history of ancient Israel
before the exile is the story of Israel's segregation
— the making of a peculiar people.
The exile completed the process of moulding a
people into a system of laws and form of worship
which should ever after distinguish them from all
others. They were taken out of the harmony which
belongs to the natural trend of life, and made to
know that the ''natural man is an enemy to God."
They were not only to be made unlike any other
people, but they were also to be made unlike them-
selves.
From that time, throughout the many centuries
to the present, they have been considered obstinate,
stubborn, inharmonious and obsolete, without
knowing it. Unlike the world at large, they have
been without shifting ideals. They are worshipers,
in the general estimate of civilized nations, of an
old fashioned God. They are therefore out of the
social and economic, as well as the religious fashion
of modern times.
THE GREEK AND ROMAN PERIOD 401
Jewish Isolation. The process of absorption of
such a people became impossible. When the Tews
returned to Palestine they were scattered. Many
preferred to remain in the solitary regions about, to
avoid the dangers that belonged to besieged cities.
The Jews never recovered such a political solidarity
as they had before the exile. They were not only
scattered in their own land, but also in the sur-
rounding nations. It was difficult to conceal their
race identity, and they therefore suffered wherever
they went.
Their resistance became an individual, rather
than a national, quality. They could not hope for
national protection, and therefore sought protection
in the law, the law which Moses had delivered to
their forefathers, and which contained promises of
divine intervention in their behalf. Such a law
they could respect more than ever because its ful-
fillment was easily traced in their own history.
Greek Intervention. Between them and the
Greeks with whom they immediately after their re-
turn came into contact, there was a conflict respect-
ing the law of Jehovah and Greek philosophy.
Philosophy lay along the line of least resistance, the
line so universally traveled. One teaches respon-
sibility to man, chiefly man's own self, the other,
responsibility to God. The latter responsibility
was outlined in the law of Moses, the highest and
most difficult law man has ever attempted to live.
The Spread of the Law. The scattered Jews in all
western Asia and Egypt were organized into con-
26
402 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES.
gregations, schooled by reading and interpreting
the law. The law was made a substitute for the
living oracles of David's time. Daniel and others
in exile became ideal types of devotion. Thus the
Jews and Greeks came face to face in a struggle
which lasted down to the time of the Master.
Greece was a small country, and its people were
early in their national life drawn into commercial
enterprises that made them the sailors and mer-
chants of those times. Trade had sharpened their
wits; made them aggressive; and at the same time
unscrupulous and immoral. Their religion, fos-
tered by acts of bravery and adventure, consisted
largely of heroism, and their gods were their ideals
of valor and power.
Spread of the Greeks. They soon overran western
Asia and Egypt and came in contact with the Per-
sians whom the)^ conquered. Alexander, in his con-
quests of Persia, also subjected the Egyptians and
Jews to his rule. After his death, in 333 B. C., his
kingdom was divided among his six generals.
Two of these divisions, which included Syria,
north of Palestine, and Egypt, south of it, are im-
portant in Jewish history. Egypt fell to the Ptole-
mies and Syria to the Seleucids, and between them
there grew up fierce conflicts for the possession of
Palestine. The Jews, however, were poor, and
their treasures did not excite the cupidity of their
captives.
At first they enjoyed considerable religious free-
dom. Their exile and the scattering to which they
THE GREEK AND ROMAN PERIOD 403
had been subjected did much to make out of them
a commercial people, and competition with the
Greeks passed into rivalry, hatred, and national
enmities, which have continued down to our own
times.
The Rise of the Maccabees. Unfortunately for
the Jews, class distinctions between the rich and
poor gave rise to animosities that made the inroad
of foreign customs and thought easy. The poor
soon fell under oppression. They were the peas-
ants of the land (fellaheen), the owners of cattle
and such live stock as made it easy to fix the heavier
burdens of taxes upon them.
Their rich brethren, to be in fashion, — up to date,
— fraternized with the Greeks, whose pleasure lov-
ing habits made them congenial to those Jews who
grew indifferent to the law and preferred to com-
promise their religious convictions for the sake of
harmony in a pleasure-loving age.
The oppression of the poor may be readily com-
prehended from the nature of the taxes collected
in those times. They consisted of one-third the
grain, one-half the fruit, and then there were poll
taxes. For public work, enforced labor could be
required, the so-called corvee. The military au-
thorities had the right to seize horses and cattle
for war uses. There were crown taxes and temple
taxes. In addition, the people had their religious
obligations to meet.
They were sorely afflicted. Hard as these bur-
dens were, they were borne till their religious
404 OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES.
rights were denied them, and they suffered insults
through the determination of the rulers to enforce
upon the Jews certain pagan rites.
The Wars of the Maccabees. The hog was an
unclean animal. Its use in ritual service was the
most debasing condition the Jews could suffer.
Certain Jews were ordered to assemble at Modein.
Here a Syrian ofificial set 'up a heathen altar on
which he ordered an aged priest to offer up a hog
as a burnt offering.
The priest, Mattathias, refused, and when an
apostate Jew came forward to perform the service,
the aged priest slew both him and the Syrian offi-
cial. Mattathias and his sons, John, Simon, Judas,
Eleazar, and Jonathan, thereupon fled to the moun-
tains, where they received followers and began
guerilla warfare, which finally resulted in a tem-
porary victory.
After the death of the father, Judas became their
leader and began what were called the wars of the
Maccabees, or Asmaneans, as they are also called.
The word Maccabee signifies "the extinguisher."
The zealous defenders of the law in the beginning
refused to fight on the Sabbath, and were almost
annihilated.
For a long time the Jews were in just as troub-
lous times as those in which they suffered before
the exile. During these sanguinary wars the faith
of the Jews had been saved, and the warriors had
been nerved to the great deeds they performed in a
large measure by the example of Daniel and the
THE GREEK AND ROMAN PERIOD 405
other Hebrew children. It was during these times
that the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadduccees grew
to be such powerful organizations among the Jews,
a condition that continued until the coming of the
Savior.
At last the Jews made peace with Rome. In
those days Rome was fighting against the greater
nations and was always glad to make treaties with
the territories of great nations, as it afforded that
growing empire excuses for meddling at first, and
afterwards for fighting. Word came finally from
Rome to the Syrians that the latter were not to
trouble the people of Jerusalem.
The Romans came rapidly into power, when once
their conquest of Western Asia began; but under
them the Jews fared better than they had under the
Greeks. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans may
be said to have been a religious people. Their
worship was subordinate to their rule, and the
Romans were very generous in allowing each of the
nations that came under their domination to wor-
ship as it saw fit.
The Romans, however, were oppressive, — they
were tax-gatherers, and held in certain disdain all
subjected races. But Western Asia at this time
was seething in an atmosphere of discontent. The
different races and peoples were at civil discord one
with another. Local hatreds and jealousies often
gave the Romans a great deal of trouble.
It was during their administration of the govern-
ment of Palestine that the Messiah made His ad-
406
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES.
vent. He found His fellow countrymen in a state
of stubborn resistance. They were suffering from
a malady from which they saw no road to recovery.
They were looking for a Deliverer, and when He
came they crucified Him. With Christ came the
breaking down of the civilizations that were in ex-
istence at the meridian of time, and the early begin-
ning of the civilization that was to characterize our
modern age.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
i. How long were the Jews in exile?
2. What effect did the exile have upon the Jews?
3. What gave rise to the great emphasis which the Jews
put upon the law after their return from Babylon?
4. Ill what condition did the Jews find Palestine upon
their return from exile?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Name some of the chief differences between the law
of the Jews and the philosophy of the Greeks.
2. From what part of the cou.ntry did the settlement of
the Jews extend after the return of a remnant of them?
3. What was the original home of the Greeks?
4. Over what countries did the conquests of Alexander
extend?
5. Who were the Maccabees?
INDEX
Abner supports SauFs house,
48; turns to David, 49; re-
turns JJavid's wife Michal,
49; killed by Joab, 49.
Absalom kills Ammon and
flees; plots against his
father, 60; sins with his
father's wives, 61; revolts
and is slain, 62.
Achish, Philistine king, har-
bors David, Zl \ sends him
to war, Zl \ refuses his help,
40.
Adonijah claims throne, 69;
surrenders to Solomon, 70;
wants to marry Abishhag,
71; dies, 72.
Ahab, wicked king, 117;
warned by Elijah, 117; is
rebuked by Elijah, 121;
covets Naboth's vineyard,
130; doomed to death by
Elijah, 130; humbles him-
self, 131; alliance witli
Judah, 131; assembles 400
false prophets, 131; hates
Micaiah the prophet, 132;
meets death, 134; his house
destroyed, 153.
Ahasuerus, king of Persia,
343; feast, 344; commands
Queen Vashti, 344; she dis-
obeys and is humiliated,
344-5; he chooses Esther,
345; learns of Mordecai's
service, 353; plans to re-
ward him, 354; decrees that
Jews may protect them-
selves, 357.
;\haz, ki,ng of Judah, wicked,
175; establishes Moloch,
burns his sons, 175; as-
sailed by foes, 175; asks
Assyria for help, 176; dese-
crates temple, 177.
Ahaziah, son of Ahab, suc-
ceeds him, 134; falls, is sick
and sends messengers to
false god to ask if he will
recover, 136; Elijah tells
them king will die, 136;
king sends fifty soldiers to
Elijah and fire from heaven
consumes them, 137; sec-
ond company of fifty meets
same fate; third company
spared, 137; krng dies, 137;
smitten and dies, 154.
Ahijah, the prophet promises
Jereboam ten tribes, 98.
Ahimelech, the priest, gives
shew bread to David, 29;
he and his family are slain
by Saul, 29.
Amalekites to have been de-
stroyed by Saul, 9; Agag,
their king, destroyed, 11.
Amaziah, king of Judah,
takes census of Judah and
Benjamin, 171; warned by
man of God, 171; worships
false gods, put to death,
172.
Amos the prophet, 187; his
teachings, 188-9.
A.ncient natio,ns, 228, 266-7.
Ark ,of the Covenant sent to
Jerusalem, ,51; Uzzah
struck dead for putting his
hand to it, 52: David
danced before it, 52; put in
temple, 88.
408
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Asa, good king, reigns 41
years, 115; removes idols,
115; makes league with
king of Syria and is re-
buked by the prophet Ha-
inan!; dies, 115.
Assyrians menace Te,n Tribes,
167; alliance with Ahaz,
177; lead Ten Tribes away
captive, 182.
Athaliah seizes throne of
Israel, 156; destroys her
son's house and rules Ju-
dah, 156; is put to death,
156. i
Baal, worship ,of, 196.
Baasha, king of Israel, de-
stroys house of Jeroboam,
116; does evil and is suc-
ceeded by his son Elah.
Babylon, 182; religion of, 184.
Bathsheba bore Solomon, 57;
intercedes with David for
Solomon, 69.
Bciujamin, weakest tribe, 1;
joins Judah, 102; returns
from Babylon with Judah,
299.
Belshazzar, king of Babylo-n,
292; writing on the wall,
292; interpreted by Daniel,
292-3; slain, 293.
Book of Mormon, quoted,
299.
Chaldeans, 223.
Channing, quoted, 102.
Chroinology, 81.
Cyrus, king of Persia, 276;
deliverer of the Jews, 277;
praised by Isaiah, 279; wise
monarch, 279; returns Jews
from Babylon to Jerusa-
lem; plans to rebuild tem-
ple; restores its vessels of
gold, 3'00.
D
David, sent for by Samuel,
15; anointed king, 16; plays
harp for Saul, 17; offers to
fight Goliath, 18; slays him,
20; friendship for Jonathan,
20,21; made king's stand-
ard-bearer, 21 ; lis promoted
21; escapees Saul's javelin
23; loved by the people, 24
life sought bv Saul. 24
marries Michal, Saul's
daughter, 24; flees to Sam-
uel, 25; Saul's messengers
sent for him prophesy;
Saul goes after him and
prophesies, 25; in danger
from Saul is helped by JO'U-
athan, 27; escaping from
Saul is given shew bread
by the priest Ahimelech.
29; is a fugitive, 30; spares
Saul in En-gedi, 32; cove-
nants with Saul, 33; meets
Nabal, 34; marries Abigail
and Abinoam, 35; again
spares Saul, 35; Achish re-
fuses his help, 40; goes to
Ziglag and recovers spoil
and captives, 42; divided
the spoils, 43; mourns for
Saul and Jonathan, 46,47;
slays the Amalekite who
claimed to have killed Saul,
47; goes to Hebron and is
made king, 48; avenges
death of Ishbosheth, 50;
again anointed king, 50;
takes Jerusalem. 50; pro-
poses temnle fo Nathan the
pronhet, 51; the Lord said
building a temple was not
INDEX
409
for David, 51; danced be-
fore the ark, 52; many
wars, 53; gained fame, 53;
cares for Mephibosheth,
Jonathan's son, 54; sends
messengers to son of Na-
hash, who abuses them
causing war, 54; si'Us with
the wife of Uriah, 57; re-
buked by Nathan, 57;
mourns his sin, 59; his son
Absalom rebels, 62; mourns
Absalom's death, 62; re-
buked by Joab, 63; makes
conquests, 64; . numbers
Israel and Judah, 65; Joab
reproves him, 65; Gad the
seer gives him choice of
punishment, 66; designated
Solomon as king, 70.
Daniel, captive in Babylon,
287; three companio^ns, 287;
names changed, 288; simple
diet, 288; interprets Ne-
buchadnezzar's dream, 289,
290; Daniel's companions
cast into furnace and
preserved, 290-1; Daniel in-
terprets Nebuchadnezzar's
second dream, 291; pro-
moted, 293; cast into lions'
de-n, 293-4; saved, 294; vis-
ions, 294: effect of his writ-
ings, 294-5.
E
Egypt, under Necho makes
great conquests, 218; de-
serts Judah, 252.
Elijah, appears before Ahab
declaring: there shall be no
rain, 117; hMes and is fed
by ravens, 118: goes to
widow .of Sidon. miracle of
meal and oil, 118; widow's
son dies, is restored to life,
119: rebukes Ahab; calls
450 prophets of Baal to
Mount Carmel, 121; contest
between Baal a.nd the true
God, 121; fire from heaven
coiusumes sacrifice and al-
tar, 122; slays prophets .of
Baal, 122; tells Ahab rain
is coming, 123; flees from
Jezebel, 125; in despair
sleeps under juniper tree;
an angel provides him food
and drink, 126; wonderful
manifestations at Horeb,
127-8; calls Elisha, 129;
casts his mantle upon him,
129; anoints Hazael king of
Syria, 129; speaks Ahab's
doom, 130; personal de-
scriptiOiU, 137; followed by
Elisha, 137; miraculous
crossing of Jordan, 138;
makes Elisha conditional
promise of a double por-
tion of his spirit, 139; goes
to heaven in chariot ,of fire,
139; sons of the prophets
seek for him, 139.
Elisha, is called by Elijah,
129; receives his mantle,
129; follows him, refusing
to tarry, 138; miraculous
crossing of Jordan, 138;
Elijah's conditional prom-
ise of a double portion of
his spirit, 139; sees Elijah
translated^ 139; agaiin
crosses Jordan miraculous-
ly, 139; purifies spring, 140;
mocked by children who
are torn by bear, 141; pro-
duces water miraculously,
143; miracle of the oil, 144;
Shunammite woman. 144;
Elisha restores to life her
childj 145; miracle of bread,
410
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
145; Naaman the leper
healed, 146; refuses Naa-
man's gifts; his servant
Gehazi accepts them and is
smitten with leprosy, 147;
ax floats, 147; king of Syria
seeks to capture Elisha,
148; Elisha's servant in vis-
ion sees how Elisha is pro-
tected by heavenly host,
148; Elisha anoints Jehu
king of Israel, 153; com-
mands Joash to shoot ar-
rows and smite the ground,
159; dies, 159; on touching
biones of Elisha dead man
is revived, 159.
Esther chosen queen, 345-6;
orders a fast, 349; enters
king's presence, 351; invites
him and Haman to ban-
quet, 351; saves her people,
355-6; feast of Purim, 359.
Ezekiel, masterpiece of liter-
ature, 255; with first exiles
in Babylon, 255; message
to Jerusalem, 256; individ-
ual sins, 257; new doctrine,
258; vision of the resurrec-
tion, 262-3.
Ezra, 297; goes to Jerusalem.
310; early Scribe; commis-
sioned by the king, 311;
route, 311; sinful marriages,
313; Ezra condemns them,
314; people repent, 315;
Ezra reads the law, 335;
feast of tabernacles, 335.
Gedaliah made ruler of Ju-
dah, 225; put to death, 226.
Goliath challenges Israel, 17;
scorns David, 19; is slain
by David, 20.
Greeks, 276; contact with
Jews, 401; spread, 402.
H
Habbakuk appears, 228;
mourns, 229.
Haggai, 306; born in Baby-
lon, 339.
Haman, king's officer, 346
angry at Mordecai, 347
plots to destroy Jews, 347
and Mordecai, 352; boasts
his glory, 351; builds gal-
lows for Mordecai, 353;
mistake, '354; humiliated,
354; executed, 356.
Hazael anointed king of
Syria, 129; his wickedness
foretold by Elisha, 150; his
crimes, 151.
Herodotus, 343, 352.
Hezekiah, king of Judah, 195;
makes war on idolatry, 195;
renovates temple, 197; men-
aced by Sennacherib, 199;
seeks alliance with Egypt,
199; threatened by Assyr-
ians, 200; comforted by
Isaiah, 200; life prolonged
15 years, 205; mistake, 205;
rebuked by Isaiah, dies,
206; takes warning from
Isaiah, 239; letter from
Sennacherib, 239; Isaiah
promises God's protection,
239.
Hiram, worker in brass, 85.
Hiram, king of Tyre; Solo-
mon sends message, 81: re-
v/arded by Solomon, 93.
Hosea, the prophet, 185-6; ac-
cords Ephraim leading po-
sition among the Ten
Tribes, 186.
Hoshea, king of Israel, 181;
INDEX
41
rebels against Assyria, 182.
uldah, the prophetess, 214;
her promise to King Josiah,
215.
saiah appears, 169; comforts
Hezekiah, 200; prescribes
for Hezekiah, 205; his book
remarkable, 231; promises
forgiveness; denounces sin,
232-4; foretells last days,
234-5; warns Ahaz, 235; is
captive of war, 238; warns
Judah to repent, 238; warns
Hezekiah and promises him
the Lord's protection, 239;
tribute to Isaiah, 239-40;
another Isaiah, 268-9; great
book, 269-70; comforts the
Jews, 271; challenges gods
of Babylon, 277; praises
Cyrus, 279; encourages the
Jews, 279-80; sublime chap-
ter, 282-3; Jews love him,
284-5.
shmael puts Gedaliah to
death, 226.
shbosheth, Saul's son, claims
the throne causing civil
war, 48; slain, 49.
srael gather and accept Saul
as king, 6; war with Philis-
tines, 8, 17; divided into
two kingdoms, 102; Israel,
kingdom of, contends with
Judah, 115; succession of
kings, 116; Baasha reigns
and destroys house of Jero-
boam, 116; succession of
kings to Ahab, 116-117; al-
liance with Judah, 131;
Ahaziah king, 734; Jeho-
ram king. 137; war and
famine, 149; famine brok-
en, 149; idolatrous, 153; Je-
hu king, 153; Jehoahaz king
158; Syrians encroach, 158;
Joash king, 158; J.eroboam
II king, 162; J,onah appears,
162; overrun by Assyrians,
167; Israel compared to
Judah, 168; Hoshea king,
181.
Jehoahaz king of Israel, 158;
opposed the Lord, 158;
succeeded by Joash, 158.
Jehoiakim king of Judah, 217;
executed, 219.
Jehoiakin released from
prison and made king, 226.
Jehoida, the priest, regent of
Judah, 1,56; destroys altars
of Baal, 157.
Jehoram, king of Israel, 137;
slain by Jehu, 154.
Jehoshaphat, king of Israel,
131; alliance with Ahab,
131; seeks a prophet, 132.
Jehu, king of Israel, 153;
slays Jehoram, and Jezebel,
and Ahab's house, 154; as-
sembles priests of Baal and
sla^^s them, 155.
Jeremiah sees vision of cal-
dron, 228; comments on his
hook, 230; his call, 242; well
known, 243; wonders, 244;
in the stocks, 245; warns
Zedekiah, 246; exhorts can-
tives in Babylon, 246-7;
warns them against false
prophets, 248; rebukes
Hananiah, 250; in dungeon,
251; in prison, 251; warns
remnant not to go to
Egypt, 252: place of death
unknown, 252.
Jeroboam rebels, 98; Ahiiah
the prophet promises him
412
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
ten tribes, 98, 104; flees to
Egypt, 99; returns and
leads the Ten Tribes, 106;
sets up altars, 106; menaces
man of God, is smitten, re-
pents and is healed, 108;
made priests, 110; son Abi-
jah falls sick, 110; Ahijah's
rebuke a.nd prediction. 111.
Jerusalem (see Judah), at-
tacked and sa'cked by Ne-
buchadnezzar, 219; besieg-
ed by him, 221; sufferings
of its inhabitants, 222-3; de-
stroyed, 224; wickedness
in, 243; walls broke-n down,
252; loved city, 302; re-
building ceases, 306; re-
sumed under Nehemiah,
323; wall finished, 332; gov-
ernment given by Nehe-
miah to Hanani and Han-
aniah, 334; neglected, 2>Z7,
Jews (see Judah) preserve
identity, 103; in captivity,
254, 270; comforted by
Isaiah, 271-2; not easily
absorbed, 273; aroused by
Isaiah, 280-1; conception of
God, 284; love Isaiah, 281
285: return from Babylon,
297-9; some remain there,
300; number that returned,
301 ; accused by Samaritans,
304; loyal, 306; trying or-
deals, 306; sinful marriasres,
313; people repent, 31,5;
sinful marriages dissolved,
316; exclusiveness, 317; un-
der Nehemiah beein to re-
build Jerusalem, 323: men-
aced, 325: on the defensive,
326: taxed heavily, 327;
practice usury, 327; repent
328; Haman plots to de-
stroy Jews, 347; saved by
Esther, 355-6; given per-
mission by the king to pro-
tect themselves, 357-8;
many Persians become
Jews, 358; Jews are hated,
359; peculiarities, 400; iso-
lation, 401; contact with
Greeks, 401; spread of the
law, 401-2; Maccabees, 403;
wars of, 404; Jews make
peace with Rome, 405.
Jezebel procures Naboth's
death, 130; her doom, 131.
Joab supports David, 49;
kills Abner, 49; kills Abso-
lom, 62; slain, 72.
Joash, king of Israel, 158;
shoots arrows and smites
the ground at the com-
mand of Elisha 159.
Joash or Johoash is pre-
served and made king of
Judah, 156; reigns 40 years,
157; does right, 157.
Job, 361: his identity, 362;
study of his book, 363; his
wealth and piety, 364; Sa-
tan given leave to afflict
Job; Job's misfortunes, 365;
Job is submissive, Z66] his
three friends, Z67 ', his
vision, 369; answers his
friends, 370; Bildad speaks,
2>72>\ Job is weary, 377: ap-
peals to God, 378; Elihu
speaks, 380; the Lord an-
swers Job, 380; his need,
381; prosperity restored,
382.
Jonah, story of, 163; views on
the story, 166.
Jonathan wars upon the
Philistines, 8; breaks his
fast and escanes death, 9;
wins battle, 9: friendship
for David, 20, 21 ; helps
INDEX
413
David, 27; incurs Saul's
anger, 28; is slain, 44.
Joseph, represented in Eph-
raim and Manasseh, 1.
Josephus, quoted, 299.
Josiah, king of Judah, 213;
righteous, 213; promise of
Huldah the prophetess,
215; killed, 21,5.
Jotham, king of Judah 16
years, did right, 172.
Judah (see Jerusalem and
Jews) separated from Ten
Tribes, 102; joined by Ben-
jamin, 102; king Jehosha-
phat's alliance with Ahab,
131; inclined to worship
true God, 153; Athaliah be-
comes ruler, 156; ^oash. or
Johoash made king, l56;
Jehoida regent, 156; Judah
prospers, 157; compared to
Israel, 168; Amaziah king,
171; Uzziah king, 172;
Jotham king, 174; Ahaz
king, wicked, 175; Heze-
kiah king, 195; wars upon
idolatry, 195; threatened by
Assyrians, 200; their army
destroyed, 201; Manasseh
king, 206; his wickedness,
208; worship of Molech,
209; Amon king, slain, 211;
Josiah king, 212; Josiah,
king, 213; righteous, 213;
book ,of the law discovered,
213; Huldah the prophet-
ess, 214: Judah pays trib-
ute to Egyptians, 216; Je-
hoiakim king, 217: chro-
nology, 217: Nebuchadnez-
zar, 217: Jehoiakin king,
219: Zedekiah kino-, 220;
rebels against Nebuchad-
nezzar, 221: Jerusalem
destroyed, 224; Gedaliah
made ruler, 225; put to
death, 226; people flee to
Egypt, 226; Jehoiachin
king, 226; the Scythians; a
scourge, 227; Ahaz king,
235; warned by Isaiah to
reform, 238; Scythian inva-
sion, 242; wickedness in
Jerusalem, 243; false proph-
ets, 249; people taken cap-
tive by Chaldeans, 252;
remnant fl.ee to Egypt, 252;
captives' false hopes, 260;
punishment realized, 261;
reassured, 261; ancestry of
Son of God, 317; neglect of
Sabbath, Z2>7.
K
Kenites preserved, 9.
Kish, father of Saul, 1; loses
animals, 2.
Levites repair temple, 158.
M
Maccabees, 403, wars of, 404.
Manasseh, king of .Judah,
206; gives his sons to Mo-
loch, 207; his wickedness,
208, 211; dies, 211.
Micah the prophet, 189; fore-
tells the gathering, 191;
sublime language, 191.
Micaiah, prophet, hated by
Ahab, 132; prophesies evil
to Ahab and Jehoshaphat,
132; has a vision, 133; smit-
ten by false prophet,"133.
Moabite stone, 137.
M.oloch established by Ahaz,
175; worshiped by king
Manasseh, 207.
414
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Mordecai, Esther's guardian,
345; court officer, 346; re-
fused to bow to Haman,
346; mourns, 348; promot-
ed, 357.
N
Xaboih murdered, 130.
iNathan rebukes -Uavid, 57;
supports SiOlomon, 69.
Nineveh, Jonah sent to warn,
103; people repent, 164.
Nebuchadnezzar kmg of Bab-
ylon, 217; attacks Jerusai-
lem, takes treasures and
many captives, 219-20; be-
sieges Jerusalem, 221; in-
strument of "God's punish-
ment, 246; God requires
nations to serve Nebuchad-
nezzar, 249; military geni-
us, 266; his successors,
267-8; his dream, 288; in-
terpreted by Daniel, 289-
90; sets up image to be
worshiped 290; casts Dan-
i e 1 ' s companions into
furnace, 290; has another
dream, mterpreted by Dan-
iel, 291; loses his reason,
292; succeeded by Bel-
shaz^ar, 292.
Mehemiah, 297; remained in
captivity, 319; king's cup-
bearer, 319; mourns, 319;
prays, 320; before the king,
320; asks king's permission
to rebuild Jerusalem, 321;
arrives there, 322; opposed
by Sanballat, 323; rebuild-
ing begun, 323; workers
menaced, 325; on the de-
fensiv.e, 326; Nehemiah re-
bukes usury, 327; is gov-
ernor, 328; daily allowance,
329; message from Sanbal-
lat, 330; wall fiiuished, 332;
gives government of Jeru-
salem to Hanani and Han-
aniah, 334; tries to prepare
genealogy of those who re-
turned, 334; condemns Sab-
bath breaking, 338.
O
Oded the prophet warns Is-
rael, 176.
Ophir, land of, 94.
Palace of Solomon, 84.
People accept Saul as king,
6; rescue Jonathan, 9; de-
stroyed by an angel, 67.
Plfilisunes, war on Israel, 17;
oppress Ahaz, 175.
Proverbs, 391; character, 391;
phraseology, 391-2; a bal-
ance wheel, 392; day of
reckoning, 393; intimacy of
God, 393; warnings, 394;
lessons in wisdom, 396; les-
sons of obedience, 397; dis-
cretion, 397; miscellaneous,
398.
Psalms, 384; characteristics,
384; first one, 385; great-
ness of the Creator, 385;
happiness of the forgiven,
386; rewards and punish-
ments, 387; cry of sin, 388-
389.
Purim, feast of, 347, 359.
Rehoboam, son of Solomon,
king of Judah, 104; in-
creases the people's bur-
dens, 106; the Ten Tribes
rebel, 106; forbidden by the
INDEX
415
Lord to make war on the
Ten Tribes, 107; succeeded
by his son Ahijah and his
son Asa, 114-115.
Romans make peace with
Jews, 405; grow in power,
405; liberal in religion, 405;
taxgatherers, 405.
Samaritans desire to help re-
build Jerusalem, 303; rem-
nant still in Shechem, 303;
desire denied, 304; accuse
Jews, 304; desire 1o learn
Jewish religion, 305; op-
pose rebuilding of Jerusa-
lem, 31',5.
Samrel to choose first king,
1; mee\s Saul, 2; coming of
Saul revealed to, as king of
Israel, 2; invites Saul to
eat, 3; tells him asses arc
found, 3; and that he is
chosen, 3; anoints him
king, 4; foretells events of
his journev home, 4; and
that he will meet prophets
and prophesy, 4; and be
changed, 4; instructs him,
5; gathers the tribes, 6;
presents Saul to the peo-
ple, 6; old, addresses the
people, 7: thunder and rain
at his call, 8; reproves Saul,
8; rebukes Saul. 10; refuses
to condone his sin, 10;
mantle rent by Saul, 10;
tells Saul kingdom is rent
from him, 10; sees Saul no
more mourns for him, 11,
13; chided bv the Lord;
sent to Jesse, 13; sees Jes-
se's sons, 15; anoints Da-
vid king, 16; dies and is
mourned,
Saul, first king of Israel, 1;
son of Kish, 1; a tall man,
2; meets Samuel, 2; is told
by Samuel of honor await-
ing him, 3; is modest ana
humble, 3; eats with Sam-
uel, 3; is anointed king, 4;
God gives him another
heart, 5; hides himself, 6;
is presented to and accept-
ed by the people, 6; goes to
Gibeah, 6; leads in war
against Moab, 6; raises an
army, 8; is reproved by
Samuel, who foretells loss
of throne, 8; makes un-
lawful offering, 8; threat-
ens Jonathan's life, 9; dis-
obeys again, by saving
spoil of Amalekites, 9; re-
buked by Samuel, and re-
jected as king, 10; confess-
es his sin, 10; unlike David,
11; abused authority, 12;
made his own judge, 14;
afflicted with an evil spirit,
17; relieved by David's
music, 17; jealous of Da-
vid, 22; tries to kill him,
23; goes after David and.
prophesies, 25; angry with
Jonathan, 28; pursues Da-
vid, 31; relents, 32; exacts
promise from David, 33;
pursues David and again
relents, 35; can get no an-
swer from the Lord and
goes to witch of E.n-dor,
and learns his fate, 38, 39,
meets his death, 44.
Seer, prophet, called a, 2.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
takes tribute of Hezekiah,
199; army destroyed, 201.
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria,
181.
416
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
Sheba, queen of, visits Solo-
mon, 95.
Sidonians hew timbers for
temple, 81.
Silver not valued, 96.
Slavery, 94.
Solomon made king, 70;
spares Adonijah, 70; con-
demns him to death, 72;
is promised wisdom, ITi',
judges between mothers,
75; size of his kingdom, 75;
daily supply of food, l(i\
his wisdom, 11\ plans to
build temple, 80; sends
message to Hiram king of
Tyre, 81; raises a levy of
3'0,000 men, 81 ; completes
temple, '^l \ dedicates it, 88;
the Lord appears to him,
92; queen of Sheba visits
him, 95; his throne, 96;
famed for wisdom, 96; wor-
ships idols, 97; Canaanitish
wives, 97; the Lord angry;
will rend kingdom from
Solomon, 98: reigns 40
years and dies, 99; his
glory and wisdom, 99.
Spenser, quoted, 26.
Steven, G., quoted, 253.
Strahan, quoted, 372.
Te^-f-iple nlanned by Solomon,
80: forced labor on, 82;
plans of 83: interior fur-
nishings; font: vessels of
gold, etc., 86: finished, 87;
dedicated, 88: accepted by
th.e Lord, 92: compared
with Eo-vptian temnles,
101: repaired, 157: dese-
crated by Ahaz, 177; reno-
vated by Hezekiah, 197;
demolished, 224; Cyrus
plans to rebuild it, 298:
finished, 307.
Ten Tribes, separated from
Judah, 102; to be ruled by
Jeroboam, 104; they rebel
against Rehoboam, 106; to
be scattered, 114; menaced
by Assyrians, 167; Hoshea
king; rebel against Assyria.
182; caried away captive by
Assyrians, 182; remnant
left, 183; speculations as to !
location, 185; Hosea the
prophet appears, 185.
U
Uriah, death, 57.
Urim and Thummim, 308.
Uzziah king of Judah, 172;
clashes with the priests.
downfall, 173.
Vashti disobeys the king,
344; humiliated, 344.
W
Witch of E.n-dor, 38.
Xerxes (see Ahasuerus).
Z
Zechariah, 306: vision, 339
teachings, 340-2.
Zedekiah king of Judah, 220
rebels against Nebuchad
nezzar, 221; sons slain
eyes put out, made captive
223; warned by Jeremiah
246; vields to false proph
ets, 251.
Zerubbabel, 300.
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